Tarnished Silver and Clouded Diamonds

by David Silver

3 - Far From Home

The bartender whipped up some light beer and set a mug in front of each of the fillies. Silver Spoon pulled hers over and slurped up some before making a sour face. "Um, excuse me, but, like, what is this?"

The barkeep looked confused at the question. "Never had beer before? It'll help warm you up and chase away the stiffness in your little legs."

Diamond Tiara pulled hers closer and sniffed it. "I can handle this." She upturned it and forced herself to swig it down without pause, leaving an empty mug behind. Her empty belly and small body made it hit her insides like a hammer, and she grunted a little as she slumped. Some of the ache of the journey to reach the town did fade away, and things just didn't seem as dire as they did a moment before. "Tastes awful, but it works."

Silver began to look worried. "You don't want to be like that creepy mare that's always getting drunk, Diamond. Be careful."

Diamond waved off the concern. "I said I can handle it." She flopped her head on the bar, looking up at the barkeep. "So, you wanted to know how we got here? Lemme tell ya! There we were, across from the Cutie Mark Losers, laughing at one of their lame-o cutie marks, and this big brute of a pony comes up, Applesquare, and bam, she waves a funny thing at us and we're up on the hill over there." She pointed in the vague direction they came from.

Silver rubbed behind her head a little. "Diamond Tiara challenged Applejack, and she punished us both. It was, like, not fair at all." She crossed her forehooves. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

Diamond gasped loudly. "You'd want me to be sent here alone?"

Silver recoiled. "What? No! I mean..."

"You do! You'd leave me to die in a mound of dirty snow." Diamond clopped the top of the bar with a hoof. "I thought you were my friend." She began to sniffle and cry, speaking each word with a choked sob. "Bump. Bump. Sugar... Lump..." She pushed her mug ahead. "Gimmie another!"

Silver reached out quickly, swatting the mug to the side and grabbing the dizzy Diamond Tiara tightly. "No! Enough! I am your friend and as your friend, no more drinks."

The bartending griffon claimed both of their mugs and tucked them away. "I think your friend needs to lay down for a little while."

Silver barely held the squirming and struggling form of Diamond Tiara. "Where can we do that? I don't, like, have any bits."

He hiked a thumb towards the stairs. "First door on the left is a common room. I'm not so heartless to tell a bunch of pony kids to take a hike. Just try to keep the noise down."

Silver bobbed her head as she tried to pull Diamond off her stool to the floor. Diamond suddenly burst into near-silent tears, clutching to Silver. While uncomfortable, the position was easier to carry her in, and Silver made her way quickly to the stairs with Diamond slung over her back. The stairs were a slow struggle against gravity and left Silver panting as she reached the top, tired but triumphant. "We're going to, like, take a little nap, Diamond."

Diamond whispered in an ear, "Will you sleep with me?"

Silver went red in those same ears as she pushed open the door. The interior of the common room was dark and quiet. She could see the slumbering form of somepony under a blanket and guessed it was another griffon. She whispered back gently. "Yes, Diamond, just be extra quiet, other ponies are sleeping too."

Diamond waved a hoof without coordination. "I don't see no ponies, just stupid griffons."

Silver set Diamond down on a cot and crawled in beside her, pulling up the blanket. "Well don't worry about them. It's bed time. Let's get some sleep."

Diamond snuggled in tight, still sniffling once in a while. "I'm hungry..."

Silver softly stroked through her friend's mane. "We'll get something to eat after we wake up, promise." She wasn't sure how they'd do anything without bits. She couldn't trust the griffon to just be that nice of a person forever. "Go to sleep, OK?"

Lulled off with a combination of alcohol and the gentle attention of her friend, Diamond Tiara began to fade away. She murmured sleepily, "Thanks, Silver Spoon. You're the bestest." Silver smiled at the kind words, and held Diamond close. The two found some desperately needed rest in one another's grip, passing the night by without further concern.

Come the morning, Diamond woke first. She hadn't drunk enough to leave her with a hangover, despite her lightweight ability to cope with the drug. She sat up in the darkness and looked around, seeing many sleeping griffons scattered around on cots or on the floor. The hazy memory of what she did last night caught up to her and she frowned. Silently, she slipped from her cot and trotted across the floor with only the light clip-clop of her hooves.

Soon outside the common room, she sat down and took a slow breath. "OK, you're far away from home, and Daddy's not coming soon. You can handle this, Diamond Tiara. You were raised to lead, and leaders need to be tough, and powerful! Silver Spoon is counting on us." She clopped her forehooves together. "No more beer! An embarrassed leader is a powerless leader, and a powerless leader is a useless leader. You can do this!" She pushed to her hooves and descended to the main room.

