> Last Call at The Big Reveal
>  by Shrinky Frod
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Knock 'em Dead
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Silver Spoon smiled as the audience in the main room cheered and the floor rumbled with the beat of applauding hooves. It was a great crowd tonight; ponies from across Equestria had gathered in Canterlot for the latest Friendship Summit. Despite the night’s heavy rain, a significant number of them had come to the Big Reveal for their evening entertainment. Out of towners always made for good tips, and the fact they’d be trying to impress each other was even better.

She just hoped they didn’t spend it all before she got out there.

The door to the main stage opened, and the noise briefly became louder as Silver put the final touches on her makeup and started to put on the final layers of her costume.

“Hey Sil, I’ve got ‘em all riled up for ya!” A pale blue pegasus stallion stepped in, shaking his shaggy yellow mane back so that he could strap it into a rough ponytail  “Watch out for the Appleoosan table though; one of the delegates is getting a little handsy. Brick had a word with him.”

“Which means he probably won’t be there any more when I get out,” Silver laughed. “Thanks for the warning, Dewy.” She rolled her ponytail up into a bun, hiding it beneath a wide-brimmed hat nearly covered with feathers, silk flowers, and fake songbirds, all resting against a powder blue brim that matched her classical ballgown. She turned her face from side to side, critically adjusting the positioning of her collar and the hat, trying to get the perfect blend of flirtatious and demure.

“So,” she asked the stallion behind her, “how do I look?”

“The spitting image of Mareie Antoinette,” he reassured her. She glanced back into the mirror, seeing the back of his head as he removed his own makeup.

“And how do I look if you actually look? I have a reputation to uphold!”

Dewy rolled his eyes and turned his chair, giving her a quick once-over.

“Like I told you already. Come on, Silver, you’ve done this routine a thousand times, and you’re still knocking them dead with it. Sometimes I’m surprised you don’t wake up and find out you’ve put your show makeup on while you’re sleeping.”

“Sometimes a filly just wants to be appreciated,” Silver Spoon smirked.

“Well, you’ll get that tonight,” Dewy said, his face becoming more serious. “Your ex is in the audience again. Brick’s already spotted her, and says to give the nod if you want her out.”

Silver thought about it, then shook her head.

“She never sticks around for me to actually get on stage. If she does… well, as long as she doesn’t make a scene, let her see what she’s missing. If she’s going to blow up, this is where I want her to do it, where I’ve got a half-dozen bouncers between us.”

“She’s been here a week running, Sil,” Dewy reminded her. “She might not stick around, but that means when she does, it’s gonna be big.”

“It’s sweet that you’re worried about me, Dewy,” she smiled, getting up and turning around to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving behind the imprint of her lipstick. “But I’m a big filly, and I know how to handle Diamond Tiara.”

“If you say so,” Dewy shrugged, turning back to keep taking his makeup off. “Break a leg!”

“If I do, you have to cover the rent on your own!” She teased, stepping out into the hall and quickly trotting over to the hollowed out prop cake she was supposed to come out of. She tucked herself in, gathering her layers of skirts around herself, and gave the stagehands a nod. They closed the faux-dessert around her, and wheeled it into place behind the curtains on the stage. The murmur of the crowd, already muffled through the cake, went quiet as the background track started to pick up, a classical arrangement that was at odds with The Big Reveal’s rowdy atmosphere. Silver counted the beats, listening for her cue; when it hit, she stood, triggering the latch at the top that let the cake fall away from her.

She paused for a moment, posing for the full effect, gesturing imperiously with her hooves as she stepped away from the cake and one of the unicorns backstage magicked it out of the way. Instinctively, her eyes scanned the audience and… there.

Just as she expected, a white and purple tail was disappearing out the front.

Coward, she thought to herself, before falling into the routine that she could almost do on reflex by now.

Now was the time to knock them dead.

Outside, Diamond Tiara gathered her coat around herself, quickly starting to shiver as cold rain poured down, battering at her hat and soaking through her fur anywhere it could get through. The young mare stood up on her hind hooves, leaning back against the wall of the club.

Why do I even keep trying? She asked herself. She reached into a pocket with trembling hooves to pull out a pack of cigarettes. She glanced over at the doorman, wondering if she should ask him for help lighting it, but decided against it and just put the pack back.

It would probably just get put out by the rain anyway. One more thing she couldn’t do right.

There’d been a lot of those, over the last few years.
> She's Happy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just a month before, Diamond Tiara had shown less restraint while she sat at a table outside the Tasty Treat. She’d been wearing the same hat and coat, but puffed irritably on a cigarette, the ashtray at the table already filled with the remains of half a pack.

“You know, you’ll kill your palate like that.” A sandy yellow pegasus with a thick Manehattan accent touched down across from her and took a seat at the table. “Sorry I’m late, but a former client’s husband wanted to stop and chat about his divorce proceedings.”

“That bad, hmm?”

“Eh, he looks the worse for it.” He smirked and pulled out his own cigarettes, tapping one out of a battered pack.

“You’ll kill your palate like that,” Diamond observed dryly.

“Why do you think I asked you to meet me here?” He smirked and lit up. “I can still taste most of the food.”

“Fair enough.” She waited for him to settle in, and for the portly host to come out for their orders. Once he was gone, she looked at her lunch guest expectantly.

“So I’ve got good news and bad news for you, Miss Rich.” He used his wings to flip open his saddlebag, pulled out a plain business folder, and passed it to her. “Which do you want first?”

“Well, I’m assuming that you found her, and that she’s somewhere in Canterlot, since you asked me to meet you here.” Diamond flipped the folder open with her nose, and her breath hitched as she looked at the photos inside.

There she was. Silver Spoon, sometimes dressed in a light jacket, sometimes just wearing her pearls and glasses, other times dressed in a sweatshirt and some sort of tights.

Diamond looked through the pictures, her eyes focused like a laser on the grey-furred mare and the ponies she’d been interacting with. She could feel her pulse pounding through her head as she saw Silver chatting with somepony Diamond had never seen before. Saw her laughing at somepony’s stupid joke. When she saw a picture of Silver hugging some blue pegasus stallion, she made herself tear her eyes away, closing the folder and realizing that she’d missed everything her companion had said, and the arrival of their spicy lentil soup and his grass sandwich.

“I-I’m sorry, Mister Marelow, it’s… I haven’t seen her in a long time.” The private detective nodded, swallowing a bite of his sandwich and setting it back down.

“It’s okay, Miss Rich. I’ve seen worse; nopony’s dead at least. So, since you missed it, your ex is here, and I talked to her. She’s happy here.”

Diamond tasted her soup to cover for her rising temperature, fighting to focus on what he was saying through the throbbing in her ears.

“So what’s the bad news?” She asked him, grateful for the cook’s heavy hand with the curry and ginger as she wiped her eyes. The tears were actually already there because of the food, and the burn in her mouth and throat explained her constricting throat and choked voice.

“The bad news is, I can’t tell you anything more than that she is in Canterlot. And that she doesn’t really want to talk to you.”

“What do you mean, you can’t tell me anything more?” Diamond scowled, ignoring the hot soup as she leaned across the table. “I paid you to find out where -”

“You paid me to find out where one Silver Spoon lives, currently, and how she’s doing. What you didn’t pay me to do was to find out where a mare who was afraid of you ran off to.”

“What do you mean, afraid of me?” Diamond shouted at him. She stood from her seat and stabbed a hoof against her own chest. “She’s the one who hit me!”

“Miss Rich, if you don’t want to make a scene, I’d suggest you take your seat and lower your voice,” Marelow told her evenly. “It’s not busy here, but the host is at the door, and while I’m sure the ponies on the street would be fascinated by your love life, I’m also sure you don’t want to share it.” Diamond glared down at him, but took her seat again, picking up her soup and taking a long sip of the hot broth.

Maybe if she burned her voice out she could talk to the insufferable-

Diamond stopped herself, putting the bowl down and taking several deep breaths.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. I don’t especially want to share the details. But I never, never gave Silvy a reason to be scared of me.”

“No, you didn’t. Not that you thought was a reason. I’ve been hired a few times for a job like this, Miss Rich. I’m gonna give you the same advice I gave all of them, once I figured it out.”

“What?”

The pegasus sighed, finishing his sandwich and pulling a card out of his saddlebag. She took it from him and skimmed over it; a Doctor Open Mind.

“Don’t look for her. I know the guy on the card; he works with a lot of ponies who have problems like you an’ Silver Spoon did. Let Silver live her own life here. It’s like I told you; she’s happy here. She’s got a job she loves, good friends, a place in a nice part of town. Not fancy, but nice. You can go home, go back to your job, and move on. Get hold of the doc, let him help you work things through.”

Diamond looked at the card, taking two, three, four deep breaths. Of course he’d suggest that. Just like Mom had. Just like Daddy had.

“Did she really say she doesn’t want to talk to me? Or is that you trying to diagnose me for your friend?”

“Oh, she said it. I offered to deliver a letter for her, she had no interest in writing one. That’s when she had me promise not to tell you more about where she was. Miss Rich… I’m done with this job, as far as I’m concerned. And I’m gonna put the word out that Silver doesn’t want to be found. But she didn’t ask me for the pictures. And she didn’t say she won’t talk to you. You’ll have to be the one to reach out though, and I’ve already told you that I don’t think you should.” He picked up his soup, draining the rest of it easily.

“And given she was the one who hit you, maybe you should think about taking my advice, instead of trying to restart something that wasn’t good for either of you.”

“You can bill me for whatever I still owe you,” Diamond said coldly. “But I want that invoice itemized.”

