Chapter 2 - Spoon the Crusader
Exchange of Spoons
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Chapter 2
Spoon the Crusader
“Finally, the sweet recess,” Apple Bloom said as she ran outside and took a quick breath of fresh air. A perfect cure for her headache. Her friends quickly joined, flanking her from both sides.
“Four with a plus, great score Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said as she placed her forehoof on her shoulder.
“Agreed,” Scootaloo said before frowning. “Though I think you would’ve gotten a five if not for Silver Spoon’s questions.”
“Ah dunno,” Apple Bloom responded with uncertainty. “Ah could’a got a four or three if nopony asked any questions. Mah presentation wasn’t the most interestin’.”
Sweetie Belle patted her on the back. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Not everypony has the storytelling skills of your granny. Besides, we could ask some questions if nopony else did… probably.”
“Enough talk about school, let’s play,” Scootaloo said before pointing at the playground. “So, what do you want to do?”
Suddenly, Silver Spoon jumped in between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, startling them as they both flinched. “Congratulations Apple Bloom, and sorry for offending you.” She lowered her head slightly and continued in a guilty tone, “I was overwhelmed by curiosity. I didn’t want to embarrass you or hurt your pride.”
Apple Bloom blinked in confusion and shook her head. “Yer sorry… really?”
“And why should we believe you?” Scootaloo asked before stepping away from the bully, “It must be another trick set up by Diamond Tiara.”
Silver Spoon raised her foreleg defensively. “I’m being honest… why would you doubt that?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “You're sooo trustworthy.”
“Diamond Tiara is being her usual, mean self. I had nothing to do with it.”
Sweetie Belle rounded Apple Bloom and sat in front of Silver Spoon, asking, “Speaking of Tiara, have you both had an argument or something?”
Silver Spoon frowned. “Of course we had an argument. Isn’t that obvious?”
“That explains a thing or two,” Scootaloo said as she crossed her forelegs. “Anyway, my friends and I, we were about to play before the recess is over, and you’re distracting us.”
Silver Spoon stomped before pressing her muzzle against Scootaloo’s. “Oh, I get it. You’re trying to point out that I’m too lazy and weak because of my lifestyle.” She retreated her head and pointed at a pole with rounded ceiling and two ropes attached to it, each holding a ball. “Well, challenge accepted.”
“You, beat me in that? You of all ponies? Don’t make me laugh,” Scootaloo remarked with a chuckle.
First my maid, and now my friends. I need to prove them wrong, Silver Spoon thought as she grit her teeth, her stare filled with determination.
“Wait… you’re not joking… this makes it even funnier,” Scootaloo said before turning towards the pole and raising her head proudly. “I’m so looking forward to it.” She walked with firm steps while the rich filly followed. “This is going to be fun!”
Silver Spoon sat in front of a ball hanging on a rope, her attention focused on a smirking Scootaloo on the other side. Two other crusaders and a school building visible in the background while more fillies and colts approached to watch the competition.
“Silver Spoon, what are you doing?!” Diamond Tiara’s voice reached her ears.
“And what does it looks like?” Silver asked, not bothering to look away from her opponent.
“You’re just going to embarrass yourself. Come back before it’s too late,” Tiara plead.
“And why should I listen to you?” Silver asked, not noticing the shock on the bully’s face caused by her words.
Diamond Tiara shook her head and said hesitantly, “Well… I was just trying…” she sighed. “Fine, do what you want, but don’t run crying to me afterwards.”
Featherweight landed on Silver’s right side, now hovering in mid-air with his rapidly flapping wings. “You both know the rules?” he asked. Upon receiving a nod from both competitors, he continued, “I expect a clean game, and let the best player win!”
Scootaloo stood on her hind legs and slowly raised a ball with her forehoof, not breaking eye contact with Silver even for a moment. “I doubt she’ll play clean, but in the end, I’ll win anyway.”
Featherweight raised his thin foreleg and shouted, “Ready!”
Silver stomped before standing up on her hind legs. One foreleg raised protectively up to her face, ready to protect the glasses.
“Set!”
She could see Scootaloo’s right foreleg moving backward, preparing for a solid swing as she copied her action.
“Go!”
