Role Reversal

Chapters

The Dare Begins
Settling Into New Territory
Refinement Session/Payday
Free Time/Sleepover
Showing Off Their New Styles
Conflictions With Others
Character Broken/Discussions
Newfound Friendships/Inner Discord

The Dare Begins

"Morning, Di!" Silver Spoon said as she neared her closest friend, Diamond Tiara. These two always had endless possibilities on what they would do today once they got together.

"Morning, Silvs!" Diamond returned a happy greeting and walked over to Silver's side. "I was just about to come looking for you."

The two fillies shared some more pleasantries before setting off on their way, into Ponyville. On their way, they passed a few familiar faces, but decided to stick with each other instead of greet them.

"Did you hear? Sapphire Shores is close to finishing her latest album." Diamond began another conversation with Silver, and she hung on every word.

"Since when were you a fan of Sapphire Shores?" Silver responded with a raised ear. Diamond had a lot of private fantasies, but Silver never knew that Diamond was a fan of Sapphire Shores, The Pony Of Pop.

"Funny story about that, there was an album of hers named Blank Flanks Just Won't Do. I decided to listen to some of the songs inside, and while there was a severe lack of Blank Flank hate, I liked how urban it sounded and how freely Sapphire expressed herself." Diamond explained.

"Oh, Okay then. It makes a lot of sense when I hear it from you then." Silver said once she had allowed Diamond to finish.

"Hang on." Diamond stopped Silver with a hoof. "Do you see what I see?" Diamond turned Silver's head so that she too was seeing what exactly Diamond wanted her to see.

"I see now, Blank-Flanks at 12 o' clock." Silver saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle chasing each other in a nearby field, right next to a few houses. "What should we do?"

"The same thing we do all the time, Silvs. Have a little... Fun with them." Diamond put on a smirk and began to confront the two markless fillies.

Diamond and Silver began to advance on Sweetie Belle and Applebloom as they began to take cover behind a few townsponies. Eventually, Applebloom tripped and fell, and Diamond made her move.

"Wow, Applebloom. I never knew you liked the taste of dirt." A line which made Silver chuckle as well. "How does it taste? Like failure?"

"Ya know, Diamond, Yer lucky ah never have the tahme ta fill in a restraining order against you and Silver." Applebloom got to her feet and brushed the dirt and grass off of her belly.

"Believe me, I know. You'd probably end up losing the restraining order in that labyrinth you call a farm!" Diamond retorted, "Oopsies, there I go again, ripping on your quaint little dirt field once again."

"Ya wouldn't know apple farmin' if it hit ya over the head." Applebloom said, quietly, as if uttering a plan in her head. Yes, it seemed so obvious now. The way that Diamond was being a jackass to Applebloom, was that she thought that Diamond had only seen the posh side of life. If she could get Diamond on the farm and give her a sweet taste of country, then maybe if would change her tone once and for all.

"Um, hello? Earth to Blank-Flank. You're kind of spacing out on us now." Silver said, breaking Applebloom out of her trance and bringing her back to reality.

"Come on, Applebloom. They're not even worth our time. We can go and play somewhere else." Sweetie began walking off, but was surprised to see Applebloom just standing there, doing nothing. "Applebloom?" She turned back and saw the filly was thinking of something, something big.

"Ah'm willing to dare ya on something, Diamond." Applebloom said, her stance not moving, not even an inch.

"Ooooh, You want to try and best me at a dare?" Diamond always believed that no matter what Applebloom could throw at her, she would be ready for it. A dare was just a mere trifle to her nowadays. "While I would usually say no to your little dares, I'm feeling generous today. Go on then, Applebloom. Name your challenge."

"Role-Reversal." Was all Applebloom could say as she began to pace around Diamond and Silver. "Ya'll have always seen the high side of life, without even sparin' a thought fer the country tahpes. Well, Diamond, I think it's time for a little changing of the roles."

"English, please?" Diamond both said and taunted as Applebloom just shrugged her words off.

"Fer the next week. We have to switch our roles. Ya'll will be taking on the country style. While ah get yer fancy-schmancy style fer the week." Applebloom cast a wicked smile, knowing that Diamond would have to accept, lest she be mocked by her classmates.

"Are you crazy?!" Diamond was stunned as she finally pieced it all together in her mind. "There's no way I'd do something like that, Daddy would kill me!"

"What's the matter, Diamond. Ya finally chicken after all these years?" Applebloom then did the icing on the cake move, She began trotting around in a really awkward style on her hind hooves, putting her front hooves to the side and flapping them like a chicken's wings. All the while making telltale chicken noises that would definitely invoke a dare.

"Diamond, I hate to say this, but she has a point here." Silver began as Applebloom stopped issuing a taunt. "If you're not willing to accept a challenge, no doubt she'll tell everypony in class about your cowardice. It's a massive sign of weakness if you don't decide to accept."

"But Silver, I don't think it'd look good on me. Furthermore, everypony would see me walking around in those cowpony clothes, and then, I am finished, done. My reign of manipulation is over, OVER I tell you!" Diamond said as she envisioned the entire thing in her head.

"Then you have a tough decision here, Diamond." Silver sighed deeply as she walked over to Applebloom and Sweetie. "Accept the deal and retain your pride, or refuse and watch as your classmates eat you alive in school tomorrow."

Diamond thought it over in her head. If she accepted, there was a risk of everypony laughing at her in class and ruining her reputation, besides a definite job working on Applebloom's orchard. But if she refused, it would give the Cutie Mark Crusaders the chance to finally put an end to her reign as the princess of the class once and for all. And she sure as hell was not going to give up her pride. Not now, not ever!

"I have come to a decision..." She looked up at the three fillies. who all looked back at her. Diamond felt a little nervous at first, but then she summed up the courage to speak at last. "I accept your terms, Applebloom. Your dare is officially on."

Sweetie began cheering in joy and bouncing. Only for Applebloom to calm her down after a good 15 seconds of it. Silver walked back over to Diamond and gave her a hoof bump for good luck.

"Before we begin, we need ta make sure we definitely look the part." Applebloom said as she lead her band of fillies over to the Carousel Boutique. "We're gonna get a full and complete makeover."

Diamond lightly shuddered, for once in her life. This was a makeover she was dreading. But she decided not to show any signs of fear or worry. She had her dignity on the line here.

"Thanks fer helping us out with our little dare, Rarity." Applebloom complimented as she and Diamond were already getting their new looks ready for the challenge ahead of them. They were getting a blind treatment, so they wouldn't see what they would look like until the end of it.

"It's the least I could do, Applebloom. I have always wanted to test out the style of country on a few other ponies after that little quarrel with Applejack a while back." She said as she began to apply some of her finest shampoo to Applebloom's hair, so that she did look like an upper-class filly. "Oh, and, I just want to say this now. It's usually uncouth for rich fillies your age to be wearing bows. So you're going to have to lose it for the week."

"But how will everypony even recognahze me?" Applebloom asked, with her hooves in a shrugging position. "They'll be expecting Applebloom, not her fancy schmancy rich cousin twice-removed."

"Believe me, Applebloom. They'll know." Rarity finished up her makeshift rich style for Applebloom with a nice little necklace. "It's a good thing Applejack said I should have kept this, otherwise, their would have been no practical use for it."

"How do I look, Silver?" Applebloom turned to face her style critic. You see, Silver and Sweetie decided to be coaching their designated pony on what they think would be the perfect fit for their borrowed styles. Long story short, Silver would hang with the high-class Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle would be working with the country Diamond Tiara.

"All in good time, Applebloom. All in good time." She wanted to hide her feeling until the big reveal, to Diamond, and to herself. She did not want to give away anything about Applebloom's get up.

"Oh, that reminds me, I have to see how Sweetie Belle is getting on with Diamond Tiara." Rarity made her way to another fitting room. "You and Silver take care now, Alright?"

"We'll be fine." Applebloom said as she and Silver sat next to each other. The ponies' style mentors would also have to teach them how to act and talk their current styles.

"Alright, Applebloom. If there's one thing that defines a posh pony from a regular pony, it's their elocution." Silver began to explain to Applebloom a key issue on how to act popular and posh.

"Elocution?" Applebloom was unsure whether or not she had even heard the word before. But if it was to do with her posh new style for the week, she'd have to learn it, and fast.

"The style of speaking. Have you noticed mine and Diamond's extensive vocabulary over the time we've spent in class?" Silver calmly asked her.

"Well, ah do know that ya lahke ta use big words to pronounce things. Does that count?" She asked as she put a hoof to her chin.

"Kind of. But it's not just having an expansive vocabulary that makes you sound posh. You've got to add a little charm to it as well. Let me demonstrate..." Silver began to teach Applebloom how to speak like a proper upper-class pony.

"Diamond, there's only a few things left. Just calm down for a second." Sweetie's client, Diamond Tiara, was starting to hyperventilate. It was going to be a massive change having to wear a different hairstyle for the week. And she was unsure whether or not she could pull it off.

"Sweetie, I don't know if I can do this." Diamond said, letting the stress off of her chest. "It's one thing seeing country style every day, but actually embracing country style could be my overall breaking point."

"Then you'll have to be strong, and take it like a mare." Sweetie said as she pulled out all that she needed. "Rarity, can you help Diamond with her country mane for today?"

"Of course I can, Sweetie. In the meantime, you can find the perfect apparel for Diamond for her week in the country." Rarity said as she began to pull out everything that could make any hair into the hairstyle she needed.

As Rarity pulled out the hairstyler from the compartment marked "COUNTRY" Sweetie Belle began to fiddle through a chest full of accessories, in the hope that she could find what she was looking for.

"If I was a country get-up in Rarity's chest full of accessories, where would I be?" Sweetie dove into it and began to shuffle a few accessories around. "Perfect!" She gasped in delight as she found what she was looking for.

Sweetie climbed out of the chest with two accessories in her muzzle, one of which was a neckerchief, the other, a hair tie. Both of them being sky-blue. As she neatly put all the hitchhiking accessories back in the trunk, she walked over to Diamond, who was getting the full country hairstyling from Rarity and her equipment.

"Alright, Diamond. The good news to you is, it's almost over." Sweetie Belle said as she tied the hairtie around the near end of Diamond's tail. It was hard for Sweetie to get it firmly on the hair, but she succeeded in the end, thanks to Rarity.

"I just hope Silver isn't gonna make fun of me for this get-up." Diamond was a little concerned as Sweetie tied the neckerchief around Diamond's neck, so that it was comfortable as well as country.

"I can't help but feel like something's missing." Sweetie Belle said as she beheld Diamond's new country style. She let the thought fester in her head until she finally had a dash of inspiration. "I've got it!"

Sweetie ran over to Rarity's hat line and shuffled through all the hats she could find until she eventually found what she was looking for; A cowgirl's hat, large enough for Diamond to wear. It looked a little similar to Applejack's hat, only this one was a little brighter than hers.

"Diamond, I know how close you're attached to that little tiara of yours, but it's just for the week. You'll get it back once this little ordeal is over." Sweetie pulled off a quick switch, too fast for Diamond's eye. In a split second, Diamond was wearing the hat, and Sweetie hoofed the tiara to Rarity, who kept it stored in a nice little safe, for future use.

"Just make sure you'll take care of it. Daddy had me pay 750 bits for it." Diamond said with the concern of anyone who loved something deeply as she leapt down off of the table.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Rarity treats jewels, gems, and jewel encrusted things with the best care she can deliver." Sweetie reassured Diamond as she walked her over to the other changing room, where they would no doubt see Applebloom and Silver.

"Alright, Applebloom. I know it's only been a few minutes, but I think you're ready for your final step in elocution." Silver began to speak. "Now it's usually uncouth for a fancy pony to break character. So the last step on your exam is to keep your act going until the end of the dare. Do you think you can handle that?"

Applebloom cleared her throat and began to speak. "Why, of course I can, Silver Spoon. Surely a high-class pony like myself can keep up one little charade until the end of the week." Applebloom had also picked up a fancy accent, and there was no trace of the country voice in her left. A smile from Silver Spoon was a dead giveaway that she was impressed by Applebloom's new accent.

"Wow, Applebloom. You're one fast learner!" Silver complimented on Applebloom's new voice. "If you keep this up for the rest of the week. I might just have a new favourite classmate."

Suddenly, the door opened behind them with Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara walking in. Applebloom and Silver were a mix of surprised and impressed when the country-styled Diamond walked in. Sweetie and Diamond were just as surprised when they saw Applebloom's new style.

"Oh my, Silver. If it isn't one of our oldest colleagues, Diamond Tiara." Applebloom said, still in her posh character. "And it seems like she's decided to go country-style for today."

"Well, uh. Hi the-" Sweetie nudged Diamond gently, a sign that told her not to break character. Diamond took this hint, cleared her throat, and started again. "Well, ah'd love ta have ya'll as company, but ah've got me a mighty fine orchard ta tend to today."

"We need to work a little more on your country voice, Diamond." Sweetie said as she ran over to get a mirror from the side so that Diamond and Applebloom could see themselves.

"Now, we both tried our bets to make your new guises very convincing." Silver began as she took the second mirror, so that Applebloom and Diamond didn't have to share. "Just give us your honest opinions on what you think. Okay?"

"I don't see how I could be taken off guard by-" Applebloom was cut short once she saw herself, her hair had been pampered and curled at the front and back, and her lack of bow complimented the maturity of her look. She was wearing a pearl necklace, much similar to Silver's only with the exception of an apple shaped jewel in the middle of it. "Oh my."

"Alright, ah think it's about tahme that ah see mahself in that there mirror of-" Diamond was also taken by surprise. She had been given a complete style change. Her hair was mostly braided at the back, and there was a few small strands of hair sticking out in some places, something she would like to see go by the end of the week.

As for accessories, Diamond was wearing a sky-blue neckerchief on her neck, and a sky-blue hairtie on her tail. This country style was complimented by the cowgirl hat on her head where her tiara would usually be. "I... uh, ah have no words ta describe this here get up!"

"Ok, we're almost done here. There's just one more thing we need to lay down for you both." Silver said as she pushed her glasses back up to her face. "The rules."

"They're the simplest rules you can possibly ask for." Sweetie Belle said after she let Silver finish. "I'm sure you two will pick them up quickly and easily.

"First off, you're not allowed to break character when I, Sweetie Belle, or somepony else is with you. The only time you can speak your normal self is when you're either alone, or alone with each other." Silver stated the first rule clearly so they could both hear it.

"Secondly, you'll be staying with your mentors for the week." Sweetie began after Silver finished. "Meaning, Applebloom will stay with Silver Spoon and her family, and Diamond Tiara has to stay with me for the week."

"Finally, if you make it to the end of the week in your new guises, you have the chance to keep them for an extended period of time, if you wish." Silver closed up the rules with that last sentence. "Follow these three rules and you should both be fine."

"Ah have a question!" Diamond said, keeping her character the best she could be at this moment. She even raised a hoof to grab the attention of Sweetie and Silver. "What in tarnation happens ta us if we break character?"

"If you break character, it enables me and Sweetie Belle to enforce a dare onto you." Silver smirked. "Some of them could be harmless, some could damage your psyche and pride massively, it depends on how we're feeling."

"Bear in mind, we'll be keeping close tabs on you throughout the week, so we advise you not to break character at anytime. And I've got a load of dares stacked up from the day we met, Diamond." Sweetie shot a glare to her country-styled student, who recoiled lightly in fear.

"I suppose we should get to your new homes for the week, if you two have something to say to each other, say it now. Then we can be on our ways." Silver said as Diamond and Applebloom turned to face each other.

"Well, I guess we should get going, Diamond." Applebloom said, her new posh accent sticking to her quite closely. "I hope you have fun toiling away on the apple farm."

"And ah hope ya have fun trying ta fit inta that crazy high-life society that ah used ta live in." Diamond said, in the best country accent she could muster from a few minutes training. "Ya wanna shake on our little bet?"

"Of course, my fine farmpony foe." Applebloom and Diamond stretched out their hooves, connected them, and shook. "It, is, on!"

Author's Note

Welcome to my new story. I thought to myself for a while, AR is a hot type of story at the moment, but for now, I've decided to relax and do something else for a change. A DT fic.

It has been a while since I wrote something with Diamond Tiara. Especially since, I'm usually lazy and constantly waste time playing Call Of Duty. But I had to think about what would be a good story...

