"Imposing" was the first word that came to mind.
Silver Spoon stared at the estate from outside its metal gates. The gates were tall, elegant, and constructed of sturdy metal alloy, yet made up only a small part of the barrier around the property. The rest of the barrier consisted of tall hedges, as far as Silver could see, in either direction. If not for the spaces in between the gate's poles, she wouldn't even be able to see what the estate's mansion within looked like.
While Silver's family was well off and lived in a respectable house, she naturally expected the Riches' to be bigger. Still, she hadn't expected it to be this much bigger. To have so much horizontal reach. To have so many rooms visible from the outside alone.
Definitely imposing. Yet at the same time, she couldn't wait to explore. She pressed the button to the right of the gate.
Chimes sounded. After almost half a minute, A crystal above it pulsed with a purple light. "Who is it?" she heard a filly's voice say, in a tone that suggested she could barely be bothered to ask.
"Um, hello?" Silver said. "I'm Silver Spoon. Are you Diamond Tiara?"
No answer.
"You... well, your parents, invited me over to meet you."
The filly sighed. "Right. Wait for Randolph, and for your sake, don't try anything funny."
Silver was in the middle of deciding whether it was worth risking annoying the filly on the other side of the comm crystal by asking just who Randolph was, when fortunately, she saw the door of the Rich mansion opening, in the farthest reaches of her vision.
Out of the door stepped an elderly purple stallion with tufts of white mane, and the poise and trot of Silver's own butler. He casually strolled down the road to the gate, taking another five minutes before reaching it, peering at Silver, nodding, and opening the gate.
"I'm surprised you walked all the way over here," Silver said. "I mean, even my place has remotely locked gates."
A hint of a smile spread across Randolph's muzzle. "Entirely my prerogative, Miss Spoon," Randolph said. "Daily ten-thousand-step regimen."
Silver smiled back, feeling a rush of relief wash over her. Randolph turned around, walking back to the mansion. Silver followed alongside.
Silver looked around as she walked. Fountains, gazebos, and outdoor dining areas dotted the area, yet still allowed for a large amount of open space. To the west, she saw a hedge statue of a filly wearing a crown. The five minutes back to the mansion passed in nearly an eyeblink due to her tourism, and before she knew it, they were standing at the doors of the Rich mansion, which Randolph opened.
"Miss Tiara's quarters are upstairs and to the left."
Silver nodded and walked in. "Thanks, Randolph." She looked around the equally impressive and spacious foyer, lined with gold, silver, and other precious metals she knew all too well. It was, however, empty.
She looked back to Randolph. "So, I remember it was it was Diamond's mom and dad who invited me here? I thought they'd be there to greet me."
"Regretfully, Mr. and Mrs. Rich are at work," Randolph replied. "They will return in the evening."
"Huh." Silver craned her neck to look up the staircase and to the left. A conspicuously pink door was conspicuously closed. "Is that... their normal schedule?"
Randolph nodded. "It is."
Silver looked at the pink door again. "Oh." She slowly made her way towards the staircase, walked up a few steps, then looked back. "I, uh... suppose either of us will let you know if we need anything?"
"Very good, Miss Spoon," Randolph said, trotting away in the other direction.
Silver walked the rest of the way up to the pink door, and knocked. "It's open," she heard the mystery filly say from the other side. Her voice sounded just as disinterested as last time, but Silver had come too far to be intimidated any more. She turned the knob and opened the door.
And gasped at the sight before her.
Every single toy ever was in front of her, in the most spacious bedroom she'd ever seen. Scooters, dolls, instruments of every type met her eyes wherever she looked. A lavish wardrobe was built into the entire length of the far wall, and Silver could make out a dresser and makeup station close by. A huge master bed served as the centerpiece, complete with curtains. Silver felt a little embarrassed that her first impulse was to wonder if it felt any better than her own bed to jump on.
Silver's family could afford all of these things as well, but her parents certainly knew how to tell Silver to cherish what she had. The Riches, meanwhile, clearly decided to live up to their names in every aspect of their lives. Silver felt mildly jealous, but also prideful, at the same time.
As Silver finished her surveying of the room, her gaze fell back to the center, where the crowned pink filly—the model for the hedge statue, Silver now realized—sat at a table which would be small for grown ponies, but large for the two of them. A tea set was already spread around it, complete with doilies. Several stuffed animals sat around the table along with the filly, who turned her head towards Silver Spoon with a—now expected—indifferent look.
