The Party
Friday dawned bright and warm, perfect for swimming weather. The exams were finally over, and today was the last day of school. Every filly and colt in Ponyville had a smile on their face, and who could blame them? By the end of the day, it would be summer at last, with no academic worries to get in the way of the carefree, fun-filled days of summer.
The school bell rang, calling in the foals from outside. They took their seats, chattering excitedly to one another. They were greeted by Cheerilee, who was smiling just as widely as her students.
"Happy last day of school, class!" she chirped, passing out worksheets on to each desk. "To celebrate the end of the school year, I've decided to give you a pop quiz!" A collective groan rose from the students, who were both disappointed and outraged that their last day be spoiled by something as repulsive as a pop quiz.
"Now, now, you'll see that this isn't a regular quiz! Take out a pencil, and let's get started!"
Begrudgingly, the class complied. Silver Spoon, however, wasn't too upset, but was a bit confused all the same. She took out a pencil, and stared down at her paper.
Question 1- What was your favorite subject this year?
A. Math
B. Science/ Magical Theory
C. Literature/ Grammar
D. Equestrian History
E. Recess
Silver was pleasantly surprised at the answers. What teacher would think of including Recess as a favorite subject? She, however, circled Literature as her favorite.
The rest of the questions were similar. Some of them were quite easy to answer, such as Would you rather watch a good movie or read a good book? (Read a book), while others were a bit tougher, like If you could, would you change anything about yourself? If so, what? (Either that I be more outgoing, or that I wouldn't have to wear glasses). She worked through each problem happily, glad that this test wasn't one about History or Math.
But the last question really got to her-
Question 15- What qualities do you admire in a friend? List at least five in the space provided.
Qualities in a friend... she thought, tapping her pencil against her chin. Well... they have to be fun to be around, and kind, and loyal, and we ought to be able to talk easily. We should share at least a couple of interests, but also each add something else to the table. They should be a good listener, and always try to be honest with me. She scribbled all this down on the lines provided, writing small to fit all of it in. She wrote her name at the top, and walked up to the front to turn it in. She set it down on Cheerilee's desk, and was about to walk away when Cheerilee stopped her.
"Silver Spoon, what did you write for Question 15?" she said, a concerned expression on her face.
"Um... why?"
"Just tell me, please."
Silver felt uncomfortable. "Well... I said that a friend needs to be kind, and honest, and fun, and some other things too. But why?"
Cheerilee gave a deep breath. "After our little talk the other day, it got me thinking about how good friends treat others. Tell me something, Silver Spoon- does Diamond currently have any of those qualities you wrote down? Any of them?"
Silver went silent. Diamond was a nice pony to be around... when she wasn't in one of her moods, or hanging out with Aqua and Coronet. And she was pretty loyal... some of the time, when there wasn't anything more important. Occasionally she would reveal a glimmer of genuine kindness, and she used to be honest with Silver. They would always have lots of fun conversation... but they've mostly been talking about Diamond, and Diamond's issues, even before Aqua and Cory came into the picture.
"That's alright, Silver Spoon." said Cheerilee, interrupting the silence between them. "I understand. Go on back to your seat now."
Silver nodded and did as she was told. She waited quietly at her desk until everyone was done with the quiz, then sat up when Cheerilee stomped her hooves on the ground.
"Alright, class! I hope you enjoyed the last quiz of the year because now I'm starting the class party!"
A unanimous cheer rose up as Cheerilee wheeled out a long table laden with cookies and cupcakes with colorful frosting, and bright pink fruit punch in a large plastic bowl; paper plates, cups, and napkins were stacked to the side. The class crowded around the table excitedly, each grabbing one or two treats. By the time Silver got there, there was only one cupcake, and one broken cookie. She reached for the cupcake, and her hoof collided with a light blue one. She looked up and came face-to-face with the colt who was friends with Boysenberry.
She blushed. How awkward! she thought, pushing the cupcake towards him.
"Here. You can have it. I like cookies better anyway." she said. The colt smiled.
"Thanks. I-I'm Sketch." he said. "Aren't you that one filly who's friends with Diamond Tiara?"