A different griffon was behind the counter, and there weren't any customers. Diamond hopped up onto the same stool she had before. "What happened to the griffon that was here last night?"

"My husband?" asked the she-griffon. "He's getting some sleep. Lazy bastard refuses to work eighteen hour shifts. Whattaya need?"

Diamond tapped at her chin. "I'm looking for administrative work."

The griffon raised her brows in unison. "That's a big fancy word that has little place in this town. The only guild we have are the lumberjacks. You could try checking with them? Aren't you a little..." She paused as she looked Diamond up and down. "Well, little? You don't look like you've done a single hard day's work in your life."

Diamond ran a hoof through her distressingly-tangled mane. "That's why I'm looking for the right kind of work. My daddy's a big business leader, and I'm going to do the same."

She shrugged lightly. "Best of luck to you, but I hope you have a plan B. Do you have some coin to back up that plan with?"

Diamond reached into a small pouch with her mouth and pulled out the ten bits she'd tucked away as spending money. "How much for breakfast and a hot bath? Uh, two breakfasts."

She smiled, a sly expression. "I was wondering if you'd forget your friend. The husband mentioned you two, how could he not? It's not every day some random ponies come in looking like they crawled all the way from Yi Sheng with nothing but a prayer, and so young too..."

She made a flippant gesture with a talon. "One of those gold coins you're holding will tide you over for two days, meals included. We don't serve fancy vittles here, you get the same slop everyone else gets, but it'll fill you up and keep you going."

Diamond set one of the coins down, but kept her hoof on it. "Does that includes hot baths and soaps?"

She snorted. "I'll show you how to heat the tub yourself, but that isn't nearly enough to get me to do it. There's a bar of soap next to it, have at."

Diamond didn't feel she was getting any better of a deal and she drew her hoof away, leaving the coin behind. The griffin snatched it up and pocketed it. "Now you just sit there and look pretty. I'll have breakfast ready in a few minutes."

Diamond tried to marshal herself, going over plans for how she'd approach the lumberjacks and amaze them with her keen business acumen. If she could win them over, they'd be comfortable for as long as they needed to wait to be rescued, and everything would be great! She'd get to tell her daddy how she succeeded and he'd be so proud! That would get his attention. He barely looked at her report card unless there was a bad mark on it, but a takeover of a foreign business and turning a profit? She was sure he'd bury her in praise and be so shocked...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the approach of Silver Spoon, adjusting her glasses as she went. She smiled at Diamond gently. "Are you feeling better?"

Diamond colored at remembering the night before. "Of course! I'm fine. I negotiated us lodging and meals while you were sleeping."

Silver Spoon climbed up onto her stool. "Wow, really? I didn't think to bring any bits at all... Thanks, Diamond, you're a lifesaver."

Diamond felt warm and good at her friend's praise, but her praise wasn't hard to get, and only went so far. "After we eat and wash up, I'm going to go to the woodcutter's company in town and see if I can't get a position."

Silver tilted her head. "What? Really? You're, like, gonna get a real job and everything?"

Her voice was full of wonder and amazement, which pleased Diamond. "Of course. We don't have enough money to last forever, and who knows how long it'll be before Daddy finds us, so we have to be big mares and handle it ourselves." She clopped her forehooves together. "You'll come with me, right? I'll look more impressive with an assistant."

Silver bobbed her head quickly. "Of course! I'll totally be your wingmare. Do you think they'll hire us? I bet they're all griffons."

Diamond waved a hoof lightly. "All the more reason. They won't know what hit them. Eat up and let's get washed."

A plate was set on the counter and a large ladle dropped steaming hot but not entirely identifiable food onto it. "Here you go." She slid the first towards Diamond Tiara, then a second plate to Silver Spoon. "House special."

Silver Spoon grabbed a spoon in her hoof, and the griffon peered at her curiously. "How'd you do that?"

"Huh, do what?"

"That?" The griffon reached and grabbed the spoon out of Silver's hoof, then set it back on the counter. "Go ahead."

Silver Spoon looked mildly irritated but reached for the spoon, easily holding it in her hoof. The griffon shook her head. "Is it magic?"

Diamond Tiara tilted her head before grabbing up her own spoon. "I don't see what the big deal is. Now kindly let us eat."

Despite the questionable service, the food was tasty and filling, and with bolstered spirits, they went off to the bathing room. It took some teamwork to get the fire going under the tub and to fill it with water, but the reward was well worth it. They soaked in the water for a time before washing each other off and tending to one another's mane and tail. Soon they felt whole and ready, and stepped out into the chill, prepared for their next challenge.

