Slice of Velvet and Pear

by David Silver

53 - Sisterhooves Social - Part Two

Moon gazed upon the great web of obstacles and diversions in front of them. "Impressive. Reviewing the source text, there are usually water hazards. I don't see any here."

Diamond let out an exasperated puff of air, brushing away that objection with a wave of her hoof. "I will not soil myself a second time, if I have a choice. So we'll begin this journey together right here." She dashed to one side of the course, her hooves pounding against the ground. "It has all the major parts ready to go. I even had them prepare the eggs."

Moon came up at an easy lope behind Diamond. Moon noticed the lack of water-based hazards, but praised its construction. "Did you make this?" She looked doubtful about that being the case.

"Of course not! Alright. Ready to go?" Diamond's tail wagged back and forth as she lowered her head and waggled her bottom in anticipation. "Because I am! We'll show them who's the best sister in town!"

Moon took a firm stance, tail going still. "Ready."

"Go!" shouted Spike from the sideline. The two scrambled ahead to run into the haystacks with a wildly uncoordinated attempt to climb them. "Look at them go..."

Silver gave a subtle nod of acknowledgement, tilting her head left and right at a slow pace. "Stupid."

A startled Spike suddenly spun around to look at Silver when he heard the word. "Stupid? Why do you say that?" He turned back to the pair struggling forward on the course. "They're working so hard."

"Still stupid." She rolled her eyes. "She could have just asked me."

"Who could have?" He looked between the two. "Diamond?" The only of the two that seemed even remotely possible. "Moon?" He shrugged with that one.

Silver rapidly circled around Spike, preventing him from seeing the others. Her voice rose to a high-pitched squeal and her face scowled as she declared that Diamond had a sister. "We even have a special dance and everything! Why would she pick some other random pony? Um... No offense to you. She's probably fine, but she's your sister. Diamond already has one!"

Spike scratched at his cheek. "Well... Do you want to do that?" He waved a hand past Silver Spoon to the obstacle course the others were about halfway through in various stages of distress. "Looks hard, and dirty, even minus the water."

Silver crossed her arms and slowly lowered herself down to her haunches as she said "No. It's dumb, and gross and dirty, like you just said. It's... stupid! But... She's doing it. And she has a sister! Why didn't she ask me?" Her purple eyes glistened with her building tears. "She didn't even think to ask! Maybe I'd say no... I guess... But she didn't ask!"

Spike looked between Silver and the racers. "Well... What if you joined anyway?" A sly look emerged as he brought his hands together. "That'd show her."

Silver joined in that scheming expression. "I like the way you're thinking, Spike." She reached out and curled an arm around him. "But I can't join without a sister, and my sister went and... that."

Spike pointed at Silver, then himself. "According to the rules, a sister and a brother, that's me, could join. You're like a sister to me, right?"

Silver erupted into a fit of laughter, briefly cut short by a coughing fit caused by the tears she had shed prior. She gave a triumphant exclamation, "Genius!", and then rubbed her fetlock on her face in order to clear it. "Genius... Alright, bro! I hope you're ready to win this race with the best sister around." She winked with a dramatic flair, making it obvious. "That'll show her, when she loses to the sister she shoulda picked in the first place." She offered a hoof towards Spike that he met with a balled fist, sealing their accord.

Elsewhere, other plans were being put together. A certain unicorn filly was trying to get an Apple mare to run with her. The social was destined to be an interesting one on all counts. Pear Butter smiled at Sweetie Belle. "Poor thing. Don't you have a sister?"

"She's too busy." Sweetie stomped the ground, eyes glaring with anger and distress. "And she doesn't want to do that kinda thing... It's 'uncouth.'" Sweetie made quite the face, pulling that quote out. "I'll show her! Please, Applejack!"

Pear put an arm between Sweetie and Applejack. "Hold on. Applejack is a fine sister, no doubt, but she has a sister to... sister."

Sweetie twirled on Apple Bloom. "Can I borrow her, just for a day?"

Upon hearing the suggestion, Apple Bloom reacted with a blink of her eyes, taken aback by the idea. "Uh... Sisters aren't usually the kinda thin' you 'borrow.'"

Pear Butter stepped fully between them. "I hear you, little thin'. You're powerful upset at this sister ah yers, and maybe she deserves it."

With a very angry huff, Sweetie Belle agreed with a loud and firm, "She does!"

Pear Butter shook her head slowly. "But this ain't the way to show it. So instead ah takin' one ah her friends as a sister, how 'bout we have fun instead?"

Sweetie was so taken aback that she couldn't even process it and stood there frozen. "And not do the social? But I wanna!"

Applejack came up alongside her mother. "Ah think mom's offerin' to take mah place."

"'xactly that." Pear's nod of appreciation towards Applejack conveyed her obvious joy at being read correctly. "You can race Apple Bloom an' me. Ah never got to do this race... It'll be fun!"

Sweetie bounced in the air. "Oh, well, now you're talking! That sounds--"

"--Sweetie!" Rarity came rushing down the road at a gallop. "Sweetie! I'm--"

Sweetie put up a denying hoof even as she turned away. "I'm with a family that cares about me!"

Rarity skidded to a halt. "W-what? I care about you."

"Easy to say." She stuck out her tongue and looked up to Pear Butter. "Let's go. We have a social to plan for."

Pear Butter moved to follow Sweetie, but not before she fired a nod at Rarity.

