The Serenade of Silver Belles
By: Your Antagonist
Edited By: Starwind Dood, Aziraphael, TheWattsMan, Brony2893, A one Mr. Xozjain, Cpl. Hooves and (The Great and Powerful) Plyxe
Chapter 5- Well, That Escalated Quickly
Dry mouth. Shallow breathing. Light beads of sweat slowly condensing on the fur. The inability to process or verbalize any rational thoughts. These symptoms indicated that Silver Spoon had, for all intents and purposes, been stunned by mere words. Words that she surely had to have misheard. After all, there was no way any sane pony could have suggested that. “I’m sorry, come again? I don’t think I quite heard you. There must have been something in my ear, I mean, for a moment I almost thought you said—”
“Bungee jumping,” Scootaloo repeated.
Silver Spoon swallowed a hard lump, the likes of which she’d never felt in her throat before, as the realization that Scootaloo was dead serious finally sank in. “Yes, that’s what I was afraid you said.” Silver Spoon continued to let the throes of stunned silence wash over her, uncertain of how to respond to such a ludicrous notion. Was this normal behavior for the Cutie Mark Crusaders? Were they honestly and truly so hellbent on getting their cutie marks that they were willing to go so far as risking their lives to obtain them?
“Yup!” Scootaloo chirped. For a moment, Silver Spoon briefly wondered if Scootaloo had heard her thoughts, but quickly had any belief in the pegasus’ psychic abilities dispelled with what Scootaloo said next. “Bungee jumping! Won’t this be awesome?”
Silver Spoon opened her mouth to inject some rationality into the situation, but quickly found the air abuzz with a voice of reason from an unexpected source.
“Scoots, that’s absolute crazy talk!” shouted Apple Bloom. “We can’t go bungee jumping! What if we get hurt!? Where’d you even come up with such a thing?”
Scootaloo flashed a toothy grin and answered simply, “Spike told me all about it!”
“Spike told you about this?” Apple Bloom asked rhetorically, but Scootaloo still nodded with pride. “Didn’t Spike also tell you about a certain something else?”
“Uhhh, well—”
“And didn’t that something else almost get us killed and covered in tree sap?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“So are you sure you should really be takin’ Spike’s advice?”
“What is this ‘something else’ she’s talking about?” Silver Spoon asked Sweetie Belle.
“Oh, well…” Sweetie Belle grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “You remember when I told you about that little zip-lining incident?”
Silver Spoon nodded in affirmation.
"Yeah, she’s referring to that.”
“I see… and when you say Spike, you mean that dragon that lives in the library, right?”
Sweetie Belle nodded.
Being an honor student, Silver Spoon had spent a fair amount of her time studying in the library. Although, for all the time she’d spent there, she’d never actually held a conversation with the curators longer than a simple “hello” or asking for a reference guide. However, on more than one occasion, when her curiosity got the better of her, she found herself watching Spike out of the corner of her eye, as dragons weren’t exactly common in Ponyville. He certainly didn’t smile much from what she’d seen of him, but that could have been attributed to the fact that when she chose to watch him, the Cutie Mark Crusaders—oddly enough—were usually running amok in the book emporium, grating on the drake’s nerves. Silver Spoon wondered if Spike was joking when he put the thought into Scootaloo’s head, or if he knew just how far the pegasus was willing to go to find her special talent.
Regardless of Spike’s intentions, however, the fact of the matter was that Scootaloo had taken the dragon’s advice wholeheartedly, and was willing to put herself and her friends in danger over it. “I’ve thought about it,” Silver Spoon announced, “And I’m with Apple Bloom on this: We can’t bungee jump, it’s just not safe.”
“Yeah Scoots, let’s just head back to Ponyville and do somethin’, y’know, a little bit safer?”
“What!?” Scootaloo shouted. “After that long trip over here, hauling that heavy junk, and setting up all this equipment, you just want to pack up and go home?”
“Well, I’m sorry, but this just sounds plum foolish.”
“Oh yeah?” In the blink of an eye, Scootaloo bolted over to Sweetie Belle and draped a foreleg over the unicorn’s neck, drawing her close. “Well, Sweetie Belle thinks this is an awesome idea, and she’s with me on this one hundred percent!”
“I am?” Sweetie Belle asked, flabbergasted.
“See? She’s totally on board!” Scootaloo proclaimed, completely ignoring the interrogative tone in the unicorn’s voice.
“Scootaloo,” Silver Spoon started. “I don’t think—”
“Well, I guess that settles that! Now, come on girls, who’s gonna jump first?” Scootaloo’s eyes darted hopefully back and forth between her friends, expecting to see a risen hoof or a cheerful expression. Instead she was met with worried glances from the earth pony front. “Oh, come on, no volunteers?”
