Chapter 10
Chapter 10
“Ah’ guess that’s one pancake less for us.”
As Silver Spoon heard Apple Bloom’s amused voice she turned towards her. “You don’t seem that surprised about this.”
“Not really, somethin’ similar happened on the first morning of our sleepover here.”
“Our? You mean with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?”
“Of course. It was Sweetie Belle who had taken her shower at that time. But she decided to finish preparin’ breakfast by herself.”
“Oh, she can cook?”
Apple Bloom squinched up her face. Even her tone made it clear she was embarrassed to answer this question. “Let’s just say we lost more than one pancake that day.”
“Sounds bad.”
“Yeah, kinda. But at least all she burnt was food and not the curtains. Like… somepony else did.”
“Still, wasn’t Fluttershy angry?”
Apple Bloom tilted her head. “Why are ya’ always so obsessed with somepony gettin’ angry with us?”
“What? No, it’s not that. I just thought, well, it would be a normal reaction if I had somepony staying at my house and then they’d start burning my food out of nowhere. But Fluttershy seems so calm and nice, I can’t even imagine her being angry.”
“Yeah, Ah’ know what ya’ mean,” Apple Bloom sighed. “And no, she didn’t get angry. On the contrary, she thanked Sweetie Belle for ‘helping her’. She even ate one of those pancakes and pretended that it was really good.”
“And you?”
“We… didn’t. Actually, when we were done eatin’ and left the house again, we told Sweetie Belle she might not be as good a cook as she thinks.”
“Really? Wasn’t that a bit mean of you?”
To Silver Spoon’s surprise Apple Bloom smiled at her last question. “Strange that ya’ of all ponies ask that,” she chuckled. “No, Ah’ don’t think so. And we didn’t just tell her that her cookin’ was terrible. We told her that she may have to practice some more.”
“Did she just accept that?”
“To be honest, she didn’t. At first she argued that her sister, her parents and Fluttershy loved every meal she had prepared for them. But we could convince her that maybe they were just being nice and didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”
“Wow, that makes it sound like you wanted to hurt her feelings, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, okay,” Apple Bloom laughed. “Maybe this came out wrong. But Ah’ don’t know how to say this. Most grown-ups tend to tell ya’ yer good at something even if yer not because they want to be nice to ya’ but then ya’ll have to find out that yer not as good as ya’ think ya’ were. And in the end that’s way more hurtful than if somepony had told ya’ ya’ weren’t that good. Ya’ know what Ah’ mean?”
Silver Spoon wasn’t sure if she really understood what Apple Bloom meant, but she decided to nod anyway.
“And that’s why we told Sweetie Belle she wasn’t as good as she thought she was. And yes, she definitely wasn’t happy about it, but Ah’ know that she knows we would never try to hurt her feelings. In the end, we’re friends and friends should be honest with each other. Even if it means sayin’ somethin’ yer friend doesn’t wanna hear.”
“Is that really that different from what I did?”
“What ya’ did? Ya mean back in school?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, it is!”
“In what way?”
“Ya’ really have to ask? Well, mostly because we didn’t accuse her of anythin’. And we didn’t just tell her that we thouht the food she had prepared was awful. In fact, we didn’t tell her something like that at all. What we said was that she needed more practice.”
Silver Spoon scratched her chin. She started to see where this was going.
“Ya’ ever heard that it’s more important how ya’ say somethin’ than what yer sayin’?”
“So it’s about this ‘help to improve’ thing Bon Bon was talking about.”
“Exactly. Is it really that difficult to understand for ya’?”
“Not in concept, no. But I really have a hard time figuring out what I should say and what I shouldn’t.”
Before Apple Bloom was able to help her solving this problem, they were interrupted by a grumbling noise coming from Silver Spoon’s belly. She blushed a little, but a moment later a similar sound could be heard from Apple Bloom. They both looked at each other and grinned.
“Tell ya’ what,” the yellow filly said. “We’ll work on that later. But this sounds like yer as hungry as me. So why don’t ya’ help me packin’ things up here and then we’ll finally have some breakfast?”
Silver Spoon nodded and got to work. A few minutes later they both sat inside Fluttershy’s kitchen, in front of a huge pile of warm, sweet smelling pancakes.
Pancakes for breakfast really was an incredible idea. Not that Silver Spoon would have ever had a reason to complain about the meals the kitchen-staff at home produced each and every morning. But this was the best she ever had.
Happily she drowned these delicious gold-brown goods in sweet syrup. The way its taste spread out in her mouth was nearly addictive to her. And considering how enthusiastic Apple Bloom worked herself through their stock it surely wasn’t any different for her.
