> That Particular Instance I Performed Metempsychosis As An Equine Named After A Piece Of Silverware
>  by Yuri Fanatic
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> Prologue
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Darkness was the only word to describe what "it" was experiencing. The dark void completely enveloped its consciousness as it float aimlessly within this space. It was a sensation similar to drowning, yet at the same time not. Sounds of flowing water enveloped its ears, yet it wasn't suffocating. Nor was it breathing.

The entire time it was simply drifting through this endless void, not even thinking. Only drifting in non-existence, creating surface-level thoughts that never went anywhere and simply got lost in the abyss such as its state of current consciousness or lack thereof.

The next thing it felt was a blinding light. Surrounded by the surreal feeling of gentleness and warmth. This warm, yet slightly prickly sensation could completely make one forget oneself. Forget oneself? Right, as if something was lost, but what was it? What was the thing that had been forgotten?

These thoughts eventually came to mind as it tried to reach towards the light. 

But as it got closer, it started to tremble all of a sudden. After a short moment of delay, its mind began to comprehend the feeling of coldness; a coldness that could easily penetrate the skin. Just like a newborn baby feeling cold for the first time. However it didn’t have the luxury to experience it in full.

As if suddenly encountering the assault of a previously known yet forgotten sensation, it began to panic under the intense feeling of suffocation, and started to struggle.

Lungs, body, every single cell within the body screamed for oxygen, the pain was unbearable. Unable to remain calm and to think, the only thing it could do was to struggle.

Without being able to exercise any control of the body, the only thing it could do was to struggle painfully under duress. All of the pain and suffering had easily clouded its consciousness, and then, as if finally liberated from the human existence which had not cried for the longest of time, the body started to cry instinctively.

With the consciousness murky and the sense of self a mess, it opened its eyes to a gray sky. A blurry world… No, perhaps it was only its vision that was blurred? It was a twisted world seen through unfitting spectacles. The outlines were blurry and the colors chaotic, even it who had not felt as many emotions in all those years began to sense the unease.

After what felt objectively to be about three years, it finally started to gain back its consciousness and form, feeling only pure confusion.

Just what the heck is going on? What happened to me? It entered a vessel that was unable to maintain consciousness for long periods of time, and still couldn’t properly recall this information. Therefore, it was unable to understand why the sound of a baby’s cry that was barely audible each time its consciousness began to fade had made it feel so embarrassed.

Mature adults aside, a baby would normally cry. Given a fair chance and appropriate protection, by rights, a baby shouldn’t feel embarrassed at all. Therefore, with its senses and consciousness all jumbled it started to relax, and threw this unclear sense of shame deep into the recesses of its memories.

After that, although still confused, it had finally gained a general idea of the situation it was currently in, yet even then, it only further added to its confusion. It clearly remembered driving its way to work, however, after snapping back to reality, it found itself inside a thick, stone-built, western-style building with a nurse-like figure wiping its lips. If this was a hospital, it was understandable to infer that an accident had occurred. That could also explain why its vision was blurry due to having suffered an injury.

However, when its eyes could finally begin to see clearly of its surroundings, all that was in view under the dim lights were the same figures wearing maid-like attire. The reason for the dim light...if not mistaken, would be due to the gas lamps which clearly belonged to a different era. Both revelations only further impounded its confusion.

"Come on, Silver Spoon, ahhhhh—-"

At the same time, it discovered something else that was abnormal; all these figures in the room were quadrupedal, no they were horses, ponies? What the hell? Just where am I? Why am I in this place? Why are there talking horses!?

"Silver Spoon? Silver Spoooooon?"

An unexplainable situation. The multitude of questions and doubts kept piling on and on.

"Alrighty, be obedient and open your mouth, Silver Spoon."

The current question which needed to be answered was, "Just what is going on?" Thus, it shifted its vision to the spoon served in front of it, but even though it had noticed the existence of the spoon, the thought that the spoon was for itself had never occurred in its mind. All it felt was to question why that "Silver Spoon" person still hasn’t eaten yet.

However, the nurse that was in front of it (who was deeply in thought) must have reached the end of her patience. With a gentle smile that wouldn’t accept, "no," for an answer, she shoved the spoon in her hoof into its mouth.

"Don’t be picky now. Come. ahhhh——-"

It was a spoon of stewed vegetables, but at the same time as this spoon, without a doubt, it dragged "Silver Spoon" back to reality.

The over-stewed vegetables were the only thing that was stuffed into its mouth. But the one who was forced to eat this, this unexplainable situation only made its thoughts even more confused. In other words: that...was me. The one they called Silver Spoon.

And then "it" screamed from the bottom of his heart—"Why?"





Metempsychosis, Reincarnation, Rebirth, etc. All of these words relate to dying and being born once again as the same or different entity with a new life cycle on earth. Many religions, notably Buddhism takes this philosophy to guide them on their current life for a better afterlife. However none ever mentioned being reborn as a pony in a completely different world from a kid's cartoon show!

Yet that was the current reality. It took some time to accept it of course. There were many moments I slipped in and out of consciousness, taking forced naps at inopportune moments. Slowly but surely, I managed to rein in my consciousness long enough until it felt natural to me.

The last few moments I recalled in my previous life was that I was on my way driving late at night to work on an off-day due to an emergency that occurred within the company I'm working for. I was driving in the middle of heavy rain, winds were blowing stray leaves and debris on the highway. Then suddenly a large screeching sound occurred akin to skidding tires, and the scene even registered in my mind I felt an impact. In an instant, I was cut off in my previous life without any fair warning. There were no flashes of life right before my eyes, being shown the gates of heaven (or pits of hell), or even anything grandeur people seemed to believe. It was just only a vague period of complete and unfathomable darkness I couldn't even begin the describe. I was not able to recall anything beyond that semi-conscious purgatory. It was only after I was brought in to complete consciousness once more.

Having to wake up with all my memories and experiencing my life as an infant to a foal was an arduous process. I was forced to endure the humiliating experience of not being in full control of my body, always defecating and urinating in my own diapers no matter how much I tried to resist. All of it was like having an everlasting fever dream. Yet however much I denied reality, it wouldn't change that I was Silver Spoon; a pony from a show I watched five years ago.

I was Silver Spoon. The very concept felt still foreign to me. More than that, it frightened me. I could barely even remember the events of that show and was even more bewildered as to why I'm even here. In the past, multiple thoughts and theories invaded my mind. A coma? Divine punishment? A cruel whim by an eldritch god? I haven't had a clue. Over the years I've more or less come to accept these circumstances, however, some darker thoughts always stood out to me. What happened to the real Silver Spoon? Did I kill her by taking over her body? Did she even exist in the first place? Hell, I didn't even like Silver Spoon, much less still involved with the show that I stopped watching ages ago.

Years have passed since then. I sigh monotonously as I stared outside my window laying on the side of my head. The Silver Estate's stately mansion loomed out with a peculiar sense of vague familiarity. The garden and winding cobblestone path below her had an undeniable beauty and majesty. The immaculately tended estate gardens and the magnificent, architecturally stunning buildings beyond, all were being maintained by my father's housekeepers. This was less out of a sense of propriety than simply because most of the estates--this one included--were bordered by tall, imposing wrought-iron fences, beautifully crafted but obviously designed to keep undesired guests from traipsing idly across the lawn. The gates that closed off the path up to the Silver Estate were intricate and brilliant, burnished silver and decorated with delicate silver stars that glittered in the flickering light of the recently-extinguished streetlights. Even so, there was something distinctly foreboding about the estate, a clear sense that I was not particularly welcomed here. This was mostly due to the fact that I'm not supposed to be here. Combined with the fact that the weather had recently faced a fairly severe thunderstorm that had been announced last night, the clouds overhead gave off an overall sense of gloom.

I exhaled again, the glass collecting moisture as it fogged the clear surface. It cleared away in moments as I could then see my reflection. My eyes were a moderate violet two shades of light, my hair an azure-ish gray, and my coat a cornflower bluish gray. I was barely a filly now, the front of my nose occupied by my glasses for my newly found farsightedness, an eyesight defect I never had before. My eyes wander to my hoof resting against the bottom frame. I look at my hoof and reflexively grip. I can barely remember how my old self lines up with my current self as I used to be able to "feel" my fingers, but not anymore. My snout used to invade my vision, but now I barely notice it. Everything about this had felt surreal at one point, but now I’ve grown accustomed to it.

My attention turned back to the front yard where the gardeners were maintaining the various trees, bushes, and flowers aligned across from me. They all looked very similar, with barely two inches of height difference between the mean of the lot of them. Still, they weren’t cookie-cutter cutouts with different colors and manes. Nor did they look like cartoons either. Their eyes were still abnormally large compared to a normal equine. The color of their coats were extremely colorful, as if someone had taken a colored can of spray paint and sprayed it all over their bodies.

Their heads weren’t as oversized but were more than just an extension of the neck like a normal horse’s was. And rounder, a lot like a person’s really. Their muzzles were a bit more defined than seen on TV as well. Hooves were more than just the end of their legs, they stood apart from the hair of the legs the ponies possessed with their smoothness, and I could detect the shiny traces of lacquer on some of them. As for the coats themselves, they were far…fuzzier looking than what a normal horse had. Meanwhile, the legs looked much different than a normal horse. They weren’t bone-thin and showed off a varying degree of muscle for each of them. Still, the wings were the biggest difference. They looked like…actual wings. Still kind of small for something the size of a pony, but some of the gardeners had way more than just a handful of visible feathers. It was all the more proof that I didn't belong here.

My ears perked up at the sound of knocking, taking my attention away from the outside. I pushed open my bedroom door, and immediately came muzzle to muzzle with the family butler, a brilliant white unicorn stallion named Intricacy. "Good evening, madam," he intoned, his voice deep and commanding, but nonetheless welcoming.

"Good morning Cacy," I replied in earnest, "Is father waiting downstairs?" The prim and proper butler scrunched his nose slightly at the nickname I've gotten used to giving him. It was mostly due to the fact that it was easier to pronounce when I was still learning to use my new equine mouth to speak. It was also funny seeing the usually calm and collective unicorn become mildly annoyed at my small breach of protocol.

However this time Cacy hasn't bothered to try to correct me and only sighed. Resolving himself, he continued, "Yes, I assume you have everything prepared for your first day of school?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." I answer, picking up my saddlebag from across the room. It was filled with basic supplies expected for an elementary school. Papers, crayons, and among various other things to complete expected foalish activities with. If I were to be completely honest, I was nervous. Extremely so. This would be my first interaction with ponies outside of my family and the manor. Would I try to attempt to recreate the friend groups Silver Spoon had? Would I even get along with them? Actually... did she have any other friends than Diamond Tiara? Damn, I should have thought about this before the first day of school.

Soon enough, I was already trotting past the main entrance. Fancy lights and décor littered the room as I descended one of the staircases and onto the red carpet. This room had many pieces of art and intricate pottery laying on various marble pedestals. It was bizarre at first, for I never really lived in a high-class environment. At most I lived in the upper-middle class, but we still had to keep expenses in mind. Here my father spent his wealth on these tapestries and décor to show his status to those that first enter the Silver Manor. He wasn’t the type of stallion to spend on frivolous things. Everything here had a purpose.

Cacy eventually led me outside of the manor gate. There, lies a coach wagon with two stallions mounted at the front. The butler unicorn used his magic to unlock the door to reveal a velvet room with accompanying cushions on both sides. One of which was already occupied. There sat a handsome stallion with a short, slightly unruly black mane and lead-colored fur so smooth and well-kept that it glittered slightly whenever he moved. His eyes were a muted dark blue, the pupils nearly indistinguishable from the irises around them. He wore a nearly constant expression of general ennui, but his eyes were quick and sharp, and as I came into the coach wagon, they were darting across the page of a newspaper he had in his hooves. This stallion was my father, Silversmith.

Father is known for being the mind behind the world’s current metal industry. He’s responsible for supplying most of Equestria’s main infrastructures. Buildings, railroads, and even the fairly recent development of wires meant for electricity are overseen by this one stallion. As one of the world’s most brilliant minds, Silversmith keeps up appearances by buying or creating the necessities to show off his wealth, status, and power. The cushions I sat on were made with the softest feathers, the coach wagon was built out of mahogany, and that the doors had a small compartment for wine for guests of his. The fact that he built this all himself only further proves his capability as a stallion and how he puts those same standards onto the Silver family. He doesn’t bother speaking, nor does he even take a single glance at me. My father simply flips his newspaper, scanning his eyes back to the top of the page.



My eyes listlessly move from my father to the nearby window. The cart was already in motion by the time I collected my thoughts. The scene of the Silver Manor slowly changed from the high-class residences to the more rural areas of Ponyville. I’ve never been outside of the manor. The only times I’ve ever interacted with ponies other than my father’s servants were his acquaintances that often showed up to meet with him. Silversmith has introduced me to his social circles before, but his acquaintances only looked at me with the same eyes he had. The same cold, sharp gaze one used to appraise the worth of an item. That was all that I was to them, a symbol of father’s status. A thing to be quickly shown off and dismissed as a testament to father’s fortune.

Within those underlying moments, my maids usually provide me with an array of decorative clothing, along with grooming my fur and mane into pristine condition. Yet it was mother who taught me royal manners and etiquette. She even provided me with my designer's glasses to replace my original basic black frame. It was only when I recognized my mother’s pearl necklace from what Silver Spoon used to wear that I insisted on wearing it, all to "complete the look."

From what I could tell and what father’s servants told me, mother is a performer who gained attention and reverence in a place called Las Pegasus. Apparently it’s a recently built colorful cloud city located on the western end of Equestria. Often times mom has to travel and stay there for long periods of time for her widely desired performances. And since it was a cloud city, it frequently migrates from one area of the sky to another. Unless you’re a Pegasus, traveling in and out of that city is widely considered hectic, to say the least. Mother was a unicorn, but teleportation magic to such heights is naught but an impossible feat except for the most well-versed spell casters who take years of study and practice under their belt. Mother was just a simple performer using tricks and illusions to awe her audience, so she has to take the normal air balloon transportation like everypony else.

On the rarer occasions that I do see her, she would always have a faint, gentle smile on her face whenever she sees me. It was such a face that melted even father’s heart.

Alas, it seems mother didn’t come with me on this ride. My gaze slowly glances back at Silversmith, still reading that newspaper labeled "Equestria News." Sometimes, I find myself perplexed about some of his behavior. Out of the blue, he'd simply told me that I was going to start schooling in the fall, and that had been the end of it. He wasn’t all there for me, as he usually minded his own business and delved into his own studies. The only time I’ve seen him smile was when he was around mother, and even then it was a rare occurrence.

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the coach wagon coming to a stop. My side of the door opened to reveal one of our other butlers. "We have arrived Master Smith." The servant informed. Silversmith gave a curt nod, signaling me to get off. I heave my school saddlebag over my back and step off the wagon, shaking my thoughts away from my family to walk towards the school courtyard in front of me.

"Do well in school." I hear an adamant voice behind me. Taking a surprised glance behind me, I can see my father still sitting there, reading his newspaper. Yet my ears didn’t fool me, he did say those words, but the meaning behind those words eluded me. Did he just wish me luck in school? Or was that more of a command? Considering the tone he used and his overall personality, it was most probably the latter. As one of Equestria’s wealthy and powerful, father takes his family image very seriously. With the same dull voice, I nod and answer "Yes father." And that was the end of our conversation.





I stood on the edge of the schoolyard, staring blankly at the vast playground beyond the rough wooden fence. Somewhere in the background, I could hear the familiar crunch of my father's carriage receding into the general din of chatter and laughter coming from the collected ponies milling about in front of me.

Once or twice, one of the older ponies would glance at me, give me an appraising look, maybe a small smile that they probably thought would seem friendly and understanding, but then turn away again to continue their conversation or yell something at their foal.

Urgh... Elementary School. I can't believe I'm actually doing this again... I mentally grumbled. Having already graduated college, I can practically feel the incoming lethargy from my experience of being utterly sleep deprived and running only on caffeinated drinks to make it through the day. The years of balancing part-time jobs and exams weigh heavy in my mind. I was never legible for any scholarships, nor was I was resorting to selling myself to the dark abyss known as student loans. At the very least my human mother was able to afford me those college classes. My part-time job was simply an investment to earn experience and save up emergency cash on hand in the event my mother decides to blow all our family finances away. I struggled through it all and finally landed a decent job, but now as I look around the courtyard with all the fillies and colts giggling and playing, my heart sunk. I have to do it all over again. All that effort, wasted. Before that train of thought went even lower, I clasped both sides of my cheeks with the painful sting of my hooves. Shake out of it. I already had come to terms with this before.

On multiple occasions, I found that my memories growing up was often a burden to me rather than a benefit. The doctors immediately noticed my strange behavior as a foal, noticing that I was training my vocal cords and creating various sounds with my new mouth. I never cried when others were around out of a desire to hide my embarrassment and retain any dignity that I had. I also ended up being one of the last foals who figured out how to walk properly. All of these behaviors were red flags to my caretakers, as all of them were afraid that there was something very wrong with me. Silversmith quickly brushed off all their concerns, saying that there was nothing wrong with me and that I was perfect. I was a Silver after all.

Yet even still, rumors spread. I sometimes wondered that if I didn't have these damn memories, that everything would be fine. Ignorance is bliss after all. Alas, that wasn't the case. Instead, I was Silver Spoon, an aristocratic young filly with the memories of a former human. My sense of self has gotten muddled as of late, but I do know that I was put here for a reason. There has to be. Otherwise, I wouldn't have retained my sanity for so long.

Suddenly, as if to jerk me away from my own thoughts, the front door of the schoolhouse opened, and a brilliant magenta mare with bouncy pink curls dancing around a broadly grinning face appeared in the entrance, a large brass bell clamped in her mouth. She was shaking the bell with gusto, the clanging voice of the old-fashioned instrument easily cutting all conversation short and drawing the attention of everypony nearby. After a moment, she spat the bell out onto the front stoop and grinned broadly at her suddenly rapt audience. "Good morning, everypony! It is absolutely wonderful to see each and every one of you here today! I see a bunch of faces I already know--" she winked at a young yellow filly with a brilliant red mane standing near the stoop "--and a few I can't wait to meet!" As she said this, she smiled down at a few foals standing back from the rest of the crowd.

The fuchsia mare continued, her voice as clear and engaging as the bell. "We've got a long, exciting day ahead of us, so let's get inside and get started! Everypony follow me!" She snatched the bell and disappeared into the school, followed by a shrieking, laughing pack of students and their smiling guardians.

This was it. My first real interactions with other ponies, albeit children. I take a glance back at my saddlebag and sat down to take a look inside it. Good, it seems that I haven't forgotten or dropped anything. I have to make a good first impression after all-

"Hi!"

A voice suddenly cut across my attentiveness, lifting my head up from my bag and turning to face the speaker. A powder-pink filly with hair that looked like grape-and-vanilla pulled taffy cascading around her head and framing a broad grin was standing not two hooves away, smiling down at me. It was immediately apparent who this pony was and I instinctively reacted with- "Diamond Tiara?"

"Huh? Wait, how did you know my name?" the pink filly was startled at my response. Shit.

"Uh, I uh, heard about you from my father." I lied immediately.

"Oh me too! So you must be Silver Spoon then!" Diamond Tiara quickly switched expressions to one of joy. I was quickly puzzled by this, but she then held out a hoof. "I'm Diamond Tiara, but ah you already know that." She giggles. Without thinking, I unconsciously reached out and taking Diamond Tiara's hoof, allowing the other pony to pull me up off the ground.

"Well, Silver Spoon," she said, "you shouldn't sit on the ground like that. You'll get dirt in your fur, and your colors are too light for that." She giggled lightly and gestured towards her own body. "So are mine. Daddy says I pick up dirt like it's my special talent."

Despite my near-fatal first encounter with the filly, I manage to let out a small chuckle. "What would a 'getting dirty' cutie mark look like?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm pretty good at it, so we can find out someday."

"We?" My mind was instantly fixated on that word. Already multiple stray thoughts were popping up in my head.

Diamond Tiara nodded and opened her mouth to continue, but was suddenly interrupted by a tall brown stallion stepping out of the carriage parked on the road behind them. I haven't heard it approach, and haven't noticed it before now, but as soon as my eyes landed on it, I was surprised it could have snuck up on me. "Diamond Tiara," the stallion said, his voice deep and smooth and reassuring, "come along now, or you'll be late."

"Daddy, this is Silver Spoon," Diamond Tiara said, gesturing towards me, leaving me to smile meekly at the tall stallion. "She's my new friend."

Friend? The word echoed in my mind as the stallion turned his cool blue eyes to rest on her face. He smiled warmly. "Good morning, Silver Spoon. My name's Filthy Rich. Are you here with your parents?"

"Uh, n-no, sir," I again shook away my stray thoughts and completely taken by surprise, "m-my parents dropped me off, and..." my mind suddenly went blank, but the stallion simply smiled down at me and nodded towards the schoolhouse.

"No matter. Come with me, little one, we'll all go in together." I nodded warily and fell in step next to Diamond Tiara. Nothing was going in the way I expected. Father didn’t mention anything about this. I figured I'd have to be the one to create the first interaction, not the other way around. I haven’t interacted with another filly until five minutes ago. How should I have expected that Diamond Tiara was planned to be my playdate?

The stallion led the way, chatting amiably as we walked. "So, Silver Spoon, you must be Silversmith's youngest." I nodded. "I thought I'd seen you from time to time around the Silver Estate. I had mentioned to your father that perhaps you and my little Diamond here might like to get together for a playdate sometime, but I suppose we never found the opportunity. Good thing you're both starting school this season; it'll give you a chance to get to know one another. I'm certain you'll become fast friends. I think you'll find you have a great deal in common, in fact."

Really? I couldn't help but think. The only similarities I could draw were from our background, but that's it. I take a glance back at Diamond Tiara to see that she was also looking back at me. Well, it seems that even father didn’t plan for this. I forced down my skepticism and smiled lightly.

The little group reached the door of the schoolhouse and Mr. Rich led the way in, holding the door for the two little fillies. I followed Diamond Tiara into the building but paused inside as she kept walking towards the front of the room. The pink filly noticed immediately that she'd stopped, and looked back over her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

My face turned into a grimace. "Where...where are we supposed to sit?" Looking around, all I could see was a couple of foals already in their seats, but with no seating chart anywhere. "Is this free seating?"

Diamond Tiara shrugged. "I dunno. Let's find a couple seats together, though. Come on!" She smiled and waved a hoof at me to follow her. To think I would be following her already on the first day of school. But nevertheless, I did. I take another look at the room around me. None of the other foals seemed to really be paying any attention to us, negative or otherwise. Most of the little ponies were engaged in conversation with friends new and old, and all the adults were lining the walls of the room, chatting amongst themselves. I looked over my shoulder to see Filthy Rich standing in the back of the room. Two mares standing near him had already begun to engage him in conversation, and he was politely returning their interest, although he continued watching carefully as the two foals he'd chaperoned found their seats. When my gaze landed back on him, he smiled broadly and nodded his encouragement at me. I give a small smile back and attempt to find a seat.

Sliding into a seat next to Diamond Tiara, I took a moment to examine the rest of the class with a curious gaze. There were perhaps fifteen other foals in the room, all of various coloration and type, all roughly around my age. There were several other earth ponies, including the brilliant yellow filly I'd noticed earlier, sitting on the opposite side of the room from her, also in the front row. There were also a few unicorns sprinkled around the room, their shortish horns barely poking out from under their manes, and a smattering of pegasi, their small wings buzzing eagerly in excited anticipation of the new school season. I did my best to avoid eye contact with Applebloom, for if I did I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to look away. Diamond Tiara noticed me appraising the class and said, "Do you know anypony here already?" Straightening my lips, I shook my head, "Nope!" Diamond Tiara gave me another look of skepticism before responding, "Yeah, me either. Oh well, we can just be friends with each other for now, right?"

I faced back to her with some skepticism of my own. "For now?"

"Yeah! I mean, until we find some other friends. Uh, not that I want to stop being friends with you. Just, I mean, I wanted to make new friends with you." The pink filly flubbed on her words, obviously trying to clear up the misunderstanding. Looking deep into her gaze, it seems that she really meant that she wanted to remain friends with me. I didn't see anything that would imply any sort of manipulation. In fact, her reaction seems genuine even.

Lowering my guard, I gave her an understanding nod. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"Alright fillies and colts," the teacher said, taking her place at the front of the room and smiling out at the group. "Welcome to your first day of school! My name is Miss Cheerilee, and I will be your teacher. I know you all must be very excited to be here, because I certainly am!" She tilted her head and beamed, her hair tumbling around her face in cascading pink waves. "Now, our first day is going to be mostly just getting to know one another, but tomorrow we start learning for real! Parents," she said, addressing the adult ponies ringing the room, "thank you for coming today and helping me get acquainted with all of you and your foals, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist on a parent-free classroom. You understand, I'm sure; it is somewhat more difficult for young ponies to exercise their own skills and speak freely if there are adults in the room." There were some nods among the older ponies, and they slowly filed back out of the room, pausing to give their foals one last reassuring smile and wave before they left.

I managed to catch Filthy Rich's eye before he disappeared through the exit, and the stallion smiled warmly and gave me a wink. I reacted puzzledly at him but didn't mind it. Turning back to the front of the classroom, I watched as Miss Cheerilee was patiently waiting for the elders to leave. Finally, the door closed behind them and she smiled down at the collected students. "Alright. Now, as I said before, my name is Miss Cheerilee. I love teaching and I love sunflowers, but more than anything, I love my students. I can't wait to get to know all of you, so let's go around the room and each say our name and something we like to do." She looked down at the bright yellow earth pony in the front row. "Apple Bloom, could you start for us, please?"

The red-maned filly rolled her eyes. "Miss Cheerilee, you already said mah name!" She had a thick country accent, and my highly conditioned proper sensibilities bristled involuntarily at the twang.

"Sorry, dear," Miss Cheerilee said, chuckling softly. "Could you say it again for us anyway?"

Apple Bloom grunted in irritation but stood up and faced the class anyway. "Hi. Mah name is Apple Bloom. Ah like buckin' apples."

I couldn't help but snicker at the response. Oh god, hahaha! It's really her. I didn't mean anything by it, but Applebloom gave me a weird look before she sat back at her desk.

I take a quick glance at Diamond Tiara curiously. She noticed my gaze and turned to me, mouthing the words 'bucking apples?' to her new friend. I simply shrugged and patiently waited. Two other ponies had spoken by the time Miss Cheerilee went down by the list of rows before Diamond Tiara was next in line.

Miss Cheerilee smiled broadly at them. "Oh, my, such pretty jewelry. And what is your name, dear?" she asked Diamond Tiara.

The pink filly stood up confidently and squeaked, "My name is Diamond Tiara, and I like going on balloon rides with my daddy."

There was a quiet snicker from the back of the class, and Diamond Tiara's face fell slightly. "What? It's fun."

"Yeah, if you're a daddy's girl." The comment was quiet, but just barely audible. Diamond Tiara frowned and scanned the back of the room, looking for the source. I looked over my shoulder to notice a bright orange pegasus filly smirking broadly as the pearl-colored unicorn next to her stifled a giggle.

Miss Cheerilee hadn't seemed to notice either the comment or the laughter. "Thank you, Diamond Tiara. And you, dear?" she continued, looking now at Silver Spoon.

Oh fuck. I was too distracted by what's going on in the back of the classroom to notice I was next on the list.

I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to slowly stand up out of my desk and turn to face the class. I took a moment to collect myself, as this was the moment I had been mentally preparing for back in my room in front of my mirror. "My...my name is Silver Spoon," my words which started as a mumble slowly formed into the confident and rehearsed set of lines I had practiced. "And I like reading books with my mother."

Nailed it. But the stifled snicker from the back of the room became an unguarded laugh, and several ponies around the orange pegasus sourcing it were giggling into their hooves as well. "Lame!" the little Pegasus squeaked, a confident smirk on her face. My mind froze at that moment, not foreseeing how that first-grade introduction I rehearsed had failed me.

"Excuse me!" Miss Cheerilee said, stomping towards the back of the classroom and glaring down at the pegasus. The young filly didn't flinch, meeting the older mare's gaze with cool indifference. "What is your name?"

"Scootaloo."

"I see. And did your parents bring you to school today, Scootaloo?"

The little pegasus shook her head sharply. "No, I'm only here 'cuz Miss Rarity said I'd have to try on dresses all day if I didn't."

"Well, Scootaloo, if you don't want to be sent back to Carousel Boutique for the rest of the day, I suggest you mind your manners. We do not make fun of other students in my classroom, understand?" Scootaloo shrugged nonchalantly. "Understand?" Miss Cheerilee repeated, narrowing her eyes at the filly.

Scootaloo paused for a long moment, not quite meeting the teacher's gaze. "Yeah."

"Good," Miss Cheerilee said darkly before stomping back to the front of the room. "Now, Silver Spoon, was it?" I was still stuck in my stupor by the time the magenta mare called on me, only to quickly shake off my stiff expression to save face. "I think it's wonderful that you enjoy reading with your mother. You needn't be ashamed of that at all."

That much was obvious. When I was younger I attempted to sneak into the family library to absorb all of Equestria's fantastical knowledge, because despite how it is Equestria is still a land of fantasy and magic. I always have digested fiction a lot easier than fact. Reading history textbooks could never amount to the sheer wonder fantasy could provide. It was when I got discovered that I left a lot of books under my bed, my mother decided that she should read to me at night whenever she came. It was embarrassing, but I have suffered worse fates. It was nice to sit curled in the crook of my mother's legs, listening to her soft, warm voice lilting as she read in the gentle light of her bedside table lamp, barely bright enough to illuminate her bed in the middle of her enormous bedroom. Many times I had fallen asleep cuddled up with her, drifting off to long, fantastic tales of princes and princesses, dragons and hydras, and evil monsters falling to the unassuming hero of the day. A little unimaginative, but at the time I was simply more invested in whatever common knowledge those books could provide. Sure some of it might be too outlandish to be true and I couldn't tell the difference between what was fiction or fact, but I didn't care. It was still far more entertaining than sitting idle on some soft cushion being bored out of my mind.

Surely these kids could understand that reading can be enjoyable too right? Why else would there be an abundance of poorly written fanfictions made by 9-year olds hosted on various reading sites? What made Scootaloo think reading was so funny.

"Don't worry." I looked up, tearing away from my thoughts as Diamond Tiara's whispers. "Reading is totally cool," the pink filly said, smiling confidently. "She's just a mule. I bet her thing will be totally lame." She smirked mischievously. "And I'm gonna tell her so."

I chewed my lip. "You're gonna get in trouble too you know that right?"

Diamond Tiara didn't respond but simply winked at me. Miss Cheerilee continued to go around the classroom asking each foal in turn for their name and their favorite activity. Some were obvious--"HimynameisZipporwhillandIliketoflyupanddownandbackandforthreallyreallyfast!"--while others were less so--"My name's Featherweight. I like to take pictures." A few were uniquely fascinating--"My name is Rumble, and I like flying storm tracking patterns with my brother Thunderlane."--and a few were distinctly not--"My name is Snips, and I like to hang out with my friend Snails."; "My name is Snails, and I like to hang out with my friend Snips."

Oh fucking hell. At least I put effort into it.

Eventually, Miss Cheerilee reached the orange pegasus and her unicorn friend. The unicorn went first.

"My name is Sweetie Belle, and I like making dresses and putting on makeup so I can look as pretty as my sister Rarity!"

Miss Cheerilee smiled warmly. "Thank you, Sweetie Belle." She turned a wary eye on the pegasus. "Scootaloo?"

The filly gave her a mulish look. "My name is Scootaloo. I like riding my scooter and doing awesome tricks."

"Thank you, Scootaloo, that was--"

"Why do you ride a scooter?" Diamond Tiara suddenly piped up from the front of the room. All eyes turned towards her, but the pink filly's face remained innocent and composed.

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes at her. "'Cuz it's cool. Why else?"

"Well," Diamond Tiara continued, maintaining an air of genuine curiosity, "I thought you could go way faster and do way better tricks if you just flew, instead of scooting."

I blinked momentarily at this, trying to register what was going on. A stray thought did rise among the others though. Wait, how did Diamond Tiara know Scootaloo couldn't fly? I glanced back to see what Scootaloo's response would be.

The little pegasus scowled at Diamond Tiara, her cheeks flushed. "So what? I can still ride if I want to."

"Yeah, but why?" Diamond Tiara asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "You can fly, can't you?"

"Of course I can!" Scootaloo said, blushing harder now. "I just like to ride my scooter, that's all! What's the big deal?"

"Girls!" Miss Cheerilee suddenly interrupted, glaring at both fillies in turn. "That's enough. Scootaloo, I think it's wonderful that you enjoy riding your scooter. Diamond Tiara, just because somepony prefers to do things one way doesn't mean they can't do it any other way. I'm sure Scootaloo can fly just fine. Now," she continued, walking back towards the front of the class, "today we're going to start learning about the alphabet, and to do that, I'm going to write all the letters here on the board, and then I'm going to write your names one by one, and together we can see how the letters make the sounds in your name."

I raised my hoof in the air so that Miss Cheerilee would notice.

The magenta mare looked at me. "Yes, Silver Spoon?"

"I can already write my name. My mother taught me how." I said confidently.

Miss Cheerilee smiled. "That's wonderful! Let me write the alphabet up on the board, and then maybe you can come up and write your name for us?" She turned to start writing the letters across the top of the chalkboard.

Normally being able to write my name down wouldn't be such a noteworthy achievement, but having to write with your mouth is something that should be properly recognized. However, my elation was suddenly doused at a hiss, "Show-off..." from the rear of the class. Stung, I looked over her shoulder to see Scootaloo miming leaping out of her seat and waving her hoof at the teacher. Sweetie Belle snickered next to her. I was dumbfounded. Why were these fillies being so mean? They were never this antagonistic when I watched the show. I gritted my teeth as I couldn't help but glare back at them.

Diamond Tiara nudged my shoulder. "Don't worry, Silver Spoon. She's just mad 'cuz she can't do it," she muttered under her breath. She gave me a reassuring smile. "I think it's pretty cool that you can."

"You do?" I asked, genuinely surprised at her comment. Diamond Tiara nodded, and I relaxed a bit. "Thanks. My mother has been teaching me. I can almost write the whole alphabet now." Thank god I can recognize the characters of equine speech as normal English. If I hadn't then my general knowledge of the world would have been much more limited. Writing was still a hurdle I had to overcome, however.

"Neat!" Diamond Tiara said. "I can write my initials, but I haven't quite gotten all the letters yet. Maybe you can help me?"

I raised an eyebrow, taking a moment to think about this. "Eh, sure. You wanna come over to my house later?"

"Totally. You live right next to us, I think."

"Really?" I said.

Diamond Tiara nodded. "Daddy's always talking about 'Mr. Smith who lives next door.' I think that's your dad."

"Yeah, Silversmith is my father. I didn't know any fillies lived near us. Never really get to go outside the Manor..."

"Really?" Diamond Tiara responded curiously.

As Miss Cheerilee finished writing on the board and turned to face the class again, Diamond Tiara smiled and said, "We'll talk more later."





"So you don't go out much?" Diamond Tiara was delicately arranging her lunch on a cream-colored hoofkerchief, placing a pasty stuffed with what looked like eggplant and zucchini in the center and surrounding it with smaller portions of braised carrots, julienned squash, and a hoofful of shelled pistachios.

I stared in disbelief at the bounty laid out in front of my new acquaintance. My eyes slid down to her comparatively meager parsnip-and-pumpkin sandwich and I answered. "Well... yeah basically. Father never has the time to take me out to go somewhere because he's always super busy with work. And mother is hardly ever around. I just kinda, stay in the manor and bother the staff at times."

Diamond Tiara has this look of bewilderment when she heard this. "Your mother isn’t home either? That sounds, kinda lonely..." she responded, deciding to slide the squash across the table and leaving it next to my sandwich as what I assume is an offering of pity.

I nonchalantly shrugged and immediately pushed the vegetable strips back in front of Diamond Tiara. "It’s not a big deal. I have Cacy, the family head butler. He's super nice, but also really skilled and professional. He's gotta be like, the best butler in all of Equestria."

Diamond Tiara stared in awe, before adding a dash of skepticism. "You're kidding, nopony is that great." The pink filly said.

"Well... maybe not the best in Equestria, but he's still pretty good at his job." I remarked.

"That’s nice," Diamond Tiara concedes, "so what kind of books do you like?"

"Um, well...my mother and I like to read old ponytales together. 'The Mare in the Moon', 'The Pony of Shadows', 'The Curse of the Castle...'"

Diamond Tiara nodded at each title. "Yeah, I like those, too. Which one's your favorite?" she asked, crunching on a carrot.

"It’s gotta be Mare in the Moon. It has so much of Equestria’s history in a short little story. A thousand years of history condensed into just a few pages! Plus the art is really nice too." I couldn’t help, but blurt out. That book was one of the few texts that I could recognize and it helped to give me a refresher of Equestria’s history since I came here.

"You really think any of it is real?" The pink filly asked earnestly, fully enraptured by my short speech.

"I don’t think so, I know so." I say confidently with a smirk on my face.

"How do you know?" Diamond Tiara again looked skeptical, tilting her head and puzzled at my complete confidence.

I pursed my lips to ponder momentarily. Looking around to make sure nopony is near, I motioned her forward. The pink filly leans in over the table, lending one of her ears so I could whisper. "I have dreams of the future."

Diamond Tiara gasped wholeheartedly, accidentally spilling over her carton of apple juice. "No way, I don’t believe you."

"It’s true. Last night I dreamt that we were both friends."

"So that’s how you knew what I looked like!" She said as it clicked for her.

"But that’s not all," I say with a hushed tone, "we even had our cutie marks." I spoke, leading her on.

Diamond Tiara gasped once again, putting her hoof onto her mouth as her eyes sparkled mesmerizingly. "What was it?! What did it look like?"

I put my own hoof under my chin. "Hmm... should I really tell you?"

"Tell me! Tell me!" The pink filly was practically almost on top of the table, begging ecstatically. 

"Hmm....." I pretend to ponder seriously.

"Pleaaassseee...?" Diamond Tiara was giving me serious puppy dog eyes. An expression that I could tell was practiced on multiple occasions, presumably on her father.

Nevertheless, I continued pondering. "Hmm, only if you promise to tell nopony about my secret."

"I promise!" 

"Pinkie promise it." I demanded.

"Huh? Pinkie promise?" Diamond Tiara tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

"It's a special kind of promise. Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise, ever." I hissed with a dead-serious expression, looking her directly in her eyes.

With a dry gulp, the pink filly nodded in understanding. After teaching her how to Pinkie promise with my own example, I got her to do it.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Diamond Tiara proceeded to chant while crossing her heart, mimicking the flapping of wings with her carpus, and finally imitating sticking a pastry into her eye. This effect seemed to cause the pink filly to grin, giddily basking in the joy of sharing secret knowledge.

Confident now that she wouldn’t break such a secret, I lean in to whisper. "Our Cutie Marks are a Diamond Tiara and a Silver Spoon."

"What!?" My friend exclaimed. "No way our cutie marks are just our names! I don’t believe you one bit." She giggled in disbelief.

"We’ll see~" I say in a playful, teasing tone.

"If you end up being right, then I’ll take you out for  the Piaffe Parlor my Daddy always takes me to." Diamond Tiara bet.

"Oh, I look forward to it."
> Reminiscence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, how was your first day of school?" A deep and smooth and reassuring voice resounded within the coach wagon I resided in. I was sitting next to Diamond Tiara while Filthy Rich sat across from us. The wagon itself wasn't as immaculate as my father's coach wagon as it was filled with various décor and toys around the room, cluttering up a fair bit of space. I could see that these toys probably belonged to Diamond Tiara as they were mostly dolls and gem-encrusted toy trains lying around.

"It was great daddy!" Diamond Tiara chirped in response. "Although, I didn't make a lot of friends like I thought I would..."

"We sat alone at recess talking about stuff." I added, half in confirmation and the other half as an excuse for Diamond Tiara.

"Oh? And what kind of stuff were you and my little sugar plum talking about?" The stallion inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"That's a secret daddy!~" The pink filly giddily said.

"Oh, so my little girl is already making secrets with her new friend..." Filthy Rich wiped away a single fake tear. "I'm so proud." I couldn't help but smirk at the stallion's demeanor. Diamond Tiara also giggled at her father's display of fatherly pride. He even brought out a single hoofkerchief to blow his nose... muzzle? Snout.

"Daddyyy that's so gross!" The pink filly giggled in fake disgust.

"Well, I at least don't pick my snout in front of other ponies." Filthy Rich stated.

"I don't pick my snout!" Diamond Tiara protested.

"I never said that you did dear." The stallion grinned as he leaned over to rub his daughter's head playfully. The pink filly puffed out her cheeks in mild contempt but ended up letting it go as she playfully smiled along with him.