“Well, if you’re set on bungee jumpin’, why don’t you go first?” asked Apple Bloom
“Well duh,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I’m the only one who knows how to work the machine for pulling you girls back up,” she said, pointing to the small mechanical winch by her side.
“So why can’t you just show us how to work it so we can pull you up after you jump?” Apple Bloom pressed.
“Well, I— I mean—”
Scootaloo’s stuttering was all the farm pony needed needed to hear. She stepped closer to the pegasus “Oh, I see…”
“See what?”
Apple Bloom grinned slyly
“Apple Bloom, don’t say it.”
“A big—”
“Apple Bloom, I’m warning you,” Scootaloo growled.
“Orange—”
“Apple Bloom…” Scootaloo hissed, crouching low, as though she were about to pounce.
“Chic—”
“I’ll do it!” Sweetie Belle shouted, jumping between her feuding friends.
“Wait, what?” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both asked in confused tandem. Neither of them had been expecting Sweetie Belle to volunteer for such a thing, and yet here she was, doing just that.
“I said I’d jump first,” she elaborated. “That way Scootaloo can show you girls how to work the machine and stuff, so she can go next. We came all this way, and neither of you two want to go, so that’s only fair, right?”
“Sweetie Belle, ya can’t—”
“I’ll get the harness!” Scootaloo interrupted, dashing to retrieve the piece of equipment in question.
Apple Bloom scowled at the pegasus and shook her head.
In Scootaloo’s temporary absence, Silver Spoon stepped forth to talk some sense into the unicorn. “Sweetie Belle, you’re not seriously going to jump are you?”
“Yup!” Sweetie Belle chirped.
“But what if you get hurt or something happens to the cable on your way down?”
Sweetie Belle grinned weakly at Silver Spoon’s concern before offering her rebuttal. “But what if it’s my special talent?”
“What if it’s not? What if you get hurt anyway? Why do you need to go this far just to get your cutie mark?”
Sweetie Belle averted her gaze from Silver Spoon’s and trotted closer to the edge of the cliff. She sighed as she looked out at the late afternoon sun sinking underneath the trees “So that we won’t get called blank-flanks by mean ponies anymore.”
There was that cursed word again: Blank-flank. Silver clenched her jaw in irritation.
“That’s why I’ve got to at least try.”
Sweetie Belle’s confession left a cold, guilt-ridden pit in Silver Spoon’s gut.
“C’mon Sweetie Belle,” said Scootaloo. “I’ll help you put the harness on.”
“Alright, I’ll be right there,” Sweetie Belle called behind herself before turning back to Silver Spoon. “Look, Silver Spoon, I know it’s a little hard to understand, but I have to try, okay? Wish me luck?” Sweetie Belle turned her back to Silver Spoon and trotted over to Scootaloo who began helping her into the bungee harness.
Silver Spoon sank to her haunches and shook her head as she tried to take in the whole insane situation. It was all there in black and white. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had been risking their lives trying all these dangerous things to attain their cutie marks simply because they didn’t want to be teased by their peers any longer. An overwhelming feeling of guilt crept through Silver Spoon as she recalled her role in all this. While she hadn’t been the worst instigator, she was as much to blame as Diamond Tiara or any of the others who had teased the three for not finding out their special talents as quickly as the rest of the class. Thinking back on it, there was so much she could have done to help the three along their way, but instead she chose to join the crowd and criticized them at every turn. “This… this is my fault,” she muttered, remorse lacing her tone.
“This ain’t your fault, Silver Spoon,” Apple Bloom said, sitting down next to the guilt-ridden filly.
Silver Spoon turned to face her fellow earth pony, confusion splayed across her facial features. “What?”
“I said, you ain’t got nothin’ to feel bad about. This ain’t your fault.”
“How can you say that? After all the insults, all the bullying, all the abuse I put you three through with Diamond Tiara, how can you just stand there and say that this isn’t my fault? If we were just a little bit nicer to you, if we hadn’t given you such grief over your cutie marks, then maybe—”
Apple Bloom, much to Silver Spoon’s further confusion, simply chuckled at the declaration of guilt. “Is that what’s been eatin’ at you this whole time, Silver? Ha! This ain’t your fault, take my word for it.”
“But—”
Apple Bloom cut Silver Spoon off in favor of continuing her explanation. “Some way or another, Scootaloo would’ve come up with some cockamamie idea just like this, and she’d still convince Sweetie Belle and me to go through with it. It’s just how we are.” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Aside from that, if it weren’t for you and Diamond Tiara constantly pickin’ on me, I never would’ve become friends with Sweetie and Scoots. If anythin’ I should be thankin’ y’all, although I wouldn’t touch that filly with a ten-foot pole.”