A thudding noise followed as the ball circled around the pole, heading towards the grey filly. With a swing of her own, Silver Spoon punched the ball with all her strength, sending it back with great force.
Scootaloo’s smirk vanished and her pupils shrank. She jumped to the side to evade the ball from striking her as it rounded the pole a few times.
“One point to Silver Spoon!” Featherweight shouted while the small crowd went silent. Each crusader and Diamond Tiara opened their mouths agape.
Scootaloo jumped back to her hooves and said, “What, but how?”
“Stop underestimating me, Scootaloo!” Silver Spoon shouted as she pointed at her. “I had my own share of crusading, and I’m an earth pony. If you keep going easy on me, you will lose.”
“Crusading? What are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked before shaking her head. “Nevermind, I don’t care. I wanted to toy with you, but no more.” With a swift strike, she sent the ball towards Silver, who countered the same way as before. This time more focused, Scootaloo jumped towards the ball and kicked with her rear hoof.
Silver Spoon kept punching the ball, each of her attacks easily countered by her foe’s speed. Her sixth attempt failed as her forehoof missed, and the ball rounded the pole a few times.
“Point to Scootaloo!”
The orange filly grinned. “You got your point because I lowered my guard, but from now on, it will be a winning streak for me.”
“In your dreams,” Silver said before turning back to the ball and placing her forelegs on the ground, hind-legs now curled under her belly.
Apple Bloom half-closed her eyes and looked at the technique suspiciously. “Wait an apple picking minute, Ah recognize it.” She turned to Scootaloo and shouted, “Be careful. That’s mah family apple bucking technique.”
“Yeah, right,” Scootaloo said as she shook her forehoof dismissively at Apple Bloom. Her overconfidence ended up being her undoing the moment Silver kicked the ball with both of her rear hooves. Scootaloo’s attempt to counter with a jump kick resulted in her being pushed backward by the force of the impact, feeling her fur rub against grass and dirt. Before she managed to stand, Silver delivered another punch, sending the ball around the pole.
“Two to one for Silver Spoon,” Featherweight said while the school fillies and colts started to murmur to each other. Diamond Tiara rubbed her eyes in disbelief before clapping her hooves in enthusiasm.
“Nice one, Silver Spoon. Show this flightless filly who's boss.”
“Quiet!” Silver responded, shooting Tiara a disapproving glare. “Don’t call Scootaloo flightless! Not a word more.”
Diamond Tiara grit her teeth and growled in anger. She opened her mouth, but closed it a moment later, unable to yell at her only friend.
Scootaloo massaged her hind-leg before returning to her standing position, somewhat surprised by Silver’s attitude towards the other bully.
The game went on as minutes passed. Silver Spoon gained a few points with strength alone as her foe failed to stop her strongest kicks and two deciding punches. Scootaloo countered each loss with a display speed and agility, not giving her a moment of rest.
Silver Spoon started breathing heavily, slowly getting tired as she couldn’t keep up with the more athletic pegasus.
“Giving up yet?” Scootaloo asked. She continued with a mocking tone, “Unlike you, I can do this all day.”
Silver Spoon wiped sweat from her forehead. “You mean the warm up we had? I’m not even being serious yet,” she lied. Her legs feeling more heavy than usual. Maybe my friends are right after all… Upon seeing incoming ball, she punched it, and a moment later, she repeated her action. This time however, she lost her balance and landed on her four legs.
Before she could stand, Scootaloo had already sent a ball flying with a jump kick; said ball was now going straight at her face. Out of reflex, Silver Spoon turned her head to the side, feeling as the ball hit her cheek and pushed her away. Glasses fell off her face as she landed on her side with a weak thud. Bits of dust and grass spread around her shoulder.
After massaging her cheek, Silver Spoon raised her head, now seeing a slightly blurry image of three crusaders, Featherweight and Diamond Tiara towering over her. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looking at her with worry while Scootaloo showed signs of guilt. The weirdest part being Diamond Tiara’s concerned expression. Both Tiara and Scootaloo stretched their foreleg towards her.
“I’m sorry… I went too far with that one,” Scootaloo said as she tried to help her stand, though her forehoof collided with Tiara’s hoof.
Diamond Tiara growled at the crusader. “Look what you’ve done, fool. You will pay for this.”
