Friendship Splits

by Discorded SheepcityUSA

Apologies

Split had already been through enough today. Between everyone giving her the cold shoulder, getting in a fight with her best friend, and just about anything else Ponyville had to throw at her, she was at the end of her rope. The last thing she needed right now was Sprinkles being fussy about taking his medicine.

“Sprinkles, I am really not in the mood for this. Take your medicine now.” Split emphasized as she held the medicine syringe near Sprinkle’s mouth with her magic with a stern look on her face. It contained a thick, pink liquid that Sprinkles had to take if he were to ever ingest anything with dairy in it. Despite the terrible mess his stomach was in, Sprinkles kept turning his head and shoving the syringe away from his mouth. He never was really a fan of the taste of it.

Split groaned in irritation. It looked like she was going to resort to scare tactics once again.

“Sprinkles, do you even know what happens if you let your stomach stay like that?” Split asked.

Sprinkles shook his head.

“Your stomach keeps bloating, and bloating up until the point where it can’t handle it anymore and you blow up!” Split exclaimed. A terrified expression came across the mouse’s face when Split told him of the consequences. He opened his mouth and let Split squirt his medicine in without anymore protest.

He still smacked his tongue at the taste of the sticky liquid though. As always, he found it most distasteful.

‘Heh. Works every time.’ Split thought as she levitated Sprinkles back into his cage, despite the defiant squeaks her pet made.

“Oh be quiet, it was your own fault. Maybe next time you’ll think twice about eating that stuff when you know for a fact that you’re allergic. Seriously, you know better than that.” Split scolded, prompting Sprinkles to go in the corner of the cage to sulk. Mice tend to do that when they know they did something wrong.

Split rolled her eyes and trotted back to her desk and slightly cricked her neck.

“Alright, back to the subject at hoof here. From what I can remember, Diamond’s favorite flavor was chocolate. So let me just find that spell…” Beauty Split said to herself as she quickly started flipping through the several pages of her notebook, The Delight Zone giving her that all too familiar rush that she was so used to every time she entered.

Finally, Beauty Split came across the page containing the flavor-changing spell. This particular spell has haunted her ever since she got her Cutie-Mark. She’d happened to solve a flavor inventory problem at Rocky Road when she still lived in Hoofington by accidently setting this spell off, which ended up earning her her Cutie Mark. Since then though, she hasn’t been able to replicate it. You could safely say that that’s what turned her into such a workaholic.

Now though, since her friendship was at stake, her resolve was much stronger than before. She grabbed her goggles off a hook on the wall, wrapped them over her head, and put them on over her eyes. She trotted over to an ice-cream dispenser that she kept in her room for her experimentation. Split levitated a bowl under the nozzle on the bottom, and again used her magic to pull the lever on its side. This made the machine fill the bowl below with vanilla ice cream.

Split focused on the steady stream of ice cream coming from the dispenser, making sure not a drop was out of place. Once it was done, Split let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, the easy stuff’s done. Now, let me just focus on that flavor-warping.” Split said to herself, setting the bowl down on the table. She looked to her notebook, her face scrunched up in concentration as she read over it. She turned back to the bowl of ice cream and firmly set her hooves on the desk and started to focus her magic. Her horn glowed its signature light blue as she began to cast her spell on the frozen dessert. Just like before, the ice cream began to bubble slightly and change color, only this time it was from vanilla white to chocolate brown.

A few beads of sweat started to form on Split’s forehead. The familiar headache that usually came about when she attempted this spell started to come back, and she clenched her teeth. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t seem to get the spell to complete. From the looks of it, her Delight Zone didn’t seem to be doing enough for her, which Split would have found unusual if she didn’t have her mind focused on other things.

Her mind started to drift off. What would happen if she didn’t patch things up with Diamond? Where the hay would she even go from there? Judging how annoying she came across to other ponies in Hoofington with her OCD, she didn’t really know if she’d be capable of making friends in this town, and the fiasco with her and Diamond in the marketplace probably didn’t help her attempts to appear “Clean and intricate.”

The thought of being alone, without even Diamond to call her friend scared her to death.

“No…No, you need to fix this. Things can’t end off like this…ARGH COME ON YOU STUPID HORN!” Split yelled, her temper starting to flare.

Just when Split’s magic-induced headache had reached its worst, the light on her horn brightened to blinding levels, and the light around the ice cream did the same. She put a hoof to her goggled-face to block out the light of the magic. Sprinkles noticed the commotion and buried himself in some of the bedding in his cage in fright.

