"Oh please," Silver Spoon asked, "can't I go with them?"
"Spoon, hush. I won't have you begging." Silver Bells turned away from her daughter and back to her husband. "Two weeks, though. It's such a long time, Chased."
Chased Silver nodded. "I agree. Rich, it's very generous to offer to take our daughter along on your family vacation, but it does seem an awfully long time for you and Mrs. Rich to be watching over her. She obviously can be more than a hooffull at times."
Silver Spoon flushed. It was humiliating being talked about without being able to respond. Next to her, Diamond Tiara snickered sympathetically.
Filthy Rich waved the objection away. "Nonsense. My wife and I absolutely adore Spoon. We love having her around. She's a perfect young mare. Our little Diamond is easier to manage when her best friend is around."
"Daaaaaaad." Now it was time for Diamond Tiara to blush in embarrassment, not that this spared Silver Spoon any further discomfiture.
"And honestly, Silver, you'd be doing a great favor by letting your daughter travel with us."
"Oh? How's that, Rich?"
"For Diamond's sake. Well, you know how it goes--no matter where you're on vacation, little fillies get bored and grumpy. Not that I'm telling you anything you don't already know. You do have two daughters, after all."
Silver Bells smiled. "That's certainly true. And when they're both bored, Luna help us all!"
"Diamond would have a much more enjoyable time if she is with her best friend on the cruise to the Hayzores. I think Spoon would have an enjoyable time as well."
Silver Bells shook her head. "I still just don't know... if she does go with you, she'll miss our family reunion."
Chased nudged his wife. "I'm starting to thinking Rich might have the right idea. Do you remember how many cousins Spoon's age there were at the last reunion?"
"Oh, that's right. There were a couple of babies and two or three Filigree's age, but Spoon was all by herself."
Silver Spoon forgot her earlier embarrassment. Were they actually going to let her go?
"Still, Chased, I'll feel bad for your parents--going a whole year without seeing Spoon?"
"Maybe it will get them off their behinds and motivate them to come visit us for once." Silver Spoon's father turned to his friend. "Rich, I think we'll take you up on your kind offer."
The two fillies squealed in joy and hugged. "This is the best news ever! We'll have so much fun, you won't be able to believe it!"
Silver Spoon's eyes sparkled. "I can't believe it! I don't..."
She stopped herself before she said too much. "Mom? Dad? Is it okay if Diamond Tiara and I go up to my room?"
"Just for a few minutes, little one. It is late, and tomorrow is a school day, after all. We'll call you down when..." The rest of what Silver Bells had to say was lost in the clatter of two fillies racing upstairs.
"You've never been to the Hayzores, have you? They are sooooo cool. They've got beaches with white sand, and really great shopping, and fancy restaurants..."
"I've heard the caves are pretty awesome."
"Yeah, I guess they don't suck completely. But, come on, boutiques as far as the eye can see!"
Silver Spoon's bedroom door suddenly opened. "Can you keep it down, Spork? I'm trying to study."
Diamond Tiara looked up with a sheepish expression on her face. "I'm sorry, were we that noisy? I apologize for disturbing you, Silver Filigree."
"Oh, it's you again. 'Costume Jewelry', right?"
"No, my name is..."
"Don't know, don't care. Just stay quiet, or preferably, leave." Filigree slammed the door closed.
Silver Spoon sighed. "Sorry that my sister's such a j..."
"She is SO COOL."
"Oh for... why do you always think that? She said your name wrong, and I know for a fact that she did it on purpose."
"She doesn't care what anypony else thinks. She lives by her own rules."
"She's just plain mean, DT! And why is she the only pony I've ever seen you be polite to?"
Diamond Tiara smiled smugly. "You're just not cool enough to appreciate her awesomeness. But don't worry. You're not so completely lame that I'll stop being your best friend. But we both know that I'm the cool one, right?"
"Whatever, Diamond."
"And you're mad at Filigree because you're jealous of her."
"Can we talk about something else, already?" Because the worst of it, Silver Spoon thought, was that Diamond was not wrong.
Filthy Rich and the Silvers had finished their conversation and Rich was taking his daughter home. Silver Spoon waved goodbye from the top of the stairs.
"So, the Rhinestone Cowgirl has already left? Aww, Silver Ladle might cry."
"You should be happy."
"Huh? Why?"
"I'm not going on the family vacation this summer."
"Ugh. How did you get out of it? I should be the one to get out of it."
Silver Spoon shrugged. "But have you thought about what it means that I won't be there?"
"No. Why should I care?"
"Because if I'm not there, we won't have to share a room in the hotel."
Silver Spoon relished the look of dawning realization on Filigree's face. It was satisfying knowing that she had figured out the implications before her older sister did.
"But that means... We won't have to stay at that stupid 'Red Hoof Inn.' Dad can book a suite at the Mareiot!"
"Yeah, whatever. Do what you want."
"I usually do. But this is going to be awesome! This will be the best vacation ever, and all it took is getting rid of you. No offense."
Silver Spoon just ignored her. Because she was going to get to go to the Hayzores.