“I… I didn’t mean it,” Scootaloo responded as she took a step back and raised her foreleg defensively. “I tried to score a point, not send a ball towards her face on purpose.” She stomped. “Wait a moment, why am I explaining myself to you?”
Tiara poked Scootaloo’s chest. “Because you’re a mere moment away from me kicking your flank.”
Silver Spoon observed both ponies arguing with each other before deciding to stand up. She stared at Tiara suspiciously, her vision slightly blurry.
“I got caught in the moment, and I did apologize.”
“You call that an apology? Typical. I didn’t see you being sorry for all the insults you threw at her.”
“And why should I be sorry about those? You insult us all the time.”
Typical Scootaloo, always so easy to provoke, Silver though before looking around for her missing glasses.
“You lost these,” Featherweight said while showing the glasses he held between his thin hooves. He hovered above the ground thanks to his rapidly flapping wings.
Silver took the glasses and placed them on her muzzle. “Thank you,” she said while smiling warmly before nuzzling Featherweight affectionately.
A weak blush appeared on the colt’s check. “You’re... welcome.”
She looked ahead at the arguing pair and shouted, “Can you both quit it so we can resume the game?”
Tiara was the first to look at her. “But that blan... “ she coughed and corrected herself, “arrogant crusader offended you and hit you in the face.”
Scootaloo was about to say something, but Silver Spoon beat her to it. “And why do you care so much for me all of the sudden?” She could see the bully staring back in confusion.
“What do you mean? I always care.”
“All you're doing is looking for an excuse to pick on crusaders, nothing more,” Silver said.
“That’s not true,” Diamond Tiara said with a stomp, through her determination was replaced with doubt a moment later.
Silver turned to Scootaloo. “Let’s resume our game. The recess isn’t over yet.”
Sweetie Belle took a few steps forward and pointed at the small bruise on Silver’s cheek. “You want to continue after what happened?”
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “My glasses are intact, so I don’t see a reason to stop. I’m not made of glass after all.” She could see a weak nod before Sweetie Belle stepped to the side and sat next to Apple Bloom. Diamond Tiara didn’t move an inch from her spot while Scootaloo took a fighting stance on the opposite side, though no longer radiating with determination.
Unbeknownst to the present ponies, Discord observed the scene from his underground hideout with a periscope emerging from the ground, which was well hidden under a carousel. The limited vision being satisfactory as he could see the playing fillies well enough.
His left ear with legs made of matches was listening to the conversations, hiding behind the pole as no filly seemed to notice it.
“And why do you care so much for me all of the sudden?”
“What do you mean? I always care.”
“All you are doing is looking for an excuse to pick up on the crusaders, nothing more.”
Discord chuckled, though his voice didn’t penetrate the sealed wooden walls of his temporary hideout. “Burn,” he said with a grin. “It is going better than I imagined. Each time that annoying Diamond Tiara is trying to even argue with those crusaders, Silver Spoon shuts her down immediately. I had no idea solving those so called… ‘friendship problems’ could be so entertaining.”
“Now, what should my next move be?” Discord said to himself while rubbing his chin. “Should I wait patiently for everything to resolve itself, or should I push Tiara’s button and laugh as she explodes in rage.”
He chuckled and grinned before snapping his fingers. A toy version of Diamond Tiara appeared in mid-air and landed in his claws as he looked at a large button on her belly with ‘self-destruct’ written on it.
The crowd of young ponies ran outside energetically, but not everypony shared their enthusiasm. Three crusaders followed the rest, going outside with hesitant and slow steps before sitting near the entrance to the school, forming a circle while staring at each other.
The silence lasted for several seconds while Silver Spoon was still inside, talking with the teacher.
Diamond Tiara lost her patience and walked outside, stopping next to the crusaders and growling in annoyance. “I have no idea what you did to turn Silver Spoon against me, but I will get her back, blank fl–” She paused and frowned before walking away.
The crusaders glanced at her for a moment before staring at each other once again. Apple Bloom being first to speak, “Congratulation Scootaloo… ya did really well in that game today.”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo responded while rubbing her foreleg nervously. “But it was a close one. Almost lost.” She took a deep breath and asked, “Did you teach Silver Spoon your family’s apple-bucking technique?” Upon seeing a shake of the farm’s filly head, she asked, “Was she visiting your farm lately?”