And then in Drawfriend #1162 on Equestria Daily, I found this picture. And although, half of the Drawfriend folder was devoted to Lord Tirek and the S4 Finale. There was still some other cool pics in there as well. Including this one. Just looking at the picture alone, was the spark of inspiration I needed. And BOOM! I'm back in the DT fic business.

Be sure to Rate, Comment, Like, and Follow.

I want to make as much of this story as I can. Also, you may never get another chance to see Diamond Tiara in country clothing and Applejewel's supposed sister. So grab this fic while you can!

Settling Into New Territory

Silver and Sweetie parted their ways, taking their "Clients" with them. Silver walked Applebloom down the road to her house, and Sweetie took Diamond to do some volunteer work at Sweet Apple Acres.

"So, since it's gonna be a surprise to Applejack seeing you like this, you'll be sleeping with me for the week." Silver said as she walked through the town with Applebloom behind her. "And if Applejack does ask, tell her you're having a week-long sleepover with me and that you and I went out for a makeover. Okay?"

"Simple, another little charade is no burden for me." Applebloom said, in her most refined voice as she and Silver arrived at their destination.

Silver and Applebloom were at the front lawn of what looked like a three-storey tall mansion. You could tell it was a mansion because it was all done in bricks and had massive double doors. The grass was quite soft and green, something that Applebloom most appreciated. Finally, there were 3 doorsteps from the front door itself. Silver climbed up first, then helped Applebloom up the steps.

"Now, my parents aren't used to letting other fillies and colts stay with them, unless they know I invited them over for a sleepover." Silver said as she placed a hoof on the door handle.

"Oh, I'm sure it would be no problem at all for me to see your family." Applebloom said, keeping a level head and a posh accent, as usual.

"Oh, and if you get lost, don't worry, I have butlers and maps all over the place that would be glad to show you to where you want to go." Silver pushed the doors open with her hoof and led Applebloom inside...

Diamond and Sweetie were climbing the hill to Sweet Apple Acres, where Diamond would be working for the next week. The good news for her, was that she didn't have to sleep here, since Sweetie would be glad to accommodate her.

"Is this journey any farther, Sweetie? Ah think ah'm about ta give out!" Diamond said as she struggled to climb the last stretch.

"You're almost there, Diamond. Just a few inches more aaannnndddd.... We're here." Sweetie and Diamond were now overlooking the barn, the very thing that Sweet Apple Acres recognizable.

Diamond was lead by Sweetie Belle, to a convenient stall next to the front gate, where there was a sign-up sheet, a pen, and Applejack. It also said "Applebucking Volunteers Wanted!" And underneath the big words, in smaller text, it also said, "Will Pay Bits For Satisfactory Work."

"Howdy, Sweetie Belle, it's nice ta see ya came down to volunteer fer work." Applejack greeted Sweetie as she allowed Diamond to stand beside her. "Oh, and ah see ya'll brought somepony ta help ya. Well, it's always a pleasure ta have new faces helpin' out on the farm. Especially since Applebloom spends most of her time off with them there Cutie Mark Crusaders and all."

Applebloom doesn't farm that much? Diamond thought in her head, at least this was the only safe haven where she could speak herself. Interesting, I might have to remember that once this is over.

"Alright, Diamond, just sign your name on the sheet and I'll be glad to help out." Sweetie said as she took the pen and hoofed it to Diamond, who decided to follow her character and accept said pen.

"Wait, hold up a sec. Diamond, as in Diamond Tiara?" Applejack was taken by surprise, she almost didn't recognize Diamond until Sweetie Belle had given it away. "Well, ah honestly didn't expect this ta happen. Ah always thought ya'll were one of them higher-class ponies that think they're better than everyone else."

"Well, ah've had ta change mah tone after yer sister Applebloom issued a dare on us." Diamond said, taking in the country accent and doing her best to copy Applejack's. "Ah admit it ain't very pleasant at the tahme fer me, but ah've had to keep this up, unless Applebloom decides ta overthrow mah position in class."

Applejack was deep in thought now. Applebloom issued a dare? Well, that could very well be one of the reasons why she hasn't come back ta the farm yet. Ah should try ta look fer her, but first things first. Business. Snapping out of her train of thought, Applejack saw Diamond was signing her name on the sheet, closely followed by Sweetie Belle.

"As much as ah'd lahke ta know a little more about yer dare, ya'll did sign up, so I guess I should get ya started on yer work." Applejack lead Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara to the nearest bunch of apple trees. "Come on, be sure ya don't dilly-dally."

And with those words, Diamond's first day of manual labour for money, begun.

Applebloom, meanwhile, was taking in the vastness of Silver Spoon's mansion. The floor and stairs were made out of marble, and the couch had a nice pattern sown on the ends. There were four doors beside the stairs, two on the left, and two on the right. The stairs up lead to a corridor, where more doors awaited, no doubt.

"I know, impressive isn't it?" Silver said as Applebloom was at a loss for words. She'd never been in a mansion this posh-looking, besides the whole Twilight Time issue. But seeing a mansion this nice, gave Applebloom a taste of wonder and excitement, she had the chance to live like this forever. And Silver would be happy to accept her, as long as she could keep her act going for the rest of her life.

"So, I'm sleeping here for the next week?" Applebloom said as she felt the texture of the marble underneath her hooves as she walked. "You have a really nice house here, Silver Spoon."

"I'm glad that you like it." Silver smiled as she lead Applebloom up the stairs and down the corridor, passing a multitude of butlers, all of them loyal to Silver and her family. "Dad usually hates intruders, so I want to make sure he acknowledges your stay here before we continue." They stopped at a door with a wooden everything, besides the handle, which was golden.

"Okay then. I shall try my best to appease your parents with my appearance." Applebloom said, pushing her hoof of her chin in a fancy movement.

Silver opened the door into what looked like a private study. Inside it, were two earth ponies with quite similarly coloured coats of grey. But with different hairstyles. One, who Applebloom assumed was the father, had a smooth black mane and was getting fitted into a tuxedo of sorts. The other, whom Applebloom assumed was Silver's mum had a flowing white mane which had been combed down straight, similar to Twilight's mane.

"Mother, Father." Silver greeted them, bowing in courtesy as she walked inside, as most upper-class ponies would. "I have brought someone over to stay for the week."

"Well, it's nice to see you having company around, my darling Silver. Just as long as they don't mess the place up." The father said as he examined his tux in the mirror, cracking a smile of content.

"Oh, don't be so hard on her, Stardust." The mum said as she stroked Silver's mane and got a good look at the poshly-dressed Applebloom. "Who's your friend, Silver?"

"Mother, this is Applebloom, only she's taken a walk on the posh side." Silver explained as Applebloom and Silver walked deeper into the study to see Silver's dad. "Applebloom, this is Silver Stardust, and Silver Lining." Silver pointed towards the stallion, and then to the mare.

"It is a pleasure to meet the both of you." Applebloom shook hooves with Stardust and then with Lining. "I hope we can get better acquainted over the week to come."

"Wow, Silver, I guess teaching you how to teach Elocution is working after all." Lining nuzzled Silver's neck, causing her to blush. "She's speaking fancy like she's been learning it forever."

"Let's not praise me too much, Mother. As much as I do enjoy praise from my parents, I do have my limits. As does everypony else." Silver said as she walked over to her Stardust. "Oh, Father, I apologize for my lack of attention, I never knew you were wearing a tuxedo for the evening. Going somewhere?"

"Why yes, Silver." He said, in a very refined voice. "I'm discussing some important business with the Riches over in Canterlot tonight, so I won't be making it back for dinner." He said as one of the butlers finished adjusting the tie. "I hope that does not displease you."

"Not in the slightest, Father." Silver bowed kindly as she allowed her dad to walk over to the door.

"Oh, and if your friend is staying over tonight, would you kindly tell her the rules?" Stardust asked Silver as he kneeled down to her neck. "You wouldn't want to see one of your little friends have a little... Accident, now would you?"

"Do not worry about her, Father. I will lead her in the right direction." Silver sounded very serious as she addressed her father.

"Good, now go off and enjoy yourselves. I shall have the butlers create an exquisite meal for you, Applebloom, and Silver Lining."

"But what about Coin and Spotlight?" Silver now started to grow a little concern. "Don't they get anything to eat?"

"Your brother and sister have already eaten, and are having their mandated refinement sessions as we speak." Stardust said as he looked at a watch the butlers had fitted to him. It read '12:39' on the digital face. "At 1 o' clock. Their minds will return to normal, and you can interact with them until their next session."

Silver has a sister and brother? Applebloom threw herself into another train of thought. Interesting. Ah might just have ta visit them after they come out of their, 'Refinement Session'

"Come with me, Silver. You too, Applebloom. We have much to discuss while the butlers make lunch. And I'm sure you two little rascals have so much to talk about." Lining said in a mother's tone. Even though she was an upper-class pony. That didn't stop her from being a kind and friendly mother figure.

"Don't worry about it, Applebloom, I knew this would happen, and as such, I've prepared some special topics for you to discuss to Mother and the butlers." Silver hoofed her a stack of flashcards, which Applebloom proceeded to place into her pocket for safekeeping.

"Well, I guess I could spare some time to talk before we eat." Applebloom said as she was lead by Silver and Lining to a room just outside of the dining room. It had a few couches and fancy knick-knacks, the usual things you would see in a posh pony's waiting room.

"Take a seat, and make yourselves at home." Lining said as Applebloom and Silver galloped over to the couch and took their seats. "We have so much to talk about..."

"Alright, Diamond. Since yer new to workin' on Sweet Apple Acres, ya'll are gonna get to buck the first tree ." Applejack said as she placed the buckets in the appropriate positions under the tree, so they would collect as many apples as possible once Diamond bucked them.

Diamond took a few steps toward the tree before freezing up a little. "Ah've never bucked a tree before." She calmly explained to Applejack before moving closer to the tree again. "And ah'm actually feeling a little nervous."

"If'n yer nervous, don't be. Ah'll show ya how to do it." Applejack got some free space, so she could demonstrate without taking down her own apples. "Just grab the ground with yer front hooves, kick yer back hooves up, and then put all yer strength into them as ya give a mighty applebuck."

"Ah think ah've got it now." Diamond said as she assumed the position, kicked her back hooves up, and smashed them into the tree behind them, causing it to rain apples into the baskets around the tree's base. "Lah'ke that?"

"Eeyup." Applejack said as she began to count the apples that fell in the baskets. "That should be at least one Bit fer yer trouble. But if ya want to, ya'll can buck more for more Bits."

"We'd be glad to, Applejack." Sweetie Belle said as Applejack went off to grab an apple cart, to collect the apples that Diamond had knocked down. "Come on, Diamond. The more trees you buck, the richer you'll get."

This got Diamond thinking. Who knew working on an apple farm could be so profitable? She actually cracked a smile as she walked over to the next buckable tree. Maybe the country style isn't that bad after all.

Sweetie Belle was next, she examined the trees and where the apples were and placed the buckets in the positions where they would collect the most apples. "This should get the most apples."

Sweetie then took up the applebucking stance, kicked up her back hooves, and then applied all the strength her hooves could muster. She had to do it harder to drop the apples, since she was a unicorn. But sure enough, the apples fell, with only a few apples falling onto the ground.

"Nice work, Sweetie." Diamond complimented as Sweetie began to count the apples that did make it into the buckets.

"Thanks, Diamond." Sweetie then turned her attention to the buckets full of apples. "Hmmm... I count at least 60 apples."

"That many?" Diamond's jaw had dropped, a sign of surprise. She knew that Sweet Apple Acres had a lot of apples, but she never expected that many per tree.

"Alright, Applejack can pick up this bunch, while we buck some more apples." Sweetie Belle said as she pointed towards even more apple trees.

"Hmmm, that's a heck of a lotta apple trees. Ya'll think ya can handle it?" Diamond asked as she examined all the trees in the distance.

"If we race each other, we could get down apples a lot faster, as well as have a little fun with it." Sweetie Belle suggested as she looked at all the trees again. "What do you say, Diamond? You wanna race?"

"Hmmm..... Yeah, let's give these trees a buckin' they'll never ferget!" Diamond now grinned, no longer faking excitement. She did like a good competition now and again, and Sweetie's Applebucking Race could give her some excitement during her hours of work..

"Alright then. We'll keep going until we finish at 2:30." Sweetie explained the rules, simple and sweet. "Whoever bucks the most trees and gets the most apples wins!"

"Okay then. Get ready, Sweetie. Three, two, one..." Diamond paused for effect, and to make it a little more exciting when they do go. "GO!!!!!"

As Applejack took the first apples, she saw Diamond and Sweetie racing around the field, bucking trees like no tomorrow, making sure that the buckets were in the right position. It was hard for her to make it out, but she saw the two fillies smiling, and eventually laughing excitedly.

"That Diamond Tiara makes a fantastic apple farmer." Applejack said as she moved the cart over to the second tree and picked all the apples in the buckets. "Ah might just have ta give her part-time job here once she gets a lil' older."

"Brunch is served, Mrs Lining." One of the butlers said as he walked through the far door from where Applebloom and Silver were talking. "Be sure to inform Applebloom and Silver as well."

"Don't worry, Topaz. We heard you the first time." Silver said as she turned to the butler at the door and addressed him politely.

"You know that guy?" Applebloom asked Silver the question in her posh accent.

"Why yes, Applebloom." Silver said nicely and calmly. "I have to know all of my butlers, so I can address and identify each and every one of them."

"Come now, Silver. Let's not keep your dinner waiting." Lining said as she made her way through the door, to a grand dining room, with Applebloom and Silver close behind her.

The dining room was just as magnificent as the rest of the house. A massive room with tall ceilings and lots of room for running around. In the room's center, was a long dining table, with chairs that had ridiculously high backs. There were at least 15 chairs, so if the Silvers had more company dining with them. Applebloom knew that Diamond would have had to have eaten in this dining room at least once.

"Come on, Applebloom. Pick your seat." Silver told her as she stretched her hoof out towards the many chairs situated around said table. Applebloom chose one of the middle chairs, Silver chose the end, one of her favourite spaces, and finally, Lining chose the other end, so she could keep an eye on the both of them.

"Trust me, Applebloom. You're going to love brunch with me and Mother." Silver said happily as the butlers came in with plates of food, the food itself was concealed with fancy silver tops with a handle on the top of each.

The butlers lifted the tops off at the same time, so that everypony didn't have to wait. Silver's dish had something that looked like spaghetti bolognese coated in cheese. Applebloom's dish look an awful lot like calamari, with a side of crab. And finally, Silver Lining had something that looked at lot like fried lobster.

"Silver, Might I ask why you're the only one who doesn't have seafood?" Applebloom asked as she saw Silver tucking into the spaghetti.

"Oh, I'm not that into seafood, to be honest." Silver said with a blush as she saw her mother ripping into the lobster and taking a bite out of the fleshy insides. "It just looks weird, in my opinion."

"Also, I tried getting her to eat seafood, but it turns out that she's allergic to it." Lining said to Applebloom in a gossipy way.

"Mum! You know how embarrassing it is to reveal my dietary needs to company!" Silver said, in a kind of scolding way that sounded very childish.

"Sorry, Silver. I just wanted to tell her." Lining looked at Applebloom as she took a bite of the fried tentacle. "I just hope that she's not allergic as well."

"Mmmmmm, this is great!" Applebloom cracked a smile as she chewed on the tentacle and swallowed the chunks. "Might I ask what's in this?"

"It's a very simple dish, calamari. It's roasted octopus." Lining happily explained as she continued to rip into her meal, as Silver did the same. "It's actually a lot more delicious that the ingredients make it out to be. Especially when you coat it in breadcrumbs."

Applebloom didn't even care that she was eating octopus, she was actually enjoying this. Who knew seafood tasted so delicious? Applebloom began to think again. If this is what the rich love ta eat, Ah might just end up living with Silver. Although, ah wonder, would Diamond find that alright?

She decided not to dwell on it, and instead decided to resume her brunch. Ripping into the crab now, cracking a smile as she chewed up the crab inside.

Applebloom is really making a convincing act. Silver thought as she continued devouring her spaghetti bolognese. Who knew how refined a pony could be under the initial appearance? She saw Applebloom wiping her mouth with a napkin in between bites. If she keeps this up, I'm gonna have a new best friend.