“They always are, Miss Rich.” He tipped a hat he wasn’t wearing towards her as he stood up from the table. “You ever need somepony to get dirt on a competitor, call me. But I’ll stay out of your love life, if you don’t mind.” With that, he took off, flying away as the heavyset unicorn came out from the restaurant.

“Would you like something to drink, Miss? Or perhaps dessert? We have a fresh-”

“No, thank you.” She dropped a gem onto the table as she stood up and slipped the folder into her coat, leaving her half-eaten soup behind. “I have to catch the train back to Ponyville. Keep the change.”

“Ah, thank you, Miss! Have a nice day!” He called after her as she started the trip back to the station.

”Don’t think I didn’t notice you not asking me to come back soon,” she thought bitterly, quickly losing herself in the crowd.
> What Happened to Us?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Diamond Tiara’s credit, she did take a week before she returned to Canterlot. A long week, full of business meetings, appointments, and debating if she was doing the right thing or not.

She still didn’t know for sure.

Diamond pulled out one of the photos, looking at Silver Spoon again. She still wore that braid and the same glasses.She hadn’t changed much during the last five years.

Diamond brushed a strand of lavender hair out of her eyes. She was already dying it to hide traces of grey hairs, and she wasn’t even in her late-twenties yet. She looked up from the photograph, scanning over the other ponies in the train car with her. Business ponies reading their papers. Families going up the mountain for the weekend, their foals at the window with their noses and hooves pressed against the glass to watch the countryside go by. There was a couple sitting up front, snuggled together contently.

Diamond leaned against the cold glass and looked out at the scenery herself.

”What happened to us, Silvy?"

”What happened to me?”

She remembered how it ended, of course. How could she not?

Five years earlier, Diamond Tiara sat alone at a table at Sugarcube Corner. She stirred her chocolate milkshake without looking at it, instead glaring across the street at the dance school. Every once in a while, she took a sip, barely tasting the increasingly unappetizing dessert. The Ponyville Clocktower struck the quarter hour, and Diamond’s eyes narrowed.

”What is keeping you?”

The answer came as Silver Spoon stepped out of the studio along with her teacher. She noticed Diamond and winced, holding awkwardly still as the middle-aged mare obliviously hugged her. As the teacher returned to the studio, Silver rushed over to Sugarcube Corner, glancing at the clocktower on her way over.

“Di, I’m sorry, I-”

“You should be!” Diamond snapped at her. “I’ve been waiting out here for the last half-hour!”

“My class wasn’t even supposed to be out until fifteen minutes ago,” Silver pointed out evenly. “And we got a late-”

“You can give me your excuses when we get home.” Diamond pushed herself away from the table, tossing a few bits on the table and storming down the street, clearing a swath through the marketplace crowd as she went. Nopony wanted to get in the way of the Rich daughter on a good day, but her head snaking back and forth as she practically marched home and the firm set of her jaw made it clear that this was anything but a good day.

Silver followed her, suppressing a sigh. Her ears and eyes darted around, but the other ponies around them all pointedly avoided looking at either young mare, particularly not Diamond Tiara. Twist walked past them with heavy, fragrant saddlebags, and glanced sympathetically at Silver. Diamond’s head pivoted as if she could hear somepony else paying attention to her marefriend, and the curly-haired filly made her escape.

Mercifully, they reached the front door of the relatively modest ‘guest house’ on the Rich estate that they called home without any further altercations. Diamond Tiara opened the door, holding it for Silver to step through. It had been a sweet gesture once. Now, Silver Spoon had to swallow a lump in her throat before she stepped through, leaving the relative safety of the outside, where Diamond wouldn’t want to make a scene.

It had to end.

Diamond followed her in and slammed the door behind her. Silver turned around and opened her mouth to speak, but Diamond was already starting.

“All day,” she said calmly, evenly. It always started like that. “I work for my Dad’s company. I work in a job that he gave me, but I work hard! I’ve fought my way up to being the youngest contract negotiator on staff, busted my tail proving I’m not just Dad’s money, and why?”

“Di-”

“So that we can have something of our own! ” Diamond shouted over her. “Something that we weren’t just handed on a silver platter, like this house, like my job, like everything I’ve ever pretended was mine! And all I ask in exchange? All I ask is that I can trust you!”

“You can!” Silver protested.

“Oh, I can? Then what happened tonight, huh? Let me guess, the foal-fiddler just wanted you to help her clean the closet?”

“Sweet Celestia, Di, she’s married with foals of her own! To a stallion! She doesn’t do anything with any of her students, let alone the young ones!”

“Don’t give me that, I’ve seen her with her hooves all over you!”

“That was one class we took together when we were kids, and she was correcting my form!”

“Oh yeah, she was really concerned with your form all right! With getting your leg up high enough they could see if you were winking from across the room!”

“Di, we were both wearing tights,” Silver sighed. “So was everypony else in the class!”

“And those tights were pretty nice on that Tender Taps, weren’t they?” Diamond continued ranting. “At least he moved to Manehattan so I don’t have to worry about him any more! I know he was trying to take you away from me.”

“I have never cheated on you, Diamond Tiara, and you know that. I’ve never even wanted to. Tender was a friend and a classmate; he was dating Applebloom most of the time we knew each other anyway!”

“Like that would have stopped either of them from going after you if I hadn’t told them off.” Diamond’s eyes narrowed and she stepped closer. Silver Spoon stepped back, keeping her distance as well as she could.

“And now you’re taking these ‘modelling classes’ with the dance teacher, for some reason, because I guess you don’t have enough ponies ogling you already! What am I supposed to think when you’re actually taking classes on getting ponies to stare at you?””

“So I don’t get to do anything to help us build a life?” Silver snorted. “What am I supposed to do, Diamond, just sit here and keep the house clean?”

“Why do you have to do this though? Why don’t you take up painting, or write, or any of a thousand other things that don’t involve you flashing your teats at a camera while some producer changes the sheets on the casting couch?”

“Di,” Silver said patiently, “you know I’d never do anything like that.”

“Do I, Silvy? And even if I do, what does it matter when some of those scumbags don’t take ‘no’ for an answer? I’m trying to keep you safe!”

“I can take care of myself! And for your information, ‘some of those scumbags’ came by the studio today and-”

“I knew it!” Diamond shrieked and swept a vase off the end table. “I knew there was a reason you were late!”

“And I’m leaving, Diamond!” Silver shouted over her.

Diamond Tiara stared at her marefriend, trying to process the words in some way that made sense.

“What, they hired you for a shoot?” She asked, trying to build her momentum back up.

“They hired me for a job, Diamond. A long-term job. That I’m moving for.”

“And you just took it, without even asking me about this? Where are you even moving to, I’ll have to commute I-”

“I didn’t say we’re moving for it.” Silver said evenly. “I’m done, Diamond. Today just proved it. I’m sick of you always suspecting me, always suspecting everypony around me? I’m sick of all of it! I’m not some whorse, and even if I were, you know what? At least I wouldn’t feel like a canary in a cage with the cat!”

“Oh please, I’ve never hurt you and I never would!” Diamond protested. “How can you make out like I’m doing something wrong, all I’m doing is-”

“Is smothering me, Diamond!” Silver cut in, fighting to keep from crying. She wasn’t going to give Diamond the satisfaction of seeing that. “I can’t be five minutes late without you thinking I blew the cashier for the groceries! We don’t even have friends any more, not after you ‘told off’ Applebloom for asking the both of us out on a double date! I want a life, Di, and I can’t have it here with you!”

Diamond stared at her, her expression darkening as everything sank in.

“Well maybe if you’d just make up your mind what you like so I don’t have to worry about you fucking every other mare and stallion in town, I wouldn’t be so worried!”

Silver Spoon stared at Diamond, the house dead silent as the businessmare’s words seemed to echo through it.

Silver Spoon’s hoof came up and slapped Diamond across the face. Diamond barely felt it, though she knew it would bruise later.

“You’re as bad as your mother,” Silver seethed. She ran past her stunned marefriend, barely glancing behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed before she opened the closet and dug a duffel bag out of the back. Slinging it over her neck, she ran out of the house and down the street.

Diamond finally turned around, running back to the door, but Silver was already halfway across the grounds, running towards the Ponyville Station. She closed the door, resting her forehooves and forehead against the wood, starting to shake as she absorbed what had just happened, what she’d said.

She slowly returned to all fours, stepping back into the house she’d shared with Silver Spoon. She looked around, seeing art on the walls they’d picked out together. Photos they’d taken together. The flowers she’d bought for Silvy the day before were already on the floor amidst shattered crystal.

Diamond looked around the home she’d been building, and she screamed.

Later that night, Filthy Rich awoke from the ledgers he’d been napping on when he heard Alphonse knock politely at the door to his office in the Rich mansion. Snorting and blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he turned to face his butler.

“What time is it, Alphonse?” He yawned.

“Half past midnight, Sir. Sir… Diamond needs you, she’s in the front room and very upset. I left her with Merry taking care of her. I gather… there was another fight between herself and Silver Spoon, Sir. A very final one, from the sound of things.”

Filthy was out of his chair as soon as he heard the word ‘Silver,’ and pushing past his elderly butler almost before he was done speaking. He broke into a canter, then a gallop once he was down the stairs and could see into the front receiving room. 

He got through the door just as Merry, their pastel-green unicorn maid, finished bandaging Diamond’s hooves. All four of them were wrapped in gauze, an open first aid kit sitting between his maid and his miserable looking daughter.

