Gone Too Farby rainwater12ChaptersConfessionsFace-OffFreedomConfessionsI do not own MLP:FIM all is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust Thursday 3:45 PM Octavia was standing by her door, waiting for her friend Vinyl. A cello case lay by her side as she anticipated her friends arrival. Suddenly, the sound of ringing filled the room. The Cellist pulled a phone from her coat pocket and held it to her ear. "Hello?" "Octavia, where are you?" The strict voice of her manager sounded in her ear, "You have a audition in less than twenty minutes. You'll be disqualified if you're late." "I'll be there in a bit Mr. Overseer, I'll meet you there in ten minutes." "You better be." The man hung up and Octavia returned the phone to her pocket. She sighed, it seems like she would have to leave before she could say goodbye to Spoony. Turning around she opened the door. She was in her car and about to leave the driveway, when she saw Vinyl's electric-blue Camaro pull around the curb. Octavia watched as her blue haired friend pulled to the curb. She exited the car and walked up as Vinyl opened the back door for the backseat's passenger. Silver Spoon hopped out of the cars backseat, backpack in hand. The two people walked up the driveway and stopped at Octavia's car. Vinyl knocked her hand on the window, "Tavi, Spoony and I need to talk to you." her voice was serious and grim, very different from her usual upbeat tone. The dark-haired woman looked at her daughter, only just noticing that her tan face was wet with tears. Octavia opened her door and stepped out of the car, "What happened?" She knelt down and put her hands on Silver Spoon's shoulders, "Are you hurt?" She questioned, the child wouldn't look her mother in the eye. Octavia looked at Vinyl and nodded, "Let's go inside, both of you can tell me what happened." The three young women had just stepped inside when the sound of ringing made them jump, Octavia looked at the screen of her phone, "it's my manager, Mr. Overseer." Vinyl put her hand on her friend's shoulder, "Com'on Tavi, I know you're busy and that you've got an audition soon. But please, don't go now, just cancel this one time. Silver Spoon needs her Mom right now." Ocatvia looked the pale woman the eye. She pressed the green button and held the phone to her ear, "Hello?" "OCTAVIA! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU! YOU'RE AUDITION IS IN FIVE MINUTES AND YOU'RE NOT EVEN HERE! WHERE ARE YOU!" Octavia almost jumped back at her managers angry voice. She took a deep breath, "Mr. Overseer, I won't be able to make it to the audition today." "What did you say?" "I'm canceling, something more important has come up that I need to handle right now." You can't cancel! Octavia you better have your sorry flank here in three minutes or I'm gonna-" Octavia had hung up before he could finish the sentence. She put the phone in her pocket and looked at Silver Spoon. The small girl was standing with her hands behind he back, she still hadn't looked up from her feet. The small family sat down in the kitchen, Octavia and Vinyl sat side by side on one end of the table, Silver Spoon sat at the other end. "Okay, now would anyone like to explain to me what happened?" Vinyl sighed and put two fingers against her temple, "When I came to pick Spoony up from school, and I was called into Cheerily's office to talk about some issues about her bad behavior." Silver Spoon shrank back in her chair as her godmother continued, "Miss Cheerily told me that, she and Diamond Tiara were verbally abusing Berry Pinch and Dinky during recess today. Once they had the poor kids in tears, they called over some boys and had them..." Vinyl ran her hands through her hair, she looked at the small girl on the other end of the table, "They had them beat the poor girls bruised." Octavia gasped and looked at Silver Spoon in horror, "Silver Spoon! I thought we had taken care of the bullying. How could you do this? What if it was you being hit and teased?" Suddenly, Silver Spoon fell into a fit of uncontrollable tears. Her breath was ragged and her voice sounded terrified, "I'm s-sorry, I-I'm so sorry." She put her head in her hands and continued, "I-I didn't have a choice," "What do you mean? Everyone has a choice on what path they choose." Octavia looked quizzically at her daughter, she was hoping that this wasn't another desperate attempt to get out of trouble. Silver Spoon lied her head on the table and gripped her hair in her hands, undoing the french braid that her mother had styled for her earlier that morning.. "No, I don't have a choice. She won't let me stop, she said that she'd tell everyone if I didn't help her-" Silver Spoon paused to make several, tearful gasps. This allowed Vinyl to intervene in the conversation, "Wait a second, you didn't mention any of this in Cheerily's office. Who's she?" Silver Spoon mumbled, "I can't tell you. She made me promise not to because we're friends, she said you can't betray your friends." Octavia leaned forward and grabbed Silver Spoon's hand, "Spoony, if this girl was really your friend, would she blackmail you with a secret?" the small girl took off her glasses and wiped her wet eyes, "Okay," she whispered quietly. For the first time that evening, Silver Spoon looked into her mother's and godmother's eyes, "It's Diamond Tiara, she says that if I don't back her up and take some blame when she's mean to people so she doesn't get in a lot of trouble... she threatened to tell everyone in our class that I have Dyslexia." Vinyl gasped and Octavia put her hand to her mouth in shock. "Oh, Silver Spoon, how long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell us?" Octavia was horrified; how long had her daughter been keeping this secret? Vinyl looked at her goddaughter in confusion, "How does Diamond know about your Dyslexia?" Silver Spoon took in a deep breath and composed herself, she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "At the beginning of the school year, I was late on a reading assignment and I couldn't keep up with the book that I had to read about. Diamond found out that I was having a problem with my homework and asked if she could help. This was before we started messing with other students, so I told her everything and we became study buddies at study hall. When she started being mean to other kids, I tried to stay away from her. It didn't work out and she told me that if I didn't help get her out of trouble, she said that she'd stop helping me study and tell everyone about my Dyslexia. So I had to make fun of other students with her, so she wouldn't tell the other kids about what was wrong with me." "Oh Spoony, there's nothing wrong with you. You're perfect just the way you are." Octavia put her hand on Silver Spoons cheek and lifted the child's downcast eyes to look into her own, "Silver Spoon, I want you to listen to me, and I want you to understand this. Diamond Tiara does NOT own you, she never has and she never will. You don't have to be around her if you don't want to. And if she is threatening you, I want you to immediately tell Ms. Cherrily, Vinyl, and me. Okay?" "I-I don't want to be around her anymore. Sh-she scares m-me." Silver Spoon whimpered, her tears had left red lines along her cheeks and neck. Vinyl and Octavia stood up and crossed to the other side of the table, they both kneeled down and wrapped the girl in a hug. Silver Spoon gripped both of their arms in return and she fell into a fit of sobs once again. "I'm s-sorry. I-I'm so sorry." Vinyl rubbed her hand against her goddaughter's unraveled hair, tucking the loose strands that had fallen across her face behind her ear. "You have nothing to be sorry about Spoony, you didn't do anything wrong. You were just scared, being scared into doing something bad doesn't make you a bad person." