> White days of Winter
>  by James David Fox
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1: Eyes color sunset
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


White days of Winter



Eyes color sunset


Sweetie Belle always liked the cold, it offered a different view of everything, not that she disliked the green landscape that was always alive and vibrant, maybe it was because it was peaceful, silent, the snow covering the mountains, the trees, the icy breeze caressing her face gently, it was always a special mix between stillness and ferocity, for winter could be smooth and lethal as well.

Sweetie Belle lied to her friends about some chores to do for her sister so she could have this moment for herself, they offered to visit Pinkie Pie and ask her for ice skates so they could go to the frozen lake and see who was the best skater. Sweetie Belle knew she was going to get hurt, and she could not stay with them any longer. That day she needed to be alone.

“I’m just so clumsy I’d probably fall and hit the ice with my face.” She told to herself, coming to the conclusion that her decision was for the best. A single ray of light came through the clouds and illuminated a distant point, Sweet Apple Acres. A smile escaped her lips, wondering if she could go over there, visit her friend later, maybe have some fun with her.

She stopped in the middle of the way that led to her sister’s house and sighed deeply, that was the main reason she was going home early today.

She has been losing control of everything, and it was getting worse every day that passed. The shaky legs, the trembling voice, the occasional blush every now and then. Things were getting just too awkward to endure it a single second anymore.

Negation was the simplest and best way to deal with all of the events, but this strategy couldn't last for too long, and it was frustrating. Sooner rather than later she had to admit to herself, to give some peace to her mind which couldn't ignore the screams of her heart anymore, that she was having her biggest crush ever, and it wasn’t something that made her happy.

Apple Bloom was certainly somepony to admire, coming from the Apple family she had the virtues acquired from tradition, natural strength, and wisdom that could only come from a family like hers. Sure, they have made some (or many) mistakes, but her ability to make up solutions so fast made her all the more radiant to Sweetie Belle's eyes, if Apple Bloom was guiding their adventures, Sweetie Belle always felt safe. 

She was beautiful, amazing, and even these words weren’t enough to describe her. Her smile was so bright, honest, sometimes mischievous, and at the top of It all a laugh that was better than any of the melodies written to her ears, a wonderful mane well cared for and her unique touch, the bow, which was always in the perfect place, in a perfect way, she may not look like it but Apple Bloom really cared about the way her bow was placed on her mane. But without a doubt her favorite feature were Apple Bloom's eyes, they had this unique color which Sweetie Belle liked to compare to the colors of the brightest of sunsets, calm and peaceful, bright but soothing. Yes, everything in just one special little filly, everything in Apple Bloom.

Another cold breeze caressed Sweetie Belle's coat urging her to wake up. The little unicorn got up and started walking again avoiding looking in the direction of the Sweet Apple Acres. 

Once Sweetie Belle got to Carousel Boutique she cleaned her hooves on the carefully placed rug from outside and opened the door, a warm feeling filled her body since the chimney was working, a delicious smell of hot cocoa traveled through her nostrils which made her lick her lips already tasting it. 

But there were voices coming from the kitchen, it was her sister, and the other voice was easily recognizable, the new princess Twilight Sparkle. 

It felt weird having her over, Twilight was somepony she was amazed of, the power of her magic is astounding, unbelievable, Sweetie Belle could only dream in doing what Twilight was capable of. Sweetie Belle was controlling her magic better in the past days, being able to levitate things for short periods of time, or doing simple tasks, like opening doors or boxes. She felt proud of herself, since not too long ago she wasn’t able to even create a little spark of her own.

“Sweetie Belle, dear! You’re home early! Would you like some?” Rarity said already serving a cup with her magic.
“Yes please!” Said the little filly looking at Twilight. “Good afternoon miss Twilight”.
“Good afternoon Sweetie Belle.” Twilight smiled at Sweetie Belle while the little filly trotted to the table. “It is nice to see you”
While Sweetie Belle enjoyed the hot cocoa the two adult mares were having a casual talk, with Rarity being curious about the life of royalty, and Twilight answering every question.
“… and tell me, are there any… single gentlecolts you could introduce me to?” Rarity asked playfully. Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled.
“You wouldn’t like them, they're… too full of themselves to care about others”
“Much like that prince I met sometime ago”
“Yeah, kind of…” Twilight chuckled.

Sweetie Belle wondered if her sister would be able to find her special somepony. Rarity was beautiful and charming, yet she seemed to struggle to find that special partner she wanted. Sweetie Belle also wondered how would her sister take the news if she decided to tell her about Apple Bloom and how the little filly was feeling about her. There was a great possibility that Rarity would love it if her little sister found a good and handsome colt, but what about another filly? Would Rarity be okay with that? Would her parents be okay about it if Rarity kicked her out? Rarity seemed like the type of pony that was into tradition, a mare and a stallion, that was the normal way to be in a couple. Sweetie Belle started playing with her mane as she zoned out on her cup of cocoa. It was not like Sweetie Belle was able to choose, these feelings evolved into her almost as fast as Rainbow Dash in mid Sonic Rainboom. Sweetie Belle decided that she would leave her sister out of it, since Rarity's reaction was not something she could predict, the little unicorn preferred to keep silence. 

