The Spectacular Silver Swindle
"I do not believe it at all!” Cockle Shell cried. “You are not going to perish, and what’s more, I believe you quite enjoy telling ponies so. Sympathy is what you’re after! You are a silly, selfish colt, Clandestine. The most selfish I have ever…”
Two sharp knocks cut through Cockle Shell’s monologue and jolted Silver Spoon back to her room. She set down The Clandestine Commons and sniffed, her breath wheezy and thick. “Yes?” she croaked. Her fuzzy tongue flopped in her mouth as if it didn’t belong there. “Is it time for dinner already?”
The door inched open and Brass Tacks peeked in. “Not just yet, miss.”
Good. Tacks made a fantastic herb and lentil soup, but after almost nine days of it, Silver was in no hurry for more. She rubbed her throat; it hardly hurt at all now. Perhaps she could make a case for some salad or a light sandwich instead.
“How are we feeling this afternoon?” He levitated a fresh mug of ginger and honey tea into Silver’s waiting hooves, exchanging it for the stained cups and mugs on the end table. The door eased further open, but stopped short against his pastern. Brass Tacks glanced at it, frowned, and pushed it back into place.
“Much better,” Silver Spoon said. She gently ran a handkerchief under her nose, rubbed raw from tissues. “I can breathe with my nose again and my throat doesn’t hurt anymore. I think Tealove’s blend is working.”
“Indeed. And significantly less coughing, I notice.” Brass Tacks stepped closer, one back hoof still on the door. He looked her up and down as his magic gathered the mountain range of used tissues on Silver’s blanket. His eye trailed over the stack of books and magazines by the bed, the broken spines of used crossword puzzle pads, and the row of well-dressed dolls on the top bookshelf. “I thought you reorganized your doll collection yesterday.”
Silver coughed a bit of phlegm into the handkerchief. “I did.” She sipped her tea, blinking against the ginger’s wallop. “Then I thought instead of color, maybe they should go by era and size. Besides, I had to put them back after playing with them, so—”
Diamond Tiara’s head burst through the doorway. “You play with dolls?” She squared her shoulders and shoved.
Brass Tacks’ hind leg buckled and the tissues and mugs slipped out of the blue aura. His horn relit before all four hooves hit the ground. He twisted his neck to clamp a saucer in his teeth, legs splayed against the wrinkled rug. A ring of dirty porcelain mugs and tissues hovered dangerously close to the floor.
He pinned his ears and slowly turned to face the pink filly investigating the doll shelf. “I told you to wait, Miss Tiara.”
“You were taking too long.” Diamond smirked at the green unicorn leaning against Silver’s pillow. “Hi, Silver. I didn’t know you slept with dolls.”
Instinct trumped dignity and Silver pulled Archmage Lady Mimic close. She smoothed the red and yellow mane out of Mimic’s jeweled eyes and frowned.
Sometimes when a pony reread the Equestrian Filly books she wanted all the matching dolls close by. Was that so wrong? And sometimes a pony wondered what would happen if mares from different time periods and races and politics had to put it all aside and work together to save Equestria from a sea monster and the prom was tomorrow. That wasn’t playing; that was being historically imaginative, a completely different thing.
“Oh, shut up, Diamond Tiara. You sleep with dolls too; quit making that face.”
The smirk washed off Diamond’s face. “Hey, Doctor Truffles isn’t a doll; he’s a doctor that also happens to be a pig. He went to college.”
“Cuddle-ology isn’t a real degree.” Silver sniffed and adjusted Mimic’s little golden shoe. “Mimic is better than a doctor. She’s an archmage and a diplomat, so there.”
Brass Tacks stepped in before Diamond could make a counterargument. “Diamond Tiara…” A black metal wagon hovered into the room. Sharp aquamarine flames licked along the sides, matching the wheels and the cloth harness attached to the handle. A white sheet tucked in something big and lumpy. “I believe this is yours.”
“Oh, right! My Nightmare Night wagon.” Diamond wheeled it close to the bed and folded back the tarp to reveal bags and boxes of who-knew-what. The long bag with the clothes hanger had a costume in it, and at least three of those boxes were probably makeup kits. A black blanket, decorated in silver spider web patterns lay rumpled at the bottom. “Must have left it in the hall.”
Brass Tacks flicked his short, white tail. “Before either of you get carried away, I must remind both of you—again—that Miss Silver is abstaining from Nightmare Night this year.” He fixed a stare on Silver Spoon before she could protest. “Her father wishes she not overexert herself.” From his tone of voice, Silver suspected the butler didn’t want to let Diamond in at all. Poor Tacks hadn’t known who he was dealing with.
“I can still help her get ready. I don’t need to get out of bed to look.” Silver Spoon sat up to see the wagon better. “I’m not contagious anymore, and I really do feel better.”
“Mister Silver Laurel—”
“Never said I couldn’t have guests,” Silver finished. “He just said I had to rest some more.” It wasn’t fair at all. She didn’t have a fever and barely had a cough. If nopony stopped her, she could totally walk around the house just fine—maybe even walk to school! “You know how he is, Tacks. I sneeze once and Father calls it the plague and calls the surgeon general.”
“You had pneumonia, Miss Silver Spoon.” He eyed Diamond Tiara, likely measuring the trouble it was worth to kick her out. “One can hardly blame him.”
“I don’t now, though.” Silver sniffled and fought back a cough. “It’s barely even a cold now. Mother and Father get to go to a party in Canterlot. I should at least be able to talk to somepony. Please?”
Diamond Tiara’s lip trembled in a puppy-eyed pout, complete with brimming crocodile tears. “We’ll be good. We promise.”
Brass Tacks sighed, barely audible over the humidifier’s magical hum. Again, he considered the rearranged Equestrian Filly set, the reread books, and the scattered worn-out records by Ferdinand’s tank. “Well… so long as you behave yourselves, I suppose it can’t do much harm.”
He held up a hoof. “But. Miss Diamond Tiara must leave before sundown. No arguments, young ladies.” His hoof tapped the hardwood to emphasize.
Diamond shrugged and smiled, unfazed. “Yeah, that’s fair, I guess. I should leave early for trick-or-treating anyway.” She plucked out a long slab of construction paper sticking out from the boxes, decorated in glitter and crayon pumpkins. “We made you a card. Miss Cheerilee got the whole class to sign it.” Her eyes kept close watch on Brass Tacks.
The calm smile returned to Tacks’ face. “Very good. I shall return on the sixth hour. Miss Silver, ring if you need anything.”
Diamond Tiara smiled and nodded. She watched the door close shut, swiveling her ears until the hoofsteps faded into the hall. The card flipped over and spread out. “Finally! Thought he’d never leave.”
Silver Spoon’s ears pricked. There, on the other side of get-well messages and signatures, lay a map of Ponyville. Pink and purple dotted lines wove through ink streets and crayon houses circled in red marker. “The famous candy map?”