After a while they both leaned back in their chairs. Silver Spoon was spent. She couldn’t remember ever eating this much before in her entire life. Right now she felt like going back to sleep. But unfortunately her sleeping bag was already packed up and going home to her own bed was out of the question. Any movement beyond reaching for her glass of orange juice was impossible at this moment.
Fluttershy, who had only eaten a little herself, looked happily at them with a joyful smile. “Seems like you are done with your meal,” she remarked as she rose to put the empty plates into the kitchen sink. Then she sat down again. “I guess I’ll clean up later,” she informed her guests.
Silver Spoon didn’t really know what to answer as she didn’t care if Fluttershy would do it now or later. She was to busy keeping her mind from drifting off into an enticing state of doziness. But what Fluttershy said next pulled it back into the waking world.
“I thought, maybe you could tell me now how you got your cutie mark, Silver Spoon? If that’s okay with you?”
Why did she have to bring this up now? Silver Spoon wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk right now, much less about her cutie mark. She still had in mind how Fluttershy almost started crying just because she had realized what it meant.
She looked over to Apple Bloom, hoping for some silent advice or maybe at least a little hint for what to answer. But her red maned head was turned towards the window as she absent-mindedly watched Fluttershy’s animals playing.
As she kept looking at Apple Bloom’s back of her head she was reminded of last night. When she had told her new friend the same story Fluttershy was asking for now. And she remembered how she had expected to unintentionally hurt Apple Bloom with it. Or at least upset her, make her remember things she didn’t want to be reminded of. But in the end she hadn’t taken it nearly as badly as Silver Spoon had expected. Then Fluttershy as a grown-up should be able to listen to the story without any breakdown. Especially considering what she had heard about her until now.
She struggled to sit back upright and nodded. “Okay, if you want to hear it,” she said and started to tell once more how she had earned her cutie mark. While she spoke she kept glancing over to Apple Bloom who was still looking towards the window. It was hard to tell if she even listened to her.
Fluttershy, however, was completely fixated on the grey filly. She followed the story curiously, with the undivided attention of a foal listening to its favorite bedtime story.
At the end of it she smiled and said: “I see, so that’s what your cutie mark stands for.”
“Hadn’t you figured that out already?” asked Silver Spoon.
“No, I only had an idea. But that was… a bit different from the truth.”
“Really? What was it?”
“Oh, um, nothing too specific. But I thought your talent would involve, well, handling deceased ponies in one way or another.”
Silver Spoon had no idea how one would ‘handle the deceased’. Of course, somepony had to get the dead into the grave, but what more could there be to be done? Was there really a special talent for such work? She pondered asking, but the bright sunshine of an early summer noon and her pancake-stuffed belly convinced her that now wasn’t the time to think about dead ponies or those who had to work with them. Or for them? Whatever it was, she would not delve into this topic any more.
Instead she smiled and said: “Then I’m glad my talent turned out less horrific than you made it look two days ago.”
“Oh no, I would have never thought that.” Fluttershy looked crestfallen. “There are no talents that are horrific or in any way worse or better than any other.”
“What? No, that’s absolutely not what I meant!” Silver Spoon responded. “But the way you reacted back then was just… just…”
“Exaggerated?” Fluttershy offered apologetically.
“Yes, that’s what I meant.”
“Oh, yes, I know I overreacted. I am sorry if I startled you by that in any way.”
“Oh, now Ah’ see!” Apple Bloom threw in.
Both Silver Spoon and Fluttershy looked over to her. She had finally diverged her attention from whatever had been going on outside.
“What do you mean?” they asked in unison.
“Is that why ya’ reacted like that when we talked about yer cutie mark last night?” Apple Bloom asked.
Silver Spoon nodded slowly. “Yeah, mostly. But it was also because of the other thing we talked about.”
“Ya’ mean ma’ parents bein’ dead?”
“Um, yes…” Silver Spoon said meekly. She couldn’t grasp how Apple Bloom was able to talk about such a topic without any hesitation.
“How did you get to speak about such a topic?” Fluttershy wanted to know.
“Because I’m an insensitive blockhead,” sighed Silver Spoon.
Fluttershy didn’t say anything, but her expression spoke of her confusion.
Apple Bloom simply shook her head. “Stop beatin’ yerself up over it. Ah’ told ya’, it’s not yer fault if ya’ didn’t know.”
“But I should have known. In hindsight, it was obvious. And either way, that doesn’t change the fact that I brought up a hurtful thing like that out of nowhere. And it made everything I have done even worse. If I had known sooner-“
“What if ya’ had? Would ya’ve acted differently?”
“Of course I would have!”
“Well, Ah’ guess it’s a good thing ya didn’t know then!”