“If you’ll excuse me, sir, I believe there’s a mess that needs cleaning up,” Merry said politely, standing and closing the first aid kit with a sharp click before carrying it out. “I’ll be back once I’ve finished.”

“Thank you, Merry,” Filthy sighed, going over to take her spot on the couch next to Diamond Tiara. He put a leg around her shoulder, pulling her close into a hug and resting his muzzle against her mane.

He could smell powdered drywall there, stuck in her mane. A glance at a nearby trash bin showed bloody bits of glass and wood pulled from her hooves. He held his daughter close, rocking her back and forth, and not asking any questions as she started to sob brokenly against him.

Back on the train, Diamond’s eyes were closed as she cried silently, occasionally reaching up to wipe away her tears.

”How can I ever make it up to you?”
> Why Am I Doing This?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Excuse me, miss?” Diamond Tiara smiled hopefully as she waved at a passing pony. “I’m a little lost.”

She was in Canterlot now, sitting at a table outside one of the numerous little bistros that served overpriced, unsatisfying nothings and called them meals. How could Silver stand Canterlot, when there were maybe ten places to eat that served actual food?

The lavender unicorn Diamond waved at shrugged, and trotted over to her table.

“It can be difficult to find your way around the city from time to time,” she allowed, giving Diamond Tiara the once-over with judging yellow eyes and evidently finding her Rarity-designed outfit suitable to be seen speaking to. “Where are you going?”

“That’s actually the problem,” Diamond explained, sliding some of the pictures she’d been looking at over. “My friend sent me these as part of a little hide-and-seek match, and I’m trying to figure out where she’s hiding. I recognized the restaurant from this one,” she explained, indicating the background of one of the more distant shots.

The unicorn looked the pictures over, raising an eyebrow as she saw the candid nature of each shot. When she saw Silver’s face in one of the close-ups, the other eyebrow joined it, and she looked up at Diamond, then back at the pictures.

“Well, if you’re looking for where she lives, I’ve no idea. Probably in the art district somewhere. However, this sign here,” her magic glowed over a half-hidden sign on the left side of the photograph, “is for the Helping Hooves Society Outlet. I’m one of their larger donors.”

”Sure you are, lady. I’m sure you positively dwarf the Rich Foundation’s meager efforts,” Diamond thought to herself, though she put on a suitably impressed expression.

“Well, I lucked out then! I don’t suppose you know where it is?” She asked hopefully.

“Oh, hardly, dear! I’ve never actually patronized one of their little establishments. However, they only have ten or twelve locations in Canterlot, and most of those are in the… well, the worrisome part of town. This one looks like it’s actually somewhere you could walk in the daylight without your hoof on your pouch all the time,” the noblemare mused. “Hmm… perhaps near the artist’s district? The nicer end of it, of course, closer to the Spires, not the end for the more decadent sort.”

“Of course,” Diamond nodded. “Well, thank you so much for your help! I can’t imagine how I’d th- oh, of course! You simply must have lunch here, on me.” She gave the mare her best ‘I’ll insist’ smile. The uncomfortable grimace that crossed the mare’s face told Diamond instantly that she’d made the right choice.

“Really, Miss, that’s absolutely unnecessary,” the mare tried to dodge the offer anyway. “It’s not any trouble, and-”

“Oh, don’t think of it, I wouldn’t know where to find Silvy without your help! I insist, at least dessert.” Diamond raised her head, noticing the orange unicorn waiting on the outdoor tables, and clopped her hoof on the table twice. The waitress turned towards her table and came over with a barely suppressed sigh.

“Can I help you, ladies?” She asked brightly, floating a pad and pencil to take their orders.

“Yes, thank you, could you bring my friend here one of the chef’s best desserts?” Diamond put two small gems on the table and gathered her photos together. “I have to hurry off, so please, keep the change.”

“Of course, Miss!” The waitress said with much more genuine cheer, glancing over at Diamond’s impromptu dinner guest. “Yes, I think I know just the thing,” she nodded, turning around and heading back in as Diamond stood to leave.

Allowing herself a faintly sadistic smile, Diamond walked past the stuffy mare across from her.

“Don’t try to out-snob the Queen,” she whispered with barely a pause, sure that she’d been heard loud and clear.

If their entrees were flavorless bites of despair, she could only imagine what dessert was like.

The next few hours were spent trying to track down the Helping Hooves locations that weren’t in “the worrisome part of town.” After that, it was a matter of visiting each one and seeing how they compared to the one in her photograph.

Not the easiest thing to do from ground level, when the picture had been taken from the air, but she managed to figure it out on the third stop. She stepped inside the thrift shop, glancing around briefly at the racks of stale, musty, out of style outfits, rusty tools, dogeared old books, and racks of cheap costume jewelry while she made her way to the counter.

“Can I help you?” The elderly mare at the register asked her.

“I’m hoping you can,” Diamond admitted. “I’m looking for an old friend, who I know comes through this neighborhood pretty often.” She put the picture of Silver Spoon up on the counter. “Do you recognize her?”

“Oh, I haven’t seen her in ages!” The elderly unicorn smiled warmly. “She comes in every few months with a donation, usually some jewelry or a dress. It’s usually my backup who sees her though.”

The seafoam green unicorn turned towards the back of the store and lifted a hoof to call out to the back.

“Silent, dearie, could you come up front for a minute? I should warn you,” she added, turning back towards Diamond Tiara. “Silent’s a Firehive changeling. They didn’t change like the ones from the Badlands did, but they’re good creatures.”

“I’ve met a few,” Diamond smiled, looking through the jewelry beneath the counter. “By the way, you want to reprice this one, the gems are real.” She tapped her hoof by a diamond necklace made from a cheap, gaudy piece of costume jewelry to make it less attractive to burglars.

“Oh my, are you sure?” The cashier went to inspect it as movement from the back of the store attracted Diamond’s attention.

A short changeling with grey chitin and bright blue eyes trotted out of the back of the store, a brass, heart-shaped pendant in her green mane to mark her as being registered and approved by the guard as a visitor from her Hive.

“Hi! I’m Silent Whisper,” she introduced herself, offering a holey hoof to shake that Diamond took without a qualm. “How can I help you?”

Silent glanced back at her co-worker, and leaned in close to Diamond.

“And what did you say to her? I’m getting a buzz and I’m not even trying!”

“I spotted a piece that was severely underpriced,” Diamond giggled. “And this is a friend of mine; have you seen her lately?”

“Oh! It’s Sil,” Silent smiled, looking at the photo. “Yeah, I think she goes to the dance studio down the street to practice, I saw her walking by earlier, while Seafoam was on lunch. She might still be there.”

“Thanks! Since you’ve talked to her more often… how’s she doing?”

“Pretty well,” Silent nodded. “She’s nice; usually comes in looking for props or costume pieces, always brings them back after her act changes. Doesn’t act like she’s doing us a favor by shopping here either.”

“Her act? I thought she was a model,” Diamond frowned.

“Uhm… I don’t think so. She might do that too, I guess.” Silent tapped her hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “Well, I should get back to work in the back, if you don’t need anything else.” 

“No, not really. Thanks for the information.”

“A little advice?” Silent said quietly, leaning in close. “I can feel that there’s something that happened between you two. I don’t know what it is, but… remember that you love her, okay? That’s real. But so are a lot of other feelings too. You’ve got to focus on the ones you want to work out.”

“Thanks. I’m trying.” Diamond smiled wryly. “Very trying, I guess.”

With that, the filly turned to leave the store, heading down the street in the direction Silent Whisper had indicated.

As she walked, she looked at the businesses she was passing by on both sides of the street, looking for the studio. She walked past several shops; jewelry stores, book stores, boutiques, florists. Finally, she noticed a broad window opening into a mostly clear floor, some weight stations and a small stage in the back.

More importantly, she saw Silvy.

The grey mare was stretching on the stage, pulling one hindleg up behind her back as the other took her weight in the front. It looked like she’d been studying with Blossomforth, judging by her ability to twist her body in ways that were frankly painful to watch.

Silvy lowered her legs, shifting to her rump and back, placing her hind hooves on the ground and arching her back up, supporting her weight on her wither. Then she braced her back with her forehooves, and lifted her hind legs up parallel to the balance pole on the stage with her.

Diamond winced, imagining even trying to do those poses.

”She’s right there. Just go in and talk to her!”

Diamond was about to follow her own advice when Silver Spoon shifted her pose again, wrapping her hindlegs around the pole and using them to lift herself up into the air. As Silvy took an entirely different type of pose, Diamond’s eyes widened.

A dance studio.

She looked up at the sign above the door.




The Pole-Cat
Dance and Gymnasium




Diamond’s cheeks flushed red as she realized what she was watching.

”Modeling career my ass!” She started for the door to the studio, eyes narrowing as she reached out for the handle. ”Celestia damned lying little sl-”

Diamond pulled her hoof back from the door, and she swallowed hard. She looked back at Silver, who was spinning around the pole effortlessly, her ponytail whipping out behind her as she practiced her routine.

The expression on her former lover’s face was….

”She’s happy here.”

She was, too. Happy, and good. So she’d lied the day she left… why wouldn’t she?

Diamond tried to think of what her reaction would have been if she’d found out this was what Silver was training for, and going to do after she left.

...After she escaped.

It was good that she’d ‘only’ gone into modelling. Diamond didn’t know what she would have done, but she didn’t want to know either.

She’d just proven that, hadn’t she? Five years later, and she was about to storm in there and take up right where she’d left off. Shouting, breaking things, trying to scare Silver into doing what she wanted.

”Remember that you love her, okay?”

