“Hey Silver, you coming?” Diamond asked.

“Nah, I’ll see about having lunch with somepony else today,” she replied and watched her friend leave the classroom. She was probably going to meet up with Sweetie Belle and the others down at Sugarcube Corner.

Silver Spoon glanced around the classroom as ponies filed out. She left and walked down the hallway towards the front doors, letting her mind wandered off, thinking about where she could possibly go for lunch; some place other than the Corner.

Lost in her thoughts she paid little attention to where she was going. In that moment, she walked straight into another pony who shared her absent-minded pace. The two of them stumbled, Silver’s hoof locked between the other ponies front legs and they both crumbled to the ground.

“Ugh…” The other pony groaned as she picked herself up.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to... I mean, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Sorry,” Silver Spoon stammered as she sat up. She looked up to see two ponies standing in front of her, both of them were only a year or so younger than her.

The pony she had collided with had a lavender coat and a turquoise mane with eyes to match. The other, the one she had been speaking with, was a unicorn who had a light red coat and darker red mane. The unicorn just snickered with a hoof over her muzzle.

However, the earth pony she had bumped into simply smiled at her and offered her a hoof. “It’s alright. We’re in no rush and I should have been paying attention to where I was going too.”

Accepting the offered hoof, she stood up and shook her tail, to free the dust that had gotten into it. “Okay, well I guess I’ll be going. Sorry again.”

“Wait, so you’re just going to go like that? No, ‘Stupid fillies’ or ‘Blank Flank’ comments or anything?” It was the red unicorn who spoke. She stopped and just looked at the unicorn with a puzzled confusion painted across her face.

“Well, I’m Aura, and this is Berry Pinch. We’re heading to lunch, would you like to join us?” the lavender earth pony said giving her friend a sharp glance.

Aura and Berry Pinch started walking towards the door, without waiting for an answer from her, so she just decided to follow them out the door.

“So where are we going to go eat?” Silver asked curiously.

“Well, a new place just opened up. I don’t remember the name of it, but it’s supposed to have the best hay in all of Ponyville!” Berry Pinch said with a huge grin. “Also, where’s Diamond Tiara, I always thought the two of you were inseparable.”

Aura spoke up, “Good point, Pinch. Why aren’t you with Diamond?”

“Well, I was going to have lunch by myself today. She’s with some of her friends down at The Corner.” She shrugged it off not wanting to sound desperate for new friends.

Berry chuckled looking at Aura who just gave her a glare in return. Aura looked back at Silver Spoon, her expression softened. “Well doesn’t that suck. I’m guessing you don’t like these new friends of hers. Am I right?”

Berry pitched in her two cents once again, “Maybe she’s dating one of them!”

This made Silver Spoon almost trip over her own hooves. She was completely unprepared for it, but it could have very well been true. She rebuilt her composure, “It’s not that I don’t like them, but I just don’t feel comfortable around them. The Crusaders can be a bit overwhelming at times. Besides, no colts there for her to date.”

“Wait, so Diamond Tiara. Thee Diamond Tiara. The same Diamond Tiara that bullied and tortured and picked on those three fillies for years is now friends with all three of them? Just like that?” Berry Pinch grumbled for a moment then spoke again, “I’m going to need a drink after school. You look like you could use one too.” she lifted an eyebrow to Silver Spoon then gave Aura a smile and a wink.

Aura simply blushed a little and turned her face away from Silver Spoon. She whispered something into Berry Pinch’s ear. Whatever she had said made Pinch simply laugh and nod her head.

“Um, yeah… She’s not as bad as she was when we were in grade school. Diamond’s changed, I swear,” Silver spoke quietly, feeling somewhat awkward, “And… actually, a drink sounds nice…”

“Well good to hear you say that because I just happen to be digging into my mom's liquor locker tonight. Party at my place!” she shouted galloping off down a side street. Aura followed her. Silver Spoon sighed and followed the two mares down the road, they turned a corner and stood there, in front of a small building nestled between an obnoxiously loud bar and a local laundry mat.

