The Fillies Every Filly Should Know
Sweetie Belle pressed her nose against the fish tank. “Ooh!” The fog of her breath crawled across the glass as her eyes trailed up the underwater castle’s elegant spires. Glowing crystals lit the miniature windows and shimmered across the betta fish’s scales.
Ferdinand’s head poked out from under the drawbridge and peered back at the strange unicorn ogling him. Perhaps he wondered (as Silver did) why this squeaky-voiced filly with split ends dared besmirch the sanctity of this room with her presence.
“Wow, even the little chandelier inside the castle lights up and the drawbridge goes over the mossy moat—oh! There’s the fish! She’s really beautiful, Silver Spoon.”
“Yes,” said Silver Spoon. “I know.” Her coat rumpled at the sound of a hoof tapping against the glass. Through great effort, she kept her eyes on her work and her voice neutral. “His name is Ferdinand and he doesn’t appreciate it when ponies hit the side of his house. I thought I asked you nicely not to touch anything.”
Sweetie Belle curbed her enthusiasm to a mumble. “Oh, right. Sorry.”
“Just don’t do it again, please.”
Silver Spoon turned her attention back to her schedule book. Speaking of Ferdinand, he’s due for a visit to Miss Fluttershy’s in a couple of weeks for a checkup. He’ll like seeing her more than seeing the vet; Fluttershy keeps those fancy mealworms for treats. Chewing her pen cap, she considered the rainbow of listed dates and times. A gold star marked tomorrow, the first day of school, along with other important dates and appointments.
Moving up a grade, plus an influx of new foals—all of whom Silver had yet to know beyond coat color and cutie mark—had forced a drastic schedule shift at Ponyville Schoolhouse. Miss Cheerilee now split the day between older and younger students. They’d all spend mornings together, but everypony Silver’s age left in the early afternoon to focus on apprenticeships, homework, and other commitments.
The summer’s work study project, Silver now realized, had been purposely timed for this very reason and she couldn’t help but admire Miss Cheerilee’s foresight.
Silver’s eyes rolled up from the schedule book to squint at Sweetie Belle. The unicorn rocked back on her haunches trying to see the top of the bookshelves. Apparently, she took a strong interest in Silver’s Equestrian Filly doll collection.
Admirable foresight or not, Silver still couldn’t forgive Cheerilee for indirectly imposing this blank-flanked menace upon her house. The work study project ended a week ago, but it hadn’t stopped the voice lessons. She’d stalled it for as long as possible, but politeness (and Mother) dictated that eventually Silver Spoon had to bite the bridle and open up her room.
After all, polite young ladies are courteous and welcoming, even to the unwelcome.
The schedule book’s pages fluttered under Sweetie Belle’s pepperminty breath.
I really hate being a polite young lady, sometimes.
Silver Spoon flicked an ear. “Do you need something?”
“Oh. Uh, not exactly.” Sweetie Belle spoke softly, as if in a library or a museum, and seemed to choose her words carefully. “You looked like you were concentrating on something and I… was wondering if you’re still working on the homework?”
“Sweetie Belle, don’t tell me you waited until the last minute to write your essay. We had all summer.” Actually, Mother started the voice lessons sometime around early July, so Sweetie had more like two months. Close enough. “And no, I’m not. I finished my homework two months ago.”
“No, I finished mine, too...” Under her breath, Sweetie Belle grumbled, “Sheesh, it’s not a race.” Which meant she had finished it last week at the latest. “I saw all that stuff on your desk, and thought there might be extra stuff I forgot about.”
Flicking her ears, Sweetie Belle tilted her head at the five page essay on top of Silver’s binder. Not at Silver’s own Perfecting the Practice of Partying Properly, but the essay poking out from under it: Litigation, Liars, and Dirty Rotten Swindlers: My Summer at City Hall. A duplicate essay with red marks crawling through the sentences and margins sat at the edge of the desk.
Sweetie Belle frowned.
Silver Spoon locked eyes and lobbed a colder frown back. “What?”
“Why is Diamond Tiara’s essay in your mouthwriting, Silver Spoon?”
“Diamond has better things to do today than edit. I moved a couple of words around so she can rewrite it tonight, if you must know.”
By which, she’d taken the scramble of bullet point notes and journal entries and recomposed them into a linear essay. Diamond still did the bulk of the work; Silver had only… sophisticated it.
Silver Spoon also should have gotten the redone essay to Di an hour ago, so she could look it over and type it up. Yet, somepony simply had to openly wonder what Silver’s room looked like, and here they were. “I did her a favor. She’s got a lot to do today.”
“Yeah, sure. Doing what, eating cookies by the pool? School hasn’t even started yet.” Sweetie Belle swished her short tail and pretended to admire the framed Manehattan Ballet poster behind Silver’s head. “What’s she got to be busy with? If you ask me—”
“And I didn’t.”
“—she just made you do her homework ’cause she didn’t wanna write it.”
Silver’s head snapped up. “Diamond Tiara is busy, I told you. Besides lots of mark-related stuff, she’s painstakingly planning out tomorrow’s acrobatic exhibition. The one she promised to perform for the whole school, including you, so you could show a little gratitude, thanks.”
It was also the exhibition Silver Spoon should have helped prep, if not for Mother’s insistence that Silver’s harpsichord practice coincide with Sweetie Belle’s voice work. Why did Mother suddenly care about the harpsichord anyway? Last year, Silver went weeks without practicing a note, and nopony said anything to her at all. It wasn’t fair.
How had Di’s acrobatics practice gone, anyhow? Silver tapped her hooves together, still unsure how the hype machine ballooned from “I took gymnastics lessons on vacation” to “I’m a world-class gymnast and my gold-medalist teacher was so impressed she cried”.
Diamond Tiara could indeed do a nice cartwheel flip, and she could pose one-hooved on the balance beam, but Silver Spoon didn’t know if that could match the hype. Should she prepare for damage control?
Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle had gone back to frowning at Diamond’s city legislation essay. “I don’t get it, Silver. If she’s your friend, why does she make you do her homework all the time?”
“She doesn’t!” Silver took good notes and sometimes let Di look at her homework. Totally different. “I just help her out sometimes.” She crinkled her nose at Sweetie’s skeptical glance. “You’re not the only pony who can help out her friends, you know.”
Besides, it’s the least I can do after the… awkwardness with Berry Pinch. Silver felt her stomach sag with the weight of her lunch. Not that I really have to.
Everything worked out in Silver’s favor in the end. Her good reputation topped Pinch’s claim. That was what reputations were for. They protected and supported one’s credibility.
Silver ran her hoof through her mane and sighed. You won, Silver Spoon. You should enjoy it. The churn of her stomach disagreed. It would go away, though. With time and enough good karma, it would all go away.
What happened isn’t even my fault. It would have happened either way. A friendship between a scruffy unicorn and a high society earth pony couldn’t last anyway, right?
It’s got nothing to do with me at all.
Silver hadn’t even been there. She’d stayed home, recounting the family history and minding her own darn business. As young ladies ought to.
“Well, okay.” Sweetie Belle shrugged halfheartedly. “If you say so.”
“I do say so. You don’t know the first thing about it, Sweetie Belle.” Silver inclined her head towards the spoon on her flank. “Ponies who’ve actually made something of themselves—important ponies, worthwhile ponies—have busy schedules to keep.”
The schedule book snapped shut a few inches from Sweetie’s nose. Silver rose from her chair, tail twisting and lashing behind her. She sneered at Sweetie Belle’s bare flank over the rim of her glasses. “But don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll understand what that's like.” Venom laced Silver’s delicate smile. “Eventually.”
“I—” The little unicorn flattened her reddening ears. She twisted up her lips and huffed under her breath and ground her hoof into Silver’s expensive rug, but she didn’t do more than that. Of course she didn’t. “I… think maybe I’m gonna head home,” she finally said. “Early day tomorrow.”