Diamond and Sweetie had bucked at least one quarter of the entire orchard once their race had concluded. And after taking a shot at one final tree, they fell to onto their backs, panting and gasping for breath. Once they got their breath back, they looked at each other and started to laugh.

"Who knew workin' on an apple farm could be so much fun?" Diamond said as she got to her hooves first, then helped Sweetie Belle up. "Ah never knew Applebloom had such a nice place ta call home."

"Yeah. It's such a sweet place she has here." Sweetie Belle said as she and Diamond looked down on the expansive fields full of trees. "And look. We bucked so many trees during that race, that Big Mac had to come in and help as well." Sweetie Belle pointed at Applejack and Big Mac picking up the apples that Sweetie and Diamond bucked during their race.

"Boy howdy, Diamond Tiara and Sweetie Belle did a mighty fine job dropping them apples." Applejack said as she scooped up another bucket and poured the apples into the cart. "Right, Big Mac?"

"Eeyup." Was all he could respond with as he took a multitude of buckets and emptied the contents into his applecart.

Diamond, while tired out, had a surprising urge to buck even more apple trees. She felt like she had so much more strength she wanted to let out. "Sweetie. ah don't really feel like stoppin' now." She said as she began galloping on the spot with enthusiasm. "Ya wanna buck a few more trees?"

Sweetie Belle wanted to say yes, but she felt like she was going to pass out. Applebucking to its' toll on unicorns and pegasi the most. "Sorry, Diamond. I just need a little rest is all. Just give me a few minutes."

"Alright then, you take a load off. Ah've got a heck of a lot more trees that ah wanna make mah mark on." Diamond galloped off happily, leaving a cloud of dust in her path.

"Man, Diamond's really having fun with this." Sweetie watched as Diamond bucked more and more trees, with an insatiable urge to buck them. "I guess Twilight was right, Don't knock something up until you try it."

Sweetie then got her strength back and rejoined Diamond. Together the two started bringing down apple after apple after apple. They knew that the more they bucked, the more Bits they would make. After they bucked ten trees, they were at another hill, which had even more trees at the bottom.

"Ya ready, Sweetie?" Diamond asked as she cracked a smile.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Diamond." Sweetie returned a smile.

The two fillies then looked down on the field of trees and let out their best war cries before galloping down to the field, where even more apple trees would be at their mercy.

Author's Note

Interesting stuff here. I initially had problems thinking about making up a fictional family for Silver. Especially since most of the other good fics I read did such good family stories.

But I hope you like what I decided to choose for the Silvers, and I hope you enjoy the rest of this fic as well as the rest of your day.

Furthermore, there's some questions that have been raised here. Why does Diamond want nothing more than to Applebuck? And what is this specific 'Refinement Session' that Silver Coin and Silver Spotlight are having? All will be answered next time.

Also, make sure to check out my Blog Posts by dropping comments on them. They could use some love as well.

Until next time, This is Shadowmane PX-41 wishing you all a nice day.

Refinement Session/Payday

Applebloom and Silver finished their lunch and washed it down with a nice glass of water. For some reason, this water tasted a little better than the water that Applebloom was acclimated to, but she didn't notice or mind for that matter. She downed the drink at a reasonable pace and wiped her mouth with the napkin again.

"Thank you, Mother." Silver said as she excused herself from the table and bowed to her mother. "Hopefully you'll extend our gratitude to the butlers."

"Of course, my darling Silver." Lining said as she nuzzled Silver gently and kindly, letting out a motherly chuckle as she did. "Oh, and if Applebloom is staying tonight, show her to her bed."

"Very well. Come on, Applebloom." Silver saw Applebloom getting up from the table, making sure not to mess anything on the table up in any way.

"On the way, can we meet your brother and sister?" Applebloom asked as she and Silver began to walk out of the dining hall. "I'm one for meeting new faces."

Silver looked at the clock on the wall. It read 1:25. "Sure, they've got another 35 minutes until their next Refinement Session, so I guess we could spare some time." Silver looked at Applebloom with a smile.

Silver lead Applebloom out of the dining hall and down a few corridors. A few of the doors were marked but the rest weren't. So Applebloom left the directions all down to Silver.

"This should be it." Silver said as she stopped outside of a special door. It was had a silver door frame and had double doors. The door was a little weird as well, as it had some childish stickers on it. Some of them for colts to view, and the others designed for fillies to enjoy. "Don't mind the stickers, it's a mild side effect of the Refinement Sessions."

Silver then knocked on the doors and then walked through them. Applebloom was once again surprised once she saw the room inside, it was no doubt designed for teenagers by the look of it. There were two beds, one pink, and the other gray.

There were also two other ponies inside the room, no doubt in their teen years. One of them was a unicorn who was playing a game on a TV. From the looks of it, it was shooting aliens until they dropped dead. He had a headset on so that it wasn't blaring. The pony himself had spiky white hair and a Cutie Mark with three silver coins on it.

The other pony, who was a pegasus, was no doubt a female as she was painting the tips of her hooves with a special kind of hoof polish. She two had headphones on, only these ones were connected to a tiny piece of metal. No doubt playing music in her ears. Her hair was poofy and magenta-coloured. Her Cutie Mark had a pony's silhouette in a kind of spotlight, no doubt singing something.

"Applebloom, Meet Silver Coin and Silver Spotlight." Silver said as she pointed the two ponies out. "No doubt Spotlight will see you first, since hoof polishing is shorter than playing a round of Call of Pony Ghosts: Extinction." Silver's logic came into play here. "It usually takes Coin at least an hour to even survive the thing."

"DAMN SEEDERS!!!" Coin yelled into the headset as his character got blitzed by aliens with big yellow sacs on its' back. "Why don't you just take your damn turrets and get out of here!"

"Yeah, he does that a lot. All teenage colts do." Silver said quickly, so that Applebloom wouldn't be intimidated by Coin.

"Oh, Silver. Who's your friend?" Spotlight said as she finished up her last hoof and took of the headphones to talk to her.

"Oh yes." Silver got Applebloom's attention by tapping her shoulder gently. "Applebloom, I want you to meet my big sister, Silver Spotlight."

"Nice to meet you, Silver Spotlight." Applebloom shook hooves with her. "I am Applebloom, one of Silver's acquaintances."

"So, you're gonna be Diamond's replacement?" Spotlight asked.

"Yeah, only for the week though." Applebloom said, reflecting on the time period she announced this morning. Ah should have made it this MONTH. She thought to herself. Oh well, live and learn as they say.

"I see, I just hope you're kinder and more understanding then her." Spotlight said as she threw herself back into her bed. "Diamond Tiara is such a bossy little brat most of the time. I'm surprised Spoony here hasn't broken up with her yet."

"Sis. You know how embarrassed I get when you call me that when company's around." Silver blushed again as Spotlight pulled her into a tight hug.

"DAMNIT!!!" Coin threw his controller into the ground and pulled off his headset. From the looks of it, his character and his allies had been K.I.A. For the umpteenth time. "That's the 3rd time today that's happened! Damn Cryptids!!!"

"What is it about Diamond Tiara that makes you hate her so much?" Applebloom asked the two teens once Coin had calmed down a little and walked over to his sisters.

"Well, she thinks she's the higher power because her father is a little more wealthier than ours." Coin began to explain. "All rich ponies are equal in our eyes, besides Diamond Tiara. She's let the power go to her head in our opinion."

"She claims that her family is the only one that should be rich at all." Spotlight decided to continue now. "That would be so unfair, just to have one family bring in all the bits, leaving the others deep into the dirt, scrounging for jobs and scraps."

"And, the last time Diamond Tiara came over, she cut the power as I was about to win, JUST TO CALL US DOWN FOR DINNER!!!!!" Coin's rage returned as he remembered the filly's evil glare as she fiddled with the power box. "Diamond shouldn't even have a family in my opinion."

"Strange as it would sound from my calm behaviour, I agree with you both." Applebloom said, making sure not to lose her act here. "For some reason, she usually targets me, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Even though we never did anything to her."

"Interesting." Coin said as he brought a hoof to his chin and sat up on Spotlight's bed. "Can you give us a few examples of Diamond's cruelty? We wanna know what Diamond's been up to away from us."

"Where do I begin?" And with those words, Applebloom began to list every single time that Diamond was a pain in the flank for them. and by every single time, she really meant EVERY single time in the history of her time with her.

"My my, Sweetie. Ya really gave those trees a run fer their apples." Diamond said as she looked at all the barren trees they had bucked together. "How da ya feel?"

"I feel like I bucked the entire orchard." Sweetie was gasping for breath now as she was struggling to lift herself off of the grass after her bucking spree.

"Ta be exact, Sweetie. We bucked HALF a' the orchard." Diamond bucked two more trees with her legs, dropping more and more apples. "Make that a half and two trees."

"That's a lot of trees, I'm not gonna lie." Sweetie said as Applejack and Big Mac finally caught up with the two fillies.

"It sure is, Sweetie." Applejack, who looked like she ran a marathon, was picking up the last of the felled apples. "Ya'll must be pretty hungry after that lil' buckfest. Head on back ta the barn, and we'll see what we can do fer yer hungry bellies."

"Sure, we might as well clock out anyway." Sweetie looked at her children's watch. "It's 2:30 anyways."

"Oh yeah, by the way, don't we get paid fer buckin apples lahke this?" Diamond asked as she followed her company back to the barn.

"Eeyup." Came from Big Mac, instantly and quickly answering Diamond's question.

"But first, ya'll look like ya need a bite ta eat." Applejack said as the company walked through another cluster of trees.

"Sweetie, are ya okay?" Diamond decided to ask. "It looks lahke someone pounded yer legs over and over again with a hammer.

"I'll be fine." Sweetie's hooves were bruised, but she still managed to walk if off, with little winces of pain here and there. "I'm sure Twilight or Zecora can fix me up."

Diamond saw Sweetie starting to struggle with a hill, and time and time again, she saw Sweetie tumbling down to the bottom due to the pain she felt in her hooves. "Ya need some help now?"

"Sure." Sweetie said in a pained voice as Diamond picked her up and placed Sweetie on her back. "Doesn't this hurt, or at least feel heavy to you?"

"Nah, ah deal with heavy lifts all the tahme, all Earth Ponies do." Diamond carried Sweetie all the way back to the farm.

"We're here." Applejack said to the two fillies as she stopped at the barn again and opened the doors. "Just head on inside and we'd be happy ta get ya something ta eat. On the house for all family members and/or hard workers."

"Thanks, Applejack." Diamond said as she walked in, and helped Sweetie to her hooves, making sure to let her down gently, so as not to agitate the bruise again.

Diamond's a lot more caring now. Sweetie Belle thought to herself as Diamond took her seat. And she seems to like it so far. I guess all farmponies feel this way when surrounded by company.

I'm not sure how it did it, but it did. Working on an apple farm is actually... Fun. Diamond thought to herself now, as Sweetie took her seat and let the apples whip up an apple-based feast. I'm still not sure why Applebloom doesn't farm as much. Oh well, it's a mystery for another day, I guess.

"Oh wow." Spotlight and Coin sympathized for Applebloom after she finally finished her list. "Who knew one filly could be pure evil if you gave it a wealthy family?"

"Well, it all happened, and I remember it all like it was yesterday." Applebloom now remembered it all by picturing it in her head. "We were minding our own business, just trying our best with our things, then all of a sudden, Diamond comes in and has to either wreck our fun, pressurize us, or just decide to challenge."

"Well, I'm sure my darling Spoony would never sink that low, right Spoony?" Spotlight asked her little sister with wide eyes.

"To tell you the truth, Diamond has been forcing me into aiding her for months now." Silver hung her head. "But all the times I try to break up with her, she always cuts me off or the Cutie Mark Crusaders come round."

"Oh, Spoony. I can't believe you would even be associated with someone that cruel." Spotlight frowned at her with a really disappointed tone in her voice. "I think it's time for Silver to get a little break from the riches."

"And I know just how to do it." Coin said with a smile on his face as he carried Silver through the air with his magic. "Silver, I think it's high time you started your Refinement Sessions now." He opened a door with his hoof and levitated Silver through it, Spotlight and Applebloom walked through the door behind Coin and his little sister.

"I heard Silver saying something about that earlier, but I never got an explanation." Applebloom said to the two teens as they carried Silver over to a nearby door next to Coin's TV. "What is a Refinement Session?"

"It's basically a special method that Mum and Dad came up with, after they got a special machine from a very generous pony." Coin said as he set Silver down on a mat and turned back to Applebloom.

"We'll actually show you our Refinement Session, seeing as there is a viewing platform above it." Spotlight said as she showed a staircase next to a row of tight together, multi-coloured streamers.

"But I warn you, you may or may not like what you see, but you will be surprised by it." Coin decided to warn Applebloom before she climbed up the stairs. "We'll see you in an hour, Applebloom. Come on, Silver Spoon."

Applebloom climbed the stairs after the three Silvers went through the streamers. First, Coin, followed by Spotlight, and then followed by Spoon.

"I myself have never actually seen a Refinement Session." Silver said to her brother and sister once she stopped in place on a weirdly coloured spot. "I'm actually a little nervous by this."

"Trust me, Silver. If Diamond has given you ideas, this should clear you up a little." Spotlight said as she took her space on another spot that was similar to Silver's. "And who knows, maybe you'll want to keep coming back after it's done."

"Now, Spoon, when the machine starts up, close your eyes and let go of yourself." Coin took the final spot. "It's for your own safety, and to make sure to memory eraser isn't permanent."

"Memory eraser?" Silver said to herself. "What is this machine capable o-" Silver was cut off by a blinding light and the spots beginning to glow.

"Here it comes, Spoony! Get ready!" Spotlight gave Silver the heads-up as a powerful humming sound started up and was getting louder and louder.

"What is this thing?" Silver asked as her eyes were shut.

"It's a little hard to explain, especially at this phase of the process. Just let go of reality and envision yourself as a newborn foal, the machine will take care of the rest." Coin said as he and Spotlight were lifted off of the ground by a powerful electromagnetic force.

Silver decided not to question her teenage brother and sister, they had done this countless times and knew what they were talking about. She let her mind become clouded by foalish thoughts and desires. Sure enough, she too was lifted off of the ground by the same electromagnetic force.

Suddenly, there was a deafening noise, kind of like an explosion. Then, Silver, Spotlight, and Coin were enveloped in a powerful magical field, the magic digging into their flesh and minds like a hailstorm of daggers. While Coin and Spotlight felt content by this, Silver felt like someone was ripping her to shreds. She held her screams back and kept on thinking about foaldom.

Then, all of a sudden, Silver, Coin and Spotlight were thrown upwards by the same force, climbing into a rainbow light, their hair flapping all over the place. Silver let out a light scream before it was silenced by the roaring of the light. The light blinded the three of them, even with their eyes shut. Their heads became light-headed as they turned into digital pixels, pixels which then got assimilated into a computerized glow.

Applebloom was watching the whole thing on a monitor, she saw what was happening to the three Silvers. Then they went pixel and the screen changed. As the screen switched from the light to something else, three giant scientific tubes, filled with a clear blue liquid appeared behind her, each one housing one of the Silvers.

Coin was on the left, Spotlight was on the right, and in the middle of the two tubes, was Silver herself. They were all hooked up by some scientific apparatus, which Applebloom assumed was a life support machine. "This is a Refinement Session?" Applebloom thought to herself, "Doesn't look very fun when you witness it first hand."

Suddenly, Applebloom turned her head and saw a very strange sight. On the TV's screen, was Silver, Coin and Spotlight. From the looks of the screen, the process had turned them into foals. Applebloom was quite confused even more by this. "How are they doing that?" She asked one of the butlers.

"Ah, you see, Mrs Lining purchased a very high-tech machine from a Japonese vendor." The butler gladly explained. "It's the only one of its' kind, as far as we know. It allows ponies to leave their physical bodies and experience foaldom for an hour at a time." He pointed to a massive digital clock which read 1:00:00 and was starting to count down.

"It also enables us to clean through their physical brains and painlessly remove any negative thoughts and bad influences from their minds and memories." Another butler continued with their explanation as she tapped a few buttons on the consoles of the tubes, causing some scientific data to appear. "Once they wake up, their bad intentions and negative influences will be long gone."

"So, does that mean, Silver Spoon is gonna forget about Diamond Tiara?" Applebloom asked, with a little bit of concern in her head.

