40 - Afterparty
Moon emerged with Twilight into the bedlam of the party. "What?" both echoed with shared confusion. Thankfully, ponies were already hard at work taming the chaos into something approaching order. Moon detached from it to head to Celestia instead.
"I fear my friend may have been involved in this." She glanced at Fluttershy, being gently subdued. "My apologies for my failure as a friend."
Celestia was looking far more entertained than worried. "I was afraid this party would be too stuffy, as usual. Tell your friend, Fluttershy wasn't it? Tell her I say thank you. Did you enjoy yourself?"
Twilight slipped in beside Moon Dancer. "That library is amazing! The only part I'm upset about is that I don't have forever to finish reading. Thank you for tonight." She dipped her head low, entire body sinking. "I will remember it always."
"I'm glad to hear you had a good time." Celestia sat up tall. "I think I have realized a mistake. Keeping this festivity to just the aristocrats was stymieing things. I do formally declare that this party will be open to all ponies, safe numbers permitting." One could almost see the vision of ponies packed in the room, shoulder to shoulder. "That wouldn't do..."
She spotted the little ones. "Ah... It appears your little brother also found something worth celebrating."
Moon turned in the same direction Celestia was looking. There was Spike with Diamond. They were chatting with three noble foals animatedly. One of the foals seemed to be nursing a sore on his chest. Twilight blinked at the sight. "Is everything alright?"
Celestia gently waved that away. "Foals have their way of sorting things out. I feel certain they're fine."
As if on command, Diamond and Spike started towards their adults. The other foals nodded at them, as if waving was just too... obscene. Diamond had a big smile. "Thanks for the party." She nodded at Celestia in kind. "Your Higness."
"A pleasure. They weren't bothering you, I hope?" She knew the difference between new and old money, and the gradients involved. "You appeared to be enjoying yourself."
Spike colored faintly. "We had to set some, uh, boundaries, but it's all good now!"
Diamond threw an arm over Spike, drawing him down so his face was next to hers. "With my trusty dragon boyfriend, I felt entirely safe." Spike's blush only got worse. "But it wasn't anything we couldn't handle."
Moon encompassed her adopted brother in her magic, gently pulling him free. "I will expect a full report. It occupied me accompanying Twilight and got no experience tonight."
"So I'll be filling in." He landed on Moon's back, set there with her magic. "Alright. But I was kinda, uh, busy doing foal stuff, not adult stuff. You sure you want to learn about that?"
Moon twisted an ear back at Spike. "I am very interesting in hearing what you were doing, yes."
Spike smiled at that, apprehension lifting like a departing fog. "You got it!"
Diamond moved in with Twilight. "Those two are really close."
Twilight's ears danced. "Yes they are. It's heartwarming to see. Like you and your father."
Diamond smiled brightly at that. "That's what I was going for, thank you. Like me and dad..."
Celestia spread her wings. "As much as I'd love to spend the rest of the evening chatting with you all, I must say proper goodbyes and see that things are settled. Have a safe trip back to Ponyville, and see you next year." With that, she rose to her considerable height and began wading into the settling chaos to address all her precious little ponies.
Moon started for the exit with the others. "Let's gather our friends and be off."
It had been the best night ever, for at least some of them.
"There ya are!" Applejack found them with a big smile. "Were they just wrestlin' Fluttershy to the ground? Should we... do somethin' 'bout that?"
Twilight echoed the smile, moving in to hug her friend and maybe sister. "Applejack!" She suddenly stiffened. "Oh no! I was so busy reading, I didn't get a chance to try any of your food. What a friend I've been..."
Diamond was quick to jump in. "I tried one. An apple fritter, right? It was great! Even the other noble ponies were gushing about it."
Applejack's smile only redoubled. "Did they now?! Well, shoot, that's a mighty compliment... but ah got other news." She leaned in, nose to Twilight's cheek. "They invited me back fer another little shindig! It's official, ah'm a Canterlot chef!"
