In Fact, I Don't Wanna Be Friends

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Busted at the Boutique

"Why are we going to the back door?" Silver Spoon asked as they reached the back door of Carousal Boutique.

"I normally come this way," Sweetie Belle answered. "Plus, the front is also Rarity's shop, and she is insanely obsessive about how it looks, especially during business hours. If she caught us tracking mud through there -- and she would, trust me -- she would probably kill us and use our hides for new outfits." Grabbing the knob, she pushed it open.

"Okay, so why are we here? I mean, I thought we were going to your house."

Stopping, Sweetie Belle turned around and looked at Silver Spoon. Tilting her head, she looked at Silver with confusion.

"What?" Silver asked.

"You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"I live with my sister," Sweetie Belle explained. "I have for the last five years. After my parents decided to drop me off and take another trip, Rarity decided to just file for guardianship." She turned back toward the door. "I wondered why you and Diamond Tiara never teased me about it."

As Sweetie Belle went inside, Silver Spoon stood there, staring at the doorway and the mare entering. Sweetie Belle was living with Rarity? For the past five years? And she had never known? Of course not. She had never bothered to get to know about Sweetie Belle or her friends any more than what Diamond Tiara did. Was it possible that Diamond Tiara knew? No. If she had known, Diamond Tiara would definitely have made fun of Sweetie Belle over it. Even now, Silver Spoon could hear Diamond talking about how Sweetie's parents did not want her, and how they were always pawning her off on her sister just to get away from her.

"I'm sorry," Silver Spoon said as she finally came into the house.

"It's fine," Sweetie Belle answered. "Okay. So here's the plan: you wait in my room while I take a shower. That way I'll be nice and clean while I talk to Rarity. Then you take a shower while I talk to her about you staying the night. That way--"

The rest of what Sweetie Belle was going to lost as an ear-piercing shriek filled the air.

"Good gracious," Rarity shouted as she ran down the stairs toward the pair of them. "Sweetie Belle, what in Equestria happened to you?"

"Hi, Rarity," Sweetie Belle said with a smile. "You remember Silver Spoon, right?"

With a slight smile of her own, Silver Spoon raised a hand to wave at Rarity. The moment Rarity turned to look at her, Silver froze. The look that she got could only be described as "icy" as those blue eyes narrowed. It sent a shiver down along Silver's spine, making her slouch down an try to make herself seem smaller.

Rarity's lips pursed out as she crossed her arms, continuing to stare at Silver Spoon.

"Yes," Rarity stated. "I recall her quite well. Shall I then presume that your current... appearance... has something to do with that Diamond Tiara?"

"It's kind of a long and complicated story," Sweetie Belle replied, "and as you can see, Silver and I are really muddy. So... how about I tell you about it while you make hot chocolate and Silver takes a shower to get cleaned up."

"Hold on." Rarity stepped forward, holding up a hand and raising an eyebrow. "You mean to tell me, that you want --" she waved toward Silver Spoon "-- her... to take a shower here? Even though she is more than likely an accomplice in the fact that you are currently covered horn to hoof in mud?"

"Yes?" Sweetie Belle replied. "Please?"

Shifting, Rarity turned to place her full attention on Sweetie Belle. The younger mare continued to look up at her older sister with her wide, pleading, green eyes. One of Rarity's ears flickered as she stared back.

Finally, she let out a sigh and shook her head.

"Oh, very well," Rarity said. "Silver Spoon, go ahead and wash up. The bathroom is upstairs at the end of the hallway. Sweetie Belle and I will be in the kitchen."

"Actually, she doesn't have any other clothes," Sweetie Belle said. "So I need to give her some to borrow."

"So you are having her shower here, and lending her clothes?" Rarity asked, getting a nod. "This must be a very interesting story. Very well then." She moved past the pair. "I will be in the kitchen. Join me as soon as you are finished assisting your... associate..."

Once Rarity walked past them and headed into the kitchen, Sweetie Belle led Silver Spoon upstairs and to her bedroom. Going to the dresser, Sweetie pulled a drawer open and started to rifle through it. While she did, Silver Spoon looked around the room.

It was smaller than her own, and not nearly as much stuff as she had. There was a pile of stuffed toys, some of which looked pretty worn. Against the wall opposite the bed was a television with a video game console plugged into it. A Super Neigh-tendo maybe? That was actually pretty old if it was. Two or three generations in fact.

Silver Spoon found the place kind of small, and empty. At the same time, there was something... cozy... and comforting about the place.

"Here you go," Sweetie Belle said as she handed some clothes to Silver Spoon. "They're a little big on me, but they should be fine for you tonight. Clean towels are in the cabinets right beside the door in the bathroom."