“Heh, I know what you mean.” Silver Spoon chuckled. “But, you can’t think this is in any way a good idea.” Silver Spoon pointed to Scootaloo, who had just placed a particularly tight-looking helmet on Sweetie Belle’s head, showing next to no concern for the unicorn’s horn.
“No, not really,” Apple Bloom admitted. “But just you watch, Sweetie’ll come to her senses and chicken out before she even gets close to thinkin’ about jumping.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Trust me on this.” Apple Bloom grinned in an attempt to convince Silver Spoon that she was speaking the truth.
Silver Spoon returned the smile five-fold. “Well, I guess I don’t have much of a choice now, do I?”
“Alright girls, clear the jump site, Cutie Mark Crusader Bungee Jumper Sweetie Belle is coming through!” Scootaloo shouted as she walked the unicorn to the lip of the cliff. “There’s no way we won’t get our cutie marks this time!” Scootaloo turned beaming towards an incredibly nervous Sweetie Belle. To say that the white unicorn’s face was absolutely pale would have been an oddly appropriate oxymoron for this situation. “You ready for this Sweetie Belle?”
"Uhhh… sure heh, heh. Of course I'm ready… ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Bungee Jumpers’, right?" Sweetie Belle said, absolutely unconvinced by the words coming from her mouth.
"That's what I like to hear!" Scootaloo cheered. "Now, get on up there!"
Sweetie Belle swallowed back a hard lump that had formed in her throat, gathered up her courage, and craned her neck over the edge of the cliff, taking in all that lay beneath the platform. The first thing she noticed was the height of the drop in question. It wasn't quite as high up as she thought it was going to be; it was far higher. The longer she stared, the blurrier her vision grew and the higher up it seemed she was. The next thing she noticed was that the bottom was nowhere to be seen. There was only the sound of violently rushing water racing up to meet her nerves from beneath the shadows of the forest's thick canopy. The one and only thing she could take solace in was how far the cliff face receded in from where she was standing. At least with that, she wouldn't scrape herself up on the way down. If she intended to jump, that is.
“Watch this,” Apple Bloom whispered to Silver Spoon.
"Ummm… Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle edged slowly away from the ledge. “I really don't think I want to do this."
Silver Spoon heaved a sigh of relief at the unicorn’s decision. Perhaps she wouldn’t have to pay a visit to the emergency room after all.
“Whoa, whoa, Sweetie Belle, what’re you saying?” asked Scootaloo.
“Well,” Sweetie Belle said, shuffling her hooves, “I think that Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom have a point. This just doesn’t seem very safe.”
“But, you’re already wearing the harness! And that helmet took forever to put on the right way!” Frustrated, Scootaloo began stomping towards Sweetie Belle, and in response the unicorn began to back away, nearing the edge of the cliff with each step.
“I know, but I—”
“And besides that—”
“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Is your skull thicker than hog-hide or somethin’?”
“What!?” Scootaloo whirled around to shout back a half-baked retort, but was surprised to find Apple Bloom’s indignant golden eyes glaring in righteous fury only mere inches away from her own.
“Landsakes! What’s the matter with you!? Sweetie Belle said she don’t want to jump, so that don’t mean you go out of your way and force her! What kinda friend are you, bullyin’ her into doin’ something like that!? That’s somethin’ I’d expect from Diamond Tiara! You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Scootaloo opened and closed her mouth several times in disbelief at what she’d just heard, but couldn’t quite find the words to convey how hard it had struck. As far as it went within the Cutie Mark Crusaders, being compared to Diamond Tiara was the gravest, most humbling insult any one member could bestow upon the other. “You’re… you’re right, Apple Bloom. I-I just got so caught up in this that I completely forgot about Sweetie’s feelings. I’m sorry.”
“I forgive you, but I don’t think I’m the one you need to be sayin’ that to.” Apple Bloom pointed to Sweetie Belle cowering on the ledge as Silver Spoon finished removing the harness and helmet.
“Yeah, you’re right…” Scootaloo sighed. She turned around and began trotting towards Sweetie Belle, opting to sit down on her haunches a foot away. “Look, Sweetie Belle… I know what I did was stupid and selfish of me. I should’ve thought a little more about how you’d feel and I shouldn’t have asked you to do something that I—” The pride-wounding words were caught in Scootaloo’s throat, but they would not come easy for the filly. “—that I was too afraid to do myself!” she finally managed to choke out. “And I’m sorry! I’ll understand if you—”
Scootaloo found herself cut off by Sweetie Belle, who launched herself at the pegasus, seizing her in a vice-like hug. “I forgive you, Scootaloo,” she said softly.