"Well, thanks for picking me up Mister Filthy Rich." I said after that was over.

"Oh it's of no problem Silver Spoon," the stallion smiled gently, "and please, call me Rich." The stallion had come to pick up Diamond Tiara once school was over. Filthy Rich insisted on staying to see Silversmith to discuss further playdates between his daughter and I. However, he never showed up. "That Silversmith is only punctual when it comes to business, I swear. It's one thing to ignore my invitations, but to even to forget picking up his own daughter? Remind me to give him an earful when I'm with him."

"Invitations?" I asked, puzzledly.

"Of course. Your father and I have been friends since we were colts." The brown stallion answered. "Every week I send him an invitation to one of our parties and he never comes, the nerve of him."

"Every week!?" I couldn't help but exclaim. Diamond Tiara was startled at my sudden response.

"Well naturally. I always make an effort to make my little princess feel special. From the time my wife was pregnant with her, when little princess was born, when she first spoke, when she first learned to walk, to the time she learned to use the little-filly's room all by herself-"

"DADDY!" Diamond Tiara stood up from her seat cushion to protest, furiously blushing at the last part of the list.

"I would assume that last part was a private affair." I continued.

"Of course! I wouldn't want to embarrass my little angel here." Rich answered, pretending to be oblivious to his daughter's protests.

"But you are embarrassing me!" The pink filly protested again.

"But it can be another secret between the both of you~" Rich teased.

"Urgh! Next time I'll just walk home with Silver Spoon!" Diamond jumped back into her cushion as Filthy Rich clicked his tongue in bemusement.

"So, Father wasn't always..." I held my tongue.

"Giving the cold shoulder?" Rich finished my sentence. "No. He was a fine colt once. We used to do everything together. From the time I've known him, I could tell he was passionate about his work, always finding new ways to improve the lives of ponies." The stallion smiled reminiscently at the memory. "He was so absorbed in his work that I didn't even think he go out of his own volition. It would take some effort to drag him out of the house every time I wanted him to see a bit of sunshine." He chuckled at the memory, then his expression mellowed. "Magic Star changed all that though..."

"Mother?" I questioned.

"Yes, your mother. A fine mare she is." Rich smiled warmly, I could sense a faint underlying stain of bitterness in his tone of voice. His response gave me a weird feeling, but I discarded it quickly. "It was thanks to your mother that colt finally bothered to go out of his house and meet other ponies. It was I who got him to meet higher-class ponies that would listen to him. He sold his ideas and eventually started his own enterprise." He stated proudly before his expression started to falter. "Although looking back on it..." The brown stallion didn't utter anything else.

"What?"

"Hmm? Oh, don't mind my silly ramblings. Just enjoy your life however you want it. Sometimes it isn't worth spending your life about what other ponies think about you." Rich reassured me with a smile.

"...Okay?" I was left alone to ponder this new knowledge that Filthy Rich was closer to my father than I thought. It never seemed that way whenever he visited the Silver manor. Silversmith was always... apathetic towards everything. Always surrounded by other older ponies, each wearing their own expressions as a guise to their true intentions of earning the backing of an influential powerhouse. Filthy Rich, an honest pony, always seemed to be shoved aside for more important talk rather than discussing his own daughter. I suddenly find myself pitying both of them... in a way.

Yet when mother was around, he always seemed to be much more, alive? At the very least he wasn't a ridged stallion with the personality of a rock. Mother would occasionally show up with merchandise she bought in the local gift shops from the various places she's been to. She would talk to him about her adventures and he would listen attentively, with a glimmer in his eyes as she spoke. The mansion always seemed lighter when she was around, always interacting with the staff and even asking them how I was doing. However, things would go back to the status quo whenever she left. Father would go back to his room and work on various projects, the staff would clean and look after me, and I was not allowed to go outside the manor for whatever reason.

"Ah, looks like we're here." Filthy Rich interrupted my thoughts.

"Oh finally! I thought we were going to wait forever!" Diamond Tiara said, putting on her saddlebag and hopping off of her seat cushion once more. "Come on Sil! I wanna see your mansion!"

"Sil?" I inquired.

"Yeah! It's a nickname I just made up. Like it?" The pink filly smiled at me expectantly.

"So that's why you were so quiet." I said before hopping off the cart with my own saddlebag with Filthy Rich following behind.

"Yeah! I was thinking 'Spoony', but that sounds dumb. Silver is a nice name, but Sil sounds kinda neat yaknow?"

"Can't think of a better nickname Diamond Tiara." I say with assurance. "Speaking of which, I should think of a nickname too then! How about... Dia? For Diamond?"

"That sounds like a wonderful nickname to have." Rich stated from behind.

"Dia. Dia Dia Dia. Dia Dia Dia Dia Dia Dia-" 

"Don't wear it out, dear." Rich interrupted Dia's constant flubbing of her name before all of us eventually reached the front of the Silver Estate. The brown stallion scanned the brick columns on either side of the front gate. There was a small silver bell mounted on the left column. Straightening up, he walked past us and over to the bell and rang it with a hoof.

A resounding ping echoed from the bell, followed almost immediately by a firm, clear voice with a slightly haughty tone. "Silver residence. Please state the nature of your visit." One of father's servants arrived on the scene immediately, or perhaps he was just standing there behind the gate the entire time.

"Hello, I am Filthy Rich," the stallion introduced himself, "I believe you've seen me come here often? I'm a long-time friend of Silversmith."

The voice responded instantly. "Is he expecting you?"

Rich winced. "Um...no, not exact--"

"Visitors without a standing appointment are not admitted after sundown."

"Oh for Celestia's sake I have his daughter with me!" On a moment of inspiration, he added. "And I'd like to have a word with him about leaving a young filly like that unattended on school grounds."

There was a brief pause, but then the stallion said, "I shall...see what I can do."

"Good," Filthy Rich said with a sigh somewhere between relief and frustration. A few moments passed before a different servant appeared.

"Cacy!" I shouted, instantaneously recognizing the unicorn. There never was a stallion that was dressed quite so impeccably, or who stood so stiffly, or who exuded quite the same sense of confidence, poise, and purpose. His fur was a startling white, a severe contrast to his crisp black tuxedo and deep blue eyes. His expression was nearly inscrutable, although I could sense a certain indescribable shadow hovering on the edges of his mouth and eyes. "Is there something wrong?"

Cacy gave a curt reassuring smile to me before responding. "Miss Spoon. Mister Rich. It's good to see both of you, and thank you for the trouble of bringing Miss Spoon to us. I must apologize on Master Smith's behalf-"

"I'd rather hear it from the stallion himself if you don't mind." Filthy Rich curtly said with a tempered, but fierce-looking expression glinting in his eyes.

"I apologize once again, however, Mister Smith isn't here at the moment." The butler answered as Rich furrowed his brows in contempt.

"Oh of course. The one day he's out of the mansion is the day he forgets to pick up her daughter after school-"

"There has been an emergency," the unicorn interrupted the stallion while focusing his stoic gaze locked in with Rich, "Miss Star has been sent to Emergency Room in the Ponyville Hospital and Master Smith is currently overseeing her."

"Magic Star?"
"Mother?"

Both Filthy Rich and I replied in unison with shocked expressions. Diamond Tiara stood there confused, but equally concerned. "I see, then I'll go there to meet him immediately." Rich responded before turning to his daughter. "Princess, could you stay here with your friend while daddy goes to make sure everypony is okay? I'll come to pick you up later."

"Okay daddy." The pink filly nodded in understanding. The brown stallion quickly trotted off to his coach wagon and left in a hurry. The sounds of crunching stone resounded across the street as the wagon sped past us, leaving Diamond Tiara and me alone with Cacy. The gate was suddenly enveloped with a shimmering pearl-colored aura of magic and the lock within clicked open. The gates began to slide apart and walked between them and up the front path towards the entrance. They closed immediately again behind us, latching together with a startlingly resonant clang. My thoughts lingered on my mother, my pony mother. She was fine until just moments ago earlier today... What on earth happened?

"Hmm... so, your name is Cacy, right? That sounds like a filly's name!" Dia giggled at the butler.

The butler hardened his gaze and then let out a large sigh. "It's Intricacy," he clarified, "Cacy is a name reserved for Miss Spoon's use only."

"Aww... Okay. Well I'm Diamond Tiara!" The filly squeaked.

"A pleasure Miss Tiara."

"Well, come on Sil! Show me your room!" The pink filly ran off in excitement.

She forced me out of my idle stupor and quickly forced me to run after her. "W-Wait hold up!"





The unicorn paused halfway to the end of the hallway. He glanced over his shoulder at us. "Welcome to Miss Spoon's private chambers. May I bring refreshments, Miss Spoon?"

"I'd like watermelon soda." I answered nonchalantly. Turning to my friend I asked, "You want anything?"

"Do you have any strawberry lemonade?" Dia asked the unicorn.

"Of course. I will have one of us prepare it shortly. Enjoy your stay, Miss Tiara." Cacy then made his leave and I entered my bedroom.

The room was huge. Well, comparatively speaking, anyway. Like everything else in the manor, my bedroom was incredible in its scale. One whole wall was studded with giant windows, each with a long, flowing set of pink velvet patterned drapes drawn across them. Unlike the hallway, the floor here was covered in a thick carpet, like the entryway, although the carpet here was a light rose color, paler than the drapes, with a short pile that was comfortable but didn't catch on my hooves.

I glanced at the opposite wall where I could see two wardrobes flanking an ornate white vanity, the mirror of which had several photos and notes taped to it. Another wall had a heavy dark mahogany desk pushed against it, with a tall bookshelf nearby. The shelves were mostly bare, with only a few visibly untouched novels on the lower shelves, and some mythical bestiaries lying on higher ones. The rest of the room was filled with many of the items a rich filly like Diamond Tiara wouldn't have expected to find in another rich filly's bedroom, from long shelves full of origami and papier-mâché sculptures; to pinned rough drawings of creatures likely never seen before; to a tall curio cabinet with brightly illuminated treasures, jeweled dolls, and intricately worked metal toys.

I looked behind me to see Diamond Tiara gaze in awe at my room's display. "Well, don't just stand there. Close the door and come inside already." I said.

"Your room is so different than mine. You have a lot of books and paper everywhere, you must read a lot!" The pink filly exclaimed as her eyes scanned more of the room. As was the case in the rest of the house, the walls were adorned with artwork and a few photographs. "Hey, Sil?"

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Who are all these ponies? They don't look like your family." She pointed to the various photographs.

"Keen eye," I complimented her, "yeah you're right, but also wrong. All of these pictures are ones I took of our household servants. I wanted to know each and everypony." I said truthfully. Sure identifying ponies by their color pallete and cutie marks was easy enough, but telling the subtle difference between muzzles was a problem I wanted to overcome.

"That's a lot. My daddy just hires old people. They can barely do their jobs." Dia complained, but I shared a different sentiment.

"Well, that's awfully nice of him." I replied.

"Huh, how so?" My friend inquired, perplexed at my response.

"Just think about it. You got a bunch of old ponies who can barely work anymore, but still want to work either because they have no money or they don't want to spend the rest of their lives in an elderly home where ponies babysit them. Not only that your dad pays them, but they probably even have their own quarters to live in while still maintaining a sense of fulfillment of raising a filly like you." I finished my explanation.

"I-I never even thought of that," Dia was stunned out of her frustration. "but why would daddy do that?"

"Probably because he obviously cares about other ponies." I stated. "Helping ponies when they're in need, it's what nobles should do. To help the common pony who can't help themselves. My father inherits high morals and ideals and applies it to everything he does, at least when it comes to his work. And from what I've noticed so far, your father seems to be both honest and charitable, even to the point of being furious on my behalf." I finished before adding, "Your dad is amazing Dia."

Diamond Tiara blushed at this compliment to her father, before shyly averting her gaze. "Yeah, I guess he is," she admitted, "but my mommy says we shouldn't talk to poor ponies. They only see us for our money and being friends with them would hurt our family image."

"Urgh, forget about 'family image'. Silversmith is so deep in politics he can't even see me when I'm in his own house!" I stated with a bit more venom in my voice than I intended. "Do you really want to be somepony like that?"

"I guess not..." Dia admitted again, but still a little taken back at my earlier proclamation. Yet her eyes were hardened in thought, like for the first time in her life really thinking about things from a fresh perspective. "Then what kind of pony should I be? Kind and charitable like daddy?"

"Just be yourself." I advised. "Do what you want to do. Be the pony that you want to be. Who cares what any other stuck-up pony thinks? It's none of their business anyways."

"Then... what do I want to do?" Dia asked, mostly to herself as I could tell.

"Well, let's start with practicing writing your name down. That's what you came here for right?"

"Oh yeah! Sure let's do it!" The pink filly chirped brightly with a renewed vigor.





Soon enough I taught Diamond Tiara to write her name properly. It was a bit tough at first using our mouths to trace each letter, but we eventually got it. We were drinking our beverages after one of the staff came in with them. It was at that time we both unanimously decided to take a break. I was lying on top of the comforter of a huge four-poster bed pushed up against the wall opposite the windows. Strewn across the bedspread in front of me was a large collection of books and papers, which I was scanning absently as I sipped my Watermelon Soda.

It was delicious, but not your normal type of delicious. It was delectable in a way you wouldn't really find in a normal soda back in the human world and I've grown addicted to it. I didn't know if it was just magic at play or simply because of my foalish-like body really liked the substance. As a human, I was mildly allergic to all kinds of fruits: watermelons, bananas, pineapples, all of which caused a slight irritation in my throat. There were only a few fruits that I haven't had an allergic reaction to, such as strawberries, mangos, and apples. It was strange, it seemed that one of the fruits I long despised became one of my most favorite foods.

I also couldn't help but feel that the rest of my sense of taste changed as well. Oatmeal used to be plain and uninviting, yet now it's a staple to my every breakfast. I have even grown a liking to eating raw celery sticks. Yet the only downside was that I wasn't able to eat meat anymore. I know that horses are opportunistic carnivores, but apparently, all living things aside from plants exhibit some sort of limited sapience. As a result, ponies have adopted the culture to where every life is sacred. I had to include salted nuts in my meals to get the protein I need. Thank God that ponies still consume animal products like eggs and milk. Despite it all, it was a nice journey to find out what foods I liked and didn't like now.

"Hey Sil, your drink is already empty." Dia interrupted my thoughts.

"Huh?" I found myself sipping away at air through a straw, only slurping whatever remnants of water the ice melted with making obscene noises. "Oh."

"You really don't pay attention to stuff." The pink filly said with an innocent expression.

"I just like to think a lot." I say defensively, placing my emptied drink on top of a nearby cabinet.

"Well, thanks for teaching me how to write my name. I can't wait to show the class how ahead I am! They're gonna be so jealous!" Dia giggled in anticipation.

"Just wait until Miss Cheerilee gives us homework." I smile in bemusement, "Being smart is nice and all, but the moment she gets wind of it she'll give us harder homework. Maybe even have us skip some grades."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Dia continued sipping on her nearly emptied lemonade.

"Do you want to be surrounded by bigger ponies who are as smart as you?"

Dia was picturing the idea in her mind before coming to a grimace. "No, that doesn't sound very nice."

"Yeah, exactly." I waved a hoof.

"But, if being too smart is a bad thing, then why are you so smart?" Dia pointed out, finishing her drink.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Being smart isn't a bad thing. As long as Miss Cheerilee doesn't find out." I answered nonchalantly.

"Oh! I won't tell!" The pink filly exclaimed, sitting up.

I smiled. "Thanks."

Soon once we were done with our drinks we went back to writing. My eyes were drawn to the leftover scrap paper on my bed. All of them were filled with badly traced letters Diamond Tiara wrote while I was teaching her. Out of sheer boredom, I picked up one of them with my hoof and started folding.

"Hmm? What are you doing Sil?" Dia tilted her head in question.

"Origami." I answered.

"Ori-ga-mee?"

"Yeah, it's when you fold paper to make a specific shape. Here look, I'm making a ninja star right now." I showed her, taking two pieces of split paper and folding them correctly to make two components. I then combined them to make all four edges in a small compact shuriken.

"Oh, that's so cool! It's like the ones ninjas use in The Pony of Shadows!" Dia admired my work with sparkling eyes. In a way, I was actually kind of glad that Diamond Tiara was actually a huge nerd in person, in pony? I gave a small chuckle before tossing it into her mane.

"Hey!" My friend protested, hardening her gaze at me with a dead serious look in her eyes.

I instinctively apologized. "Sorry-"

"Teach me how to do that."





Soon a myriad of ninja stars was being thrown across my bedroom. All the scrap paper we had lying around have been transformed into harmless projectiles scattered across the carpet.

"You'll never defeat me, Pink Diamond! I have The Tome of Ethereal Shadows in my hooves! With this, nopony will be able to touch me!" I haughtily laughed as I held a random book in hoof while standing on my bed.

"You dummy! Everypony knows you need the Amulet of True-seeing to understand the words in that book!" Diamond Tiara had a crumpled up piece of paper colored in green crayon taped with string around her neck while defiantly standing below me.

"Then I'll just have to take it from you!" I leaped over the bed while tossing three paper shuriken at her.

Dia rolled away from the attack, my projectiles missing by a hair as I landed next to her. She threw some projectiles of her own, but I quickly ducked under the way. Luckily I had another array of shuriken in my other hoof and I tossed it as soon as I regained my footing.

Yet my projectiles were deflected with a series of Diamond Tiara's own ninja stars. I gasped in shock, "What?! How?!"

"The Amulet allows me to see your every move, Dark Silver! You should have gotten the Amulet first!" She declared as she leaped to the side and threw a series of more ninja stars at me.

The fight continued until a servant knocked on our door. "Miss Tiara, your father is here to pick you up." We pause mid-action to see ourselves with our manes completely unfurled and littered with paper stars tangled with it.

"Aww... but I wanted to play some more." Diamond Tiara complained.

"We can play tomorrow. I bet Miss Cheerilee would let us borrow some paper for arts and crafts." I said confidently.

"Great idea!" The untidy pink filly gleefully exclaimed, shoving a hooful of paper stars into her saddlebag. "Wanna bring all our ninja stars during recess?"

"Definitely."
> Mommy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was laying on my bedside again. My mane was let loose as it hung heavily around my face and down my shoulders, falling in long curtains through which my forelegs poked. I had replaced my designer glasses with the basic black frames I started off with since I first got them. My gaze was placed on a book opened in front of me, but I wasn't reading. With a heavy sigh I close the book cover and moved it aside, resting my head on the bedding cushions.

Father still hasn't come back yet and it was already starting to get late.

I rolled over on my back and stared at the ceiling in listlessness. I recalled the events of me playing with Diamond Tiara not too long ago. Why did I do that? It's not like I didn't have any fun doing it, but I never imagine myself doing something so... foalish.

It wasn't the first time this happened either. Multiple times I found myself doing things my old self would never consider doing. Playfighting with Diamond Tiara. Happily reading sappy romance novels with my mother. Even falling asleep in her lap as I snuggled contently. All of these things were something a filly would do, and it happened on mere impulse. I figured it was because I got to do things I haven't had a chance to as a human child, but now I'm starting to question my actions. I've even started to have thoughts like 'it'll be fine' or 'don't worry about it.' I didn't know if these thoughts belonged to me or Silver Spoon's. Whichever it was, it seemed so... carefree.

The scary thing is that I didn't entirely disagree with those thoughts either. I put both my forelegs in the air and stare down directly at my small hooves. Was I always like this or was I changing?

An old theory came to mind. It was a theory that I was simply Silver Spoon with a dead human's memories. A normal filly with her own ticks, desires, and motivations, but only having foreign memories that jump-started an early consciousness and a moral code. Yet if that's the case, why do these memories seem so... real?

"Agh! I don't know!" I rolled over and shouted into the bedsheets in frustration. Seconds passed and I grudgingly flip over to one side of my body. Choosing to shelf my theory back in the corner of my mind, my thoughts lingered elsewhere. My eyes glanced back at my bedroom door, the room being illuminated with a faint candlelight.

When are they coming back?

Then a flash of light flickered under the door crevice. The door knob turned slowly before the hinges turned without a sound. The doorway revealed a mare with a yellow-pastel coat. Her leafy-green mane and tail both curled and drooped down around her body as a horn was sticking out of her forehead. The mare's flank fashioned a wand with a green handle and pink star; all tied together with a pink bow string at the handle. Her violet eyes locked in with mine.

"Mom!?" I exclaimed, quickly fumbling out of my bed cushions and onto the rug.

"The one and only." The mare smiled, bemused at me trying to get back up. "So much for me trying to check on you while you're asleep." She remarked, looking back at the door before canceling a spell of hers. The door shimmered with a faint blue light before dissipating, now turning back to face me. "Now what were you doing awake this late at night?"

"Worrying about you of course!" I ran up to the mare and wrapped my forelegs around the base of her neck, rubbing my cheeks into her chest fluff. "When did you get here? I didn't hear any doorbell ringing."

"Ah, well. We didn't want to wake you up. So much for that [Silent] spell." She sighs, before wrapping one of her forelegs around me, pulling me into a hug as she rested her chin on top of my head. "But there's no need to worry, I'm fine now."

"But you weren't fine before!" I protested, breaking the hug. My gaze rested on the red carpet for a couple seconds before looking back up at her. "Was... was it another seizure?"

The mare kept her expression steady, maintaining her composure. "Yes, and it was bad."

"Then-!"

"-But the doctors there have prescribed me with more medicine," she interrupted, pressing my mouth with her hoof, "and after taking it, I feel much better."

"You got a bigger dosage?" The concern on my face was obvious; my skepticism not trying to hide itself. "That stuff isn't going to cure your epilepsy-"

"But it helps Spoony." Mom pulled me and kissed my forehead as I instinctively scrunch my nose at the embarrassing nickname she just addressed me. We share a couple seconds together in each other's warmth.

"...You know I hate it when you call me that." I muttered in her chest as I leaned against her.

"It's still a form of endearment honey." She continued patting my withers. Then she held my head with both of her hooves, taking a careful look at me. "Now listen, what I'm about to say next is very important."

My muzzle shifts to a confused expression, but I nodded nonetheless.

Mom sighs momentarily before giving me a gentle smile. "Mommy isn't going to be here forever, and I want you to stand on your own four hooves when that time comes."

"Wa?" My ears drooped as I tried to pull back in dismay, but mother simply holds on tight to me.

"Shush just listen to mommy for a minute." She continues rubbing at my withers. I nodded in silence as my heart drops. I didn't want to be having this talk right now, not this soon. "I know your father hasn't been the most loving as I am-"

"That's an understatement-"

"-But he does care for you, and I want you to be patient with him." The yellow mare lets go and makes eye-contact with me. "Your father hides his feelings underneath layers of ice. He uses it whenever he doesn't feel safe Spoon, and right now he's not in a safe space. He is a truly, kind stallion at heart and the world is pressuring him to be his best at all times. In his field of practice, he can't afford to make any mistakes, especially not in front of everypony. The same goes for me too, not having a seizure during one of my performances."

"But you can't help it-" I protested as I defiantly stared into her eyes.

"-And neither can he." Mom moves her hoof from my withers to pat my head, still maintaining that gentle smile she always had.

I slowly averted my gaze. My emotions and frustrations boiled from under me from the years of neglect, but mother's hoof lifted my gaze upwards as she smiled passionate at me. "Silver Spoon, you are the most special filly in the world to us, and you are so much smarter than your peers. So can you promise me one thing?"

I struggled to maintain my gaze. I gritted my teeth trying to hide my animosity towards Silversmith. "What is it?"

"Promise me that you'll look after your father in my stead." Her violet eyes were on me, looking deep into my eyes. "When I'm gone, and I don't know when but I will, your father will attempt to bury his deepest feelings to avoid the pain. He will try to shove everypony in his life away from him and bury himself in his own work and I know it will be hard while being ignored by him." My mother then rests her hoof on my shoulder. "But promise me that you'll forgive him. Promise me that you'll stay strong and be patient with him. Promise me that you'll wait for your father to realize what truly is important."

She was no longer smiling, but had a gaze filled with a much more sorrowful kind of tenderness I was used to. My mother waited expectantly at me as I remained silent throughout the seconds that has passed. My throat dried up, but I painfully swallowed my emotions and sighed. In barely an audible whisper, I say. "Okay."

The yellow unicorn continued staring into my gaze, examining each expression I made as I promised to her. Satisfied, she returned to her usual tender smile before giving a kiss on my forehead once more. "Good. Remember Spoony, mommy loves you."

I pause, turning my head to the side to hide my embarrassment once more. "I love you too... mommy."
> Silver Belles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other students were all busy at the front of the class listening to Miss Cheerilee, all of them practicing their writing skills by trying to trace their names on the dotted lines.

Dia and I happened to turn in our papers at the exact same time earlier than the rest of the class, surprising the magenta mare before she smiled encouragingly and congratulated us both. Some of the students looked on at us with awe and a few others indifferent to us. Yet Dia still puffed her chest out in pride upon receiving our teacher's praise, only to be shot down with a hiss that came from the back at the classroom. "Eggheads."

We both scanned our eyes to the back of the classroom and saw the same orange pegasus with a magenta mane from yesterday. My friend's expression fell when she heard this and something inside me stirred when I saw her ears drooped, her bright smile being shot down in an instant. Irritation was prickling against the skin of my coat.

"Miss Cheerilee?" I feigned a smile to get Miss Cheerilee's attention.

Her eyes were locked on Scootaloo, just about to give her a quick scolding before pausing and turning to me. "Yes, Silver Spoon?" She answered in the cheerful tone she uses on all her well-behaved students.

"Can Diamond Tiara and I go to the back and draw while we wait?" I inquired.

"Oh, of course you can Silver Spoon!" Miss Cheerilee smiled at us both, lifting Diamond Tiara's expression. "The blank papers should all be in the top cupboard and the crayons underneath. Just make sure you put them back when you're both finished."

"Okay." I chirped before I led Diamond Tiara to the back of the classroom. I passed by Scootaloo with a slight smirk on my lips, her face returning with an annoyed scowl as she rolled her eyes.

We were earning a couple of looks from a couple of fillies and colts, but their glances were quickly brought back to Miss Cheerilee as she gathered their attention once more with a bell. "Alright class, ten more minutes until our little assignment is over~" she informed the class.

Diamond Tiara and I were now sitting in the back left corner of the classroom at a small wooden roundtable. Used crayons and various origami art were scattered around us as we were idly experimenting with arts and crafts. 

"Just what is her deal?" Diamond Tiara whispered to me as I folded two halves of a sheet of paper into a paper shuriken.

"Hmm?" I inquired, the pink filly glancing back at the orange pegasus. Scootaloo was whispering to Sweetie Belle before pretending to puff her chest out, presumably mimicking Dia from earlier. The light-grey unicorn snickered quietly in response. "Urgh... just ignore them." My face turned into a scowl as I placed a finished paper star in one pile.

Diamond Tiara was drawing on one of my stars, coloring it pink with a crayon before spitting it out. To this day, I'm still mildly disgusted that we use our mouths to hold everything. Apparently, ponies have no issues sharing things they held in their mouths. Something to do with our saliva being more sanitary I can only presume.

"They're making fun of us Sil." The pink filly says as she grabs a glue stick and pastes a sticky layer on both sides of her paper star. "It's not fair." Her expression fell again.

"Of course it isn't, but that shouldn't stop us from having fun. Seriously, just ignore them. They'll get bored of it eventually." I advised, finishing up another paper ninja star and tossing it into the pile.

"You sure?" Diamond Tiara raised an eye skeptically, now dabbing her star in sparkly pink glitter. Before I could open my mouth in response, the bell suddenly chimed and everypony stopped moving their pencils.

Miss Cheerilee was ringing one of her bells before placing it back on her desk. "Alright class, now could everypony pass their papers to the pony in front of you? Then do it again until the pony at the very front row has all the papers." Papers shifted as the students did as they were told, Miss Cheerilee now collecting the stacks of papers from each desk in the front row. "Very good children, I'm very proud of you all. Now, you're all excused for recess-"

The class exploded into discussion and chatter, with a large number of colorful colts and fillies running after the exit. Miss Cheerilee sighed contently as she walked out of the classroom behind all of them with our papers in her saddlebag. Surprising however was the number of children coming straight towards us.

"Hey, your name is Diamond Tiara right?"
"You can already write your name that fast!?"
"What are you making?"

The myriad of voices filled the classroom, lots of them leaning against our table mesmerized by our collection of paper origami figures and stars. I instinctively cowered back in my chair at the sudden and excited audience, but Diamond Tiara simply stared at all of them befuddled. "Uh. It's a paper star. Silver Spoon taught-"

"That's so cool!"
"It's so pretty!"
"I didn't know you could use paper like that."
"Can you teach us how to make them!?"

A part of the class bounced up and down comedically as they surrounded the pink filly. I simply stood at the other side of the table, some part of me surrendering to my inner anxiety of an excitable audience and some other part of me being somewhat offended from being completely ignored. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see Scootaloo standing near the exit with Sweetie Belle next to her, flabbergasted at the scene in front of her. Before Sweetie Belle could comment, the orange pegasus made eye contact with me. Her expression soured in an instant and she ran off through the exit. "Scootaloo!" The light-grey unicorn exclaimed in the background, her gaze glancing back at us momentarily before running after her.

"Sil!" My attention was quickly taken away from me as I now saw Diamond Tiara and the rest of the class looking at me with pleading eyes. I sank my flank deeper into my chair as I felt all their eyes on me, my anxiety rising as I shirked. My friend took notice and immediately motioned all of them back as she leaned forwards in her chair. "They want to know how to do more origami." Her eyes sparkled like the rest of them, all waiting in anticipation.

"U-Uh... S-Sure..." I timidly replied. 

By the time recess was done half of the students all made their own paper stars and colored them with whatever crayons Cheerilee had in one of her many cabinets. I'm still repulsed by the fact that they all share the crayons in their mouths with obvious slobber on them. I count my lucky stars that I have my own crayon pack I brought from home.

"Hey, can I borrow another pink?" My ears perked behind me.

I turned to see Diamond Tiara tilting her head innocently at me. "You already used all the pink already." I stated.

"Well can I have the darker pink?" She pointed towards another crayon I had on my desk.

"That's magenta." I corrected, hesitating a bit before answering. "And sure I guess. I wasn't going to use it anyways."

"Great! Thanks Sil!" Dia chirped before coming in to hug me.

My eyes widened as she locked her hooves around my neck, slowly reaching out one of my forelegs to pat her on the back. "Uh, n-no problem Dia." I say, a little taken aback.

She then let go and skipped delightedly towards my desk to retrieve her crayon, before returning to her table with a couple other classmates. They were all chatting and getting along fine, most of them chatting with Dia about how pretty her paper stars looked with all that glitter she added. A faint smile curled around my lips as I watch the pink filly overjoyed talking to her new acquaintances.

The door suddenly opened to reveal Miss Cheerilee trotting out with some papers in her mouth. "Oh! I didn't expect you kids to all be still in here." She said with full clarity despite the papers in her mouth, before placing it all on her desk.

"We were making paper stars Miss Cheerlilee!" One of the colts enthusiastically exclaimed.

"Oh, you are?" The older mare approached all of us in interest. "Where did you all learn to make them?" she asked quizzically. All eyes turned to me before Cheerilee took notice. I felt their gazes all prickle on the back of my fur as I sat at my desk. The magenta mare took notice of my multiple crumpled-up pieces of paper lying around due to my failed attempts of trying to figure out how to make a paper crane. "Silver Spoon. You made these?"

I turned around to meet Cheerilee's gaze. "Y-Yeah... Sorry for wasting so much paper."

"Wasting? Of course not! These paper stars are all wonderful!" Cheerilee praised me with encouragement, reassuring me with a pat on my shoulder. "I've never seen anything like it. Did you come up with all this by yourself?"

"It's called origami." I answered, a little unsure of what other explanation I could offer. "And yes? It's just a hobby though."

"Well, it's a wonderful hobby to have." She smiled brightly before turning to the rest of the class. "Now class, how about we put all your paper stars up on the walls for everypony to see?"

"Cool!"
"I want my star up there!"
"Mine first!"

The class erupted into excitable chatter before Miss Cheerilee ended up calming them all down. Soon enough after we had pinned all our stars up, recess had finished. The chimes of our teacher's bell rung out of the courtyard and the playful cheers of foals all stampeded into adjacent classroom halls. By the time the rest of the students entered through the door, they all froze. Awestruck by the glittering stars hanging from the ceiling and pinned on the walls, they eyed each piece with extreme interest.

"Woah..."
"What are those?"
"I want one!"

Miss Cheerilee giggled as all her students walked around her classroom in awe. "Welcome class!"  she introduced them all with a warm smile.

"What happened here?" One of the colts asked. Many of the other students shared the same confusion.

"Well, Silver Spoon was just showing everypony how to make paper stars. I think they help liven up the classroom!" She praised before turning to me. "What do you call it?"

I locked with her gaze and she smiled back reassuringly. "It's called Origami. It's nothing really. Anypony can do it."

"I wanna learn!" A filly among the group exclaimed before the rest of them erupted into eager cheers.

"Me too!"
"Me three!"
"Me first!"
"No me first!"

"Now now, we can all learn to make them after lunch." She calmed them all down with a stern and steady voice expected of a school teacher. "Then we can also pin all your stars up on the walls with everypony else. Would anypony be interested?" She smiled encouragingly.

"Yeah!" The classroom cheered.

The rest of the day went by as normal. Better than I expected actually. It was only our second day and Dia has already made a couple of new friends. Or at least a new sort of social group as I find her often surrounded by other fillies and the occasional colt. I couldn't stand large social groups back in my former life, so I simply sat back at my desk finishing up easy classwork. Everything at school was working out pretty well and I couldn't wait to learn things I didn't know about Equestria prior. Yet, for some reason, I felt like I was forgetting something...

Oh well, if I can't remember then it wasn't that important anyways.





"I don't get it!" A shout resounded across the dirt streets of Ponyville. The sounds of wheels crunching underneath pebbles and rocks.

"Don't get what Scootaloo?" A light-grey filly with a grayish mulberry pale mane with light grayish rose streaks walked by her side.

"I don't get why those two are so... popular!" The orange filly exclaimed in frustration. She was riding her scooter at a sluggish pace to match Sweetie Belle's. It was late in the afternoon and they usually went out to hang out somewhere, but this time was different. Scootaloo seemed to be upset about something the unicorn didn't really understand.

"I mean, they're rich ponies, right? Who wouldn't want to be friends with them?" Sweetie Belle said, trying to offer a reasonable explanation to get her friend out of her mulling.

"If that were the case then you'd have a bunch of our classmates trying to be buddy-buddy with them." The pegasus sighed. "It's just, they're both eggheads! They're the lamest of the lame. They can't be popular!"

"Why not?" the light-grey filly asked, tilting her head to the side as they continued walking towards Rarity's Boutique.

"Because all they're doing is folding paper!" She waved her arms exaggeratedly. "Like, my scooter tricks are way cooler! They're just a bunch of nerds! They can't be cool!"

"Well, I think you're still cool." Sweetie Belle gently smiled.

"Yeah, well you're my friend so your opinion doesn't count." Scootaloo waved her foreleg dismissively. She then strolled forward a bit more along with their pace. Her ears perked up hearing no hoofsteps. Turning to see that her friend was a couple of hooves away, the orange filly also heard a small sniff. "Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked cautiously.

Sniff. "Well! If my opinion doesn't matter, then maybe I don't want to be your friend!" The unicorn ran off in front of her with tears swelling in her eyes.

"Sweetie Belle wait!" Scootaloo shouted, before seeing her one and only friend disappearing in the distance. The orange pegasus wanted to follow her, to stop and apologize, but she knew that this was another one of Sweetie Belle's emotional episodes. "Urgh..." She faceplanted on the handle of her scooter. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" The sounds of her head impacting her scooter resounded repeatedly in her skull. A small bruise appeared on the center of her forehead as she winced in pain. "Me and my dumb mouth..."

Scootaloo regretted saying that to Sweetie Belle, especially since she knew she was sensitive to that kind of stuff. She sighed in exasperation, but she knew she'd be able to apologize early in the morning. For now, she had to get back to her aunts before curfew, and quickly too. Today's weather forecast dictated a serious storm that was supposed to make up for all the time they lost when it was too cold to fly routine weather patterns. From what she's heard, it was going to last the entire night.





"Did you see how many friends I made?!" Dia skipped happily alongside me as we walked back towards our estate. "I've made friends with Rumble, Tender Taps, Aquamarine, Boysenberry, First Base, Heidi Hay, Lemon Daze, and Peach Fuzz!"

"Yeah... you certainly made quite a few." I say apprehensively to her excitement.

"What's wrong?" Dia asked, taking note of my lack of shared enthusiasm.

"Ehh... It's just that friend groups aren't really my thing." I answered. It was true, I never really liked large social groups. I only really acquainted myself with a handful of individuals online. I never bothered going out to after-school parties or except for the occasional birthday here and there. Most of the time I sat alone doing my own thing, that said I was never opposed to talking to people, individually. Whenever I do try to be in social circles, I always end up laughing at jokes I do not understand and agreeing to everything people say without much thought. It was mind-numbing loneliness amongst a crowd of strangers.

"Having a few friends can't be all that bad." Dia said reassuringly. "I mean, you have me after all." She smiled and nudged me on my shoulder.

I stood there frozen to the physical affection I just received. Is this normal for fillies? I asked myself, glancing back at my friend cautiously. I had to assume as such. My male friends never really showed any form of physical affection with one another. Hell, my human family never bothered to either. Only my pony mother ever sometimes displayed warm hugs and the occasional nuzzle. Yet due to her rare appearance at the Silver Estate Manor, I cherished those moments greatly.

"Hey, we're still friends right?" I hear Dia asked worriedly in my silence.

"Huh?" I snapped out of my trance. "Of course we are. What made you think otherwise?" I voiced my concern, raising both my eyebrows alarmingly.

"Well, it's just... You sat alone during recess and lunch."

"Well, I like sitting alone." I said a tad too defensively. "I mean, you're welcome to join me if you want. Again, I just don't do well in front of-"

"Too many ponies?" Dia finished my sentence.

"Y-Yeah." I nodded slowly.

She nodded back in understanding. "I see... Well still, having at least one more friend can't be that bad right?" She asked encouragingly. 

"Yeah... I guess not." I admitted.

Eventually, as we continued our walk back home, our ears perked up to some audible sounds of hiccups and sniffing. Dia and I glanced back at each other, sharing the same confusion and concern. I located where the sound was coming from and headed towards there as my friend wordlessly followed behind me. Carefully navigating through the cobblestone road, I find myself parting two bushes to see a light-grey filly crying under a tree. "Sweetie Belle?!" I naturally exclaimed.

"H-Huh?" Sniff. "H-How did you find me?" The small unicorn hiccupped, trying desperately to wipe her tears away. I glanced back quickly at Dia standing a couple of hooves away. She was motioning me towards her with her foreleg and an encouraging smile. Nodding I turn back to the filly in front of me.

"We heard you crying back here. Are you alright?" I slowly approached. I saw her tense up a bit once I drew near, so I stopped mid-way and planted my haunches on the grass next to her from a comfortable distance.

Sniff... "N-No it's nothing. I-I just had a fight with my friend." The filly tried her hardest to wipe more of her muzzle with her foreleg. I reached into my saddlebag and offered a large tissue. She quickly accepted and blew her snout into it. "T-Thanks..."

"So... a fight? Well, that happens." I say, unsure of the right words to properly console her. My attention was split between trying to find said words and hypothesizing how many tears can this small filly secrete out of her eyes.

"N-No, it wasn't just that." She held her hindlegs folded in front of her. "I said something horrible. I-I said I didn't want to be friends with her anymore!" Then she started bawling before crying into my hoofkerchief.

I cautiously edged my haunches over, trying to reach a foreleg over her shoulder before ultimately deciding against it. "Well, you didn't mean it right?"

"N-No..." Sniff.

"Then you can apologize later. If you two were truly friends then no fight, no matter how bad, can bring you apart." I say offering a faint smile.

"Y-You think so?" Sweetie Belle glanced back towards me with her wet-reddish eyes.

"To be completely frank, I don't know how long you were friends with this pony so I can't say for sure." I shrugged nonchalantly.

Sniff. "Me and Scootaloo have been friends only for a week." she answered.

"Oh, fu-uuuudddggggeeee." I caught myself in the middle of my cursing. The filly eyed me questionably as I bowdlerize myself. "Aw geez, sorry about that..." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Sorry, I'm really bad at this sort of thing..."

After one short sniffle into my hoofkerchief, she gave a small laugh with tears still in her eyes. "N-No it's fine. I'm actually glad that somepony found me." Sniff. Sweetie Belle gave one final blow into my napkin before attempting to return it to me.