"Who?" the male butler clearly hadn't met Diamond.

"Miss Diamond Dazzle Tiara, the younger daughter of Mr Rich, one of Master Stardust's business partners." The female butler explained to the male.

"Oh, THAT Diamond Tiara." He said in a realizing tone. "If that is the cause of Miss Spoon's negativity, we'd be more than happy to remove it for her." The male butler tapped the screen on Silver's console a few times, opening up a folder bank. He then tapped on the classmates folder, selected Diamond Tiara, and dragged it over to the bin-shaped icon. The picture disappeared from sight once he let his hoof return. Then he tapped the bin again to empty it, and thus remove Diamond from Silver's memory.

Goodbye, Diamond Tiara. Applebloom thought in her head in a very malicious tone. She then turned her attention to the screen where the three Silvers were playing with Silver Lining, who shared a smile as she did. "If I could ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead." The female butler replied to Applebloom. "What do you want to ask?"

"Are they really foals?" Applebloom was concerned, and was beginning to wonder if that was a cloning device for the three ponies.

"No, their minds are wandering a digital dimension. What you see on the screen isn't real, but to their minds, it is." The male butler decided to explain this time. "Everything you are seeing, besides Master Coin, Madam Spotlight, and Miss Spoon, is all a digital mirage."

"So, they believe they really are foals playing in a nursery, with a kind mother to care for them?" Applebloom needed final confirmation that it was the truth.

"Exactly, but in actuality, they're lost in a computer world, their grown-up minds locked away in their physical bodies, and given foal minds as a temporary replacement." The female butler finally finished up the explanation.

"You now have three choices to make." Said the male as he walked proceeded with the other consoles, removing bad influences and negativity. "A, you can join them yourselves. B, you can sit on the side and watch them playing. C, you can roam around the manor a little more, see what there is to see."

"Thank you for your time, uhhmmm... Help me out here would you?" Applebloom wanted their names now.

"I'm Crystalline." The female said. "Crystalline Shard."

"And I am Master Right." The male said now. "Master Right Hoof to be precise."

"Well, Crystalline, Right. It was nice to meet you, but I guess I should get my bearing on the mansion a little more." Applebloom walked back down the stairs, out of the teenagers room, and back into the manor. Where she was a free-roaming filly who could do whatever she wanted for the next hour.

"Now then, after mathematical calculations, number of apples over tahme it took. Ah reckon that's a good ten bits each fer yer troubles." Granny Smith hoofed Diamond and Sweetie the money they had earned. "Don't spend it all on candy ya hear?"

"We'll take good care of the money, Granny Smith." Sweetie Belle said as she took her fair share of the bits. "It was nice to work with the Apples.

"A pleasure ta have ya onboard fer the day." Applejack said as she placed some apple fritters into paper bags and hoofed them to Diamond and Sweetie. "Take these as well, just in case ya get hungry on yer way ta Rarity's."

"Thanks, Applejack. Ah look forward ta stuffing mah face full of these here things." Diamond said as she and Sweetie began to walk to Rarity's shop for the night. Never thought I'd be saying that in my life.

Diamond and Sweetie then walked back to Carousel Boutique for the night. All the while sharing stories that interested the other.

"And then Button screamed as I leapt out at him right from under his nose. It was hilarious." Sweetie said to Diamond, sharing a story about Button Mash no doubt. "He's so cute when he gets surprised."

"So, how often do ya like ta ambush Button?" Diamond asked as she walked through the grass, not even caring about the cleanness of her hooves anymore.

"I usually try to find him on the maps, but he's good at hiding away like the mole he is." Sweetie explained as she took a seat on the nearby bench. "It's like he's played those games forever."

"Don't get me wrong on this, but ah think Button's Cutie Mark is gonna be related ta video games in some way." Diamond predicted to Sweetie. "He spends most a' his time on the durn things."

"Yeah." Sweetie Belle hung her head a little. "I just wish he'd come out of his shell and meet the other ponies in Ponyville a little more."

"So. Sweetie, ya ever wonder why work is so fun?" Diamond decided to ask. "Ah mean, ah know ya work fer yer sister, Rarity, but why?"

"Let me let you into a secret of mine." Sweetie Belle said to Diamond as she leapt back down and placed a hoof around Diamond's shoulder. "I usually hate working for Rarity."

"Really?" Diamond was surprised, she always used to think that little sisters took after their big sisters, but until today, she didn't know that wasn't the cast in the slightest. "Then why do you choose to work for her anyways?"

"When I usually have to do unbearable work, I usually make a fun little game out of it." Sweetie explained to Diamond as they neared the boutique. "It not only makes me excited, but it makes me really focused on the task at hand."

"Okay, Sweetie. Ah get what yer trying ta say now." Diamond said as she knocked on the door of Carousel Boutique. "Making games out of anything makes it fun AND bearable."

"Yep, that's the general gist of it." The door opened and Rarity greeted the two fillies and lead them inside.

"So, how was your day at Sweet Apple Acres?" Rarity decided to ask as she led Diamond up to Sweetie's room.

"It was a mighty fine applebucking day fer me." Diamond said as she looked back on Sweetie Belle. "But it took its' toll on poor Sweetie Belle here, ah thought she'd break her legs if she kept on bucking the trees."

"I know how you feel, Diamond. All unicorns and pegasi have problems with bucking with sheer force." Rarity sympathized as she examined Sweetie's bruises. "Usually they can levitate the apples down, or fly up to grab them. But after Applejack enforced that Bucking Only law, it's been harder for us to farm apples without feeling pain."

"Applejack really wants to do it the old-fashioned way, doesn't she?" Sweetie was let out of Rarity's hold and set back onto the ground.

"I know, right. It's like she wants to turn the town into brutishly strong ponies." Rarity spoke in a gossipy style to her younger sister. "Personally, Applejack thinks the ponies of Ponyville need a full workout every week."

"While ah am interested in all this gossipy stuff, ah really need ta see where ah'm sleeping fer the night." Diamond said as the three ponies stopped at the door.

"Right, personally, I'd never let fillies or colts sleep with me, so you'll be sleeping with Sweetie Belle for the week." Rarity opened the door to Sweetie's room. There was a bed, big enough for two ponies by the looks of it. It had a complete satin set, satin sheets, satin pillows, and for supreme softness, satin duvet.

"Welcome to Casa Del Sweetie Belle, oh I'm a poet and didn't know it." Sweetie Belle chuckled on the little rhyme she made then walked over to her bed. "I hope your stay here with me is an enjoyable one."

"I trust it will be." Rarity gave her feedback to Diamond in the hope that she would enjoy sleeping with Sweetie. "I'll leave you two alone now. Welcome to our house, Diamond. I hope you enjoy our company." Rarity then closed the door and walked downstairs, to let the fillies be themselves.

Author's Note

I once again had problems on what to make the Refinement Session mean. Eventually, I gave up and decided to make Refinement Sessions focused on temporary Age-Regression. I'll try not to make these sessions part of the plot in the near future of this story.

But if you'd like to see them as a side story, make sure to comment on the authorization, otherwise, this will probably be the only chapter you see with these sessions.

But nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and make sure to Rate, Comment, Like and Follow. And be sure to slap on a favourite so you can keep up with each chapter as it comes out. Keep giving this story love, and I'll be as active as I possibly can.

Now, on another note. This'll probably be the last chapter I push out for the next 2 weeks. Tomorrow, I board a cruise ship travelling Northern Europe for 2 weeks, and no doubt I'll be having too much fun to update a story. But I'll be sure to do something once I get back, 2 Saturdays after this one.

Until next time guys, this is Shadowmane PX-41, signing off.

Free Time/Sleepover

Since Silver wasn't here to keep a close eye on Applebloom, she took in a deep breath as she walked down the halls. "Man, that there posh accent can really start ta take it's toll on ya after a few hours."

Applebloom walked down the corridors to her destination, making sure that she kept up her act when she passed the butlers and Silver Lining.

"So, what ta do fer the next 55 minutes?" She pondered to herself for a while. "Maybe ah can get a massage from the family's spa. Or maybe go fer a dip in the pool out back."

Applebloom had so many options, she eventually had to whittle it down to a game of logic. "On one hoof, the Spa would keep me relaxed about all this. But on the other hoof, ah really need ta have a little fun before this thing ends."

"Actually, ah could use a little swim." She said as she suddenly noticed the heated temperatures taking its' toll on her. "The pool it is then."

Applebloom wandered the mansion in an attempt to find the pool, but all she seemed to do was wander around in circles. She tried a few doors and then gave up. She had to resort to asking a butler for directions in the end.

She was given the instructions to head back in the direction she had just come from, then take a left at the split at the end of the corridor. She quickly followed these instructions and found the sight she had been looking for.

A nice swimming pool with shining water. It was heated due to the underground water heating, and she could feel the nice water on her hoof as she dipped it into the water.

"Ah'm sure Silver won't mind me havin' a dip in the pool while she's being refined." Applebloom smiled and walked over to the nearby diving board. She stood on the edge, which lightly drooped towards the pool. She then leapt from the board, causing it to snap back up to its' original position, she landed into the pool with a splash and began to swim from there.

Diamond and Sweetie on the other hand were sharing some juicy stories with each other, all the while, laughing like the children they were. Since Diamond knew that Silver was going to be doing the same with Applebloom, she might as well let out her side of the secrets to Sweetie Belle.

"So, I heard from Featherweight, that Pipsqueak has to have mandated tea parties, prior to his family's traditions." Sweetie spoke the first story to Diamond. "Talk about embarrasing mixed with overkill."

"Oh, yeah. Ah just hope fer his sake he doesn't explode from all the girliness." this line caused both the fillies to chuckle some more. "I just hope he doesn't have to be forced into wearing..." She snickered a bit. "Pink!"

"Hahahahahahahahaha. Oh, Diamond, after getting some time with your other side, I see you're not a bad pony after all." Sweetie had every right to think Diamond was good now, they were just two innocent fillies engaged in filly gossip. "Pink, haha. That's classic."

"Yeah, but he's not the only pony in class that's hiding a secret." Diamond pulled Sweetie in so that she could whisper something into her ear.

Once Diamond had finished, Sweetie was left with a stunned expression. "No way! She really feels that way?"

"Oh yeah, at least from what Candy had ta tell me." She smirked a little before clearing her throat. "But don't make a big enough sence about it. The last time gossip like this got out, things didn't go so well fer all of us."

"Believe me, I know." Sweetie did not even want to think about the Gabbi Gums Fiasco ever again. "Let's just move on to something else, okay?"

"Sure, ah could use a break from running mah mouth." Diamond said as she and Sweetie Belle went downstairs to get something to eat and drink.

Back at Silver's house, Applebloom was just about to finish her session in the pool. She only had 5 minutes left until Silver came out of her Refinement Session, and she needed to make sure she looked like nothing happened.

She clambered out of the pool and used one of the many towels to wipe herself dry. She also did the same with her wet mane and tail, so that it didn't stick out like a sore thumb. After that was done, she restyled her mane how Silver did it to her, and made her way back to Silver once she was done.

Once the session was over, the television screen turned off, and some green lights inside the life support systems turned on. Once they did, the cables detached from Silver, Coin, and Spotlight, and the water quickly drained away as well. In seconds, the three were awake in empty pipes.

"Afternoon, Silver. Did you have a nice Refinement?" Applebloom asked once she saw the three Silver siblings walk back into the bedroom where they had entered the session room from.

"Yeah, although it did seem a little rough once it began, it quickly calmed down after a while." She said to explain it.

"Well, I thought it was lots of fun." Spotlight chuckled. "Once you spend two or more sessions as a digital foal, you start to have a lot of fun with it.

"She's right, you know, Spoony. You do get accustomed to it after a few sessions." Coin followed up on her sister's words of approval.

"So, what did you do whilst we were being refined?" Silver asked Applebloom with a curious look in her eyes. She could tell that Applebloom had done something, and she was intent on knowing what it was.

"Well, I got my bearing on the house a little more, grabbed a bite to eat, and had a friendly chat with your mom." Lied Applebloom, she didn't want to tell her that she'd been swimming.

"Applebloom, come on now. Anything done in this house is acceptable by the rules of the dare." Silver could tell Applebloom had been lying now, and so she told her to tell the truth. "Now come on, what did you actually do?"

"If you must know, I went swimming in your pool." Applebloom spilled the beans, she couldn't lie with Silver breathing down her neck either.

"Yeah, that's one way to kill time here." Silver smiled and walked Applebloom out of Coin and Spotlight's bedroom. "Hey, I know one other way to kill time here, you want to know?"

"Sure. I could use something to keep us occupied for a while." Applebloom walked behind Silver as she led her to the another room in the house.

"So, Silver. What do you have in store for us?" Applebloom asked as Silver stopped at a door she hadn't seen yet in Silver's house. This new door was grey and had bubbles dotted all over the door itself."

"This room was added a few months after Babs went back to Manehatten to expand the Cutie Mark Crusader's influence." Silver began to explain to Applebloom so that she knew when this place came into the house. "It took some time to get the machine in here fully operational."

"Wait, machine?" Applebloom was curious, she didn't know that the Silvers had yet another machine in their house. When Silver opened the door to see what was inside, Applebloom's jaw dropped.

The room inside was much deeper than the rest of the house, but it all seemed to be babyproofed for some reason. She then saw at the bottom of the room, was a giant ring dipping into a pool around a target area.

Once the ring dipped into the pool, it then went back up to where it was initially. A bubble appeared around the the area around the pool. It was a machine for ponies to fly and play in giant bubbles. So that's why the area was babyproofed, to make sure the bubble wouldn't pop in mid-flight, and even if it did, the impact would be absorbed by the crash mats dotted around the room.

"So, what do you think, Applebloom?" Silver waited for Applebloom's thoughts on this new room presented to her.

"I... I never thought a thing like this was possible." Applebloom was at a loss for words here. She nor any of the other Apples had ever seen a room like this before.

"That's exactly what most people say upon seeing this room." Silver led Applebloom down the winding stairs to make it to the pool and the area in the middle. "Funny story, when Diamond Tiara stayed around last time, she said exactly the same thing."

"Hang on. No offense, but shouldn't the Refinement Session have made you forget about Diamond?" Applebloom asked.

"It's meant to remove negative feelings and bad memories." Silver finally gave a full explanation. "It means that all I remember about Diamond now is good memories, such as her sleeping over here and seeing what there was to see."

"Oh, okay." Applebloom quickly pieced the logical explanation in her mind. The machine is meant to remove evil memories and bad experiences. Logically, this now meant that Silver had no memory that Diamond was a cold-hearted jerk-ette before this happened.

"So, Applebloom. You want to go together? Or in two separate bubbles?" Silver popped the question for her.

"I'm thinking separately this time." Applebloom said. She wanted to play it safe and avoid any pain with Silver, should the two collide in the same bubble. "We could go together another time."

"Alright then." Silver stood on the platform in the middle of the pool of bubble suds, and watched as the ring dipped into the pool and then rose again, encasing Silver in a giant bubble. She was lifted up into the air and started sliding around the slippery bubble once she was elevated. "Come on up, Applebloom, it's fun."

"Alright then, I'm coming." Applebloom too stood on the platform, and she was lifted up by another bubble. She tried her best to stand up inside once she was airborne, but the inside of a bubble was much more slippery than she had anticipated, and she found herself sliding all around the bubble instead of standing up for a few seconds at a time. "I'll say one thing, Silver. It's hard to stay up in this bubble."

"Don't worry, Applebloom. Nopony's been able to stand up perfectly inside a bubble without slipping and sliding all over the place, not even Diamond could keep up for at least a second." Silver got Applebloom's hopes up so that failing to stand up wouldn't embarrass her. "Don't let it get you down. Now let's play!"

"But how do I play INSIDE a bubble?" Applebloom asked.

"Simple, just push it around with whatever momentum you can muster." Silver demonstrated as she moved her bubble towards hers, causing the two to bump, but not burst.

"Oh, okay." Applebloom said as she pushed the bubble around, laughing as she fell over multiple times over. "This should be a lot of fun."

"Tag!" Silver said as she bumped bubbles with Applebloom again. "Come on, Applebloom. Try and catch me!" She giggled.

"Oh, alright, Silver. I hope you know how to fly." She too laughed as she began to give chase to Silver, falling over and giggling all the while. She wasn't bothered by falling over again and again anymore. As long as she was happy, it didn't matter anymore. "Tag!"