"Oh... um, yes, I am." said Silver Spoon, looking away for a moment. "Aren't you that colt who takes pictures for the newspaper now?" Sketch nodded, looking a bit shy.
"I like them a lot. You're pretty good."
Sketch blushed at this, but smiled. "T-thanks. I like drawing a lot better, though."
"That's cool. Could I see some of your drawings sometime?"
"Oh, um, m-maybe... I guess..."
Sketch seemed to realize that he was fraternizing with the enemy; he blushed and turned away. Silver did the same. "O-oh, okay... see you around..." she murmured, quickly sliding her cookie onto a plate and heading back to her seat. She munched on her cookie for a while, before spitting it out into her napkin. No matter how she tried to tell herself that it tasted good, it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
***
BRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNGGGG...
"Goodbye, class! Have a good summer!" called Cheerilee, waving happily to her former students as they flooded out the classroom door and into the bright sunshine of summer. Silver Spoon saw Diamond Tiara run over to the big maple tree with Aqua and Coronet and stood on top of a large root.
"Okay, everypony! On to my house for the big pool party!" she exclaimed, a glowing smile on her face. "Everypony who's not there in a half an hour is locked out, so hurry up!"
This caused an uproar to head home as fast as possible, leaving only Aqua, Coronet, Diamond, and Silver Spoon on the playground.
"Come on, girls, let's head on over to my house to get ready. We only have a half an hour!" Diamond dashed off in the direction of her mansion, nodding for the girls to follow. They ran after her, Aqua and Coronet giggling all the way.
Once they had reached the house, they scurried up to Diamond's room, where a white dressing screen sat in the corner next to a chair piled with the clothes that they had bought the previous Wednesday.
"Alright, girls... you know what to do!" said Diamond, holding up a swimsuit and a pair of sunglasses.
"WARDROBE SELECTION!" they squealed, holding each other's hooves and jumping up and down.
"Oh, my head..." breathed Silver, clutching the bridge of her muzzle.
"Alright, me first!" said Diamond. "So we agreed on the sparkly blue swimsuit, but what sunglasses should go with that? I'm thinking the oversize black with the rhinestones. What do you think, Cory?"
"Oh, totally Di!" she said. "Hey, what do you think of me with the pink sun hat and bright orange glass-"
"Coronet, I thought we discussed the topic of ever wearing orange, in public or not."
Coronet looked a bit guilty and nervous. "I know, it's just that, like, I like orange. I don't see why..." Diamond gave Coronet her 'Do it or else' death stare, and her voice trailed off.
Silver sighed and turned away. I really don't need this, she thought. I'll just wait until they're through. She pulled out her book and began to read. After about twenty minutes, Silver heard Diamond clear her throat impatiently, so she looked up.
"Is it my turn?" she asked.
"Uh, yes, why else would I be waiting on you?"
This stung a bit, but Silver brushed it off. She put down her book and walked over to the dressing screen.
"Okay, so you got the ruffly lavender suit at the store, so that could go with the white sun hat with the light blue ribbon. There's also the white beach towel with the coordinating lavender-and-arctic-blue stripes that you'll be using. Since you already wear glasses, it'll look stupid if you wear sunglasses, so you won't. Need me to repeat anything?" Silver shook her head.
"Good. Now, everypony get ready, we've only got a couple of minutes until the others get here, so hustle up!"
The girls did as they were told. Within a couple of minutes, all four fillies looked stunning. Diamond was wearing her mane up in a high ponytail with her tiara perched at an angle. Her over-sized black sunglasses sat on top of her flawlessly styled mane, and her glittery blue swimsuit fit perfectly. Her lips glistened with strawberry lip gloss.
Aqua and Coronet didn't look too shabby, either. Coronet wore a cherry-colored swimsuit with vertical pink stripes. Black framed oval sunglasses with pink hued glass were perched atop her fashionably short cut mane. Aqua was wearing a light teal suit with spaghetti straps, and like Diamond and Coronet, she had a pair of oversize black sunglasses on top of her head. Her hair was pulled back into a bouncy ponytail.
And then there was Silver Spoon.