With a nod, Silver Spoon left Sweetie Belle's room and headed to the bathroom. Setting the clean clothes down on the counter, she started to undress, folding the muddy clothes and setting them aside. Stepping into the shower, she turned on the water. The cold of it sent a shock through her body. After adjusting the temperature, she stood under the spray and watched as the mud ran off her body, swirling down the drain.

Down the drain.

A figure of speech used to describe when something was quickly passing from a pony's grasp, often by going wrong in a massive way. It seemed like an appropriate metaphor for what was going on in her life for today: going down the drain in a horribly muddy mess. She had lost the one pony she had thought of as a friend. A terrible one, sure, but a friend nonetheless. Now she was looking at months of being ignored at best, or vengeful attacks by Diamond Tiara and former victims at worst.

Why did she have to interfere? Why did Diamond Tiara had to do something so stupid? Why did they have to fight. Why? Why? Why?!

All of the emotions and strain of that few moments came down on Silver Spoon. All of the anger, the fear, the sadness, the grief. Every emotion and then some flooded through her, bubbling to the surface and ready to burst.

So why could she not cry? She felt overwhelmed with emotion and that she had to express them, but she could not physically come to tears. That was what was supposed to happen, was it not? It was what happened in some of the books she had read. Something would happen to the lead female -- be it the main character or romantic interest -- and she would wind up sitting in the shower in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, and crying while the water poured over their form.

Maybe that was the problem? It was not working because she was standing. Sitting down, she pulled her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Resting her head on her knees, she let the water run down her body as she sat there.

She still felt highly emotional, but unable to cry.

Maybe the water was too warm? It was kind of comforting feeling the warmth seeping into her body, relaxing her muscles as the water soaked into her coat and hair. Maybe colder water would work. The character did normally stay in the shower until it went cold, did they not?

Reaching up, she took a hold of the hot water handle, and turned it down until the shower was freezing.

Silver Spoon took a deep breath and let it out, but still could not get the bubble of emotions to burst and come out.

With a sigh of frustration, she got back up and once again turned up the warm water. She grabbed the soap, shampoo, and conditioner, and scrubbed herself. Probably harder than she should have. By the time she was finished, her scalp tingled and her arms ached. She had never washed herself so hard that her muscles hurt from it. She had not even known that was possible. Still, it probably helped to make sure that all the mud was gone from her.

Once out and dry, Silver put on the borrowed clothes. They did not exactly fit her well. The legs of the pants were short, coming up to mid-calf, and were tight against her thighs. The waistband was snug. The backside was also tight, giving her a bit of wedgie. At least there was no sign of trouble in the front. Similarly, the shirt had some of the same troubles. Silver Spoon's stomach was slightly exposed because it was too short. The sleeves ended before her wrists, closer to the middle of her forearm, and her upper arm was being squeezed. She almost felt like she could tear the seams if she flexed. The chest of the shirt was also tight, compressing her breasts and making her nipples poke out.

She did not want to be seen like this. She did not want to sleep in these. Silver Spoon wanted her regular night clothes: an over-sized shirt and boxer shorts she always wore. This made her feel too exposed.

"Looks like somepony's getting a bit of belly on them," Diamond Tiara stated, poking Silver Spoon in the stomach.

Flinching, Silver pulled at the shirt, trying to cover her stomach.

"You are so lucky your breasts are so small," Diamond Tiara groaned. "At least that way colts will look you in the face."

She pulled at the fabric of her chest, trying to stretch it a little more.

"Hey," Diamond Tiara shouted. "Watch where you're going before your butt knocks something over."

Her face heated up as she noticed the cleft between her cheeks, perfectly outlining them.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She told herself it would be fine. It was just for one night after all, and she was not going anywhere. The only ponies that would see her like this were Sweetie Belle and Rarity. Silver doubted they would actually say anything on the matter. Well, they might comment on the poor fit of the clothes, but that would be it.

Adjusting her glasses, Silver Spoon gave herself one last look over before heading out of the bathroom and down to the kitchen.

Sitting at a table were Rarity and Sweetie Belle, with Rarity facing the door. At the sight of Silver Spoon, Rarity raised one of her eyebrows.

"Well, Sweetie," she said, "it seems your... friend... has finished her shower. Now go up and take yours while we have... a little talk."

That "a little talk" sent a shiver down Silver Spoon's spine. Normally when she hears somepony use the term in that tone of voice, they pretty much mean an interrogation. This was not going to go well for her.

"Okay," Sweetie Belle said. Grabbing the mug beside her, she chugged down the rest of its contents before getting up. As she walked by, Silver could not help but notice the hot chocolate mustache. Under different circumstances, she would find it funny (or cute). As it was, Silver Spoon was dreading the idea of being left alone with Rarity.

Getting up, Rarity walked over to the stove and grabbed a mug.

"Have a seat."

