Gossip Spreads Quick

“This is a terrible idea, you know that?”

Dinky, Ruby, Liza and Silver Spoon glanced back at Button Mash.

“Oh come on,” Liza rolled her eyes and trotted around Button Mash. “You can’t act like this isn’t exciting at all.”

“This isn’t exciting, this is dangerous. I’ve played enough Minecraft to know that four fillies going into a scary dark forest is a recipe for disaster. Remember the last time we followed a plan of Ruby’s? It went poorly,” Button Mash pointed out and Ruby glared at him.

“I thought we agreed to never speak about that again?” Ruby shot back with a growl and Button Mash flinched at her look. “Like, ever.”

“Don’t kill each other until I ask a important question,” Liza interjected before Ruby murdered poor Button. “I get why Dinky is here. I get why I’m here. I kinda get why Button is here? But why is she here?” Liza pointed a hoof accusingly at Silver Spoon. “She’s the worst pony ever. One of the worst. She cares about nopony but herself. Stuck up little bit-”

“Okay we get it,” Dinky hastily cut her off and stepped between the two. “I don’t like Silver Spoon much either myself. Or Diamond Tiara. They’re both jerks and bullies and selfish.”

“Hey!” Silver Spoon snapped and looked away. “I’m not that bad.” Everypony gave her flat looks, even Button Mash gave her an unimpressed frown. “Okay, I’m bad but I’m just following Diamonds lead so cut the attitude please.”

“We’ll cut the attitude when you quit being a bitch,” Liza scoffed and rolled her eyes, shoving Button Mash forward. “C’mon gamer boy, get a move on. Or I’ll tell Sweetie Belle you got scared of a squirrel that one time.”

“Why would I care what Sweetie Belle thinks?” Button asked and gritted his teeth as Dinky started helping push and Silver Spoon slammed her hoof into her muzzle, dragging it down her face slowly.

“Boys,” Silver Spoon muttered under her breath and Ruby nodded sagely.

“Yep. For somepony that cute, he is dense, isn’t he?” Ruby asked and Silver Spoon raised hey eyebrow.

“What?”

Ruby shrugged and hid her blush before galloping off after the other three as Silver Spoon gave a frustrated sigh.

“May the gods have mercy on my damned soul,” Silver Spoon grumbled under her breath before galloping to catch up. “Remind me why you dragged me along?”

“Because it’s your sister infected too. I figured even you aren’t that heartless enough that you don’t care about your own sister,” Dinky shot Silver Spoon a look. “Unless I’m wrong, of course. I wouldn’t be surprised given your chosen company after all.”

Silver Spoon shrugged and ducked under a tree branch. While she did willingly associate with Diamond Tiara, she didn’t necessarily like her that much. A small part of her did she supposed but not much. Diamond was her first technical friend after all.

“It’s complicated,” Silver Spoon answered finally and shrugged. “I did figure you’d be the one to defend me the most.”

“There’s a difference between defending you and liking you. I don’t like you much, don’t get me wrong. But I’m better than you because I don’t bully ponies for my own enjoyment,” Dinky answered and glanced at her. “You’re mean. So is Diamond. You’re mean to a lot of my friends. Therefore, loyalty states I side with them. Your sister told me that.”

“My own sister told you to not like me?” Silver Spoon flinched slightly and Dinky shook her head.

“I kept your name out of it. All Miss Silverspeed said was to stick by my friends, no matter what. But Miss Silverspeed is smart so she probably suspected who i was talking about.”

Silver Spoon nodded, unconvinced. Silverspeed was smart, that was true. Everypony knew that. The pegasus hid it well, but she was just as cunning and sneaky as Sunset was. That friendship only encouraged it more.

Silver Spoon didn’t even want to think about how Trixie might be encouraging it more.

“Joy. And for the record, I’m not heartless,” Silver Spoon shot Dinky a frown and trotted ahead down the trail quietly following the older ponies ahead.

“I can not wait to sound normal,” Shoeshine grumbled and Trixie stifled a laugh. The other mare had been complaining about it the entire way through the woods and Trixie idly wondered if she sounded like that when she complained fairly often.

“Trixie is too sober for this. Afterwards, the bar is her home for at least the next four hours. She, Raindrops and Berry are going to get so freaking drunk they can’t walk or fly home,” Trixie flung a foreleg towards the sky and yelped as her hoof slammed into a tree branch.

“And what did that tree branch do to you?” Roseluck pushed her mane up into a lazy bun and glared at where she thought Trixie was.

“Isn’t your name Roseluck, not Treeluck?” Sunset quipped and Roseluck rolled her eyes.

“Hilarious,” Roseluck commented dryly and raised an foreleg up in the air. “You’re a regular comedian.”

Sunset snickered and shrugged. While she wasn’t Trixie, she did like to think she had a pretty decent sense of humor. She mainly liked dirty jokes. Who didn’t, after all?

“Oh shit!” Sunset cursed and her hind leg bent slightly. “Almost broke my damn leg. Who just puts a hole in the ground in the middle of the path?”

An asshole, Silverspeed thought to herself as she kicked some dirt into the hole. Might as well prevent anypony else hurting themselves. Not that she expected anypony to come in here but the thought counted at least.

“Stupid ass flies. Stupid ass poison joke. Stupid ass Lily,” Roseluck grumbled under her breath as she swatted some flies with her tail and Derpy ducked to avoid the tail. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Sunset paused as Silverspeed tapped her on the shoulder and gestured to the dirt. Silverspeed had been suggested she write in the dirt to talk. Trixie had done it occasionally too.

“Yeah Silver?” Sunset asked as Silverspeed began to write.

What’s it like being so short? Normally you’re tall.

Roseluck and the others laughed as Sunset scowled slightly at Silverspeed grinning at her.

“Bite me,” Sunset rolled her eyes and turned to hide her smile.

Her reaction only served to make the others laugh more, to her slight frustration.