"Oh, you found your way upstairs," the filly said. "Good. I would have let you stay lost if you hadn't."
"Diamond Tiara?" Silver ventured, stepping forwards. "I'm Silver Spoon. It's nice to meet you."
Diamond Tiara nodded, pouring two glasses of tea from a steaming kettle, and setting one of them at the table's lone empty seat, diametrically across from where Diamond was situated.
Silver's expression lit up. "A tea party? Wow, awesome!"
Diamond scoffed and rolled her eyes. "This is not a 'tea party.'" She gestured across the table. "This is an important board meeting, and I will have you treat it as such. We are discussing what to do with the shares of the Tiara Corporation as they currently reside on the Manehattan Stock Exchange." She paused, then added, "There also happens to be tea."
Silver blinked.
"Oh my gosh," Diamond said, "do you even know anything about the stock market?"
Silver adjusted her glasses. "I'm, um, not set to learn about that until next year."
Diamond shrugged. "Well, sit in if you want to. But if the conversation ends up being over your head, don't come crying to me."
Silver sat down, and sipped her tea as Diamond walked around the table. "As you know, shares of TiaraCorp are currently in the toilet. I always tell us to buy low and sell high—but what do you morons go and do instead?"
She stopped in front of a stuffed elephant, leaning over and placing her ear to his mouth. After a few seconds, her expression turned from commanding to stern.
"What do you mean, you forgot to check our values compared to our competition?" She thwapped the elephant's trunk with a hoof. "That is literally the one job for which I hired you!
"And that goes for the rest of you!" She walked towards a nearby blackboard, which had multiple letters of the alphabet scrawled on it, and knocked on it as she spoke. "What do I tell you, over and over again? Always! Be! Comparing! That's how you get ahead in this market!" She huffed. "You're all a bunch of stuffed suits. I ought to fire the lot of you, and just run this place myself!"
A confused Silver Spoon raised her hoof.
"Guest in the back! What is it?" Diamond asked.
Silver took off her glasses, fiddling with them in her hooves. "You know... I've overheard my parents talking about the MHSE, and the things they say are a lot more complicated than what you're saying. Also, I'm guessing, a lot more correct."
"Well of course they would be," Diamond said. "I'm..." She looked away. "I'm not set to learn about the market until next year either." She huffed, and sat back at the table.
"That's perfectly fine." Silver put her glasses back on. "I think it's great that you're interested so early. I'm sort of dreading it, myself."
A short silence fell over the room before Diamond replied with, "Meh. Fear won't make it any more fun for either of us."
Silver decided that Diamond had a point. She got up from the table and walked around. "Also, your room is amazing! There's so much stuff here." She walked over to the junior piano and hoofed a few chords.
"Whoa!" Diamond rushed over. "What are you doing with that?"
Silver looked at Diamond blankly. "It's a piano. I thought I'd play it."
"It's a piano that's imported from Neighpon!" Diamond pulled Silver's hooves away, examining the keys up close for damage." Meaning it's worth more than you and me put together."
Silver chuckled. "That's silly! We're our parents' daughters. Nothing's worth more to them than us."
"Mother was the one who quoted the price to my face," Diamond said flatly, walking back to the table. "Before telling me that if I broke it, it would come out of my allowance. So, you know. I don't exactly use it. You probably shouldn't, either."
"Oh," Silver said, backing away from the piano, and walking towards Diamond. "Sorry." She saw down on the floor next to her. "Randolph told me your parents get home pretty late most nights. So, you just come home by yourself after school?"
"Uh-huh," Diamond said, staring into space.
Silver tried to come up with a response to that, but failed. Silence reigned the room again.
"It's fine, though," Diamond continued. "Lets me study in peace. Also, have all the fun I want without anyone telling me not to."
She got up from the tea table and walked over to the window, looking outside. Silver followed. It was still as a nice a day as ever, though from this perspective she could see almost all of Ponyville. She suddenly realized how easy it was to imagine the town as her domain, and her as its queen. Heck, Diamond even had a crown on her head to complete the fantasy—a fantasy Silver was sure Diamond entertained often. She pointed up to it. "Is that always a thing you wear? The crown, I mean."
"Of course." Diamond smiled. "My daddy gave it to me. To remind me how much of a princess I am to him. To them," she quickly corrected herself. "To them, he said."
