Tarnished Feelings

Chapters

Breakdown
A Brand New Day
The Best Policy
Dancing Days
Life's a Dirty Job
Weathering the Storm
Goodbye to You

Breakdown

Everything had to be perfect. Nothing could be left out of place. To some, social gatherings in high society were an escape from the day-to-day grind. They represented a chance to dress up, eat fancy food and mingle with ponies they didn’t normally get a chance to even see in public. There was certain to be some ponies attending this particular function that would see it as such an event. Silver Spoon, however, was not one of them.

For her, parties weren’t a getaway; they were her arena. They were where she stayed connected with all the most important ponies around. They were where she proved her savvy and charisma and maintained her own image as one of the most important, up-and-coming mares in Ponyville. She not only had to be on top of her game for these sorts of events, she also had to have just the right look. For that reason, she had spent the past hour primping and preening herself in front of the mirror in her bedroom. Her glasses were crystal clean and sat comfortably on her face. Her mane was in its typical tight braid that was tied off with a light blue band. Her tail had been brushed to the point that it practically shone in the light. She was the very picture of a well-groomed mare. The problem was that all of these preparations had taken only fifteen minutes. The other forty-five had been spent agonizing over the final touch she needed: a necklace.

She had quickly narrowed her choices down to two necklaces, but had been agonizing over her final selection for some time now. On her left was a brand new silver open heart pendant that she’d received as a gift during last Hearth’s Warming from her longtime friend Diamond Tiara. On her right was a far simpler piece, but one that held tremendous significance to her all the same: a string of pearls that, for years, had been part of her trademark appearance. For as brilliant and beautiful as the pendant was, Silver found herself continually coming back to the pearls that had adorned her neck for so long. They had been restrung several times and a few of the pearls did show a bit of aging on them. Diamond Tiara had begun deriding her for still wearing them once they had become teenagers. After all, pearls were the sort of thing elderly mares wore all the time. They were hardly considered high fashion these days. In fact, Silver had no doubt part of the reason she’d gotten the pendant from Diamond was because it was intended to be a replacement for her pearls. The truth, at least as far as Silver was concerned, was that her pearls couldn’t be replaced; not now, not ever.

The sound of the downstairs clock chiming the hour roused Silver out of her thoughts. Time was running short and she couldn’t afford to be late; not even fashionably so. She settled on wearing her pearls and quickly strung them around her neck. There was something comfortable about having them on, and even though she knew she would get teased by Diamond Tiara for wearing them yet again it wouldn’t be anything she couldn’t handle. A final glance in her mirror satisfied her and she set out from her room. She reached the bottom of the stairs only to be startled as a loud snore came from the living room. Peering inside, she saw the familiar sight of her father passed out on the couch. His black and gray mane and tail were disheveled and his blue-gray coat was slightly sweaty and matted. She sighed with a half-smile and walked over to where he slept.

“Worked yourself to exhaustion again,” she said quietly, as if talking to him. “You really don’t need to keep doing this to yourself, daddy. Of course I know exactly what you’d say if I told you that yet again, though.”

Silver grabbed the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch with her teeth, pulled it over him and kissed his cheek gently. He shifted slightly without waking up at the gesture. Silver quietly left the room and then the house in order to begin the short trek to Diamond Tiara’s home for the evening’s party. As she passed through Ponyville town square, she took in the sights and idly watched other ponies come and go along the road. A Pegasus pony flew overhead towards what was a fairly newer structure in town. It was a tower of sorts with a picture of a sun sitting behind the clouds. A crank stuck out of one side of the tower at the top. The Pegasus grabbed the crank and turned it a few times, which in turn changed the picture from the sun hiding behind the clouds to a fully cloudy picture with raindrops falling from the clouds.

“Ugh, rain today?” Silver complained to herself as she picked up her pace a bit. “I swear, I really need to give those weather ponies a talking-to someday. How stupidly inconvenient. At least we have the weather towers to tell us these things now. Those things really were a great ide-”

Silver stopped herself mid-comment and looked around nervously. Fortunately she didn’t see anyone she really recognized and breathed a sigh of relief. No one had heard her comments that were basically praise for what was the result of Apple Bloom’s work in town. It was no secret that despite the passing of time Diamond Tiara still held great contempt for the youngest member of the Apple family. Silver had tried in recent years to get her to forget about it, but Diamond was insistent on proving her superiority over Apple Bloom. It was so bad that now Diamond had every pony she knew keeping an ear out for anyone who dared to even praise Apple Bloom or her work in town so she could make an example of them.

Silver liked to think that she was fully safe from Diamond’s wrath given their history together, but she still had no desire to tempt fate. She let herself silently thank Apple Bloom for her contribution to the town and continued on her way to a party that she was certain would be a very memorable event.

True to Silver’s expectations, after a couple of hours it was clear the party would indeed be quite memorable; however, it was for all the wrong reasons. She’d arrived in plenty of time only to find out that Diamond Tiara had been looking for her to get her input on the quality of the food for about half an hour at that point. Then Diamond had immediately gotten on her case for her choice of jewelry. Indeed she went to great lengths to remind Silver how out-of-vogue pearls were currently. It had bordered on outright berating, but Silver defused the situation by promising to wear something different for the next party. At that point, Silver figured the worst was over and things would even out for the rest of the evening. That was before Opulence and Fortuity showed up.

Opulence and Fortuity were Earth pony sisters who, like Silver and Diamond, were born into an incredibly wealthy family and were considered part of Ponyville’s high society. Diamond had spent quite a bit of time getting to know them over the past year, doing her level best to ingratiate herself to them. It was something Silver was not all that thrilled about. Opulence had a rather sharp tongue and no compunctions about speaking her mind to anyone at any time. Fortuity was well-informed in the gossip community and seemed to love using whatever she learned about any given pony against them. All in all it was safe to say that the sisters had a penchant - perhaps even a liking - for cruelty and it had begun to rub off on Diamond in ways Silver neither liked nor seemed to be able to curb.

Silver had put some distance between herself and the sisters as soon as they’d shown up and hoped to avoid contact with them entirely, but after seeing them wandering around with Diamond Tiara in tow for most of the party she worried that crossing their paths would be inevitable. Still, she couldn’t spend the whole party avoiding other guests. She had to make her own rounds as well, after all, and now was as good a time as any to get started.

“Silver Spoon, is that you my girl?” she heard a voice call out to her from a little ways away. She looked over to see a rather large orange-colored Earth pony stallion with a jet black mane and tail waving to her. A much smaller light-blue Earth pony mare with her dark blue mane worn up stood alongside him, smiling and waving at her as well.

“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Suds,” Silver said with a smile as she quickly approached the couple. Mr. Suds was the owner of the largest chain of Laundromats in Equestria. He was also an old school friend of her father’s and had been something of an uncle to her for many years.

“My goodness, Silver, look at you,” Mrs. Suds said, looking her over with a warm smile. “Art Deco has raised you to become quite the picture of a proper young mare.”

“You’re too kind, ma’am,” Silver replied in deference. “How are you enjoying the party?”

“Oh we just arrived,” Mr. Suds told her. “But I spotted you right away and just had to thank you for that restaurant recommendation last week.”

“I’m glad to hear that worked out for you, sir,” Silver said, unable to hide the proud smile creeping across her face. “The Cherry Blossom Bistro really is quite a fine establishment. It’s some of the best Nippony-ese cuisine I’ve come across.”

“Have you been to that country yet, dear?” Mrs. Suds asked. “You seem to know so much about its food.”

“Oh no, not yet,” Silver admitted. “I would love to go someday, but it’s too far away and quite expensive to live there. As for my knowledge of their food, it’s all from books and from what few restaurants I’ve been able to go to so far that offer that style of food. I’m hardly an expert on the matter yet.”

“You’re far too modest, Silver,” Mrs. Suds told her, shaking her head as she spoke. “You have quite the gift when it comes to fine dining establishments.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Silver replied, blushing a little as she eyed her cutie mark briefly. “It is something I’ve always been passionate about.”

“Well I’m sure a beautiful, up-and-coming young mare like yourself has better things to do than just chatter with us all evening,” Mr. Suds said as he stepped past Silver a bit. “Tell your dad I said ‘hi’!”

“I will, Mr. Suds,” Silver said with a nod. “Enjoy the party, sir!”

Silver allowed herself a moment to forget her earlier troubles as she watched Mr. and Mrs. Suds head off to mingle. Most ponies didn’t know what her special talent was, but the few who did had always been impressed by her knowledge of restaurants and the quality of their food. She’d always had a rather discerning sense of taste and now she was beginning to write articles for local magazines and newspapers wherein she would give her reviews and thoughts on Ponyville’s various dining establishments. She looked forward to the day when she was so influential her words could make or break a restaurant. For the time being, though, she would settle for knowing she could at least try to direct the high society of Equestria to proper, quality eateries.

‘Maybe this party won’t turn out so bad after all,’ she allowed herself to think.

“Oh hey, there she is!” an unfortunately familiar and incredibly annoying voice said from behind her.

‘Right,’ she thought, her high spirits immediately coming crashing back down to earth. ‘My mistake. I forgot…they’re still here.’

“See, Fortuity?” Opulence said as she and her sister approached Silver from behind. “I told you we’d find Silver Stooge around here somewhere.”

“Sis, please,” Fortuity said, rolling her eyes melodramatically as she went along with Opulence’s little game. “Her name is Silver Spoon.”

“Oh, are you sure?” Opulence said, feigning alarm at her 'mistake'. “I really thought it was Silver Stooge.”

Fortuity looked as if she was giving the matter some thought. “Hmm…I suppose ‘Stooge’ would work for a nickname. I mean, it’s not like she does anything but hang around Diamond Tiara day in and day out.”

“Hello ladies,” Silver said, trying her level best to maintain her composure. “Enjoying the party?”

“Not really,” Opulence said directly. “Too many wannabe elites and nouveau riche dorks hanging around just for free food.”

“It does beg the question of exactly what kind of company Diamond Tiara keeps,” Fortuity said as she looked around the party. Her gaze finally fell back on Silver, a somewhat menacing smile on her face. “So many lame ponies just hanging around her for no good reason. You know what I mean, Silver Stooge? Oh I’m sorry, I meant Silver Spoon. You were right, sis, that name does work for her.”

“Well, I suppose that does sound like a problem,” Silver said, her eye now twitching a bit from the growing pile of passive-aggressive insults being slung at her. She spotted a small piece of litter on the ground nearby and smirked as the retort quickly formed in her head.

“I swear, look at this,” she said, picking the litter up with a disgusted look. “Clearly I need to talk to Diamond about the state of her home.”

Silver forced herself to look straight at Fortuity, who still had a smug look on her face, and put on her own very best fake smile as she said, rather spitefully, “The ponies at the sanitation department simply aren’t doing their job with all the trash that’s cluttering things up around here.”

Silver’s transparent insult immediately set Opulence off, but before she could say anything, Fortuity stopped her. She quickly whispered something to her that brought a devilish smile back to her face. Opulence then walked off as Fortuity turned back to Silver.

“Please excuse my sister,” Fortuity told her. “She had to go use the little fillies’ room. But you make a fair point, Silver. Diamond does have a lot of clutter in her yard here today. Much like her life, don’t you agree?”

“All too well, in fact,” Silver replied slowly. She’d tried to see where Opulence had actually gone off to, but the crowd had become a fair bit denser and she lost her all too quickly.

“A mare like Diamond needs to make sure she’s saying the right things,” Fortuity went on. “Rubbing elbows with the right ponies. She can’t be wasting her time with those who’re just common folk posing as upper class.”

Fortuity then saw Opulence out of the corner of her eye and knew it was time to act. She quickly stepped aside a bit and picked her tone up a bit, speaking a fair bit louder.

“Like that one old hag that runs the dress shop here in Ponyville,” she said. “I think her name’s…Rarity? And I heard the most fascinating bit of gossip lately that she’s been seen quite a bit with a real loser, too. Some washed up artist by the name of Art Deco.”

The murmurs immediately picked up in the crowd as Silver bit her lower lip. Her father and Rarity had first been mere acquaintances. A few years ago, they struck up a business relationship between his art and her gems and clothing. Not too long ago, however, Silver certainly had begun to notice that they were spending more and more time together, and not just for work-related matters. She’d done her best to downplay the rumors and especially to keep Diamond Tiara in the dark on the matter; a task she suddenly realized she had failed at as she saw her longtime friend standing right next to Opulence not far away.

“Silver, this is a joke right?” Diamond asked as she quickly approached her, glaring daggers at her.

“Um…well…” Silver stammered, trying to avoid eye contact with Diamond. “I don’t think they’re all that serious about it…and-“

Silver was cut off by the distant rumble of thunder in the sky. She’d never been so thankful for foul weather.

“We really shouldn’t be talking out here when there’s a storm about to hit,” she said quickly. “Let’s all head inside so the party can continue, okay?”

Silver went to begin walking into the house only to bump into Opulence who blocked her path.

“Oh I’ll bet you’d like to just run away, wouldn’t you?” Opulence said, clearly getting quite a bit of entertainment from the controversy she’d help cause. “Don’t you think your best friend, of all ponies, deserves to know the truth? Just what kind of friend are you?”