Diamond turned to leave, just as a unicorn pony walked up with a lunch bag floating in her orange aura.

“Are you interested in a class, Miss?” The unicorn asked cheerfully. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, we’re totally about the style here.”

“Uhm, no, thank you,” Diamond said, shaking her head. “Just saw a friend, but I’ll talk to her later.”

The unicorn’s eyes flicked between Diamond and the window, then back to Diamond and narrowed.

“Much later, if you know what’s good for you,” she said coldly. “We take care of our own, Miss Rich.”

Diamond swallowed the lump she felt growing in her throat, and quickly turned to move away at a near-canter.

This was going to be harder than she’d thought.
> The Show Must Go On
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

And it had been. So very, very much harder than she’d thought. Anypony she’d spoken to who knew Silvy personally seemed to know about their history, at least the broad strokes. And worse, they knew who she was; she couldn’t just give a different name and avoid their suspicion. So she’d had to check out the clubs in Canterlot, looking for the one where Silver Spoon was performing.

That was what brought her to The Big Reveal, and that was why she was standing in the rain, pretending to smoke a cigarette that she hadn’t bothered to light. A week she’d been coming here, trying to work up the nerve to stay through Silver Spoon’s show. To try to talk to her.

And each night, she ended up outside while the love of her life performed for dozens of ponies who weren’t her. Tonight, she’d ended up outside, and soaked.

All because staying would mean she had to admit… everything. That Silvy was happier without her. That she’d been holding her back. That she’d shackled the pony that meant the most to her in the world to a life that had finally become intolerable. That she’d been a monster.

And that maybe she hadn’t changed as much as she’d thought when she first hired Marelow to find Silver Spoon.

”Celestia, I’m pathetic,” she thought to herself. She returned her unlit cigarette to her coat pocket, and turned to go back inside. ”I know what I was. Let’s see what I am.”

As she made her way back to the door, showing the tag she’d been given when she paid the cover earlier, the doorpony held a hoof out to stop her.

“Go on back in,” the middle-aged, stocky grey earth pony told her, “but don’t make me come in after you.”

“I won’t,” Diamond promised, walking through the door when he opened it up for her.

Inside, she was surprised to hear a waltz playing… the end of Beethoofen’s Fur Elise? Diamond had time to get to the bar and pick up a fresh martini, occasionally looking over to see Silver, fully dressed on the stage, dancing a waltz alone, forehooves up to hold a partner who wasn’t there. As Diamond got back to her table, the song drew to a close… and Silver looked out, directly at her as the music began to pick up again. 

This wasn’t Beethoofen’s classic though; More accurately, it was, but the tempo was faster, and the music had been remixed with staccato drums and electronic distortion, like Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Philharmonic performing back home.

Silver took her hat and whipped it out into the audience, and the real show began. While Silver moved through the steps of the waltz, she shed layers of sheer, filmy skirts, exposing her long, exquisitely muscled legs before she hooked one around the pole and pulled herself up onto it. She slowly rolled silk stockings down first one hindleg, then the other, exposing more and more of herself as she met the eyes of everypony in the club.

As the stockings came off, the audience cheered, and Diamond felt her temperature rise.

She’d never really frequented clubs like this before. What was the point, after all? Most ponies went around naked half the time anyway. The last week had been another crash-course in just how wrong a pony could be. Finally seeing Silver Spoon dance was her final exam.

She was intimately familiar with the body that Silver was showing off; probably more than any other pony here. She was still seeing her former lover in an entirely new way, as a seductress, a courtesan, all allure and temptation and the promise of intrigue.

“Hey Sweetie,” one of the dancers said as he approached her table. “Looks a little lonely here, all on your own. Want some company?”

Diamond glanced over at the blue pegasus, recognizing him from the last act, and shook her head slightly.

“Wrong tackle,”she said, nearly shouting to be heard over the music. He pouted playfully, then sauntered off to try his luck at another table.

The tempo slowed down, and the lights changed from their usual dim yellow to a light show of purples, red, and blues that swirled throughout the floor as Silver finished stripping down to her garter belt and no more. 

She struck her waltzing pose again, this time with her hand lower on her “partner’s” back and a smoldering look clear in her eyes as she began to dance up to, and right off of, the edge of the stage, stepping onto the tables that Diamond now realized were positioned very carefully so that a dancer could make their way from one end of the stage to the other, looping through the main floor. It made sense now; the pegasi who had been on earlier in the evening all opted for aerial displays, but they’d followed the same route that Silver was traipsing along.

As she went, Silver would flash her tail slightly, revealing a glimpse of her treasures. Some stallions pitched bits up onto the stage, while others offered up slips of Canterlot scrip. That was particularly popular with the earth ponies in the audience, who took the excuse to tug at Silver’s garter with their teeth so they could slip the paper into the elastic band. 

Diamond bit down on the inside of her cheek until she started to taste blood. She could feel the eyes of security on her. It didn’t make any sense; if the ponies here disliked her so much, then why did they keep letting her come back?

”Because you’re a customer,” she couldn’t help but think. ”They have product you want, you have bits, so they’ll put on a smile until you stop spending them.”

She pulled a bit out of her pouch for when Silvy reached her table. She wanted to do more, stake her claim and signal for the rest of the audience to back off.

”Silver isn’t yours,” she reminded herself, watching the young mare gliding closer and closer. 

Silver wasn’t looking at her, not yet, focused on the audience at her table and the ones on either side of it. A pegasus stallion flapped his wings to get a better view, but she smoothly raised a hind hoof and gently pushed him back into his chair with it. Winking playfully at him, she moved on to the next table. Just two more before she was at Diamond’s.

Here, as a mixed group of stallions cheered, she stomped the table to pop up a shot glass with a bit at the bottom of it. Flexing her hips in ways that hurt for Diamond to even imagine, Silver caught the shot between her pert teats and dropped to her knees in front of a blushing palomino pegasus who was barely more than a colt. At the urging of his friends, and a wink from Silver, he leaned forward to take the shot between his teeth, tugging it free and tipping it back. He managed to keep from coughing as he extended the bit from the bottom of the glass in his teeth, and Silvy graced him with a brush of her braided tail as she snatched it from him and moved on, blowing a kiss back his way.

One more table before hers.

Fancy Pants and Fleur dis Lee were at this one, along with a few other members of the Canterlot hoi polloi. Silver knelt down low, snaking her tail around Fleur’s neck and giving the slender mare a prolonged opportunity to admire Silver’s ass and hips. Silky hair played over Fleur’s shoulders like the arms of a lover before tapping her playfully on the nose, and Silver moved on to her next victim, licking a hoof and tapping a unicorn stallion on the horn to extinguish the faint glow of his magic. With that, she was off with a delicate leap between the tables, landing at the next table with a ‘clop’ of hooves on wood.

Directly in front of Diamond Tiara.

Diamond looked up, offering Silver her tip with an expression she hoped didn’t betray her nerves. Silver looked down at her… and then shook her head almost imperceptively, pushing Diamond’s hoof back. Instead, she stomped on the table again, bouncing Diamond’s martini up and catching it in her pastern. She tipped it back, catching the toothpick with olive and onion impaled on the end between her lips, and then bent down, offering them to Diamond Tiara as the audience that could see what was happening cheered. Diamond leaned forward, trembling as she took the short end of the toothpick between her own teeth, not sure where Silver was drawing the line. As she started to pull back, a smile curled the corners of Silver’s lips, and she leaned forward just far enough to brush their lips together before leaving Diamond with her skewer.

Diamond Tiara blinked as Silver Spoon continued her rounds, leaving her tip behind.

”What… just… happened?” She asked herself through her dazed state.

“This one’s on the house, Miss!” One of the waitresses, a pretty young unicorn, floated a fresh martini over to Diamond’s table.

“Thanks,” Diamond murmured, taking the drink and sipping it, trying to figure out what to do next.

Doing that took the rest of Silvy’s act, the lights on the stage going dim and the lights on the main floor coming back up to show the audience and the dancers who were walking the floor, looking for ponies who were interested in more personal attention.

Diamond got the attention of one of them, the same pegasus stallion who’d come by early during the act, and motioned for him to come over.

“How would I set up a private show?” She blurted out before he could say anything.

“Just have to work out an agreement with whoever you want it with,” he smiled easily. “We all know what we aren’t allowed to do. But I’m guessing you aren’t asking for me,” he added, still putting on the air of an amiable conversation.

“I have to talk to her. Just talk, I swear.”

“I’ll let her know. She should be coming out for her floor time soon either way.”

“Thank you… what’s your name?”

“Call me Dewdrop, Miss Rich.” He sauntered off, brushing his tail against her lightly as he did.

Meanwhile, backstage, Silver Spoon was pulling on a pair of sheer black stockings and hooking them to her garter belt, quickly skimming through the scrip notes she’d been given. Most of them looked legit, though there were a couple with hotel room numbers, love notes, or exhorbitant offers for private shows that would definitely involve more than just dancing and talk if she took them up.

The usual, when they had a rich crowd in. She did have to chuckle when she noticed a note drawn on the Ponyville Bank. Pity she hadn’t recognized anypony but Di, it could have been a good chance to pick up a private show.

“Hey, Sil!” Dewdrop called in as he opened up the door to the dressing room. “You-know-who wants to talk. Says that’s all she wants. I actually believe her, much as I hate to admit it.”

”Huh… guess she actually does have the guts to talk to me,” Silver Spoon thought to herself. Maybe she’d played a little too much at her table.

”Or maybe I played just enough.”

“Book her for the Triple S room, okay? An hour, with the frills.”