"You look really pretty with it on," Silver said.
Diamond's smile persisted. "I know."
"Did you ever have any dresses that go with it?"
"Ha! Diamond Tiara makes everything look great!" Diamond tilted her gaze towards the wardrobe. "But I might have a few that go the extra mile."
Silver gasped. "Can I see them?"
Diamond tilted her head, and put her hoof to her chin. "Diamond Tiara has one rule," she finally said, walking over to the wardrobe's doors. "'Never be seen in any company other than that which compares to Diamond Tiara.'" She beckoned with one hoof for Silver to join her. "Come here."
Silver stood where she was, not entirely sure what Diamond was getting at.
Diamond softly stamped a hoof. "Oh my gosh, Silver, come here."
Silver walked up to the wardrobe. Diamond walked around her, standing close to her every so often while looking at the wardrobe's built-in mirror. After a minute of doing so, she returned to the doors, satisfied. "Yeah, should be same size." She walked inside and rummaged around, coming up with a simple, petite, light blue dress.
"Put this on," Diamond said, tossing the garment to her. "Might need to take off those humongous glasses first."
Silver did the latter, then the former. The fabric was comfortable, and when the dress was on, she admired herself in the mirror, walking in a circle. "This is really pretty," she said.
"Not done yet," Diamond said, walking over to the dresser, and pulling back the chair to the makeup table. "Sit."
Once again, Silver stayed where she was, eyeing the makeup table, wondering if Diamond really was asking what Silver thought she was asking.
Diamond's expression turned annoyed, and she groaned. "I could get a dog if I wanted to do this all day. Come on over here already! I'm just going to touch you up a bit."
Silver walked over, still pensive. She sat in the chair, and Diamond took a brush to her mane, with light, slow strokes that Silver had to admit felt nice. Diamond's treatment was surprisingly soft, in contrast to her brusque personality. Diamond then took out an eyelash brush, and as Silver held still, took to her lashes with the same soft touch and attention to detail.
"One day I'll actually get to use the 'makeup' part of this table without things turning out... uh, bad," Diamond said, stepping back and examining Silver Spoon from a short distance away. "Tilt your head back up."
Silver did so, and Diamond nodded. "You look... surprisingly passable."
Silver gasped. "Really?"
"Sheesh, drop the surprised filly act already. It's not as if we don't both come from distinguished roots. Meaning we're both already pretty even without having any work done." Diamond walked to the wardrobe, took out a white dress, and smoothed it out. She picked up a multicolored jewel necklace from the dresser, put everything on, and walked back to Silver Spoon.
"You'll have to work at it if you want to really stand out. But at least for now, you're fit to stand next to me." Diamond turned Silver to face a grand mirror near the wall, and Silver stood beside her. They really did look like a princess and her regal friend. Silver was okay with this.
Diamond clapped twice. A crystal above the mirror chirped. "Built-in camera. Hold your pose, and smile, in three... two... one!"
Silver smiled, and the crystal flashed. Diamond turned to Silver with her own pleased expression. "I'll send you one when it develops."
Silver nodded, smiling back. "Sure."
"Also, keep the dress."
Silver gasped. "What? Diamond, I couldn't—"
"What?" Diamond shrugged. "It never looked very good on me. I'd rather it got some use from somepony who's actually able to use it well. And you do." Diamond took off her dress and laid it on the bed.
Warmth coursed through Silver Spoon's heart as she took the dress off and laid it on the bed as well. "Thanks, Diamond."
"Mm-hmm." Diamond sat at the edge of the bed and flopped onto her back, forelegs spread. "Well, that was fun, but now I'm officially bored."
"Bored?" Silver said. "How can you be bored with all these toys here?"
Diamond turned her head towards Silver and stared. "You'd be so surprised." She bounced back up. "I know! Let's go outside!"
Silver chanced a sly grin. "You mean you don't just stay in your room all day, every day?"
Diamond rolled her eyes. "Not that I'd be any less amazing if I did, but no, I don't. Especially not while there's a whole town here who needs to be reminded daily who's boss." She walked to a large chest in the corner of the room closest to her bed, opened it, and took out a couple of long tubes. She then led Silver to the window, where they could both see several fillies and foals playing in the distance. "Okay, so there's this girl who lives in the middle of Ponyville named Twist. White coat, curly red mane. You know her?"
Silver nodded. "I've seen her around."