“Sweetie, dear is everything alright? Your cocoa must be cold already.” Sweetie Belle woke up from her thoughts.
“Sorry sis, let me reheat it.” Sweetie Belle was about to get up from the table.
“No!” Rarity stood up as fast as she could, for some seconds there was an awkward silence beetween Sweetie Belle and Twilight both startled at Rarity's sudden reaction, she cleared her throat and regained her composure. “I mean… just stay here darling, I will do it.” Sweetie Belle knew that reaction all to well, her older sister didn’t trust her in the kitchen in the slightest, Sweetie Belle sighed softly, she couldn’t blame her since she, somehow, was able to burn even the water.
“Are you sure everything is fine Sweetie Belle?” Twilight asked. “You’re not with your friends and you’re more silent than what can be considered normal.” 'Is she saying I’m noisy?' Sweetie Belle thought to herself, Twilight noticed the look of discomfort in Sweetie Belle, she chuckled awkwardly before speaking again “… anyway, if something is bothering you, you should talk about it with Rarity.” Twilight seemed genuinely worried, Sweetie Belle wondered if she was being too obvious. “Or to me if I can be of any help”. 
“No miss Twilight.” Sweetie Belle gave her best fake smile “I just  uh… wanted to know how… how can I control my magic better!” The little unicorn lied. Twilight saw the opportunity to teach some basics to one of her best friend's sister, how can she pass up somepony interested in magic?
“Well… I can certainly be of help with that…”
“Of course.” Said Rarity bringing back the cup of cocoa to her little sister.” In fact there is nopony more qualified than Twilight for that task.” Sweetie Belle smiled taking a sip of her hot beverage. “Tell you what, why don’t you take Twilight with you after we’re finished I’m sure you could understand her better than you would with any of my attempts to teach you about magic.”
“Are you sure Rarity? I mean I just arrived.”
“I know Twilight, but to be honest I have an awful lot of work to do, and this is a great opportunity for my sister to learn something from somepony who knows magic perfectly, I wouldn’t even know where to start and I'm not really good at teaching."

So now Sweetie Belle had to take magic lessons from an Alicorn Princess, Princess Twilight herself, which, after being finished with the cocoa was in the little filly's room.

Twilight stood in front of Sweetie Belle smiling, Sweetie Belle hasn’t really met her well, she was almost a celebrity in Equestria because she saved Equestria many times with the help of her friends, recently crowned a Princess of Equestria, thousands of ponies owed their life to her. The little unicorn smiled back nodding so Twilight knew when to start.

“So, what exactly is it you’re trying to learn Sweetie?”
“Uhm… well a lot of things! Maybe changing things into another, or levitate really big things! Or Teleportation!” Sweetie squeaked. Twilight chuckled.
“Easy there Sweetie Belle.” Twilight started to walk around the little filly starting her lesson. “Those kind of spells require a lot of study and practice, also you need to have really good habits, because a unicorn can’t perform spells if their bodies can’t take the use of energy, that’s why overweight unicorns are weaker.” That was new information for Sweetie Belle, who would have thought? You need to be fit for using magic. “So learning those spells will take a lot of time.” Sweetie Belle looked down, her ears pointing to the floor. “Show me what are you able to do.”
“Yeah, sure.” Sweetie Belle pointed her horn to a chair and moved it.
“Basic telekinesis, good.” Encouraged by Twilight’s words she tried to levitate the chair, the green aura of her horn got brighter and at this point Sweetie Belle was already making too much effort. “Alright, you can focus in one object-“ The little filly finally lost control as the chair fell loudly to the floor, in its way down it landed on a little board Sweetie Belle had to draw or write her homework which was conveniently leaned on a pillow and had a ball at the end of it, making the ball fly directly into Twilight’s face. Twilight covered her eyes and shook her head.
“Ugh…” She grunted massaging the part where she was directly hit.
“I’m sorry miss Twilight! I just couldn’t hold it anymore!” The little unicorn panicked while Twilight showed annoyance in her eyes.
“Its okay Sweetie.” Twilight stood straight and looked at Sweetie Belle who seemed really worried. “Well! I got some news for you.” 'She won’t teach me again right? I’m such a lost cause!'
Sweetie Belle had her ears flattened as if she was about to get scolded or yelled at. Twilight walked around Sweetie Belle using her magic to put the chair where it was originally.
“Your magic has the potential to be extremely powerful” the little unicorn's ears perked up paying attention to the words Twilight just said.
“…Huh?” Sweetie Belle showed Twilight a semblance of confusion, extremely powerful? She could barely control her magic, and when she tried to do something more complicated she ended up causing a mess.
“Yes, your spark is green, it’s a very special kind of magic.” Twilight smiled stopping her steps in front of the little unicorn. “But it is the hardest one to control.”
“Green spark?” Sweetie Belle asked raising an eyebrow. She could see the green aura that glowed around her horn whenever she tried to use her magic, yet nobody told her it was a special glow, Sweetie Belle thought that it was the lack of reading on the matter, a unicorn should always study, maybe not at the same level of Twilight, but it was still needed.
“Every unicorn has a spark of magic unique to each one of them.” Twilight levitated a notebook and some crayons Sweetie Belle had on a desk in her room, and drew horns painting each one of them with different colors. “The bearer of a purple spark is a intellectual specialist, is a magic capable of full control of physics, its basis is knowledge, the more knowledge the more powerful it becomes.”
“That is your spark right Miss Twilight?” Twilight chuckled looking at Sweetie Belle who had already curious eyes, it was ways a satisfaction to see other ponies curious about learning something new.
“Yes, my spark is purple as you can see. There’s the blue spark, more like a light blue. The unicorns with a blue spark are the finest of artists, they can focus their magic in multiple objects and be very exact with each one of them. Blacksmiths, painters, sculptors-“
“Dress designers…” Sweetie Belle thought out lot.
“Exactly, Rarity has this kind of spark, her focus is admirable, I could only use my levitation at her same level as a part of my high level studies its basis is creativity, inspiration for beautiful things.”
“Wow…” Twilight was beaming, 'Do I have an apprentice? That would be so great!' Twilight cleared her throat stopping herself, Twilight was an apprentice herself, and she wouldn’t know how interested in magic Sweetie Belle would be in the future, her special talent was singing anyway.

On the other hoof, Sweetie Belle felt really comfortable with Twilight, it surprised her when she realized she has been with Royalty for such a long time, Twilight was a great Princess, candidate to be her favorite of all.

