How to Influence the Market For a Perfect Harvest
Silver Spoon frowned. “But the route is perfect!”
Diamond Tiara had elected to forgo Silver’s usual way home in favor of the scenic route: a winding meander that snaked through all of Ponyville’s major landmarks, popular hangouts, and best kept secrets. “The Newbie Route”, Diamond called it, and it was four times the length of Silver Spoon’s usual route. The old way home, as it turned out, was Problem One.
“It’s quick, precise, and efficient,” Silver continued. “A straight shot so I’m never lost or late.” She paused again to consider the narrow, reliable path, but didn’t have time to look long.
A few yards ahead, Diamond Tiara kept her ears up and her eyes focused. The filly who’d slouched and doodled her way through class today evaporated in the afternoon sun, and the real Diamond Tiara hit the ground running. Raw ambition and poise wrapped in a plush pink coat, she knew exactly where she was going and how to get there, and she had no time for stragglers. If Silver Spoon wanted to keep up, there was no time to wax nostalgic on old routes and old ways.
Diamond glanced back as Silver met her shoulder. “Okay, first, school is over, and you don’t have any after-school lessons, right? Nopony told you to be back early?”
“Well, no…”
“Then you can’t be late because you don’t have anywhere to be. Second, if you know The Newbie Route, you pretty much know Ponyville, so you can’t get lost.” Diamond watched Silver take in the surroundings and borders. “Trust me, getting lost in Ponyville’s like, totally impossible. Dad told me most of the roads end up leading to town hall and you know where that is, right?”
Silver mulled it over as they passed a boutique. She wondered if they’d entered the shopping district. “I think so?”
“No, you know so. Your place is near Davenport’s, and you can see Town Hall from Davenport’s, no problem. So you don’t need to be worried about getting lost.” Diamond nodded at Silver’s brimming smile.
They approached a house a little bigger than Silver Spoon’s. Diamond’s, Silver Spoon guessed. Strangely, it had a thatched roof like the other cottages, not tile or brick. In fact, save for the iron gate and the size, it looked no different than any other cottage. Same design and everything. How odd.
Diamond waved to the old, well-dressed cob watering the massive zoysia lawn. “And third—Hi, Randolph—third, just think for a second: how do you expect ponies to appreciate you if they can never see you? Like, if you got a brand new dress, are you gonna keep it in your closet where nopony’s gonna see it?”
Silver Spoon had to concede that logic. “There’s no point getting a new dress if you never wear it.” She nodded to herself. More to herself than Diamond, she said, “Ponies can’t like somepony they don’t know.”
The walk from school to the market took less than ten minutes, and Silver Spoon’s error became clearer with every step. Ponyville was not an impersonal sprawl of brick and stone. She no longer had the luxury of singling out who mattered and who didn’t.
For each quaint boutique, tiny specialty shop, and cottage they’d passed, there was a pony. Silver had been watching them. The salesponies in the windows, the casual strollers on the path, the housewives watering their gardens, the foals playing ball, even the weatherponies in the clouds all knew Diamond Tiara and Diamond knew them.
It was the same when they entered the marketplace; even without exchanging words, smiles, or bits, they moved around each other with a certain familiarity. They didn’t need to look to know who was there, they just knew.
Not so for Silver Spoon. A weathermare hoof deep in cumulus looked twice before she passed them. The mailmare tilted her head and watched her for a while. A distracted lyrist fumbled a chord. They didn’t know each other. Yes, Silver understood now. One didn’t make tea by just dunking a teabag in and out of the cup. No, the only way to get full flavor—or any flavor—was to let it steep.
Diamond’s pace slowed in the thicket of sales stands. She scanned the area and zeroed in on a flower seller.
“Hi, Diamond Tiara.” The pink florist smiled down at them. Her mane rolled against her shoulder in full, green billows. “Who’s your friend?”
Silver opened her mouth, then closed it. What were you supposed to say to ponies on the street? In Manehattan, you weren’t supposed to talk to strangers. But nopony was a stranger in Ponyville, it seemed.
Diamond swooped in before the silence had a chance to grow awkward. “This is Silver Spoon. She just got here from Manehattan.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Right?”
Silver took the hint and nodded with a polite smile. “Hello, ma’am.”