Silver felt helplessness start to take hold as her mind fumbled for a way out of the verbal onslaught. “Well, I-“

“This makes her a liar and a stooge, doesn’t it sis?” Fortuity added venomously. “And she has the nerve to talk about the kinds of ponies Diamond Tiara associates herself with. Like she knows better than Diamond herself.”

Silver now decided ignoring the two sisters was the best way to go and looked pleadingly at Diamond Tiara, but her longtime friend’s face was twisted with anger and disdain.

“You come late to my party,” Diamond said, practically shooting the words at her. “berate my guests, and now I find out you’ve been lying to me too? Just what kind of friend are you?”

“Diamond, please…” Silver said in desperation. “We can talk this over; just let’s go somewhere else, okay?”

“Stop trying to tell me what to do!” Diamond shouted at her. “You’re not the boss of me! You’re not even worth keeping as a friend anymore!”

Diamond shoved Silver back a bit and then hooked her hoof under the grey mare’s necklace. “And get rid of this cheap piece of junk hanging around your stupid neck!” she said as she pulled on it hard. The string quickly broke, sending pearls flying in every direction.

Silver panicked as she saw the tiny white orbs scatter. She quickly scrambled to gather them back up, using a discarded salad bowl she found to hold them as she went. Behind her she heard the combined laughter of Opulence and Fortuity, which was soon joined by Diamond’s own laugh. The laughter quickly ended as a louder and more insistent clap of thunder came from the sky. Silver continued to search desperately for all of her pearls as party guests quickly fled the yard for the interior of Diamond Tiara’s home. By the time Silver found the last of her pearls and placed it safely in the bowl, the yard was empty. She put the bowl on her back and quickly went over to the door to the house, only to find it was now locked.

“Um, hello?” she called out, knocking on the door. “I’m still out here. Someone please let me in.”
Inside she could hear the party continuing, but no answer came to her. She knocked more insistently.

“Okay, fun joke everyone. Come on, let me in now.”

Still no answer came. Silver felt the first drops of rain begin to fall now as well. She quickly found a window and looked in, spotting Diamond chatting with the two sisters. She tapped on the glass trying to get Diamond’s attention, only to see the sisters lead her off further into the party and away from the doors.

Silver’s heart plummeted. The rain came now in full force, quickly drenching the rest of her body as her face was already wet from the tears that fell from her eyes. Betrayed and abandoned, she slowly began to walk away from Diamond Tiara’s home. The storm raged above and around her as she plodded along home. She sobbed harder with every step. She had lost her best friend; indeed, her only real friend. What’s more, now her reputation was sure to take a hit with whatever other stories Opulence and Fortuity decided to spread about her.

As she entered Ponyville town square, one of her front hooves slipped into a particularly deep puddle. She tripped and fell over, mud splattering all over her. Her pearls scattered out of the bowl again, but at this point she was too despondent to care. She folded her front legs over her face and openly bawled. She had never felt so low in her entire life. She cried so hard and for so long that despite the cold rain and mud, she eventually fell into a deep and dreamless sleep right there where she lay.

A while later - how long it had been she had no way of knowing - Silver stirred enough to realize she was being carried on someone’s back. She felt no more rain falling on her, yet she could hear the rain continuing to fall. She drifted back to sleep not caring for her fate, though still noting the faint scent of lilacs before blacking out again.

A Brand New Day

The scent of lilacs greeted Silver’s nose again as she awoke, but this time instead of being carried on someone’s back she was snug inside a sleeping bag. She rubbed at her bleary eyes, taking a moment to realize her glasses were gone. In a panic, she struggled to get out of the sleeping bag and looked around the room. Everything around her currently looked like a bunch of fuzzy blobs without the aid of her glasses. She squinted as she walked around, eventually finding them sitting on a table that wasn’t too far from where she’d been sleeping. As she put her glasses on and finally got a clear view of her surroundings, she found herself still mystified as to where she was. The room was a bit of a mess with pens, pencils, paper, rolls of cloth and several blank mannequins scattered all over.

Silver’s train of thought was derailed by the sound of one of the sweetest singing voices she’d ever heard coming from the next room over. Much as she didn’t want to wander a strange house alone, her curiosity over the singer got the better of her. She followed the sweet singing and found its source rather quickly: a white unicorn mare with a lavish pink and lavender mane and tail. The mare bore a cutie mark of a spotlight shining on a heart-shaped musical note and was singing scales and arpeggios in a voice that Silver recognized as readily as she did her signature look.

“Sweetie Belle?” Silver said, calling to her. Silver’s voice still sounded beleaguered from the prior day’s ordeal.

Sweetie Belle broke off her vocal warm-up to turn quickly walk over to her guest.

“Silver, are you alright?” she asked. “Sis and I were really worried about you.”

“I’ve had better days,” Silver admitted. “Far better days. How’d I end up here, though?”

“Last night I was on my way home when I heard someone crying. I found you passed out in a mud puddle not far away from the boutique, so I ran back here, borrowed Rarity’s umbrella, and brought you inside. I tried to clean you up a bit, but…well you’re still kind of a mess.”

Silver looked herself over and, sure enough, blotches of mud still stained and matted her body. Given the state of the rest of herself, she didn’t dare look in a mirror. She was fairly certain her mane was in terrible condition as well.

“Feel free to take a bath here this morning.” Sweetie told her with a smile. “I’m all done getting ready for the day anyway.”

“I really should probably get home,” Silver said. “My father’s got to be beside himself.”

Sweetie Belle shook her head at her. “Oh don’t worry. After I got you inside, Rarity headed over to your house to let your dad know you were here. She only got back this morning, but your dad did agree that you spending the night here was for the best given how bad the storm got last night.”

“Oh. That’s…good, I guess.” Silver’s tone was despondent once again. As if there wasn’t enough talk going around now about the relationship between her father and Rarity, now she’d spent the night at Rarity’s home. Granted the circumstances were beyond Silver’s control, she was sure it would be spun to make it sound like a sleepover instead.

“So… how about that bath now?” Sweetie Belle asked again, a cheesy grin now plastered on her face.

Silver could tell there was little chance she could talk her way out of the offer, and the simple truth was that a bath sounded like a good idea anyway. Minutes later, she found herself soaking in a nice, warm tub with bubbles up to her neck. It was quite comforting, at least physically. Her mind, however, was still plagued with how quickly and easily her life had fallen apart the previous day. No amount of pampering was going to soothe her mind any time soon.

“I found some extra towels in sis’ linen closet,” Sweetie Belle said as she walked in with a fluffy towel across her back. Using a little magic, she levitated it over to a nearby towel rack and then took a seat next to the tub. “Take your time, though. You looked like you were in need of some relaxation.”

“Not that I’m not grateful, Sweetie Belle, but…why are you doing this?” Silver asked, straining her eyes to see the unicorn mare. She’d removed her glasses prior to getting in the tub so she could wash and rinse her face and mane properly.

“What do you mean?”

“Why’re you being so nice to me? I haven’t exactly been that nice to you or your friends in the past. I would’ve expected you to just leave me out in the rain last night, not take me in and give me a bubble bath.”

“That stuff happened years ago,” Sweetie Belle said as she scooted a little closer to the tub. “Once the girls and I got our cutie marks, I seem to remember you became a lot less antagonistic towards us. Heck, my opinion of you went up a lot when you were the first one to applaud Apple Bloom’s Granny Smith in class after her story about the founding of Ponyville and that was still before we got our cutie marks.”

“Diamond Tiara was on me about that for a week straight,” Silver said, shaking her head at the memory. “But the things I said and did to you girls…that wasn’t all that long ago. You can’t tell me you’ve totally forgiven all of that already.”

“I dunno if I’d say ‘forgiven’, but it just doesn’t matter anymore; at least to me. Besides, even if I were the type of pony to hold a grudge I don’t think I could’ve just left someone out in the rain like that last night.”

“That’s almost impossibly generous of you.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged at her. “My sister’s influence, what can I say? And while we’re on the topic, just what happened yesterday?”

“I…I just had a bit of a bad day,” Silver said hesitantly, trying to evade replaying the events that were still all too fresh in her memory.

Sweetie narrowed her eyes at her. “Silver, I’m not a dodo like Scoot. A bit of a bad day for you would be having to settle for butter on your scone because you ran out of clotted cream.”

“You really have no idea how easily that can ruin your day.”

“Don’t get off topic. You had more than just a bit of a bad day yesterday. Please tell me what happened.”

Once again, Silver could tell there wasn’t much chance she could get out of her current predicament. Given how nice Sweetie Belle was being to her, the least she could do was level with her about things. She retold the events from Diamond Tiara’s party in full detail, ending with her vague memory of being carried inside Carousel Boutique by Sweetie.

“I can’t believe Diamond would treat you, of all ponies, like that,” Sweetie said, completely aghast at Silver’s story. “You two were inseparable back when we were fillies.”

“Don’t remind me, please,” Silver said dejectedly. “I wish I could just blame Opulence and Fortuity for turning her against me, but part of this is my fault too I think. I could’ve been a better influence on Diamond. I keep thinking maybe I could’ve gotten her to mellow out a bit more, but I was always too afraid of changing the status quo between us. I thought trying to change her might make her mad and cause her to not want to be friends anymore. Ironically, not trying to change her had just that effect.”

“I really don’t think it’s fair to try and blame yourself for what happened, Silver,” Sweetie Belle said as she moved a bit closer to the tub. “You’re the victim here. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to put some blame on Opulence and Fortuity. I’ve never met them myself, but I know Rarity’s had to deal with them before as customers. I always know when they’ve been around because they put sis in a ridiculously foul mood. If they have that kind of effect on my sister of all ponies, I can’t imagine what they’re capable of around those whose good graces they want to get or stay in.”

Silver sank lower into the tub until her head was all but lost in the bubbles. “Trust me, I can do more than imagine at this point.”

Sweetie grumbled in a bit of frustration. Clearly a change of approach was in order here. “Then we need to get your mind off of this whole mess so you can move on,” she pronounced.

“That’s easier said than done, especially since you’ve got a ton of friends to help you out when you’re down. Diamond was about the only pony I considered my friend, and we did a marvelous job alienating ourselves from those we considered to be ‘rabble’.”

“But now you’re not with Diamond anymore. Maybe this is your chance to make amends with others and make some new friends.”

Silver sat up a little and turned to look at Sweetie again, who looked rather eager and excited at the idea she’d just come up with. Silver had to admit that now that she was apart from Diamond it gave her an excellent chance to mend fences with at least some ponies. Her pondering of the possibility was interrupted by the loud and insistent growl of her stomach. She blushed and sank back down in the tub at the embarrassing sound.

“Lemme guess,” Sweetie Belle said while trying to hide the smirk on her face. “You didn’t get to eat much of anything last night, did you?”

“Parties aren’t for eating at,” Silver said plainly. “It’s just plain rude to go to one with the intent of stuffing your face.”

“Yeah, we need to work on your concept of what a party is for while we’re at it. But all of these things are done better with some breakfast in you. Finish up your bath and we’ll head out for a bite.”

“There isn’t anything around here we could have instead?”

“Ehehe…well, there is but I’m not exactly what you’d call an expert in the kitchen.”

“You can’t be that bad. I don’t need that much of a breakfast, and no one could mess up just some toast.”

“You’ve never seen my toast. Just trust me; we’re better off going out to eat.”

Silver didn’t know how ready she was to venture back out into Ponyville just yet, but her increasing hunger was getting the better of her. She nodded to Sweetie Belle who left the bathroom, and then finished up her bath in short order. It wasn’t long after that she stood before a mirror checking herself over after setting her mane and tail properly. It was only then that she realized she was still missing her pearls. She quickly rushed to Sweetie Belle, who she almost bowled over with the suddenness of her reappearance.

“You didn’t happen to see a small bowl full of pearls near where I collapsed last night, did you?” she asked Sweetie Belle, a sense of urgency to her voice.

“Oh yeah, I did,” Sweetie Belle told her with a nod. “Rarity apparently came back here early this morning before either of us was up and took it with her when she left. She left a note saying she was going to stop by the jeweler’s to ask them about re-stringing them for you. Also that she had something to talk to us about later today, but I have no idea what that's all about.”

“Oh thank Celestia,” Silver said, sighing in relief. “I know you’ve done a lot for me already, Sweetie Belle, but I can’t tell you what that means to me. Though it also makes me feel even worse for everything I did and said to you back when we were fillies.”

“Silver, it’s like I said before,” Sweetie said, putting a forehoof on Silver’s shoulder. “That stuff just doesn’t matter that much to me anymore. It’s clear to me you’re not the same pony who antagonized me back then, and I’m willing to give you a chance to redeem yourself.”

Silver nodded to her, a look of resolution on her face now. “I’ll do my best to earn your friendship, Sweetie Belle. I promise.”

Sweetie Belle beamed a smile at her and then led the way out of Carousel Boutique, locking the door behind them after they left. It promised to be a full day ahead of them, and she only hoped her other friends would be receptive to Silver’s change of heart.

