Scales and Silver

by DKN117

Guilt

The day after the incidents at Carousal Boutique and Ponyville Elementary was the first day of a seven-day stretch of no school. The Crusaders were at their clubhouse, where Scootaloo had stayed the night.

“I’m worried, girls” Sweetie Belle said. “Rarity hasn’t even come out of her room since yesterday. Sometimes if I listen close I can hear her crying in there. Something terrible must’ve happened to her.”

“When I came home yesterday,” Apple Bloom said, “AJ was kinda shook up about sumthin’. Whatever she saw, I think it scared her just a little.”

“Well, you’ll never believe what I saw yesterday evening” Scootaloo said. “Spike and Silver Spoon sitting on a bench near the old park, hanging out and talking with each other. And it looked like they’d been doing that for hours.”

Both of the other girls snapped to attention, eyes on Scootaloo.

“Well, from what we heard yesterday,” Apple Bloom said, “we know Silver isn’t a bad filly. She was just tryin’ too hard to hold onto a friend she really shouldn’t have been. It sure was a mighty big surprise to learn she never had anythin’ against us, though.”

“Yeah” Sweetie Belle replied. “It… kinda almost makes me wanna offer to be her friend.”

“I’m not done yet, girls” Scootaloo said. “Toward the end, they started acting a little… silly. They were makin’ eyes at each other a little, and whenever Silver looked Spike in the eyes she started to blush and get a little fidgety. Then something spooked her and she tackle-hugged him on instinct, like that one time where that caterpillar landed on Bloom’s back and she leapt into Sweetie’s arms.” The two girls looked a little embarrassed at the memory. “And they looked at each other and they stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds in shock, and their faces were red. Also just like the caterpillar incident. But then instead of pulling away, they stayed like that. And then she actually snuggled up to him! And he hugged her back! And when they broke apart and decided to head home, she actually kissed him on the cheek!”

“She kissed him?!” the other two chorused.

“On the cheek, I said!” Scootaloo replied. “But still… I think those two might actually be falling for each other…”

“Well, golly…” Apple Bloom said. “Spike and Silver Spoon… Ain’t that the oddest pairing I ever did hear? …But, wait. I thought Spike had feelin’s for Rarity.” She looked to Sweetie Belle.

“I thought the same thing” Sweetie Belle said. “It doesn’t make… Wait a second. Maybe… Maybe something happened between them, and that’s why Rarity’s locked herself away crying.”

“And that might explain what was botherin’ Applejack, too” Bloom added in. “Maybe he went off on her as bad as Silver did on Diamond, or even worse. That could explain why AJ seemed a tad spooked; ain’t nothin’ scarier than an angry dragon.”

Scootaloo suppressed a shiver of revulsion at Apple Bloom’s poor choice of words, thanks to that one icky magazine the orange-furred filly had stumbled across outside the town dump while being a Cutie Mark Crusader Crusade Supply Hunter (well, she’d found a few of the things in it icky; the rest of the magazine was hidden under the corner floorboard of the treehouse).

“Let’s just hope nothing else bad goes on” Sweetie Belle said. “Heaven knows everyone’s been through a lot lately.”

“…Y’know, I don’t think we three have heard from Twilight for a while” Apple Bloom said. “I think she’s still ashamed and afraid about what happened when she went loco over stress and deadlines, an’ she’s ashamed to face us considerin’ how we were at the epicenter of the wacky scheme she came up with when she was temporarily off her rocker.”

“Maybe we should pay her a quick visit” Scootaloo said, “just to let her know we’re not upset with her.”

“Yeah, knowing how much of an over-thinking worrywart she can be and how sensitive she gets when she thinks she’s hurt someone’s feelings…” Sweetie Belle concluded, “Well, from what little I’ve gathered of her or heard from Rarity.”