The florist’s twinkly laugh broke what was left of the ice. “Oh, I don’t think I’m a ma’am quite yet. ‘Daisy’ is fine, thanks.” She swept her hoof over the sweet-smelling inventory. “So, what’ll it be, girls? The usual?”
Diamond rubbed her chin. “Hmm.”
Silver perused the sprays and bouquets carefully. The lily leaves gleamed with health, and the orchids bounced with the breeze. Limp daffodils leaned against some bruised roses and a little spray of pale gardenias. The bluebells and snowdrops looked wonderful, but somepony cleared most of them out, leaving just single blooms; not worth it. She couldn’t really tell what most of them smelled like, for the mountain laurel’s grape-candy scent overpowered everything around it.
“Yeah, the usual.” Diamond nodded. “I’ll get the daffodils and—”
Silver leaned in. “Wait, no.”
“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Diamond’s face soured. “I always get daffodils.”
“Yeah…” Silver flicked her eyes up at Daisy and lowered her voice. “Maybe so, but those daffodils are limp. And look at the leaves, they’re browning. Go for the laurel instead, or the orchids.”
Diamond Tiara gave Silver Spoon a long look.
Silver Spoon blinked, but didn’t break the stare.
“You really think so?”
Silver gave a crisp nod.
“Fine.” Diamond turned back to the stand and put down five bits. “Actually, I think I’ll get a spray of mountain laurel.”
“Great choice, Diamond.” Daisy nudged the bits into her bag and bundled the laurel with bright pink string. “These blossomed just this morning. Lily’s just so proud of them.”
The pink filly twitched her nose at the strong scent. She tasted a petal. Her ears pricked and her eyes grew big and wide. Diamond chomped the rest of the stem in two bites.
Silver tried one for herself. The blossom was even better than she anticipated, with silky petals and a sweet aftertaste.
“I’ll tell Lily you liked ‘em, girls. Oh, and here!” Daisy tossed down a primrose the same color as Silver’s eyes. “Welcome to Ponyville, Silver Spoon.”
“It’s very nice,” said Silver Spoon, “But I didn’t bring any—”
Daisy winked. “It’s on the house, dear. Just don’t tell Roseluck.”
“There, you see? You’re more popular already.” Diamond Tiara munched another laurel stem. “C’mere a sec.” She plucked the primrose from Silver’s hoof, nipped the stem, and tucked it behind Silver Spoon’s ear.
As they moved on, Silver couldn’t help noticing the change in Diamond’s pace. There was room to trot here, but here she… well, Silver couldn’t quite name it. The filly’s stride lurked somewhere between a powertrot and a prowl, relaxed but firm. There was something familiar in it that Silver Spoon couldn’t quite place. But she knew she’d seen it before.
“Miss Daisy’s nice, but she’s just one flower seller.” Silver touched the flower in her hair and watched the shadows passing over them. “I’m not sure if that really counts as being popular.”
Diamond twitched an ear, but didn’t respond.
Silver traced the shadows to a pegasus family skimming the thatched roofs: two mares, a frighteningly buff stallion, and a familiar colt. The stick-legged shrimp with the big ears—Featherfluff or something—straggled behind, tongue hanging out of his mouth as he pumped his wings.
Diamond Tiara followed Silver’s line of sight and slowed to a stop. She locked eyes with the colt.
The spindly kid hovered, frozen. He licked his top lip and fidgeted to keep his height. He seemed nervous. Maybe he’d done something. Or maybe he was just embarrassed about his flying; it didn’t look like he was very good at it yet.
The pink filly lightly nodded to him. “Featherweight.”
“Hi, Diamond Tiara.” His wings pumped him a couple inches lower. He tilted his head. “Oh, and Silver Spoon, right?”
Silver nodded.
“This is like, so crazy,” Diamond laughed. “We were just talking about you just now.” She nudged Silver’s hoof. “Right, Silver Spoon?”
“Oh… oh, yes! Yes, we were. I was just saying…” She flipped through the mental catalog of stuff Featherweight did lately. “…how much I liked your extra credit presentation today. It was really detailed, with the photos of frogs and birds and... things.” And bugs. Close-ups of horrible, icky bugs with grubby feelers and freaky legs. Silver suppressed a cringe.