Silver Spoon settled back in her chair and nosed through Di’s essay for a fourth read-through. She didn’t look up when the door opened. “You do that.”
Silver Spoon watched Cheerilee’s expression through the schoolhouse window. The teacher nodded and smiled to herself when she reached Diamond’s essay—easy to spot, as the only typed essay in the class—before she slipped it into her folder. No signs of suspicion, yet. So far so good, but…
“I’m not grading until the weekend, Silver Spoon.” Miss Cheerilee didn’t even look up. “You’ll have to wait until next Monday like everypony else.”
“Yeah, c’mon, Silvie.” Diamond Tiara tugged Silver’s tail. “We’ve got stuff to do.”
The two of them passed into the playground, but Silver still kept looking over her shoulder every few seconds.
“What are you so worried about, anyway? I told you she wouldn’t think a typed paper’s weird and I was right. My house has, like, five typewriters in it.”
“I know, but still. I’m one of the only other foals with a typewriter.” Cheerilee might notice a similar writing style or different vocabulary or something else Silver didn’t take into account. “It stands out.”
Clusters of classmates cut themselves down the middle to make room for the pair. Ears pricked and heads turned. Whispers blossomed into excited murmurs and pointing. A filly with a hedgehog cutie mark waved. Cotton Cloudy and Tornado Bolt said hello.
“So? That’s a good thing, Silver Spoon.” Tresses of curls fluttered around Diamond’s shoulders with a practiced head toss. She winked at the filly with the hedgehog mark. “How’s it going, kid? Having a good first day?” Before the filly had a chance to answer, Diamond turned back to Silver. “The best essay in class should stand out. It’s supposed to do that.”
Silver Spoon shrugged. “I know, but I still should have made it to your house so you could copy it yourself. Plus, I missed all the prep work for—”
In the tetherball courts, Berry Pinch looked up from her game with The Dink. She scowled at the sight of them and smacked the ball so hard Dinky had to duck out of the way.
“...for the acrobatics demonstration today. I really should’ve—”
“For the millionth time, Silver, it’s fine.” Diamond Tiara paused a brief moment to sneer at the Goofsaders playing four square with the shrimpy Trottinghammer. “I handled the whole thing before lunchtime. I didn’t need you.”
Somehow, that didn’t bolster Silver Spoon’s confidence. “Alright, Di.”
At the far end of the playground, Silver noticed Diamond’s butler, Randolph. He stood in the shade of a beech tree, reading a magazine. A gymnastics ball and a box of bowling pins sat beside his hooves.
“What’s Randolph doing here?”
Diamond only smiled and rescanned her surroundings. “Everypony’s here, right?”
Six minutes after the bell, and twenty minutes before the next. Too early for the older foals to have left yet, and plenty of time before the younger foals’ afternoon class. They didn’t quite have everypony—no sign of that colt with the stupid propeller hat—but they had everypony that mattered. “Yep. Call it.”
The wide expanse of the field carried Diamond’s voice all the way to the sandbox. “Yoo-hooo, gather ‘round! It’s ti-iiime.”
As their classmates assembled, Silver felt her coat prickle between her shoulder blades. An unconscious barrier kept everypony a good distance away, but they still felt too close. She’d never fully realized how many ponies now went to this school. If Diamond flubbed this, it’d be in front of everypony.
Diamond graced the audience with her prizewinning smile. “As you all know, I had promised to put on an amazing first-time-ever acrobatic display for you today!” While the crowd cheered, she gently inclined her head towards Silver. Follow my lead.
Silver Spoon nodded.
“I know; it’s so exciting.” The cheers died down around her. Diamond let the excitement simmer in the air a second. “But…” Her face fell into a heartbreaking pout. With watery, regretful eyes, she admitted, “I’m tired.”
I’m tired? Silver blinked. That’s really the best cover story she can come up with?
“Awwwww!” The audience sagged with disappointment. A couple of “oh nos” and “poor Diamonds” peppered the sighs and moans. One colt looked ready to cry.
Then again, if it works, it works. Silver saw it now: a windup of disappointment before the pitch. A smaller compromise to cover the larger one. The fur between Silver’s shoulders lay flat again.
Yes, nopony worked a crowd quite like Diamond Tiara. Ever altruistic, she smiled to sell her alternative. “But I did not want to disappoint you all, so I brought my butler, Randolph to do them for me.”
Silver Spoon’s supportive smile wavered. Her gaze flicked between Randolph’s trembling legs and knobbed knees. The stallion knew how to save a slumber party, sure, but come on. The poor fellow barely looked like he could even make the walk home without collapsing.
She could literally hear the creak of his bones as Randolph crouched low to the ground, squinted his rheumy eyes, and… performed a perfect somersault.
Then four back flips. And then a cartwheel. And a flawless pirouette on his front hooves.
The crowd erupted in deafening cheers and whistles. Necks craned and twisted as the butler’s shadow sailed over the crowd in a five-foot jump.
On cue, Silver stepped in. “That was amazing, Diamond Tiara!” Truly, it was. Between the mile-high stakes, the hundreds of ways it could have gone wrong, and tightrope walking an unhappy crowd, it could have been disastrous. Still, she’d stuck the landing without a hitch.
She hadn’t lied at all. Diamond Tiara’s social gymnastics really were a marvel to behold.
“I know.” Diamond chuckled under her breath. “I don’t know how I do it. Like I said: no problem.” She nodded towards the backflipping butler. “Dad says Randolph used to tour with the Royal Canterlot Circus a long time ago. In, like… college or something? I dunno, it’s whatever, but I knew he’d pull it off.” She flicked her tail and took her victory lap around the playground, Silver close behind. “He can pull anything off.”
Indeed, Randolph’s performance engrossed the playground to the point where nopony noticed when Diamond left the field altogether. Silver adjusted her glasses and frowned. Almost nopony.
The Cutie Markless Goofsaders watched them from the four square field, muttering to themselves. Likely muttering about Diamond Tiara, and by the look of it, muttering nothing good. Bloom actually had the nerve to roll her eyes at them.
Diamond Tiara followed her gaze. Slowly, the triumph drained from her face.
Under different circumstances, Silver Spoon might have suggested they let it go. She might have told Diamond that it didn’t matter what a bunch of jealous losers thought of them.
After all, biased judges sat on panels all the time. It didn’t matter how well one performed; if the judges hated you, forget that ten out of ten. Still, Diamond’s perfect score had whittled down to a nine out of ten: almost perfect. An A-minus.
More than anypony, Silver Spoon understood the humiliation of an A-minus.
The tip of Diamond’s tail curled thoughtfully. “Squeaky Belle held you up again yesterday, didn’t she?”
“I had to show her my room. Ugh, she kept touching my stuff.” Silver flattened her ears and scowled. “There’s a nose print on my fish tank. And like, if this was a one-time thing, it’d be fine, but it’s like every time she comes over, Mother finds some reason for the blank flank to stick around the house. Last week, she mentioned how Rarity got into Fashion Week in Manehattan, so naturally we had to hear all about it.” She allowed herself a snort. “Like we really needed a second-hoof account of the fashion district from some loser who’s never even been there.”
Scootaloo’s head snapped up. Finally, one of them had noticed their approach. She signaled Apple Bloom, who stepped back warily, but Sweetie Belle stared into space and didn’t seem to notice at all. What a ditz.
“Now, dearest Silver Spoon, you’re not being fair.” Close enough to be heard, Diamond’s voice thickened, syrupy and sweet. A honey trap. “You don’t know for certain; maybe our little Sweetie Belle’s moving up in the world. Who knows? Maybe Rarity’s planning on introducing her to all the VIPs on her next Manehattan trip.”
“Well…” Silver clicked her tongue. “I suppose it’s possible.”
“Oh, more than possible, I’m sure. Tell her all about it, Sweetie B—” Diamond frowned.
The unicorn snickered to herself at some private joke. She hadn’t noticed them.