The Best Policy

Silver had given patronage to many restaurants over the past few years, but she had a hard time remembering the last time she’d visited Sugarcube Corner. According to Sweetie Belle, the bakery’s business boomed over the years which led to its expansion. Now no longer just a bakery, the shop also offered full party planning courtesy of Pinkie Pie and a full-service cafe. The increased business, coupled with raising two foals, had forced Mr. and Mrs. Cake to pass off more control of the shop to Pinkie so they could focus on baking and securing bigger catering contracts. Pinkie, in turn, immediately sought an employee to help her handle the crowds at the shop and café. It was as much of a dream job as Twist could have ever hoped for. Silver saw as much for herself as she spotted the bespectacled mare with the curly red mane cheerily taking an order as she and Sweetie entered the shop.

“So that’s two slices of coffee cake and two fruit thmoo-”

Twist caught herself mid-sentence and, stifling a frustrated groan, gave it another attempt.

“Two fruit smoothies,” she said slowly and carefully. “I’ll have your order out to you in a jiffy!”

She turned and headed back to the counter grumbling silently to herself as she went. Growing up had seen plenty of changes for the better in her, but her lisp was something she continued to struggle with daily. After filling and delivering the order to her customers, she turned towards the front doors of the shop and spotted Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon waiting to be seated.

“Uh, hey Sweetie Belle,” Twist said as she approached her while eyeing Silver somewhat warily. “Table for one, I guess? Or are the others coming a little later?”

“Actually, I’m here with Silver Spoon, Twist,” Sweetie told her with a smile. “We’ll sit wherever.”

Twist looked back and forth between Silver and Sweetie and, with a concerned look on her face, led the pair to a table not far from the shop’s counter. Once they were seated, she stood on the opposite side of the table from them and tried to make sense of the scene in front of her.

“Is, uh… Diamond Tiara meeting you here or something?” she asked Silver.

“Um… no,” Silver replied while avoiding eye contact with Twist. “Definitely not.”

Twist’s mind went from curiously concerned to completely confounded as she leaned across the table towards Sweetie Belle. “Thith ith- dang it! I mean…this is really weird, you know,” she told her.

“I can appreciate where you’re coming from, Twist, but it’s okay,” Sweetie replied quietly. “Silver’s been through a bit of a rough patch recently, and she wants to try to make some new friends.”

“Seriouthly?” Twist asked in surprise.

“Seriouthly.” Sweetie replied with a wink and smirk. Twist stuck her tongue out at the Unicorn mare and then moved back a bit so she was looking at both of them again.

“Well, feel free to order whenever you’d like,” she told them. “We just got a fresh batch of blueberries in so we made some blueberry muffins this morning. They’re really tasty, but they’re going fast. I also recommend the hash browns. We fry ‘em in peanut oil with your choice of additional ingredients. Oh, and I’m afraid we’re all out of hay bacon right now. Ms. Pinkie used up what we had left last night.”

“What in Equestria was she making that she needed that much hay bacon?” Sweetie asked.

“I have no idea what it was,” Twist said with an exasperated sigh. “All I know is I got to clean up what was left of it this morning when I came in. Not exactly how I wanted to start my day.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Sweetie said, making a mental note to see if she could find out later what Pinkie had been up to. “I’ll keep my order simple: Milk tea with honey and a blueberry muffin.”

“Gotcha,” Twist said, nodding to her. She then turned to face Silver. “And what’ll you have, Silver Spoon?”

“I don’t suppose you do bagel and flax here, do you?” Silver asked.

Twist paused to think for a moment. “Not usually, but I know we’ve got some flax seed right now. We can make it special for you if you’d like.”

Silver nodded to her. “Please. And an Earl Greymane tea as well.”

Twist nodded and smiled at the both of them. “Right. You ladies sit tight and I’ll be back shortly with your order.”

Sweetie nodded her thanks to Twist and then turned to Silver to begin chatting with her again only to see Silver looking intently all around the café. Sweetie just sat and watched her as she silently adjudicated the establishment. She had a discerning look in her eyes as she methodically examined the ceiling, walls, furniture, dishware, tables, and even the silverware and glassware.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually critiquing this place,” Sweetie said as Silver was judging the flowers on their table.

“Why not?” Silver asked in response without looking at her. “This is what I do, or at least it’s what I want to do for a living. I want to know if Sugarcube Corner’s café is going to be worth recommending to the elite of Equestria.”

“And you’re going to figure that out by counting the number of spots on the glasses?” Sweetie asked skeptically.

“Any establishment worth its salt will not overlook any detail. If the glasses are dirty or the tables are in disarray, who knows what else they skimp on?”

Sweetie couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Silver, the ‘elite’ of Equestria are never going to be this place’s main source of customers. I don’t think that’s what the Cakes had in mind when they opened this café and I’m pretty certain Pinkie has no desire to try and turn it into that kind of place.”

“That’s not the point,” Silver replied exasperatedly. “Just like normal ponies like to experience high society, sometimes high-class ponies like to see what regular ponies do. I want to let them know if this place would be worth their while or if it’s a little too common, if you will.”

“So you’re figuring out if this place is okay for rich ponies who want to go slumming.”

“If you’re intent on putting a frown on it, then yes. But like I said, this is what I want to do Sweetie Belle.”

“I’m not about to tell you to stop doing what you love, Silver. I guess I just wonder why you’re limiting yourself to reviewing places for the upper class. Normal ponies would benefit from that sort of knowledge as well.”

Silver was fully prepared to continue the debate when Twist returned with their tea. She set the cups down in front of each of them with practiced carefulness and then stood back with a smile on her face.

“Oh Sweetie Belle, Ms. Pinkie wanted to talk to you in the back,” Twist told her.

“Why?” Sweetie asked with a confused look on her face.

Twist shrugged at her. “All I know is she looked really excited to find out that you were here and all but threw me out of the kitchen to deliver the message.”

“Guess I’d better see what this is about before she makes a scene out here,” Sweetie said, reluctantly leaving her spot at the table. “This shouldn’t take too long, Silver.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Silver replied as she inspected her teacup, more for its design than the tea it held. It was only after she was done judging its merits that she realized Twist was still standing there looking at her just as discerningly as she’d been looking at the cup.

“So was Sweetie Belle telling the truth?” Twist asked.

“About what?” Silver asked in reply, doing her best to try and evade both the forthcoming questioning and eye contact with Twist.

“About you having had a rough time lately.”

“Yes.”

“Did something bad happen?”

“More or less.”

“Are you doing okay now?”

“Better than I was.”

The ambiguity of Silver’s answers was beginning to bug the redheaded mare. “Come on, you’ve got to tell me more than that!”

“Why?” Silver replied, finally making eye contact with Twist. “So you can finally get a good laugh at me and my misfortune?”

“I admit that part of me does like knowing you got a taste of your own medicine,” Twist admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I actually find it funny. No one deserves to be treated poorly, even you Silver Spoon.”

“You… actually mean that, don’t you?” Silver asked, completely taken aback at Twist’s honesty. Twist nodded vigorously, her curly, red mane bouncing around her face. “I see… I’m sorry, Twist. I guess I’ve just become too accustomed to being around ponies who never say what they really mean.”

“Well that seems pretty silly,” Twist noted. “What point is there in not being honest with others?”

“There are just some things better left unsaid. Troublesome opinions or thoughts that might upset someone… you know how it is.”

“No… I really don’t,” Twist said, looking truly confused. “If you don’t say what you mean or tell others what you really think, how would you ever know what they really think of you? If someone is really your friend, you’ll work things out somehow so long as you’re honest with each other.”

“But what if you can’t work things out? Wouldn’t it be worth keeping even just a few secrets to make sure your friendship stays intact?”

“If you really feel like that about someone, Silver, then maybe they were never actually your friend to begin with.”

Silver found herself struck silent at the simple yet profound observation Twist had just made. Before she had a chance to challenge it any further, though, Sweetie Belle returned and took her seat again.

“Everything okay, Sweetie Belle?” Twist asked, turning her attention back to the unicorn.

Sweetie Belle nodded to her. “Yeah. Pinkie’s just making a big deal out of something that isn’t that big a deal. Nothing new there.”

“Well I’ll let you two get back to your chat,” Twist replied with a smile and nod. She then turned and headed for another table of guests as Silver looked at Sweetie once again.

“What was she making a big deal out of?” Silver asked, curious about the matter.

“Oh, she found out that Rarity went to see your dad last night,” Sweetie told her. “I tried to explain the whole thing to her, but she was bouncing all over the room so much I doubt she paid me any attention.”

Silver looked at her skeptically. “Are you sure that’s all that was about? It hardly seems worth the level of excitement Twist said she had.”

“I dunno,” Sweetie said with a shrug as she levitated her teacup up to sip from it. “All she’d keep saying was, ‘I knew Rarity would be the first to go,’ whatever that means.”

Silver shrugged and took a sip of her own tea, finding it surprisingly tasty in spite of her previous judgment of the establishment based on its less-than-high-class décor and dishware. A similar revelation came when Twist delivered their food not long after. For not being something normally on Sugar Cube Corner’s menu, the bagel & flax she was served was remarkably tasty. She looked around as she ate, noticing that the café’s other patrons all seemed to be enjoying themselves and their food, even if it wasn’t all top quality or all that refined.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Sweetie Belle asked, having been watching her while eating her own meal.

“There’s something about this place,” Silver said distractedly. “Despite it not being all that fancy and nothing about it being all that remarkable it’s… comfortable. Relaxing. There’s a kind of honesty to things here that I don’t see in many of the places I usually go to eat.”

Silver looked back down at her own empty plate and teacup, a small smile forming on her face.
“It’s… refreshing,” she admitted looking back up at Sweetie Belle, who beamed a smile back at her.

“I think you’re starting to get it,” Sweetie told her. “Let me settle up our bill and we’ll get going again.”

“Are you sure?” Silver asked, seeming alarmed. “I could at least pay for my own.”

Sweetie Belle smirked at her a bit. “Silver, did you bring any money with you?”

Silver blushed a bit as she remembered that she indeed had none on her at the moment. Sweetie giggled and waved a hoof at her.

“Don’t worry about it,” she told her as she headed for the counter where Twist waited. “You can treat me the next time we come.”

Silver nodded and waited by the door as Sweetie Belle paid for their meals. She saw Twist wave to her as Sweetie rejoined her and she found herself waving back a little.

“Right,” Silver said, smiling a bit more. “Next time. There certainly will be a next time. I’ll make sure of that.”

Dancing Days

Normally a simple walk around town wouldn’t have been a worrisome or exhausting matter to Silver, but the past hour after leaving Sugarcube Corner had been the most harrowing hour of her life. She practically jumped out of her skin whenever a pony came out of a house or other building that she and Sweetie Belle happened to pass by, thinking it might be Diamond Tiara, Opulence, or Fortuity every time. As fortune had it, the only ponies that stopped them at all during the walk were ones Sweetie knew to some extent but who had no idea who Silver was. For as comforting as it was to not be recognized, however, it drove home exactly the point she had made to Sweetie earlier that day. All the time she and Diamond spent segregating themselves from other ponies over the years had made Silver an all but unknown among normal townsfolk.

“I didn’t realize it was possible to feel relief and depression at the same time,” Silver commented as she plodded along beside Sweetie Belle. “I guess you reap what you sow, though.”

“Oh don’t be so negative, Silver,” Sweetie told her. “Twist seemed to warm up to you pretty well. It’s a start, right?”

“But I never tormented Twist all that much. You and the other Crusaders, though... that you’ve accepted me so readily is still a miracle to me, Sweetie.”

Sweetie sighed and shook her head some. “We’ve been over this, Silver. How much longer are you going to mope about it? It just doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Sure, to you maybe,” Silver commented. “Can you honestly say the same for Apple Bloom or Scootaloo?”

Sweetie Belle bit her lower lip, not wanting to admit that Silver did have a point. While she might have put the past behind her, she had no way of knowing if her fellow former crusaders would feel the same; especially Apple Bloom, who arguably had gotten the worst of the treatment back in their youth. There was only one thing to do about it as she figured: Find out directly from her friends.

“We won’t know unless we ask,” Sweetie told her as she nudged Silver in a different direction. “Come on.”

“Uh... where are we going now?” Silver asked, trepidation creeping into her voice.

Sweetie looked over at her with a serious expression. “You want to turn things around for yourself, right?” she asked, to which Silver nodded in response. “Then that’s what we’re going to try and do, and I’m going to help. As much as I can, at least.”

“Sweetie, I... I’m not sure I’m ready for this...” Silver said nervously.

“You’ll be fine, I promise,” Sweetie assured her. “Besides, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo aren’t that bad. Most of the time. Trust me, though, they can be reasonable. Occasionally.”

“Somehow hearing that isn’t actually helping me feel any better about this.”

Sweetie Belle continued to herd Silver along for a bit until the gray Earth pony mare finally, if reluctantly, began walking of her own accord again. It wasn’t long before they arrived at the destination that Sweetie had pointed them in the direction of: the dance studio of Ponyville’s premiere dance instructor, Catch Step.

“Scoot might still be in the middle of her lesson, but so long as we stay quiet we can just watch until she’s done,” Sweetie said as she led Silver inside.

“How’s she been coming along with her dancing?” Silver asked, still feeling tremendous trepidation as she followed Sweetie.

For her answer, Sweetie merely directed her to look at a trophy case that stood just inside the doorway. One or two of them had the names of other dancer ponies inscribed on them. Several others were won by the school’s dance team. The vast majority, however, had Scootaloo’s name on them. This included what was the single largest and most ornate trophy in the case.