Actually, Featherweight’s pond presentation had been sloppy and rushed. He probably slapped it together over the weekend and he didn’t even bother decorating his display board. True, the photographs were good, but they were the only decent part of it. But that didn’t seem the right thing to say.
Featherweight brightened. “Really?” He glanced at Diamond cautiously. “…Really?” When she shrugged with a nod, he bounced back up into the air. He laughed with a little buck-tooth grin. “Wow, thanks! Ya know, I got this brand new lens for my birthday last week and I knew it was just perfect for close-ups. For a while, I didn’t know if they turned out okay or not because the developer—”
“C’mon, champ!” The buff stallion backtracked on buzzy, impossibly small wings. “Don’t fall behind, work those keels! No pain...”
Featherweight popped up to his shoulder. “No gain!” They bopped their heads together. “Yeah!” He pumped himself higher in little circling swoops and waved down. “I gotta go, okay? Bye, Diamond. See you, Silver. Nice flower.”
Silver Spoon watched him go. She felt the primrose and smiled as they went on their way.
The last sprig of laurel twisted in Diamond Tiara’s teeth. “And now you know five more ponies. Probably more. Not bad for a new kid.”
The dull commotion of the marketplace faded to birdsong and rustling leaves. The buildings had breathing room again.
“Five? We only met two.” Silver Spoon tilted her head. “I don’t think the rest of those pegasi even noticed us.”
“Welcome to Problem Two.” Diamond picked the stem from her mouth and held it up like a baton. “You’re still thinking of the individual when you need to be thinking of the market. Featherweight’s friends with Truffle Shuffle and Shady Daze—he’s in a different grade—and on weekends he bowls with Strike or plays skyball with Rumble. That’s five.”
Diamond savored the last of the mountain laurel before she finished, “Featherweight knows them, and now you know them too. And now that I think about it, Rumble knows a bunch of pegasus foals that don’t even go to our school. You’ve pretty much got the boys covered.” She rolled her eyes. “Except Snips and Snails, maybe.”
Silver made an unladylike face and shuddered.
“Yeah, exactly.”
They rounded Town Hall and Davenport’s Quills and Sofas shop. Oak trees cast dappled shadows over the tidy brick path winding up to the Silver house. The wind carried scents of roses and honeysuckle.
“So, Featherweight’s got connections,” Silver mused. She wondered how she didn’t see Diamond’s plan before. Instead of meeting every single pony, just meet the ones that matter and they do the hoofwork for you. “In that case, who does Miss Daisy know?”
Diamond Tiara’s piercing laugh startled a flock of grackles. “More like who doesn’t she know? She’s only the biggest gossip in Ponyville. Like, the only pony that knows more ponies is Pinkie Pie. She’ll give you good word of mouth too, but she doesn’t count.”
“Why?”
“Pinkie likes everypony. No quality control.” Diamond shouldered her Bleu Rondo bag and admired the antiqued splendor of Silver’s house. “Unlike you, Silver. Good call on that laurel, by the way.”
Silver Spoon flipped her braid with a little giggle. “What can I say? I know quality when I see it. I’m friends with you, right?”
“True.” Silver’s new best friend puffed her chest, content as a cat in sunlight.
On the other side of a tasteful yellow fence, Brass Tacks clipped the rosebushes. The wide-brimmed garden hat should have clashed with his tailored vest, but Brass made it work. He had a way of making everything work. “Ah, there you are, Miss Silver. We were beginning to wonder.”
We? Silver glanced up towards the house. As if on cue, the first note of an aria belted out of the window. The note climbed higher and higher until it swandived into mid-tempo Prench. It sounded like the opening to Les Terres Fantastiques, if Silver Spoon wasn’t mistaken.
“Mother’s home early.” Silver smiled to Diamond, who’d gone quite silent. She must have been impressed. “When she’s done practicing, you can meet her. If you come by this weekend, maybe you can meet Father, too.”
Brass Tacks nodded to Diamond Tiara. “I see we’ve a guest this afternoon. It’s a pleasure, miss…?”