"So, Sweetie. How are you and Diamond here coming along?" Rarity decided to ask as she brought up some filly snacks for them.

"Oh, we're doing fine up here, sis!" She said as the two were having their hooves shined by each other. "Diamond's a really hospitable guest once you get underneath the thick skin."

"Well, that's good to know." Rarity set down the snacks on a nearby table for the two fillies to fill their faces. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything, girls." She said as she closed the door and walked back downstairs to attend to some more dress orders.

"So, how often does yer sister make you wear her newest dresses?" Diamond decided to ask as she leaned in towards Sweetie.

"Honestly, since Rarity is usually out saving Equestria with her friends, I'm usually free from her grip most of the time." Sweetie Belle explained clearly. "The only times Rarity asks me to wear some of her new dresses is when it's of DIRE importance." She said, mocking Rarity's accent at the end of it.

"Ya'll said something about Rarity savin' Equestria a while back." Diamond was interested to know more by this. "What has she done ta save us?"

"It's not just her." Sweetie responded. "It's all of her friends. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, even Princess Twilight. It's as if those 6 were chosen by fate or something."

"So, what incredible feats have the 6 o' them pulled off together?" Diamond asked.

"Well, there was the whole Nightmare Moon incident when Twilight moved here." Sweetie listed out one of them.

"What that that crazy madmare who was intent on bringin' eternal darkness ta all o' Ponyville?"

"Oh yeah, that's her."

"Interesting..." Diamond did in fact remember that day (or should I say night?) very well indeed. She'd never have guessed that Twilight and her friends would have stopped that. "Any other events she and her friends did ta save us?"

"Remember when Discord was released?"

"Oh, him." Diamond grimaced at the thought of Discord's reign in Ponyville. "I just remember him laying a finger on me, then the rest was all black and fuzzy. The next thing ah knew, my tongue had tasted mud fer some reason."

"It took Twilight some real thinking to break her friends out of Discord's influence in the end." Sweetie Belle said, following up the first half of their story.

"Ah definitely remember the events going down at Cadence's wedding." Diamond then said. "There were these weird black bugs that showed up during the I Do segment."

"Those were Changelings." Sweetie said. "Honestly, once they started invading, me, Applebloom and Scootaloo just decided to take shelter underground. We barely survived being attacked under there as well."

"What about the Crystal Empire? Did Twilight save the ponies there as well?" Diamond asked.

"Yes and no." Sweetie said. "From what Rarity told me, Twilight got ensnared in one of Sombra's traps, leaving Spike to deliver the crippling blow to him in the end."

"Anything more recent?" Diamond asked. "Oops, ah think ah just answered mah own question there."

"If you're talking about Lord Tirek, you'd be right in every way." Sweetie was piecing together the events well. "There were massive tremors during the fight between him and Twilight. They nearly took down my house, it was that intense."

"So, he had the power ta take anypony's Cutie Mark as well?" Diamond asked in a concerned voice.

"That's true. He'd have drained everything from everypony in his path, reducing them to nothing more than dead weight blank flanks." Sweetie said. "You'd have been faint with lifelessness if he'd found you. Silver Spoon would also have suffered the same fate if her had found her on that day."

"Let's just change the subject for now." Diamond said, in a feared tone now. "I want to be happy when I go to sleep, the past is in the past now."

"Good idea." Sweetie Belle said as she thought of a new topic to talk about in her head. "How's your taste in hairclips?" She said as she pulled out an entire box of hairclips, each one a different design to the last.

"Applebloom. I've never had so much fun with you before tonight." Silver laughed as the two bubbles finally landed on the ground and popped, so that the two posh fillies were back on solid ground again. "I'm glad you brought up this dare."

"I'm happy too." Applebloom said as the two walked back upstairs to the corridor to get some time back in the mansion. "We should do this again some other time."

Silver then took notice of the time after she shut the door. "Jeez, look at the time. I should be in bed by now."

"You sleep at 9:30 as well?" Applebloom said as she too saw the time on the clock. It clearly read 9:30 PM. "What a coincidence."

"Come on, Applebloom, let's both get some shuteye for the night." Silver lead Applebloom to her bedroom. "We've got a long day of school ahead of us tomorrow."

Silver eventually showed Applebloom to quite a big bedroom for a filly like Silver Spoon. There was enough room here for at least two extra ponies to sleep in here. "Excuse the expansive size of this room. Mum and Dad were hoping to get triplets when they were pregnant with me."

"It is quite an expansive room." Applebloom said as she looked around the rest of it. She saw that one area was still designed for a newborn foal. "And I can see that your parents haven't completely modified it to your tastes."

"Yeah, about that..." Silver blushed a little bit. "I actually quite like having it around. It helps me to reflect on my early days." She smiled a guilty smile. "That, and Mum's not going to modify that part until she does get another foal, which she might do soon. She's been a month pregnant since this dare started."

"So, I guess I'll sleep in this other bed tonight?" Applebloom pointed at the one other bed in Silver's room.

"Nah, that's usually where Diamond would sleep." Silver said as she trotted over and smelled the bed. "Yep, Diamond's musk is still there, she'd go mad if she found out you slept in her territory."

"So where do I sleep?" Applebloom was curious now, she wouldn't fit in the crib in the corner anymore, she knew that Diamond would go crazy if she slept in the other free bed, so what was she to do?"

"Don't worry, Applebloom. You can sleep with me for the week." Silver said as picked up the sheets and rolled over onto the far side of her bed. Applebloom laid down on the other side of the bed and Silver put the sheets down over the both of them. "I just hope you don't like me tossing and turning in my sleep."

"I'll be fine. I tossed and turned in bed anyways." Applebloom said as she snuggled into the bed. She yawned before she pulled the sheets over her, so that they were covering both the fillies. "I'll see you in the morning, Silver."

"You too, Applebloom." Silver yawned before closing her eyes and dozing off to sleep as well.

Silver Lining came into the bedroom ten minutes after the fillies were deep in their sleep. She smiled and flew over to the two sleeping fillies. She merely smiled and kissed their foreheads gently before flying back to the door and turned the light off. After the light was off, she shut the door gently, so as not to wake them. She then put a hanger on the door reading "Sleeping Like Foals, Do Not Disturb." before flying down the corridor to do the rest of her jobs for the night.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, the Padded Ponies and Adult Foals compatible fics I had needed some work as well.

So, Silver guiltily likes having a foalish part of her room for some reason.

Meanwhile, Sweetie and Diamond will be playing with the many hairclips that Sweetie just happens to collect. I wonder what they're gonna look like when they go to school tomorrow.

I hope to get the next part out soon, but I have to run the Sports Day at my school tomorrow, so that might consume my time a little. I might push out another chapter as soon as possible, if you're lucky.

But until then, this is Shadowmane PX-41 wishing you a very nice day/good night.

Also, be sure to check out my Youtube Channel as well. My videos need some love as well. I'll leave the link here for you: https://www.youtube.com/user/blackphoenix9000

Showing Off Their New Styles

Applebloom and Diamond Tiara reunited for their first day of school as their new personas. They were feeling nervous as they approached the doors, mainly on how the other kids would react to seeing them. However, Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle reassured the two that nothing bad would happen to them.

"Well," Applebloom said as she placed a hoof on the door and pushed it open. "Here goes nothing..."

When the door was opened, the two were greeted by an entire class of ponies, who just sat there thinking of a response to Diamond and Applebloom's new styles. Eventually the silence was broken with somepony laughing at them.

"Did you two wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" The voice said, in a mocking tone towards Diamond and Applebloom.

Eventually the rest of the class decided to join in, singing songs of torment and mockery, some even calling Applebloom a 'Blank Flank'. Diamond would have been smiling at Applebloom's torment, if it weren't for the fact that she was getting mocked and scorned as well.

"Looks like this is one diamond which ended up in the rough!" Another voice laughed at Diamond Tiara. "Talk about reversal of fortune!" This voice was Scootaloo's, she had been longing to take revenge on Diamond Tiara for ages now, and seeing her in an embarrassing cowgirl get-up was exactly the trigger that Scootaloo needed.

Silver looked at the laughing ponies with a blank expression, until she looked down at her hooves. This can't go on any longer. She thought to herself. It's time to defend my client's temporary honour.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! CAN IT, YOU INSIGNIFICANT IDIOTS!!!" Silver whipped her head up violently and roared at the class at the top of her voice. The fury in her voice was undeniable, Silver was angry at the class for taunting her client. "YOU'VE HAD YOUR LAUGHS FOR TODAY, BUT NOW THE TIME FOR JOKING IS OVER!!!"

This caused the class to stop completely, their laughter replaced with pure fear. Silver was no pushover, even after all the time she had spent as Diamond's lapdog.

"Alright then, you two. Let's take our seats." Silver's voice was calm now as she turned towards Applebloom and Diamond. "We don't want anymore insipid comments from these buffoons."

"Silver, before we sit, I must know. Why did you defend us like that?" Applebloom asked as she placed a hoof on her chin.

"Because, it's our duty as Role Switchers to make sure your experience with another side is as enjoyable as possible." Silver then pulled out a document from her saddlebag. "That, and your contract states we can take decisive action when somepony teases you for this debacle."

"Ya made a contract fer Applebloom?" Diamond saw the contract closer as Silver pulled out a copy of the contract and hoofed it to Sweetie Belle, who stuffed it in her saddlebag.

"Not just for Applebloom, she made one for you too, Diamond." Sweetie said as she walked Diamond to her seat. "We want to make completely sure that nopony gets under your skin whilst you're walking in the other's horseshoes."

"Thanks, Sweetie." Diamond smiled as she saw Applebloom and Silver take their seats in the class. "Ah'm certain things will all work out from now on, so long as that there contract ain't violated."

After everypony was all settled and quiet, Miss Cheerilee walked in, with that usual look on her face whenever she began a day at her school. That smile on her face was a sign that she was ready for another day of sharing her knowledge with the students that were lucky enough to learn from her.

"Alright class, now before we get to work on our first subject, I want you all to say a nice big 'hello' to our two new students." She said, confusing Diamond and Applebloom for two completely different ponies altogether. "Why don't you two step forward and introduce yourselves."

"Oh, that won't be necessary, Miss Cheerilee." Silver said as she raised a hoof to grab her attention. "Because, these two ponies are none other that Diamond Tiara and Applebloom."

"Oh, that's silly!" She cracked a little chuckle after hearing Silver finish up her sentence. "Last I checked, Applebloom had a giant pink bow, and Diamond Tiara wore a diamond tiara. These two don't have either, so logically, they're completely new ponies."

"Well, that's completely false, for one thing." Applebloom said, keeping her accent intact, even through the slight snickers of other classmates. "We're merely taking a walk on the other's road, that's all."

"What the-" Cheerilee never forgot that voice, it did indeed belong to Applebloom. "Applebloom, is that really you?" She looked quite bewildered at the fact that Applebloom was all fancy-looking and wearing a little necklace with an apple shaped gem in the middle of it.

"It sure as sugar is!" Diamond Tiara said in a country accent that embarrassed herself quickly afterwards. "Just as sure as ah happen ta be wearing these cowgirl duds fer the next 6 days."

"Diamond Tiara?" Cheerilee was even more surprised after hearing another recognizable voice, even though it sounded a little more country than she remembered it. "You too?"

"Thanks to a dare that Applebloom set up, Diamond Tiara's gone country, and Applebloom's gone posh." Sweetie Belle explained, raising her hoof and waving it rapidly to grab Cheerilee's attention. "They have to stay in character while we're here with them, otherwise we're authorized to give them a little... how do they say it? Forfeit?"

"If they break character when we're here, they have to do one thing we tell them to do. no matter how extreme it is." Silver said in her usual refined and smart tone. "Anything besides any forms of crime, that is."

"Oh jeez, girls, I'm sorry for not recognizing you sooner." Cheerilee face hoofed at the realization. "Forgive me for acting like that, I didn't know you two were doing one of your silly little dares during school hours."

"It's alright, Miss Cheerilee. I was kind of expecting this reaction, so it's all fine." Applebloom said to make Cheerilee feel at ease.

"Well... Alright then." Cheerilee regained her composure and started writing something on the blackboard. "Now then, if my idiocy is out of the way, let's jump into the history of Alicorns..."

Once the lesson on every alicorn in the history of Equestria's history (Including Princess Twilight) was over, the class was dismissed for recess, mostly so that they could all gawk at Diamond Tiara and Applebloom for the entire session.

"And you really decided to go along with this?" Pip asked Diamond, gazing at the scruffy parts sticking out of her hair.

"It was that, or be called a wimp fer the rest of the mah time here at school." Diamond said, in her country accent, since Sweetie Belle was breathing down her neck. "And ah was certain ah weren't gonna lose mah integrity on this class."

"So, Applebloom, I have to know, what is it like, living life in the big leagues?" Scootaloo asked, with her enthusiasm at quite a high level. She was happy for Applebloom's idea and wanted to hear some feedback on her side of the story.

Well, to be honest..." Applebloom paused for a dramatic effect, to give Scootaloo some tension. "IT'S THE GREATEST IDEA I'VE EVER COME UP WITH!!!" She declared at the top of her voice, grabbing the attention of EVERYpony in the schoolgrounds.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy." Scootaloo said as she pushed her way through the crowd of schoolponies who were now crowding Applebloom. "You won't forget us and stay posh forever though, right?"

"Actually..." Applebloom had time to think here. She either had the chance of taking up this life forever, being one of Silver's friends, and forging a bond between the two of them, to give her some leverage between her and Diamond Tiara once this was over. But on the other hoof, she could end this charade at the end of the week, and then return to the CMC and make things the way they were.

It was truly a tough choice for her to make, and for some reason, Applebloom didn't like either decision in front of her. She was at an impasse, both choices had both positive and negative outcomes, and she didn't particularly like the negatives of either option.

"Take all the time you need, Applebloom." Scootaloo said, rubbing her shoulders as Applebloom dwelled on her thoughts. "I won't be sad with the choice you make from this point."

"But, Scootaloo, what will you and Sweetie Belle do without me?" Applebloom said as she pushed herself out of the crowd, who now turned their attention to Diamond again. "How will you be able to run the Cutie Mark Crusaders without me?"

"I'm sure it should be no problem to run the group without you." Scootaloo looked confident in her words as that look was showing on her face again, as it usually did. "If I grab some more ponies to join the club, the Cutie Mark Crusaders could be the most populated kids group ever!"

"Well, I'm glad for you, Scootaloo." Applebloom said, in the most modest fashion she could sum up. "Even if I do earn my Cutie Mark, I'm glad to know that you'll be moving the Cutie Mark Crusaders into a brighter generation."

Diamond on the other hand, was getting a mix of both praise and a little scorn for her current attire. She decided not to let opinions get in her way, and instead just answer any questions that these kids had to offer.

"So, how's it feel to be working for the Apple Family?" Snips was the first to ask that question as he stepped forward from the crowd.

"Oh, it ain't much, really." Diamond said, keeping that accent on, lest Sweetie Belle overhear that she was breaking character. "Sure it's hard work fer an upper-class pony like mahself, but on the bright side, ah earn Bits fer doing this kinda dirty work."

"How much?" Snails came from behind Snips and extended the question to her.

"It all depends on how long ah buck those trees fer." Diamond explained, remembering how complicated it was to work out her pay from the day before. "Ah never really paid attention to how much ah earned yesterday. Ah just bucked the apples, and they paid up, simple."

"One question still remains, Diamond Tiara," Twist was the next to speak, adjusting her glasses as she burst through the crowd to get a better look at her. "Will you choose to stay like this after it's over?"

"Ah haven't really thought about that yet..." Diamond too was at a tough choice, she could end it and go back to her life of snobbish pestilence, but at the same time, she'd lose friends, friends she'd made deep connections with, even if it was just the 1st day.

On the other hand, she could choose to end her reign as the princess of the classroom, stay as a country pony, earn money, and keep all of her friends. Diamond was also having a tough time making the decision, she looked over at Applebloom, and noticed that she too was deep in thought.

Applebloom's got downsides in this as well, I see. Diamond said to herself as she peered at her rival's hoof on her chin. She has downsides on this dare as well?

"Uhh, Diamond?" Twist was now waving her hoof in front of Diamond Tiara's face, in an attempt to grab her attention. "You were kind of spacing out for a second there."

