Seven Shades of Pink and Gray
Chapter 1- In Which We Talk
“Di… this is the sixth week we’ve been stuck here, doing nothing.” Silver Spoon, a normally charismatic silver filly, whined for what had to be the twenty-fifth time today, her long braid flopping lazily to the side as she spoke out in protest. She had a definite point; there was only so many days one could spend eating at a confectionery shop, and only so many items one could order off of the extravagant menu, before one simply started to get bored, losing interest with the entire process. She had personally been through the entire list at least five times, going on week four, and even chocolate milkshakes were starting to get dull. Her favorite food. This was more than serious. This was concerning.
“I know. But do you have anything better to suggest?” Next to her, Diamond Tiara, a pink filly with a tiara, tiara cutie mark, and a pudge that most fillies had lost, and would probably die for if they pointed it out, rolled her eyes. She had had to endure this conversation for well on past an hour and thirty minutes, a literal apathy based version of “Are we there yet?”, and it was starting to get slightly irritating. Maybe more so then irritating. The only thing that kept her from one of a series of nasty offenses or retorts, of which she carried in abundance, was the fact that the pony next to her happened to be her friend, and one of the few she could call such. That, and the fact that, in truth, she was just as bored as she was. She had a right to complain; they really hadn’t done anything interesting, for some length of time.
“There’s always… the lake?”
“After what happened there last week? Is that really a good idea?” Diamond Tiara shot her friend a knowing look, and she relented, giving her a passive shrug. Little less than a few days ago, an angry ghost crab had somehow managed to find its way to the bottom of Ponyville’s lake, and secure itself a home there, attacking ponies as they passed or stopped to play in its territory (not to mention ruining good sun tans for miles around). Initial attempts to contain it had been unsuccessful, though it was eventually removed, through methods unknown (Evidence pointed to a mysterious white mare with a penchant for swords, which in Ponyville, was just crazy enough not to deny). But, why take the risk?
“Fine.” Silver Spoon paused, tilting her head to the side, rolling over the thought a little more. Suddenly, one came to her, one that was actually enough to paint a smile on her as of late typically bored face. “Why not try the cooking class again?”
“I seem to remember that being your thing. Last time I tried, I nearly burnt the room to the floor.”
“Okay…” Silver Spoon shot her friend an incredulous look. “That was one time.”
“Twice, actually. Remember?” Diamond Tiara looked off to the side, keeping her eyes on the floor.” I tried to make home baked chocolate chip cookies the second time. And I ended up with first degree burns, and a room full of smoke. They had to pull the whole class out. And the cookies… Yeah.” She gave an involuntary shudder of raw disgust, not needing to speak to communicate to her friend the horrors they had all found waiting for them in the oven, the moment the flames had died out. Not that she was certain that she could; proper language hadn’t quite caught up yet to describing the image, and hopefully never would come to that point. She would swear she had seen those things run off the table.
Silver gave a tiny nod in response. The image, for some strange and indiscernible reason, had worked its way out of her mind, only to return at this moment. “Fine. No more cooking. But hey.” She bumped her friend, and flashed a wry grin. “Still not as bad as Sweetie Belle’s cooking.”
Diamond Tiara couldn’t help but crack a smirk at that. The only pony in the whole of Equestria who could turn popcorn into a biochemical weapon, without ever getting them to kernel first. But the mention of that particular pony also brought back particular memories, and her face quickly fell, as she let out a long, drawn sigh. “Oh yeah…”
“What’s up?” Silver Spoon looked over at her friend, the second expression besides the smile that she had managed to come up with today; concern.
“Now I remember why we’re so bored.” If it was possible to extremely roll your eyes, Diamond Tiara was the first to accomplish it. She also let out a groan, sinking down farther onto the surface of the table. “What we used to do all the time…”
“…Bully the crusaders.” Silver Spoon finished, and rather flatly. It was something she often thought about, mostly because it was impossible to forget, but the experience had left a bad taste in her mouth, and now, even her thoughts were doing the same. It was something she could have gone without being brought up, in all honesty. “Di, you know that we’re over that. After the Ponyville Schoolhouse fiasco, everypony expects better of us now. And that’s something that we have to live up to. We can’t go back now.”
“I’m not saying I want to go back.” Diamond Tiara let out an equally flat response, giving her friend side eyes. “I remember exactly what it was like. Ponies running from me as I walked by. Angry looks home on the way from school. Having to protect you because-“ She froze, shutting her mouth to keep any extra words from coming out. She then slowly shook her head. “Sorry. But I don’t want you thinking that that’s it. That’s not exactly what I’m saying.”
“Then what?” Silver Spoon lifted her head off the table for the first time in thirty minutes, to look over at Diamond Tiara. Her face crossed with sympathy. “Go ahead. You can tell me.”