“Diamond Tiara.” She tossed out the introduction like a candy wrapper. “Anyway, what were we—oh, right. Like I was saying, you’re covered with the boys. Featherweight’s a good pony to know; the colt’s got a good head on his shoulders. He knows how to play ball. That’s good, but colts are just the preliminaries. Winning them over’s not that hard; like, all you need to get on Truffle’s good side is a cupcake and a smile.”
As they passed through the shining foyer and into the parlor, Diamond’s powertrot petered out to a stroll. The shadows of the balcony striped a vase twice their size and fifty times their age. Upon the mantle, rows of crystal statuettes—“Pitch Perfect” engraved upon the silver bases—glittered in the afternoon sunshine. In the hall, ten generations of Silvers peered down at them from oaken frames. Diamond’s stroll shrank into a tiptoe.
“Has anypony told you your house feels like a museum?” said Diamond Tiara.
“No,” said Silver Spoon. She glanced at the oil painting of Great Uncle Silver Chalice keeping watch over the parlor entrance. “But I think you’re the first pony that’s been in it so far.” She placed her bags on the black accent table near the door and checked her hooves for dirt before she went in.
Diamond left her own saddlebag with Silver’s. “The real challenge here is the girls. A couple already met you, and probably already made up their minds about you. Lucky for you, we can still fix that.” She stood upon the hard Mustangian rug, where the rings met at the center. “Which brings me to Problem Three.”
Silver Spoon hopped on the cream sofa. “What’s Problem Three?”
“You’re not gonna like it. It’s a big one.”
“What’s Problem Three?” Silver’s ears drooped. Just how bad was it? “Be honest.”
Diamond Tiara joined Silver on the couch. Her back hooves left little scuffs on the upholstery as she leaned against the black accent pillows. “Silver Spoon,” she sighed, “You’re a dork. And I don’t mean in the cute geek-chic way, either. Like, you are a colossal dork. Only Snails and maybe Twist have dorkitude levels higher than yours. And at least Twist’s lisp gives her some excuse for it.”
Silver Spoon’s ears flattened. “You didn’t need to be that honest.”
“Hey, I call it like I see it.” Diamond shrugged and crossed her legs, hoof on knee. “You’ve got everything else going for you, at least. You know how long it’s been since I’ve seen somepony with their own carriage?”
Silver twisted herself about, searching for symptoms of dorkitude. Whatever dorkitude looked like.
“No, no, you look fine. I mean all the other stuff. You know you don’t need to get every single one of Miss Cheerilee’s questions right, right?” Diamond stretched her forelegs to the ceiling in exasperation. “And then you add on more answers on top of it! I half expected you to ask for more homework. You know who acts like that, Silver Spoon?”
She stroked her braid, thinking it over. “Grad students?”
“Nerds, Silver. Nerds do that.” Diamond leaned forward. “And I don’t know how it works at Wisteria Academy, but around here nerds aren’t cool.”
Silver Spoon pursed her lips and crossed her forelegs. “I’d say getting into a good university is pretty cool.”
Gently, Diamond Tiara patted her friend’s shoulder. “And that’s why you’re a dork, Silvie,” she loudly whispered. “Look, I’m not saying you have to go full Scootaloo or anything. Those science notes of yours are a lifesaver. Just tone it down a bit.” She gestured toward the circular windows behind them. “You gotta remember your market. Sell what they want to buy. And you’re scaring everypony off right now.”
Silver poked at the lace of her Hoity Toity skirt. Now that she thought about it, most ponies around here didn’t wear clothes. Or at least, not as often. “I’m overdressed, aren’t I?”
Diamond nodded. “It’s just Cheerilee’s class, not The Gala. We’re already fantastic; we can do fine on our own. The extra stuff, it just overwhelms the common pony. They don’t know what to do with all the glory that is us.” She folded her hooves, shaking her head. “It’s sad, really.”
“Yes, but…” Silver Spoon shuffled her hooves. “I’d hate to just let everything in my closet go to wast—”
“And that! That thing you’re doing!”
Silver blinked.
“The thing with your hooves.” The pink filly waggled her legs in the air. “Quit doing that.”
Silver Spoon glanced down at her little silver hooves, grinding the lace of her dress into the sofa. Slowly, she let go of the lace and put her hooves down.
“It makes you look all shy and stuff, and what do you have to be shy about? Are you any less a pony than anybody else? Do you have something to be ashamed of?”