The place was called, ‘CrackleCorn’, all one word. There was a sign next to the door which read, “Welcome to the CrackleCorn, the only Corn in Equestria which crackles and makes you cackle.” Under that, it said, “We also sell a variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner items.”

“This the place?” Aura asked Berry Pinch quietly.

“Yeah, but honestly I want to go next door.”

“You’re too young. Only six more months.”

“I’m legal damnit! Don’t try to tell me where I can and can’t go!”

“Sure, whatever, have fun getting arrested.” Aura laughed as Berry Pinch simply stomped and kicked at the ground in frustration.

“Well, should we go inside, I’m kind of hungry,” Aura said looking at Silver Spoon.

“Sure, I can pay for us if you’d like,” Silver Spoon offered, taking a few steps towards the door.

Suddenly the door burst open and a younger pony was thrown out like a pile of trash. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran back to the door just to get a hoof to the face which knocked him onto the ground once more. “Yeah? Well then, I didn’t want to eat here anyways! I’ll just tell everypony you piss in your soups and spit in their foods!”

“Hey girls, don’t eat here, the waitresses are real skanks, they probably work next door at night.” He sat down rubbing his forehead where he’d been hit.

Aura tilted her head. “Rumble? What the hell happened to you?”

“Oh! Hey Aura, how’ve you been? Actually. Better question. Why haven’t I seen you in my bed yet?”

“Rumble, you haven’t been to school for almost a week or two. What happened to you, dude?” Berry Pinch asked.

“Well.” He shook his head and just looked at the Aura then at Berry Pinch. Apparently, she was invisible to this inebriated idiot. “ooh 'kay. umm… First!” he sat there with a hoof held in the air for at least a solid minute or two. “Where are we?”

“We’re at the CrackleCorn, CC for short. You just got kicked out and punched in the face. Why?” Silver Spoon said, feeling a little ignored at this point.

“OH SHIT! It’s Silver Spoon!” He jumped onto all four and stood between her and the other two mares. “I’ll handle this beast! I’m fuckin’ fireproof!”

He burped and lost his balance falling backward into Berry Pinch. He looked up at her, “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to drink with you, would you, Berry Pinch. You always have something to drink. Even at school, where it’s not allowed.”

Silver Spoon simply shook her head. “Rumble, right? Look, why don’t you go on home and get some rest or something, I think you may or may not be a little drunk.”

Rumble gave her his attention now, “You know, when Diamond Tiara’s not around you, you’re much more pretty.”

“Don’t you mean she’s prettier when Diamond’s not around?” Aura said with a small flushness to her cheeks, “Look she does have a good point, you should go home Rumble.”

“But… I was just in there having a drink,” He pointed his left hoof towards the bar to their left, and then raised his other hoof towards the food joint in front of them. “I have no idea how I got in there!”

Silver looked at the two fillies. “What are we supposed to do with him?”

Berry Pinch looked down at him, “Do you want to go to Shady Daze’s?”

“Can’t. I’m too drunk to go to Butter’s.”

“Do you mean Button’s?” Aura asked.

“Yeah, Button’s.”

Berry looked up at Aura and mouthed something, Aura answered her silently before they both looked down at him. Berry Pinch opened her mouth first, “Well, it looks like you’re coming home with me.” She shouldered him back to a standing position and he leaned against him for a moment before life flooded his eyes again and he began bouncing around as excited as a schoolyard colt.

Aura moved to stand next to Silver Spoon and as soon as Berry had Rumble out of earshot Aura began to whisper. “She’s going to take him to her house, see if she can’t sober him up before our party tonight. I’m going to fetch Shady Daze from Button’s house. Wanna come with?”

Silver Spoon shrugged; she was hungry but it could wait. “Sure, but aren’t we going to be late getting back to school?”

“Yeah, actually, we might not be going back to school today. Shady Daze wasn’t at school today and Button Mash is homeschooled for the most part. I have no idea why Rumble was out drinking at noon on a school day.” She shook her head before turning and walking in the opposite direction the other two had gone.