The day of departure, once impossibly far off, grew inexorably closer. Silver Spoon would have liked to have said she had a lot to plan and prepare for, but when she was honest about it, there wasn't that much to do, really. She did get a new beach towel, a sun dress, and a pair of prescription sunglasses. But with the Riches taking care of virtually everything, there wasn't enough to fill Spoon's days. Except school.
But still, the expectations of going on the cruise sustained her through all of the days of boredom. Through all the times that Silver Filigree bragged about getting to stay at the Mareiot and all of the good times she was going to have. And how she couldn't wait to spend two weeks away from Silver Spoon.
Silver Filigree was always careful not to make those comments in front of their parents.
Whenever her sister was being particularly unbearable, Silver Spoon found that the best pick-me-up was to talk to her friend. "Can you believe it's only a week until we go? I'm so excited!"
"Oh, totally. But I forgot to tell you, it's actually a week from tomorrow."
"What? But I thought we were taking the overnight train to Port Maresby next Friday?"
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "Oh, daddy had to reschedule. Some stupid meeting that evening he has to go to. We'll take the express train the next morning."
"Oh. Okay. That will get us to the cruise ship on time, right?"
"Yeah, the ship won't sail until we're there. We're Very Important Ponies, right?"
Silver Spoon tried to smile, but she couldn't help the feelings of forboding.
"I can't apologize enough, Silver. If I had had any idea that this was going to happen..."
"Don't worry a bit, Rich. Business is business."
"Normally I would leave my assistants to manage everything while I'm gone, but something this big? A chance for a partnership with Donkea? That's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of chance."
"Say no more. As one of your stockholders, I can certainly appreciate..."
The talk continued on for some time, but for Silver Spoon, it was all just meaningless noise.
She had stopped listening as soon as the horrible truth had become clear: She wouldn't get to go. The trip had been cancelled.
No cruise. No Hayzores. No Diamond Tiara.
"...just can't help feeling terrible about this. My little Diamond was inconsolable until I promised to take her to Disneigh World for her birthday. Of course, that's after school starts..."
If only I had not gotten my hopes up. If I had never actually believed that I would get to go.
"Well, honestly, Rich, even though it's a disappointment for the girls, I'm glad we'll be able to spend our vacation with Spoon after all. As a family."
"Yes, dear, I suppose every cloud has a silver lining."
"Oh, that reminds me, Bells, will Silver Lining be coming to the reunion?"
I don't want to cry. Not in front of Mr. Rich. Not in front of everyone. I have to be grown up. They all have to know I don't care about the disappointment.
She squeezed her eyes closed to stop the tears from coming.
The moment Silver Spoon was truly dreading didn't happen until she was getting ready for bed.
"Hi Mom, sorry I'm late."
"Filigree, there's something I need to talk to you about."
The voices were then too low for Spoon to overhear. Until the shriek. "WHAT?"
Silver Spoon walked to the top of the stairs and saw her mother and sister below.
"...of course we have to cancel the reservation, Filigree, be reasonable."
"But that's not fair! We were going to stay at the Mareiot!"
"And your sister can't stay there, so we're staying at the Red Hoof Inn instead."
Filigree flexed her wings out in agitation. "So, that's it? Because Spoon is there, we can't go to Cloudsdale?"
"You're being hysterical, Filigree. How is Spoon supposed to go to Cloudsdale?"
"So just because she can't go, none of us can go?"
"I'm sure that there will be some free time when you can fly up with your cousins."
Filigree looked over and saw her little sister watching at the top of the stairs. "I'm sure you're just enjoying this, aren't you?" Filigree flew up and looked Spoon in the eyes. "You just live to destroy my life, don't you, you stupid clodhopper."
With a furious beating of her wings, Silver Bells flew up to her daughters. "How dare you use language like that, Silver Filigree!" She landed beside Spoon and held her closely with her wing. "That word is never acceptable in this house. Especially about your own little sister. Apologize! Apologize right now!"
Silver Filigree flew defiantly past both of them and into her room, slamming the door behind her.
"Filigree! FILIGREE! YOU COME BACK HERE! Oh, teenagers." Silver Bells looked down at her youngest daughter. "Oh sweetheart, don't cry. She didn't really mean what she said. She's upset and she says stupid things when she's upset. We're your family, and we love you. We never think of you like that. You know that, don't you?"
Silver Spoon quietly sobbed into her mother's side.
"Pegasi and Earth Ponies aren't any better or any worse than any other kind of ponies. You know, that, right?"
Silver Bells could feel her daughter nodding.
"We love you just the way you are, okay? Never forget that, my little Teaspoon."
Silver Spoon nodded again.
Because she knew that her mother would be disappointed if she didn't.
Her mother had to believe that Silver Spoon thought she was just as good as any of her pegasi relatives.
But when the family reunion happened--one that was completely ground-based because of her...
When she would overhear relatives joking that there must be a grey-coated Earth pony mailstallion in Ponyville...
When all her cousins were talking about flight camp and weather licenses and Cloudsdale...
She just knew that as much as her mother wanted her to believe she was just as good as any pegasus--she knew she never would be able to.
Author's Note
I tried not to recycle any names for Silver family members, but there are only so many Silver names.