When the light finally died down, Split removed her hoof from in front of her face to see what happened. The first thing she recognized that unlike the last time she attempted the flavor-warping spell, her room remained as clean as it was when she started.

The second thing she recognized was that the vanilla ice cream on the table was no longer vanilla at all. There didn’t remain a speck of white in the bowl, but instead was replaced with what appeared to be delicious, soft-serve, chocolate ice cream.

Split appeared to be mesmerized by what she had just achieved as she pulled the goggles she was wearing to her forehead.

“…I…I actually did it…” Split said to herself.

Split didn’t even know what happened next. It happened all too fast for her to comprehend. She started to energetically jump up and down with an ear-to-ear smile, fully relishing in the victory. Normally, she wouldn’t be caught dead doing something like this, but given the circumstances, she didn’t seem to care much.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! AT LAST! AT LAST I GOT IT TO WORK! FANTASTIC! ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!” Split cheered.

It wasn’t until she realized that Sprinkles had been staring at her rather embarrassing outburst that she started to feel a little self-conscious, and ceased her hopping, and slightly pushed her ponytail back into its proper place.

“…This pleases me.” Split corrected herself, trying to act as dignified as possible.

She then looked to a mini-fridge she had next to her desk and opened the door, attempting to find the whipped cream she kept in there to begin the final stage of the process.

As she did so, she began to wonder what exactly she had done differently to get her spell to work. Things didn’t appear to be going any better compared to any other attempt until she thought of…

“…I hope Diamond’s holding up better than I am.” She said to herself.

“Diamond, come on! Just let me in for crying out loud!” Diamond heard her friend yelling for her from the other side of her large, and very expensive bedroom door.

“No Silver! I really just want to be alone right now!” Diamond yelled from inside her room. Ever since what happened at the Marketplace, she’d been a complete mess. Her surroundings right now where as lavish as could be; a large, soft bed with pink blankets and pillows, walls adorned with pink wallpaper, and a small area in the corner where she could take care of her mane when she so pleased.

And yet even in the most pleasant of atmospheres, Diamond had never felt more miserable in her life. Tears were still staining the fur under her eyes as they continually ran down her cheeks, and she made small whimpering noises.

Silver sighed from the other side of the door, and Diamond heard her hoofsteps going back downstairs. It seemed that Silver decided to just give her friend some privacy, seeing how fruitless her attempts at trying to help her out were.

Diamond couldn’t believe what was happening to her. For such a long time she’d wanted to see her old friend again, to be able to have fun just like they did when they both lived in Hoofington. Never in a million years did she think this would happen.

She wasn’t exactly ignorant on the subject matter of their argument however. She’d heard quite a few foals saying some pretty bad things about the way she behaved, but she figured they were all just jealous of her, her Cutie-Mark, and her family’s money. She never really thought much of any of it.

But hearing this coming out of the mouth of one of the best friends she’d ever had, somepony who actually mattered to her, and also adding literal injury to those insults…

It hurt her.

A lot.

Diamond tried to distract herself from thinking about it by rubbing away at some of the bruises Split had left on her hooves.

“W-Why? Why is everyone so against me? I-“ Diamond started to think about what caused that fight to even take place. Dinky had bumped into her and…

Split was standing up for her. Against Diamond for what she did to Dinky.

In the moment, Diamond thought she was only giving Dinky what she deserved, but looking at how fiercely Split reacted to it, she started to feel something very unfamiliar in her chest. Whatever it was, it was painful, and it kept her mind on how Diamond had been treating not just Dinky, but a majority of the other foals she had considered “Below” her.

It was guilt. Undeniable, unavoidable guilt in its purest form.

Diamond hated how it felt. She wanted nothing more right now than for it to go away, to leave her alone so she could just move on. No matter how hard she tried though, the guilt over what she’d done kept creeping back into her subconscious, tearing her emotions to shreds.

“W-What was I thinking? Why did I do all those horrible things? I-I’m such a terrible pony.” Diamond said to herself. There was no way Split was going to take her back now. Not after everything that happened. Diamond wouldn’t blame her. After all she’s done, Diamond was surprised Split could even stand to be living in the same town as she was.

