Chapter 1

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My name is Diamond Tiara. If you don’t know who I am just from that, I feel sorry for you, for you were clearly raised in a barn. No, wait, even that chubby Apple Balloon knows who I am. So basically, everypony knows who I am.

For your benefit, though, since you seem kinda slow, I’m an Earth Pony filly who lives in Ponyville. Don’t let my race or my hometown fool you into believing I’m the kind of uncouth country bumpkin that Apple Balloon is, though. I may only be nine years old, but I am as graceful and as dignified as Ms. Fleur de Lis.

I may not have my Cutie Mark yet, but I am sure it’s just around the corner now. After all, this is the age where ponies start to discover their special talents. Silver Spoon discovered her talent in silver crafting recently, and her cute-ceañera was great! Mine will top it, of course. And my special talent is bound to be something amazing. Something distinctive. Something classy, something beautiful, something-

… What is she doing now? That stupid filly, Alula, is she… She is! She’s just staring off into space, again! Ugh! Why does she keep insisting on hanging around us all the time? And why do I even let her? She looks so stupid when she spaces out like that, and that makes us look stupid!

“Alula?”

“Yes?!”

AGH! And that’s another thing! Why does she keep reacting like that whenever I call her name?! Whatever, I got her attention now, at least. “Can you pass me the zigzag scissors?” It’s not like I’m trying to help her focus or anything. I really do need those scissors. These curvy ones simply won’t do!

“Uh, sure…” As she looks around for them, I do the same. Oh. They’re by Silver Spoon… Whatever, Silver Spoon’s busy, so naturally I’m not going to bother her for them.

Alula is such a weird filly. Ever since that day one year ago, I haven’t been able to get her off my back. Sometimes literally. That filly is way too huggy for my liking, but she’s also got a strong grip.

One year ago… One Sunday afternoon, Silver Spoon and I decided to meet up at our usual place, behind the schoolhouse. There’s no special reason for that, it’s just a memorable location that nopony else ever goes to. Or so I thought.

As I got there, I saw a group of fillies crowded around an area. From their looks and their dialect, I could easily deduce that they were from Manehatten. I had no interest in them, so I was about to walk away, until I heard the cries of a filly, begging them to stop. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that they were crowding some unfortunate filly and giving her a rough time.

Naturally, I had no intention of getting dragged into such a thing. I saw an adult on my way there, so I was about to go and get him to help the filly, but then a thought passed through my mind. What if this filly was Silver Spoon? After all, who else would have been behind the schoolhouse, and on the weekend, no less?

There was no way I could leave Silver Spoon all alone with these bullies, so I… did something stupid.

“Hey! Leave her alone, you barbarians!” After that, it all happened so fast. The five fillies surrounded me, and the middle one, their leader, I guess, started to shout words at me that I didn’t understand! I didn’t know what to do at first, I was just so scared, and my vision was becoming blurry from… sweat. I was sweating, that’s all.

The leader got close enough to me that I feared she may slap me across the face at any second… but that also allowed me to identify her. “Wait, I know you,” I said. “Your daddy does business with my daddy.”

“Y-Your dad’s Filthy Rich?!”

Oh, the feeling of joy or relief going through my body then, as I realised I had the upper hoof. It was an experience I’ll never forget. “Y-Yeah!” I shouted, trying to sound more intimidating. I wondered how Apple Balloon would act in this situation… Well, as there were no witnesses, I figured it was fine. “Yeah, that’s right! S-So you best get… yer f-fat flanks outta here, o-or I’ll tell my daddy, and he’ll cut t-ties with your daddy!”

“Y-You can’t!”

“I can, and will!” I had won. I recognised that scared tone in her voice.

“D-Damnit! C’mon, let’s go!”

The five fillies began to walk away. I felt such pride, such elation. But, there was no time to throw myself a party. I had to make sure that Silver Spoon was okay, so I rushed up to her immediately. “Are you okay?!” I asked as I ran up to her, sweat in my eyes. “Please tell me you’re okay! If you’re hurt, I swear I’ll-”
I stopped as I reached her, and took a good look at the filly sitting before me. She was not Silver Spoon. Silver Spoon wasn’t yellow. Silver Spoon didn’t have a purple mane and tail. Silver Spoon wasn’t a Pegasus. The filly’s name escaped me at the time, and I was unable to say anything as I realised I had just freaked out and risked my neck for some random filly I don’t even know that well.

She thanked me silently, and then tried to rise to her hooves. I wasn’t thinking clearly, and just acted on what I thought I should do. That is, I tried to help her keep her balance as she stood up, but ended up losing my own. I fell forward, and ended up pushing her down onto the ground. I think I must have freaked her out, because she ended up running away without a word after that.

I would have gone after her, but I suddenly remembered who she was. Alula, one of the most athletic fillies in our class. There was no way I could have caught up to her, and after giving it some thought, I realised that there was really no reason. I found it strange that an athlete was getting bullied in the first place. Athletic ponies were popular by default, in my experience.

After that, Silver Spoon showed up, and I decided to just put that day’s incident to the back of my mind. The following day, though, Alula approached me whilst I was trying to convince Miss Cheerilee to give me some more time on my homework.

“Um, D-Diamond Tiara?” I turned to her, and I immediately remembered yesterday. I was afraid she was going to tell Miss Cheerilee that I pushed her over, and I started to panic. “Um, th-th-th-thank you for helping me y-yesterday.”

It seemed she realised I hadn’t pushed her down intentionally yesterday, which was good.

“Oh?” Miss Cheerilee asked. “What’s this about?”

It then hit me. This was my chance to get some good points with Miss Cheerilee, and maybe an excuse on why I hadn’t done my homework! At the very least, she might feel sympathy for me, and give me a few more days. I grabbed Alula’s hoof. I had to make it convincing. “Alula here was being bullied yesterday, and I helped her out!”

“You did?” Miss Cheerilee asked. “Well, that was certainly very nice of you, Diamond Tiara, but, I hope you didn’t do anything rash.”

“Of course not! Just let them know that nopony picks on my friend!”

And then Alula passed out. Since I was her ‘friend’, Miss Cheerilee asked me to wait in the nurse’s office with her until she woke up. So basically, I got an extension on my homework, and I got to take the first two lessons off. All-in-all, a good day!

When Alula woke up, she mumbled some incoherent stuff for a bit. I just nodded and pretended that I was listening. The only thing I was able to make out was ‘so happy’. She was happy? What, about me calling her my friend? Did she really not have any others, despite being such a good athlete? What a strange pony, I thought… and I would realise later, that she was more than strange.

She’s always spacing out. She’s always tripping over her words. She’s always grabbing onto me. She’s always backing me up when I don’t ask her to. She’s always offering to let me copy her notes. And she’s always trying to hang out with me and Silver Spoon!

At first, I thought it was amusing. But it quickly just became annoying, and I was about to tell her as much, until she started to bring cupcakes into school every Wednesday, and shared them with me and Silver Spoon.

Obviously, that wasn’t why we kept her around. We could get cupcakes whenever we wanted to. But… she had other uses, I guess. Like, reaching high places. Even if she couldn’t fly yet, she could jump pretty high and gain some lift with her wings, and she could hover in place for a bit. She was also good for running errands for us, like passing notes back-and-forth. And her house was a good place to hang out sometimes, too. I have to admit, her mum makes the best baked goods in the whole town.

“Uh, Di?” One thing I wish would stop, though, is that stupid nickname she’s given me. But, no matter how many times I glare at her, she just doesn’t seem to get the message. “I-I was wondering, d’you wanna, maybe come round mine after school today? M-My mum baked a cake yesterday, and you’re welcome to have some…”

Well, speak of the devil! I have nothing else planned today, so I guess I can visit her house for a bit… providing Silver Spoon does. I’m not going there alone. “Sure. Silver, you up for it?” I ask her as she tries to get a piece of paper she glued to her hoof off of her. She stops for a moment to nod. “So, we’ll meet at the usual place?”

“Yep!” She seems so happy… I guess she really doesn’t have any other friends. But, that still doesn’t mean she should be hanging off of me every other second. Even Silver Spoon isn’t that clingy! She starts to look around for something. Should I ask her what she’s looking for?

My name is Alula. I’m nine years old, a Pegasus, and I live in Ponyville. My Cutie Mark is a single white feather. It represents my special talent of high jumping (mommy told me it’s a roc’s feather, whatever that means), although I’m actually quite good at acrobatics in general. The high jump is just my speciality. I’ve even attended sport events outside of Ponyville, entered into the high jump competitions, and have ranked third, second, and even first one time, a few months ago.

At that time, I was asked by a teacher from the Cloudsdale Flight Academy if I wanted to change schools, and hone my acrobatic skills up in Cloudsdale. One year ago, this would have been a dream come true for me, and I would have said ‘yes’ without a second thought. That was then, though. Now, however, I have a reason to stay in Ponyville. Despite all the things that Cloudsdale can offer me, there’s one thing that it cannot.

My fillyfriend. The most amazing fillyfriend in the entire world. Her name is Diamond Tiara. Heh, even just thinking her name makes me sigh and feel all spacey. She’s one of the two rich fillies at our school, and no, that’s not why I like her! It happened a year ago…

I received a letter that told me to wait behind the schoolhouse on a Sunday afternoon. A very strange time to be at the schoolhouse to be sure, but I realised from the language used on the letter, with words such as ‘dis’ instead of ‘this’, and ‘yo’ instead of ‘you’, that it was probably sent by those Manehatten fillies that were in town for an athletic event. Naturally, I was in the high jump, so I guessed that these fillies just wanted to make friends with me, and they used an easy-to-find location such as the schoolhouse.

I was wrong. When I got there, I was alone for a bit. Then, before I knew what was happening, I was surrounded all sides by five bigger, mean-looking fillies. They were all the same age, but they looked much older, and they were so intimidating. They started to use words I didn’t understand, and told me to back out of the high jump event. I didn’t know what to say or do, so I didn’t respond, and then one of them pushed me.

That was when I got really scared. This never happens in Ponyville. Sure, there are mean ponies. Diamond Tiara is one of them. And her friend Silver Spoon. But, meanness in Ponyville never goes beyond simple name-calling and maybe an over-the-top prank. It certainly doesn’t ever get physical.

The others started to join in, and I was soon down in the mud, crying and begging them to stop. They told me to back out of the high jump, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t have my Cutie Mark for it yet, but I enjoyed it! I didn’t want to back out of it. Mommy said not to let other ponies scare you into doing something you don’t want to do, but, at that point, I was so scared, I just wanted it all to end.

“Hey!” came a voice that sounded like an angel’s. “Stop that! Get your filthy city hooves off of her, you delinquents!”

I looked up to see the five Manehatten fillies now crowding a pink filly. I recognised her as that rich filly from my class, who liked to pick on that yellow farm filly. She was a bit of a pain the first few days I knew her, but after a while, you just get used to it. In fact, the arguments she and that other filly get into were kinda funny… I think, at the time, I already had a little crush on her, but I’m not quite sure.

The five ponies backed off from Diamond Tiara, looking terrified, and then ran for their lives. I don’t understand how, but she… she saved me.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she rushed up to me. There were tears in her eyes, and deep concern in her voice. “Please tell me you’re okay! If you’re hurt, I swear I’ll-” She stopped as she reached me, and stared at me. And I stared right back at her. That was the moment it happened. We got lost in each other’s gazes, and neither of us could say a word. She blushed, and I suddenly realised how cute she was. I never noticed such a thing before, or even considered it.

I decided that I should thank her, and maybe ask why she had helped me. “Um, th-thank you,” I said weakly, climbing up to my hooves. Then, she did something else I never could have seen coming. She leaned in close to me, and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek. At first, I was so freaked out that I ran away.

When I got home, I told my mum that I had simply tripped and fell in the mud. She believed me, considering it was a common occurrence for me. I took a quick shower, and went straight to my room to sleep the day away. As I lay there on my bed, I thought about Diamond Tiara. How she had rescued me, and how concerned she was for my safety, and how she had k… kissed me…

Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night. I was kept wide awake by thoughts of her. The more I thought about her, the more I realised how pretty she was when you stopped to take a good look at her. And how cool she was whenever she talked to her friends. And how witty she was in her arguments with Apple Bloom. And… how caring she was, that she would help a filly she didn’t even know that well, and then be in tears as she checked to see if they were hurt.

My thoughts lingered back to that kiss, and before I knew it, I started to wonder what would have happened if I had stayed. Is this what my sister warned me about? About ponies suddenly confessing their love for me? Was Diamond Tiara… confessing to me? She must have been. Why else would she suddenly kiss me like that?

I imagined myself in a romantic situation with her. The kind I’d seen on my mum’s sappy love-drama. It was nice.

Any uncertainties were erased the following day, when I approached Diamond Tiara in class to properly thank her for yesterday, and to apologise for suddenly running off.

“Um, D-Diamond Tiara?” she turned to face me, and she was blushing once again. SO. CUTE! “Um, th-th-th-thank you for helping me y-yesterday…”

“Oh?” Miss Cheerilee asked. I didn’t even notice her standing there. “What’s this about?”

We were all silent for a bit, before Diamond Tiara stood up, and grabbed my hoof. She smiled as she faced me, and then Miss Cheerilee. “Alula here was being bullied yesterday, and I helped her out!”

“You did?” Miss Cheerilee asked. She looked to me for confirmation, and I simply nodded my head. “Well, that was certainly very nice of you, Diamond Tiara, but, I hope you didn’t do anything rash.”

“Of course not! Just let them know that nopony picks on my fillyfriend!”

I think it was at that point that I fainted. It could have been from the shock of hearing what I had just heard, or maybe it was from the lack of sleep last night, but either way… I had the best dream I had had in a long time.

Back in the present, though! So, right now, I’m working with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon on creating decorations for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. The Princess herself will be visiting Ponyville, so they have to be perfect! Silver Spoon also has her Cutie Mark now, but Diamond Tiara doesn’t yet… Ah! Not that that makes her any less special, though!

On the contrary! Even without her Cutie Mark, she’s the most special pony in this room, and her flank is still the best- … Wow, that did not come out right! Ugh! Stupid, embarrassing thoughts!

“Alula?” Diamond Tiara asks.

“Yes?!” AGH! Why do I keep reacting like that! Play it cool, Alula! You’re looking like an idiot in front of your fillyfriend… and her tagalong.

“Can you pass me the zigzag scissors?”

“Uh, sure…” Wait, the zigzag scissors? But, they’re by Silver Spoon, aren’t they? Oh, I see. She wants me to get them… I’m so happy! I grab the scissors, and pass them to her. She thanks me silently, almost looking uninterested. Aah, she’s so cool when she acts like that! She sends my heart aflutter, she really does.

“Can you pass me the glue, please?” Silver Spoon asks.

“Here.” I pass her what I believe is the glue. I’m not really paying attention; I’m too busy watching Diamond Tiara cut that paper into… hearts? No, gemstones? Whatever they are, they’re the best them in the class, that’s for sure. “Uh, Di?” She gives me a glare. Or, what looks like a glare. What ponies don’t realise, though, is that that’s just her way of showing me affection, whilst keeping up her cool personage. She’s just adorable like that. “I-I was wondering, d’you wanna, maybe come round mine after school today? M-My mum baked a cake yesterday, and you’re welcome to have some…”

She smiles and nods her head. “Sure. Silver, you up for it?” Aw, dang it! She’s inviting Silver Spoon along, too! Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice filly and all. But, lately, it feels like I can never get any alone time with Diamond! … No, don’t be selfish, Alula. Those two have been best friends since way back when. If I start to hog Diamond Tiara all to myself, then Silver Spoon will start to get all jealous. Diamond Tiara’s just being a good, considerate friend, that’s all.

And, I can hardly fault Silver Spoon for being like that. Some fillies just need to cling to their friends, that’s all. Poor Silver Spoon… I’ll make sure to give her a generous portion of cake later today. Hopefully, she’ll see that I’m not trying to steal Diamond away from her.

“So, we’ll meet at the usual place?” Diamond Tiara asks. The ‘usual place’ of course being behind the schoolhouse… the place where it all began. That place holds a special place in both of our hearts.

“Yep!” I answer. Miss Cheerilee comes by to inspect our work, so I decide I’d better get back to gluing… Hey! Where’d the glue go?!

“Oh! I just remembered!” Alula suddenly shouts, causing me to almost drop the scissors and paper that I was holding.

“What?” She turns around, and reaches for her saddlebag behind her. She pulls something out of it, and then turns back to me, and offers a small piece of plastic to me. There’s some writing engraved on it. “… What is it?”

“It’s a good luck charm!” she says in that same, cheerful tone she always uses. “My mum gave it to me, to help me get my Cutie Mark. But, since I already have it, I wanted to give it to you.” She blushes, again. She’s so shy, for such a loud filly. “I know your Cutie Mark is gonna be something amazing… and, I want to help you find it soon, but my mum said that Cutie Marks are something you earn yourself. So, I thought, at the very least…”

She starts to trail off, as usual. Still, this is… I take the ‘good luck charm’, I guess it is, and look at it for a bit. “… Thanks.” Well, I guess she isn’t so bad.

Chapter 2

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Woohoo! It’s finally here! The longest day of the year, the day that ponies everywhere celebrate the Princess who brings us day and night! It’s also the best day besides Hearts and Hooves Day for couples to spend together. That’s right, it’s the Summer Sun Celebration! But not just any Summer Sun Celebration. This is the one thousandth Summer Sun Celebration in history, and what’s more, the Princess herself is going to be making an appearance right here in Ponyville!

Though, why she’s coming to Ponyville and not staying in Canterlot on the one thousandth Summer Sun Celebration kinda strikes me as odd, but who cares! The important thing is that everypony in Ponyville is going to be working very hard today to make sure that everything is perfect. Myself included. But, I’m not just gonna work hard for the Summer Sun Celebration…

I’m also gonna make today the day that Diamond Tiara and I finally kiss! It’s been a full year since she first kissed me, and since then, the farthest we’ve ever gone is hugged. And even then, although I don’t say anything ‘cause I don’t want to upset her, but she’s… not the best hugger in the world. I mean, it’s nice to be so close to her, and I do love it when we hug, but sometimes, she gets a little rough, and I have to end it early.

I think she’s shy, y’know? I think she’s too shy to kiss me in public, or around Silver Spoon, so I tried to get her alone with me. But, that didn’t work either. I think that was too intimidating for her. She’s so innocent… It’s okay, Diamond. I’m willing to wait until you’re comfortable. But today might just be the day, considering couples all over Ponyville will kiss as the new sun is rose… risen… raised? As the Princess lifts the new sun into the sky.

“Alula, your friends are here!” my mum calls up to me.

“Who?” I ask as I leave my room. Saying ‘your friends’ doesn’t exactly help, considering I have a few.

“Hey Alula!” Scootaloo shouts as I round the corner into my living room. I hate when she does that! … And somehow, I never see it coming.

“Ah! Scootaloo! Sheesh, don’t do that! How many times do I have to tell you?”

Scootaloo just snickers, as usual. Behind her, Sweetie Belle is apologising, and telling Scootaloo to behave. These two, they never change. Scootaloo is an athlete, like me, and loves anything that’s fun… which, in her eyes, is almost anything.

Sweetie Belle is more of a bookworm than Scootaloo is. She’s very bright, always doing well in class tests, but she’s also modest, so she doesn’t brag about it. She’s also a little clumsy, and kind of lacking in the common sense department… but she means well, and she has a heart as big as… something really big. The sun, I guess?

The two are so different, it’s amazing to think they’ve been friends since kindergarten… I often find myself wondering if they’re more than friends.

Like Diamond, neither of them have their Cutie Marks yet, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. Scootaloo’s will probably be something to do with her scooter, or dancing, or maybe martial arts, and Sweetie Belle’s will probably come from her singing talent… if they practiced them a little more, that is.

“So Lula,” Scootaloo says. That nickname seems to have stuck to me recently… I’m not even sure where it came from, but I don’t really mind it all that much, “You wanna come help us out with the decorations down at town hall? We could sure use somepony to reach those high places!”

“Sorry guys,” I say, “I already made plans with DT today.”

Scootaloo frowned, as I knew she would. She… Well, let’s just say she isn’t Diamond’s biggest fan. “Seriously? What do you see in her? C’mon, you’re too nice to be hangin’ out with somepony like that.”

Now it’s my turn to frown. I know that Diamond can be a little rough round the edges sometimes, but there’s no call for comments like that. She’s a nice filly, really! “Look, I’m sorry, but I already decided to bake treats with Diamond today.” And, by extension, Silver Spoon will be joining us, too. “Maybe we can meet up later, though?”

“Hmmm, I dunno,” Scootaloo said, turning her head away from me. “You sure Diamond will be okay with that?”

“Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle said in a warning tone. “Let’s not do this again. You said we wouldn’t.”

“I’m just tired of always being pushed aside for that stuck-up filly’s sake!” Scootaloo shouted. “C’mon Lula, forget her! Come hang with us today and meet up with her tonight or somethin’. You owe it to us, after ditching us last week!”

Ah, right. That. I do feel bad about that, but Diamond was wearing the most beautiful new dress I’d ever seen! I just had to go and talk to her! Anyway, I already made plans to spend today with Diamond Tiara. I can’t just throw them to the side now! “Um… how about, we meet up sometime next week and-”

“Next week is no good,” Scootaloo said. “The Summer Sun Celebration will be over then. I wanted the three of us to hang out together today, Alula.”

Oh, I see… She wanted to spend this important day with her best friends… “I-I’m sorry, but-”

“If you’re sorry, then come with us.” She took my hoof with her own, and pulled slightly. “I’m sure Diamond Tiara and Silver Surfer-”

“Spoon,” Sweetie Belle correct. “The Silver Surfer is a comic book character.”

“Whatever!” Scootaloo said, her face red. “I’m sure they’ll get over it! C’mon!”

“I-I dunno…”

“Hey!” What the? Diamond? H-How long has she been there, at my living room door? “Don’t make decisions like that on your own! And stop trying to kidnap our friend!”

“Your what?!” Scootaloo shouts. “C’mon Lula! You’re not seriously going to go with them, are you?”

I look between the two of them. Diamond Tiara on one end of the room, and Scootaloo at the other, both glaring at each other so intensely that I could see sparks between them.

“I’m sorry, Scootaloo,” I say, pulling my hoof out of her grip. “But I made a promise with my friends, and I’m going to keep it. If you’re up for it, I’ll have time to hang out with you tonight.”

Scootaloo huffed, and began to walk away. “Yeah, whatever. Let’s go, Sweetie Belle.”

“B-But-”

“Let’s go! She wants to hang out with her ‘friends’, which clearly isn’t us!”

“I-It’s not like that,” I say, but she doesn’t seem to listen as she simply walks out of the living room, followed by Sweetie Belle, who takes a moment to say goodbye. “It’s always like this,” I mumble to myself as they walk out of the house. ‘… Well, if I know Scootaloo, she’ll be over it next week. But just in case, I’d better brush up on my Wonderbolts trivia.’

“Well?” Diamond calls out to me. “Are you coming or what?”

“Uh, yeah…” She seems pretty angry. And her voice is rather cold. Is she mad at Scootaloo? Or could it be… I-Is she jealous? “Um, Di?” She glares at me in response. “It is okay for me to hang out with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle later, isn’t it?”

“… Do whatever you want,” she says in a cold tone as she turns around to leave.

There’s no mistaking it. She’s totally jealous! Oh, Diamond, it’s okay! I still love you more than any other! I know, I’ve gotta show her my love to calm her down. Here it comes: surprise hug attack!

“GAH! A-Alula! Get off of me!” she shouts. I know you’re angry, Diamond, but I’ll melt that anger away from you with my love! “Alulaaaaaa!”

After a little bit of struggling, she seems to finally give in, and accept the hug. She sighs happily. Success! I release her, and giggle as I take a step back. “So, we’re meeting up with Silver Spoon at Sugarcube, right?”

She doesn’t turn to face me. She simply nods her head, and continues walking. “… Hey, you remember what Miss Cheerilee said in class two days ago, right?”

What Miss Cheerilee said? Um… Oh, right! It was about being safe during the Summer Sun Celebration! Let’s see… something about leaving the heavy lifting and dangerous tool usage to older ponies, not running under scaffolding, to watch out around flammable materials… Just basic safety stuff, really. I kinda fell asleep partway through. “Uh, yeah! Totally!”

“… Alright. Come on, Silver Spoon doesn’t like it when we’re late.”

True that. Silver Spoon, the most punctual pony in school. She’d even scold the teacher for being late… No, really. She actually did that once. That was one fun Math class.

Why do I have to go a fetch Alula? Yeah, I get that my house is closer. And yeah, I get that Silver Spoon knows more about the kitchen than I do, so she can make a head start, but still!

Well, it’s not like I have any choice. She’s our ace in the hole. Our trump card. Our secret weapon. Our… She’s the only one of us three who really knows how to bake, put simply. I mean, Silver Spoon sort of knows the basics, but her stuff always comes out all burned and stuff… and we can’t exactly feed burned sweets to the Princess, now can we?

So here I am, at Alula’s house. I knock on the door, and her mother answers. I always forget her name… “Hello, ma’am.”

“Oh, good morning Diamond. I take it you’re here for Alula?”

“Yes. Is she up yet?”

“She just got up. She’s in the living room with some friends. Would you like to come in?”

She moves aside, and I step inside. She tells me that she’ll be in the back yard, and leaves me to go find Alula… So, she has friends now? Huh. That’s good. Now she won’t be hanging around me and Silver Spoon so much… Which is good, right? I mean, why wouldn’t it be?

Hm? Wait, I know that voice… It’s Scotchroll! No, uh… Yeah, let’s go with that, actually. I’m sure her actual name is just something stupid anyway. As I reach the living room, I take a look inside. It’s not just Scotchroll, but also the bookworm… Her name is… uh… Well, it’s her!

Scotchroll is that stupid, blockheaded Pegasus who’s always showing off her scooter tricks, and stealing my adoring subjects away from me! And she’s also rude, vulgar, uncouth, and worst of all, she’s always following me around everywhere! I go to Sugarcube Corner, and she’s there! I go to Bon Bon’s Candy Shack, and she’s there! I go to the video store to rent a movie, and, you guessed it, she’s there! It can’t just be a coincidence, right?

The Unicorn is just a nerd who’s always getting attention for her grades. I don’t much like that… but at least she had some manners. I’ve only really met her outside of school once, and it wasn’t the most friendly meeting… since she almost jabbed my eye out with her horn, almost stabbed my hoof with a pair of scissors, and ended up dropping a tub of glitter on top of me. An accident? My hoof it was! Nopony can be that clumsy, especially not when they have such high grades! I’m on to you, Unicorn…

Hmmm… I wonder what they’re talking about? Way to pick your friends, Alula… Not that I really care, mind you.

“You sure Diamond will be okay with that?” Oh? They’re talking about me? “I’m just tired of always being pushed aside for that stuck-up filly’s sake! C’mon Lula, forget her! Come hang with us!”

What?! They’re telling her to dump me for them?! This… This isn’t a friendship! I recognise this! I saw it in that cartoon once. They’re using scare tactics on a weak and frightened filly to make her hang out with them, whilst pretending that it’s a friendship! Alula’s shaking! She doesn’t want to hang out with them, but she’s too scared to say no! I should go find her mother.

“Um… how about, we meet up sometime next week and-” No, Alula! Don’t try to buy time, it doesn’t work! They’ll just get more aggressive!

“The Summer Sun Celebration will be over then. I wanted the three of us to hang out together today, Alula.” So that’s it! You want Alula to do all your work today, so you can just kick back and relax!

“I-I’m sorry, but-” Not good. She’s falling for it. Don’t feel guilty, you foo- … Why do I care so much, exactly?

“If you’re sorry, then come with us.” Scotchroll grabs her hoof rather forcefully, and starts to pull her. Why does that make me mad?

… Oh, that’s right. Alula’s our baker. We need her.

“C’mon!”

“I-I dunno…”

She’s not taking our baker away from me! Er, us! “Hey! Don’t make decisions like that on your own! And stop trying to kidnap our baker!”

“Your what?!” Scotchroll shouts. “C’mon Lula! You’re not seriously going to go with them, are you?”

“I’m sorry, Scootaloo,” Alula says, pulling her hoof free during my distraction. Well done! … Not that I care. It just makes things easier, is all. “But I made a promise with my friends, and I’m going to keep it. If you’re up for it, I’ll have time to hang out with you tonight.”

She’s still too scared to refuse their ‘friendship’… But, it looks like Scotchroll is going to back off, now that I’m here. “Yeah, whatever. Let’s go, Sweetie Belle.”

“B-But-”

“Let’s go! She wants to hang out with her ‘friends’, which clearly isn’t us!”

I watch as the two bullies walk past me, and leave the house. “It’s always like this…” I hear her mumble to herself. Does that mean she gets bullied often? … Well, it’s her problem. I have no intention of getting involved.

“Well?” I call out to her. “Are you coming or what?”

“Uh, yeah…” She sounds uneasy… Guess she’s still a little shook up. “Um, Di?” Ugh. That nickname again. “It is okay for me to hang out with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle later, isn’t it?”

Of course not! They’re just trying to scare you into being their lackey! Don’t fall for it! … No, I don’t care. You can do what you want. If I try to stop you, they’ll probably come for me, anyway… “… Do whatever you want.” I turn around to leave, then suddenly, feel something heavy on my back.

“GAH!” No! Not another one of this stupid filly’s surprise hug attacks! “A-Alula! Get off of me!” AGH! Heavy! Losing strength… “Alulaaaaaa!”

… Forget it. She’s too strong. I can’t fight it anymore. I’ll just let her get it out of her system. With a sigh, I resign myself to my fate… What’s with the sudden hug, though? Yeah, they’re completely random and out of nowhere, but they’re not usually this bad… Oh, of course. She’s scared of the bullies. But, why hug me?

… Duh. I accidentally saved her from those bullies that one time, so she must think she can depend on me again. Well, she’s dead wrong.

She finally lets go of me, and takes a step back, giggling. Breaking my spine is no laughing matter! … Well, at least she’s not sad anymore. And I only say that because she can’t bake well if she’s sad! “So, we’re meeting up with Silver Spoon at Sugarcube, right?”

I nod without turning to face her, and continue to walk. I hear her following behind me… I wonder, does she remember Miss Cheerilee’s lesson on bullying two days ago? Maybe I should ask her… since it beats walking in silence, at least. “… Hey, you remember what Miss Cheerilee said in class two days ago, right?”

She doesn’t answer for a while, and I wonder if she really has forgotten. “Uh, yeah! Totally!”

… Right, I almost forgot. Alula’s slow, but she usually gets there in the end. Well, I guess she knows to go to a teacher, and not to me, if she’s being bullied now…

“… Alright. Come on, Silver Spoon doesn’t like it when we’re late.” Which we’re going to be, if we don’t pick up the pace. She seems to notice that, too, as we both break out into sprinting the moment we’re outside her house’s front door.

Wow. It’s so awesome to be up so late past my bedtime! It’s almost midnight, and yet, every filly and colt in town is allowed to stay up, so that they can attend the celebration!

The Princess will be making her appearance soon. Then, she’ll raise the sun, as she always does, and then, she’ll accept offerings from the children of Ponyville. Including the cookies we baked for her today!

“The Princess is gonna taste our cooking,” I said to myself. I’m so excited, I feel like I’m about to explode!

“Don’t explode, Alula,” Silver Spoon says in a joking tone. Why is she always able to know what I’m thinking? “Anyway, are you sure we made these right?”

“They look kind of…” Diamond poked one of her own cookies, and it disintegrated. “We might be arrested for trying to poison the Princess.”

“D-Don’t be ridiculous,” I say, though I have to admit, I had the same thought myself. Silver’s Spoon at least pass as edible, even if they are a little overdone, but Diamond’s… But, there’s no way I can just tell her that her cookies are bad. That would hurt her feelings! Think, Alula, think!

“How come yours came out right?” Diamond asks me. “We followed the same stupid recipe and all…”

… That’s it! “Well, how about if we give her our cookies as a group?” This is brilliant! “Rather than individually, we can take the best cookies from our three bags, and put them together into one!”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Silver Spoon said. “But, in that case, it would just be your bag.”

“… Well, let’s take the best three from each bag, then. That sounds fair, right?”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both nodded at that, and we then began to search through our bags. Something didn’t feel right, though. I felt a chill pass down my spine… and then I heard a lot of ponies gasping around us.

“What’s going on?” Silver Spoon asks. Diamond and I look around the room, and find lots of ponies staring in horror at something. I follow their gazes, and I see a large black mare on the balcony, where the Princess should be…

“Ah! We missed the Princess’ introduction!” I shout in a whisper.

“Uh, I think we missed a whole lot more than that,” Silver Spoon says, her voice shaky.

“Hm? Oh, right… Who’s that?”

“N-N-N-N-N-N-” What’s wrong with Diamond? Why does she… why does she look so scared?

“You’re the mare in the moon!” somepony in the crowd shouts. “Nightmare Moon!”

Nightmare Moon? That old pony’s tale? She’s real? And she’s… she’s up there? In the same room as us? And the Princess is gone? And… Oh dear. I just put the pieces together in my head, and I don’t like it.

“Nightmare Moon!” Diamond Tiara shrieks, grabbing onto me and burying her muzzle into my shoulder… Okay, now I like it a little better. “Daddy read so many stories to me about her when I was a filly! She’s going to feast on our souls!”