I impulsively retreated back a few steps. "Oh no, you can keep that." My eyes leered at the snot-filled napkin as it dripped slightly off her hoof.

"Are you sure? It looks pretty expensive." The small unicorn looks puzzled at me.

"No no, it's fine honestly. I have like dozens of them. Keep it, I insist." I say feigning the best smile I could muster.

"Well, thanks." She smiled lightly. "Your name is Silver Spoon right?"

"Yup... that's me." I laughed nervously. Our conversation ended abruptly there as we both didn't really know what else to say. We both timidly glanced at each other, before rapidly looking away. The awkwardness of it all really settled in by the time I looked over to my side to see Diamond Tiara hiding in the bushes. I mouthed my lips silently to her. What the heck do I do now?

Make friends with her. She mouthed back conspicuously, still holding two branches together to hide her very visible pink muzzle. I stare back momentarily before turning around to face Sweetie Belle, still completely unsure of what to make of all this. "Um, hey."

"Hey." The light-grey filly responded meekly without making any eye contact. She no longer was sniffing or having hiccups interrupt her speech, which was a small relief.

"I-If it's alright with you, I'll be your friend." I offered.

"You will?" She asked wide-eyed in bewilderment, now actually facing me.

"Y-Yeah, if it isn't too much trouble."

"It's not!" Sweetie Belle jumped out from her haunches and into the air before landing in front of me. "I have a new friend! I have a new friend!" She excitedly exclaimed.

Naturally, I was also off my haunches and stepped back a few steps in fear that the filly might land on top of me. "Y-Yeah."

"Oh! What do you want to do first? Oh, we can use Rarity's makeup, we can play dress up, we can play with my dolls, oh you can teach me how to do more of that paper folding-" My new friend blurted out all sorts of activities she could come up from the top of her head while jumping up and down.

What the fuck? Is she bipolar? Wait, no she's Rarity's sister of course she is. I quickly put an end to it by shoving my hoof in her mouth, ending the onslaught of high-pitched excitement. "First, we need to get you back to your sister's place. It's getting pretty late you know."

Sweetie Belle looked up at the sky to see the brightly lit orange sky was turning dimmer with dark clouds overhead by the second. I release my grip on her mouth and she calmed down and nodded in understanding. "Yeah I should probably get back or Rarity won't let me hear the end of it." She sighs, before pointing towards the bushes next to me. "By the way, when is your friend going to introduce herself?"

"Aw shoot! She can see me?" Dia said disappointedly, coming out of the bushes with a couple of leaves in her mane.

"Yeah... It was pretty obvious." Sweetie Belle deadpanned.

"I really thought I was hidden..." The pink filly shook off the random brambles out.

"Your pink coat gave it away." The unicorn explained. "Why were you hiding anyways?"

"I wanted to see if Silver Spoon can make a new friend for herself." Dia answered a matter of factly.

"I can make friends! I just choose not to." I crossed my forelegs in mock offense, turning up my muzzle as I huffed.

Sweetie Belle giggled at my display before lending a hoof out to Dia. "Well, it's nice meeting you, uh-"

"Diamond Tiara," she answered and shook hooves, "you can call me Dia."

"Dia?" The unicorn tilts her head questionably.

"It's a nickname Sil gave me." The pink filly explained. "And I nicknamed her Sil." She pointed back at me. "Oh! We should give you one too!" Dia excitedly clasped her hooves.

"Urgh, as long as it isn't 'Sweetie'. Only my parents and even my older sister calls me that." She irked in disgust.

"Alright, Sweet-Pea." I say with a slight smirk.

"Ew, that's even worse!" Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out.

"My daddy sometimes calls me that." Dia giggled, receiving a weird look from the unicorn in return.

"Okaaay, then how about Sweetie-B?" I offered.

"Ehh....." Both Dia and Sweetie Belle responded disapprovingly.

"Okay fine, how about Marshmallow?" I say blankly.

"Wha҉t!?" The small unicorn shouted in a pitch high enough to cause permanent hearing damage.

Yet despite that, Dia burst into laughter before falling on the grass, rolling and trying to hold her belly. "Hahahaha!!! Marshmallow! That's perfect!"

"Why name me after a food!?" the marshmallow eyed us both questionably.

"I mean you do look the part." I say a matter of factly, before eyeing her mischievously. "Now to see if you taste the part..." I bared my teeth in a wicked smile.

"You wouldn't dare." The marshmallow stared me down nervously.

"You're right," I stepped forth intimidatingly, "I prefer mine roasted." My smile turned into a wide malicious grin. Sweetie Belle instinctively took a couple of hoofsteps back, right into Diamond Tiara.

"Well I like marshmallows when they're soft and fluffy!" Dia wrapped her forelegs around Sweetie Belle's waist, defiantly staring down at me and locking me at a distance between me and them.

"...I'm starting to regret accepting your hooves of friendship." The marshmallow said dryly.

"Okay, okay, we'll stop." I waved a hoof over at Dia, signaling her to let go of her.

Sweetie Belle sighed a breath of relief afterwards, getting back up with a glint of amusement in her eyes. "Both of you are so weird."

"I'm not the weird one, Sil is!" The pink filly pointed to me in mock defense.

"Guilty as charged." I proudly admit with a smug expression plastered on my face.

"Urgh, see what I mean?" The unicorn groaned. "How long have you both been friends anyways?"

"Since yesterday." Dia answered.

"Yeah." I confirmed.

"Wha҉t!? No way! You both are acting like you've been best friends since forever!"

Dia and I simply shrugged. "We just get along well that's all." I answered.

"Really?" Sweetie Belle stared in astonishment, before lowering her head in disappointment. "I wish I had a friend like that..."

But before she could get really moody, Dia wrapped her foreleg around her neck to cheer her up. "Hey don't worry about it! Just stick with us Sweetie Belle and you'll get along just fine!"

The marshmallow looked back up at the pink filly with a hopeful gaze. "Well, I sure hope so."

"Alright, well we better get going." I say dismissively. "Where do you live Sweetie Belle? We both can walk you there."

"Oh, my big sister's boutique is actually a few blocks from here." The unicorn trotted ahead of us.

I turned back to Diamond Tiara and saw that she was staring back at me with sparkly eyes. "What?" I asked quizzically.

"Nothing~" She trotted along after Sweetie Belle.

My confusion caused me to stand still, my eyes narrowed in skepticism before my puzzlement eventually subsided. With a resounding sigh, I gave up and ran after them. "Hey wait up!"





We have to walk across a good amount of the town to reach Rarity’s boutique. I stare at the round building as we approach it, both familiar and unknown. As the name suggests, Carousel Boutique bears a resemblance to a carousel or merry-go-round from the outside, having a largely cylindrical building shape with decorative pillars and pony sculptures lining the lower and upper exterior. My mind screams with the impracticality of such a structure, but also at the same time admiring the builder's handiwork. Hoofiwork? It looms high over both of us darkly, as we approach the front door. There Sweetie Belle knocked on the front door. "Rarity, I'm back!"

The door unlocks with a satisfying click, and another swift motion reveals a room flooding with cheery brightness that makes me squint and lift a hoof to shade my eyes. "Oh, you're home a little late today, Sweetie," she said in a concerned, yet motherly tone that reminded me much of my own mother. "And you're not alone," she added, casting an appraising glance at Dia and me, who blushed faintly at the realization that we had not been expected.

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle said, trying to hide her excitement. "Rarity, this is Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They're my new friends!" she chirped in absolute glee. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light and I saw her. Now Rarity, she did more than just give her coat and mane some attention. Compared to my mother she seemed to shimmer with fabulousness…or maybe it was just the tiny bit of glitter in her makeup. Magic Star made sure that her looks were always on point for her performances, but Rarity... she obviously had put in some monumental effort to curl her mane and tail so perfectly there wasn’t a hair out of place, while her horn ended in a sharpened point.

"Hi, I'm Diamond Tiara!" The pink filly chirped along with Sweetie Belle as they both entered the carousel.

Snapping out of my stupor, I followed and I quickly offered my name. "Uh, oh and I am Silver Spoon." I reached my hoof out.

Closing the door behind us with magic, Rarity accepted my hoof and shook it with a warm smile. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Rarity, Sweetie Belle's older sister."

"Yeah, she told us as much." I nudged Sweetie Belle from her other side with a smirk.

Rarity's smile widened, revealing an even row of brilliant white teeth. "Well, don't believe everything you hear. I promise I'm not quite the cruel disciplinarian I'm sure she's told you I am." Rarity says gently before using her magic to lift Sweetie Belle's saddlebag off of her.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, but Diamond Tiara said, "No, she didn't say anything like that."

"Really?" Rarity said, glancing at Sweetie Belle, who shrugged. "Well, it was nice to meet you both, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. I'm sure you three have a lot to chat about, so I'll get out of your mane. Sweetie Belle, supper is at seven so if your friends are going to stay and eat with us, please let me know before six, so I can plan accordingly."

"Oh!" My eyes widened. "We aren't staying. We're just walking her home so she doesn't get lost."

"Hey! I can walk back home just fine-"

Rarity swiftly shoved her hoof in her sister's mouth. "Now how kind of you both to do that. She has been getting rather tardy as of late. No thanks to that Scootaloo I would assume." She added rather dryly.

Sweetie Belle appeared to look downtrodden after that comment, slowly looking depressingly downwards.

"Well, we wouldn't want to overstay our welcome right Diamond Tiara?" I addressed my friend with her full name.

"Oh! Uh, right. We should get back going to our own homes." The pink filly backed me up.

"Well, be sure to visit sometime! Any friend of Sweetie Belle is a friend of mine." Rarity smiled.

"Will do," I say turning around towards the exit. The moment both Dia and I left the boutique and closed the door behind us, a loud thunderous crackle shook the air and a downpour of water started to rain down on Rarity's roof. Moments later both Dia and I walked back into the Carousel Boutique completely drenched in water. Our manes flopping on downwards as our coats dripped water onto the purple floral floor.

".....Um, maybe we'll take that offer for supper." I meekly replied.
> Confessions and Concerns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity had informed our parents of our stay through some sort of magic mailing system. Apparently, unicorns are able to burn up their mail in the form of scrolls or parchments to send it to other pre-designated locations; similar to how Celestia gets Spike to send Twilight's letters. It wasn't all that surprising to learn that Silversmith, despite being an Earth Pony, has access to the unicorn mailing system thanks to the unicorns under his employment.

Rarity was surprised to learn that both Dia and I come from extremely wealthy households. She offered plenty of snacks for us to munch on and even allowed us access to much of her bath soap collection. Speaking of which, she's currently getting all three of us in a bathtub while humming a catchy little tune. “Hmhmmhmm hmmhmhm~ It’ll be nice to get all that dirt off,” Rarity says relievedly, depositing me in alongside Dia and Sweetie Belle.

She turns the faucets off with her magic. Clearly, Rarity is well familiar with this bathtub’s particular ratio of cold to hot. She grabs with her mouth, a bottle from a tray alongside the bathtub, and up-ends a dash of its contents into the tub, humming pleasantly all the while. Just a splash of something. It’s a perfume, I think, from the smell that quickly pervades the air. An essential oil, perhaps? I have a maid that does the exact same thing whenever she prepares the bath. With the water full and steaming, I relax inside it as I feel the blessed warmth seeping in through my tired skin and relaxing my tense muscles.

"No bubbles?" Dia says curiously, getting me to look up from my bath trance.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, we just ran out of Castile soap." Rarity apologized as she takes the showerhead to soak her already wet mane. "Sweetie Belle used it all a few days ago." Her eyes glanced towards her sister, who in turn wore a meek expression back at a disappointed Diamond Tiara.

“What did you... add to the water? It smells nice.” I say diverting Rarity's attention away.

“Just some solemn tree oil.” she says casually, switching her water nozzle to soak my mane. The cold rainwater flows down into the bath replacing the icy feeling on my skin with a warm embrace. “It’s a wonderful, long-lived tree whose essence is known to invigorate the mind, and calm the nerves.” she finished.

"I feel calmer already." I say as I crossed both forelegs on the side of the tub, the nozzle drizzling hot water down my withers.

"I'll say," Rarity responds, "Scootaloo was never this behaved when taking her bath."

"Scootaloo takes dust baths," Sweetie argued, "she doesn't need regular baths."

Rarity visibly cringes as she moved on the nozzle to her sister. "Now now Sweetie, everypony simply must take a bath every now and then, preferably every day."

Sweetie's comment shifted my brain into high gear. Dust baths? I was perplexed that pegasi even took dust baths. I know that certain animals do it, mostly to remove parasites from fur. Why would a pegasus need to take one if we can just take baths? Unless...!

"Hey Rarity?" Rarity pauses in accosting Sweetie Belle with her nozzle and looks at me querulously. “I’ve forgotten...” I say timidly and a bit slyly, “but do pegasus feathers need to be oiled?” 

“Well of course they–” Rarity starts to say, then looks at the soapy sponge held hovering in her magic. Her gaze darts to Sweetie Belle and she says, “Oh, oh dear. I’m... I-I... I've been bathing her all wrong! Good catch Silver Spoon! Oh, I’m so sorry Sweetie Belle. I hadn't realized that I was treating your friend so horribly. Her wings must be in such poor condition-”

Rarity's muzzle soon turned into a horrified expression as she suddenly dropped the nozzle in the bath, clasping both her hooves over her mouth. "Oh, oh no... Sweetie Belle, I've been the reason why your friend can't fly. B-Because of me your first friend has been... been... crippled!" she wails dramatically, the light-grey mare's eyes visibly watered and her lips quivered upon the realization that she possibly had done something completely and utterly unforgivable.

Sweetie Belle and I immediately recoiled back in the bathtub, the both of us being very familiar to Rarity's dramatic hysterics while Dia stood visibly concerned and confused. Seconds later, Sweetie sloshed in the water to approach her sister wearing an expression of solace. "Rarity! It's not your fault." She leans over the side tub, still drenched in water.

"But, it is Sweetie Belle!" Rarity's eyes were still quivering in tears.

"No, it really isn't." The light-grey filly insisted. "Scootaloo couldn't fly even before she became my friend. Scootaloo isn't crippled, she can move her wings just fine. She just... hasn't figured it out yet."

"O-Oh... right." Rarity meekly wiped her tears that were dripping down her mascara. "Well that's a relief - that I didn't cripple her I mean. Not that she can't fly! That's still horrible-"

"I get it Rarity." The small unicorn consoled her older sister with a reassuring smile.

"Right, right... that's good." The older mare sighs a fresh breath of relief. "I'll have to apologize for my unsightly display," she turned apologetically towards Dia and me, "I do tend to... get emotional over things."

"You mean overreact?" Sweetie Belle corrected.

"Shush." The older sister quipped.

"I don't mind. I think it's kinda sweet that you care so much about Sweetie Belle's friend," Dia responded while waving a hoof, "even if she is a mule..."

"Now that's not a very nice thing to say Diamond Tiara-"

"No, she's right." Sweetie Belle interrupted Rarity mid-scolding. "She has been... pretty rude to the both of you, and me."

"She has?" Rarity seemed surprised but clearly upset at this revelation. "Now what has that troublesome foal- wait... was she the reason that you cried?" She asked adamantly in concern.

"H-Huh? How did you know I-"

"Of course I would know Sweetie Belle!" Rarity rested both of her forelegs on her sister's shoulders. "As an expert in crying, I could tell that something simply horrid happened to you. I just didn't want to say anything until you were ready to share it with me." Rarity's firmly grasped both hooves in reassurance. "Has Scootaloo hurt you in any way Sweetie?"

"I-" Sweetie Belle turned back to the both of us sitting on the other side of the tub, Dia watching with mild concern and I with moderate interest. The light-grey filly opened her mouth, before deciding to close it again. She was obviously trying to choose her next words carefully. "She said my opinion doesn't matter since I'm her friend."

"What!?" Rarity exclaimed, completely baffled. "But Sweetie, your opinion matters because you're her friend."

"I know, it's really dumb." Sweetie sighed in exasperation. 

"What's brought this up?" I asked curiously, still relaxing at the other end of the tub with my head rested against the rim.

"Well... Scootaloo thinks you both are uncool."

"Pfft... that's more than obvious." Dia added sarcastically.

"What? Why is that?" Rarity tilted her head.

"Because she believes they're both eggheads... and that eggheads shouldn't be popular."

"Who said that we're popular?" I asked perplexed.

"Well apparently she thinks that you both are. Ever since you tried that ori-ga-me thing with the whole classroom." Sweetie answered.

"Ori- I'm sorry what?" Rarity asked, clearly missing context.

"Origami! It's folding paper into shapes and other cool stuff. Silver Spoon invented it!" Dia excitedly explained.

"I didn't invent it... I just read about it in a book somewhere." I said. "All we did was make paper stars and Miss Cheerilee had the whole class join in. Anypony can do it, it's really nothing special." I waved a hoof dismissively.

"I see... but how does this connect with Scootaloo invalidating your opinion?" Rarity turned to Sweetie Belle.

"Well, now she thinks that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are both popular. And that she's cooler than the both of you." Sweetie Belle explained.

"So... she's jealous then." Dia summarized.

"How petty." I lamely remarked, sloshing over to the other side of the tub.

"I'm inclined to agree." Rarity nodded sympathetically.

"Yeah, and I'm not the popular one, Dia is." I waved a hoof at said filly.

"No I'm not!" Dia denied.

"Says the one with a dozen new friends." I say sarcastically.

"What's wrong with having a couple friends?" Sweetie asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

"Too many friends can be a bad thing." My eyes narrowed as my pessimistic side reared its ugly head. "Get a big enough group and they will stop being themselves. They wear masks, pretend to be upstanding so they don't get excluded from the group. They smile and agree with everything everypony else says, laugh at jokes they don't really understand or find funny, and try to be the least controversial to not start any drama." I listed on. "They're all just being fake. You can't ever have a genuine relationship like that." I added with a bit more venom than I intended.

Everypony was staring at me dumbfounded. Dia and Sweetie Belle were surprised while Rarity was looking on with intense concern. "It sounds like you're speaking this from experience." The older mare remarked, eyeing me with worry.

I snorted and faced away, resuming my relaxation in the hot tub. "Yeah well, if you've been to as many social gatherings as I have, you'll quickly pick up that proper etiquette is nothing more than a glorified mask to maintain your public image."

"I- I think I know what you mean." Sweetie Belle timidly admitted, drawing a glance from me. "Scootaloo always makes fun of you two and I don't see it as very funny... I just laugh along with her because I want to stay as her friend." She says a tad bit depressingly. "She always talks about herself, and how she should be popular for her scooter tricks. She wants to be cool and I said that she was, but-"

"-She dismissed you because you're her friend." Rarity finished. "Honestly that filly, she's starting to remind me of a certain somepony..."

"Yeah well, I said that if she doesn't think my opinion matters as a friend, I didn't want to be friends with her at all." Sweetie Belle stated bitterly while crossing her forelegs.

Rarity cautiously analyzed her sister's expression, staying silent before responding. "While I think you're perfectly justified in feeling such a way, don't you think cutting off your friendship with her is a tad much? You both seemed so close together." She rubbed a hoof on Sweetie's shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to be friends with her anymore?"

The light-grey filly paused in thought, her upset expression slowly turning remorseful as she thought. "...No." She answered, still unsure of what she believed. "I don't think she meant it and I don't either." Sweetie Belle groaned. "Why is friendship never easy?"

"I don't know, seems pretty easy to me-"

I quickly shoved my hoof into Dia's mouth. She tried to protest by trying to speak under my hoof, but all that did was get her saliva all over it. I instinctively released my grip on her and wiped away her saliva on the side of the tub in disgust.

"It never is Sweetie Belle." Rarity explained. "Friendship requires communication from both ponies, where both can understand each other from different perspectives. And sometimes, friends won't reach a common ground and they get into fights." Sweetie Belle's ears drooped down upon hearing this, but Rarity kept a reassuring smile and a firm, but gentle grip. "But it never lasts. As long as they both keep an open mind and try to talk things out, they can be sure to reconcile. It just takes patience Sweetie."

The light-grey filly pondered her sister's words for a moment, before sighing. "...Alright. Thanks sis."

"Anything for you darling." Rarity smiled brightly.

"Hey uh, not to ruin this moment, but I think the bathtub is starting to overflow." I stated. The nozzle that was dropped below felt pleasant with the constant source of hot water, but the drain that stopped the tub from overflowing was steadily becoming overwhelmed.

"Yeah! I'm starting to have wrinkles in my coat." Dia exclaimed, showing her unsightly hooves that caused me to recoil in further disgust.

"Oh! My apologies! I completely forgot. Seems that I got all caught up in some friendship drama." Rarity chuckled before shutting off the water with her magic. "Here, lets get you three cleaned up--"





The first floor mainly consists of Rarity's workroom, from which she does much of her designing. The room is stocked with materials and supplies such as mirrors, dress form mannequins, movable screens, and a small display stage. That's all I managed to see while the three of us left the bathroom to the upper floor where Rarity and Sweetie Belle's bedrooms reside. Rarity was busy preparing our supper and this building didn't seem to have a living room, so we ultimately decided on hanging out in Sweetie's room.

Our coats were dry, but our manes and tail were wrapped up in a quick-drying towel, or drying turban as Rarity explained. Apparently, it helps our mane dry gently since friction can ruin strands of hair and the light-grey mare insisted on having us wear one. I never had one done before, but it seems that Dia didn't either and was excited about having her mane done. Sweetie Belle was indifferent about it, as her older sister must have done her mane probably hundreds of times by now.

"Woah! Your room is so small!" Dia observed the room around her wide-eyed. The room was a tad smaller than I thought it would be. The diamond motif of the Boutique continues on the bed’s headboard, the diamond shape inset within a stylized heart. The pillow is a light salmon with various shades of blue hearts all over it. The bed covers sort of... clash with the surrounding purple wallpaper, and the peculiar checkered columns. I suppose the colors work with the flooring though: a goldenrod yellow patterned tile that feels slightly stiffer than linoleum, in the design of large checkers. There’s also a huge daisy-shaped rug on the floor right at the foot of her bed.

There’s a chest of drawers across the room from that foot, with a large, smooth mirror and a stool, presumably to get up to see the mirror. There were a couple of toys and dolls piled in a literal wooden chest. Some of which seemed to be all sorts of odds and ends, including some papers and other junk. A tall mirror occupied one corner of the room. The only source of light was a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There’s a simple writing desk, crafted whole it looks like, from a single piece of bluish wood. It’s a wood that doesn’t match any I’ve seen on Earth, certainly. Not that I’m an expert on Earth woods. However, the one thing that stood out was how basic it all was. Other than the chest, nothing particularly stood out as something that belonged to Sweetie Belle.

"Huh? What do you mean? Looks about the same size as anypony else's." Sweetie Belle eyed the pink filly questionably. "Rarity's room is only slightly bigger than mine."

My attention was pulled away and I subtly tapped Dia's shoulder with my hoof. "Their rooms aren't small Dia, it's just that our rooms are huge compared to hers."

"Wait, so how big are your rooms?" The light-grey filly asked.

"Ehh... mine is like, maybe two-thirds of the first floor." I waved a hoof in a roundabout way, before dropping my slightly-soaked saddlebag onto the floor.

"Two-thirds?" Sweetie Belle asked, clearly not understanding my estimate.

"Oh right, Miss Cheerilee hasn't taught us fractions yet." I sighed, mentally facepalming (facehoofing?) myself. Tiara and Sweetie Belle both proved to be so proficient in basic grammar, that I sometimes forget that I'm talking with literal six-year-olds. It proves just how smart these two fillies are. It's going to take some time to get used to the literary gap between them and me.

"Fractions?" Dia gave me an equally confused gaze as she dropped her saddlebag next to mine.

"Ah just ignore me. My room should be a little bit bigger than your room Sweetie Belle." I offered a simpler explanation.

"Oh, my room is way bigger then. It's like the size of all of downstairs!" Dia chirped.

"Wha?! That big? What do you even do with all that space?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

"Oh!" The pink filly's eyes sparkle with excitement. "My daddy fills it with all kinds of toys! I have a giant stuffed bear, a bunch of dolls, marbles, balloons, a piñata-"

"-Speaking of toys, why is your room so... barren?" I interrupted Dia's ongoing list of things her father spoiled her with.

"Barren?" The light-grey filly tilted her head at another foreign term.

"Empty." I explained curtly. I might as well increase their vocabulary even further while I'm here. Could be fun watching those two use terms no other pony knows. Hell, I could even introduce some human terms while I'm at it, just to mess with them.

"Oh. Well I don't actually live here. Only sometimes." Sweetie Belle answered vaguely.

"Sometimes?" Dia raised an eyebrow.

"It's a guest room. I usually live with my mom and dad, but when they go on vacation they leave me here with my older sister. So I bring whatever stuff I can in that box over there." She walked over to her toy chest and opened it. "Wanna check it out?"

"Sure!" Dia chirped as she trotted after her.

After scrounging around in her chest we found out Sweetie Belle hoarded a bunch of junk. Mostly broken kites, some swirly fans, and yes dolls. They were mostly ponies too, not really sure what else I expected. I expected maybe to see some elephants or giraffes, but considering how Ponyville reacted to Zecora at first, it was possible that this town was way too secluded to even know about other intelligent races outside of ponykind. Oh look, there's a stuffed Celestia. I naturally grab it out of the pile Sweetie Belle made when showing each one of her toys to Dia.

"And I made this!" The unicorn enthusiastically showed the pink filly a crude-looking spiral of white fabric wrapped around a stick with four other twigs poking out. It had bits and pieces of purple ribbons tied to it and what I think is glitter?

"Neat!" Dia tried to share her enthusiasm, before blatantly asking, "What is it?"

"It's Rarity!" Sweetie Belle answered. "Or a doll of her at least. I wanted to make a present for her, for always taking care of me. I tried using her sewing machine, buuuuut... it kinda caught on fire."

"On fire!? How did you manage that?" Dia exclaimed incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm just not that good at sewing I guess." Sweetie Belle shrugged a tad disappointedly.

"You're so bad at sewing it caught on fire?" The pink filly deadpanned.

"Yup. Pretty much." The unicorn bit her lip.

"...Maybe catching things on fire is your special talent?" Dia suggested. 

"Hey you got any games here?" I interrupted, tossing the stuffed Celestia merchandise to the side and proceeding to rummage through her pile of random junk. "All I see are dolls."

"What's wrong with dolls?" Dia tilted her head.

"I just think they're-"

"Lame?" Sweetie Belle deadpanned.

"-not my thing." I finished. "They aren't lame, just not as fun."

"Hmm... Well I do have Jacks." Sweetie Belle said as she pulled out a small tin box from her toy chest. She shook a couple of metal jacks out of the cartridge and a small red rubber ball bounced out right afterwards towards Diamond Tiara.

"Oh I have that game too!" The pink filly grabbed the rubber ball, tossed it in the air before rapidly swiping three jacks off the ground, catching the ball again in the same hoof after it bounced.

"Woah, that was quick." I commented.

"I didn't even see what happened." Sweetie Belle was alternating her gaze from Dia's hoof to the floor and back to her hoof again, trying to count how many tacks she managed to pick up before the first bounce.

"I practice. I even managed to pick up four jacks once." Dia flicked her tail and huffed in pride. "You want to try Sil?" She offered the ball to me.

"Uh, no thanks. I was more thinking of playing some other games." I answered honestly. Jacks was such an old game that I forgot it was even a thing back in my old childhood. "You girls have any card games? Maybe some board games? Jenga?"

"Jenga? What's that?" Sweetie Belle tilted her head to the side with Dia also sharing the same sentiment while dropping her ball and jacks to the floor.

"Okay, so that's a no then. What about Monopoly? Uno?"

"Okay you're just making words up at this point Sil." Dia said incredulously.

"No I'm not." I said defensively, before sighing at her response. I'm going to have to invent these, aren't I? "Okay fine, I'll just have to show you two." I say, before retrieving some crafting supplies from my saddlebag. It was only slightly soaked, but it'll do.

I managed to find some cardboard, paper, and glue amongst Sweetie Belle's things. The paper was divided into card-sized sections with a dotted line, colored with the respective colors in the game Uno, and labeled properly with numbers and special symbols for the unique wild cards. The other two fillies were eyeing me intently as I perform arts-and-crafts, Diamond Tiara a little more mesmerized compared to Sweetie Belle who was just plain confused. By the time I had glued the paper onto a sheet of cardboard, I found myself staring at a pair of scissors in my hoof.

Two metal cutters bolted together in the middle to snip thin materials. However, the most glaring part was that it had two separate grooves that are perfectly shaped for four fingers and a thumb. This tool was made for human hands. My mind was instantly racing for conclusions and excuses. Maybe it's an exclusive tool for unicorns, such as the grooves being some sort of special foci for magical levitation. Or maybe the ponies have stolen the design from human ingenuity from a long-lost civilization. Maybe this world has made spontaneously to adapt to a children's show with scissors made solely in that image for the audience to recognize. Dread slowly fills me as my eyes dart across the room. Am I being watched?

"Um, Silver Spoon?" Sweetie Belle interrupted my rapidly increasing existential anxiety.

"Oh uh, y-yeah?" I snapped back into reality as my eyes darted back to the light-grey filly.

"You know that's just a pair of scissors right?" She asked, notably concerned.

"Well yeah, it's just... how do you use this?" I ask, still somewhat confounded.

"Oh that's easy silly!" Dia cut in before grabbing the pair of scissors in my hoof, wrapping her hoof-pads on the side of its groove. Then I heard a couple of snips as she easily extends and retracts the metal cutters.

"Wait, show me again." I leaned in closer to get a better look. Somehow, her grip on those scissors flexed in a way that gripped on the sides of both grooves without even entering them. She just... flexed it open and close. "What?"

"See?" Dia smiled before hoofing them back to me. "Now you try."

"Okay uh." I grabbed the pair of scissors and mimicked Diamond Tiara's technique. As expected, it worked exactly like she said it would. "That's so weird." I muttered under my breath.

"How so?" Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, nevermind. I'm just being weird again."

The unicorn snorted but smirked. "Yeah okay. What were you making anyways?"

"It's a card game I know called Uno. It means 'one', and you'll understand once I teach you both how to play. It's really easy to learn and it's fun!" I exclaimed as I start cutting along the dotted lines I've made. The numbers and symbols were a little crude, but it'll do.

Then my ears perked up to hear a resounding knock on Sweetie Belle's door. "Sweetie Belle, supper is ready for you and your new friends."

"Finally! I'm starving." Sweetie Belle jumped up from her haunches and opened the door.

"What are we eating?" Dia asked as she followed in turn.

"You'll find out once you reach downstairs. Come along now." Rarity answered. "Silver Spoon?" I heard her saying through the door.

"Coming!" I say aloud, before pausing at the exit. I glance momentarily back at the pair of scissors, my suspicions never fading for a moment. My eyes narrowed before I proceed to close the door behind me.





The stairs descend to a curving hallway around behind her display room, where Rarity walks into the house portion of the downstairs boutique. It has a rather large kitchen, in which I can see the very same table that Rarity’s parents were sitting at when they surprised Sweetie Belle. Vague memories of the light-grey filly somehow burning a drink made me feel reminiscent of the show. How long will it be until those events actually pan out? I idly thought to myself.

Rarity serves a tasty meal of sautéed creamed spinach, layered with a white cheese that faintly reminds me of the spice fenugreek. There was also a side of sweet hearty broccoli, bread crumbs, and what look like scattered pansies. As a former carnivore, something like this would churn my stomach into a frenzy of unpleasant stomach aches.

"What is it?" Dia looked squarely on the plate in front of her, poking at it with a fork.

"It's my homemade creamed spinach darling. I know it's probably not as sophisticated as what both of you probably ate at your homes, but I try to be generous with what ingredients I use in my cooking." Rarity answered with a warm smile.

Sweetie Belle was already digging in, muzzle first, into her plate. The green-white paste was spread all over her mouth as she took a few mouthfuls. "Iz prethy ghood!" The smaller unicorn praised before digging into her plate again, causing Rarity to look uncomfortable. With a bit of her magic, she levitated a napkin on Sweetie Belle's face with a feigned smile.

It was enough of a sign to start eating myself. As I dig in, I realize that the taste was truly something else. I definitely could taste the spinach, but as with every other vegetable, its taste was enhanced for some unexplained reason. The sautéed spinach blended well with the cream and I could tell that there were various other spices in the mix that caused it to possess a bit of needed zest. The quality of the dish wasn't as ambitious and complicated compared to the meals I've been having at home, but it possessed a rather homely quality that did the simple spinach justice. "You're right, this is good."

"Tastephs a littple plain." I see Dia trying to take a couple of bites, also muzzle first; causing both Rarity and I to visibly cringe. The years of being taught proper noble etiquette have been ingrained in my mind. Usually, the use of utensils is something exclusive to unicorns, as they tend to like showing off their use levitation, such as how Rarity was eating her cooking now. Most pony foods typically didn't require the use of utensils, from hay and flowers to apples and carrots. Yet the higher you go on the economic ladder, so does the number of cuisines becomes available. And with those come even higher standards. Even the rarer case of high-class earthponies and pegasi were taught to use forks, the Silver family being one of them. Yet this pink filly was just tasting her meal without a care in the world.

"Uh, Dia. The fork is right there." I pointed with a hoof.

"Hmm?" The pink filly glanced at me before gulping. "Yeah? So? Sweetie Belle is eating with her mouth too."

"Why yes, she is." Rarity confirmed to Dia, before hastily taking her napkin in her blue magic and wiping the pink filly's mouth as well. "But there is a reason why we use them."

"Isn't it just to be fancy?" Sweetie Belle commented, already finished with most of her meal. Her mouth was already stained with more spinach sauce, drawing a restrained sigh from her older sister.

"More or less," the older unicorn admitted, "but it's also so both of your mouths aren't constantly in need of a napkin." She curtly snorted before wiping Sweetie Belle's mouth again. "Just look at your silver friend for example, being perfectly polite with my food." Rarity caught me finishing up my last bite with a fork in hoof.

"You're done already?!" Dia exclaimed, with me meekly wiping my mouth with a napkin.

"You eat fast!" Sweetie Belle stared wide-eyed from across the table, despite taking entire mouthfuls, not quite finished with her supper.

"What is really that good?" The pink filly skeptically asked, barely even touching hers.

"It's just good. Plain and simple." I responded simply. "Besides, I've been eating five-star meals as long as I can remember. It's nice being able to eat normal food for once." I smiled towards Rarity, with her returning a smile of her own in kind.

"Well that's definitely kind of you to say Silver Spoon. Although I would be lying if I said that calling my cooking 'simple' didn't feel a little demeaning." She commented.

"Oh! Uh sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Rarity interrupted me with her own giggling. "Oh it's quite alright. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. It's not often that I make food for other ponies. I'm still learning to improve myself, especially now that Sweetie Belle will be living here more often."

"I am?" Sweetie Belle tilted her head at the older mare in mild surprise.

"Of course! You are going to school now after all. Mother and father cannot take you here on the train everyday. It'll save both time and expenses just to have you live with your favorite older sister!" Rarity's teeth practically gleamed.

"But what about my stuff?"

"Oh your luggage should all come the next time they arrive. They plan to still visit on the weekends, don't you worry Sweetie Belle." The older unicorn comforted her sister.

"Oh, I guess that's okay then." Sweetie Belle replied, drinking from her glass of water idly.

"What's wrong dear?" The older mare voiced her concern.

"...It's just, I would have like to have known that ahead of time." The smaller unicorn confided.

"Yeah well you know how they are, always changing their plans last minute. Besides, I can't imagine it was an easy decision for them to leave their cute little Sweetie in Ponyville." Rarity emphasized that last part with baby-talk.

Sweetie Belle simply groaned at this. "Urgh. I'm not a foal anymore Rarity."

"I know you aren't Sweetie. You're an outstanding young filly and you'll do just fine in this lovely little town." Rarity praised before taking another bite of her meal.

"You make dresses right?" Dia asked, grabbing the older mare's attention.

"Why yes, I do. Why do you ask?" Rarity responded in kind.

"So why do ponies here not wear clothes?"

"Pfft-" Dia managed to make me choke on my water as I coughed the rest of it out.

"You alright?" Sweetie Belle raised a concerned eyebrow.

"Wrong hole," I replied, "I'm fine. Thanks." I wiped myself with a napkin.

"Well," Rarity continued with a little apprehension in her voice, "Ponyville isn't the most... amiable of places for designers such as I. Many ponies here have no need for clothing, either due to a lack of opportunity to wear them or simply because they cannot afford them."

"But Daddy and his servants wear clothes all the time!" Dia exclaimed.

"Yeah, but not everypony can be as rich as your dad." I cut in before pausing trying to choose my next words carefully. "Other ponies, are just not in the same class as your dad, or mine for the matter."

"That's quite right." Rarity conceded. "Other ponies simply have to make do with what they have." She smiled gently. 

"Finished!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed with an empty plate and a muzzleful of leftover spinach. Rarity shook her head before sighing. Causing her horn to glow, she simultaneously magicked both empty plates towards the sink and wiped her little sister's mouth yet again.

"I think I'm finished too." Dia answered, deeply in thought with barely a third of her dish eaten.

"Are you sure?" Rarity asked with concern.

"Yeah, could you just get an apple for me? I don't think I like spinach all that much." Dia admitted.

"Sure darling, just let me get ahold of your plate as well." The older mare levitated her plate and proceeded to walk to the end of the kitchen. However, by the time she had placed those plates in the sink, her attention was caught by the adjacent window in the room. The sounds of watery bullets tapping on the roof with water pouring down the windowsill. "Oh goodness gracious, it's still pouring outside."

"Yeah it's raining cats and dogs." I agreed.

Sweetie Belle was notably shocked at my statement with Rarity looking on with visible concern as she turned away from outside. "That's horrible!" The smaller unicorn exclaimed with a horrified expression.

"Not literally!" I stepped a hoof back in alarm. "It's an expression. It just means it's raining pretty hard."

"That's not a very nice expression then." Dia commented, still in the midst of her thoughts.

"I must agree." Rarity conceded. "The mere thought of living animals falling out of the sky, well it's simply a horrid thought. Just what are they teaching fillies nowadays?" The older mare opened her fridge to levitate an apple to Diamond Tiara; the pink filly holding it by the top stem. "Anyways Sweetie, since it appears it's going to be pouring all night, do you mind if these two slept in your room tonight?"

"We're having a sleepover!?" Dia bounced up and down with absolute glee.

"We only have one spare mattress though." Sweetie Belle brought a point.

"Oh I'm sure there's enough room for two fillies on that old thing." She smiled warmly before turning to Dia and me. "Is that arrangement alright with the both of you?" 

"I'd love to have a slumber party!" Dia's expression swiftly turned into a smile.

"Sure." I replied nonchalantly, not entirely sharing the pink filly's over-enthusiasm.

"Excellent, I'll bring the arrangements. Sweetie, could you please entertain your friends in the display room while I bring everything up to your room?"

"Okay." The smaller unicorn answered before leading the both of us there.

"I can't believe it, our first slumber party!" Dia ecstatically claimed.

I chuckled in response. "Not exactly a party, but we'll see."

"Yeah just don't make too much noise when it reaches night. Rarity hates having her beauty sleep ruined. Last time Scootaloo did that she had to wear so many dresses... so many dresses." She looked off in the distance with a thousand-mile stare.

"I see..." I replied.

"You had sleepovers with Scootaloo?" Dia asked.

"Sometimes. Mostly to escape her foalsitter." She answered.

"Oh, huh. Does she have any parents?" I brought up the one question that had been eating away at my mind. I stopped watching midway throughout the entire show, so I didn't know much about what went on afterwards. Nor did I know if Scootaloo was actually orphaned as the fandom seemed to speculate.

"What? Of course she has parents. She just lives with her aunts and sometimes her foalsitter. Her parents live outside of town, like mine." The light-grey unicorn answered. "She doesn't talk a lot about either of them though..."

"Oh." I said simply. "Sounds tough."

"Well she hangs around by our place, so it ain't all bad." She said.

After that conversation, we eventually reached Rarity's display room. The spiral framed mirrors, the checkered tiles, the squat round tables covered in a yellow inlay. The deep magenta curtains draping roundly from the ceiling, sectioning the room off and giving it the illusion of being small. The carousel motif baffling concealing their runners, with more of those spiral pole designs intermixed with diamonds and hearts. I had been too concerned about my soaked mane and coat to appreciate it the first time I stepped into this room, but now I can take it in the sight for all its beauty. "Your sister has an impressive boutique," I observed, "must have cost her a fortune."

"Yeah, well owning a building in Ponyville is pretty cheap according to her." Sweetie Belle answered, before eventually sitting on one of the stools beside the display table.

"She couldn't own a boutique anywhere else?" Dia asked as she walked around the interior, observing the various dresses Rarity presumably made.