“If I book her into the system, I’m the one who’ll get paid,” Dewdrop pointed out.

“That’s the idea. I don’t want her bits; I want us talking on the same level.”

“Well, I’ll owe you a nice dinner, in that case,” he chuckled.

Silver Spoon stood up and checked her appearance. Deciding she was suitable, she have Dewdrop a gentle nuzzle.

“How about you start making it when you get home? I… *might* need you to make it for three.”

“Think it might go that well?” He raised an eyebrow dubiously.

“I think we’ll reach the point where we can’t talk about it here any more. And I’ll be a *lot* more comfortable if you’re there while we talk out the rest of it.”

“I’ll make sure Brick knows what’s going on, he’ll have somepony outside the whole time,” Dewdrop promised her. “Just remember, stay smart.”

“I always do,” Silver chuckled ruefully. “Always do.”
> The Last Call
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, Diamond Tiara was sitting on a plush couch in a room that was appointed like one of her father’s old smoke-filled gentlemen’s clubs. There was even an old oak bar and a humidor that smelled of some very expensive tobacco. Behind the bar, a professional-looking unicorn stallion in a black dress vest was waiting for an order.

Diamond wanted very badly to place one, for that matter. She was feeling the effects of her fourth (fifth, counting the one Silver had taken) martini of the night, but a part of her wanted to be much further along the curve towards ‘not worried about consequences.’

The rest of her was already regretting the third.

“Miss? If you’d like, I can make something that isn’t alcoholic,” the bartender offered as though he’d read her mind.

“What would you suggest?”

“You came in with a martini?” Diamond nodded her response. “I have just the thing; I can make it weak, or I can make it completely alcohol free for you.”

“Weak, I think,” Diamond told him, compromising between her desire to calm her nerves and the fear of what might happen if she stopped being afraid of what might happen.

He nodded and pulled a bottle out from under the far end of the bar with his magic, starting to work as the rattling of the beaded curtain at the door drew Diamond’s attention.

When she looked back, she saw Silver Spoon walking in calmly, black silk stockings and her garter belt all she was wearing now.

“There’s security listening outside in case anything gets… like last time,” Silver warned her as she lounged across some cushions on the other side of the table meant for private dances. She posed unconsciously, showing off all the best parts of her body. Supple curves, firm muscle along her legs… she’d lost the hint of pudge that Diamond remembered, her barrel taut and sculpted out of firm muscle.

”Did she do that before she left? Celestia… I can’t even remember any more,” Diamond thought to herself. She sighed, and then started to speak.

“I understand. And it won’t,” she added, straightening up as the bartender floated her drink over. “Uhm… do you want something? My treat.”

“It was always going to be your treat back here,” Silver chuckled, looking up at the bartender. “I’ll take a Manehattan, Straight Up.”

“Won’t be a minute, Silver.”

“So….” Diamond started, trailing off as she realized she didn’t know what to say now. Two weeks, and she hadn’t really figured out what she was going to say… just that she had to say it. “You’re looking good, Silvy.”

“Thanks. Takes a lot of work to stay in this shape, especially when you live on Manehattans and bar food half the time. You….”

Silver Spoon looked Diamond over, really looked her over, for the first time.

“You look tired, Di. Still running yourself ragged at Barnyard Bargains?”

“Top purchasing agent my age!” Di smiled awkwardly, taking a sip of her drink. It was better than she’d expected; a little more of a spicy note to it, but a hint of clove and cinnamon worked well with whatever vermouth Straight Up had chosen for it. “Besides, no point in taking that much time off when all I have to do is remember how badly I fucked up the best thing in my life.”

“Yeah… yeah, you did,” Silver Spoon nodded, taking her Manehattan as it floated over towards her. “I probably shouldn’t have slapped you, but I don’t regret anything else that I did that night.”

“You shouldn’t regret that, either,” Diamond told her. “I tore the place apart after you left. If you hadn’t….” Diamond knocked back the rest of her drink, and Straight Up retrieved her glass to refill it.

“It was a wake up call,” she admitted. “It’s funny, you know? You’re the most important pony in my world, except for maybe my Dad. And I’ve managed to drive you away twice! But both of those times… I needed to hear what I was turning into. That’s the big reason I’m here, Silvy. I want to apologize for everything I did to you. And I want you to know that I’m trying to be a better pony, thanks to you.”

“That’s why you hired a detective to track me down?” Silver Spoon asked flatly. “So you could say you’re sorry?”

“And because I wanted to know how you were doing. I tried contacting all the modeling agencies Marketing knew of, but they couldn’t find a Silver Spoon working for any of them. I know why now….” She took her next drink as a convenient excuse to try and drown the frog that had taken up residence in her throat. “I’m glad that you’re happy, Silvy. You… you really are, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Silver Spoon agreed without hesitation. “I’ve got a nice place, with a roommate who worries enough about me that he was willing to be a go-between for us. And for all that I have to deal with some real creeps, I love working here. The dancing, and the time spent with clients. Talking,” she added, heading off any possible accusations. “Some of us offer the full Special Somepony experience, but I’m not one of them. Mostly... I’m a little hesitant about ponies who think they can buy me.”

“Yeah,” Diamond flinched, “that makes sense. Silvy, I meant it when I said you were the most important pony in my world. I’ve been seeing this doctor for the last few years… Dad thought it would be good, after the breakup, and he was actually right. Doctor Blotch helped me work out a few… issues that I’ve had.”

“Like not trusting ponies close to you?”

“Like thinking that the only thing anypony has a reason to like about me is my bank account,” Diamond explained. “Like thinking that you’re all I had that I actually had that Mom or Dad couldn’t take away if I disappointed them. Like thinking that if I ever gave you the chance to find somepony better… it wouldn’t be hard at all. And like listening for an instant to my mother’s diatribes.”

“Don’t you try to blame-”

“I’m not blaming Mom for what I said, Silvy. I’m blaming her for telling me what to say that would hurt you. I’m the one who decided to say it. That’s on me, and I’ll never be able to scrub it off. You know I didn’t mean it, right?”

Silver Spoon gave her a long, level look, not even looking away when Straight Up sent her another drink, just taking it in her pastern and taking a sip.

“Forgiving you doesn’t mean that we’re going to get back together,” she eventually decided. “You know that, right?”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to give it a try, but I didn’t really expect that we could,” Diamond admitted. “I just want to know that you’re doing well, and hope that I could maybe get my best friend back.”

Silver Spoon sighed, returning her drink to the table and holding her hooves open.

“Get over here, Diamond!”

The pink-furred filly knocked back the rest of her drink, and hurried over to Silver Spoon, hugging her close when she felt those achingly familiar arms wrap around her.

“I’ve missed you so much, Silvy!” She cried, giving up on holding back the tears.

“I’ve missed you too, Di. I’ve missed you a really long time,” Silver murmured, rubbing her friend’s back. “I just hope you’re back for real this time.”

Diamond Tiara swallowed hard, reluctantly pushing back a bit to look into those violet eyes she’d been searching for the last six months.

“Silvy, that side of me… it’s the real me too. You really don’t want to know what I was thinking during your act.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t act on it. And you haven’t yet,” Silver pointed out. “That was the scary part. I could tell you were going to lose control sooner or later, and I had to get away before you did. I’d like to be friends again, Di. I really would. But as for anything more…”
> Ending 1: One More Dance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“...I’m willing to give it a try. But with some conditions!”

“What do you mean?” Diamond asked, wiping her eyes.

“Let’s get out of here, and we can talk. Dewy’s probably making dinner already, and it’d be a shame to waste his efforts.”

“Dewy… the pegasus who told you I wanted to talk?” Diamond asked, sitting up along with Silver Spoon, reluctantly letting her go.

“He’s my roommate,” Silver Spoon nodded. “Wait here a minute, I’ve got to change before hitting the street.”

Diamond sat up and let Silver go, wiping her eyes some more.

So Silver was living with one of her co-workers. One of her male co-workers.

”She’s just going to leave you for the first stallion who comes along!”

“How much do I owe for the drinks and the room?” She asked Straight Up, trying to ignore her mother’s voice in the back of her head.

“More than you probably want to hear,” the bartender admitted. “This is one of our more expensive rooms, and there’s an hour minimum.”

“It’s worth the money,” Diamond pointed out, pulling a pair of small emeralds out of her pouch and putting them on the table. “This should cover it, with a reasonable tip, right?”

“Very reasonable, ma’am,” the unicorn said diplomatically. “One last drink for the road?”

“No, thanks, but feel free to pour yourself something special on the tab.” She pulled her cigarettes out again, tapping one loose. “Can I smoke this in here?”

“We don’t sell the cigars for looks. Just go out the back way with Sil, not allowed on the main floor. Need a light?”

“Please,” she nodded, offering him the gold-wrapped cigarette. His eyes widened as his horn glowed and the tip lit up.

“Treasurer? And you smoke these around the help?” 

“I smoke them alone too,” Diamond chuckled low in her throat, taking a drag and savoring the rich flavor and scent. “Bad habit, but a filly’s entitled to one expensive vice.”

“Very expensive,” Straight Up chuckled as he reached below the shelf to pull out a bottle of scotch and pour himself a shot.

“She and this Dewdrop guy… are they…?”

”Are they what, Diamond? Are they fucking? Rutting? Was I right about her the whole time?”

”If they are, we handle it then, Mother.” It was never any easier talking back to her, even if she wasn’t really there.

“Could be.” Straight Up shrugged, sipping his drink. “None of my business if they are, and they keep things professional around here. A lot of ponies in this line of business don’t like when the clients pry, Miss. From what you were saying over there, I’m surprised you got this far.”