“What about this one?” Sweetie Belle asked looking at a strange color on the notebook.
“That one has not been seen anymore.” Twilight looked at the notebook along with the little filly. “The grey spark is chaotic, that kind of unicorn was a specialist in… dark magic, magic capable of manipulation and murder.” Sweetie Belle gasped softly at the new information, ponies killing ponies was atrocious. “It was considered a curse by some, its basis is hate and indifference those unicorns could control other ponies mind, make them do things they wouldn’t normally do, even committing suicide… using them like if they were puppets” Sweetie Belle instantly felt uneasy about that one spark, but saw the green one, she placed her hoof on the notebook.
“This is mine! What about it Twilight?” Sweetie Belle had a wide smile om her lips, Twilight rushed to explain.
“Green sparks are rare; it can be tough to control it but it can be capable of everything the other sparks can do.” Sweetie Belle was always frustrated about the difficulty she had in using her magic, it made sense now. “It is hard because of its basis, which are feelings, whenever strong feelings are involved stronger magic can be used.” Twilight closed the notebook, smiling at Sweetie Belle. “Being in love for example is one of the strongest feelings, and the bearers of green sparks can perform spells beyond their own understanding, but feelings are also chaotic, so sometimes they can lose control.” A moment of silence passed in which the little filly thought for a moment in her crush, Apple Bloom entered Sweetie's heart not too long ago, and since she's been able to control her magic a little bit better, Sweetie Belle smiled, thanking Apple Bloom in silence.
“I see you have somepony in mind.” Twilight’s voice woke the little filly up, her white coat could do nothing to cover the fierce blush that invaded her cheeks.
“No! I uh… I was just…!” Twilight waved a hoof, juvenile crushes were embarrassing, and Sweetie Belle had the right to maintain her privacy.
“That’s wonderful, don’t worry, I won’t ask more about that.” Twilight sighed. “Starswirl The Bearded had a green spark did you know that?”
“The Starswirl? The most famous unicorn?”
“Yes, him, and everypony knows about his achievements.” Twilight got up and using her magic she brought a book from the library of her castle. “Look, a unicorn must learn about atoms, molecules, how the chemistry and physics works in order to control the environment where magic will be used, you can even produce light and write in mid air.” Twilight’s horn glowed once again and her name was written in mid air, disappearing like a trail of smoke.
“Miss Twilight! That one is awesome! Can you make any figure? 
“Yeah” Twilight drew a purple heart of light which floated for a while before disappearing. “For this one for example you have to understand photons and how do they work, its all science.” Watching the heart floating an idea began to appear in Sweetie Belle's mind, until this moment she hasn't considered the possibility to confess her feelings, this simple spell could be of use when Sweetie Belle found the right moment to tell Apple Bloom her feelings, she dreamed a little imagining her and the farmer filly watching a sunset, and then, Sweetie Belle performing this spell writing her feelings in front of her crush, she trembled with emotion at the thought of Apple Bloom hugging her and accepting her feelings, maybe it was too romantic, maybe she inherited that from her older sister, but still it looked like a good idea, Sweetie Belle smiled until the last trace of the heart was gone, 'Having Twilight here was the best idea ever!'.  “This book helped me a lot while I was studying basics of magic.” The book levitated in front of Sweetie Belle. “Would you like to take a look at it?”
“Yes of course! I promise I will read it! Thank you miss Twilight!” Sweetie Belle hugged the Alicorn tightly, causing a soft blush on Twilight, the little filly was excited and with good reason ‘It is almost certain that her magic is improving because of a crush, she’s growing up’.
"I'm glad that I could help, and please, just call me Twilight."

> 2: Disappointing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


2


Disappointing


"Well, that was rather... different."
"Feels funny on the tongue."
"It wasn't bad anyways, though I wouldn't ask for that cake again, classic flavors appeal more to me."
"But seriously, this was totally new, chocolate covered with exploding candy, like, who would have thought?" Afternoons like this one were a great relief for Diamond Tiara, spending the day with her best friend, having something to eat and forget about everything. Even when the cold weather made her wear clothes she didn't like, being outside just had no price for her.
"Pinkie Pie has the most eccentric of ideas." Continued Silver Spoon.
"Tell me about it, anyways, what's next? Wanna come to my house? I've got some new stuff I wanted to show you." Silver Spoon smiled at the offering. Since Diamond Tiara confronted her mother she could feel an entirely new filly in her friend, Diamond Tiara was free, and her ways of speaking were fresh and honest, Silver Spoon couldn't be happier for her. It was shocking for everypony to see Diamond Tiara standing her ground against her mother, but it was in a different moment when Silver Spoon was truly shocked. Her former enemies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, got their cutie marks right in front of her, and Diamond Tiara was honestly happy for them, admiring the result of their hard work, Diamond has never been bad in her soul, and it warmed Silver Spoon's heart.
"Tempting...yet, I'm afraid I can't Diamond, my family is having some kind of meeting in our house, and they want me to be there."
"Oh..." Diamond Tiara looked down. "Ok then!" She said smiling. "Thanks for trying that cake with me Silver."
"Anytime, but I can walk with you to your house, what do you think?" 
"Thank you Silver."

The walk through Golden Air Hills had quite a view, the path was well paved and adorned carefully with bricks painted in pink on each end of the path, each and one of them had carved in them a "G" in them. You could breathe a distinct air while you walked through the hills, the gardens were well watered during warmer times, and there was a myriad of different scents, the variety of plants gave a unique landscape for the eyes.
But it was not any less amazing in the winter, this time of the year the pines ruled the hills, and the aroma of their leafs was soft and almost addictive. 
Golden Air Hills were the neighborhood of the richest ponies in Ponyville, most of them former citizens of Canterlot in search for quieter environments. Diamond Tiara lived with her parents in a red mansion, built with years and years of her father’s hard work.