“Of course not!”
“Darn right, you don’t. Act like it, then. Ponies respect a pony who looks like she knows what she’s doing.” Diamond Tiara flicked her tail with a pragmatic little grin. “Judges look for confidence above everything else. That’s how you win.”
“Win at what?” Silver Spoon asked.
“At everything.”
“Who are the judges?”
Diamond giggled as if that was the silliest question in all of Equestria. “Everypony!”
“Hm.” Silver regarded her friend coolly. She lifted an eyebrow and smirked. “Ah.”
“What?”
“You’re a pageant filly, aren’t you?” Now Silver knew where she’d seen Diamond’s gait; it was a classic dressage trot. Taffeta Twirl had practiced it all over campus when she trained for Little Miss Manehattan. “So, how many?”
“Oh, not much.” She waved her off with false modesty. “Just fifteen crowns, sixty-six ribbons, and seven cups. I won Grande Empress just two weeks ago, when the regionals wrapped up in the Hoofington.” Her smile fell away with a snort. “Got ponypox, too.”
Silver offered a sympathetic shrug. She fluffed an accent pillow and cuddled against it. It was the softest thing in the room. “So, that’s all I have to do? Don’t be a dork and tone myself down, but with confidence?”
“And be seen. We need to do something about how you handle recess. Tea is nice and all, but—”
Silver Spoon’s ears shot up. She loomed over the pillow, staring her friend dead in the eye. “Teatime is in the afternoon, Diamond Tiara.”
Diamond seemed to know a nonnegotiable term when she saw one. Her posture relaxed. “Look, other fillies just aren’t up for tea at recess. That’s just the way it is. But it’ll still be afternoon when we get out of class, right? We can just have them here, or at my house.” She jabbed a hoof at the tea set bulging in Silver’s bag. “And do you really think a porcelain anything can live through multiple recesses? You’ve seen our class, right?”
Silver Spoon’s eyes grew saucer wide. Flashbacks of Scootaloo crashing into daisy beds, Snails skidding into the mud, and Twist tripping over jump ropes paraded through her mind. Her poor innocent teacups murdered by careless, filthy hooves! Cracked teapots! Smudged sugar bowls!
Silver gritted her teeth and shivered. “Teatime at home it is, then. But I still don’t want to get all mucky with tag and whatever.”
Diamond Tiara flicked her tail. “Please. I said ‘be seen’, not ‘go completely insane’. We can go do other stuff, like hopscotch or the swings. Or we can just, you know, hang out and talk like we did today.”
“I think I’ve got a jump rope in my room,” Silver Spoon recalled. “And I know a couple of songs. Hackney Hackney, Miss Beauty Black, ‘Mazing Maisie…”
“That’ll get you points with The Dink at least. She can’t get enough of Miss Beauty Black.”
At the parlor door, somepony cleared his throat. Brass Tacks stepped in, side-eying the marks on the sofa. “Lemonade awaits in the garden if you wish, ladies.”
“Great! I was getting parched from all that talking.” Diamond nudged Silver’s shoulder as they made their way out. “We’re gonna have you right on track in no time. And I haven’t even told you the best part yet! Summer’s in just a couple of weeks!”
“I don’t understand.” Silver Spoon knitted her eyebrows. There was no school in summer. How could she manage to win anypony over then? They’d all be busy taking harpsichord lessons or vacationing in Monacolt, wouldn’t they? “What happens in summer?”
Diamond Tiara just grinned.
Once upon a time, summer vacation was for farmers. Foals didn’t have time for school because they had to help their families with the crops and the fields for the autumn harvest. Towards the end of May, Silver Spoon discovered that harvest time came early for the privileged at Ponyville Schoolhouse.
Silver Spoon was a quick study. She left the tea sets at home, kicked her dorkitude to the curb, and trimmed her scholarly skills. Every schoolyard maneuver was precise, every casual conversation choreographed. All this pulled her from the mire of unpopularity, but none of it compared to the intoxicating aroma of an approaching Summer Sun Slumber Party.
Three weeks after Silver Spoon complimented Featherweight’s project, Peachy Pie met her on the way to school and insisted on carrying Silver’s books. “You have so many books, you must be so smart!” she said.