“To be honest, so am I.”

“Okay Diamond, I’m - when did you start smoking?” Silver Spoon asked as she returned to the room with her saddlebags over a well-fit raincoat.

“About four and a half years ago?” Diamond admitted sheepishly after stamping out her cigarette in the ashtray Straight Up had set out for her..

“And I just thought you’d gotten a weird drink,” Silver sighed, shaking her head. “Explains the smell though.”

“Well, like Dad says, at least it’s just cigarettes. He uhm… he kind of thought I was going down a bad road, right after. But let’s not talk about that here.”

“Right. I called a cab, and it should be here any minute. Let’s go wait outside. Have a good night, Straights! Already told the boss I was checking out early tonight.”

“Keep your head on a swivel, Sil.” Straight Up floated the discarded portion of Diamond’s cigarette out of the ashtray and used a quick sterilizing spell on the filtered end. With his magic, he knocked off the remaining ash and crushed portion before he relit it.

No point in throwing out a three bit cigarette that wasn’t even half-smoked.

Outside, Diamond stood close to Silver Spoon and looked around the back exit of the Big Reveal. It was a small, paved yard with several other businesses coming out of it, but it was surprisingly well-lit, with a small path for cabs and deliveries. Diamond pawed at the soaked ground with a hoof, turning her eyes down.

“So, have you been at this club ever since you moved here?” Diamond asked her.

“Oh, no, I’ve been here for about two years,” Silver explained. “The first few, I was working at a teaching club. My audition was what really kept me late after my class. It’s not as easy to get into this business as ponies think, not if you want to end up somewhere like this instead of one of the dives.”

“Planning to keep working here?”

“Probably, unless I get a shot at the CAMD. I could make more money in Manehattan, but there’s a lot more risk for it.”

“I understood Manehattan out of that.”

Silver Spoon chuckled as the rain pattered down over both of them, lighter than it had been earlier as the storm started to peter out.

“Canterlot Academy of Modern Dance,” she explained. “It’s the more artistic side of the business, but you’ve got better odds of getting into the Philharmonic. Exotic dance still isn’t exactly the most respected art form, but they take in a couple more every year.”

“...I’m trying to imagine stripping for the Princesses, and… I think my brain’s breaking.”

“Oh, I’ve never seen them at a performance. Can you imagine the headlines?” Silver Spoon laughed. “But that’s the goal, for me. Manehattan has busier clubs, but that comes with a lot more clients who don’t get the rules, or try to catch up with you after work. Here, I can walk home most nights if I feel like it. Even in the bad parts of town, I just need to walk with a couple of friends.”

“How dangerous is your life, Silvy? For real,” Diamond added as their cab started to pull up, a stallion in a raincoat pulling the covered coach.

“More dangerous than most in Canterlot,” Silver Spoon admitted. “But that’s why we watch each other. Come on, let’s get home.”

“Cantering Crest, Miss?” The cabbie asked.

“Please,” Silver nodded, pulling out her pouch and counting out a number of bits.

“So… you mentioned… conditions, earlier?” Diamond asked once they’d pulled out into the street.

“Yeah,” Silver Spoon sighed, leaning against a cushioned side.

“I can’t go back to what we used to have, Di. Not even close. It’s been years, I have a life here, and I need to figure out if… well, if I really want to try getting back there.”

“I’ve gotta prove you can trust me,” Diamond nodded. “And I have my job too. I don’t think we could go right back to where we were until we could work out the distance.”


“That’s actually the first thing I was thinking of,” Silver explained. “For the first six months, at least, I want to keep it long-distance. We can still write, and Ponyville and Canterlot are close enough we can see each other on our days off. We can work up from there, if things are still going well.”

“Makes sense. What else?”

“I’m not yours,” Silver told her bluntly, looking her in the eyes. “And the minute I think you’ve forgotten that again, we’re done. We aren’t going steady, we aren’t an exclusive couple, and I am not quitting my job because you don’t like other ponies looking at me.”

Diamond swallowed hard. She’d seen that one coming, but it didn’t make hearing it easier.

“I get it,” she said quietly. “Is there anypony else? I mean, you’re giving me a chance, so it doesn’t sound li-”

“Dewy and I sleep together sometimes,” Silver said bluntly. “We’re just friends with benefits, but he’s the closest to somepony I’m seeing. If we decided to start being exclusive again, that’d change, but probably not until then.”

“...Okay.” Diamond nodded after a long moment. “I wasn’t really expecting that, but I guess it makes inviting me over for dinner make more sense. Have you got a partner for your heats too?”

“Not regularly,” Silver said, shaking her head. “That… that was always better with you,” she admitted, looking out the side of the cab at the passing city as they went into the residential area. This part of Canterlot looked a lot like the more upper class districts. Buildings towered above the streets, spires twisting up into the night. Some years ago, they’d all likely belonged to nobles or wealthy businessponies. But, as time passed and newer houses were built closer to the palace, the mansions were sold off, remodeled, and turned into apartments for the lesser ponies whose fortunes were mostly made decorating the newer homes.

“Here we are, home sweet home,” Silver said as they pulled up to a stop outside of a gated wall in front of a pair of tall towers, each easily ten stories tall. “Used to belong to some weather magnate.”

“Nice place,” Diamond nodded.

Silver Spoon put her bits into the cabbie’s lockbox through the slot, and followed Diamond to the gate separating the modified mansion from the rabble outside.

“Evening, Miss Spoon,” the night watchpony greeted her. She was an older unicorn mare, probably ex-guard if Diamond were going to judge by physique. “New face for the guest list?”

”And just how many names are on Silvy’s -” Diamond mentally stomped down on the thought before she could even finish it

“Maybe,” Silver answered diplomatically. “Not tonight though.” The mare’s horn glowed, and the gate swung open to let them in.

“Well, have a good night, Miss Spoon.”

“You too, Nighty,” Silver waved as they walked on through and approached the tower on the left.

“We’re up on the sixth floor. Hope you don’t mind the stairs; we don’t have anypony to handle the elevator at this hour.”

Diamond Tiara grimaced briefly, but tried not to show it too badly as she trotted up behind Silver.

By the time they’d reached the sixth floor, it had taken ten minutes punctuated by several breaks between landings for Diamond to catch her breath.

“H’okay,” the filly wheezed, leaning against the wall heavily just outside the stairwell, “I think… I’ve got… a reason... to quit now!”

“And that’s why almost none of us at the club smoke regularly,” Silvy smirked, rubbing Diamond’s back gently. “It’s a lot easier to dance when you can actually breathe too. You going to be okay?”

“Yeah… once my head stops spinning,” Diamond panted.

“I bet you’re still eating take out every time you’re away from home too,” Silver Spoon chuckled fondly. “You’re lucky you’ve got an income to make that work. Come on, we’re not too far away yet.” She started to walk down the hall, bumping her flank up against the next door down. The door glowed briefly, and then swung open to let them through.

“Dewy? I brought company home, as threatened,” Silver called out as they closed the door behind them. The smell of cooking vegetables filled the apartment; peppers, onions, tomatoes, and other, less easily distinguished scents.

“Good, because I cooked for three like you asked,” the pegasus called from the kitchen. “Going to be a few minutes more, have to finish the hay. Mind finding a white to go with it?”

“Because the wine rack is so much closer to the door than to the stove,” Silver said wryly, rolling her eyes. “Make yourself comfortable, Di,” she added, walking into the kitchen as Diamond took a seat on one of the plush couches in the front room, watching the two dancers interact.

Silver glanced through the wine rack, pulling down a bottle and giving it a quick look before popping it into the freezer to chill.

“Won’t be at the right temperature, but it’ll be getting there.”

“Hey, you know me; I’d be fine with a cider.”

“No,” Silvy smiled patiently, patting him on the shoulder. “You’d be fine with spoiled apple juice. What you drink isn’t cider.”

“One of these days I’m going to have to try this fabled Sweet Apple Acres cider and see what all the hype’s about.”

“Yes, yes you are,” Silver agreed, walking out to the living room and taking a seat on the couch next to Diamond. “Back me up on this, Di.”

“It is hard to match,” Diamond agreed. “Never been out to Ponyville?”

“Only for the occasional Wonderbolts show or royal event,” Dewy shrugged as he blanched a colander of hay and started serving up dinner. “Nice place, but I’ve mostly been between Stratusburg, Cloudsdale, and Canterlot myself.”

“Going to guess you grew up in Stratusburg?” Diamond leaned back with a smile, glad for a comfortable topic. “Ponyville’s a lot like there, just a cloud city. At least that’s the impression I got. I visited a couple of times to negotiate with Pegacell, always took a little time to explore while I could cloudwalk.”

“What’d you think?” He asked before bringing out three plates of vegetables over long strands of hay laid out like a bed of pasta. One plate was on each wing, and he passed those to the two earth ponies before setting down the one in his mouth for himself.

“A nice place, but I prefer ground that doesn’t feel like a pillow.” Diamond smiled and tasted the food she’d been offered. “Very nice.”

“It’ll go better with the wine,” Silver pointed out, going to get the chilling bottle and three glasses.

“So, how’d it go?” Dewy asked Diamond quietly while Silver was out of the room.

“Better than I had a right to expect, I think. Is it going to be a problem, if the two of us try getting back together?”

“Not as long as you treat her decently,” Dewy shrugged and took a bite of his own dinner, working his fork with one wing. “She tells me you treated her pretty well between the fights.”

“Trying to make up for when I was being a complete bitch,” Diamond sighed. “I’m going to do better this time.”