“That’s... a lot of trophies,” Silver noted, adjusting her glasses a bit as she looked over the display.

Sweetie nodded in agreement. “Scoot’s helped win most of the dance team trophies on top of the ones she won herself. She’s really something else to watch in action. C’mon, I think I hear their music which means we might get to see them do a routine.”

At first Silver couldn’t hear anything that sounded like real music to her, just some loud thumping that was pulsating through the entire building. The closer they got to the classroom, however, strains of more melodic music could be made out accompanying the beat that was practically making Silver’s bones shake. They came to a seating area just next to a window that allowed them to watch the practice going on in the classroom without entering. Sweetie took a seat and motioned for Silver to join her, which she did while looking inside.

Scootaloo was positioned in the middle of her dance team, flanked on either side by a total of four other mares who were all roughly the same age as her. Taken as a whole the team was impressive to watch as they progressed through the hip-hop style dance routine, but Scootaloo was clearly the focal point of everything and for good reason. She was positively hypnotic to watch as she spun and stomped, gestured and gyrated, twirled and tapped all through the routine. It was as if she was beholden to the music, its melody and beats dictating to her what she should do next. Most importantly, she looked like she was completely in her element doing it all given the seemingly permanent smirking grin on her face. She thrived on the music and reveled in the freedom she found to express herself through her dancing. It was a feeling Silver herself was very familiar with. She’d felt it whenever she was practicing her own talents, though now she wasn’t sure she would ever feel that way again given that her reputation seemed to be in tatters now.

“She’s really something else, isn’t she?” Sweetie asked as she looked over at Silver.

“Mhm,” Silver replied with a nod as she wrestled with the mixed feelings watching Scootaloo’s performance had given her.

Sweetie frowned and nudged Silver a bit to try and snap her out of it. “Silver, what’s bothering you now?”

“A number of things,” Silver replied, not taking her eyes off of the dancers. “Nothing you haven’t heard from me already, Sweetie, and I don’t want to sound like a broken record.”

“We’ve really got to get some fun infused into you,” Sweetie commented. “As it happens, I don’t know anyone better to do that than Scoot.”

“I’m no dancer, Sweetie. It’s okay to watch, but I seriously have no rhythm at all.”

“There’s more to Scoot than just dancing, y’know,” Sweetie told her with a wink. “You’ll see.”

Not having any reason to doubt Sweetie Belle, and not having anything else to do or anywhere else to go, Silver nodded in consent and settled in to watch the dancers go through their routines, wondering exactly what “fun” Sweetie thought Scootaloo would be able to show her, assuming she was even willing.

After several repetitions of their routines, the dancers finally wrapped up their practice and headed over to their respective saddlebags for water and to put away their dancing gear. One Earth pony mare opened her bag and shrieked, falling all over herself to scramble back away from it. The rest of the group, Scootaloo especially, broke up laughing as Scoot walked over and pulled a rubber snake out of the bag.

“Scoot! You know I can’t stand snakes!” the Earth pony mare whined at her..

“Oh chill out, Bee’s Knees,” Scootaloo told her, smirking. “It was fake. If you’d taken half a second to look at it you would’ve seen that.”

Bee’s Knees pouted a bit, stomping one forehoof. “Even fake ones give me the willies!”

“Bee’s, you should’ve known you were up this week,” a Unicorn mare told her. “You know how Scoot operates by now.”

“Yeah, well, that means you’re next Arabesque,” Bees’ reminded her.

Arabesque swallowed hard at the reminder. “Oh. Uh... Scoot? Any chance you can just let me know what to expect?”

“Uh uh, you know how this works,” Scoot told her, grinning. “We all get turns getting pranked, and you don’t get to know what’s coming or when.”

“Yeah, I know,” Arabesque said with a sigh. “Just remind me when it’s our turn to get you again, okay?”

“Hey, you all got me last week,” Scoot told her. “And pretty good at that. Been a long time since I’ve been covered in tree sap. Kinda brought back some...”

Scootaloo cut herself off as she happened to look out the dance classroom’s window and saw Sweetie Belle waving to her with Silver Spoon, of all ponies, sitting next to her.

“...old memories,” Scoot said, finishing her sentence with a bit less mirthful of an expression on her face.

“Hey, I know her,” Bee’s Knees said as she wandered over and looked out the window as well. “That’s that mare that always used to bother you when you were a filly, right?”

“Yeah, her and that other stuck up twit, Diamond Tiara,” Arabesque added. “What’s she doing here?”

“We should go give her a piece of our mind, girls,” a third dancer, a Pegasus mare, said, ruffling her wings a bit as she motioned to the door.

“Feather Step, don’t,” Scootaloo told her. “I don’t want trouble.”

“Scoot, you’ve told us before how they used to pick on you and your two other friends,” Feather Step said, turning back towards her. “We’re your friends too, and I think I speak for all of us when I say we can’t stand the idea of anyone treating you like a second-class pony just because it took you a little longer to get your cutie mark. She should get an earful for that kinda behavior.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Feather, but no,” Scoot said. “I’ve moved on. If they haven’t or can’t then that’s their problem.”

“Still, why’s she here with your singer friend, Sweetie Belle?” Arabesque asked.

“That’s what I wanna know,” Scoot told her. “And I intend to find out.”

“Well if you need us, just let us know, ‘kay?” the last of the four other dancers, another Earth pony, chimed in to say. “And don’t take too long. Remember where you’ve got to be in a little while.”

“Y-yeah... I know, Grapevine,” Scoot said, blushing some as the other girls giggled. “I won’t forget, and I won’t be late.”

The four other dancers said their goodbyes to Scootaloo before leaving, each of them taking a turn to glare a bit over at Silver Spoon as they exited the classroom. Scootaloo was the last out, and she turned towards Silver and Sweetie as they stood up and walked over to her.

“Looked like another great practice, Scoot,” Sweetie told her cheerily. “You girls will win another trophy for that case for sure.”

“Thanks Sweets,” Scoot replied. “It’d be nice, but it’s not about the trophies, at least for me. Catch Step is big on competition, though, and her word carries a lotta weight in the dance world. So we kinda don’t wanna go against her. I’m sure you know how that goes.”

“Do I ever,” Sweetie said, rolling her eyes. “Makes me thankful I had Sapphire Shores for my voice coach. She's been nothing but supportive of me.”

“So...” Scoot said, turning her gaze to Silver. “What’re you doing here?”

“Maybe I oughta explain...” Sweetie said, only to have Silver put up a forehoof to stop her.

“It’s alright, Sweetie Belle,” Silver told her. “I should do this myself.”

“Are you sure, Silver?” Sweetie asked worriedly.

Silver just nodded to her and then turned her attention back to Scootaloo. She took a deep breath and proceeded to recount the previous day’s events to the Pegasus mare in their entirety, including her waking up at Carousel Boutique and Sweetie Belle’s promise to help her try and get back on her hooves. All the while, Scootaloo regarded Silver with a fair bit of skepticism, occasionally looking at Sweetie Belle for verification on some aspects of Silver’s story that she had a hard time believing.

“So you came here to see how I feel about what you did to us as fillies?” Scootaloo asked once Silver caught her story up to when they arrived at the dance studio. “That about right?”

“That’s correct,” Silver replied quickly.

“And you didn't come to apologize?”

“I’m not sure an apology would even begin to make up for how much Diamond and I tormented you three, but if you’d like one I’ll certainly offer one.”

Scoot considered Silver for a few moments before looking at Sweetie again. “What’s your take on all of this?”

“She seems sincere to me,” Sweetie said with a shrug. “As far as I’m concerned it’s ancient history. I thought you and Bloom might feel the same, but I figured it was best to check with you rather than assume.”

“See that’s what has me worried,” Scoot told her. “No offense, Sweetie, but you’ve always been a little too trusting. How do we know this isn’t some kinda big setup?”

“Right, because I’d totally wallow in the mud bawling my eyes out for the sake of tricking you guys again,” Silver commented.

“Can you blame me for being suspicious?” Scoot asked, turning back to Silver. “As I remember things, you were willing to do anything as long as it kept you in Diamond Tiara’s good graces. How do I know this isn’t more of the same?”

Sweetie Belle stepped up closer to Scootaloo, looking concerned. “But Scoot, I saw her—”

“I wanna hear it from Silver, not you Sweetie,” Scoot said, cutting her off. Sweetie sighed and backed down, looking to Silver sympathetically.

“You’re right, Scootaloo,” Silver said, stepping up to her some. “Even up to yesterday, if it meant I could preserve my friendship with Diamond I would have done anything. But that very mentality is what got me into this mess in the first place. I realize now that if I’d really wanted to be a good friend to her, I wouldn’t have just tried to placate her all the time. But that’s all I did, and so I’m at least partially to blame for the kind of pony she’s become.

“I’m not asking for forgiveness for what I did. All I want to know is if we can at least move on from it, and if there’s any chance we might be able to be friends someday.”

Scootaloo snorted as she considered Silver’s words. She looked back and forth between Silver and Sweetie, then scratched her mane a bit as she finally convinced herself that this was indeed no trick or setup.

“Like I told Feather Step before I came out here, I moved on from that stuff a long time ago,” Scootaloo told Silver. “I honestly wondered if you or Diamond had as well, or if you ever would. Guess I got my answer now.”

Silver sighed in relief at Scoot's response, suddenly feeling as though another large bit of weight had been removed from her. “I know I’ve certainly moved on, Scootaloo, Though I can’t say the same for Diamond.”

Scoot shrugged at her. “Hey, if she’s intent on living in the past then that’s her problem. As for you and me? I guess I’d be willing to give things a shot, provided you can lighten up some that is.”

“Lighten... up?” Silver repeated, blinking at Scoot a few times..

“Here we go.” Sweetie commented to herself with a giggle.

“For one thing, you could try smiling or laughing some more!” Scoot told Silver. "You've always been wound way too tight, Silver. Life doesn't always have to be so dang serious. Have a laugh from time to time!"

“I've laughed plenty before, you know.” Silver said defensively.

Scoot rolled her eyes at the white-maned mare. “You've laughed at others plenty before, and only when it was 'socially acceptable', or when you and Diamond Tiara were making someone miserable. How many times have you ever shared a laugh with someone over something that was truly fun? There’s a difference, you know.”

“What about the prank I just saw you pull? On one of your dancing friends, no less?”

“We all take turns getting pranked. It’s something I set up a while back to make sure none of us gets too big of a head about stuff. And what we do is all in good fun. It’s never mean-spirited. What you two did to us and others was demeaning, demoralizing, and despicable.”

“And you used to call me a dictionary,” Sweetie commented to herself with a brief chuckle.

“I... I suppose you have a point,” Silver said, heaving a sigh.

"Of course I do," Scoot said with a proud grin.

Sweetie smiled and, after clearing her throat a little, gave voice to a song lyric she'd been working on for a little while that was rather appropriate for the moment.

"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like there's nobody listening, and live like it's heaven on earth."

At the end of Sweetie's impromptu song, both Silver and Scoot applauded her with smiles on their faces.

"Couldn't have said it any better myself, Sweets," Scoot told her.

"Of course you couldn't have. You are still a dodo, after all," Sweetie said with a smirk.

"And you'll always be a dictionary," Scoot retorted lightly with a chuckle.

Silver couldn't help but feel just a bit of mirth creep into her at the whole scene. She'd never really been around ponies who acted like how Sweetie and Scoot did towards each other. There was something relaxing about how familiar they were with each other. It was something she'd never once felt while being with Diamond Tiara, and the more she thought on it the more she realized it was something she wanted to feel for herself.

“I appreciate the advice, girls, and I'll take it to heart. But still, what would you suggest I do? It’s a bit hard to laugh with anyone when hardly anyone wants anything to do with me in the first place.”

“Hey, I never said I didn’t wanna hang with you,” Scoot told her with a grin. “Just that if we are gonna hang I wanna be sure you’re a mare who knows how to have a good time. Even if you don't know how to do that now, you're a smart pony Silver. I'm sure you can learn. And I think I know how to not only accomplish that, but also help you out with one more pony you need to talk to yet today. Come with me. You too, Sweetie.”

“Where are we going?” Silver asked.

“And what are we doing?” Sweetie added.

Scoot just grinned at both of them as she grabbed her saddlebags and started heading towards the exit. “We’re gonna head to Sweet Apple Acres and have a little fun with Apple Bloom...”

Life's a Dirty Job

Farm work was hard, no matter how you looked at it. For decades the Apple Family had worked the land that Sweet Apple Acres encompassed with all manner of tools, from hoes and rakes to plows and pitchforks and more. Such tools certainly helped their efforts, but it was still hard work nonetheless and even hardy Earth ponies like Big Macintosh and Applejack themselves would be positively exhausted at the end of a hard day’s work.

When the time finally came for Apple Bloom to start doing her own fair share of the farm’s chores, however, she took a rather different approach to things. Hard work could be rewarding, that much she knew; however, her mantra was “work smarter, not harder” and she brought that notion and her own ingenuity to the farm. Over the past few years, she’d worked to not only improve the tools they had, but to craft and maintain new tools, devices, and machines that promised to not only make work on the farm faster and easier, but also help them rake in far greater profits for the fruits of their labor.