“She didn’t. Ah have no idea where she learned it,” Apple Bloom responded and shrugged. “Ah’m surprised she even managed to keep up with ya. Ah thought rich folks ain’t good at sport.”
Scootaloo nodded. “That wasn’t the only odd thing she did today. Maybe she’s acting, trying to get on our good side and then trick us.” She turned her head to look at the third crusader, who seemed to be lost in thoughts. “You have been very quiet today, is something wrong?” She cleared her throat with a cough. “Well, is something wrong besides Silver Spoon acting weird?”
Sweetie Belle looked to the side and spoke, “I know it may sound weird, but do you girls think that maybe–” She paused while searching for her next words. “Maybe she wanted to befriend us?”
“Befriend us?” Scootaloo said with a hint of anger. “Don’t tell me you bought her acting.”
“And if I did?” Sweetie Belle asked, now staring directly in the eyes of her friend. “I know she was always bullying us, but to be honest, every time she did she was side by side with Diamond Tiara. Have we ever talked to her alone?”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Now that Ah think about it, we never saw her alone. Are ya tryin’ to say that she was bein’ mean to us because Tiara was?” she asked, capturing her friend's attention.
“This is a possibility,” Sweetie Belle said with a nod. “What if they had an argument, and now she’s showing her true colors? Each time Diamond Tiara was calling us names, Silver Spoon took our side.” She pointed at Scootaloo and continued, “She nearly yelled at Tiara when she called you flightless.”
Scootaloo crossed her forelegs and said with harsh voice, “And a few months ago she was the one pointing out my disabilities. I don’t buy it.” She looked around, making sure that no pony was listening. “Diamond Tiara accused us for turning her friend against her, while Silver Spoon said that they had an argument. One of them is obviously lying.”
Sweetie Belle raised her foreleg as if ready to answer teacher’s question. “I vote that Tiara was lying.” Upon hearing hoofsteps, she looked at the entrance.
“Thanks for waiting for me,” Silver said, quickly reducing the distance between her and the crusaders. Sweetie Belle stepped to the side and invited her into the circle. “No homework today. Do you have any crusading in mind for today?”
“And why do you want to know?” Scootaloo asked suspiciously, but disapproving stares from the fellow crusaders shifted her tone. “No, we have other plans today.”
“Other plans?” Silver asked before standing side to Scootaloo and poking her in the foreleg, a grin on her face. “Let me guess; Rainbow Dash invited you to watch her and Spitfire’s stunts, or did she want to see the newest scooter trick you came up with.”
Scootaloo pressed her forelegs against her own cheeks as her friends could see stars in her eyes. “That would be so epic.” Her mind returned to reality a moment later as she increased the distance between her and the bully. “And no, that’s not what I’m going to do today.”
Silver Spoon pointed at Apple Bloom and asked, “What about you? Are you going to hang up with Twist? If yes, watch out for your weight. She is always so generous with the sweets she makes.”
“Twist, why?” Apple Bloom asked with a raised eyebrow.
“What do you mean, why? She’s your school friend from before you even met the crusaders.”
Apple Bloom frowned, now speaking with an annoyed voice, “Ya mean she was.” She pointed at her own flank. “Why would she want to be friends with a pony without a cutie-mark?”
Silver Spoon closed her eyes, now deep in thought as she tried to put together gathered information. “Don’t tell me you both had an argument.” Apple Bloom was about to respond, but Silver was first to speak, “The Apple Bloom I know wouldn’t abandon a friend because of petty jealousy.”
“Abandon? Jealousy?” the farm filly said with raised foreleg, her expression showing signs of an old wound resurfacing. “She’s the one who abandoned me!”
Silver Spoon shook her head and stomped. “I don’t believe you. Twist may not be the most eloquent, but she is kind and generous. There’s no way she would leave you unless you pushed her aside.” After taking a deep breath, she continued with a much calmer tone. “Maybe you left her with an impression that you no longer wanted her company.”
Apple Bloom’s mouth was agape as she struggled to say a word. Both of her friends didn’t dare to interfere. “Ya think that… that Ah’m at fault?” Upon seeing a weak nod, she continued, “But she stopped spendin’ time with me. All she cared for was makin’ sweets.” She murmured quietly so nopony could hear her. “And she shared sweets with everypony except me.”