Sunny Daze trailed behind, shouldering the burdens of Diamond’s saddlebag and lunchbox. “Super smart. By the way, Silver Spoon...”
Peachy’s face poked out from behind a dictionary. “We were wondering…”
Silver glanced back at them. “Yes?”
“Do you know who Diamond is inviting yet?” they asked at once.
“Not just yet, girls.” Silver Spoon offered an understanding little smile. “These things take time, you know?”
In class, it was very much the same.
“Can I help you refill your pen, Silver Spoon?” asked Sweetie Belle. “I wouldn’t want you to run out of ink.”
“Your glath’th look thwell today!” called Twist.
“Ya look a little hungry, Silver Spoon,” said Apple Bloom. “A couple of my granny’s apple fritters’ll fix ya right up!”
“Oh, Silver Spoon! I never noticed how pretty your mane is!” breathed Berry Pinch, who had misplaced any lingering opinions of snobbery. “Your braids are so elegant and… braidy!”
Dinky Doo gave up the blueberry muffin from her lunch, which inspired Apple Bloom to double her offer on the apple fritters and throw in an extra apple cobbler. Not to be outdone, Twist dumped a pile of peppermint sticks in Silver Spoon’s lap.
Scootaloo watched it all, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head the whole time. She pretended not to care, but every few seconds she’d stop playing tetherball or riding her trashy looking scooter to give them the stink eye.
Silver Spoon could see her now, skulking on the edge of the playground, as if the pegasus stared hard enough Silver’s tail would turn into moldy hay. Every time she flew up on the swings, there was Scootaloo’s dumb face. “Look, Di. Our biggest fan is back.”
Diamond Tiara opened one eye from the bench. “Her loss.” She stretched out a forehoof. Peachy Pie grabbed it and began filing away at the edges. “If she wants to miss out on only the biggest party of the year, I say let her.” Diamond flinched, nearly kicking Peachy in the nose. “Ow! Watch it, Dink, you’re pulling my hair!”
“Sorry,” Dinky Doo mumbled around the brush in her teeth. “I snagged a knot.”
“Well, you better not snag any more. Unless you decided you don’t want an invitation.”
“No, Diamond Tiara.” Dinky shook her head. “I mean, yes—I mean, I’ll be gentler.”
Silver Spoon looked down as the swing rocked her backwards, braid trailing in front of her face. “Actually—” The swing flew her up. “Speaking of—” And back again. “Speaking of the—sheesh.” She cupped her hooves around her mouth to call down to her swing-pusher. “Take five, Bloom. I want to say something.”
Apple Bloom plopped into the grass with a sigh and let the swing ease into a slow rock. Silver Spoon hopped off to meet Diamond Tiara at her picnic table throne. Peachy Pie worked hooves up front, Dinky Doo combed mane in back, while Sunny Daze and Twist loitered around the perimeter, waiting for the chance to give favors so they could build their own. Sweetie Belle was off getting them a club soda.
At Silver’s approach, Berry Pinch sat up clutching a handkerchief in her teeth, just in case Silver’s glasses needed cleaning again.
Silver Spoon waved her off. “Not right now.”
It was nice to think that the foals of Ponyville had suddenly learned proper etiquette, or that they’d suddenly seen the error of their ways thanks to Silver’s efforts to better herself. It was a pleasant thought, but Silver Spoon was never that naïve.
Only four school days remained, and invitations had to go out before Saturday. Diamond Tiara’s Summer Sun Slumber Party was always an event, but this was the year absolutely nopony could afford to miss. This year was the year Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, would raise the sun in person, right here in Ponyville. Filthy Rich had reserved a private box with a perfect view of the sunrise months in advance. A box with just seven seats, not counting Diamond’s. Seven invitations. And though nothing was official, everypony knew Silver Spoon already claimed one of them. So, six invitations.
Silver also stood as Diamond’s right-hoof mare to handle the schedule (the post-sunrise tea party was her idea) and the guest list.
Diamond’s ears twitched at the approach of hooves. She rolled her shoulders, tilting her head so Dinky could reach the roots. “Yeah?”
Silver Spoon climbed up beside Diamond and lowered her voice. “Speaking of invitations, I think we should make the list now. It’ll be better to do them now than later. We won’t rush through it that way.” She held out a hoof. Somepony placed her notebook on top of it.