As the three fillies headed out the door, down the steps, and toward the town, they didn’t notice the pink-furred filly who’d been hiding by their window, listening in on the whole thing. Diamond Tiara looked somewhat worse for wear; she’d gotten very little sleep last night, her mind refusing to allow her any solace. That night, she had adamantly refused to explain to her father why she looked so “haunted”, and she had also staunchly refused a replacement tiara for the one she’d dashed to pieces against a tree. Now, she had learned that her former friend – once the only constant in her life – had found herself a boyfriend, and one of a different species at that! Shaking her head to try to clear her rampant thoughts, she quietly and carefully made her way down to the ground, and headed off toward town.

-SCENE BREAK-

Hours later

Two small figures moved around at the edge of the local pond not too far from Fluttershy’s cottage, on the grass beneath the trees that lined the water’s edge. They had spent the day mostly hanging out together in town; lunch at her favorite slightly-fancy restaurant, and then a stop by Sugarcube Corner for a snack (Pinkie was out doing who-knows-what, but Mr. & Mrs. Cake were always glad to see Spike, while Silver Spoon practically fell in love with their chocolate cupcakes), and now just relaxing for the sake of it by the quiet water. Well, it had started as relaxation. During a casual conversation, a friendly shove from Silver had been responded to in kind by Spike, and now the two were laughing as they tumbled around with each other, forgetting their other attachments and just messing around and having fun. Her glasses had been (carefully) discarded, and her mane had come out of the braids it was in, now hanging loose and free.

Silver Spoon gave a cocky grin as she leapt over a swipe of Spike’s tail at her legs meant to trip her, and then responded with a tackle that sent them both tumbling, ending with her pinning him to the ground, laying on top of him. Her face was hovering only a couple inches over his, and both of them were panting lightly from their roughhousing. They found themselves staring into each other’s eyes, faces going red. She could feel his body heat against her belly, and her heart fluttered as she felt an urge to do something.

“U-Uh…” Spike muttered. “Silvie?”

With that, she gave into the urge, lowering her face down and capturing his lips with her own. He let out a surprised noise at this sudden development, but as she gently cupped his face in her hooves he closed his eyes and kissed back, his arms coming up around her waist and upper back. He was dimly aware of her tail intertwining with his. After nearly a minute, Silver-Spoon pulled away, the both of them gasping for air for several seconds. And then she went right back into it, kissing him again before either could say anything.

After nearly three straight minutes, she finally broke the connection again. Her face was red, her heart was pounding, her head felt light, and she wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. Looking each other in the eyes, they didn’t say anything. They didn’t need to. They spent the next several minutes laying like that in the shade, before Silver finally, slowly crawled off of Spike, helping him to his feet. He led her over to a nearby tree, and then he sat down leaning against it. Rather than sit in the “normal” way for a pony, she leaned back against him, resting the back of her head on his shoulder, exposing the short, soft fur of her belly, her hind legs relaxing and opening as her tail curled up over her stomach to protect her modesty. She let out a happy, content sigh as she felt his arms wrap around her waist, and she relaxed and pressed back against him.

As they spent the next few minutes like this, not saying or doing anything, just enjoying each other’s touch and presence, they did not notice three different sneaky rustling patterns through the nearby foliage (who, incidentally, were totally unaware of each other as well), watching and listening out of various types and levels of curiosity. Watching from a clump of hedges nearby, despite feeling some fear of Spike thanks to yesterday’s incident, Fluttershy had to suppress a little giggle at such a cute scene, while to her right, Applejack’s jaw dropped just a little at the surprising development. On the opposite side, the Crusader Trio watched from inside a bush; Scootaloo mouthed ‘told ya’ to the other two. The third, lone figure remained hidden, watching and feeling a bizarre mixture of emotions, none of them pleasant.

“It’s kinda funny” Silver Spoon suddenly said.

“What is?” Spike asked.