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thursday 9:25 PM Vinyl walked down the short staircase into the living room as Octavia closed her laptop, she sat down on the couch beside her and asked, " Spoony's asleep. Did you get this thing cleared up with Cheerily and Diamond's parents?" Octavia sighed and leaned her head against the back of the couch, "Not quite, e-mailed Ms. Cheerily and told her that there has been a problem with the bullying that Spoony's been going through and that we need to speak with her and Diamond Tiara's parents personally. I have a meeting set up at three O-clock tomorrow for when we go to pick Silver Spoon up from school. I've cleared out my meetings for tomorrow so we can take Spoony out for a restaurant dinner and ice- cream later tomorrow evening. Considering all that she's been through, she deserves a treat." Vinyl stood up and headed for the door, "Whelp, I'd better get going. My place is on the other side of town and its a long drive from here to there." "Remember, you have to be by the school house by three O-clock." "Hey, I'm the one who picks Spoony up from school everyday," Octavia chuckled at her friend's statement as she closed the door behind her. She turned around and opened the window behind the couch, she waved as Vinyl's car left the curb and left the neighborhood. She then lifted herself from the couch and quietly made her way upstairs. Octavia silently opened the door to Silver Spoon's bedroom. The small girl lay on her bed, her small body covered in a plush, blue comforter. A large, stuffed gray pony doll was hugged up against her chest. Octavia walked over to her daughter's bedside. Bending down, she kissed her small forehead. She then looked around the room, drawings and photos lined the light-blueish gray walls. Octavia ran her fingers through her hair. How could her little Spoony have been forced into doing such awful things? And by her best friend? Who would want to take advantage of and betray and blackmail her little girl? The dark haired woman walked out of the room, across the short hallway, and into her own bedroom. She undressed and lied down on her bed. Staring at the ceiling, she slowly drifted off into sleep. Face-OffFriday 8:35 AM Silver Spoon stared out the window of Vinyl Scratch's car. She was dreading, yet nervously excited about going to school. Today was the day that she'd finally be free. For nearly the entire school year, she had been Diamond Tiara's minion, her slave. She was forced to be cruel to other kids, to bully them till they were in tears. The small girl shuddered at the thought of yesterday afternoon, she knew that Diamond would tease her victims until they'd cry, but she never expected her to make those boys beat them up. It had scared her, and she hated how powerless she was to stop it. As these though's flew across her mind, she watched the landscape of buildings, shops, and houses pass by. In a few minutes, she saw the schoolhouse come into view. About twenty children, boys and girls, were running around the small playground set beside the small building. She saw Diamond Tiara sitting by the picnic table that they met by every morning. Silver Spoon quickly diverted her eyes from the controversial girl and set her sight on something else. Her eyes searched through the playground until they rested on Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo. The three girls were playing on the small, two person swing-set. They took turns pushing each other as they sat on the seats, Scootaloo seemed to insist on doing it herself, kicking her legs back and forth until she was nearly going over the top bar. when she deemed herself high enough, she would suddenly fling herself from the swing and landed in the sandbox nearby. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle applauded and cheered every time she did this and Scootaloo bowed as if she had just given an outstanding performance. "Vinyl?" "Yeah Spoony, what is it?" Vinyl looked at her goddaughter through review mirror, "Are you okay?" "Yeah I just had a question. When we finally get Diamond Tiara away from me, will anyone else trust me enough to be my friend?" Vinyl sighed as she pulled up to the school's drop off point, they had been the last to arrive. She unbuckled her seat belt and turned around in her seat to look at Silver Spoon in the eyes. "If this new person is a true friend, she'd trust you enough to give you a second chance. It won't be easy, you'll have to prove to everyone that you're a good person, that you can change. Just because you've hurt someone, it doesn't mean that they can't heal and learn to truly know you as a friend. Got it Spoony?" Silver Spoon Smiled and nodded. Vinyl was right, to have people trust her, she'd have to prove that she could be a good friend. Vinyl opened her car door, she hopped out of the seat and opened the back door for Silver Spoon. The grey-haired girl took her godmother's hand and hopped out of the car. "Can you watch, please? I want to make sure nothing goes wrong." Vinyl smiled at the child's question, "No problem Spoons, I'll be watching from the car." Silver Spoon smiled and made her way to the picnic table. Diamond Tiara instantly took notice of her, she stood up and waved vigorously, "Silver! I've been waiting for you forever!" Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself for what was about to happen. Today was the day. Today is the day. Silver Spoon waved back slightly and walked over to the picnic table. "Diamond, I need to ta-" "Thank Celestia your here!" Diamond Tiara threw her hands up in the air dramatically, "I've been stuck here on this playground full of babies with no one to talk to. I'm so glad your here so I don't have to be around all the dirty poor people alone." A few children flashed the two girls glares as they walked by. Silver Spoon felt guilty under there hateful eyes, "Diamond I really need to talk to you-" she was cut off as the spoiled girl leaned forwards and once again started to speak, "Thanks for taking some of the blame on that small incident the other day." She smiled menacingly, "I had no idea that those boys were that strong, got a teensy bit out of hand. If you hadn't been there to back me up, I'd have been suspended. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about tha-" "Oh my gosh, look over there." Diamond pointed to the other end of the playground. Silver Spoon's breath caught at what she saw. Sitting there, was Dinky and Berry Pinch. Berry Pinch's left arm and knee were covered in band-aids from when she was pushed down against the gravel, Dinky had a black eye and a small bandage pulled across her nose. The spring air was hot, but Dinky wore a wool sweater and sweat pants to hide the several bruises across her arms and legs. Silver Spoon had no idea that they were hurt that badly, she felt herself fighting off tears. As her false friend grabbed her by the wrist, she looked over at Vinyl and her car in despair. The DJ was leaning against the hood of her car. Even from this distance, she could still look into her eyes. Vinyl nodded, that was all Silver needed to gain the determination and a plan on what to do. As Diamond dragged her across the playground, the other children watched, anticipating what was about to happen. Applebloom and her friends followed the two with a resentful gaze, their eyes narrowed. The two girls stopped in front of Berry and Dinky, both were sitting on the ground, playing with barbies. They looked the tyrants with a start, dropping their dolls in the gravelly dirt. Fear filled their eyes and the color drained from their faces. "Well well well, what do we have here? Two babies playing with their baby toy dolls?" Diamond taunted the two terrified girls and kicked the barbies into the dirt. Dinky gasped and tried to crawl for her doll when the bully stepped in the way of her path. Silver Spoon stumbled, still held in the brat's iron grip. "P-please, give i-it back." The bruised girl pleaded, "My M-momma gave me that doll for my birthday. It's the best thing she's ever given m-me." "Aawwwwww, the wittle little baby want her wittle barbie doll?" Diamond lifted the dirty barbie from the dirt, it's blond hair now colored brown. "What do you think about these babies Silver?" The girl started to tear the clothes off of the barbie, tearing the beautiful blue dress to ribbons. "NO! Stop it! My Mom made that dress for her!" Dinky jumped up in attempt to grab the toy, but Diamond Tiara held it out of her reach and pushed the helpless girl into the dirt with her free hand. "You pathetic little waste of a person! You're as useless as that stupid derp you call your Mother! And with that black eye, you look like the ditz she is too!" Tears streamed from her face as Dinky curled herself into a ball, in attempt to shield herself from the cruel words. Berry Punch stood up and tried to defend her friend, "Stop it Tiara! You don't have the right to treat us this way! Were no lesser class people than you!" "Oh yeah? What about that drunk of a mom of yours? She's so worthless, she can't even walk straight half of the time." This comment left poor Berry Pinch speechless, her response was more instinctual than voluntary. "M-my mom is n-not a drunk. Just b-because she w-works at a bar, doesn't m-mean that she's a d-drunk hers-self..." "Oh so that's the excuse then!" Diamond Tiara pushed the stunned girl to the ground. Silver Spoon looked around in numb fear. A group of kids surrounded the skiff, no one intervened in fear of Diamond turning on them. Applebloom and her friends were trying to push their way to the front of the crowd to defend the victims. "Diamond! Stop this, you've gone t' far this time!" Applebloom shouted. "Yeah, leave poor Dinky and Pinch alone!" Scootaloo agreed, "They don't deserve this treatment!" "DIAMOND TIARA! SILVER SPOON!" The strict voice of Ms. Cheerily filled the air, she too was trying to make her way through the crowd of children. As soon as they realized who was trying to get past, the circle parted like a red sea. Vinyl was also making her way towards the schoolyard. Silver Spoon looked back at Dinky and Berry Pinch, both girls were huddled on the ground. Diamond Tiara's insult's continued to flow from her mouth. Silver felt a deep anger grow inside her, but it wasn't just anger; she felt responsibility. These kids were getting hurt, abused, bullied, and Diamond was only going to get the partial punishment she would deserve. She would take the rest of the blame, and Diamond Tiara wouldn't learn a thing. She'd continue to bully people and hurt them and it would never stop. "Come on Silver Spoon, help me out here." Diamond Tiara motioned her hand towards the two helpless girls. "Come on! If you don't pitch in, or will I have to keep going it alone?" Silver Spoon knew what the devilish girl truly meant. If she didn't pitch in, if she didn't take some of the blame, Diamond would tell everyone her secret. That she had problems learning things that were easy for other kids, that she was different from everyone else. Silver Spoon took her focus away from her thoughts and back to what Diamond Tiara was saying, only a few seconds had passed but she had already returned to insulting Dinky and Berry, kicking dirt in their faces. Cheerilee was rushing towards them as fast as she could while Vinyl stood at the edge of the crowd, her eyes were urging Silver Spoon to take control and stop the poor girls' suffering. "Stop! Please stop!" Berry Pinch was desperately rubbing her eyes in a failing attempt to get rid of the grit that covered her face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you weren't used to being beaten. I thought your mom hit so many times in her drunken stupors that you were used to-" "Stop it." Silver Spoon muttered quietly. Diamond Tiara paused in her flurry of insults, Dinky and Berry Punch noticed the pause and shimmied away from the the two girls as quick as they could. "What was that?" "I said stop it." The crowd around the two girls was frozen, anticipating what would happen next. Ms. Cheerily continued to try to push her way through the group, but they now refused to step aside for the teacher; they wanted to see what would happen next. Whispers swept quietly through the crowd, "What's going on?" "I think Silver Spoon just turned on Diamond." "Why would she do that?" Diamond stood in front of Silver Spoon menacingly, she was only a couple inches taller than her, but she seemed to tower over her menacingly. Silver Spoon stood across from her defiantly, she wasn't going to back down now, it was too late. "What did you just say to me?" Diamond Tiara had poison dripping from her voice. Silver Spoon answered, "I said stop it. You're hurting Berry Punch and Dinky, they don't deserve to be teased like that." Her voice was much calmer than she expected. It was almost scary, how calm Silver was, compared to the uneven shake of anger in Diamond Tiara's voice. Diamond Tiara glanced throughout the crowd quickly, she couldn't lose her control here, or she'd lose her power over these kids. She returned her gaze to Silver Spoon, "What do you think your doing?" She hissed, "Remember what I said I would do if you betrayed me?" She no longer cared that Ms. Cheerily was listening. If Silver Spoon didn't back down with this threat, she'd have to try harder to get all the other kids to fear her again. But Silver Spoon's stance and voice didn't waver, "I remember what you said, and I don't care. You don't scare me anymore." Even Ms. Cheerily paused at this statement, the entire playground was staring at the two girls, their face off showed no sign of ending and the air was strained with tension. Berry Punch and Dinky had made their way to the back of the crowd, they were now staring over the heads of the group of children to see what was happening. The two girls stared at each other, their faces only a few feet apart. Poison and fire was burning in one's eyes; calm, focused oceans in the others. This was it, Silver Spoons one chance at freedom. No backing down, no screwing this up. It was time to face the demon that had controlled her for so long. It was time to face Diamond Tiara. FreedomFriday 8:57 AM Diamond Tiara took a step forward, Silver Spoon didn't take a step back. Disturbed by this, Diamond took another step toward her opponent to intimidate her. The two girl's faces were only inches apart and Silver Spoon hadn't even flinched. "How dare you." Diamond Tiara's voice was filled with pure hatred, "After all I did for you, this is how you repay me?" "What you did for me wasn't help, it was a bargain." Silver Spoon's voice was scarily calm. "A bargain where if I helped you with your stupid games, you wouldn't hurt me. Your a bully Diamond, and you're nothing more than that." Diamond scoffed sarcastically, "Your wrong there Spoony. I'm