Her siblings and Granny Smith were at first hesitant about the changes Apple Bloom wanted to bring to the farm, having grown quite accustomed to the traditional way things had been done. This was also not to mention they still remembered the incident years ago with the Flim-Flam Brothers and their machinery and the problems that had caused. When Granny’s health took a turn for the worse a couple of years prior, Apple Bloom took it upon herself to promise Granny that she wouldn’t get carried away with her improvements to the farm and that she still understood and valued how they used to do things. It was a timely promise, as Granny Smith sadly passed away a few months later. Since then, Apple Bloom had continued to work both on new things to help the farm and also repair and maintain what they already had in place. It was a happy balance that even Applejack and Big Macintosh were more than pleased with, and Apple Bloom herself was certainly satisfied.

At least, she was satisfied when her siblings managed to perform even the most basic of maintenance on the machines themselves. As it was, she was presently having to spend her time working on their tractor. Applejack seemed to perpetually forget to check the oil level on the machine, and as a result it was almost always in and out of operation. To say this sort of thing annoyed Apple Bloom was putting it lightly.

“Ah swear, she’d better never forget that dang hat ‘o hers,” Apple Bloom muttered to herself as she crawled under the tractor. “Probably keeps all her brains in it. Well, let’s get this thing drainin’.”

As she went to loosen the plug keeping the oil in the tractor, she found it almost impossible to budge. She gritted her teeth in order to muffle a bit of rage as she remembered the last time she’d done this she’d had Big Macintosh handle it under her supervision. He must have tightened the plug too much and now she couldn’t even turn it.

‘Work smarter,’ she told herself once again as she took a moment to calm down, ‘not harder. Get the ratchet and some spray lubricant and it’ll come right off.’

She quickly grabbed her tool and the can of lubricant and slid back into place under the tractor. She held the can up and pressed down on its nozzle, expecting it to spray its contents onto the underside of the vehicle. It certainly did so, but instead of lubricant, all of a sudden silly string was coating the entire bottom of the tractor.

“What the... aw fer Pete’s sake, SCOOTALOO!” she cried, sliding back out from under the tractor again. There was only one pony in Ponyville who’d pull this sort of stunt on her, and sure enough she found the orange Pegasus mare laughing herself silly not far away along with Sweetie Belle and one other mare she didn’t immediately recognize until she got closer. When she did recognize her, she found herself even more bewildered than she had been when silly string had come out of her can of lubricant.

“Classic,” Scootaloo said between fits of laughter. “Just classic, AB! Oh that never gets old!”

“Speak fer yerself, ya wingnut,” Bloom replied with a snort. She canted her head towards Silver Spoon, who stood next to Sweetie Belle also enjoying a chuckle at her expense. “Mind tellin’ me what she’s doin’ here?”

Sweetie’s laughter tapered off as she looked over at Silver, who was suddenly far less jovial herself. “At least this should be the last time you have to explain everything,” she told her with a smile.

“For now,” Silver added. “I have no doubt there’s going to be more of this in the near future with other acquaintances of mine.”

“You two should probably talk alone,” Scootaloo said as she began ushering Sweetie Belle away. “We’ll just be over at the house visiting with Applejack.”

Sweetie protested some, wanting to be there to support Silver, but lost out to Scoot’s insistence on dragging her away. Silver watched them head off for a bit and then turned back to Bloom who had a rather scrutinizing look on her face.

“This better be good,” Bloom told her, an edge to her voice. “‘Cuz Ah got plenty Ah’m of a mind to tell the likes of you, an’ Ah reckon y’know what it’d be about.”

“I do, and I wouldn’t blame you for any of it,” Silver replied. She was getting used to feeling like there was a lead weight in her stomach after as many times as she’d been in this situation that day, but it still wasn’t the kind of feeling of which she was at all fond. Once again, she went into the details of what happened at Diamond Tiara’s party, her falling out with the pony heiress, and her experiences so far that day with Sweetie Belle, Twist, and most recently Scootaloo.

“Sounds like ya got a good dose of yer own medicine,” Bloom said once Silver finished the explanation. “And if ya ask me, ya had it comin’ too.”

“You’re not the first to say as much,” Silver told her, looking off to one side a bit.

“Ah’m bettin’ Ah won’t be the last. Ya sure didn’t do yerself any favors when we were fillies, Silver Spoon, bein’ all high ‘n mighty.”

“In my defense, in a way I was in just as bad a situation as you three were from a certain point of view.”

“Excuse me?” Bloom asked, taking a step towards her which caused Silver to shrink back some. “No, you don’t get to even try and compare what you went through puttin’ up with Diamond Tiara to what you two’ve put the three of us through. Ya bullied us fer the dumbest of reasons, ya got mah own cousin to turn on us fer two whole weeks, and Ah ain’t even gonna go into all the times since Ah even got mah cutie mark y’all seemed to go outta yer way just to try ‘n convince folks the things Ah do fer the farm ‘n the town weren’t worth anythin’! Been pretty clear to me fer a while now y’all just got it out fer me. And now Ah’m s’posed to just wipe the slate clean because you had one bad day?”

“What do you want me to say or do, Apple Bloom?” Silver asked, sounding a bit desperate at the mare’s growing ire. “I was wrong, I get that now! I can’t make up for what happened. All I can do is swear things are going to be different from here on out.”

“That so?”

“It is.”

“Y’all willin’ to prove it?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“You mind if Ah put that to the test?”

Silver felt a bit of a chill go up her spine, but she had to stand her ground so to speak. “What do you have in mind?”

Bloom smirked at her and canted her head back towards the tractor she’d been working on. “Ah got a tractor all covered in silly string. You can start there.”

“You... you want me to clean it up?” Silver asked, a bit incredulous.

“Eeyup,” Bloom replied. “And when yer done, Ah’m gonna have ya finish changin’ the oil in it.”

“What?! Wait a minute! I don’t know the first thing about machines or mechanic stuff!”

Bloom rolled her eyes at the mildly panicking gray mare. “Cool yer hooves, Ah’ll be tellin’ ya what needs doin’. Not like Ah’d expect a prissy britches like you to know a salad fork from a crescent wrench anyway.”

“That comparison makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.”

“You gonna jaw at me or get to cleanin’?”

Silver stammered as she tried to protest the idea as Bloom just looked expectantly at her. She ultimately caved, though, and a short while later she was on her back underneath the tractor, doing her level best to clean the underside of the machine. Her hooves were entirely unaccustomed to this kind of work, though, and she found herself grimacing and wincing every time she came in contact with even the slightest bit of oil, grease, or grime.

“This is so unseemly!” she cried from her prone position. “And I went to a lot of trouble to clean up at Sweetie Belle’s home this morning too. I’m going to need another shower or three to feel right again.”

“The more ya complain ‘bout it the longer it’ll take to git ‘r done,” Bloom told her simply.

Silver grumbled and just tried to get over herself a bit as she continued her work. “Apple Bloom, listen... I know Diamond Tiara and I made things really hard on all of you over the years, you more so than Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo. You might not believe this coming from me, but I never really bore you any ill will.”

“Is that so?” Bloom asked, equal parts curious and skeptical at the admission.

“What use would it be to me to try and mislead you at this point?” Silver replied. “And yes, it is. I’ve always been impressed by the things you’ve helped design or build to help the town. I honestly think Diamond is, well... jealous of you.”

“Come again? She’s jealous of me?”

“It’s just a hunch of mine, but you get so many accolades from the mayor and others in town that I think she sees it as you stealing her spotlight. And at this point, I’m not sure she knows any other way to cope with it than to lash out at you like she does. It doesn’t help that she has so many around her willing and eager to feed her ego for that. That includes me, at least until yesterday happened.”

“Didn’t ya ever try ‘n talk sense to her?”

“Well... yes and no,” Silver said, punctuating her words with a sigh that was laden with regret. “Anytime she got it in her mind to do something else to discredit or marginalize you I tried to redirect her to do something else instead. Sometimes I’d succeed, but more often than not she just got her way anyway. You really don’t know what life is like in that scene. She has more influence than you realize, all because she’s heiress to the Rich Family fortune.”

Bloom scoffed a bit at the notion. “Money ain’t everythin’ ya know.”

“Maybe not in your circles, but in mine she has plenty weight to throw around. After what happened yesterday for me, I’ll be lucky if the career I want to have will actually go anywhere. Her word alone can have high-end restaurants refuse to let me review them or even get a hoof in the door. Magazine and newspaper publishers won’t consider me for columns to publish either. I may even lose contacts and acquaintances I’ve made all because they don’t want to incur her ire for being associated with me.”

Bloom stepped over and crouched down to look underneath the tractor at Silver, concern evident on her face. “She wouldn’t really go that far, would she? Ah mean, y’all were close friends all the way back to grade school after all.”

Silver finished cleaning the last of the string from the tractor and tilted her head back to look at Bloom. “If that counted for anything with her, I probably wouldn’t be here now doing what’s undoubtedly the messiest thing I’ve ever done. Now how do I go about doing this?”

Bloom chewed her lip a bit and then quickly slid down under the tractor next to her. “Ah’d better show ya rather than just tell ya.”

“Are you sure? I was intent on following your instructions to the letter.”

“Yeah, Ah know. That’s why Ah’m doin’ this instead.”

“I don’t follow.”

Bloom sighed a bit and looked over at Silver. “Ah was gonna make ya do everythin’ and end up all messy ‘n such, but... Ah reckon you’ve been punished more ‘n enough as it is. Me doin’ that to ya just wouldn’t be right. Ah almost let mahself become the bully again, like back with Babs. But just like with her, you’ve got a reason behind why ya did what ya did. It don’t serve as an excuse, mind ya, and a proper apology would be appreciated, but the way Ah see it if Babs deserved a second chance then you do too, Silver.”

Silver couldn’t help but smile back at Bloom for her earnest explanation and nodded some to her as best she could given their current position. “I really am sorry for everything I’m responsible for doing to you over the years, Apple Bloom. I do want things to be different between us from here on out, and the same goes for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as well.”

“That’ll do,” Bloom told her with a smile and a nod. She then directed Silver’s attention back to the tractor’s engine as she pulled some tools down for them to work with. “Now then, first we gotta get this plug offa the engine. It’s what’s holdin’ the oil in. This time Ah’ve got the right can ‘o lubricant, though, so just a lil’ spray ‘n then we use the wrench... and... dagnabit Big Mac, ya sure did tighten this down way too-”

Bloom’s work trying to loosen the plug was finally successful, though neither she nor Silver was prepared for the sudden gush of oil from the engine. Neither of them said anything for several seconds as they lay blinking up at the underside of the tractor after Apple Bloom pulled the drip pan underneath the tractor to catch the old oil that was now streaming from it. Finally they both looked at each other and slowly but surely began cracking up in laughter not only at the whole matter. It was a laugh far more satisfying than the one Silver had gotten from the prank she and Sweetie had helped Scoot play on Bloom, and it was the first moment that day where she truly felt that maybe things really would turn out okay.

A short while and two thorough showers later, Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon met back up with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo just outside the farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres. Silver couldn’t help but feel her confidence swelling some now that she’d mended fences with Apple Bloom, the one mare who she’d been all but certain wouldn’t even consider her as a possible friend. Maybe her future wasn’t as bleak as she’d thought.

“I’m glad to see you two managed to work things out,” Sweetie tells them, looking and feeling fairly relieved herself to see them again. “Honestly, I was a teeny bit worried about leaving you two alone.”

“A lil’ dirt can clean everything up,” Apple Bloom said with a grin. “Sis always loves sayin’ stuff like that.”

“That… doesn’t make any sense at all,” Sweetie said, her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of it.

“As much as I’d love to hang around and watch Sweetie try to wrap her mind around that idea, I kinda have a thing at a place to get to,” Scootaloo added, turning to look towards town. “But I’ll try to catch up with you gals later, okay?”

“Sure thing,” Apple Bloom said, then grinning wider added, “Say ‘hi’ to Rumble fer us, ‘kay?”

“Wait… what?” Silver asked, looking confused. “I missed something. What does Rumble have to do with this?”

Sweetie likewise looks at Apple Bloom with some confusion. “Yeah, what does- wait! Ohmigosh, Scoot! Are you two finally…?”

“Bloom! Dang it! I didn’t want this getting out yet!” Scoot said, stamping a hoof and sounding a bit upset.

“Well that’s payback fer messin’ mah tractor engine up with silly string, then!” Bloom told her, punctuating the statement with a chuckle. She turned to Silver and Sweetie, then, figuring to explain since Scoot clearly wasn’t going to cop to it.

“Ah’ve been seein’ the two of ‘em hangin’ around together a bunch, an’ just a couple days ago ol’ Rumble finally got the gumption up to ask our Scoots out on a bona fide date!”

“It’s not a date!” Scoot insisted. “We’re just going to see this cool movie is all!”

“Is anyone else going with you?” Sweetie asked.

“Well no, but-”

“Is he paying for the tickets and snacks?” Silver asked.

“Well yeah, he got the tickets ahead of time, but-”

“Then it’s a date,” Both Sweetie and Silver replied in unison.