“Hey.” Diamond clapped her hooves. When that didn’t work, she tried rapping on Sweetie’s thick skull. “Hey! Can you hear me?”
“Huh? What?” Sweetie Belle snapped back into Equestria, blinking at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as if they’d grown another tail.
Maybe she didn’t have Apple Bloom’s obnoxious volume, or Scootaloo’s terrible… everything, but something about Sweetie’s oblivious cheer set Silver’s teeth on edge.
A smile curled Silver’s lips. I’m going to enjoy this.
“I was asking,” said Diamond, who rarely repeated herself and did not appreciate doing so, “if your sister Rarity’s taking you to Manehattan anytime soon.”
“Because if she is, maybe you can meet up with us while we hang out with a bunch of famous celebrities.” Silver Spoon wondered if Pot Luck counted as a celebrity. With all the commercial success and critical buzz for Hinny of the Hills, she probably did. Sweetie Belle ate up that Bridleway stuff like fresh hay. In fact, Diamond could even snag a meet-and-greet with the cast, complete with photo-ops. The grin widened. That’ll drive them all crazy.
“Wow, that’s…” Apple Bloom hesitated, confused and still a little wary. “…actually pretty nice of you guys.”
Sweetie Belle took a few steps back, eying her fellow Goofsaders for support. “Actually…”
For two seconds, it almost seemed like she might say yes. Silver paled. Would that mean they’d actually have to honor that offer? A young lady keeps her word, but I did say “maybe”, so that could loophole us. Not if she mentions it to Mother, though.
“My sister hasn’t offered to take me to Manehattan anytime soon.”
Oh, thank Luna. That was a scary two seconds.
“Yeah.” Diamond’s grin turned wicked. “We figured.”
Silver Spoon’s high-pitched laugh jittered with relief. Maybe Di had a point about her overthinking things too much. They were fine.
Diamond clacked hooves with Silver. “Bump.”
“Bump!”
“Sugar lump rump!”
Much better. Silver laughed again, confident and victorious. She nudged Diamond’s hoof. “Oooh, watch out, Di. I think the marshmallow’s mad at us.”
Diamond bit back a snicker. “Maybe she’s roasting.”
A furious blush colored Sweetie Belle’s pale coat, and her squeaky voice pitched into an angry squeal. “Oh yeah?! W-well, I don’t have to go all the way to Manehattan to hang out with super cool ponies!”
Yeah, sure. Silver rolled her eyes. Let me guess: the “real” cool ponies are the friends you made along the way or some other D-list cliché.
“Me and my friends hang out with Princess Twilight all the time!”
Or… Or not.
As the full scope of that sentence processed, the seconds slowed to a molasses crawl. In slow motion, Sweetie Belle stamped her hoof, turned, and stormed off in a huff.
Silver’s mouth worked wordlessly, deconstructing and reconstructing what she’d just heard.
Item One: “Princess Twilight”. Specific example. A provable specific example. A BIG provable specific example. One that anypony could fact check. Not an example to lie about.
Silver’s hoof rubbed the bottom of her chin.
Item Two: “Hang Out”. Not “see”. Not “meet with”, not “visit”, not “tutor under”, and not “talk to”. Hang out. As in, we-are-on-a-first-name-basis “hang out”.
Silver Spoon paled again.
Item Three: Not a Lie (probably). Ponies spat out random stuff in a crisis. More often, they spat the truth. Silver had witnessed enough of Diamond’s tirades to recognize a genuine outburst. And Sweetie’s outburst was too emotional. Too specific. Too real.
Slowly, Silver turned and saw her expression reflected on Diamond’s face. Silently, they arrived at the same terrible conclusion.
We have made a horrible mistake.
Diamond Tiara snapped out of it first. “Damage control.” She tore off before Silver Spoon could agree. “H-hey! Wait up!”
The rapture of Actual-Princess-Twilight-Sparkle-An-Actual-Alicorn-Is-Actually-Talking-To-Me-And-Oh-My-Gosh-I’m-In-Her-House sent Silver Spoon swooning on her hooves and squealing like a foal.
Rainbows burst from the clouds. Silver walked on air. A heavenly chorus sang from the rooftops. Everything was perfect and beautiful and good and Silver Spoon’s shoes looked great and nothing could go wrong ever, ever again.
It didn’t last. Euphoria never did.
Stunned, she sat engulfed by towers of bookshelves and the scent of aged paper and glue and jasmine incense. Golden Oak Library, Silver realized, still looked and felt… exactly like the same library. The same sign hung outside. The same tasteful upper middle class décor decorated the walls.
Indeed, the folded wings upon Princess Twilight Sparkle’s back and the tiara upon the display shelf (between the autobiographies and graphic novels) were the only sign royalty lived here at all.
Nothing had changed. Everything had changed.
And in the thick of it all, Scootaloo—trashy, boorish, chipped-hoof Scootaloo—giggled and chatted with a Princess as if Twilight Sparkle were still an ordinary librarian.
Once the euphoria evaporated, Silver found herself with the unshakeable feeling—no, the knowledge—that something, somewhere, had gone terribly awry.
Silver Spoon pressed her hoof to her temple. Her heart hadn’t stopped pounding from the minute the door opened and she didn’t know how to make it stop. Overwhelmed by the surreality of it all, she felt faint again.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Something sharp poked Silver’s shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
A purple dragon staggered back, his slitted pupils stretched wide. He jerked his claws back like he’d been burned. “Oop-sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you.”
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Princess Twilight Sparkle all turned from their tasks to stare at them. Scootaloo remained hunched over her disassembled unicycle, but Silver saw a smile wind along the side of her mouth.
Diamond rested her hoof upon Silver’s trembling withers. “It’s fine. She’s just really, really excited to be here.” The hoof patted hard. “Right, Silver Spoon?”
“Uh-huh.” Silver’s unfocused stare hovered over Scootaloo. The smile had become a smirk. “I’ve never been in a princess’s house before. It is very exciting.”
The dragon—stars curse it, knew she’d heard his name before… Spiff? Sprat?—lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “If you say so. Can I get you guys anything? Water or tea, maybe? Oh—I’m Spike, by the way.” He held out his claws to shake and grinned hopefully. “And you know, I can also make a mean plate of nachos.” For good measure, he winked.
Silver tried to smile and gently shook Spike’s claws. “Tea would be lovely, thank you.” Her eye trailed back to Scootaloo’s smirk. It had widened into a grin. “Do you have any jasmine or lavender?”
“Oh, you bet! Jasmine’s one of Twilight’s favorites.” Spike went on tiptoe and called, “Hey, Twi, I’m gonna brew up some jasmine. You want some?”
So Ponyville’s Princess Twilight Sparkle favored jasmine tea. Good to know.
“And I’ll have some of those nachos.” Diamond Tiara spared Spike a nod. “Thanks.” Without looking back or dropping her stiff smile, she hissed out of the side of her mouth, “You wanna pull yourself together? In case you didn’t notice, we’re in an alicorn princess’s house.”
“Sorry, I’m… it’s a shock, is all. I didn’t really think all that stuff about being buddy-buddy with a princess could be true.” Silver peeked over her shoulder. Scootaloo’s grin had spread to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Were they mocking them? Simply having a good time? Having a good time mocking them? Silver couldn’t tell.
Her ears drooped. “Everything’s upside down, Di.”
Memories of the past twenty minutes churned her stomach. The out-of-nowhere trump card. All that kissing up to shove their hooves in the door. The mad scramble to sweep a year of bitter rivalry and loathing under the rug. Practically pleading to get into the good graces of those grubby Crusaders.
All standard procedure for creating good connections, yes, but this felt several steps below cuddling up to Palanquin for a party invitation. That was just business. This was just humiliating.
“They’re holding all the cards, Diamond.” Silver pressed herself against the coffee table. “I don’t like it.”
“Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.” Diamond Tiara tossed her mane back with a noncommittal hum. “Sometimes a filly needs to clench her teeth and own up to their screw-ups.” She examined a sketchbook sitting at the edge of the table. In blue ink, somepony had sketched a weird hexagonal box and a pointy tree. Smaller scribbles and notes and labels ate up the rest of the page, but Silver Spoon couldn’t parse out the words.
“You know about that more than anypony.” Slowly, Diamond looked up from the notebook. “Right, Silver Spoon?”
Silver tilted her ears, trying to decode Diamond’s tone. It didn’t have the honeyed lilt preceding a trap, but sounded too firm for genuine calm. That could imply any number of things. She tread lightly. “Excuse me?”
Flicking her tail, Diamond narrowed her eyes and whispered, “We wouldn’t have had to scramble if you didn’t provoke Sweetie Belle like that.”
Silver Spoon drew back with a disbelieving huff. “Excuse me?!” She ducked her head down, nose to nose with Diamond under the coffee table. “I beg your pardon, Miss Diamond Dazzle Tiara, but I am not the one who took the first shot.”
“Yeah, the first shot you backed me up on. Really, this was all your idea.” She blinked impassively at Silver’s scowl. “What, you’re gonna tell me you’re not the one who’s been glaring daggers at the squeaky marshmallow all day?”
Unbelievable. “I’m also the one who said we needed to lay off the Goofsaders, Diamond. I’ve been saying that. Since. November!” Tiny stomps punctuated Silver’s every word. “I told you over and over and over those three are nothing but trouble. I told you like a million times!”
“Oh yeah,” said Diamond. “I remember: ‘Leave it alone, Di.’ ‘They’re not worth it, Di.’ Funny how all of that suddenly slipped your mind this afternoon, huh?” Slowly, she arched an eyebrow. A cold chuckle rippled under her breath. “Weird how it’s suddenly worth it when the Goofsaders step on your turf.”
“That…” Thrown off course, Silver paused. “That’s not—”
Princess Twilight Sparkle’s hooves clicked upon the wooden floor.
They froze.
“Hello, girls?” Kneeling down, the princess poked her head under the table. The tips of her mane brushed the floor. “Everything alright down here?”
Diamond’s head jerked up and banged the bottom of the table. “Ow! O-of course, Princess Twilight!” A stiff—but gorgeous—smile flashed across her face. “We’re totally, okay. We wanted to—”
“—check out this beautiful décor,” finished Silver Spoon. She rubbed the coffee table’s tree roots before she came out from under it. “Like this amazing coffee table! Trees as part of the architecture, that’s an earth pony neo-classical style, right?”
Princess Twilight Sparkle rubbed the back of her neck, blinking at the circular, unobtrusive structure of the room. “That sounds about right, I think. The table came with the library, so I don’t really know.”
A teapot, two cups and saucers, and a bowl of gooey nachos awaited them in the center of the table. Strings of cheese stretched and snapped in the princess’s aura as she ate a couple of nachos. The crumbs on her muzzle didn’t diminish her regal smile one bit. “You don’t need to be so nervous, you know. I might be an alicorn, but I’m still just a pony the same as you are.”
Together, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon nodded and chimed, “Yes, Princess Twilight.” Once the princess went back to supervising Apple Bloom’s potions and pot of dirt, they let go of the breath they’d been holding.
Diamond took a seat on one of the cushions and grabbed a hoofful of nachos. “Anyway, the point is, we got our hooves in the door.”
She brushed their argument under the rug, or else quietly decided she’d already won it. “For now, that’s good enough, but we gotta do better than that, Silver. We’re only here by the skin of our teeth and all my persuasive skills turned up to eleven.” Diamond glanced down at the tiara upon her flank. Beads of sweat shone along her damp hairline. “But here’s the good news: The Crusaders are thinking about the individual, not the market.”
“Mm. It’s still all about the schoolyard for them.” Silver Spoon cradled a warm teacup in her hooves and inhaled. The jasmine tea steeped into her before the first sip. Much better. “I don’t think they know the market even exists.”
Even as she said it, Silver couldn’t imagine it. The potential influence of a connection like Princess Twilight Sparkle boggled the mind. All three blank flanks hit the societal jackpot and acted like they’d won pennywhistles at the fair.
What would that even be like? Skipping up to a princess’s doorstep to pal around with royalty… no thoughts about what it could mean for your future. Your daughters’ futures. None at all.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders lived in the Today and the Now. What a strange place to live.
Over the ridge of her teacup, Silver Spoon watched Sweetie Belle’s broom struggle into the air. The broom lifted several inches before clattering to the floor. Sweetie Belle squinted her eyes and tried again. Perhaps sensing eyes upon her, Apple Bloom glanced up from her potion and stared back at Silver, fretful and frowning. Scootaloo bent over her unicycle wheel, barely aware any of them were there at all.
Although she couldn’t quite pinpoint why, Silver felt an odd twinge of… sadness? Jealousy? Jealousy made more sense. Anypony would feel a little jealous of fillies who’d become friends with a princess.
Silver folded her hooves and considered the bookshelves arching over them. She spotted Silver Chalice’s Ancient Magic & the Modern Earth wedged between Sky Dancer’s Essential Stormsmith Grimoire and a collection of Star Swirl the Bearded’s essays.
Gently, she said, “We know they hold all the cards, but they don’t. Not yet, anyway.” Her eyes fell back to Diamond Tiara. “I think we can use that.”
Diamond nodded. “So before they figure it out, we need to turn this Crusader truce into a merger.”
“A merger?” Building bridges was one thing, but an actual joining of the cliques? Had they truly become that desperate?
“Okay, maybe not a full merger, but at least an alliance.” Diamond Tiara scooped up the last of the nachos, one eye on Silver Spoon and one eye watching the Crusaders. “And we need it soon. Like, tomorrow soon. We’ve got a week before the next Twilight Time, so we’ve gotta seal the deal before then. Let’s hook ‘em with a fun weekend. Sweetie Belle’s lessons are Sunday afternoons, right?”
Silver Spoon considered it. “I could invite her to dinner. No, invite her whole family for dinner.” Mother would like that, too. She hadn’t thrown a proper dinner party since the move, and a small one wouldn’t stress her out much.
“Right, and I’ll buy Scootaloo an arcade visit on Saturday, and then on Sunday I’ll… I dunno, take Apple Bloom on a hayride or whatever.”
“So, what do we do in the meantime, Di?”
Diamond licked a spot of cheese off her fetlock. “Hate to say it, but we’re gonna have to cut our princess visit short.” She held up a hoof before Silver could protest. “Can’t help it, Silvie, we need all the time we can get. We’ll also need to split up to rope in everypony.”
What in Celestia’s name are you up to, Diamond? Silver Spoon set down her teacup. “When you say ‘everypony’, you don’t mean...?”
“EVERYpony.” A wry, clever light gleamed in Diamond’s eyes. “It’s simple supply and demand. The marshmallow wants to be a big shot?” She lifted her teacup and grinned. “Let’s make her one.”
“Supply so that later we can demand. I love it.” They toasted to their future success.
Silver frowned. And yet…
And yet, the prickling at her neck still hadn’t gone away. Silver couldn’t help the feeling that she’d missed something. Perhaps something even bigger than schmoozing with a princess.
Praise the sun, moon, and stars for the power of princess popularity.
The majority of Ponyville’s foals wouldn’t need more than their presence, a namedrop, and hints of a possible—but not promised—opportunity to get up close and personal with Equestria’s brand new alicorn princess.
Obviously, Diamond and Silver couldn’t cover all of Ponyville in half an afternoon, but that didn’t matter. If they snagged the blabbermouths and the popular foals, they snagged the school. Peer pressure and the schoolyard grapevine could handle it from there. Tomorrow, they could assess who’d picked up on Twilight Time and corral the stragglers.
Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara charted their respective courses and split up at Town Hall.