She’s going to what?! I-I never heard about that in any of those books I was read! Now I’m scared, too, and I don’t even care that Silver Spoon is grabbing onto me, too. In fact, I reach out both of my forelegs, and grab a hold of both of them, the three of us now huddled together in this dark corner.

“Be quiet,” I whisper. “M-Maybe she’ll miss us if we stay quiet.”

Diamond Tiara nods her head, and Silver Spoon just lets out a whimper to acknowledge that she had heard me.

Up on the balcony, Nightmare Moon lets out a loud, sinister laugh, and raised her head up high. Her dark mane swirls upwards, like some cliché Disneigh villain, and bolts of thunder shoot down from the sky. “Tonight, the night shall last forever!”

Silver, Diamond and I all huddle a little closer, and I close my eyes and pray for Celestia to come and save us.

Chapter 3

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It’s still night outside, even though a full hour has passed since the sun was supposed to rise. Our parents said that we shouldn’t worry. That everything’s going to be okay. That the Princess will be here to save us any second now. But I’m not blind. I may miss the point occasionally, and I may be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes, but even I can tell they’re just trying to make us feel better.

They’re even letting us have this sleepover at my place on such short notice, and the reason is obviously so that we won’t be too scared to go to sleep. But it isn’t working. Both Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, despite how well they’re trying to hide it, are both too afraid to get any sleep.

I asked them if I could put my nightlight on, to which they told me that it was okay, but even that didn’t help them. And, to be honest, I’m scared too. How can I not be? The Princess hasn’t shown herself yet, and there’s some big, scary monster out there threatening to take our sun away from us. My hooves are shaking, my hairs are standing on end, and I’m taking long, steady breaths as I listen carefully for signs of Nightmare Moon.

I want to go downstairs and ask mommy if she and the other parents can come sleep with us, but… downstairs is pretty far. The light in the hall is out, so I’d have to walk through the dark until I find it. And, what if they’re not there? What if Nightmare Moon has taken them away, but missed us because she doesn’t know we’re up here?

No! I’ve got to be strong! Diamond’s too proud to admit that she’s afraid and will just refuse to leave the room, and Silver Spoon won’t leave Diamond’s side. I’ve got to do something to take our minds off of this whole thing… Something… Anything…

“I can’t get any sleep,” I say after taking some time to build up my courage. The sounds of me talking cut through the long silence up until now, and it feels weird. I think I even startled them a little bit. But, if I can do something to help them, then… “I-I was really excited… about today. So, I’m not tired at all…”

“… Yeah. Same here,” Diamond Tiara says, followed by a nod from Silver Spoon. “Seriously, what’s taking the Princess so long?”

Okay, here goes nothing. “Y-You know, I’ve got some board games in my closet. M-Maybe we could play until we fall asleep?”

The room falls silent again, and a few minutes pass without any answer. Well, since I didn’t hear a ‘no’, I decide to get up and move over to the closet. Quietly, of course. If Nightmare Moon is looking for us, I can’t make too much noise, or she’ll find us…

The floorboards creak, and I stop dead in an instant, holding my breath as I stare straight ahead. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have also stopped breathing. There’s a shadow in the light of my nightlight ahead of me. And it’s moving, shifting side to side.

Please don’t come in here… I-I have to hide, so that Nightmare Moon will think there’s nopony here, and then move on. But, I’m telling my leg to move, and it’s not doing anything. Same for my other legs.

Oh my gosh… She’s banging against the window. She’s trying to get in. I have to hold my breath. I have to avoid making any noise. Try as I might, a tiny whimper escape my mouth the light flickers momentarily. The shadow is still there, and it is still banging on the window.

But, why hasn’t she attacked us yet? Maybe, she hasn’t noticed us? Should I dare to look behind me? If I see her, she might see me, too. But, not knowing is driving me crazy. I have to know. I have to turn around.

Slowly, quietly, I turn my head around to look over my shoulder. And Nightmare Moon… isn’t there. I breath a sigh of relief, as I find that what was making that noise was actually just a tree branch shaking in the wind. Nightmare Moon hasn’t come for us yet. I guess we’re safe.

I make it over to the closet safely, and open it up to look inside. Let’s see… Monopony might appeal to them, being rich, and the daughters of successful business ponies and all. But, I was never very good at it myself… Ker-plunk? Loud. Very loud. Mousetrap? Oh, wait. I think I lost a few pieces for that a few years ago.

Hm? What’s this? Mum’s old costume box? Oooh. Isn’t it neat when you’re looking for something, and then come across something from your past like this? Like finding a treasure chest! I never actually used any of these before. I always bought my Nightmare Night costumes from Carousal Boutique. I wonder what could be in here?

Stupid daddy! Why did you leave me up here with these two? They’re only fillies! What if Nightmare Moon shows up? What are they going to do? It’s so dark in here. I can’t see anythi- What was that?! Oh. It’s just Silver Spoon breathing. Stop that, Silver Spoon!

I wish I could see. At least then I’d know if Nightmare Moon was in the room with us or not.

… I also wish daddy didn’t leave us here all on our own. Why should I have to ask for him to stay here to watch over us? He’s my daddy, he’s supposed to protect me at times like this!

“Hey guys, do you mind if I put my nightlight on?” Alula asks. She has a nightlight?! Why didn’t she say something earlier?! Whatever, I’ll just tell her it’s okay…

… But, if I speak too loudly, Nightmare Moon might know that I’m here. And then she’ll come to eat my soul. But, if I say nothing, it’ll stay dark, and I won’t be able to see anything, and then I won’t know if Nightmare Moon’s about to eat my soul or not.

I… I have to say something… “I-I guess it can’t be helped,” I whisper without turning my head. “Go on, just t-try not to make too much noise. I-I’m trying to sleep over here.”

It’s still dark. I can hear faint shuffling sounds behind me. I told her to be quiet! After about a minute of her shuffling around, I hear a click, and then the room suddenly lights up a bit.

Okay, so now it’s bright enough to see my own hoof in front of me. But still, Nightmare Moon could be out there. We have to be quiet… Breath slowly, and quietly… Don’t roll around in the sleeping bag…

“I can’t get any sleep.” Alula! Quiet! “I-I was really excited… about today. So, I’m not tired at all…”

… W-Well, it doesn’t seem like Nightmare Moon has found us yet. I think It’s safe to talk… “… Yeah. Same here. Seriously, what’s taking the Princess so long?”

“Y-You know, I’ve got some board games in my closet. M-Maybe we could play until we fall asleep?”

Games? I’m too tired to play games right now. But, she’s right. I can’t go to sleep right now. I… guess we could play a bit to pass the time. But, what if we’re too loud, and Nightmare Moon finds us? What if we’re too distracted by the game, and she sneaks up on us? What if-

The floorboard creaks. And I suddenly hold my breath. As does Silver Spoon. W-What was that? Was it Nightmare Moon? Alula? Our parents? My imagination? I… I want to check, but, I can’t move. My body feels like it’s frozen solid.

I-I can’t hold my breath any longer. I need to breath. Slowly. Quietly.

“Hey guys!” Alula? What’s she doing? Nightmare Moon will hear her! “Check it out!”

“Hey guys! Check it out!” The two remain still in their sleeping bags. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this, but… I want to do whatever I can to help them feel better. “Guys, we don’t have to worry about Nightmare Moon anymore!”

The two suddenly gasp and sit up straight. “R-Really?!” Silver Spoon asks, turning around to look out of the window. The happy look on her face dies down instantly when she sees that it’s still night outside. “Wait… y-you lied to us…”

“No I didn’t,” I tell her, drawing her attention back towards me. Both she and Diamond Tiara look at me with strange looks… and I can’t blame them, since I’m wearing a fake horn prop on my head, and wearing a tiara that I found in my mum’s costume box. “You don’t have to worry about her anymore, ‘cause there’s a new Princess in town!”

“… Uh, what?” Diamond asks, tilting her head and looking at me like I’m a crazy pony. But, she doesn’t seem as afraid now, so I guess it’s working… even if not how I intended it to.

“That’s right! Princess Celestia may not be here, but Princess E… E-ro-ra…”

Silver Spoon raises an eyebrow. “Aurora?” she asked me. She always was better at pronouncing big words than everypony else in our class.

“That’s right! Princess Erroria!” … I didn’t pronounce it right, did I? Darn it! I’m being such a dork in front of Diamond! “I-I mean, Princess Er-Error… ia…” Argh! Why can’t I say it right?!”

“Pft!” Did Diamond just laugh? Or rather, she held back a laugh. And, she’s smiling.

Okay, it’s working. I’ll just work with it. “That’s right! Princess Erroria! Here to bring forth the light on Princess Celestia’s behalf!” I flare my wings for dramatic effect. “Nightmare Moon shall not harm us as long as I am here!”

“And, what exactly can you do against somepony like that?” Silver Spoon asks. She always has to be a party pooper, doesn’t she? With her logic, and her reasoning.

“Well, I, er…” I turn around and run over to the costume box. C’mon, there has to be something in here that I can use… “Aha! Look! I’ve got this!” I pull out a small wooden sword with my teeth and run back over to them. “That’s where you come in, Knight Silver Spoon!” I tap the sword against both of her shoulders, and watch as her face lights up.

“M-Me? Knight to a Princess?” she asks. I give the sword to her, and she stands up and raises it up high. She looks pretty happy. That’s one down, and now for Diamond.

“B-But she’s right,” Diamond says. “There’s no way two fillies can defeat Nightmare Moon…”

Now what do I do? I’ve already played the knight card, and the only other thing I found in that chest was…

“… That’s exactly what Nightmare Moon would say!” I shout as I toss the black cape from inside the chest at Diamond Tiara. Oh, I hope this works! “You’ve been here all along, just waiting for us to go to sleep! But I’ve seen through your disguise, and now, you’re gonna get it!”

I run towards Diamond, who is looking pretty confused at my sudden outburst, and grab the pillow from Silver Spoon’s sleeping bag on the way. Then, I throw it at Diamond’s face. The pillow falls, and she simply stares at me with wide eyes.

… Did it… work?

“That’s exactly what Nightmare Moon would say!” Alula shouts as she throws something towards me. What is it? A cape? Why did she-

Before I can finish the thought, she yells something about a disguise, and then throws something else at me. Something soft, and fluffy. I can’t tell what it is, because it’s covering my eyes. When the object falls, and I can see again, I can see that it’s a pillow. Silver Spoon’s pillow, to be precise.

Why did she throw this at me? And what was all that about a disguise? Okay, let’s just think about this for a second. Alula’s crazy, but not this crazy… I don’t think.

A black cape… Princess Erroria and Knight Silver Spoon… Defeating Nightmare Moon…

“S-So! Have you had enough yet, Mare in the Moon?” she says as she takes a step towards me.

Oooh. Now I get it. She’s pretending that I’m Nightmare Moon! This must be one of those silly games she was talking about earlier. I’m way too mature for something like this. To be running around, playing make-believe and having pillow-fights. But… Silver Spoon’s smiling right now. She seems happy.

… W-Well, as the more mature pony here, I suppose I should play along, since these two are obviously scared out of their minds over this whole Nightmare Moon thing.

“So, you’ve learned the truth,” I say as I throw the cape elegantly around my body. “That’s right, Princess! I, Nightmare Moon, have posed this filly’s body! And there is nothing that you can do to stop me!”

Diamond Tiara struggles to put the cape over her body. She looks so cute, fumbling around with that fabric and trying not to lose her temper with it. I should probably help her, but the urge to just watch this go on is too strong to resist.

“That’s right, Princess!” she says as she finally gets the cape on. “I, Nightmare Moon, have posed this filly’s body! And there is nothing that you can do to stop me!”

“First, it’s ‘possessed’,” the egghead Silver Spoon says. “Second of all, she’s not fighting alone! I will defeat you, and take back my friend!” Good! They’re both getting into it! And, actually, so am I.

“That’s right, Nightmare Moon! The power of love and… uh… other stuff, will defeat you!”

“Oh? And what can you hope to do against me, little filly?” she asks. Man, she does the ‘evil tyrant’ voice very well.

“This!” I shout as I throw another pillow into her face. This time, she grabs the pillow and growls at me… I hope I didn’t make her mad…

“How dare you?! Take this!” she throws the pillow back at me, but I dodge it easily enough. “How about, two blasts of dark magic?!”

She throws two pillows at me this time, and while I manage to dodge one, the other one manages to hit me. “Gah! Knight Silver Spoon, defend me!”

“Take this you foul demon!” Silver Spoon shouts as she throws her sleeping bag over Diamond.

“You think that that will stop me?!” Diamond shouts as she flails about underneath the sleeping bag. By the time she throws it off, Silver Spoon is already waiting for her, and tackles her onto my bed behind her.

“No, but this will!” Silver Spoon begins to rub her hooves back and forth along Diamond’s sides, sending her into a fit of laughter as she kicks her legs in every direction.

She’s tickling my fillyfriend! T-This isn’t fair! If anypony should be tickling her, it should be me! Should I stop her? But, they seem to be enjoying themselves… and, how do I do that, without ending our game and sending us back to sitting in darkness, unable to slee-

Wait… Outside, it’s… “Knight Silver Spoon, stop!” Silver Spoon does stop, and turns to look at me, along with Diamond Tiara. “Look, outside! It’s the sun!”

“Hey, you’re right!” Silver Spoon shouts as she jumps off of the bed, and runs over towards the window. Diamond and I join her, and indeed, there are ponies running outside, looking at the beautiful sun rising up into the sky.

“That must mean… we did it!” I announce as I pull my Diamond into a big hug. “We saved you! We defeated the evil Nightmare Moon!” I release Diamond and turn around to leave the room. “C’mon! Let’s go tell our parents!”

The sun is up! The sun is rising above Ponyville! That means that Princess Celestia has defeated Nightmare Moon! We’re safe! We’re not going to be eaten! We’re-

GAH! A-Alula! Let go of me! Why do you always do this?! I know you’re excited, but you only ever do this to me, and never to Silver Spoon! Why is it always just me?!

“We saved you! We defeated the evil Nightmare Moon!” We didn’t do anything! … But, at least, that little game was able to distract me from my lack of sleep. So, I guess it wasn’t a totally stupid plan, after all. “C’mon! Let’s go tell our parents!”

“Wai-” It’s too late. She’s already out of the room. “Geez. Where does she get all that energy? Stupid athletes…”

“Hey, look,” Silver Spoon says, pointing at something outside the window. “It’s the Princess!”

“No way! Where?” True enough, Princess Celestia was riding into town… but, who’s that beside her? She looks like… “N-Nightmare Moon?!”

“N-No way! It can’t be! Why would Nightmare Moon be… A-Anyway, maybe it’s just somepony who looks like her. Look, she’s not attacking anypony. See?”

Well, I guess that’s true, but…

“Hey, you guys!” Alula calls out as she re-enters the room. “C’mon! Let’s go give our cookies to the Princess!”

“Oh yeah!” Silver Spoon says. “I totally forgot about those!”

“Well, we did work hard on them,” I say as I walk towards the bedroom door. “It would be rude of her not to taste them.”

“Uh, sure,” Alula says. “Then, let’s go, while she’s still accepting offerings!”

Before I can say anything, Alula is already off. “Hey, wait!” I shout as I chase after her, with Silver Spoon tagging alongside me. “S-Stop… running… stupid… athlete!”

Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my GOSH! This, is, awesome! The Princess, is eating our cookies! And, she likes them! And, she approves them! And, she’s smiling at us!

Oh, this is truly, truly amazing! The only thing that would make this better is if I could marry Diamond Tiara right here and now!

“These are very well made,” the Princess says as she approaches me. “But then, that should be expected of a Princess, I think.”

Huh? W-What is she-

“Alula!” Silver Spoon whispers to me. “The horn! Lose the horn!”

Oh! I forgot I was still wearing that! I quickly yank it off, and bow to the Princess, to apologise for offending her. “I-I’m so sorry, Princess! I didn’t mean any offence! We were playing, and, I forgot about the horn, and I-”

“It is quite alright, child,” the Princess says, raising my head with her hoof beneath my chin. “Tell me, what are your names?”

“A-Alula, Your Highness.”

“D-D-Diamond Tiara,” Diamond says, bowing as she introduces herself. Silver Spoon stutters for a few moments. It doesn’t seem as though she’s going to get past the first syllable. “… And Silver Spoon.”

The Princess smiles at the three of us, and I suddenly feel a lot more relaxed. And, from the looks on their faces, so do Diamond and Silver Spoon.

“These cookies, were clearly the product of much hard work, but also of the harmony between three very close friends.” Oh my gosh! I swear my face is turning red! The Princess just complimented us, in front of all of these ponies!

“Y-Your words are wasted on us,” I say, as I’ve read in the storybooks before.

“Not at all. You three exhibit traits that are very important when forming a strong friendship. You are loyal towards each other…” She looks at Silver Spoon as she says that, “You have fun together…” She looks at Diamond for a moment, and then her eyes move over to me, “And, though you have your own ways of showing it, you are kind-hearted young fillies, who care for each other when it matters.”

No way… The Princess, really thinks so highly of us? “Y-You can tell that, just from our cookies?” Diamond asks, a hint of scepticism in her voice. I have to admit, I don’t quite buy it either.

“Not just from your cookies. I am… quite a good judge of character. I have lived for a thousand years, after all.” Oh. I guess that makes sense. The Princess leans down towards me, and whispers: “Young love is never easy, but I wish you the best of luck.”

Okay, now my face is definitely red! “H-H-H-H-H-”

The Princess leans back up, smiles once more at us, and then moves on to the next group of foals to offer her something.

“Hey.” Alula doesn’t respond, so I try poking her. She then turns to face me… Why is her face so red? “What did she say to you, huh? And how come she only said something special to you, and not to us?”

There’s a moment of silence, where she doesn’t say or do anything. How dare she ignore me like that?! And she has the nerve to call me her friend?! Not that it’s true anyway, but still, if you’re going to pretend, you should at least do it well!

Suddenly, she jumps forward, wraps her forelegs around me, and starts laughing like a maniac. “W-What are you doing?! Let go!” Oh great! And now my daddy’s laughing at me! I try to push her off of me, but she’s too strong!

She eventually lets go of her own accord, and laughs once more as she faces me. “She wished us good luck!” she says, before turning around and running over to her mother.

Silver Spoon walks up to my side and fixes my tiara, which was knocked to the side momentarily during the hug. “Honestly, why does she always do that to me? And she doesn’t ever attack you like that.”

“You really don’t know?” Silver asks, giving me a questioning look. ‘Know’? Know what? Is there something I’m not being told here? She sighs and shakes her head. “Well, I’m sure you’ll catch on sooner or later,” she says in a mumbled voice, before walking over to her own parents.

I watch as she leaves, and as my daddy walks towards me. “Catch on to what?” I asks, but receive no reply. Instead, the three of us say our goodbyes as we go our separate ways. It’s way past our bedtimes, so our parents want to get us to our homes and into our beds as quickly as possible.

Well, whatever. I’m sure it’s just another one of Alula’s crazy habits, like taking random photos of me when we’re hanging out, or offering to share ice-creams or milkshakes, or offering to feed me during lunch. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. She’s crazy, and I’m just the unfortunate victim of her insanity.

Phew, that’s a load of my mind. I think, now that I’ve got that mystery solved, I can finally get some sleep now. In fact, I could probably fall asleep right here, on daddy’s back. Pft. Yeah right, if I was a kid, maybe. But I’m not a kid anymo-

Chapter 4

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Eighty-eight. Diamond Tiara really loves this game. Eighty-nine. Don’t get me wrong, I like it too, but… Ninety. She’s like, obsessed with it. And she always makes me ‘it’, whilst she goes and finds somewhere to hide with Silver Spoon. I guess she’s testing our love by making me try to find her, but-

… Uh-oh, I lost track of what number I was on. Uh… Somewhere close to a hundred, I’m sure! “Ready or not, here I come!” Alright, let’s check Carousel Boutique first! If she’s not there, then maybe at Sugarcube Corner. Or the comic shop. Maybe if the world’s been flipped upside down, she’ll be at the library. “That’ll be the day,” I laugh to myself as I trot down the street.

A pony runs past me, screaming and not really looking at where she’s going. And I then notice… the entire town is in a state of chaos! Ponies are running around everywhere, screaming and barricading their homes, knocking things over in the street, pushing each other out of the way…

I knew the Princess was coming today, but for everypony to flip out like this… they must be really unorganized. “Hey Roseluck!” I call out to the flower pony across the street, but she doesn’t seem to hear me, too busy grabbing her flowers on display outside and moving them inside her store. “Guess she’s busy with work. I shouldn’t bother her.”

So I continue my happy trot through my happy little town, taking care not to run into anypony on the way. They’re clearly very busy with getting everything ready for the Princess, and I don’t want to slow them down any.

I stop as I hear a strange sound, like a bird chirping, and feel something moving in my mane. GAH! W-What is it?! Get it out, get it out! As I flail my hooves about trying to get whatever it is out of my mane, I feel it jump out and see it fly in front of me.

It’s… SO CUTE! I have no idea what it is, but it looks totally adorable! It’s like some weird little yellow ball with two big eyes and a pair of insecty wings! Well, that’s actually exactly what it is. I wonder where it came from? Did my mane make it? Oh! Does that make me its mother?

“Hi there, little guy!” I reach my hoof out of and it lands on it. So light. So gentle. And so adorable! I wonder if it’s hungry? “Here, I’ve got something for you. I was saving it for later, but I guess you can have it.” I pull a chocolate bar out from my saddlebag and unwrap it for… Hmmm, he needs a name. Well, he’s cute, so how about Diamond Tiara? Nah, that’ll just get complicated. I’ve never seen something like this before, so how about Unown, like the Pokémon? Would that be too sad though? How about-

Whoa! He ate that chocolate bar faster than I removed the wrapper! It was like, gone in a single second! I guess he really likes chocolate. Hey, I know! I’ll call him Choco! I can’t wait to show him to Diamond and Silver Spoo- AH! I’m supposed to be out looking for them right now!

“Come on, Choco,” I say as I let my new friend take a seat in my mane. “Let’s go show you off to Di! I bet she’ll just love you!”

“Isn’t it like, so unfair that we can’t go see the Princess, too?” Silver Spoon lifts up the teapot to offer me more tea, and I push my teacup forward to let her refill it.

“I know. If anypony should be allowed to see the Princess, it should be us.” I take the teacup and lift it gracefully towards my lips. Even though I’m a filly, I act with all the elegance and charm of a proper lady. Plus I’m like the richest pony in Ponyville. So why do I have to sit here, whilst some nerdy bookworm librarian lady gets to have tea with the Princess?

“You think Alula will find us here?” Silver Spoon asks, looking around the room nervously. Honestly, such a worrywart.

“No way. She’ll be like, searching all over Ponyville before she even thinks of looking for us here. I’m telling you, this is going to be a totally Alula-free day.”

“You said that the last ten times we tried ditching her this way. She always found you, though.”

“Well this time, we’re hiding somewhere she’ll never think to look!” And that’s the truth. She’s hardly ever been to my house before, and I bet she doesn’t even know where it is. She’ll never look for us here, and even if she does, it won’t be until much lat-

“Hi guys!”

… What?

“Found ya!”

“She found us, Diamond,” Silver Spoon says, giving me a cocky grin. Shut up, Silver Spoon.

“How did you find us?” I have to know her secret, so that I can be better prepared for next time.

“I asked Pinkie Pie, and she told me you’d be here. And then she asked me for a flute.”

“What?”

“I know. She seemed really eager. D’you think she’s starting a band?”

“No, not that! How did Pinkie Pie know we were here?”

“Oh. I dunno, she just did.” What kind of answer is that? “Anyway, check out what I found earlier. You’re gonna love it!”

I doubt that, unless it’s a new tiara, or a wad of cash, or an invitation to the Princess’ tea party- Whoa! “W-What is that?!” Whatever it is, it’s…

“Oh my gosh, it’s so cute!” I couldn’t agree more, Silver Spoon! I have to admit… nice job Alula! “And you have one for each of us! But, what are they?”

One for each of us. A grey one, a pink one, and a yellow one. “Who cares what they are? They’re adorable! And I bet they don’t eat much, so daddy won’t mind me keeping one!”

“That’s odd. I only had one earlier,” Alula says. “I wonder if my mane really is making them?”

“Or they’re just attracted to it for some reason,” Silver Spoon says. I catch a strange scent in the air… and I know exactly where it’s coming from.

“Alula, when’s the last time you washed your mane?”

“Uh, well, two days ago, but I kinda spent all of yesterday working on my high jump.” … You can’t be serious.

“Right, you’re taking a shower if you intend to stay.”

She sulks. “I hate showers.” Ugh. She can be such a child sometimes. “So what are ya gonna name ‘em? I named this one Choco.” She nuzzles the yellow one, and the pink and grey ones fly over to me and Silver Spoon.

“Why ‘Choco’?” Silver Spoon asks.

“‘Cause he really likes chocolate.” Oh, so we like the same things. Even better!

“I think I’m going to name mine… Dianne, because that’s the name my mum almost gave me.” Seriously? Wow, I guess poor naming sense runs in your family, huh?

“I’m gonna name mine… Pink Tiara!” She’s pink, and she’ll soon have a little tiara to go on her head! It’s perfect! “Hey Alula, go grab some fruit from the kitchen.”

“Yeah, they look hungry,” Silver Spoon says. Well, they don’t. I actually wanted to eat something myself, but I guess we could feed our new pets, too.

“Good thinking! You’re going to love seeing them eat!” Before I can say anything, she runs out of the room and down the stairs. We’re going to love seeing them eat? How entertaining can it be? Sure they’re cute, but I can’t imagine it being any different than watching a rabbit or something eat.

Alula returns just as quickly as she left, carrying a bowl of fruit on her back. “Okay, watch this!” She lays the bowl down, and reaches towards one of the apples. But before she can reach it, our three pets eat all the fruit there… in less than a second. “W-Whoa!”

“Whoa indeed!” Silver Spoon shouted. “What just happened?”

“What’s it doing?” I ask as I point to Pink Tiara, who looks like she’s choking on a piece of food. She coughs something up. Something that’s the same size and shape as her. And then that something grows a pair of wings, and opens its eyes. “Ewwww! Pink Tiara, we’ll have none of that in this house!”

“Dianne, stop that!” Silver Spoon shouts as her pet does the same. Alula’s pet also does it, but Alula seems a little less disturbed by it.

“Whoa, cool!” That is not cool! That is gross! That is undignified! That is… Why are there so many of them all of a sudden?

“Diamond! Open a window, quick!” Good thinking Silver Spoon! I run over to the window and open it up, allowing all these pesky little creatures out. Only, not all of them go out. Some of them are still flying around my room, swarming us and eating my secret stash of candies… AH! My secret stash of candies! I was saving those for the next time I get grounded!

“You little! Alula, do something!”

“L-Like what?”

“You brought them here! Do something about it, now!”

“Hold on! I’ve got an idea!” I can hardly see what she’s going with all these bugs flying about, but she seems to be searching her saddlebag for something. I run over to my dresser and pick up a bottle of perfume, the same kind that I’m wearing right now, and start spraying it everywhere. Some of these things back away, and I can see Alula much more… clearly… “Princess Erroria, here to save the day!”

You’ve got to be kidding me. “You just carry that thing around with you?”

She chuckles and turns red as she looks away from me. “W-Well, I thought it would be fun once in a while, y’know… Anyway! Princess Erroria is going to cast a spell to vanquish these… whatever they are!”

“You can’t do magic!” I point out, not that I should really have to. “Now’s not the time to be playing around, Alula! They’re eating all my candy!”

“No they’re not,” Silver Spoon says. “Look, they’ve stopped.” … Oh. So they have? Did Alula do this? But, how? She’s not really a Princess… is she?

“Uh… Y-Yeah! See? I totally did it!” she says. Impossible! T-There’s no way that Alula could actually be a-

AH! MY BED! “Alula! They’re eating my bed! And my dresses! And my games!” T-This can’t be! They’re eating everything!! Well, everything except for what little candy is left in my secret stash! “Alula, what did you do?!”

She quickly reaches up to her fake horn and removes it, grinning stupidly as she throws it away. “I-It wasn’t me! It was that stupid Princess Erroria!”

“A-LU-LAAAAAA!”

“M-MERCY!”

D-Did I really just make them stop? But, that would mean I performed magic. But, that would mean my horn was real. And my horn isn’t real… is it? I would know if it was or not, and it most certainly is not… I don’t think so, at least. But, hey, at least they stopped. And now, Diamond will jump into my embrace and thank me from the bottom of her heart! I can see it now!

She’ll be like: ‘Oh Alula, I was so scared! Thank you for saving me!’

And I’ll be all: ‘It’s okay, Di. You’re safe now. I won’t let any weird but cute little balls hurt you.’

And then she’ll say: ‘Oh Alula, please say you’ll marry me!’

And I’ll say: ‘Oh Di, of course I will!’

And then Silver Spoon will be like: ‘Hey congratulations you two! I’m super happy and not the least bit jealous of you!’

And Diamond’s dad will say: ‘Take good care of my daughter, Alula,’ while he has tears in his eyes.

And Miss Cheerilee will perform the ceremony, and we’ll go to our new home and we’ll spend the entire night doing those ‘adult things’ that Miss Cloudchaser said I’m too young to know about, and then we’ll buy a baby from the stork and we’ll-

Oh, right. Reality. “Uh… Y-Yeah! See? I totally did it!” Now, Diamond Tiara! I await your loving embrace!

“Alula! They’re eating my bed! And my dresses! And my games!” … U-oh. This isn’t good. “Alula, what did you do?!”

Think quickly, Alula, think quickly! Oh, I know… Just take off my horn, and… “I-It wasn’t me! It was that stupid Princess Erroria!”

Diamond Tiara seems to burst into flames. “A-LU-LAAAAAA!” And now she’s walking towards me, and I’m sure… Yep. She’s gonna kill me. Only one thing to do now.

“M-MERCY!” Close my eyes and pray to Celestia for a miracle.

“I’ll show you mercy, you- AH! MY TIARA!” I open my eyes to find the cute little spawns of Discord chewing on Diamond’s tiara. “GET ‘EM OFF, GET ‘EM OFF!”

“MY GLASSES!” I look over to Silver Spoon, and see the annoying but adorable creatures eating her glass- AWWWW! They’re using the glass parts as little plates to serve the broken-up frame on, and they have little bibs and cutlery! That’s so adorable! “I CAN’T SEE!” And of course Silver Spoon ruins it by running into a wall and knocking herself out.

“We have to get out of here, before they eat us!” Would they really do that? I think that might just be an exaggeration, buuuut… I definitely agree about us getting out of here.

“Okay, make a run for it! I’ll keep them at bay!” This is it Alula! Time to show your fillyfriend how cool you are! By defending her from a swarm of possibly the cutest yet most horrifying creatures known to ponykind!

“What about Silver Spoon?!”

Oh, right. Her… I could just leave her here. I’m sure she’d be fine. But… Darn it! She’s my friend! I’m not just gonna leave my friend here to die! “I’ll get her, now go!”

Diamond nods, and quickly runs out of the room, screaming as she runs through more of the pesky critters outside. I run over to Silver Spoon and follow my limited knowledge of the medical sciences, by placing a hoof to her neck to check her pulse. I don’t know what a ‘pulse’ actually is, so I’m just going to assume she still has one. I then lift her onto my back and run after Diamond.

I manage to make it safely to the front door with Silver Spoon still on my back, and I see Diamond standing just outside her front garden, with her father Filthy Rich there, too.

“Girls, hurry!” he shouts, waving his hooves at us. “We need to evacuate!”

“What’s going on?” I ask as I reach them.

“Just look!” I do, and… Oh. My. Celestia. The entire town, it’s… it’s like something out a horror movie. I can’t believe it… Where has our town gone?! “The Princess will be here soon, and I’m sure she’ll help us, but we need to save ourselves first!”

“What about my mum?!” I ask. “And Silver’s parents?”

“They’re already safe, I came back alone to fetch you three!”

“What’s that sound?” Diamond asks, causing us all to stop and listen… She’s right, there’s some kind of strange music playing. What’s going on? And… why are the cute but nasty creatures dancing to it? “Look! Over there!”

… P-Pinkie Pie? No, more like Pinkie Pie clad in an assortment of musical instruments. Is she the one playing this music? All by herself? And, is she the one responsible for these things forming a line behind her and bouncing up and down as they followed her out of Ponyville?

All we do is watch as she escorts the cute monsters out of town, along with many other ponies in the streets.

…

Well, that was… strange. It’s not every day you see something like that… Uh… I’m not quite sure what to do now… “A-Are you guys alright?”

Mr. Rich nods. “I-I’m fine.” He then looks down at Diamond. “Are you okay, Diamond?”

“I think so… AH!” Diamond waves her hoof above her head. “M-My tiara…”

Oh no! Diamond’s tiara, it must have been completely eaten! And now she’s all sad! … And it’s all my fault. For letting those creatures into her room. For letting them multiply so much, and then doing that thing that made them start eating everything around them (I still don’t know how I did that, but it was definitely my fault). She’ll surely hate me now… I… I don’t want her to hate me!

“GAH! ALULAAAAA!”

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t meant for all this to happen! I’ll buy you a new tiara, and a new room, and a new box of candy, so… please don’t hate me…”

My tiara… My beautiful, beautiful tiara… gone! This is a tragedy! This is a nightmare! This can’t possibly get any wor-

“GAH!” Great! Now Alula is hanging off of me again! “ALULAAAAA!”