“Nice, huh? I drew a brand new one this year, since so many ponies moved in lately. No frills on this one, no side-tracks. Just cold, hard candy.” Diamond pulled out a red marker, idly chewing the eraser. “Still not sure what to do with these…” The marker tip traced over Golden Oak Library and Tealove’s house. “You’re apprenticing with Tealove, right? You think she’s got anything good?”
“I don’t think so. Maybe some little cakes?” Silver’s loose mane dripped over the bed as she leaned in for a better look. She tapped the purple diamond hovering over a big white house. “Wait, why does my house have that thing over it? We don’t have any candy. We’re not even leaving out a Nightmare lantern.” The constant knocking would disrupt Silver’s rest, Father had said. Her hoof trailed the candy route. The dotted lines circled Diamond’s house, but began and ended at Silver Spoon’s.
Silver lifted her eyebrow with a curious smile. “Just what are you up to, Diamond Tiara?”
A devious grin spread across Diamond’s face. Without another word, she stepped to the window and slid it open. “It’s like this, Silver…”
Berry Pinch’s face burst from the curtains. “We’re bustin’ you out, kid!” Her black pinstripe suit rumpled as the unicorn squirmed her shoulders through the window. A bowler hat slipped off her head and rolled into Silver’s book pile. “Heh, I always wanted to say that.”
Her forehooves found the floor and Berry flopped into the room, one hind leg tangled up in Silver’s good silk curtain. She kicked the curtain off while she twisted her head about, taking in what a decent little filly’s room looked like. Berry’s nose wrinkled at the tissues and medicine bottles. She curled her tail close, eying the bed suspiciously. “You’re not contagious, right?”
Silver Spoon lashed her tail. That raggedy filly had some nerve asking that, after getting tail hair in the curtains and not wiping her hooves. She didn’t even ask how Silver was feeling. “Diamond, what’s she do—” A sneeze threw her head into the pillow. She squinted through watery eyes, her breath light and wheezing. “Doing in…” Her drippy nose sniffed against another coming sneeze. “In my…”
Diamond tossed her the tissue box. “Berry’s coming, too. She helped with the plan.” She glanced back at Berry Pinch, who still looked ready to hop back out the window. “And duh, I wouldn’t have opened the window if she was still contagious. Sheesh, you think I’m featherbrained?”
Berry Pinch opened her mouth.
“Shut up.” Her pink ears swiveled a few moments before she added, “We clear on the perimeter?”
“Yep,” said a voice outside. “I checked front and back.”
Silver scooted closer to the window, leaning off the edge of the bed. Tree branches rustled, flurries of little yellow leaves dusting the windowsill. She tilted her head up.
Dark eyes blinked behind skull face paint. “Boo! Happy Nightmare Night, Silver Spoon.” Featherweight balanced on the tip of a bobbing myrtle branch, giggling. His teeth flashed bright against blue-black grease paint, the skull’s edges accented in neon green. A skeleton leotard clung to his scrawny body, black bones on white to match his light coat and feathers. “Are you feeling better? Did I scare you?”
Silver smiled back. “Much better, thanks.” At least some ponies know how to be polite. She blinked at the shocks of blue and green running through his soft, pretty mane. Hope that’s not permanent.
Featherweight pushed off the branch for a short, smooth glide to Silver’s windowsill. “I saw the butler mopping downstairs, but I don’t know how long that’s gonna keep him. What’ll we do if he comes back outside?” He walked along the sill’s edge, his wings out for balance. “He might see Silver coming out.”
Silver Spoon rubbed her nose with a tissue and squinted at the foals in her bedroom. “Am I having a fever dream or do you seriously think I’m going out? I don’t know if you noticed, but…” She outstretched a slippered hoof to the vapor clouds wafting from the humidifier. “But I’m still sick.”
“You do look kinda pale,” Featherweight said. He flicked an ear and frowned.
Berry Pinch took a step towards the window. “Seriously, Diamond, she’s not contagious?”
“No, but being a scaredy pony is sure spreading.” Diamond Tiara patted Silver Spoon’s back and leaned her forward. “She’s feeling great, look.”
Silver flopped in Diamond’s hooves like a ragdoll, long strands of silvery mane dangling in her eyes. She coughed.
A shadow of doubt passed over Diamond Tiara’s face. “Um, you do feel better, right? I mean, you said you did.”
“I do, but I don’t think I can walk that far.” She cleared her throat and looked at the map again. Round trip, Diamond’s route had to be at least two miles. “Besides, Tacks wouldn’t let me leave in a thousand years.”
Berry rolled her eyes. “Duh, dat’s why we’s sneakin’ you through the window.” She plopped on her bowler hat, tilting it over one eye. “Dat’s why it’s a breakout, see? Yeah, real quiet-like.” She winked. “It’ll be whispers, kid.”
Silver Spoon made a face. “What is that accent even supposed to be?”
“It’s how gangsters talk. I’m from the Crybaby Lane gang, see?” She pointed at the fake scar running down her cheek.
Diamond laughed. “I didn’t know gangsters talked with marbles in their mouths.”
Not to mention it was a South Manehattan accent—though Berry’s mangling made it hard to tell—and everypony knew ponies like Dirt Nap, Bad Penny, and Cribber Joe came from West Manehattan. Silver considered pointing that out, but Berry Pinch was so thickheaded it seemed hardly worth the effort.
“Di.” The croak in Silver Spoon’s voice made Featherweight flinch. “I can barely stand, how am I supposed to climb out a window?”
“Easy. I’ll pull and Berry can push.” Diamond Tiara pulled the bagged costume from the black wagon and hung it on the dresser. She gave Silver another once-over, frowning a little. “Look, you’ve been in bed all week, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So maybe you just think you can’t walk ‘cause you didn’t use your muscles for a while. You just need to work your legs a little; get the blood pumping. Try walking a little.” She nodded towards the bag. “Come check out my costume.”
Well, trying couldn’t hurt. The blanket rolled off Silver’s shoulders as she slid off the bed. Her hind hooves eased on the carpet. So far, so good. She set down one foreleg, then another, and stepped away from the bed. All four hooves on the ground and no wobbly legs.
Silver took a step, then another. She smiled. “Huh.” A few more steps found her in the middle of the room, next to Diamond Tiara and the black wagon. She paced around it, investigating the makeup kits and the tiny lantern hanging from the rear. “Maybe you’re right, Diamond.”
“See? What’d I tell you?” Diamond unzipped the bag and pulled out a tattered little wedding dress colored a sallow, sun-bleached beige. Moth holes and jagged little tears cut through the grey veil pinned to the collar. “I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be a bride or a zombie so I decided to be both! See, here’s the tears in the side from where I got bit by the zombie, and when the makeup’s done…”
Silver’s hocks trembled. Her breath wheezed and her barrel struggled to push the air out. But it was alright; she was just lightheaded. She leaned on the wagon to catch her breath.
“It’ll have bite marks, so I brought plenty of red. I didn’t know what you were going to be, so I just brought all the makeup I had.”