Silver Spoon needed a moment to understand that Apple Bloom had really said what she had heard. But that moment wasn’t sufficient to let her sort out all the irritating facts that accompanied those words. She couldn’t even decide what irritated her the most. Was it the message in itself? The serious tone it had been delivered in? Or was it the following smile she put on? Helplessly she looked over to Fluttershy, who was smiling too.
“I think she means she wouldn’t want to be treated differently because of her parents by you,” Fluttershy suggested. “Or anypony else. Right, Apple Bloom?”
The red maned filly nodded. “Exactly.”
“But if I had known I wouldn’t have been so mean to you. Maybe we could have become friends sooner. Way sooner. Wouldn’t you have liked that?”
“Of course Ah’ would have liked it better if ya’d been ma’ friend rather than a bully. But not because ya’ pity me.”
“Does it really matter to you what the reason for that would be?”
“You see,” Fluttershy answered for Apple Bloom, “don’t you want ponies to be nice to you, because they like you rather than because they are sorry for you?”
For a moment, she smiled motherly at Silver Spoon, with an expectant look in her eyes. But as Silver Spoon gave no answer she continued: “Maybe I can put it this way; if you get a present, which would you like more, one that somepony gave to you because she likes you and wants you to be happy, or one somepony gave to you because she believed she had to.”
“I don’t really see the difference. In the end, I’ll have a present. Or not?”
“Ah’ think yer missin’ the point,” said Apple Bloom, struggling to keep a straight face.
Fluttershy patiently tried again: “Then maybe, think of this: When you’re sick, others may take care of you and be really nice. But as soon as you get better, they won’t anymore.”
“Yeah, that’s a good example,” added Apple Bloom. “Ah’ know that’s nice at first. But soon ya’ll notice they’re just so nice because yer sick and they just feel bad for ya’. And ya’ know that as soon as ya’ll get better, they’ll be the same they ever were.”
Again, Silver Spoon didn’t answer right away. But this time she understood what Apple Bloom was saying all too well. And of course, she knew that in return Apple Bloom knew that. She looked at her hooves, not knowing where else to look at that moment.
“Okay, I think I get that,” she said quietly
Apple Bloom nodded.
“And in ma’ case it’s even worse. Ah’ know that they would treat me differently if Ah’ ‘got better’. But that will never happen. They’d just keep on pityin’ me. And quite honestly, havin’ everypony say ‘Yer poor thing’ and ‘Ah’m so sorry for ya’’ can get really annoyin’ really fast.”
Silver Spoon noticed that Apple Bloom’s last words carried a bitterness that was more than unusual for this filly as far she knew her. The grey filly could only imagine what her new friend had to deal with, but still it was sufficient to finally understand why she didn’t want any pity.
Both fillies looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. Silver Spoon just nodded, hoping this would be enough to tell Apple Bloom what she wanted to say.
Then next moment she felt an unpleasant yet familiar tingle in her spine. She turned around. Angel was sitting in the doorway, his eyes once again fixed on Silver Spoon.
“What does he have against me?” she asked defeated.
“Oh, nothing,” answered Fluttershy. “He’s just not good with strangers. That is all.”
Then she stood up and started to prepare a bowl of salad, humming cheerily.
“Okay, maybe we should take this chance and get goin’,” suggested Apple Bloom.
“Oh, so soon?” asked Fluttershy. “Do you have plans for today?”
“Yeah, Ah’ wanted to show Silver Spoon Sweet Apple Acres today.”
“Really?” the grey filly asked astonished. “Didn’t you say you’d have to ask your sister first?”
“No, Ah’ only said I’d ask her if ya’ could stay for dinner. Of course ya’ can come over and visit me anytime ya’ want to.”
“In that case, let’s go!” Silver Spoon exclaimed excitedly and jumped of the chair back onto her hooves.
All the fatigue she had felt from the ample breakfast was gone from one moment to the other. She picked up her saddlebags and the sleeping bag and turned back to Fluttershy to say good-bye. “Thank you so much for everything. I really enjoyed last night and the pancakes were great. I hope we can do this again sometime.”
“Of course, my dear,” Fluttershy smiled. “You only have to ask. Have a nice day.”
They both waved a last good-bye and then stormed out the front-door. The air was already starting to heat up, but that wasn’t keeping the two fillies from running all the way back from Fluttershy’s cottage to Ponyville.
Why they were running at all eluded Silver Spoon. She couldn’t even tell if she or Apple Bloom had started to run. But they were running and neither of them had any intention of stopping before they had reached the Sweet Apple Acres farm. A few angry shouts of startled ponies later they had made it.