“Hm? Yeah, okay.” Diamond waved Dinky away and sat up, cracking her neck. “Scootaloo’s out.”
“Pft. Obviously.” Silver plucked her pen from behind her ear, flipped the book open and crossed out Scootaloo’s name. “And I was thinking…” She paused and looked around.
Fillies pressed around them in a little semicircle of wide eyes and high hopes. They felt Apple Bloom’s breath on their necks. Silver couldn’t hear herself think with Twist wheezing in her ear.
Diamond Tiara frowned. “Shoo.”
The crowd took two steps back.
Silver waved her hoof. “More.” The crowd took another five steps back. “More.” They took six steps this time. Close enough.
Diamond and Silver scooted to the far side of the picnic table, backs turned to the scrounging rabble.
The pen bobbed in Silver Spoon’s mouth as she thought. “I was thinking we should let in Peachy Pie. She’s been carrying all my stuff for a week and hasn’t dropped anything. And she did a good job on your hooves, too.”
“True.” Diamond Tiara examined her hooficure. The fresh coat of gloss sparkled, reflecting little points of light across the grass. “Peachy’s fine, I guess. That means Sunny’s coming too, since those two do, like, everything together.”
Silver glanced over her shoulder. Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie’s tails twirled together as they pressed shoulder to shoulder. They noticed Silver looking at them and gasped in unison. Squeaky little giggles peppered their whispers to each other. “Check and check.”
Diamond popped her back and leaned over to see the list. “Berry Pinch is in, too.”
“But she forgot to put ice in your drink,” Silver Spoon pointed out. The sunlight flashed off her glasses as she squinted in the pink unicorn’s direction. She wrinkled her nose. “And I think she tries a little too hard.”
“At least she tries. It’s been ten minutes and Sweetie Belle’s still not back with that club soda. She’s out too, by the way.”
Silver marked her off. It was such a shame. Sweetie showed such potential in the beginning, but the girl just couldn’t keep the momentum going. “Twist’s peppermint sticks were pretty good.”
“Seriously?” A scowl wrinkled across Diamond Tiara’s mouth. “Twist? Really?”
“She did help you the other week when you didn’t know the answer to that poetry question. That was before the invite rush even started.”
“But she’s such a dork, Silver. You really want to be seen sitting next to Twist when Princess Celestia appears? What if she sees us?”
“True. And she always sounds like she’s got a cold… and she never brushes her mane right…” The pen hovered over Twist’s name. It pulled away. “But I wouldn’t be sitting next to Twist, I’d be sitting next to you.” Silver frowned. “Maybe we could sit her next to Berry.”
“Hmm.” Diamond steepled her hooves. “Well, we will need a stand-in if somepony cancels—not that anypony ever would—but just in case. She’s a maybe.”
It was closer to a “no”, but Silver put a question mark next to Twist’s anyway. The last thing anypony wanted was an empty seat. The symmetry of the night would be ruined, to say nothing of the seating and food arrangements.
“Apple Bloom?”
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes with a long, drawn out groan.
“That’s a ‘no’, then?”
“No, no, I have to invite Apple Bloom. I didn’t last year, so Dad says I gotta this year.” The words came out muffled under Diamond’s hooves. She rubbed her face as if she could scrub away this ugly necessity. “‘The Apples are friends of the family,’ he says.”
“And if you don’t invite her twice in a row, it will look rude.” Half the ponies at any given Manehattan event got in the same way. Silver nodded to herself. “Understandable. Even if she did push me too hard on the swing. What about Dinky Doo?”
“Oh, The Dink was in from the start.” Diamond shook out her hair and sat herself on the table. “A slumber party without Dink’s no party at all.”
Silver blinked. “Really? But you’ve been on her case all week.”
“Well, yeah. I don’t want her getting too cozy. Still gotta work for it, you know?”
“True. Who’s the last pony?” Unless Diamond went back on her Sweetie Belle decision, the only option Silver saw was Scootaloo. And a colt had a better chance of getting in than Scootaloo.
“Cotton Cloudy,” said Diamond Tiara.
“The white pegasus with the blue tail? But she’s not even in our class.” Silver thought for a minute. “Isn’t she home schooled?”