The floor tilted and shook a bit. Diamond’s breath tickled Silver Spoon’s bangs when she said Silver’s name. Featherweight’s shadow hovered over the carpet.
Silver clung to the edge of the wagon and waved them off. “I’m okay.” Silver Spoon closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, Berry Pinch was leaning so close Silver could see all the pink split ends in her bangs. Her breath smelled like grapes and raspberries. Silver “accidentally” coughed in her face.
“Augh!” The unicorn scrambled backward, hooves clamped over her muzzle. “Aw, gross, I’m diseased!”
Silver rubbed her aching chest. “Who can tell? Your face looks diseased enough already.” She tilted her head back to find Diamond Tiara frowning down at her, wide-eyed and holding Silver’s shoulders. “What? I’m fine.”
Diamond snorted. “And I’m Princess Platinum.”
“You collapsed,” said Featherweight. “You weren’t even up for two minutes.”
Berry Pinch covered her nose with a tissue. “If I get the plague because of you, I’m telling.”
“I meant now I’m fine.” Silver Spoon smoothed back her mane and sat up. The room tilted to the side for a couple of minutes. Okay, maybe she wasn't totally fine. But she didn’t feel that sick, just a little woozy. Maybe it felt like her legs were made of gelatin soup, but that didn’t mean…
“You can’t go trick-or-treating,” Diamond said. Her ears drooped. “This was a dumb plan.”
Silver’s lips drew into a pout. “I can so! You’re not the boss of me, Diamond Tiara. Maybe—” She cleared her throat with another cough. “Maybe I can’t run a marathon but I still feel fine.” Silver narrowed her eyes at the wall of doubtful looks. “I do!”
“Quit acting so dumb.” Diamond Tiara pinned back her ears. “What if you die or something? I don’t need that kind of guilt.”
Silver Spoon wrinkled her nose. She wanted to snort, but her stuffy nose wouldn’t let her. Honestly! She’s worse than Father.
Berry Pinch leaned on the fish tank, watching Ferdinand swim through his castle. “What’re you so sore about, anyway? You were the one saying you couldn’t stand and you were right.”
Featherweight perched atop the wagon, tilting his head. “My sister says pneumonia can make you delirious. Maybe she doesn’t even know what’s going on.” He placed his hooves on his chest and spoke slowly, the way one did with exceptionally dense foals. “Hel-lo, Silver Spoon. I’m Fea-ther-weight. I’m. In. Your. Claaaaass.”
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. You’re lucky you’re cute. “I am not delirious. I just changed my mind.”
She frowned at the bed she’d been stuck in for ten days straight, following the tasteful wallpaper to the ceiling tiles, all fifty-eight of them. “Guys, please. I don’t want to get back to bed.”
“Sorry,” said Berry Pinch, who didn’t sound sorry at all. “Maybe we can bring you back some taffy or something.”
Silver stamped her hoof. She hated taffy.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Silver Spoon.” Featherweight lifted to the air, swishing through the humidifier mist. “The plan doesn’t work with a pony that can’t walk, and it’s not like I can fly you.”
Diamond Tiara grew quiet. Her eyes slid from Silver’s face to the candy map. Her frown faded. “Maybe she doesn’t have to walk.” She glanced at the wagon, then at Silver Spoon.
The idea clicked. Silver grinned.
The makeup kit plopped onto the carpet. Diamond waved her hoof. “Featherweight, help me get the stuff out of the wagon and someplace safe. Berry, you get some pillows together.”
Berry stayed where she was. “Uh. Did I miss something?” She looked at Featherweight, who just shrugged with his hooves full of cardboard boxes.
Diamond Tiara rubbed her chin. “The only problem is getting you out the window.”
Silver Spoon’s ears pricked. “Oh!” She swept her blanket over her head like a shroud. “We can just use—”
“The front door!” Diamond smacked her forehead, cackling. “Sterling Silver Spoon, you’re a genius!”
Berry Pinch blinked. “What.”
Diamond pointed at Berry as she cantered to Silver’s closet. “Get a move on with those pillows. We don’t have all night. Silvie, you have a costume? I don’t think the bat costume can work lying down.”
Featherweight raised his hoof. “Uh. What exactly are we—”
“I’ve got a backup,” Silver said. “How fast can you do my makeup?”
“Like Rainbow Dash on cider day.” The makeup kit popped open with a kick. “Let’s get you some candy.” Not looking up from the foundation and blush, she held up a hoof.
“Yeah!” Silver bumped it. “But you can keep the taffy.”
Berry Pinch rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “You’re wrong, Feathers. They’re both delirious.”
“You can breathe under there, right?” asked Featherweight.
Silver Spoon folded back the white sheet from her face and sat up in the wagon. “For the millionth time, yes.” She waved her hoof at him. “Now get out of here before Brass Tacks comes back. Berry’s already gone, look.”
A little pink tail slipped over the windowsill. Silver flinched at the crunch of twigs and leaves. Her roses had better not be bruised.
Featherweight swept across the room in three quick wing strokes. He paused, hovering over the sill. “We’re still meeting you outside Davenport’s?”
Diamond Tiara looked up from Silver Spoon’s bed, an undead bride in a tattered gown with a round pillow dangling from her teeth. “Yeah.” She fluffed the pillow and laid it at an angle against the pillow resting against the headboard. After a few small adjustments, she pulled the comforter up and over the clump of blankets and pillows resting just beneath it. “Well? Looks just like her, right?”
“Uh…” Featherweight flapped out, glancing over his shoulder. He closed the window to a crack before he said, “I think her dad’s gonna notice she doesn’t have any feet. Or hair.” The colt dipped out of sight.
“He’s got a point,” Silver said. She patted the downy blankets lining the bottom of the wagon before she nestled down again. “I don’t sleep under my blankets, and my hair’s easiest to see in the dark.”
Diamond nodded slightly, conceding the point. Her right hoof reached into the costume kit on the floor and came back up with a pale grey wig dangling at the end of it like a dead rat.
Silver Spoon made a face. She couldn’t tell if it used to be part of a witch costume or if somepony scraped it off a bathroom floor. “That’s supposed to be my hair?”
The wig plopped on the round pillow. “Everypony’s a critic.” Diamond glanced back with a sardonic half-smile. “And no offense, but did you see yourself before my hairbrush and mane gel came to the rescue?”
She ignored Silver’s indignant scoff and went to work spreading the strands over the blanket, taking care to cover any empty patches. The Clandestine Commons splayed over “Silver Spoon’s” haunch, as if it’d been dropped mid-chapter. Lady Mimic cuddled against the wig. Diamond tucked in the pillows and stepped back to add the final touch: an old pair of glasses on the end table, next to a half-drained glass of water.
Silver pulled the white sheet up to her chin and sank until just her head peeped out of the wagon, watching Diamond Tiara shove her equipment under the bed and draw the curtains. “Huh.”