Stifling the urge to gulp, Silver moved to sit in the seat that Sweetie Belle had just left.

"Not there," Rarity called out. "It's still rather muddy from Sweetie Belle after all." Turning around, she approached with a mug in hand. As Silver Spoon sat down in a clean chair, Rarity placed the mug in front of her before sitting back down again.

Picking up the mug, Silver took a sip. The chocolate was wonderful. It was made with actual milk (or cream?) and chocolate. None of that terrible hot water and powder that so many seemed to use. It was also nice and warm, but not hot enough to risk burning her mouth. It would have been perfect if there had been some marshmallows in it.

"Now," Rarity said as she sat down, "tell me what happened." She brought her arms up, head resting on her hand. Her blue eyes narrowed as she pinned the young mare with her gaze.

Silver Spoon gulped the mouthful of hot chocolate -- probably louder than necessary -- and set the mug down. She still kept a firm grip on it however, shifting it back and forth and watching the dark liquid shift.

"Didn't... didn't Sweetie Belle tell you?"

"Yes, she did," Rarity answered. "And now I want to hear your version of the story. You were there after all, and were involved in it, were you not?"

"...yes..."

"So I would like to hear you tell it," Rarity stated.

Silver Spoon looked up to find that she was being stared out. It felt like she was pinned in place, that those eyes were looking right through her, seeing anything and everything.

After letting out a sigh, Silver Spoon took another drink of her hot chocolate.

"Well, if you want the full story," she said, "then you really have to start with this morning..."

So Silver Spoon started telling her version of what happened, starting with her hoping that Diamond Tiara would be different since they were starting their senior year. She talked about the bragging, the teasing, and the complaining. She talked about her irritation and frustration that Diamond was exactly the same childish pony she had always known, and the disappointment that it looked like nothing was going to change.

As she got to the part where they had actually found Sweetie Belle, the emotional bubble finally burst. Anger coursed through her as she talked about how Diamond Tiara started to belittle Sweetie, then how Diamond tried to get the stupid notebook. Some of the anger turned toward Silver herself as she felt horrible for having let it go that far. Not just that day but for years.

Pausing, Silver found that the handle to the mug had come off at some point while she was talking, and was now in her hand.

"Sorry," she said, setting it down on the table.

"Don't worry about it now," Rarity replied. "Continue."

After the attempt to try and get Diamond Tiara to just let Sweetie go, came the argument after pushing her into the mud. Finally the tears came. All the sadness, anger, and hurt from what happened burst forth. Especially as she remembered what Diamond Tiara had said to her and she thought about how her longest friendship was pretty much over. She ended up having to stop as it was too hard to talk while she broke into full sobs.

Rarity did not say anything, but she did give Silver Spoon a handkerchief to use.

After finishing the whole story -- ending with when Rarity found them -- Silver Spoon felt... exhausted. All of the anger and sadness was drained from her, but so was all of her energy. Silver felt like she could really use a nap or something.

"Well," Rarity finally stated, "I must say that is a very entertaining tale."

Getting up, she brushed at her blouse and stroked her pants into place.

"Very well," Rarity said. "I suppose you can stay for the night. I normally don't allow Sweetie to have others stay over on school nights, but this is a bit of an extenuating circumstance. However, since it is a school night, that will mean that you will go to bed the same time as Sweetie Belle, with no argument. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Silver replied.

"Good. Now take your garments to my office and I will see about restoring them." She started for the doorway. "I am going to pick up some supper for us all to eat. While I am gone, I expect the two of you to do any homework you have."

"Yes, ma'am," Silver repeated, giving a nod. She continued to sit there, watching as Rarity made her way for the door.

Once Rarity was gone, Silver let out a sigh. She had actually felt a sense of relief that she was being allowed to stay the night. The idea of going to her big empty house and staying there all alone for the night did not appeal to her. To say nothing about having to make the trip in undersized clothes that showed off far more of her body than she was comfortable with.

"So do you have any homework?" Sweetie Belle asked, causing Silver Spoon to jump her seat.

Sweetie stood at the base of the staircase, hands in front of her. She was dressed in yellow pajamas covered in pink hearts, which Silver Spoon found absolutely adorable on her. The short pastel hair was still wet from the shower, but it was definitely returning to its naturally curly state.

"How long have you been there?" Silver asked.

"Around 'extenuating circumstances,'" Sweetie replied, walking closer. "Pretty sure Rarity said that as much for me as for you." She shifted. "So, do you have any homework?"

"No," Silver answered.

"Great." Grabbing Silver's wrist, Sweetie started to pull her up. "I can show you around quickly, then we can play video games or something until dinner. C'mon."

Comments

[bahatumay]

I like Silver Spoon's internal thoughts, hearing what Diamond Tiara was saying to her. I feel like you're adding depth to her character.