"She can't afford it." She said, a little downtrodden for her sister.

"These dresses look really expensive though! Are these real gems?" Dia held one of the dress fabrics in her hoof, the glittering shine of embroidered gems reflecting off her eyes.

"Yeah, she goes around collecting gems outside of Ponyville. It's actually how she makes most of her bits." Sweetie explained. "Not a lot of ponies buy dresses from her. They just kinda walk in and browse around, or ask her to tailor the clothes they already own."

"So she's just Ponyville's tailor then?" I summarized, before sitting on another wooden stool beside the light-grey filly.

"Yeah pretty much..." Sweetie Belle confirmed, placing the side of her head on the table seemingly depressed from the whole ordeal.

"These dresses are really pretty though!" Dia admired the collection. "Maybe I can get daddy to buy me some dresses! He could spread some word about it too, he has lots of friends in Canterlot and all sorts of places."

"You'd do that?" Sweetie Belle lifted her head off the table, her voice showing a bit of surprise.

"Yeah! Why not? Your sister could probably make a ton of money that way!" The pink filly smiled. "It's how he got Sil's dad to become super rich, why can't your sister?"

"That would be pe҉rfect!" Sweetie Belle jumped from her seat and onto the display table and trotted in place. "Rarity always wanted to become a famous designer! With a bunch of ponies buying her clothes and making enough bits to have a boutique in Canterlot, it would be everything that Rarity wanted! She would be able to live her drea҉m!" The unicorn filly practically screamed as her voice cracked in absolute glee.

"That's awfully generous of you." I smirked from my seat. "How do you know Filthy Rich will fully support her business?"

"Daddy would do anything for me." Dia grinned. "Besides, he loves helping other ponies and giving to charities. I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping Rarity."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! Rarity will be so happy!" Sweetie Belle elatedly jumped down from the table and embraced Dia in a short hug. "I really don't know what else to say."

"Oh it's no biggie." The pink filly shrugged nonchalantly with an obvious dumb grin. "Helping ponies is what nobles should do, right Sil?" Dia turned to me, searching for approval.

"Yup." I nodded lazily, taking another glance around the room. However, the deepest recesses of my memory particularly struck me as I realized something. "Hey Sweetie Belle, where's your cat?" I asked in elated anticipation.

"Huh? I don't have a cat." The light-grey raised a brow.

"Oh, you don't?" I ask, genuinely confused.

"No? Why would I have a cat?"

"Really? I could have sworn you or Rarity had one." I averted my eyes, trying to hide my disappointment.

"Hah, well I doubt that. Rarity hates loose fur getting on her dresses." Sweetie Belle sat back on her stool.

"A shame." I say with full honesty. I never had the opportunity to take care of a pet back at the manor. The closest thing to that would be me staring at the fish in the pond while the workers fed them routinely. Back when I was human, I considered cats to be my all-time favorite animal. However, I was unable to take care of one due to my intense allergies. If I touched one or get even one scratch, my skin would burn red and irritatingly puff up. My excitement obviously deflated once I learned that I wouldn't have the chance to pet a cat without fear of an allergic reaction. A real shame.

"Maybe we should get one." Dia interrupted my thoughts, smiling encouragingly at the both of us.

"Get a cat?" Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes in befuddlement.

"Yeah! Like, what's stopping you?" The pink filly waved her hoof.

"Like I said, Rarity would never let a pet in here." The unicorn deadpanned.

"I don't know about that~" I smirked slightly.

"Sweetie Belle, the arrangements are done!" My ears perked to hear Rarity shouting from the spiral staircase.

"Coming!" The light-grey filly shouted back. "Come on girls, lets play some games already."

"I wanna see more of your dolls!" Dia followed.

"Just wait until I finally finish those cards." I trotted after them.





"You forgot to say Uno, draw one more card."

"Oh come on Sil, it's already hard enough to remember all the rules." Sweetie Belle complained.

"Those are the rules~" I say with a smug expression on my face.

"Don't worry Sweetie Belle, I have a plan." Dia said quietly.

"What is it?"

"Just place a reverse card down, trust me." The pink filly winked. And behold, the light-grey filly placed down a yellow reverse card before Diamond Tiara placed a wild +4 card and a red +2 card, causing me to draw six more cards from the deck.

"What? You can't conspire against me!?" I exclaimed.

"Is that against the rules too?" Sweetie Belle smirked slyly.

"Well, no. But-"

"Then draw six cards!" Dia proclaimed with a hoof in the air.

"Girls, it's bed time." Our ears perked to hear Rarity behind the door. "All of you have school tomorrow, so you three better get some rest."

"Okay Rarity!" Sweetie Belle shouted back, before placing her cards back down. "You're right Sil, this is a fun game!"

"Heh," I lightly laughed as I placed my cards down as well, "told you so."

We hear a yawn coming from Diamond Tiara as she stretches in place. "Ahhh~ I don't know about you girls, but I'm actually getting pretty tired."

Sweetie Belle yawned in response as well, "Yeah same here. I haven't had this much fun in ages."

"You haven't?" I said curiously.

"Nah, Scootaloo said that my dolls were too lame to play with, so I always end up going outside just to watch her do scooter tricks." She replied as she hopped onto her bed with a slight bounce on the springs.

"Now that, sounds lame." Dia remarked, before curling up in her sheets.

"Tell me about it." The unicorn filly deadpanned, flipping over headfirst beneath the covers. She managed to twist and squirm around, popping out and resting the back of her head against the springy pillow, using her front legs to smooth out the bedcover as best she can. Her display managed to raise an eyebrow from me and Dia.

"Rarity gets fussy whenever I crinkle the covers." Sweetie Belle explained.

"Huh, my servants just take care of the covers when I get out of bed." Dia remarked.

"Must be nice." Sweetie Belle said with a bit of envy in her voice. "Speaking of servants, Sil, could you get the lights for us?"

I huffed as I got up from my haunches. "Don't get too confident, next time I'll be winning that match. Just you wait."

"We'll see at lunch," Dia smirked, "but I doubt it."

I snorted, feigning annoyance, but I couldn't hide my smile from the whole ordeal. "Alright, g'night girls." I flicked the switch off, the whole room becoming completely dark.

"Night."
"Nighty Night."

I hear them both echo back. One thing I've taken note of was that ponies all had excellent night vision, so it took me almost no time to find my own spot amongst the mattress and buried myself within the soft sheets. My eyes closed, my breathing finding its rhythmic pace as my mind went elsewhere in an attempt to sleep.

...
..........
...................

Minutes have passed, hours maybe. I have tried to sleep, but I couldn't. My insomnia wouldn't let me. With a heavy sigh, I peeked out from my covers, seeing my pink friend resting peacefully under her covers hogging most of the blanket. Her breathes of air rhythmically sounds as her barrel expands and exhales slightly, her tiara placed right beside her pillow. She actually reminded me of a sleeping princess, weirdly enough. I smiled at her. I smiled that she was becoming something pleasant, something other than the show frequently presented her as. However, something deep within my mind tugged at me and has been tugging since I talked with Sweetie Belle this afternoon. At what cost?

The events of today have played back to me: how I comforted Sweetie Belle and become her friend, how I was invited to a sleepover at Rarity's boutique, how Diamond Tiara offered a huge opportunity for Rarity. I haven't planned for any of this, I was simply going with the flow the entire time thinking everything will resolve itself eventually. Yet uncertainties kept piling on. To what effect will this have on the Cutie Mark Crusaders?

I shook my head as more questions kept following, eventually deciding to get up from my spot and slowly walk towards the windowsill. Looking outside I could see the moonlight illuminating all of Ponyville, the mare on the moon forever staining the surface of its incanting source. Was I supposed to be friends with Sweetie Belle? Diamond Tiara seemed pretty insistent on it. Were Sweetie Belle friends with us originally? I couldn't tell. The events of the show played out long after this happened.

"Silver Spoon?" My ears perked up in alarm. My neck craned behind me to see that Sweetie Belle was shifting up from her covers, wide awake.

"Oh, sorry Sweetie Belle." I whispered lightly.

"What are you doing awake?" She very obviously asked.

I sighed, looking back out the window. I could see my own reflection along with the light-grey filly in her covers. "Couldn't sleep." I replied.

"...So you can't either huh?" I hear her say.

"Certainly, seems that way." A moment of silence passed.

I hear her getting up from her covers before lightly treading the tiled floor. The sounds of careful hoofsteps pressing towards me. "You know, you don't have to be friends with me if you don't want to."

My head turned again to see her avoiding my gaze, grabbing the side of her leg. "Why would you think that I don't want to?" I ask.

"I'm not stupid Silver Spoon. I could see that Dia wanted you to come to make friends with me. What you said in the bathtub, I could tell that you didn't want anymore friends than you have to. And what Dia said about my sister's food, forcing yourself to like her cooking." She said, still avoiding my gaze. "You don't, have to force yourself to be friends with me."

I pause momentarily, opening my mouth before holding my tongue, and closing it again. With another sigh, I turn completely around to face Sweetie Belle. "Of course I want to be friends with you Sweetie Belle, it's just-"

"It's just what?" She turned her head to face me, narrowing her eyes to lock in straight with mine. "That I laughed at you along with Scootaloo? That I was just an easy friend to make? That my family isn't as rich as you two? That you just want me to be grateful for being friends with the both of you?" I see glints of her tears swelling in the dark.

"Sweetie Belle, wh-" I paused again, before resuming more cautiously. "Where is this all coming from?" I ask cautiously.

"It's just... I can't believe it." The light-grey filly admitted. "So many things happened today. I stopped being friends with Scootaloo, I made two new friends who I made fun of yesterday, I found out that I would be moving here permanently, and Diamond Tiara offered to help my sister live the life she always wanted... It's just too much to believe." Her voiced struggled to maintain its consistency. "It feels like it's all a dream, and I'm scared." I could see her visibly shaking in the dark. "And I don't know what I'm more scared of, waking up and seeing it was all a dream, or seeing it was all real all along." Her eyes were watering, but she didn't cry. She still stared into my eyes unwaveringly. "I don't want this to end up with me playing along like I did with Scootaloo. Please, just tell me the truth." Her eyes showed an analytical side of her, an overreactive imagination. Her fears and expectations were all there within the glints of her eyes, slightly watery, but still there.

My own face remained expressionless, but my mind was laid completely overwhelmed. It was hard to believe that this filly was capable of having these kinds of thoughts, that her mind was thinking about these things the entire time I was with her. My heart was beating faster with the anxiety of it all, but I couldn't back down and let things resolve themselves, not now. My legs shivered from the icy air around me and my heart continued beating audibly. Seconds have passed and I could see that Sweetie Belle was waiting patiently for my response. I had to make a choice here, one that I couldn't take back.

With a large inhale and exhale, I slowly resigned myself. "Sweetie Belle, I truly do want to be friends with you. I was just, I just wasn't sure if I was supposed to."

"...What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asked, genuinely confused.

"Sweetie Belle, let me tell you a secret." I proceeded to sit along the edge of the windowsill upright. "I have dreams of the future."

"Oh come on, you can't expect me to believe-"

"I'm being serious." I maintained eye contact with her.

This stopped Sweetie Belle mid-sentence, her eyes maintaining mild irritation, to confusion, to realization. "You...are?"

"Yes, it's how I was able to become friends with Diamond Tiara." I admitted. "She came up to me without me realizing, and I called out her name before she even knew me. Yet, I knew her because I saw that we were friends in the future. Since then we have been... disturbingly close."

Sweetie Belle continued staring, before slowly nodding. "So that's how... but why did you think we weren't supposed to be friends?"

A null expression filled my eyes as I glanced sideways. "Because we weren't exactly friends."

"We weren't?" Sweetie Belle's gaze lit up in mild concern.

"No," I conceded before sighing, "you were friends with two other fillies, Scootaloo and Applebloom."

"That yellow farm filly? With the red bow?" The unicorn asked skeptically.

"Yup, that's her." I smirked. "You three were inseparable. In all of my dreams, you all stuck together like three peas in a pie. It was almost disgusting how you three got along." I glance back at the light-grey filly, still staring back at me with her mouth agape. "You did literally everything together, every adventure, argument, competition, but most of all you all shared the same goal of getting your cutie marks. The Cutie Mark Crusaders you called yourselves." I gave a heartfelt smile. "Or otherwise known as the most obnoxious friends in Ponyville."

Sweetie Belle was enraptured with every word I said, her eyes now sparkling with inspiration. "That sounds... amazing." A small smile captured the edges of her lips, but eventually, she grew a frown and carefully stepped forth. "But... you two weren't."

"No, we weren't. We were enemies." I averted my gaze.

"Enemies?" The light grey-filly echoed back.

"Yeah." I said. "Diamond Tiara and I... made fun of you three. We had our cutie marks first and we used that against you and..." I sighed. "It was bad. The things we did. I don't even know why we did. I just... I don't know."

A saddened expression filled the unicorn's expression. "So because we were enemies, you can't be friends with me?"

My gaze immediately turned back to meet hers. "No I-I," I stuttered over my own words, "I really do want to be friends with you Sweetie Belle. I don't want us to be enemies, I don't want Dia or I to end up like those two fillies in my dream. Ideally I'd rather have all five of us become friends!" I tried my best to explain but my expression slowly soured, "but if Scootaloo already hates the both of us, then I don't know how I can manage that..." I tilted my head down sullenly. "I really... do want us to be friends." I reiterated, before going silent.

Seconds passed as I sat on along the windowsill frozen in place. The room was completely silent aside from the ticking clock hanging from one of the walls. My eyes stared at the checkered floor as I waited for Sweetie Belle's inevitable response. Everything I said, I couldn't take back. It was already out there, and it was up to her if she believed me or not. I felt her gaze digging into me, my own thoughts increased with anxiety of what kind of reaction she would give. Why the hell did I tell her all that? I revealed way too much information than I was supposed to. What happens now that she knows she's supposed to be friends with Scootaloo and Applebloom? Will she not become friends with them? Will the Cutie Mark Crusaders even be a thing anymore? She's probably going to think I'm crazy. Why the hell would she believe a pony she just met?

"I think I'd like that too." My ears perked to hear her say. I glanced up to see Sweetie Belle starting right at me, but this time with a smile plastered on her face. A feeling of hope fluttered inside me. "Really?"

"Yup. Friends?" She held a hoof open.

I can't help, but accept her hoof as I smile back. "Friends."
> Scopophobia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stirred up beneath my covers. My eyelids raised slightly to see the room illuminated by a streak of bluish hue across the ceiling. The diamond-patterned walls were slowly focusing into vision as I roused from my fading fatigue. Rubbing my eyes, I see both fillies sleeping soundly and laying completely still. The cool air filled the room as my breaths exhaled a light mist that dissipated in front of me.

It was cold. Too cold.

I shifted out of the covers and nudged the small mound right beside me. "Dia?" I prodded her again with rising concern. No response. I pressed my hoof against her, my pads didn't feel any heat emanating from the sheets. "Dia!" I shouted, swiping away at the blanket that was wrapped around her. There she laid bare, a pink filly laying on her side facing away from me. I prodded her shoulder again with no response, in turn, forcing me to turn her facing up. Her eyes were glazed open, an eerie neutral expression taking her gaze. "D-Dia?! Dia are you alright?!" I pleaded as I prodded her shoulder again. Under the clearing moonlight, I could see her as she remained cold and unmoving. Her gaze jolted towards me, causing me to flinch and stagger back. Yet my eyes didn't allow me to look away, for I continued staring into her shimmer-less pupils. Pupils that were once filled with so much life were now filled with null unfeeling darkness.

I breathed uneasily in uneven breaths, my hoof now pressing against my chest as I tried to forcefully calm myself down. I felt the icy air flow into my lungs and steadily breathed out.

Okay, stay calm. Take a look around, find out what happened, and-

Her pupils bulged outwards as if it was expanding directly at me. I staggered back again, my eyes widened in fear as the bulges violently increased in frequency. Her retinas tore open, streaming a flood of black mist, spreading over her body. Her mouth parted slightly, allowing another larger emission of this complete darkness to envelop her and the covers. I staggered back from the mattress and pushed myself against the edge of the bed behind me. The moonlight caused these dark emissions to shimmer slightly, revealing a countless number of black carapaces. Thousands of eyes glinted as this dark living mass spread and envelop the floor towards me.

It was an onslaught of spiders. An endless wave of them now rapidly filling up the room, all pouring out from Diamond Tiara. With a loud shriek, I climbed over the bed behind me. My eyes darted across the floor as this wave of spiders rose, stirring around the room like a viscous liquid. I jolted in fright as I heard a rancorous tear from behind me. I slowly craned my neck around and see Sweetie Belle convulsing on the bed, with large scythe-like protrusions erupting from her white coat. There were three, four, now five of these serrated limbs tearing away at the seams. Sweetie Belle's mouth parted unnaturally wide, her cheeks ripping themselves apart as eight red-beady eyes peered out from her throat.



"SCREEEEEEEE!!!!"

My heart rapidly pumped adrenaline throughout my body, my breathing now incoherent as I immediately leaped from the springy bed and towards the door. Sounds of multiple carapaces crunched beneath my hooves as I darted there, extending my hind legs so I could reach the doorknob above me. The cold winds blew behind me as I slammed the door and pressed my entire weight against it. Sounds of tearing flesh and loud vibrating screeches resounded. Moonlight peered beneath the door crevice as eerie shadows flickered beneath me, spiders now skittering out into the hallway. I closed my eyes tight-shut, my hearing completely focused on the creeks of the floor behind me. I hear small skittering running along the walls as... there was utter silence.

Seconds passed, but it felt like hours. The fur on my skin was raised with merciless tension, but even the skittering stopped. I exhaled a drawn-out breath I didn't realize I was holding. Just when I thought to let go of the door, an impact paralyzed my shoulders sending my body to the floor. My coat bristled with crushed carapaces and black foreign substances, my sense of taste was filled with begotten rot. I hurled in response to replace the taste with bitter burning vomit.

I couldn't take much more of this. My senses screamed at me to get up. My breathing heaved as I pushed myself off the ground. My eyes were in a slight daze as I tried to focus them.

Another impact resounded and my eyes instantly became acute. Spiders stirred once again as they now started to crawl up my legs as if they wanted a taste of the rot that stained my lower body. A loud crack splintered open as my eyes stared at the door in front of me. A black scythe now embedded through the wooden door, missing my pupil a small breath away. A loud shriek enveloped the room, my ears hearing it clearly now. The deadly protrusion retracted back and I heard loud skittering backing from the door.

My head pivoted around me as my eyes darted for any salvation in my vicinity. A small wooden-glass case with a vase perched on top stood on the opposite end of the door. I darted forward and pulled my weight behind it and the wall it laid upon. With a heaved breath, the case toppled over and obstructed the wooden door, another black scythe piercing through the both of them. It pulled back but was met with resistance. The serrated edges were getting caught on the bent metal frames.

I Immediately trotted towards the end of the hallway where the staircase was located, each desperate step was met with a resounding crunch. My legs stopped at the edge of the stairwell as it loomed ahead of me, darkness obscuring the very bottom. My ears perked to hear another ear-piercing screech followed by sounds of splintering and bent metal, I couldn't afford to look behind me as I proceeded to descend hastily in a panic. Fear and blood were pumping throughout my body as sweat and grime seeped into my barrel and legs. The air had a taste of cold metal and a faint bitterness to it, my legs slowly becoming numb in the process, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. God why couldn't it stop?

Tears started to swell up, blurring my vision. I felt my legs becoming increasingly numb with every step. Then I felt nothing. I saw my vision blurring up completely as my body was rolling down the staircase. I felt numerous impacts throughout my body until I finally laid still, staring at the ceiling above me. I slowly craned my neck and tried to raise a hoof to rub my eyes, but then I saw red. Looking down I saw that my right foreleg was bent open at irregular angles, bones now protruding out of numerous gashes and wounds. Blood seeped out in short disgusting bursts as spiders crawled out of my wounds. "Fuck. God fucking damn it!" Yet despite my cursing, I didn't feel any pain, only the cold air against my bare flesh.

A loud vibrating screech echoed from the staircase above me, causing my senses to scream at me again to get up. Slowly, one leg after the other, it appears that the rest of my body was still functional. Pulling the rest of myself up I could see that I was in Rarity's dressing room, the front door laying across from me. I limped across the floor, to reach it. Eventually, I reached out my left foreleg for the doorknob, but when I turned I felt a pitiless click as it refused to open. "Damn it! Fuck! Open damn it!"

My ears perked up to hear a loud thunderous crash above me, the shattering of glass could be distinctly heard as thunderous skittering could be heard. "Shit shit shit. Think Sil, think!" Hope rekindled as my eyes darted towards the kitchen. "The window!" Immediately I rushed to the room adjacent to me and entered the kitchen where Rarity served us supper. I glanced around the room before my gaze landed directly on the windowsill. The skittering of spiders filled my ears as I desperately pushed a chair against the edge of the sink, hopping on top of it before trying to ram my body against the glass. A loud smack vibrated in the air as the window didn't budge. "No, nononono!" I rammed into it again, but still nothing.

I heard skittering going down from the stairwell now, my heart racing as my rapid breaths painfully took the cold air into my lungs. "Oh fuck, fuck fuck!" My eyes darted to the table, the unlit candle placed on it, the shelf, the stove, the lighter, the knife rack, and to the floor. "Shit, there has to be something, a crowbar I can use, a key, I need something! I need an idea, some idea!" My eyes eventually landed squarely on the fridge, "A... any idea..." The pit in my stomach became increasingly noticeable, but I swallowed hard. "...I need a lighter."

I jumped out of the sink and ran across the edge, reaching the lighter. Grasping it in my mouth as I leaped from the counter and towards the table. Jumping on a spare chair, I held the lighter in my hoof, my pad grasping against it as I flexed my hoof. A click could be heard as the lighter alit with flame. I lit the candle on the table before dropping the lighter and darting towards the chair next to the sink. "The stove!"  Pushing the chair near the said stove, I turned every knob on max and proceeded towards the fridge. I pulled the fridge door, the cold air rushed towards me with an unfathomable numbness on my coat. "Everything about this is a horrible idea and I'm going to die."

I reached for the food trays with my only foreleg and pulled it out, spilling all the random assortments of food and milk products. I pulled one tray after another as I heard the loud thunderous skittering getting closer and closer. I finally emptied the fridge and proceeded to hoist myself up in it, the spiders across my coat dying to the cold and falling off me. After getting my entire small frame inside, I pulled the door shut.

Silence.

I couldn't see anything, and I could feel everything standing still for a moment. Yet then I heard small stabs piercing the stone tiles, slowly but getting ever so closer. I could hear breathing behind the door, then more skittering as furniture could be heard being toppled over. I held my breath tightly as cold ice overtook me.

"SCREEEEEEEEEE!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!









































..........
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My ears were ringing non-stop. I felt cold sweat dripping off of my head as I exhaled another breath. I opened my eyes to see nothing, but my foreleg felt the edge of the fridge bent slightly open. With a heave, I pushed the door with it not budging. I twisted my body so that my back was laying against the fridge wall and placed both my hindlegs against the door. With another heave I eventually popped the door hinges off, revealing a flood of water spilling over some pipes and the floor around me. The entire kitchen was scattered wreckage of debris and dead carapaces, the sink and windowsill completely blasted open. Moonlight shined downwards through the opening as I gently stepped forth out of the fridge. My eyes revealed an ever-expanse of the unfettered void with dark mists overbearing the skies. Water rushed past my legs as it spilled over the edge of the void, creating an endless misty waterfall. The moonlight shone brightly overhead as I craned my neck upwards, seeing the iridescent full moon.



I was entranced, my gaze completely overtaken by the sight of the shining sphere above me. Smaller details soon revealed themselves, as I saw a small black dot staining the surface of this moon. My eyes peered forwards as I squinted my eyes, focusing on the image. Then the black dot started to extend across the moon's surface, forming a small vertical slit. It then widened to reveal a cyan iris, the dot expanding into a cat-like pupil. I felt it's gaze staring back at me. As if it were peering into my soul, the essence of my very being. 

"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"





I jumped up beneath my covers. My eyes wrenched open as a streak of orange hue laid across the ceiling. The diamond-patterned walls were clear as I pulled myself up. Turning my head, I see both fillies sleeping and laying soundly in their beds. The air was warm as I realized I was hyperventilating. Pressing a hoof against my chest, I breathed in and out. My rapid irregular breathing and heart rate slowly steadied itself as I pressed my left hoof against my forehead. My foreleg was still intact, I felt cold sweat dripping from my forehead. I exhaled and inhaled deeply. "Another nightmare..." I sigh deeply into both my hooves. Seconds passed as I heard chirping from outside the window.

But... this was different, I told myself. I never fought back in my dreams, and I never once successfully escaped. But this time I did... sorta. I lost a limb and I didn't manage to completely kill whatever that was sure, but I fought back at least. That was good.

I breathed in before letting out another sigh. This was going to take some time to get used to, but-

I had to fight back an incoming hurl as I covered the edge of my mouth, the fresh memories of bitter vomit and rot from my dreams resurfaced. I begrudgingly swallowed hard as I forced myself up from the mattress, my legs were noticeably still shaken from that encounter. "I-I'm going to need some coffee..."
> Furtive Mornings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sounds of silverware clinked as I worked around the kitchen cabinet. It's been a while since I've actually messed around with cooking utensils. All the chefs at home usually just prepare everything for me and stated that the kitchen was off-limits, so being able to finally make something for myself is a refreshing experience. So far I've gathered what seems to be coffee grounds, which saves the effort of me actually grinding them. However, no matter where I looked, I couldn't find any coffee maker. "No coffee maker? Shit." I only ever used those automatic coffee dispensers that used pre-packaged cup filters for my folks at home. I would just pop one in and let the machine do its work as it dispensed that brownish liquid into a cup. That said, I always hated coffee.

The grogginess still lingered as I continued looking around for some kind of pot or kettle. Making coffee shouldn't be any different than making tea, right? Just need to boil the grounds in hot water and filter it out afterward. I decided to look around in some of the upper cabinets while standing on the countertop. Bingo. I pulled out a pot with my hoof, flexing it over the handle as I then pulled it back. However, it slipped out of my grasp. "Shit!" I rushed in and reflexively caught it with my mouth, my head dropping down with the weight as I barely stopped it from hitting the counter. I sighed. Alright, now for the water and stove.

The sink was a little hard to navigate with my small frame, but I managed to get the water in the pot before placing it on a stovetop. I looked around for the familiar lighter, which to my surprise there wasn't any. Hmm, maybe the stove had a lighter built into it? I turned one of the knobs and saw that it flickered into life. The familiar heat brushed against my muzzle as it started burning underneath the pot of water. However what perplexed me was that I didn't hear the normal electrical current when pressing down on the knob, a flickering sound that would light the gas. Turning the knob off again, then turning it on, the process repeated itself. No electrical flickering, nor any sound of hissing gas emanating from the stovetop. Huh, weird. Guess Equestrian technology is a little different than I imagined it.

As I let the water boil, my mind went back to the dream I had, back in that same kitchen I blew up and what happened afterward. It was obvious what happened, although I simply just couldn't comprehend it. Too many possibilities existed in my mind. I never had nightmares like those when I was a human. I couldn't recall having any nightmares at all, which is strange since most people remember distinctly from the dreams they awoke abruptly from. This, however, was far from forgettable. I don't have any solid evidence that it was Nightmare Moon's doing. What interest would somepony like that have in a small rich filly like me? I paused in deep thought. Perhaps she knew I was a former human? I shook my head. No, even if she did know, it wouldn't warrant her watching over me and giving me night terrors. It's unlikely she was only giving me night terrors. The stories mentioned her giving nightmares to foals across Equestria, so I couldn't be the only exception. But that eye, the one that appeared on that moon, I could still see it in the back of my mind. Its gaze staring right through me as if it was trying to imprint itself into my memories. I couldn't shake the image away.

The sounds of boiling water and steam snapped me out of my stupor. I clicked my tongue as I proceeded to insert the coffee grounds into the pot. I didn't know what amount would be good for this volume, so I guessed and hoped for the best. After a few minutes, I turned off the stove and allowed the coffee pot to settle. I carefully brought out a coffee mug and placed it on the counter. My teeth gripped the rubber handle as I slowly and carefully-

"Is that coffee I smell?"

Startled, I jumped and misplaced a hoof on the edge of the counter. I reactively tried to replace my footing as I balanced the hot coffee pot, but my hoof was met with nothing as I tripped. I felt myself falling over, the pot spilling out above me as I felt my body suddenly feeling weightless. A shimmer surrounded my vision as I felt a force push me away from where I was, everything becoming a rushed blur. The hairs on my coat raised as I felt my body reach to a sudden halt and the sounds of slashing steam and the sound of metal ricochet off the floor. Discombobulated, I shook my head to see a very fear-stricken Rarity right above me.

"Oh my Celestia, are you alright!?"

My eyes refocused as I could see myself laying on the floor, my gaze turning to the other end of the kitchen. The pot was spilled with coffee all over the floor, and I was just under it a second ago.

"I-I, I'm fine thanks." I slowly pulled myself off the floor, dusting my coat off.

"Just what in Equestria were you doing Silver Spoon? You could have gotten hurt!" Rarity was facing me in extreme concern as she placed her hooves on my cheeks, turning my head at different angles presumably to make sure I was okay.

"I'm fine, Miss Rarity. I was just trying to make some coffee for myself. I'm sorry..." I apologized.

Rarity sighs but nods in understanding. "Well as long as you're safe. If I haven't gotten used to saving Sweetie Belle from various accidents such as these, I wouldn't be sure if I had saved you in time."

Biting my lip, the realization that I could have been seriously scorched dawned on me. "I-I uh, thanks, for saving me." I scratched the back of my head.

"It's not a problem, although I must ask, why were you trying to make coffee by yourself?"

"I didn't want to wake you up or interrupt your beauty sleep, and I also didn't get a lot of sleep last night." I laughed nervously.

"You three fillies having too much fun?" Rarity chuckled, almost expectantly.

"Uhh, not exactly." I averted my gaze.

"Huh, well perhaps we can talk about it after I clean up that mess." She said as she walked past me.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that too." I apologized again.

"And again, it's not a problem dear. And by the looks of it, I think you might have gotten lucky." She said as she lifted some rags with her magic, wiping the mess away before placing the pot in the sink.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I turned my head quizzically.

"You used far too many coffee grounds dear," Rarity laughed, "even if you did make it, I doubt you would have been able to drink it. How about I brew some more for the both of us?"

"That'd be great, thanks." I said as I stepped up onto a chair next to the dinner table. A couple of minutes passed as I rested my head on the counter, my mind still a little jarred from almost facing first-degree burns. Rarity hummed as she poured two cups with her magic, before placing them down on the table in their respective places. "Thanks." I say before I blew into the mug and proceeded to take a sip from it. "Blegh! It's as bitter as I remembered it."

Rarity chuckled as she added some milk and sugar into her drink. "So you tasted coffee before, and yet you still decide to drink it black?"

"I thought maybe it would have tasted different..." I say defensively, thinking back to all the times various green foods were pleasant on my tongue.

"Hah, well I'm afraid that no magic or technique can make black coffee any less bitter. Would you like some cream and sugar with that?" She offered by levitating a cream carton and a couple of sugar cubes.

"Yes please, thank you." I pushed my mug out.

"Hmmhmhmm~" The older mare hummed as she prepared my drink. Her gaze still rested on me as she was pleasantly surprised to see me forcing down the slightly more tolerable liquid. "You know, I hardly know any filly that would drink coffee. Usually they would at least try tea first and then spit it out afterwards."

"Yeah, well I kinda need it." I say as I washed the liquid down my throat, trying to drown out the lingering taste of blood and vile puke from my memories.

"Because you couldn't sleep?" She asked, before sipping from her mug.

"Because I had a nightmare." I answered, placing my mug down.

"Oh dear, that sounds... unpleasant. Are you alright?" The older mare voiced concern.

"I'm fine, just... shaken up that's all." I proceed to take another sip.

"I see... Well it's hardly strange to see foals having nightmares at this age." 

My ears perked up at that. "It's not?"

Her expression was sympathetic. "Oh Spoon, everypony has nightmares occasionally. I can't say that I remember much of them now that I'm a grown mare, but even I had them as a young filly."

"You did?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I did. I'd have nightmares at least... perhaps once a moon? It seemed that every filly and colt had them." Rarity gave me a soft and reassuring look. "Even Sweetie Belle has them. Sometimes she would shriek in the middle of the night, only for me to find her laying on the floor with the bed covers on her..."

"So... everypony has nightmares?" I inquired.

"Oh don't worry Silver Spoon, you'll grow out of it eventually. Why, my last nightmare happened mere months ago."

"M-Months?!" I exclaimed.

"Of course! Soon your nightmares will become less frequent as you grow, I promise you. Nightmares are completely normal for a filly your age." Rarity smiled, but her words did nothing to reassure me.

"You... and you don't remember your nightmares?" I ask, bewildered.

"I... can't quite say." I could see her expression growing a bit warier as the conversation moved onwards, but she did put a hoof on her chin as she was attempting to recall. "The latest memory I can recall would be when my fabrics all floated away from my boutique, and on the day before the beauty pageant! Oh how dreadful."

"That's it?!" I exclaimed, standing up from my seat with my forelegs on the table. My coffee was already emptied halfway and my mind kicked back into full gear, my body fully energized.

"Of course! Why my entire fashion line was on the line. If I didn't have all my dresses prepared before the judges showed up, my career would have been in ruins!" She waved a foreleg over her head dramatically. "Why even Sweetie Belle said that my night terror woke the living daylights out of her." She chuckled lightly. "Luckily it was all just a dream." The older mare then sipped from her coffee.

"I... see..." I averted my gaze to my coffee mug. Nightmares are normal? T-That can't be right... Although I have started to have them a couple of months ago, nopony told me about them. The family library didn't even have any mention of it, and it was a pretty wide library. I stared deeper into the light-brown liquid as I pondered. And if I were to compare my nightmares to Rarity's, hers were quite tame in comparison. Based on what she has told me, all adolescent ponies were experiencing these nightmares. Urgh... I can't draw any conclusions yet, I've gotta do more research into this.

"Silver Spoon?" I heard a voice from behind my seat. I immediately turned around to see Sweetie Belle at the bottom of the stairwell across the hallway and with the worst bed-hair. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she walked over to the kitchen. "You're up already?"

Rarity smiled and left her seat. "Oh Sweetie, you've woken up just in time. I was about to go up there myself. Is Diamond Tiara also awake?"

"No, she's still in her mattress." The small unicorn stretched her legs.

"Well did you brush your teeth yet?"

"Yeah, of course I did sis. You don't have to foal me all the time." Sweetie Belle complained.

"I'm just asking." The older mare replied in just. "Now I don't have any spare toothbrushes for either of you Silver Spoon, so you're going to have to live with slightly bad breath."

"I'll just go and rinse my mouth with water and paste. Or some mouthwash if you have some." I shrugged.

"Ew, mouthwash is so gross..." Sweetie Belle cringed.

Rarity chuckled at this. "Well, you could always borrow some of mine Silver Spoon. Sweetie Belle doesn't like using it after brushing."

"Brushing should be good enough." Sweetie Belle complained again.

"It doesn't hurt to be a little more hygienic Sweetie. Nothing wrong with having teeth as shiny as mine!" The older unicorn smiled, revealing her white teeth. "Now come along now, lets get all your manes properly brushed up. Your mane is a tangled mess!"





Rarity combed all our manes to an acceptable level. She was about to use all kinds of beauty products until Sweetie Belle promptly stopped her, saying that we had to get ready for school early. For one, I was glad that I had to skip morning grooming. The maids always bathed and brushed me to perfection before every morning and sometimes I would have to wait forever before they deemed my appearance acceptable enough to walk outside my room. Diamond Tiara didn't seem to hold that same sentiment, however, as she was awfully disappointed she didn't get the chance to have make-up applied to her. Afterward, the three of us headed towards the kitchen as Rarity prepared breakfast.

And apparently cereal does exist!

"Wow Sil... You really like cereal." Sweetie Belle commented.

I was too busy shoving as much of the sugary manufactured and artificially flavored goodness into my digestive tract. I swallowed before responding. "I haven't had cereal in so looong!" My emotions were filled with joy. For all this time I had to eat fancy breakfasts that included oatmeal, cinnamon, and fruits. It felt amazing to simply eat something artificial again. The sugar was much tastier than I remembered from back home.

"Is it really that good?" Dia poked the bowl of delicious goodness hesitatingly with her spoon.

"Try it!" I demanded while pointing a spoon threateningly. Then I proceeded to gouge down on my meal to which even Rarity cringed in mild displeasure. Diamond Tiara started poking the bowl some more, still extremely skeptical about the meal.

"You should eat it before it gets soggy." Sweetie Belle advised, eating from her bowl normally.

Diamond Tiara took another glance at the bowl before gulping. Taking her spoon in her hoof, she carefully took a spoonful of it before consuming it. Her eyes lit up upon tasting it, "W-What? What is this?!", she exclaimed before eating in the bowl at a rapid pace that rivaled mine.

Of course, I finished first, drinking the rest of the milk and sugar from the bowl before placing it down incomplete content. Milk covered my lips as I sighed in pleasure. "So good...."

Sweetie Belle just stared strangely at both of us. "Do neither of you have cereal at home?" the small unicorn questioned while tilting her head.

"Nope, never had it before. Why didn't daddy tell me about this? This is great!" The pink filly shook her head as she continued eating her breakfast.

"Neither do I!" I answered in turn, smiling in bliss as the sugary goodness settled in my belly. Rarity feigned a smile and politely wiped my lips with a napkin. "I should come here more often, your sister's cooking is great!" I said. Rarity scrunched her nose and was about to correct me before I gave her a smug expression in turn.

The older mare rolled her eyes but smiled a little at my joke. "Alright, I'll take your word for that. But before you go, I should prepare you all a lunch as well!" She got up from her chair before looking around in her fridge.

"Oh, you don't have to do that..." I said in response. Rarity and Dia raised her eyebrow after my comment. "I mean, you already made us dinner and breakfast. It's far too much if you made us lunch as well..." I started to explain.

"Well it's really no problem at all Silver Spoon. Your father had already informed me that he'll compensate for whatever meals I will provide. And what would you eat if I haven't prepared a lunch?" Rarity smiled, before packing some apples and other foods into a paper bag.

"I-I, I guess..." I muttered, before getting a nudge from Diamond Tiara.

"Come on Sil, just accept the lunch and lets go!" The pink filly lightly smiled at me.

"Fiiiine." I rolled my eyes, "but we're totally going to come back here."

"Indubitably!" Sweetie Belle chirped. Dia and I give her a questionable look while raising an eyebrow. "W-What? I can use fancy words too!" The small unicorn said a little flustered. It drew a small snicker from me, causing her to blush even harder. "H-Hey!"

"N-No no, it's great." I barely held in a laugh. "It was just unexpected, that's all."

"I don't even know what that means, but you sound so smart!" Dia exclaimed full-heartedly before she tilted her head. "What does it mean?"

Sweetie Belle puffed up lightly in embarrassment but was about to answer before being immediately interrupted by her older sister. "Now now girls, you all should be getting ready for school. Do you have everything packed yet?"

"No." We all unanimously said.

"Then do so, I'm almost done making you all your lunch." Rarity chided.

"Okay."
"Kay."
"Sure."

We all left upstairs and gathered our belongings, including my Uno cards. At this point, I really felt the effects of that coffee's caffeine spreading throughout me, so I was wide awake. Using the mouthwash and water to clear my breath from the bitter liquid in the bathroom, Dia whispered next to me while Sweetie Belle was away. "Hey so, I heard everything from last night."

"PFFFTTT!" I immediately ejected the mouthwash into the sink, leaving behind a nasty taste of chlorine and mint. Wiping my mouth with a rag, I hissed "What!?"

"Did, you really mean what you said?" Dia gave a concerned look.

"W-Wait wait wait, how did you hear everything? You were asleep!" I exclaimed silently.

"I was sleeping in pretend." Dia waved her hoof almost as if it was obvious, "Last rule of sleepovers: There's always juicy gossip at night. Why did you think I wanted to sleep early?"

My mouth hanging agape, "You conniving little fox." I say almost impressed, enabling Dia to smirk at this. I curtly stopped her with a hoof and a serious gaze. "You should warn me next time. Or better yet, just don't do that again."

"Huh? But why not?" The pink filly said a little miffed.

"It's not exactly the kind of stuff you should be eavesdropping on." I deadpanned. "And that could have gone horribly! What if I messed up!" I flailed my forelegs while standing before toppling over. "I could have ruined everything if you didn't get involved."

"Why would I? You said so yourself that you can make friends if you wanted to, and it looks to me that you did." She gave me an innocent smile while I still was on the carpet below.

I gave her a tired expression before inevitably sighing. "Fine. Just warn me next time."