SIlver Spoon just followed Aura. “So we’re going to get Shady from Button’s place?

Aura tilted her head back and just looked at her. Her eyes were shining as she stared at Silver. However, she said nothing before turning to look forward again.

Silver Spoon caught up and trotted next to her, “I’ll take that as a yes,” she paused for a moment and looked over at Aura, who simply looked down and away from her. “You okay?” she finally asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Aura said passively.

“You sure? You seem, distracted. Do you have a crush on Rumble?” Silver was pretty sure this wasn’t the case, but it was worth a shot.

“Nah, he’s nothing special, always hitting on everypony and bad-mouthing any pony who inconveniences him.”

“Than why help him?”

“Well, Berry Pinch and him are drinking buddies, and they usually try to help each other out when stuff like this happens. I just roll with whatever they happen to do.” Aura looked at the ground and her pace slowed slightly.

Silver Spoon slowed to match the pace, “So what. You just go with the flow and see where things end up?”

“Yeah, pretty much, Berry Pinch is always stealing her mom’s liquor and oftentimes Rumble and Shady Daze are there to help drink it.” Aura looked up at Silver Spoon, and then over her shoulder. “I swear, those two are perfect for each other. Always wasted or trying to find a way to get wasted. Their minds are about as clean as Applejack’s barn.”

“That’s pretty bad. so why aren’t they together?” she asked tilting her head a little.

“Well I talked to Berry about it but she just said they were better off being, as she put it, ‘friends with benefits.’ Berry also said that she wasn’t sleeping with him though I don’t know how much of that is actually true. You know how he is.”

Aura sighed as Silver Spoon fell speechless. “I’m sorry Silver, I just need to vent, usually I’m not like this. Those two have been doing this at least once or twice a week for awhile now. Not saying I can’t hold my spirits down, but, I’m kind of tired of it always ending up with me watching them get drunk and they’re always all over each other every time one of them throws a party. Berry always drags me to them. I usually stop them before they start grinding. Freaking Rumble.”

This time, Aura began to walk faster, steam practically rising from her ears. Silver had no trouble keeping up with Aura’s quick pace and soon enough they were standing in front of Button’s house. Aura took a deep breath and smiled at her real quick before walking up to the door and ringing the bell.

While they waited, standing in front of the closed door, Aura bent her head and whispered, “Whatever you do, we can’t stay very long, so when she offers you anything just politely say no.”

A cream colored pony opened the door and offered them in, Aura stepped in first and Silver Spoon followed closely behind her, Button’s mom simply gazed at the two of them, “Nice to see you again Aura, who’s this?”

“My name’s Silver Spoon, it’s nice to meet you,” she said as politely as she could.

“Oooh, you’re Diamond Tiara’s friend, right?”

“Yes, I am,” Silver half expected her to explode and start yelling at her about either her or Diamond’s actions towards her son, they must have bullied him at some point. Button’s mom simply smiled and turned back towards the kitchen. Silver Spoon and Aura followed her.

“If you’re here for my baking, then you’re in luck because my muffins are almost ready!” She chuckled.

“We’re just looking for Shady,” Aura said softly.

“Sorry,” Silver Spoon added quietly not wanting to be rude.

Button’s mom simply waved a hoof, “It’s fine girls, him and Button are in the basement playing video games.”

“Thanks,” they both said in unison before heading through to the staircase laughing a little.

“Hey Silver, you owe me a cup of cider,” Aura said with a giggle.

Aura opened the door and Silver Spoon had expected to hear the sounds of television. Aura led the way down the stairs, the lights were off, except for a flickering light from the opposite side of the room, behind some hanging blanket walls.

Aura sudden had the face of a pony struggling hard not to laugh aloud. Silver Spoon opened her mouth to ask but Aura put her hoof against Silver’s muzzle than tipped her head towards the blankets. “Listen,” she whispered.

Silently the two of them crept towards the blanket wall, now Silver Spoon could hear it and she almost laughed out loud herself.