“I’m not complaining at all, but… from an outside viewpoint, my past day or two would look really weird. I mean, yesterday, about this time of day, I was wandering around Ponyville after having ‘broken up’ with the only quote-unquote “friend” I’ve known for years. And now I’m sitting by a lake, leaning against my young-dragon boyfriend with his arms around my waist, and even though I’m reclining in one of the most embarrassing positions a quadruped mammal can be in, I don’t care.”

“Life’s funny that way” he replied.

“Yeah…” She looked downcast for a few seconds.

“What’s bothering you, Silvie?”

“It’s still kind of hard for me to believe… The situation with Diamond Tiara… She was my only friend for so long. And… I’d always thought she still had some good in her that I could bring out. But after yesterday… I never imagined she could be that cruel! She had to have known it was a touchy subject for Scootaloo, to say the least! And even if she didn’t know, once she saw the other girl crying she laughed! How can anyone be that black-hearted?! Just because the pegasus doesn’t have her Cutie Mark yet! …How can Tiara live with herself?! …I remember when I first met her when we were three years old, back when her mother was still around. She was a tad spoiled, but she seemed to have a dash of empathy and goodness back then. But after the incident when she was five, she’s gotten worse and worse over the years. The sweet little girl who listened to her mama and shared her candy with the other kindergarteners is long, long gone. Now… she’s nothing but a vicious, black-hearted monster whose only concern is herself and her own selfish and cruel enjoyments. I guess… that her mother was the only thing keeping her good, and when she was taken out of the equation she took Diamond’s kindness, empathy, and love with her. Now there’s nothing good left in her.”

Several seconds later, everyone else present failed to notice the third party’s quiet but hasty retreat, the pink-furred filly not wholly understanding why tears were streaming down her face as she ran as fast and as far away from the area as possible.

“Come on, Silvie” Spike said soothingly as he used a claw/hand to slowly and gently rub/scratch her belly, resulting in a giggle and a light pleased moan from her. “Let’s not focus on the negative stuff right now. This is relaxation time, right?”

“Mmmm… You're right…” she leaned her head back and kissed him, using her tail to “pin” his hands to her. “I just wish I could – a bit higher, please – make it up to the Crusaders, though. All the things I did under Diamond’s influence. I’m not sure I can, though.”

“Why can’t you?” Spike asked, slowing his hand’s actions so she could focus more.

“I…” she looked pensive. “I think I’m… scared…”

“Of what?”

“Of everything. What if they think I was in league with what Diamond did? What if they already hate me, and consider me as bad as her? What if they attack me as soon as they see me before I can explain things? What if they convince the townsfolk to hate me? …And I know what I’m about to say sounds bizarre, but… I’m always seeing those three together, and when they’re together they don’t care about anything else other than having fun with each other. I… I wanna be part of that. I’ve felt… a bit jealous and sad that I never really did that kind of thing with Diamond Tiara. I guess what I’m saying is that… I want… I want to be… their f-friend…”

“Silver…”

“But I know I can’t! I’ve stood by and let too much happen! They already associate me with all that bullying and stuff! They’ll never accept me! It’s… It’s too late for that…” she finished with a whimper.

“No it ain’t.”

Spike and Silver Spoon jumped a little, startled; Silver spun around in Spike’s grip, her front to his back, limbs and tail wrapped around him as she clung to him in surprised fear, heart pounding. The two watched as the Crusader Trio came out and walked up to them.

“H-Hi, girls” Spike said a tad nervously, his arms protectively holding Silver Spoon to him.

“Hey, Spike” Sweetie Belle replied. “We’re not gonna hurt her.”

“Y-You’re not?” Silver Spoon squeaked out.

“We heard your ‘lament’ just now” Scootaloo said calmly.

“An’ we also heard y’all chewin’ Diamond Tiara out yesterday” Apple Bloom added. “Course, that’un was pretty dang loud; hard not to hear, even if we hadn’t been hidin’ behind a tree nearby.”

“So… you… don’t hate me?” Silver asked in a quiet voice as she slowly detached herself from Spike.