“I’m so sorry!” Wait, what? “I didn’t meant for all this to happen! I’ll buy you a new tiara, and a new room, and a new box of candy, so… please don’t hate me…”

… She’s… crying? And she’s worried that I’ll hate her? I mean, yeah I’m annoyed, and you bet I’ll make you buy me a new tiara! But…

“… Alula?”

“Yes?”

“… Go take a shower. You stink.” She doesn’t let go, or do anything else, or say anything. “And then… you might as well stay to have lunch with us…”

She lets go of me and takes a step back, rubbing her forehoof against her eyes. “Diamond…”

“Well?! What are you waiting for?!” She looks at me with that same idiotic expression she always wears, only this time, there are more tears. “Go on! If it hasn’t been eaten, you can use our shower! And then we’ll go to Silver’s house to see if her spare glasses are safe.”

She simply stares at me like an idiot for a few seconds. Honestly, why did I even bother wasting such mercy on her? She’s the one responsible for wrecking my room in the first pla- GAH! NOT AGAIN!

“Thanks, Di! I promise, I’ll definitely make this up to you somehow!”

“You can start by letting go!” One of these days, I’m going to learn how to avoid these accursed death-grips of hers! “ALULAAAAA!”

Chapter 5

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Usually, whenever I make plans with Silver Spoon to meet me at my house, Alula just finds out through her own mysterious way and drops in to join us. Today, however, I actually invited Alula along personally as her skills were required. And I’m regretting that decision right now, because she showed up thirty minutes ago, well before the designated time, and has been talking nonstop about the stupid record she broke in the last high jump competition. Like. I. CARE!

It shouldn’t be long now. Silver Spoon should be here any second now, and we can then move onto the matter at hoof. Just endure this for a few more- “Alula! How many times do I have to tell you not to touch my perfume! It’s expensive!”

“I was just looking!”

“Look with your eyes, not your hooves! This wouldn’t suit you anyway. It’s for high-class ponies, like me and Silver Spoon.”

She pouts as I take the bottle away from her and place it back where it belongs: on my vanity table. “Well then, what does suit me?”

“A bath and some shampoo,” I answer in a flat tone. She looks around at my other beauty products, so I stand guard to make sure she doesn’t touch any this time.

“I don’t see anything like that,” she says, giving me a confused look. Is she serious? She thinks I was referring to a perfume or something? No, what I mean is that you should wash yourself before you even think about prettying yourself up. “Anything here that would suit me? Something I could afford, maybe?”

“No, noth-” … Well, actually, now that I think about it… “Uh, actually, there’s this product here that might just work for you… Ah, here it is.” I grab the pink bottle and point it at Alula. “Close your eyes.” She does so, and I spray some of the perfume on her. Blech. Just as I remember, it’s something I would never be caught dead wearing outside. But… for her, it actually works somewhat.

“So? How is it?” she asks. Her face is slightly red… I hope she’s not having an allergic reaction. My dad would kill me if that happened!

“Uh, it…” I take one sniff to give an honest answer, and… it’s actually not so bad. It’s weird; on me, this stuff smells horrible, but on Alula, it’s like it suits her perfectly. And it actually smells kind of nice.

“Diamond?” She takes a step closer to me, and for some reason, I step back really quickly.

“I-It’s alright!” She smiles, and takes a whiff of her own hair. “Uh, it actually works better on you than I thought it would. You can keep the bottle, if you want… It doesn’t smell good on me anyway.”

“I’m sure it does!” she answers quickly. “Everything smells good on you, Diamond!” W-What?! What’s that supposed to mean?! I mean, it’s obvious, and everypony knows it, but saying flat out like that is just… weird! “And your mane is always so neat and tidy, too. You must spend ages brushing it every morning.”

Uh, duh! “Well, of course! Don’t you? You’re a filly too, after all.”

Alula shakes her head. “No way. It’ll just become messy again anyway, so what’s the point?”

… Are you serious? Are you for real?! “You mean, you’ve never brushed your mane even once?!”

“Well, a few times, like for Hearth’s Warming Eve. But not often.”

I-I can’t believe this! Alula’s a filly, just like me, yet she doesn’t take enough pride in her appearance to tidy up her mane or was her body more than two times a week! I’d expect this of that hick Apple Balloon, but Alula? The filly who clearly has good tastes since she wants to be friends with me?

“Uh, something wrong, Diamond?”

“… Ugh, fine then! Since I feel so bad for you, I’ll show you how to brush your mane.”

“W-What?!” Don’t back away from me! I’m trying to help you here! “N-No, really, it’s fi-”

“Just sit down and let me help you!” She immediately nods her head and sits down on the chair behind her. I grab my brush and walk around so that I’m standing behind her. Why is she shaking so much? I’m just brushing her hair, it’s not exactly something to be worried about. Especially when you consider how well I brush my own mane.

“Ow!” she moans as I run the brush through her hair for the fifth time. “Hey, stop being so rough…”

“I’m not, you just have so many tangles in your hair! This is what happens when you don’t brush it.”

“If it’s just gonna hurt, why can’t I just keep it un-brushed for the rest of my life?”

“Because you’re a filly! You’re supposed to do your best to look pretty! Especially when you’re older and you want your special somepony to think you’re cute.”

“‘C-Cute’?” I run the brush through her mane for the twentieth time, and find another knot. “OW! … W-Well, if it’s what you want, then I guess I can bear with it, for now…”

What I want? Idiot, it’s not that I want you to look good. I would just feel bad for you if you future coltfriend dumped you because you look like that tomboy Scotchroll. Besides… your mane really is pretty when it’s treated right. It’s a shame you don’t take enough pride in your appearance…

“A-hem!” I stop stroking Alula’s mane and turn around to- WAIT! I-I was stroking her mane?! W-W-When did- How did- WHY?! I admit that it’s pretty, and smooth, but why would that make me start doing something like that?! “Am I interrupting something?”

“Di’s just brushing my mane for me,” Alula says. Good, so she didn’t notice that I was… But what about Silver Spoon?

“Oh? Is that all?” Silver Spoon asks, giving me that stupid, smart grin of hers, like she knows everything that I’m thinking, and also everything that I was just doing. “Should I come back later then?”

“Yeah, sure,” Alula says, causing Silver Spoon to turn to leave.

“No, wait!” I shout as I chase after Silver Spoon, leaving the brush tangled in Alula’s mane.

“OW! D-Di, wait! Get this thing out of my hair!”

Today, I’m hanging out at Diamond Tiara’s house once again with Diamond and Silver Spoon. Only this time, I got here early because she didn’t forget to tell me about our meeting. It was awesome, up until the point that Silver Spoon butted in on us.

I got to take a look around Diamond’s room and catch up on what had changed in her life. She wasn’t very talkative, save for ‘put that down’ or ‘be careful with that’, but it was pretty early in the morning. I also got to try some of Diamond’s perfume, and she complimented me on how great I smelled. And then, Diamond offered to brush my mane for me. At first I was reluctant, but when she mentioned that she wanted me to look cute even when we’re older, I just couldn’t refuse her.

So I let her brush my mane, even if it was a little… okay, a lot painful. But for the sake of my and Diamond Tiara’s future, I was willing to power through it! And then… Silver Spoon came in.

So after Diamond caught up to Silver Spoon and brought her back here, the two worked together to free the brush from my tangled mane. It hurt a lot. Many tears were shed. But eventually, the darn thing came out, with only minimal amounts of pain (which I think was all Silver Spoon’s fault).

“Now then, you two,” Diamond Tiara says as soon as Silver Spoon and I are standing at attention like she asked us to, “I’m sure you’re both wondering why I called you here today.”

“To play video games?” I ask, receiving a headshake in response.

“To play brushie with Alula?” Silver Spoon asks with a giggle. Brushie? I’ve heard that term before… Brushie… Brushie… Ah, isn’t that what ponies do to doll with brushable manes? Wait, is she saying I’m a doll?! … Wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

“N-No!” Diamond Tiara shouts, her face turning red as she glares at me. Why is her face red? And why is she glaring at me like that? Did I do something wrong? “No, that’s not why.” Silver Spoon giggles again. What’s going on? Am I missing something here?

“So, what’s up then?” Silver Spoon asks. “You said you needed my charm and grace to help you with a matter of upmost urgency.”

“And you said you needed me for my working-class citizen skills!” … Wait, now that I think about it, that doesn’t sound that great. Nah, I’m just over-thinking it! If my abilities are helpful to Diamond Tiara, then that’s all that matters!

“That’s right! Something awful has happened outside of Barnyard Bargain’s main store here in Ponyville, and I need both of you to help me through this!”

“‘Something awful’?” Silver Spoon asks. “Like what? Is it a strike?”

“No, something much worse!” I lean in to hear what she has to say. If my Diamond Tiara is in trouble, I will do whatever I can to- “That hick Apple Balloon and her friend Twist have started an apple juice stand right outside of the store!”

… Uh, okay? So… “And?”

“‘AND’?! Don’t you realise what this means?!”

“… That Apple Bloom and Twist are looking to earn a little extra pocket money?” Silver Spoon answers. “It’s something that poor ponies do all the time. Why, even Alula had that job with the newspaper stand a while back.”

“Yeah.” … Wait a minute… “Hey! I’m not poor! I just wanted to buy the new Megamare, that’s all…”

“In any case,” Silver Spoon continues, “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.”

“Ordinarily, I would agree with you! However, this is happening right outside of my father’s store! And you know what that means!” Unfortunately, I don’t. And from the look on Silver Spoon’s face, she doesn’t either. “It means that they’re invading our turf! It’s declaration of war!”

“Ooooh…” I guess that makes sense? “Wait, we have turf?” Diamond nods. “Oooooh… Wait, what’s turf?”

“It means territory.” Silver Spoon the bookworm to the rescue once again. “Basically, by selling their product in our territory, it’s like they’re trying to take over and run us out of business.”

“Exactly!” Diamond Tiara announces with a big smile on her face. Darn it, Silver Spoon made her smile again, instead of me! I’ve got to step up my game.

“I knew that!” There! How d’you like that?

“Then why did you ask?”

… Touché. “Uh… to see if you knew, of course.”

“… Uh-huh… Anyway, Diamond? You do realise we don’t have our own business? What exactly are they trying to run us out of?”

“We don’t have a business yet!” Diamond Tiara bucks the wall behind her, and a scroll opens up before us, revealing a large poster of what appears to be a few crudely drawn oranges being melted into liquid form above some badly drawn glasses. Diamond’s drawings are always so adorable. “Introducing: the Princess Diamond Spoon Orange Corporation Limited!”

“That’s a mouthful,” Silver Spoon says. “‘Princess’?”

“Well, it was difficult to work Alula’s name into it,” Diamond Tiara says as she walks over to me. “Close your eyes.” My heart skips a beat, and I feel my face heating up. “C’mon! Close your eyes already!”

“O-Okay!” I do as I’m told and close my eyes. Is she gonna kiss me? Right here in front of Silver Spoon? Since when did Diamond get so bold? Not that I’m complaining, but-

“There!” Huh? ‘There’? “Open your eyes.” I open them, and see Diamond Tiara standing away from me. What just happened. “Princess Erroria, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon!”

Princess Erroria? Wait, that means… Yep. There’s a fake horn on my head. “Uh… where’d you get this?”

“You left it here last time you came over,” Diamond answers. “FYI, you’re also our company mascot.”

“Cool! What do I do?” I’m not sure what’s going on exactly, but it sounds like it’ll be fun! And in any event, I’ll be spending time with Diamond, which is always a plus.

“Your image will be on our advertisement posters all over town, and you’ll also be in charge of making and selling the juice.” She turns her attention to Silver Spoon. “Silver, I need you to spread the word of our new business, and to secure us lots of oranges from that Orange Slice guy.”

Silver Spoon gags, and I understand why. The Orange Slice is just creepy, and clearly has a crush on Silver Spoon. “Do I have to? Can’t I just sabotage Apple Bloom’s stand?”

“No! That’s my job,” Diamond Tiara says, giggling as she looks over at something on her bed. Looking over myself, I see a huge stack of bags of salt that I somehow missed earlier. Even I can see what she plans to do with that… I just hope she doesn’t get carried away with it. “I’m also the manager, which means that anything I say goes! Silver Spoon, use your charms to get us at least one thousand oranges by the time we’re ready, which should be later this afternoon!”

“One thousand’s a little ridiculous,” Silver Spoon says. How dare she speak out against our manager like that? Heh, guess it won’t take much to win the employee of the month award, and more importantly, Diamond Tiara’s favour. “I’ll see what I can do, though.”

“Very well. Get to it then!” With a nod, Silver Spoon walks out the room, leaving me and Diamond alone. I guess she’s not so bad sometimes. “As for you, Alula, I’m going to need you to remain perfectly still for about thirty minutes whilst my cousin paints you.”

The door opens once more, and a teenage-looking colt walks in, a fake moustache painted on his face and a Cutie Mark of a brush on his flank. “Ah, is this the one Di?” Hey! Don’t call her that! That’s my nickname for her!

“I told you not to call me that!” You tell him, Diamond! “And yes. I need you to paint a portrait of her for our orange juice business.”

“Uh, question,” I say as I raise my hoof. Diamond nods, so I guess it’s okay to ask it. “Why aren’t we just using a camera to take a photograph?”

“Because that’s what Apple Balloon did!” she answers, quite loudly. “We’re not going to use the same, lame tactics that the enemy uses! Besides, this’ll show that we’re much more sophisticated, and dedicated, and… stuff.”

“Uh…”

“Argh! Look, just remain still until he’s done and then make and sell orange juice afterwards, and I’ll give you a thirty-three percent cut!”

Well, that does sound like a lot of money. “Yes, ma’am, Di! You can count on me!” I answer with a salute. She nods her head and walks towards the door. “I’m going to go gather materials for our stand, and hire somepony to put it together for us. If you’re done before I get back, just… find some way to pass the time that doesn’t involve touching anything, okay?”

“I’ll do my best!” She leaves the room, and I turn my attention to the colt, who is setting up a painting stand. “So… what do I need to do, exactly.”

“Hmmm… How about we do something simple? Just hold up an orange and show me a smile, okay?” He picks up an orange from Diamond’s bed and throw it at me. I catch it, quite expertly, if I do say so myself. “Hey, nice catch!”

“Thanks! I’m pretty good at sports and athletic stuff.” Let’s see… Hold up the orange… turn to face the colt… smile wide… Maybe not so wide. “How’s this?”

“Perfect! Now don’t move.” Easier said than done. But this is for Diamond, so I can take it. After a few minutes of silence, he stops painting for a moment and gives me a smile. “So, how exactly do you and Di know each other? You don’t exactly have the look of wealth or high-class.” Uh… is it okay for me to talk like this? “You can talk, by the way,” he says with a laugh.

“Uh… D-Di and I are fillyfriends.” He seems to choke at that, but only for a second. “W-What?”

“Sorry, it’s just… Wow. She’s never mentioned anything about having a fillyfriend before.”

“She’s pretty shy about it.” Yep. My little Diamond has that adorable little shy side that nopony else knows about but me. “It start about a year ago, actually.”

“Interesting… I always figured she’d end up with Silver Spoon, the way they’re always together.”

Ugh. Is that what other ponies think? “Well, I do feel bad for Silver Spoon. I mean, she clearly feels something towards Di. Maybe that’s why Di is so quiet about our relationship?”

“Well, congratulations, in any case.” Huh… I guess he’s not so bad. But then, he’s related to Diamond Tiara, so of course he isn’t. “So, what is it about my cousin that you like exactly?”

What is it about her that I like? Pfft! It’d be easier to make a list of the things I don’t like. “Well… she was really brave when she stood up for me against some bullies from Manehatten.”

“She did that? Heh. Guess she takes after auntie there.”

“And she was so kind and caring when she checked to see if I was okay. And as I spent more time with her, I found all these other qualities to her that just made me for in love with her ev… en… more…” O-Oh my goodness. What am I saying to this total stranger?!

“That’s good!” he says, pointing his brush towards me. “Red and yellow together make orange!”

He laughs at his lame joke, and I’m sure my face has just gone even redder than it already was. “A-Anyway… Di’s the most awesome filly in the entire school! She’s cool, she’s witty, she’s resourceful, she’s graceful, she’s brave, she’s talented, she’s-”

“Okay, okay. I think I get the picture.” He gets back to his painting, and we’re silent again for another few seconds. “She seems to have many of uncle’s qualities. Which I guess is good, considering she’s always talking about taking over the family business.”

Oh yeah. Diamond’s brought that up many times before. I guess that’s why she’s so competitive about this whole apple juice and orange juice thing. To her, it must be like practice for the real thing. Like how I get competitive in Gym class and training events, even when there’s really nothing on the line.

… “Uh-oh.” A familiar feeling just passed through my body. “Uh… C-Can I be excused to use the bathroom?”

“Hmmm… Not bad, Alula. Not bad.” She not only managed to stay still for the painting, but she also took the liberty of completing the poster herself, and actually did a decent job of it. I see she can be useful when she wants to be. And she’s not the worst looking filly in the world. “I think I might consider making you our model again in the future.”

“Really?!” Well, she seems happy about that, which means she’ll also come cheap. “Yes! I’ll do my best for you, Di!”

“Don’t call me Di.” … Ugh. It’s happened so many times now, I’ve sort of lost interest in scolding her for it. “Look, just… get this to the post office and have them make one hundred copies. Here’s the money you’ll need.”

“Yes ma’am!” Alula runs out the door, almost crashing into Silver Spoon on her way out as she walks in. I’m not even going to bother telling her not to run in my house this time. It’d just be wasted breath, and at least she isn’t strangling me to death. “So, how’d it go? Did we get one thousand oranges?”

Silver shakes her head. “Uh, not quite…”

“So… five hundred?” She shakes her head again. “… Two hundred?”

“We got fifty.” … Fifty? Just fifty?! “At a discounted rate. I had him start up a tab for us. If we want more, we’ll have to use some of the profits from our sales to buy them later.”

“Darn it! That’s what I was hoping to avoid! More time making supply runs means less time making business!”

“Sorry cuz,” my stupid cousin says, “But that’s how it is sometimes in the business world. Things don’t always run so smoothly.”

“Hmph! You’re already done with that painting, why are you still here?!”

As I feared he would, he raises his hoof and lands it on my head, roughing up my mane and embarrassing my in front of Silver Spoon! “Is it wrong of me to wanna spend some time with my favourite little cousin?”

“I’m your only little cousin!” I argue, batting his hoof away and rushing over to my vanity. Ugh, my mane is atrocious! How dare he make a fool out of me like that?!

“So, you and Alula…” … Yes? Me and Alula what? And why are you laughing like that? Weirdo. “How long has that been going on?”

‘That’? What, us hanging out together? Or rather, her not leaving me and Silver alone for even one minute of peace and quiet?

“About a year now,” Silver Spoon says.

“Aah, just like she said! You guys have been together for a year now, huh?” Uh, yeah… I guess it was a year ago that Alula started to hang- bother, the three of us. “And how do you feel about her?”

How do I feel? What kind of stupid question is that? “She’s slow, she spaces out all the time, and she doesn’t do well in tests.”

“Is that all? No good points?” Why is he even asking me this stuff?

“… Well, I guess she’s good at running errands.” Going to have to take this off for now.

“Anything else?”

“… I guess, she’s also good at sporting events and stuff…” Well, okay, so she has more good points than that. She’s also good at video games, and baking, and knitting and drawing and… Well, she’s basically not so bad for an ordinary filly. If she wasn’t so hyper and clingy all the time, she’d make a pretty good frie- …

“Something wrong?”

Huh? D-Did he say something? “Um, no. Nothing’s wrong.” Okay, mane looks good enough. Put my tiara back on… There. “Uh, I-I’m going to go set things up. Silver Spoon, you come with me, and help me carry all this salt!”

“Huh? Uh, sure…”

Silver Spoon and I, along with some colts from school I asked to help us earlier, begin to lug the bags of salt outside, where a wagon is waiting for us with that Apple Balloon’s dopey brother ready to pull it. Hiring the enemy’s family to help out is a sure way to lower morale on their side.

I don’t know what my cousin was thinking, asking me questions like that, or why it made me think of Alula like she was actually a close f… friend, but I can’t spend time worrying about that now! I have a job to take care of: showing up that stupid farmer with the obnoxiously large ribbon by beating her at her own game!

It’s been a long day. The hours seems to just fly past, and already it’s is early-evening. Time for us to split up and return to our homes for dinner, which I’m really looking forward to, since Diamond only gave me one break today. She can be kind of a tough manager. But then, that’s just another reason why I love her so much.

I finish tallying up our final profits, after deducting the cost of all the oranges and the additional help we had to fire throughout the day, as per Diamond’s instructions. “Wow! Look how much money we made!”

“Uh, actually…” Silver Spoon reaches a hoof over my calculator and hits the ‘equals’ button.

“Oh… Still, that’s quite a lot, right?”

“I guess, for a commoner like you.” … So I don’t have as much money as you do. You don’t have to rub it in my face!

“Well, to a commoner that’s like, a fortune. I’m sure Alula’s enjoying herself right now, and we should let her.” Aah, Diamond Tiara, you’re so cool when you speak in that rich, upper-class tone of yours! “And now for the moment of truth.”

“You think we beat them?” I ask as I look over at Apple Bloom’s stand. She and Twist are starting to pack up, too.

“Well, of course we did!” Diamond Tiara says. “The question is by how much. The gap determines how much we can rub it in her face.”

Is that really necessary? “Is that how businesses work? Outdo somepony and then rub your success in the loser’s face?”

“Pretty much, except you usually buy big buildings with fancy furntiture, instead of directly taunting your opponent. But since we don’t have access to that, this will have to do.” Well, Diamond’s the manager. She knows more about this sort of stuff than I do.

“Hey! Apple Balloon!” Diamond Tiara calls out as she walks over to our two rivals. Neither of them seem happy to see us, which I guess means they didn’t do so well. Or maybe it’s just that same old rivalry between Apple Bloom and Diamond acting up again. “So, how’d you do? Not well, I’d imagine.”

“It’d be surprising if we did,” Twist says. She sounds kind of annoyed. “Since you were driving away our customers and drawing them towards your own stand.”

Oh yeah, Diamond was busy all day making sure that their drinks didn’t sell so well. What was the word she used. ‘Espee… ownage’? Whatever it was, it was apparently one of the keys to a successful business that she learned from her uncle, Crooked Wealth.

“Hey, all fair’s in love and war. You could’ve tried the same, you know?” A fair point. I wonder why they didn’t? “Don’t dodge the question. How did you do?”

“… We made one hundred an’ twen’y bits,” Apple Bloom answers. Wow, that’s quite a lot.

“Congratulations,” I say with a quick applause.

“Alula! Don’t congratulate the enemy!”

Oops! Forget about that for a second. “Uh, sorry ‘bout that.”

Diamond Tiara turns back to Apple Bloom and sticks her nose in the air. As she does so, I notice a flash of light behind her. Or rather, from her… behind.

“Well, I’ll bet you’re just dying to know how the three of us did.”

“Not really.” Wait. That’s…

“Fine, then I’ll tell you!” On Diamond’s flank, it’s… “We turned a profit of two hundred and seventy five bits! That’s more than double what you two got, by the way.”

“We don’ care. We have enough for the new Megamare game now. That’s all we wanted.”

“Hmph! It must feel so bad to be beaten so thoroughly, but don’t let it get you down too much.”

“Diamond-”

“After all, I’m a pro. This is something I’ve been training for since I was still in diapers.”

“Diamond-”

“Like ah said, we don’ care!” Apple Bloom shouts. “We just wanted tah raise a lil’ money fer a videogame! We don’ care if you made more than us! The only way we’d feel bad is if y’all got yet Cutie Mark for this an’ we didn’t!”

“Actually…” Finally, everypony acknowledges what I’m trying to say. I point to Diamond’s flank, making sure to avert my eyes, of course. I don’t want Diamond to think I’m some creep who stares at her flank longer than necessary.

“A-Ah don’ believe it,” Apple Bloom says.

“This can’t be happening,” Twist adds.

“Diamond,” Silver Spoon starts, “It’s…”

Diamond’s eyes are wide as she looks over her shoulder, staring at her once-blank flank, now adorned with the most beautiful, most awesome Cutie Mark ever. It is… a diamond tiara. Huh. What’re the odds of that happening?

“I… I did it…” she says quietly. A huge smile breaks out on her face, and she jumps over to me and wraps me in a tight hug. “I DID IT!” This is… pretty painful. Sheesh, I know you’re excited, Diamond, but could you maybe show a little restraint? … Not that I mind too much, of course. A hug’s a hug, after all.

She releases me and runs over to hug Silver Spoon. “My Cutie Mark! I got my Cutie Mark!”

“I’m happy for you, Diamond!” Silver Spoon says.

“Me too!” I add quickly. “This is great! Now we can throw you a huge party and-”

“That’s right!” Diamond shouts as she releases Silver Spoon. “A party! I need to go home right now and show daddy, so he can start to put together the most amazing cute ceañera this town has ever seen!”

Before either me or Silver Spoon can say anything, Diamond runs off down the street, cheering loudly about the fact that she now has her Cutie Mark.

“N-No way,” Apple Bloom says, falling to her haunches along with Twist. “That’s just great! The last thing her ego needed was a boost like that!”

“Our lives are ruined!” Twist shouts in the loudest voice I’ve ever heard her use, her forelegs up in the air in a dramatic fashion.

I turn my attention to Silver Spoon, who is giving the two odd looks. “Uh… s-should we go after Di?”

Silver Spoon turns to face me, and puts a hoof to her chin. “Hmmm… Actually, I have a better idea,” she says with a grin on her face. A grin I know all too well by now… It means that she’s planning something evil. “How about we go buy her something to congratulate her?”

“… Huh? Won’t we have time to do that later?”

Silver Spoon sighs and shakes her head. “Oh, Alula… Don’t you get it? If you give Diamond Tiara your present at the same time as everypony else’s, then it won’t stand out all on its own. And then, it won’t feel that special.”

… Gasp! She’s right! This is my chance to get something really great for Diamond, and show her just how much I really love her! But the timing is crucial! I have to give it to her before the cute ceañera!

“Well, you’re lucky I’m so generous. I’ll loan you some bits and show you to this great shop, filled with things that she’d just love.”

… W-Wow. Silver Spoon, that’s… I don’t know what to say. All this time, I just pegged you as my rival for winning Diamond’s affections. But, I guess you’re not as bad as I thought after al-

“You’ll owe me three more favours, of course.”

YOU’RE PURE EVIL!

Chapter 6

View Online

… Oooh, Diamond Tiara… You’re so cute when you blush like that. What? Kiss? Right here? Oh my, you’ve gotten bold all of a sudden. Not that I mind, but shouldn’t we at least wait until after class? Well, if you insis-

“Alula!”

Whu? M-Mum?! Go away! I’m about to kiss-

“Alula! Time to get up!”

Get up? What are you talking abou-

… Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me. It was all just a dream?! Well, that’s certainly a disappointment. And I didn’t even get to the good part, either!

“What time is it?” I ask with a yawn.

“Good morning to you too, sleepyhead,” my mother says back. “It’s time for you get a move on, before you’re late for school.”

“… Can’t I just skip school today?” I already know the answer, but I really don’t want to get out of bed right now.

“Come on, Alula!” The sheets are yanked off of me, and my wings stick out as my body feels the sudden change in temperature. Stupid mum! She knows I’m at the age where it’s hard to control my wings. It’s gonna take forever to get them to fold back up again! “Well, I suppose I could let you skip school…”

… Wait, did I hear that right? Is she being serious right now? There’s no way that can be for real, right?

“But only if you’re sick, in which case you’ll also have to miss Diamond Tiara’s cute ceañera this weekend, too.”

“I’m up!” That’s right, I almost forgot! Diamond Tiara’s having a party tomorrow to celebrate getting her Cutie Mark! I already gave her a present. A silver heart-shaped locket with a feather pattern engraved on the front. On the inside is a picture of the three of us together. I couldn’t find any pictures of just us two, but it will do… for now.

Anyway, I may have already given her a present, but I’m still invited to the party, and it’s going to be so much fun! There’ll be cake, and punch, and games, and other foals from school will be there!

“Now then, hurry up and eat your breakfast, and then brush your teeth, before you’re late to yet another class.”

“I’m not late that often,” I say as I climb out of my bed, almost collapsing onto the floor because of my tiredness.

“Miss Cheerilee begs to differ. Now go on. Move faster, young filly.”

“I’m moving as fast as I can…” I say with another yawn, slowly making my way over to the door at the door at the other side of the room. “Ugh. I bet Di doesn’t have to put up with this in the morning.”

Mm… Daddy packed my favourite lunch today… No Alula, I can feed myself. Silver Spoon, stop encouraging her… I know the answer, Miss Cheerilee! Nine times nine is… ninety-nine. That’s right, worship me all you lower-class…

RINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRING

Wha? My alarm clock? … Oh, I see. It was a dream. It’s morning… Morning! “Oh my gosh! I have to get ready!”

Tomorrow is a special day for me! That’s why for once I’m in a hurry to get ready for school today, so that tomorrow can come faster.

First, a quick shower to wash off the sweat from last night’s sleep. Think I’ll wash my hair with the orange-scented shampoo today, since it was thanks to oranges that I’m in such a great mood right now.

Now that that’s done, brush my mane in front of the mirror. Spray some perfume, to counter-balance the smell of that dusty old classroom. Place my tiara on my head. Hmmm… Should I wear my new dress to school? No, probably shouldn’t. I have to sit next to that hick Apple Bloom, and she’d just make it all dirty.

Hm? My drawer is open? I open it up and look inside. Oh, that’s right. Alula gave me this locket yesterday. A silver locket with a feather engraved on it. Inside is a photo of myself, Silver Spoon, and Alula. It doesn’t really suit me, so I just tossed it in here.

Anyway, I’m now ready! Now to go downstairs to have the breakfast daddy should have already set out for me by now. Aah, he has! And it’s my favourite, too: cinnamon waffles and eggs! It’s the first breakfast I had when my daddy decided I was old enough to start learning the ins and outs of running a business, so it became my favourite then.

“Aah, there’s my big girl!” Oh please, daddy. Don’t start talking like that again. It’s so embarrassing. “My little Princess is all grown up now. Why, it won’t be long until I can pass on the deed to Barnyard Bargains to you without any worry!”

“Daddy, did you remember to book Sugarcube Corner for my party tomorrow?” I have to make sure. Daddy can be pretty forgetful sometimes.

“Yes, yes. I told you last night, it’s all taken care of.”

“And the dress?”

“Miss Rarity’s got it ready and waiting to be picked up.”

“The snacks?”

“The Cakes and their apprentice are working on it as we speak.”

“What about-”

“Diamond, honey, relax. I’ve told you, it’s all taken care of. Now, eat up, before your breakfast gets cold.”

Hmph. I just want to make sure that everything goes right on my special day. “This is going to be so great!” I raise my fork into the air and lower it towards my waffles. “What was your cute ceañera like?”

“Aah. Things weren’t the same back when I was your age.” Oh no. What have I done? He’s going to start talking about ‘the good old days’, and he won’t be able to stop any time soon! “You see, back when I was a colt, only fillies had cute ceañeras. Colts had to make do with a pat on the back and a “Well done son!” from their fathers.”

“Really? No party? No cakes? No presents?” Daddy laughs, though I can’t understand why. That sounds pretty serious to me!

“Yes, yes, it was a dark time to be sure. Which is why I’m working extra hard to make sure my little- I’m sorry, my big girl gets an extra special party. One that she’ll enjoy and remember for the rest of her life! After all, your Cutie Mark only comes once.”

“And what a Cutie Mark it is!” I look over my shoulder to look at my awesome new Cutie Mark. “A Cutie Mark for being a manager. A leader! I bet you’re so proud of me!”

Daddy laughs again and pats my head with his hoof. “I couldn’t be any prouder. Though I’m sure you’ll sure a little restraint with showing your Cutie Mark around the class, right?” What? Why should I? “I’m given to understand that not everypony in your class has their Cutie Mark yet, and they might be upset if they think you’re trying to rub it in their faces.”

It’s not my fault those blank flanks haven’t discovered their talents yet! If they even have any talents, of course…

“Diamond Tiara…”

Sigh. I guess I’ve got no choice. “Fine, daddy. I’ll try not to show off my brand new awesome Cutie Mark too much.”

Daddy gets up and walks away to pack my lunch. Silly daddy, you never said what counts as too much. I can just direct all my bragging to only those two blank flanks, and it will be equal to only showing off a little bit to the entire class.

Oh yes. Today is certainly going to be fun.

Today’s lesson was oddly appropriate for the special event that’s happening today. I don’t know why Miss Cheerilee decided to teach us about Cutie Marks when most of us already have them. It’s not like it’s even a complicated subject in the first place.

In any case, I wonder what Diamond’s up to? Probably getting ready for the party happening tomorrow. Hm? Oh… Or maybe she’s making peace with Apple Bloom and Twist?

“Don’t worry you two. You’re still totally invited to my cute ceañera this weekend.” Yeah, see? They’re totally getting along now… Except, Diamond and Silver Spoon are now circling around them like sharks.

I wonder what the deal is between Diamond and Apple Bloom, anyway? Everypony knows they’ve been enemies for such a long time now, but nopony’s ever been brave enough to find out why.

“See you this weekend…”

“Blank flanks!”