"Okay!" Dia chirped, before lending a hoof to pull me off the ground. "So... about what you said, did we really bully fillies for our cutiemarks?"

"Why? You believe in what I say now?"

"Well it doesn't look like you're lying..." Dia said, still showing mild concern. "That won't happen though right? We won't, make enemies..."

"Not if we can help it." I shrugged "Still, Scootaloo seems like she'll be tough to be friends with."

"Right, her... hey do we have to be friends with her?" Dia said with a slight annoyance in her voice.

"What?" I say a little surprised.

"I mean, can't we just ignore her, like you said? As long as we don't bully her it should be fine right?"

"I don't think it will be easy as that..." I say. "...Wait... Is it that easy?" I try to recall with a hoof on my chin. Back then Applebloom only joined Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo over their shared status of not having cutiemarks, with the main conflict being Diamond Tiara and I causing her to be insecure. It's not really a stretch to say that we bullied them into becoming friends... "No no, things are different now. We're friends with Sweetie Belle. We can't just ignore Scootaloo."

"Right..." Dia said before silently groaning. "You know, I'm starting to know what Sweetie Belle meant when she said that friendships are complicated."

"Yeah, well friendships don't usually have somepony that can dream the future." I casually remarked before approaching the bathroom door and swinging it inwards.

Suddenly a light-grey unicorn toppled over onto the bathroom carpet, dazed before fixating her eyes on me. "Uh... Rarity said that our lunches were ready!" She smiled meekly. 

I stared with a deadpanned look while Dia was wide-eyed, clearly not expecting to be listening in on. "I'm not dealing with this." I stepped over the eavesdropping Sweetie Belle before proceeding downstairs.





"And finally your lunch." Rarity said as she levitated Sweetie Belle's lunch into her saddlebag.

"Thanks Rarity!" Sweetie Belle chirped before walking towards the exit.

"Thanks for the meals." I say in turn, feeling the newly added weight in my saddlebag.

"Yeah thanks, although I can't say I liked dinner." Dia said blatantly, earning a quick nudge from me.

"Now, it's alright. Perhaps I'll cook up something better next time." Rarity smiled, "And perhaps with some more groceries." She took a wary glance at her fridge.

"Well thanks for everything. Let's go Sil!" Dia bounced towards the living room.

I took a small guilty glance at Rarity while walking behind Dia, before being interrupted by walking into something fuzzy. "Dia?"

"Shhh!" A hoof was pressed against my mouth. The pink filly was peering over the corner towards the exit.

"What are you eavesdropping now?" I whispered before leaning past Diamond Tiara.

There I see two figures standing in the doorway, one Sweetie Belle and the other an orange filly with a cerise mane. "What I'm trying to say is that, I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to say." Scootaloo dug at the welcome mat below her with a forehoof. "Your opinion does matter Sweetie Belle. I'm just... too dumb to realize it. Do you still want to be friends with me?" She said with remorseful eyes.

Sweetie Belle stood there contemplating for a moment before saying, "Okay," earning a joyous expression from the orange filly. Before Scootaloo could speak, Sweetie Belle paused with a hoof. "But, if my opinions do matter then you're going to have to listen to me."

"Uh, okay?" Scootaloo tilted her head. "Like, what?"

"Like when I say I don't want to go watch you go scoot." Sweetie Belle deadpanned.

"W-What?! You don't want to watch me scoot?" The orange pegasus says a bit dejected.

"Of course I do, but not like, all the time!" The small unicorn exclaimed while rolling her eyes. "Sometimes I want to do other things. Maybe you can teach me how to scoot. Or maybe we could play some games together."

"You mean those dolls of yours?" Scootaloo says, a little unenthusiastic by the idea.

"No, it doesn't have to be dolls." Sweetie Belle deadpanned. "We could go look for pets! Or meet other ponies! Or go to the park. Maybe even try to find our cutiemarks!"

Scootaloo's eyes widened at the last example. "That... last bit actually sounds like a lot of fun. Wait, did I see somepony else there?" Her gaze turned towards the corner we resided.

The both of us were quickly pulled back by two white forelegs. "Wa-"

"Shhh!" I looked up to realize that Rarity was right above us before she leaned across the corner to address Scootaloo.

"Uh, Rarity?" Scootaloo echoed across the room.

"Oh no worries it's just me darling. I'm just cleaning up the kitchen. There's been a spill and it's quite difficult to clean off. Shhht! Shhht!" She turned the corner and mimicked the sound of a cleaning bottle. "Both of you run along to school now~" She smiled. Then she motioned her hooves towards the open windowsill in the kitchen. Diamond Tiara and I nodded before we snuck our way out of Rarity's Boutique, with the older mare winking at the both of us from the window as we looked back.

"Well that was neat!" Dia ecstatically exclaimed. "I felt like an actual ninja! Sneaking around corners, listening in on conversations, and sneaking out the window! We should do it again."

"I think I had enough playing ninja for today." I said reluctantly, "That was way too close for comfort Dia. Things would have gone way too messy if Scootaloo found out about us being in Rarity's house."

"Yeah I know..." Dia's ears dropped downwards, "but it was so cool!"

I shook my head. "Yeah well, we can always play ninja later. For now lets just get back to school before those two notices us."

"Okay!" The pink filly chirped.
> Class is in Session
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Is the floor supposed to be made out of dead grass and dirt?" I asked my pink friend as I stood at the entrance of the classroom. I didn't notice before, but with the two of us the first fillies there I was able to take in my surroundings with a little more perceptiveness.

"I dunno. It feels nice under my hooves though. The shiny tiles at home make my hooves hurt." Dia remarked before unpacking her things at her desk.

"Why don't they just use carpet then?" I ask again, doing the same as her.

"I dunno, maybe Miss Cheerilee likes it this way?", my friend shrugged disinterestedly, "Why are you asking me weird questions? Shouldn't you ask Miss Cheerilee?"

"Eh I dunno, I just noticed this now." I say awkwardly. "It's... nothing. You're right, it is a weird question."

The door opened again to reveal a couple more colts and fillies coming into class: Shady Daze, Twist, Snips and Snails, and a couple of others I can't remember the names of. "Huh, well of course the two egg-heads are the first in class." My ears perked up to hear Scootaloo's mocking voice behind the group. I see her turning to Sweetie Belle with a smirk, expecting a response. However, the light-grey unicorn looked at her with unamused eyes, before walking over to her seat.

"H-Hey, did you hear me?" She asked before sitting next to her. "Hey Sweetie Belle, you home?" Scootaloo waved a hoof over her friend's muzzle.

"Yeah I heard you." Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

"...Are you still mad at me?" Scootaloo said quietly.

"No it's not that," she said passively aggressively, "it just wasn't funny."

"Not funny? But you were laughing with me just yesterday."

"Eh, I think that joke's run its course."

"Run it's what?" The pegasus tilted her head.

"It's an expression." She copied my words with a deadpanned expression.

I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit overhearing their conversation. "Hey!" The pegasus shouted, drawing the attention of most of the other students.

At that moment, Miss Cheerilee burst through the door, cheery as usual. "Good morning class!" Miss Cheerilee said brightly, her soothing disposition infectious.

“Morning, Miss Cheerilee!” the class replied in unison, their attention quickly being turned away from Scootaloo's outburst.

"I'm sure all of you had a pleasant night."

"Eh, it was alright." Applebloom said with a blank look while laying on her hoof.

“Good,” she said, not acknowledging Applebloom’s expression. “But today, we need put our learning caps on! Today is important!”

Scootaloo snorted once.

“Okay. Let’s begin with the lesson plan, shall we?”

Miss Cheerilee, chalk in mouth, pivoted to face the chalkboard. The class looked on as she began to write in neat, tall, legible chalkmanship. When she was finished, the words splayed out onto the board read:


Sugar and The Sun


Miss Cheerilee set the stick of chalk aside to admire the faces of her audience. They all looked on in confusion. I was looking on with mild interest. I had learned some mention of it in the books I've read, but nothing too detailed.

“Now, I assume everypony here knows what these two subjects are?"

Everypony nodded and raised their hooves in confirmation.

"Good, now can anypony tell me the connection these two share?"

Nopony raised their hooves. They certainly knew what the giant flaming ball in the sky was, and how sugar is used in a lot of their favorite foods and snacks, but not whatever connection their teacher was trying to allude to.

Miss Cheerilee chuckled. “Don’t be shy, there are no wrong answers. It’s entirely open for discussion.”

A few more cautious moments passed before I finally raised my hoof into the air. Miss Cheerilee called on me with no hesitation, catching me completely off guard and earning stares from the rest of the class.

“Uh...” I stuttered. "Is it... energy?"

"Almost right on the mark Silver Spoon. But no, anypony else?" Something clicked inside of everypony’s head at that point, and more of the class started to raise their hooves. Miss Cheerilee called upon a mare in thick-rimmed, purple glasses and curly red hair, comparative to the “Annie” of ponies. "Twist?"

The light amberish gray filly lowered her hoof and timidly said, "Uh, is it magic?"

"Very good, Twist!" Miss Cheerilee praised, turning to write the point down on the board. After writing it, she turned back to the filly. "Now could you explain to me how did you got that right?"

"I uh, well I learned it from my thsister. She runs a candy shop." Twist explained.

"That's wonderful. I'm glad that your sister taught you." Cheerilee said assuringly, before getting her chalk and writing on the board. "Yes, both Celestia's sun and sugar contain magic. And every single living thing needs magic to survive and thrive!" She drew a sun and some flowers with happy faces on them. "And for us ponies, we use magic for everything. From Earth Ponies getting their strength, to Unicorns being able to cast spells, and Pegasi having their ability to fly and shape the weather!" Cheerilee finished drawing with each race on the board respectively. Scootaloo was listening on intently on that last part.

"Wait so, everything needs magic?" I hear a colt in my class ask.

"Yeppers! And Celestia's sun is important because it gives our plants the magic they need to survive. And crops give us sugar, and sugar gives us magic! Magic is an important for all our food! But also animals too." Cheerilee drew on the board again, this time adding various animals and birds.

"Why animals? Animals can't do magic." Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

"A valid point," Miss Cheerilee replied, dropping her chalk on her table. "But why is it that you think some animals can understand us?"

"Because they're smart?" Shady deadpanned as if everypony knows this.

"Yes, but why are animals smart enough to understand us?" The magenta mare clarified.

"...Because of magic?" Applebloom guessed, playing a pencil in her mouth.

"Right! Clever answer Applebloom! And how did you come up with your answer?" Cheerilee wrote again on the board.

The yellow filly rolled her eyes before dropping her pencil out of her mouth to talk. "Because mah sister always tells me ta make sure Winona's food has enough magic in it. It's on the packaging label."

"Exactly! Magic gives animals the ability to think! And when animals are fed and taken care of well, they can be trained much like our pets!" The magenta mare finished with a drawing of a dog eating food. Then she draws an arrow pointing from the sun to the plants and then the plants to the food.

"So... if an animal doesn't get enough magic then what happenths?" Twist asked after raising her hoof.

"Then they become reliant on pure instinct." Cheerilee turned to face the class. "You see class, when a living thing doesn't get enough magic in their bodies, they lose the ability to be sapient. That means they won't be able to think properly. They then simply become animals that can't understand ponies and just do what their bodies tell them to do."

"So like, what happens if ponies run out of magic?" I asked without even bothering on raising a hoof, my voice was genuinely curious. The chalk stopped on the board and Miss Cheerilee paused from moving a single muscle. 

Suddenly, the classroom became deathly quiet. Not a peep was to be heard.

"That is something we must avoid at all costs,” Miss Cheerilee admonished, turning to me while getting strange looks from the rest of her students. "A good question Silver Spoon, and it's why it's very important for everypony to know this." All the students had her attention. Almost as if she cast a spell. "Ponies need magic, more than anything else. Without it, we would become extremely tired as our bodies won't be able to keep up with our thinking. We would become, basically no different than the animals we see everyday. But worse. We could be tired, and start doing strange things like eating the grass." The magenta mare said with all seriousness, earning some gulps from a couple of students while others expressed with disgust. "So everypony here now understands just how important sugar is?" Everypony nodded. "Good. So class, be sure you take your daily snacks and food alright?"

Everypony nodded, but Diamond Tiara raised her hoof high. "Miss Cheerilee! What happens if a pony eats too much sugar! I eat loads of snacks everyday!" She asked while earning some jealous glances from the others.

"Yeah, wouldn't too much sugar give us like, diabetes?" I asked in her support.

This earned a couple of curious glances at me and sudden laughter from the magenta mare. "Oh Silver Spoon, diabetes doesn't happen to ponies."

What.

"What's that?"
"What is she talking about?"
"What's diabetes?"

A couple more curious whispers are heard in the background. I felt their eyes piercing into me from behind. "And to answer your excellent question Diamond Tiara, ponies have a special way of taking care of that. Who here knows a pony named Pinkie Pie?" Everypony's eyes widened, almost everyone recognized the name and raised their hooves in confirmation. I've never seen the mare myself, but Cheerilee had just confirmed that she definitely indeed does live here. Timidly, I raised my hoof along with them.

"Wonderful, now for anypony who doesn't know, Pinkie is our town Party Pony. She spends all day planning for special occasions and is overall bouncy and cheerful with lots of energy." Our teacher explained, receiving nods from the colts and fillies. "However you all probably also have seen how active she is, jumping around, moving from place to place with immense speed, and even talking to ponies extremely fast for ponies to understand." Again the class nodded, fully knowing what she was talking about. "Now that's exactly what happens when a pony consumes a lot of magic, a Sugar Rush." She wrote the words on the board along with a rough drawing of Pinkie Pie.

"In a Sugar Rush, ponies deal with the extra magic they receive by doing all kinds of tasks. They find things to do and do them really fast in order to use up the energy they have in their bodies. Perhaps some of you experienced it once? Or maybe a whole lot more than once." Cheerilee smiled at the class knowingly, a couple of students looking away with embarrassment much like Dia and a couple of others giggling in their seats. "And that's why we don't have to worry about diabetes. Frankly I'm quite surprised to be hearing that from you Silver Spoon. Diabetes isn't terribly common."

"I uh... learned it in a book." I nervously scratched the back of my head.

"Well you must be well studious Silver Spoon. Perhaps one day you'll be a star example of what the class has to learn from." Miss Cheerilee smiled at me reassuringly, before cleaning the board with an eraser.

"Egg-head."

I heard the all too familiar voice and a couple of chuckles escaping from the back of the class. My ears flattened as I was quickly annoyed by their incessant teasing.

"Hey!" Dia shouted, turning around in her seat to glare at the other students.

"Diamond Tiara, what are you doing out of your seat?" Cheerilee asked sternly.

"I-I, but Miss Cheerilee," the pink filly turned to her teacher with pleading eyes, "they were making fun of Silver Spoon!"

"Is that so?" Miss Cheerilee said, before stomping towards the back of the classroom and glaring down at every student. "Perhaps some of us didn't learn the lesson I taught yesterday. We do not make fun of other students in my classroom. If I hear anymore teasing coming from any of my students, then I'll start suspending recess for them while excluding the rest of the class. Do I make myself clear?" She stomped the ground with enough force to be barely felt.

Some students nodded their heads in full understanding while others, most notably Scootaloo, rolled their eyes and replied in dry sarcasm. "Yes Miss Cheerilee."

"Good." Miss Cheerilee said darkly before stomping back to the front of the room. I looked back and I saw a couple of students taking nervous glances at me, and some even glaring back at Diamond Tiara.

"Don't worry about it." Dia said as she drew my attention, softly smiling at me. "Those losers don't understand what it's like being smart. Especially not that Scootaloo." She put major emphasis on that last part.

Relief and concern filled me. Relief that Dia still had my back and understood that I don't do well under pressure, but also concern as she still wasn't completely on board with the idea of befriending the orange pegasus. Taking a quick glance behind me I could still see Scootaloo laying back in her seat, her eyes meeting mine before sticking her tongue out at me. I take another glance to see Sweetie Belle giving me a look of sympathy and mild annoyance at her pegasus friend. Looks like things were going to be harder than I thought...

"-And that's why Celestia's sun is very important for crops and all the animals we live with!" Miss Cheerilee finished her lecture. "Any questions? How about you Silver Spoon?"

My thoughts were immediately pulled back towards the magenta mare and her lesson, my anxiety quickly kicking in. "Uhhhhhh, w-why do you call it Celestia's sun? She doesn't technically own it." I blurted out.

"Of course she owns it!" A voice calls out from the back of the classroom. Eyes turn around to see Scootaloo sitting forward on her desk with confidence. "She made the sun after all." She dismisses the classroom's gaze with a hoof.

"No she didn't." I retorted.

"Did too!" Scootaloo said in a mocking tone.

"Actually," Cheerilee interrupted the would-be shouting contest, "you're both wrong."

"Hah?" Scootaloo's eyes blinked.

"Celestia did not in-fact create the sun. The sun existed for far longer than any of us had and she only have been moving it for well over what anypony remembers."

"But... if she lived fer so long, how do ya know fer sure?" Applebloom asked.

"Why Celestia said so herself, and on multiple occasions." Cheerilee chuckled, drawing some confusion from the other students. "So no Scootaloo, Celestia did not create the sun." The orange pegasus scrunched her nose and crossed her forelegs, before laying back in her chair disinterested.

"And as for you Silver Spoon, let me answer your question with another question."

"Huh?" I say surprised.

"If you had a wagon and pulled it for years and nopony else did, would you say that you owned it?" The magenta mare asked.

"I guess..."

"Then there you have it. That's why we consider Celestia to own the sun, since she moves it every day for us to enjoy and to give all of us the magic we need to live our lives." Our teacher smiled before ending the lecture. She then opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of papers. "And I also have all your excellent spelling papers graded!" She spoke through her mouth. I never understood why she could speak clearly through that. "Now class, I'm going to pass these papers in to the front row, and those ponies are going to take the first page on top and hand the stack to the pony behind them. Then we'll repeat the process until everypony has their paper back. I hope you're all excited to see how well you did!~"

Predictably mine and Dia's were perfect scores. There was even a red apple stamp that circled our scores. Other students looked at their papers and looked overall confused at what their scores meant, while others were pretty happy with their own writing. "Now all of you can bring those papers home and show your parents your excellent scores!"

Behind me, I saw everypony excitedly putting their papers in their saddles, but Scootaloo wore a sour expression as she crumpled up her paper and tossed it in a nearby bin. "Can we go to recess now?" Snips voiced his complaints. "Yeah! I wanna go outside and play ball!" Snails joined in.

"Oh, is it already that time?" Cheerilee looked at her clock hanging on the wall. "Oh dear, I must have lost track. Sorry class, I guess you can all go to recess now." The class didn't need any further confirmation as every colt and filly trotted off the front door. The sounds of the class bell echoed throughout the hallway, leaving only me and Dia alone.

"Urgh... that filly has problems." My pink friend remarked.

"Tell me about it..." I couldn't help but agree, but the pit in my stomach plummeted as my confidence weakened.

"Hey Sil," Dia placed a hoof on my shoulder, "even if things don't work out, at least you'll still have me and Sweetie Belle. Right?" She asked hopefully.

I looked at her, my face uncertain, but I sighed and nodded anyway. "Yeah, but... I really thought maybe I could be friends with her."

"Maybe you can, maybe you won't. But if your dreams say that we will be enemies with both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in the future, then we wouldn't be friends with Sweetie Belle now would we?"

I look up, only to see her reassuring smile. A faint glimmer of hope instilled in me that I managed to lightly smile once more. "You're right. I shouldn't give up now."

"I didn't say that-"

"We're going to snag Scootaloo as a friend whether she likes it or not." I say triumphantly on my desk.

"I'm not sure that's how friendship works-"

"Then we're going to make the best team of friends this school will ever see!"

"I'm pretty sure that belongs to Snips and Snails-"

"Then we'll take over Equestria and make Celestia bow at her knees!"

"Okay maybe you're going a little too far with that-"

"We'll be known as Pink Diamond and Silent Silver! One-hundred years Dia and Sil! Twelve seasons! Twenty-six episodes each!" I howl in the middle of the classroom.

"What are you even saying-"

"One-hundred years Dia! That's how long our rule will be!"

"I'm going now." Dia stood up.

"One-hundred years Dia and Sil!"

"Bye, I'm leaving."

"And then we'll have even more! We'll have movies and spin-offs!"

"I'm leaving through the door."

"And terrible fanfiction!"

"Bye Sil, see you at recess."

"One-hundred years!"
> Stigma and Sigmatism
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why did you do that?" Sounds of stomping hoofsteps could be heard.

Scootaloo was eating out of her lunch box before Sweetie Belle joined her at her table. "Do what?" Her voice was half-muffled from eating her dandelion sandwich.

"Make fun of them! You almost got the whole class in trouble." The unicorn filly exclaimed in contempt, before pulling out her lunch bag. "Didn't I say it wasn't funny?"

Scootaloo shrugged nonchalantly. "The whole class seems to think so." She took another bite into her sandwich.

"Well, the whole class can just shove an apple in it." Sweetie Belle took a large bite into her apple, staring at the fillies and colts playing next to the schoolyard. Sounds of laughing and cheering could be heard from the students playing jump rope, ball, and other games.

The orange pegasus paused before placing her unfinished meal on the table. "Okay what's wrong Sweetie Belle. You're acting all weird on me."

"I'm acting weird?! You're the one picking fights with the teacher and bullying Dia and Sil!" The white filly stood up from her seat with her fore-hooves on the table.

Scootaloo shrank in her seat, before narrowing her eyes. "Wait, Dia and Sil?"

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened upon realizing what she said. She timidly sat back in her seat, struggling to not break eye contact. "Yeah, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon."

"You gave them nicknames?" The pegasus raised an eyebrow.

"Y-Yeah! I mean, their names are pretty long. I don't want to say the whole thing every time." She scratched her head nervously.

Scootaloo took note of Sweetie Belle's change of demeanor, only slightly narrowing her eyes before resuming her sandwich. "Right. Well, school is lame anyways. Only egg-heads like actually going there."

"Scootaloo, *everypony* goes to school." Sweetie Belle deadpanned, before finishing her apple.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it. You know the only reason why I'm going is because-"

"Because sis would just put you in frilly outfits. Yeah I know." Sweetie Belle took some leftover spinach between two slices of bread out of her lunch bag. Taking a large bite out of it, she only momentarily enjoys the taste before asking. "Why do you hate school anyways?"

"Because it's for egg-heads-"

"Yeah but where did you learn that from?" Sweetie Belle prodded more, before chewing more of her sandwich.

Scootaloo stopped chewing, her cheeks tinted in a slight red. Swallowing, she averted her gaze and scratched the back of her head. "R-Rainbow Dash."

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, expecting this answer. "Of course."

"H-Hey, she's cool alright. And I wanna be just like her." The orange pegasus sipped from her apple juice carton.

"Because she can fly?" The white unicorn leaned her head against her hoof, her expression unamused.

"N-Not because of that!" Scootaloo protested, before shifting her wings at her back uncomfortably. "Well, maybe some of that, but not just that! She's just... I don't know, cool!" She exclaimed, completely enamored by the images of said blue pegasus in her imagination. "Like the way she acts, the way she talks, and her rainbow trails she leaves behind are super freaking cool! Not to mention-"

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and ignored her friend, turning her gaze back at the other fillies and colts playing in the background. She knew where this conversation was headed. It would always lead to her gushing about Rainbow Dash or bragging about herself and her scooter tricks. Why do I hang out with her? Sweetie Belle thought as she continued seeing more students having much more fun than her.

Her attention was quickly taken when out of the corner of her view, she could see her grey and pink friends coming out of the schoolhouse. Sil was lagging behind Dia a couple of hoofsteps away, but she quickly caught up to her. When she did, they quickly turned to each other and shared a laugh. Sweetie Belle smiled slightly at both of them, before scanning the schoolyard until her eyes landed on a yellow and red-maned filly with a pink bow. She was on the swings seemingly talking to an amberish gray and scarlet-maned filly wearing a violet pair of glasses.

"And basically she's like, the best flyer in Ponyville. Basically nopony can catch up to her-"

"Hey Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle interrupted her friend's ramblings, "you think we can be friends with her?" She pointed to the two fillies.

"Huh?" Scootaloo glanced in their direction before pausing momentarily. "...The nerdy-looking one?"

"No the one next to her. The farm filly." The unicorn clarified.

"Her?" Scootaloo pressed a hoof to her chin in contemplation. "I don't know, the way she talks is a little weird."

"I think it's called an accent Scootaloo."

"A what?" The pegasus raised an eyebrow.

"An accent. My sister does it all the time. You know, the Canterlot accent-"

"Oh the rich pony accent!" Scootaloo's eyes widened in realization.

"Yeah, that's because sis spent time living there trying to fit in with all the other ponies. That's why she has it, but you still can understand her right?" Sweetie Belle opened her leftover spinach.

"Eh, I just ignore her half the time." The pegasus shrugged lazily as she bit into her sandwich. Sweetie Belle simply gave her a dull empty-eyed stare. "I'm kidding, shesh." Scootaloo said with her mouth full before swallowing. "It's just that she uses a lot of fancy words that I don't understand. It just... makes me feel a little..."

"Stupid?" Sweetie Belle finished.

"N-No, not stupid, just... not good enough. Like she assumes that I should understand everything she's saying but, I don't." Scootaloo finishes while eating her entire sandwich.

"I see..." the light-grey unicorn took a mouthful of her spinach. "Is that why you don't want to be friends with that farm filly?"

"What?"

"Because of her accent." Sweetie Belle clarified.

"Oh no, I can understand her fine. It's just, I don't understand why she has it." Scootaloo bit her lip.

"Huh?" The unicorn echoed her confusion.

"I mean, isn't their farm like next to Ponyville? Canterlot is like super duper far from here, so I understand why Rarity has it, but there's no reason that farm filly should have an accent right? Can't she just talk normally?"

"I dunno," Sweetie Belle quickly ate the last bits of her spinach, "maybe she left Ponyville for some time, you don't know. Why don't you just ask her?"

Scootaloo pursed her lips. "Alright fine, I'll give it a shot."

"Cool!" Sweetie Belle chirped almost standing out of her seat, drawing a weird look from Scootaloo. "Er- I mean neat!"

The pegasus narrowed her eyes for half a second before shaking her head. "No promises though."

"That's good enough for me."





"Thso do you wanna hang out at my house? My thsister makes candy, I'm thsure she'll share it with you if I ask her." Twist said while swinging on the swing set. Next to her laid a yellow and red-maned filly with a bow at the back of her head.

"Nah, sorry. Ah got chores back at home. Mah sister says that Winonah got bit by ah snake, so she has to go get medicine for her while ah make sure the chickens don't leave their coop again." Applebloom swung on her swing set less enthusiastically.

Both of them had become friends relatively quickly, mostly due to their accents being hard for the other fillies and colts to understand. Twist came out of the blue during lunch a day ago and offered the farm filly candy. For Applebloom, sweets that weren't apple-related were pretty hard to come by, so she accepted and decided to hang out with her for most of the day.

"Well that thsucks. You have a lot of rethsponsibilities for a filly Applebloom." The amberish grey filly responded, still swinging enthusiastically.

"Well the farm takes a lot of work. Ever since ah started school, Applejack has a lot more work to do since I'm not around ta' help. Ah think she's still getting used to not havin' me around in the mornin's. We usually take care of everythin' then." The yellow filly stopped swinging before sighing.

This didn't go unnoticed, as Twist slowed down her swinging. "Is that why your thsad? She asked, genuinely concerned about her new friend.

"No Twist, ah ain't sad." Applebloom said a little more defensively than she intended. "It's just Applejack said that school was a place to make a lot of friends and... well nopony even wants to talk to us."

Twist stopped her swinging. "I talked to you."

"Yeah, and I'm grateful. But that doesn't explain why the other ponies avoid us. We haven't even done anythin' yet." Applebloom said that last sentence with a shaky voice. Tears started to swell in her eyes.

"Hey, hey Applebloom. Look at me." Twist gathered the attention of her friend. "We'll make friends. Don't worry."

"Well how do you know?" The farm filly sniffed while wiping her eyes.

"I know thso Applebloom. Thethse things take time. You'll be popular in no time. I promise." Twist smiled.

With another sniff, Applebloom looked gratefully at Twist. "T-Thanks."

"Hey!"

Startled, Applebloom fell off of her swing set. "W-Woah!"

Thud!

"Ow..." The farm filly groaned.

"You okay?" A high-pitched voice resounded in Applebloom's ears.

Her dizzy eyes refocused on orange and white colors, before coming to the sight of an upside-down orange pegasus and white unicorn. "Uh... howdy?"

"Sup." The orange filly flipped her magenta hair up, seemingly unbemused by her fall.

"Applebloom, you alright?" Twist stared worryingly from the swing set.

"Ah'm fine." Applebloom pulled herself up and dusted herself off. "And who are you?"

"Name's Scootaloo, and this is Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo nonchalantly pointed to her friend.

"Hi!" Sweetie Belle chirped before smiling excitedly. "Wanna be friends?" She leaned forward with a sparkle in her eyes.

Applebloom instinctively took a step back from the invasion of personal space. "Uh, I-"

"Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo sighed before hoofpalming, "you're not supposed to ask that."

"Huh? Why?" The white unicorn turned her head to the pegasus in question before tilting her head.

"You're supposed to act cool and let them ask you to be their friend."

"Huh?" Sweetie Belle's expression turned from mild confusion to bewilderment.

"Wait, what are you girls trying to do-"

"Applebloom! Thiths iths the moment I was talking about!" Twist interrupted Applebloom's trail of speech. Her expression showed pure satisfaction and happiness for her friend.

"Wait Twist, ah don't think-"

"Hi there!" Another voice resounded across the playground. All muzzles turned to two fillies she recognized in class. A pink and silver filly wearing a tiara and glasses respectively.

"Your name is Applebloom right? Wanna be friends with us? I'm Diamond Tiara" The pink one asked, lending a hoof out to Applebloom.

"Ah, I-" Applebloom stuttered while Twist was watching these events unfold with sparkling wide-eyes.

"Now hold on there dweebs. We were here first!" Scootaloo stepped forth with a heavy hoof on the dirt ground, scowling. The silver filly exchanged nervous glances towards her and Sweetie Belle.

Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes before stepping between Applebloom and Scootaloo. "Oh yeah? And what does a flightless pegasus like you intend to do with a farm filly?"

"D-Dia?" The silver filly seemed shocked.

"Uh, girls?" Applebloom tried to intervene.

"Hey, who are you calling flightless?!" The pegasus unfurled her tiny wings in an attempt to intimidate her. "Last time I checked, eggheads like you should be staying inside school."

"And what's wrong with going outside?" Dia held her head up high. "Even a pretty filly like me deserves a little fresh air."

"Yeah, if only you ate makeup," Scootaloo smirked, "then you'd be pretty on the inside as well."

"Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle stared wide-eyed in shock.

"Could you both stop fightin' for one minute!?" The farm filly voiced again.

"Y-You!" The pink filly glared at the pegasus in fury. "At least I have more friends than you!"

"Not for long, this farm filly is going to be our friend."

"Nuh uh! She's going to be our friend!"

"No she isn't."

"Yes she is!"

"Are you both even listenin'?!" Applebloom shouted in vain.

"No she isn't."

"Yes she is!"

"No she isn't."

"Yes she is!"

"AHHHHHH!"

Applebloom cried out the top of her lungs before running away. Everypony eyes lingered at the fleeing filly in utter dumbfoundedness.

"Great job, you made her run away." Scootaloo sneered.

"Me? You're the one insisting on her being your friend." Dia retorted.

"So were you! And she was going to be our friend if you didn't butt-in!"

"Now me! Now me! Argue about being my friend next!" Twist exclaimed happily, clasping both her hooves together.

Everypony stared at the amberish grey filly in befuddlement. A couple of seconds passed before the sounds of the school bell echoed across the playground. "Come on in children! Playtime is over!" Cheerilee's voice was heard by all the fillies and foals, and soon everypony in the yard stopped whatever it was they were doing and returned to class.

Scootaloo then snorted before turning around. "Whatever. Come on Sweetie Belle, let's go back to that dumb class. Hopefully next time these dweebs won't get in our way again."

"Hah, like there will be a next time." Diamond Tiara turned as the other duo started to go separate ways. "Lets go Sil. We'll try to make another friend next time."

The silver filly slowly nodded before taking one long apologetic glance at Sweetie Belle before leaving. Soon Twist was left by the swing set all alone. "Uh... what justh happened?
> Hesitant Resolutions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What on Earth was all that?" I exclaimed, trotting up to the pink filly ahead of me upon leaving the classroom. School was just over and everypony was leaving to their respective homes or guardians that came to pick them up.

"I-I j-just wanted to show her who's boss, and she was asking for it- wait, Earth?" Dia paused mid-sentence while slowing down to let me catch up.

"Yes, Earth, the dirt, the soil, Celestia's holy ground! What on Earth were you thinking?" I shot down Dia. My expression doubly furrowed in the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. "What happened to us making friends with Scootaloo?"

"I-I, didn't you hear what she said Sil? She called us 'dweebs', and she called me ugly! She had to be shown her place!" Dia stomped the ground in her own defense.

"And just what was 'her place' exactly Dia?" I sighed, already knowing the source of this way of thinking.

"Below us of course! I'm a Diamond! And you're a Silver! We shouldn't be treated like this. Especially not by the likes of her!" The pink filly argued. "Why do you want to be friends with her so much anyways? She only ever called us names ever since we got here."

"She's, she's not that bad. Or, at least she isn't supposed to." I muttered, kicking the dirt.

"What do you mean isn't supposed to?" Dia eyed me skeptically.

"I mean, she wasn't this... rude in my dreams." My eyes lowered to the ground as I brought a hoof to my chin in thought. "She isn't supposed to be the one starting fights. Usually we were the ones that did that..."

Dia scoffed. "Well maybe there was a reason why we did that. I'll admit that Sweetie Belle turned out to be a good friend, but to me Scootaloo just seems like a lost cause."

My courage quickly dwindled after that remark. With another sigh, I state. "We can't just give up on her. There's got to be a way for her to be on our side." I furrowed my eyes deeper, quickly reminiscing what little details I can recall about the orange pegasus.

"Sil, be honest with me. Do you actually want to be friends with Scootaloo?" Dia asked.

"Of course I d-"

"No Sil, think! Do you actually want to be friends with Scootaloo?" The pink filly's gaze peered into me as she held both my cheeks with her hooves. "Or are you just doing it because you don't want us to end up like those ponies in your dreams?"

Those words actually managed to get me to stop thinking for a moment as I stopped in my tracks. "I-I", I stuttered as I seriously considered it. Do I want to be friends with Scootaloo? It's not like she isn't a bad filly, at least not truly from what I've seen in the show. Then again, Diamond Tiara wasn't truly a bad filly either as depicted in said show. The flightless pegasus was an alright kid from what I could see. She was definitely loud, obsessed with her scooter, and just a little overbearing in her Rainbow Dash worship, but she wasn't a bad kid. Yet I couldn't say that I was particularly motivated to be her friend either. "Well, like, it's a mixture of both really?" I gave an unsure answer with a conflicted expression.

Dia returned an unamused gaze but ended up sighing at the pathetic response. "Okay, okay. You can try to be friends with her and I'll try to be less mean to her. Just, think about whether or not you actually want to go through with this. You're not obli... obli... um.... obliii..." Dia trailed off with her own speech.

".....Obligated?" I suggested.

"Obligated! You're not obligated to be her friend!" Pointed at me with her pink hoof in my face.

I carefully moved her hoof away and nodded to her. "Yeah alright, thanks Dia." I snorted to myself.

"What?" Dia tilted her head.

I snorted again before I quickly explained. "I just didn't think I'd be getting a lecture on friendship by you."

"What? Why not! I have tons of friends! Naturally I would be an expert at it." Dia turned her muzzle up playfully as she skipped back to her mansion.

"Right, right." I said before I followed her, smiling lightly before returning to my pondering. I have a lot to think about.





"Urghhhhhhh!" Sweetie Belle groaned in the comfort of her bed. It was only yesterday that she became official friends with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but Scootaloo's behavior had only really started to get on her nerves. She had thought for sure that she would have been able to convince Scootaloo to add another friend to this group, but the other two just had to come in at the worst time. Not that she could blame them, Silver Spoon probably had the same idea as her. Or rather, she had the same idea as Silver Spoon considering what she revealed to her.

"Why does Scootaloo have to be such a jerk!" The unicorn filly practically screamed into her pillow, frustrated at her pegasus friend, but also frustrated with herself. Looking up from her pillow with a scowl unbefitting of a filly, she muttered. "Why didn't I stop her?" It was the question that raced her mind ever since she left the school grounds. The whole argument replayed at the center of her mind.

She could have intervened and stopped that fight from escalating. She should have. Yet, she just stood there looking dumbfounded at the sheer vile name-calling that was thrown back and forth. Silver Spoon looked equally as bewildered as her when it happened. In the end, neither of them said anything and all that shouting caused what little chance she had at befriending Applebloom to dissipate. "This is so... stupid." Sweetie Belle cursed under her breath, wishing she had a word for something even dumber than the word 'stupid'. "This is... super stupid."

Plenty of minutes have passed since Sweetie Belle started pondering words and phrases to properly contextualize how utterly 'stupid' this was; from 'super-mega-stupendously-stupid' to just plain stupid.

"Sweetie Belle? Are you alright in there? I heard a lot of sighing in there." Rarity voiced through the door in a muffled tone.

"I'm alright." The light-grey filly shouted while being muffled on top of her pillow. She flipped over to finally breathe and calm down from her thoughts. "Just... why does Scootaloo have to be so-" Sweetie Belle refrained from using one of the many variations of the word 'stupid', "difficult?"

"Pardon?" Rarity asked through the door again.

Sweetie Belle sighed before hopping off her bed and approaching the door. "Hey Rarity," the filly opened the door for her, "it's just that today Scootaloo got in a fight with my two other friends."

Rarity grimaced at the news. "I would imagine it didn't end well."

"Ugh... tell me about it." Sweetie Belle turned around before quickly hopping back into her cushions, legs folded in a loaf-like posture. "How do you even deal with a friend who doesn't even want to get along with your other friends?" She groaned in place, mostly asking herself that question.

"Well, that's a pretty difficult question Sweetie." Rarity approached the filly-sized bed and sat next to her little sister, mimicking her posture. "Not everypony can get along with each other, that is the unfortunate truth."

"But the reason they can't get along is so stupid!" The filly exclaimed.

The older unicorn gasped, bringing a single hoof to cover her mouth. "Sweetie Belle!"

"But it's the truth! It's so stupid! The only reason why Scootaloo doesn't get along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon is because she has this dumb idea that eggheads are ponies she shouldn't hang out with!" Sweetie Belle jumped from her sitting posture in bridled rage. "Stupid Scootaloo and stupid Rainbow Dash!" She shouted in anger.

Rarity was momentarily stunned from this outburst, before narrowing her eyes. "Wait, did you say Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah! It was Rainbow Dash that taught her that eggheads were, and I quote 'uncool'." Sweetie Belle blurted out.

Rarity paused, her concern slowly turning into a stern look. "That brainless pegasus... I swear she never considers the consequences of her careless actions!" Rarity stood up from her sister's bed.

"Wait, you know her?" Sweetie Belle tilted her head, eyes bewildered at the revelation.

"Know her? She keeps crashing into my boutique!" The older unicorn exclaimed. "She's lucky that damage repair is so cheap here in Ponyville. Oh when I get my hooves on her... I'll give her a lecture that she can't possibly fly away from!"

"Wait, she crashed into your house?" The small filly questioned.

"Boutique, and yes. I had forgot that you haven't lived here long enough to know that." Rarity sighed.

"Is Rainbow Dash your friend or something?" Sweetie Belle innocently asked.

"Oh, no oh heavens no! We're more like... acquaintances... by circumstance." The older sister answered vaguely. Only when she saw the further confusion on her little sister's face is when she elaborated further. "Rainbow Dash is... Ponyville's local nutcase. Second to Pinkie Pie, but at least Pinkie Pie actually tries not to cause collateral damage."

"Wait so, does she crash often?!" Sweetie Belle questioned.

"Every week or so, unfortunately..." Rarity answered. "However, for Celestia only knows, she crashed into my boutique for the 8th time this year! In a row no less! I swear she's doing it on purpose!" she snorted angrily.

"But she lives in the sky right? In one of those cloud houses? How are you going to talk to her?"

Rarity side-glanced at the window before narrowing her gaze. "Well, I don't actually have a direct method. Pegasi can't really receive message scrolls like unicorns do." The older sister sighed. "I'm going to have to send a complaint to Mayor Mare. I'm not going to let that irresponsible mare ruin the precious friendship of my favorite little sister!~" The older mare swooped in for a big hug.