In the soft green glow of the humidifier, it did look a lot like her, especially with the wig. Diamond even remembered an extra lock of hair sticking out at the edge of the blanket for the tail. “You know, this might actually work.”
It was too dark to see, but it didn’t matter. One could practically hear the smug grin on Diamond Tiara’s face. “You ready?” She spread the spider web blanket over the white sheet, up past Silver Spoon’s shoulders.
Silver nodded, trailing a hoof down her wavy tresses of mane. She tried to lay herself flatter, careful not to wrinkle her muslin dress. Chilled metal bit at her lacy socks. Not for the first time, Silver wished she had a full-length mirror in her room. “You sure I look okay?”
“You’re fine,” Diamond sighed. “Now, shush. Dead ponies aren’t supposed to talk.”
The white sheet fell over Silver’s face. If she squinted, faint green pinpricked through the threads. We’re really doing this. The door squeaked open. Silver heard rustles of cloth and the world went black. A good sign; hopefully that spider web blanket would be enough.
“Here we go,” Diamond whispered. “Try to keep the sniffling down and for the love of net gain, don’t sneeze.” In a louder voice than necessary, she added, “Night Silver Spoon! I’ll bring you back lots of candy.”
The door clicked and Silver braced her hooves against the sides when the wagon lurched into motion. It got a little brighter, more grey than black.
Diamond’s little bridal shoes clacked. Wagon wheels thundered over hardwood and hissed across what must have been a rug.
Silver lifted an ear. Is that our Mustangian rug? Are we near the parlor already?
The wagon hit a hard surface with a thunk, and it thundered again. More hardwood, or was Diamond cutting through the kitchen? Wait, were they slowing down?
The wagon slowed to a stop. No more clicks of little shoes.
A tall, horned shadow cut across the shallow light. “Ah, Miss Diamond Tiara.” The smooth roll of Brass Tacks’ voice echoed a little. That had to mean they were in the foyer. So close. “You’re leaving almost ten minutes early. Everything is alright, I trust?”
A tickle nagged at Silver’s throat. She swallowed it. Don’t cough.
“Silver Spoon told me she felt tired.” Diamond’s weight leaned on the wagon, her back against Silver’s cheek. “She helped with my costume—isn’t it great? She wanted to help put all the stuff back in the wagon and I was like, ‘No, you’re gonna tire yourself out’, but you know that Silver, always ladylike and…”
The shadow loomed over the wagon. His breath rippled over the tarp. Silver Spoon held hers. The tickle in her throat became a scratch.
“…and stuff.” Diamond chuckled too casually. “She’s sleeping now, so I closed the curtains for her. You don’t have to do it.”
“Hm. In that case, I’ll see you to the door.” With a hum of magic, the wheels crawled over the floorboards and onto the carpeted walkway.
“Oh, you don’t have to—”
“Nonsense,” Brass said. “It’s no trouble.”
The scratch burned in Silver’s throat. She flattened her ears against the cough.
“I must say, Miss Tiara, your wagon seems… more burdensome than it did before. Are you certain you want to cart it around all night?”
“Uh-huh. It’s my candy wagon.”
The front door creaked open. Fresh autumn air rippled through the sheet and brushed the edge of Silver’s hooves. Shrieks of laughter sparked in the distance. Nightmare Night was so close Silver Spoon could’ve smelled it if her nose wasn’t stuffy.
Brass Tacks hummed. “Are you quite certain, Miss Diamond Tiara? Nightmare Night is known for mischief.”
The wagon bumped over the welcome mat. “It’s better known for candy. We’ll be fine.” Diamond paused. “Uh, my group, I mean. The group of ponies I’m going with. Yeah.”
“Best of luck to you, then. Stay well. All of you.” The door shut.
Silver Spoon doubled over in a storm of hacks and coughs and snorts and more coughs. She folded back the sheets and let Nightmare Night’s orange sunset stream over her shoulders.
“Did—” another snotty cough. “Do you think he suspects anything?”
“How could he? He didn’t stop us.” Diamond adjusted the bridal veil clipped to her tiara without breaking stride.
Silver lay back in the wagon and took in the view. Strings of little lights weaved from branch to branch, already glowing eerie blues and whites. Yellow maple leaves twirled across the sky. A flock of pegasus Power Ponies drifted over the rooftops. Fili-Second waved down at them.
“Hi, Blossomforth!” called Featherweight’s voice. “Hey, guys.”
The wagon slowed to a stop and Silver sat up. In the reflection of Davenport’s showroom window, a sallow filly dressed in a white bell-sleeved gown blinked back. Waves of stringy, silver mane fluttered over her shoulders and tired bags under her eyes made them look brighter. Silver couldn’t tell if her gaunt cheekbones were the work of pneumonia or Diamond’s makeup, but it worked either way.
She adjusted the blue pendant around her neck and smiled. Ponyville never saw a more elegant dead filly.
A gangster unicorn joined the elegant filly in the window. “So, we gonna go or is youse gonna lookit yer mug all night?” Berry Pinch and her atrocious accent leaned against the building, looking her over. “What’re you s’posed to be, anyway? Some kinda fancy dust ruffle?”
Silver Spoon wrinkled her nose. “I’m a ghost, you clod.” She thought a moment. “Or I’m a corpse and the wagon’s my casket. The point is I’m dead.”
“What’d you die from?”
“Your breath.”
“Ha ha.” Berry Pinch took the cloth harness from Diamond Tiara and stepped in, adjusting the straps to her barrel. She pulled the wagon a few inches, getting used to the feel of it. “Sheesh, you’re heavy, Silver Spoon.” Berry rolled her shoulders under the pinstripe jacket. “This candy bonus better be worth it, Diamond.”
Silver wrapped the spider web blanket around her shoulders with a huff. “Maybe you’re just an out-of-shape wagon puller.”
Diamond Tiara and Featherweight whispered and nodded together by the wall, the candy map stretched between them. Featherweight chewed a marker between his teeth. “So we split up after Bon Bon’s, so I can cover Thunderlane’s while you get Pinny Lane. Then we meet back and hit Sugarcube Corner before the festival.”
“Right,” said Diamond. “Maybe we can drop by Shoeshine’s house on the way, if we make good time. We’re off, ladies and Featherweight.” She glanced up from the map. “And Silver’s right. I pulled that wagon across the whole house just fine. You just need more exercise.”
Berry Pinch snorted. “Yeah, right. If it’s so easy, why don’t you pull it?” It didn’t stop her from walking, though. The wagon crept at parade speed, so she probably wasn’t even pulling that hard. Whiner.
“Because I’m obviously not the one who needs the exercise. This is an opportunity for you to get your flabby muscles into shape.” The map rolled up with a snap and Diamond tapped it on Berry’s nose. She slipped into her powertrot and pulled ahead. “You’re welcome.”
Featherweight jumped into a twirling corkscrew above their heads. The tips of his hooves skated along the lights. “Yeah, Berry! No pain, no gain!” He must have started workout regimens with his brother again. His long, pretty feathers angled and he dipped beside them in a lazy glide.