… Well, whatever the reason is, I think it’d be best if I stayed out of it. Besides, I’ve got more important things to worry about. I start chasing after Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, passing by Apple Bloom and Twist on the way. “Hey Di!”

The two stop and turn to face me. “What do you want?” Diamond asks. “We’re a little busy planning for my cute ceañera tomorrow, Alula.”

“I thought so. So, anything I can do to help?” I’m ready to help out however I can, so that Diamond’s party tomorrow is the greatest ever!

“Alula, didn’t I tell you already? We’re having professionals take care of the party preparations. My new dress, the snacks, the decorations… All of it is being done by Ponyville’s finest and Pinkie Pie.”

Oh… “So, there’s nothing for me to do then?”

Diamond thinks about it for a second, and then smiles and walks over to me. She puts her foreleg around my neck… Her mane smells nice. “Well, maybe there’s some use we can find for you.”

“Anything!”

“Can you stop by the flower shop and pick me up some roses for the party? I’ll give you the money, of course.”

Flowers? That’s it? “You just want me to fetch some flowers?”

“Is that a ‘no’?” she asks in a disappointed voice with a sad face.

“Oh, no no no no no! Of course not! If that’s what you want me to do, then I’ll get you those flowers faster than Rainbow Dash!”

“Good! And make sure you give them plenty of water and look after them at your place until tomorrow. I’m counting on you.”

She gives me some money, and I take off down the road towards where the flower shop is. I won’t let you down, Diamond!

“Well, that was fun.” I don’t even care that the classes today were slower than usual. Showing off my new Cutie Mark to those two blank flanks just made it all better. Especially when I saw the look on Apple Bloom’s face. She was so jealous! It was really great! “So, what should we do now? Maybe stop by Carousal Boutique to see my new dress?”

“Sounds good to me,” Silver Spoon says.

“Hey Di!”

Oh no. Don’t tell me that’s- Yes, it is. Alula. “What do you want?” Please don’t say you want to tag along with us. You’ll make a mess of my dress! “We’re a little busy planning for my cute ceañera tomorrow, Alula.”

“I thought so. So, anything I can do to help?” She wants to help? But, this is my cute ceañera! Not some school outing! Everything has to be perfect, which means it has to be done right. Not by some filly who’s known for spacing out and making messes.

“So, there’s nothing for me to do then?”

Hmmm… Actually, I may just be able to use this to keep her busy for the rest of the day, actually. Providing she doesn’t… Nah, she’s too slow to see through my schemes. Putting on my best smile, I walk over to Alula and wrap a foreleg around her neck… D-Did she just smell my mane? I know it smells good, but- No, pay it no mind!

“Well, maybe there’s some use we can find for you.”

“Anything!”

“Can you stop by the flower shop and pick me up some roses for the party? I’ll give you the money, of course.”

She looks disappointed with my request. “You just want me to fetch some flowers?”

“Is that a ‘no’?” I ask, starting to feel a little annoyed. Oops. I hope that didn’t show in my voice.

“Oh, no no no no no! Of course not! If that’s what you want me to do, then I’ll get you those flowers faster than Rainbow Dash!”

“Good!” She bought it. “And make sure you give them plenty of water and look after them at your place until tomorrow. I’m counting on you.”

I give her some money, and she takes off down the road. Beside me, I hear Silver Spoon giggling. “What?”

“Nothing. Just found it amusing how you went to such lengths to keep her away without hurting her feelings.”

“I…” I did that? I just didn’t want her bothering us all day. Her feelings never even crossed my mind. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You sure? Then why don’t we catch up to her and just tell her straight-out that she’s a nuisance? You can still get your money back before it’s too late.”

“… It’s only a few bits. Not really worth working up a sweat to catch up to that athletic nut.”

Silver Spoon giggles again, and I silence her with a quick, authoritative glare. “Or perhaps I’ll give her your position as my best friend forever?”

“Would you, though?” she asks, that evil grin of hers forming on her face. “Well, go ahead, if you want to be crushed to death by her new and improved BBF hugs of doom.”

… She raises a good point. “Oh, whatever. Come on, let’s go pick up my new dress already.”

“Right behind you, boss!” ‘Boss’… Heh. Now that’s a nickname I could get used to.

Well, that could have gone… a little better. I should have noticed sooner… Diamond Tiara stopped having fun at some point, and suddenly disappeared from the party. I asked around, and found out that she had gone upstairs with Silver Spoon.

After going upstairs to check on her, I find Silver Spoon standing guard over one of the bedrooms. “Oh, you decided to show up finally?” she asks as I walk closer. “What’s the matter? Did the party end?”

“Not yet,” I answer, coming to a stop in front of Silver spoon. “Is Di in there?”

“What do you care?” … D-Did Silver Spoon just… Was that anger in her voice? I’ve seen her get jealous before, and even bitter, but never angry… “Why did it take you so long to realise she was upset? You’re supposed to be her friend, aren’t you?”

“I-I’m sorry,” I say quickly. “I didn’t think she’d be that bothered by what Apple Bloom and the others said, and-”

“You think that’s what has her so upset? It’s not the blank flanks, Alula. This party was something special to Diamond Tiara.” Special? I guess a cute ceañera is a special occasion. “This is something she’s been looking forward to ever since her first ever lessons on what a Cutie Mark is. To her, it’s like… you, being selected to perform at the Equestrian Games.”

… Oh. “I-It’s that important to her?”

“Yes. She wanted this day to be perfect. For everypony to celebrate her, and pay attention to her.” Silver Spoon steps closer to me. “And now she’s all depressed, and won’t even come out of that room until everypony leaves.”

“Then, why are you just standing here? We should go talk to her!”

“I was waiting for you.” Y-You were? “You’re right. We should go talk to her. Together.” Her face softens up a little bit, and she smiles. “After all, we’re all friends, all three of us. This is when, more than ever, we need to stick together.”

“… Y-You’re right.” She steps aside. “Heh. You’re right as usual. Sheesh, you should be in one of those smart schools up in Canterlot or something.”

“And leave my BFF with somepony who doesn’t even know a teaspoon from a salt spoon?”

What’s a salt spoon? No, no time for that! “Right, well then… just leave this to me. This is where I shine.”

“Not as Princess Erroria.” … Fiiiiine. I put my fake horn away, and open the door slowly. Inside, I see Diamond sat on the bed, her back to me and her head hung low.

“…” I walk inside slowly, and Silver Spoon follows me. “Di?” No answer. “Di, are you okay?”

“… What’s up? Is the party over?”

Oh, good. She said something. That brings at least a little relief. “Not yet. I just couldn’t have any fun. You weren’t there, after all.”

“… Just leave me alone.” Dear Celestia, she sounds terrible! Silver Spoon and I walk closer. “Please-” She stops talking as I wrap my hooves around her, gently. Silver Spoon approaches her side and also embraces her, adding a little nuzzle to her cheek too.

“You don’t have to go back to the party,” I tell her. I feel her hoof connecting with mine. “We’ll stay here with you and have our own party, if you like.”

“We’ll be here for you, Diamond,” Silver Spoon adds.

“… Thanks…” she whispers softly. A moment of silence passes, and she manages a weak chuckle. “You two are so getting promoted after tonight is over.”

I smile, and both Silver Spoon and I join her in laughing together.

So things may not have gone exactly the way she planned, but hopefully, this will still be a memorable night for her. Because the three of us are here and laughing together. Maybe it’s not exactly what Diamond wants from this party, but it’s all I can give her. And I’ll give whatever I can to make her smile.

Because I love you, Diamond Tiara. I love you, so please don’t let me see you be upset ever again.

“Welcome home,” daddy says as I walk through the front door. “Did everything… go alright?”

No. It was a disaster. Nopony paid attention to me. Those three blank flanks totally stole my thunder. Everypony was talking to them. And that stupid colt took the first bite out of my cake!

“It was alright…”

“Are you sure? You look a little-”

“I’m just tired daddy.” I rub my eye and let out a fake yawn. “We partied pretty hard. I think I’m just going to go straight to bed.”

“… Well, if you say so.” I walk past my daddy and begin to walk up the stairs. “Diamond Tiara?”

“What?”

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

… I know, daddy. But just… not right now. “I’m just tired, really.”

“Just as long as you know. Sleep tight, my little Princess.”

“Goodnight, daddy.”

I walk up the stairs and enter my room. I don’t feel like brushing my teeth tonight. I’m just going to hop straight into bed. First, remove my tiara, and- Hm? My drawer is open… Alula’s locket is hanging out.

Alula…

…

I take the locket out of the drawer, and place it with my other lockets and necklaces in my jewellery box. A silver locket with a feather engraved on it… and a picture of all three of us inside.

… Huh. Suddenly, the fact that everypony else ignored me at my own party doesn’t bother me that much. I guess I really am tired.

I turn around walk over to my bed. I let out a loud yawn, and then climb in.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Those were their names, right? Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Those three blank flanks… I won’t be forgetting their names any time soon. Watch out, you three. You’ve made a powerful enemy today, and I will have my revenge. Nopony messes with Diamond Tiar-

…

AAAAHHHH! A SPIDER! “DADDYYYYYYY!”

Chapter 7

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Life is good when you’re the daughter of the richest family in Ponyville. You get all the toys you want, all the finest foods, tons of respect from all your classmates, and of course, special VIP access to your aunt Cash Flow’s newly-opened, second biggest water park in all of Equestria.

Whilst that blank flank and her friends are back home, surely bored out of their skulls and dying in the summer heat, Silver Spoon and I are living like Princesses by the poolside, with our own personal servants to bring us whatever we ask for.

“WHEEEEEEEEE!”

SPLASH!

And there’s even stuff here to keep Alula pleasantly distracted. Yep, life is good. Of course, I’d much rather be at the Grand Galloping Gala with daddy right now, meeting important ponies like Fancypants, Spitfire, and Princess Celestia. But because of that stupid age rule they have, I’ve got to stay behind.

“Sebastian!” I call to the stallion at the bar.

“My name is Charles, ma’am.”

“Whatever. Get me another iced tea, and some more snack, while you’re at it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says with a sigh. What’s his problem? He gets paid to serve the most amazing filly in all of Equestria, what’s so bad about that?

“Hello girls!” Oh no. That loud, cheery voice can only belong to two ponies. And since Pinkie Pie isn’t here… “How are the two of you doing? Having fun, I hope!”

“It’s great!” Silver Spoon says as she lifts up her shades and sits up. “Thank you for inviting us, Mrs. Flow.”

“Oh please, don’t mention it!” She walks up towards me, faster than I can run away. I still try, but only end up helping her by sitting up straight by the time she reaches me. “When I heard that my niece was upset about not being able to attend the Grand Galloping Gala, I just knew a visit to my new water park was the perfect way to cheer her up!”

She grabs my cheeks with her hooves and starts to pull them apart. “OWOWOWOW! STAH EE!” No matter how much I kick my hooves or order her to stop, she doesn’t. I don’t understand why aunt Flow has to act like this! I know I’m cute, but is there really a need to try to rip my skin off of my face?

“Your iced tea and snacks, Miss Tiara,” Sebastian says as he places a tray by my side, containing a nice cold glass of iced tea and a bowl of potato chips that. “Will that be all?”

Cash Flow releases my cheeks, and I nod as I rub them better. “Hah! Guess you really took the ‘make yourselves at home’ line to heart!” Cash Flow says as she steals one of my potato chips! How dare you?!

“How long did it take you to build this place?” Silver Spoon asks as she reaches over my body and also takes a potato chip! Stop it!

“Oh, I came up with the plans to this park a long, long time ago,” Cash Flow says as she takes yet another chip! “Finally got the money together to start construction three years ago, but we hit a rockslide when two of our investors, Flem and Flump or something like that, suddenly backed out. Said something about a revolutionary cider-making machine that would make them millionaires overnight…”

“What did you do then?” Silver Spoon takes two chips this time!

“It wasn’t easy, but I wasn’t about to let my little brother Filthy show me up! I searched high and low across Equestria, and finally found somepony who was interested in my idea.” Despite my best attempts to guard them, Cash Flow still manages to take three potato chips. “By the way, where’s your friend? The one who was bouncing around when you kids got here?”

Does she even need to ask? Alula’s making such a scene right now, running around everywhere and cheering like she had just got her Cutie Mark. I point past my aunt, and she turns around just in time to see Alula trip and land on face. “… This park has a medical facility, right?”

Alula gets up and stumbles around a bit, before shaking her head and looking over at us. Which makes everypony watching her look at us, too. She waves a hoof in the air and hovers for a few seconds. “I’m okay!” she shouts, before turning around and running again.

“Don’t-” … It’s not like she’ll hear me anyway. And it’s not like it really matters to me if she trips and hurts herself again.

“You’re friend certainly seems to be having fun,” Cash Flow says with a giggle. “Why don’t the two of you go and join her? Lounging around can be nice, but I really want to know what you girls think of my attractions.”

“Yeah!” WAH! W-Where’d Alula come from all of a sudden?! “C’mon, let’s go try out that big raft slide!” Stop pulling my leg, Alula!

“Alright, alright! I’m coming already!” Honestly. I just wanted a nice relaxing day by the pool with my best friend Silver Spoon. Now I’m being dragged around by this airhead and forced to get my mane wet. Oh, almost forgot. I take off my tiara and hand it over to my aunt. “Keep this safe for me.”

“Sure, sure,” she says as she and Alula both take the last of my chips. I didn’t even get to have one! “You three go and enjoy yourselves now!”

“We will!” Alula says for all three of us as she pulls me to my hooves. She then runs on ahead of us, and soon stops to wave over to us. “C’mon, slowpokes!”

“She’s got a lot of energy, that’s for sure,” Silver Spoon says as she walks past me. I start to follow her, soon walking alongside her.

“She’s just loud, and embarrassing.”

“Still, at least now we can properly try out our new swimsuits.” Well, I suppose that’s true. Daddy had these new swimsuits made for us when Cash Flow invited us to this park. They are one-piece swimsuits with frills, they match our coat colours, and they have our Cutie Marks on the front. He even went through the trouble of having one made for Alula.

“But I hate swimming in public pools. There are so many other ponies all over the place, splashing water and bumping into you…”

“I know,” Silver Spoon says in agreement. “But we might as well make the most of our day here.”

“C’mon, you two!” What is up with Alula, anyway? Why is she in such a hurry to do everything? We have the whole day here, after all. “C’mon, c’mon! You two are so slow!” Seriously, just calm down already! You’re just running so fast that you’ll probably hurt yourself!

Finally, it’s our turn to go next! We’ve been waiting in line for a while now, but I’m sure it’ll all be worth it. This park is awesome! Diamond’s aunt is awesome! And this ride, just like everything else, looks like it’ll be awe-some!

“It’s cold up here,” Diamond says in her whiney voice. “And why does the line move so slow?”

“Don’t worry,” I say as I give her a quick hug. “It’ll all be worth it, trust me!”

“I doubt that.”

THIS. IS. AWESOME!

Oh my gosh, we’re going so fast! We’re spinning all over the place in this raft! There’s water spraying everywhere and splashing us as we turn! Oh wow! There’s such a nice view from up here! What’s this tingly feeling down my back? Whatever, this slide is just so great, I don’t want it to end!

“See? It was fun, wasn’t it?” I ask Diamond as we swim out of the small pool at the bottom of the slide. Silver Spoon takes the raft to the belt thingy that takes them back up to the top.

“… It was okay, I guess,” Diamond says as she turns her head away. That’s strange… I’m sure I saw her smiling and heard her cheering as we went down that slide. I guess I could have just imagined it…

Nah. I’ve never been one to see things that aren’t there. I know what I saw, and I’m sure Diamond’s just trying to be cool as always. Right, of course. She can’t be seen enjoying something as childish as this. She has an image to maintain! Aaaah, Diamond Tiara is simply the best…

“Well, that was certainly more enjoyable than I would have thought.” Meanwhile, Silver Spoon tries to act cool but just fails. Wait a minute…

“Ah! Silver, where are your glasses?! You didn’t lose them on the slide, did you?!”

… T-They’re both giving me that same look they always give me whenever I can’t keep up with their conversations and have to ask them to explain things to me. I don’t like it…

“I gave them to Mrs. Flow when we got here, remember?” … She did? “Haven’t you noticed that I haven’t been wearing them this whole time?” I’ve actually been paying more attention to the park, and Diamond Tiara. Who looks amazing with a wet mane, by the way.

“So, they’re not lost then?” They both shake their heads. “And you can see just fine?”

“Yeah. Well, not long distance, but I’ll be okay as long as you two stay with me.” Huh… I guess she really trusts the both of us a lot. “So, like, what’s this ‘wave pool’ thing that stallion over there mentioned?”

“You’ve never been in a wave pool before?” Both Diamond and Silver Spoon shake their heads, and my ears perk up. “You’ve gotta try it! It’s so cool! Here, it’s this way!”

This is not as fun as the raft slide was! There are too many ponies here, splashing water and just getting in my way! The waves are too strong, and my legs are starting to feel heavy! Water keeps getting in my eyes, I keep losing track of Silver Spoon and Alula, and-

I-Is that a plaster in the water?! Ewww! That’s it, I’m out of here! I’ve just got to turn around and swim back… T-That looks like a long way to swim. Did I really swim that far into the pool? There’s no way my legs will get me all the way back there. They already feel like they’re gonna drop off at any moment!

“Silver Spoon! Where are you?!” Ugh, I can’t find her anywhere! “Silver Spoooooon!” … “A-Alula?!” She’s not here either. UGH! No choice then. I’m just going to have to… go back on my own… and hope that I don’t drown…

Something tells me that Diamond didn’t enjoy that as much as the slide. We got separated at some point, and when I looked around for her, I found her swimming back to shore on her own. When Silver Spoon said that she’d had enough, we both swam back (well, I practically had to carry her) to meet back up with Diamond.

She seemed to have gone back to lounging by the poolside and eating ice-cream. And she looked and sounded a little irritated.

“So, uh… wanna go do something else now?” I ask in the hopes that I’m just being paranoid.

Diamond Tiara looks at me with that ‘I’m annoyed, so don’t talk to me!’ look that she usually reserves for days that Miss Cheerilee makes her stay behind for make-up classes. “I almost drowned just now, and you want us to go back and do something else?”

“Well, I mean, sure the wave pool was probably a stupid idea…” I should have remembered these two were among the last to earn their swimming certificates at school. “But you like the raft slide, right?”

“… It was okay.” Diamond finishes off her ice-cream and then lies back down again. “Well, if you can find something that doesn’t require standing in line for, like, hours, or anything that will make me feel like I’m drowning, then I’ll think about it.”

… A-ha! That’s it! “I’ve got it! How about we try out the rapids?”

“The what now?” Silver Spoon asks.

“The rapids! It’s like this fast-current water that drifts you along, and it’s totally relaxing! No ponies splashing about, no struggling to stay floating, and no long queues!” She… doesn’t seem too enthusiastic about it. “Uh… No?”

Diamond sighs and sits up. “Fine. We’ll give that a try.” Yes! “But first…” She picks up a bottle of suntan lotion and passes it to me. “I have no intention of getting my lovely coat all sunburned. Put some lotion on my back, and then we’ll go.”

… D-Diamond Tiara… is asking me to…

“Alula?” She yelps and jumps off of her sun chair. “Your nose is bleeding! Are you okay?!”

“W-Wha?” I lift a hoof to check, and… Oh my gosh! “Ah! I-I’m sure it’s nothing! H-Have you got any tissues?!”

“Here,” Silver Spoon says as she hands me a packet of tissues. “You take care of that, and I’ll take care of this.” She takes the bottle from me and… laughs evilly as she leads Diamond back to her sun chair.

That little… How dare she take this away from me! Diamond asked me to help her, not you!

…

Well, at least she gave me this packet of tissues. She sure was quick on that, though. Almost like she knew this was going to happen… I wonder why it did, though? I don’t have any allergies, and I don’t recall landing on my face too hard earlier today.

Whatever the case, I should probably just get this cleaned up. Don’t wanna make Diamond worry over me too much, after all.

“What is up with that filly?!” Seriously, who just gets a random nosebleed like that out of nowhere. “This is why I said that she shouldn’t run around the pool, but did she listen? No!”

“You worried?” Silver asks in that sly tone of hers.

“Of course not.” That was a lot of blood, though. “I just think it’s inconsiderate of her, that’s all. And after I decided to indulge her and give these ‘rapids’ a chance.” Well, if I had said no she would probably be sulking the rest of the day… around us.

“Oh my. I think she just passed out.” SHE WHAT?! “… Oops, my mistake.” … “You sure looked pretty worried, though.”

… Silver Spoooooon! “Idiot!” I shout as push her away. She simply laughs and continues applying lotion onto my back. “That’s not funny, and you know it!”

“Just admit it. You care about her, don’t you?” Shut up! I don’t ‘care’! I just don’t want her causing any more trouble than she already has done! “That’s why you went to the trouble of making sure she could hear you when you started bragging about being invited here. You wanted Alula to come along, too.”

“… What are you, a detective?”

“It’s all elementary, my dear Diamond.” Yeah, very funny. “Look, she’s been hanging around us for nearly two years now. Don’t you think it’s time you just admit that she’s your fri-”

“Hey guys! Sorry about that!” Silver Spoon moves away, now that she’s finished, and I quickly move to get to my hooves. “Did I miss anything?”

“Nothing at all!” I push Alula aside as I begin to lead the way. Not that I know the way, but I’d rather end this ridiculous conversation with Silver Spoon before it can get any more ridiculous. “Well? Are you two coming?”

Alula gives me a dumb look, and then follows after me. Silver Spoon… still has that grin on her face as she follows. I swear, sometimes that filly is too smart for her own good…

It seems to have worked. Diamond and Silver Spoon both seem happy, and are having a good time once again. They’re both talking to each other about… something to do with businesses that I don’t quite understand, and they’re both laughing occasionally, too.

Although, I thought the current would be a bit faster than this. And the water a bit deeper. I mean, I know it’s supposed to be for ponies to take a load off, but still… This just isn’t my thing, laying back and letting the flow drag me along. I want something more fun and exciting.

“Hey Alula,” Silver Spoon calls out to me. “The end’s coming up, but you don’t mind one more lap, do you?”

“No, of course not,” I answer with a smile. Well, I guess if it makes them (or rather, Diamond) happy, then I can put up with a little boredom. And hey, if I try really hard, I might just be able to jump into their conversation somehow.

… Or, maybe the conversation will change course to something I can fit into.

Well, I have to hand it to her… Alula was right about the rapids. And some of the other attractions. As long as I don’t have to go in the big pools filled with other ponies, or that stupid wave pool, the water park is pretty fun.

… Meanwhile, this train ride home is boring. Both Alula and Silver Spoon are fast asleep, so I can’t talk to either of them to pass the time. And I don’t feel sleepy yet.

What was all that nonsense that Silver Spoon was babbling on about, anyway? Alula, my friend? Acquaintance, sure. Ally, maybe. But friend? I mean… I guess, she was there for me at my cute ceañera, but that was a long time ago. Since then, she’s done so many things that just drive me crazy, and really get on my nerves.

Okay, so she apologises for each of those incidents. And she’s done some pretty cool stuff, too. Like baking us some treats for school… and helping us get out of Gym class… and, I guess her table manners have slowly been improving…

But she’s a commoner! Her mother makes an average salary, and her family title holds no value! Why would I be friends with somepony like that? What is there for me to gain from that? That’s why I first became friends with Silver Spoon, after all. Uncle said that she would make a powerful ally in the future.

… Of course, that’s not all I see in her now-a-days. Silver is smart, even if sometimes a little too smart, and she’s kind, and pretty, and such fun to hang out with, and… and I don’t even care if she has money or not anymore. She’s my best friend…

But with Alula, it’s like, different. It’s… I don’t know, I just…

GAH! Great, now I’m wide awake, and thinking confusing stuff that make my head hurt! Darn it, Silver Spoon! This is all your fault! Well, if I’m not getting any sleep, neither are you!

I raise my hooves and reach forward, so that they’re both hovering in front of Silver Spoon’s face. And then, I slam them together, waking Silver Spoon up and making her yelp in surprise. HA!

“Oh, good! You’re awake!” I say in an innocent voice as I quickly pull my hooves back and smile.

“Whuh? What time is it?”

“I’ll tell you what time it is!” I reach into my saddlebag and pull out a deck of cards. “Time to settle that tie we got into on the way… here?” She fell asleep on me again! The nerve of her! “SILVER SPOON! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!”

Hm? What’s that heavy feeling on my should- Alula?! That’s right, I forgot she was sitting next to me! Get off of me! … Darn it, she’s heavy! … Great. Just great. Wide awake, confusing thoughts, my cards scattered everywhere, and Alula is preventing me from moving. Can it get any worse?

I open my eyes and yawn as I wake from my dream. It was a good dream; I dreamt that Diamond and I were both resistance soldiers fighting against the evil tyrant Darth Silver. And then we kissed. A lot of my dreams end that way, that’s why I’m always so cheerful in the morning.

CLICK!

What’s that sound? Oh, it’s Silver Spoon taking a picture with her camera… A picture of what, exactly?

“Good morning,” she says. “I hope you had a good night’s sleep.”

“Good morning,” I say back. “And I sure did. Uh… why are you taking pictures?”

“Just thought you might want a souvenir.” She points her hoof to something beside me, and I turn my head to find… Diamond Tiara, lying on my shoulder, looking totally adorable with her peaceful look and her rough bed mane. “Pictures will be ready in a few days. Feel free to come by my house later if you want any.”

Silver Spoon, you beautiful filly you! If I didn’t want to avoid waking Diamond up, I would reach over and hug you!

“Five bits per picture.”

… Oh, right. I should have seen that coming. Still… this is a moment I’m going to cherish for my whole life.

Chapter 8

View Online

Today has just been so boring. Thanks to those stupid blank flanks, I’ve been grounded for the rest of the week. How was I supposed to know Sweetie Belle was so afraid of spiders it made her magic burst out of control? It’s her fault for being such a baby in the first place! And it’s not like I’m the one who made her a Unicorn.

Ever since I got back from the stupid field trip this morning, I’ve been stuck in my room with nothing to do. I decided to take try to sleep the day away, but despite having nothing to do and being so bored, I can’t seem to just fall asleep. Instead, I’m just lying here with my eyes closed, thinking of ways to get back those blank flanks for trapping me here like this. I’ll have to make sure to have Featherweight watch them for their weaknesses when I go to school tomorrow.

Ugh, great. Now the dog’s slobbering all over me… Wait, we don’t have a dog.

“Ruff!”

And that certainly doesn’t sound like a dog. “Who’s there?!” I shout as I quickly roll onto my front, pushing myself to my hooves. Standing before me is Big Macintosh, the blank flank’s older brother, and the most boring pony to hold a conversation with, ever.

“W-What are you doing in my room?! Daddy!” Big Macintosh rears back, and pounces towards me. I somehow manage to move out of the way in time. Wait… his coat seems a little off. Darker, and- Ah! Forget that, he’s still trying to attack me! And why is he hanging his tongue out like that? That’s just uncouth, even for him!

“DADDY!” I scream as I run out of my room, making sure to slam the door behind me. I hear a loud ‘oof!’ on the other side, and quickly run down the hallway. “DADDY!”

BAM!

Owww… W-Who’s that?! Who did I just run into? … Apple Bloom?! W-What is she doing in my house?! And… why is she wearing a phrench maid outfit?

“Oh! Apologies, Mistress! I heard you screaming, and came running as quickly as possible.”

… What. Is. Going. ON?! Standing before me is somepony who looks like Apple Bloom, minus the darker coat and hair colours, but the outfit she’s wearing, the ladylike tone of her voice, and the speaking normally?! Nuh-uh! This can’t be her!

“Is everything okay, Mistress? Is there anything I can do to-”

“Who are you?!” She gives me a confused look. I’m the confused one here!

“I’m Apple Bloom. Your personal servant? Here to serve and please you in whatever way you desire?”

… Okay, actually, I like the sound of that. A lot. But… I’m not stupid. This is clearly a trick. “Okay then, I’ll play along. Blank flank, kiss my hoof.” I reach my forehoof forward, and wait for the natural gag response to come.

“Yes, Mistress.” She… actually does it. She kneels down, grabs my hoof, and plants a gentle kiss on it. A light one, lasting no more than a single second. She then pulls back and stands back up. “Is that all, Mistress? I would like to prepare lunch for you now.”

“… Uh-” A bang on my bedroom door reminds me of what I was doing before I ran into the blank flank. “Ah! That’s right! Where’s my daddy?!”

“If it is Mr. Rich you are looking for, I believe I saw him in the pool about five minutes earlier.”

“The pool? Tha-” … D-Did I almost say ‘thanks’ to her? Blech! Get it together, Diamond Tiara. “Uh, new order: distract that uncouth brother of yours! Do whatever it takes to keep him away from me!”

She nods and gives a curt bow. “Yes, Mistress. How long should I-”

“Forever!” I shout as I run past her. I think she said something just now, but I don’t care. I just want to find daddy and find out what the hay is going on!

I run outside and head towards the pool. “Daddy! Big Macintosh is in our house and he assaulted me! And that blank flank is trying to infiltrate by pretending… she’s our… maid…” Last I remember, our pool was filled with water. Not money. And yet, for sure, the entire pool seems to have been emptied out and filled in with bank notes. From the looks of it, enough money to buy an entire city!

“Hey Diamond!” I look up at the top of the diving board to see daddy looking down at me, waving a hoof. “Check it out! I’m literally swimming money!”

He jumps off and dives into the money pool. He rises to the surface just moments afterwards, and starts to backstroke through all of the money.

“D-Daddy? What are you doing? Why are you swimming in our money?” No response. He’s ignoring me? His own daughter? “DADDY!”

“Oh, he’s just having a little fun!” a voice behind me says. I turn around, but there’s no one there. “There’s really no need to get so worked up! I’m just making my new home feel more… homely.”

I turn around again, and come face-to-face with a… a… “W-What are you?” I ask. I’m not scared. Really I’m not. I may not have a clue as to what is standing before me right now, although it does look familiar, somehow, but I’m most certainly not scared.

“Hm, how strange. I would have thought I’d made headlines by now,” he says as he… removes his own head… Okay, now I’m scared. “My name is Discord. Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, and your new King!”

“O-Our n-n-new King?” I take a few steps back, slowly. “W-W-What about the P-P-Princesses?”

“Oh, don’t worry. They’re not harmed. They’re just utterly powerless to stop me.” He puts his head back on and then teleports behind me. I shriek and turn around quickly, not wanting this… thing, to be out of my sight. “Isn’t that great?! Now we can enjoy chaos, eternal!”

He produces cotton candy from nowhere, and a stick grows out from it. I think he’s offering it to me, but I just shake my head. Why would I eat something offered to me by this… this…

“Oh well, suit yourself,” he says as he eats the stick, and then throws the cotton candy into the air. It floats there, like cloud. And then starts pouring out droplets of… chocolate milk?

“W-What do you w-w-want? If it’s m-money you’re after, my d-d-daddy has l-lots of it. Right, daddy?” … Daddy is still swimming, even at a time like this?!

“I told you,” the thing says to me, “I’m just here to add a few homely touches to my new world! Come now, Diamond Tiara! You should join the fun!” He reaches his claw forward towards me. There’s only on course of action I can think of!

“AAAAAHHHHH!” I have to get out of here! I have to find somepony who can help! Miss Cheerilee? She always says that she’ll be there for us if we’re in trouble, and daddy’s… not being the most help right now.

“Oh, they’re so cute when they try to run!” … Wait, I’m not actually moving. In fact, I’m not even on the ground anymore! I’m floating in the air! “This is your new home, Diamond Tiara! You might as well get into the spirit of things!” I feel something touch my head. Something sharp. His claw, maybe? “Embrace the chaos.”

… E-Everything’s… going… black…

… Daddy… Silver… Spoon… Alu… la…

…

I have no idea when it happened, or how it happened, but all of a sudden, Ponyville went crazy! And I don’t mean just the ponies in it. The buildings are floating, and upside-down, there are delicious cotton candy clouds in the sky pouring chocolate milk rain, which I didn’t have a problem with until I ate too much of it, and the ground has been replaced with a bunch of blue and light-blue squares!

The ponies in town are all out of their minds, too! Miss Cheerilee is going around bullying everypony by pushing them over and calling them names, Miss Raindrops was marrying a loaf of bread when I last saw her, and Miss Derpy was delivering mail on time, without crashing into anything!

I was going to go home to make sure mum was alright, but my house isn’t where it used to be! So now I’m just running around blindly, trying to find mum, and Diamond, and Silver Spoon. Hopefully, they’re all safe and sound.

“Something wrong, my dear?”

WAH! W-What the? “Wh-Wh-Who are you?”

“Oh, honestly. What is it with you fillies today? Does news not travel as fast as it did one thousand years ago or something?” The thing floating in front of me sighs, and then leans down towards me. “Well, whatever! My name is Discord, and I couldn’t help but notice how sad you looked just now, and thought I’d come down to cheer you up!” Some chocolate milk appears in his claw, and a glass forms around it, from top to bottom.

He hands me the chocolate milk. “Uh… thanks?” So, he’s just trying to help me? Huh, guess he’s not a bad guy after all, then. Must be a friend of Pinkie Pie’s. “Um, I’m looking for my friends, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The entire town’s gone crazy, and I’m really worried about them, and I-”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about them,” he says as he pulls out a golf club from… somewhere, and examines it. He makes the shaft shorter, so that it only fits in one of his hands.

“You mean they’re okay?”