Applejack let them go, but her eyes were on Rarity. "Ya done messed up," she got out when they were out of range. "Now, afore--"

"Your mother is taking away my beloved sister!" Rarity shouted out in a shrill voice. "Stop her!"

"--That... She ain't takin' nopony, promise." She patted Rarity on the shoulder. "She's not like that. But... right now Sweetie's angry, and shoutin' at her ain't gonna change her mind none. Ya see, Bein' sisters is like... apple pie. You can have amazin' apples, and you can have a wonderfully crispy crust, but only together you can have a perfect apple pie."

Rarity stared off into the distance, her expression blank and unreadable, for several lengthy moments. "I'm afraid, dear, I don't entirely know what you mean by that... But I must get Sweetie back! I've been a cad... Surely there's something I can do?"

Applejack leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper, "She's on yer side. Ah'll bring her 'round later, when she ain't got a Sweetie attached at the hip. You two can scheme then." She fired a dramatic wink. "But, fer now, me an' Apple Bloom gotta practice!"

Apple Bloom let out a yelp of triumph. "What are we waiting' for? Let's get to it!"

---

Diamond reached the end of the track with great difficulty, her breathing labored and rasping from the exertion of each step. "There... Did it..." Her words were slow and labored, a sheen of sweat covering her small form. "You-- There you are." Moon was just catching up with her, also breathing hard from the effort. "We won't win, not like this..."

Moon sat next to her, wobbling as if the effort of sitting upright was just too hard. "More practice is required if we want to secure a chance of success." She reached up and took off her glasses to clean them of the sweat and fog she had built up on them. "But we have gained experience."

"Yeah..." Diamond turned to survey the... "What are they doing?" She could see Spike and Silver performing the same route. They were working together, rather than running it side by side. When one faltered, the other eagerly lent a hand, or hoof, to get them both forward. They weren't especially fast, but it was an improvement. "How are they going so quickly?"

Moon took a few moments to evaluate them in silence, slipping her glasses back onto her face for a better view. "It seems that they are engaging in practice as well."

Diamond threw up a hoof. "I can see that! But why?" She snorted into a smile. "Oh, duh... They're trying to encourage us. Well, fine. Let's do it again!" She raced to the start of the track. "We can do this!"

Moon followed at a more sedate pace. "It would be advantageous to imitate their example. It seems they are progressing at a quicker rate than we have managed previously."

"Clever!" Diamond swung a hoof wildly to collide with her other with a deep thunk. "She's trying to tell me what I got wrong, without telling me, because that'd annoy me, a lot. Clever..." She waved forward along the track. "Come on, let's do it, even better than the first time."

Moon couldn't be certain if that was actually the case or not, but Diamond seemed happy about it. She was... at least mostly sure of that. "Let us proceed." She tapped her cheek. "A pity magic use is curtailed. A result of earth pony bias?" She shook her head. "We will make do as they already set the conditions."

Diamond swatted at her partner. "I'm an earth pony, you know."

"Would you be amendable to my use of magic then?" Moon's horn glowed with the promise of magical solutions to the problems ahead of them.

"Tempting..." Moon took one last big breath. "But no. I want to prove I can do it, and win, without cheating or anything. They think a 'rich filly' is too 'spoiled' to do things that need work. I'll show them!"

With the firing of a gun only heard in their minds, they took off for a fresh take at the course. Their pace, at times, was slower as they kept within a hoof's reach of one another. But when they hit an obstacle, they were there for one another to help scramble up, under, or through it far more quickly.

At least until they got to the big empty tubs. "About this." Diamond prodded at the empty tub. "What's even the point of this one?"

Moon took in the parts, assembling them in her mind over and over again. "If you... There... But then... On top..." She worked with her hooves as she mused, working from one possibility to the next. "No... That." She pointed to the tub, "Should be there." She pointed to the top of a platform. "With the spigot..." She grabbed it with her magic, setting the tub up atop the platform. She turned the tub until its spigot aimed at a jar there on the ground. "There. This is meant to fill that, somehow..."

Diamond tapped at Moon and directed her towards a collection of bags piled up. "There?" She went over and tore the end off, causing berries to spill out onto the ground. "Oh!"

Silver came bounding up with a grin on her face, and her enthusiastic "Wow!" filled the air. "I was wondering what this, like, was all about."

"We just climbed over it." Shrugging his shoulders, Spike let out a little laugh. "Um, so what do we do with these?" He snatched up a berry, squeezing it between two fingers. "I don't get it."

Moon grabbed the entire bag in her magic, hovering it up into the tub and spilling out all the many berries to fill the tub to the top. "I think I know..."

Author's Note:

This is what happens when you let Diamond oversee the construction of the test course. She was trying, I swear.

There are so many friendship lessons to be learned here.

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Comments

[raven618]

Okay, the mixup with the berry crushing made me giggle, nice work.

[TheGJ90]

I knew it! I knew Diamond's arc was gonna go in a direction like this!

Ah, but she and Spike have much to learn and berries to squish!

Also, it is hilarious that Diamond had this course all set up, which makes for fun foreshadowing.

Oh, I hope Rarity patches things up with Sweetie Belle. I mean, of course they will, since this story doesn't have the Dark tag! What matters, in this case, is how they do it.

[Booster Spice]

Might not be a mud pit, but theres the grape stomp? Or am I just trying to push too much dust around?

[Venerable Ro]

Friendship lessons for everypony, verra good.

[David Silver]

11576629
The grape stomp was a significant part, and ending, of the chapter.

[howard035]

I love Silver's jealousy!