"Yeah, and she's the biggest nerd. Honestly, I thought you were, too, with the glasses, but... anyway. I overheard her talking to herself today. She's going to try her hoof at 'marine biology' near Ponyville Lake later this afternoon." She held up the hoses. "So, we're going to 'help her out'. With these."
Silver eyed the hoses. "So, we're gonna splash her like crazy?"
"Yep!" Diamond giggled. "Probably not the most creative thing to do, but it'll be good for a few laughs."
Silver couldn't help but giggle as well as she thought of Twist being splashed in the face any time she tried to even get close to the lake. Could they actually make that happen? An idea formed in her mind. She decided to run it by Diamond.
"You know, we could make it really tough on Twist with a couple of spare shower heads and a mini-motor. They wouldn't be tough to attach, and no matter where she ran, she'd never be able to escape."
Diamond stared back in stunned silence. "Wait," she then said, slowly pointing a hoof at Silver. "You're... into this idea?"
Silver shrugged. "Yeah? I mean, funny is funny, right? I'm actually surprised you had the idea. I thought you were... you know. Raised to be prim and proper and super-distant."
"I was," Diamond said. "Were you?"
Silver's ears drooped. "Yeah."
"Looks like you don't like it either."
Silver shook her head. "Not really."
Diamond held out her hoof. Silver took it, and looked up at the face of a smiling pink filly.
"Then come on," Diamond said. "This is your operation now. Tell me everything we'll need. I'll have Randolph make a trip to the hardware store."
Silver walked to the dresser to fetch a pencil and paper. She looked back to see Diamond Tiara looking at her, still smiling—until Diamond caught her looking, scoffed, and turned her head to the side.
"Hurry up!" Diamond said. "Don't make me regret taking a chance on you!"
The warmth was back. Silver felt right at home.
Silver Spoon made her way through the thick of the Everfree Forest as quickly as she could. Every once in a while, she would take out a compass and a piece of paper from her miniature saddlebag.
The paper was old and frayed, and contained a crude, mouth-drawn map. Both were needed and welcome—the last thing she wanted to do was venture too far into the forest at night. But she knew it was a risk she had to take, as she skirted its borders.
So long as she stayed the course, it wouldn't be long before she found what she was after.
It was the middle of the evening, and Diamond Tiara hadn't come home yet.
Silver Spoon was one of the first to find out. Mr. and Mrs. Rich had come to her house, asking her and her parents if any of them had seen Diamond. Once they'd answered in the negative, she found out that they'd also checked with Miss Cheerilee. It was now officially an emergency—one which had to be kept quiet, of course, but which still had to be addressed with all available resources.
"Thanks so much for helping us look for our daughter, everypony," Filthy Rich said to all present outside the Rich estate. "I honestly have no idea where she could have gone. We've checked all of her favorite places—the school, Sugarcube Corner, Silver Spoon's house..."
"Even that little makeshift tent close to your castle she thinks we don't know about," Spoiled Rich said to Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight tilted her head and blinked.
"She... likes to pretend it's her castle," Filthy Rich said. "Can't say her heart isn't in the right place, but she'll grow out of it. Then she'll earn her own, of course."
"Of course. Not to worry, Mr. Rich," Twilight said. "I already have my friends checking every corner of Ponyville, on the ground and in the sky. We'll definitely find Diamond Tiara. Ponyville's small and she knows better than to venture too far beyond it, especially in certain directions, so there aren't a lot of places she could be, right?"
Silver Spoon and the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other pensively. After some time, the four nodded.
"We'll do our own searching, too," Apple Bloom said, raising her hoof. "There are places in and around Ponyville that only really little ponies can get into. Our parents already know we're out here—it's why we're here seeing you instead of at home. Let's all look for her together!"
"Hmmm," Twilight said, hoof to chin. "I don't know..."
"They do have a point," Filthy Rich said. "Diamond and I have... well, let's say she's good at hiding from us when she really wants to. I'll take responsibility." He turned to the four fillies. "Stick together, and stay within the town where everypony can see you. Anywhere even close to the Everfree Forest is off limits. Understand?"
The four nodded, and Spoiled Rich took out a crystal from her purse. "If you find our princess, press on this. It will instantly alert us and lead us to your location."
Silver Spoon took the crystal and put it into her bag. "I understand, Mrs. Rich. And don't worry." She looked up. "You two aside, there aren't a lot of ponies who want to see your daughter safe and sound more than me."