Diamond Tiara paused, in marked contemplation. Something that was rare for her; she usually told Silver Spoon everything. Finally, with a sigh, she relented. “It’s just… it’s been really hard to leave that life, is all…”
Silver Spoon never lost her expression, waiting for Diamond Tiara to speak. With another sigh, her friend began.
“Ever since i’ve been… reformed, I guess, things have been going great. I mean, ponies talk to me now! Actually wave hi as they walk by! I have friends! …More friends.” She gave a small smile, and the tiniest nod of acknowledgement to her first, before continuing. “And for the first time, I feel like I can be really open about myself. No more hiding my own feelings, no more pretending to be somepony that I’m not around others, just so that I can cause an effect. I can be who I am.” She let out the softest of smiles as she looked down at the table, and the proudest. Words couldn’t describe how good of a feeling it gave her, just to say that, and then acknowledge it. She could be herself now. And wasn’t that everything?
Silver Spoon placed a single hoof on Diamond Tiara’s shoulder, and flashed her a smile as well. But it was quickly laced with confusion. “That’s good, but… I don’t understand.” She took the hoof away, and the expression deepened. “That’s how you feel. That’s what you’ve been telling me, ever since the end of that day, not to mention every other pony in earshot. So… what’s the problem?”
Diamond Tiara took a large breath, and then an even larger sigh. “Sometimes- just sometimes, mind you… I kinda sorta miss the old life...”
Silver Spoon blinked twice.
“Di…”
“Yes?”
“What the hoof are you saying?” Silver Spoon’s expression had dropped, as the conversation continued. Just a fraction, though for Diamond, that was enough to be scared. Very scared.
“No, Silver, I think you’re missing it.” She looked out, her gaze moving around Sugarcube Corner for the first time in a while, too ashamed to lay eyes on her friend. She focused on a particular scene, near the back end of the tables; a mare, having an exorbitantly large ice cream sundae, and sharing it with her foal. The two took turns quickly dismantling it; the filly rather enthusiastically, and the mother, or so she presumed, at a much slower, more concentrated pace. All eyes seemed to be on her child, relishing in the tiny ponies happiness moreso than even the taste of the ice cream. Diamond Tiara turned back to Silver Spoon.
“Have you ever felt like- no, stupid question.” She continued before her friend could fire up a response. “Have you ever felt… powerful?”
“Powerful?” Silver Spoon raised an eyebrow, as she echoed the response.
“Powerful.” Diamond Tiara finished emphatically, then scrambled to find a comparison. “Like…” She paused again, though this time, she didn’t sigh. She spoke in a voice that was as much informative as it was self-discovering. And she hated it. “Like, everything that you wanted, was right within reach. You just had to throw a hoof out, and grab it.”
“…No.” Silver Spoon slowly shook her head in response, carrying a tone of finality strong enough to depress the floorboards. From bullies back in Canterlot, to bullies in Ponyville, to being friends with Diamond Tiara…
She blinked, as she realized she’d nearly forgotten the one light that had carried her through those days. Past the weeks of being stuffed in lockers, by ponies who hadn’t even bothered to ask her name. Past hiding in the bushes as groups of “De-spooners” traced her usual routes home, looking out for a taste of their usual fun. Past making the library a second home, as it was the only place that she could seem to find peace and solitude, and go unaccosted for a solid hour. Diamond Tiara had been the one to put her hoof down, and end the activities, with a flair just as beautiful as it had been terrifying to witness, even for somepony not on the receiving end. Silver Spoon had her friend to thank for that...
“...No. I guess I do.” She all but whispered, even as Diamond Tiara continued.
“It’s… Silver. It’s intoxicating.” She said the word with a visible deflation, and a noticeable tone of disgust. It was exactly how she felt on the inside. “I hate it. But back then, I was somepony. Ponies would notice me coming their way, and they would jump to their feet, doing whatever I wanted them to do, whenever I wanted them to do it. Homework? Easy. Money? Fine. A personal vote for an election..?” She fell briefly silent, at the re-occurrence of a nasty memory. “…No sweat. Point is, I had it all. One way or another, ponies practically worshiped me. And that’s hard to let go. Just, sometimes…”
Silver Spoon had been listening intently the entire time, passing and processing every word as it came. When Diamond Tiara finished, she just let out a simple exhale, and closed her eyes.
“Di…”
“Yeah?”
“You’re doing that thing again.” Silver Spoon’s voice carried such a final tone to it, that Diamond Tiara finally had to look up, staring back into her friends face again.
“What thing?”
“That thing. That thing where, despite how much I love you, and care about you as a friend…” She shook her head, and gave a dismissive exhale. “…You say the stupidest things, sometimes...”