Diamond took the east side, where most of the new families had moved in. There, she’d acquaint herself with the newbies, along with any major players who could be potential tough cases.
She’d catch Rumble first—big with the pegasus crowd, but still sore at Diamond because the colt seriously could not take a joke. He also lived a block away from the graveyard where Dinky did ghost research.
Of all the foals, The Dink needed legitimate persuasion, not just breadcrumbs. She’d already worked with Princess Twilight over the summer; the novelty would be gone. Dink had massive pull, and they couldn’t afford to lose that support.
According to Pinkie Pie (who heard it from White Lightning), Pipsqueak—a rising star in the colt circuit—and Cotton Cloudy (the other top pegasus) had gone for a swim in the lake, so Diamond could get both of them on her way home.
That left Silver Spoon on the west side, rounding up notable ponies and major gossips in the lower rungs. None of them could shake the world, but all of them had integrity coming out of their ears. Their good word stretched an inch wide, but miles deep.
In Sugar Cube Corner, Silver Spoon shared an Ultra Mega Banana Split Surprise with Twist and Truffle Shuffle, both of them eager to ask about Twilight’s adventures.
After that, Silver played a quick game of Old Mare with Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie, who swooned at the idea of meeting a real princess (Sunny quickly assured Peachy that she’d always be her princess).
In record time, Silver convinced Featherweight (and his darling ears) that Twilight Sparkle would be the perfect subject for the Foal Free Press’ first issue of the year.
Tornado Bolt couldn’t wait for Twilight Time after Silver pointed out certain similarities between the princess and the Masked Matterhorn.
That left Silver Spoon with the last member of the schoolyard elite. The only one Diamond hadn’t met on the east side. The second most popular unicorn in class, and The Dink’s current best friend: Berry Pinch.
Notably, Diamond Tiara left Pinch off her list of important foals, and Silver suspected that it didn’t matter if she reeled the unicorn in or not. Personal opinions and falling outs didn’t change the popularity ranks, however, and snubbing The Dink’s bestie was unwise.
Besides, the two of them had more than Twilight Time to discuss.
Silver Spoon found Berry Pinch in her backyard, harvesting grapes with one of the new fillies—the yellow one with the purple pigtails who talked too much. She peered over the Berrys’ gate, watching them comb through the vines, and waited to be noticed.
Berry Pinch’s right ear twitched in Silver’s direction. Gently, she levitated a grape bunch and snipped the vine with her teeth. The ear swiveled back into place.
Silver sighed. Yeah, didn’t think it’d be that easy. “Hello, Berry Pinch. Um, what are you up to?”
“Dragon slaying.” Grapes plopped into a collection basket. Berry Pinch’s horn lit and grabbed more. “What’s it look like?”
The new filly’s head bobbed up with wide, curious eyes. “Oh, hi there, Silver Spoon. Did you come to visit us?”
“Sure didn’t come to help harvest grapes,” muttered Pinch. “It’d mess up her coat.”
Silver slung a foreleg over the gate, eying the dark stains around the fillies’ legs. Grape juice and dirt and little bits of vine leaves crawled all the way to their gaskins. From a distance, it looked like they wore purple socks.
“Well… Not my original plan, no, but now that you mention it Berry Pinch, I—” She grit her teeth and tried to forget last Saturday’s sixty-bit hooficure. “—would love to help. If you need any, I mean.”
Another bunch of grapes plopped into the basket. Berry Pinch rolled her neck back, rubbing her stiff withers. “If you wanna. No shine off my horn. Just be sure to bite the stems, not the grapes. They’re really ripe and fall off if you get too rough.” She clicked her tongue as Silver made her way over. “Must be real big.”
“What is?” A loose grape squished under Silver’s hoof. So much for new horseshoes.
“Whatever you’re willing to get all gross and dirty for.” Finally, Berry Pinch looked at her. “Lemme guess: Diamond Tiara sent you, right?” She flicked grape juice off her hooves with a snort. “Figures. Won’t even own up to her own acrobatic act; of course she sends somepony else to talk to the broke lowlife.”
The yellow filly’s head ducked between the vines. She curled her braided tail around her haunch uncomfortably and counted the full baskets under her breath. Judging how soon she could escape.
It still felt too soon to appraise the newbies, but Silver had seen this one in the notable company more than once. When she told a joke, the other new foals laughed, and when she talked, they listened.
Silver Spoon moved fast. She held out a sticky hoof and smiled. “You moved in a few weeks ago, right? In the house with the blue mailbox? I don’t think we’re really met. My name’s Silver Spoon.”
“I know.” The filly took Silver’s hoof and shook it as if it were made of glass. She smiled. “Everypony knows who you are. I’m Boysenberry. Hello.”
“And how do you know Miss Berry Pinch, Boysenberry?” Silver tilted her head to see the blackberries on the filly’s flank. “Are you related?”
“Mom and Boysenberry’s dad do business sometimes. They’re old friends.” Berry Pinch narrowed her eyes, a not-so-subtle warning against evading the subject.
Gently, Silver Spoon chewed through a vine and lowered the grapes into a basket. “Pleasantries before business, Berry Pinch. I don’t think we need to drag Boysenberry here into drama right out of the gate, do you?”
“Drama?” Boysenberry flipped around so fast her braids smacked the vines. Her neck stretched out, as if she might somehow catch a better view of something. “What kind of drama?”
Berry Pinch lashed her tail and stamped. The grape stains on her hooves stopped at the fetlock.
Interesting.
Silver gathered up another grape bundle and glanced back to the thick socks of mashed grapes upon Boysenberry’s legs. For somepony with berries for a cutie mark, she doesn’t handle them well.
The filly had spilled more grape juice than Silver Spoon and Berry Pinch combined, and Silver had never touched a grapevine in her life. She didn’t seem too enthusiastic about harvesting, either. Silver’s eyes trailed down to the ripe, juicy berries on the yellow flank. Could her talent be for something else?
“I’m sorry, but young ladies don’t share other ponies’ personal business, Boysenberry.” Silver baited the hook. “It’s like I told Scootaloo this afternoon on our way to—” She put a hoof over her mouth. “Oh! Forget it—it’s nothing.”
Silver Spoon returned to harvesting grapes, and said no more.
The vineyard rustled with Boysenberry’s fidgeting. “No, what? What?” She buzzed around Silver Spoon like a nosy little hummingbird. Her voice squeezed into a desperate whine. “Aw, come on, whaaaaaaat?”
“I told you, Boysenberry.” With great effort, Silver kept her eyes on the grapes and maintained her poker face. “It’s nothing.”
“Nuh-uh! It’s TOTALLY something!” Boysenberry bounced on her hooves. “Ohhh, you can tell me, Silver Spoon, I promise! Please?”
“Absolutely not,” said Silver Spoon. “The princess would never forgive me.”
Poor little Boysenberry practically flew out of her horseshoes. “Princess?!”
“Oh, come on, Boysenberry! Don’t tell me you’re falling for this garbage.” Berry slammed her grapes down and whirled around. “I don’t care how fancy schmancy Silver Snob says her parents are, she does not know a princess.”
“Yes, that’s right, Pinch.” Silver grinned, sly and enigmatic. “Of course I don’t.”
Boysenberry salivated.
Berry Pinch went back to harvesting grapes.
Silver watched them, tail twitching.
The original plan didn’t account for Boysenberry. A filly thirsty for gossip juicy as a blackberry could be useful, but with her around, Silver had no chance of a serious talk with Pinch.
If Boysenberry was going to spread gossip, then she had better spread the correct gossip.
“Listen, Di didn’t send me over, Berry Pinch. I came here on my own.” Silver clipped a vine and spat out a leaf. “Pretty sure Diamond doesn’t care either way, but personally I thought you should know something. By tomorrow morning, everypony who matters is gonna know. I thought you shouldn’t be left out.”
“Why are you here, Silver Spoon?” The unicorn sagged against the wicker basket. Her face slumped in what was probably supposed to be irritation. Instead, she just looked tired. “I mean, why are you really here?”