Strong and gelid winds took the two fillies by surprise, Diamond Tiara lost her patience as soon as one of these winds blew one of her favorite scarfs away.

“These pegasi must be under the worst administration ever! This stupid blizzard was supposed to start in about three hours!” Silver Spoon sighed, even though her friend had evidently changed, her short temper was a part of her just like the sun is a part of the sky.

“Calm down Diamond, these clouds came from the Everfree Forest, not even the best weather team in Equestria would be able to control them perfectly, the blizzard has not started yet.
“Ugh! Whatever, any chance of finding my scarf?” 
"Finding it, yeah, but recovering it...."
"What are you talking about?" Silver Spoon pointed a hoof at her side, Diamond Tiara could see her scarf, down the little river going away slowly. Diamond Tiara groaned placing a hoof on her face. "Let’s go before I lose anything else to this weather."
"Maybe your offering will calm down the winds.” A giggle escaped from the silver filly's lips.
They finally arrived to Diamond Tiara's house, the pink filly shivered one last time while heading for the door.
“Will you be okay Silver?” Silver Spoon waved a hoof.
“Like always Diamond, don’t forget to do the vacations homework, this time I won’t help you if you accumulate too much of it.” 
“Pssh! I’ll be done in less time than you.”
As soon as Diamond Tiara was about to knock on the door, she heard… noises, unpleasant and annoying noises.
“…how is it possible that you never considered this!?” Diamond Tiara's father sounded stressed and full of anger.
“Well maybe if you…!” A sigh could be heard from Diamond Tiara, her mother was also yelling, the pink filly’s eyes darkened, not really wanting to get in there. These kinds of situations had become all too common in the placed she lived.
“Diamond…?” Silver Spoon asked worried about her friend, there was no answer, just Diamond Tiara standing in silence only offering her back to her friend. “Uhm… you could come over the reunion… I could arrange…”
“Don’t bother.” Silver Spoon was cut by a sharp voice. “Don’t be late, I don’t want you to get sick in this cold.”
“Are you sure you don’t…?”
“Just go home Silver.” Silver Spoon understood that in that moment her friend wanted to be alone.
“Ok… see you later Diamond.” Silver Spoon hesitated for a moment if it was okay to leave her friend alone, after a moment she decided to walk away, not before she could cast a last glance at her friend before crossing the entrance to the Rich's property.
Diamond Tiara gathered courage and knocked on the door using the now freezing golden knocker, the door was opened immediately.
“Good evening miss Tiara.”
“Good evening mister Bright.” The pink filly took off the boots and the topcoat she has been wearing all day and handed it to the butler attending her.
“And the scarf My Lady?” 
“It got lost because of the winds, I would like a cup of hot milk in my room please.”
“As you wish."

The pink filly tried to ignore her parents arguing and after cleaning her hooves she rushed to her bedroom. She jumped to her bed and buried her head in one of her pillows.
'Just stop it' she thought to herself, It has been weeks since she could just come home and be greeted by her father, have some dinner and listen to her bedtime stories. Those moments seemed to be deep in the past, since her father grew stressed and just didn’t have more time. 
Nor her father nor her mother would tell her what was wrong, in fact Diamond Tiara was being ignored by them while they fought. The filly was not clueless though, she knew what was driving her parents into arguing every single day, they were losing money.

She noticed it when the caviar was changed by common canned tuna, when her favorite brand of fine milk was replaced by local milk, when the number of housemaids in charge of the cleaning of the house reduced from eight to only two. 

Diamond Tiara thought that it was just a phase, that it was going to be better all over again, but the fights, the tension in her family showed the contrary, it was getting worse. Diamond Tiara took a look at her bedroom, there were many things she would hate to lose. The toys that her father brought her from his many business trips, her perfume LaHeuf that was sold only in Canterlot's finest of stores. She sighed and knowing that she would probably have to give up on all those things, but there was something that, in the worst of cases, would be especially painful to lose, the pink filly took the tiara off her mane and laid her eyes on it, zoning out on it. This piece of jewelry was a part of her just as her mane or eyes, she has been wearing it since she had any memories at all, her father always told her it would fit her perfectly one day, but Diamond Tiara wasn't really sure if it fitted her right now, she never understood her father's expectations about her, she could be studying in a particular school in Manehattan or even Canterlot, yet her father decided for a public school in a humble town, instead of organizing a huge event with only aristocracy  celebrating her daughter's cutie mark, he decided for a small party. Diamond Tiara never questioned him, and didn't feel any resentment for that, he always seemed to mean well.

Her mother was, on the contrary, a pony with the highest of expectations, and superficial to the point of caring more about the garden they showed to the neighbors than knowing if her family ate well. Since the beginning Diamond always searched her approval, her mother would be cold when she didn't have her cutie mark, and when she finally got hers, the affection received made her happy, her mother congratulated her for obtaining a cutie mark that fitted perfectly the Rich's family. But then, her mother's cold attitude began to be common again. Diamond Tiara fought against it, and she tried to follow her mother's ways, and with this, her despise for "blank-flanks" started. Her desperation to gain her mother's affection led her to cause pain to other ponies, and she was not happy about that. Diamond decided that this chase for her mother's attention was not worth it, the only thing she regretted now was that she realized too late about it.

Something woke Diamond Tiara from her thoughts, her home fell into a sepulchral silence. After a minute of trying to catch the slightest of sounds and failing to do it she got up and walked outside of her bedroom. The hallways were illuminated but not a single soul was noticeable, feeling even more drowned by the silence Diamond Tiara decided to go to the place where she heard her parents last, the living room.