“Just don’t go doin’ it again, okay birdbrain?” Apple Bloom said as she rested her forelegs on the pegasus’ purple mane, causing the three to tumble over, giggling.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, now get off of me!” Scootaloo howled.
Silver Spoon felt a little left out but contented as she watched her new friends celebrate their strengthened camaraderie. She wouldn’t have minded watching the touching scene of friendship a while longer, but it had just occurred to her that she was still sitting on the edge of a very steep cliff with nothing to keep her from plummeting to an untimely demise. “Ummm, I don’t mean to break up the mood here, but is there a chance that we could move somewhere that isn’t so… close to the edge?”
Scootaloo chuckled as she rose up from the pile of crusaders. “What’s the matter Silver Spoon, got a fear of heights?”
“Yes, actually, I do. That being said, I’d be most appreciative if we could move this elsewhere before—”
Crack
The section of the cliff Silver Spoon and the Crusaders had been standing on gave a sudden and unnerving downward jolt. As a result, Silver Spoon lost her balance and stumbled into the ground, resulting in another jolt, this one twice as sharp as the last. Panic surged through her as she stood up cautiously and attempted to assess her situation, but a horrified scream from Apple Bloom summed up what she saw very quickly.
“Get the hay off this thing, it’s gonna fall!” the farm filly cried as she and Scootaloo leapt from the crumbling platform onto more stable ground.
Silver Spoon attempted to step forward, but the rock had begun to rapidly tilt at such an angle that the filly was forced to crawl along it to gain any semblance of traction.
“Hurry up and jump, we’ll catch you!” Scootaloo shouted.
Silver Spoon clawed and grasped at the smooth surface of the rock, scrambling up frantically inch by lifesaving inch, believing that she just might make it off the unstable platform before it finally went over. That is until she heard Sweetie Belle’s terrified shriek from her right.
“Girls, I need some help! I’m slipping, and I can’t grab on!”
“Sweetie Belle, hang on! We’re gonna get y’all outta this!” Apple Bloom shouted.
The rock jolted again, and both Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle were sent sliding further down the small patch of tilted rock.
“We’re gonna fall!” Silver Spoon screamed, her heart in her throat.
“I don’t want to die like this!” Sweetie Belle cried as she felt her hind legs kick upon air.
The angle of the rock segment was too far gone now, bordering on near vertical. Silver Spoon could no longer gain any height nor traction on the slope. She scratched wildly at the rock, but it was to no avail. Up until this point, she’d done a remarkable job of not looking down, but now that the moment was upon her, she felt she had no other choice but to face her end straight on. Yet as she looked down, she saw something. She had been expecting to look down and gaze upon a gluttonous pit of overbearing and absolute despair reaching up with its ravenous darkness to lay claim to its foolhardy prey.
Instead, amidst that panic-fueled atmosphere, through the horrified screams of Sweetie Belle from below and Apple Bloom’s from above, her terrorized and adrenaline-jacked mind managed to only pick out the words of Scootaloo. The pegasus’ hoarse cries played through Silver Spoon’s ears like a choir of angels serenading the visage of a deus ex machina in its purest form. Through her blurry-eyed tunnel-vision, Silver Spoon saw her lifeline shine through as clear as day. While she had once thought it to be a horribly contrived concept, the bungee-harness had to be without a doubt the most beautiful thing she’d ever laid eyes on in her entire life, and it was only two feet away.
“Grab the bucking harness!” Scootaloo’s voice rang through again.
Silver Spoon, guided purely by survival instinct, released whatever semblance of a grip she had on the rock and slid down, forehooves outstretched towards the harness as she rapidly descended towards the end of the surface. Frantic, she lunged towards one of the outstretched straps and caught it with her teeth. This minor victory was short-lived, however, as Sweetie Belle’s screaming reminded her that there was still more to be done. With the little time afforded to her, she quickly slipped a foreleg into one of the straps and hurled herself down the rock, forehooves extended towards Sweetie Belle’s waist, just as the unicorn’s grip failed her. Silver Spoon instinctively wrapped her hooves around Sweetie Belle like a boa-constrictor the moment she made contact with her, and Sweetie Belle returned the favor twice as hard.
Crack
The rock had broken clean away from the cliff at this point. Had Silver Spoon not jumped and caught Sweetie Belle, the pair would still be travelling with their earthen companion, finding out just how deep the descent into the Everfree Forest would take them. However, the two now-airborne fillies had two new issues to deal with: freefall and recoil forces.