Scootaloo groaned in frustration and flared her wings out. “I don’t have to take this! I’m outta here. Later!” She took to the air to the sound of the three mares she left behind chuckling and giggling at her defensiveness. She flew for a little while away from town just to clear her head and then turned back towards town to head to the movie theater to meet Rumble. For the movie they were going to see. That he was paying for and had asked her to go see with him. Dang. This really was a date after all, wasn’t it? She finally rationalized it out by figuring that if she was going to date someone, she could do far, far worse than Rumble.

“We should get going and get out of your hair too, Bloom,” Sweetie said after Scoot was well on her way. “Thanks again for hearing Silver out.”

“Before y’all go, maybe you can clear somethin’ up fer me?” Apple Bloom said, stopping them from taking off on her. “Ah was headin’ out to the barn to get started on that tractor earlier when Ah saw Pinkie come racin’ up to the house lookin’ fer Applejack. Ah listened in a lil’ bit an’ heard somethin’ ‘bout Rarity an’ somethin’ that happened last night? Any idea what it was all about?”

“This is the second time that’s come up now,” Silver noted. “Pinkie pulled Sweetie aside earlier at Sugar Cube Corner to gush about it as well.”

“Yeah, I have no idea,” Sweetie added. “Pinkie was just blabbing to me and didn’t say anything specific. Also, I haven’t seen sis to talk to much yet today. She headed over to Silver’s house last night to let her dad know she was staying at our place. I imagine she just stayed there rather than come back home. The rainstorm got pretty bad after all. She was back this morning briefly, but was right out the door again after that.”

Apple Bloom pursed her lips as she mulled over what Silver and Sweetie had to say about the matter. “Hmm… well, okay. Maybe Ah’ll just ask Applejack ‘bout it mahself here. You girls have a good day, an’ maybe Ah’ll come into town to catch up with y’all some more later on.”

With that, Sweetie and Silver bid Apple Bloom goodbye once again and started heading back to town. It was a quiet walk back for them until they actually got back into town. Sweetie could see Silver starting to look worried again, no doubt because she was wondering if or when she’d cross paths with Diamond Tiara again.

“A bit for your thoughts?” Sweetie asked as they walked.

“Oh just still thinking about everything that’s happened,” Silver told her. “I mean… I’ve made up with all of you girls now, and you’ve all pretty much accepted me at this point. I can’t help but wonder if maybe she might be able to do the same as well.”

“You mean Diamond Tiara, don’t you?”

“Yeah…”

“Anything is possible, Silver. If Diamond really values you as a friend at all, my guess is she’ll come around.”

“What if she doesn’t, though?”

“Then she’s missing out, because you’re a pony who’s certainly worth having as a friend. I think so, and I think it’s clear that Twist, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom do too.”

“I suppose you’re right. I should stop worrying so much. Today’s turned out to be a pretty good day all things considered.”

“Yup, and- hey!” Sweetie stopped herself mid-sentence to point over where a pair of familiar ponies were walking not far from them. “There’s Rarity and your dad! We should go tell them about all this.”

Silver looked in the direction Sweetie had pointed. Sure enough, there were Rarity and her father, Art Deco, walking in the direction of Carousel Boutique. They certainly made for a rather striking pair between her white coat and his steel blue coat, so they were easy to spot. Silver nodded to Sweetie and the two quickly made their way over to them, calling out to them once they were in earshot.

“Silver! Are you alright, dear?” Art asked, quickly hugging his daughter upon seeing her. “Rarity told me what happened to you last night. I felt just dreadful for you.”

“I’m fine, daddy,” Silver replied, hugging her father back. “Thanks to Sweetie Belle and her friends.”

“Is that so?” Rarity asked, looking to her sister with a smile. “It sounds as though you’ve made quite an outing of this then, little sister.”

“Yup, and we’d love to tell you both all about it!” Sweetie told her with pride.

“We’d love to hear all about it,” Rarity said with a light laugh and nod to her sister. She then paused to look over at Art for a moment. “But first… we should tell them, shouldn’t we?”

“I believe the cat is already out of the bag, so to speak,” Art replied with a smirk. “Besides, they certainly do need to know as well.”

“Know what?” Silver asked.

“I’m surprised Pinkie didn’t tell you yet,” Rarity noted. “We did tell her she was welcome to spread the word after all.”

“Spread what word?” Sweetie asked.

Rarity smiled and blushed as she stepped back next to Art, leaning against him slightly as she said five words that gave the two young mares the biggest surprise the day had yet presented to them.

“We’re engaged to be married!”

Author's Note

Cliffhanger! But don't worry, I've actually had the next chapter of this story planned since the beginning so it should come together reasonably quickly and it will cover how this turn of events came about. You may now flood the comments and my inbox with your rage at me for shipping a canon character with an OC. :D

Weathering the Storm

The previous evening . . .

Despite how hard the storm was raging just outside his window, it had so far proven to not be enough to rouse Art Deco from his sleep on the sofa; especially with the added comfort of the blanket Silver had pulled over him before leaving. What had done the trick, however, was the incredibly insistent knocking coming at the front door of his home. He startled awake, eyes blinking a few times to try and clear away the bleariness.

“Blast it all… only meant to relax for a spell,” he muttered to himself as he shed the blanket and slowly left the comfort of the couch to answer the door. “Silver must have locked herself out again or something.”

Art unlocked the front door and opened it, preparing yet another reprimanding speech to his daughter about forgetfulness, not to mention coming home from social functions late at night. Instead he found a slightly haggard white Unicorn mare under the protection of an elaborate umbrella on the other side of his door. He did a double take and stammered a bit at her sudden and inexplicable appearance at his doorstep.

“R-Rarity! Why on earth are you out in this hideous weather?” he asked, quickly stepping aside to usher her in.

“I must apologize for the sudden visit, Art,” Rarity replied as she gratefully stepped into the house, levitating her umbrella to the side just inside the door. “I had to come see you immediately. Your daughter, Silver Spoon… I fear she’s had some sort of accident.”

Art felt his blood run cold and a pit form in his stomach at the news. He quickly stepped up closer to Rarity, his eyes a bit wide and wild. “What’s happened? Where is she? She’s not hurt, is she?”

“She’s unharmed, Art,” Rarity told him, putting a calming forehoof to his shoulder. “Sweetie Belle was on her way to visit me when she spotted her passed out in the middle of the road not far from Carousel Boutique. She quickly came to borrow my umbrella and then went back out to bring Silver in. As soon as Sweetie had Silver inside, I left to come let you know. She’s in good hooves, Art, she’ll be fine.”

Art stepped back a bit, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. “Thank Celestia… and more to the point, thank you and your sister, Rarity. I can’t imagine what might have happened to Silver to bring her to such a place, nevermind what may have become of her if she hadn’t been found when she was.”

“Well don’t let such thoughts trouble you,” Rarity told him with a small smile. “Rainbow Dash informed me earlier today of this storm and that it would run its course sometime overnight. Tomorrow morning you’ll have your daughter back safe and sound. Now then, I should be off back home myself. Have a good evening, Art, and-”

Rarity was cut off mid-sentence by a bright flash and an ear-splitting crack of thunder as the storm intensified outside. She startled and found herself quickly clinging to Art afterwards.

“Hmm… I would have to protest that idea, Rarity,” Art told her as he listened to the now much more violent storm’s sounds. “It’s neither wise nor safe to be out in such elements. You’re welcome to stay the night here if you like.”

“Are you certain?” Rarity asked, quickly separating herself from him as she realized how forward she was being with him. “I wouldn’t want to impose…”

Art scoffed at the notion. “Someone like you could never be an imposition, Rarity. I insist. It wouldn’t be proper for me to turn you out into that mess outside.”

Rarity smiled some again at his manners and nodded in concession to him. “Well, I suppose it would be ungracious of me to refuse such an offer. Thank you, Art.”

“My pleasure. Now, what say I put on the kettle for some tea?”

“Oh yes, please. A spot of tea would be ever so welcome right now.”

Art smiled and, after locking the front door again, turned in the direction of the kitchen. “Right this way, then, if you will.”

As Rarity followed Art, she couldn’t help but look around his home some. Art’s home was not only rather well-furnished, the walls were decorated with various pieces of his artwork that he’d done for personal reasons rather than for selling. His art style used lots of different shapes with dramatic lines and curves. It was bold, lavish, and exuded a sense of optimism for progress. To say it appealed to Rarity’s sensibilities was an understatement, but then to say Art was someone who also appealed to her was a similar understatement as well.

“I do hope I didn’t wake you from a sound sleep, Art,” Rarity noted as they entered the kitchen.

Art shook his head a bit as he put his tea kettle into the sink and turned on the faucet to fill it with water. “Oh don’t worry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on the- hang on, how did you know I was sleeping?”

Rarity giggled a bit and pointed to his mane. “You have a marvelous case of bedhead, darling.”

Art took his attention from the kettle to look up at his mane. Sure enough, it was matted and sticking out in a few different directions. He fumbled and flustered a bit as he wet his hooves under the water, trying to apply it to his head to calm his unruly hair. As he did, the kettle began overflowing with water which only caused him to stammer and fluster further. Rarity couldn’t help but giggle more at him. Like her, but in his own ways, Art was an incredibly proper pony and when he was off his game he got like this. It was adorable to her to see, and a touch endearing as well. She had relatively few friends who shared her sense of propriety, so to have someone else around who did was simply a delight for her.

“I’m sorry, Rarity,” Art said with a sigh as he finally got the faucet turned off. “I meant to get you out of the rain and now there’s water everywhere in here.”

Rarity shook her head at him, smiling. “Oh don’t think anything of it, Art. But do take a moment to compose yourself. Your inner Fillydelphian is showing in your speech.”

Just as she’d said, Art realized he’d pronounced the word “water” as though it sounded like “wudder” among other pronunciations. He sighed again and fell silent as he placed the tea kettle on a burner atop his stove and turned the heat on underneath it.

“Terribly sorry about that,” he said, turning back to face her. He’d managed to compose himself enough that his accent wasn’t immediately evident again. “I suppose I’m still a bit on edge from your news earlier. Silver is the only family I have, after all.”

“I don’t fault you at all for being concerned, Art,” Rarity told him as she approached him. “At the same time, though, I seem to keep forgetting that you’re not originally from Ponyville. Or, for that matter, that Silver doesn’t have a mother.”

“More that her mother was never a part of her life,” Art replied a bit bitterly. “By her own choice, I might add.”

“It simply boggles my mind that she could go so far as to bear a daughter but be so self-absorbed that she would abandon her at such a young age,” Rarity said, a touch of disgust to her tone. “Not to mention saddle you with the responsibility of raising her all on your own.”

“Divorce and infidelity are rather commonplace in Fillydelphian high society,” Art noted simply. “Silver’s mother was more interested in maintaining her socialite lifestyle than being a parent, whereas I had been entirely ready to devote myself to fatherhood. Rather than stay in Fillydelphia and potentially expose Silver to that life, I opted to move as far from there as I could afford to at the time. That turned out to be Ponyville, and the rest is history.”

“A history that I’m glad to have been a part of,” Rarity told him, smiling once again. “I think the first time I ever met you was when my parents asked you for a family portrait of us for my sister’s first birthday.”

Art chuckled a bit at the memory. “Ah yes, I recall Sweetie Belle being rather a hooffull for your mother, Pearl. No matter how many times I assured them that they didn’t need to keep her perfectly still for me. Your father Magnum, however, took it as a personal challenge to do his best impersonation of a statue. And you couldn’t help but look completely embarrassed by your family and their antics.”

“I can’t imagine any filly of the age I was at the time not finding everything their family does to be completely embarrassing,” Rarity said in her defense.

“I suppose that’s true,” Art said, chuckling more. “Silver went through a similar phase a few years ago herself.” He paused to take a now whistling kettle off of the heat and pour the boiling water into a pair of teacups. He then added tea bags to each cup and offered one to Rarity, who smiled warmly as she levitated her teacup over to herself, keeping it perfectly balanced in mid-air.

“Thank you ever so much, Art,” she told him, ignoring the cup for the time being in order to give it time to steep.

“My pleasure, of course,” Art replied, taking a moment to look thoughtfully down at his own teacup on the counter.

“Something the matter?”

“Just reminiscing some. We’ve had a rather interesting history, haven’t we?”

“To say the least, darling. I think the first time I really got to know you was the following year.”

“At that year’s Winter Wrap Up. I remember it quite clearly. It was both of ours first year being part of the animal team. I had come up with a new design for the nests to be more spacious and comfortable, but there was just something missing.”

“It simply needed a little extra aesthetic touch, which I accomplished rather easily with just a bit of ribbon.”

“And a few years later you took over making the nests entirely on your own while I was reassigned to the gardening team.”

“I do hope you didn’t mind that. I never intended to steal that job from you.”

“Oh it was no big deal, really. Being an Earth pony I’m more suited for such physical labor anyway. I am rather deceptively stallionesque after all.”

Art puffed his chest out in an attempt to make himself look bigger and more musclebound, but such was clearly - and rather hilariously - not the case. Both he and Rarity burst into laughter at his display.

“Well, in my opinion you’re still a far better stallion than any other who’s attempted to court me, Art,” Rarity told him after finally regaining her composure.