“You’d better,” Silver agreed as she sat the glasses out and started to fill them. “How’s your Dad doing?”

“Well,” Diamond smiled. “You remember Merry? He finally married her about a year ago.”

“That’s great!” Silver grinned back as she passed out the wine. “Finally stopped pretending he needed a live-in maid for just the two of you and the servants, huh?”

“Finally decided to shut Mother up about which business partner she’d gone to which social gathering with. And since he hadn’t hired Merry until after the divorce, she couldn’t even accuse her of being a homewrecker.” Diamond smiled wickedly, taking a sip of her wine. “It was glorious.”

“I take it you don’t get along with your mother,” Dewy guessed.

“Mmm… the mare who raised me to think that the only thing that mattered was my social standing, climbing the ladder by pushing other ponies off of it, and making myself into the perfect little trophy wife for some Canterlot noble so she’d have an in with unicorn society?” Diamond scowled at a forkful of hay, sauce, and veggies. “I think ‘don’t get along with’ is the understatement of the decade. She….” Diamond trailed off and sighed. 

“She’s my mother,” she continued, “and she thought she was doing what was best for the family. The problem is, what was best for the family was always what was best for her, and to Tartarus with anypony else. Her parents were as screwed up as she is, and I’m just trying not to keep it going any more.”

“Hard cycle to break,” Dewy nodded. “At least you seem to be figuring it out now.”

“You’re a good pony, Di,” Silver agreed. “You just have some really bad habits.”

“Yeah. Like holding on so tight that I strangled you.” Diamond took a long drink from her wine. “I said it earlier, but I really am sorry. You were the only pony who seemed to care for so long, I sort of lost it any time I thought about losing that. Dad threw money at me instead of spending time with me, and Mom….”

“She’s your Mom,” Silver finished for her. “Which means none of the attention was good after you stopped trying to be the Pink Princess of Ponyville.”

“Pretty much,” Diamond agreed, shifting her focus to her meal.

“Okay,” Dewy announced as he finished his dinner. “We’ve got to lighten the mood here. After you two finish eating, why don’t we chill out with a movie and snuggle on the couch? Silvy can take the middle?”

“Such a chore,” Silver Spoon giggled, starting to collect the dishes. “I’ll wash up before we get started?”

“I’ll wash up, as soon as I’m done,” Diamond smiled. “After all, I’m the guest, you’ve already cooked and provided the wine. The least I can do is wash up.”

Silver blinked at Diamond Tiara and cocked her head.

“Huh. And I thought changelings stopped taking other pony’s places.”

Diamond rolled her eyes and stood up, giving Silver a hug.

“Because I love you, I’ll ignore the fact that you know I’ve lived without staff before… at least not in the house.”

“Yes.” Silver smiled and returned the hug. “But I also know that you hate doing the dishes. I’ll help out; it’s the least I can do for what I know Dewy’s going to inflict on you. He has a habit of breaking in new friends with some of the most hilariously awful films he can find. You’re in for a heck of a night… and will probably end up drunk on the couch for the night, instead of getting back to your hotel room.”

Diamond Tiara leaned back, smiling at her oldest friend..

“Sounds like a great place to start.”
> Ending 2: The Last Dance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“...I’m sorry. I wish I could, but at least right now, I just… I can’t go back to that.” Silver Spoon sighed and shook her head.

Diamond Tiara smiled gently and leaned in to hug Silver.

“I get it. I wish it was different, but I’ll be okay just being friends again. I’ve missed you so much.” The pink mare wiped her eyes discreetly while Silver couldn’t see, leaning back once she’d gotten a hug in return.

“I won’t say it’s impossible to go back to more, but I will say you shouldn’t hold out for it,” Silver told her. “Thanks for understanding.”

“Silver Spoon, there’s nothing to understand. I treated you like property, and you deserve so much better.”

“I never thought I’d hear you say that. Not and mean it.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” Diamond chuckled. “When we go back out, I’m probably going to hit the bar and get tanked. Can we meet up and talk again tomorrow, maybe? We’ve got so much to catch up on.”

“Sure.” Silver smiled and nuzzled her cheek gently. “So… you did pay for a private show. Still want it?”

“Want it?” Diamond laughed. “I’d love it. You’re as gorgeous as ever, and I think you move better than you ever did when we were younger. But I have to say no.”

“I get it. Honestly? I think it’s better too. I’ll figure out how much you should get back for the extra time -”

“You split it with Straight Up,” Diamond waved it off. “I’ve gotten more than my bits worth already, talking to you again.”

Silver shrugged, not bothering to mention that she wasn’t the one who’d benefit from the tip. No need to start a fight when everything was going so well.

“Your call, Di. I should probably get back out on the floor, unless you want to talk more? We do a lot of that back here too, I just don’t know if it’s….”

“Yeah, really not the best context for catching up,” Diamond agreed as she stood up. “I’ll keep an eye out for anypony who gets too grabby out there.”

“Keep an eye on your drink, Di,” Silver chuckled. “Brick keeps an eye out for grabby hooves just fine.”

“Will do.”

Silver gave Diamond another hug, lingering against her and heaving a deep sigh before she left, leaving Diamond alone with the bartender.

“You want something a little stronger, Miss?” Straight Up asked her diplomatically.

“How about a Long Island? And will this cover the tab?” She added, putting down two small emeralds.

“Nicely, Miss Rich. If you’d like, I can bring you your drink at the main bar, unless you’d rather stay back here?”

“Probably better if I stick around other ponies and give you the room back; thanks for bringing the drink out though.”

“Not a problem, Miss.” Straight Up started mixing her drink with a nod towards the door.  “And if it’s any consolation, it does sound like you’re a better pony these days. From what Silver’s told us, this conversation would have ended much worse if you weren’t.”

“That’s what scares me,” Diamond admitted as she started out to the main floor. One of the bouncers gave her a polite nod as she stepped out, turning to head further down the hallway as though he was normally supposed to be waiting outside the private rooms. Diamond smiled faintly and returned to the main floor, and the bar waiting there to help her ignore the pain of finally having that last connection cut.

Friends. Just friends.

As she sat down, Straight Up floated her Long Island out to her, offering a welcome distraction. She took a sip, letting the mix of flavors wash over her tongue and trying to identify the different ingredients. There was something extra in it, that she couldn’t quite make out, but it added a nice touch.

“We have an oolong infused vodka that we use for the house signature,” the bartender explained before Diamond could ask. He was a stocky earth pony with a rusty red coat and a brighter mane trimmed into a neat crew cut. It was hard to place his age, but older than most of the staff Diamond had seen here,that much she was sure of. Closer to the middle-aged pony at the door.

“Well, it works out nicely,” Diamond said agreeably. She sat her drink down and turned around on the bar stool. There was something about the bartender that kept drawing her eyes back to him while she tried to spot Silver on the floor. She couldn’t quite place it… his muzzle was a little more rounded, maybe? Probably the result of one too many hooves to the face, judging by the muscles on his forelegs and the way he was scanning the floor for any trouble. Moonlighting as one of the door ponies, she guessed.

“Hey, Brick, another round for the Whinnyapolis table,” one of the waiters said as he floated a tray onto the bar. “Maybe watered down a little; one of the delegates is getting surly.”

“The one with the ear-flaps?” Brick checked, getting a nod in response. “Thought she might. I’ll take this round over, have a word with her.”

“Try not to scare ‘em off?” The waiter pleaded. “They’re good tippers, and I think Ear-Flaps has a thing for Garter, don’t want to ruin his shot if she sobers up and cools down.”

“I’ll try,” Brick promised diplomatically, already pouring a round of shots and getting ready for his ‘other job.’

“Pony watching?” A lilac unicorn mare with streaks of blue and yellow through her white mane asked as she moved a few stools closer to Diamond.

“One in particular,” Diamond admitted, spotting Silver Spoon at the table with the awkward stallion from earlier. Silver was clearly flirting with him, running her tail up and down his side.

“Oooh, got a crush?” The mare asked, pushing Diamond’s drink closer towards her with the tip of her own tail. “Good luck with that one, I haven’t been able to get more than a tail dance out of her. She’s good though!”

Diamond’s head swivelled to her new visitor like she’d just been grabbed by the muzzle.

“A tail dance?”

“What she’s doing over there for Mister Virgin,” she explained, nodding back towards the table Silver was at, where Silver had progressed to practically molesting the stunned stallion with her tail while his table-mates cheered her on.

“Wow,” Diamond murmured. “Never watched that stuff when I’ve been here before.”

“Oh, sweetie, you’re missing half the fun! Name’s Lilac, by the way. Don’t forget your drink, you pay enough for them here.”

“Diamond,” the earth pony replied absently, picking up her drink and taking a sip. She noticed Brick delivering his tray of drinks and speaking to one of the ponies at the table, a distinctly tipsy mare she remembered seeing while visiting a factory in Whinnyapolis. “So what’s the other half of the fun?” She asked curiously.

“Getting one yourself, of course!” Lilac giggled and played her tail along Diamond’s flank lightly. “Amazing what an earth pony can do with her tail. Though I imagine you already know that!”

Diamond blushed, feeling the heat in her cheeks spreading through the rest of her body as she swallowed her drink.

“I might have an idea or two,” she giggled, flashing a smile at Lilac.

Well, Diamond, you’re back on the market now… could certainly do worse than her!

She took another sip from her drink, turning to more fully face the unicorn as she made up her mind.

“So, were you just commenting, or offering?” She asked as she twined her tail around to brush against Lilac’s.

“Well, I’m not a professional, but I’ve picked up a thing or two,” Lilac grinned.