rich, loved by my Daddy, popular-" "Take that away and what are you?" Silence filled the playground. For the first time, Diamond Tiara was at a loss for words. All the children on the playground were standing in a large, silent circle. Stunned. When Diamond finally recovered from Silver Spoon's statement, only four words escaped her lips. "Why you dirty little...." She pounced at Silver Spoon and she finally flinched out of the way. The fury in Diamonds eyes were replaced with surprise as she felt Ms. Cheerilee's hand grab the back of her blouse, stopping her mid-spring. Diamond's fingers barely scraped the bridge of Silver Spoon's nose, causing her blue-rimmed glasses to fall to the ground. "That's enough, Diamond Tiara." Her voice was stern. "You will be in my office for the rest of the day." The purple-haired brat was taken inside the school building and the playground was left in an awkward silence. The bell rang and school started. Everyone lined up and went inside the school house and prepared for class. Silver Spoon was the last one in line. She had expected something... well, different. She had just stood up to Diamond Tiara, freed everyone in the school from her tyranny. They could have at least thanked her. She turned around to look at Vinyl. Vinyl was already in her car, looking back at her goddaughter through the passenger window. She gave her a thumbs up and mouthed the words, "Good job kid." Then she drove away. Tears were filling Silver Spoon's eyes before the car even left the parking lot. Those three words were better than any applauding crowd or attention that she could have ever received. Vinyl was proud of her, and that was satisfying enough to last a lifetime. She turned around and entered the school, but this was no ordinary day of school, it was her first day of freedom. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Friday 3:00 PM "I assume that you all know why your here today." Ms. Cheerilee said as she stared at the two families assembled before her. Diamond's and Silver's parents were sitting side-by-side at the small conference table. Sliver sat between her mother and godmother, Diamond beside her father. Silver Spoon was rolling her glasses in her hands, the left lens was scratched from when it had been knocked off her nose. The families nodded and Cheerilee continued, "Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara have been going through an private 'problem' throughout the year. A problem that has hurt Silver Spoon and worked for Diamond Tiara's benefit." Diamond shrank at her father's angry gaze as Ms. Cheerilee continued the meeting. "From what Ms. Octavia and Ms. Scratch have told me, Diamond Tiara has been blackmailing Silver Spoon so she would do her bidding. And from my knowledge, this kind of bullying can lead to suspension or expulsion, which is something I do not wish to do." Cheerilee sighed and looked at Diamond Tiara, "I am very disappointed in you Diamond, Silver Spoon did not deserve to have such a terrible school year, and the rest of the children did not deserve to suffer either. I do not want to punish you-" "But what about Spoony?" Vinyl interrupted, she looked at Diamond's father, "I do not mean to be rude, Filthy Rich, but I do not want that girl around my daughter. Yesterday, my goddaughter came home crying in fear of your daughter. And I-" "Ahem!" Cheerilee cleared her voice, "As I was going to say Ms. Scratch, I do not want to punish Ms. Diamond Tiara, but there must be consequences for her actions. Diamond will be suspended for one month, and her recess privileges will be taken away for the rest of the year." "But that's still four months from now! What am I going to do 'till the school year ends?" Diamond Tiara was in shock. She never got punished, she wasn't supposed to be. "I believe there are many things you can do. Things like writing an apology letter to every kid in school. And after that, I want an essay on how actions lead to consequences, and that those consequences aren't always good." "And you will be grounded for a month as well." Filthy Rich looked at his daughter with a disappointed look on his face. "But Daddy-" "Two months. Do you have anything else to say?" The brat crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. A scowl on her face. Ms. Cheerilee turned her gaze to Silver Spoon, "I know that you were a victim in all of this, but other children were hurt as well. Your recess privileges will be taken away for two weeks, and I want a one thousand word essay on the history of Ponyville on my desk by Monday. Understood?" Silver Spoon nodded, "Understood Ms. Cheerilee." "Very good," the teacher then looked at the entire group sitting before her, "I am sorry for all the trouble this has caused you all. I will keep a close eye on Diamond when she returns from suspension, she will not be allowed to approach Silver Spoon during school for the rest of the year." Octavia nodded, "Thank you Ms. Cheerilee." Both families stood to leave, and Ms. Cheerilee went to open the door. The teacher nodded in farewell as each person left the small school building. Silver Spoon was last to leave the room, trailing behind her mother. Before she left through the door, she turned towards Ms. Cheerilee and said, "Thank you." Ms. Cheerilee smiled, "Don't thank me, Silver Spoon. You are the only reason any of this is happening. If you hadn't told or parents what was happening, or stood up to Diamond Tiara, she would still be hurting other kids." Ms. Cheerilee knelt down and put her hand on the girl's shoulder, "It takes a lot of bravery to stand up to a bully, and it takes even more to stand up to a bully that wants to hurt you. You are the bravest girl that I have ever met, Silver." "But what about everyone else?" "What do you mean?" "Everyone knows me as the girl who helped Diamond Tiara. They all see me as.... as a bully too." Silver inhaled a shuddering breath, as if she was about to cry, "What if no one will want to be my friend?" "They may have seen you as the girl who helped Diamond, once. But they will also know you as the only one who stood up to her." Ms. Cheerilee gave the grey-haired girl an encouraging smile, and Silver smiled back. "Now go on, your mother's waiting for you. I'll see you on Monday." Silver Spoon nodded and left the school house. Octavia was waiting for her at the bottom of the small staircase. Silver took her mother's hand in hers, and they headed for the car. Silver kept her head down as they walked past the other kids on the playground. Looking out at the children from the corner of her eye, she could see Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were talking to Dinky and Berry Pinch. Dinky was holding her muddy doll. Silver couldn't hear what they were saying. The girls' conversation stopped as Silver and her Mother passed by and Silver Spoon averted her eyes. She expected them to glare at her, to hate and scorn her, but she felt no burning stare on her back. She looked back up at the group of girls and saw something that she had ever expected. Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Berry Pinch, and Dinky, they were all smiling at her, they were smiling. Scootaloo waved at her and said, "We'll see you on Monday, Silver Spoon." Silver Spoon felt tears of joy welling up in her eyes. Cheerilee was right, she still will be seen as the one who helped Diamond Tiara, but she will also be remembered as the only one able to stand up to her as well. Scootaloo's goodbye and those girls' smiles weren't just empty temporary farewells. It was the sign of a second chance.