“Not after everything that’s happened” Sweetie Belle replied. “You’re not a bad filly, Silver Spoon. You just made a few not-so-good decisions and assumptions. But you have a good heart; that’s gotten pretty plain to see the last couple of days.”

“I guess what we’re sayin’ is…” Apple Bloom said. “We wouldn’t mind callin’ you our friend.”

A look of shock came over Silver Spoon’s face, but her eyes lit up with yet-unexpressed joy.

“I knew they wouldn’t hold it against you” Spike said.

A small smile that spoke volumes finally appeared on the gray-furred filly’s face, and she whispered “Thank you”. The quintet spent the next hour talking together.

-SCENE BREAK-

As the Sun was setting, Twilight Sparkle cheerfully moved about within her library. Several hours earlier, she had become uneasy with guilt when the Crusaders showed up on her doorstep, but then they talked to her, somehow knowing exactly why she seemed so on edge, and they eased her fears and guilt and leaving her conscience cleared. They had then headed off into town, saying they had “investigating” to do. Her thoughts on the day’s events up to that point were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

“Hey, Twilight! I'm home!”

Hearing Spike’s voice, Twilight headed for the main room… only to see that Spike had brought company: a little gray-furred filly with white and silver mane, blue-framed glasses and a silvery necklace, along with a Cutie Mark of a silver-and-white spoon with a red heart in the handle. She shuffled her forelimbs awkwardly.

“Oh? And who is this?” Twilight asked in a friendly tone.

“This is Silver Spoon” Spike replied. “She’s… um… She’s… my…”

As the young dragon blushed and stammered, Silver shut him up and made things clear to Twilight by walking up to Spike and kissing him. After a few seconds, she pulled away and turned to Twilight.

“I’m his girlfriend” she said bluntly, her face a tad red.

“I can see that” Twilight replied with a sly grin. “So what brings you here?”

“I wanted to introduce her to you” Spike said to Twilight. “And I was wondering if maybe she could stay for dinner… and maybe for the night?”

Twilight arched an eyebrow at Spike at that last bit.

“Hey, we’re not gonna do that kinda stuff” Spike said, raising his hands up. “That’s not for a while. Neither of us are even teenagers yet! We don’t even have those kinds of urges yet!”

“Besides,” Silver Spoon added, “wouldn’t the fact that we’re of different species mean that there’d be no risk of-”

“Not helping, Silvie.”

“Sorry, Spike. Shutting up.”

Twilight thought for several seconds, and then nodded in approval, and the two kids shared a big grin. The rest of the evening/night was quite pleasant as the three talked, Twilight lending a sympathetic ear to Silver Spoon’s recent dramas, and Silver in turn listening to the accounts of some of Twilight & her friends’ adventures.

Later that night, as she was getting ready for bed, Twilight took a picture of Spike and Silver Spoon sleeping curled up together in the young dragon’s basket-bed. She suppressed a squee at the cuteness, and then hopped into bed for the night.

-SCENE BREAK-

Next day

Twilight walked across the empty, neglected main room of Carousel Boutique, her saddlebags carrying a few snacks from the bakery. Rarity hadn’t left the boutique since the incident two days ago, and she hardly even left her room; Sweetie Belle had been making sure her older sister remembered to eat, drink, sleep, and bathe. According to the pastel-maned filly, the guilt over everything regarding Spike had nearly consumed the gem-themed designer. Twilight walked up the stairs, heading for Rarity’s room; the door was shut, as expected.

“Rarity?” she said. “It’s me, Twilight. Can I come in?”

After a few seconds of silence, the door was opened from the inside, a faint blue telekinetic glow on the inside handle. Twilight shut the door behind her and then turned to have a look at her friend, and had to suppress a wince. Rarity was unceremoniously splayed out on her stomach on top of her bed, her coat and mane had lost their shine and were lightly faded in color (though not as bad as back when she was “Discorded”), her mane & tail-fur had lost most of their usual curl, and there were bags under her eyes, which were also a little red. All in all, it was a pitiful sight. She slowly raised her head to look at Twilight, forcing a small, sad smile onto her face.