“What I mean is that worrying over others will just dampen your day. Why waste time brooding over your so-called ‘friends’? It will simply prevent you from having any fun at all.”

Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are my friends, and what you just said is all wrong. I can’t have fun without knowing that they’re safe and alright. It’s only natural I’d worry about them in this situation, and I know they’re worried for me, too!”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Discord puts his claw around me and takes the chocolate milk he had just given me. He holds up his paw and a puppet that looks like Diamond Tiara appears on it. “Why, if I were in your horseshoes, I would totally just forget about Alula and save myself!” the puppet says in a gravelly, feminine voice whilst Discord drinks the chocolate milk.

I’m… not sure what’s going on here. “Uh…”

“Why, how awful!” Discord says in a shocked tone, though it’s obviously fake. “Well, I guess the ‘magic of friendship’ only goes so far.”

I shake my head. “That’s not true. I’m sure Di is just as worried for me as I am for her. And Silver Spoon, too.”

Discord places his claw on my head. “Oh, wake up and smell the daises, Alula! If you wanna make it in this world, you’ve got to embrace the chaos, and not waste time worrying about others.”

“… Sorry, but that just doesn’t make sense to me.” I bat his claw away and start to move past him. “If you’re not going to help me, then I’ll just search on my own.”

“… What’s this?” I hear him ask behind me. “First Fluttershy, now you? Huh, I must be losing my touch… Well, it seems we have company, so I guess I’ll just have to get back to you. But don’t say that I didn’t warn you, Alula!”

I continue to run through the streets as fast as I can. She has to be here somewhere, and I’m going to find her! “Diamond! Where are you?! Diamooooond!”

“What is it, Alula?” … I-Is that really her? Diamond Tiara, sitting in the middle of the road, her tiara on the ground, and frowning as she stares at me with empty eyes. Her coat and her hair are all much darker shades than what they usually are, too.

“Di, are you okay?” I ask as I approach her. She lowers her head and sighs.

“Who cares? Just leave me alone.”

“… Diamond?” I fall down to my haunches to look her in the eyes. “What’s wrong? What happened? You don’t sound like your usual self.”

“…”

“Di, please, tell me what happened. You’re starting to scare me.”

“Who cares? I sure don’t.” She lifts a hoof and shoves me back a bit, though there wasn’t much spirit put into it. “I don’t care about you, or Filthy Rich, or Silver Spoon, or anypony. We’re all going to die anyway, so what’s the point of hanging out, having fun, or making money?” She sighs again and slumps further down to the ground. “What’s the point of any of it?”

… W-What is happening? Diamond Tiara, the tough, cheerful, confident, and determined filly, who lives her life making sure that everypony knows her name and how great and talented she is, is now talking about how nothing she does in life matters? She’s talking about how her friends don’t mean a thing to her, and talking about her dad as if she doesn’t care about him?

“Diamond… don’t you remember all the fun we’ve had together? You, Silver Spoon, and I, hanging out at our houses together, going to the cinema, having picnics in the parks… How can you say that none of that means anything to you? That I don’t mean anything to you?”

She shoots me an angry glare. “Just go away. You’re annoying.”

She then looks back down at the ground, and I take a moment to let that comment pass by. She’s not herself. She’s just like everypony else in this town, and I’ve got to do something to save her. “Diamond…” No, I can’t cry… I can’t, because I have to be strong right now. I have to find a way to save her. I have to… “Diamond, I’m going to save you. So please… please, just give me some time…”

I hold up her chin with my hoof. She doesn’t put up any form of resistance. I move my face closer to hers. “I love you, Diamond Tiara, and I will save you. Please remember that.” I close my eyes and bring my lips closer to hers.

… What’s this warm feeling running through my body? What’s this blinding light surrounding me? What is… What is Apple Bloom doing, brushing my mane in the middle of the street? Wait, was I… Was I really just sitting here, complaining about how terrible life is, and how everything I have is all meaningless?

Why would I ever do such a thing?! My life is great! I’ve got the best friend in the whole world, I have my daddy, who gives me anything I ask for, and I have so much talent and natural charisma that ponies want to be just like me!

Alula… Huh? Why did Alula just pop into my head?

“Di? Are you… Are you back to normal?”

I turn around to find Alula standing behind me, her eyes wide and… tears, running down her face? “Alula? What… Why are you crying?”

“DIAMOND!” she screams and she jumps forward and tackles me to the ground. “Don’t scare me like that! I thought I had lost you! I thought I was never going to see or hear the real you ever again!”

What is she doing?! If she doesn’t ease up, she won’t hear from me ever again! “ALULA! GET OFF!” I kick her off of me, and she lets out a quiet laugh.

“Thank Celestia… Thank Celestia that you’re back to normal…”

… That’s right… “That’s right! That… That monster thing, he did something to me! And the next thing I remember, I was like a totally different pony! I think… I think he showed me what happens when you die… How nothing you’ve done in life matters, because when you die, there’s nothing after that… I-I couldn’t stand it. I thought: ‘Why bother trying so hard, if you don’t get to keep it all in the end?’, and then I-”

Alula tackles me again, only this time, it’s more of a gentle hug than an assault on my windpipes. “But, that’s exactly why it does matter. We have to treasure the time we spend together, and live each day to its fullest. I don’t care what the future holds; I just love spending each and every day with you. And Silver Spoon, too…”

… “Yeah… I know that,” I say as I push her away from me. “That stupid jerk, he made me forget who I am! I’m Diamond Tiara! I don’t just live for my sake, but for everypony else’s too! After all, everypony deserves the gift of my presence in their lives!”

Alula picks something up and offers it to me. It’s my tiara… “Here. You dropped this.”

“…” Thanks… I take the tiara, and put it on my head. Ah, I feel much better now! “Wait, what about Silver Spoon? Is she okay?”

“I don’t know,” Alula answers. “But we should go look for her. She might need our help, too.”

I nod in agreement. “Let’s go then. Every second is vital!”

The two of us start running down the streets. Around me are ponies doing all sorts of crazy and random things. Minuette, the dentist, is giving out free candy by just throwing it all over the place, Miss Fluttershy is dumping water on random ponies, and Snips and Snails are… studying, from the looks of it.

But there’s still no sign of Silver Spoon yet. And I doubt anypony will be of much help if we asked them. Silver Spoon, please be okay…

“Oh, come on!” A flash of light causes us to stop, and I quickly back up as I see Discord standing in front of me! “First that filly is immune to my powers, and then she reverses them?! This is just getting ridiculous, and that’s coming from me!”

“G-Get away from me, you monster!” I scream as I point a hoof at him. “Don’t you dare try whatever you did before on me again!”

“Wait, you mean he’s the one that made you like that?” Alula asks, to which I nod. “… You mean, he’s not a good guy?”

… Alula, really… What part of his appearance makes you think he’s a good guy?!

“Look, I don’t know how you managed to reverse my spell, but I’ll be honest, I’m in such a good mood right now that I’ll let it slide.” A large lollipop forms in his claw. “Well, now that the Elements of Harmony are useless against me, I can take all the time I need to let you two see the beauty of my chaos.”

… Silver Spoon… I have to get to Silver Spoon, fast, but this guy is in our way! “Move it, you big freak!” I shout, taking a few steps forward. “I said, move it!”

He laughs and wipes a tear from his eye. “Oh, how cute. What, you think you can do something, when even the Princesses themselves cannot?”

I stop just in front of him, and rise up onto my hind legs. “My daddy paid good money for my self-defence classes! Get out of here, or else!” He simply continues laughing. Well, I warned him. Daddy said that there was one spot of a stallion I must never hit, unless they try to do something weird to me. He might not be a stallion, but he definitely did something weird to me, so… Here goes nothing.

My eyes widen as I watch Diamond bravely standing up to the monster before us. My mouth hangs open as I hear her threaten him to move aside. I just don’t know how to react, when she swings a hind leg forward, bringing it between the monster’s legs and hitting him with such force that his eyes literally pop out of their sockets, before he screams and falls onto the floor, writhing in pain.

“AAAHHH! SON OF A BASILISK! HOLY MOTHER OF ME! WHY DO I EVEN HAVE THIS WEAKNESS?!”

“Come on!” Diamond shouts, breaking me out of my stupor. “We’ve got to go find Silver Spoon! Let’s move it!”

“Uh, right!” I chase after her, leaving the monster-thingy behind us, shouting words that would make my mum ground me for months if she heard me saying them. “Uh… That was… rather impressive…”

“Daddy says that colts will try to ‘make moves’ on me in the future, because of how cute I am, and that I should be able to defend myself!”

“‘Make moves’? What, like asking you out? You need to kick them for that?”

She shrugs. I guess she doesn’t understand it either, but I know that Diamond always trusts her dad’s word, no matter what. “Wait, I think I see…” Diamond picks up her speed, as do I. “YES! It’s her! It’s Silver Spoon!”

I look ahead of her, and indeed, Silver Spoon is standing on a hilltop, not too far from us. She’s sitting on a large pile of gems, reading a book, and using Scootaloo as a hoofrest, whilst Sweetie Belle massages her back. The most noticeable thing though, is that her colours are a darker shade than normal. Which means…

“We’re too late,” Diamond says as we stop just short of Silver Spoon, who seems to take notice of us and looks at us with a bored look on her face.

“Oh, you two. What are you doing here?”

“Silver Spoon… are you okay?” Diamond asks.

“Of course I am,” Silver Spoon responds, though not in a friendly manner. “In fact, I’m better than ever. Now that I’m no longer being hindered by you two, I’m able to focus solely on what matters: money. Those with it, rule. And those without it…” She kicks Scootaloo, who groans for a moment, but doesn’t do anything. In fact, she looks afraid… “Those without it, submit. Tell me: which are you?”

“… S-Silver, what are you… I mean, it’s true that wealth is what separates us from them, but it’s not all there is out there.”

Silver Spoon scoffs. “See? That’s what I’m talking about. You two are always holding me back, but not anymore. I’m not interested in your ‘friendships’, because they hold absolutely no value whatsoever.”

Silver Spoon… what has that monster done to you? You’ve always been one to seek out riches and gain the upper hoof on ponies, but you never sold your soul in order to do it. You would sooner give up your riches forever, than see Diamond Tiara come under any form of harm.

“Alula…” I turn to Diamond, who’s looking at me with a look I’ve never seen in her before: pleading. “Please… Please, save Silver Spoon!” W-What?! How does she expect me to- “Just, do whatever you did on me to Silver Spoon! Please, I’m begging you!”

“Diamond… d-don’t you remember what I did to you?” She shakes her head.

“My memory’s a little fuzzy, and I’m trying not to remember my time when I was like… that…”

Ah, that makes sense. Still, for me to do the same thing to Silver Spoon that I did to Diamond… “I… I don’t know if I can…”

“Please,” she says again, in that pleading tone. And… her eyes are starting to water. “Please, Alula. Do whatever it takes, just save Silver Spoon!”

“… Okay…” She really means a lot to Diamond, huh? Well, of course. They’ve been friends since way back when. And, she’s my friend, too. I don’t like seeing her like this anymore than Diamond does. But, even so, the idea of kissing Silver Spoon with Diamond watching is a little… “Uh, could you, maybe stand watch while I do it? In case that monster shows up again, y’know?”

She nods, and turns around in silence, watching out for any signs of that monster appearing to attack us again. “… Right, then I guess I’ll give this a shot…”

I move closer to Silver Spoon, who gives me a cautious look. “What do you want? If you’re after my gems, I’ll-”

“Silver Spoon, listen. What I’m about to do means nothing, and I’m only doing it for Di’s sake. So… just try to remember that, okay? Or better yet, just don’t remember this at all.”

I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and grab the sides of Silver Spoon’s head with my hooves. Suddenly, I hear a loud explosion all around us, which startles me and causes me to jump back. “W-What was that?!”

“What happened?!” I hear Diamond shout as she runs up to me. “Silver Spoon! You’re back!”

She is? Oh, she is! Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, too! And the area around us. “H-How-”

Before I can continue to question it, Diamond tackles me with a hug. “You did it! You actually did it! Oh, thank you, Alula!” … I… don’t know what just happened, but I’ll certainly accept credit for it, if this is what it gets me.

“Yeah, well… it was nothing, really,” I say as I move my hoof to return Diamond’s affectionate embrace, only to find that she’s no longer there. She’s now standing next to Silver Spoon, looking her over and asking her if she is alright.

“Uh, guys?” Silver Spoon asks. “What… happened today?”

Both Diamond and I look at each other, and then back at Silver Spoon. “I don’t know,” Diamond says. “But does it matter? We’re all back to normal again!”

I smile, and nod in agreement. “Yeah, that’s right! Everything’s back to normal…” I rear up for a second, ready myself, and then, charge forward, tackling both Diamond and Silver Spoon and forcing them into a group hug. “You’re both alright, that’s all that matters!”

“WAH?! ALULA! GET OFF OF ME! YOU’RE… YOU’RE SO HEAVY!” Silver Spoon shouts as she shakes about.

“Now you know how it feels!” Diamond says as she tries to push me away.

Yep. Everything is back to normal. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chapter 9

View Online

“It’s outrageous!” How dare she make me look like a fool! That was what I wanted to do to her! “It’s not fair!” I was prepared to have fun, not be made fun of! “It’s appalling! Abysmal! Disastrous!”

“Easy there, Diamond,” Alula says, walking in front of me to stop my pacing. “Take a deep breath and calm down… and while you’re at it, do you have a dictionary I can borrow? I don’t know what some of those words mean…”

“Calm down? CALM DOWN?!” Alula, you really are so stupid sometimes! “Don’t you realise what that blank flank did to me today?!”

“So she got the better of you this time. You can still get her back.” Alula, honestly! It’s not a matter of losing this one time! I shouldn’t lose at all to the likes of that blank flank! Maybe if she had a Cutie Mark that showed her special talent was like mine, running a business or leading a company, then I’d accept it (JUST maybe). But a talentless blank flank, raised on a farm?!

“Alula’s right, Diamond.” Silver Spoon, you too?! “Getting your hair in a mess over this isn’t like you, and it certainly isn’t going to help anything. It’s just going to make the blank flanks’ victory that much sweeter.”

“Hmph! I seem to recall you sided with them that day!”

“Well, my father told me that in life, as in business, you have to know when to back down… before you fall even harder.” Silver Spoon picks up a hair brush and walks over to me. I turn to look in the mirror and… my goodness. My mane is such a mess! I guess I can let Silver Spoon take care of that for me.

“So what, you think I should’ve just given up back there?”

“Snapping at Granny Smith like that was a bad move. Thankfully her little… act with the bees made most our classmates agree with you, so your reputation isn’t damaged by it. Still, you’ve gotta know when to back down. For once, the blank flank had us beat.”

“Hmph! It was bad enough daddy never told me that story before, so I was totally embarrassed in class, but then he made me jump the watering cans wearing this ridiculous thing!” These stupid bunny ears! Why am I still wearing them?! … Why is Alula smiling like that? “What? You want them?”

She jumps, and her smile grows wider. “R-Really? You don’t want to keep them?”

“Why would I? They look stupid!”

“… Then, I guess I can take them off your hooves for ya.”

Done and done. I throw the stupid bunny ears at Alula, and she squeaks and she picks them up. “All those other kids saw me! It was so humiliating! I’ll never be able to live it down, and I’ll never be happy again until that blank flank gets her comeuppance!”

“Hey, I know!” Oh great. Alula has an idea. “Let’s send her some of those really spicy cupcakes that Pinkie Pie makes! Y’know, the ones you said nearly killed you?”

… Hmmm… Those are some spicy cupcakes, and they look just like regular ones, so there’s no way she’ll it coming. But… “No, it’s not good enough. For what Apple Bloom did, there can only be the maximum penalty given to her! … I wonder if daddy would be willing to buy their farm for me?”

I feel a hoof on my shoulder and turn around to see Silver Spoon looking down at me. “Before we go and reign doom upon their entire family, how about we try just taking some time to cool down and start thinking clearly.”

“But…”

“For now, we’ll send her those cupcakes like Alula suggested, and go watch out to watch a movie together. If you’re still angry after, then we’ll step up our revenge a little bit. Does that sound alright?”

“… Ugh. Fine.” There’s no way I can argue with her when she’s giving me that dumb old ‘please do it for me’ look of hers. And Alula seems excited about the cupcake idea, so… “I guess starting off small and building up to something grander is also a good way to get revenge.”

“Sounds good to me!” Alula says… whilst wearing those stupid bunny ears from earlier. “So, what movie should we go see? I’m up for a martial arts film myself!”

“Those things are boring,” Silver Spoon says, and I couldn’t agree more. “Personally, I think we should go watch Titanic. It’s a classic.”

Ugh. Really, Silver Spoon? That’s just as bad as Alula’s tastes. “Hmph. I’ll decide what we’re going to watch, since it was me that got humiliated, after all.”

“Fair enough,” Silver says with a shrug. “We’ll go just as soon as your mane is sorted out. Alula, go get Diamond’s tiara for me.”

“Sure thing!” Alula runs off to my bed and picks up the tiara that I threw on there earlier in my rage. “So, what movie you got mind, exactly?”

Hmmm… Ah, I know what I want to see! “You’ll see when we get there…”

I should have figured… Diamond has already come out to see this movie five times since its release, and she’s been trying to get us to come along with her for a while now. The new Pokémon movie. I haven’t really watched the series much besides a few episodes with Diamond now-and-then. Diamond really likes it, though, and despite my and Silver’s attempts to get her to pick a different movie, she insisted that she wanted to see this one.

I’ve got to admit, it’s not bad. But it’s just not as entertaining as watching some guy spin around in the air a couple of times and then kick his opponent in this head, or as funny as watching a cat and a mouse fighting each other with explosives and complicated devices, but at least I’m not falling asleep. And besides…

It’s making Diamond happy. I’m glad. She looks her best when she’s smiling. I bet by now she’s forgotten all about that little grudge of hers. Though I don’t understand why she was so mad in the first place, really. She looked so cute with those bunny ears on! I hope one day she’ll let me put them on her again. I wonder why she didn’t want me wearing them outside, anyway?

…

Whoa. This movie is starting to pick up. Oh my gosh, epic fight scenes! Oh wow, this is… this awesome! Why did I not see this movie sooner?! Is the series like this? I’ve gotta ask Diamond to lend me her videos some time!

Oh my gosh! Did that… did that guy just bite the dust? Oh man… t-that’s so sad. Poor Pikachu… He just lost his best friend. I couldn’t even imagine what I’d do if something bad happened to either Diamond or Silver Spoon. This movie just went from epic to heartbreaking… I think I need to hold onto something.

“Alula!” Diamond whispers to me. “What are you-”

“You didn’t tell me this would happen…” I tighten my grip around Diamond’s foreleg.

“Y-You idiot… Let go already! Look, he’s about to get better!” I continue watching, and… she’s right. The tears of all the Pokémon are bringing him back! “See? Now let go!”

“Uh… right. S-Sorry…” … D-Did I just cry to a movie for kids? In front of Diamond Tiara, no less? … I’m never going to be able to live this down…

The movie ends, and the three of us get up and leave the screening room. “That was so awesome!” Diamond says as soon as we’re outside. I stretch my legs and my wings, and then hear Silver Spoon giggling beside me.

“What?” I ask.

“Oh, just remembering how one of us got a little teary-eyed near the end of that movie.”

Diamond Tiara also giggles, and I suddenly feel like burying my head in the trash can next to us. “S-So what?! That just shows I have a heart, that’s all!”

“So you’re saying that Diamond doesn’t have a heart?”

What?! “N-No, of course not!” Why you… You know that isn’t what I meant! I would never say that, or even think it! “I was just saying-”

“So, feeling better now, Diamond?” Don’t interrupt me! And don’t ask her that! I was going to ask her if she was feeling better, darn it!

“… A little, I guess,” Diamond says. But her tone isn’t quite as sharp as earlier, and there’s no way she can deny the smiles I saw in that screening room. “Still not too happy with that stupid blank flank though…”

She’s definitely feeling better, but I don’t think we should leave her alone just yet. Let’s see, what else can we do to help her out? … “Oh! That’s it!”

“What’s ‘it’?” Silver Spoon asks.

“We can go check out that new mini golf place that opened up just outside of town!” The two give me a confused look. “Uh… I-It could be a lot of fun? And, uh, I heard there’s a prize of all-you-can-eat ice-cream.”

I see Diamond’s ear twitch. Yep, that seemed to do the trick. “You don’t say… Well, if you want to go check it out so much, I guess there’s no helping it.”

“I’ve got to warn you two,” Silver Spoon says as we begin to leave the cinema, “I’m a pretty good golfer. You two aren’t going to beat me so easily.”

“Hah! A birdie!” This puts me back in the lead! Like I’m going to let Alula beat me at something! “You’re going to have to pick up the pace if you want to beat me!”

“Darn it. I was never good at these stupid windmill holes…” Excuses, excuses. “Well, at least I’m not in last place.” There are only three places you could be, though, so you’re still technically second-to-last.

“Silver Spoon’s got that position secured.” Silver Spoon gives me an angry look. Like I care. Not my fault she’s so bad at this game. “What was that about us not beating you so easily?”

“This game makes no sense!” Silver Spoon shouts. “I made all the calculations before each of my shots, timed them all perfectly, put just enough force on each of my swings… so why do I keep missing my target?!”

“Er… ‘cause it’s mini golf? Also known as crazy golf? Wouldn’t be any fun if it was predictable.” Alula taps her ball, and it manages to fall into the hole on par.

“Alright, five more holes left, and there’s just a one point difference between us,” I announce as I mark our scores for this hole down. “Meanwhile, Silver Spoon is in the positives…”

“I hate this game…” Silver Spoon mumbles to herself.

“I love it!” Alula shouts so loud the other ponies around us tell her to be quiet… again. “We should put our all into winning that free game at the end!”

“And the ice-cream.” That is the whole reason I agreed to coming here anyway. “The next hole looks like an easy one.”

“Too easy, if you ask me.” Well nopony asked you, Alula. Though I suppose you’re right… This just looks like a straight path to the hole. There are no bumps, no obstacles… nothing. “Par four? That can’t be right.”

“You’re up first,” Silver Spoon says.

“I know.” Alula places her ball down and readies her club. “Okay, not too much force now… YAH!” Alula swings the club and hits the ball. It starts rolling… then stops barely a few feet from the tee. “… What the…”

Silver and I giggle at the pathetic attempt. “Not quite enough force on that one,” Silver says. “The aim is to get it as close to the hole as you can.”

“I’m sure I hit it harder than that!”

“Sure you did,” I say, totally not believing her one bit. “Stand back. I’ll show you how it’s done.” I place my own ball down. Thanks to Alula, I’ve got to take a little detour. Oh well, no hole-in-one for me, but I’m still ahead right now anyway. I pull back my club, swing it, and… “What?!” My ball travelled less distance than Alula’s!

“Something’s not right here,” Silver says. You’ve got that right! “Let’s see here…” Silver Spoon lowers her club onto the ground and starts dragging it across. She suddenly stops. “Whoa! … Oh my gosh! Now I see what this hole’s trick is! The green has like, super-high friction!”

… It has what now? “Oh… I see. Yeah, well, obviously that’s what it is. You’d have to be a total idiot not to have worked that ou-”

“Friction is the force that slows down moving objects,” Silver explains to me.

“I knew that!” I totally didn’t, but she doesn’t need to know that I didn’t know. “So what are we supposed to do?”

“Remember how we told Alula not to hit her balls into orbit?” Yeah, I remember. “Basically, now we drop that rule. Like so.” Silver Spoon places her ball down, pulls back her club… very far. That ball’s going to go over the wall for sure! … What?! It stopped just short of the hole. “Close! Almost got my first hole-in-one.”

“Ooh! I get it!” Alula shouts out. “It’s like some super-slow-down thing, right?”

“… Sure. Let’s go with that.”

“Well, there are only four more holes after this,” I point out. “I’m sure they can’t be much more difficult than the rest of the course.”

I whack my ball, and it once again falls into the river. “ARGH! That’s the fifth time in a row!” I stomp over to retrieve my ball and place it back in its previous position. Meanwhile, Diamond and Silver Spoon are laughing behind me. They both sunk their balls already, yet I’ve been stuck on this obstacle for so long.

“Why don’t you two move on ahead, and I’ll catch up?”

“We have to make sure you don’t try to cheat,” Silver Spoon says. Yeah right, like I’d do that… Though it’s certainly tempting at this point.

“Well, I’m tired of all this standing. I’m going to go sit over by the next hole.” Diamond walks over towards the start of the next hole, not too far from where we are right now.

Okay, take it nice and steady Alula. You can do this. Pull back, aaaaand…

“Hey.” ARGH! SILVER SPOON!

“You made me miss!”

“Whatever, we’ll just not count that one,” she says as she walks up to me. “Listen, I wanted to thank you for bringing us here.”

Really? “Uh, why? You’ve been losing this whole time.”

“Not for me. I’m thanking you for Diamond, since her pride won’t let her thank you herself.”

Oh. “… Diamond wants to thank me? Are you sure?”

Silver Spoon nods. “Yeah. Haven’t you noticed just how much of a better mood she’s in now than she was earlier?”

.. Huh. Now that she mentions it. “I didn’t really notice. I was just having so much fun with her that… I guess it slipped my mind.”

She sighs and shakes her head. “Well, in any case, she’s certainly cheered up now, and she seems to have forgotten all about getting payback for Family Appreciation Day.”

“Well that’s good. I mean, I know Diamond enjoys her rivalry with Apple Bloom, but sometimes I feel she takes it too personally. I just want her to be happy.”

“That’s right,” Silver Spoon says with a nod. “When she’s teasing Apple Bloom, it should be for fun, and not out of malice.” … Uhhh… “Anger.” Oh. “Anyway, Diamond’s happiness should be our number one priority. In fact, I think we should always be looking out for each other. Don’t you?”

“… Wow. I never thought I’d hear you say something like that. In fact, now that I think about it, we’ve been hanging out together for two years now, and I still don’t know that much about you.”

“That’s because father says not to reveal your hoof so easily.” Uh… what? She smiles at me and extends her hoof. “But, I like you, Alula. I know you feel threatened by me, but is there any chance that we can become good friends from this point on? After all, we both have a lot in common, don’t you think?”

Is she talking about how we both like the same filly? ‘Cause I really don’t see what else we have in common besides that. But… I guess she’s right. We’ve both been there for Diamond, and for each other, for so long now. I should really try to… get along better with her.

“Hey! What’s taking so long?! If you hit eight strokes, just mark it down and move on!”

Silver Spoon giggles, and that somehow causes me to do so, as well. “We’d better hurry up, before Diamond loses her patience.”

“Yeah…” I turn my attention back to my ball, and… Huh. Suddenly, this is much easier… Double bogey. “Alright, time to catch up to Diamond…”

I WON! I mean, it was so obvious that I would. But still, I WON! And I also got the bonus shot for the all-you-can-eat ice-cream! This is totally the best day ever! And to think, it was all Alula’s idea. That filly’s getting better and better as time passes by!

“So we’re meeting up tomorrow for the ice-cream, right?” Alula asks as we reach the fork in the road where we split up.

“Yeah. Since it was your idea to play mini golf, I’ll let you in on it, too.” Alula licks her lips and jumps in the air, hovering for a few seconds.

“Great! I can’t wait! Just… don’t tell my mum, okay? She says I need less sugar in my diet.” Couldn’t agree more. “Bye Di, Silver!”

… Wait.

“Diamond?” Silver asks. “What’s up?”

“… Since when did Alula start calling you just ‘Silver’?”

“Oh. Well, I guess, since we’ve been hanging out for so long-”

“She’s always called me ‘Diamond’ or ‘Di’. Why did it take so long for her to start calling you by just your first name?”

Silver Spoon doesn’t answer. She just stares at me with… shock? Surprise? What’s up with her?

“You’ve… grown up some these past two years.” Uh… Well, yeah. Ponies do. In fact, I’m almost as tall as you now, Silver Spoon! “One year ago, you never would have noticed that. But now it catches your attention immediately.”

“Hmph! I’ll have you know my grades have gone up a whole ten percent these past few months!”

“I know. But, I wonder if it’s something more than that? … If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous of Alula becoming so familiar with me.”

What?! Jealous?! “Why would I be?!”

“No need to overreact, it was just a suggestion.”

“Well it’s a stupid one!” Stupid Silver Spoon! “I don’t think of her that way!”

“What way?” … Shut up! “Are you blushing?”

“Shut up! Stupid! I’m going home!” Silver follows behind me as I start walking, very calmly. I am not angry!

“Awwww, come on! I was just teasing! If you don’t feel ‘that way’ about her, then why are you acting like this?”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” I make it home and part ways with Silver Spoon. She’s still grinning and spouting nonsense as I walk towards my front door, but I pay it no mind. It’s all stupid, and it’s all wrong. Alula’s just a friend, despite how irritating she can be sometimes, and I definitely don’t feel anything else towards her.

…

Nothing.

…

Stupid Silver Spoon! I’m going to go take a bath and then take a much needed nap.

Chapter 10

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‘Hey, this lesson is soooo boring, isn’t it?’ That’s what I write onto a piece of paper that I pass over to Silver Spoon, by means of throwing it over Apple Bloom’s desk. She gives me an annoyed look, which means I killed two birds with one stone.

“And so that’s how Princess Platinum united the three tribes under…”

A piece of paper lands on my desk. I open it up and read the message inside. ‘Totally. Did you see the stallion on page 45? What a ridiculous moustache.’ Let’s see, page forty-five… Pfft! Hahahahahah! Wow, did ponies really look like that back then? He looks like such a dork!

‘Wow! Why did ponies look so stupid one thousand years ago? Did they not have any sense of style?’

“Which brings us to our next topic: the ‘Great Dragon Raid’, which took place during the eighth year of the Equestrian calendar, or minus one hundred and fifty B.C.”

“Miss Cheerilee? What does B.C. mean?” Darn it Apple Bloom! I can’t pass notes when Miss Cheerilee is looking this way!

“B.C., Apple Bloom, stands for ‘Before Chaos’. It is the region of Equestrian history before Discord appeared to rule over us in eternal chaos. That particular event was short-lived, and the years after that, from them up to now, are known as ‘A.D.’, or ‘After Diarchy’, sometimes misinterpreted as ‘After Discord’.”

There you go, you stupid blank flank. A whole bounty of meaningless information that probably won’t even be on the test. You happy now? Good, Miss Cheerilee’s looking away. Now I can pass this note.

“This time it was Commander Hurricane who took charge over the situation, but this unfortunately led to her downfall…”

The piece of paper landed in front of me again. ‘What do you want to do later? I feel like my brain is melting, and I need to do something fun!’

Hmmm… That’s a good question. It’s too cold for just taking a walk around town, and ice-skating was never my strong point. Or Silver’s. We could go home enjoy some nice, warm tea, or…

“Oh dear, we appear to have run a little over. Well then, class, I suppose this is as good a point as any to end at, and we shall continue tomorrow. Are there any questions before you all leave?” … “Alright then, you’re free to go.”

Finally. Just one more day, and then we’re off for the holiday season! Now, as for what to do today… “Hey Alula, got any bright ideas on what we could do today?”

“Oh, sorry girls, but I can’t hang out today.” … It’s strange. She’s been doing this for three days now, saying that she can’t hang out with us and not giving us any specific reason. “I’ll, uh, I’ll see you girls on Monday. See ya.”

“Bye…” I watch her as she leaves, and then turn to Silver Spoon. “Alright, something has to be up. Why is she avoiding us like that?” She’s usually the one who’s always trying to drag us into things and never leaves us alone, so why now?

“I don’t know,” Silver says, staring at the classroom door with her hoof to her chin. “I really have no clue… But then, do you really care if she’s hanging out with us or not?”

What? Of course not! In fact, I’m glad she’s finally stopped hanging off of me every few seconds! But… “Yeah, sure. I also want to hang out with Apple Bloom and buy her a new dress.”

A snort of laughter comes from Silver Spoon, and I smile. Yeah, I’m good at making other ponies laugh, I know. Seriously though, what’s with Alula suddenly not wanting to hang out with us? Did she suddenly lose her good taste in friends? Or is she really just busy?

“Oh yeah, isn’t there a new game in the arcade that came in recently?” There is? “That ‘Sugar Rush’ game? I hear it’s pretty good.”

New game, huh? Well, I guess we could check it out. I just got my allowance, too. “Sure, let’s go check it out. You got much money right now?”

“Only enough for a few games. I’m saving the rest for something else?”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“It’s a surprise.” Surprise? “You’ll see in a few days.”

“Uh, alright then… Anyway, let’s go, before all the other kids get there!” The two of us leave the classroom and walk start walking towards the arcade. Just the two of us… Well, whatever. Just give her a day or two and she’ll be back to her old self again… unfortunately.

Oh, I hate blowing off Diamond and Silver like this. But the deadline is fast approaching, and I can’t let either of them know what I’m up until I’m finished. I want it to be a surprise, after all. They were both complaining about how their current scarves no longer fit them well, and felt really itchy, and so that’s when I got the idea in my head. I decided that for Hearth’s Warming this year, I’d make some scarves for them!

I’m not very good at embroidery, though, so my mum is helping out, but I’m still doing most of the work! And I did the designs myself. Diamond’s is a pink and white striped scarf with red hearts in the white parts, whilst Silver’s is just a grey and blue striped one.

Ow! Okay, I’ve gotta stop monologuing while I’m sewing. These needles are sharp. Hmmm… Uh-oh. I think we’re out of pink thread. “Mum, do we have anymore pink?”