ConfessionsI do not own MLP:FIM all is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust Thursday 3:45 PM Octavia was standing by her door, waiting for her friend Vinyl. A cello case lay by her side as she anticipated her friends arrival. Suddenly, the sound of ringing filled the room. The Cellist pulled a phone from her coat pocket and held it to her ear. "Hello?" "Octavia, where are you?" The strict voice of her manager sounded in her ear, "You have a audition in less than twenty minutes. You'll be disqualified if you're late." "I'll be there in a bit Mr. Overseer, I'll meet you there in ten minutes." "You better be." The man hung up and Octavia returned the phone to her pocket. She sighed, it seems like she would have to leave before she could say goodbye to Spoony. Turning around she opened the door. She was in her car and about to leave the driveway, when she saw Vinyl's electric-blue Camaro pull around the curb. Octavia watched as her blue haired friend pulled to the curb. She exited the car and walked up as Vinyl opened the back door for the backseat's passenger. Silver Spoon hopped out of the cars backseat, backpack in hand. The two people walked up the driveway and stopped at Octavia's car. Vinyl knocked her hand on the window, "Tavi, Spoony and I need to talk to you." her voice was serious and grim, very different from her usual upbeat tone. The dark-haired woman looked at her daughter, only just noticing that her tan face was wet with tears. Octavia opened her door and stepped out of the car, "What happened?" She knelt down and put her hands on Silver Spoon's shoulders, "Are you hurt?" She questioned, the child wouldn't look her mother in the eye. Octavia looked at Vinyl and nodded, "Let's go inside, both of you can tell me what happened." The three young women had just stepped inside when the sound of ringing made them jump, Octavia looked at the screen of her phone, "it's my manager, Mr. Overseer." Vinyl put her hand on her friend's shoulder, "Com'on Tavi, I know you're busy and that you've got an audition soon. But please, don't go now, just cancel this one time. Silver Spoon needs her Mom right now." Ocatvia looked the pale woman the eye. She pressed the green button and held the phone to her ear, "Hello?" "OCTAVIA! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU! YOU'RE AUDITION IS IN FIVE MINUTES AND YOU'RE NOT EVEN HERE! WHERE ARE YOU!" Octavia almost jumped back at her managers angry voice. She took a deep breath, "Mr. Overseer, I won't be able to make it to the audition today." "What did you say?" "I'm canceling, something more important has come up that I need to handle right now." You can't cancel! Octavia you better have your sorry flank here in three minutes or I'm gonna-" Octavia had hung up before he could finish the sentence. She put the phone in her pocket and looked at Silver Spoon. The small girl was standing with her hands behind he back, she still hadn't looked up from her feet. The small family sat down in the kitchen, Octavia and Vinyl sat side by side on one end of the table, Silver Spoon sat at the other end. "Okay, now would anyone like to explain to me what happened?" Vinyl sighed and put two fingers against her temple, "When I came to pick Spoony up from school, and I was called into Cheerily's office to talk about some issues about her bad behavior." Silver Spoon shrank back in her chair as her godmother continued, "Miss Cheerily told me that, she and Diamond Tiara were verbally abusing Berry Pinch and Dinky during recess today. Once they had the poor kids in tears, they called over some boys and had them..." Vinyl ran her hands through her hair, she looked at the small girl on the other end of the table, "They had them beat the poor girls bruised." Octavia gasped and looked at Silver Spoon in horror, "Silver Spoon! I thought we had taken care of the bullying. How could you do this? What if it was you being hit and teased?" Suddenly, Silver Spoon fell into a fit of uncontrollable tears. Her breath was ragged and her voice sounded terrified, "I'm s-sorry, I-I'm so sorry." She put her head in her hands and continued, "I-I didn't have a choice," "What do you mean? Everyone has a choice on what path they choose." Octavia looked quizzically at her daughter, she was hoping that this wasn't another desperate attempt to get out of trouble. Silver Spoon lied her head on the table and gripped her hair in her hands, undoing the french braid that her mother had styled for her earlier that morning.. "No, I don't have a choice. She won't let me stop, she said that she'd tell everyone if I didn't help her-" Silver Spoon paused to make several, tearful gasps. This allowed Vinyl to intervene in the conversation, "Wait a second, you didn't mention any of this in Cheerily's office. Who's she?" Silver Spoon mumbled, "I can't tell you. She made me promise not to because we're friends, she said you can't betray your friends." Octavia leaned forward and grabbed Silver Spoon's hand, "Spoony, if this girl was really your friend, would she blackmail you with a secret?" the small girl took off her glasses and wiped her wet eyes, "Okay," she whispered quietly. For the first time that evening, Silver Spoon looked into her mother's and godmother's eyes, "It's Diamond Tiara, she says that if I don't back her up and take some blame when she's mean to people so she doesn't get in a lot of trouble... she threatened to tell everyone in our class that I have Dyslexia." Vinyl gasped and Octavia put her hand to her mouth in shock. "Oh, Silver Spoon, how long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell us?" Octavia was horrified; how long had her daughter been keeping this secret? Vinyl looked at her goddaughter in confusion, "How does Diamond know about your Dyslexia?" Silver Spoon took in a deep breath and composed herself, she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "At the beginning of the school year, I was late on a reading assignment and I couldn't keep up with the book that I had to read about. Diamond found out that I was having a problem with my homework and asked if she could help. This was before we started messing with other students, so I told her everything and we became study buddies at study hall. When she started being mean to other kids, I tried to stay away from her. It didn't work out and she told me that if I didn't help get her out of trouble, she said that she'd stop helping me study and tell everyone about my Dyslexia. So I had to make fun of other students with her, so she wouldn't tell the other kids about what was wrong with me." "Oh Spoony, there's nothing wrong with you. You're perfect just the way you are." Octavia put her hand on Silver Spoons cheek and lifted the child's downcast eyes to look into her own, "Silver Spoon, I want you to listen to me, and I want you to understand this. Diamond Tiara does NOT own you, she never has and she never will. You don't have to be around her if you don't want to. And if she is threatening you, I want you to immediately tell Ms. Cherrily, Vinyl, and me. Okay?" "I-I don't want to be around her anymore. Sh-she scares m-me." Silver Spoon whimpered, her tears had left red lines along her cheeks and neck. Vinyl and Octavia stood up and crossed to the other side of the table, they both kneeled down and wrapped the girl in a hug. Silver Spoon gripped both of their arms in return and she fell into a fit of sobs once again. "I'm s-sorry. I-I'm so sorry." Vinyl rubbed her hand against her goddaughter's unraveled hair, tucking the loose strands that had fallen across her face behind her ear. "You have nothing to be sorry about Spoony, you didn't do anything wrong. You were just scared, being scared into doing something bad doesn't make you a bad person." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thursday 9:25 PM Vinyl walked down the short staircase into the living room as Octavia closed her laptop, she sat down on the couch beside her and asked, " Spoony's asleep. Did you get this thing cleared up with Cheerily and Diamond's parents?" Octavia sighed and leaned her head against the back of the couch, "Not quite, e-mailed Ms. Cheerily and told her that there has been a problem with the bullying that Spoony's been going through and that we need to speak with her and Diamond Tiara's parents personally. I have a meeting set up at three O-clock tomorrow for when we go to pick Silver Spoon up from school. I've cleared out my meetings for tomorrow so we can take Spoony out for a restaurant dinner and ice- cream later tomorrow evening. Considering all that she's been through, she deserves a treat." Vinyl stood up and headed for the door, "Whelp, I'd better get going. My place is on the other side of town and its a long drive from here to there." "Remember, you have to be by the school house by three O-clock." "Hey, I'm the one who picks Spoony up from school everyday," Octavia chuckled at her friend's statement as she closed the door behind her. She turned around and opened the window behind the couch, she waved as Vinyl's car left the curb and left the neighborhood. She then lifted herself from the couch and quietly made her way upstairs. Octavia silently opened the door to Silver Spoon's bedroom. The small girl lay on her bed, her small body covered in a plush, blue comforter. A large, stuffed gray pony doll was hugged up against her chest. Octavia walked over to her daughter's bedside. Bending down, she kissed her small forehead. She then looked around the room, drawings and photos lined the light-blueish gray walls. Octavia ran her fingers through her hair. How could her little Spoony have been forced into doing such awful things? And by her best friend? Who would want to take advantage of and betray and blackmail her little girl? The dark haired woman walked out of the room, across the short hallway, and into her own bedroom. She undressed and lied down on her bed. Staring at the ceiling, she slowly drifted off into sleep.
Face-OffFriday 8:35 AM Silver Spoon stared out the window of Vinyl Scratch's car. She was dreading, yet nervously excited about going to school. Today was the day that she'd finally be free. For nearly the entire school year, she had been Diamond Tiara's minion, her slave. She was forced to be cruel to other kids, to bully them till they were in tears. The small girl shuddered at the thought of yesterday afternoon, she knew that Diamond would tease her victims until they'd cry, but she never expected her to make those boys beat them up. It had scared her, and she hated how powerless she was to stop it. As these though's flew across her mind, she watched the landscape of buildings, shops, and houses pass by. In a few minutes, she saw the schoolhouse come into view. About twenty children, boys and girls, were running around the small playground set beside the small building. She saw Diamond Tiara sitting by the picnic table that they met by every morning. Silver Spoon quickly diverted her eyes from the controversial girl and set her sight on something else. Her eyes searched through the playground until they rested on Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo. The three girls were playing on the small, two person swing-set. They took turns pushing each other as they sat on the seats, Scootaloo seemed to insist on doing it herself, kicking her legs back and forth until she was nearly going over the top bar. when she deemed herself high enough, she would suddenly fling herself from the swing and landed in the sandbox nearby. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle applauded and cheered every time she did this and Scootaloo bowed as if she had just given an outstanding performance. "Vinyl?" "Yeah Spoony, what is it?" Vinyl looked at her goddaughter through review mirror, "Are you okay?" "Yeah I just had a question. When we finally get Diamond Tiara away from me, will anyone else trust me enough to be my friend?" Vinyl sighed as she pulled up to the school's drop off point, they had been the last to arrive. She unbuckled her seat belt and turned around in her seat to look at Silver Spoon in the eyes. "If this new person is a true friend, she'd trust you enough to give you a second chance. It won't be easy, you'll have to prove to everyone that you're a good person, that you can change. Just because you've hurt someone, it doesn't mean that they can't heal and learn to truly know you as a friend. Got it Spoony?" Silver Spoon Smiled and nodded. Vinyl was right, to have people trust her, she'd have to prove that she could be a good friend. Vinyl opened her car door, she hopped out of the seat and opened the back door for Silver Spoon. The grey-haired girl took her godmother's hand and hopped out of the car. "Can you watch, please? I want to make sure nothing goes wrong." Vinyl smiled at the child's question, "No problem Spoons, I'll be watching from the car." Silver Spoon smiled and made her way to the picnic table. Diamond Tiara instantly took notice of her, she stood up and waved vigorously, "Silver! I've been waiting for you forever!" Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself for what was about to happen. Today was the day. Today is the day. Silver Spoon waved back slightly and walked over to the picnic table. "Diamond, I need to ta-" "Thank Celestia your here!" Diamond Tiara threw her hands up in the air dramatically, "I've been stuck here on this playground full of babies with no one to talk to. I'm so glad your here so I don't have to be around all the dirty poor people alone." A few children flashed the two girls glares as they walked by. Silver Spoon felt guilty under there hateful eyes, "Diamond I really need to talk to you-" she was cut off as the spoiled girl leaned forwards and once again started to speak, "Thanks for taking some of the blame on that small incident the other day." She smiled menacingly, "I had no idea that those boys were that strong, got a teensy bit out of hand. If you hadn't been there to back me up, I'd have been suspended. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about tha-" "Oh my gosh, look over there." Diamond pointed to the other end of the playground. Silver Spoon's breath caught at what she saw. Sitting there, was Dinky and Berry Pinch. Berry Pinch's left arm and knee were covered in band-aids from when she was pushed down against the gravel, Dinky had a black eye and a small bandage pulled across her nose. The spring air was hot, but Dinky wore a wool sweater and sweat pants to hide the several bruises across her arms and legs. Silver Spoon had no idea that they were hurt that badly, she felt herself fighting off tears. As her false friend grabbed her by the wrist, she looked over at Vinyl and her car in despair. The DJ was leaning against the hood of her car. Even from this distance, she could still look into her eyes. Vinyl nodded, that was all Silver needed to gain the determination and a plan on what to do. As Diamond dragged her across the playground, the other children watched, anticipating what was about to happen. Applebloom and her friends followed the two with a resentful gaze, their eyes narrowed. The two girls stopped in front of Berry and Dinky, both were sitting on the ground, playing with barbies. They looked the tyrants with a start, dropping their dolls in the gravelly dirt. Fear filled their eyes and the color drained from their faces. "Well well well, what do we have here? Two babies playing with their baby toy dolls?" Diamond taunted the two terrified girls and kicked the barbies into the dirt. Dinky gasped and tried to crawl for her doll when the bully stepped in the way of her path. Silver Spoon stumbled, still held in the brat's iron grip. "P-please, give i-it back." The bruised girl pleaded, "My M-momma gave me that doll for my birthday. It's the best thing she's ever given m-me." "Aawwwwww, the wittle little baby want her wittle barbie doll?" Diamond lifted the dirty barbie from the dirt, it's blond hair now colored brown. "What do you think about these babies Silver?" The girl started to tear the clothes off of the barbie, tearing the beautiful blue dress to ribbons. "NO! Stop it! My Mom made that dress for her!" Dinky jumped up in attempt to grab the toy, but Diamond Tiara held it out of her reach and pushed the helpless girl into the dirt with her free hand. "You pathetic little waste of a person! You're as useless as that stupid derp you call your Mother! And with that black eye, you look like the ditz she is too!" Tears streamed from her face as Dinky curled herself into a ball, in attempt to shield herself from the cruel words. Berry Punch stood up and tried to defend her friend, "Stop it Tiara! You don't have the right to treat us this way! Were no lesser class people than you!" "Oh yeah? What about that drunk of a mom of yours? She's so worthless, she can't even walk straight half of the time." This comment left poor Berry Pinch speechless, her response was more instinctual than voluntary. "M-my mom is n-not a drunk. Just b-because she w-works at a bar, doesn't m-mean that she's a d-drunk hers-self..." "Oh so that's the excuse then!" Diamond Tiara pushed the stunned girl to the ground. Silver Spoon looked around in numb fear. A group of kids surrounded the skiff, no one intervened in fear of Diamond turning on them. Applebloom and her friends were trying to push their way to the front of the crowd to defend the victims. "Diamond! Stop this, you've gone t' far this time!" Applebloom shouted. "Yeah, leave poor Dinky and Pinch alone!" Scootaloo agreed, "They don't deserve this treatment!" "DIAMOND TIARA! SILVER SPOON!" The strict voice of Ms. Cheerily filled the air, she too was trying to make her way through the crowd of children. As soon as they realized who was trying to get past, the circle parted like a red sea. Vinyl was also making her way towards the schoolyard. Silver Spoon looked back at Dinky and Berry Pinch, both girls were huddled on the ground. Diamond Tiara's insult's continued to flow from her mouth. Silver felt a deep anger grow inside her, but it wasn't just anger; she felt responsibility. These kids were getting hurt, abused, bullied, and Diamond was only going to get the partial punishment she would deserve. She would take the rest of the blame, and Diamond Tiara wouldn't learn a thing. She'd continue to bully people and hurt them and it would never stop. "Come on Silver Spoon, help me out here." Diamond Tiara motioned her hand towards the two helpless girls. "Come on! If you don't pitch in, or will I have to keep going it alone?" Silver Spoon knew what the devilish girl truly meant. If she didn't pitch in, if she didn't take some of the blame, Diamond would tell everyone her secret. That she had problems learning things that were easy for other kids, that she was different from everyone else. Silver Spoon took her focus away from her thoughts and back to what Diamond Tiara was saying, only a few seconds had passed but she had already returned to insulting Dinky and Berry, kicking dirt in their faces. Cheerilee was rushing towards them as fast as she could while Vinyl stood at the edge of the crowd, her eyes were urging Silver Spoon to take control and stop the poor girls' suffering. "Stop! Please stop!" Berry Pinch was desperately rubbing her eyes in a failing attempt to get rid of the grit that covered her face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you weren't used to being beaten. I thought your mom hit so many times in her drunken stupors that you were used to-" "Stop it." Silver Spoon muttered quietly. Diamond Tiara paused in her flurry of insults, Dinky and Berry Punch noticed the pause and shimmied away from the the two girls as quick as they could. "What was that?" "I said stop it." The crowd around the two girls was frozen, anticipating what would happen next. Ms. Cheerily continued to try to push her way through the group, but they now refused to step aside for the teacher; they wanted to see what would happen next. Whispers swept quietly through the crowd, "What's going on?" "I think Silver Spoon just turned on Diamond." "Why would she do that?" Diamond stood in front of Silver Spoon menacingly, she was only a couple inches taller than her, but she seemed to tower over her menacingly. Silver Spoon stood across from her defiantly, she wasn't going to back down now, it was too late. "What did you just say to me?" Diamond Tiara had poison dripping from her voice. Silver Spoon answered, "I said stop it. You're hurting Berry Punch and Dinky, they don't deserve to be teased like that." Her voice was much calmer than she expected. It was almost scary, how calm Silver was, compared to the uneven shake of anger in Diamond Tiara's voice. Diamond Tiara glanced throughout the crowd quickly, she couldn't lose her control here, or she'd lose her power over these kids. She returned her gaze to Silver Spoon, "What do you think your doing?" She hissed, "Remember what I said I would do if you betrayed me?" She no longer cared that Ms. Cheerily was listening. If Silver Spoon didn't back down with this threat, she'd have to try harder to get all the other kids to fear her again. But Silver Spoon's stance and voice didn't waver, "I remember what you said, and I don't care. You don't scare me anymore." Even Ms. Cheerily paused at this statement, the entire playground was staring at the two girls, their face off showed no sign of ending and the air was strained with tension. Berry Punch and Dinky had made their way to the back of the crowd, they were now staring over the heads of the group of children to see what was happening. The two girls stared at each other, their faces only a few feet apart. Poison and fire was burning in one's eyes; calm, focused oceans in the others. This was it, Silver Spoons one chance at freedom. No backing down, no screwing this up. It was time to face the demon that had controlled her for so long. It was time to face Diamond Tiara.