The living room was at the end of the stairs, the entrance was guarded by two golden statues, both of them symbolizing the major princesses of the day and night and after crossing this door an enormous and magnificent room appeared, it was a delight for the eyes to see the carefully placed ornaments, five chandeliers hanging from a golden painted ceiling, the walls were covered by six paintings of landscapes, each one of them representing the seasons, and in the middle of it a table well adorned with six candles that were changed every day after every dinner. It seemed that today she was not getting any dinner, the light was dim, and Diamond Tiara's eyes met her parents both in their seats, her mother looking blankly at the roof and her father had his face buried in his hooves and a bunch of papers  spread all over the place they were sitting in.

"Dad?" Both adult ponies looked at her direction, she hasn't looked at her father like this before, the eye bags were very notorious, his mane was a disaster, and his always impeccable knot of the tie was undone today, just hanging from his neck. He immediately picked up the glass of whiskey that was by his side and tried to hide it from her daughter under the table. His eyes looked at her in absolute sorrow, he let a deep sigh escape his lips.

"It was your greed what led us to this." He spoke darkly looking at his wife. "The company is not viable anymore, your bet made us lose most of the investors."
"At least I tried something, you've always been an underachiever."
"We didn't even need any more Spoiled!"
"We don't have to start these stupid discussions again Filthy, we have already decided, let our lawyers take this from now on." Diamond Tiara's eyes widened at the unpleasant surprise.
"Lawyers!?" She looked in terror at her parents. "You are getting a divorce?!" The pink filly almost yelled.
"Now honey, please we'll talk about this later."
"Why am I not allowed to talk in what clearly is a problem of family."
"What could you know about this Diamond Tiara?" The mother finally spoke. "Go to sleep and your father will have a word with you later." Filthy Rich got up from the seat and walked next to his daughter.
"Come dear, don't ruin your night anymore because of us." The pink filly looked at his father, anger and fear filling her eyes. "I don't want to spend the rest of our bits in lawyers, keep everything Spoiled, the house, the cart, our vacation house in Manehattan, I don't care, we will have only one battle." Spoiled Rich raised an eyebrow. "And it will be for our daughter's custody, I won't give her to you."
"Giving everything to me and taking her to a miserable life?" Diamond Tiara glared at her mother, she would rather be with her father that this excuse of a mother, no matter what life she might get. "Hmph! Doesn't matter though." Spoiled Rich walked slowly until she was just in front of her daughter. "Seems we won't have any problem then." Her eyes were directed right to Diamond Tiara's. "You can keep her, she's always been... disappointing anyways." Diamond Tiara could keep a cold look at her mother, but those words stabbed her heart deeply, making her feel a familiar pressure on it. 

The mother of the family walked out of the room leaving father and daughter alone. The pink filly could not assimilate the news yet; her fears became true in a matter of minutes. A hoof gently moved her head, Diamond Tiara’s eyes met her father’s.
“Honey, I’m sorry for this, I truly am…” The smell of the recently drank whiskey filled the little filly’s nostrils. “Right now, I need your help, I depend on you now.” Filthy Rich’s eyes showed confusion, he really had no idea what he would do next. A hug took the Stallion by surprise, his daughter was right there, with him, the first smile in days came to his lips, he wouldn’t abandon her, the powerful Filthy Rich still had someone to fight for. “Everything is going to be fine, I promise.”
“I know dad…” Diamond Tiara was now trying to hide her broken voice a little too much.
“Now dear, go to sleep, I’ll arrange everything, go with your friends, forget about everything you’re coming with me, and as Celestia as my witness, I won’t leave you ever.”
He walked the little filly to her bedroom, not before receiving a goodnight kiss on her cheek, it was another night with no bedtime story, and probably one of the last nights she would spend in this house. Diamond Tiara hugged one of her pillows, the pressure on her chest started once more remembering her mother’s cold words. ‘Worst part is that the rumor will spread out there fast.’ The pink filly thought to herself, she hated when ponies felt bad for her, she had no use for the pity of others.

With closed eyes, Diamond Tiara was slowly engulfed by a better world, the sun would rise again, for now, it was better to get some sleep.
> 3: Of heights and snowballs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


3




Of Heights and Snowballs



“And… perfect!” Twilight sat with a satisfaction smile after watching how Sweetie Belle could conduct the magic just the right way to illuminate a small portion in the air, although she could not give it a definite shape yet, this was certainly a very good improvement for a couple of days. “So, you really read the book I lend you”.

“Yeah! It was very useful.” Sweetie Belle was excited about what she could perform, and certainly understood the value of learning on her own, but her excitement soon disappeared. “Though… it's not much… this spark I have makes it very difficult.” Sweetie Belle hoped she could at least make a heart with such a simple spell. “Maybe I should stick to basic levitation, I mean I don’t need more to live well.”

“Oh Sweetie Belle” Twilight walked in front of the discouraged filly until she could meet her eyes. “Don’t put yourself down like that, and don’t think so low of your spark, believe me, its potential is beyond measure, in fact… there’s a pony I respect and fear in terms of magical ability.” Sweetie Belle looked at Twilight with curiosity, Twilight Sparkle, an alicorn princess fears a normal pony?

“And who is that?”

“That would be Starlight Glimmer, I’ve fenced with her either playfully, or with… real intend to be lethal… and I could never defeat her, I’m so glad she uses her power for good now, and… “Twilight smiled and got close to Sweetie Belle’s ear. “She’s a bearer of a green spark, just like you.” The little unicorn never really paid attention to Starlight’s magical aura, so this was a surprise.

“Woooow…” Her eyes shone just thinking about that, Sweetie Belle would be happy just being able to do a tenth of what that unicorn was capable of.

“How did I not think of that sooner? Ugh! Of course, she’d be a better help for you! She’s had the same struggles and...”

“It’s ok Princess Twilight, I like the way you teach.” The little filly tried to reassure.
“Oh… yeah, thank you.” Twilight got up and walked towards the door. “I believe you have plans today, and I must run some errands myself, come to the castle whenever you like, I’ll make sure to have Starlight there to help you.”

