Matured Silver

After some trotting, Silver Spoon arrived at Music Hall, which, as the name suggested, only ever held concerts. However, the genre of music that was played there varied with the exception of bagpipe bands, as the cacophony they played were only used in Equestria to deal with Parasprites. The outside of Music Hall was decorated with a garland pattern that ran around the perimeter of the building and a large, golden sphere rested on the top of the red roof. Ponies, usually of the upper class, trotted into the theater, and Silver Spoon was among those walking in. Once she was inside, a stallion in a blue suit looked down at her, blocking her with an extended front leg to prevent her from progressing from the lobby to the theater proper.

"If you want to go in, it'll cost thirty bits," said the stallion. Silver Spoon paid the thirty bit price and was given a ticket, which, to her disappointment, placed her at the back row of seats. She wished that there was a choice as to which seat one could choose, but obviously Music Hall had other ideas, stupid ones in her opinion.

Silver Spoon trotted into the theater through the doors that had a shining, gold-like texture. Surprised to notice that the theater had most of its seats already filled up, Silver Spoon shimmied through those already seated to get to the seat assigned to her. Silver Spoon sat down, wedged between an older stallion and a familiar white unicorn with stylish sunglasses and a blue mane, and felt relieved that she had just enough of a view over the rows in front of her to actually see the orchestra perform. The familiar white unicorn looked at Silver Spoon, her face painted with a faint smile.

"Sup?" asked the unicorn. "I've never seen someone as young as you go to watch one of these concerts."

"I'm aware of that," replied Silver Spoon. "I like orchestral music, but yeah, such tastes are odd for someone my age." Silver Spoon analyzed the unicorn she was staring at, her appearance looking more and more recognizable in her brain by the second. "By the way, I think I've heard about you before."

"Makes sense. I'm Vinyl Scratch, DJ extraordinaire and awesome pony."

Silver Spoon's face was that of confusion, as she never expected someone like Vinyl Scratch to be here, given how different her music is. "Vinyl Scratch? What are you doing here? I was told that you made super-loud music, which is a stark contrast to what these ponies do."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow at Silver Spoon. "First off, I don't do dubstep, and promise me you'll never say that I do." Her tone of voice changed from casual to defensive at the drop of a pin.

"What makes you say that?"

"It's because those who, for some reason, don't know me look at my rad, stylish appearance and go, "Oh, look, she must make dubstep music." Nothing against the genre, but I actually do techno, which is a totally different thing, Neon Lights, and I'll do rock music here and there, and some of my rock music isn't extremely loud, maybe."

"I see, it must be pretty tough for you to be judged like that."

"I know, it sucks. Anyways, you wanna know why I'm here? It's because Octavia, the world famous cellist, was my roommate when we were both attending Canterlot University. She was always such a hard worker, while I just went with the flow, smoked a cigarette once in a while, which I went to rehab for, because I was told that if I kept doing that, I'd have to say adios to my lungs."

"Well good thing you stopped. Anyways, you sure are a talkative mare."

"I sure am. I'm guessing you heard about the trouble I got into from the newspapers, right?"

"Yeah, I saw an article on that not too long ago, but I'm trying to avoid gossipy stuff like that."

"C'mon, gossip is the blood that flows through a celebrity's veins. We thrive on that stuff."

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at all the names everybody knows. What they have in common is that their names are always in the tabloids, which means they'll always be relevant."

"I only say that because there are a number of famous ponies that are notoriously difficult to get an interview from or almost never appear in the tabloids. Fluttershy, Fancy Pants, Spitfire, the list goes on."

"Well, I guess that means their names will be forgotten once they're older, except for Fancy Pants, because the first and third you listed are very young, while he's an old coot."

"I wouldn't exactly call Fancy Pants an old coot."

The lights in the theater dimmed, thus ending Silver Spoon's long conversation with Vinyl Scratch, and by extension all of the other conversations buzzing in the theater. Spotlights shone on the stage in front of the audience and a geriatric unicorn slowly made his way along the stage. He was carrying a microphone and once he was at the center of the stage, he tapped it to make sure it was working. The familiar, somewhat deafening sound of a screeching microphone echoed in the theater, and the unicorn cleared his throat.

"Ahem, thank you all for coming," he announced. "Today, we will have a selection of pieces from the Canterlot Orchestra, which will conclude with one of Octavia's famous solos. With that, enjoy." The unicorn bowed and the audience clapped as if by instinct. When the red curtain opened up to reveal the orchestra behind it, everyone remained perfectly quiet, and the melodies could begin.

As the music played, Silver Spoon felt a variety of emotions enter from her ear and into her heart. Even at her young age, she knew that the best music was the music that encapsulated whatever emotions it was designed to reflect. Some of the pieces were happy and energetic, while others were slow and somber. The music took her mind off of the turmoils she went through earlier today, if only for a moment. Once the final performance, Octavia's solo, had concluded, the crowd gave a standing ovation, with Silver Spoon only seeing the behinds of the taller adults in front of her. As the audience headed for the exits, Silver Spoon tried to get one peek at Octavia, who looked like she was chatting with one of the musical directors, and Vinyl immediately noticed her curiosity.

"Hey kid, I'm guessing you're a big fan of Tavi like myself," said Vinyl.

"I am. Why do you bring this up?" asked Silver Spoon.

"Because I'm willing to share one of her secrets with you, because why not?"

Memories of the time Silver Spoon spent with Diamond Tiara clouded her head when she heard what Vinyl said. The idea of revealing somebody's secrets was something Diamond and her loved to do in the past, especially if it involved the blank flanks. This bullying tactic of the pair's screeched to a halt ever since the infamous Foal Free Press incident, which, while Silver Spoon was able to get out of unscathed, it displayed the extent of how rotten Diamond Tiara was willing to go to the other students. Biting her lip, Silver Spoon shook her head rapidly like it was a rotor.