Silver wondered who’d made his costume. The bones over his bony frame should have been hilarious—Featherweight the skeleton? The jokes wrote themselves!—but it wasn’t. If anything, it brought out the lean muscle in his barrel. Like how the paint on his cheekbones brought out the autumn in his eyes. Those big, soulful eyes, all dark and… looking at her?
“Are you okay, Silver Spoon?” He fell to eye level. “You look kind of flushed.”
And he’s considerate, too. Silver brushed back her mane with a little sniffle. “I’m fine, thank you.” She frowned and raised her voice. “But I could do without Berry Pinch hitting every bump in the road.”
“Keep talkin’ and yer walkin’, Silver Snob.”
Di flicked her tail. “Not if you want your thirty percent of candy profits.”
Berry Pinch slowed, tilting her head. “This is our first stop?”
She frowned at the garden of parsley and violets a few feet ahead of them. A little tan cottage cast a humble shadow against the surrounding birch trees. “This place doesn’t have pumpkins or Nightmare emblems or anything.” Berry’s nose wrinkled at the scent of honey and candlewax. “Looks like an old lady’s house.”
“I didn’t even know this place was here,” Silver Spoon said. Town Hall and Davenport’s usually blocked view of the house, though she remembered glimpses of the flower garden from time to time.
Berry, Silver, and Featherweight readied their loot bags and pillowcases and Diamond knocked on the door.
The knob turned, and Diamond Tiara and Berry Pinch didn’t even let the door open half an inch. “Nightmare Night, what a fright!” Featherweight was half a second off, but he made up for it with volume. “Give us something sweet to bite!” Silver’s soft rasp got lost in the loud voices. It still counted if nopony heard, right?
“O-oh!” Junebug had wide, green eyes and a coat the color of dying grass. “W-well, d-don’t you all look precious?”
“Listen up, sweet cheeks, we ain’t precious, see?” The infamous gangster tilted her hat and gave her best mobster sneer. “This here’s a stick up, see? We’s here to relieve yous of yer candy.”
The zombie bride reared up on her hind legs to show off the bloody, mangled dress. Her head lolled with a groan. “Muuust… eaaaat… poniiiiies…”
“Sweet Celestia!” Junebug pressed a hoof to her face. “Robbed and eaten in the same night? Whatever will I do?”
“My spirit is restlesssss.” The ghost of Silver Spoon let her rasp flicker into whispers. She didn’t have chains to rattle, so she just waved her hooves instead. “Woooooooo…”
The skeleton’s tongue stuck out in thought. “And I’ll… uh… use my skeleton power on you!”
“How t-terrible!” Junebug tried to hide her smile, but the giggles gave her away. “Oh please, s-scary dead ponies and mean gangster, won’t you take some candy and spare me?” She stepped back to reveal a wicker candy bowl.
Silver’s eyes widened. King size bars. Every one of them.
“Can-dyyyy…” The zombie’s head flopped forward, shaking a wedding gift basket. “Caaannnndyyyyy!”
Crybaby Lane’s most notorious unicorn nodded, watching bars plop into the money sack. “Yeah, that’s right. Into the bag, toots. And don’t tell no coppers, dig?”
The ghost of Silver Spoon fell against her pillow with a sigh. “I am appeased.”
Featherweight’s mouth was too full of chocolate to say anything, so he just waved.
“N-now be gone, little scary ponies, I have to get back to my… huh.” Junebug paused and angled her head towards the cloudy sky. Thunder rumbled and an ominous wind rolled in from the west. “You kids, um, be careful out there, okay? It looks stormy.”
Silver wrapped herself in the web blanket. Her ears drooped at another rumble. “Di, I don’t think I should be in the rain.” Her shoulders shivered. She didn’t feel so sure about the dropping temperature, either.
“Rain’s not scheduled for another week. Medley and White Lightning said so.” Featherweight felt at his face paint. “Hope this is waterproof…”
Berry Pinch narrowed her eyes. “Hey, quit talking like that! I waited all year for this, and I am not going home early just because of a little drizzle.” The wagon jerked forward and the unicorn jumped into a gallop. “C’mon, let’s get to Miss Cheerilee’s!”
Diamond dug out the map and checked off Junebug’s house. “Besides, it's probably just Rainbow Dash and her stupid cloud. I saw her spook Shady Daze’s group while we were at Davenport’s.”
“Are you sure?” Silver Spoon’s nose honked in the handkerchief. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the dark clouds.
“She was throwing lightning around like it was going out of style. I’m sure.” She patted Silver’s hoof.
A distant voice boomed over the rooftops, loud enough to hear, but too far away to make out. Something about celebrations… nighttime? Silver swiveled her ears. She caught “admiration” and “glorious feast”. It came from the Nightmare Night Festival. “The mayor’s megaphone is really loud.”
“And annoying,” added Diamond. “She’s gonna make everypony go deaf.”
They rounded on Cheerilee’s house, a modest little place with a lawn full of cardboard tombstones. Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie skipped away from her door, dressed as jars of peanut butter and jelly. Candied apples glistened in their baskets.
Diamond and Featherweight picked up speed.
Cheerilee’s house. But Cheerilee still thinks I’m… Silver stood up on wobbly legs. “Wait.”
Berry Pinch’s gallop slowed to a canter. Not enough.
“Diamond! Guys, wait!” Silver yelped and reached forward to tug Berry’s tail. “Wait!” The wagon banged to a halt. Silver plopped onto her stomach. The dry air cracked her throat and made her cough. “We can’t.”
The group exchanged frowns. “Sure we can,” said Featherweight. “It’s right there, see?”
Berry snatched her tail out of Silver’s hooves and lashed it like a snake. “We can and we are.” She ignored Silver’s whimper and pressed on.
They came close enough to read the bad jokes on the tombstones. Silver hid her face as the wagon passed Time Expired and I Told You I Was Sick! “Please, we can’t!”
Diamond Tiara held up a hoof. “Hold on, guys.” She turned towards Silver with a raised eyebrow. “What’s the matter?”
“Miss Cheerilee will be in there.”
“Duh.” Berry rolled her eyes. “It’s her house. So?”
Silver sank into the patchwork quilts lining the wagon. Her face poked out from the web blanket. “I’m still supposed to be at home. In bed. What if she tells my parents?”
Diamond twitched her ears and a frown grew on her face. Featherweight looked to Berry.
Berry shrugged. “No problem, just don’t let her see you. Just hide under the blanket like you did at the house. Done. Let’s go.” She pulled the wagon a couple inches before Diamond’s hoof stopped her.
“Yeah, but…” Diamond chewed her bottom lip, her eye on Silver. “Then she won’t get any candy. I don’t think Miss Cheerilee’ll give extra. Not after last year.”
“And whose fault is that, Little Miss My-Grandpa-Has-A-Fever-And-The-Only-Prescription-Is-More-Candied-Apples?”