Like the others, her swimsuit fit perfectly, the color highlighting her eyes attractively (she didn't much like the ruffles, though). Her circular white sunhat looked very pretty with her silver braid peeking out from underneath. However, unlike the others, she did not wear sunglasses, which made her look a little funny in comparison to the other three.
"Okay girls, it's official! We-look-FABULOUS!" said Diamond, giving her ponytail a flip. "Now, outside! Our public awaits!"
"Oooh, this is gonna be like, soooo fun!" gushed Aqua. "I just hope I don't get nervous!"
"Just follow my lead, girls. And remember- if you don't want to look like an old, wet trout, then don't you dare get into the water. It's just not worth it." Coronet nodded in agreement, But Aqua looked a bit disappointed.
"But Di, I like swimming. It wouldn't hurt if I-"
"Aqua. Shut up. It's time to walk out and unlock the gates."
Randolph held the door open for the foursome; outside, behind the gates were their classmates waiting a bit impatiently. They spotted Diamond, and began to call her out.
"Diamond! When's the party starting?"
"Hey, Diamond! Please let us in!"
"Diamond, come on! Open up the gates!"
Diamond smiled impishly, then spoke. "Well... since you all ask so nicely..." She gestured to Randolph. "Randolph! Open!"
"(sigh...) Yes, Miss Diamond."
The barrier opened, and the foals flooded in, laughing and chattering and thanking Diamond for inviting them. Silver Spoon looked around- the entire class seemed to be present. There was Featherweight and Twist, and Snips and Snails and Pipsqueak, and even the Cutie Mark Crusaders were there, staying close together and looking anxious.
Silver turned away at this; she didn't want to think about them.
She made her way over to the pool chairs and sat herself down in one. She watched the foals from her class jump into the pool, bounce around beach balls, and grab refreshments from the snack table. She sighed.
Now is not the time, Silver. Just enjoy yourself. She walked over to the snack table and grabbed a piece of plain cheese pizza. She spotted Diamond and the girls near the gate, and figured that she may as well join them.
"... got it? Don't let me down, girls." said Diamond, before catching sight of Silver. She brightened. "Hey, Silv. It's all going great so far. Having fun?"
"Yeah, I guess." she said.
Diamond giggled. "Well, you're about to have a lot more fun pretty soon! Can you keep a secret?" Silver nodded. "I booked DJ-pon3 for the party! She's setting up in the back, and will be ready in a couple of minutes. Cool, huh?"
Silver grinned. DJ-pon3 was almost impossible to book; you had to work weeks in advance to have her there in time. So that's what she's been planning. I've been paranoid about nothing this whole time!
"That's great, Tiara!" she said. "I can't wait!"
Diamond nodded in agreement. "Thought so. Now go mingle or something! The party's just getting started!"
Silver smiled. "Okay, Di! Keep me posted about that DJ!" She went back over to the pool chairs and sat down on one to finish her pizza.
This is great! she thought. All this time, I've been worrying about nothing! Everything is going to go perfectly today. Diamond is being nice again, and she hasn't said a mean thing for days! I knew she would come around sooner or later!
She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a microphone being tapped. She turned to look over at where DJ-pon3 had set up. Diamond was holding a microphone.
"Hey, everypony!" she trilled, showing off her pearly white teeth. The foals stopped what they were doing and cheered her name.
"Diamond! Diamond! Diamond!" they roared. Diamond grinned, loving every second of attention. Once the applause had somewhat ceased, Diamond continued.
"For your entertainment today, I've hired the hottest DJ this side of the Crystal Mountains! Here's DJ-pon3, everyone! Give her a hoof!"
The ovation was near deafening. DJ-pon3 rolled out with her turntable flashing multicolored lights. Even Silver had to cheer. Even if she wasn't all that fond of pop music, she had to admit, this was pretty cool.
A popular colt band song came on, and the fillies and colts began to dance or sing along. Silver walked around the crowd until she found Diamond, dancing with Aqua and Coronet.
"Diamond, this is awesome!" she cried, joining in on the dancing.
"Totes!" squealed Coronet, twirling around. "You have got to do this more often!"