“I gave you all the thread we have. If you’re out, we’ll have to go pick up some more. Oh, but I’m expecting company soon…”

“That’s fine. I can go get it myself.” I could do with stretching my legs for a bit anyway. I get up and stretch my wings out. Mum gives me some bits and directions to the crafts shop, and I turn around to leave the house.

Brrr! It’s cold out here! And white. Very, very white. Hearth’s Warming is just a few days away now. This weekend, the class is taking a trip to Canterlot to watch a play being put on by the ponies of Ponyville. I have to finish these scarves before then, so that I can surprise them both before the play.

But this snow… is kind of hard to move through… Why does there have to be so much of it? The weather team really outdid themselves this year. All around me there are foals throwing snowballs and making snowponies, with Pinkie Pie joining in with seemingly every group. I guess she has some sort of tunnel system under the snow, because whenever she disappears under it, she pops up elsewhere.

Aah, here’s the store I want. I’ll just pop inside and pick up the thread I need real quic- … It’s warm in here. Nice and warm. I think… I might just take my time with this, actually.

“Hello there dear. Can I help you find something?” the storeowner, Ms. Hooficraft asks. She’s a blue Earth Pony with a beautiful purple mane. I haven’t ever spoken to her before, but I’ve seen her a few times before with my mother. “Oh, Alula. Out doing some shopping for your mother?”

“Actually, I’m shopping for myself. I’m making a Hearth’s Warming present for my, uh… m-my special somepony, and a friend…”

“Oh my! I had no idea you had a special somepony!” Gah! For some reason, this is so embarrassing when I talk about it to an older mare. “So, what is he like?”

“Uh, i-it’s a filly…”

“Oh, my apologies. What is she like?”

Let’s see… I don’t want to be here too long. What should I say? “Well, she’s smart, and talented, and despite being the coolest pony in school she still has a really big heart!”

“Is she cute?” W-What?! I mean, of course she is, but what kind of question is that to ask me all of a sudden? “I guess she must be, for you to blush like that.” Oh great, now she’s laughing and patting me on the head. “Anyway, I imagine you’ll want to buy your things and get on home quickly, before the snow piles up even more.”

Oh yeah, that’s right. “Uh, I’m after some pink thread.” Hmmm… I might as well make sure I don’t have to make any second trips while I’m here. “And also some grey and blue threads.” I noticed we had plenty of white and red before I left, so I don’t think I have to worry about that.

“And how much will you be needing, deary?” … Uhhh… H-How much? “You didn’t put much thought into that, did you?” she asks with a giggle.

“Um, not exactly…” Well, this is embarrassing. “Uh, I’m about halfway done, soooo… A lot?”

She giggles again. “Well, why don’t I let you pick out how much you want to buy? Make sure to take just a little more than you need, just in case.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” I follow Ms. Hooficraft into the store and we stop by the area where all the threads are kept. “Let’s see… I think… this is how much I started with?” I pull out a little more thread. “So can I get this much please?”

“Of course. And you want the same amount of white and blue, as well?”

“Yes please.”

“Alrighty. Just bring it all to the counter and I’ll ring up your total.” I nod and start collecting the thread I need as Ms. Hooficraft moves back over to the counter. I take the thread over to her and take out the money mum gave me. Ms. Hooficraft says I can have a store discount. That’s nice of her. “You make sure to stop by and tell me how she likes it, alright deary?”

“Sure thing. Thanks again for your help!” With that I turn to leave the store. Well, I’ve got my thread now. Time to go back home and… warm my hooves by the fireplace, before I get back to making the scarves. Seriously, I know the weather schedule said to make it cold, but does it have to be this cold?

I’d like to just run to get home quicker, but the snow is too thick for me to do that. Not to mention I’d probably slip and hurt myself. And my wings can’t extend when it’s this cold. Grown-up Pegasus wings can, but not a foal’s.

“Alula?” Ah. That voice. “What are you doing here? I thought you said you couldn’t hang out today.”

Silver Spoon. And sure enough, Diamond is there, too. “Oh, hi girls! Y-Yeah, I really can’t hang out today! I’m just out, uh…” Think, think. Oh, I know! The bags! “Uh, buying groceries for my mum!”

“Groceries?” Silver Spoon asks.

“Yep!”

“From the market square that’s in the opposite direction to your house from here?” … Oh yeah. “That isn’t even open today?”

“Uh, I… D-Did I say ‘buy’? I meant that I was fetching them from, uh… o-one of my mum’s friends’ house, who was holding them for us, for… Uh, anyway, look at the time! I really gotta go, greatseeingyoubye!” Gotta get out of here before they realise that I’m lying! I’ve got to think up some stories tonight, just in case they question me tomorrow.

I just have to keep this up until Hearth’s Warming Eve, and then I can spring these surprises on them and bask in the warm love that Diamond’s sure to shower me with! Just a few more days…

“Stay close everypony!” Miss Cheerilee calls as we approach the station platform. “Does everypony have their ticket?”

“Yeeeeees!”

It’s finally Hearth’s Warming Eve. Today, Ponyville is putting on a play up in Canterlot. I don’t care much about the play itself, but there’s no way I’d turn down a free trip to Canterlot, and Miss Cheerilee said we can all have some free time wandering around before the play starts. There’s just… one little problem…

“Alula’s been really distant,” Silver Spoon says. As if I hadn’t noticed. “… It bothers you too, doesn’t it?”

“Hmph. Like I care. That filly’s unbelievable, pestering us out of the blue like that and then just ditching us whenever she decides to.”

“It is pretty rude. And I thought that we had become closer after…” Hm? After what? “Oh, never mind. If she doesn’t want anything to do with us anymore, that’s her loss.” True that. “… She could have at least said something, though…” she mumbles afterwards. Get a grip, Silver Spoon!

“She tried to talk to me this morning.”

“She did?”

“Yeah. But after the way she’s been treating us lately, I didn’t pay her any mind. My bet is she just wants to hang with us today because we have all the money, and we’re going up to Canterlot.”

“You really think so?” What’s with that look? Don’t be sad, Silver! We’re going to have fun today!

“What other reason could there be? First she avoids us all week, and now she suddenly wants to talk to us? I say we just ignore her. Give her a taste of her own medicine.”

“Yeah…” Come on Silver Spoon! Stop being such a downer!

“Just forget about her! We’re going to have fun together, just the two of us! It’s her own fault for being so distant all week, anyway!”

“… Yeah! You’re right! Today is Hearth’s Warming Eve, which means we’re going to have fun!” Silver turns around and assumes the stance for our secret hoofshake. I also turn to join her.

“Bump, bump, sugar lump rump!”

“Hey guys!” Oh great. That didn’t take long. “Diamond, I tried to talk to you earlier but I don’t think you saw me! I’ve got a-”

“Okay class, one at a time, form a single-file line and we’ll board the train!”

“Let’s go, Silver Spoon.” I begin walking.

“Right behind you, Diamond Tiara.” I hear Silver Spoon following behind me.

“Girls, wait! I’ve got-”

“Do you hear something, Silver Spoon?”

“Must just be the wind.”

“You must be right. Thankfully there’ll be no wind inside the train.”

I give the train conductor my ticket and board the train. Silver Spoon follows behind me. “Girls? Hey, what’s going on?” Just ignore her, Diamond. “Di! Silver! Why are you ignoring me?”
We make it to the Rich car, a private car owned by my daddy on this train. Inside, it is spacious, it is cozy, it is warm, it is clean and elegant, and the chefs there serve the best food on the train. But most importantly right now, it has bodyguards to stop unwanted company from entering. Including Alula.

“Girls!” Ignore her. The soundproof doors will shut her up soon enough. “Girls, I ha-”

“Thank goodness that’s over,” I say as I take a seat. “Now we can enjoy our train ride in peace.”

“Totally.” A moment of silence passes over us. “Hey, you don’t think she’s still out there, do you?”

“Not a chance,” I scoff. “I bet she’s realised by now that we’re on to her little game, and has completely given up by now. Chances are she’s already off trying to find other ponies to hang out with.” Like I care. I knew there was something weird about that filly. I can’t believe she would ever do that to us…

And I can’t believe I’m letting it get to me so much…

I just don’t get it. Why are Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon avoiding me? Why won’t they pay any attention to me when I try to speak to them? Are they mad at me? Did I do something to upset them? It couldn’t be that I’ve been turning down their offers to hang out, could it? I came up with perfectly believable excuses… Unless, could it be that they saw through them?!

Oh no… I have to speak to them, but I can’t get anywhere near their private car without being turned away by those stupid bodyguards of theirs! I have to let them know what I was doing! If they knew I was making up excuses to not hang out with them, they must have been so hurt. I have to apologise right away!

“We’re here!” Dinky shouts as the train slows to a stop. “Are you feeling any better?”

I shake my head. “That’s not good!” Archer grabs my hoof and pulls me out of my seat. “C’mon girls! We’ve got an emergency situation here! We have a pony in desperate need of cheering up!”

“Hold on, I need to-”

“And we all know the best way to do that!” Berry Pinch says, sharing a grin with her friends.

“SHOPPING SPREE!” The three fillies shout in unison as they pull me down the train car with them.

“W-Wait! Hold on! I need to talk to- WAH! S-Slow dowwwwwn!”

“See? I told you.” Though some part of me can hardly believe it myself. Alula, you just went and got new friends, just like that. Those stupid fillies you’re walking around with… Whatever. I really couldn’t care less anymore.

“I… I guess you were right…”

… I hate this. We’re supposed to be having fun today. “Come on, let’s go check out the stores.”

“… Okay…”

We make our first stop at a nearby jewellery store. This place makes the one in Ponyville look pathetic in comparison, and there’re even more just like this all over Canterlot! “I am so moving here when I grow up.”

“Hey Diamond, isn’t this the broach you wanted for your birthday last year?” Hm? Oh, it is! This is the broach I pestered daddy into buying for me, but it was already sold to Miss Rarity before he could get to it. And then she gave it to Sweetie Belle. Who used it as a makeshift coin and almost broke it.

“Yeah, that’s it alright. A lot more expensive than it was in Ponyville though.” Oops! … Phew, that was close. Nopony important was around to hear me say that. In a place like this, you can’t let on that you’re from a place like Ponyville. Otherwise nopony will respect you at all.

“Still affordable though. I’m getting it.”

“Huh?” Since when did Silver Spoon like broaches?

“Remember that thing I was saving up for?” I nod. “It’s a Hearth’s Warming present for you. I just didn’t know what yet, but now I do. I’m gonna buy this broach for you.” Are you serious? This broach is, like, more expensive than the dress I wore to my cute ceañera!

“Your dad would have a fit if he knew you spent so much on a broach!”

“Just leave it to me,” she says with a wink, before calling over the store clerk.

“May I help you, Miss?”

“Yes, I would like this broach please.” She points to the broach in question.

“A fine choice, but perhaps a tad more affordable than a child’s allowance. Are you certain this is the one you desire?” I guess he can tell just by looking at us, even if we’re from rich families, there’s no way kids like us will have enough pocket money to buy something like this.

“Actually, I was hoping I could get a discount. After all, my father is Silver Platter.”

The clerk gasps. “M-My apologies, Miss Silver Spoon. I did not recognise you. You have simply grown up so much. Yes, I would be more than happy to lower the price for you. Say, seventy-five percent off?” What?! A seventy-five percent discount?! Now it’s even cheaper than it was in Ponyville.

“Hey,” I whisper. “What’s that about? Is he indebted to your dad or something?”

“No, he’s just a childhood friend of father’s. It was thanks to father’s backing that this store was opened in the first place, so our family gets a discount on all his wares.”

“That’s so cool…” I watch as the broach is placed into a bag and offered to Silver Spoon. She motions towards me and the clerk gives me the bag, whilst Silver pays him for the item. “You could have said something, you know.”

“But then I wouldn’t get to see the look on your face when I got such a huge discount,” she says with a giggle. Oh gosh, I hope I didn’t look like a fool then. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Diamond.”

I take out the box inside the bag and open it up. There it is. The broach that Silver Spoon just bought with her own money. I think it’s more beautiful than the one that was in Ponyville. “Thanks. And I guess now would be a good time to give you your present.”

“You got something for me?” she asks in a confused voice. Of course I did, why wouldn’t I?

“Well, it’s nothing big…” You’re my best friend, of course I’d get you something for Hearth’s Warming. “I just noticed your glasses keep slipping, so I got you a new frame…” I pull out a small, wrapped-up case from my bag and give it to her. She examines it for a second from all sides.

“Uh, how do I open it?” What? “Diamond, how much sellotape did you use? I can’t see any way to get this thing open.”

Uh… Maybe a whole roll was too much.

“May I be of assistance?” the clerk asks, his horn lighting up for a moment. The sellotape is cut loose, and Silver unwraps the case and looks inside at the blue frame within.

“It’s got your prescription. And also, look on the inside.” She takes out the glasses and gasps as she sees what’s engraved on the inside of the frame. Our two Cutie Marks side-by-side, followed by the text: ‘DT & SS – BFFs’. “I was gonna put some diamonds in, but daddy said that may have been pushing it…”

“It’s fine,” she says, taking off her old pair of glasses and placing the new ones on. “Yep, I can see just fine with these! Thanks, Diamond. They’re great.”

…

The clerk clears his throat, signalling that we’ve stood in awkward silence long enough. “Right, enough lame-o mushy business! Let’s head to the next store!”

“I quite liked the look of that clothing store just across the street from here. Is that where we’re going next?”

“Nope. Even better!” We step outside of the jewellery store, and I take Silver’s hoof to lead her to our next stop, just around the corner. “Ta-da!” We don’t get shops like this in Ponyville. Usually I have to buy these things online, so to actually be here at a ‘Gamestable’, and during a holiday sale at that, is just too cool to be for real!

“Oh. Of course.” Silver Spoon doesn’t sound too excited, but that’s probably just because she hasn’t seen what’s inside.

“Come on! Let’s go, before all the big titles are sold out!” Gasp! Speak of Tirek! There’s only one copy of the new Mario Kart game left! GET!

“Gotcha!”

“You’re mine!”

… Oh no. Ohhhh no no no no. I’m not giving this up to the likes of Blanky Belle and her two dumb friends. “Let go.”

“I saw it first. You let go.”

… Well, it seems that we are at an impasse. Not to worry, I’m sure she will give up and leave soon, if I just stand here and refuse to let go long enough. I can certainly wait this out.

The play will start soon. Everypony’s already gone inside to find some good spots, but I can’t yet. I managed to get away from Archer and the others and am now waiting outside for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to show up. I have to talk to them. I’m going to talk to them, no matter what!

Ah, here they come now! Carrying quite a few bags, as is expected. “Di! Silver!” They turn to face me, and frown. I won’t let that discourage me though! “Just wait! Please just give me a chance to explain!”

“… Alright, go ahead,” Silver says. Diamond doesn’t say anything, but she at least stays to listen.

“I-I’m sorry for the way I’ve been avoiding you these past few days. I guess you must have figured out I was just making excuses, huh?”

“Look, if you don’t want to hang with us anymore-”

“That’s not it!” I shout, cutting off Diamond’s accusation. “Listen, I was working on something the past week. Something I couldn’t let you see because…” I open up my saddlebag and remove the two scarves from within. “… I was making these. For Hearth’s Warming.”

…

W-What’s with the silence? Why aren’t they saying anything?

“You made these? For us?” Silver asks. I nod. “… Oh. S-So that’s why…”

“Yeah. I-I’m sorry about all this. I-”

“No. We should apologise. We shouldn’t have jumped the gun like that…”

… That’s Silver’s response. But what about Diamond? She hasn’t said anything, she’s just staring at the scarf I made for her. Ah, she’s putting it on.

“… It’s warm, and it doesn’t itch… Good job.”

“So, you like them?” They both nod.

“They’re great,” Silver says. “And we’re sorry for the way we treated you today. I guess we just took it kinda hard…”

“… Yeah, what she said…” So, they’re not mad anymore… right? “Uh, I think we’d better head inside. Before all the good seats are taken.”

I smile and nod. “But first,” Silver says, “We were about to head to the little filly’s room to freshen up. Would you mind going ahead and securing some seats for us?”

“Sure thing!” I reach forward and pull my best friend and my fillyfriend into a big group hug! I’m so glad that things have turned out okay between us! “I’ll get us the best spots, right at the front! Don’t take too long now!”

“I can’t believe she beat me!” This is just outrageous! Since when did that blank flank have the patience to stand in one spot doing nothing for prolonged periods of ti- Oh, wait. That’s all they ever do, anyway. “That stupid little… I bet she doesn’t even know how to play that game!”

“Look on the bright side: you managed to place an order for the game when it’s in stock again, and for the same price as it was today.”

“But I don’t get it today! I have to wait, and I hate waiting!”

“I’m sure you can pass the time with one of those other one million games you bought.” Don’t be ridiculous, I didn’t buy a million games… Did I? Nah, only about twenty or so. “And hey, at least we managed to get the last of those scarves in time. Now we won’t have to be uncomfortable when we’re outside in the snow.”

True. Those two scarves that we saw in that clothing outlet were pretty nice, and incredibly soft. And they were on discount due to the holiday season, and further discount because the shopkeeper said we were the ‘most adorable little things’ she had ever seen. Normally we would have had to pay so much more for them.

“Di! Silver!” What the? Alula? She’s calling to us?

“What do you think she wants?” Silver asks.

“I don’t know. And I don’t care.”

“Just wait! Please just give me a chance to explain!”

“… Alright, go ahead,” Silver says. Are you mad? Why should we give her a chance to say anything? … Well, whatever. It’s not like we’re going to be late.

“I-I’m sorry for the way I’ve been avoiding you these past few days. I guess you must have figured out I was just making excuses, huh?”

“Look, if you don’t want to hang with us anymore-”

“That’s not it!” she shouts, cutting me off. It’s not? L-Like I believe that. “Listen, I was working on something the past week. Something I couldn’t let you see because…” Because what? What could possibly have been so important that you couldn’t- “… I was making these. For Hearth’s Warming.”

…

These scarves… She was making these for us? Now that I think about it, she first started acting weird (weirder than usual, that is) when Silver and I mentioned how uncomfortable our old scarves were.

“You made these? For us?” Silver asks. “… Oh. S-So that’s why…”

“Yeah. I-I’m sorry about all this. I-”

“No. We should apologise. We shouldn’t have jumped the gun like that…”

… I… What should I say? I guess, she did have a good reason for not telling us what she was up to after all, but I… I don’t know what to do in this situation…

I reach out and grab the scarf, and wrap it around my neck. It feels nice. “… It’s warm, and it doesn’t itch.” I leave it at that for a second, before receiving a nudge from my side. From Silver Spoon. “… Good job.”

“So, you like them?” I nod.

“They’re great,” Silver says, and I agree. These are actually really nice. “And we’re sorry for the way we treated you today. I guess we just took it kinda hard…”

“… Yeah, what she said…” … I’d better say something else to break the silence. “Uh, I think we’d better head inside. Before all the good seats are taken.”

“But first,” Silver says, “We were about to head to the little filly’s room to freshen up. Would you mind going ahead and securing some seats for us?”

“Sure thing!” Alula reaches out and does something she hasn’t done all weak. Crushes us with that stupid death-hug of hers! I certainly didn’t miss this! “I’ll get us the best spots, right at the front! Don’t take too long now!”

I watch Alula run into the theatre, tripping over herself on the way, before turning to Silver Spoon. “What was that about? We already stopped at a restroom on the way here.”

“Alula gave us these nice scarves… and we haven’t got anything for her.” … Oh. Y-Yeah, that’s right. “What should we do? We also have these other scarves we bought. Won’t Alula be like, hurt, if she sees them?”

“…”

“Is there something wrong, my little ponies?” We turn around and see Miss Cheerilee standing behind us. “I heard that the two of you had a falling out with Alula. I know that it isn’t my place to interfere, but this close to Hearth’s Warming, it’s a little unsettling.”

“We just spoke to Alula,” Silver tells her. “We made up with her, but…”

“Yes? If you would like to discuss it, you know I am always here for you.”

Silver and I exchange a glance, and then turn back to Miss Cheerilee. “Well, you see…” I explain to Miss Cheerilee how Alula had been rudely blowing us off for the past week, and making obviously made-up excuses as to why she couldn’t hang out with us. Like, ‘I’m helping my mother foalsit’, when her mother was seen later that day at the spa.

I then tell her how we learned the truth just now, and patched things up with Alula, but now we have this situation where she’s given us a present and they have nothing for her.

“Well… I must say, that is quite the predicament you have on your hooves.” Yeah, as if we hadn’t noticed. “Tell me, have you learned anything from all of this?”

“… Not to jump to conclusions?” Silver Spoon asks.

“To, uh… That we should’ve talked to Alula, instead of just ignoring her?”

Miss Cheerilee smiles. I guess we got it right. “You two said that you have patched everything up with Alula, correct?” We both nod. “Then, I don’t think that there is anything to worry about. Surely you know that Alula isn’t the type of filly who would hold a grudge over something like this.”

“You think so?” I ask, and she nods. “But… what about the present?”

“That’s not something I can help you with?” What? But, you’re our teacher! Isn’t that, like, your job or something? “It’s up to your two what you decide to get her. Just have a think, I’m sure you both know what she’ll like.”

“… And, what about the scarves?”

“Oh!” I turn to Silver Spoon, who’s got that ‘I have an idea!’ look on her face. “I’ve got it! I know what we can do! We can go back to the store and exchange these two scarves for something else! Something that Alula would really love!”

“That’s a great idea!” Though I’ll miss the scarf that I bought from that store, I guess the one from Alula is fine. It’s not like I’ll wear it outside of winter anyway. “Miss Cheerilee, can you hold our bags for us while we watch the play?”

“What? I-”

“Thanks!” I unload my bags onto Miss Cheerilee, followed by Silver Spoon.

“Keep them safe for us!” Silver Spoon and I turn around and run into the theatre.

“G-Girls, wait, I- N-No running!”

Chapter 11

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“Mum! I need more glitter!” I shout as I throw more glue onto the card at my hooves. My mother passes me some glitter and I sprinkle it onto the card. “Ooh! And some hearts!” My mother passes me the tub of paper hearts and I tip it upside down over the card. “Do we have more paper flowers left?” My mother passes me the last three paper flowers we have and I place them onto the card.

“… It’s perfect!” I declare as I look over my finished project. “This is the best Hearts and Hooves card I’ve ever made! It’s the only one, but still!”

“It’s wonderful dear,” my mum says from behind me. “But, just one small thing… where are you going to write on it?”

Obviously I’ll write insi- … I seem to have glued to card shut. No biggie, just a little force and- Oh no! The inside is covered with glitter and sprinkles! And glue! Um, okay, I’ll just write on the back. Except… the entire back is covered with hearts and flowers. “There’s nowhere for me to write!”

I feel a hoof on my shoulder and turn around to face my mum, holding a simple, store-bought card in her hoof. “It was a lovely attempt Alula, but perhaps next time you should hold back on the glue, and the sparkles, and the… everything.”

I take the card and cringe at its simplicity. “Mum, I can’t give her something like this. It has to be something special.”

“Dear, listen now. If this filly loves you as much as you say, then she will hardly care if the card you give her is something plain and ordinary like this, now will she?” Um… Maybe… “What matters is that you can properly relay you feelings to her, right?”

… I guess that’s true. “Yeah. You’re right!” I reach forward and give my mum a hug, which she returns. “Thanks! … So, what should we do with…” I motion my head towards the mess behind me, and mum giggles in response. It’s not that bad… right?

Blech! I hate walking to school on Hearts and Hooves Day. There are so many cheesy couples everywhere, hugging, and nuzzling, and kissing. It’s so gross, and they don’t even seem to care that they’re outside where everypony can see them!

The worst part was seeing DJ pony kissing that posh-looking pony on the neck. Isn’t that indecent exposure or something? Though there were some good sights on the way here, too. Like seeing that one stallion get the big turndown by Applejack, and seeing Rumble get rejected by Archer. Those were fun times.

“Hey there!” Oh, and now it’s her. Rainbow Dash, the most obnoxious Pegasus pony on the planet – save for that chicken classmate of mine – who seems to get Hearts and Hooves Day cards from practically everypony in our school each year. “I’m guessin’ you’ve got a card for me too, huh? No need to worry, you haven’t missed your chance!”

The first year it happened she spent the entire day bragging about her fan base. Every year after that she flies around the school area specifically so that ponies can give their cards to her. It’s so sad. “Actually, I don’t have a card for you,” I tell her with a grin. The look of shock on her face is priceless. It’s as if she can’t contemplate I’m not a huge fan of hers.

“Oh, that’s cool. I suppose you’d much rather have my autograph, huh?” I knew she’d say that, and I was planning on saying no, but… now that I think about it…

“Oh, yes please,” I answer, widening my eyes to adorable levels to make sure she can’t say no.

“Alrighty! I’d hate to let down a fan!” Totally not your fan. I just have a use for this… which is making Chickenloo do whatever I say. “Here ya go!”

“Uh, thanks…” Such scruffy hoofwriting! It’s like she’s never held a quill before… Which may be right, considering she used one of her feathers to write. Rainbow Dash takes off into the sky and flies off towards her next unfortunate victims, and I continue my journey to school.

After passing by many gross displays, such as Lyra sharing an ice-cream with Bon Bon, and Miss Minuette cleaning some stallions teeth in public (some ponies in this town are just plain weird), I finally make it to the schoolhouse.

“Good morning Miss Cheerilee,” I say as I enter the building. Miss Cheerilee looks up from her papers and smiles at me.

“Good morning Diamond Tiara. How are you today?”

“I’m fine.” Minus my breakfast wanting to come up my throat from everything I saw outside. “I have a Hearts and Hooves Day card for you.” Despite all the homework and detentions she gives me, she’s still an alright teacher… sometimes.

“Oh, why thank you!” She takes my card and places it on her desk, next to five other cards she must have received today from other students. “It’s always nice to know that my students appreciate me.”

“Good morning Miss Cheerilee!” Ugh. Those voices. It’s those three losers.

“Do you mind? You’re blocking the door!” Oh! And Silver spoon’s here, too! “Get this… monstrosity out of the way!”

“It’s not a monstrosity!” Apple Bloom shouts. “It’s a Hearts and Hooves Day card for Miss Cheerilee!”

That… thing is a Hearts and Hooves Day card? “Are you sure?” I ask as I approach them. “It looks more like something Silver’s cat would spit up.”

“Alright, everypony. Settle down.” Of course Miss Cheerilee would have to interrupt us just when it was getting good. “Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, perhaps you should take your seats as class is about to begin?”

Silver Spoon and I exchange glances, before turning around and walking over to our seats. Today, Silver Spoon decides to sit right behind me instead of two seats away, since we are doing group work today anyway.

I suppose now would be as good a time as any to give Silver Spoon her Hearts and Hooves Day card.

“Hey Di!” I turn to Alula, sitting next to Silver Spoon… and she offers a card to me. “Happy Hearts and Hooves Day! This is for you!”

… Uh. I… She’s giving me a card? What should I do? Silver Spoon? … She’s just smiling. I guess I should take it. “Uh, thanks.”

“Oh! Is that for me?” she asks as she points to the card on my desk.

“Uh, no. This is for Silver Spoon.” I give the card to Silver Spoon. “We give each other a card every year.”

“Oh.” Alula leans back in her chair and lowers her head. “I see…”

… Is she upset? Why? What did I- Oh! Was she expecting a card from me? How was I supposed to know that? What should I do? It’s not like I can just magic a card out of thin air!

“Psst!” I turn to Silver Spoon, who’s holding up a piece of paper with some writing scribbled onto it in black crayon. Does she want me to read it?

“Uh, I… I didn’t get you a card, because…” Silver Spoon holds up the next line for me. “… Everypony gives cards on Hearts and Hooves Day. It’s not special e… nough for… you?” Blech! What kind of corny dialogue is she making me say?

“You mean it?!” WAH! W-Well, at least it seems to be working…

“Uh…” Silver Spoon holds up the next piece of paper for me. “Y-Yeah. I got you something better…” I don’t like where this is going. “T-Tickets to Harmony Land this weekend?!”

“Harmony Land?!” Alula asks, jumping out of her seat and pulling me into a strong hug. “Ohmygoshohmygosh! That’s so- I don’t even know what to say! Thank you thank you thank you!”

“A-hem!” Alula stops and lets me go, and the two of us turn to see Miss Cheerilee standing beside us. “If you two are quite finished, perhaps we can begin today’s lesson.”

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee,” we both say in unison as the whole class begins to laugh.

Miss Cheerilee turns and moves back to the front of the class, and I turn around to face Silver Spoon. “What did you do that for?!” I whisper to her. “I don’t have tickets to Harmony Land, and I certainly can’t get any before this weekend!”

“Relax,” she whispers back to me in a calm tone. “I got you out of the doghouse, right?” What’s that supposed to mean? I just didn’t want her moping all day because I didn’t get her a card, that’s all. “As for the tickets, I totally have some. Three, in fact.”

“Y-You do?”

“Of course. Did you think I would come up with something like that if I didn’t have it all planned out?”

“… I guess not. So, wait. Does that mean we’re really going to Harmony Land this weekend?”

She nods. “Yep. And best of all, we get VIP access, which means we don’t have to wait in any lines.”

My eyes grow wide. That… is… awesome! “Oh my gosh! Silver Spoon, you’re the best!”

“Heh… I know…” Hm? That’s odd. She sounded kind of sad there for a moment… Nah, I’m sure it’s just my imagination. Anyway, VIP tickets to Harmony Land! This weekend is going to rule!

The walk to school today was great! It was so lovely to see other ponies in happy relationships too, and the thought that one day Diamond might actually be comfortable enough to let me display my affection for her just makes me smile so much!

To be honest, I was kind of worried when she didn’t seem to have a card for me. I thought that maybe she had forgotten, or even worse, that she didn’t care about me anymore! But, silly me, I jumped to conclusions! I knew my Diamond would show how much she cares in a much more special way than just giving me some card with hearts on it or something. To think that she went out of her way to get tickets to the most amazing, most fun, most outrageously expensive theme park in all of Equestria!

And the way she nervously stuttered about as she tried to tell me… it was so cute!

“Alula!” Huh? What? Where did Diamond and Silver Spoon go? “Over here!” I turn around to see both Diamond and Silver standing so distance away, down opposite path to the one that I took. “Where are you going?! The park is this way!”

Oh shoot! I wasn’t paying attention and just keep going straight! “Sorry!” I shout as I run to catch up with them. Miss Cheerilee let us go early since today is Hearts and Hooves Day, and now we’re on our way to the park to… to… Uh-oh. I wasn’t paying attention earlier; I was just thinking about Diamond Tiara! Or more specifically, going on a date with her!

Let’s see… they don’t have a basket, so we’re not going on a picnic. And Diamond didn’t bring her little notebook, so we’re not scheming anything against Apple Bloom and her friends. Silver Spoon’s got a big bag with some paper sticking out…

Ah, that’s right! Silver Spoon mentioned how she was going to enter that art contest thingy and asked us if we could help her out today. I guess that’s what we’re doing right now.

“Alright, this spot should do,” Silver Spoon says as we stop at a lovely, isolated space in the middle of the park. Isolated save for the beautiful flowerbeds and the butterflies flying about. “Now, you two crouch down beside one of the flowerbeds as if you’re tending to it.”

“For how long?” Diamond asks.

“You can’t rush perfection,” Silver replies. “But at least an hour.”

“A what?! You except me to stay crouched down in the dirt for a whole-”

“Is that a no?” Silver Spoon asks, her lips curling into a pout and her eyes widening. It seems to be effective on Diamond Tiara.

“Ugh, fine. But just an hour.”

“Thank you,” Silver Spoon says with a smile. “Alula, is that alright with you?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah,” I answer. I suppose that this way I can spend an entire hour by Diamond’s side.

“Cool! Then get into posit-” Silver Spoon stops and looks around. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Suddenly, the sound of laughter enters my ears. “Huh. Guess somepony’s having a good time.”

“Miss Cheerilee?” Diamond asks, pointing her hoof towards some bushes. I move to look beyond them and… “And is that… that blank flank’s brother?”

“What are they doing?” It looks they’re giggling together… whilst walking very close together… whilst nuzzling each other… whilst gazing into each other’s eyes so lovingly…

“You’re my shmoopy-doopy sweetie-weetie pony pie,” Miss Cheerilee says to Big… Big… Hackandtoss?

“You’re my shmoopy-doopy sweetie-weetie pony pie,” the stallion whose name I can’t remember says.

“Uh… what?” Diamond asks, cringing as she watched the two walk by.

“You’re my cutie-patootie lovie-dovie honey-bunny,” Miss Cheerilee says… in a disturbing voice… Suddenly it feels like I’m about to lose my lunch.

“What did she say?” Silver Spoon asks.

“You're my heartie-smartie smoochie-woochie baby-waby,” the stallion says.

“Blech!” Diamond also looks like she’s about to lose her lunch. The two pass by us, leaving us in complete silence now that… whatever that was… is now over.

“… Do we have to do this at the park?” Diamond asks. “I’ve got a lovely flowerbed back at home.”

Silver Spoon nods. “That’ll work. But first, I need to erase the last five minutes from my brain.”

Diamond gasps and her eyes light up. “Anime marathon?!”

“… Sure.”