“Let’s just go to the next place,” said Diamond. “Those candied apples aren’t that great anyway.”
Berry Pinch’s stomp shook the wagon and her fake gangster glare turned into a real one. “The hay they aren’t!” She wiggled one foreleg out of the harness without another glance at Silver Spoon. “If you’re too chicken, I’ll just get some by myself! Featherweight, you in for some candy apples?”
Featherweight sank to the ground, one hoof absently pawing the dirt. “Well, uh…” His eyes flicked from Cheerilee’s to his hooves.
Diamond Tiara glared at him.
He bunched his shoulders and shook his head. “Mm-mm.”
“Fine.” Berry pulled out the other leg and slipped the harness off her shoulders.
The wind rippled through Silver’s blanket. She tugged it close and wanted to tell Berry Pinch she was being super rude and stubborn, but ended up just sneezing instead.
“Have fun managing Nightmare Night by yourself.” Diamond’s syrupy sing-song voice trailed behind the unicorn. “Without my candy map. More good candy for us, right guys?”
Berry humphed and took a step towards Cheerilee’s house.
“Of course, you’ll have to hit all those houses yourself… but I’m sure you can do it.” Diamond Tiara leaned on the wagon, watching from the corner of her eye. “Maybe Mister Breezy has licorice this year. Or maybe he has dental floss and hygiene pamphlets. If only somepony had been watching who bought what at Barnyard Bargains last week.”
“Not everypony shops for candy.” Berry Pinch fidgeted with her lapels and glanced back. “Bon Bon makes her own.”
A smile curled along Diamond’s face. “Bon Bon… doesn’t she live on the other side of Ponyville, Silver Spoon?”
“She sure does.” Silver sniffled and smiled back. “Wow, Diamond, you think she can make it?”
“Oh, of course! After all, she doesn’t mind walking all by herself. I’m sure she can get all the way across town before Miss Bon Bon goes to the festival.” Diamond idly examined the map. “I wonder what would help with that?”
Berry Pinch took a longer look behind her.
“It would be nice to have a shortcut,” sighed Silver Spoon.
Diamond Tiara nodded solemnly. “Sure would.”
“Augh!” Berry Pinch kicked a rock into the cardboard graveyard, where it bounced off That Test Really WAS A Killer! She stomped back to the wagon with more drama and huffing than necessary and climbed back into the harness. If Silver Spoon cared two feathers what Berry thought about anything, the venomous glare might have worried her.
Featherweight whistled from high in the air. He must have slipped away while they were busy. “Peachy’s group is headed south and Dinky’s is resting. Torch Song’s house is wide open, and—” He squinted. “And she’s getting ready to leave soon!”
Diamond and Berry looked at each other wide-eyed. Silver sat up. Even she had heard the legends of Torch Song’s caramels.
The unicorn tightened the harness strap and ran into a gallop. “You heard the colt, let’s go!”
“Happy Nightmare Night, kids!” Nurse Coldheart waved and slipped her bloody hockey mask back into position.
Silver Spoon stashed her pillowcase full of candy behind the pillow. After a few moments, she rubbed her shoulder and sat back up. The lollipop sticks dug into her neck and candy wrappers bulging at the sides poked her coat. She tried shifting it to the side, but it bulged too fat to fit anywhere else. Silver dragged her haul back into her lap and sighed, “I think I have too much candy.”
Featherweight laughed a sticky laugh full of chocolate and marshmallows and half a vanilla wafer. “That is the opposite of a problem.”
Berry Pinch unwrapped Coldheart’s bubblegum and plopped it into her cheeks. “I’ll take some if you don’t want it.” Just how she planned to do that, Silver had no idea. Berry’s own load barely fit in the money sack, the bit symbol’s paint stretched under the bulge. “I mean, you’re too sick to eat any of it anyway. You haven’t touched a piece.”
Silver wrapped her hooves around her candy. Hadn’t anypony heard of pacing? This could last her until Hearth’s Warming, maybe even longer.
Diamond Tiara’s wedding gift basket bounced on her hip. Too loaded and tired to keep up the powertrot, she fell back to plod with the rest of them. Just as well, Coldheart was the last of the evening. “What’d I tell you? Is my map good or is it good?”
Berry rolled her eyes. “Great, now we’ll never hear the end of it.” She smiled when she said it though, so the answer was yes.
Indeed, Silver had to admire Diamond’s efficiency. Quality houses over quantity meant no bag space taken up by raisins, pennywhistles, or—Celestia forbid—dental floss. Not only that, but twelve of the select fourteen houses had ponies more than willing to give doubles and triples of king size candy bars, peppermint sticks, truffles, and a rainbow of other various candies.
Nopony was home at the library, and Silver couldn’t get near Cheerilee’s or Tealove’s, but the haul more than made up for it.
“Now we top it all off with the Nightmare Night Festival!” The tattered lace twirled at Diamond’s prancing hooves. “You’re going to love it, Silver Spoon. There’s spider toss and dancing and—”
“Can she do that stuff?” asked Featherweight. “It’s kind of hard to toss spiders from a wagon.”
Silver rested her head on her loot bag. “I can still watch.”
“Watching’s better anyway. Maybe Cotton will fall into the apple barrel again.” Diamond giggled into her torn gloves. “Last year, Featherweight threw a spider so hard it missed the web and hit his brother instead! Bulk trampled half the pumpkin patch, remember?”
Featherweight pressed his wings close to his sides. “Yeah. I remember.”
“Uh, guys?” Berry Pinch slowed, tilting her ears. “Is it just me, or does it sound kind of quiet for a festival?”
Silver lifted her ears. Crickets chirped amongst rustling leaves and flapping banners. In the distance, a train whistled long and high, like a timberwolf.
In a low voice, somepony said, “That’s because there isn’t one.” Dinky Doo hobbled out from the shadows of Sugarcube Corner. Her tail dragged under her firemare costume and her eyes were pink and puffy… had she been crying?
Featherweight flapped his wings, though his candy weighed him to the ground. “What are you talking about? There’s always a festival.”
The Dink wiped her nose with her sleeve. “Didn’t you hear? Princess Luna came to Ponyville and can…cancelled it. Forever.”
Silver yelped and hung on to the lurching wagon as Berry Pinch rushed over.
Pinch twisted her head in all directions, trying to catch some sign of merrymaking or the band. “What? Why?! She can’t!” Her sad green eyes looked back at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Can she?”
Diamond didn’t say anything.
“She is a princess,” Silver Spoon whispered. “I guess she can cancel any festival she wants.”
“No, not the festival.” Dinky cradled a lost spider from the toss game and tucked it under her hat. “Luna cancelled Nightmare Night. All of it.”
Silver Spoon huddled beside her candy. She found herself doubly grateful Diamond brought the wagon. Pneumonia was bad, but missing the last Nightmare Night ever was so much worse she couldn’t even wrap her mind around it.