Diamond got off of her bed, wiping a few fresh tears from her eyes as she walked to a bookcase she had in the corner of the room. She took out what appeared to be a large, blue scrapbook with the words “Hoofington” across the top in cursive, pink letters. Diamond started to flip through the pages of the book, which contained images of her when she was a few years younger, quite a few of them with both Beauty Split and herself. One of the pictures always managed to get a laugh out of her. Her Sapphire Shores Karaoke machine had just come in. The thing was pretty enormous, at least for a filly her age, and the entire speaker system she had hooked up to it was also pretty impressive.

Split at that time though, was a little too easily impressed, and appeared to be a lot more interested in the box the entire thing came in, and was hiding inside of it, pretending it was some kind of time machine or something. The picture showed a smiling Split sticking her head out of the box as it stood upright, with Diamond staring back at her with a deadpanned expression. She remembered why she made that face in the first place too. Split had asked her if she had a bowtie she could wear, and Diamond was just at a loss for words.

This time though, the memory didn’t make Diamond laugh in the slightest. If anything, it reminded her too much of happier times and how bad her situation truly was now. A tear fell from Diamond’s eye and dropped onto the page of the book as she sniffled. She put the book down and simply stared at the floor.

“…I hate myself.” Diamond mumbled.

Silver Spoon uncomfortably sat on the couch in Diamond’s living room. She wasn’t even really sure what she was waiting for. There was no way Diamond was coming out of there to talk to her. She was probably afraid that Silver was going to give her the “I told you so” speech, considering Split did end up leaving them just like she thought.

She figured that Diamond was in no mood for that though. She was going to try and console her, but Diamond just locked herself in her room as soon as she got home.

“Dang it Di. Why won’t you just let me in there already?” Silver Spoon muttered to herself. Diamond’s father was out of town on business for the next few days, which left Silver Spoon to deal with this by herself, save for the servants in Diamond’s mansion, but they only really interacted with her on a professional level, not having any actual emotional interaction of any kind.

Silver heard a knock on the front door and decided to get up to see who it was. When she got to the door and opened it though, she saw the absolute last pony she wanted to see right now on the other side.

“What in the HOOF are you doing here?!” Silver practically yelled in the face of Beauty Split.

Beauty slightly flinched at how confrontational Silver was being. After she had threatened Silver with magical assault back at the marketplace, she was pretty surprised she’d be willing to try anything against her.

“Ummm…Look, I kinda don’t know how to go about this, but-“ Split awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck as she tried to look at anything but Silver Spoon.

“I’ll make whatever it is easy for you then. Go. Away. You’ve already caused enough trouble.” Silver Spoon growled.

Split sighed.

“I guess I’ll just have to come out and say it…I’m sorry.” Split said.

“If you think that for one minute I-wait. What?” That was definitely not what Silver was expecting.

“I’m sorry about everything. I should have taken Diamond’s feelings into account, and I REALLY shouldn’t have threatened you like I did. It was very uncouth and unprofessional of me.” Split said with a hoof to her chest.

Silver was still a little suspicious. She had been ever since this filly showed up in Ponyville, and her feelings weren’t going to be swayed very easily.

“And why should I believe anything you say? How do I know you’re not just trying to trick me into letting you in so you can just beat Diamond up again?” Split asked with a hint of cynicism.

Split sighed again.

“You don’t. But all I can give you is my word here. Believe me, this is probably one of the most stressful things I’ve had to do in my life. I don’t want to hurt you or Diamond, I swear.” Split tried to assure her.

Silver still wasn’t quite sure. After all, this was the pony that publicly humiliated Diamond. She looked up at Split’s horn, and noticed that her horn was glowing with magic, which made her flinch, fearing that Split may actually carry out her threat from earlier.

Split noticed this and groaned.

“Calm down, I’m just levitating this.” Split said. She levitated into view a chocolate ice cream sundae with whipped cream, hot fudge, and a cherry on top.

The sight was enough to make Silver drool slightly.

“I’m hoping this’ll help make up for everything I did…how’s Diamond taking it?” Split asked.

Silver looked at Split for a second. From what Diamond told her, ice cream was something she put her blood, sweat, and tears into whenever she made it, and she never joked when it came to her work. If she went through the trouble of getting this, that could only mean that Split was legitimately trying to patch things up.

“Diamond’s…not doing so good. She’s been locked in her room for hours. She won’t even let me in there to help.” Silver sighed.

If Split wasn’t concerned for Diamond’s well being before, she was now.

“Oh, that’s really not good. I need to fix this. Now.” Split said as Silver stepped aside to let her in.

“Ummm…You need any help with that?” Silver asked uncertainly.