“I don’t see the thrill in this Button,” Shady said over the sounds coming from the TV set.

“Come on, this was your idea,” Button said with a nervousness in his voice.

“No, it wasn’t, Rumble told us to do this. I can think of a few reasons why he would.”

“Me too. Like seeing how gay you are. At least, that’s what he told me.” Button laughed a little but Shady just grunted.

Silver was so tempted to just burst in and start laughing at the two of them. It was beyond funny that they happened to show up at this specific moment. Aura just sat down silently laughing her own ass off.

“Yeah, I still don’t see the appeal,” Shady said sounding a little annoyed by the gay joke.

“Me either, but it’s hot, gotta give Rumble credit, he’s got good taste. Not to say you don’t… I mean, Twist is pretty cute… I mean… uh…” Button continued to ramble on nonsensically.

“Well, I gotta say he’s not bad looking, So yeah, Rumble’s got magnificent taste.” They both shared a laugh.

At this point Silver Spoon was laughing so hard she was making little squeaks, luckily neither of the boys noticed it. Aura was laying on the floor at this point with both her hooves covering her muzzle.

“Well, I’m not going to use this, you can feel free to,” Shady said with a chuckle.

“I want to, but, you’re just going to watch me the whole time! It’ll be awkward!” Button’s voice cracked on the last words he spoke.

“I promise, I won’t watch you tug on yourself, you’re like a brother to me, I’d rather watch whatever this shit is Rumble gave you,” He laughed as Button made an unsatisfied grunt.

“Why don’t you just go upstairs and talk to my mom or something, I can smell her cooking somethin’ up there!”

“Nah, it’s more fun sitting here watching you struggle not to beat it.”

Silver Spoon took a deep breath and slowly breathed out. She looked over at Aura who was recomposing herself as well. A huge smile stretched from ear to ear. They both nodded and poked their heads through opposite sides of a blanket.

“Hey there boys,” Aura said in an overly feminine voice.

“How are things hangin’?” Silver asked from the opposite side of the boys.

Silver Spoon looked down at a young slender stallion who was laying on the couch. He had his hooves tucked underneath him. Just past him sat a light brown stallion laying flat on his back completely exposed in a recliner that sat next to the couch.

Hearing a moan from the television, she turned to see a cream colored mare laying on top of a dark brown stallion with a light blue pegasus bent over her.

“Really Button? She looks like your mom, you know?” Aura said with a smile as the young colt rolled over, effectively covering himself as he scrambled to find the remote. Shady just laid there looking at Aura.

Eventually the Television turned off and Button scrambled to his hooves. “What the hell, Aura!”

“Yeah, what the hell, Shady!” Aura countered with a huge grin still on her face.

“Wait, don’t you dare pin this on me, I had no idea you were here!” Shady said as he got off the couch. He turned around and looked at Silver Spoon.

Silver smiled at him and walked through the curtains, “You know, It’s been awhile since we last talked Shady. But I gotta say, catching you two down here like this is priceless!”

Button turned around and saw her. His facial expression was one of sinking despair, “Don’t tell me, Diamond Tiara’s here? Please tell me she’s not! Oh, Celestia! What if she saw or heard this! My reputation is as good as dead!”

He immediately stuck his head out of the curtains and glanced around. Aura fully entered the small enclosure, “She’s not here, it’s just me and Spoon.”

“Are you sure? She’s slimier than the acidic spit of the Qui’lan from Aliens Incognito.” Button looked at each of them, his face was red and his eyes were as open wide. Silver Spoon simply tilted her head to one side wondering where he was going with this.

“The Qui’lan are like giant bugs with huge wings, they spit this slimy acid that can melt through adamantium walls three layers thick! Nothing can stop it! It eats and eats and spreads and eats and spreads! Like Diamond Tiara’s rumors!” He sat on the floor and cowered for a moment.

“Look, I promise not to tell Tiara about your little adventure,” Silver Spoon said with a wink.

Aura down at Button, “Dude, it’s just porn. Everyone has watched it at some point in their life. Quit making such a big deal about it.”