The fall was nothing like what Silver Spoon had been expecting. The first thing to hit Silver Spoon, as the initial shock from jumping subsided, was the uneasy sensation of weightlessness which was soon accompanied by the rapid sting of wind whipping past her face and through her mane. Had she, like her unfortunate passenger, not been wearing glasses, she would have found her vision blurred by tears and sheer wind pressure. A condition that would have been preferable to having near-perfect sight at this particular instant. The fast-approaching darkness of the seemingly bottomless canopy below drove Silver Spoon to tighten her already vice-like grip around Sweetie Belle’s waist, although in the unicorn’s blinded, frenzied state, she hardly noticed the increase in pressure.
Silver Spoon was so focused on the fall that she failed to notice the harness strap had begun to dig into her shoulder. Regardless, she quickly became savvy to the fact that her descent was slowing to an abrupt halt. Silver Spoon, having forgotten the nature of this particular cord, heaved a sigh of relief. A sigh that quickly turned to a scream in her throat as the cord stretched, tensed, and rocketed the pair back into the air. The sheer change in velocity dragged Silver Spoon’s glasses from her face, pulling the vision correctors into the abyss below. Now blinded and disoriented, all Silver Spoon could do was hold on as tightly as she dared to Sweetie Belle, so as not to allow her new friend to meet a similar fate.
The world flew by in a rush of unrecognizable colors, wind, and racing thoughts. Whatever shrieks she had in her throat were abandoned in favor of grit teeth and a braced gut as she felt gravity laying claim to herself and Sweetie Belle yet again. The second fall wasn’t quite as intense and nerve-wracking as the first, but without her glasses all Silver Spoon could do was clench her eyes to shield them from the wind and bear the pull of gravity.
As the momentum of the second bounce faded, so did the peak of her adrenaline high. There were several residual bounces that ensued, but none were quite as remarkable or shock-inducing as the initial freefall. As her thoughts returned to their normal pace, Silver Spoon could feel Sweetie Belle’s body shivering and shaking in time with her own. The worst was over for now.
As they hung above the canopy in absolute silence, neither filly chose to speak. All they could think of was how grateful they were to be alive and able to hear Apple Bloom’s voice cut through the silent atmosphere, providing much needed relief to the pair. “Scoots, they stopped bouncing, pull em’ up quick!”
“Already way ahead of you!” Scootaloo piped up.
Indeed Scootaloo was, as Silver Spoon could feel the harness around her shoulder tighten up, slowly pulling the fillies to safety an inch at a time.
“You ahead of me? Well, that’s a first, now ain’t it?”
“That was so funny I forgot to laugh,” Scootaloo replied sarcastically. “Just help me pull them back on the ledge, okay?”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes as she trotted over to the ledge and offered a hoof to Sweetie Belle. “Grab on to me Sweetie Belle, I gotcha,” she cooed to the shaken unicorn.
“Hey, Silver Spoon, I’ll help you up,” said Scootaloo. The pegasus reached out and grabbed Silver Spoon’s hooves, dragging the earth pony as far away from the ledge as possible.
Silver Spoon, relieved to finally be on solid ground, looked at the blurred yellow and orange shapes of her new friends and saviors. The filly opened her mouth as though to give her thanks, or perhaps even portray her life changing experience to the two, but no words would come out. Instead, her vision began to tunnel and her head began to spin. A moment later, she blinked and found herself face down on the ground, before finally giving into her body’s demands and passing out.
Chapter 5 End
1.bp.blogspot.com/-_TkbcIBMy1Y/T2Ioh3r-T_I/AAAAAAAABGA/BAJcgUhFm7c/s1600/firstpost.jpg
HAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA
There are so many ways that could of ended badly, but thank goodness our little fillies got out alright.
Well...that was certainly adorable. I like how your actually going through with Silver actually reforming, and not in the 'OHMAIGOD-I-WAS-SUCH-A-BITCH-PLZ-FORGIVE-MEH' sort of way.
(...did I seriously just type that? Ugh...I need more coffee it seems...)
Either way, congrats on getting featured!
Commence Read.
Comment:
Glad no one was harmed.
Gah! More! Really enjoying this series so far. Keep em coming!
Please keep writing, I'll keep reading!
I love it! I love this story so much! Why must life interfere with people's ability to write? DAMN YOU LIFE!
Also, love the pairing! and the cover picture is amazing!
Ignorantium...so what level of mining does that take? I mean, I know its everywhere but I've never been able to break through it.
Oops.
1433862 I don't think you people realize that I don't care about the double capitalization in my spelling. Please stop bothering me about it.
Oh! My! Luna! What a ride!
Amazing tale of redemption for Silver Spoon so far. The characterizations feel right to me.
I hope her new bonds survive the Tartarus DT is about to rain on this parade.