Split turned her head to Silver and smiled slightly.

“I suppose I could use the help.” Split said. Silver nodded and both ponies trotted up the stairs to the second floor of Diamond’s house. Both of them made their way down the hallway upstairs to Diamond’s bedroom door. Silver knocked on it, halfway knowing the response ahead of time.

“Uhhh, Di? Split’s here. She wants to talk to you.” Silver said.

There was a moment of silence.

“That’s not funny Silver! Why they hay would she want to be anywhere near me ever again?!” Diamond yelled from her room. Silver facehoofed and groaned.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake Diamond.” She muttered under her breath.

‘Oh boy, it’s even worse than I thought.’ Split thought.

“Diamond, I really am here. Can you please open up?” Split asked, hoping to get a better response out of Diamond.

From the other side of the door, both foals could hear what sounded like shuffling of blankets, hoofsteps, and the door unlocking. Diamond opened the door, and Split could almost instantly tell the entire situation took a pretty heavy toll on her. Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks were stained with wet marks from her crying, and her mane was disheveled in a way not unlike it was when she fell asleep in class earlier that day.

“Diamond I-“ Split couldn’t even get three words out before Diamond, nearly as fast as lightning, pulled into a tight hug and resumed her crying, almost making Split lose the ice cream she still held in her magic.

“I-I-I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY! I’M SORRY I TREATED EVERYPONY SO BADLY, I’M SORRY I HIT YOU, AND I’M SO SORRY THAT I’M JUST SUCH A TERRIBLE FILLY!” Diamond wailed.

Everything happened so fast that neither Split nor Silver knew how to react. Considering her behavior earlier, neither pony had actually expected Diamond to apologize first, and certainly not sobbing this intensely.

Split slightly returned the rather sudden hug, trying her best to comfort Diamond.

“Diamond, you need to calm down. You’re not a terrible filly.” Split said softly.

“Y-Yes I am! I made fun of everypony that didn’t have Cutie-Marks and I rubbed mine in their faces all the time! I was just-“ Split put a hoof on Diamond’s mouth before she could get another word in.

“Diamond, it isn’t your fault. Just listen to me for a second.”

Diamond nodded with Split’s hoof still on her lips and tears still in her eyes.

“Look, here’s the way I’m seeing things right now. Yeah, what you did was wrong, but at the same time, I can see why you did it.” Split said.

One of Diamond’s ears fell to her head, indicating that she didn’t understand.

“Okay, you remember those jerky ponies from Hoofington don’t you? Always made fun of us for not having Cutie-Marks?” Split asked. Diamond’s other ear fell back to her head and her tear-filled eyes shifted to the ground. How could a filly forget something as bad as that?

“Wait. Di, you were…bullied?” Silver asked. Diamond nodded in response.

“I’m pretty sure everypony was at some point Silver. Anyway, my guess is that it made you so mad that you just wanted to rub your own Cutie-Mark in other’s faces like they did. You wanted the same satisfaction they got out of having theirs. Am I right?” Split asked.

Diamond sat motionless for a moment. Split took her hoof off of Diamond’s mouth to try and let her talk.

“…Yes.” Diamond said quietly. It looked like Split hit the nail on the head with her assumption.

‘Phew. Thank you so much Pinkie Pie.’ Split thought.

“…Diamond, I need to do some apologizing of my own.” Split said as she slightly pawed at the ground.

Diamond gave Split a confused look.

“What? Split, what the hay could you have to be sorry for?” Diamond asked. She couldn’t be sure, but Diamond could’ve sworn that Split was starting to tear up.

“I-I really shouldn’t have called you out like that in front of everypony. I-I should’ve thought about what you were going through. B-But all I did was make things worse and I…I hurt you.” Split sniffled. Diamond was sure of it now. Split was starting to cry.

There was no way Diamond was going to watch Split cry the way she did. She trotted up to the blue unicorn and put a hoof to her friend’s face and wiped whatever tears were forming.

“Come on, don’t you start too.” Diamond said, giving a slight smile. Split smiled back and tightened her grip on the hug.

Silver Spoon coughed.

“Uhh girls? Can you try not to make me the third wheel here?” Silver asked, not wanting to be left out.

“Oh shut up and get over here.” Split said. Silver Spoon gladly got up and joined the group hug the three fillies were currently engaged in.

Once the hug was broken, Split pushed the sundae she had brought with her toward Diamond.