"H-Hey, get off of me! Ack-!" To Sweetie Belle's dismay, she was swiftly suffocated within the clutches of her doting older sister. "Rarity! Can't... breathe!"

"Oh don't be overdramatic Sweetie Belle, your older sister is going to help, like I always do." Rarity nuzzled her sister on the cheek. Sweetie Belle eventually stopped her futile struggling.

A part of her was happy that the problem was going to be resolved, but another small part of her worried greatly that things were going to backfire horribly. Ultimately this irrational scenario in her mind that had thought speaking with Rainbow Dash would make this worse was defeated by the genuine comfort of her sister's warm and fuzzy coat. With a defeated sigh, hugged Rarity back. "Thanks sis."
> Family Calls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Put it in with the rest?! Just how many complaints does this town have for that mare?" The light grey unicorn huffed as she walked away from Mayor Mare's office. She had sent her complaint personally to the grey-maned mare, but instead of taking her complaint seriously, she had put her request in a nearby drawer that was labeled 'Rainbow Dash'. The very same drawer had already been filled to the brim with papers of similar origin.

"This is simply ludicrous. Does that mare not have her own mailbox? How is anypony supposed to contact her?" Rarity complained out loud. Of all the times she needed to talk to the blue pegasus, she was always either on the scene or just a few meters up in the air to easily get her attention. Now, however, she was nowhere in sight. It hadn't occurred to her how any other ponies managed to contact her up to this point.

With an exasperated sigh, Rarity held her hoof to the bridge of her nuzzle. The unicorn had already visited the post office, yet when she asked to have her mail delivered to the troublesome pegasus, all the staff members collectively cringed at the mention of her name. Not only had they refused service, but they also haven't bothered giving a reason why she can't just send her letter. Just what was going on with that mare's mailbox? Rarity thought to herself.

She then immediately froze in her place. "The mailmare! Of course!" She face-hoofed in exclamation. This was of course the grey pegasus that had delivered her the mail every few days. Although she got the addresses confused for the first couple of deliveries, she had gotten better at it over time. Sorta. Sometimes there were mishaps with her, but she quickly took back her deliveries and fixed her mistakes whenever there were any. "Oh what was her name?" Rarity brought her foreleg up to her chin in thought. "Was it... Derpy? No Ditzy! Ditzy Doo!"

The unicorn immediately jumped into gear and surveyed the cottages around Ponyville for the familiar pegasus. She darted around the marketplace, Café Hay, and the town hall. "Ahah!" Her eyes immediately spotted the mare right by Sugarcube Corner, holding a brown bag filled with pastries no doubt. She galloped towards Ditzy, startling the mare. "Miss Doo! Your name is Ditzy Doo right?" Rarity before after catching her breath.

The mare before her was a light sapphire bluish-gray mare, sporting a pale yellowish mane. She was most definitely a pegasus and she was currently staring at Rarity with one eye while the other was crossed in another direction. "Um, yes?" Ditzy answered, before slowly recognizing the unicorn from one of her mistake mail runs. "Rarity? Is there something I can help you with?" The mare asked while still holding her bag in her mouth.

"Why yes! Yes, you can!" Rarity pulled an envelope out of her satchel with her mouth. "Could you please deliver this letter to Rainbow Dash?" She asked hopefully, "That is if you aren't too preoccupied. I wouldn't want to impose." 

"Oh, muffins. I'm sorry Miss Rarity. I'm not on my shift right now," Ditzy Doo apologized. "and I need to pick up my little Dinky from magic practice."

"Magic practice? Oh that reminds me, I need to get my little sister to move her magic practice here in Ponyville." Rarity said, mostly to herself. "Well then, that's a shame. Taking care of your sister is your first priority, I understand."

"Sister?" Ditzy tilted her head quizzically.

"Oh she isn't your sister?" Rarity asked.

"Oh no, my little Dinky is my daughter." Ditzy clarified with a small chuckle.

"D-Daughter!? But you look so young!" Rarity touched her cheek, suddenly feeling inferior about her youth.

"Eheh," The grey pegasus laughed reluctantly and blushed while scratching the back of her head, "yes I have a daughter."

"What year is she going to?" Rarity asked, her addiction to gossip already fueling her interest.

"She's in the first year." Ditzy answered.

"That's the same year Sweetie Belle is going to..." Rarity thought out loud. "Um, if I may ask a personal question, do you have a foalsitter?"

"A foalsitter?" Ditzy's expression widened a bit, not expecting that line of question at all. "Well actually my cousin, once-removed, currently watches over my daughter while I go off for work."

"Oh... I see..." Rarity said, a tad disappointed by the revaluation.

Despite Ditzy's vision, she could clearly see the less enthused mare. "Were you... going to offer to be my foalsitter?"

"What?! No, of course not- well if you are looking for one then I wouldn't mind helping." Rarity abashedly offered.

Ditzy pondered at this for a couple of seconds. She was slowly registering Rarity's words as her right eye slowly turned upwards, causing the unicorn to grow slightly nervous as time went on. "Hmm... I don't know. My little Dinky isn't really good with new ponies..."

"But this could be a good opportunity! Sweetie Belle and your daughter will be going to magic practice anyways and the both of them could learn something from interacting with other fillies their age. Who knows, they might even be friends." Rarity edged on with convincing words and a smile.

"Hmm... Well Amethyst Star could use a break from Dinky. I know she's trying to find a job in the office..." Ditzy reasoned to herself. "Will this cost anything?" The pegasus asked.

"Oh no, of course not. I'll take care of her free of charge!" Rarity boldly offered.

Surprised by the light grey unicorn's generosity, Ditzy reluctantly agreed. "Alright Miss Rarity, you've convinced me."

"Oh no, please call me Rarity. We've met each other far too many times to continue calling each other that." The unicorn smiled and extended her hoof.

"Alright, Rarity. Well if that's the case then you can call my Ditzy then." The pegasus shared her smile and shook hooves. "Oh, but uh, could you perhaps schedule this another time? I really need to get going-"

"Oh no no, please don't let me take you for any longer. I'll be seeing you!" Rarity started to walk away while waving goodbye.

"Goodbye Rarity." Ditzy waved back as she extended her wings out and flew away.



Rarity walked for a couple of minutes out of Sugarcube Corner before coming to a halt. "Oh dear Celestia I forgot the letter!" She shouted to herself before craning her neck around to see Ditzy nowhere in sight. The unicorn panicked momentarily before she forced herself to breathe slowly. "Okay okay, calm down Rarity. No problem. You just befriended the mailmare and offered to foalsit her daughter. The letter can wait. Ditzy will no doubt send your letter for you in exchange for this little favor you're doing. Everything is completely fine." The mare took a deep breath in before exhaling. "I'm in no rush."





"And this is the snack place!" Dia informed me as we slowly walked across the cobblestone street.

"The snack place?" I repeated deadpanned. We both had decided to have Dia take me around town to introduce me to all the places that she liked. It was a good opportunity to see the places I haven't yet and familiarize myself with the town I live in. However, for the past few places, she gave me a few odd names for a couple of establishments, which is understandable since the grade we're in is in the process of learning how to read properly.

"Well, yeah! There's Sugarcube Corner, Flowers and Snacks, that one place where they make and sell candy, the milkshake bar, that's my favorite by the way." The pink filly whispered that last part.

"That's a lot of sweets I'll say." I remarked, taking the view around me. There were buildings surrounding the plaza, all of them surrounding the giant pink fountain with a statue of a pony I don't recognize. The closest buildings were an array of different confectionery shops, each specializing in a certain type of candy. It's actually quite astounding to see the excessive amount of stores dedicated solely to supplying the pony populace with sugar. "Sheesh, there's so many."

"Right? And guess what I have?" Dia turned towards me before smirking.

"What?" I tilted my head.

"My allowance!" Dia pulled out a sack of coins in her hoof. "Daddy just started giving me a bonus for the both of us so we can hang out more!" She smiled at me.

"Oh, that's nice." I simply said, not particularly impressed at this either.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Dia noticed my apathy.

"Eh, I never get allowances. It was a pain to convince my father that I could go outside. I even had to convince him not to have staff follow me around." I said exasperatedly.

"Isn't that normal though?" The rich filly furrowed her brows.

"Hmm? How so?" I raised a brow in return.

"I have staff following me around everywhere. Mr. Garrison is over there looking over me." She pointed behind me.

Turning around I could see a frail old stallion wearing glasses and a red bowtie several meters away, waving towards us the moment he noticed our gazes turning towards him. "Wa- was he there the entire time?" I asked while taken aback.

"Yeah! He also carries stuff I ask him to whenever I go shopping!" Dia informed with a smile.

"That's... a little creepy." I say, a little weary from noticing the much-too-old-to-be-working butler.

"It is?" Dia asked.

"Eh, whatever." I dismissed the thought. "So where are we going to next?"

"Well, I was hoping for you to decide."

"Huh?" I replied.

"I've already been to all these places, but you haven't yet. So I want you to have your first pick!" Dia chirped.

"Oh, well let's see..." I brought a foreleg to my chin. Well I could go to Sugarcube Corner and see Pinkie Pie. Although that could be a problem in itself. I never had a birthday of my own, father always said it was pointless to celebrate something that was inevitable in the first place. That, and I know that Pinkie gets really crazy when meeting new ponies she has never seen before. Going there now will probably start a series of events that causes a huge party to make up for the birthdays I've missed. And considering it's been six whole years since I've been reborn, yeah I'm not going to deal with that right now. That entire ordeal sounds like a pain in the ass.

"Eh," I shifted my gaze towards another confectionary, "how about there?" I pointed there.

"There?" Dia asked, showing mild disappointment.

"What? Is there something wrong with that shop?" I questioned.

"No, there's nothing wrong. The candy there is okay, just not my favorite that's all." Dia oddly remarked.

"Huh, well I'll see to that myself." I proceeded to walk in that direction.



The door swung open as it hit a bell hanging above, the chime letting the owners know that a potential customer has arrived. A light aquamarine unicorn with a stripped light cyan and white mane walked towards the main room. From the moment she revealed herself instantly recognized her, and in my blunder, I spoke. "Lyra?"

"Huh?" The aquamarine unicorn eyed me skeptically. "Have we met before?"

Oh fuck. Why did you say her name out loud you dumbass?! "Oh! No no, not personally. I just heard mention of you at one of my father's gatherings. His name is Silversmith."

"S-Silversmith!? The Silversmith? You're his kid?" The mare seemed bewildered by this fact.

"Y-Yeah." I stuttered. Diamond Tiara was too busy staring at me to help.

"And he mentioned me?! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh, Bon Bon!" The lyrist shouted towards the back. "The kid of Silversmith is here and my name was mentioned at one of his gatherings!" She galloped in place in her excitement.

"Sorry, what is going on out there?" A light apple gray mare with a stripped dark-blue and pink mane walked out of the back and towards the front counter. She had an apron on her while carrying a bowl of mixed ingredients. "Lyra what in Equestria are you shouting about?"

"I said, the kid of Silversmith is here and said that my name was mentioned-" Lyra started to repeat before having her lips shut closed by the apple grey mare.

"Alright, calm down and stir this for me." Bon Bon nonchalantly pushed her bowl into Lyra's hooves before manning the counter. "Alright kid, what is it that you wanted to order." She peered down at the both of us, getting straight to business.

"Oh... I-I want..." I quickly scanned the room for some kind of sign, then I realized there weren't any.

"Can I have one bag of candy drops? Oh yeah and one bag for my friend too!" Dia answered for me before stepping up and sliding a couple of gold coins on the counter.

"Alright, two bags drops coming right up." Bon Bon answered as she slid the coins into her hooves and started to rummage through a glass drawer.

Lyra obviously wanted to ask more questions as her eyes glanced at me a couple of times, but was currently using her magic to stir the bowl that was handed to her.

"Alright, here you go." Bon Bon reached over the counter to hand us our bags of candy. The bag itself appeared to be a knitted bag filled with colorfully wrapped hard candy.

"Oh hey! I saw you two earlier today!" A chirp came from a set of stairs beside the counter. Our eyes glanced upwards to see the familiar sight of Twist. "I didn't get eithser of your names."

The violating sound of her accent stabbed my ears as I flattened them in response. Oh god, not her again. Of course I had nothing personal against the filly, but the sound of her accent had violated my sense of social etiquette that was drilled into me at an early age. Each lisp that was uttered was no short of being physically painful to hear. At least Applebloom's accent was funny to hear, but Twist's accent had a unique vex that went against the grain of being around nobles and aristocrats.

"Oh, hi there. My name is Diamond Tiara!" The pink filly smiled.

NO! Dia don't introduce yourself!

"My name's Twist! I'm glad you came to my sister's shop! I helped make thsose sweets you're holding." The amberish gray filly informed cheerfully while pointing at our bags.

"Oh cool! I remember you said something in school about helping your sister with making candy." Dia said.

"Yeah, I did. Thsis is her shop!" Twist chirped.

"Oh, so you all know each other from school then?" Bon Bon remarked from her counter.

"Hey, when can I stop stirring?" Lyra asked, before getting stared down by daggers from Bon Bon.

I turned my attention to Bon Bon in hopes that I'd avoid a conversation with the troubled filly. "We're classmates, we just had a lesson on the sun and sugar. That's when the subject of your shop came up."

"Ah, that makes sense." Bon Bon replied, quickly losing interest afterward.

Hmm, now if I recall, wasn't Bon Bon a secret agent or something? I walked beside the counter to peek at her cutie mark. It definitely matched my memory of a trio of wrapped sweets. She also did own a confectionary and made sweets. Taking one of the sweets in my bag, I unwrapped it and popped it in my mouth. Hard, but sweet and chewy on the inside. How was she a secret agent? Especially in a backwater town like this? I sighed. This made no sense.

My gaze went up to Lyra, who still happened to be stirring while occasionally eyeing me. She still has no idea either. I mused. If my memory is correct, Lyra should just be a normal pony who has a talent for playing the lyre. All those ideas that Lyra knew about humans and was obsessed with hands were purely fan-canon. She shouldn't know about humans if things are canon here. Then my trail of thought started to go down a darker path. But what if she does?

I quickly made a skeptical look at the aquamarine unicorn with intense doubt. I couldn't just ask her if she knew anything about humans. If she does know then that immediately puts suspicion on me. If she doesn't then that would just make me look weird, if she didn't see me as weird already. I shook my head. This is stupid. If I really want to confirm this, then I just need to make a subtle off-handed reference to humans and see how she reacts. It's this simple.

"So Twist," I joined the ongoing conversation between Diamond Tiara and the dorky filly, "you give your sister a helping hand from time to time?"

Suddenly the sound of a crash resounded throughout the main room. "Lyra! You ruined the whole batch!" Bon Bon shouted at the unicorn.

"U-Uh oh, I'm so sorry Bon Bon. My bad." Lyra apologized, before picking up globs of sticky candy and shattered ceramic mixed in with her magic.

"Urgh, now I need to get a new bowl and make a new batch." The confectioner mare grunted in annoyance.

"I said I was sorry Bon Bon. Look, I'll help you buy a new bowl." The lyrist offered.

Bon Bon simply huffed at this. "Hmph, fine. But you're going to help me make the new batch." She entered the back.

"What? But I don't know anything about making candy!" Lyra objected.

"Well you'll learn now!" Bon Bon stepped out to bite Lyra on the tail before dragging her into the kitchen.

"Ow ow ow, okay okay!" The aquamarine lyrist said defeatedly before taking one last look at me before disappearing behind the curtains.

"I should probably start cleaning the rest of thsat mess up." Twist said, climbing down the stairs.

"Why? Can't you get somepony else to do that?" Dia asked.

"Okay Dia, we've been here long enough." I tapped my friend on the shoulder.

"Oh, okay! Bye Twist!" Dia waved before leaving with me through the front door.

"Okay, bye!" The dorky filly waved goodbye as the sound of the bell's chimed echoed throughout the shop. "I hope you come back soon!"
> Hidden Revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, that was a bust." I say to myself as I popped another piece of unwrapped candy into my mouth. 

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Dia asked as she walked alongside me.

"Oh, it's nothing." I replied as I continued pondering in thought.

"Hmph," the pink filly huffed before walking ahead, "well while you were off thinking by yourself, I made another friend!" She raised her head high, seemingly proud of herself.

"Twist huh? You sure are a social butterfly." I say with unequal enthusiasm before furrowing my brows. I wonder if she knows about Sweetie Drops... The train of thought prolonged in my mind at the mere mention of the dorky filly. Would she know that her older sister is a secret agent? Is she even her real sister? Is she brainwashed to be Sweetie Drop's cover? I shook my head, knowing full well that the possibility of that being the case is extremely unlikely. Probably.

"You don't look impressed." Dia remarked, biting her lip with a frown on her brows.

"It's very impressive Dia," I consoled my friend's thoughts, "it's just that it hurts my ears whenever I'm around Twist."

"Huh? You do?" The pink filly asked with an incredulous expression.

"Well yeah, years of social etiquette can do that to a filly. Harsh accents like those, it's like clawing on the chalkboard." I trotted further on while chewing more hard candy.

"Whafs... sofial efekit?"

"What?" I turned around to see a befuddled Dia with a mouthful of more candy.

"I saif, whafs sofial efikit." She repeated while chewing through her candy with her mouth open. The chewing released an unsettling amount of smacks from the gum combined with the sounds of saliva.

Immediately the display irked me, forcing me to take a couple of steps back. "Dia! Don't chew with your mouth open or talk while eating."

"Whai nof?" Dia tilted her head innocently, before taking another sweet drop and popping it into her mouth.

I reeled back, almost choking on my shock. It wasn't the fact that she continued doing what she was doing or the fact that she added another piece of candy before she was even done consuming the ones already in her mouth. It was the fact that she ate the candy whole. Wrapper and everything. I stared into her mouth as the hard candy crunched and soft chewy insides melted into the seems of her teeth. Multiple wrappers that were stuck inside were slowly integrating with the chewy mass, all before Dia swallowed the thing whole with an audible gulp.

A period of silence passed us as I continued staring wide-eyed at what transpired. "I no longer want to live."

"Huh?" The pink atrocity that existed in the body of a filly was startled by my sudden statement.

"This is my punishment for the life I had before." I quietly lamented.

"What are you talking about?"

"This is how I atone for the sins I've committed in the past. Through torture and tribulations, I must endure this if my current life will ever bring me the peace I desire. May God have mercy on this weary soul." I prayed in utter vain.

"I don't know what you're saying, but you're probably overreacting." Dia then presumed to pop yet another piece of wrapped candy into her mouth.

"You're not supposed to eat candy with the wrapper!" I yelled in abject horror.

Dia could only stare at me with pure confusion. "Why nof?"

"It's not edible!"

"Whaf's... efible?" The pink filly's confusion only further progressed.

"It's not meant to be eaten. It's unhealthy!" I elaborated further.

Dia simply swallowed and deadpanned. "You totally can Sil. Just put one in your mouth and see."

"What?" I exclaimed incredulously.

"I said put one in your mouth- oh just hold still." Before I got the chance to object, Diamond Tiara's quick movements already popped one of her wrapped candies in my mouth. I was alarmed momentarily, before realizing something. As the saliva in my mouth covered the foreign sweetie drop, the wrapper started to disintegrate. The taste of sugar hitting my taste buds and letting me know I wasn't in any immediate danger.

"...What the." I muttered, slowly chewing the sweet hard candy.

"See?" Dia said with the most 'I'm done with your shit' look I've seen her have.

Naturally, my only response was being slightly embarrassed at being proven wrong for once. "Oh."

"You should calm down Sil and stop overthinking things. That might be even more unhealthy than whatever you think I'm doing." My friend said with a bemused look on her muzzle.

I was at a loss for a couple of seconds, only to accept the scenario by saying, "Alright." I was a little put off by how calm Dia was being in comparison to me, but after thinking about it some more it made sense that she had a bit more common sense than me. I never left my mansion and this filly probably explored all of Ponyville dozens of times by now. "Sorry."

The pink filly then giggled as she booped me on my snout, causing me to scrunch my nose before looking away to hide my embarrassment. "You're really silly sometimes Sil."

"I-I just... didn't know wrappers could do that." I meekly defended myself.

"You're just a filly like me Sil, you still don't know a lot of things." Dia cheerfully told me.

I snorted before crossing my foreleg. "Well, that's a given. I just don't go out much."

"Well luckily for you, there's an easy way to fix that. Where do you want to go next?" Dia chirped.

I paused once again, really thinking now about what prospects I have due to Diamond Tiara's help. "Actually, there's this one place I always wanted to see."





"This is where you want to go?"

The clattering hoofsteps of two fillies reached the front of the Golden Oak Library. "I mean, this library isn't in use and there's a lot of interesting books in there I think." I reply to Diamond Tiara, gazing up at the large structure. The tree has a beehive hanging from a branch, a candlestick sign on the front door, a sign of an open book outside the door, and two balconies, one of which has a telescope. It was one thing to see it in the show, but actually seeing it in person was damn impressive in its own right. Constructing a hospitable and functioning three-story library by hollowing a giant oak tree must have taken decades to nurture and plan. Opening the front door, we both heard a resounding creek that echoed to the rest of the main building. Peering in, I could see the sunlight pierce through various glass panes and windows. Dust floated visibly within the streaks of light. The door allowed air to flow in, disturbing the settled dust around us. I suddenly break a loud cough upon inhaling the stale air.

"Isn't in use? This place looks like it's been abandoned." My pink companion remarked skeptically, following me in while taking care not to disturb too much dust.

"That's what, not being in use means..." I deadpanned, placing my saddlebag on the nearby wall. "Anyways it shouldn't be occupied for a while, so I decided that we should make this our hangout spot while we have the chance."

"Really? What's so special about this place?" Diamond Tiara retained her skepticism, pacing herself against the wood floor.

"The fact that's really old. And old things have secrets!" I gleefully answer.

"Like Curse of the Castle!" The pink filly shared my excitement.

"Exactly like Curse of the Castle!" I confirmed, recalling the events within that small fiction where the protagonist found secret passageways and hidden treasures in an old castle.

"So you think there's like, secret entrances and buttons around here?" Diamond Tiara asked while scanning the room for every detail, completely enraptured by the library in a whole new light.

"Most likely. I think I recall one button being around here somewhere." I scanned the room along the empty bookshelves. Unlike the show, it seems that this library wasn't all that populated with books before Twilight came along. However, I can still see the lamps and tables arranged across the room while a set of stairs is laid along the far back. The ceiling had the image of a yellow sun painted on it and the walls had flower patterns engraved on their wooden surface. Overall, this building really was impressive from an architectural standpoint.

My gaze eventually landed on a curious Diamond Tiara. I see her sliding a hoof upon the center table with a pedestal holding a wooden equine head. Dust gathered beneath her hoof and she looked at it curiously, before giving it a taste. "Pfftew! Yuck! Blegh!"

"Why would you taste that?" I exclaimed in mild disgust.

"I was curious! There wasn't any dust back at home," The innocent pink filly explained, before wiping her hoof on a hoofkerchief she kept on her saddlebag. "and maids usually clean the mansion before Daddy and I come back."

"That's still pretty gross." I remarked.

"Oh, you be quiet. I'm looking for secret buttons here." She said as she looked under the center table. "Find anything yet?"

"Yeah, just need to find where I last saw it in my dreams..." I answered before carefully looking inside the bookshelves. Cobwebs and dust littered the area with only a few books to spare. I'd have to look at those tomes later, but my primary focus was finding this one button that Spike once found. "Ahah! I found it!"

"Found what?!" Dia instantaneously looked in my direction with keen interest.

"The horseshoe button!" I revealed while wiping away the various dust and cobwebs. Dia looked over my shoulder to see the very button I described. "Now if I recall correctly, this button should open a secret compartment for a special tome." I excitedly pressed the indentation. A low rumble vibrated from the shelf as a small wooden panel slid upwards and revealed a red book with a golden title plate on the front cover. Dia was enraptured by it all as I carefully retrieved the book from its hiding place.

"I can't believe that just happened!" Dia screamed in pure delight as she galloped in place. "Quickly! What does it say?! Does it have anything cool about this place? A story?!"

Before she could even finish that sentence I was already scanning the title. "Legends of Equestria." I read out loud to Diamond Tiara, flipping over to the table of contents to see what this ancient tome is really about. The number of titles listed was fascinating; all of them arranged alphabetically from the nature of the Elements of Harmony to even of course the Legend of the Mirror Pool. There was even a small bestiary for various monsters such as the cockatrice to... what the hell is a Bushwoolie?

"See anything interesting?" Dia begged.

Shaking away my initial thoughts, I looked over the table of contents again. "Sure hold on, let me get a good read of this." As I went through each line, it grew more obvious that I wasn't familiar with many of these titles. One line, however, causes me to pause completely.

"Oh! Anything good?" The pink filly took my solid expression as confirmation.

I didn't respond. For a couple of seconds, I just stood there staring at one line in the middle of the tables of contents. A line that was blotted out with black ink. A line between 'Hippogriff' and 'Hydra' within the bestiary. I then instantaneously flipped the pages to the number the missing contents were recorded, and when it was flipped I was met with an alarming sight.

Nothing. The pages were completely torn out of the book. Clear streaks of leftover pages being torn out of its binder, and an extensive amount of pages too. I heard Diamond Tiara calling out my name, but all my senses eluded me. Only the muffled sounds of her voice reached my ears as I internalized all this and what this meant. Before I could come to a solid conclusion, I closed the book promptly.

"Sil?"

I finally heard my name called out to me and blinked. "S-Sorry... what?" I returned to my current reality to see Diamond Tiara staring at me with a concern I didn't see her have before.

"Are you ok?" Dia asked, with worry in her voice.

"I-I... I'm fine Dia. It's just... can I have this book to myself for a while?"

My pink companion was clearly about to object, but when she met my gaze she remained silent. "If you think that's for the best."

"Thanks," I said before walking over to my saddlebag to store the book in, "we'll hang out later. There are a lot more secrets in this library than this one book."

Diamond Tiara didn't really know what to make of my response, but when she locked eyes with me she held out her hoof. "Pinkie Promise?"

I couldn't help but smile at her as I reenacted the motions she made on the first day we met. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
> Legends of Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I closed the door behind me and locked it as I finally entered my room. Dropping my school saddle and supplies, I quickly let my hair down and replaced my blue designer glasses with my much-more-comfortable black rectangular reading glasses. I turned my gaze towards the window and night sky and proceeded to close the curtains. Walking to my small cabinet, I turned on the lamp and jumped up on my bed with a short thump.

I released a long-winded sigh as I leaned back into the soft cushions, then I took a glance at the large red book beside me. My eyes lingered on the tome for a while as I pondered what I discovered. Those missing pages. They can't be a mere accident. Dark foreboding thoughts slipped into my mind as I closed my eyes in contemplation. It can't be that, can it? A tome mentioning... humans. What are the chances of that? Could it be something completely different? Like a humpback whale or something?

I shook my head as I extinguished these doubts. The feeling in my gut was ever-present upon this revelation. No, this isn't something that can be ignored. Even if it's not humans, it could be something really important if it warrants being removed from this book and blotted out in the table of contents. With another extraneous sigh, I took the tome in both hooves and laid it on the bed where I can start reading it. Laying on my stomach, I opened its first page.





"Hello, my name is Parchy Scribbles and if you are reading this, then you probably ripped it out of my cold dead hooves. In which case, I applaud you; for you now have access to one of the most guarded tomes in Equestria. This is no mere exaggeration either, as I am currently the scribe of one of the most famous unicorns to ever 'probably' exist: Starswirl the Bearded.

Now, I must confess. When I signed up to be amongst the legendary group of unicorns in charge of moving the celestial objects in the sky, I never thought that I would end up being a simple scribe. Alas, Starswirl only chose me due to my uncanny ability to remember an expanse of details, texts, and imagery and the ability to scribble them down to minute detail.

I cannot hold a grudge over this, however, as I was never really known for my magic and the pay is plentiful enough to put a roof over my family and food on our table. Anyways, this book shall be a recording of various artifacts, legends, and monsters. Most of these entries will be new accounts considering that we are currently traveling in unknown territory. Despite the dangers, Starswirl is insistent that we travel; both to make sure the areas surrounding the tribes are secure and to find any artifacts that might aid us in our growing society.

If you ask me, however, I believe that my master has divined something particularly old and exceedingly powerful if it has managed to pull him from the comfort of his warm stone tower. I sincerely hope this book will be of use to you as it will be probably the last thing I will write in my career."





I finished reading the small note scribbled there and tilted my head. Okay, wow. That is a little grim. But I suppose that's par for the course if their society is just starting out in completely unknown territory. I turned over to the front cover again, seeing the title of the book inscribed there. The tome definitely showed its age, but not as far as it would fade out the ink within it. This book must be really old, and one of a kind if it's not published. By the look of this, it seems more of a personal recording rather than an official published account. This Parchy Scribbles also seem to be pretty loose-lipped when writing about Starswirl; they probably don't care about who's reading it.

I turned to the table of contents once more. Listed here are indeed lines of names; all organized under artifacts, legends, and monsters. "How organized," I muttered to no one in particular. I look at the top of the list and scanned my eyes down for anything of interest, but before I could even reach the fifth line my gaze paused at the line with the words 'Alicorn Amulet'. I pursed my lips in great curiosity. "This should be interesting..." I muttered again before turning the page.





The Alicorn Amulet



"With the subjugation of the Crystal Empire in the Frozen North under King Sombra, all liberation attempts by the Two Alicorn Sisters have failed. His control over the Crystal Heart had caused him to reach powers that not even they could handle, having reversed the properties of the empire's vital artifact completely in his favor.

Ergo, when they returned from their defeat, they discussed a plan of action with Starswirl the Bearded. The end result was to enchant a small keepsake of Two Sisters with a powerful sealing spell. The battle for the empire led to the loss of an entire nation, as King Sombra was banished along with the empire he ruled over. When the Two Sisters returned they presented the amulet to my master, the amulet glowing with immense red energy that tinted its color grey.

They stated that only a quarter of King Sombra's magic was sealed within it. They haven't explained why, but Starswirl seemed to accept that fact without question or hesitation. I wasn't present for that battle, so I can't say with any account how powerful that amulet is or what it is capable of.  All I know is that it warranted Starswirl to store the amulet under Castle of the Two Sisters where all the other forbidden treasures and cursed artifacts lie."





"Wait what?!" I exclaimed silently to myself. Okay, that was a lot of information at once. The Alicorn Amulet was under that castle the whole time!? I silently screamed. Last I recall, the amulet in the show was in the keepsake of some random shop in Canterlot. Or what I think it's Canterlot at least. That's where Trixie originally purchased the Amulet. I tapped my hoof on my chin.

A quarter of Sombra's power... Jesus Christ, Trixie was able to take over all of Ponyville and play practically God that episode. That level of power was almost on Discord's level of reality-bending shenanigans. Do you mean to tell me that Sombra was four times that powerful?! No wonder Celestia and Luna got curb stomped to the ground the first time. How'd they even manage to escape? Or get the opportunity to even attempt to seal his powers? I released an exasperated sigh. "I guess Alicorns are just that powerful?" I half-heartedly said, not believing that assumption.

"Wait..." I furrowed my brows. It's currently years before Trixie got that amulet. Is it possible that amulet is under that castle right now; with a bunch of other magic items, albeit cursed? I shook my head again. No, I shouldn't mess with canon if I can help it. That episode was an important one for Twilight. Probably. I don't even know where this castle is in the first place. I reasoned with myself before staring at the page again. "Hmm... I wonder if it has an account of that Crystal Heart."

I flipped to the Table of Contents again to see that it indeed was listed there, before flipping to the respective page.





The Crystal Heart



"When I heard the Crystal Empire requested help from our growing city, I had to listen to what was going on. The empire had lost an important magical catalyst that was vital for driving out dark forces, building-toppling blizzards, and huge monsters that lived on their borders.

From what my master said, the crystal was the literal 'heart' of the empire, empowering the positive emotions of the Crystal Ponies and releasing a constant stream of positive energy that projects a barrier of sorts. He explained it as an artifact that was capable of making the moods of everypony reflect onto reality; preventing anything negative from entering the empire.

Yet somehow a dragon of all things managed to steal it! Fortunately, the Two Alicorn Sisters managed to retrieve the artifact and helped forge good relations with both our nations. If I ever get the chance to visit the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Heart will be the first thing I want to see."





"Hmm. About what I expected in all honesty." I pressed my head against my hoof as I internalized this. I guess Sombra being able to reverse the effects of this heart and pour all this energy from the Crystal Ponies into himself explains why he was so powerful. My muse had me smirk. "Man, I would have never have learned any of this in the books in our library," I spoke to myself. "Not sure what I will do with this information now that I have it, but that was pretty interesting."

I flip back to the Table of Contents. Well I suppose I should take a look at the bestiary. There could be some interesting stuff there. I scanned the pages down again, then stop at a particular sight. "Oooh, Changelings! I love Changelings." Then I immediately navigated to the respective page.





Changelings



"These things are a danger to everything we have built here! They are NOT to be underestimated under any circumstances. Changelings have the ability to change shape, copying the form, mannerisms, and voices of any creature they encounter, and even disguising themselves as inanimate objects such as rocks. The outside of their bodies is a hard black carapace that can protect from even the most well-trained spears and arrows. These creatures are numerous beyond our expectations and are a threat that we can't feasibly prepare for a large-scale confrontation.

They have the advantage in espionage, being able to be anyone of us and with great ability to convince others of even the closest allies. They can be anything, such as weapons or even our armor! A small line of ants inside our walls could very well be an infiltrating squad of Changelings! They could even shapeshift into beasts much larger than themselves, such as bears, and chimeras, and Celestia help us an ursa minor.

We do not know the limits of their shapeshifting powers, but we can only act on the assumption that it is nearly unlimited. The only good thing we have against them is that we know that they cannot cast magic and Starswirl the Bearded has a spell that can undo their shapeshifting at a moment's notice.

These creatures have a queen and are located all across the underground in the deepest of known cave systems. My only fear is that our rock miners have treaded too far on their territory to the point where conflict is nigh inevitable."





"Holy shit." I reread the page once more. Are Changelings really that dangerous? They didn't seem so when Canterlot was raided by them. The mane six managed to fight through a horde of them with just improvised kung-fu skills. I paused mid-thought. Wait why the hell do they know kung-fu?! I pressed my hoof against my temple in idle painful confusion. This doesn't make sense.

I glanced over the sketch that  Parchy Scribbles drew. Huh, they do look a lot different than the ones seen in the show. They probably evolved during that time or something. I casually flipped back to the Table of Contents. Alright let's find something less foreboding now, shall we? I then looked down the list again. "Hmm... the Cockatrice. That should be neat."





Cockatrice



"A Cockatrice is a small Dragon-like creature, easily distinguished by its chicken head. Although one should be thankful that it is not a Dragon, the Cockatrice should still be handled with extreme caution as its stare can turn even the most stalwart of ponies to stone! The cures for being turned into a statue are few and far between; beyond finding a rare magical artifact or remedy, the surest way is to hunt down the offending Cockatrice and convince or force him or her to release the trapped pony.

It is unclear as to why the Cockatrice turns ponies to stone, though there are two main theories. The first is that it is simply a defense mechanism; the Cockatrice is not the largest or scariest creature, but being able to turn things larger than it into stone allows it to get away unharmed.

The second theory is my personal favorite, however, and it is that although the Cockatrice is a grouchy and cranky creature, it does want to have friends. The Cockatrice believes that a creature that stays with it must be its friend, so by turning ponies to stone it can convince itself that it has lots and lots of statue-y friends.

Either that, or it just doesn’t like the noises ponies make!"





"Hmm... nothing that I already don't know." I drew an unimpressed look. Is there a way to counter it? Maybe it follows Medusa laws and that you can look away from its gaze? Or does it just petrify you no matter what? If that's the case then I'm pretty fucked. I guess that's why Twilight got stoned in the first place. Why was she there even?

I disregarded the thought as I flipped over to the book's list of contents again and blew a small sigh. "Okay... hmm... Timberwolf. That should be good."





Timberwolf



"Respect the Everfree forest and stay clear of them, as you never know when you're going to encounter one of its ancient protectors. The Everfree forest is an ancient earth pony burial site, formed after Nightmare Moon's banishment. Until Celestia was powerful enough to master her duties over both the sun and moon there was a catastrophic famine brought on by the erratic climate causing unnatural heat and cold during the planting season.

This is why it is illegal to attempt to cut down the Everfree forest, despite all its current inhabitants. The timber wolves were once loyal timber hounds that were created to guard the graveyard against those who would defile it by the last mare of the large clan. They've gone feral after years of neglect, and see anypony who enters the forest as a defiler.

Timberwolves tend to work together in teams to chase ponies that enter their woods. They are cunning and fast, not to mention they have a nasty bite! Although Timberwolves are scary, they are also very territorial, meaning they are usually content to chase ponies out of their forests, and rarely leave the woods unless something forces them to.

If you end up encountering one, you'd best have some fire spells memorized or torches to scare them off. They're the most common creature you'll find in that forest and they are vulnerable to fire most of all."





Okay damn, that's some depressing shit. That whole forest is a grave site!? That's just plain creepy. Just how many ponies died during that erratic climate? I furrowed my brows with concern as I contemplated this. The forest probably grew since then, extending the Timberwolves' territory as it did. Wait, doesn't Fluttershy live next to that forest? Why would she live there? I mean, yeah I guess there are animals, but encountering feral creatures is not worth that risk. I pressed the side of my head against the cushion. "Well, whatever I guess."

I paused my reading to look at my nearby clock. It's getting late, I'll continue this another time I guess. Closing the book, I pushed it off the bed and joined it. Then I lifted the floor carpet before taking a small silver spoon from my cabinet. Taking it, I pressed the spoon against the floorboard edges and lifted the wooden panel up to reveal a small space inside. I promptly slid the book in and closed the panel; undoing the carpet and making sure nothing was left misplaced.

Hopping up on my bed, I turned off my reading lamp and dozed off into sleep.
> A Nightmare's Respite
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stir as the feeling of ice sears beneath me. My eyes jar awake, startled by the foreign and burning sensation. My vision is blurry but quickly adjusts to get a sense of my surroundings. Standing up, I could see that I am no longer in my room or any room for that matter. Instead of the four familiar walls that enclosed me, it was an endless expanse of unfeeling darkness. Discomfort grew into fear as I dart my gaze around. What felt like frozen concrete pressed hard against the soft pads of my hooves, numbing my sensations as I took a step forward. At the edge of my vision, fragmented ground and debris of various shapes float aimlessly a few feet away. The only thing illuminating the room was small, barely perceptible, silk-like strands that seem to be keeping this place together. A red hue emanated from them as I studied them. Intricate designs sowed across every fragment of matter as if its purpose was to stop reality from simply floating away. Fear was slowly replaced with eerie, but cautious curiosity as I strode forward.

Cool air brushes against my coat; each breath releasing a light mist that dissipates seconds after. As I reach the edge of reality, the scene shifts along with me. Fragments of grey concrete tied together with strands of glowing red silk proceeds to close together as I take further steps onwards; reality taking shape in front of me while also fragmenting apart behind me. "Where... what is this place?" I mutter to myself, shivering from the persistent cold that kept biting into my fur. There were no stars, no destination that I could see beyond a couple of feet away from me, just eerie darkness and my echoing hooves.

It was only after a couple of minutes of walking that my surroundings became increasing in detail. The debris that was scattered throughout this place seemed to be discarded assortments of metal and wood. Broken pipes, bent nails, shards of smashed plates, lone wooden chair legs, empty metal candle holders, and a myriad of other random broken furniture that had no reason of being here. I took care to avoid them, so as to not injure myself or make any further noises. I then hear a skittering noise behind me, with what followed sounded like... a long and drawn-out breath; barely audible in a whisper.

I snap my head around, to only see nothing. There wasn't anything there. I stare into the expanse of darkness, my eyes trained to see any movement of the sort. Yet as minutes passed, I force myself to look away. "It's nothing, there is nothing." I quietly mutter in a vain attempt to convince myself with my own words. However, that fear never subsided.

Each step was a test of endurance and will. The icy cold air and the frozen floor kept searing into my nerves. Yet there wasn't any wind or any signs of life, and the lingering fear that I had only grew with each second. I take the opportunity to immediately stop in front of a reflective shard of glass embedded flat into the ground and try to pick it up between my teeth. Instead, my mouth was met with a layer of nearly invisible silk that had covered over the shard. It was then I realize a thin layer of web covered the entire floor. I spit the silk out in mild disgust, before trying my best to kick the shard up with one of my forelegs. Then... another breath wafted from behind.

The hairs on my coat rose and I start to madly scratch the layer of the web away with my hoof, before accidentally kicking the reflective shard out. The item went flying off a couple of feet away with a reverberating 'tink' upon hitting the ground. I scramble forward in a mad dash toward the kicked shard, grasping it recklessly between my teeth as its sharp edge cut into my tongue. Reactively I wince, but there wasn't any pain, just an icy coldness between my bare teeth. My eyes dart around in the dimly-lit darkness, my body making a quick turn to confront whatever it was that was out there. Again, I was met with the same empty expanse of darkness and cold that surrounds me.