Twilight and Moon began to clap their hooves in shared approval.
Diamond whistled, and Spike gave a huh. "So are you going to be in Canterlot more often?"
Applejack shrunk at that. "Ain't no way ah'm leavin' mah family." She pointed back at her rump. "That's what my cutie mark is fer, don't forget! Ah'll just be visitin' fer the big parties to share some Apple family goodness with these ponies. In the meantime, ah can share my treats with my friends and family." She flashed a cocky smile. "Ponyville will get its fair share of a taste of the fancy stuff."
Twilight laughed gently at that. "I'll be proud to be a taste tester."
Moon raised a hoof. "We are two unicorns with Canterlot taste."
Applejack huhed softly. "That's a good point. Right useful to have around, considerin' ah'll be tryin' to make 'em happy, but there'll be other ponies too!" She turned her eyes to Diamond and Spike. "Perhaps you two would like to help too?"
Spike shot an emphatic thumbs up, doubling it a moment later. "You got it! Fancy food if you say how it is. Seems fair."
Diamond turned up her nose with a smirk. "I'll give you the upper crust opinion on it."
"Upper Crust opinion?" asked another filly. Vigorous Debate joined them without asking. "Diamond is a fascinating filly, won't argue that, but she's upper middle class at best." She slyly smiled. "No offense..."
Diamond huffed at her new friend. "You've lost all perspective."
Vigorous quirked an ear. "Have I?"
Spike nodded quickly. "Diamond is part of the richest family in town. If that's middle class, I'd hate to see what's above it."
Vigorous gestured to herself. "You're looking at it. The proper aristocracy." She sounded all too proud of this fact. "Back me up, Bottom."
The colt hurried to do that. "Y-yes. We are the upper echelon. However, no offense intended, but there are many strata below us, Vigorous."
Vigorous raised a brow. "I did say upper middle class."
Twilight shook her head at the argument. "Dedicated on-site work staff is usually beyond the casual means of upper middle class." She turned a hoof on herself. "I'm middle class." She turned the hoof on Diamond. "My friend, Rarity, is upper middle class, and Diamond here is rich, to avoid mincing words." Diamond stood tall and proud at that. "But within the 'rich' band, there are subcategories." She raised two hooves up to form that pretend band.
Moon frowned with thought. "It gets fuzzy... Diamond, if you wanted to purchase a town, would that be a mild, moderate, considerable, and unreasonable strain on your finances?"
Bottom took up the challenge, even if he hadn't been asked. "Oh, that does depend on the town... I suppose if we're discussing Ponyville.. Mmm, considerable, but my parents are strict about my expenditures after a point."
Diamond blanched at the idea. "W-what? You could still consider buying all of Ponyville?"
Moon nodded with satisfaction. "That is the difference. You are both in the 'rich' category, but that doesn't highlight the upper differences."
Spike hiked a brow. "I don't think Twilight would ever sell the library."
"It's not even mine to sell," admitted Twilight. "It belongs to the town, and I take care of it. That's my job."
Moon moved to Twilight's side. "And you perform admirably at this task. This day has been eventful for many of us. It's time to retire."
Diamond waved anew at her rich+ friends. "I gotta go. It was nice meeting you both." She glanced around. "Where'd Preamble run off to?"
Bottom laughed at that. "I think he's still recovering from that blow."
Vigorous eyed Diamond's leg, the one that hit Preamble. "Perhaps you'd care to show how you keep such a strong arm. I'd like to see that..."
Diamond shied back. "Oh, um... Well, I live all the way in Ponyville." She pointed off, likely not even at Ponyville.
Vigorous shrugged. "It's just a train ride away, or I could get a pegasus cart if I'm impatient." Neither sounded like they'd cost her enough to even slightly worry about it. "I'll be by. Diamond Tiara, daughter of Filthy Rich, isn't it? Expect me."
Diamond watched as the rich foals departed and turned to Spike.