“Magnum has confided in me on occasion that he hasn’t been all that thrilled with some of your choices of coltfriends. But then fathers seldom do approve of the stallions that take interest in their daughters. Goodness knows I don’t look forward to the day Silver brings someone home to introduce to me.”

“Well I know for a fact that he approves of you.”

Art gave her a small smirk. “Even though I’m so much-”

“If you’re about to go on about your age again, I forbid you to do so,” Rarity said, cutting him off before he could finish.

“Rarity, I’m what? Over ten years your senior?”

Rarity simply smirked at him. “Nice try, darling, but you know a lady never reveals her age. But honestly, Art, we’ve been over this before so many times. You are not all that old.”

“I first knew you when you were still essentially a filly, Rarity. I’ve practically watched you grow up into the beautiful, refined mare you’ve become. You can’t blame me for feeling rather self-conscious about that all things considered.”

“Do you see Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis concerning themselves over the disparity in their ages?”

“Rarity I am a far cry from someone of his stature or importance. They’ve earned the right to be beyond such scrutiny.”

“And you have as well,” Rarity told him emphatically, setting her tea aside. “Your professional accomplishments and involvement in Ponyville’s community aside, you are nothing if not a devoted father to Silver. You are not some lecherous old stallion lusting after young mares.”

“Of course I’m not! It’s just… I don’t… I mean I’m not…”

“Yes…?”

“Rarity, I’m not the kind of stallion you were typically seen with before. You have to have heard the scuttlebutt going around about us by now. I certainly have, and while I’m not thrilled about the image others are getting of me I’m far less thrilled with what’s being said about you. You and I both know the importance of appearances in our social circles. I don’t want such harmful words being said about you. You deserve better than that, so very much better than that.”

“Art… believe me, I’m more aware than anyone of my penchant for not being so discerning about who I dated in the past. I know rather well how it must look for me to be seen in public with you at social events and such. I’ve talked about this with my own friends extensively, and they’ve helped me remember something very important.”

“And what would that be?” Art asked, sounding slightly exasperated at this point.

“That no one is meant to be alone,” she told him, her voice full of resolve. “And all the status and prestige in the world is meaningless if you don’t have anyone you care about to share it all with. I came to realize - slowly but surely - that every time I had a failed relationship with somepony, you were there for me... simply being there for me as a friend and confidant. You never tried to ‘pick me up on the rebound’ as Rainbow Dash likes to put it. You just did as you’re doing for me right now… offering me tea, comfort, and real friendship. Can you blame me, then, for finally deciding that you were the one I should have been giving that attention to instead of the bevy of young suitors who seemed to simply be taking turns trying to woo me? Your age and your past aren’t even worth considering as far as I’m concerned, Art. Those things don’t define who you are. You are far more than that. You are one of the finest ponies I’ve ever known, certainly one of the best stallions I’ve ever met. And I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that I cannot help but think fondly of you anytime I can spare a moment.”

Rarity ended her little speech with a touch of redness having crept into her cheeks and a small, warm smile on her face. Art, for his part, was struck speechless at the rather frank admission of affection. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly for several moments. The placid smile on Rarity’s face, however, combined with her earnest feelings was enough to convince him of what needed to happen. He simply took a moment to take a long, stabilizing sip of his tea before he spoke again.

“Would you come with me for a moment, Rarity?” he asked. “I could use your help looking for something.”

“Of course, Art,” Rarity replied with a nod. “As I’m availing myself of your hospitality, the least I can do is be of assistance to you in some manner.”

Art merely nodded his thanks to her and led her from his kitchen up to his room where, after a bit of digging through his closet, he pulled out a small chest. Opening it, Rarity saw it to be filled with various bits of jewelry.

“My word, Art… that’s a rather impressive collection,” she noted a bit breathlessly. Shiny things had always been a weakness of hers.

“Occasionally clients have paid for my works with such things rather than bits,” Art explained. “There’s one piece in particular that I’ve been looking for, though. Perhaps you with your magic might be able to help me sort through these things to find it?”

“I would be happy to assist, darling,” Rarity replied with a smile. She immediately began working her magic, lifting one piece after another from the chest to set aside. “Oh, that does remind me… Silver’s necklace will need some repair I believe. Sweetie Belle said she was found with a bowl full of pearls nearby, which I can only imagine were those she typically wears around her neck.”

“Ah yes, I had meant to tell her to get them restrung again soon,” Art noted with a nod as he watched the jewelry carefully as it floated by him piece by piece. “I’ve had it done for her every couple of years since they’re a favorite accessory of hers.”

“Color me surprised she’s so attached to that necklace. Might I ask what’s so special about those pearls?”

“Well… this is a bit embarrassing to admit, but it was the first gift of jewelry I ever gave her,” Art said, a nostalgic smile spreading across his face. “It was a present for her fifth birthday. Like these pieces, it was something I was given as payment for services rendered. At the time, I had no idea what a five-year old filly would want for a birthday present, so I just gave her those pearls and hoped for the best. I will never forget how her face lit up as she looked at them… or how tightly she hugged me after I put them on her. That was the first moment I remembered feeling truly happy since I’d brought her here. She promised me she would always take care of them, and that someday she’d take care of me as well.”

Art looked up at Rarity, who had paused the magical parade of jewelry to try and compose herself as his short story had been rather touching to hear. “I know she hasn’t always treated others such as your sister favorably, and I’ve done everything I could as her father to keep her on the right track. I suppose just having me as her only parent may not have been enough.”

“Don’t think for a second that she’s turned out ‘wrong’ because of you, Art,” Rarity told him emphatically. “No one could ask more of a father than what you’ve done for her. I’m sure she will come around someday. She’s your daughter after all. She comes from good stock.”

“Thank you, Rarity,” Art told her, nodding to her as she resumed her magic to continue going through the contents of the chest. “Still, I realize there are things that perhaps I can’t do for her. I think there are some things that do take a mare’s touch when it comes to raising a filly. And- ah, here it is.”

Art plucked a particular piece of jewelry out of the air as he spotted it just beginning to rise from the chest. He brought it over closer to show to Rarity, holding it out in one hoof. It was a thin chain from which hung a modest gold ring with a single Marquise-cut diamond set on it.

“Art… what is that…?” Rarity asked, a hint of a tremble creeping into her voice.

“This ring belonged to my grandmother,” Art replied as he removed it from the chain. “My grandfather used it to propose to her ages ago. Originally my mother gave it to me for me to use when I was thinking of proposing to my first wife, but well... the style and cut of the gem weren't fashionable at the time, so I put it in that chest years ago figuring I’d never have a use for it… except now I do.”

Rarity couldn’t help but gasp. “Art… are you-”

“Silver could certainly use a proper mare to be a role model and guide to her at this point in her life,” Art told her as he looked into her eyes smiling. “And I… I don’t think I want to be alone anymore. Especially when I’ve never been more sure of how I felt about somepony as I am about you, Rarity. Will you marry me?”

As if she wasn’t emotional enough already from Art’s story about Silver’s pearls, now Rarity felt simply overcome at his proposal. She waved a hoof at her face a bit, feeling like she needed a touch of air. It was her turn to be struck wordless, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t respond and she did so by levitating the ring up to slide carefully onto her horn and nodding to him once it was in place.

The two embraced tightly as their engagement was sealed, both of them allowing their emotions to overcome them. Rarity had finally found the love of a lifetime, and Art finally felt as though he could move on from the past that had trapped him for over a decade. They stayed simply holding each other for some time, eventually taking just enough time to put away the chest of jewelry before deciding to celebrate their engagement properly for the remainder of the night.

Author's Note

For as "easy" as I thought this chapter would be to write, there were just some parts of the dialogue that I struggled with for the longest time. I guess to an extent I just over-thought a lot of it. But here it is now, and I'll offer a few thoughts on this as well.

Yes, Art Deco is my personal OC. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I'm not the first writer to pair their OC with a main character, but I wanted to try and do it and make it reasonable. I have a whole history in mind between these two that would have led up to this moment and maybe someday I'll write that out if people would be interested in it. But for the purposes of this story I only wanted to touch on that history in order to make the engagement not seem completely random or out of place. At least he's not an Alicorn with a tragic backstory. I do have some artwork of him I can share if anyone would like to get a better idea of what he looks like, but I'll do that in a blog post sometime. Again, only if there's interest.

Good news is, there's just one chapter left for this story and I really do think I can turn that one out in a shorter amount of time. I've known how this story was going to end from the outset, and I think I've gotten away from enough distractions that I can get it done. I can't promise when the finale will pop up, but it won't be months from now. Thank you to all of you who've supported and encouraged me to stick with this story, and I hope you like this chapter as well as what I have in store for the ending.

Goodbye to You

Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon stood with mouths agape as Art Deco and Rarity recounted the events of the prior evening to them, leaving out a few details naturally. To say the announcement of their engagement was a shock to the two young mares would have been a gross understatement.

“We swung by Carousel Boutique first thing this morning in order to get Silver’s pearls so they might be properly re-strung,” Rarity said after she and Art finished their recap. “After that it was a quick stop by Sugar Cube Corner for a bit of breakfast, and naturally we had to tell Pinkie Pie the news. I daresay I’ve ever seen her move so fast as when we told her she could spread the word as she saw fit. I believe she headed towards Sweet Apple Acres first.”

“I guess that’d explain AB’s question before we left there,” Sweetie noted. “Not to mention what Pinkie was so excited about when I saw her earlier. But… are you two sure about this, sis? I mean I know you and Mr. Deco have known each other for a long time, but… I guess this just seems kind of sudden is all.”

“I understand your concern, Sweetie,” Rarity told her, stepping up to nuzzle her sister affectionately. “But the fact is, Art makes me happier than anyone else I’ve ever known. This could not possibly feel more right to me. I only hope you and Silver will be able to get over your past issues. Having your blessings on our marriage would mean the world to us both.”

Art took that as his cue to address his daughter on the matter. Silver immediately looked up at him as he approached her. She still had a dumbfounded expression on her face as she tried to come to grips with the situation.

“Silver, I realize this seems sudden to you,” he told her gently, “and I know you and Sweetie Belle haven’t always had the most stellar of relationships, but… I do hope you’ll find a way to get along with her. You two are going to be related now, after all. And as Rarity said, we would very much love to have you both supporting us.”

“Daddy, I…” Silver’s voice cracked a bit as she finally found the will to talk, but words were still failing her. So much had happened over the past day and now she was faced with how to react to this. Her father was remarrying, and to Sweetie Belle’s older sister! As her mind struggled to process all of this, she found herself wanting to sit down somewhere to think it through and figure out just how she felt about it all.

Such a respite wasn’t going to happen, however.

“Well, well, well…” came a familiar voice from across the way. Silver felt a chill come over her as she turned to see Diamond Tiara walking their way with Opulence and Fortuity close behind on either side of her. “Isn’t it just too delicious when juicy rumors turn out to be true?”

“What’re you doing here, Diamond Tiara?” Sweetie asked defensively, quickly stepping between the pink-coated heiress and Silver.

“Oh I was just out for a stroll with my two new friends here and we just couldn’t help but overhear the announcement,” Diamond replied. “Isn’t it so nice to see love blossoming? Even if it is between a couple of withering old nags.”

“Hey!” Sweetie shot back, taking a step towards the trio.

“Sweetie, stop,” Silver told her. “I’ll… let me handle this.”

“Silver, you’ve been through enough lately,” Sweetie said, turning to face her. “You don’t deserve even more of this kind of treatment.”

“Given the kind of friend she’s been to Di, I’d say it’s the least she deserves,” Opulence commented with a nodding agreement from Fortuity.

“She’s right, Sweetie Belle,” Silver replied, hanging her head a bit. “This whole mess I’m in right now is my doing. And I need to make up for it. I need to get my life back on track… back to where I’m supposed to be.”

Sweetie’s further protests fell on deaf ears as Silver stepped up to Diamond Tiara with Opulence and Fortuity grinning smugly. Diamond likewise gained a smirk on her face as she looked her over.

“I see you finally ditched the pearls,” Diamond noted. “Good to see you’ve come to your senses, Silver. You’ve got a lot to make up for, but I’m sure with time you can get back into my good graces.”

“I hope so, but first let me just apologize, Diamond,” Silver told her meekly.

“By all means, let’s hear your apology,” Diamond replied with a bit of a mocking giggle.

Silver took a look back at her father, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle who all stood wondering what was going to happen next. She then turned back to look at Diamond and sighed heavily.

“I’m sorry, Diamond Tiara,” she said. “I’m sorry I let you become this kind of pony.”

“I beg your pardon?” Diamond said, not grasping what Silver meant.

“If I were a better friend, I would have stood up to you more whenever you got the idea to mistreat others,” Silver explained. “I knew it wasn’t right, and if I were a better friend… if I were the kind of pony who really wanted to be there for you and help you… then I would have told you what we were doing wasn’t right… that we didn’t have to act like we were better than everyone else just because we were born into more wealthy families. I wouldn’t have let you get so carried away trying to make others look bad just so we could feel good.

“This is all my fault. If anyone could have stopped you from becoming who you are now it was me, and I was so concerned about losing your friendship that I just went along for the ride when the truth is a better friend would have tried to help you become a better pony.”