“To tell you something.” Silver side-eyed the new kid. “But I didn’t know you’d have company.” She leaned over the grape basket and stared at Boysenberry. “Can you keep a secret?”
Boysenberry’s eyes grew wider than wagon wheels. “Yes.”
She’d tell every single pony in her neighborhood by sundown. Minimum.
Guile, sweet-talk, and half-truths didn’t work on Berry Pinch anymore. Thus, Miss Silver Spoon drew the strongest weapon in her arsenal: the truth.
“I just came back from Princess Twilight Sparkle’s house.” It still felt weird saying “house,” and not “castle” or “palace”. “We tagged along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders; they’ve been taking lessons with the princess every week for a while, now. Up close and personal, one-on-one. They call it Twilight Time.”
“Seriously?!” gasped Boysenberry.
Berry Pinch’s ears stood up. “…seriously?”
“Quite seriously,” said Silver Spoon. “We ate nachos. You can ask the princess yourself if you don’t believe me.” She watched Berry Pinch, who’d gone back to looking skeptical. “But remember, this is between the three of us, okay?”
“O-okay, Silver Spoon! I won’t tell a soul.” Boysenberry pressed a hoof to her chest and grinned. “I promise.” She bobbed in place, chewing her bottom lip and staring at the gate. “Uh, Pinchy? Would it be okay if I—”
“Yeah, go ahead. We’re almost done, anyw—” Dust clouds kicked up before Berry finished the sentence. Boysenberry scrambled across the yard, out the gate, and down the street.
Berry Pinch crossed her forelegs and fixed Silver with a hard stare.
“What? I had to get rid of her somehow.” Silver tried (unsuccessfully) to wipe her hooves on the basket. “Besides, that is what I came to tell you. Half of it is, anyway.”
“Why would the Crusaders invite you guys, of all ponies, to their princess meeting thingy?”
A slight smile quirked Silver’s muzzle. “Because Diamond Tiara is Diamond Tiara.”
Pinch lifted a hoof. “I—” The hoof came down. “Yeah, okay.”
“Diamond and I have agreed to draw a truce. We scratch the Crusaders’ back, they scratch ours. Twilight Time could get your hoof in the door, Berry. Thought you should know about it.”
A gentle breeze hissed through the vines. Berry Pinch’s tail twisted slowly behind her. She frowned. “Why?”
“I thought maybe you could get the chance talk to her…” Boysenberry was long gone, but Silver whispered anyway. “…about your… um… friendship problem?”
A tepid calm settled over the vineyard. Motionless, save for the twitch of her nose, Berry Pinch scrutinized Silver Spoon carefully. Looking for lies. When she didn’t find any, she asked, “’Kay, so what’s in it for you?”
Silver blinked, a little offended. “What? Nothing’s ‘in it’ for me, Pinch. I’m concerned. I’m allowed to be concerned, aren’t I?” She paused and thought about it. Maybe she did have a little something to gain. “And I also feel kinda…” The sentence trailed into nothing.
“Kinda what?”
“You know, that, like… gross oily sticky feeling?” The more Silver talked, the stupider the whole thing sounded, but she didn’t know how to stop it now. “The kind that wiggles around like spiders under your coat when you’re trying to sleep and then you can’t sleep and you think about stuff you did instead?”
Pinch flipped her bangs to the side and gave Silver a weird look. “What, you mean guilt?”
Silver Spoon wrapped her tail around her cutie mark. Her cheeks turned hot. “Um. Maybe?”
“You said it’s when you think about stuff you did. Bad stuff, right? And you feel like you’re gonna puke up a swamp of slug butts all the time?” At Silver’s nod, Pinch clicked her tongue.
Somehow Silver got the feeling Berry Pinch was enjoying this. Father said the griffons called that schadenfreude.
“Yeah, that’s called guilt, Spoon. Sucks, huh?” Berry Pinch squared her shoulders and started shoving a grape basket to the porch. Her muscles strained under the pressure.
“Dunno what that’s got to do with me, though.” She glanced back at Silver Spoon following a few steps behind her. “I’m not the one with the friendship problem.”
A thousand indignant responses flared up in Silver Spoon’s chest, but she wrangled them back. They’d do her no good. Silver shoved down the sinking feeling in her chest and helped Berry Pinch push. “I heard what happened between you and Diamond Tiara, Berry Pinch.”
“So?”
“So, I… I feel bad about it.”
“Why?” Pinch sounded genuinely surprised. “It’s not your fault Diamond’s a steaming pile of horse apples.” The basket hit the porch. Pinch flipped her tail and offered Silver a halfhearted smile. “Look, I don’t got an issue with you, Silver Spoon. Relax.”
Silver’s head poked over the basket rim. “You don’t?”
“Why would I? It’s done.” Berry Pinch grabbed an old bar rag, spat in it, and wiped the grape juice off her hooves. “I told you one of us oughta tell her the truth, and one of us did.”
“Yeah, about that.” Silver jumped on the porch with a thump. “Three days, Pinch? Three days, seriously? That’s not even enough time to unpack! You couldn’t have even given me a week before you decided to—”
“I know!”
Glaring, Berry Pinch edged away from Silver’s shadow. She set her back against the house, rubbing her nose. “I know, okay? I didn’t really mean to do it then, but Diamond came up to me and we started talking and somewhere in there she said some mean stuff about Shady Daze and the paper staff, even though what happened wasn’t Shady Daze’s fault, and… it just slipped out.” She turned away and curled in on herself so tight, Silver saw the bumpy ridge of her spine. “An’ Diamond didn’t take it too good.”
Silver Spoon hung back, unsure of what to say.
Pinch was right; it hadn’t been Silver’s fault. Not really. The sabotage of Foal Free Press might have sparked the fight, but whatever had followed had been about a lot more than that. Gently, she leaned over the unicorn’s shoulder. “Pinch, Diamond... when Diamond’s upset sometimes she say things she doesn’t—”
Berry Pinch’s tail swatted Silver in the face. “No. You don’t say stuff like that and not mean it.” She sniffed wetly. “You don’t.”
“What in Celestia’s name happened between you two?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Pinch tossed the bar rag over her shoulder. It hit the porch with a wet thud and slid off the side. “I’ll check out this Twilight Time thing if The Dink is going, but that’s all.”
Silver Spoon circled back, trying to look the unicorn in the face. “But since you’ll be there anyway, it couldn’t hurt to try asking Princess Twilight about it?” She attempted a hopeful smile. “Right?”
Berry Pinch flipped onto her hooves. “Drop it, Silver. It’s like I said: I don’t have a friendship problem. Me and Diamond Tiara aren’t friends.” She yanked the door open and stomped inside. “Believe me, that is not a problem.”
Ice swirled and clinked in Silver Spoon’s glass of lemonade. She took a sip as she held out Princess Twilight Sparkle’s autograph for her small audience to admire. The princess had given out several autographs at her Hayburger appearance two days ago, but as the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ nearest and dearest friend, Silver’s had an extra dose of authenticity.
It also made her the perfect candidate for publicity appearances and press interviews. Silver glanced over her shoulder at activity bubbling on the far side of the field. Besides, the Crusaders’ unofficial manager needed to stay close and monitor things. For their best interest and convenience, of course.
Featherweight gripped his notebook and edged in closer, pencil clamped between his teeth. He scribbled a few notes in his notebook. Beside him, Truffle Shuffle—who’d been too slow to snag an autograph of his own—stared hungrily.
Contrary to expectations, the princess’s hornwriting leaned hard left in firm, jagged strokes, not calligraphy loops. “It’s the signature of a pony with a lot of work on her hooves,” said Silver Spoon. “Note the especially large capital letters. They stick out so much, she doesn’t need to bother writing the whole thing clearly.”