Silver Spoon placed a forehoof on the farm filly’s shoulder and said, “Tell me something. Is Fluttershy still a friend of your older sister?”
“Eeyup, she is. Why wouldn’t she be?”
“If your sister would invite Fluttershy to her farm to camp with your family, would she refuse?”
“Ah think not.”
“Would Fluttershy ever invite Applejack anywhere on her own?” Silver asked with a grin.
“Ah don’t think so. Do ya think that Twist’s shy like Fluttershy?” Upon seeing a nod, she lowered her head in guilt.
“Listen,” Silver Spoon said as she retreated her forehoof and sat in front of Apple Bloom, who raised her head and looked back in confusion. “Twist can get very excited when it comes to her special talent. It may sometimes seem as if she doesn’t care about anything besides that, but that’s how she is. She’s too shy to ask if something is wrong, or if she can play with you. If you avoid her, she will think you don’t like her anymore and step aside.”
Apple Bloom kept staring at the former bully as her mind struggled to puzzle together the newly acquired information. Was she the one who gave up on her friendship with Twist? Was she jealous that her friend got her cutie-mark first? Many more questions sprung up in her mind as she looked to the side and spoke, “Ah think… Ah’ve some apologizing to do.”
“That’s the spirit,” Silver said before she patted Apple Bloom on the back. “I’m sure that whatever happened between you both, a simple apology will fix it.”
“Ah doubt an apology will do… it’s been over a year...”
“A year, what are you talking about?” Silver asked in confusion. “I saw you with Twist two weeks ago, and you both were getting along just fine.”
“What are ya talkin’ about?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ah would remember if Ah did somethin’ like that.”
Scootaloo raised a forehoof up to the left side of her head and circled it. “Maybe you hit yourself on the head and now have memory issues. That would explain a lot.”
Silver frowned. “Memory issues? You know what, whatever. You have been mean to me all day. I don’t feel like talking with you right now.” She turned around and sat, her forelegs now crossed, head raised and eyes closed. “That’s just as much rudeness I can take.”
Sweetie Belle walked between them and said, “No need to get angry…” She turned to Silver and said in an apologizing tone, “Sorry for Scootaloo. I know you’ve been trying hard to be nice to us, and I appreciate your efforts, but we need some time before we can overlook the past and accept you as a friend.”
Silver Spoon’s eyes opened wide and her ears dropped as she now looked like a backstabbed puppy. She looked at Sweetie Belle and asked, “What do you mean… accept me as a friend… I thought…” Her throat became dry as she felt sudden urge to cry. “I… I need to go. I think I will hang out with Featherweight today.” She took a few steps away form the circle.
“Featherweight, when did you two become friends?” Sweetie Belle asked, her words stopped Silver in her track.
“Friends? He isn’t my friend, he’s my crush. Don’t tell me that you all forgot already.”
“Crush? You mean you want him to be your very special somepony?” Sweetie asked in a panic while the other crusaders opened their mouths agape and stared at Silver in disbelief.
The rich filly massaged her forehead. “I can’t take it anymore. I feel as if my life was turned upside down…” She walked away with a slightly lowered head, leaving three crusaders even more confused than before.
Sweetie Belle turned towards her friends. “So Silver had an argument with Diamond Tiara, got a crush on Featherweight, and is trying to befriend us while having problems with her memory,” she summarized, waiting for nods from her friends to confirm her words.
“Well, she did nuzzle him today,” Apple Bloom pointed out. “Whatever happened to Silver, she’s being nicer if ya ask me. Though a bit too confusin’ for mah taste.” She sighed. “Ah better go talk with Twist. Ah need to find out if it was mah fault that our friendship fell apart… and apologize if that’s the case.”
Scootaloo rubbed her chin. “I don’t know. I can understand her becoming more bearable after freeing herself from Diamond Tiara, but to get so good at sport in such a short amount of time, this is just too weird. Something doesn’t feels right.”
After saying their farewells, the crusaders split up and went their separate ways with a lot on their minds.
Silver Spoon kept walking with her eyes downcast, her mind a mess after today’s events. “Excuse me,” a familiar voice caught her attention. She turned around and looked up.