SRSLY What is DTs problem? She is so short-sighted and hasnt' realized Equestria is heavily weighted to "the bad guy gets it in the end".
She's already going to badly damage her Daddy's business in the future. AppleBloom is the designated heir-apparent on Zap-Apple Jamming by Granny Smith herself.
All too soon, its gonna be Abby the Rich family will have to deal with alone when Granny passes if they want any Zap-Apple Jam to sell to other cities. Lets see, what will AB do when Filthy and DT come a-knocking after all the roadapples DT has put the CMC through?
-Especially after trying to destroy the life of one of her best friends, Sweetie Belle, and even the lives of Abby and Scoots by association, with the stigma of "Filly-Fooler".
It's not gonna be pretty when Daddy Rich lays the Clue-By-Four upon his unworthy daughter, but most satisfying...
1433938
You could just fix it in notepad with a simple search and replace. :/
but allright then
A quick question: is Equestria really the type of place where blatant homophobia would even exist, especially in Ponyville?
MOAR!!!!!!!!!!
1434178 Prejudice is everywhere, and this show is no exception. You seem to be forgetting about everypony's reaction to Zecora in Bridle Gossip (racial prejudice), the way Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon treat Applebloom for not having her Cutie Mark (status prejudice), and the way that Canterlot's citizens treated Rarity when they found out she wasn't from Ponyville (class prejudice). So in short yes. Yes Equestria is the kind of place where homophobia can exist, because the minds of the populace are flawed. Thank you for playing.
Loathe,
Your Antagonist.
Well well well... Wonder what's gonna happen that'll let featherweight take that picture he so desperately needs to take? And who is the filly that he has a crush on? Find out next time!
A bit short, but still awesome. Nice work.
1434270 Who's to say he hasn't taken the picture already? Since Diamond Tiara told him to get one Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle have been in several potentially compromising positions. Remember when she caught SS before she fell outside Sugarcube Corner? Running through the town holding hooves? Sleeping in the wagon on top of one another?
That's not to say that something genuinely compromising won't happen in the future and that will get used instead, but any of those scenes taken out of context with the right newspaper heading would be more than enough.
1434427 True, true... I suppose it is foalish of me to just assume that the author will show us which incident it is that's going to be compromising... Very good point, thank you. Nice to be reminded that I've got shortcomings to work on. XD (Sorry, that came off as sarcastic..)
1434462 Nah, it's cool. I'm a ridiculously sarcastic person in real life, which ends up being a somewhat double edged sword on the internet. It makes me nearly immune to trolling and other attempts at jimmy rustling.....but at the same time it makes me somewhat paranoid that the things I type may come across as far more mean or condescending than I intended them to be....
I suppose tl;dr - I know that feel brah.
1434265
That wasn't racial prejudice, that was fear, and while I do concede the point that their minds are flawed, they aren't nearly half as flawed as our own. And as for homophobia, that mostly comes from religious bigots, and there seems to be absolutely zero religion in Equestria, with the possible exception of ponies really liking Celestia. As Celestia seems all about the love and friendship, "homosexuality is an abomination" would not in a million years be something she would say or condone.
Your move.
1434640 I'll stay with my last two points regarding prejudice, since you can't seem to disprove them. And no, homophobia does not stem solely or primarily from religious bigots, you silly child. It's strongest roots come from the fact that it is not a socially acceptable or natural behavior. It blatantly goes against societal norms, and is generally looked upon as abhorrent by those who choose not to deviate from the procedures of standard courting. It's a learned and observed behavior that occurs naturally. Throwing religion behind it is only a means to justify one's prejudice, and is just an irrelevant red herring in your argument. Incidentally Celestia is not omnipotent, there have been no signs of any churches to pass her teachings, and I doubt she has the time or resources to deal with something as small scale as a spat between a few foals.
Now if this story offends or bothers you premise-wise I could delete all the current chapters, scrap the scripts for any upcoming chapters, and just give you a 1,500 word one-shot story from half of chapter 1 about how Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle get together and Diamond Tiara eats the loss. Would you like that? Hell, it'll save me all this time, planning, and drama for a story with an inherently unbelievable premise if your argument is to be interpreted any sort of way. I don't mind disappointing 700ish people, but just know I'll throw your name in there somehow so that I'm not the only one catching backlash. Please, I don't know if you've read any of my other comments, but I don't really like having to debate the realism of a story where I'm trying to write a relationship between a magical unicorn and a sentient talking horse who are supposed to hate eachother and have no character interaction to begin with. I also don't like having to debate any of my stories to begin with because: fuck you, I'm the goddamn writer. That being said, your opinion as a reader is ultimately irrelevant but still cute. If you don't like how I do things, write your own story.