FreedomFriday 8:57 AM Diamond Tiara took a step forward, Silver Spoon didn't take a step back. Disturbed by this, Diamond took another step toward her opponent to intimidate her. The two girl's faces were only inches apart and Silver Spoon hadn't even flinched. "How dare you." Diamond Tiara's voice was filled with pure hatred, "After all I did for you, this is how you repay me?" "What you did for me wasn't help, it was a bargain." Silver Spoon's voice was scarily calm. "A bargain where if I helped you with your stupid games, you wouldn't hurt me. Your a bully Diamond, and you're nothing more than that." Diamond scoffed sarcastically, "Your wrong there Spoony. I'm rich, loved by my Daddy, popular-" "Take that away and what are you?" Silence filled the playground. For the first time, Diamond Tiara was at a loss for words. All the children on the playground were standing in a large, silent circle. Stunned. When Diamond finally recovered from Silver Spoon's statement, only four words escaped her lips. "Why you dirty little...." She pounced at Silver Spoon and she finally flinched out of the way. The fury in Diamonds eyes were replaced with surprise as she felt Ms. Cheerilee's hand grab the back of her blouse, stopping her mid-spring. Diamond's fingers barely scraped the bridge of Silver Spoon's nose, causing her blue-rimmed glasses to fall to the ground. "That's enough, Diamond Tiara." Her voice was stern. "You will be in my office for the rest of the day." The purple-haired brat was taken inside the school building and the playground was left in an awkward silence. The bell rang and school started. Everyone lined up and went inside the school house and prepared for class. Silver Spoon was the last one in line. She had expected something... well, different. She had just stood up to Diamond Tiara, freed everyone in the school from her tyranny. They could have at least thanked her. She turned around to look at Vinyl. Vinyl was already in her car, looking back at her goddaughter through the passenger window. She gave her a thumbs up and mouthed the words, "Good job kid." Then she drove away. Tears were filling Silver Spoon's eyes before the car even left the parking lot. Those three words were better than any applauding crowd or attention that she could have ever received. Vinyl was proud of her, and that was satisfying enough to last a lifetime. She turned around and entered the school, but this was no ordinary day of school, it was her first day of freedom. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Friday 3:00 PM "I assume that you all know why your here today." Ms. Cheerilee said as she stared at the two families assembled before her. Diamond's and Silver's parents were sitting side-by-side at the small conference table. Sliver sat between her mother and godmother, Diamond beside her father. Silver Spoon was rolling her glasses in her hands, the left lens was scratched from when it had been knocked off her nose. The families nodded and Cheerilee continued, "Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara have been going through an private 'problem' throughout the year. A problem that has hurt Silver Spoon and worked for Diamond Tiara's benefit." Diamond shrank at her father's angry gaze as Ms. Cheerilee continued the meeting. "From what Ms. Octavia and Ms. Scratch have told me, Diamond Tiara has been blackmailing Silver Spoon so she would do her bidding. And from my knowledge, this kind of bullying can lead to suspension or expulsion, which is something I do not wish to do." Cheerilee sighed and looked at Diamond Tiara, "I am very disappointed in you Diamond, Silver Spoon did not deserve to have such a terrible school year, and the rest of the children did not deserve to suffer either. I do not want to punish you-" "But what about Spoony?" Vinyl interrupted, she looked at Diamond's father, "I do not mean to be rude, Filthy Rich, but I do not want that girl around my daughter. Yesterday, my goddaughter came home crying in fear of your daughter. And I-" "Ahem!" Cheerilee cleared her voice, "As I was going to say Ms. Scratch, I do not want to punish Ms. Diamond Tiara, but there must be consequences for her actions. Diamond will be suspended for one month, and her recess privileges will be taken away for the rest of the year." "But that's still four months from now! What am I going to do 'till the school year ends?" Diamond Tiara was in shock. She never got punished, she wasn't supposed to be. "I believe there are many things you can do. Things like writing an apology letter to every kid in school. And after that, I want an essay on how actions lead to consequences, and that those consequences aren't always good." "And you will be grounded for a month as well." Filthy Rich looked at his daughter with a disappointed look on his face. "But Daddy-" "Two months. Do you have anything else to say?" The brat crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. A scowl on her face. Ms. Cheerilee turned her gaze to Silver Spoon, "I know that you were a victim in all of this, but other children were hurt as well. Your recess privileges will be taken away for two weeks, and I want a one thousand word essay on the history of Ponyville on my desk by Monday. Understood?" Silver Spoon nodded, "Understood Ms. Cheerilee." "Very good," the teacher then looked at the entire group sitting before her, "I am sorry for all the trouble this has caused you all. I will keep a close eye on Diamond when she returns from suspension, she will not be allowed to approach Silver Spoon during school for the rest of the year." Octavia nodded, "Thank you Ms. Cheerilee." Both families stood to leave, and Ms. Cheerilee went to open the door. The teacher nodded in farewell as each person left the small school building. Silver Spoon was last to leave the room, trailing behind her mother. Before she left through the door, she turned towards Ms. Cheerilee and said, "Thank you." Ms. Cheerilee smiled, "Don't thank me, Silver Spoon. You are the only reason any of this is happening. If you hadn't told or parents what was happening, or stood up to Diamond Tiara, she would still be hurting other kids." Ms. Cheerilee knelt down and put her hand on the girl's shoulder, "It takes a lot of bravery to stand up to a bully, and it takes even more to stand up to a bully that wants to hurt you. You are the bravest girl that I have ever met, Silver." "But what about everyone else?" "What do you mean?" "Everyone knows me as the girl who helped Diamond Tiara. They all see me as.... as a bully too." Silver inhaled a shuddering breath, as if she was about to cry, "What if no one will want to be my friend?" "They may have seen you as the girl who helped Diamond, once. But they will also know you as the only one who stood up to her." Ms. Cheerilee gave the grey-haired girl an encouraging smile, and Silver smiled back. "Now go on, your mother's waiting for you. I'll see you on Monday." Silver Spoon nodded and left the school house. Octavia was waiting for her at the bottom of the small staircase. Silver took her mother's hand in hers, and they headed for the car. Silver kept her head down as they walked past the other kids on the playground. Looking out at the children from the corner of her eye, she could see Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were talking to Dinky and Berry Pinch. Dinky was holding her muddy doll. Silver couldn't hear what they were saying. The girls' conversation stopped as Silver and her Mother passed by and Silver Spoon averted her eyes. She expected them to glare at her, to hate and scorn her, but she felt no burning stare on her back. She looked back up at the group of girls and saw something that she had ever expected. Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Berry Pinch, and Dinky, they were all smiling at her, they were smiling. Scootaloo waved at her and said, "We'll see you on Monday, Silver Spoon." Silver Spoon felt tears of joy welling up in her eyes. Cheerilee was right, she still will be seen as the one who helped Diamond Tiara, but she will also be remembered as the only one able to stand up to her as well. Scootaloo's goodbye and those girls' smiles weren't just empty temporary farewells. It was the sign of a second chance.
