“I’m so glad you could all come today. You have no idea how much this means to me; a proper tea party is never complete without friends. Ever since I got this set from my grandmare last year, I’ve been wanting to use it. I spent the whole morning getting it polished so everything is perfect. Plus, I have four settings and it works out just right. Do you want one lump or two, Scootaloo?”
Lumpy tea? That doesn’t sound good.
“No, silly. I’m talking about the sugar lumps. They dissolve in the tea so you get to choose how sweet you want it. I like mine with two lumps, but today, I think I’ll go for three—one for each of you. You all want three as well? Okay. Give me just a minute, and I’ll have everything served up.”
I like your braid. It looks real pretty.
“Why thank you, Apple Bloom. My mother braids my mane ‘cause I’m not so good at doing it myself. I’m trying to learn, but it’s hard to reach back there. I still have trouble getting it started and again at the end with the tie, never can get it tight enough. Does your sister help you brush your mane, or do you do it yourself? By the way, I love your bow.”
Applejack taught me how to tie the bow, but she’s awful busy with her friends and the farm, so I do it myself most days. It’s not perfect, but I keep it simple. Now, if I had Rarity for a sister, things might be different.
“I know, right? Rarity’s so amazing… I wish I had a sister like you guys.”
They’re okay, but if I had a sister, I’d want her to be Rainbow Dash!”
“Heh, at least one of you knows what it’s like to be an only foal… Anyway, your mane looks absolutely gorgeous, Sweetie Belle. Go figure. I’ve spent the entire day at the salon before, but they can never get the curls to set like yours. Do you use some kind of special unicorn magic or is it just naturally curly?”
I think it’s natural, but maybe Rarity uses some magic to make it stick. I could check... Hey! You know what? She might even help with yours if we ask.
“Wow! Do you think she would? My birthday’s tomorrow, and it would be so awesome if she could get my mane to curl like yours. A new style would go perfect with my new dress!”
Now that you mention it, did Rarity make that dress you’re wearing? I really like the color.
“This one? Of course she made it, silly. Who else in town makes dresses like this? It’s got the most amazing ruffle in the back—it shimmers when I swish my tail—see? I can’t wait to show it off at my party tomorrow. You’ll all be there, won’t you?”
Umm, I’m kind of busy already. Kinda promised to do something, somewhere, I think.
Applejack’s making me help her tomorrow after school. Otherwise I would.
Yeah, I totally would too, but I don’t have a present.
“I understand.”
We’d all love to come, but we sorta didn’t know we were invited.
Sorry.
Yeah, sorry.
“It’s alright. You don’t have to apologize. There’s always next year—or the year after that. My family will be here, and so will Diamond. There might be a few others, but probably not. Heh, we’ll find some way to have fun—we always do—just the two of us. Always the two of us…”
That doesn’t sound very fun. Just you and… her.
When you say ‘fun’, don’t you just mean you’ll find somepony else to pick on? Isn’t that what you always do?
Why do you even hang out with her? She’s not a very good friend.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because I don’t want to get teased for wearing glasses. Our parents hang out a lot as well, so it’s kind of hard not to. She’s really not that bad—just different—I guess. We have a lot of fun together, and it’s not like we spend all our time doing that…stuff.”
I’m sorry I didn’t get you a gift. I didn’t even know it was your birthday.
“Don’t worry about it. You guys are all the gift I need. I’ve been wanting to use this tea set for a really long time, and it’s nice to finally have friends that I can share it with.”
What about Diamond Tiara? Doesn’t she count?
“Oh… Yeah… She doesn’t like tea.”
But that’s silly. It’s just apple juice and sugar cubes. What’s not to like?
“I know. She just doesn’t like to play pretend, and we usually end up doing whatever she wants to do. I wish she'd listen to me once in a while, but It’s okay. I’m fine with it.”
Sounds like she’s a bigger bully to you than she is to us.
“That’s… That’s not true… She’s my… friend…”
“What are you doing, Silver Spoon? Hurry up and get out of that silly dress; we’ve got to get moving! The Crusaders are trying to get their cutie marks again, and I don’t want to miss the chance to point and laugh at them when they fail. It never gets old.”
“Okay, Diamond, but could you wait downstairs while I get changed? I need to clean this up first, but it’ll only take a minute. I’ll hurry.”
“Fine, but don’t keep me waiting. If we miss the big flop, I’m going to be mad, and it’ll be all your fault.”
“Okay, I’ll be right down.”
But I really want to finish having tea with my friends first.
Author's Note
Bullies and friendships; loyalty in the realm of schoolyard politics; children trying to have fun -- there's a lot to think about here.
I wanted to challenge myself to write a real story using only dialog. People can blame Bad Horse and his one-sided short stories for my getting the idea to even try this. I got about halfway into writing the story during the 24 hours we had for the Writeoff competition before I abandoned the one-side conversation concept. There was too much I wanted to say with the other voices, even if they were "all in her head". Having people try and guess at filling in the other half of the conversation would have killed it. All the italicized lines mark the inner struggle Silver Spoon is working through as she fights the realization that Diamond Tiara isn't really her friend. Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to deal with that knowledge and the bullying disguised as friendship continues.
I have to wonder how many people are caught in the same kind of trap. We might think we have friends, but we just end up getting used and/or abused by the people we associate with. Trying to "go with the flow" and "blend in with the crowd" might seem like an answer, but the truth is right there in front of us. We are the victims of the worst kind of bullies out there—the ones that pretend to be our friends.
Sometimes the only thing you can do is be the kind of friend you want to have and hope your friend can do likewise.
Thanks for reading and please leave a comment. I would love to hear what you thought of this.