Author's Note:

Everglow residents amaze at the casual hoof magic of Equestrian ponies. It's like physics making a typo.

Comments

[albedoequals1]

Soon outside, she sat down and took a slow breath. "
...
She pushed to her hooves and descended to the main room.

Is the main room lower than outside?

"Like, do what?"

You're abusing "like" just a bit. SS doesn't use it all that much in the show, and people that do use it a lot wouldn't use it there.

[David Silver]

6165242 Fixed, and meant outside the common room, still on the second floor. Then she went down to the first floor main room. Adjusted to make that more clear.

[albedoequals1]

Chugging a cold drink on an empty stomach after exercising can be quite dangerous, especially to horses. Considering the low alcohol content of beer, it's lucky DT is an easy drunk or she could have hurt herself badly.

[David Silver]

6165264 Actual horses have low constitution scores if one considers how easy it is to hurt one even unintentionally or to themselves. Fortunately ponies are made of tougher stuff! And she got drunk enough for Silver Spoon to intervene.

[Alzrius]

"OK, you're far away from home, and daddy's not coming soon.

"Daddy" should be capitalized, since she's using it as a proper name.

Diamond ran a hoof through her distressingly tangled mane.

Her "distressingly-tangled" mane.

[David Silver]

6174285 Typos found guilty of murder!

[Alzrius]

6174362 This was a good chapter, presenting us with the flip-side to the hardships and horrors that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have endured since their arrival. Namely, that they're not only capable of bouncing back, but that they genuinely care about each other and, for all their personal faults, are fast friends. Seeing Diamond Tiara remind herself that Silver Spoon is counting on her, as well as Silver comforting a distraught Diamond, was needed to remind us that that they're not bad ponies, at least not deep down.

It was also good that we got some greater characterization regarding Diamond Tiara's motivation, in terms of why she's so bossy and unpleasant. Being ignored by her father will send a powerful, if unspoken, message to any child that they're not important. This also works since we rarely see anything regarding her father in the source material; the only things that leap to mind are his ordering her to help the Apples make zap-apple juice, and her singing that her dad made her hire Pinkie Pie to plan her cute-ceanera. Of course, it's rather sad that even in their current straits, Diamond's overriding goal is to gain her father's approval...all the more so for the fact that her plan is doomed, since she doesn't realize that she's on another world entirely.

Where this chapter really hit a high note, however, was how well it used this single aspect to characterize Diamond Tiara's positive and negative traits. On the one hoof, her need for approval drives her to be condescending and mean to almost everyone around her. But on the other hoof, it also makes her driven and ambitious, leading her to develop a plan of action instead of drifting aimlessly. This was a very astute way of showcasing that her greatest weakness is also her greatest strength, and vice versa, something which I feel is a very canny insight into her character.

Silver Spoon suffers a little for not having quite the same level of insight granted to her, but I'm less certain of my footing in saying that. Is Silver Spoon given less exposition because the story is ignoring her, or is it because she simply doesn't have the same level of pathos driving her? I'm tempted to say it's the latter interpretation. Silver Spoon is less driven that Diamond Tiara is, to the point where she seems comfortable with herself; at the same time, however, that gives her less inner strength to draw upon when confronted with adversity. When push comes to shove, Silver Spoon seems more like a self-indulgent socialite, whereas Diamond Tiara wants to get out there and actually do something, if only because there's no other way to achieve recognition.

One minor point that should be noted is the confusing blush that Silver Spoon developed when Diamond Tiara drunkenly asked Silver to sleep with her. Was that because she understood the inadvertent double entendre, and if so, was it evidence of some sort of sapphic attraction? Normally I'd presume so, save for the fact that the two of them are so young, and for how I know that the author really doesn't want to go in that direction where children are concerned. Moreover, neither of the pair had a problem bathing together and washing each other. So it's hard to say what, if anything, Silver Spoon's embarrassment was regarding.

Oh, and Silver doesn't say "like" like that.

[David Silver]

6174549 Evidence the first: "It's not like being the only pony there without a cutie mark would be, like, the most embarrassing thing ever."

The second: The problem is, I mean, she's like, totally not special.

The defense rests.

[Spiritus Arcane]

So...were they converted to Everglow forms as normal, or are they still Equestrian based? It just seems a little weird that hoof-grip magic still works without the Helping Hand spell if the former.

[Kage no Brony]

6183558

The second one. The ghost in the cabin said they looked a little strange, and their hooves grip.