"Huh? Oh, sorry bout' that." She chuckled awkwardly for a few seconds. "Ah was just busy thinkin' bout Applebloom over there." She looked at Applebloom, then back at Twist. "Ah actually don't know whether or not ah wanna continue being a country pony after this ah'm finished with this."

After answering the questions of many of their class, Diamond and Applebloom were off having some fun with their session of recess, finally being able to run around like happy fillies again, instead of trying to embrace the other's heritage.

Everypony was with a group, besides Diamond. She was wandering the playground alone today, as Silver was now with Applebloom as per the dare's regulations. She sighed before getting an invitation from a nearby pony she knew all too well.

"Hey, Diamond!" It was Applebloom, of all ponies. This baffled Diamond immensely, why would her enemy be inviting her to play? Something she'd never expected to see in this class, nor any other.

"What do ya'll want with me?" She asked right back, addressing Applebloom in her cowgirl's voice.

"We were playing a game of hopscotch with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo here, and we were wondering if you'd like to join us." Silver asked now, bearing that slight little smile as she spoke. Even though Diamond was now a country pony, that didn't alter their friendship in anyway possible.

"Alright." She said lightly, cracking a slight smile. "Ah'd like that."

Diamond felt something was coming over her as she approached the group, something she'd never experienced before; True friendship. She wasn't a popular pony to grab everyone's attention, she was plain and ordinary now, and for some reason, it was giving her friends, and she liked it.

"So, how did you convince Diamond Tiara to go along with the whole role reversal idea?" Scootaloo asked Silver as Diamond was approaching the group.

"Well, it wasn't anything really." She said, a tiny hint of self pride showing. "Applebloom merely stated the dare for Diamond, and she accepted, for fear of being mocked for cowardice if she refused."

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Alright, ah'm here." Diamond arrived just as Sweetie Belle finished the hopscotch grid for the 5 of them. It was quite accurate, for a member of the CMC. "So, where's that doggone pebble?"

"Let's see..." Silver was scanning the grass for pebbles. They usually wound up here, near the road, for reasons which are pretty self explanatory. "Ah! Here's one."

"Alright, ya remember the rules of Hopscotch, Diamond?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Oh course ah do." She said, a tiny bit smug. "Ah might be a country pony fer the week, but that doesn't mean ah'm stupider than anypony else in this class."

"Fine then, you take the first shot." Silver hoofed her the pebble. "And remember, inside the lines."

Diamond didn't even respond to that. Tightening her focus, she pinpointed exactly where she wanted to throw the pebble and launched it forward with her hoof. It bounced for a second, before landing right next to the line, but not on the square she wanted.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Diamond took her hops, making sure her movements were accurate as she nimbly leaped from square to square. Once she made it to the stone's location, she picked it up and placed it in her mouth, before hopping back across the grid, back to the start.

"Nice work, Diamond." Applebloom complimented as Diamond dropped the pebble back down onto the floor for the next pony to use. "Even though you didn't hit the square, you still made a great series of hops."

"Thanks." She cracked a small smile and kicked the stone to Applebloom, who immediately bent down and picked it up. "Now it's your turn, Applebloom."

Applebloom was also thinking hard, she wanted to get the square at the end of the grid, so that she could be the best of the group so far. Her focus was mighty, but her aim was something else. The stone ricocheted off the ground like a golf ball on a cart path, bouncing off the wall of the school and landing right by her feet.

"Ouch. Tough break, Applebloom." Scootaloo was by Applebloom's shoulders, there to give her support after that mess of a throw. "But hey, you did try, and that's all anypony can ask of you."

"Even ah hafta admit, that was pretty bold of you, Applebloom." Diamond was there as well, helping Applebloom to pick up the rock and hand it to Silver. "And truth be told, ah could never have made an incredible shot like that in mah life." She was actually smiling at Applebloom's failure, and it wasn't an evil smile, it was a kind, caring smile.

"Thanks, you two." Applebloom said, picking her head back up and grinning a tiny bit. "I could sure use the support."

"Ya'll gotta teach me a trick shot like that sometime." Diamond smile as she was now looking at all of the CMC. "Maybe after we come back from lunch?"

"I don't know about that..." Scootaloo was a little concerned by this. After all her experiences, she had to be prepared for anything. "I'd have to check in with the rest of the Crusaders about that-"

"Oh, stop worrying, Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed back at her. "She's not THAT Diamond Tiara anymore, I'd be more than happy to teach her a few shots like that."

"Yeah, come on, Scootaloo. You need to stop dwelling on the past, let that stuff go, girl." Applebloom was the next to give Scootaloo some moral support.

"Oh, alright then." Scootaloo knew she didn't want another petty argument with the Crusaders, so she decided to let it be unanimous in the end. "Sure, let's talk after lunch."

And then, just out of nowhere, the bell went, signalling the kids it was time for their next lessons. Silver heard the bell and put the game on hold, walking out of the grid to reunite with the rest of the group.

"Diamond, I just wanted to say that you've really done a great thing with this deal." Applebloom smiled as the two of them walked side-by-side. "You've not only forged friendships with us, but you've also shown me that anypony works, no matter how poor or how wealthy, or even how powerful they are. Everypony is their own person, and we're both a great inspiration for that."

"Really?" Diamond looked surprised. She was receiving a congratulatory speech, from her rival. Another thing that shocked and bewildered her mind.

"Why yes, you've sacrificed all that power and class control, to show us all that you are a nice pony underneath the rich and powerful crust." Silver was the next to give her some recognition. "Diamond Tiara, you're one amazing pony for going through with this. You're always gonna be a friend in my eyes."

"Thanks. Thank ya'll for helping me through this and giving me yer thanks." Diamond was... happy, she was happy to be hanging with the CMC, she was happy for being a country pony for the week, she was happy, because she had friends. REAL friends, and that was something that couldn't be replaced. She smiled at all 4 of the others, giving them all a sign that she was now their friend. And they both knew that here on out, things would be smooth sailing for the 5 of them...

Author's Note

Sorry if it took so long.

I was back on Call of Duty Ghosts for a brief period of time and was experimenting with different loadouts for my character.

It turns out that the C4 is surprisingly OverPowered when you attach Danger Close, Reflex and Strong-Arm. I'm not even joking with this. The C4 is worth a try in my opinion. A Triple Kill on Unearthed with one of those things is a good example of this thing's lethality.

Until the next time, this is Shadowmane PX-41, signing off.

Peace!

Conflictions With Others

Diamond Tiara and Applebloom were always the first to be called when questions were asked once they made it back into class. Even though everyone was watching them, they had to keep up the act, no matter what, or else Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon might punish them for breaking character.

"Applebloom, who was the first ruler of the Crystal Empire?" Cheerilee asked as the class listened closely. They were wondering whether Applebloom would choke and keep her old accent or be able to hold it all together.

Applebloom took a deep breath and cleared her throat as she addressed Cheerilee and all the kids with the most composure as possible. She looked at Silver, who looked at her with a confident smile.

"The answer, is Queen Quartz." Applebloom said, but she didn't stop there. "She ruled over the Crystal Empire for 20 years before her hideous acts of slavery and cruelty to outsiders sparked an uprising from within the town. Her demise was at the hooves of a brave fighter called Zandatsu, who could move at heightened speeds due to his mastery of time magic."

"Amazing work, Applebloom. Extra credit for your extended answer and further knowledge." Cheerilee was a bit shocked at first, as if she knew Applebloom couldn't have known that much, but she managed to keep her composure.

"Even I'm surprised." Silver Spoon said once Applebloom sat back down at her desk. "How did you know all that?"

"Well, despite my former hick style and temporary upper-crust lifestyle, I am a very wise student here at the Ponyville Schoolhouse." Applebloom explained, polishing her necklace and swishing her hoof mid-sentence in a posh manner.

"Alright, Applebloom. No need to show off, though." Silver reminded her. "I'll let you off with a warning for now, but showing off is only for uncivilized children who don't deserve the upper-crust style."

"Very well then." Applebloom said, agreeing to these new rules that Silver imparted to her.

"Now then, Diamond Tiara." Cheerilee called her up and immediately saw signs of worry on Diamond's face. She really didn't want to do this, but she was looking at a dead end here. There was going to be no way out of this.

"I want you to explain to the class, which region of Equestria the Crystal Empire is located."

"Ah'd be happy to tell ya'll. The northern area." Diamond said, scorning herself mentally for doing so. "Ya can tell it's northern, because it's freezin' up there!" She shivered for effect.

She was laughed at for that last part, the voices ringing in her ears as she made her way back to her seat. She thought that everyone didn't like her new lifestyle. However, the laughter died out when Sweetie Belle motioned them to stop, in an attempt to save her client's dignity.

"I gotta say, I like this new Diamond Tiara." Scootaloo said as she and Silver had a quick talk. "She's kinder, more considerate, and she doesn't care for herself anymore."

"Just remember this is only a temporary change in her attitude, and there's no guarantee whether or not she'll stay the same or return to her roots when the week's over." Silver reminded Scootaloo of that fact.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Scootaloo said, in a deadpan tone as she and Silver listened to the next part of their history lesson.

Once they had broken up for lunch, Applebloom and Diamond Tiara regrouped with Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon. They opened their saddlebags and pulled out a bag lunch each.

"So, Applebloom, how's that fancy-schamncy week with Silver workin' fer ya?" Diamond asked as she sat down next to Applebloom at the nearby table.

"Well, I did engage in a few acts of merriment with Silver Spoon last night." Applebloom said with as much class as possible. "I would explain for you, but they're Silver Family secrets."

"Ah understand." Diamond said as she pulled out a hay sandwich and began to eat it. "Ya'll don't want it gettin' out and ah can respect that."

"Well, so far there's been no drawbacks from this little case of role reversal." Sweetie Belle said as she pulled her face up from the salad she'd been eating.

"No drawbacks, you say?" A snobbish voice said in a loud voice that caught the attention of all of the students. The pony in question was a unicorn colt with a grey coat and a tuxedo. His hair was quite well-trimmed and had gold streaks between the strips of silver. His Cutie Mark was a high grade above a bunch of low grades. "Ha, I say 'ha!' to that!"

"Oh no..." Diamond facehoofed, she knew who that was, but the others didn't. Even Silver was a little flabbergasted at this new pony. "Why did ya have ta show yer face here today, Cut Above?"

"Cut Above?" Sweetie Belle asked, wondering who this new pony was.

"He was one a' my old friends before ah had ta subject mahself to a country life." Diamond Tiara explained before he could arrive at the table. "We dated fer a while because we liked and hated the same things. He's also pretty smart fer a pony his age, gettin' straight A's and all."

"Well, well, well. The famous Diamond Tiara." Cut Above said in a malicious tone. "By the looks of things, these Cutie Mark Cowards have finally knocked you off your pedestal." He said, adding a mean laugh at the end of it.

"Hey! Don't you dare speak to my client like that, you meanie!" Sweetie Belle said, standing up to Cut Above with no fear or regrets. "She's under this influence for 6 more days, you can have her back once we're done with her."

"Shove it, Blank-Flank." He said, his tone turning from calm to spiteful. "Ms. Tiara is my business, not yours. Why don't you just run off home to your little dollies or whatever toys you peasants like to play with?"

"I told you, Applebloom. He's just an ignorant child who doesn't deserve his rich lifestyle." Silver said as she made a cocky smile.

"Say that again, madam. See what happens." He said, shooting an evil gaze at Silver.

"I'm not even going to acknowledge your idiocy with a response, Cut Above." Silver said, turning away from the young unicorn to resume her lunch.

"Ooh... You're a brave one, aren't ya? I like that." He said as he quickly lifted Silver Spoon up in a magical aura and threw her against the wall, causing laughter to ensue from the kids who were watching. "Too bad I have to dress you up in bruises now."

"What the heck, Cut?!" Silver said, turning her head around furiously as she picked up her glasses. "This is not the way a gentleman is supposed to be acting!"

He merely scoffed. "Oh please, you only got your name AND Cutie Mark because you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, Silver." He said the next few words whilst he took her up in his magic, threw her again and smashed her face against the table a few times. "I had to work for this honorary emblem of pride, you merely got lucky and were handed it at birth, like a peasant who became an entrepreneur!"

"I'm just gonna run and get the principal!" Scootaloo said as she couldn't bear this any longer. "Make sure you keep up your acts, girls."

"You meddlesome filth should be wiped from this planet!" Cut said as he slapped Silver back and forth with a hand made of his magic. "You are a sin that this planet has to burden! The only way you can be repented is if you do everyone a favour and take your own life, you idiotic, cowardly, lucky, ant!"

"Cut, ya have ta stop this!" Diamond said, standing up for her former friend. She knew she was going to get some backlash from this, but she wasn't bothered by that in the slightest. "If ah'd known you were that brutish, ah would have left yer face buried in mud!"

"D-Diamond, what are you saying?" Cut said as he finally stopped to address his former girlfriend with a solemn look on his face. "Is this a break-up, after all the time we spent together?"

"More like 'ah'm never ever talkin' to ya ever again, and ah'm tellin' yer parents that yer nothin' more than a big bully who don't deserve the rich life he's been leadin' fer 10 years' if that's what ya call a break-up." Diamond said, her words clear and true, she now hated Cut Above with a burning passion. "Ya better fess up to yer punishment like a stallion now, or else things will only get worse fer ya."

"Hmm, what a shame. And here I thought we could have been Very Special Someponies." Cut Above said, his voice turning calm as a simple stream of water. "Take a note, Cutie Mark Crybabies. You think you have your work cut out for you when Ms. Tiara rains on your parade? Hah! Diamond's gonna get a taste of her own medicine once I'm through with her."

"Try us!" Sweetie Belle said as she felt a bruise from a few days when Diamond had given her a 'wrestling demonstration'. "I'm sure you can't possibly be worse than the infamous Diamond Tiara. No offense."

"None taken." Diamond said, calming down so that this could be dealt with words rather than violence.

"Try me..." He said, sneering evilly.

"Calling us Blank-Flanks on a regular basis." Applebloom said clearly.

"But you ARE Blank-Flanks. You don't even know what you're supposed to do in this world." Cut Above retorted.

"Getting a Cutie Mark and then having Diamond call it a fake!" Sweetie said.

"I secretly take a child's most treasured bits and swindle them by giving them fake bits." He said back.

"Being blackmailed into making ourselves public enemy #1 by revealing embarrassing stories about everypony!" Applebloom said.

"I've single-handedly bullied and beat up dozens of children at other places until they do my bidding." Cut said, his words arrogant as always.

"Having my cousin turned into a bully for fear she might have been bullied as well!" Applebloom said, hoping that would bring Cut to his knees.

"I've spread tons of dismay and confusion among other families by simply talking to them, yet mother and father consider me an angel." He said, still as arrogant and smug as ever.

"Having the chance to carry the flag at the Equestria Games and almost losing it when Diamond pointed out Scootaloo's flying inability!" Sweetie Belle said, hoping that would get Cut Above on the run.

"I've changed the fates of entire sporting leagues by simply altering the scores during the breaks between games." He sniggered, brushing his coat in a stuck-up fashion.

"Turning the whole school on us by denying their chance to see a famous celebrity!" Applebloom said, hoping that would finally end this little debate.

"I've manipulated principals, teachers, substitute teachers, the lot. It's really quite easy when you think about it." He smiled, knowing that the CMC were out of firepower now.

Before the CMC could even respond to him, they stopped, knowing that Diamond Tiara hadn't really bothered them after the 'Twilight Time' incident.

"Out of firepower, are we? What a shame." He smile, relishing in his victory. "Oh, and for the finishing move, I've made fillies and colts play jump-rope with barbed wire!"

"What kind of pony is this kid?!" Applebloom raised her hooves as she turned to Sweetie Belle. "Now I'm actually GLAD that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon bully us. I do NOT want to get on this colt's bad side."

"A wise choice indeed, Blank-Flank." He said, as he pinched Applebloom's cheeks and walked off. "You know, I could give you everything you could ever want, so long as you stay like this once the little wager is up."

"What do you mean by everything?" Silver asked, as she finally got to her feet, wincing in pain as the bruises and bumps that Cut did her were finally coming into play.

"I could give you bits, love, adoration by others, wonderful treasures of presents." He said, finding something that he believed would get Applebloom to break her friendship with the CMC. "Even... Your Cutie Mark."