"Not a fan of that stuff, huh? Whatever. Best you get home, because your parents are probably curious as to where you are."

Silver Spoon left the theater and once outside, she noticed the weather became much cloudier than before. Had she really been in the theater that long? One of the clocks on a local shop read 4:05, which meant she was only in the theater for about an hour. Either way, she had an inkling to get back home, since there was the usual weekend homework that she needed to complete.

As Silver Spoon was walking to her house she took in the sights of Ponyville around her. There was much bartering going on in the mobile shops, ponies sitting on benches read a book or kissed their lovers, and fillies and colts played along the busy roads. One of the places Silver Spoon passed by was the famous Carousel Boutique, a somewhat posh store selling the finest dresses, all stitched carefully by the well-respected Rarity, who happened to be outside and noticed Silver Spoon trotting on by.

"Oh, hello there," yelled Rarity as she waved.

"Hello to you too," replied Silver Spoon, turning around and seeing her greeter standing by her front door with a large smile on her face. "What's going on?"

"Nothing really. I was just back from paying a visit to Fluttershy. She's such a sweet mare."

"With a name like that, she, um, she probably is. Sorry, just getting my thoughts together." Silver Spoon felt slightly relieved she stopped herself from coming up with a snide remark in the nick of time.

"No need to apologize. I'll be sure to tell Sweetie Belle that you were in the area."

"Could you, oh never mind." Silver Spoon knew what would follow if she told Rarity not to tell Sweetie Belle she was here.

"Okay then. Goodbye."

"Goodbye to you too."

Silver Spoon trotted away from Rarity and Carousel Boutique, feeling like she had dodged a bullet by mere millimeters. Such an unexpected encounter made her gallop as fast as she could. All she paid attention to were the obstacles she might have to dodge if they got in the way, but luckily for her, nobody seemed to trot straight into her path. The large, grey mansion she lived in was within sight, and as she passed the gargoyle statues that were at the end of the path leading to the front door, she felt safe. Silver Spoon came to a stop and panted loudly, resting against one of the decorative pillars of the mansion. After a few minutes, she caught her breath, got back up, and knocked on the door. But instead of being greeted with smiling faces, she saw scowls, and it didn't take her long to formulate what had just happened.

"Silver Spoon, we need to talk," said Silver Shill, her father, in a stern voice. Silver Spoon trotted into the mansion with her parents and sat on the comfortable white couch in the living room, while her father and mother sat on her left and right respectively. She knew what they were going to say based on their expressions, and her realizations and attempts to correct her attitude made her feel even more hurt inside.

"Diamond Tiara said that you were bullying some of the students in the class," said Ruby Riches. "Can you explain yourself?"

"Well, um, Diamond Tiara was the one who was promoting the bullying, not I."

"That's not what she—"

"Okay, fine. Here's the hard truth. I split up with Diamond because of her behavior. That's why I was concerned about her earlier this morning. I felt extremely guilty ever since we ruthlessly teased a poor pegasus for being unable to fly. I should have never teased her or anybody in my class, and I'm really sorry. Now then, will you please forgive me?"

"Don't apologize to us, Silver Spoon. Apologize to the ones you've hurt. While we do accept your apology, you're still forbidden from going out without your father or myself until next week. Understood?"

Silver Spoon looked down with a slight frown, her shoulders shrugged. "I understand."

"Oh, and if you see any of those ponies you were so rude to, I expect you to come up to them and apologize for what you've done. As for Diamond Tiara, I'm going to send her parents a letter of my own, telling her that she's not as innocent as she thinks she is."

"Fine, I hate her guts now anyways, so phrase it as you wish."

***

Time passed by as usual, and Silver Spoon, no longer shackled to the whims of Diamond Tiara, got her weekend homework done much earlier than usual. While this was good in a sense, it meant that she had two whole days ahead of her with nothing interesting to do. As she reclined on the couch, Ruby Riches trotted in and poked Silver Spoon's shoulder.

"I've gotten a response from Filthy Rich about Diamond's behavior," said Ruby Riches. "He says that he's going to need more proof, but if you ask me, I feel as though he was lying." Silver Spoon nodded her head. "Yeah, your face tells me everything I need to know about Filthy Rich, Suri Polomare, and Diamond Tiara. They're not nice, and we're definitely not doing any business with them anymore."

"Good, but I'm pretty sure Diamond is going to start bullying me," replied Silver Spoon. "I just hope that it isn't too bad."

"Well, don't let her words get to you. Anyways, I've also actually received a letter from Rarity, and we're planning on going to Canterlot together. We both have a business meeting there this Saturday, and I think you'll have a wonderful time there. Oh, and don't worry about not having anyone to be with, because Sweetie Belle is coming along too."

Silver Spoon shuddered ever so slightly, but her mother failed to notice it. While she no longer hated Sweetie Belle, it was no secret to either of them that Sweetie Belle and her didn't exactly get along. Silver Spoon just hoped inside that the trip would be as short, painless, and conflict free as possible, though the last two were guaranteed to not happen, since she owed Sweetie Belle an apology. Not having said a word for a bit as she thought about the future, she got off the couch and looked at her mother. "I just hope it can take my mind off of how bad Diamond Tiara is."

"That's the spirit, but remember, our rules still stand. We'll be with you the entire time."

"I'd only assume as much."

"Okay then, it's getting late, so I think you should head off to bed."

Silver Spoon yawned, which got a chuckle out of her mother. "Sounds fair. Goodnight, mother, and tell my father goodnight as well."

"Goodnight, Silver Spoon."