They kept dancing for a couple more songs, until Silver suddenly felt very thirsty.
"Hey Tiara, I'm going to go get something to drink. You want anything?"
"Oh, no thanks, Silv. But I think Aqua here needs some broccoli or something, because she is going CRAZY." She pointed over to Aqua, who was rocking out to a song by 'Just Oates'.
"Got it!" she beamed, making her way through the crowd and to the snack table. She filled a paper cup up with cola, and loaded a plate with various vegetables from the veggie tray. When she came back over to Diamond, a new song was playing, and Diamond was speaking with three other fillies; one with an unruly violet mane, another with spring green eyes and a two-tone mane, and another with a bright pink bow.
Silver's eyes went wide, and she dropped her food. No... are those... She ducked around some classmates, pushing her way through the crowd over to where her friends were, near the side of the pool. Diamond's fun, lively demeanor had been replaced with her all-too-familiar look of cruel spite. Aqua and Coronet mimicked her, laughing hatefully at all the right moments. The now-frequent feeling of frightened nausea swept over Silver Spoon. She wanted to run away, for it all to be over, for none of it to be real.
I can't do this anymore...
This has to end.
She stepped forward through the mass as quickly as she could and stood behind Diamond, who didn't even seem to notice her.
"You've got some nerve showing up here like you actually fit in or something!" jeered Diamond, a vicious smirk on her face. "What, did my class invitation seriously made you think that you were normal? Ha! Yeah, right." Sweetie Belle looked ready to cry, and even the feisty Scootaloo was struck dumb.
"Diamond." said Silver, forcing her voice not to quiver. Diamond didn't seem to hear.
"All you foals are are a bunch of baby blank-flanks who will never amount to anything, no matter what stupid mark-earning plan you cook up. I wouldn't be surprised if you're still markless by the time you're all old mares!" Now it was Apple Bloom's turn to shed a tear.
"Diamond." said Silver, firmer this time.
"You wanna know why nopony likes you? Take a look at your flanks. No one worth anything would be caught dead associating with gross, ugly rejects like you."
"Diamond!" yelled Silver at the top of her lungs. Diamond finally turned, icy fire seeming to blaze in her bright blue eyes. A malevolent grin crept across her face.
"Oh good, Silvy, you're here. You almost missed the fun."
"Fun?" Silver said, fighting to control her voice. "You call mindlessly tormenting a bunch of fillies who've never done a thing to you, who have even tried to be nice to you, fun??? That's not not fun, that's sick!"
The grin seemed to recede a bit; her eyes darkened. "Are you kidding me, Silver Spoon? How dare you! You know full well that these... these... freaks are responsible for robbing us of our deserved victory! They've ruined everything for us, and you know it!"
"No, I don't know it!" shouted Silver, her voice rising. "What I know is that you've let your personal issues affect everypony around you, even me!"
"What are you talking about???" said Diamond, her eyes darting around. Some of their classmates had noticed the shouting match, and were eavesdropping.
Silver paused. "You just don't get it, do you? You're not the same Diamond Tiara that I became friends with! You've changed, Di! You've become petty and spiteful, and I'm sick of pretending that I'm okay with it!"
Diamond sputtered, seemingly lost for words. Her expression transfigured into one of livid rage, violent and deranged. Aqua and Coronet backed away, looking fearful and anxious. Silver saw in the corner of her eye that the crusaders had quietly slipped away.
Diamond seemed to compose herself after a while, looking straight into Silver Spoon's eyes.
"This is your last chance, Silver Spoon." she hissed, only allowing her voice to be heard by Silver. "Apologize, or else I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life."
Silver hesitated. This is it, she thought feverishly. This is what Diamond meant when she said to recognize my chance when it comes.
She wants me to choose.
Silver thought of what would happen if she begged forgiveness now, set her friendship with Diamond back on track. It wouldn't mean anything. She'd just stay the way she is now, mean and catty. And she'd only get worse. I'd never be able to stand up to her again.
But if I say no... my closest friend, the one pony I can always count on... she'll be gone. She'll never forgive me, and I wouldn't blame her. Her head swam with images of good times with Diamond, clashing violently with more recent memories of torment and manipulation.