It was the first time she had ever come this close to this place. All she had seen of it before was the vast orchard from afar. Now she finally had the chance to see the farm hidden behind it.
The first thing she noticed was the other fields. Despite being known everywhere solely for their apples Apple Bloom’s family apparently grew a larger variety of crops. From the path they were following towards the farm, she could make out a cornfield, a grain field and a carrot patch.
In the middle of the carrot patch stood a strange building. Its base looked like a huge barrel, big enough to house a grown-up pony. On top of that was something that looked like a two storied shed with a balcony. That shed had a roof looking like a half of a barrel. All that was topped of with a huge carrot – presumably not a real one – mounted on that roof.
But Silver Spoon had no time to be surprised. There was even more to see than that. Right next to the gate was a chicken coop, not unlike the one Fluttershy had. A bit further away were some barns of different sizes.
In the middle of everything stood the home of the Apple family, painted in a bright red with a lot of white accents. Compared to Silver Spoons home it was rather small, but still larger than most of the houses in Ponyville. It was in no way the small hut from Silver Spoon’s vivid imagination.
Around all of that the apple orchard stretched even further, across the hills surrounding the farm. And from there she heard some strange noises, sounding like somepony was kicking against the trees. Not just kicking, but slamming their hooves against it with all they had.
The source of said sound was obviously where Apple Bloom was heading. Of course Silver Spoon followed and soon saw the noises were exactly what they sounded like. Two ponies were kicking the trees. And every time they did, lots of apples fell down into buckets standing ready. Most impressively, not one missed its target, each apple landed right in them.
Silver Spoon recognized one of the ponies as soon as she saw her. That was Applejack, the orange coated, blond maned, hat wearing bigger sister of Apple Bloom.
The other one was a red stallion she didn’t know by name but remembered seeing a few times in town. He also had a blond mane but of a darker shade. And he was huge. Even his cutie mark of a half of a green apple seemed larger than other ponies’ cutie marks. He was certainly the big brother Apple Bloom had talked about. Actually, now she asked herself why she hadn’t figured that out sooner. His cutie mark should have made it obvious.
“Hey, big sis’! Ah’m home!” Apple Bloom yelled across the farmyard. This, as presumably intended by the filly, brought the orange mare’s attention towards her little sister. She waved a hoof, smiling happily. Until she saw the filly accompanying Apple Bloom. At that moment the smile faded away into surprised astonishment.
She waited for the two fillies to get closer before she asked: “Oh, do you still live here?”
The following silence was only interrupted by the thumps whenever the big stallion’s hooves hit another tree. Silver Spoon looked surprised from one sister to the other. That was definitely not the kind of greeting she had expected from the ever-friendly, all-knowing sibling Apple Bloom had always bragged about.
To an even bigger surprise for her, both of them started to laugh and hugged each other. Silver Spoon felt an unpleasant sting inside her belly. She couldn’t help but to envy her new friend. She didn’t want to, but there was no way around for her. Telling herself that she should be happy that sisters could get along so well with each other and that all this should give her hope for her own sister helped a little. But still she had to force herself to smile at this scene.
“Welcome home, sugarcube. How was yer sleepover? Guess it was quite good or you wouldn’t have stayed longer than planned, huh?”
“Yeah, it was awesome,” Apple Bloom answered excitedly. “Best Ah’ve ever had!”
These words eased Silver Spoon’s upwelling jealousy instantly. She didn’t know why, but hearing how Apple Bloom told her big sister how highly she thought of the time they had both spent together filled her with a sense of pride.
“Ah’m glad to hear this. Ah’ can tell you Ah’ was mighty surprised when Flutterhsy told me you’d stay fer another night. Ah’ thought yer friends had both left yesterday?”
“They did. The last night Ah’ spent with Silver Spoon here.”
The mentioned filly felt herself blushing a little when Apple Bloom pointed a hoof at her. She wasn’t prepared to be dragged so suddenly into this conversation. She even felt a slight urge to back away a few steps as Applejack looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.
“Silver Spoon? Didn’t you tell me she was…” Applejack fell silent for a second, looking like she wasn’t sure how to finish her sentence. She continued hesitantly: “She wasn’t exactly on good terms with you?”
“Yeah, Ah’ did,” answered Apple Bloom as happy as ever. “But now we’re friends. Can she stay for dinner?”
Not just Silver Spoon was taken by surprise at how Apple Bloom was able to put everything that had happened into such simple words. And to add that question out of nowhere. Applejack looked just as confused as she felt. Of course, the blond mare had no idea what had transpired over the last few days as far as Silver Spoon knew. But that should only add to her confusion.