Well, I’m not one for just sitting around watching the TV all day, but yeah, I agree with Silver Spoon. “I’m in too. But what do you think could have happened to them?”

Diamond shudders as she turns to walk away. “I can only imagine it was something of the darkest, most evil nature known to ponykind. Possibly a demon that escaped the gates of Tartarus.”

“Hey,” Silver Spoon says as we start walking, “Weren’t the Cutie Mark Losers saying something about fixing Miss Cheerilee up with a date.”

“You think they had something to do with this?” I ask.

“Oh please,” Diamond scoffs. “Even those idiots couldn’t possibly mess up so badly as to cause… that.”

This has got to be the best week ever. Not only did it turn out the Crusaders were responsible for whatever happened to Miss Cheerilee and Big Slackingoff, meaning they got punished by both of them, but Miss Cheerilee’s been so distracted by her new relationship that she totally forgot to give us that test we were supposed to have yesterday! And homework. And she forgot to mark our previous homework, giving me a chance to slip mine in that I forgot to do. And classes have basically been extended naptime lately.

And now I’m here at the gates to Harmony Land with Alula – who for some reason is more dressed-up than usual today, wearing a fancy purple dress – and I’m just waiting for Silver Spoon to show up so that I can-

“Excuse me.” Whoa! Featherweight? He has an uncanny skill to pop out of nowhere and startle ponies. “Message from Miss Silver Spoon.”

He holds up an envelope in his hoof. A message from Silver Spoon? What is she doing? She’d better not be late. “Give me that,” I order the colt as I take the letter from him.

He bows his head slightly. “Have a good day, ma’am.” He turns around and walks away, stopping for a brief moment to take a photograph of some ponies kissing on a bench.

“What’s this all about?” I ask myself as I open the envelope. I take out the letter and read it.

My dearest friend, Diamond Tiara,

I regret to inform you that I made a crucial mistake, and in fact only have two tickets, not three. It is unfortunate, but I have decided to give my tickets to my two closest friends, so that you may enjoy the day together to its fullest. I know how much you both wanted to go, and wouldn’t dream of tearing you away from it.

Well, go ahead and have fun now! And good luck ;)

Silver Spoon

P.s. Do not tell Alula about this. I don’t want her feeling bad about me not being there. Just pretend you only had two tickets all along or something, okay? ^_^

She… miscounted her number of tickets? How do you miscount something like that?! There were three days that she could have noticed her error!

“What’s wrong?” Alula asks as she returns from the restroom.

Silver Spoon told me, for some reason, not to tell Alula about this. “Uh… nothing.” I reach into the envelope and take out the two tickets, and then stuff the envelope and letter into my saddlebag. “C’mon, let’s go…” Well, your loss Silver Spoon, I’ve been looking forward to this day too much to just give it up now!

“What should we ride first?” Alula asks as we enter the VIP line into the park.

“First a few ground rules: no water rides.” I don’t want my mane to be ruined, and I still have bad dreams about water after that incident in the water park. “Second, if you’re going to vomit do it away from me.”

“Don’t worry!” We both pass through the turnstiles and enter the park. “I don’t get sick even on big rides!”

Well good for you. “Finally, our first stop is the gift shop. I want to make sure I get something for Silver Spoon.”

“… You really care for Silver Spoon, don’t you?” Well, duh.

“We’ve been friends since kindergarten. We do everything together, and even formed our own secret language together.”

“You did?” Ah! What am I doing telling her that?! “Can you teach me some time?”

… “No.” It’s one thing to let that secret slip, but I am not going to admit that I forgot the very language I made up!

“Aw, come on!”

“I said no!” I say as I start to run. “Now to the gift shop!”

“I promise I won’t tell anypony!” I hear her running behind me.

“Just drop it! I didn’t say anything!”

“Diamoooooooond!”

“I said drop it!”

Beautiful day? Check! Lots of fun? Check! Have Diamond eat my homemade lunch? Check! Everything’s just been so great! The rides, the zoo, the haunted house (though Diamond kicking one of the ghostly actors in the stomach probably would have gotten us kicked out, were we not VIPs)… This whole day has just been so great!

As we jump off of the Nightmare Doom ride, Diamond picks up her tiara and our bags from the loose articles compartment as I run on ahead to check out our photo. Let’s see, where are we? … Ah-ha! There we ar- Pfft!

“Hey!” I turn to see Diamond approaching me. “At least carry your own stuff… What’s so funny?”

I take my bag and compose myself long enough to point to our photograph. “Your face!” I manage to say before I start to laugh again.

Diamond’s face in front of me shows her annoyance as she stares at her face in the photo. “Yeah, yeah. That wasn’t even funny the first time.” Oh, I disagree. “Anyway, this was the last attraction, right?”

I stop laughing and shake my head. “Not yet. There’s still one more,” I say as I leave the photo stall, with Diamond following behind me.

“What’s that?” I point my hoof towards the giant Ferris wheel on the other side of the lake in front of us. “The Ferris wheel? But they’re so slow, and boring!”

They’re also romantic. “But the view from the top is great! C’mon, we’ve got time, right?” I hear Diamond groan. So she’s gonna play hardball huh? “Pleeeeeeease?”

“Alula.”

“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?” I put on my cutest face, knowing that there’s no way she can resist it. She turns to look away from me, so I try to follow after her. Only, I bump into somepony passing by as I do so and end up spilling their ice-cream on the floor. “Oh! Sorry ‘bout that!”

“You klutz! Watch where you’re going!” the teenage-looking mare shouts at me as she take a step towards me, looking… pretty fierce… “I hope for your sake you have the money to make up for this!”

“Y-Yeah! Sure! H-How much? Three bits?”

“Three? Try twenty!” Twenty?! For an ice-cream?! No way! “You got a problem with that?” But, she’s the bigger pony here.

“N-Not at all. Here you- WAH!”

“One ice-cream does not cost twenty bits!” Diamond shouts as she pushes me to the side. “And it was you that walked into her!”

“You getting smart with me kid?!”

“Doesn’t take much to outsmart a stupid mule like you!” Diamond turns to her right. “No offence.”

“None taken,” a random mule passing by says.

“Look kid,” the bigger mare says, “I’ll give you one chance to apologise, before I-”

“Before you what?” Diamond asks. “By the way, you realise we’re in a public area, right? And that ponies are looking at you threatening a child?” The older mare’s ears twitch and she looks around. “If I were you, I’d worry about getting out of here before security gets involved.”

With a grunt, the older mare turns around and runs away. I turn back to Diamond, who flicks her mane with a huff. That was… “That was amazing!”

Diamond turns to me and walks closer. “You moron! Why were you about to give her your money so easily? Why didn’t you try standing up for yourself?!”

“Well, s-she was bigger than me, so-”

“So what? You can’t let ponies walk all over you just because they’re bigger than you, otherwise they’ll always be walking over you! Just look at Miss Fluttershy!”

“But aren’t you the one that walks all over her when she foalsits you?”

“That’s not the point!” She grabs my hoof and starts to walk away, pulling me along with her. “Come on, let’s go!”

“W-Wait! Where are we-”

“The Ferris wheel, duh! That’s where you wanted to go, right?”

Huh? But, wasn’t she against it earlier? Ah, whatever! I pick up my pace to match hers and she releases my hoof… Not that I would have minded her holding onto it a little longer, of course.

“Wow! This is great!” Alula says as she looks outside of her window. I join her by looking outside, and… “See? I told you it would be good!”

The view is kind of beautiful up here, especially with the night-time sky and all the lights on down below, and-

BANG!

Oh, fireworks are going off. I guess that means it’s nine o’clock now, since that’s when the show is scheduled to start. “We’ll have to leave after this,” I tell Alula. “Daddy will be waiting outside soon.”

“I know,” she says. “Today was really fun, wasn’t it?”

I guess it wasn’t bad… Okay, that’s a lie. Even without Silver Spoon here, today was totally awesome! Until that stupid ugly mule showed up, of course. I had no intention of riding the train home with a depressed Alula, and it would reflect badly on me if one of my… associates, was robbed right in front of me.

So I stepped in to save the day, of course. And to cheer Alula up, I agreed to this stupid Ferris wheel ride. But I’ll admit, I’m liking this. I’m actually glad that Alula convinced me to ride on this thing… though it could definitely go with being a bit faster.

“I love you…” Alula mumbles next… to… me…

WHAT?! “W-What did you-” She’s… sleeping… She’s talking in her sleep? Wait, Alula loves somepony? Who? I thought Alula didn’t have many friends, hence she’s always hanging out with me and Silver. Who could she possibly have feelings for?

Maybe if I listen closely, she’ll say more… N-Not that I care, but there’s not much else to do up here now that’s asleep. Wait, no, I’d better wake her up, before we reach the bottom.

“Hey, Alula.” I give her a nudge. It does nothing. “Alulaaaaaaaaaah,” I yawn as I rub my eye. Oh no. I’m getting sleepyyyyyyyyy…

…

Take that blank flank… I now own your farm…

…

“Miss?” Go away. I’m monopolizing. “Miss, wake up. It’s time for you to get off now.” Hm?

I open my eyes… and see a pair of green eyes from the stallion operating the Ferris wheel looking at me. “Oh good, you’re awake. Wake up your friend now. It’s time for you to leave the carriage.”

I turn to my left, and Alula curled up next to me… snuggling against my mane. “Ah! A-Alula, wake up!”

I yank my mane away (ouch), and Alula rolls off of the seat and lands on the floor of the carriage. “Whuh? What’s wrong?”

“It’s time for you to leave, Miss,” the stallion tells her.

“Oh… Oh!” Alula’s face turns red and she quickly jumps out of the carriage. I follow, and of course, everypony in the line outside is either laughing or ‘d’awww’ing at us.

“Let’s just go,” I say as I lead the way towards the theme park’s exit.

“Y-Yeah…” I hear Alula following behind me, and we continuing walking in complete silence, save for the fireworks going off in background behind us.

… Huh. I get the feeling I learned something important earlier, but for the life of my I can’t remember it.

“Uh, d-did I say anything funny in my sleep?” Alula asks. Anything funny? I don’t think so…

“I think we fell asleep at the same time.”

“Oh, okay…”

Hmmm… Oh well, whatever it was, I’m sure it wasn’t important.

Chapter 12

View Online

Today is Thursday. And usually on a Thursday, the three of us – Silver Spoon, Alula and myself – all meet up in the park so we can practice our respective club activities before splitting off to club meetings. I practice my martial arts, Silver Spoon practices her flute-playing, and Alula practices her high jump.

Alula is key to my practicing; I need a sparring partner and Silver Spoon is just too delicate and bruises way too easily. Therefore, I have no choice but Alula, and right now, she isn’t here! “Where is she?! It’s way past the time we’re supposed to meet up here!”

“She probably got distracted, again,” Silver Spoon says. I swear if Alula’s off chasing butterflies again… “Want to go check her house?”

“We might as well,” I say. “I can’t really start without somepony to hold up my kicking bag.”

Silver Spoon and I pack up our things and leave the park. There seem to be an awful lot of Pegasi flying about today… in circles… “What’s going on?” Silver Spoon asks. “What’s with all these Pegasi flying around, not even doing anything with the weather?”

“Who cares?” I answer. “Come on, Alula’s house isn’t that far.” We walk through the unusually crowded street, staying close together so that we don’t get separated as we push our way through everypony. Is it just me, or is everypony here a Pegasus? Oof! I just bumped into something!

“Are you okay?” I hear a voice ask me as I rub my muzzle. I open my eyes to find an orange filly glaring at me. “Oh. It’s you.” Oh. It’s the chicken. “Never mind, I don’t care if you’re alright or not.”

“Same here,” I respond. “You should really watch where you’re going, blank flank. Just because you can’t fly, it doesn’t mean you should live with your head in the clouds.”

“I can too fly!” Heh. What a laugh.

“No, you can hover, and fall down into mud,” Silver Spoon says. Nice one.

“And come up with stupid ideas for Cutie Marks that you inevitably mess up anyway,” I add… Wait, something’s not right here. This is around the point where her loser friends come to her defence. “Where are your friends today? Could it be they finally realised what a loser you are and decided to leave you on your own?”

“Of course not!” she shouts. Oh this is fun. “I’m on my own today because of the tornado!”

The tornado? “What tornado? You Pegasi aren’t scheming some kind of attack against Ponyville, are you?”

“Are you an idiot?” Coming from you? I find that offensive. “Whatever, I’m already getting sick to my stomach just listening to you speak.”

“That makes two of us then.” This is getting boring, and I have better things to do with my time anyway. “Come on, Silver Spoon. Let’s leave Loserloo to her… whatever lame thing it is she’s doing.”

“Yeah,” Silver Spoon says. “You just continue whatever dorky thing it is you’re doing over here, while the cool kids go and have fun.”

Scootaloo shouts something back to us as we leave, but I don’t hear it because I don’t care. I simply continue walking alongside Silver Spoon. Finally, Alula’s house has come into view, and thankfully there isn’t as big of a crowd here as there was back there.

I raise a hoof and knock on the door. “Coming!” Alula’s mum calls out from the other side. The door opens and Alula’s mum looks down at us. “Oh, good afternoon girls! Alula’s in her room practicing right now.”

“Practicing?” Silver asks. “For what?”

“For the rainy season,” Alula’s mum says. “Would you like to come inside?” Silver and I walk into the house together. It’s still as small and bland as always. “Like I said, Alula’s up in her room right now if you’d like to go and play with her. I’ll bring you three some juice just as soon as I finish my ironing.”

“Thank you,” Silver Spoon says as we start to make our way up the stairs. “What’s the ‘rainy season’?”

“How am I supposed to know? Besides, all that matters is Alula didn’t say anything about this to us!”

“Feeling upset that Alula ditched you?” Silver asks.

“No! I’m just annoyed that I waited for her only to find out she was doing something else and didn’t bother telling me!” We reach Alula’s door and I push it open, making sure to use enough force that it slams into the wall on the other side to make sure Alula jumps out of her skin. Instead, she drops down from air and lands face first onto her bedroom floor.

Last year, my wingpower clocked in at three-and-a-half, just short of what fillies my age should be achieving. This year, I should be flying at a full four wingpower! The problem is that I’m not much of a flyer… I use my wings to give me a boost in the high jump (during Pegasus-only events, where that’s allowed) and to reach high places, but that’s all.

I’ll admit, I’m actually kinda worried. I don’t think my wingpower is going to measure up to the other foals this year, which is bad because this year, Ponyville will be creating the tornado to carry the water up to Cloudsdale!

That’s why I’m currently in my room, flapping my wings to exhaustion so that I can train them up ready for the big day! I need to focus. I need to keep my mind free of distractions.

BANG!

Wah! Who the? What the? Where the? Who slammed my door open- Diamond? “Ow… What’s going on?”

“We should ask you the same thing,” Diamond says as she walks up to me, not looking very happy. What did I do now? “Have you forgotten that today is Thursday? We were supposed to meet up at the park, remember?”

Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that. “What were you doing in here?” Silver asks. “Why were you flying in the middle of your room?”

I pick myself up off of the ground and dust myself off. “I was training.”

“Training for what?” Diamond asks. “World’s biggest faceplant into the ground?”

“No,” I giggle. “The rainy season is coming up, and you know what means.”

“Actually, we don’t,” Silver Spoon says as they both shake their heads.

“You don’t?” Seriously? I’m sure Miss Cheerilee covered this in class some time ago. “Well, the rainy season means that Cloudsdale needs a ton of water to make lots of rainclouds to send all over Equestria, right?”

“We know that much,” Silver says.

“Uh, yeah,” Diamond adds with a cute little blush. “Of course we know that.”

Heh. I’m sure you did know that, Diamond. “Yeah, well, the water has to come from somewhere, right? And where it comes from is water reservoirs on the ground-”

“Waitwaitwaitwait!” Diamond says, interrupting my explanation. “Water what?”

“… Uh…” How do I explain this when I myself barely understand it.

“A place where water is stored for a later date,” Silver Spoon says.

“Ooooh.” Diamond turns back to me and nods her head. “Okay, carry on.”

I clear my throat and continue my story. “So, the water comes from these reservoirs on the ground, and they’re lifted up to Cloudsdale by a powerful tornado.”

“… Seriously?” Diamond asks. “You go through the trouble of making a tornado to lift the water up?”

“Well, we need to lift it up somehow.”

“Why not use drainage pipes?” Diamond asks.

“Or lift it up little by little in containers?” Silver Spoon asks.

“Or lift it up with magic? I’m Princess Celestia alone could lift all the water up in one go, if she can move the sun!”

“Look, I didn’t make the rules!” Sheesh, these two just have no creativity, do they? “Besides, it’s tradition.”

“But what’s it got to do with you?” Silver Spoon asks.

I’m so glad you ask, my dear Silver Spoon! “This year, the tornado is being made in Ponyville!”

“It seems everything is being done in or by Ponyville lately,” Diamond says.

“What do you mean?”

“The Summer Sun Celebration, Princess Celestia visiting twice for just a casual visit, Princess Luna visiting for Nightmare Night, which I totally missed thanks to that stupid cavity! Then there’s the Hearth’s Warming play, and now this.”

“Maybe it’s because our town is awesome?” I suggest.

“True that,” Silver Spoon says. “Wait, don’t tell me you’ll be taking part in creating the tornado.”

“Yup!” I was hoping to spring on them as a surprise, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. “All foals capable of flying are allowed to join in if they wish, but only at the bottom.”

“That’s crazy!” Silver shouts. “What if something bad happens?! What if the tornado breaks apart and you get flung away at a high speed?! You could seriously hurt yourself!”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Wow, I didn’t think Silver Spoon would be so worried about my safety. What about Diamond? What does she think about all this? “Like I said, the foals will be at the bottom, so even if the tornado does break apart, we’ll just fall right into the water below us. We’ll also be wearing helmets, too, just in case.”

“Even so, it’s way too dangerous! Isn’t that right Diamond?”

“Huh?” Diamond looks between both me and Silver Spoon for a bit. “Uh… Well, it certainly is dangerous-”

“See?”

Diamond clears her throat. “But, I don’t see how it could be that dangerous if they let foals in on it every year. And besides, it’s not like Alula hasn’t got hurt before doing something crazy. So I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“Oh hey, since you two are here, I was wondering if you could help me with my training.” Oh, wait. Wasn’t the reason they came here in the first place because I skipped out on our weekly joint-practice session? I should probably apologise for that. “And, uh, sorry for missing out on our usual meet-up today.”

“… Well, I guess you had a good reason,” Diamond says. “And what do you mean by helping you with your training?”

I smile as I turn my head to the corner of my room, where a pile of items for training, such as weights, a stopwatch, an anemometer, a treadmill… which is more for running, not flying, but still. “Well…”

“I’m telling you, a montage would make this go so much faster,” I say to Silver Spoon as we sit by the ane-whatsamjiga in Alula’s back garden.

“And like I said, real life doesn’t work that way,” Silver Spoon says as she pokes the thingy a few times. “Is thing on? How are we supposed to know?”

“Well, when Alula passes by we’ll see if there’s a reading or not. If there isn’t, we’ll assume it’s not on.”

“But we didn’t even flip a switch. I don’t even think there is a switch.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one here? Shouldn’t you know how this anawhosawhatsit works?”

“‘Anemometer’, and I haven’t ever researched anything about them before. It never seemed important enough to do so.”

“Hey guys!” I turn to see Alula flying towards us. “Incoming!” She’s not really moving fast enough that we should jump out of the way in the dramatic fashion she seems to be suggesting we should. She passes the anethingy and it spins. “How’s that?”

“Uh… Three-and-a-half.” I turn to face Alula. She’s now sitting on the ground again, looking down at the ground with lowered ears, and looking pretty pathetic. Was that a bad reading? “Uh, I’m sure it was just a mistake. Maybe the machine’s broken, or maybe you just did it wrong this one time?”

“Yeah,” Silver Spoon adds, “I’m sure you’ll get double that easily next time! Maybe even triple.”

Now she’s giving us a confused look. “The average for ponies my age is four wingpower.”

Wait, what? Then what’s her problem? “So you got just a little below the average?” Actually, now that I say that I can understand why she’d be sad. Less than average is pretty bad in anything you do. “Just, work a little harder and you’ll-”

“You don’t get it!” D-Did she just raise her voice at me? “Oh! Uh, sorry. It’s just… my wingpower reading last year was also three-and-a-half. It means I haven’t improved one bit, despite all my hard work.”

Did she just raise her voice at me?!

“Oh. Well, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about…” Silver Spoon nudges me. “Right, Diamond?”

“Huh?” Alula looks over at me with a pitiful look on her face. “Uh, yeah. I mean, if you just try harder you’ll do better, right?”

“I don’t know…”

I stomp a hoof onto the ground. “Hey! No lackey of mine is going to give up so easily!” I look around the yard and my eyes land on the pile of weights near one of the flowerbeds. “Try putting more weights on.”

“But I’m already having enough trouble with the weights I’m using now.”

“Then what are you doing resting? Keep flying until those weights of yours feel really light!”

“I dunno…”

Silver Spoon leans over and whispers into my ear. “What?!”

“Just do it,” she says. But it’s so… I mean… Come on! “Do you want her to cheer up or not?”

Do I really care?! “… Alula…” I can’t really be considering this. “If you work really hard… I’ll… let you sleep over at my house…” I’ve only ever let Silver Spoon stay the night at my house before. I don’t really feel comfortable with the idea of another pony sleeping in my room with me, but I guess if it gets her to stop moping… Besides, it’s only Alula. What’s the worst that could happen?

“I… I understand!” Alula shouts as she suddenly jumps to her hooves. “I’ll do my best!”

Pain! PAIN! Diamond Tiara is pushing me so hard! I don’t know if I’ll survive this or not!

“Come on! Fifty more push-ups and… You’ve gotta be… Fine! Fifty more push-ups and I’ll give you a hug…”

That’s all the motivation I need! Fifty push-ups coming right up!

Well, I’ve got to hand it to Silver Spoon, these crazy ideas of hers work. But seriously, offering hugs, and cupcakes personally baked by me?

“Come on Alula, run faster!” And why is she on a treadmill now? Will this really help her with her flying? Silver Spoon whispers into my ear again. Ugh, I swear she’s losing her mind. “Survive three more minutes and I’ll let you wear my tiara for five seconds.” What the? Since when could she run that fast?!

Unfortunately, running faster only makes you tired more quickly. So theoretically, this should be having the opposite effect… right?

Ten more sit-ups! Just ten more sit-ups, and Silver Spoon will give me a picture of Diamond Tiara sleeping like baby! That was the deal! Nine more sit-ups! Hey, this isn’t actually so hard after all. Eight more sit-ups. That Iron Will dude was right; practice does make perfect!

Okay, now for the moment of truth! We’ve spent an entire weekend on this ridiculous training of hers, and it better have paid off! “The anablablehbleh is ready!” I shout over to Alula. “Fly whenever you’re-”

Alula suddenly takes off, dashing towards us much faster than the last time she did. I quickly leap out of the way as she passes the machine-thingy, and read the result. “… Four-and-a-bit!”

Alula gasps and leaps onto me from behind, crushing me against the floor. “Four-and-a-bit! I did it! I did it!”

“Get off of me!”

“You sure did,” Silver Spoon says, instead of HELPING ME OUT HERE! “And not a moment too soon. Isn’t the tornado thingy supposed to be today?”

…

Alula, you idiot! “Oh no! I’ve gotta hurry! I need to eat breakfast and brush my teeth! Wait, should I eat if I’m going be in a tornado? But if I don’t eat, I might not have enough energy. Maybe just a little nibble? But will I have enough time to decide what I want to eat anyway? What if-”

“Alula.” Silver Spoon drags me out from underneath the panicking Alula above me. Took you long enough. “Relax. I checked it out, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll start for another few hours. Which gives you plenty of time eat something and let it settle.”

“I do?” Alula sighs and wipes her brow. “That’s a relief. Hey, you guys are gonna be there to cheer me on, right?”

I wasn’t exactly planning on it. “Of course we will be.” But apparently Silver Spoon was.

“Yeah, sure. So make sure you don’t mess it up, okay?”

Alula leaps forward again, but this time I’m read- No I’m not! She’s somehow faster than she was before! And stronger! “Don’t worry!” she says while she crushes my ribcage. “I’ll make sure these last few days of training weren’t in vain!”

Here it is. The moment of truth. The time to see if all of my training has really amounted to anything after all. I don my helmet, pull my goggles over my eyes, and take one last look over at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

“Good luck!” Silver Spoon shouts.

Diamond simply waves, and I wave back. “I’ll do my best!”

“Everypony!” Rainbow Dash shouts as that dragon-kid gets ready to blow the big horn thingy. “Go!” The horn blows. I join my classmates in flying around just above the lakes surface, creating the base of the tornado for the older ponies to work with.

“This is awesome!” I shout as the winds around us start to get stronger.

“I know, right?!” Rumble shouts from my left. “Too bad my brother had to miss this!”

I look up and notice something strange. Somepony falls back way too quickly, and crashes into another pony. “Hey! What’s going on up there?!”

Suddenly, the tornado stops, and everypony at the top start to fly off in every direction. As for us down here… Well, I look down at the lake below me, and gulp as I feel myself slowing down. “Oh no…”

I still don’t get why I have to be here. It was Alula’s stupid idea to risk her neck making that crazy tornado thing, why do I have to give up my precious time visiting her at her house because she caught a dumb cold from falling in that cold lake?

“I hope you get better soon Alula,” Silver says as she gives Alula the fruit basket we bought for her.

“Thanks guys,” Alula says. She sniffles and takes the basket. “Sorry you had to come all this way for me.” And so you should be.

“Oh, we don’t mind at all. Right, Diamond?”

Of course I mind. I had a full day planned out today! “Uh, yeah. Right.” Stupid Alula, catching a cold and getting to take time off from school because of it. I look to my left and find a tray with an empty glass and two pills. “Hey, aren’t these the pills your mum gave you?”

“Ah. Um… maybe,” Alula says. “I’m feelin’ tired, I think I’ll be going to sleep now.”

I reach over and pick the pills up, then turn back to Alula. “Oh no you don’t! If you’re going to get better, you need to take your medicine!” I’m not having you miss school on your own, you selfish filly!

“But it tastes baaaaaad!” Stop being such a baby!

“Maybe you should feed her mouth-to-mouth,” Silver Spoon stupidly suggests.

“That’ll work,” Alula says.

“No,” I say. “Just… no.”

“Awwww…”

“Look, just take this medicine and get better already!” Alula cringes, and then takes the pills from my hooves and stares at them for a second.

“But I don’t have any water to wash them down with…”

“Too bad!” I say. “That’s what you get for trying to avoid it in the first place!”

“Aw, come on Diamond,” Silver Spoon says. “Isn’t that a little strict? Think about if you were in her place.”

But I’m not, and that’s the problem. But, I see where you’re coming from… I guess. “Ugh, fine! I’ll get you some water. You should be grateful you have such a caring friend like me around.”

“You should be grateful you have such a caring fillyfriend like me around!” Oh trust me, Diamond. I’m grateful for that every day.

“So did anything new happen in school today?” I ask while Diamond picks up the empty glass.

“Actually, it did,” Silver Spoon says. “Get this: Diamond here has volunteered to take over the position of chief editor of the school’s newspaper!”

“Editor-in-chief,” Diamond corrects. “I figured it would make daddy proud to see me turn such a failing business into something big and successful. And possibly boost my allowance a little bit, too.”

“Cool! I can’t wait to-” I start coughing, and Silver Spoon quickly pats me on the back until I finish. “Thanks. I can’t wait to see what you do with it. Maybe the papers will actually be interesting from now on.”

“Well, we’ll see,” Diamond says as she walks towards the bedroom door. “The current ponies working on the paper don’t seem like the most competent type, but that’s where my magnificent skills as leader come into play.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great,” I say as Diamond leaves the room. I stare at the door for a few seconds… and then my ears droop as my head starts to hurt. “Owww… I really should have taken those pills…”

Chapter 13

View Online

Miss Cheerilee opens the door to the newspaper’s printing room for us and ushers us inside. “Here it is, girls. This is where the magic of the school’s newspaper takes place. Writing, editing, printing, and accounting. All of that takes place in this one room.”

So this is the school’s newspaper room. It’s… a lot smaller than I thought. And why do I, the boss, have to sit in the same room as everypony else while I work? With all this messy ink and dusty old magazines around. This stuff better not stain my coat.

“Would you like me to show you how the machines work?” Miss Cheerilee asks.

“Not really,” I say as I walk over to my new desk. “I’m the editor-in-chief, right? That means all I need to know is how to tell everypony to do their job. Which I already know how to do anyway.”

“Well, there’s more to it than that,” Miss Cheerilee says. “You also have to show your colleagues respect and work well together as part of a team.” Colleagues? Team? I’m the boss. The boss is above everypony else. The boss’ job is to tell everypony what to do and give them a pat on the back for a job well done, and a pay cut when they do a bad job.

“Why is this room so small?” A good question Silver Spoon.

“I’m surprised we even have this room in the first place,” Alula says. “Doesn’t the school get, like, so little funding they can’t even afford a new water fountain?” You’re still on about that?

“The school’s newspaper isn’t actually funded by the school,” Miss Cheerilee says. “It was originally started by a student ten years ago, in his own bedroom, on a dusty old typewriter from an older generation. He gathered stories from around the town and printed papers, then shared them with students at the school.”

“For free?” I ask. That’s just crazy!

“At first.” THAT’S CRAZY! “But when he saw how popular his paper was, he began to sell them for a single bit per paper. When he had saved enough money, he bought some new equipment, and asked his friends to help his paper grow larger than ever. I was so impressed with their effort that I loaned them this old storage room that was no longer in use and put some of my own money forward to purchase some new equipment.”

“Wait. You paid for all of this yourself?” Alula asks.

“Not entirely,” Miss Cheerilee answers. “My friends chipped in a little bit, too. But yes, when I saw how interested my students were becoming in my student’s newspaper, both reading it and running it, I decided to take it as a chance to help them gain some real world experience, and thus, the school’s newspaper club was born!”

“Why do we only sell the papers for two bits though?” Silver Spoon asks. Oh, my dear, naïve little Silver Spoon. It seems there are still some areas where I outshine even you.

“The market for the paper is very small, directed only towards the foals at this school. Nopony else really pays the paper much attention. And unlike us, the foals here only get so much allowance from their parents. If the price was too high, then the papers wouldn’t sell as much.”

“But we’d still make more money ‘cause the price is higher, right?” Alula asks.

“Think of it this way then: one company sells their paper at two bits each, whilst another sells at five. The first company sells ten papers because of their cheaper price, whilst the second turns so many ponies away they only sell two. Which company makes the bigger profit?”

“The first.” Just like Silver Spoon to do quick math in her head and answer in the matter of a second. “Even though they sell for less, they make more overall because they sell more.”

“That’s correct,” Miss Cheerilee says as she claps her hooves together in that strange, excited way she does whenever somepony answers a question correctly. I actually almost forgot she was there. “And can any of you tell me why the price for the paper was increased from one bit to two bits?”

“More money?” Alula says.

“That’s right, but-”

“It is to get more money, but the overall profits probably remain the same,” I say. In fact, looking through this record book, it seems this newspaper doesn’t make any profits at all. It’s actually losing money. I’m starting to regret volunteering for this position, but if I can turn this sad, failure of a business into something big and grand, I might be able to get daddy to buy me that new dress I saw in Canterlot. “Because there are more typewriters, the cost of the ink increased too, so the price of the paper had to be increased to break-even. Not that it seems to be working.”

“Well, that’s where the three of you come in,” Miss Cheerilee says. “Give it your best girls!”

“Oh, we’re not joining the newspaper thingy,” Silver Spoon says. “Diamond said she wanted to do this on her own.”

“Oh? Why is that?” I don’t really see how that’s any of your business, but…

“I just want to show daddy that I can do what he does.”

“Besides, there’s not much we can do here anyway,” Silver Spoon continues. “All the manager-type stuff is being done by Diamond, and I am not getting my coat anywhere near those filthy machines.”

“I personally wouldn’t mind,” Alula says, “But if Diamond wants to do this alone, I guess that’s cool. I’ll still help ya out by tipping you off to neat stories and stuff.”

“Like that ‘UFO’ that you saw last week?” The one that of course turned out to just be a balloon reflected in a store window.

“I’m telling you, they’re out there! But I’ll try to keep it simple, since there’ll be underclassponies reading this.”

Miss Cheerilee walks up to Alula and puts a hoof on her shoulder. “Yes, well, perhaps you should just stick to simply reporting happenings within the school for now?” As if. I’m going to make this paper big! “Now then, how about we go and meet the ponies you’ll be working with?”

“Well, it looks like you’ll have a lot of work to do,” Silver Spoon says. “Let’s meet at my place later, okay?”

“You bet.” I put down the record book and follow Miss Cheerilee. “See you later. I’ll let you know all about how it feels being the pony in charge.”

Silver Spoon’s room is a lot different from both mine and Diamond’s. There’s a lot more breakable, expensive-looking stuff in it, for starters, which makes me very nervous. The colour scheme is really… what’s the word? ‘Vintage’? Yeah, it’s like something from the era that Princess Victoria was married to Princess Celestia.

And what’s with this movie? There’s a lot of big words in it and the characters are just being so stupid. This guy, I think, thinks that his girlfriend cheated on him so he’s now trying to kill the dude he think she was kissing. Why not just sit down and talk about it like reasonable adults? Or hire a private investigator or something?