"My... Cutie Mark?" Applebloom looked shocked, she'd been looking for her mark before she'd even started the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Cut Above was giving her the chance to earn one, for real!

"I'll give you until Saturday, when the bet ends to think about it." He said as he turned away from Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Silver and Diamond and walked outside, for his recess. "Good day, fillies, gentlecolts and Blank-Flanks."

"Jeez, what a jerk." Scootaloo said as she rejoined the group just as Cut Above left them. "Hope I never have to go to one of his birthday parties. Right, Applebloom?" She noticed that she wasn't talking back to her. "Uhh... Applebloom?"

"This is finally mah chance..." Applebloom thought to herself. "If ah accept Cut Above's offer, ah can finally get mah Cutie Mark, and understand mah goal in this world... But at the same time, ah'd lose Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, mah only friends her at school..."

"Why isn't she answering me?" Scootaloo asked Silver, who put on her broken glasses to get a mildly clear look at Applebloom.

"She's thinking." Silver explained to the orange pegasus. "Cut Above's offer got her in a deep thought."

"But if ah choose not to accept his offer, ah'd still be a Blank-Flank. Applebloom's thoughts turned worrying as she thought of the downsides. "Ah'd still need ta find mah place in this world, and ah'd still be bullied by Diamond or Silver. Or even worse, bullied by Cut Above as well! Ah mean, sure ah can keep the Cutie Mark Crusaders if ah do, but for a few terms of constant torment? Ah can't decide!!!"

"Applebloom! Wake up!!!" Silver shook her, breaking her train of thought. Applebloom shook her head once Silver brought her back to reality, and then stopped a second after. "You were thinking for an awful long time."

"Sorry about my deepened venture into thought, Silver." Applebloom said once she turned around to finish her lunch. "His offer is both tempting and a very bad idea at the same time."

"Offer? What offer?" Scootaloo asked.

"He said I could get my Cutie Mark, if I just gave up-"

"Don't... Even... Think about him, Applebloom." Scootaloo's expression turned very serious very fast. "He's merely a bully who's trying to break up the Cutie Mark Crusaders. You shouldn't be bribed by his words. That's usually how bullies work towards groups of friends!"

"Even I have to admit, She does have a point." Silver said, backing up Scootaloo's words. "Accepting Cut's offer is a very, VERY bad idea, Applebloom. He's trying to do the unthinkable, break the group up and leave you cold, lonely and friendless!"

"Ah'm not sure whether it's workin' or not, but ah can see it in yer face, Applebloom. Yer worried that both sides are gonna have a bad outcome on top of a good outcome." Diamond Tiara said, trying to boost her former rival's morale.

"I'm so confused." Applebloom said, as she held up both hooves like an almighty scale. "I-I... I don't even know where to go from here!" The girls was in tears now. This wasn't an act, Applebloom was really sad about this.

"There, there. Don't get so riled up about this, sugarcube." Diamond Tiara said as she proceeded to hug the crying earth pony, receiving a hug in return. "We all get worried about makin' tough decisions sometimes, and sometimes both choices might seem equally good..."

"...But some choices might not be what you bargained for." Silver said, hugging the two of them, and helping deliver the message to Applebloom.

"In the end, the true choice lies in what is more important to you..." Scootaloo said, adding to this group hug.

"...Friends, or your desires." Sweetie Belle said as the five of them were sharing in one big group hug together as friends. It had definitely gotten through to Applebloom's ears and she stopped crying.

"Thank you." Applebloom said as the hug broke up after a few seconds. "Thank you all for opening my eyes to the truth."

"You're welcome." Sweetie Belle said, as they all returned to eating their food before lunch was over. Diamond Tiara had taught Applebloom a friendship lesson, and it felt good for the both of them.

The rest of the lunch went by pretty smoothly, with the five of them eating and talking about the good things in life, rather than what had happened with Cut Above. In between morsels of food, Applebloom and Diamond Tiara looked at each other, knowing it in each others' eyes. They liked being friends now and it was only day 2 of the 7 day bet...

Author's Note

Hey, everyone. I finally decided to get this story dusted off after what seems like forever. Sorry for the wait, I had to do a LOT of things both on and off FIMFiction.

There was also an issue with my last computer breaking and me having to get a new Windows 8 to replace it, but either way, things should be good and well now.

I've also been spending most of my time on a separate fic called Dazzle Dazzle, Little Stars updated and given lots of support. You should check it out as well when you have the time. I guarantee you'll be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

But anyways, I'll see you soon. It's good to be back on FIMFiction, and I really have to get to bed befo-

Celestia: Haven't I warned you enough, Shadowmane?! Your bedtime was 30 minutes ago!

Me: No, Mama. Dun spank me wid da mean paddwe!

Celestia: Hopefully this will change your tune for the better, young stallion! (Spanks me with wooden paddle)

Me: (Starts crying)

Celestia: Now let me get you into bed for the night. Oh, and as of now, I'll be putting a lock on that door so you can't get out when its' past your bedtime.

Me: Otay, Mama... (Gets carried back to crib with the other foals)

Character Broken/Discussions

Author's Note

Now then, I noticed that someone on DeviantArt is making artwork focused around this story, since everyone seems to like the idea so much. Some guy named Faceless Jr is working on the pictures. Give him a shout, tell him I sent you!

And just to explain, here's one of his latest pictures:

Now, with all that said and done, I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Character Broken/Discussions

On the morning of the third day of Applebloom and Diamond Tiara's little wager. The two of them decided that they needed some time alone with their 'supervisors', to discuss the situation with Cut Above. Applebloom had gone with Silver to the local spa, whilst Diamond had gone with Sweetie Belle over to the CMC Clubhouse.

"Are you sure he won't be here?" Applebloom asked as she met Silver Spoon inside the spa's entrance. There were a number of chairs to sit on, in case the line was too long. They were accompanied by magazines for other ponies to read, to pass the time. She took a seat next to Silver, since the line was rather long today.

"He's got to deal with 'family issues' back at home. So there's a good chance he won't barge in on our otherwise peaceful relaxation." Silver explained, with a rather relieved face starting to show. She'd never even wanted to see Cut Above's face again after what had happened in school yesterday.

"That's a relief." Applebloom said, sharing in Silver's content. The last thing that she wanted was to constantly be nagged into the side of the stuck-up, snobbish, jerk who nopony likes.

"So. What do you want to have, Applebloom?" Silver said as the two of them got up from the chairs and walked over to the counter where Lotus was working. "Oh, and don't worry about spending Bits. I'm buying today."

"Are you sure you can afford my treatment as well as your own, Silver?" Applebloom asked with curiosity starting to show. "Because I'm pretty sure that no one pony could possibly spend money on treatments for both themselves and a friend. And even if they could, it would have to depend on what that friend would like to have."

"Applebloom. I've never told you this before, but my family is one of the richest in Ponyville," Silver began going on about how wealthy she and her family really were. "Ever since my father discovered that the silver prices had skyrocketed, he had so many new customers that he had to carefully choose who would get what deposits of silver."

"How rare is silver to find nowadays?" Applebloom stopped the explanation for a brief moment to ask a question that more or so deepened the explanation at hand.

"Usually, there were dozens of silver mines in Equestria. Now, whilst gold is rather flashy and much more rare, the town stopped believing in gold's true rarity when Bits came into circulation," Silver answered. "After the great collapse of '04, the Silver Family had a massive amount of new customers when news had leaked on a large quantity of silver mines caving in."

"So, that's where you came in, right?" Applebloom asked, remembering what Silver's Cutie Mark truly meant.

"Yes. At that time, I had just been born. And all my life, I'd been gifted with the blessing of wealth," Silver said, reminiscing on all the wealth and prosperity she saw as a foal, a younger filly and nowadays. "Yet for some reason, my Cutie Mark didn't show up until Diamond Tiara came into my life. Why that happened then and not sooner, I'll never know."

"So that's where your talent comes into play..." Applebloom finally deduced what Silver's talent was.

"Yes. Much like my name implies, I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Which, ironically is who I am today." she finished.

"Good morning, girls. How can I help you?" Lotus Blossom asked Applebloom and Silver once she'd finished some important paperwork she'd been filling out.

"I'll have the whole package," Silver said, before turning towards Applebloom. "What about you, Applebloom?"

"Well... Since you're paying..." Applebloom thought about it for a moment. She'd never had a friend who was actually willing to pay for her as well. Now she could see that Silver Spoon was a unique filly of her own intent, and not just some lapdog used by Diamond Tiara to cause mischief. "I'll have the whole package as well."

"Very good, girls. That's 50 Bits," Lotus said, stretching out her hand towards Applebloom and Silver. She immediately received 50 Bits, all from Silver. She smiled once she'd taken Silver's money and put it into the register. "Step through the doors, girls. I'll be out soon with Aloe."

"Alright then." they both said, letting Lotus go off and do her work. Once she'd departed fro their view, Applebloom and Silver walked through the nearby door into the main spa area.

"Are ya sure this is such a good idea, Sweetie Belle?" Diamond asked, keeping up her country drawl rather well. She'd been under so much more pressure, now that Cut Above had sweetened the pot a little. If he was here and she showed any sign of character destruction, she and her reputation in Ponyville would be ruined. "Now that Cut Above's entered the game, ah'm startin' ta worry about whether or not he'll strike..."

"Don't worry about it, Diamond Tiara. Cut Above wouldn't dare set foot on Blank-Flank territory," Sweetie Belle said, showing a more logical side to this little debacle. "He's got his Cutie Mark, has a beef with you and us and besides, he's at home now. Some big family meeting means that he can't go outside and cause mayhem."

"Well, that's a load off mah toad." Diamond sighed in relief. Since Cut would be inside today, she wouldn't have to worry so much about breaking character.

"So, what do you think we should do today?" Scootaloo decided to further the meeting. Even though Diamond Tiara had her mark, the bet meant she had a valid spot in the CMC until it had ended. "I was thinking we could try for Abseiling Cutie Marks today..."

"Gee, I don't know about that, Scootaloo..." Sweetie Belle showed some worry of her own. Most of the stuff that the CMC did was insane, but she knew that that was rather dangerous. "Abseiling's a rather tough talent. One false move and you could end up falling to your death!"

"Even so, it doesn't help to try. And besides, we tried out for ziplining and we only suffered some minor bruises and sap-coated manes. So I'm sure that Abseiling can't be any worse..." Scootaloo said, completely ignoring the words of worry emanating from Sweetie Belle.

"Even ah have ta agree with Sweetie Belle here. Abseiling's a rather dangerous thing, even fer an Earth Pony," Diamond said, clearly on Sweetie's side in this little discussion. "Ah mean, ya'll are gonna be jumpin' down cliffs after all. If something goes wrong, ya'll could be falling much farther that time. And a fall from that height might just break all yer bones if yer not careful..."

"Diamond? Are you finally showing some concern for us?" Scootaloo asked, seeing that Diamond showed a lot of signs of worry on her face. Of all the emotions she could have seen on Diamond's face, she'd never seen her show any concern for the CMC.

"Yeah. If Abseiling goes wrong, ya'll might end up dead!" Diamond said, trying to get Scootaloo to stop thinking about the whole concept of Abseiling. "And if ya die, ya won't be able ta see Rarity or Rainbow Dash ever again!"

"No more Rainbow Dash?!" Scootaloo now showed a massive amount of worry as well. She'd been too arrogant to notice that Abseiling was a potentially dangerous thing to do. "Count me out! If something that extreme is going to prevent me from seeing Rainbow Dash again, I'm out completely!"

"Good to know you finally see it our way, Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle said, rubbing Scootaloo's shoulders to relax her.

"So, what else do ya think we should do?" Diamond asked, wondering what could have possibly been done and what hadn't been attempted by the CMC before. "Something a little more safer would be nice for the two of you..."

"Wait, so you're not coming with us?" Scootaloo said, shifting the worry back to Diamond Tiara.

"If I don't does that count as breaking character?" she said, failing to notice that she'd actually broken character herself. "Oh no... I've already broken character, haven't I?"

"Yep..." Sweetie Belle sighed in a conceded tone. She'd finally heard Diamond's actual voice again after all this time. "And you were so close as well..."

"What are you gonna do with me now?" Diamond now panicked. She remembered that if she'd ever broken character, it meant that Sweetie could subject her to do anything she imagined.

"What is this all about, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked, clearly confused by this little charade that Diamond had been pulling off. "What does she mean by what are you gonna do to her now?"

"A part of our bet was for neither side to break character, under penalty of the supervisor of the pony who broke character to do whatever they want to them," Sweetie Belle explained to Scootaloo. "Since Diamond Tiara spoke in her regular voice, it means that I can force her to do whatever I wish to her."

"No way! Really?" Scootaloo was clearly surprised at this little announcement. For once, Diamond Tiara, the tyrant of the schoolhouse was at their complete mercy. "That's awesome! Now she has to do whatever you think of! Go on, Sweetie Belle! Say something embarrassing for her to do!"

"Scootaloo! And you were just starting to like Diamond as well!" Sweetie Belle scorned the flightless Pegasus by shooting her a death-glare. "And besides, it was just a little slip, nothing one teensy little thing won't fix..."

"Well, what are ya gonna do ta me?" Diamond asked, curious to know what running through Sweetie's mind at this moment. She just wanted to get the embarrassment out of the way.

"Since you've only slipped up in your accent, I think it's only fair to give you something a tiny bit degrading..." Sweetie Belle got a thought running through her head. "If it was something big like performing something a fancy pony would do, then I'd be as merciless as Scootaloo here."

"So, I think that something like a few laps around the roller-skating course should to be enough to get the point across," Sweetie Belle said as she got up and walked over to the door. "But to really unnerve you, Scootaloo's driving."

"Wait, driving?" Diamond had never heard or even thought of the concept of Scootaloo driving something. "Driving what?"

"Driving my scooter with the two of you in the wagon at the back," Scootaloo said as the three of them walked out of the clubhouse and went over to the scooter around the back of the treehouse. She put on her helmet and showed the scooter to Diamond. "I call it the Flying Thunderbolt! Oh! One more thing, I'm a rather fast driver."

"How fast?" Diamond Tiara asked, curious to know how talented Scootaloo was with a scooter.

"Hopefully someday, I'll be as fast as Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said as she hopped onto the scooter and stroked the steel bar holding the handles up. "Someday, I'll get there..."

Whilst Scootaloo got a good grip on the handles, Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara hopped into the wagon attached to the back of the scooter and sat down. Once they were sat, Scootaloo put one of her hooves back on the ground.

"Attention, fillies and colts. You're now riding on Air Scootaloo One. This is a non-stop ride going straight to the roller-skating rink for Diamond's embarrassment," Scotaloo said, mimicking a pilot of sorts whilst Diamond Tiara and Sweetie Belle clipped on their helmets. "Please keep your heads, hooves, legs and horns inside the vehicle at all times. Now then, if you're both ready, hold on tight!"

"To what?" They both said, remembering that Scootaloo's wagon had nothing else for them to hold onto.

"Fair point." Scootaloo said, using her hoof to get the scooter moving. At first, it was a rather slow ride, but that was because she wanted to surprise Diamond.

"Hmm, ah guess she's not so fa-" the second had Diamond Tiara started, the wagon instantly accelerated at a crazy fast speed. It got Diamond Tiara to scream lightly and hold onto Sweetie Belle for dear life. She could hear what sounded like a motor noise as she now saw Scootaloo was using her wings to propel the scooter forward.

"You were saying?" Sweetie Belle said to Diamond once she'd finally calmed down from her little outburst.

"Ah stand corrected." Diamond said, holding onto the rim of the wagon so that she wouldn't fall out of it.

The three of them soon made it out of Sweet Apple Acres and were now heading towards the town. From Diamond's looks of worry, she would not like where this was going to be going. As for Sweetie Belle, she showed some sympathy for Diamond whilst also looking at a rather enthusiastic Scootaloo.

"So, how long have you and Diamond Tiara been friends?" Applebloom asked as the two of them walked inside a sauna and sat down on the stone benches. They were instantly overcome with a feeling of heat as the vapours of the sauna soaked into their skin

"Me and Diamond Tiara have been friends for over two years now," Silver explained, going into more depth about the time she'd spent with Diamond Tiara. "At that time, we were both Blank-Flanks ourselves. And just like you and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we'd been bullied, teased, called Blank-Flanks, you name it."