“Princess Twilight!” Silver said as she now faced the towering alicorn. Not wasting a moment, she bowed.
“Please, stand,” Twilight said nervously.
Silver Spoon sat and looked at Twilight in admiration. Ever since she had the honor of learning from the princess while asking about her adventures, she learned to respect her. Being in Twilight’s very presence filled her with pride as she wished her bow could last a bit longer. “Is there anything you wish of me, Your Highness?” she asked curiously.
The princess shook her head as her horn lit. “Just call me Twilight, and I wanted to cast a simple scanning spell on you, if you won’t mind.”
“Scanning spell, why?” Silver asked.
Twilight raised her foreleg in a lecturing gesture as she spoke, “Discord informed me that Diamond Tiara was accusing him of using his magic to influence your mind, and asked me if I could clear his name.”
Silver rolled her eyes. Typical. With a firm nod, she said, “I don’t mind at all.”
Diamond Tiara walked back home as she constantly looked to the side, hoping against hope to see Silver Spoon by her side at any moment. “Stupid crusaders,” she muttered to herself. “It wasn’t enough they keep showing how good of friends they are everywhere they go. Now they turned my own friend against me. I’ll make them pay.” She stopped upon seeing a shadow on the ground.
Looking up, she saw a creature she remembered from yesterday, a floating abomination of several different creatures. With a smirk, she spoke, “Well, if this isn’t a reformed backstabber and Tirek's former friend. I have better things to do than seeing your ugly face.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Discord responded as he lowered his head and poked Tiara’s muzzle. “Aren’t we in a bad mood today?”
“None of your business,” Tiara said as she walked forward, but Discord followed, levitating above her head. “Leave me alone, or else I will tell everypony how you were causing trouble. Unless you didn’t have enough of yesterday’s embarrassment, in which case, do go on.”
“Funny you mention it. Because of you, I had to listen to Fluttershy’s boring lecture about not abusing one’s power,” Discord said as his words caused a satisfied smile to grow on the bully’s lips. “But my little revenge totally makes up for it.”
“Revenge?” Tiara asked as she stopped in her track, letting the draconequus bypass her.
Discord sat on the ground and looked at the sky. “Oh, it’s nothing big, and yet enough to make you angry and me happy.”
Diamond Tiara sharpened her glare as she pointed at the spirit of chaos. “What did you do?!”
Discord lowered his head and snapped his fingers as a bowl filled with some sort of vegetable soup appeared in his claws. “My dear Tiara, so clueless.” The bully growled. “I merely borrowed a spoon,” he said before a silver spoon appeared in his claw. Not wasting a moment, he took a sip of the soup from the bowl.
“You… you didn’t,” Tiara said as her mind translated Discord’s words. She yelled, “You were the one who turned Silver Spoon against me?”
“Bingo.”
Tiara grit her teeth and jumped, only to be stopped in mid-air and placed on the ground while one of Discord’s fingers was flashing with magic.
“Watch your temper, young lady.”
“I’ll tell the princess that you cast a spell on my friend, and she’ll turn you into a statue!” Tiara said, to which Discord rolled his eyes.
The spirit of chaos placed a hand on his forehead in dramatic pose. “Oh, whatever the poor me can do.” He snapped his fingers, and in a flash of magic, the princess appeared next to him as she looked around in confusion.
“What, how did I get here?” Twilight asked, quickly noticing Discord and a filly staring at her.
“Princess Twilight!” Tiara shouted before pointing at Discord accusingly. “You need to turn him into a statue for brainwashing my friend.”
“What?!” the alicorn shouted before taking a moment to understand the situation. After taking a quick breath, she said, “First off, I can’t turn him to stone. We returned the Elements to…”
“You can’t?” Tiara cut her off.
Discord smirked. “No, she can’t.”
Twilight looked at the filly with a growing hostility. “Furthermore. I checked Silver Spoon for any signs of magical influence, and I found nothing.”
Diamond Tiara shook her head and cleared her ear, wondering if she heard it right. “What!? But there has to be!”
“Furthermore,” Twilight said, stomping. “Yesterday, Discord asked me if I could prove his innocence. At first, I didn’t believe him, but as I did some detective work and asked a few fillies, they confirmed that you and Silver Spoon were sabotaging him, while giving them candies for saying a lie or two to the teacher.”