“Hello, Twilight” she said, her voice sounding somewhat hoarse and her usual accent/affectation all but gone. “What brings you here, darling?”

“I came to see how you were doing,” Twilight replied as she walked over, “and I brought you a snack.”

Twilight then telekinetically opened the pack on her right side, and a pair of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing floated out and over to Rarity, each one topped by a small “diamond” made of hard candy.

“Pinkie made them earlier today” Twilight said. “Just for you. She’s really worried about you… as are the rest of us, too.”

Rarity let out a long, sad sigh. “I know” she said softly. “But I’m just… not ready yet…”

Twilight took off her saddlebags, setting them on the bed, and then walked around tidying & straightening up as best she could; Rarity’s usual compulsive need for neatness had taken a back seat to her present melancholy, and Sweetie Belle had done as best she could in upkeep, but Twilight’s obsessive-compulsive traits drew her attention to tiny details the filly had missed, which she easily rectified. Rarity had started slowly munching on one of the cupcakes by this point as she pulled herself to a seated position on her bed, though the weight of her little depression pressed down on her still, resulting in a slouch.

“I still can’t believe it all…” Rarity said suddenly, catching Twilight’s attention. The lavender unicorn immediately figured out what she meant.

“Rarity…”

“I’m thinking that, perhaps… Spike was partially right…”

“Rarity! We all know you would never do the things he accused you of! Discord got to him and planted those thoughts in his head!”

“But I did do those things!” the violet-haired mare shouted in despair, tears in her eyes. “Even though I didn’t mean to do them, even though I didn’t mean any malice, even though I thought of Spike like family, I still used him! I’d long since figured out he had a crush on me, and he was such a lovely little gentleman who’s just a little too young for my tastes. He always seemed eager to help, and I assumed he always would be. I… I told myself that he was happy to help and that I was never asking too much of him, but… I think, deep down, part of me was deliberately taking advantage of his feelings to get him to help me – using him without any plan to ever sufficiently repay him for everything. Twilight, I… I’m so sorry! I’m a selfish, horrible pony! How could I have ever done that to him?! I… I was… I think I actually had the beginnings of feelings for Spike. I was e-even hoping that if I kept it going for a while, and m-my feelings grew with time, then when he was old enough I’d have a partner who truly respected and cared for me, unlike that rancid bastard Blueblood. But… my own actions have permanently robbed me of that chance. He’ll never forgive me. And, however many years or decades in the future it is, I will die alone… and I will deserve it.”

After that, everything was quiet; Twilight couldn’t possibly think of anything to say in response to all of that. Rarity had gone still, head hanging low as she despaired. After several seconds, Twilight slowly walked out of the room.

“I’m gonna go get you some water” she said, the tone of her voice making it obvious that seeing her friend suffering was hurting her badly.

As Rarity sulked for about another minute, she saw something poking out of one of Twilight’s bags. Curious, she telekinetically pulled it out and held it up in front of her. …When she got a good look, she almost dropped it, feeling a shuddering gasp build in her throat. It was a picture of Spike, curled up asleep in his basket-bed, with a little filly curled up with him, forelimbs and tail wrapped around him. Both of them looked adorably content. Upon close inspection, the girl looked a bit familiar.

“Silver Platter and Silver Axe’s daughter…” Rarity murmured, recognizing the occasionally-seen daughter of one of her more polite & reasonable rich customers and his cold yet tolerable wife. Rarity remembered yesterday evening, when Sweetie Belle had told her of the nasty falling-out between Silver Spoon and her “friend”, the daughter of Filthy Rich (oh, how he hated that name) and Golden Tiara (bless that unfortunate mare’s kind heart). Sweetie had often told Rarity of Diamond Tiara’s frequent bullying, but the description of the incident that the pink filly had pulled yesterday had Rarity horrified even in the middle of her Spike-related breakdown. Sweetie Belle had also described in detail the vicious calling-out Silver Spoon had handed Diamond over the incident. Rarity wasn’t too surprised there; Silver was well-known for her model behavior when not in Diamond Tiara’s presence, and it was plainly obvious that she was the moral compass of the duo.