The little firemare rubbed the corners of her eyes. “I, uh… I’ll catch you later, okay? I’m gonna catch up to Pinkie’s group and make one last Nightmare offering.”
Featherweight ran up as Dinky turned to go. “Wait!” He rooted his hooves around his bag and pulled out a mooncake and a lollipop the size of his head. “Give her this for me.”
Berry waved over the others and they ducked together in a huddle. “You think this is for real?” Her eyes searched Diamond’s, then Silver’s. “This could be one of The Dink’s pranks, right?”
Diamond lifted her head and watched Dinky Doo trail off towards the Everfree. “I don’t think she would lie about this one.”
“Yeah, she loves Nightmare Night more than any foal I know,” said Featherweight. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Dink either. “Actually, I think I’ll go, too. Last chance and all. How about you guys?”
Diamond shook her head. “My wagon will get stuck in the branches and stuff.” She gave her basket a long, long look and took a deep breath before adding, “Dink! Hold on, take my candied flowers, too.”
Dinky trotted back, her ears up in surprise. “You sure? You love those things.”
“A bribe’s only a bribe if it’s valuable, right? It’s worth a try.” She didn’t mention she’d already eaten all the daisies.
Silver fished out a couple of popcorn balls. She tried not to cough on them as she handed them over. “Tell her who it’s from, okay?”
The Dink smiled a little. “Sure thing, Spoons. C’mon, Featherweight, we gotta catch up.”
Silver Spoon watched them go, then shoved her loot bag back under the pillow, careful not to squish anything when she put her weight on it. Losing the bulky popcorn balls helped it fit much better. Silver linings, right?
She yawned, snuggling into the quilt-lined wagon to let her tired shoulders have a rest. Silver had been sitting up for what felt like hours—what time was it, anyway?—and for the first time in days, welcomed the chance to rest. The scent of sugar and caramel melted with cotton and rusty metal and fallen leaves. “So now what do we do?”
“Let’s go to the festival anyway,” said Berry Pinch. “I told my mom I'd meet her there and she’ll be worried if I don’t show up.” She frowned. Since Dinky broke the news, Berry’s ears hadn’t stopped swiveling, like she hoped to hear the band or the laughing ponies. Nothing but banners flapping in the breeze and a lonely train whistle. “Besides, maybe there’s other ponies there who—”
Diamond stiffened. “Duck.”
“What?” Silver yawned again. “Why would you want to go to the pond this hour of the nigh—”
“No, duck!” Diamond took Silver by the shoulders and shoved her deep in the wagon. The sheet flapped over Silver’s face, mouth half-open with another question. “And be quiet!”
Before the spider web blanket fell upon her, Silver peeked out of the sheet. Amongst the branches and the fairy lights she caught a flash of red feathers. They looked a little like… Silver Spoon’s eyes widened. Like the feathers on Mother’s masquerade mask.
“…don’t like it. It’s dangerous, Pitch.” Father’s voice muffled, though Silver didn’t know if it was from distance, the blankets, or Diamond’s rump practically sitting on her face.
“Oh, Laurel, stop being dramatic! It’s just a little village party, I’m sure it just got a bit rowdy. You know how that... pink one can be.”
Mother’s sigh made Silver’s ears go flat. With nopony important around and Canterlot far behind, she’d let all the pretense of politeness drop from her voice. It sounded like a piano wire strung too tight and played too much. Maybe the Fancy Pants party hadn’t gone well.
“Rowdy? Pitch Perfect, it was a veritable disaster area! Did you see that stage?”
Mother sighed again. “Yes, dear. I saw it.”
“And just what’s that look about?” Father’s voice hardened. “I know what I saw, Pitch. Just because Spoiled made that ‘stage fossil’ quip, that’s no reason to take it out on—”
“Laurel! Please, dear. It’s fine. Look, there’s one of Silver’s little friends.” Silver-plated horseshoes clicked with a slow gait. “Hello, Diamond… Tiara, was it?”
“Yes, Miss Pitch Perfect.” The blanket under her haunch dampened with sweat, but Diamond’s tone wavered sweet and high, somewhere between I-love-your-dress and It-was-like-that-when-I-got-here. “Oh, and this is—”
The harness buckles clinked in the dirt. Little hooves faded into the distance.
“That was Berry Pinch. We just finished getting our candy and were just about to share some with Silver Spoon.” Her tail twitched and flopped as she fidgeted on the blanket, practically sitting on Silver’s face. “And then I’m gonna go home. And that’s all.”
Silver Spoon’s nose tickled. Oh, Celestia, not now! The tickle wrinkled her face up and up and up…
“Oh, that’s nice,” Mother said. “But perhaps you should wait on that. Silver’s still sick in—”
Silver Spoon covered her sneeze with her hooves.
“Achoo!” yelled Diamond Tiara.
Father made a disapproving noise. “Mm. Perhaps wait a while.”
Nopony answered her; nopony said anything at all. After a few moments, Silver felt Diamond sigh with relief. When the heavier hoofbeats faded away, Silver Spoon cautioned a teensy peek. Nopony out there but Pinkie Pie in a chicken suit.
“Diamond!” Silver wriggled her way back to fresh air, coughing and wheezing into the handkerchief. “H-home!” She flopped to the edge of the wagon, wide-eyed and short of breath. “Now!”
Diamond Tiara struggled in the harness, one leg tangled in the strap and the others tripping over it. “I know.” She yanked the edge of her dress. The tattered edge of her dress train twisted up in the wheel’s axle. “I know!” Diamond shook off the harness and yanked harder. “The stupid… thing’s… stuck in the thing!”
How long did it take to walk home from here? Eight minutes? Five? Silver Spoon wrung her blanket, biting her lip. “Diiiiamond!”
“Ugh, I know, darn it! I’m trying!” The dress ripped. Diamond plopped into a pile of leaves and candy wrappers. She shook the wedding veil out of her face and scrambled back to the wagon. Diamond didn’t bother with the harness this time and just grasped the harness between her teeth. “Silver, catch!” Her loot basket went flying.
The candy plopped safely in Silver’s lap. “Got it! Go, go, go!”
Diamond Tiara burst into full gallop. The wagon pitched over rock and dirt and Ponyville became a blur. There went Sugarcube Corner and the library.
The breeze became a chilled stab in Silver’s throat. She ducked her head down and folded herself over the cargo. One hoof free to cradle the candy, the others braced tight against the black metal. Out of the corner of her eye, the spider web blanket fluttered off her back and into the wind. Silver had no idea where the pillow was.
Diamond’s head lolled forward. Over the rushing wind, Silver heard Diamond wheeze and her gallop get unsteady.
Davenport’s black windows rushed by them and hope glimmered in Silver’s heart. She lifted her head to see the house. Her hope crashed into her stomach. The upstairs light’s on! “Di, we’re not gonna make it!”
Diamond Tiara pinned her ears with a snort. “The hay we’re not.” The road sloped down to the Silver house and she bunched her shoulders. “Silver, hold on to the haul! I’m letting you go.”