Just apologize... but if you do, she'll only keep taking advantage of you... but she's your best friend!... but she's changed too much...
'Recognize it when it comes'...
When it comes...
Silver took a deep breath and looked Diamond square in the eye.
"No."
Diamond was shocked. "Excuse me??? I told you to apologize, Silver Spoon!"
"I know you did. But I'm not taking orders from you any more. I made my choice."
Diamond went stoic. "Wrong answer."
Quick as a flash, Diamond tore Silver Spoon's necklace from her throat, beads flying everywhere. She nodded to Aqua and Coronet, who grabbed Silver's front legs and heaved her into the pool. She only just had enough time to squeeze close her eyes and hold her breath before she impacted with the surface. Silver felt the rush of the chlorinated water sweep around her, nearly knocking the wind out of her. Her glasses went askew and sunk to the bottom of the pool, as did her white sun hat. She kicked her legs, frantically trying to get her head back above the water.
She finally got to the top, gasping for air. Her eyes stung from the water, and her muzzle felt like it was on fire. She noticed that Diamond and her crew had left the side of the pool, deserting her.
Coughing and sputtering, she climbed out of the side of the pool, ripping a seam of her swimsuit by accident. Dripping water, she shivered over to where her towel was, slipping once on a puddle. She dried off, grabbed her stuff, and ambled over to the gates, hardly able to see without her glasses. She was ready to go home.
When she got over to the gates, she was blocked by two familiar faces, this time not hostile, but welcoming and a bit humble.
"Hey." said Sketch, looking a little sheepish. "We... we saw what happened between you and Diamond. What you did... i-it was pretty cool."
Silver couldn't help but smile. "Thanks."
Boysenberry stepped forward, not smiling but not frowning either. "Hey, um... if you want to hang out with us sometime, that'd be fun. Y'know, if you have time or whatever."
Silver smiled a bit wider. "Wow... thanks! Hey, could I ask you guys a favor?"
"Um, sure." said Boysenberry.
"I need some help getting home. I can barely see two feet in front of me without my glasses."
Boysenberry and Sketch grinned. "Sure!" said Boysenberry. "Where do you live?"
"13 Sycamore Avenue."
Boysenberry beamed. "Hey, that's only about a block away from where I live!"
"Me, too." said Sketch. "I live over by Maple."
"Cool!" said Silver. "Maybe you guys could come over to my house sometime."
"Yeah, that'd be fun."
"I'm game."
"Awesome! Now let's go. I think I need to get home and get my spare pair of glasses."
"Yeah, lets. This party wasn't that great anyway. I'm not that big a fan of pop music."
"Me neither."
Silver smiled.
And so it begins.
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You could go with The Beach Colts or the Beatles. I like enjoy classic rock and these groups are boy bands by definition.
I believe the word you forgot to add an attempt in that sentence. Oh I don't doubt there will be some things Silver will have some level of regret, and may come close to having them out way those parts of her that know it was the right choice, but she will not rescind the choice.
Woo hoo! She did it! Go Silver Spoon!
I love that you showed what Diamond used to be like in the beginning , the problems her family were going through, and how she even started to talk like Suri in 'Broken Bodies and Broken Hearts'! That really drove it home that she was going down a dark path. I like that you took your time with the pace of this story. It really shows how agonizing it was for Silver Spoon to be around Diamond after she had her realization as to how bad she had gotten. At the same time, you portrayed well just how it is when you want someone to like you but they treat you like dirt. Overall a great story with a satisfying ending!
Ahh, I wish I could come up with something for you for The Backstreet Boys! I love them! What about 'The Back Road Colts'? I think 'Just Oates' is a fine name for a colt band though, so I don't think you really need to change it unless you happen to find an idea you like better.
Will you be marking this story as 'Complete' soon?
That was amazing! I love it!!
Great ending!
Well really liking the story so far. I really wish I'd gotten to it sooner.
I was going to wait till the very end to comment but then I got to that little 'pop quiz' at the start of the chapter. I had the biggest grin on my face when I saw the last question. I think you really got Cheerilee wonderfully here.