"So, you and Diamond Tiara became bullies when you'd finally snapped and received your Cutie Marks..." Applebloom said, seeing a more deeper side of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon she'd never even seen before. "You couldn't take it anymore so you wanted to vent your rage on those who'd bullied you..."

"Yes. That's true," Silver said as a Lotus poured on what looked like herbal water of some descriptions, getting steam to rise up from what seemed like a heated rock formation. "We'd only tried bullying once, to get revenge on the ponies who'd bullied us. The weird part though, was that after we'd stopped taking it out on them, we actually started to like bullying others. We just couldn't stop ourselves after that once incident. It was as if we'd been cursed to bully others as if it was our life force."

"Well, there's some time to reform yourself, Silver..." Applebloom said as she felt some new vapours in the air as she looked at Silver's rather sorry face showing. "After all, we were able to reform Babs. So if you're given some time, you can be a good little filly like us..."

"Hmm... Yeah... I think that would be rather nice..." Silver said, thinking of how much better her life would be if she was a good little filly with some friends to play with. "After all the time I've spent tormenting others, I think it'd be nice to forget about that altogether and have some actual friends for once... After all, I can't just spend my whole life with Diamond."

"That's what I like to hear," Applebloom said as she and Silver sighed together as their muscles relaxed with all the heated vapours starting to swirl around them. Sure, they were starting to feel like roasting marshmallows over a fire, but they were rather peaceful with the bliss they were now feeling. "I'm so glad to have spent all this time with you, Silver..."

"As have I, Applebloom. I can see now that you're a rather courageous little filly with a heart as pure as my father's silver collection," Silver said as the two of them started to feel themselves getting a little parched as they relaxed inside the sauna. "I'm glad to have been spending time with you as well. After this bet ends, we could be really good friends..."

"I know, Silver. I know..." Applebloom said as the two of them sighed once more. They saw Lotus adding another ladle of herbal water to the heated rock formation, getting another shroud of steam to rise up from it and cover them.

Applebloom and Silver could see it in each other's eyes. They knew that neither of them were enemies anymore. Now that they'd spent some time together, Applebloom and Silver had really bonded a pact together. Their friendship would become rather strong once the bet had ended with Cut Above being shown up for the jerk he truly is.

Once they'd had enough time in the sauna, they hopped down from the bench they'd been sitting on and made their way back to the rest of the spa, where there were loads of other stations for them to relax at. Once they did get out, they made sure to have a drink to rehydrate themselves after that rather lengthy period inside the sauna.

After they'd drank their fill of the deliciously icy water, they walked over to the nearby hot tub. The two of them clambered in and allowed Aloe to activate the jet systems. Once this process was done, the two of them were relaxing in a rather nice soak. Their worries were long gone now as they let the jets do their work for them. And from the looks in their eyes, things were only going to get better for the two of them...

Newfound Friendships/Inner Discord

"So... out of curiosity..." Silver Spoon tried to get some words out as she and Applebloom soaked in the relaxing spa bath. "What exactly are you going to do once this little debacle's all over?"

"I'm gonna side back with the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Applebloom said quickly, since it was the only logical choice. "Cut Above's offer might be tempting, but I'm going to stick by my true friends. I know that being one of the most powerful kids in school's a rather heavy burden for anypony to bear, even for Diamond Tiara..."

"Sometimes, I would come to her house when we were younger fillies. She'd be crying about how she had so many different details to attend to when she planned her takeover of the school..." Silver's heart sank when she'd remembered all those times she'd spent with Diamond Tiara. "All those months... wasted by petty conflicts... when we could have been out there, aiding the fillies and colts of the class..."

Applebloom was loss for words. The mere mention of the amount of time Diamond and Silver had been causing misery stung in her mind. However, she did a polite thing by putting a hoof around Silver's shoulders and saying, "I'm sorry it took you this long to figure it out, Silver..."

"It's alright, Applebloom. I've changed since this whole thing started..." Silver said, trying to act quite brave in her depression. "We've all had our bad moments now and again. Mine was just longer than usual..."

As the two fillies climbed out of the hot tub and dried themselves off with towels, they were escorted over to a nearby massage area by Aloe Vera and Lotus Blossom. After that, they leapt onto a couple of massage tables once they were dried and unclothed, the two ponies giving them massages a few moments after they had gotten comfortable on the massage tables.

"Don't worry about your past, Silver Spoon..." Applebloom began speaking whilst Aloe began tenderly massaging her back. "If you can focus on your future and put your past behind you, then I'm sure you can snap out of this depression and get a lot off of your back..."

"Well, I might, but I'm not so sure that Diamond Tiara would..." Silver said, wondering how Diamond would feel by the end of this ordeal. "She might be willing to revert to her old ways out of fear, fear that Cut Above would make her life a nightmare if she sided with us..."

"As I said, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Silver," Applebloom said as soon as Aloe began rapidly striking Applebloom's sweet spots with her hooves to make her more relaxed. "For now, let's just enjoy our treatments..."

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara were all getting suited up into roller-skating shoes at the changing room. It was a rather mediocre punishment for Diamond for breaking her character, but it was still one that had been invoked by her slip of the tongue regardless.

When they were geared up and had finished putting on the last skates, with some sense of difficulty, the three fillies got to their hooves and immediately had trouble controlling themselves. With wheels on the bottom of those shoes, it was as if all three of them had trotted onto a sheet of ice and were now finding it hard to maintain control.

"How the hay does anypony get around in these darn things?" Diamond Tiara said, trying as hard as ever to solidify her fake character whilst serving out her humiliation at the same time.

"Oh, that's easy," Scootaloo said as she finally got up to her hooves and stopped moving altogether. When she said, "Like this!" She used her wings to propel herself forward, shifting her body to turn. "Though, I think you two are gonna have some problems..."

Not even bothering to acknowledge Scootaloo's words, Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara tried as hard as they could to propel themselves forward. Though, it seemed that balance was not on their side once they raised one of their frontal hooves, as all of their remaining legs became much more unbalanced as they'd done so. The result, was the two of them landing on their faces once again, struggling to get back onto their hooves again, no matter how hard they tried this time.

"I gotcha..." Scootaloo moved over to Sweetie Belle and used one of her skates to help the white filly back up. Once she was back up, Scootaloo looked at Diamond Tiara. At first, she was rather hesitant to do it, but she remembered that this wasn't the Diamond Tiara of her past. For if it were, Scootaloo would be angered quite easily with Diamond's mere voice alone. No, with all of the time she'd been with Diamond's other side, she eventually helped her back onto all fours as well, seeing as she was the one who was struggling to find some balance.

Once the three of them were altogether, Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara gently got a stable rhythm going with their hooves, whilst Scootaloo gently buzzed her wings to move herself forward. Slowly, but surely, the three of them were making their way to the rink, where they would either be making complete fools out of themselves, or be some decent, if not adequate skaters.

When they arrived at the rink, something rang in Diamond Tiara's mind. When she's spent enough time looking at that rink, she recalled on a memory of her and Cut Above gliding around it like a true couple would. When the image lingered long enough, Diamond shuddered as she returned to reality.

"What's wrong, Diamond?" Sweetie Belle asked, seeing that Diamond was shuddering after what seemed like a traumatic memory of her past.

"It's just..." Diamond's words seemed to disobey her, as they wouldn't leave her mouth in any way, shape, or form. Eventually, she said, "Me and Cut used ta come here on weekends when we couldn't find ya... He'd dance so neatly on that rink, his hooves stretched out like an angel from heaven..."

"Oh, Celestia..." Scootaloo face-hoofed as she could see Diamond Tiara's past self roller-skating with Cut Above, the two of them performing some quite advanced skating techniques.

"Ah know, the two of us seemed ta be a perfect match, like a couple'a apples in a basket..." Diamond then reflected on what Cut Above had done to her, Silver, and the CMC earlier in the week. "But after what happened, he's turned into a rather rotten one, at that..."

"Such a shame, really..." Sweetie Belle said as the three of them moved further and further to the open area of the rink, from where they would be able to enter. "You two had a whole lot of chemistry together. Even when you two seemed like jerks to other ponies..."

"Yeah..." Diamond Tiara let out a sigh of sorrow, thinking of how she and Cut would have been together if not for this sudden occurrence. "But thanks to Applebloom, ah think that ya'll helped me dodge a bullet there..."

"Yeah! I mean, who really likes somepony who treats others like mud anyways?" Scootaloo said, then showed some shock when she realized that Diamond Tiara was right next to her, feeling bad once more. "Uhh... no offense?"

Diamond sighed dejectedly and said, "None taken..." before she was escorted by Sweetie Belle onto the rink.

Sweetie Belle shot a short death glare at Scootaloo and decided to help Diamond recover from her sorrow. Before long, the two of them were skating, though they were having some trouble trying to control their speed and turning angles.

Scootaloo eventually got onto the rink as well, feeling a little sense of regret for making Diamond Tiara feel bad. The whole sensation was rather odd to her. She was feeling sorry for a pony who had treated her like dirt in the past. Maybe it was the case of role reversal that was making her feel this way...

"And so he said, 'why'd you take up apple farming?', to which I replied, 'because cherry farming's over-rated'!" Applebloom spoke a hilarious anecdote, getting Silver Spoon to let out some giggles. The two of them seemed to truly be understanding each other's ways of life, and Silver was especially pleased to see Applebloom as a friend instead of a target.

"Oh, my sides! That was too good, Applebloom!" Silver then calmed down, cleared her throat and said, "I see that I've taught you well..."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that..." Applebloom said, then thought about how Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were getting on with Diamond Tiara. "I just hope that Sweetie Belle's having as much success as we are..."

"Don't worry about it, Applebloom. I'm sure she's getting along just fine..." Silver Spoon remained optimistic for Applebloom. She could tell that in her mind, Sweetie Belle was just as good a mentor as she was, and that Diamond Tiara would be very well endorsed into the country lifestyle once the bet was over.

"So, Silver. Are you ready for such a big change in your life?" Applebloom asked as the two fillies got off of the tables after their last massages, so that they could go for a mane restyling. "And no, I'm not talking about the mane styling. I'm talking about you moving on from your past and being friends with the three of us..."

Silver pondered that question as they made it closer and closer to the mane-styling stations. "Actually, Applebloom. I'm partially ready, but some parts of me are gonna have to adapt to fit this new decision I'm making..."

"Oh? Like what?" Applebloom asked as Aloe and Lotus began working on the two fillies' manes.

"Well, for one, I'm gonna have to cut down on my vocabulary a little, maybe lose the glasses..." Silver began explaining the changes she'd have to undergo to make her seem more friendly. "Truth be told, these glasses are only for show..." she took them off, revealing her true eyes to Applebloom. "I only wear them because it makes me seem posher than other ponies. That, and my father's got some strict dressing rules for fillies my age in the Silver Family..."

"Oh, really?" Applebloom asked, seeing some difference in Silver Spoon's attitude when she mentioned her father's dress code. "To be honest, I want to hear more about this dress code, Silver..."

"Please, Applebloom. Call me Silvs..." Silver Spoon put a hoof on Applebloom's shoulder and gave her a smile. She could see that Applebloom was a good friend to her, so she thought that it was only necessary to start sharing nicknames with her. "You can call me Silvs. What should I call you?"

"Oh! Well... uh..." Applebloom began to struggle with nicknames for herself. She'd always referred to herself as Applebloom, so this sudden nickname she had to come up with was a bit of a mental struggle for her. However, inspiration finally struck and she said, "You can call me Bloom. Just Bloom..."

"Alright, Bloom. I'll be sure to remember that..." Silver said as soon as their manes were primped and ready for a blow-out. Hair blowing machines were put onto their heads as they continued their conversation. "Now then, about my dress code... My dad actually adopted it from his great great grandfather, Silver Hallway, who was one of the family's greatest silversmiths. He was so uptight in the past, that he created special outfits made out of pure silver and made his children wear them, as a sign of unity, and the Silver Family's regality..."

"Go on..." Applebloom said as the mane-blower did its' work on restyling their manes.

"Not only were the silver outfits hard to wear, because they were more suited for knights rather than little girls, he decided to lose the helmet and bodily pieces altogether and just completely re-shape the manes of all of the young fillies and colts in the Silver Family," Silver went on and on with her explanation. "Colts had to have swirls in their hair whilst fillies like me had to have our manes like that..."

"You know, I haven't seen you shed one small smile since we got onto this rink, Diamond..." Sweetie Belle said, looking at how distraught Diamond Tiara had become with a mere series of words. "If it's about that comment that Scootaloo made earlier, I've already scolded her for it..."

"It's not that, Sweetie Belle. It's just that..." Diamond paused for a second, then sighed once again. "When the week's up, ah'm gonna hafta make one of the biggest decisions of mah life..."

"Oh, right..." Sweetie remembered that Cut Above had forced them all into this predicament, and that one last choice would shape the outcome of their friendships with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. "It is a rather large change, having to choose whether or not to side with us, or with Cut..."

"Ah'm just worried that Cut'll start blackmailin' and threatenin' me if ah join your friend group..." Diamond Tiara felt even more discord as she pondered the outcomes of what would happen if she joined the CMC and abandoned Cut Above. "Ah mean, ah'm capable'a standing up ta him, but ah'm worried of how he's gonna humiliate us in front of the school..."

"How does he get to other fillies and colts?" Scootaloo asked, sliding up to Diamond as they made another turn, followed by a small jump.

"Well, there was this one filly, Noi was it? She was runnin' against him fer class president a few months back..." Diamond said, getting Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to remember that day. "It seemed like a fair competition at first, but then Cut sprung that snake and orange juice trap on her..."

"Yeah... The poor filly was in tears, and Cut won that election unanimously..." Sweetie Belle said, thinking how horrible Cut Above was to other ponies, especially after hearing what he'd done to his opposition in a competition.

"And that was only him warmin' up..." Diamond Tiara continued. "He's a bad pony, ah'll admit, but ya never know when he's gonna strike or what he's gonna do when he's on yer flank..." then, she remembered that she was like that in a sense. "Ah guess that some of his essence rubbed off on me shortly after that..."

"Darn... He should be expelled once the school catches wind of his crimes..." Scootaloo said, thinking on how good it would be to liberate the fillies and colts of Ponyville Schoolhouse from Cut Above's insidious rule.

"But that's the point, Scootaloo... He's even been able ta strike at a teacher pony's worst vulnerability and manipulate them from there... Celestia knows what he's said to Cheerilee to let him walk out those doors free as a bird migratin' south fer the winter..." Diamond said, some worry building up as she thought of the horrible things Cut said to break Miss Cheerilee into letting him go without accusations being afflicted on him. "Why, his acts are so evil, that he's even gotten other fillies and colts wrongfully expelled during his time at other schools... Maybe it's his Cutie Mark or somethin'..."

"That's it! His Cutie Mark!" Sweetie Belle thought of a good way on getting back at Cut Above, as well as end his reign in Ponyville Schoolhouse once and for all. "He must have a fake Cutie Mark!"

"Why'd ya think that, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked, coming to a stop and making way for some other skaters.

"Is there really a Cutie Mark for being evil? No! And even if there was a Cutie Mark for being evil, then it'd probably be one that that pony would desperately try to get rid of in seconds flat!" Sweetie Belle had some logic going in her mind as she explained to the two fillies about Cut Above's Cutie Mark. "If that Cutie Mark's fake, then we should find a way to get it off of his flank some way..."

"But how are we gonna do that, girls... He might have actually earned his Cutie Mark, then found happiness with what he got..." Diamond Tiara said, feeling hopelessness again. "He might try ta superglue it if it were a sticker, get tattoos on his flanks ta cover his tracks, or do something else clever ta conceal his blank flank..."

"Hey. Don't feel so down about it, Diamond Tiara..." Sweetie Belle helped her out by leaning against the wall and giving her a small hug. "As long as you have us by your side, we'll do everything we can to stop Cut from even looking at you..."

"Yeah, that's what friends are for, right?" Scootaloo said, joining in the hug, leaning against the wall as well.

"Y-Yeah..." Diamond felt much more confident when she'd received Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's affection. For months, she thought that friendships could only be earned through power and wealth, when in reality, friendships come from friends who are willing to stand by your side no matter the odds. Throughout the whole experience, Diamond Tiara finally began to feel true friendship for the first time in her life. She returned the hug and said, "Thanks, girls... Thanks for helping me see the light..."