Spike shrugged at the whole thing. "Sounds like you made friends."
"I... made friends..." Diamond let out a stress little laugh. "That went well." She suddenly hugged Spike. "I made rich friends! Wow... I never had a friend richer than I was!"
Moon leaned in on the excited filly. "Would you care to write a report on that?"
Diamond blinked rapidly. "What?"
"I am conducting a full analysis on friendship. The view of a rich pony's exploits in this arena would be a valuable addition." With a twinkle of her magic, she conjured a quill, ink, and paper. "I would appreciate it, as would Equestria as a whole in the long run."
Diamond waved onwards. "Maybe on the cart. I'm not writing anything standing in the middle of all this." She waved at the ponies milling about, many departing the party.
"Fair..." Moon tucked the writing tools away, but only for the moment. "Let's go." They returned to the wagon that Diamond had secured for them and climbed in.
"Ah'll hike with the girls," assured Applejack, waving at the others as they emerged. "Have a safe trip home!"
Twilight hesitated. "It was fun riding here, but..." She made her escape. "I'll join the others."
Moon Dancer considered with a frown. "Please finish that report." She set down the paper and supplies and hopped down herself to join the others in the hike home.
Diamond hiked a brow. "You going with Moon?"
Spike shrugged. "Uh, tempting, but I came here to be with you, so I'm not going anywhere."
Diamond leaned against him. "Aw! You are simple the best, Spike." She reached for the quill and the paper. "Still, whatever. I'll write out this 'report.'"
Friendship Report,
Hey, Diamond Tiara here. Moon Dancer asked that I write about my discoveries relating to friendship or whatever. So here I am. I came with my boyfriend, Spike. I didn't think it was possible, but I think I like him even more than I did before. He was ready to fight for me! He stood up for me with words, too. But he wasn't so macho that he stopped me from standing up for myself or him. We were like a team!
Is this... Hold on, he's watching what I write too closely... Anyway! I made some new friends and I'm excited but also kinda nervous. I never hosted a pony that had more bits to their name than I did. Will they look down on what I think is reasonable? Do I need to get a second butler? Is one not enough?
Ugh! I don't want to make terrible impressions. Hold on...
Diamond released the quill from her mouth, giving up her attempt to write, with Spike giving her a firm hug. "T-thanks, but what is this for?"
"You're stressed." He squeezed her firmly. "And I care, so I'm hugging you until you feel better."
"Stupid..." But she wasn't fleeing, or pushing him away. "I just don't want to mess this up. Silver's a peer. Um, so are you, in a way. You have Princess Celestia's ear! But they're above me, the new ponies... I don't want to make an awful impression."
"I'll be there," promised Spike with a thump of his chest. "We'll get through this. Besides, tell your mom you have Canterlot ponies visiting and I bet she'll make sure it's right."
Diamond considered that mental image. "That will be awful... but she would do it. Spike, you're a genius!"
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A fine end to the season, seems like everyone had a good time.
What a great way to end season 1! I'm really excited for season 2, and what you have in store for it! Keep up the fantastic work, David Silver!
Pretty awesome way to end S1, especially with that friendship report by DT!
Looking forward to see what S2 will bring!
Should be
brother in her magic
Should be
for at least some of
Whaddya know, miracles do exist. I never thought I'd give even the slightest consideration to the thought that Spoiled (B)Ri
tch could be *gasp* useful for something!11391690
Fixed!
I know my place.
This was a successfull ending for the first season.
Equestria needs to be introduced to madam guillotine and Mister Marx asap
I never thought I'd see Diamond Tiara write up a friendship report, but here it is! That Spikey-Wikey influence is real, yo!
11391736
Now now, I'm sure that Spoiled Rich converts plenty of oxygen into carbon dioxide for the plants!
That's useful, right?
11393382
Considering how pretentious she is, I wouldn't put it past her to collect all her spent breath in glass jars to administer selectively to plants she thought were worthy to breathe the same air as her.