Silver and Spoiled met eyes. For just a moment, the latter's softened.
"I know," Spoiled said. "Best of luck to all of us, then."
"To all of us." Silver walked away from the gathered ponies. "Come on, you three," she said to the Crusaders as she passed them. "We're doing this."
"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" Scootaloo said as the three fillies followed behind Silver.
"Yeah, do you?" Sweetie Belle echoed. "I mean, I can't think of any time you and she haven't been together. Except for yesterday, of cour—"
"Quiet," Silver said, walking faster.
"Hey! We're helping you and your friend out here!" Apple Bloom said. "Besides, we just learned today that Diamond Tiara might actually not be all that ba—"
"I said, quiet!" Silver said, turning to face them.
The Crusaders clamped up.
Silver craned her head and looked past them. Twilight and the Riches had gone their separate ways, and thus were long out of earshot. "Follow me," she said.
Silver led the three behind the tent of a nearby closed shop stand, out of view of other ponies walking the streets. Once she was sure they were hidden, she looked at the Crusaders. "I already know where she is. At least... I'm ninety-nine percent sure."
"You what—" Sweetie Belle began, before Silver clamped her hoof over Sweetie's muzzle.
"Why do you three have to be so loud about everything?" Silver hissed. "This is exactly why Diamond and I give you so much grief!" After some thought, she removed her hoof and added, "Well, one of the reasons. We started making an itemized list once, at Twilight's suggestion, but we realized had to stop at a hundred or we'd be there forever."
Apple Bloom snorted. "Gee, it's sure nice to see you and Diamond Tiara follow such noble causes."
Silver sighed. "I... appreciate the three of you coming along to help. You didn't have to. Especially after all that grief." She closed her eyes. "So, here's the cover story, in case anyone sees you while I'm gone: I broke away from you, in a fit of being the 'spoiled rich girl' I usually am. So, you three are now scouring Ponyville looking for both Diamond and me."
The Crusaders gaped as the words slowly sank in. "That's... not what's really about to happen, is it?" Scootaloo asked in a soft voice.
Silver huffed. "Not exactly in that way. But it's a story that anypony in this town will buy," she said, just as softly. "And we all know it. So, use it."
The Crusaders stared at her in silence. Finally, Apple Bloom spoke, placing a hoof on Silver Spoon's shoulder. "We'll be safer if we stick together," she said. "You know that, right?"
"I know." Silver Spoon looked into each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' eyes with determined ones of her own. "But if you stick with me, I'll take you down with me. I'm the only one who can be there when she's found. Because I know how we got to this point."
Silver took the crystal out of her bag, staring at it just as determinedly. "And I'll bring her back. I promise."
She put the crystal back in her bag and ran off, listening for the sounds of multiple sets of hooves following her.
They never came.
The memory faded as Silver rolled up the map, and put it and its compass back in her bag. She knew where she needed to go now. More memories flashed as she ran around thick tree trunks. More reactions, more emotions.
Seeing Diamond distraught after not winning the class president election, initially, had suited Silver just fine, especially after she'd snubbed Silver on the way there. It wasn't the first time she'd been ignored, but it was the first time Diamond hadn't even let her get her idea out there before shooting it down—admittedly, always with a better or more ambitious one whenever that happened.
It was one small part of the understanding between them, but yesterday had been the only time Diamond had ever overstepped it. So, just that once, she'd been fine with seeing Diamond get her "just deserts." Diamond needed it, Diamond deserved it, and Silver didn't need to follow her drama anymore. She'd known Diamond for years, kept all her secrets, stuck beside her anyway, and that was her thanks? Far as she was concerned, things were square, and over, between the two of them.
Or so Silver thought.
Not long after that, Silver saw Diamond and her mother having one of their usual spats. Speaking of drama. Rarely, though, had those spats happened in public, in full view of everypony. That was pretty new. She stayed out of sight because she saw the blank flanks looking on, too—and because after witnessing them the first few times for herself months ago, she knew better than to jump into those storms as they were raging.
Meaning that, consciously or not, she found herself trailing Diamond after that... all the way to Ponyville Bridge.
It occurred to Silver Spoon that she'd never heard Diamond actually sing. On top of that, for all that she'd complained about her family... she'd never heard Diamond talk about herself like that. About her heart. Her dreams.