Dimples poked the ends of Truffle’s smile. “Princess Twilight’s so cool, isn’t she? It’s almost like she’s a normal pony like us, eating at the Hayburger and everything. I mean, I know she’s not, but you know.” He squished his chubby cheeks in his hooves and sighed. “She’s so cool.”
“She is, yes.” Silver tossed Truffle a polite smile before she turned back to Featherweight. “Shady Daze is still the newspaper photographer, right? How long do you think it’ll take him to develop those photos? Diamond and I want a copy for our albums.”
Featherweight’s darling dinner plate ears swiveled in Silver’s direction, but he didn’t look up. “Wha? Oh, um, about two weeks, I think. Shady doesn’t give out copies until the paper’s out.”
Silver Spoon drew her head up, frowning. “Two weeks? I give you the keys to an exclusive interview with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the best you can do is two weeks?” She crossed her hooves, narrowing her eyes. Featherweight was cute, but not that cute. “Maybe the Foal Free Press doesn’t want a meeting with Princess Twilight Sparkle after all.”
“Okay, okay!” Featherweight’s wings popped out, fluttering anxiously at his back. “One week. One week at the most.” He hovered in the air with his spindly little forelegs clasped together. “How’s that sound, Silver Spoon?”
“Much better. Thank you, Featherweight.” Silver settled back onto her pillow and took another sip of lemonade. She smiled to show him she harbored no hard feelings and asked, “Anything in particular you’re excited to ask the princess?”
“Oooh! Lemme show you!” How could anypony stay mad at Featherweight? Sweet Celestia, the colt’s smile could melt butter. He flipped to the back of his notebook and held it out. “I’ve been taking questions from everypony in our class. Mine’s at the top: ‘Did you have to learn how to fly, and how long did it take if you did?’ and also, ‘Do you do workouts?’.” He peeked over the notebook. “My brother came up with that second one.”
“Can you put in a couple from me?” asked Truffle Shuffle. “I wanna know what it’s like being a royal pony in a town that’s already got a mayor. And what her favorite dessert is.” He rubbed his chin in thought. “Wait, that’s two questions. Silver Spoon, do you think the Crusaders could ask for me instead?”
“I’ll do my best to squeeze it in.” Silver angled her neck to check on the Crusaders, but they’d become so swamped by sycophants, she could barely see them. She only knew Apple Bloom from the light reflecting off her newly bedazzled hair bow. “No promises, though.” She smiled diplomatically. “The Crusaders are very busy these days. You understand.”
“Oh, sure. I mean, if you get a chance.” Truffle sucked the lemon wedge from his dry lemonade glass. “Hey, speaking of politics, Silver Spoon?”
“Yes?” Silver kept her sight on the Crusaders. Snails finally moved aside to reveal Sweetie Belle. The unicorn adjusted her sunglasses and rattled ice at the bottom of her glass. Somepony should have topped her off a long time ago.
Truffle Shuffle scooted closer. “I’ve been wondering if you’d come back and be student council secretary. Technically, you still are; everypony’s got a two semester term for each position, and you were only there for a couple weeks. You could probably stay there for the rest of the year.”
Silver Spoon tilted her head and blinked at him. She hadn’t even thought of the council in months. “What brought this up?”
“Twist’s stepping down as president this semester, and it’d be good to have at least one other pony on the council with experience.” He reached back and rubbed the back of his short mane. “Or on the council at all.”
“What about you?”
“Well, since nopony’s wanted to run yet, I thought…” He shuffled his hooves. “Maybe I’d run for president this semest—”
Pipsqueak’s head popped up between them. “We’ve got a president?” The little colt stood so low to the ground, Silver hadn’t seen him coming. He beamed at her startled expression. “Blimey, I didn’t know that!”
Featherweight wrinkled his nose. “We do? Since when?”
“Since always. I just said we’ve got an entire student council.” He shot Silver a meaningful glance. “Or at least part of one.” Ice cubes sprayed across the grass as Truffle threw his hooves in the air. “Sheesh, we’ve had meetings every week for a year, you guys! See, this is exactly what I’ve been talking about. Big stuff’s happening all around you all the time and it’s like nopony even cares!”
Before Truffle Shuffle nosedived into another sermon about citizenship and responsibility, Silver turned to Pipsqueak. “Hey. This is the grand opening of your lemonade stand, right?” She jabbed a hoof in Sweetie Belle’s direction. “In case you didn’t notice, your guests of honor need a refill.”
“Oh, right!” Pipsqueak raced off to fetch his lemonade pitcher. “I’ll see you guys later!”
Sensing the citizenship lecture was a wash, Truffle clicked his forehooves together and tried to reconvene. He glanced between Silver and Featherweight, who’d now taken interest in the conversation. “So, how about it, Silver Spoon? Wanna come back to council? We could serve tea if you want.”
Tea and politics. Interesting combination. She wondered if that offer counted as pandering or lobbying, or a gesture of friendship. Was there really a difference?
“I don’t know yet.” Silver Spoon kept one ear tilted towards Sweetie Belle. She side-eyed Featherweight’s press notebook. “I’ll think about it.”
“Are you really gonna think about it, or are you just trying to get rid of me?” Truffle scooted in so close, Silver heard the croaking wheeze of his breath. “You were a good secretary, Silver Spoon—better than I thought you’d be.”
Not unkindly, Silver laughed and asked, “Is that supposed to be your idea of a compliment, Vice President Shuffle?”
He smiled at the formal address. Silver wondered if anypony had actually used it before. “It’s supposed to be the truth. If you ask me, I think you’d do better—a lot better—using your talents to help ponies instead... of...”
Something in the wind changed. Slowly, Truffle Shuffle put down his empty glass and stepped back. “I-instead of… um. Other stuff. I’m gonna go see if Pip needs any help. Bye, Silver.”
“Oh, uh, alright.” He’d taken off before Silver Spoon even sat up. “Bye?” She had no idea the butterball could run that fast.
“Wait up, Truff! I’ll join you.” Featherweight snapped his notebook shut, shoved it into his mouth and went aloft. He waved goodbye as he caught an updraft and wheeled away.
A lone primary feather drifted down to Silver’s hooves. She frowned, watching Featherweight’s silhouette vanish into the clouds. “Huh. What’s gotten into them?” Her ears twitched at the sound of approaching hoofbeats.
Diamond Tiara skidded to a stop, dust clouds kicking up at her hooves. “Silver Spoon, there you are! Hey, did you—” She crinkled her nose at the second empty lemonade glass and poked at the impression in the grass Truffle left behind. “Ew, since when do you hang out with the fat snitch?”
Silver’s frown deepened. Fat snitch or not, Truffle didn’t justify an “ew”. She might not take him to the winter ball or anything, but the colt was okay. “We were only talking, Di.”
“There are better ponies to talk to, and almost all of them are over there, remember?” Diamond tilted Silver’s chin back toward the crowd. “How are Ponyville’s newest superstars?”
Silver Spoon squinted through the faraway mass of bodies. Truffle Shuffle had squished himself between Pipsqueak and Twist. He could have stepped aside to make room for Diamond Tiara, but he hadn’t. He didn’t even walk away—he ran. Featherweight’s departure she could understand, but…
Before Diamond could get impatient, Silver nodded towards Scootaloo’s hoof shine. “Licking it up, still. Exactly how we left them yesterday.”
It had taken a couple of days for Apple Bloom to really get into the privileged treatment, and even longer for Scootaloo to quit glaring at Diamond and Silver on sight. Sweetie Belle, however, took to power and prestige like a griffon to gold. She bore fame with the regular novice clumsiness, but still bore it relatively well.
Sweetie clearly hadn’t expected a full entourage of admirers to spring up overnight, but still orchestrated the situation with finesse. Loath as Silver was to admit it, the Crusader was good.
If they didn’t watch it, the power shift could tilt in the unicorn’s direction permanently, and Silver Spoon told Diamond so. “You have a backup plan before that happens, I hope?”