Silver turned to look back at Sweetie, then. “That’s what I’ve learned today. From Sweetie Belle, Twist, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom. They’ve all come a long way and they did it together… helping each other out and keeping each other on the right track. They’re real friends, I see that now more clearly than ever. They are what we should have been, if only I had been strong enough to do what was right instead of what was easy.”

“Nopony tells me what to do, Silver Spoon,” Diamond told her with some contempt. “Least of all somepony who’s been nothing more than a stooge for me for so long.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Silver asked, her own ire starting to spark as an edge crept into her voice. “Do you have any notion of what you sound like? There was a time you wanted to shine brighter than anyone and represent something others could aspire to. Something great. Something exemplary. And what did you do instead? You used your station and money and prestige to make everyone else around you miserable! Instead of representing something others could strive to be, you repeatedly told everyone how they’d never measure up to you. You gossiped and backstabbed and even outright lied sometimes! And for what? Just to make yourself feel better and get a laugh out of others’ misery. And the worst part… the absolute worst part of it all… is that I stood by and not only let that all happen… I even helped. I was so scared of being on the receiving end of your wrath that I even let myself be fooled into thinking we really were better than everyone else. But now I know the truth.”

“And what truth is that?” Diamond asked, sounding both annoyed and exasperated at being lectured.

“That the real difference between us and them is we have some things they can’t afford, but they have some things that just can’t be bought,” Silver replied simply. “And they’re the wealthier ones for it, not us.”

“Oh puh-lease…” Diamond scoffed.

“When was the last time you were honest with anyone about anything?” Silver asked her rather pointedly. “Or shared a laugh with anyone that wasn’t utterly fake? Or helped someone while expecting nothing in return? Or showed even one shred of devotion to anyone other than yourself? You’d have to tell me, because I certainly don’t know. But despite all that, it’s not too late, Diamond.”

Silver’s tone changed, as did her expression. She was somewhat pleading with her now, hoping that maybe she could get through to her this one time and salvage whatever shred of friendship might still exist between the two of them.

“You can change things,” she told her. “It doesn’t have to be like this. We can make amends with them… with everyone. It took me all day, and I was pretty scared almost all day long, but I did it. And they all found it in their hearts to forgive me for everything I’ve done to them. I’m sure if you tried you could do it too. We can all be friends, Diamond.”

“And the stooge starts groveling again,” Fortunity quipped, getting a giggle from Opulence.

“Oh like you two are actually any better?” Silver said, quickly looking to the pair. “If anything you’re even worse for her than I ever was. I actually wanted her friendship! I still do! All you two want is to share her spotlight, leech off of her success, and give back nothing in return for it!”

“Bold words from a former stooge who’s admitted she’s-” Opulence started to say.

“Stop calling me a stooge, you arrogant, insignificant, self-serving twit!” Silver immediately shot back.

The next sound that rang out between them all was the sound of a slap as Diamond Tiara’s right forehoof connected with Silver’s cheek.

“How dare you talk to your betters in such an insolent manner, you little wretch!” Diamond shot at her. “Do you remember who controls the money? Who controls this town, even? We do! What we say goes! You learn your place again real quick, little filly, or so help me we will ruin you and your family! Why? Because we can! And it would be hilarious!”

Silver slowly looked back at Diamond, a hurt expression in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and raised her own right forehoof high. Diamond immediately braced herself for what she knew was coming and instead found herself shocked as Silver just put her foreleg around her and hugged her.

“I’m sorry,” Silver told her again. “I hope we can be friends again someday, Diamond. But I can’t do this anymore. I’ve learned where my place is.”

She let go of Diamond after the hug, trying to keep a brave face as she looked at her despite the tears that were starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

“And it isn’t with you,” she said. “Sweetie Belle? Daddy? Rarity? Let’s go. I think we all have a lot to talk about.”

Without a further word to Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon turned and simply walked away with Sweetie Belle next to her on one side and her father and Rarity on the other. She could hear the jeering and insults being flung at her by Diamond, Opulence, and Fortuity, but let them just wash over her without even the smallest retort.

“That took a lot of courage, Silver,” Art told her as they walked away. “I’m sorry about Diamond Tiara, but at the same time I couldn’t be more proud of you for how you handled yourself back there.”

“Thanks, Daddy,” Silver replied, looking up to smile for her father. “I’m glad for you and Rarity, by the way. It’s nice to see you happy again.”

Silver then turned her head to look forwards again, though the continued taunts from Diamond Tiara, Opulence, and Fortuity were tempting her to turn around.

“Sweetie, can you do me a favor?” she asked.

“Sure, what?” Sweetie asked.

“Just make sure I keep walking,” Silver told her, the tears finally starting to stream down her face. “And that I don’t look back.”

“Don’t worry, Sil,” Sweetie told her as she sidled up closer to her. “There isn’t anything back there worth looking at anyway.”

“So hang on,” Scootaloo said, still scratching her head. She, Apple Bloom, and Twist had joined Silver and Sweetie at Sugar Cube Corner that evening. Scootaloo directed her attention to Sweetie and Silver as she tried to get the situation straight. “If your sister is marrying your dad, what’s that gonna make you two?”

“Well technically, Rarity’s gonna be Silver’s stepmom,” Apple Bloom noted.

“Yeah, but Sweetie is Rarity’s sister, so that’d mean she’d he Thil-” Twist grumbled at the slip of her lisp again and tried again. “She’d be Silver’s… aunt?”

“Which makes no sense whatsoever,” Silver noted. “I’m three months older than Sweetie, after all.”

“Let’s just split the difference and go with sisters,” Sweetie said with a giggle. “Even if it isn’t all that accurate.”

“Hear hear,” Apple Bloom said, raising her mug of cider to the idea.

“Are you gonna be okay now, Silver?” Twist asked after likewise taking a sip of her own drink. “Diamond isn’t one to let things slide after all. She might make trouble for you.”

“She’s welcome to try,” Silver replied with a sigh. “I’m still going to hold out hope that someday she’ll come around, but I won’t let her run my life like I did for so long. Besides, you girls all have come as far as you have even after everything she’s said and done to you. If you can do it, so can I.”

“What about yer career, though?” Apple Bloom asked, putting her empty mug aside and wiping her face on her foreleg. Silver blanched a bit at that. Friends though they may now be, she was going to have to help Bloom work on her manners some. “Diamond Tiara’s gonna make things hard fer ya if’n ya still wanna be a food ‘n restaurant critic.”

“I already have a fairly good reputation with the publications that post my reviews,” Silver replied. “I’m pretty sure no matter what Diamond does, I’ll survive. I’m the one who knows what I’m talking about when it comes to quality food and restaurants after all, not her. Especially considering her tastes in food.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sweetie asked, honestly curious about that slip of information from Silver.

“I, uh… I really shouldn’t gossip about her like this,” Silver said, feeling suddenly very self-conscious. “I mean I was sorely tempted to let loose on her back there when she slapped me, but I convinced myself I wanted to be the better mare.”

“And we all really admire that, Sil,” Apple Bloom told her with a nod. “But all things considered, this’d just be between us all here. An’ Ah don’t know ‘bout anypony else, but Ah sure would like a lil’ extra dirt on her anyway.”

“I don’t know…” Silver said apprehensively. “It’s tempting, but I don’t know if I should compromise my morals just to give you all a laugh or two at her expense.”

Apple Bloom leaned over the table a bit, grinning. “Ah’ll deliver ya one ‘o Applejack’s prize-winnin’ pies in return.”

Silver rolled her eyes at the attempt of bribery. “Apple Bloom, really? A pie?”

“Every day fer a week.”

“...a whole week?”

“Eeyup.”

“She puts ketchup on everything. Eggs, potato chips, carrot sticks, you name it. Turned my stomach every time she did it.”

“Seriously?!” Twist said in disgust as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom bust up laughing. Twist then looked at Sweetie and stuck her tongue out at her. “See? I can say it without lisping.”

“You certainly can, Twist,” Sweetie told her, then adding with a smirk, “Thometimeth.”

“Oh geez, that’s definitely worth a week ‘o pies,” Apple Bloom said when she finally calmed down from her riotous laughter. “Thanks, Sil!”

“You’re welcome,” Silver replied with a smile. “And… thank you all. For everything today. None of you owed me anything, least of all forgiveness for everything I was a part of with Diamond. I only wish it hadn’t taken this long for us to all become friends like this.”

“Well we’ll have your back from now on,” Scootaloo added with a grin. “And not just us, either. I told Rumble all about what happened and he definitely wants to hang out with you now too sometime.”

“When he ain’t busy fallin’ all over himself over you, that is,” Apple Bloom commented with a snicker. “Just how close did y’all get at the movie today anyway?”

“You heard about that?!” Scootaloo blurted out in embarrassment, her wings flapping a bit. She immediately attempted a recovery. “I mean, uh… yeah, whatever. It was no big deal. It was chilly in there, after all.”

“I’m sure it was,” Sweetie added with a nod. “But the fires of love will keep our Scoot warm!”

“I am not in love with Rumble!” Scootaloo protested.

“The filly doth protest too much, methinks,” Silver also added with an agreeing nod from Twist.

“AB, how’d you even find out about us at the theater?!” Scootaloo asked, wondering who had gossiped about them already.

“Ah didn’t,” AB replied simply.

“Huh? But wait, you said-”

“Ah asked ya how close y’all got. Ah didn’t say anyone told me. Least until you did just now.”

Scootaloo’s face blanked and her mouth stayed agape as she realized her gaffe. She sat back down grumbling. “Not funny, AB.”

“And we’re even again,” Apple Bloom told her with a grin.

Twist, Sweetie, and Silver all shared a laugh at Scootaloo’s expense, though even Scootaloo didn’t let it upset her very long. As she enjoyed the company of her new friends, Silver looked over a ways in Sugar Cube Corner to where her father and Rarity were seated with all of Rarity’s other friends around them congratulating them on their engagement. She hadn’t seen her father this happy in ages, and it absolutely warmed her heart. She reflexively touched her neck where her newly re-strung pearls hung once again and allowed herself a happy sigh. Kindness had helped her reclaim her life and get it back on track, and she was now resolved to pay that kindness forward however she could.

~ The End ~

Author's Note

I'm working up a blog post to be the real Author's Notes for this story as well as give some insight to my life and my writing. Instead here, enjoy a bit of a teaser for what I have in store for everyone next. :)

= = = = = = = = = =

As if he didn’t have enough things troubling him on a day-to-day basis, Filthy Rich had this to contend with as well. He sat in his darkened personal office in his mansion late that night looking at an old photo of his family. It was from one of the few times they’d ever done anything together as a family. His wife, long since departed, looked as lovely and graceful as she ever had in the photo. And his daughter, Diamond Tiara, looked honestly happy as they’d had their day at the beach. They had gone incognito, trying to avoid unwanted attention due to their status. It hadn’t been a long trip, but it had been a good one. A fun one. A family one.

Now, however, things were much different. Diamond was much older than she had been in that photo, and the years might have been kind to her figure, but not to her attitude. Filthy sighed heavily as he sipped a nearby drink just thinking about it. He remembered a time in his youth when he was more than a bit of a braggart, but his daughter had maintained that mindset far longer than he ever had. She had little respect for anyone, and her mouth was becoming as foul as her personality was. At this point, however, there was no one who could get through to her with words. She just couldn’t be reasoned with. She had neither a sense of responsibility to nor a meaningful connection with anyone. And now he’d learned that she had completely cut ties with the one filly he’d thought she regarded as a friend. Not just that, she had openly and rather vociferously berated her in public.

Something had to be done. She had to understand her real place in the world. Her responsibility. And if she couldn’t be told as much, she would have to be made to understand. Filthy picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number on it, waiting for someone to pick up on the other end. Sure enough, they did, though they sounded rather weary. It was rather late at night after all.

“Yes hello, this is Filthy Rich,” he told them. “Ah must apologize for the lateness of this call, but if you would indulge me for a moment, Ah do believe we need to talk. It’s about my daughter.”

Filthy paused as the other pony on the line spoke their mind a bit on the matter of Diamond Tiara. “...yes, Ah do agree, she is rather out of hoof at this point. Ah was hopin’ you might be willing to hear me out and do me a favor. Rest assured, Ah will certainly make it worth your while.”

Filthy chuckled lightly a bit at the response he received to his offer. “...heh, Ah should’ve expected you to say as much, but we can debate compensation another time.”

He listened again as they questioned him. “...why call you for this? Because to be honest, Ah can’t think of anypony more suited to teach my daughter the lessons she needs to learn. And besides, it is my firm belief that neither of our families would be where they are today if not for each other’s support.”

Filthy nodded as the other party on the line agreed with his sentiment. “ ...well Ah’m glad to hear you agree. Let’s not rush this, however. We should get together for lunch sometime soon and discuss what we’ll do and when.”

The other party made an offer that slightly surprised him, though delightfully so. “...dinner at your home? You are as hospitable as ever and Ah would be delighted. Thank you ever so much. Yes, Ah’ll see you soon.”

Filthy hung up the phone and then left his office to retire to bed for the night. The meeting was set, and the first step of his plan was now in motion. He hated that things had come to this, but Diamond wasn’t showing any signs of changing her ways on her own. If she wouldn’t change of her own accord, then he would see to catalyzing that change himself.

One way or another.