Silver had never heard Diamond bare herself before. Of course, she would do it when she thought absolutely nopony was looking. Silver considered feeling slighted, but more than anything, else, she felt...
Well, annoyed more than anything else. Darn it. Why did she have to always care so much? What was it about Diamond that she couldn't walk away from?
She'd decided that she would have to force herself to. It looked like Diamond was about to become friends with the blank flanks anyway. Not that Silver cared. After all, Diamond certainly hadn't.
And then, the next day, in front of the whole school. Diamond did the one thing Silver never expected: she stood up to her mother. The same mother who had humiliated and embarrassed Diamond so many times, and caused countless temper tantrums in front of Silver when her bedroom door was closed. In defiance of all of that, Diamond had finally put her hoof down.
Once her mother had walked away, Diamond smiled. Smiled at everyone. Smiled at Silver.
Directly at Silver. With a smile that Silver had seen so many times before.
It was a smile that, of course, fooled everyone.
But Silver knew what it meant.
She'd had to calm Diamond down from that "smile", more than once.
Silver reached the spot marked on the map.
In front of her sat a large tree stump, twice her size, and covered in vines. Of course, it was—she and Diamond hadn't used it in almost a year. She pulled the vines away, revealing a rope handle. She pulled it up, wedging the stump open and revealing a hollow more than big enough for a filly to jump to.
Silver did just that, pulling the stump closed over her, and sliding down a twisting path which always threatened to make her nauseous if the ride down ever lasted five seconds longer than it always did.
But as usual, it was over soon enough. She popped out the other side, into a forest clearing. A short distance front of her was an expansive lake that sparkled majestically under the moonlight.
In front of that lake, sat a large log, and a single small pony sat on that log, with a crown serving as a dead giveaway to that pony's identity.
If Diamond Tiara heard Silver approach, she didn't let on that she did. She stayed where she was the entire time as Silver slowly trotted closer, until Silver was directly behind her—close enough to place her foreleg on Diamond's shoulder.
"Diamond?" Silver said.
Diamond didn't move, continuing to slouch with ears drooped as she sat.
Silver walked around the log, until she was standing in front of Diamond. She studied her friend's expression—it was as exactly as she feared. Even solitude from her parents wasn't helping. She looked completely stricken by pain and fear, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide and glassy as they stared through Silver Spoon, across the lake, probably clear across to Canterlot.
Silver Spoon stepped forward, squatting on her hind legs. Slowly, she wrapped her forelegs around Diamond Tiara. Diamond didn't resist. Silver gently pulled, until their bodies were close and pressed together.
She felt Diamond shake, pulled back just a bit to let Diamond see her face, and brought her hoof up to Diamond's cheek. "It's okay."
Diamond shivered in Silver's grip.
"It's okay," Silver said again, re-embracing her. "I'm here. It's just us, and no one else. No one will see or hear us until we say so. No one will see you."
Diamond hiccupped. Short, quick sounds escaped her throat. She was still resisting the inevitable, resisting what Silver clearly knew she wanted, but that Silver knew she couldn't avoid for much longer.
Silver Spoon decided to do what needed to be done. To say what needed to be said.
"I'm not angry at you. I never was. I love you, Diamond Tiara. And I forgive you."
A longer sound this time, before Diamond clenched. Silver cuddled Diamond close, leaning in to whisper in her ear:
"Let it out."
And Diamond did.
She opened her mouth with a sorrowful moan, loud enough to echo across the lake, loud in Silver's ears—but Silver didn't care. Even more followed, some high, some mewling, some cut short by a need to breathe. Silver soon felt the onslaught of tears slowly cover her shoulder hair, rivulet by rivulet, as Diamond shook and jerked uncontrollably in Silver's forelegs. Every so often she would hear Diamond try to form words, or try to say Silver's name, only for her to loose a new high-pitched wail, and cry harder.
Silver stroked Diamond's mane. She rocked her, she whispered words of reassurance, letting Diamond know it was okay, encouraging her to keep letting it out until it was all out. In time, her own tears fell, trailing down Diamond's coat. She took off her glasses, sobbing with her friend. The two hugged each other tightly in the moonlight, letting out secret sorrows that they'd both held in for years.
Neither of them knew how long it took for them to finish their lament. It could have been five minutes, or fifty. But eventually, the sobs became less frequent. Their hugs became tighter, became closer, turned to nuzzles against each other's cheeks.
"Thank you, Silver," Diamond whispered, barely avoiding choking on the words. "Thank you so much."