Diamond Tiara paused, in abject silence. Silver Spoon took it as an opportunity to speak, her voice and expression suddenly deathly serious.
“Ponies didn’t worship you; they feared you, plain and simple. And all of that was in complete ignorance of the talents that you truly have; of who you are. They didn’t know a single hoofing thing about you. Except that you had money, and the power to crush their lives. Which was resentment. And even beyond that…” Silver Spoon simply shook her head, and exhaled again. “I can remember walking home with you, every day. And I can remember the look on your face, nearly every day. When you weren’t seething in anger, you were nearly close to tears. My right shoulder went numb, sometimes, for as long as I let you cry into it. And that’s when you weren’t contemplating over your mother’s accomplishments…”
“Hey…” Diamond Tiara finally looked over, voicing a protest, but Silver Spoon silenced her.
“Your mother’s accomplishments.” Silver Spoon laid two hooves down on the table, and looked over at her challengingly. “You can’t honestly tell me that, at the time, you ran a school newspaper, and blackmailed ponies into success, because it was something you wanted to do? Or what about sabotaging other ponies personal accomplishments, to try to get to be the flag bearer at the Equestria Games? Remember what happened to Scootaloo-“
“Don’t.” Diamond Tiara’s voice carried such an icy tone to it, even ponies on the other sides of the confectionery looked up, as if something had gone horribly wrong. Silver Spoon visibly flinched, and sank back down into her seat. She had hit a nerve. And, one she knew exactly how enormous it was on Diamond Tiara’s list, even before she had said it. The Scootaloo incident was something that they had vowed never to talk about again. And she had goofed up.
“Look…I just don’t get it.” Silver Spoon’s voice was barely too small to be heard over the table, reflecting how she felt; like a bug under a magnifying glass. Tiny, and helpless. A drop of water from a conspicuously leaky pipe fell to the table, coating the wood with a splash. “Why? Why would you ever even consider wanting to live like that again?”
Diamond Tiara’s anger had flushed out quickly, and even more so than usual, at the sight of Silver Spoon looking so hurt. Now, she was only left with an empty, hollow feeling, typical of moments when she yelled at her best friend. She gave a defeated sigh. “I don’t know… maybe I am just like my mother after all...”
Silver Spoon paused, for the briefest of moments. Her face was covered by her hooves, making her impossible to see, but the imploring tone could be heard, etched into every word of her question. “…Is that what you really think?”
“Uh…I guess?” Diamond Tiara answered back, in what had to be the lamest response she had ever managed to conjure up. She wasn’t sure where this was going, and was possibly equally sure that she didn’t know whether to respond yay or nay. She was trapped.
“…You mean the same mare who counts quarter bits when she goes to the market?”
Diamond Tiara paused dead. She slowly looked up, into Silver Spoon’s now uncovered face. There was a weak smile there, betraying what she had thought was something to be heavily, heavily concerned about. In fact…
“The same mare who once threw out a butler for spilling clear hoof polish on a full body mirror?”
Diamond Tiara couldn’t help herself; she snorted on reflex, at that one. Her mother had privately hired a team of ponies to come differentiate so she could feel she had due cause, even though it ended up costing more than the mirror itself. And then she had thrown it away, in the end. An absolute waste…
“The same mare who carries forty-five different types of shampoo, body washes, bath salts, and hair products, all at the same time? Di, are you serious?”
“…Forty-eight, for the shampoo now.” Diamond Tiara spoke in a small voice, and looked away, but she was nearly cracking up with laughter, by this point. “Cherry berry banana split. Smooth mango raspberry lemon. And butterscotch razzmatazz pineapple pumpkin dip.”
There was a notable pause, before the table began to echo with laughter. Both fillies were beside themselves, laughing so loud, they couldn’t see straight. Or hear the words of the other customers, some of which prompted them to calm down. They weren’t interested in the slightest.
“Oh, Celestia. Is that even real right now? You have got to be kidding me!”
“I kid you not!” Diamond Tiara put her hooves down on the table, looking at Silver Spoon challengingly. “Twenty five bits. Bet on it.”
“Just twenty-five?” Silver Spoon flashed a smug look back in response. “That’s cheap money, Di, and you know it. Seventy-five bits, or no deal.”
“Fine.” Diamond Tiara gave a shrug, and pushed out from the table, dropping on down to the floor below. “Just a quick question.”
Silver Spoon did the same, and began to head forwards, towards the building’s front entrance. “Yeah?”
Diamond Tiara couldn’t resist the final eye roll, and one last smirk, as they both took equal steps through the doorway of Sugarcube Corner. “You wanna put it in my saddlebag now, or later?”
The chase home was the most memorable thing they'd do that week.
Author's Note
No shortage of a handful to write, but the daaws certainly justified the means.