That was true for the most part, Sweetie Belle was called to the clubhouse that day for what they said it was a ‘first priority’ meeting, and no excuse could be given to get her out of those, not even a lesson from an alicorn princess. 

Rushing to get to the clubhouse in negative fifteen minutes, Sweetie Belle ran non-stop. It weighed on her to have to face her friends after how she’s been acting lately, but then again, she should be addressing her own concerns right now. She took a moment to breathe while already being in the doorstep, and finally gathered the courage to walk in.

“Oh! Hello Sweetie Belle, you’re late again.” Scootaloo complained as soon as Sweetie Belle placed a hoof inside. “What’s with you? Anypony would think you’ve been avoiding us.”

“O… of course I’m not avoiding you!” ‘I’m just avoiding Apple Bloom’ Sweetie gulped. “It was my sister’s idea… I got Princess Twilight to help me improve my magic and…”

“You’ve been taking lessons from the princess on your own?”

“Like I said I… it was my sister’s idea... and…and…” 

“Hey, everything alright over there?” Sweetie Belle felt a soft hoof on her shoulder and turned around to see those sunset-like eyes looking directly at her, the little unicorn chuckled nervously getting away from the touch, a burning blush forming on her cheeks.

“Yes! everything’s fine, Ha ha…” This was exactly what’s been happening all this time, sadly, Sweetie Belle found herself losing control again. “Anyways, why was this meeting called? What’s wrong?” She tried to change the topic.

“Oh… yeah” Apple Bloom swept off her confusion and got to the matter at hand. “There’s been certain rumors going around, and Ah reckon’, they are not good.” Apple Bloom walked towards her friends and gave the dire news. “Apparently, Diamond Tiara’s parents are separating” Sweetie Belle gasped at the new information. “And ah was meaning to ask you girls if we should do something for her… She did recognize us as her friends after all.”

“Yeah… but… Is there really something we can do about that? And even after she said we were her friends I think she just said that in the heat of the moment, we haven’t really talked with her much after that day.” Scootaloo argumented.

“And she already has Silver Spoon, I’m pretty sure she will be the one cheering her up.” With that said, Sweetie Belle knew it probably wouldn’t be so simple for Silver Spoon, separations were almost never heard of in Equestria, of course being in the middle of that would be devastating for any son or daughter.

“Still” Apple Bloom insisted, “I know It ain’t none of our business, but maybe we should check? maybe even confirm if the rumors are true.” There was a moment of silence in which Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other, both still having their very understandable doubts.

“Yeah, we can do that much, I guess” Scootaloo agreed, she got up and took her scarf readying herself up.

“Alrighty! Let's go!” Apple Bloom got up as well, following the Pegasus outside. The last one standing there was Sweetie Belle who was grateful that, for a moment, she could focus her attention elsewhere, she decided to follow her friends, not before being stopped by an understandably concerned Apple Bloom.

“Hey… Sweetie Belle?” The little unicorn flinched at her name being called.

“Y-yes?” 

“Before we go… please listen to me.” Apple Bloom walked back carefully, she didn’t know anything of what was happening, but she knew she should be as delicate as possible. “We have helped a lot of ponies around, and we’ve done a pretty darn good work!” She directed her gaze towards the wall, full of pictures, full of the best memories they could build together, proof of their purpose and legacy, even if in the present, it was a short one. “But that doesn’t mean our own problems are any less important, don’t keep ‘em locked away for the sake of the rest.” She placed a comforting hoof on Sweetie Belle. “Its not a secret that you have something going on, but… Ah just wanna remind you, you can trust us.” At this point Sweetie Belle fell under a powerful spell, smiling sweetly at the wonderful filly in front of her, this was exactly the reason that made the unicorn fall for her, her confidence alongside the biggest heart you could find ever.

“I… I’m sorry…” Sweetie Belle’s smile soon vanished, “I do have something going on… and… I can’t tell you yet, I’ll make sure to find some help, just please… leave this to me this time.” 

“Ah see…” Apple Bloom nodded in understanding, for now, she was relieved that her friend admitted having some sort of problem. “Well, please find that help soon, and… ya’ll stay safe, okay? That’s all I’m asking.”

“Mhm! I promise!” Both fillies smiled at each other, it was alleviating having some of the weight of that encounter lifted.

“Hey! What’s taking you girls so long?!” The voice of Scootaloo put the rest of the group on task again, Apple Bloom took note on supporting her friend later, even not knowing her reasons, right now, it was time to see Diamond Tiara. 

“Coming!”

Despite the grey color of the sky with no visible sun over the clouds, one could say it was a relatively nice day, bright enough to be walking around and the lack of wind made it very comfortable to stroll around the white landscape. Sweetie Belle was humming, just this instant she could let her mind just stay away from any thought and just enjoy the fresh feeling on her hoofs, and the gentle cool caressing of the air on her cheeks. It did help that her friends engaged in very fun conversations in which everypony was included, in a formation that had Apple Bloom leading the way. This was the life, Sweetie Belle’s wide smile shone while enjoying a common day with her closest friends. Talking a little about the problem with Apple Bloom did much good, maybe it was not a bad idea to tell, to confess.

They did not really have much time to just visit Gold Air Hills, it was a place too far from their own path home, so none of them knew nothing of it besides de fact that this was a place for fancy ponies only. Still, the ornaments, the big houses, the majestic statues induced a lot of wow’s out of the fillies who stared at everything in awe. They walked through the beautifully built road past a bridge that led towards an entrance with a very distinctive letter “R” on it, symbol of the Rich’s family. 

It didn’t take long until they caught sight of a lonely filly walking outside of that entrance, with a frown on her face and with slow steps. Diamond Tiara looked pretty much normal, and if not, perhaps a little bored.