“I kinda made this as a token of my apology. I finally got the flavor-warping spell to work, and I used it to put this together” Split said. Diamond had been all too familiar with Split’s work, and was practically drooling at the sight of the delight before her.

“S-Split I…thanks.” Diamond said as she happily picked up the spoon and put the frozen substance in her mouth.

Almost the second the ice cream hit her tongue, Diamond was in bliss. Her eyelids were half closed, her face was in an obvious smile, and she was pleasantly rocking back and forth.

“…Woah. You even got my favorite flavor right.”

“I take my work very seriously Diamond. Of course I’d pay attention to what flavor my best friend likes the best. Never know when I’ll need to know that.” Split said.

Diamond slightly snapped out of her trance when she noticed Split was staring at the ice cream, drooling in the same way she was. Diamond looked back and forth between Silver and the sundae, and came to a decision.

“Uhhh, Silvs…if you want some, go ahead. I kinda stole your milkshake once, so it’s only fair.” Diamond said with a slight chuckle.

That was certainly a first. Diamond wasn’t normally known for being extraordinarily selfless and generous, and Silver Spoon appreciated the change.

“Hehe. Thanks Diamond.” Silver Spoon said also taking a bite of the sundae.

Her reaction was incredibly similar to Diamond’s. Dazed eyes, a dopey smile, and a swaying motion.

“So, I take it you girls like it?” Split asked with a laugh.

Both fillies nodded.

Author's Note:

Even though I really don't like Diamond Tiara, I'm able to find her a little bit more tolerable in this fic. I actually cried a little when I wrote the scene with her alone in her room.

And yeah, I know the Doctor Who reference the Split in the picture makes isn't subtle at all. :p

Anyway, we're sorta coming up on the end here folks. I've got one chapter left of the main story, and a bonus chapter after that. What will that bonus chapter be about you may ask? Well...have you noticed that Twist character tag that's kinda just been sitting there?...

Comments

[deadpansnarker]

Don't get me wrong... this is a well written, likable story... And I especially the reference to a small sight gag in Pinkie Pride... But Diamond's Heel Face Turn comes rather too fast for me. From what we know of her, I think she'd be spitting feathers for a few days afterwards, and be in denial about her bullying ways for even longer, before even THINKING of a reformation. It all feels slightly hurried, as if you want to get the story over and done with as quick as possible. And reading your author's notes, that appears to be the case. Oh well, your story. But I can't help but think... A few more chapters... This could have been something quite special...

[RazDelacroix]

Hmmm... I need a coherent, logical, and highly critical set of words to most accurately display my critique regarding this work of fiction. AH-HA! I know JUST the words!

*sniffle*

[Discorded SheepcityUSA]

5227753 IKR. I WROTE the thing and I was starting to tear up

[Pogmin]

I can't wait for the Twist story ark...

[Discorded SheepcityUSA]

5227932 You aren't the only one.

[Pogmin]

5226747 IT'S NOT OVER YET! While I agree that it does seem a bit quick, I may have given him an idea that he really wants to get to. While it doesn't excuse being rushed, I genuinely think that he prefers( and Is all around better at) a more comedic style. I think that he simply wants to get to that quicker and I'm fairly sure that it could be an enjoyable ark.

[Sketch D Tail]

I really liked this story, very well done mate, good job.

[BoloneyBrony]

Awesome

[deadpansnarker]

5227969 So YOU'RE the one responsible for that... *Sharpens knives*

[Pogmin]

5231959 No I'm not.

[deadpansnarker]

5232132 I'm sorry... I could give less of a damn... Don't start cowering in fear of your life. It's just that jettisoning this promising story in favour of a new one featuring the programme's most irritating, lisping one-shot pony doesn't fill me full of sparkles and sunshine. But, their story... They can do what they want with it... I don't _have_ to read it though... ;)

[Pogmin]

5232399 I still feel like an asshole, but I'm pretty sure that the author would have written around the same ending either way. I just gave him more material, and I honestly would prefer to have it continued than all around stopped.

[Raichu]

I know what the best ice cream tastes like. There's an ice cream shop in one of my favorites states and they add more cream than normal ice cream shops and it tastes so heavenly! (Probably a little fattening, but yolo)

[Beau Skunky]

This is a pretty good one, and while I'm normally not to into fics about O.C.s, Split is quite likeable, and nicely flawed. It's also nice Tiara gets some attention too.

[GodzillaSpino]

This story also seems discontinued.