Shady simply nodded in agreement. “So why are you two here?”

“Well, actually we were looking for you. We ran into Rumble while we were out for lunch, He was being kicked out of a restaurant, thinking it was a bar. We figured we should come get you, Berry Pinch is taking him over to her house for the night. Also, we’re throwing a mini-party tonight and were wondering if you two would like to come.” Aura said walking over to stand next to Shady.

Button finally stood up. “I think I’m going to just stay home tonight… Have fun Shady!”

“I think you’re going to have more fun tonight than I am,” he said looking over his shoulder. The young colt just shrugged as his face turned bright red. “and Aura has a point, she does look like your mom, Button”

Aura laughed and Shady winked at him as his flushed face turned even brighter.

Silver sat down and looked around the room. There was a set of shelves stocked full of comic books and other reading material. She looked closer to a set of red bindings which had large golden numbers at the top of each issue. Along the binding of each book was a different title, as she scanned them she recognized the title of one of them. Stalkers of Alagar. She had read the book in school once because she was bored to tears. She had found it really interesting and actually liked it though she had no idea what series it was from or what issue it was. She had honestly thought it was a stand alone story.

Standing up, she walked over to the bookshelf and pulled it out, examining the front of the cover. “I’ve read this one,” she said looking over at Button. “You collect these stories?”

“That’s a comic book, Silver,” he said walking over to stand next to her. “I have the whole series in first edition! This one is actually the fourteenth in the Alagan series. You see, this story is unique, though, it follows a completely different group of Alagarians who are stalking the main characters. The main characters are on a quest to stop the Alagarians from creating and using a wormhole to destroy planets they deemed worthy of destruction.”

Silver cut him off, “I know, I’ve read this one. The main characters are a rebel group who ends up helping the Cyntria group from behind the scenes. It’s so interesting. I thought this one was a stand alone story. I didn’t know it was part of a twenty-five book set!”

She watched as Button took the comic from her hooves and put it back where it belonged. He then pulled another book off the shelf and handed it to her, “Here’s the first book of the series. Cyntrian Defence is probably one of my favorite space series ever! It opens with the Cyntrian defenses trying to defend their planet from an alien bombardment. They end up having to evacuate the planet! The aliens destroy as many of the escaping pods and ships as they can but this ship the main character’s ship has stealth technology, something very rare and new to the Cyntrians. They-”

“Don’t spoil it all! I already want to read it!” Silver said with a smile as she nabbed the book from his hoof and opened it.

“Um, I’m glad you two have found common grounds in space over there, but we really need to be moving along now,” Aura said with a smirk. “Let’s leave the poor colt to his private business.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” Silver closed the book and put it back on the shelf.

“You can take it with you if you’d like,” Button was blushing a little.

“That’s alright, I can come by later and pick it up, I don’t want to lose it tonight or something. Besides, I have nothing to carry it in.” Silver turned and walked over to stand beside Shady and Aura.

Shady smiled at the two girls and then turned to Button. “You know where to find us if you want to join us tonight, right?”

“Yeah, Berry Pinch’s house, right?”

“Yup!” Aura said with a matter-of-fact tone to her voice. She turned and ducked through the blanket wall. The other two followed close behind.

“C’ya later, Button.” Silver Spoon said as she ducked through the blankets and followed the other two back upstairs.

“Hey, there you three! The muffins are ready. If you’re leaving, why not take some with you. I’m sure Rumble would be happy to have them.” Button’s mom appeared out of nowhere with a huge smile on her face and a giant bag of muffins already packed.

Silver Spoon heard Aura’s voice softly whisper into her ear, “How’d she know we were going to see Rumble?”

“Not a clue,” Silver whispered in return.

Shady nodded and thanked her for the muffins, grabbing the bag in his jaws he turned and lead the way out.

Author's Notes:

I'm hoping to see some comments, good or bad!

Also Show all the love you want to Guy_Incognito for allowing me to use his characters in my story! :D It's an honor to have Rumble, Shady Daze, and Button Mash here for the ride!