Loathe, Your Antagonist
The only time one can legally be a dictator is when they create.
After all, your creations can't talk back!
Keep this going, my friend. I like this story. A wonderful chapter!
1434751 I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I love the way you argue. using "because: fuck you, I'm the goddamn writer" as a valid point of argument is pure win. Reminds me of the fights I have with my wife . Good times....good times......
1434751
Back the fuck up.
Guess what? My opinion as a reader DOES matter. Because if I, and evidently others, take issue with something in the story, guess what? Something is wrong with the story. All you're doing is hurting yourself and my opinion of you as not just a writer, but a person, if you ignore, insult, and dismiss anyone who has the AUDACITY to take issue with something you wrote.
You haven't proven anything to me except that you're an arrogant, whiny idiot who insults anyone who tries to engage or argue against him in the most condescendingly obnoxious manner possible and makes excuses to ignore legitimate criticism. I never ONCE implied that I didn't want conflict or plot or anything. I never said anything about that at all. All I said was that the way you went about creating the conflict was poor and ill-fitting, and you immediately jumped down my throat and made a total strawman of my position.
Just because you're writing about talking gay unicorns is no excuse to throw out realism or sense. I don't care what you're writing about, if you want to be taken seriously as a writer, and you want your story to be taken seriously, guess what? You need to make SENSE. You can't just throw anything you want in the story under the guess of "CONFLICT!!!1!!" and make excuses when people call bullshit.
And as an aside: your explanation for why homophobia exists outside of religion itself sounded very homophobic.
Oh man...my heart was pounding for various reasons.
awesome chapter.
also i have a feeling featherweight managed some more pictures out of that.
1435002 Oh dear me, ad hominem! The reader is making fun of me because he can't come up with a concrete argument, whatever shall I do?
For starters: 1) I'm openly bisexual, so your ending statement sounded very ignorant. 2) I am in fact quite arrogant, but also very irritable and very stressed. 3) I don't really care what you think of me. 4) No, your opinion does not matter. Maybe to some other writers, definitely not to me. I like getting nice comments and all, but I'm not putting this story down on paper with you in mind. I started writing this because hey, there's no Silver Spoon Sweetie Belle ship-fics, and I wanted to see one. On top of that, I wanted improve as writer anyway and the best way to do that is practice. I posted this on the site because I wanted a neat little portfolio for my work and the formatting on fimfiction.net is just fantastic.
For enders: This story has perfect logic. It might not seem that way to you because you don't fully understand why, but I'm going to break it down barney style. This story can't be wrong, because there's no specific rules or statements dictating anything about these sensitive issues in Equestria. It's called ambiguity. Learn it, love it, and live by it. And while I'm here, of course there's something wrong with the story. But there's nothing to say that it's not right! At what point in time would you have Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle in a romantic situation? That's already wrong! How about that bungee jumping? And Scootaloo's mother being Daring Do? That's not right either! But you know what? It's fanfiction! Fanfiction! Read that last word: fiction. I don't know if you're aware of this, but that usually means it's made up. This isn't real, I just wanted to make sure you knew that. Do you understand that concept? This is all a made up scenario in a made up universe. As in just because I do something doesn't mean it'll affect the world of Equestria in the future. This is just fun. Do you understand the concept of fun? I'm having a blast, I'm sure most people are having a blast, but apparently not you. Please I implore you to find the most flawless, most perfect author on this site and subside on his works as opposed to mine, because it seems that you have a problem with stepping into the mind of someone else who thinks just one universe away from your own.
I don't have a problem with people taking issue with my writing, I really don't. That's what the dislike button is for. You got an issue? Dislike and be on your way. I've got 12 unsatisfied customers and 424 to keep happy. What I do have a problem with is people who try to debate my own head canon with me, because and I say this again and I say it with conviction: Your opinion ultimately does not matter. If this were a review then your opinion would matter. If I had asked you for criticism, the your opinion would matter. However, you're trying to debate something wholly irrelevant, ergo it does not matter.
Loathe,
Your Antagonist.
1435133
1435002
Oh get over yourselves, the pair of you. You've both got, or at least had relevant points, but it's descending into nit picking bickery. It does neither of you any favours to get snide or sarcastic.
I mean, sheesh. Even Scootaloo and Apple Bloom settled their spat faster than this, and that involved flinging oneself off of a cliff.
As was said - it's a magical unicorn and a talking horse in cute shippiness. So what if there's homophobia in the story? It's there for a reason, namely it drives the plot. It doesn't conform to your headcanon? Deal with it - most of Fimfic won't. Does your opinion matter? Yes it does - to you. And to anyone who cares to give it value. I, for one, do. If mr. writer doesn't care for your opinion, than it doesn't matter - to him. Turning up the volume will not persuade someone to like the tune.