"Of course," Silver said. "I'm just so sorry I left you."
"I don't blame you one bit. You left me when you needed to," Diamond said.
"No," Silver replied, shaking her head. "I left you when we needed each other."
That got a sobbing giggle out of Diamond. "I don't deserve you, Silver. I never did."
"I know." Silver pulled back just a bit, staring at Diamond's puffy eyes with equally puffy ones of her own. "But you're stuck with me."
Before she knew it, Diamond had leant forward, pressing her muzzle to Silver's cheek. A heady warmth pulsed in Silver's heart, leaving her happier than she already had been that she'd taken this chance.
"That makes me so happy to hear," Diamond said, before leaning back in and whispering in Silver's ear. "Best friends forever?"
"Best friends forever," Silver whispered back, now feeling like the entire week had been worth it.
Diamond broke the hug, and sighed, loud and long. "I needed that. Not just you, I mean, just..." Diamond gestured around herself. "This. I needed to get away, but I thought I could do it alone and be fine." She looked to Silver, her eyes sparkling, her cheeks pink. "But I'm never fine without you. All the way back to when we first met, you got me. You understood me. I only wish I took as much time to understand you. But I guess it's not too late to start, is it?"
Silver blushed as she looked at Diamond, fighting an almost uncontrollable light-headedness. "Take your time," she said. "Like I said, I'm not going anywhere."
Diamond giggled. "Good."
Diamond got up from the log and walked over to the lake. Silver followed. The two stared at their reflection, which, much like the lake itself, shimmered from the moonlight above.
Diamond closed her eyes. "Never lose your strength, or your nobility," she said, as if quoting a mantra. She opened her eyes. "One change from the usual, though."
Silver watched the reflection of Diamond Tiara take off her crown, and put it on the reflection of Silver Spoon's head. She gasped, and smiled wide. "I'm the princess tonight?" she asked.
"No," Diamond said, smiling back. "Something more."
The warmth in Silver's heart spread throughout her entire body. She relished it, and the silence, for a long while, before an idea occurred to her. "Want my glasses?"
"No," Diamond said immediately.
Silver laughed. Diamond did as well, soon after, before adding, "But I wish I had a camera crystal here."
"Oh!" Silver ran back to her bag, and procured the crystal, bringing it back.
"Is that one?" Diamond asked.
"No," Silver replied. "But..." She took a deep breath. "It'll let us get to a place that has one."
Diamond sighed. "I guess I have to go home sometime, don't I?"
Silver nodded. "Everyone's looking for you. Including the bla—" She stopped herself. "Uh, ex-blank flanks."
Diamond laughed again. "That'll take a while to get used to. Especially since I owe them, now."
Silver nodded. "You and me both."
"We'll have to talk to them later, I guess," Diamond said.
Silver grinned slyly. "When we feel like it?"
Diamond looked at Silver, matching her grin with a tiny squeal. "You're still the only one who gets me."
The two sidled close, warming each other in the night.
"So, what are you going to do?" Silver asked as the two walked back to Ponyville. "I mean, about your mom?"
Diamond threw up her foreleg, then let it flop back to her side. "I don't know. When I told off my mom? I thought I'd be scared! But instead I was just angry. Angry at all the times... well, you know. But now? Now I'm scared." Her voice slipped to a weakened whisper. "I'm really scared, Silver."
She took out the crystal from Silver's bag and looked at it. "I already know the kind of pony I want to be. But it's not going to be easy. If I survive tonight, I..." She looked up into Silver's eyes. "I could really use a friend while I work towards being that pony."
"What a coincidence," Silver said. "I could really use a friend while I work towards being the pony I want to be, also."
Diamond nodded. "I promise, I will be. Still..." Diamond looked away. "I wish I could tell you I'm going to be the same Diamond you became friends with back then. But... I don't know."
Silver placed a hoof on Diamond's shoulder. "You were Diamond Tiara back then, you've been Diamond Tiara since I've known you, and you'll be her in the future. A diamond is unbreakable, right?"
Diamond smiled. "And this was why I always kept you around." She took a deep breath, then exhaled. Both fillies took hold of the crystal, their hooves clasped together.
"Ready?" Diamond said.
"Always," Silver said.
"One..." Diamond chanted.
"Two..." Silver continued.
They pressed their hooves together, and the crystal with it, and said in unison:
"Three."