“Let’s go girls” Apple Bloom said with determination and led her friends towards the pink filly.

Diamond Tiara was lost in thought, her best friend was not available and even though she was the first one to know, she just couldn’t adjust her tight schedule. Making things worse she’s seen many of her things being moved out, she did not know exactly where, she could choose some of her most valuable items to be taken where her father designated and was told clearly that most of the big things had to be left behind. And making things even worse, some ponies approached her failing in trying to comfort her, this did nothing but infuriate the filly, who saw nothing but bootlicker parasites that she did not even know, or maybe some so called friends coming to pry into the life of others. Along her life, she has seen many fake smiles and fake friendliness towards the members of her family, and themselves being the ones doing it as well, it was a good thing that her father also knew how to play that part, it was necessary to keep their way of living.

Still, she could not do more than let into the air a defeated sigh, she had to terms that this was really happening. And rather than any devastation, there was just numbness, nothing in her chest to be felt, nothing in her head calling for attention, no tears to be spilled, perhaps this was the way somepony felt when their world is falling apart.

The trail of thoughts was suddenly broken when she heard hoof-steps getting close, odd, Silver Spoon was to be free in about an hour, not that she was complaining, even if she was not willing to admit it, Diamond Tiara was craving for some company, but you know what they say, careful what you wish for.

It was a big surprise seeing those three approaching the lonely filly, Diamond Tiara was expecting pretty much anypony but them. They all had smiles on their faces and their pace reflected positive energy, at this sight, Diamond Tiara’s natural reaction was to growl at them internally. Not because of an unjustified hatred towards the Crusaders, that stuff was in the past, but because she felt a glimpse of envy watching them so happy, while her own life was falling apart. Obviously, this kind of thought was something she was going to keep to herself.

This was pretty much going to be an awkward encounter, with the Crusaders in front of Diamond Tiara in complete and excruciating silence, Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow at the trio letting the seconds tick away.

“Ahem! Er… Howdy!” Apple Bloom felt the need to break the silence since all of this was her idea.

“What in the world are you three doing here?” Diamond Tiara asked, still baffled about the unexpected guests.

“We just thought we’d stop by and say hi.” Only when she uttered these words, she realized how dumb this little excuse sounded, Apple Bloom could only cringe coughing awkwardly.

“Well… hi?” Diamond Tiara has admitted to herself to be dense and stubborn sometimes, but she never thought of herself as stupid, the reason of this visit was clear, the real question was what they wanted from her.

“This isn’t working Apple Bloom.” Scootaloo said, earning a glare from her friend.

“Well…” Apple Bloom continued” Since you said we were your friends and all… We just came to check in on y’all.”

“Oh is that so?” Diamond Tiara pondered many theories, was this situation being used as casual gossiping? They probably wanted her to hand over some stuff she wouldn’t take to her new place? Diamond Tiara brushed off those thoughts quickly, even when she met many fake ponies in her life, it didn’t feel like the Crusaders were that way.

“Is it true your parents are splitting up?” This direct question directed all the gazes towards Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle poked the pegasus with her elbow at the insensitive way she expressed the question. “Ouch! What?” she said with a tone of annoyance. “We’re gonna be here all day pretending, and she already figured us out!”

“Well, it seems one of you gets it.” Diamond Tiara said with a much neutral tone in her voice. “I appreciate that you got to the point, and doing exactly that I tell you, yes, it is true, and I’m ok, you don’t need to come all the way here to check in on me.”

“We’re sorry to hear that Diamond Tiara, I don’t know what it must be like.” Sweetie Belle said sympathetically, for the young unicorn this was a very different scenario, there was Diamond Tiara standing, the architect of many of her ruined days, of many fights and many poisonous comments about her friends, alone and, most impressive of all, being polite and civil towards them.

“Yeah, don’t be so worried, my dad says this is for the best, and I totally trust him, also Silver Spoon has been doing her best in giving me a helping hoof so, its all good.” Apple Bloom smiled in relief hearing those words, her older sister always remarked how important friends were, so when Diamond Tiara bestowed that tittle onto her, she took it very seriously.

“Ah’m certainly glad about that Diamond, if we can do anything ta help, we’re here! Are ya hungry? Wanna just talk?” 

Diamond Tiara was ready to send the Crusaders home, but she started wondering if that was really what she wanted. Right now, hanging out with the Crusaders sounded like a much better plan than being left alone with her thoughts again. It gave her some sort of comfort to be able to break the silence. The pink filly nodded.

“Yes, I can think of something you can help me with, with one condition” The scene changed, now the fillies leaned towards Diamond Tiara with curiosity in their eyes. “Not a single word about my parents or anything related, do I make myself clear?”

“Transparent!” Sweetie Belle said, or rather, squeaked.

Now it was Diamond Tiara’s turn to lead the group. They kept true to their word and did not mention anything about the latest events in the pink filly’s household. They soon were away from any known path walking on pure, untouched snow, going up the hill, the Crusaders could have asked where they were going if it wasn’t for the nice, calm, and fun chat that begun between. Though Diamond Tiara had little to add, she kept an attentive ear to the conversations, she came to realize how similar those conversations were to those she used to have with Silver Spoon, school talk, an occasional tease, plans to play later, or organization on how they would do the vacations homework, and at times they included her in the conversations, maybe they didn’t know much about the life of the high classes, but they were certainly pleasant to be around with.

Diamond Tiara couldn’t help but wonder how things could have been, what would have been of her if she was smart enough to not be an absolute jerk towards these ponies, especially Apple Bloom, whom was the first target of her unreasonable attacks. Maybe she could have formed a trio of her own along with Silver Spoon, she knew very well that Silver Spoon only followed her in those shenanigans until the silver filly herself got fed up with her attitude. Some regret stung in her chest, she could whine about her mother being the reason behind it all, but that would be a poor excuse, Diamond Tiara knew very well she made the conscious choice to act that way. 