“What?!”
The wheels screamed in Silver’s ears. Her stomach flew into her chest and the world slid into a blur of blues and purples and oranges and lights and stars. The wagon pitched left and flipped Silver Spoon into the night. She shut her eyes and tried not to scream.
She crunched into something soft. Silver creaked one eye open to discover… roses. She opened the other eye. Bruised and broken yellow roses covered her face and withers, and thorns dug into her dress.
Shaking, she looked up. A blue-pane window. Tall. Thin. Hers.
The adrenaline evaporated with her sweat and the chill of night hit Silver full force. “Halfway there.” Her shivering hooves pushed up the window (still unlocked, thank goodness) and turned to the loot.
Silver’s candy went first. The pillowcase sagged and dragged and needed a running shove or two, but it got in there. But Diamond’s candy had a basket, not a bag. If Silver just shoved it in there, it’d spill all over, and she didn’t even know for sure if it’d fit.
Light bloomed on the other side of the bedroom door. Di can get it later. Silver Spoon gripped the windowsill and pulled herself up… up… and slipped back into the bush, coughing up a storm.
Silver shook her head, trying not to wheeze too loud. It felt like all the air had been stomped out of her lungs, but she’d no time to get her breath back. Why was this so hard?! She sniffed, wiped her sweaty hooves on her dress, and tried again.
Her shaking haunches pushed her up to grab the sill with rubbery hooves. Silver gritted her teeth and pushed, pushed, pushed. She felt her barrel scrape over the windowsill. With another little push, Silver was halfway in. Her back half flopped in the night, her tail tangled with leaves and thorns.
“Okay…” Silver Spoon coughed. The humidifier fogged her glasses when she looked up. Dark and… more dark. Just the thin line of light at the bottom of the door. “Now, I just…” Her back hooves scraped the side of the house. She huffed and pushed. Not a strong push, but all she could manage. “Just… gotta…”
Something soft and solid slammed into Silver’s flank and she plopped inside with a squeaky yelp. She looked up to find Diamond Tiara gathering the scattered candy around the bush.
Diamond righted her wagon and held up a questioning hoof. You okay?
Silver nodded and weakly waved back. She dragged her aching muscles to bed. Her dirty gown dragged behind her; it’d get rumpled in bed, but unlacing the back took too much effort. Whatever. At least I’m back.
“Ah, Miss Silver Spoon.”
A new sheet of sweat broke on Silver’s shoulders.
The silhouette in the doorway lit his horn and shut the window. “I believe that was to be closed.”
Silver Spoon’s mouth slung open, searching for words that wouldn’t come. “I… um.”
The blue light flashed brighter, illuminating Brass Tacks’ thin face. He blinked at her evenly. “Hm. I don’t see why you put on your good dress just to go to the bathroom.” He shrugged and unlaced the silk ribbons on Silver’s back. “But it’s as I told Master Silver, fillies do the strangest things. One never can quite figure them out.”
Silver Spoon let her dress fall from her shoulders and crashed into bed. “Thanks, Tacks.” She rubbed her face in the pillow pile, cuddling into the sheets against her shoulders. They still smelled like cough medicine and tea. “I owe you one.”
“Indeed.” He left the door ajar, as if a careless foal had left it that way. “Two weeks cleaning your room on your own ought to do it.”
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Maybe 'wasn't' instead of not.
frowned
In other news, I hope those colts and fillies hear about Luna restoring Nightmare Night. They might be heartbroken otherwise.
And Brass Tacks continues to be best pony.
6395302
On it, thanks!
6395317 You're welcome!
And I bet Featherweight has no idea that Silver Spoon looks at him with this sort of appreciating eyes. Heh.
What a fun chapter. I think one of my favorite aspects of this story, one that really makes it unique, is seeing Diamond and Silver interacting with other foals who aren't the CMC. This chapter, the last one, and the sleepover one are some of my favorites for that reason. The girls obviously team up on anyone else, but not always in a mean way, and it actually reminds me of a lieutenant and a sergeant working together to lead a platoon. It's also nice to see Diamond really go out of her way for Silver like that. I also like the stuff about Silver playing with her dolls.
I will admit, however, that I was rather offended by Silver Spoon at the beginning of the chapter, what right does she have to call in to question the validity of Doctor Truffles' P.h.d? Plushie University's school of Boar Medicine is one of the most respected snuggling-based medical degree programs in existence, and I understand that Dr. Truffles was personally mentored by the Chair of the Porcine Cuddleology department herself (pictured below)
orig01.deviantart.net/3277/f/2012/123/0/d/pinkie_pie_with_pig_nose_by_c_h_loboguerrero_c-d4mc7v6.png
Of course the Butler knows
It's always a delight to find a new chapter of this story in my feed. Thanks again, O Disturber of Kitchen Utensils
Hehe, a corpse bride. Nice.
Aww! Another lovely chapter! I, too, love Silver and Diamond interacting with the other foals, and how it's clear that they really are good friends with one another.
Also:
Damn I wish I'd written that that!
Yet again, you managed to make DT actually kind of likable... kudos.
I wonder how you're going to handle their actions in Flight to the Finish once you get to it... I know of one thing I hope you have Silver Spoon do.
Ah, I remember getting bacterial pneumonia when I was 7... 32 years ago (sooooo oooooold)... they still used the huge steel needles for the large doses of antibiotic, which were injected into my inner thigh... which hurts quite excruciatingly. Hence, why for 20 years afterward I was terrified of needles.
Missed 3 weeks of school and, due to the immensely high fever which I believe peaked at 105 F, I had partial amnesia and difficulty with certain aspects recall memory still present to this day. Names especially.
Are you trying to make me ship them!? 'Cause I'll do it! I'll do it! I wasn't going to, but I will! Don't think I won't!
im one for the silver-button ship but i think ima like this one too
Another ship has entered the Freeze Frame harbor! Looks like it's going to be a good one, folks! toot toot
Ooh, The Secret Garden reference.
7350585
Ha, I was wondering when someone was going to catch that.
Well excUUUUUUUUUUse me, princess.
Well, that ship certainly sailing :) i like how the references went from subtle to blatent. I suspected somthing when she first reacted to feather, and it was cool to see my suspicions confirmed.
This is one thing i love about this story, it seems to use show intead of tell a lot. You could have said "she contemplated all the boring time she had spent in this room counting celing tiles", but you didn't. instead, you managed to say a whole lot more with that one sentence, not only telling us what happened, but it also giving more of a descriptive feeling. It engages the reader in the scene more.
Rereading, and picking up on more stuff.
Aside from which, why would there be an actual storm scheduled for a night when most of the festivities are outside? Indeed, this is a good, reasonable guess, if not quite correct this time...
8309916
She means the lightning cloud Rainbow was pranking everyone with.
He knows. IMO, he is looking the other way because he feels a little sorry for Silver having to miss Nightmare Night
This was fun!