And this girl trying to split up the fight ran in-between the two guys as they were swinging their swords. Why not throw something or shout real loud to catch their attention, instead of throwing herself into a situation guaranteed to get her killed?

Of course, I can’t ask Silver Spoon why because every time I do, she just says that I’m simply too young to understand the complexities of the pony mind, or something like that.

“Silver, I can’t understand what they’re saying.”

“I already turned on the subtitles. What more do you want?”

A different movie, perhaps? “Can’t we just watch cartoons? I think the new My Small Squirrel is on now.”

“I watched that yesterday.”

“So did I, but at least I can understand what the characters are saying.” I hear a knock at the door suddenly. “Oh, Di’s here!” I jump up and run towards the door, only to feel something pulling at my tail and to trip over onto my face. “Ow…”

“I’ll get it. We don’t want you getting lost again.” It only happened twice, y’know… “Besides, you’re the guest here. Just sit here and enjoy the movie.” I can’t. I don’t even know what’s going oooooon…

Silver Spoon leaves the room. I turn my attention towards the movie on her television screen. They say a few things… and I’m done. I can’t keep up with what they’re saying at all. What, was this movie made back in Ye Olde Equestria or something?

I wonder what else Silver Spoon has around here? Everything just looks so fragile… and so expensive… and Silver Spoon isn’t really somepony I wanna be in debt to.

And then there’s her pet hamster, who of course picks now of all times to be asleep, so I can’t even play with him. “C’mon Chappy,” I call out to the snoozing fuzzball. “Stop being boring and do something already.” He lets out a long yawn… and then does nothing else. Well, I guess that’s my fault for not being more specific.

“And then I showed Miss Cheerilee our sales figures and she was, like, totally impressed!” That voice! She’s here! The door opens, and in walks Diamond Tiara. “She gave me a gold star and said she’d tell daddy how well I’ve been do- Oof!”

“Oh yeah,” Silver Spoon says as I hug my Diamond Tiara, “Alula’s here, too.”

“So I noticed!” Diamond puts her forelegs around me to hug me back, and I let go after a few more seconds. “So, what did you both think of the new Foal Free Press?”

“It was great!” I answer, and it really was! That article about Snips and Snails being stuck together was simply hilarious! “Who’s Gabby Gums, though?”

“It’s those three blank flanks,” Diamond says. “For once, they’re actually doing something right. Though it took a little pep talk from yours truly to get their butts into gear and come up with a story with talking about.”

“So they’re not holding you back?” Silver Spoon asks as the three of us sit down in the centre of the room.

“Actually, they’re the star reporters of the paper!” Wow. Diamond’s actually complimenting the Crusaders. I think it might rain tonight. “I guess I must be a better boss than I first thought.”

“Well, it certainly seems like things a going well for you,” Silver Spoon says.

“I’ll say,” I add. “How much have you made exactly from all those sales?”

“That’s the best part,” Diamond says with a grin. “Even after deducting the cost for the ink and repairing one of the broken typewriters, we still made a profit of ten bits!”

“… That’s all?” Silver Spoon asks.

“When you consider the school’s paper was losing about ten bits per issue printed, it’s a huge improvement! And that’s only the beginning. I plan to have Gabby Gums release more stories about ponies’ private lives, and make this paper the biggest selling newspaper in all of Ponyville!”

“Not just the school?” I ask. “Would grown-ups even be interested in it?”

“They will be, trust me. Take a look at this.” Diamond pulls some kind of folder out of her bag and opens it up. Inside are photographs and sheets of paper. “These are just some of the stories I’ll be printing in the paper, thanks to the snooping work of the Crusaders and Featherweight.” Did I hear that right? ‘Crusaders’, and not ‘blank flanks’?

Silver Spoon picks up a photo and giggles to herself. I’ll admit, some of these are pretty funny. Like this one. “‘Pinkie Pie – the out of control party animal’? So true. ‘Time Turner – where does he keep running off to’. ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’s secrets revealed’… Isn’t there a rule against revealing a magician’s secrets?”

Diamond waves her hoof dismissively. “What’s she gonna do, make the school’s paper disappear?”

“Aren’t some of these a little too personal?” Silver Spoon asks. “Like, should you really be revealing that Miss Cheerilee was kissing Pinch’s mum?”

“… You’re right,” Diamond says as she takes the photograph from Silver’s hoof. “Miss Cheerilee would kick me out of the newspaper club if she saw that. Better burn it and tell Featherweight to leave her be.”

Hey… this photo of Miss Fluttershy, wearing tail extensions? That seems a little… “Di, you’re not gonna print this one, are you?”

“Well of course I am,” Diamond says as she swipes the photo from me. “The ponies of this town want to know what their neighbours are doing behind closed doors, and that’s exactly what I’m going to give them! Like my daddy and my uncle say: ‘the customer is always right’!” Diamond rises to her hooves and turns towards the door. “Please excuse me,” she says. That means she needs to use the restroom.

“Hey.” Silver turns to face me. “Aren’t some of these stories a little extreme?”

Silver scratches her head as she looks down at the photos spread across the floor. “Well, some of them are a little out there, but she’s got a point. If the customers want gossip, then they can’t really complain when that’s what they get.”

“But some of this gossip just seems too… personal.” Wait, that photo there… It can’t be. It is. “There’s something here about me. And something about you, too.”

“There is?” Silver takes the photo quickly and gasps as she looks at it. “W-Why does she have a photo like this?!” Yikes, I’ve never seen her so panicked. Whatever that photo is, I wanna see it more closely. It’s about time I had some dirt on this pony.

“H-Hey, I’m sure she doesn’t intend to use it. Remember it’s not Di collecting all of this information.”

“But still, to see that my most personal secret is ready to be printed and shown to the entire town…”

The two of us remain silent. Time passes, with neither of us saying a word. Finally, Diamond returns. “I’m back. Did I miss anything.”

“… No,” Silver Spoon says, not looking up from the floor.

I look up at Diamond Tiara and slowly nod my head. “Yeah, nothing…” She sits down and continues to brag about the success of the school’s newspaper… whilst Silver Spoon continues to stare absentmindedly at the floor, the photograph still in her hoof.

Those stupid blank flanks. And just when I was starting to gain a little respect for them, too. I knew they wouldn’t last, though, and that’s why I held onto those photos that Featherweight gave to me. I guess my uncle’s teachings proved helpful in this situation. Gather as much dirt on an enemy or potential enemy as you can, and you will deny them the first move. Now, they’re mine.

“Diamond?” Silver Spoon? And Alula? “Can we talk to you for a second?”

“Sure you can.” I’m pretty much done here today anyway, and I need some way to calm down after those stupid blank flanks tired to walk out on me like that. “Here to congratulate me on another job well done? I’ll admit, after two waves of papers suddenly disappeared, I was worried that this issue wouldn’t sell well enough to cover our losses. But I did it.” I still have no idea what happened to those two issues, though. The Trixie article and the Rainbow Dash article papers just seemed to suddenly pop out of existence from every news stand in Ponyville.

“Di, we passed the Crusaders on the way in here,” Alula says. “They looked pretty upset. What happened?”

“Oh, them.” Bunch of cry-babies, that’s all they are. “They tried to leave. Something about how the newspaper was ‘insensitive’, and ‘immoral’. But no worries. I handled it quite expertly, if I do say so myself.”

“How did you do that?” Silver asks.

“Simple. I showed them some photos that they really don’t want spreading around the town. My uncle calls it ‘insurance’.”

“The law calls it ‘blackmail’, and it’s illegal.” What’s with that sudden serious tone in her voice?

“Illegal? It’s just a school newspaper.” What’s with that look Silver Spoon’s giving me. “What’s up?”

“… Diamond, I… I think that… what you’re…”

“We don’t agree with your methods!” Alula shouts. I turn to her and she quickly shakes her head. “S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout. It’s just, I know you’re just trying to do a good job and impress everypony, but I think that you’re really hurting some ponies, and-”

“Ugh, what is with everypony in this crazy town?! First you crave the desirable gossip column known as ‘Gabby Gums’, now suddenly it’s wrong to post those stories?”

“We just think you should ease off a bit,” Silver Spoon says. “And maybe… try to post other, less harmful stories, from time-to-time?”

“And lose all the good business we’ve been getting? Oh, sure, and at the same time, why don’t we stop printing at all because we’re cutting down trees in order to make the paper we print our stories on?” Honestly, am I the only one using my brain around here? “Look, this isn’t some make-believe, kiddy newspaper game here! I’m running the second-most successful newspaper in town right now, and I’m just one more big sale away from reaching the top! If a few ponies feel hurt by the stories we publish, then too bad!”

… Do the two of you understand now? Got nothing more to add? Good.

“That’s…” Never mind. It looks like Alula still has something to say. “That’s not right… That’s not how real business should be done, and you of all ponies should know that!”

“You’re telling me about business?” Oh, this is amusing. “I’m sorry, but whose Cutie Mark here represents good leadership?”

“That’s what I’m saying! As a good leader, you should know that this isn’t how you-”

“Enough!” I slam my hooves onto my desk. I’m getting tired of this conversation. “You know, I thought you two had come here to congratulate me and ask me to hang out or something, not to give me a lecture and try to tell me of all ponies how to do my job.”

“Diamond, we were just-” Save it, Silver Spoon.

“Get out, now. I have lots of work to do.”

“But Di-” No, Alula! Not another word!

“Out!”

… Both of them finally turn around and leave the room. Finally, I can have some peace and quiet. Maybe I’ll look over the record book one more time. Let’s see, today’s figures show that… Water? Where’d that drop of water come from?

… Why does my face feel wet?

I can’t believe we’re about to do this. I can’t believe it came to this at all. What’s happened to Diamond? When did my sweet, caring Diamond turn into such a ruthless boss?

“I’ve got the photos,” Silver says as she approaches me from Diamond’s front lawn. “Thankfully Mr. Rich was more than happy to share some family memories with me.”

“Are we really going to do this? Isn’t there another way?” I still don’t want to do this to Diamond…

“I know how you feel, trust me. But we’ve tried talking to her, and that didn’t work.”

“Why was she like that, anyway? What’s happened to her?”

… Well? Why aren’t you answering me. “She…” She what? “I guess she’s just caught up in the excitement of finally being in charge of an actual business, even if it’s just the school’s newspaper. I’ve seen it all the time in movies. It’s called ‘going mad with power’, and usually, the only way to make it stop is to either remove that power, or show her what she’s left behind.”

“But what we’re doing is different.”

Silver Spoon nods. “We’re in a special situation. She doesn’t understand what kind of damage she’s doing to ponies because she herself has never been on the receiving end of it. Remember back at my house? I was all for Diamond’s methods, until I saw the photo she had of me.”

“Yeah, I noticed you were pretty out of it then.” Wait, so is she saying… “So if we show Diamond what it’s like to have her most embarrassing secret be revealed…”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that. Hopefully the power should be in the threat, but if it comes down to it… I don’t know if I can actually bring myself to embarrass my best friend like that.”

“I can’t either.” There’s no way I could betray my fillyfriend like that, even if she is being a little… mean, lately. “I hope this works.”

“Me too…” We both take deep breaths to ready ourselves, and then turn around to head towards the school.

“Di!” W-What’d Diamond doing here? “Did the newspaper meeting get out early?”

“No. I did,” she says as she stomps towards us. “Stupid Miss Cheerilee demoted me for ‘abusing my power’ or whatever, and expected me to write on one of those filthy old typewriters. Like I would ever do something so menial and degrading, so I got out of there as quickly as I could.”

So… she was kicked out of her position as boss? But she seemed so excited to…

“I don’t get it, I- Hey!” I lean forward and nuzzle Diamond’s cheek, only for her to back away and glare at me. She must be really depressed right now. I’d better save it for later. “As I was saying, I don’t get it! I did exactly what my daddy does, and I used the advice my uncle gave me! I was making huge profits, and those stupid blank flanks were a hit because of me! What went wrong?”

“… Maybe,” Silver begins, “Maybe ruthless business tactics aren’t your style? I always thought grace and charm was more you, anyway.”

I nod my head, though I’m not sure I fully understand it, to be honest. “Maybe you were trying too hard to be like your uncle, when what you should have done was follow your own heart.”

“Hey, that actually sounded pretty good,” Silver Spoon says.

“I have my moments. Anyway, I think for now, somepony could do with some ice-cream.” That’s right. Diamond’s upset right now, so our first priority should be cheering her up!

“Hmph! No thanks!” Diamond says as she turns around. “I’m in the mood to watch a movie. Let’s go to the cinema before it closes.” She takes one step forward, before turning back to look at us. “Now.”

Silver and I exchange happy glances before following after Diamond Tiara. For now, I’ll just stay right here by her side. When you need a shoulder to lean on, Diamond, I’ll be right here for you.

Chapter 14

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This is so stupid. Why do I have to go to that dirty old farm anyway? Just because daddy wants to talk to that stupid, slow stallion about the upcoming parade, I still don’t see why I have to tag along with him. “Be careful sweetie,” daddy says. “Your face will freeze like that.”

“Daddy, I wanted to go to the arcade.”

“Then you should have thought about that before you broke your mother’s fine china.” I thought the hose would wash them faster…

“Hey, at least I’m tagging along with you,” Silver Spoon says beside me. “And maybe we can pay that blank flank a visit while we’re there, too.”

Well, I suppose that’s a good idea. I still haven’t got Apple Bloom back for her betrayal back when I was editor-in-chief. This will be the perfect chance to exact some payback.

“And you won’t have to hold back since Alula’s not here.” Like I would ‘hold back’ anyway. Alula being at the dentist’s right now just means she won’t be pulling my leg, telling me that I’ve done enough and that we should leave the blank flanks alone. I only comply with her because otherwise she won’t stop mithering me.

We continue to pass through the streets of Ponyville. There’s some kid playing with his toy train just ahead of us. I’m sure I’ve seen him before… Button Stash? Whoever he is, his train just burst into flames. It’s of no concern to me though, so I turn my head away and continue walking, leaving the edge of town and entering the farm area.

Apple tree, apple tree, apple tree… Sheesh, variety much? Apples is literally the only thing they have here. Would it kill them to grow something else for once, like… I don’t know, a pumpkin or something?

“G’mornin’ Mr. Rich.” Oh Celestia, here he comes. “Mornin’ girls.”

“Good morning,” Silver says.

I’d better say it too, or daddy will just bother me about it later. “Morning… Daddy, can Silver and I walk around the orchard while you two talk?”

“… Fine, but stay on the orchard.” Yeah yeah. “And don’t go pulling any pranks on Granny Smith while she’s napping again.” Oh, don’t worry. We have bigger fish to fry.

“We won’t,” I say as Silver and I take off down the dirt road. “So, where’s that blank flank going to be?”

“If I had to hazard a guess… the barn.”

Good enough for me. Breaking off into a gallop, I silently challenge Silver Spoon to a race. I hear her quick hoofsteps behind mine, which means she accepted my challenge. I am of course in the lea- What the what? When did she get so fast? I’m not going to let her beat me that easily! Gah! Stupid rock! Don’t the Apple family ever clean up their dirt roads? How inconsiderate!

Okay, so we’re finally here. And I totally won that race. Now let’s go see if- Yes! She is here! And not just Apple Bloom, but the other Crusaders! Oh, this is going to be fun!

What’s that thing behind them? Some kind of… giant… pumpkin… Don’t. Say. Anything.

“As a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you’ll be able to ride on it with us! It’d be totally fun!” the chicken says to… whoever this new filly is. Whatever, I don’t care who this one is.

“More like funny…”

Silver and I walk into the barn. “… Looking!” Oh those glares. That’s right, payback can be such a parasprite!

“What is that thing, a giant orange?” … Eh, five out of ten, Silver Spoon. Probably should have given her some lines before we came in here.

“It’s a pumpkin!” Apple Bloom says.

“… More like a lamekin.” That’s how us pros do it, Silver… That filly has been staring for some time now. Okay, now I’m curious. “Who’s the new blank flank?”

“She’s mah cousin, Babs.” Oh, she’s Apple Bloom’s cousin? I already don’t like her. “She’s from Manehatten.” There are Apples living in Manehatten? I thought there were all backwater farmers.

“Manehatten huh? Well, I guess you have that going for you.”

“Suppose you’re gonna join their little club?” Silver asks her. “What’s it called? The ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’?” Whatever, she hasn’t wronged me… yet.

“… More like the Cutie Mark Cry-babies.”

… Well. This has taken a turn I wasn’t expecting. “Ooh, a big-city attitude. I like it!” This should be a good way to mess with that blank flank. Those blank flanks, I mean.

“Oh yeah? Well there’s more where that came from.” Alright then, show me what you got… whatever your name was. “Check this out.” She knocks the wheel off the giant pumpkin. Okay, a six out of ten, I guess. I mean, they can just repair that easi- WAH!

T-That thing just totally collapsed, and is now rolling out of the barn! Rolling, rolling… aaaaand, SPLAT! “Looks like somepony’s pumpkin just got squashed.” … I take it back. I like this filly!

“When ah tell Applejack-”

“You’re gonna tell Applejack what?” Whoa! I-Is she going to get violent?

“W-Well, y’know, uh-”

“What’re you, a snitch?”

Okay, you’re cool, I get it! “Come on…” Babs! That was her name! “… Babs! You should hang with us, you know, the cool ponies! Not these babies!” Don’t get me wrong! I just don’t want to be blamed if those stupid blank flanks suddenly get covered in bruises, that’s all!

But anyway, this Babs filly… she might actually be fun to hang out with! “So, what’ve ya got to eat around here?” And she doesn’t have that stupid annoying accent, either!

“You should totally visit Sugarcube Corner, they’ve got the best cupcakes in all of Equestria!” Wait… darn it, I forgot. “Except, I’m supposed to stay with my daddy today because I broke some stupid dishes.”

“‘Stay with your daddy’? Why not just ditch him when he ain’t lookin’?” What? Ditch daddy when he isn’t- That’s insane! I couldn’t do that! I’d be grounded for months! “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him after all!”

“That’s-”

“Diamond Tiara?” Uh-oh. I didn’t go outside of the orchard, did I? “There you are. We heard loud noises and-”

“What in tarnation happened over here?!” the blank flank’s sister shouts. “Is that the pumpkin float we built for the parade?!”

“Oh, we were just on our way to tell ya,” Babs says. “There was a little accident. The girls were showin’ me the float but they got a little too excited. Don’t be so hard on ‘em. They’ve volunteered to rebuild it from scratch, after all.”

“… Well, it was their float in the first place, so as long as they’re takin’ responsibility… Anyway, ah’ve gotta get back ta harvestin’.”

“So this is the cousin you were just telling me about?” Daddy asks. “I see you’ve met my daughter and her friend already. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Seed. My name’s-”

“Filthy Rich.” Babs knows my daddy? “Your face is known all over Manehatten. So you’re Diamond’s father? No wonder she’s so cool.”

Is daddy blushing? “Ehem! Yes, well… Diamond, why don’t you go and show Miss Seed around the town?” Huh? But what about- “Don’t worry about your punishment. I’ll let it slide for now. It was only the cheap china, anyway.”

No way! I’m out of having to follow daddy around to all these boring places all day?! “Thanks daddy!” I jump up to give my daddy a quick hug and then jump back down. “Alright then, let’s go! First stop: Sugarcube Corner!”

“Just keep up the good brushing and I’m sure there’ll be no problems,” Miss Minuette says as I leave her office. “And try to cut down on the amount of sugary foods you eat.”

“I will! Thanks Miss Minuette!” I turn to walk down the street. Well, that went better than I thought! Miss Minuette said my brushing was excellent and that my teeth are in perfect condition! So what should I do now? Oh, I know! Sugarcube Corner!

“You have to wear uniforms to school?” Diamond’s voice detected! Seeking…. Seeking… Located! “That’s-”

“DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-” I charge and jump forward to hug Diamond Tiara. I somehow fly past her side… I must have tripped or something. “… Hi Diamond!” I say as I pick myself up off of the floor.

“Who’s this?” some filly I’ve never seen before asks from beside Diamond.

“… This is Alula,” Diamond tells her. “Alula, this is Babs Seed. She’ll be hanging out with us for the following week.”

“Oh? Cool!” I reach my hoof forward to shake hers, but she just ignores it and blows her fringe up. “Er, so… where are you from? I don’t think I’ve seen you around school before.”

“Manehatten,” she says. Manehatten huh? … Now that I think about it, she looks kind of familiar. “You’re one of Diamond’s pals? Funny, you don’t look that cool.”

“I, uh…” W-What? I don’t look cool? “S-Sorry?”

“She’ll get there,” Diamond says. “Anyway, come on. Sugarcube Corner’s just around this corner.” Oh, they’re going to Sugarcube Corner too? What a nice coincidence!

“So Babs, what’s school like in Manehatten?” I ask. I’m pretty curious. “Are the ponies there all ‘cool’?”

“… The ponies there are lame,” she says. “Can’t stand any of ‘em. All just a buncha dweebs.”

“Oh…” Well, that’s a little harsh. “Well, surely there must be some fun ponies there.”

“Oh they’re fun, don’t get me wrong.” Oh? “When I put ‘em on the roundabout and spin it so fast they almost puke, or make ‘em so scared they almost pee themselves. The looks on their faces is just too much.” … Uh, yeah… I-If you say so.

“Here we are!” We walk into Sugarcube Corner and look around. There are ponies sitting at every table… It must be a busy day today. “Darn it, it’s full!”

“Guess we’ll have to come back later,” I suggest.

“Or…” I turn to Babs, who’s approaching a table by the window, with three fillies sat at it. Dinky Doo, Berry Pinch, and Archer. “Hey kids, thanks for keepin’ our seats warm for us.”

The three fillies look confused. “Huh?” Archer says. “What’re you-”

Babs slams her hooves down on the table. “I said, thanks for keepin’ our seats warm.” The fillies look pretty scared, and I don’t think anypony else has noticed this yet. “Now hit the road. It’s the big fillies’ time to order up.”

“L-Let’s go,” Dinky says to her friends. The other two nod and the three of them slowly slip past Babs, and then run out of the shop, leaving their half-finished milkshakes behind.

“H-Hey-” I start. However, Diamond and Silver are already on their way to the table.

“Wow, nice work!” Diamond says.

“Best table here, too!” B-But, those fillies-

“Ah, nothin’ to it,” Babs says. “Those babies just needed ta be shown who was boss, that’s all.”

… Ah. Aaaaah. Now I know why she seems so familiar. She’s-

“Alula,” Silver Spoon says. “C’mon, let’s order up already.”

“… Diamond, Silver?” They both turn to face me. “Can I speak to you over here for a second?” They both look confused by my request, but still excuse themselves to speak to me in private. Babs offers to keep our seats warm.

“What’s up?” Diamond asks after I get her out of hearing range from Babs.

“Diamond, I don’t know about this filly.” I glance over at Babs, who’s firing spitballs at Snips and Snails. The two colts get up and leave the store. “She seems kinda… mean…”

“Alula, don’t you know anything? That’s how things work in the big city!” Diamond says. “She’s not mean, she’s just tough, and doesn’t let anypony step all over her!”

“… More like she’s the one stepping on others.”

“What are you trying to say?” Silver asks.

“Well, it’s just that… she reminds me of those ponies who bullied me before. You know, back when you saved me? Not just in looks, but in the way she acts, too. I’m telling you, she’s a bad pony, and I don’t feel comfortable hanging out with her.”

The two of them exchange glances for a moment, and then turn back to me. “Then don’t,” Silver Spoon says. “She’s only here for the week. You don’t have to hang out with us if you don’t want to.”

… W-What?

“But we think she’s cool,” Diamond says. “So we’re going to keep hanging out with her, whether you’re there or not.”

“G-Girls…”

“So? Which is it?” Diamond asks. “You staying, or not? Our friend’s waiting for us over there.”

… I-I can’t believe it. I have to chose between sticking with Diamond, or staying away from… from this mean filly, who reminds me so much of those awful bullies from two years back. “I… I can’t… I can’t stay with you if she’s around.”

“Then I guess that’s it,” Silver Spoon sighs. “You’ll just have to find somepony else to hang out with for this week.”

I turn to Diamond. “Di?” She simply turns her head away in silence. “… O-Okay then. I understand… I’ll be going now…” I walk past the two and leave the store, sparing one last glance at Babs Seed as I leave. I swear, she’s a bad influence. She’s going to corrupt Diamond and Silver. But… there’s nothing I can do. They want to hang out with her… What can I do to make them see what a mistake that is?

Alula calls us over to speak to her in private just as we’re about to sit down. “You’ll have to excuse us,” I say to Babs.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ll keep your seats warm for ya.”

Silver and I walk over to Alula to find out what she wants. “What’s up?” I ask her.

“Diamond, I don’t know about this filly.” Huh? “She seems kinda… mean…”

What, the whole threatening face thing? Please, it’s just an act. “Alula, don’t you know anything? That’s how things work in the big city!” At least from what I’ve heard. “She’s not mean, she’s just tough, and doesn’t let anypony step all over her!”

“… More like she’s the one stepping on others.”

“What are you trying to say?” Silver asks.

The ponies who bullied her before? Oh yeah, that’s right. They were from Manehatten, too. Is that what this is? She doesn’t trust Babs just because of some jerks who happened to be from the same city? I exchange a quick glance with Silver Spoon.

“Then don’t,” Silver says. “She’s only here for the week. You don’t have to hang out with us if you don’t want to.”

Uh, yeah… She’s got a point there. “But we think she’s cool,” I add. “So we’re going to keep hanging out with her, whether you’re there or not.” Whether you’re there or not…

“G-Girls…”

“So? Which is it?” Obviously, she’s going to say she trusts me. She always does, after all. “You staying, or not? Our friend’s waiting for us over there.”

What’s taking so long. Just say ‘I’ll stick with you, Di’, or whatever.

“I… I can’t…” … What? “I can’t stay with you if she’s around.” She’s… not trusting me?

“Then I guess that’s it,” Silver Spoon sighs. “You’ll just have to find somepony else to hang out with for this week.”

Alula turns to look at me. “Di?” … Hey, you’re the one who made that choice, not me. “… O-Okay then. I understand… I’ll be going now…”

Silver and I watch her leave the shop, and then walk on over to where Babs is sitting. “What was that all about?” Babs asks.

“Oh, she had to leave,” Silver says. “Something about an important appointment she couldn’t miss.”

“Oh well, no biggie,” Babs says with a shrug. “She didn’t seem that cool anyway.”

“Hey,” Silver whispers to me. “Are you sure about this? Just letting Alula walk off like that?”

Hmph. It’s no concern of mine. “We gave her the choice. She’s the one ditching us, not the other way around. What are we supposed to do, just abandon our new friend who’s only in town this week?”

“Well, I guess, but…”

“Besides, Babs is ten times cooler than Alula will ever be.” I grab the milkshake in front of me and bring it closer to myself. Wait, this was Dinky’s milkshake. Blech! That was close. What’s wrong with me? “So Babs, what would you like to do after this?”

Babs taps her chin with her hoof and grins. “Well…”

I’ve been watching them for the past few days now. Mostly all they’ve been doing is going around picking on the Crusaders. It’s true Diamond and Silver would tease them and call them names anyway, but never this much. And they never did the kinds of things they’ve been doing recently, like spitting seeds, stealing milkshakes, throwing apples, and at some points even threatening them to stay silent.

Of course, it was mostly Babs doing all of this, but she’s somehow coaxed Diamond and Silver into following suit. I knew this would happen. Diamond’s very impressionable (it took weeks for her to get out of that ‘I’m a Pokémon master’ phase), and Silver sometimes get carried away, despite her smartness.

I have to speak to them. I have to get them to realise what they’re doing and make them stop hanging out with that… that… Bad Seed! Ooh, nice one Alula! I’m going to file that under ‘my good ideas’. But there’s time for that later! I’ve got a fillyfriend and a friendly rival to save!

Okay, good, they’re alone. Now’s my chance, while Babs is distracted… spraying the Crusaders with a hose. Just one of the things I guess I can bring up while I’m talking to them.

I approach Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as they’re laughing at the Crusaders’ misfortune. They notice me approaching and suddenly fall silent… Okay, this is awkward. Come on, Alula, say something!

“Uh… hi.”

“Oh, it’s you,” Diamond says. “Changed your mind, have you?”

I’m sorry, Diamond. “No, I haven’t. I still say she’s a bad influence.” I point my hoof over to where Babs is still spraying the Crusaders with water. “Look at that. You two have never done anything like this before Babs showed up.”

“We just never thought of it,” Diamond says with a shrug. That’s a lie. You come up with ways to bother Apple Bloom and her friends all the time, surely something like this would have crossed your mind. “We’re just having a little fun with our new friend. She’s only here for a week, and this is what she wants to do.”

“Girls, please. Can’t you see that-”

“Alula, stop it,” Silver says. “I know you don’t like her because she reminds you of those bullies from Manehatten, but she’s not like them. She’s just having a little fun, that’s all. She knows where the line is, and not to cross it.” Somehow, I find that hard to believe from what I’ve seen of her.

“Look, she’ll only be here for a few more days,” Diamond says. “And we intend to enjoy that time with her while we can, so if you don’t mind, just leave us be already.”

… I guess that’s it then. I’ve lost them. At least while Babs is here I have. “S-Sorry to bother you…” I turn around and walk away.

While Babs is here, I don’t think I can get through to them. But maybe when Babs is gone… maybe then I’ll have a chance. I just hope that by then it isn’t too late.

…

… What just happened? It’s all such a blur. Did Babs… Did Babs really just turn on us, in favour of those loser blank flanks?

“Diamond?” Did Babs just… forget about all the fun we’ve had this past week? All the time we spent hanging out at the park, at my place, and walking around the town having fun. Did she forget all that? Or did it mean nothing to her in the first place? “Diamond.”

“What?” My goodness, Silver Spoon, look at you. You’re a mess… I bet I look the same right now, huh?

“Are you okay?”

Okay? I just got betrayed by somepony I thought was my friend. I just got humiliated in front of those stupid loser blank flanks, and I’m going to need two showers to clean myself of all this mud and dirt! Do you think I’m okay?!

“C-Come on, it isn’t that bad.”

“How isn’t it? How isn’t that bad?! I thought she was our friend! I enjoyed spending time with her, and I even came out all this way just to see her off, and this is how she repays us?!” I splash a hoof into the mud below me, making things even worse. I’m not going to cry. Crying’s for babies, and I’m sure not one of those.

“Hey.” Go away. I just want to be alone right now. “Hey.” I said go away Alu- Wait, Alula? I look up, and find a yellow hoof stretched towards me. “Here, take my hoof.”

… What’s Alula doing here? I thought she had stopped hanging out with us ever since we started hanging out with Babs. “Why are you here?”

“I came to talk to the two of you,” she says. “But now, I’m just trying to help you. Come on, I’ll let you use the shower at my house. It’s close by, after all.”

… Alula, even after we shrugged you off like that. Even after we dumped you in favour of that… that rotten blank flank… you still want to…

“Are you going to sit there all day?” she asks. “I think you look better with less mud, and more smiles.”

I reach out and grab Alula’s hoof. She pulls me out of the mud and wraps her foreleg around me. Not one of those crushing, suffocating hugs that she usually gives me. This one’s more soft and gentle, but still tight enough that I can feel her warmth.

“Sorry, Diamond. I tried to warn you, but-”

“Just take me to your place. I need a shower.” Alula nods, and moves on to help Silver Spoon out of the mud.

Alula, you might not be the coolest filly in town… or the richest, or the brightest, or the funniest… but you’re here, and you’re still willing to be our friend, despite all that’s happened.

“Let’s go?” Alula asks as soon as Silver Spoon’s out of the mud. She looks at me with that same smile she always wears… No, it looks different. Brighter, and more… more… W-Why is my face heating up. “Diamond?”

“Whuh? Uh, yeah…” Silver and I follow after Alula, walking quickly because we really need to wash all this mud off of our bodies. “… Alula?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks… You’re a good friend…”

She smiles again as she looks over her shoulder at me. Why does my chest suddenly feel funny? “Any time. I’ll always be there for you when you need me, Di.”

Again, my face is warming up, and my chest feels tight, and… Oh no. I-It couldn’t be.

“Silver,” Diamond whispers to me.

“What?” I ask, perhaps sounding a little more annoyed than I meant to. I guess I’m still annoyed about the whole mud puddle thing.

“I think… I think I have a crush on Alula.”

“Well duh.” Congratulation, Diamond. Only took you a good year to figure it out.

“What do you mean ‘well duh’?” Heh, she honestly had no idea. “Silver? Tell me!”

“So when’s the wedding going to be?” I can’t help it. Diamond’s red face is just too cute to not tease.

“S-Shut up! Forget what I said, it was just a joke!”

“Diamond and Alula sittin’ in a tree,” I sing in a quiet voice. Diamond nudges my side, prompting me to laugh.

So this is it… I knew there was no hope for me when I first noticed Diamond looking at Alula differently that one night, during her cute ceañera. That night, I realised that Diamond would only ever see me as her best friend… whilst Alula was destined to be something more.

This will be the start of a beautiful romance. And I’ll back them every step of the way, so long as it makes Diamond Tiara happy.

Well, I’ll still give it another one or two years. First I need to find a way to make Diamond actually confess her feelings to Alula herself. So for now, I guess the three of us are ‘just friends’, with Alula keeping up that strange delusion she has about being Diamond’s fillyfriend. Needless to say, the next year of school should be fun.

Alula and Diamond Tiara's Adventures in Romance

by Yukito

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14