No wait, not glass jars, jars made of 'only the purest of Crystal Empire crystal'. Well, at least that's what the empire would tell the exporters. They need the actual purest crystal for Crystallings, after all.
Amazing chapter. I really liked that conversation about what constitutes as rich or whatnot.
Hello there,
I've been hearing about your fic for a while now, going to try and give it a read these next few days.
11398949
Welcome to this journey with us.
Now that we've reached the end of Season 1 (I think), I figured it best to do a review of the story as it currently stands.
Spoiler warning for those who haven't read the story up to Afterparty yet! READ BELOW THE LINE AT YOUR OWN PERIL!
I love how one of the most important changes to the canon lore is one that occurs right at the start: Twilight's mom following the sweet siren call of the Zap Apple Jam! Getting Applejack into Twilight's life so early shakes up her character arc in a way that fascinates me.
This is, after all, a Twilight who goes on to care about friendship from the get-go by the time Nightmare Moon shows up!
I'm glad we get to see plenty of Pear Butter and Bright Mac before the Apple Tragedy strikes, as that makes the incident hit extra hard. The way it was handled was spot on too, as we get to see how each of the surviving Apples react to the loss.
But, as the title suggests: one Apple parent survives in this story. The consequence of this change is one of the sweetest (and most hilarious) friendships I've seen between parent characters. Seriously, Twilight Velvet and Pear Butter are the best pony parent pals and I can't wait to see how their friendship grows from here!
Another fascinating aspect of this story is one that takes center-stage real quick: Moondancer!
For one thing, the lovable nerd gets a huge win compared to her canon self: Twilight shows up! (A surprise party cannon fires confetti everywhere)
This one little change allows her to grow in a whole new direction that hearkens back to canon Twilight without her going full-on recluse. Like her fellow bookworm, Moondancer recognizes friendship as something that is not a waste of time. But, she views it in a way that is unique to her, in that it shows that she has some understanding of how friendship works, while making it quite clear that she has a lot to learn on the subject.
Let's just say that I had to watch Amending Fences again to remind myself of how the canon version of Moondancer behaved!
Having both Twilight and Moondancer share the same element was a very unique choice to me. I expected either one or the other to get the element, but not this time, and I think I know why the Element of Magic reacted in such a way.
Twilight and Moondancer are both students of friendship. Driven learners of the subject. They each have equal respect for friendship, yes, but they each represent a different side of the matter.
Twilight represents the emotional heart that gives friendship its strength. While Moondancer represents the logical connection that is forged between friends.
They needed each other, heart and mind, emotion and connection, to create the spark that we all know so well.
Having Moondancer be the one to hatch Spike instead of Twilight was an inspired choice, as it gives her a chance to see things from another perspective. I simply adore the relationship between her and Spike! Moonie is such a caring big sister!
Speaking of our beloved fire-breathing dragon... wow. It is amazing how having two mares in his life from the onset can change his arc so drastically! Spike found himself a special somepony, for crying out loud! Speaking of that somepony...
Diamond Tiara... holy horseapples, I did not see her character arc coming! Shoot, I did not see her coming! I was initially worried that she was using Spike as a way to build up her reputation, but one hoof punch to a rich pony's face knocked that worry away: that filly is smitten! Her thoughts on the high-life also helped to make her more than one-dimensional.
But, let's not forget, her story is not yet over...
There is so much more I want to talk about (Moondancer's social anxieties, her sweet friendship with Fluttershy, the CMCs being their awesome selves, Luna being given additional screen time, etc), but this post is already so long, I better stop it here before I go over a character limit!
I'm enjoying this story immensely and I can't wait for the next chapters! Bring on Season 2!
11407451
Thank you for writing this. It's so gladdening to see some heavy thought going into the words I put out! You seemed to be largely on point, so hooves up on that.
We'll be digging a bit more in the chaos of the second season!
Damn you made it look like diamond almost killed him