“Didn’t stop her from sending me a batch of cupcakes.” Diamond looked over the list. Not that she had to, because Silver Spoon did perfect work. She traded nods with Silver and folded up the list again. Her lazy hoof waved the fillies back over.
Compliments swarmed them like mosquitoes.
They caught each other’s eye.
“When do we tell them?” Silver whispered.
Diamond Tiara flicked her sunglasses open and slid them on. “Hey, we’ve got four more days before school’s out. No need to rush, right?”
“Right.”
Silver Spoon closed her eyes and curled up on the picnic table to bask in the warmth of their devotion. All those sweet words soaked through her coat and into her skin. She opened one eye. Or maybe that was Sunny’s hoof massage she was feeling.
A smile wound across Silver’s face. Ah, yes, indeed. Harvest time was good.
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Hm. I'm really liking the premise, so far. Its certainly a different take on those two troublesome fillies. I checked the story mainly because it was a Silver Spoon one, but still, its pretty good. I'll be following this to see where it goes.
You've captured their voices perfectly. They are not evil, they are just kids trying to climb and survive the social ladder of their environment.
That's just like all schools. There only place I remember that being all thrown out the window was college then the real world brings it all back again.
That was a fun chapter. Poor Scoots. ruled by jealousy and too prideful to submit to the girly hierarchy. xD
Bet she would have loved going. She's just too different I guess to be accepted by those two.
Don't mess with a filly's tea time. That is nonnegotiable! XD
Overall it's a fine chapter. Nice to see a story with a more serious tone to an origin story for these ponies. Things are going to get real once that list gets shown. I like how well this story plays off the how well Diamond seems to balance wants with family/business obligations. Just odd how she and Silver go from this to teasing AB. Is it just the fact AB makes such a big deal about nothing and just drives some ponies nuts? I have no idea. There is too much for Diamond and Silver to find genuinely annoying about Apple Bloom.
Waiting another month is going to suck D: but at least Diamond and Silver's comic comes out in 8 days xD
5942142
Actually, the rough draft for the next one's already done, since I originally meant for it to be one chapter before it got huge. So, it'll likely be up in about a week.
You accidentally a period.
Good stuff, and interesting perspective on the way those two act. Looking forward to seeing how they handle Nightmare Moon and such.
I am really impressed! We continue to expand on the concept of looking into these characters' minds and that, in reality, there may be a lot less maliciousness to them than might appear; that this is simply their business – their way of being. And yes, perhaps that way of being is petty and maybe even inherently malicious to an extent, but they're not villains. Though, they may yet become that, if this story follows their progression into the much meaner versions of them that we see bullying the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the show. Whatever may come, I can't wait to read more!
And then they died from the grayanotoxin and arbutin present in most laurels...
(Of course, daffodils on Earth are deadly to most species and yet Equestrians chow down on them frequently... Could Equestrian ponies be... ALIENS?!
)
AJ: We're livin' in another dimension, sugarcube. Ah reckon that's pretty much a foregone conclusion.
(Oh... carry on with your toxic flower consumption then.)
And then I wanted to pat Silver Spoon on the head and whisper "you're a colossal dork."
I love how stories like this make me able to respect colossal snobs like DT.
*is struggling and being held back be she-hulk well waving a sniper rifle* come on just let me kill her, it well be one shot quick and clean!
I actually had to read this a couple of times to be sure I wasn't missing something but there's actually a word missing here. Properly, it should be
The Alpha Bitch and the Beta Bitch becoming the Alpha Belle and the Beta Belle.
At one point, farmers couldn't afford school. Along with that, there's far less for a farmer to do in summer than in Spring and Autumn. Summer would have been an excellent time for school for farmers.
However, those who were, at the time, considered experts, thought students needed a break at some point in time. They eventually chose summer because it was bloody hot, and rich families, including some school administrators, really liked taking vacations during summer.
This is wild, and they're nine, but Cherilee also never did jack shit about Di and Si. Makes me grateful for my Snips & Snails tier obliviousness and all the fun I had instead.
I enjoy seeing how Diamond Tiara helps Silver Spoon fit in an adapt to her environment. It just really shows that they are normal schoolfillies.