As much as I want to trust my eyes, I could no longer ignore the pit in my stomach telling me that there was something out there. There was a limit to what I could see, as reality formed and disappeared around me. I couldn't trust my senses, but I couldn't run blindly either. If I bolted in one direction I could end up at a dead end, or simply dead. I grip the shard harder between my teeth, my eyes staring into the endless abyss. "Who's there? I have glass and I'm not afraid to injure myself trying to stab you with it!" I taunt the darkness, somehow still managing to speak through the shard.

Seconds passed, which then turned to minutes, perhaps hours, but still nothing. "Okay, maybe I am going crazy," I mutter again with the shard still between my teeth. "My nerves are starting to get the better of me," I say, my voice on the verge of cracking. I shiver in place, my teeth begging to clatter, but my teeth remain clamped on the shard between my teeth. The glass was cold, icy, and sharp. My lips numbed and my teeth ached with each silent moment.

I peer down to see if my mouth was bleeding, but something else caught my immediate attention. A red glint shimmered on the shard. It wasn't like the red glow that emanated from the webbing, but a singular red bead that stained the glass. My eyes focus on the bead, trying to register what this was, only to also see my muzzle within its reflection. Dread overtook me as I slowly and steadily crane my neck upwards. A black mucus-like substance drips down, missing my cheek and splattering on the concrete. That singular red bead far above me peers down from above amiss the darkness. Then it was two, four, eight, dozens of them blinked into life!

Startled, I yelp and stumble on my behind. Light refracted from my glass as it flickered the air above. The familiar glistening of black chitin and steel fangs gleam for a fraction of a second, revealing a large shrouded figure. The red dots weren't beads, but numerous eyes. Various patches of them sprouted around the creature's black surface. Some of its mass was missing, luminous white liquids leaking out of its missing chunks as smaller claw-like tendrils protruded from them. One glowing star marked its abdomen as scythe-like legs protruded from its body. Alarm and dread flash throughout my body as it glares down at me with its multiple hateful eyes.

My glass shard hit the ground with a loud 'tink'. I was already shakily stepping back as the entity widens its gaping maw.

"SCREEEEEEEE!!!!"

Releasing a guttural, hateful scream, the monster scatters droplets of black saliva from its maw. Adrenaline flowing through me, I immediately bolt out of there. Screaming, I fled in one direction, any direction. My legs were already scrambling and running before I could even think. The ground shook beneath me as I heard a massive crash behind me, followed by the sounds of deadly stabs against the concrete. Almost scythe-like sounds impact the ground like some kind of demented monster made out of knives and killing intent. Each impact grew louder and harder with every step while it releases another ear-piercing screech.

"AHHHHHHH!" I scream for dear life as my legs did the running. Frostbite hindered my ability to coordinate my body, but I didn't dare stop. Ignoring the previous obstacles that littered the floor, I gallop at full speed while stepping on broken plates and glass. I imagine the shards embedding themselves into my hooves, but the icy feeling of the ground numbed all feelings of pain.

Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!

"SCREEEEEEEE!!!!"

Another life-threatening screech reverberates behind me, causing me to look behind in fear. I almost stop dead in my tracks upon the sight. It was crawling towards me at an alarming rate. Suddenly the expansive darkness around me changed. Dozens if not hundreds of red-beady eyes blink open from the abyss behind me. Then thousands of eyes blink into existence from both my sides, then in front of me. Low-silent noises that I didn't notice before start to rise in volume as I press onwards in a panic run. Subtle skittering increasingly rose into loud chittering, then violent clattering. Jagged tendrils and claws start to tear out from the abyss and into reality. Spiders, centipedes, and beetles overflow the abyss as a much larger creature slips out in front of me.

CRAAAAAAASSSSHHH!!!!

"AHHHHH!" I scream again as a giant centipede-like creature with the same red eyes spread out its entire body crashed on the fragmented concrete, shaking the ground. It quickly realigns itself, its thousands of legs squirming and moving in tandem. Its head slithers around me with the rest of its body; its two giant mandibles chittering with hunger and interest. My dread transformed into horror as I was cornered by another monster. The centipede nightmare of a monster drools black ichor as it took its time to encircle me with its body. My legs shake underneath me as I back away in true terror; sounds of lethal stabbing grow louder behind me.

STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! 

"SCREEEEEEEE!!!!"

CRAAAAAAASSSSHHH!!!!

A shockwave of dust and debris scatters into smoke all around me. Everything shook as reality desperately held itself together. I fall to the ground, my head collapsing onto the cold ground as I close my eyes. I expected the worse, that I was going to be crushed or killed in the next few moments. Yet as the moments passed, dust and dirt settled on top of me. There were no more sounds of stabbing, no more shaking, no more coldness. My eyes were closed, but I could see soft blue light piercing through my eyelids.

Slowly, I open my eyes. Stars dazzled my vision as a radiant blue crackling energy illuminates the scene entirely. My eyes wince as I adjust, a large black silhouette stood above me; facing away. It was a pony, a large pony, larger than any I'd seen. She towered above my small frame, my lowered perspective giving this pony the appearance of something truly huge. The figure was jet black aside from their mane, tail, and regalia they wore. They had a pair of large black wings and a horn that crackled in blue energy. Their helmet and regalia were as pristine and silver as the very stars. The figure's mane and tail seemed as if it held an isolated galaxy within, twinkling brightly and as expansive as space itself.

It was only when I saw her face that I realize what this pony was. "N-Nightmare Moon?" I breathlessly word out. Fangs bared full, eyes narrowed, and irises formed into slits that of a predator; her expression contained a deep hatred. Fear gripped me in a vice, but it took moments to realize that her malice was not directed at me. Instead, she was facing the very monsters that had chased and cornered me.



"YOU WILL NOT LAY A SINGLE CLAW ON HER YOU REVOLTING PARASITES!" The Goddess of the Night bellows with all her might. Before the monsters were given a chance to respond, a surge of lighting suddenly jolt forward from her horn. The air crackles with blue energy as the spell impacts the spider-like entity.

"SCREEEEEEEE!!!!" The creature screams in pain and all-consuming rage as the blast knocks it a few meters back. I flinch at the sight, but the spider-nightmare skid to a halt as it stabs all its claws into the concrete. A loud metal screech resounds fourth as its embedded claws drag across the ground, slowing its knockback; smoke rises from its body. The creature sustained a moderate amount of damage with more of its chunks missing, but it continued to slowly stand back up regardless.

My attention was immediately split to the other creature, a centipede monster. Its body was already encircled around us, but its numerous eyes were now focused on the new threat that appeared. It used Nightmare Moon's opening to strike. Rearing its head up, it lunges its entire body forward in a downward strike during her first assault. Its mandibles aim directly where her heart would be, but Nightmare Moon reacted by twisting her body around to dodge the attack, her wings shoving me aside with great force. Her legs moved her aside as the creature then crashes into the ground, the impact scattering dust everywhere.

I yelp out in terror as I tumbled over on the concrete; the centipede's mandibles missing me a couple of feet away. I slowly get up and shake my head, trying my best to see the aftermath. The Queen of Night wasn't phased however and took the initiative to release another beam of blue lightning into the nightmare creature. The spell's energy splinters apart as the centipede monster blasts into the ground with a trembling shake. 

STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! The spider-like nightmare was ascending upon us with frightening speeds, its gaping wounds now having more scythe-like legs protruding from them to grant itself more mobility and lethality.

"Tsk!" Nightmare Moon grunts, before blasting another empowered beam of energy at it. The spider reacts this time by jumping sideways and dodging her attack. She shot another beam, and another until she was now shooting in rapid succession. The increased frequency of Nightmare Moon's attacks managed to land a couple of hits, but not enough to pin down the creature. Instead, it only staggered it, growing even more legs from where it was impacted. It tries to dodge each strike, and with each hit endured it only got faster and faster.

It was entirely nonsensical and the Queen of Night seethes in frustration at this development. "HOLD STILL YOU INSOLENT INSECT!" She continues to blast the creature with increasing ferocity and pace. It was then within the corner of my eye I saw the centipede entity slowly getting back up. "The centipede! It's getting back up!" I shout in desperation.

The spider nightmare then extends its scythe-like limbs forward as it launches itself straight towards Nightmare Moon. My warning proved to be unneeded as the dark Alicorn blew a gust of wind beneath her with her wings. She flew above the telegraphed attack and allowed the spider-entity to fly past her, directly into the centipede nightmare that was previously behind her. Chitin and steel impacted each other as both nightmares crashed into one another. When the dust settled, they ended up being entangled in each other's bodies and limbs, both screeching and trying to tear each other to break free.

Nightmare Moon spared no moment, already gathering the energy in her horn. As her horn grew in power, the nightmare creatures' struggles and screams only got more desperate. Finally, she releases her spell. Again the air crackles with blue energy; a significant amount of power is being poured into the spell. A giant beam of lightning and pure energy came into collision with the earth, releasing a giant wave of light that blinded my vision. I hold the ground for dear life as the whole area shook once more, concrete and debris scattering once more in larger sizes. My ears rang with a ringing noise as thunder shrieked, my sight returning to reveal a large scorch mark where those nightmare creatures once stood.

The Queen of Night descends with grace, before finally landing her eyes upon me. I felt deeply frightened by her gaze, thinking that I was going to be her next target. Yet her eyes remained, judging me silently. I shrink to the ground as she starts to walk toward me with intent. Her eyes and irises narrow coldly; staring, calculating, thinking. It was all too similar to the stares I've gotten from other noble ponies, but a million times worse. Stares that tried to value my worth, to see if I was of any use, to see what I was there for. Instinctively I try to conceal my very own presence the best I can. To appear small and insignificant. However, there was nowhere I could hide, not from someone like her.

Her gaze, however, softens. Her eyes now reveal a warmth that I didn't think was capable. "Are you alright?" She says to me, approaching me fully before lowering her head at my eye level.

I freeze in place. My brain froze while trying to comprehend what was said to me; what was said by her. "W-What?" I say in equal fear and bewilderment.

Nightmare Moon sighed before reiterating, "Are you injured? I tossed you some distance away when that Nightmare Force attacked us."

I was shocked by her concern, but I take the moment to look over myself. I don't see any injuries or bruises, just minor scratches from the tumble. After checking over a second time, I confirmed that I was fully intact. "Y-Yes." I stuttered a bit, only to stare back up at her. She was still huge. Intimidating. Yet strangely her eyes were full of concern.

Relief floods her expression as she smiled lightly. "Good, I wasn't sure if that impact affected you. Can you stand?"

I nod, my legs still shaking as I pick myself back up. My mind was still reeling. One moment I was being chased by terrifying monsters made out of knives and pure malice and the next I was being saved by Nightmare Moon! It was all too confusing, but I still had enough courage to ask one question. "W-Where am I?" I spoke with a shaky voice.

Nightmare Moon pauses momentarily before opening her mouth to explain. "We are in your dreamscape... or what's left of it. You did a significant amount of damage to the veil, allowing more of those parasites to enter." The dark Alicorn concludes with certain malice emphasizing them.

"Dreamscape? Wait, this is a dream?" I exclaim in shock.

"A nightmare." She clarifies. "Once a Nightmare Force enters a dreamscape, the world around you shifts to your greatest fears. You, however, seem to have the worst of them all."

I wanted to ask what a Nightmare Force was, however, the Alicorn's attention was already diverted away from me. I follow her gaze into the abyss and I could hear distant skittering and chittering from beyond the veil. Tears, in reality, settle in and more claws and ruptures proceed to poke out of the veil as the incoming sounds became eerily louder. Nightmare Moon bristles her wings in frustration before turning her gaze to me. "They are coming, we have no time. You must come with me."

I was already backing away from the tears in fear of what was to come. "H-How can I know to trust you?!" I ask in frightened panic. She was a villain in the series, a bona fide Equestrian-level threat that wanted to shrivel up all life by bringing never-ending night. For all, I knew those 'Nightmare Forces' were her doing. Yet, why would she care to save me? An evil plot maybe? But why me of all ponies? Does she know that I was once human?

The Queen of Night peers down at me, her eyes filled with solemnness. "You can't, but you have no other option." She opens one of her wings, beckoning me towards her. Tears in reality started to rip wider as incoming screeches became louder. Closing my eyes, I forced myself to approach her. Swooping her wings from under me, she then places me on her back. Instinctively I wrap my forelegs around her long neck so as to not fall off. Then we took off into the veil that separated this world from above.





Nightmare Moon had flown me out of wherever I initially was, narrowly avoiding the nightmare creatures that managed to tear themselves into reality. We had ditched the previous reality and now were flying through the ethereal realm that is 'What the actual fuck am I witnessing?'. Flying past us is what appears to be bubbles within an even wider expanse of darkness. Only this time the darkness was partially illuminated by various stars that dotted the whole space. Within these bubbles are glimpses of other ponies, experiencing their dreams presumably. I didn't recognize any of them, but with the way we were speeding past them, it would be difficult to catch a proper glimpse of them anyways.

I hold on for dear life, for I feared for what would happen if I were to let go and fall into this dream-like space. I scream internally and externally as Nightmare Moon was now flying even faster. Redoubling my efforts to hold on, we accelerate far faster than I thought was okay. It was during this I manage to catch a glimpse of our destination. It was no bubble, nor a place in empty starry space, but a moon illuminating the sky far above. And we were heading towards it! "AHHHHHH!"

The moon grew larger as we flew. I close my eyes in panic for possible impact. Yet the impact wasn't what I imagined. It was like plunging through water, yet I wasn't drowning. I could still breathe, but my momentum slowed down. Nightmare Moon flew forward, before eventually descending upon the barren rock that is the moon. We land gracefully, and the Goddess of the Night lowers me with her magic.

Gravity felt lighter here so I was dropped off a larger height. I panic before realizing my slow descent downwards. Landing on the moon, I look up to see Nightmare Moon looking at another celestial object at a distance. It was Earth or at least the Equestrian equivalent of Earth. It had completely different land continents and oceans. I stare along with her, for such a sight was purely breathtaking. Simple maps and images from my past life could never compare to the sight I was witnessing now. I was mesmerized, but when I turn to see the Queen of Night I could only see a dark solemnness within her expression.

She then turns her gaze to me. "Do not worry, the Nightmare Forces will never dare enter here. As long as you remain here you will be safe."

I could only stare at her, my apprehension and previous expectations gripped tight. So many questions, but do I dare ask? What did she bring me here for? What did she want from me? I nervously look away, finding my gaze staring out into space. "Nightmare Forces turn dreams into nightmares. Did you make them?" I ask, hoping to start with basic questions she seemed willing to answer.

"No." Nightmare Moon replies instantly. "As far as I know, they have existed ever since we were banished. I alone have been fighting them off ever since."

"You... you were fighting them?" I ask the obvious.

"Indeed. They are parasites that feed on the fear of other ponies. They change with our perceptions and experiences. Normally they are harmless, pathetically so. However, what you've seen now was them at their apex." She took a step towards me, forcing me to look back at her. "Little pony, what sort of trauma have you endured to cause them to take those forms?"

I was speechless. Were they the reason ponies have such frequent nightmares? And Nightmare Moon was defending ponies from them? "I... I don't know."

The dark Alicorn leans inwards. "You don't know?"

"I-I don't know! I just... read a lot of scary books that's all." I made up an excuse. It was not technically a lie. I did have a small obsession with horror in my previous life. Absolutely hated horror films when I was a kid, but when I was an adult I grew to love them. "Yeah... I read a lot of scary stories, like the story about you... Princess Luna."

Nightmare Moon rears her head back, her expression changed to that of displeasure. "That is not who I am anymore."

"But it was true! You're the mare in the moon, sister of Princess Celestia-"

"SILENCE!" She shouts.

Startled, I fall over slightly. "AH! I'm sorry!" I apologized while cowering on the barren ground.

Nightmare Moon pauses, before lowering her voice. "No, no. I'm the one who should be apologizing young filly. I just... haven't heard of that name in a long while."

I peek out from my forelegs before timidly standing up again. "Um... you haven't?" I ask.

The dark Alicorn sighed deeply before saying, "No, I haven't. I have not spoken to anypony for... a long while. I was too preoccupied with protecting Equestria from these Nightmare Forces. You are the first I've spoken to since I was banished."

Bewilderment took hold of me as I stare up at her. "You- r-really?"

The Queen of Night nods before sitting down. "Since you already clearly know who I am, I should ask who you are."

"I-I." I take the moment to think as I stuttered. She's asking for my name? Does this mean she doesn't know who I am? "I-I'm Silver Spoon." I reply.

"Silver Spoon... it is a pleasure." The Mare in the Moon smiles softly. "Tell me, are you sure it is those tales of horrors that caused those parasites to take those shapes?"

She's already suspecting me?! "Yes!" I reply in earnest.

Nightmare Moon then sits idle in thought. "Did you do anything to injure that Nightmare Force before I arrived?"

That question caught me a little off guard. It had me thinking of a time when I faced such a creature. My memory was hazy at best. Memories of my dreams didn't last too long, but nightmares tend to stick quite well. "I... believe so? I think I hid inside a fridge when everything... blew up." I answer.

"That would explain the veil being broken." The dark Alicorn says to herself before pondering more. "Normally when a pony encounters their fears they flee. You however decided to fight them. You injured one of them, and now they all see you as a threat."

"W-What?!" I exclaim fearfully.

"Exactly what I said, Silver Spoon. You were in serious danger. You could have gotten yourself killed." She explains.

"B-But! They're just nightmares! D-Don't tell me whatever they do in my dreams happens in real life!" I exclaim again.

Nightmare Moon gave a bemused expression before shaking her head. "No, nothing the likes of that. Nightmare Forces are normally territorial creatures. They like being isolated from each other and target only one dreamscape in their entire lifetimes. They feed on fear, normally once a moon; and they do not like sharing." She explains. "However, they are all interconnected by an unknown force. Once you injure one of them," The Mare in the Moon's expression turned darker, "they will know of your presence and will come after you. First, it will be one nightmare a month, then a week, then every day. Soon you won't be able to sleep. You'd be forced to live every hour awake until your body finally collapses."

My blood froze cold at the explanation. "I-I..." I stutter.

"Frightening isn't it? It's why I dedicate my time to destroy these creatures." She says.

I could only nod in understanding. The implications of my dear death experience are all too real to me now. "But... you said that you've been destroying them since they first appeared."

"And that's still true. Unfortunately, they spawn hundreds of themselves, thousands even. Enough so that there's at least one Nightmare Force for every living creature that stands. Fortunately, they're mostly harmless. Most ponies in this day and age cannot comprehend such horrible creatures, much less mutilation. A simple blast from me and they'll disintegrate. Your nightmares in particular were but one exception." Nightmare Moon says a matter of factly.

"So it's my fault then. That they're all after me." I say downtrodden at the matter.

The Mare in the Moon pauses, before nodding. "Yes, it is. However, I cannot fault you for it. I would have done the same in your position. You are a rarity, Silver Spoon. When ponies have to choose between running and fighting, they almost always choose to flee. You, however, choose to fight. A trait I value highly."

I pause in turn, the gears in my mind turning. "And what exactly do you want from me?" I almost accused, my eyes honing in on hers. "Why did you save me? Why even care about saving Equestria?!" Nightmare Moon's expression changed into something dark and I started to regret my outburst instantly. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No, that fear is warranted." She says. "You were raised in her light, it's only natural for you to distrust me."

I instantly shut up. She forgave me, didn't even get angry. Not even for a moment. "Are you... really Nightmare Moon?" I couldn't help but ask.

The Queen of Night changes her expression into a bemused smile, "Why, do you doubt my existence? What preconceived notions have the Sun Sister projected onto you?"

"I-I... well no offense, but I always figured you'd be like..." I take the opportunity to breathe deeply before continuing. "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night… will last… forever! Muahahahahaha!"

Nightmare Moon furrows her brows in a confused gaze. "That is still what I plan to do with Equestria."

I pause again. "But, isn't that like... evil?" I say in concern.

The dark Alicorn laughs. "HA! Is that what she told you? Nothing is evil about shrouding Equestria in eternal darkness."

I was baffled by this proclamation. "What do you mean!? Plants need sunlight! All of Equestria needs crops to survive."

Instead of being proven otherwise by my argument, she merely scoffed. "Equestria's agriculture will be unaffected. Once I seal the sun inside the moon, it'll give off enough energy to allow crops to grow. The cool night air would allow for more productivity, and the reforms that have been enacted under my rule would show that Equestria needed a more firm hoof than the Sun Sister has been providing for the past several years."

My mind was finally crashing in on itself as I fell to the ground. WHAT?! WHO IS THIS PONY? SHE'S NOT ACTING LIKE NIGHTMARE MOON IN THE SHOW AT ALL! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING? "Urgh... my head..." I lamely utter in pain. "Are you sure you're Nightmare Moon?" I almost ask in desperation.

She chuckles in sympathy for my plight. "It must be hard to reverse a thousand years of propaganda ingrained within Equestria's culture. Thousands of lies told thousands of times across the generations."

"But! What about the dark!"

"Ponies have excellent adaptability for seeing in darkness."

"Dictatorship!"

"The Sun Sister was a dictator long before I. It is only the last few generations that a court was made to address issues of the public."

"Oppression against those that speak out against you!"

"In a world where a Lord of Chaos exists, malicious shapeshifting creatures multiply, and forbidden magic corrupts, a quick method to silence the enemies of ponykind is needed to prevent the loss of life from incurring."

I groan while burring my face within my forelegs on the ground. Peeking outwards, I desperately cling to any evidence against her. "Bat ponies?"

Nightmare Moon actually seems surprised at my question. "Lunar Pegasi." She clarifies. "A rare breed of pony that came about before my banishment. They were meant to serve me during the night. I do not know what the Sun Sister has done to them after my banishment, but their dreams always consisted of caves and tunnels. Never once I've seen them dream of the outside." The Queen of Night ends her explanation with a solemn voice.

Oh. Fuck now I actually feel bad.

"Tell me, how do you come across to know of them?" The dark Alicorn asks.

I pause, thinking of giving her the same excuse I had for everything. "I read about them."

"Where?" She presses.

"In my father's library." I lie again.

"Your father must be a scholar then. Ancient lore such as the Lunar Pegasi would be hard to come across." She concludes.

"Pfft, I doubt it. I bet he just collects them from wherever. I'm the one that actually reads all of them." I say a matter of factly.

"Still, you should be wary of forbidden texts." Nightmare Moon warns.

"...Why? Wait, why would texts be forbidden?" I question.

"Because the Sun Sister makes sure Equestria is ignorant of the horrors of the past. If she learns that you or your father holds archives of texts that she personally didn't allow, she will make sure you disappear along with them." She reveals.

That sent shivers down my spine. "W-What kind of archives?"

"Ancient archives. Anything about the past that shows the wars Equestria's been through. The Sun Sister makes sure the very concept of war is nonexistent. I'd be surprised if you knew what war meant."

"W-War?" I stutter, dreading what would happen to me if anypony found out.

Nightmare Moon, however, took my stuttering as me not knowing what that word meant. "As expected, of course, you wouldn't know. The Sun Sister demilitarized and taught her ponies pacifism. Peace was it? A noble concept, a shame it would lead to Equestria being vulnerable for what's to come."

I wasn't listening anymore. My mind flashed to the missing pages. The blotted out texts in that book I took from the Golden Oak Library. Oh fuck! If Celestia finds out about me I'm dead.

"W-What happens if I do know about it?!" I blurt out in a panic.

Nightmare Moon's eyes lock on me. Her expression was completely devoid of emotion, only pure focus. "Know what?"

"Forbidden texts! I found a book in an old library and it had missing pages torn out and lines blotted out with ink." I explain.

Her gaze lingers on me. She was thinking again, calculating. "If contents of the book were already removed, then you should be fine."

"R-Really?!" I ask in relief.

"Yes, whatever contents were removed were probably the texts she didn't allow. I pity the poor fool who recorded the text in the first place." The Goddess of Night says.

I plop on the ground releasing a large sigh. "Oh good," I say with immense relief. "I thought I was a goner there."

The Queen was silent for a moment. "You very well might be."

"W-What?" I reply with worry.

She didn't give me an answer for a few seconds. Shifting her gaze on the Earth that was positioned far beyond us. "The chances you remember this encounter is minimal. Once you wake up, our entire conversation will slowly fade away as a hazy memory."

"WHAT!? H-How can that be!? I can't forget something like this. Something this important!" I exclaim.

Nightmare Moon simply gives me a sad smile. "It's true. Memories within the dreamscape are as fickle as webs in a torrent of water."

"No! No no no, there has to be a way to remember this! I can't just... forget all this!" I stand up as I panic further. I spin around while darting my eyes around desperately, trying to ingrain these sights into my memories. I repeated my experiences in my mind, again and again, focusing to try to hold on to all these revelations told to me.

"Calm down Silver Spoon." Nightmare Moon then levitates me off the ground, before turning me to face her. "There is a method to help relieve this problem." She smiles softly at me, eyes growing solemn once more. "We used this method to record our ventures of dream walking."

"Really?! What is it?" I ask eagerly.

Her eyes then focus on mine, "The moment you awake you must record everything on any parchment you have. Memories from dreams are fleeting so you must do your best to write as much down as possible before you forget. Hopefully, your awake self will get the message clearly."

"What!? That's it?" I exclaim in distress.

"Unfortunately I cannot cast the memory preserving spell from here. You will have to make do with your mind alone." She expresses her sympathy.

"This is nuts..." I mutter to myself. "I can't write that all down... I only barely managed to write my own name so far!"

Nightmare Moon's eyes widen at my comment. "Pray tell, how old are you?"

I pause in my own thoughts, debating whether or not I should tell her. "I'm like, six."

"SIX!?" She shouts incredulously.

"It's not a big deal!" I shout back in my defense. "I just read a lot."

"A filly at that age shouldn't be able to read such texts so confidently." The dark Alicorn expresses her astonishment.

"Well, you still haven't answered my question yet!" I try to shift the conversation away.

Nightmare Moon tilts her head at this. "What question?"

"Why did you save me? Why bother saving ponies from Nightmare Forces? Why even bother trying to go through taking over Equestria?" I question, half desperately trying to avoid talking about my age and the other half getting some real answers from her.

A period of silence follows and Nightmare Moon only gives me this look of solemnness and other complex emotions intertwined. "Because it's what we would have done." She answers.

"...What?" I say with confusion.

She then shook her head. "Because when we rule over Equestria, we do not want to rule over a pile of rubble. Ponies still are our precious subjects, even now. They all may fear us, but when we return they will learn to respect our rule. Especially after we save them and make proper reformations. And when that time comes, the Sun Sister will reap what she sowed. I swear it..." She vows with deep-seated anger in her voice. Her expression darkened with... not malice, but one of vengeance long sworn a thousand years ago.

Uncertain about this answer, I remain silent. "...Save?" I point out.

Nightmare Moon gazes at me again, her anger turning into solemnness once more. "Yes Silver Spoon, save. Equestria will experience hardships like never before and the Sun Sister has done nothing to make precautions against it. She has grown complacent with her own 'peace' and everypony will suffer for it." She informs me.

"You... you mean Discord? And King Sombra?" I ask, hesitant about how she will react.

The dark Alicorn simply stares at me with that same calculating muzzle. "I assume you've read about them too then?"

I nod slowly at this. It was the best excuse I have and I'm sticking with it.

The Queen of Night closes her eyes as she contemplates. She then opens her eyes once more. "If you already know then I suppose there's little point in keeping it secret. Yes, Discord will be released from his prison and King Sombra will be following soon after. It took both us and the Sun Sister to seal them both away. Once they are released, Tartarus will break loose. I do not foresee an event where Celestia can overcome both threats without us at her side. And from what I've gathered, she's done little to prepare Equestria for what's to come." Nightmare Moon explains.

"But... won't you be released first?" I question her, only to get a confused glance.

"What do you mean? I was sealed last, therefore I will be released last. Once I am free, I will liberate the everypony and save them from Discord and Sombra's clutches. And if somehow the Sun Sister manages to overcome them both, she will be greatly weakened. The perfect opportunity to exact the justice that she deserves." She states with a confident glee in her eyes, almost predatory.

I felt my hairs prickle on the back of my coat, but that didn't stop me from contemplating. There were so many things wrong with all this. She was definitely wrong about the timing of her release. She didn't seem to have any egomania or any sense of generic cartoon-villain syndrome. And worse she seemed damned reasonable to talk with. Yet in the very first episode, she was anything but reasonable. Nothing made sense! Something had to have changed between now and then. I just didn't know what. "Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid that I might tell somepony about your plan?"

Nightmare Moon then smiles at me with a bemused expression. "Do you really think you can write that all down within the span of thirty seconds?" She asks in an almost mocking voice that bordered on being playfully cruel.

Of course, I knew something like that wasn't really feasible, especially for my current level of writing. I simply shake my head in defeat.

"And even if you did manage to write that information down, who'd believe you? You'd only increase the risk of the Sun Sister knowing your existence. I assume I shouldn't need to elaborate on what happens next." She grins.

"Yeah yeah, I get it." I slump down on the cold dirt. "So what? I just hope I can write everything down in time and pray that my awake self will decipher it all?" I sarcastically say.

"More or less. It'll be more efficient to condense your ideas into short phrases before you forget them." Nightmare Moon helpfully advises.

"Thanks... I guess." I say amicably.

"You're welcome. I look forward to what preparations you will make in the future. You will need every advantage for what's to come." The Goddess of the Night grins at me with extreme bemusement.

"This is insane." I straight up say to myself.

"Perhaps, but it's about time you woke up." The dark Alicorn said a matter of factly.

"Wait! Now? B-But I'm not ready yet!" I object, standing up from where I was at.

"May we meet again in the future Silver Spoon." Nightmare Moon bid farewell.

"N-No don't say that! I didn't even get any notice ahead of time! How am I supposed to-"





"AHHHHH!" I fell out of my bed to the ground with an audible thud. Bed sheets covered my body as I poked my head out. The sun was out and shining beams of morning light through the windows, blinding my vision momentarily. I shook my head, my mind already starting to get foggy from morning lethargy.

"Ah! No, no! I need to write it down!" I shout before scrambling from the covers. I grabbed a random blank paper from my school satchel and hurried to get my crayons or pencils out. I laid the paper on the ground and started to scribble words down, but the carpet underneath instead had my writing utensil poke a hole through it. "No no no!"

Immediately I removed the paper off the ground and flipped it over the carpet. I slammed the paper on the now exposed hardwood floor and started writing again in the available space that I had. I tried to grasp the concepts left from my dream, my experience, and my encounter. I tried to put it into writing.

But then the door to my room knocked. "Madam? Are you alright in there?" The voice behind it asked.

I silently cursed to myself. It was the morning maid. "I'm alright, just getting ready!"

"You should let me in then. We must have you take your morning bath." She replied.

"Ah! Just a moment please!" I shouted back. I was still trying to write down the thoughts that were slipping out of my mind. Rushed deliberate strokes and scribbles landed on the paper.

"Very well, I shall get your bath started then. Any preference of oil you would like madam?" The maid asked me.

"Um, surprise me!" I shouted back again. As I came up with responses my attention was shifted away each time, my mind now losing its grasp fully. "No, no no! Come on. Almost..." I paused mid-writing. Moments passed and I blinked. "Almost... what? What was I writing down?"

I looked over the page once more: 'Nightmare Moon good??? Sorta. N-' Silence lingered for a couple of seconds. What the fuck? Why was I writing that? What did I mean by sorta? I furrowed my brows in deep concern. Could it be, that I had met Nightmare Moon? If so, why don't I remember any of it? And what the hell was I going to write down next? 'N'?

"Madam, the bath is ready!" I heard the same voice from behind me.

"Ah! Okay! I'll be right there!" I shout back once again. My eyes lingered on the paper, then I decided to crumple it up and throw it in the nearby trash bin. Whatever this was, I shouldn't let anypony find out about these notes.

"This is fucking weird," I muttered to myself before approaching the door.
> Interlude
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Celestia, former co-ruler and now unrivaled sovereign of Equestria... She was the protector of all ponykind for over the last millennium, and at the moment she was sitting at her desk. The room she resided was her office. Cupboards, ink bottles, and parchments littered the room as the sun shone brightly behind her through stained glass.

The Sun Goddess was looking over various documents laid upon her desk, a pile stacked neatly beside her. Some were stamped and others had to be looked over with scrutiny before being tossed aside and denied. It was a monotonous process, one that required her full knowledge and wisdom to enact. Proposals and rules were coming in on the daily and her supernatural senses allowed her to skim through all of it under a couple of hours. Yet, something was distracting her greatly.

She glanced to the side without turning her head.
A guard was there.

He was one of the regular cadets that were assigned by Delusional Spear, a guard captain that was recognized for his fast response against threats in large part due to his paranoia. He was skilled with a spear and was in charge of recruiting, ordering, and training new guards that came in. It so happened that today this cadet was on princess duty- well, technically he had been on shift since the day before. He was sitting perfectly straight with a stern posture, and he hadn't shifted at all since the previous night. As far as Celestia knew, not a single guard ever relaxed their posture within her presence.

The Sun Goddess was bathed in his stare. It was unceasing, barring a few blinks.
The pressure was indescribable.

Surely he didn’t mean to intimidate her. He probably only wanted to be ready to assist her at a moment’s notice, but Celestia truly wished he would give her a break. This was probably true for anypony, but she felt awkward with somepony constantly staring at her. She felt like she must have been doing something wrong even if nothing had happened. Under normal circumstances Celestia wouldn't have felt anxious at all, but ever since that incident... she had been afraid to make any mistakes, especially now.

The biggest issue was that anytime Celestia made the slightest move, he would sync up and silently begin to move with her.

Let’s be frank.
It was torture.

Of course, Celestia was the absolute ruler. If she told the guard to stop, he surely would. But remembering the look on his face when she brought up the subject in a roundabout way, she couldn’t bring herself to give him the order.

So she disregarded the issue and continued her work with the grace of what a princess should have. Once again she stamped a proposal and placed it on top of the stack beside her and saw the next page. It was then the monotony of the office was broken.

Celestia blinked, then looked over the letter again.



"Dear Princess Celestia,

Consider this a letter of resignation. Your pupil has already caused a significant amount of damage on school grounds. All of which includes blowing up the chemistry lab twice, turning me into a newt, and now summoning a chaotic slime that melted the entire west dorm! I cannot sit here and continue teaching while knowing my students will be endangered constantly throughout the next couple of years.

For months I and a couple of other teachers have requested you to do something about her, but your refusal to do anything had led me and a friend to resign from our position as professors. I will be moving my office equipment by the end of the week and I wish you and your School for Gifted Unicorns the very best.

May we meet again on better circumstances, Professor Slug Horn."



The Sun Goddess faceplanted her muzzle on the top of her desk and groaned in anguish. She had been lucky that the last few incidents hadn't resulted in anypony being seriously injured, but this incident with the slime would be sure to finally snap a few occupants into leaving the school entirely.

"Princess?" The guard next to her asked with worry.

"Pay no heed, I'm just expressing my frustrations at this letter," Celestia explained.

"Is there something that we can do for you, your highness?" The guard pony pressed.

Celestia was about to deny the request until she thought about it for a couple of seconds. "Actually, yes, could you get a slice of cake from the royal pantry? Actually no, make it the entire cake." Of course, cake was comfort food to her, but it also served as a large source of neutral magic. The sugar it contained would be able to keep her awake through the entire night. Celestia never liked the taste of coffee, no matter how much sugar was added.

"How many layers?" The guard deadpanned, knowing full well that this happened before.

"Two, no three, please. Thank you." The royal cake hoarder answered while ignoring the deadpanned tone of his voice.

The guard lowered his head before exiting the room. Celestia then exhaled an intense sigh of relief, the pressure of the room relieved itself. "Finally. I thought he'd never leave." The Sun Goddess said to herself after making sure the guard was out of earshot. She looked over the letter a third time without reading it, idly thinking to herself about what to do.

If only I hadn't failed with Sunset Shimmer. She recalled how her former student betrayed her and disappeared through the mirror portal to further her studies. She remembered her conversations with her, trying to guide her on the path to friendship and future greatness. Yet, Celestia didn't realize where her ambitions and loyalty truly lay until it was too late. "If only I had realized in time." She expressed solemnly.

Her attention was then taken away as the door to her office knocked loudly. "Ah, that must be him!" Her mood shifted drastically before welcoming back her guard. "Come in!"

The door opened to reveal, not a guard delivering a frosted three-layered cake, but an Alicorn. Her coat was a pale, light grayish cerise and her mane and tail fashioning streaks of moderate violet, rose, and pale gold. The Alicorn's light purple eyes locked with the Sun Goddess', "Hello aunt Celestia!"

"Greetings Cadance!" Celestia welcomed warmly. "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to check-in. I heard that you didn't sleep since the day before yesterday, and from the looks of the bags under your eyes it seems that they were right." Cadance stepped forward worriedly. "Are you taking care of yourself? We can't have you collapsing on us now."

Celestia chuckled. "I'm fine my niece. I can last far longer awake than a normal pony would." She tried to reassure her, but her body conveyed obvious signs of weariness.

"Celestia, no offense, but you've been losing sleep since... you lost your future vision." The Princess of Love stepped forward until she reached the edge of her desk.

"No need to remind me, my niece," Celestia sighed again, looking over herself in the nearby mirror. Her hair was slightly frazzled and her eyes held bags underneath. "Do I really look that bad?" She asked timidly.

"Yes, you look really bad." Cadance decided to be completely truthful and earnest.

The tired Goddess looked in the mirror again and expressed an exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry, I've just been worrying so much now."

"About what?" Cadance tilted her head.

"This." Celestia handed over the letter of resignation.

Cadance looked over the letter before her expression turned dim. "Oh. I see. Well not to worry aunt Celestia, I'll go over there and make sure to have a proper conversation with her!"

"Yes, that's good, but that's not the only thing I'm worried about," Celestia admitted.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The Goddess of Love paused before having a chance to leave.

Celestia paused, seeing how much her niece has cared for her. She saw how she worried about her those years back when she first lost her future sight. How she comforted her during her panic and ignored her screams about Equestria ending because it's all her fault. Even now Cadance tried to relieve some of her duties by saving her the time to explain to her new student, Twilight Sparkle. Celestia pondered whether to tell her, to come clean, and finally share some of the responsibilities of a being Princess. She would refrain from omitting anything due to the nature of her future sight, but ever since she lost it six years ago, she could only grow more anxious with each year.

"Celestia?" Cadance asked with increased worry.

Under normal circumstances Celestia would have told her 'not to worry about it', but now she found herself unable to use the same excuse she'd given again and again. It was then she decided to come clean about it.

Using her magic, she locked the door to her office and cast a spell over the room. The spell would prevent any scrying attempts, mind reading, or anypony from listening in on the conversation. "Cadance, what I'm about to tell you is royal confidentiality. Under no circumstances you are to tell anypony about it, even your coltfriend."

"Y-Yes!" Cadance stood up straight, now facing her aunt completely.

"Ever since I lost my future vision, I've been paranoid." Celestia started. "Paranoid of all the potential mistakes I will be making, and what consequences they have to offer."

Cadance raised an eyebrow, "But Princess, you've been ruling Equestria since forever ago. Surely you have enough confidence to rule a kingdom."

The Sun Goddess shook her head. "Perhaps I should. However, for the past millennium, I've been using my future vision to solve every problem Equestria had until now. Ever since Nightmare Moon's banishment, I've trained myself to use this ability effectively, so that... a catastrophe made by my own oversight will never happen again."

Cadance only returned that fact with silence, taking it all in.

Celestia continued. "Unfortunately, I've grown too reliant on it. In the past whenever a problem arises with Equestria, such it be a dragon migration, espionage, or invasion, I'd resolve it through negotiations or by performing certain actions. I'd first use my future vision to see and narrow down the possibilities to favorable outcomes. Then I'd perform the role my visions have given me to the letter. I'm not exaggerating when I say I resolved every issue with this power. With this power alone, I managed to grant Equestria an era of peace and prosperity."

The Sun Goddess then lowered her head. "Yet, none of the possibilities I've witnessed had shown me that I would suddenly lose my future sight. It was unexpected and... terrifying at the time."

"Oh," Cadance paused, "so that was what you meant with all that screaming..."

"Yes, I initially had thought that maybe somepony had undermined my spell. That they saw everything and planned something terrible for me and Equestria. Or that the universe itself was going to backlash at me by throwing every possible outcome that I'd avoided until now." Celestia revealed. "Yet, none of those happened. I was only left with the realization that any action I would make from then on would have consequences that I couldn't foresee. I couldn't be the perfect pony Equestria needed me to be anymore. I would be making mistakes, horrible mistakes as I've done before." The Sun Goddess' voice trembled at the last sentence, causing Cadance to rush over to her aunt.