“It gets a little tricky from now on, try to follow my steps” Diamond Tiara commanded, the walk turned into climbing, and the other fillies obliged without any retort.

Soon they could walk again through some pine trees, with the height the wind blew with some more strength, still not enough to be considered unpleasant.

“Welcome.” Said Diamond Tiara, with an almost imperceptible smile, all the fillies found themselves in a clear space with no pine trees, covered with a smooth layer of snow, this was the top of the hill they were climbing. They could watch the entire Rich’s property, with a good portion of Golden Air Hills too. Whenever Diamond Tiara reached this place, suddenly she felt clarity in her body and mind, it served as a reset button from anything that could be troubling her, It was a cleansing experience.

“Oh wow!, isn’t this something else?” Sweetie Belle said in awe.

“Yup! It sure is” Apple Bloom was the first one to walk on the edge of the rocky side of the hill to have a better view of the landscape. “Is this something like, your special place Diamond?” Diamond Tiara nodded, and smiled proudly, enjoying a bit too much the opportunity to brag a little without sounding like a jerk.

“My dad used to bring me here a lot, those were the good days, I just wanted to visit it one last time…” She admitted with some melancholy in her voice, even if she did not intend to, which led to an exchange of worried and sad glances among the Crusaders.

Maybe the pink filly was being too open or permissive with ponies she honestly hardly knew but felt comfortable enough to let them be in such a private place, memories passed through her mind almost seeing them in front of her eyes when she younger, coming for a picnic, for games, or alone with Silver Spoon to just chat. 

While she watched the Crusaders chatting and giving comments about the nice place they were in, a mouth got just one inch away to Diamond Tiara’s ear.

“Boo!” The scream that came from Diamond Tiara’s lungs was so loud it could have been enough to produce an avalanche, lucky for them there was not enough snow for it to occur. Of course, it startled the other fillies as well, turning around immediately, they saw Silver Spoon on her back, laughing so loud that even her glasses fell off.”

“What the hay Silver Spoon!!” Diamond Tiara yelled still trying to regulate her breath. “Do you float or something?! I can never hear you when you get this close!” As much as Silver Spoon wanted, she couldn’t form a single sentence. “Its not that funny!, Stop doing that!” The whole scene drew some chuckles from the three little Crusaders as well.

“I’m so- I’m sorry!” Silver Spoon could at last get up letting her laughter die out as she wiped some tears from her eyes. “Oh Diamond, you’re just too much fun” She picked up her glasses and finally addressed to the other fillies. “I see you’ve found yourself some company.” All of them greeted each other, Silver Spoon nodding to each one of them.   

“They heard about what happened, I’m just showing them I’m fine.”

“Of course you are” Both fillies directed their eyes towards the last position of the Crusaders, and found out they were nowhere near that place.

“Alright everypony! Take positions because this is about to get intense!” Both friends turned around to find an already well-built snow fort with the Crusaders already protected behind it holding snowballs and grinning menacingly.

“When did they-?” Diamond Tiara looked at them, agape not believing her eyes, just some seconds ago they were right in front of her.

“It’s the rich versus the awesome! Do you accept the challenge?” Scootaloo continued.
“Oh, is that how its going to be?” Silver Spoon got in guard, not letting any of the fillies abandon her sight, ready to act.

“Oh no no no, definitely no”. Diamond Tiara said. “I’m not taking part in this childish game”.

“C’mon Diamond, are ya chickening out of this one?” Apple Bloom teased, which earned a furious glare from the pink filly.

“Don’t you dare call me a chicken!”

“Well, taking into account the teams, this is going to be very unfair.” Silver Spoon added.
“Because we’re three against two? Don’t worry, we’ll be nice.” Scootaloo said. “Sweetie Belle hardly lands any throw.”

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle reacted to mean comment.

“Oh no girls, not at all” Silver Spoon grinned with predatory intent “It will be unfair for you.".

“Like I said, I’m out, have your fun” Diamond Tiara proudly wanted to walk away, too bad it was too late, just a second after she said that a snowball landed directly on her face, some of it getting into her eyes, Apple Bloom attacked first. The pink filly wiped her face with her hooves looking completely annoyed. “Silver Spoon…?”

“Yes Diamond?”

“You can handle two of them, right?”

“With ease” A second snowball targeted Silver Spoon but she dodged it gracefully.
“Then let's get them!”

This day could only be described as wholesome, it was so long since Diamond Tiara had some honest, uninhibited fun. She laughed while everyone focused their offensive on Silver Spoon, whom they could not hit at all, which only increased their frustration.

“Stop. Dodging!” 

“I told you it would be unfair!” Silver Spoon jumped evading another snowball with very sharp reflexes, and with even sharper accuracy, hit Apple Bloom right in the nose.

Diamond Tiara was hit many times, but she didn’t care anymore, they were the winners already. Even if she wanted, she wouldn’t be able to erase her own smile, forgetting completely about anything that was happening around her, this hill was the whole world for now.

Sadly, as the saying goes, there just too few of the good stuff, and bad luck is always lurking at every corner.

You could call it misfortune, or perhaps call it destiny, depending on the results. Sweetie Belle tried to sneak behind Silver Spoon, and prepared to finally defeat the agile filly, Diamond Tiara was distracted forming another snowball to notice, just as she locked in her target and got up, Silver Spoon dodged yet another shot, and the friendly fire landed directly onto the unicorn’s eyes. 

Blinded, she took a few steps back, shaking her head, not noticing how dangerously close she was to the steep edge of the hill. When Diamond Tiara looked up, she was horrified.

“Look out!” She jumped and managed to grab the unicorn’s hooves with her own. Unfortunately, the slippery snow betrayed her.

Both fillies fell from a very high altitude.