Diamond Tiara motioned to leave and trotted across the field, Silver in tow. The crowd parted for them several feet in advance. They didn’t take two steps back, they took four. She flicked her tail and grinned. “You’re walking through it.”
The sunlight winked off the tiara as Diamond nestled close to Silver’s cheek. “They owe us now for all of this.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “But just in case they don’t want to pay their tab for us…”
Silver glanced at the colt shining Scootaloo’s hooves. “We can call in all of their other tabs. Not bad.” The Crusaders might be able to say no to two ponies, but not twenty. Not without serious consequences. “Speaking of favors, did you get Bloom for this weekend?”
“Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. We’re doing lunch and a movie.” Diamond shrugged. “I tried to get them one on one, but Scootaloo really doesn’t wanna be alone with me for some reason. Weird.”
“Well, you did hit Scootaloo pretty hard about…” Silver Spoon checked her surroundings. Dozens of ears surrounded them, but none turned in their direction. “You know. The flag thing.”
Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow. “What, with the wings? That happened like, forever ago, Silvie. I’m sure she’s totally over it by now.” She reared to wave high over the crowd. “Lookin’ good with those hooves, Scootaloo!”
Scootaloo fluffed her wings proudly and exchanged a grin with Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle lowered her glasses and winked at them.
Diamond giggled and winked back. “You’re still having Sweetie Belle over for dinner, right Silver?”
Shadows skimmed over Silver’s shoulders. In the branches of an elm tree, Featherweight watched Diamond carefully. The feathers in his outstretched wings twitched, prepared to take flight again. Above him, Rumble climbed to a higher branch.
“Sweetie Belle and Rarity. We had to move the date to Tuesday night, because Miss Rarity won’t be done with her commission until then.” Silver glanced at the thinning herd of foals. There’d been twice as many ponies here a minute ago. “Mother can’t wait.”
Diamond frowned, but said nothing. Sunday would be the ideal dinner date, but even Diamond Tiara couldn’t argue Word of Mom.
By the time Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon reached the Crusaders, the ocean of admiring foals had become a puddle. They watched from afar, patiently waiting for their chance to swoop back in to earn Crusader points.
A gesture of respect, of course. Silver looked over her shoulder. Peach Fuzz—one of the newbies—flinched. Respect or something else. Unable to frown in present company, Silver flicked her tail.
Meanwhile, Diamond Tiara swept in to nudge the last piece into place. “You three must come to my pool party.” The pool party scheduled early Monday afternoon, perfectly scheduled between Spoiled Rich’s spa trip and Twilight Time. She gave a derisive sniff to Pipsqueak’s lemonade. “It’ll be much cooler than this.”
“Look who’s inviting who to her fancy house!” As they walked away, Silver could practically hear Sweetie Belle’s grin.
Apple Bloom sighed with satisfaction. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, I do believe we have arrived.”
Diamond nudged Silver’s ribs. “And I do believe we have Twilight Time in the bag.”
“We must,” said Silver Spoon. Her eyes trailed Featherweight as he watched them leave. He didn’t dare come down until Diamond Tiara walked halfway across the field. “Thanks to you, they’re the most popular fillies in school.”
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and then the fall
another great chapter
You know, there's an extral level of personal tragedy when you realise all the other foals think Diamond Tiara is bad company for Silver Spoon.
It might actually be the other way round.
Silver really needs to broaden her experiences.
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I kind of think that they're mutually reinforcing one another's bad qualities.
This ends badly
Wow, you never cease to amaze. The dialogue is perfect. The way you weave the show into your own story is incredible. Your characters are so fleshed out and dynamic they truly seem real. Kudos.
I was wondering how you would handle this episode, it's quite the tricky one. I like how you subtly built "acrobatics" storyline, that was a great treatment of a throwaway gag in the show.
More and more foals are flat out afraid of Diamond and Silver Spoon, and I'm not sure if either of them really recognizes the difference between fear and respect yet.
Remember earlier, how I criticized Silver Spoon's parents for trying to drive a wedge between her and Diamond Tiara, when there were no other suitable fillies in Ponyville for her to be friends with? Looks like Perfect Pitch has found that new filly! She should really work some etiquette lessons in for Squeaky Belle though.
deepened
Silver Spoon edges ever closer to developing a conscience.
Thinking about it, there definitely is an element of "Sweet and Elite" to this storyline.
As for the story so far, most of it we've seen, albeit not through these eyes. But the parts we haven't are incredibly fascinating. The attempts to give Silver another friend. The gnawing guilt and unease. The growing realization that the other foals fear Silver, or at least Diamond Tiara.
Mind you, the recapitulation is as high-quality as the rest of your work. I can only imagine what will go through Silver's head when Twilight dismisses everypony, and even worse, welcomes back the Crusaders. Plus, now the election's on the horizon. The critical moment draws nigh...
Excellent chapter as always!
I think Silver Spoon is about to put two and two together and get four.
This has been reviewed by the PCARG! You can find the review here.
As ever, much to love here. I'm really looking forward to a resolution, or at least more insight into, what went on between Pinch and Diamond. Especially after the anticlimax and surprisingly understated conversation between her and Silver. I'm left wondering why it seems so little of that animosity has rubbed off onto Silver, and whether the motivation for telling Tiara what happened (in general, not the proximate cause to saying it just when she did) was to hurt her, the surface interest in fairness that she know, or something else/a combination.
Silver's euphoria was great, especially the part about the shoes.
And I liked the transition to Scootaloo following Diamond's assessment of their relationship.
But I'm not sure I was feeling quite the right form of anxiety during the last scene, as everyone was parting around SS and DT, and things emptied out near the Crusaders. It's hard to put my finger on why, but it seemed too much like they were being isolated from everyone, too much fear and distrust was building, for a time when they seem to be getting everything they planned. Maybe it's Silver picking up an idea that this isn't what things are supposed to be like, similar to the feeling of missing out in the first Twilight Time itself? An unconscious recognition that this is the kind of thing that, if it blows up, they may not recover from, even if it's mostly splash damage from the CMC? Not sure.
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Hmm, I may prefer to call it The Standardverse. Sounds less restricted to the Silvers.
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I've noticed a common thread. In almost every single situation I've seen with Diamond or Silver becoming better ponies-- be it canon, fanon, comic, fic, whatever--they need to separate. Sometimes the friendship breaks up, sometimes one of them is just out of town, but I have never seen a single work where Diamond or Silver have a redemption arc while they're together.
There's a reason for that.
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There's a fine line between fear and respect. In those last scenes, Silver's starting to realize that
7863400 You need to give one of them cancer. That always works for double redemptions!
And then the one with the cancer dies and the other one sings "Wind Beneath My Wings" and even guys get weepy when they watch the movie. And you end up with a cult classic!
(Fun facts: "Beaches" grossed a total of $23 million during its wide-release in the early part of 1989, a respectable total for a low-budget comedy-drama released in January in the late 80's, a time when movie studios had just begun what is now a hallowed tradition of dumping their production garbage leading to the 2000's term "F-YOU, IT'S JANUARY!!" with regard to the often awful titles carpet bombing theaters during the typical January. In rentals, it more than doubled its box-office take with $24 million. It's one of the most successful and still beloved of all 'chick-flicks'.)
"Wow, Randolph! You're more acrobatic than a young filly! Well, one in particular, anyway."
Oof, Twilight Time and Crusaders of the Lost Mark back to back. This is gonna sting.
edit: silly me for forgetting what chronology everything happens in
Another great read. I enjoy seeing how Silver Spoon's interactions with Pinch went, seems as if Silver Spoon has had seeds planted in her mind about Diamond Tiara slowly over time until it will eventually build to some kind of a climax. I really do wonder how Silver and Diamond's relation will end up after Diamond's reformation. Even though I know what will happen, I just don't know exactly how it will happen in the context of this fic, which is quite fascinating. Boysenberry was a good addition, cute filly, that one.