Cadance was not fazed by the sight. The first time she witnessed Celestia having a mental breakdown greatly disturbed the Princess of Love. However, the next six years have proven her aunt to be much more relatable than she initially had thought. It was a welcome change, a change that she couldn't judge Celestia of having. Her wing outstretched, she hugged her aunt tightly. "It's okay Celestia, I'm here for you."

Celestia smiled wearily, but gratefully as she wiped some tears out of her eyes. "Thank you." She said as the Princess of Love performed her title's namesake.

A couple of minutes passed then, just the both of them embracing one another until Celestia had calmed down fully. "Thank you," the Sun Goddess repeated, "I've shown an unsightly side of mine again."

"N-No, it's not a problem at all Princess! I'm just glad I'm here to help." Cadance backed away before smiling.

"Right, thank you... now, where was I? Ah yes." Celestia paused before telling her niece the truth. "I plan for Twilight to become the bearer of the Elements of Harmony."

"WHAT?!" The pink Alicorn's wings fluttered in surprise.

Celestia silently mused at her surprise but continued. "Yes, my student will be the bearer of Harmony."

"B-But, how?! And why?!" Cadance exclaimed, now knowing why Celestia insisted on her foalsitting her student.

"Because the Elements do not respond to me." The Sun Goddess admitted. "They haven't ever since I've banished Nightmare Moon."

"T-They don't!?" The revelation hit Cadance like a truck. However the more she thought about it, everything fell into place. Celestia never once used the Elements because her future sight allowed her from coming into a situation where it was needed. However, hearing now that she actually couldn't use the Elements was disturbing. "Ah... that makes some sense now, but... why Twilight?" The Goddess of Love asked.

"Because that was one possible outcome I've seen before I lost my ability," Celestia said. "Trust me when I say this my niece, Twilight wasn't the first option I chose to be the artifact's bearer." She then reminisced about her former student. "There was one before her, Sunset Shimmer. My visions had shown me she had great potential, however, she betrayed me by leaving through the mirror portal. I had lost my future vision then, and I couldn't predict that she would betray me like that."

"So Twilight was your second choice?" Cadance pressed.

"Yes, she is. I've seen her in the future using the Elements against Nightmare Moon along with five others, all of which are currently located in a backwater town named Ponyville." She said.

"Nightmare Moon comes back!?" Cadance was again shocked.

"Yes. In many possible futures, this is certain." Celestia revealed. "And within these futures, there are some in which we lose and Nightmare Moon covers all of Equestria in eternal night. Yet, in others, Twilight uses the Elements of Harmony to defeat her with the help of her friends. I never thought that I'd be losing my future sight, so I didn't glimpse anything further than that." She said solemnly.

"So Twilight is the only option we have?" Cadance dreaded the answer as she asked.

Celestia shook her head. "It's the only option that I could get a glimpse of. There may be other options, but none are guaranteed, not like before."

Slowly the pink Alicorn pondered her aunt's words, then her confidence dwindled as she recalled the recent incident described in the letter. "Do you think Twilight will ever be ready?"

"I'm not sure my niece. Under normal circumstances, I would simply choose the future that I want and make it happen, but now... I can't ever be sure of anything anymore." Celestia sighed. "Which comes the reason why I decided to tell you all this," Celestia paused for dramatic effect, "In the event that Twilight cannot properly harness the Elements of Harmony by the time Nightmare Moon is released, I want you to aid me in my battle against her."

"W-What?! Me?" Cadance staggered back at the abrupt proclamation. "B-But I know nothing about fighting! Why don't we just have some of the guards-"

"The guard would be useless against her." Celestia cut her off. "I'm sorry Cadance, I know that you favor the guard so, but Nightmare Moon has years of battle experience that precedes all of them; including your coltfriend." She added.

"B-But, they can still help!" Cadance objected.

The white Alicorn sighed as she closed her eyes, "No Cadance, they can't. Nightmare Moon is much more terrifying than you know. The guard has no chance against her." Celestia stated solemnly. "Listen, when we first fought a millennia ago it was after her transformation. She had no plan but to destroy me with her newly found power, and she could have very well had if it weren't for the Elements of Harmony." She paused, before looking her niece in the eyes. "I know her, I know what she's capable of, and she has a thousand years of planning at her disposal while I solely relied on an ability that I lost. When she comes to Equestria prepared," she emphasized, "I nor the guard will stand a chance."

Cadance was greatly disheartened by the fact as she sat next to her aunt with her ears drooped down.

Celestia however laid a hoof on her withers, "But with you at my side, we can increase the chances to where we do win. I can train you, teach you some defensive spells, and prepare you as much as possible before the time comes."

Cadance could only face her aunt with a doubtful expression. "And if it's not enough?"

Celestia couldn't answer her for some time. "If in the event where I do fall in battle, I need you to flee and gather Twilight and her friends. Make sure nothing happens to them, as they are the last defense Equestria has against Nightmare Moon."

The Princess of Love grew even more disheartened at this, now knowing fully well what she and possibly Twilight will have to go through. She loved Celestia, and she loved Twilight. She couldn't imagine a world where anything bad happened to them. Cadance recalled the last time she saw her. The purple unicorn was happy to be around her, ecstatic even, and she was happy in return. To imagine her going through the trials of being an Element of Harmony, seeing her teacher fall to Nightmare Moon, and being the last hope Equestria has, her heart couldn't take it.

"W-Why does it have to be her?!" Emotions swelled in Cadence's voice. Twilight was like the little sister she never had. She wanted to protect her. To protect that innocence and smile she had when it came to anything she did. "Why can't somepony else take the mantle? Somepony else who's more suited for that role!" She yelled shakily.

"Please calm yourself Cadance." Celestia tried to reassure her niece. "It's not a role I wish to force upon either. However..."

The Princess of Love closed her eyes, as she already knew what she was about to say.

"It's for the good of all Equestria."

It was Cadance's turn to break into tears. "B-But Celestia..."

The Goddess of the Sun lowered herself and wrapped her wing around her niece. "Shush, I know... but as Alicorns, we have a sworn duty to protect ponykind."

The Princess of Love leaned into her aunt's chest, crying out tears into her pristine and royal coat. "I-Is... is there truly no other way?"

Celestia paused again. "I don't know, but we can try. The Equestrian guard hasn't been properly militarized in the past millennium, and we hardly made any advances in offensive magic or the military since then. We have only a couple more years until she is released." She lowered a wing, wiping the tears and dripping mascara Cadance had when she looked up at her. "I may not be able to guarantee everypony's safety like before, but we can certainly try."

Then in the corner of her eye, she could see her guard trying to desperately push the three-layered frosted cake through the bottom door slit. Cream, bread, and frosting squelched through onto the tiled floor. She wearily sighed again. "We can certainly try."
> Contemplation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With another crunch, I chewed through another spoonful of cornflakes from my bowl of cereal. It tasted crispy with a hint of honeyed sweetness, as usual. I stirred my cereal again before taking another bite, then another bite of a sliced orange that was placed beside my bowl. The mix of flavors is nice, but not as nice as the artificial flavoring and high sugar contents of regular cereal.

I poked at my food in contemplation about last night's events. As the staff helped me prepare for the morning, my mind tried to make the hazy connections of what little memories I retained from last night's dream. From that, I figured out a couple of things. While the details of my dreams were lost, the emotions that I felt were still present. Namely fear. For that to happen it would have to be another nightmare, but so soon after my last? Usually, ponies have nightmares once a month based on what I've been told.

Was this a coincidence? No, this dream was definitely not the norm if it caused me to wake up in such a panic and haste to write down those words. As if I knew that I would forget. Something definitely happened.

I mixed my cereal absentmindedly before resuming my thoughts. A nightmare. I remember my last nightmare distinctly. Why couldn't I remember this one? I furrowed my brows as I concentrated on that feeling of fear. Details were lost, but what I felt was most certainly life-threatening. An attack? Like that spider from before? Pretty sure that thing survived my last dream. No, it doesn't matter what the attack came from, what matters is that I've been put in a situation that made me feel that my life was threatened.

I pulled the threads of my feelings further, trying to come up with conclusions that made sense. What happened after that? A feeling of... awe? Strange. Something significant has to have happened. Did I defeat it again? No, there wasn't any feeling of victory. Possibly defeated by circumstance?

My mind raced to the words that I wrote. Nightmare Moon. I must have encountered her. Did she save me? That would explain the feeling of awe. But why? Weren't those nightmares of her creation? Did she want something from me? Could she have engineered a situation where she sent those nightmares to attack me, then save me to lure me into a false sense of security? No, if I was fully lucid then I would have seen that deception from a mile away. She must have made a serious impression on me that I would even go as far as writing down that she wasn't evil. At least, not purely evil.

I scooped up a slightly soggy spoonful of cornflakes, before dropping it again into the bowl. Losing my memories was annoying. I hope that won't be a reoccurring factor. Wait, reoccurring? Why did I think that it would happen again? Would I remain in contact with her? If that's true then... that changes things.

"Madam? Is your food not to your liking?"

I turned my head and I saw Intricacy, the Head Butler, awaiting my response. I smiled lightly. "No, it's fine... it's good." I tried to reassure him. My eyes then drew across the dinner table, before landing on my father.

There he sat eating his breakfast, sipping his coffee while reading another newspaper from Equestria News. The maids and butlers stood by us, ready to serve any request we would have. However, despite the number of ponies, the room was silent for the most part. The only noise happening was the clinking of my spoon against the bowl and Silversmith's cup being placed against a plate.

My mind lingered for a moment, remembering the promise I made to mom a few nights ago. A promise to make an effort to connect. With a reluctant sigh, I initiated our first conversation today. "Father, is there any reason I never had the chance to eat normal cereal the other fillies and colts are eating?"

Silversmith's eyes never wavered from his newspaper. Instead, he took a bite out of his biscuit eggs benedict before answering. "You are eating normal cereal. The cereal the common folk eats is artificial. It's not suited for a member of the Silvers."

"Oh," I responded simply. Usually what little conversations we had would end after that. When it comes to the image of the Silvers, my father's opinion tended to be final. However, I couldn't just give up there. "Miss Cheerilee says that I should be eating plenty of foods with sugar in them, as it helps stimulates the brain and enables us to grow properly. What's the difference between artificial cereal and normal cereal?" I asked, knowing that my father wouldn't bat an eye at whatever advanced terminology I had. My parents already knew that I was well-read for a filly my age, at least when it came to fiction.

Father paused at that, his expression slightly furrowed as he clearly didn't expect me to continue. He thought for a moment before answering "The difference is that artificial foods have a higher sugar content than normal foods. It helps to have more sugar in our bodies, but ultimately detrimental."

Swallowing another bite of my cereal, I furrowed my brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Father flipped his newspaper to make it straight. "Ponies need sugar to function, but an over-reliance on it will hinder your mind's development. The brain is a muscle and it must be exercised properly. Reducing your sugar intake helps with that. If your mind can keep up with other ponies without sugar, then it can far exceed them while you're on it." He sipped his cup again and placed it down, only for the maid next to his chair to offer another refill.

I paused. "So that's a definite no on the artificial cereal then?"

Silversmith lowered his newspaper, finally looking me in the eyes. His eyes were cold and calculating. It was like he was seeing through me with the acute precision of a scalpel. I resisted the urge to shiver. Then he proceeded to bring his newspaper up again. "Once I receive your grades, I will determine whether or not having more sugar wouldn't harm your development." With another bite, he finished his meal before wiping his mouth with a dinner napkin. "If you perform well in school then we'll see about adding light deserts to your meals."

Silversmith then stood up from his seat, his servants already moving to put away his plates and utensils. "Finish your meal. I'll be waiting in the wagon." The stallion instructed me before leaving the dining room.

I simply sat there with my cereal, barely half-eaten and soggy from being submerged in milk for too long. Well... that was productive. I think. Still, that doesn't stop me from having Dia buy snacks for me. I mused to myself.

"Are you finished with your meal madam?"

Turning my head, I saw Intricacy the Head Butler awaiting my response. With a light smile, I nodded. "Yeah, I'm done with my breakfast. Could you pack something a little extra for my lunch?"

"Have anything in mind madam?" The stallion in a suit asked.

I thought to myself for a moment before answering. "An apple would be nice."

"Consider it done madam." Cacy lowered his head slightly.

"Thanks, Cacy." I smiled at him.

"Think nothing of it, madam." His expression remained stoic as he exited the room, but I could tell the slight crease of a smile at the end of his lips. The rest of the maids were taking care of my plates. I offered them a smile and another 'thank you' before taking my saddlebag and leaving.





"So when Rumble trotted up to kick that rock over the sandpit, he somehow tripped over it and landed muzzle-first into the sand!" Diamond Tiara giggled while eating her lunch.

"Pfft." I snorted before while taking a bite of my apple. "Was he hurt?"

"Nah, he's fine," Dia replied as she took a bite into her celery stick filled with peanut butter and raisins. "Then the other colts tried to jump into the sand too, thinking it was some kind of new game."

I chuckled at that before shifting my view to the school's sandpit. Seems that a bunch of colts is now trying to see how far they can jump into the sandpit from the outer edges of it. Naturally, the ones with wings managed to get further across, flapping their wings to lengthen their jumps. "Man, I sometimes wonder what it's like to have wings."

"Eh, wings seem like they take too much work to take care of. Plus don't they take dust baths? Mom would probably pass out if she saw me doing that." Dia joked before smiling innocently. "Also, what's a man?"

I choked on my apple slice before swallowing. "W-What?"

"You said, 'Man'. Is that another, uh expression? Or is it another one of your made-up words?" She teased.

"It's not-", I then stopped myself from taking her bait, "is 'man' not a word here?"

Diamond Tiara only shrugged in response. "Dunno. First time I've heard anypony say it. But you also like using a lot of new words I don't know."

Shit. "Uh, how often have I been doing that?" I asked while cringing to myself.

"Only sometimes, but learning new words is fun!" The pink filly chirped. "So what does 'man' mean?"

"Uh." I averted my eyes, trying to think of a way to explain this. "Yeah, it's an expression. Like, you say that when you're frustrated or disappointed at something."

"Oh. Neat." Dia said before taking another bite into her snack.

I hummed back in agreement before taking another slice of apple into my mouth. My eyes drifted outside the school grounds. I could see the neighboring buildings and cobblestone roads that lead in between them. It was pretty clear weather today and I could see small colored dots in the sky. Pegasi, moving and kicking clouds and managing today's weather. I chewed my apple slowly. Man, it's almost a shame that I was born a dirt horse. Almost.

"So. You know about Earth Pony magic?" I asked my friend.

"Earth Pony magic? Isn't that like, ponies being gardeners and moving around heavy stuff?" Diamond Tiara asked all too innocently.

I laughed before explaining. "Almost. I did some reading on it some time ago. Apparently Earth Pony magic is one of the less understood magic in Equestria. Yeah, it pretty much comes with being able to garden well and super strength, but apparently, it's a lot more nuanced than that."

Dia raised another eyebrow.

I sighed. "Nuanced means something having a special meaning."

My friend simply nodded in understanding. "So like, there's more to it then?" She asked.

"Yeah. Earth Ponies have something similar to a magic surge. You know how Unicorns need to have a magic surge before being able to use magic?"

Dia nodded. "Yeah. I've heard about them. They can be random and dangerous. Daddy warned me about it."

I nodded in turn. "Yeah. So, earth ponies have something similar to it. Except there's no like, explosion of magic or something. We just, suddenly have a bunch of extra strength or have a knack for plants."

"A knack?" Dia asked again for clarification.

"A special talent basically," I explained.

"So... like a cutie mark?"

"Ehhh," I waved my hoof side to side, "more like you suddenly become aware of plants and how they feel. You can feel the earth and tell if the dirt is a good place for plants to grow. Sometimes you can feel rocks too. You can figure out which part of a rock is weak or strong, or how sturdy a cave is so you can tell if it's dangerous or not. Some Earth Ponies can do that with wood too, although they're not as common. My father however is one of the very few Earth Ponies in Equestria that can feel metal. He can work with it better than any other pony out there. It's why he's super successful overseeing the metal industry."

"Ah, I see." Diamond Tiara nodded. From her expression, I could see clearly that she didn't know the meaning of a couple of words I had used, but showed understanding of the general gist of it. "So basically we just start feeling plants and dirt and stuff." She simplified.

I pursed my lip. "Yeah, I guess you can say that."

"That's cool, I guess." She chomped on another celery stick.

I snorted. "Not as cool as actual magic right?"

She laughed. "Maybe. But Sweets said that she needs to take magic lessons soon, and that sounds boooorrring."

I tilted my head. "Sweets?"

"Oh! It's Sweetie Belle's new nickname. I told her about it and she said it was a great name." The pink filly beamed.

"Not a fan of our other nicknames?" I mused.

Dia shrugged. "She said she liked Sweets more. Anyways she wanted me to ask you if you wanted to go look for pets with us."

I shifted my face into befuddlement. "Pet shopping?"

"Yeah! You said that Rarity gets a cat right? Sweets wants to go and find the one you're talking about. She's super curious how her sister will get one." Dia said excitedly.

I narrowed my eyes in disapproval. "I don't think that's a good idea... she will get one eventually. Getting a cat early, I don't even know how Rarity got one. All I know is that she gets one at some point."

"Oh come on, it's not like we're buying one. We're just looking. It'll be fun!" The pink filly beamed.

I pondered for a moment. "Well, if it's just looking..."

"Great! We can hang out together on the weekend then. I heard that there's an animal caretaker on the outside of Ponyville." Dia informed me.

"Oh," I said, my mind instantly raced to who I thought she was talking about. "Is by any chance the pony's name Fluttershy?" I asked almost hesitantly.

Dia's eyes widened slightly, before taking a hoof to her chin to ponder about it. "Hmm, yeah. I think so. So you already know about her?" She asked.

I responded by tapping a hoof on my temple. "I know about her, but she doesn't know me. I know that she's super shy. Even when it comes to other fillies." I explained. "But as long as we keep the topic on animals, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to talk to us."

"Oh, well that's good!" Dia seemed to get more excited about the prospect. "So, what else do you know in that little noggin of yours?" She leaned towards me from her seat playfully.

I exhaled shortly in amusement. "I know enough. Not going to start spilling out other ponies secret's anytime soon."

"Aww! But there's gotta be something interesting in there!" Dia complained. "Come on, can't you tell me at least something?" She looked me in the eyes hopefully, widening her eyes in an adorable fashion.

"W-wha?" I stared at her, confused.

"Pleeeaase?" She continued, forcing her expression to widen even further.

"S-Stop that." I stuttered weakly, unable to look away.

"Pleeaaaaaaaaseee!" She quivered her lips in a fashion that would make even the most stubborn pony consider her words.

"Stop that." My eyes narrowed, but I find myself unable to outright disapprove of her antics. Her gaze bore into me, weakening my will to resist her request. Eventually, my wavering won over. "Urgh, fine. What do you want to know."

As if her face was a light switch, she instantly dropped her expression into one of pure glee. However, then she paused to actually think about the question she would ask. "Uhh... I dunno. Never thought I'd get this far."

I stared at Dia incredulously. "You haven't thought about it?"

"Hey, it's not every day your friend offers a question about the future. Just let me think." The pink filly then started to drink her apple carton intensely and in deep concentration.

I pursed my lip in amusement before my attention was shifted to a small group of fillies and colts folding paper near the school entrance. They were folding paper just like how I'd taught them, but some of them started experimenting with different kinds of shapes. One of their papers even started to resemble something like an animal. "Hmm, looks like my origami lesson really kicked off."

"Hmm?" Dia was interrupted from her pondering, only to look at the same group of children I was. "Oh yeah, they're all folding stuff. Some of them are folding wrong though."

I snorted. "No Dia, some of them are trying to fold paper into other things."

Dia turned to face me in surprise. "Wait you can fold things other than stars?"

I looked back at her incredulously. "Of course! I know plenty of other things I can make."

"Like what?" Dia's eyes sparkled in anticipation.

I pursed my lip in thought. "Well, I can make kunai knives. Ninja knives basically. I can also make some paper claws. Wait would that even work?" I furrowed my brows in contemplation. Origami paper claws were elongated pointed digits with holes at the base. The holes were meant for human fingers to fit in, allowing for a full series of claws to fit on one's hand.

I looked at my hoof. I had no fingers. There was only a 'U' shaped toe and a soft pad at the center. I flexed my pad as if it was the palm of my hand and it did. I can grip objects with this hoof just fine, but by all means of logic, I shouldn't be able to use paper claws due to a lack of fingers. However, my mind raced back to the time I crafted those UNO cards with a pair of scissors. Those scissors were also meant for human fingers, yet Dia showed me that I could use them regardless of the logic at play.

Could it work?

"Hold on, let me test something," I said to Dia, before retrieving my saddlebag and pulling a sheet of blank paper out. Then I started folding. After a series of steps and a very curious Diamond Tiara watching my every move, I ended up with a paper claw.

"Ooh! That's so cool! Can I wear it?" The pink filly asked before swiping my claw without permission.

"What? Hey!" I tried to object. Yet what I saw next caused my eyes to practically bulge out.

Dia was wearing one of the claws on the edge of her hoof as if it didn't break the laws of physics. There in her hoof, she flexed the claw back and forth. "That's so cool! I can move it around and stuff. Can you make more?"

"I-I," I started to stutter, "that shouldn't be possible!"

Of course, Dia only gave me a confused look before saying "What is? Oh, sorry." She took the claw off of her hoof before sliding it back to me on the table. "What were you trying to test?"

My mouth opened, but I was too shocked to say anything. I gazed back at the claw on the table, before hesitantly grabbing it and trying to do the same. I placed the claw on the edge of my hoof while trying to imagine if a finger was there. However, when I let go the paper claw fell onto the table. My eye twitched in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Dia said all too innocently for my own sanity. However, she did also look genuinely worried.

"That shouldn't be possible. There's nothing to put the claw on!" I tried to protest, but the evidence that Diamond Tiara revealed absolutely stunted my previous series of logic.

"What do you mean? Just put it on your hoof, like this." My friend then grabbed the claw and placed it on the edge of my hoof. This time it stayed there. My eyes stared daggers at the bizarre defiance of logic that was on my hoof. Hesitantly, I flexed it and it moved much like a finger normally would. It was a startling and familiar sensation. I tried to look at the claw itself and how it moved without fingers to guide it, but the moment I started thinking about the mechanics the claw fell off my hoof and onto the table again.

"You just had it," Dia chided, "just hold it like how you did your scissors."

I glanced at my friend for a second before looking back at the claw. Right. Just like those scissors. Just don't think about it.

I shut my brain off and simply put it on. This time the claw was placed just as before. Desperately I repeated a mantra in my head. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Just like before I flexed it easily and I continued to stare at the violation of physics at the very edge of my hoof. "Yeah that's-" I placed my claw-hoof down on the table and my other hoof to my temple before sighing. "I'm just gonna chalk that up to magic and that it just works somehow."

"Magic?" Dia tilted her head, not really understanding what I was getting at.

"Just ignore me. Let's see if I can get a full set of these for us." I said before pulling a small bundle of paper sheets out of my saddlebag.

"Okay!" Dia chirped.

A couple of moments of crafting later, we now both had a set of paper claws for our hooves. Dia was too busy being fascinated by playing with them, flexing and waving them around on both of her fore-hooves. I tested a full set on my own hoof, flexing five individual paper digits that worked as a hand would. It was a very weird experience. I've been without fingers for so long, only to get them back in the most unexpected way possible. Well, they were still technically claws, but that's beside the point.

I didn't stop experimenting there, however. I also decided to place them on my rear-hoof. It flexed as well, although the feeling was not quite like having toes. Instead, it was like having another set of hands on my rear legs as they were able to flex much as my fore-hoof did. My muzzle scrunched as I pondered the possibilities. With an idea in mind, I quickly got to work on another set of claws.

Placing the next set of paper claws on my other rear-hoof, I decided to jump off of my seat. I stood on both of my rear-legs. Diamond Tiara's eyes widened in surprise as I slowly started to walk around in them. The paper claws weren't that strong, but my body was still that of a filly's. So the result ended up in me being able to walk on my rear-legs with my paper claws establishing some balance to where I leaned. Frankly, I looked absolutely ridiculous, but my innate knowledge of how to walk like a human allowed me to pull it off with little to no difficulty.

"Holy guacamole! How do you do that?!" Dia exclaimed. She jumped out of her seat to circle me with intense excitement. "How are you standing like that? And walking like that? I've never seen that before."

I just shrugged. "Ponies have stood up like this before. Cello and violin players do it all the time." I remarked, before walking around the table with complete control over my balance.

"But you make it look so easy! I've never seen a pony walk so naturally on their back legs like that!" Dia praised me while observing how I moved around.

Her declarations however got the attention of the other fillies and colts in the playground. I felt their stares boring into me as I looked around to see many eyes on me. Feeling a surge of anxiety, I quickly went back on all fours. "Ah, I was just messing around. It's nothing." I nervously downplayed the act.

My ears flickered in the other children's direction. I could hear gossip come up from around me as they chattered about how I could stand on two legs. Cringing in embarrassment, I shoved my paper claws back into my saddlebag. Luckily for me, Miss Cheerilee exited the school building while ringing a bell in her mouth.

"Lunch is over children! Time to go back to class." The magenta mare announced with a happy smile.

Sighing a breath of relief, I slung my saddlebag on my back before turning to leave. "Great, now the class will know how weird I looked."

"Well, I thought you looked cool." Diamond Tiara smiled encouragingly, taking the rest of her meal and shoving the contents into a nearby trash bin.

My anxiety about the situation lessened slightly. "Thanks." I turned my head to smile back. As I turned, I saw a glimpse of something in my peripheral vision. For a split second in the distance, I caught an aquamarine figure amongst some bushes before disappearing. My eyes lingered there for a time, but I saw nothing but foliage. I narrowed my eyes but kept my suspicions to myself.
> Mountains and Rivers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Soo... what do you want to do today?" Dia asked me with a delighted voice and a spring in her step. We finished class beforehand, which left us with the rest of the afternoon to hang out.

With that, I shrugged. "Dunno. Kinda wanted to hang at Rarity's place again, but Sweetie Belle had to go with Scootaloo to do... whatever it is that they do together." I said, my mind wandering towards other places to hang out. "Wanna hang out at the library? We can read that book- wait no, I forgot to bring it from home." I frowned, kicking the dirt with my forehoof. "Dang."

"You mean the" Dia leaned in to whisper in my ear, "secret book we found?"

I smiled at her before nodding and continuing our walk. "Yup. We'd have to go back to my place though."

"Cool!" Dia exclaimed bright-eyed, "Have you read it yet? What is it about? Does it have any cool stories?!" All gone were the pretenses of secrecy and now the pink filly was practically shouting questions in the air.

"Shhhh!" I silenced her with a hoof. Although I mentally noted how unsanitary that was and removed it just as quickly. Dia didn't seem to mind the action, however, but remained silent with obvious anticipation.

"It's... not really a storybook. More like an encyclopedia. Ahem, a book about a list of things. More specifically the book we found was a journal on all the monsters and artifacts in Equestria." I elaborated, specifying definitions before Dia had the chance to ask me.

"Ohhh... what's an artifact?" Dia asked anyways. I slumped. Maybe I should just read a dictionary to her or something. Before I opened my mouth to explain again, Dia just smiled. "I'm kidding! I know what an artifact is. You don't go two chapters into reading Curse of the Castle without knowing that."

I smirked at that. "Yeah okay, you got me. Well, it does have some interesting stories. Just not maybe as long as you're used to it. Probably only short ones, but each one of them is very real. It's not like the fantasy adventure books we read." I explained with a trot to my step.

As we reached the bridge towards Sugarcube Corner, my ears picked up a foreboding sound.

Spring! Spring! Spring!

My eyes furrowed and my ears strained as I tried to recall what that sound was. I glanced towards the square's water fountain to see a pink figure with a puffy pink mane bouncing across town towards us. My mind instantly went to a collective 'oh shit' moment as I panicked. "Quick! Dia hold my saddlebags for me." I told my friend before dropping the item next to her.

Diamond Tiara, slow on the pickup, gave me a startled and confused expression. "Huh?"

"It's Pinkie! I have to hide. I can't let her see me." I darted my eyes around for a place to hide. To my dismay, there are no bushes or tall grass near the creek. Shit shit shit! "Dia, you never saw me!" I said before jumping up on the edge of the bridge. Looking down, I see a thankfully shallow stream of water going through. I'm probably going to regret this, but I would regret confronting Pinkie even more. I jumped.

With a splash, I dove under the water with surprising ease. I floundered a bit, trying to remember my swimming lessons from my other life. It wasn't exactly helpful as I've come soon to realize. Ponies are flexible, extremely so, but no amount of flexibility can adapt to trying skills meant for a bipedal body. I struggled to swim momentarily before I remembers how dogs swam. Paddling my hooves in front of me in a forward motion while kicking my legs, I managed to get the hang of it quickly.

As soon as I could consistently have my nose above the water, I slowly waded under the bridge. I latched my hooves on the side where the bridge meets land. The bedrock reaches a level where I can stand on four legs and rise against the flow of the stream.

Spring! Spring! Spring!

Shit! I really hope she didn't see me. I closed my eyes and held my breath.

"Heya Diamond Tiara! I haven't seen you since back before summer." A cheerful voice said.

"Oh hey Pinkie! Yeah me and daddy went traveling together." Dia chirped.

"Oh, that's nice. Hey, you're carrying saddlebags now! Does that mean you're going to school?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah! We just started a couple of days ago." Dia answered.

"We? Is that why you're carrying two saddlebags?" Pinkie asked curiously.

Oh shit. Dia no!

"Uh. Y-Yeah I'm just carrying this for a friend." Dia said nervously.

Dia! You traitor!

"Ooh! Can I meet this friend of yours? I bet you're making a ton of friends by now!" Pinkie said happily.

"Oh yeah, I'm making a ton of friends. Let's see, I've made friends with Rumble, Tender Taps, Aquamarine, Boysenberry, First Base, Heidi Hay, Lemon Daze, and Peach Fuzz, and all of those were just from two days ago!" Dia recounted her past events with glee.

I calmed a slight bit after noting that she didn't include me in that list.

"Anyways, today I met with Lemon Daze's siblings during recess! Shady Daze and Sunny Daze were pretty fun to talk to. Shady seemed pretty shy though, but Sunny was super excited to meet me! She talked to me, but I was distracted by her mane. It was really pretty! Like it was glowing! I talked to her about how she got her mane like that, and she told me about the shampoo she used and-"

Oh wow, she's just talking. She's really talking.

"Apparently the shampoo she used was like, really expensive and her mom was really mad at her. But like, I told her it was so worth it! Lemon Daze agreed with me too-"

Okay how did I miss this during recess? Did this all happen while I was using the restroom or something? I felt the urge to try to peer next to the bridge to see Pinkie's reaction to Dia's word vomit but decided not to as it was too risky.

"But then, Shady Daze spoke up and also agreed! He didn't talk for the whole conversation so I was pretty surprised when he did. Sunny was obviously happy about it, but said that she couldn't use her mom's shampoo again. So I thought, 'what if I bought it for her as a gift?' Then I asked her what kind of shampoo it was-"

Oh god. She just keeps going.

"Of course, Sunny thought I was asking to buy it for myself. Which I am, don't get me wrong, but she doesn't know I'm also getting one for her. Her muzzle when I hoof a bottle of that stuff to her is gonna be so funny!" Dia giggled as she finished her story.

I held back from sighing in relief.

To her credit, Pinkie giggled as well. "Oh I bet! It's pretty generous of you to buy a bottle for her. I bet her mom's also gonna be pretty surprised when Sunny Daze shows up with one. Oh! Oh! Do you want to know what I did over the summer?"

Oh. Oh no.

"Oh, sure! I bet I missed a bunch of parties when I was away." Dia chirped happily.

Dia noooooooo!

"Oh don't worry about it. I was out traveling too! Right around the time when you left, I went on the train to my family's rock farm to meet my parents and sisters. Summer is the time when it gets too dangerous to mine due to airflow temperatures and the volcano being a little bit more active this time of year. So, the family all get together and decide to do something for the summer!"

Wait what? Volcano?

"Oh that's really cool! What did you all decide to do together?" Dia asked with glee.

"Oh, we all decided to go visit our two cousins on the very top of the Rocky Mountains. The Howling Winds are a lot calmer during the summer so it isn't as nearly cold up there for frostbite to settle in. We also haven't heard from them for a couple of months and my parents really wanted to check up on them." Pinkie continued with her explanation.

Frostbite?!

"Oh, were they okay?" Dia asked.

"Oh yeah, cousin Mince Meat Pie and Chicken Pot Pie were fine. They were just super busy trying to get the new steel rails in the mountain mines all set up while keeping their livestock kept safe from the mountain wolves."

Wait wait wait, Mince Meat Pie?! Chicken Pot Pie?! What the fuck? Mountain wolves? What kind of family lives up there?! And who names their kid Mince Meat of all things?!

"Oh, well that's good. That they're all fine. What are your cousins like? How did they manage to fight off the mountain wolves?" Dia questioned curiously.

"Oh, that's not a problem for them. Mince Meat is a real fighter. Nothing fazes her. I even saw her taking a bite out of a piece of iron once. Mountain wolves got nothing on her. She and my older sister get along pretty well. Chicken Pot is the actual leader of the duo. She manages the livestock pretty well and she knows an amazing pie recipe. Chicken Pot Pie puts these delicious white chunks in hers along with veggies and cream. It's sooo gooooood~ Oh I have to remember to bring you one next time. She still won't share the recipe with our family, but sooner or later I'll get her to spill the beans!" Pinkie chirped.

I'm sorry. What? What the hell? Pinkie's cousins sound goddamn terrifying. What the fuck? Did they eat meat? Did Chicken Pot feed her family chicken? Why do they have livestock?! No wait, Applejack owns a farm. Can ponies eat meat? Can I eat meat?

"Man, that sounds so good." I could imagine Dia drooling from the tone of her voice.

"Man? What's that?" Pinkie asked confused.

"Oh, it's an expression. My friend taught me that." Dia answered casually.

"Oh, okay! Funny expression. Man. Man man, man. Weird word. Anyways I gotta bring these cupcakes to Applejack's farm! Talk to you later~!" Pinkie Pie said cheerily.

Spring! Spring! Spring!

As I heard the sounds of her steps fading I released a breath I didn't know I had. "Urghhh." I tiredly growled before dragging myself to the side of the bank and pulling myself out of the water. As the wind blew against my wet fur coat I clenched my teeth and shivered.

"You okay?" Dia stood beside me with concern.

"I-I-I'm fine. Just c-c-chilly." I stuttered.

"Yeah, you should shake all that water off," Dia commented, before taking a couple of steps back.

"Shake?" Raised a brow.

"Yeah, just shake your body and get it all off." The pink filly confirmed.

I furrowed my brows but didn't decide to question it further. Standing, I instinctively shook my body by turning the barrel of my body left and right. The water on my coat soon sprayed off my body, leaving me feeling still somewhat moist. I craned my neck to glance at my coat, confirming that I'm significantly less soggy than before. I was still very cold, but I was no longer dripping at least. "That helped." I almost stuttered to mutter, feeling the breeze against me.

Diamond Tiara nodded before walking to stand next to me. "So, want to explain why you want to avoid Pinkie Pie?"

I groaned exasperatingly before answering with a hoof on the bridge of my temple. "It's not something I want to deal with." 

"Why not?" Dia tilted her head.

I contemplated my words. "My dad doesn't celebrate things that are... inevitable. Meaning things that will happen no matter what. Like birthdays..." I answered her, my voice trailing off at the end.

"Your dad doesn't celebrate birthdays?" Dia said with a remorseful expression. "But, my daddy celebrates everything. From when I first walked, when I first talked, when I read my first word..." Dia listed off before going quiet.

My eyes stared at the ground as my face turned into that of a grimace. "Yeah, well father doesn't think those things are accomplishments worthy enough of celebrating. He only makes parties when it has something to do with his work, like when a big project is done." I snarled with surprising vice. "Yeah like having a kid grow up and survive a year isn't an accomplishment enough, much less six," I said sarcastically before sitting down on my flank.

Dia stayed quiet throughout my explanation turned venting and remained that way; no doubt unable to say anything at that moment. As seconds passed my fury slowly abated and all that was left was a feeling of coldness and sorrow. I sighed. "If Pinkie ever found out I never had a birthday before, she'll try to make a giant party to make up for all the ones I didn't have. Father would be absolutely livid if that happened. And you already know what I'm like with other ponies. I can't- I don't want to deal with that." I bit back a breath.

Then I felt two warm legs wrap around my shoulders. My eyes widened as Diamond Tiara was pressed against me in a close hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." She whimpered in my ear. I felt warm droplets fall on my chest and my eyes shifted to see that they were tears.

"Dia," I said in concern, but I had no voice to continue on.

"It's not fair," Dia said frustratedly, "it's not fair to you. You deserve a birthday Silvy. You deserve a lot more birthdays than I ever had." She hugged tighter.

I couldn't help but release a strained chuckle. "Silvy?"

"Shaddup. We're having a moment here." Dia whined into my shoulder.

I just slowly nodded and we waited there for a while. At some point it started to lean back on her, embracing the warmth she was giving me. Again we waited, the coldness around me slowly fading as my fur coat dried in the sun and open air.

Diamond Tiara then released her hug, staring at me with stark determination in her eyes. "I'm going to tell my daddy to make you a party."

At that declaration, my eyes rose to look at her with bewilderment. "Dia did you not hear-"

Dia then shushed me by pressing her hoof on my lips. I immediately grimaced as the taste of water and grass stained where she pressed it. Satisfied that I wouldn't say anything further, she let go of my mouth; leaving me to wipe my lips across my foreleg. "I'll make it a private party. A small party. A party that your dad will never know about. We can make up your missing birthdays that way, so whenever you do meet Pinkie you can say that you did have a birthday party before."

I paused at that, before thinking. It wasn't a bad idea. "But-"

"And we can invite my friends! Or just us and Sweetie Belle if you want to. Whatever is comfortable for you." Dia elaborated.

"But your dad-" I tried to protest.

"My dad makes parties like these all the time," Dia waved nonchalantly, "I'm sure he won't mind throwing some for you. He already throws way too many parties for me anyways."

I pursed my lips, my eyes barely reaching to meet her gaze. "You'd really do that for me?"

Dia's eyes widened as if she was offended. "Of course, I would!" She smiled brightly before hugging me tightly again, chirping happily in my ear. "What are friends for?"

Dumbfounded, I just sat there. A smile slowly crept on my lips, and I hugged my friend back. "Thanks, Dia, you're the best."

"I know I am!" The pink filly loudly declared before leaving my shoulder.

I chuckled at that, causing her to burst into a fit of adorable laughter. Hearing that caused me to chuckle even harder. Soon, we both acted exactly like a pair of giggling schoolfillies.

"You're a mess," Dia said in between her fits of laughter.

"Yeah yeah, says the filly who's been crying all over my fur." I shot back between my own laughter.

"Hey, those tears were expensive! You'd better be grateful!" Dia giggled back.

I laughed again as we traded words, tears from both emotions and laughter collecting in my eyes. I wiped them away with my foreleg before we slowly calmed down.

"Hey, wanna hang out at my house then?" Dia asked.

"Hmm?" I tilted my head in question.

"You don't want to let your dad know you fell in the river right? You can take a bath at my place and I can tell my daddy to set those parties up for you." Dia explained further with excitement.

"Oh," I glanced at my disheveled fur, "yeah I guess that's alright. Sure." I accepted.

"Yay! Sleep-o-ver! Sleep-o-ver!" Dia chanted as she trotted towards her place.

I shook my head with a wry smile before following her.
> A Cost Too Great (April Fools Chapter!)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No please, don't mindreave me!" I cowered in the corner as the towering ruler of Equestria loomed over me. Her magic was encompassing me completely as I struggled and tried to flail every part of my body.

"Please stop struggling, this spell won't hurt a bit!" Celestia seethed in frustration, her horn concentrating magic as her levitation spell secured my movements.

"No, you don't understand. This knowledge is something you can't handle. You can't!" I wailed.

"I've handled and experienced thousands across thousands of timelines. I can handle a few more. This is for the good of Equestria." The Alicorn said coldly before performing her mind-reading magic.

"No wait," I pleaded in vain, "you don't know what you do-" 

"AHHHHHHHH!" Celestia yelled to the high heavens, glass shattering across the castle grounds as an ungodly amount of porn flashes across her mind. "WHY SO MUCH PRINCEST?!" Her pain resounded in comprehendible form.

"I'M SORRY!" I wailed in utter shame, my hooves pressing against my face as I sobbed in horror.