“Thank you, Twilight,” Discord said, the very look of Tiara’s wide open mouth filling him with satisfaction for a job well done.
Twilight looked away from the filly, now staring at Discord curiously. “Still, there are some things I need to ask you.”
“Later,” Discord said as he snapped his fingers, and Twilight disappeared.
Diamond Tiara started stomping the ground as her cheeks turned red while smoke escaped from her ears.
“What’s the matter. Are you angry because I outsmarted you? Not that you were anywhere in my league to begin with.” He chuckled.
Tiara grit her teeth and said while staring at the ground. “What did you do?”
“Oh, you think that I will spoil my plan, do you? I pass, but I can give you a hint or two,” Discord said before lowering himself to the filly’s ear. He whispered, “Your former friend doesn’t like bullies. If you really value her friendship, I would suggest you to be nicer from now on.” He raised his head and crossed his hands. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if you decided that she isn’t worth the effort. I doubt you two were real friends to begin with.”
“I will win her back,” Tiara said with determination before running away.
Discord watched the dust left behind by the galloping filly. That’s odd. I didn’t expect she would be so determined to get a sidekick back. He smiled. I wonder how far she will go. This will be interesting. He noticed a flash from the corner of his eye and looked at a wet Twilight. Both wings spread while drops of water were falling down her feathers, legs and face. “Oopsy.”
“Oopsy indeed,” Twilight said before turning towards him. Her face radiating in anger as water nearly evaporated from her face as the result. “You teleported me into the stream under the bridge.”
“Sorry. I wanted to teleport you onto the bridge so you could have a pleasant view. It wasn’t intentional,” Discord answered while scratching back of his neck nervously.
Twilight shook her body before flying up to Discord’s face. “Nevermind that. When I talked with Silver Spoon, she said that she wasn’t assisting Diamond Tiara yesterday, and complained that everypony around her was acting crazy.”
“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. I was left with the impression that ponies in Ponyville are already crazy. Do you want to deny that?”
The alicorn opened her mouth and closed it immediately. “Well… you are right that many ponies here are far from being normal, but it is the charm of Ponyville.” She shook her head and continued with an aggressive tone, “Don’t change the subject. While I am sure you didn’t cast any spell on Silver Spoon, I get the impression that you did something.”
Discord fixed his bowtie, which appeared out of nowhere, and gulped. “Maybe she was so… so overwhelmed with my performance yesterday that she isn’t thinking clearly. Or maybe she lied to not get into trouble.” He looked around in panic before waving his hand. “I need to go, bye.” He vanished, leaving the princess alone who rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“Something isn’t right. I think that my detective work is still far from over,” Twilight said to herself before rubbing her chin and thinking deeply.
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The situation will clear up sooner or later. So It's surprising that Discord giving hint to Diamond Tiara sped up the inevitable instead of muddying the water. I still enjoyed it though.
9002566
That's making the assumption that Diamond Tiara's behavior won't just make things worse. See, the best lies use a lot of truth, and DT isn't the most socially adept filly to begin with; by egging her on, Discord provokes her into screwing up.
It's actually right up his alley. Twilight is the one he needs to worry about; she could suck all the fun out of the situation before anyone learns their lessons. The author has the same interpretation of reformed Discord that I do; instead of messing with ponies to make them turn against their true nature, he forces them to reveal the ugliness already inside of them and confront it. Like he does to Twilight. Repeatedly.
Nitpick:
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Twilight does seem to cool down after this, but it still seems a bit odd to me that she would blow off an apology with those words if the offense was enough to make her so mad she was almost evaporating the water she had fallen into, instead of explicitly accepting it—however curtly. (If the offense was actually trivial to her, then I could see it.)
Still, that's a very minor point. Overall, the scene was pretty good, and I wouldn't necessarily say that it's too soon. I was expecting at least one of the crusaders to get on the case first, but Twilight+crusader(s) would be about as interesting. I suppose the question now is whether DT will beat them to it.
That answers whose fault this is.
Don't taunt the reality warper with a loose sense of morality, it's not gonna end well.
I understand discord is petty but petty enough to start bullying a kid