“Sometimes Ah’ wonder where you have that impulsivity of yers from,” she said with a defeated laugh. “Care to explain how all this came to be?”
“Why don’t you let them get inside and unpack first?”
Silver Spoon jumped as the deep, booming, yet somehow at the same time calm and quiet voice sounded from behind Applejack. Apple Bloom’s big brother had been able to come over without being noticed. Silver Spoon hadn’t even realized that the thumps had stopped.
Up close he was even larger than he had seemed from afar. The grey little filly looked in awe at the stallion now towering above and looking down at her. The more she looked back her nervousness and intimidation settled down. There was something familiar about him. Not just the fact that she did have seen him before. It was something about his eyes. They were kind eyes, yet carried something deep inside. Something painful, hidden away far behind them. But the hint of a smile around his lips was anything but a show. It was honest. He wasn’t sad and still, at the same time, he was.
Neither could she figure out what or who he reminded her of nor what the reasons could be for his self-contradicting expression. Before she had enough time to process all that Applejack was talking again.
“Ah’m sorry, yer right,” she replied towards her brother. Then she turned to Silver Spoon and smiled. “Of course you can stay for dinner, sugarcube.”
“Thank you, Miss Applejack,” the filly responded in a well-trained reflex including a graceful curtsy. “And of course you too, Mister… Mister…”
Both of them looked at each other and started to laugh. Silver Spoon turned her head towards Apple Bloom, silently asking if she had done anything wrong. But the youngest of the three siblings was too busy stifling her own laughs to help her in any way.
When she looked back at her friend’s sister and brother, the latter one said: “Ma’ name’s Big Macintosh. But just call me Big Mac, everypony does.”
Too her own surprise that name sounded familiar to Silver Spoon. She couldn’t remember where she had heard it before, but she was sure it wasn’t from Apple Bloom. But once again it was Applejack who prevented her from figuring it out.
“And Ah’m Applejack,” she added, “not Miss Applejack.”
Silver Spoon looked from one to the other and back for a few times. Then she asked resigned: “Does nopony in this town want to be called that anymore? Bon Bon, Fluttershy, now you. I start asking myself why my parents told me to always use those ‘oh-no-riffics’. Did I offend you in any way?”
Applejack shook her head. “Don’t worry, we’re not offended. There’s just no need for a friend to be so formal. That’s for business-talk. And Ah’ guess Bon Bon and Fluttershy see it the same way.”
Again, her look wandered between the mare and the stallion. Now they were starting to call her a friend too. Or at least Applejack did. But Big Macintosh didn’t protest that declaration in any way. On the contrary, his smile was warmer and friendlier now, like he had forgotten about whatever had troubled him before.
Thanks to the camping night with Apple Bloom she knew what to do; she didn’t even try to look for a reason. Instead she just accepted it. Actually, it gave her another burst of pride to hear those words from Apple Bloom’s big sister.
“So, why don’t you two go and play?” offered Big Macintosh. “We still have work to do. These trees won’t buck themselves.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Apple Bloom.
Silver Spoon thanked the two farm ponies and followed their little sister. Even though the house wasn’t far away she was already running again. And Silver Spoon was running along, driven by the excitement to finally see her energetic friend’s home.
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Is a nice moment for a update.
Cant wait for the next one.
Good luck with the exams.
Big mac and his Amazing ninja skills
Oh please let Silver Spoon's older sister be Octavia.
I'm going to take a WILD guess and say Silver Spoon reminds Big Mac of Smarty Pants and Twilight took her back some time ago.
Oh and Sadly there isn't allot of Silver Spoon/ Applebloom fan art out there. But there SHOULD be!
I have four finals.
I had three finals in two days. The last one is on the 17th.
I understand finals pressure.
3615418
Thanks. ^^
3615627
Yeah, that's a shame. In fact, there just isn't enough Silver Spoon art out there, regardless if with Apple Bloom or not.
3622124
Good luck with the last exam.
Mine will be pressumably the easiest of the finals. But those tend to end up the hardest...
I've noticed this quandary about big people and skinny people; one would expect the big ones to get in the way all the time, and the skinny ones to be able to sneak around, but instead, the opposite is true. It's just baffling.
I love how Silver Spoon has literally got more life in her. I commented earlier that she seemed dead inside. Even now it took her the longest time to grasp the concept of pity Vs true kindness.
It's ironic that her talent involves honoring the dead, or perhaps poetic that she herself has been given new life and her special talent is for helping the souls of the departed find new life on the other side while helping the living go on with their lives after dealing with grief.
Life or Death, Silver Spoon is a fitting symbol for either or both.
either that's really deep or it's trash and I'm just really tired but can't put this story down!