But why was she curled up with Spike?

When Twilight walked in telekinetically carrying a glass of water, she almost dropped it when she realized what Rarity was looking at. She stammered a few times, trying to say something.

“When was this taken, Twilight?” Rarity asked, her tone neutral yet still tainted by sadness.

“…Last night” she uneasily replied. “They’ve been… pretty much inseparable since they met two days ago.”

“…So he found someone else…” Rarity whispered with sadness. She then turned to Twilight. “Does she at least…”

“She’s head-over-heels for him” Twilight replied before Rarity could finish the question. “And I… haven’t seen him this happy in quite some time…”

“…Good. He found someone who can make him happy. He deserves a girl better than me… and that’s exactly what he got, from the looks of it. That’s one tiny comfort I can take – that his experiences with me didn’t ruin his chance to find happiness with another.”

“Just give him time” Twilight said. “You’ve lost an admirer, but… maybe, given enough time, you can re-gain a friend.”

“…One can only hope…”

-SCENE BREAK-

Several days later

Diamond Tiara was an absolute wreck. She hadn’t slept in days. Every time she tried, their voices rang in her head no matter how tightly she clutched her ears, and every time she closed her eyes she saw their faces looking down at her, accusing, judging. She barely ate, too sickened with herself to keep anything down, and she couldn’t stand to look in a mirror, feeling deep revulsion every time she saw her own reflection or even a picture of herself. She felt like there were enormous weights in her stomach and chest, as well as on her body, and sometimes, she could see or hear them even when she was awake with her eyes open and in a noisy environment. Horrid thoughts raced through her addled mind near-constantly, and she feared that she would either go insane or die very soon.

*THE REST OF THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EXCISED OUT OF CAUTION, TO AVOID STEPPING ON THE TOES OF ANOTHER, MORE SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR WHOSE CHARACTER I... KINDA SORTA USED WITHOUT ASKING FIRST. THE STORY'S ORIGINAL POSTING ON FANFICTION.NET HAS THE WHOLE THING IF YOU WANT TO GO SEE WHAT I MEAN. ...REST ASSURED THAT, WHEN POSTED HERE, I'LL NOT INCLUDE THE HEAVY-HANDED ATTEMPT AT BACKGROUND MUSIC IN CHAPTER 3.*

Comments

[thepinkparty]

2317458 say for example if you found out the girl you love just only used you for money and etc would you not blow up at her? while i admit the whole kill her thing was a bit meh :D

[APoeticHeart]

I am so happy for Spike for finding happiness with Silver Spoon, but also deep down I feel that his heart is broken in the way how he yelled at Rarity. I know he sad that stuff to her, but deep down,. I believe he believes he didn't mean them, and I know he is hiding it, but it is hurting him deeply of how he yelled at her. Maybe Silver Spoon can talk with him to go talk to Rarity, but I hope Rarity will be able to forgive him, and also he might need to apologize to everypony, because I believe that he didn't mean to go off like that. I have a feeling if he looks back on how he acted, he would be afraid that he is turning into that monstrous vicious dragon that he never wants to be.

[Roach of Wrath]

What is the name of that story? Also awesome story.

[Ignaltus]

Nice, man. Please, to the chapter 3 now.

Shit! Twilight is like Trollestia. Take the photo well in front of the horse face. Poor Rarity.

[Kai-Zr]

Why is this fic not more popular!

[alexanderhunt88]

Me gusta

[ServingSpoon]

while I am overjoyed for Silver Spoon and Spike..

I cant help but feel great sorrow for Diamond Tiara