“Feel like teaching me?”

“I think she feels like backing off,” Brick growled as he stepped up to the two mares. “Miss Tiara, please put down your drink.”

“Uhm, getting too touchy?” Diamond asked, leaning back and doing as she was told. She wrapped her tail under herself, suddenly conscious of her arousal.

“Miss, we’re in a strip club, and you don’t work here. We’ve got some pretty lenient rules on touching. But what we aren’t lenient on is when somepony slips something into a drink that isn’t theirs.”

“You’ve got to be- Diamond,” Lilac scoffed, “you’ve been sitting here the whole time, did you see me put anything in your drink?”

“Then finish it,” Brick cut in before Diamond could say anything. “Do that, and both your tabs are on me tonight.”

“This is ridiculous,” Lilac snorted. “Diamond, do you believe this?”

“Why are you accusing Lilac of doing something like that?” Diamond frowned as she looked at the bouncer, glancing from him to her drink.

“I’ll show you.” Brick nodded back over his shoulder, towards the restroom, and started walking that way.

“Let’s just get out of here,” Lilac said quietly, leaning in close. “I think he’s just on some sort of power trip.”

“Just going to get this over with, then we’ll take advantage of that free bar tab,” Diamond winked, getting up to follow Brick towards the club’s unisex restroom.

Why didn’t she just finish the drink? Diamond thought to herself as she hurried to follow the bouncer. But shouldn’t I be feeling more than just buzzed and turned on if she put something in it?

Brick held the door open while Diamond stepped in, keeping a hoof out to hold it open.

“Look in the mirror,” he told her. “At your eyes.”

Diamond looked at him, then at the mirror, and saw what he was talking about almost immediately; a shimmering rainbow iridescence mingled with the blue of her irises.

“Stupid!” She hissed at herself, stamping the floor with a hoof. She jumped back as the tile beneath her hoof cracked under the impact, pressing into Brick’s chest.

“Careful, your magic’s on overdrive,” the older pony warned her. “It’s called ‘zap,’ kind of like distilled magic. Just try not to get too wound up, I’ll make sure you’re okay until you come down from it. Stay close, and try not to get distracted by anypony making a pass at you. It also tends to put your sex drive on full blast.”

Brick led the way back onto the floor, looking to see if ‘Lilac’ was still there. Her stool was empty, of course, and the bartender was watching Brick expectantly.

“The bitch ever comes back, I’m throwing her out on her flank personally,” Brick growled as they reached the bar again. “Put her on the ban list, permanently. I’ll put down money she’s been behind the other zappings the last few months.”

“Yessir,” the pegasus at the counter nodded. “Are you feeling okay, Miss?” He asked Diamond gently.

“Just feeling like an idiot,” she muttered.

“Keep an eye on her while I find the boss, okay?” Brick asked. “I need to let her know we’ve found our culprit, and that I’m going to be making sure nopony tries to get out of line with Miss Rich.”

The bartender nodded, and Brick walked off towards a side office. Diamond sighed, tucking her tail under her haunches and taking a seat, blushing brightly.

“Is it normal for me to feel like I’m in heat on this stuff?” She asked.

“Yeah, that’s why it gets used the way it does. Magic boost, makes you randy as Tartarus, and a whole bunch of problems that get worse if you keep using it,” he explained, noticeably breathing through his mouth rather than his nose. “Hell of a party drug, without really stopping your brain from working, so it’s kind of in a weird spot at a lot of clubs. We’re fine with it if everypony knows what they’re taking, but if you don’t? That’s when ponies need someone to make sure they don’t do anything they regret.”.

“Which I could probably use right now,” Diamond muttered. “Honestly, you and Brick are starting to look pretty good, and I don’t usually like stallions. No offense,” she added quickly.

“None taken,” he chuckled. “I don’t go for mares myself. And Brick’s safe, total pro. Never seen him make a move, on a customer or employee.”

“That’s good to hear. Is he going to get in trouble for deciding to foalsit me?”

“Not as much as I’d get in if I didn’t and something happened to you,” Brick answered as he came back over. “Don’t worry about it. It happened on my watch, I’m going to make sure you’re okay.”

“Honestly, I should probably just get back to my hotel. Even with the rain, it’s not that far away. How long does this last?”

“Hard to tell without knowing how big a dose you actually got before I stopped you, but probably an hour, maybe two. If you want to get back to your room, no problem. I’ll walk you there, unless you’d rather take a cab?”

A cab might be a good idea… enclosed space, spend the ride snuggled up against - stop that, Tiara! She scolded herself mentally, blushing brightly beneath pink fur as she shook her head.

“I think walking’s the better idea. Thank you.” Diamond stood up, tail still tucked between her legs as they walked to the coat check.

She was aware that Brick was trying to breathe the same way the bartender had been, the better to avoid taking in more of her scent. At the same time, as she pulled on her coat, she also noticed his eyes stopped darting around the club for a moment, instead taking a good look at the young mare’s body as she stretched her forelegs into the sleeves.

Maybe she did so a little more slowly than was strictly necessary. Maybe.

It wasn’t her fault, after all, it was the fake heat burning under her tail.

Brick led the way out of the club, having pulled on a rain poncho from behind the counter. Looking both ways, checking who was watching the door and making sure that Lilac wasn’t lurking nearby, he stepped out and said something to the door pony. Diamond was more focused on her own thoughts than on what he was saying.

Well, those and Brick’s flank. Well-muscled, but toned, like Applejack’s back home. Not quite as blocky as Big Mac’s, but then, it was hard for most ponies to match up to the massive stallion.

“Miss Rich?” Brick’s voice drew her out of her head long enough to realize he’d said something that she’d missed. “I was wondering what hotel you were staying at?”

“Oh! I’m sorry, the Pelham-Savoy.”

“Not just a name, I guess! Well, it’s not too far, so let’s get going.”

The two earth ponies started down the sidewalk, side by side, Brick taking whichever side was closer to the buildings beside them.

“You can smoke, if you’d like,” he said after a few minutes, “it doesn’t bother me.”

“Not if I’m going to keep up with you!” Diamond laughed.

Brick slowed his pace a little, still keeping an eye out.

“So, how’d things go with Sil? Obviously didn’t go that badly, since there wasn’t any shouting, screaming, or one of you running out of the club in tears.”

“Better than I expected, but not as well as I’d hoped,” Diamond shrugged. “I won’t be haunting the club every night any more though! Or making you guys worry about how I’ll behave.”

“Appreciate it. I didn’t think you’d go off, but exes are always touch and go. Picked up a few scars from a couple of them over the years.”

“Care to show me?” Diamond blurted out before she could think better of it. She slapped her wet hoof up against her mouth, ducking her head bashfully. “Sorry, that was out of line.”

“I thought you were only into mares?” Brick chuckled.

“So did I, while I was dating Silvy,” Diamond admitted. “Turns out I have a pretty specific type. Unfortunately, that type has always either been my therapist, married, or had serious boundary issues.”

“A little possessive and over-controlling?”

Diamond winced, shaking her head.

“No, my life isn’t that ironic. Just the usual ‘want to do things in bed I don’t’ crap. Since I wasn’t really that invested, I wasn’t about to force myself.”

“Fuck ‘em,” Brick snorted. “Half my job is throwing assholes like that onto the street.”

“Yeah, well… sometimes I think they had a point,” Diamond admitted. “How many mares draw the line at getting mounted, especially when they’re not in heat?”

“I knew one back when I was starting out,” Brick shrugged. “Your line, your business.”

“I know,” Diamond sighed, self-consciously pressing her thighs together. “The idea of having a stallion in me like that usually just makes me… eugh!” She shuddered, shaking off the rain in the process. “But with that zap stuff, I’m almost willing to give it a shot… which I probably shouldn’t be telling you.”

“Well, the good news is, you’re telling a stallion who can’t take advantage of the information,” Brick chuckled as they turned onto the block leading to the hotel.

“Only into stallions?” She guessed. Brick laughed and shook his head.

“No, I just don’t have the equipment to cross that line even if I wanted to.”

Diamond stopped for a moment, the gears in her head turning as she processed the flip admission and everything else she’d noticed during the evening.

“You mean you’re a-”

“Trans, not a mare,” Brick cut her off, turning to face her. “Been living as a stallion for the last… twenty, thirty years.”

“Huh.” Diamond flicked her tail unconsciously beneath her coat. “Well, you’re a handsome one, at least as far as I’m concerned. I… do have some extra energy to work off from that drink, if you’d like to help me with that?” She trotted up alongside him again, the two of them moving under the awning of the Pelham-Savoy. The bellhop at the door gave Brick an appraising look as the two earth ponies stepped inside, but apparently decided that any violations of the dress code weren’t worth bringing up with a pony half-again his size.

“Tell you what,” Brick smiled as they rode the elevator up to Diamond’s room. “If you’re still interested after these are back to normal?” He pointed at Diamond’s eyes, still covered with a faint rainbow sheen. “Then stick your head out the door and ask me again. If not, conversation never happened, no hard feelings.”

They stepped off the elevator, and Diamond led the way to her room, taking off her coat and hat in front of it after she opened the door with her room key.

“I’ll see you in a few hours then.” She smiled, taking Brick’s poncho. “When you have to come get this from the shower rack before you leave,” she added innocently, stealing a quick nuzzle against the rust-colored stallion’s neck before disappearing into her room.

Tonight could have gone better… but I think it’s time to move on, she decided.

Until then, she’d just have to find some way to entertain herself… and keep her erstwhile bodyguard on the other side of the door from losing interest.