Sit back a moment, put it in perspective that you are grown people arguing about fiction of fiction of colourful magical ponies. Enjoy the silly smirk of recognition when it presents itself, it is rather nice.
Now, if that's settled, I'd like to say this: Story = . Perhaps some enlightenment onto Sweetie's conscious and/or unconscious thoughts on the matter? Especially considering recent events? I wonder just how a'd'aww'able it'll be?
1435133
Make that 423, you've greatly increased my happiness levels with your potent prose, not to mention your rhetorical knowledge demonstrated in your arguments.
Although i've never been bungee jumpin, I was half expecting SS's shoulder to get dislocated because of the combo of inertia, weight and the strap digging into to begin with but oh well glad none of them actually got hurt..........
I figured this to be obvious but just what was the point in arguing with the author's canon of HIS story because yes what he does with it is his decision so argument already invalid. Seriously this is fanfiction, there ought to be more leeway concerning these issues. Almost pissed me off to point of saying something unnecessarily insulting until I remembered the bucks I don't give regardless of what you think it.........
So YA(lol), by all means continue with your work, you gt more than enough readers enjoying this myself included....
Well I can't say I'm surprised that plan... 'Fell Through' dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Cloudchaser_dealwithit.png
1435133 Okay, so the big thing I got from that...Scoots mother is Daring Do? Really? I thought she was just an archaeologist, not like, legit Daring Do. Actually, Daring Do never crossed my mind. That is so cool! And your story totally rocks, by the way. I love the way you have it set up and the slow movement and stuff. I would like some way of knowing Sweeties thoughts, but then this focuses on Silver so that's not happening, eh? But yeah, totally loving this story.
1434004 ha he's your antagonist
1434751 "anti-homosexual prejudice is the result of it being socially unacceptable and unnatural"
1. Begging the question fallacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy#Begging_the_question
2. Commonly assumed and asserted but wrong in that lots of animals have homosexual encounters and even, apparently, relationships (glanced at the black swan entry). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals
Can everybody just shove a sock in it and move on?
We're here to enjoy a story, not bicker like my grandparents.
By Celestias beard that was intense!
1435002>>1435772>>1437331>>1437550
I decided to apologize personally.
Sorry, but I've been stressed out lately, and an argument on this, the story that I use to take my mind off of my stress, is the last thing I wanted in my week.
1436238 I honestly took the potentially dislocated foreleg into account as I was writing this, but left it out for various reasons.
1437901
That was a good move there sir.
iambrony.jsmart.web.id/mlp/gif/celestia_clap_by_mihaaaa-d3kipis.gif?1347574761
1437901
And many yays were had! Even the shirt is Thank you. That video was surprising, but in the best possilble way. Onwards, for Silver Belles!
1433712
i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/199/1exploitableiamdisappoi.jpg
That was so awesome! Great story bro. Update soon I'm jonesing for more.
1438157 No your not
1438172
First post comments are getting to become spam. Which is annoying.
1437901
I had this comment linked to me by someone who said it made them feel all happy inside and such. And, well, to put it simply... Wow. I'm impressed. Making a personalized video to apologize? That, sir, is impressive, very impressive. I think you've earned yourself a new watcher.
Also, Godot is best prosecutor.
1438231 well I have never had First so I got excited
That was totally an awesome chapter and that apology well I would never do that myself so good on you I tend to like being mysterious unless i personally knew the person I'm looking forward to the next chapter so i hope continue through the story. (Though I would be interested seeing what goes through Sweetie Bells mind but you could just put that in a separate story I guess if you wanted too.) I like the emphasis on Silver Spoon and I'm starting to like her. Well hell I started liking her from Chapter 1 when she said to Diamond Tiara to go buck off
1437901
Accepted.
And...I'm sorry for attacking your story. I still find that kind of hatred unlikely, but I suppose I could put it aside and go along with it, if only for one story. Besides, usually these kinds of stories go in a very specific direction...
1438344
First time I got first, I got excited. But with the growing number of people claiming first post, authors have been deleting the comments. And I believe that it's possible to get banned for that... I may be wrong about the banning.
1438775 eh...at least its worth it
Who doesn't love life-threatening stunts and near-death experiences? C'mon, put your hands up. I'll shoot you all at some point.
I mean, um, great chapter and such. Yeah. And you call me great and powerful, squee!
Fanboyishly,
~Plyxe
I see one way this could go. Sweetie Belle now feels touched and emotional that Silver Spoon rescued her and ends up falling in love with her as a result.
I am loving this story. Keep it up, please.