Watching the clock tick away at the seconds left in class, Silver Spoon tapped her quill on the hard wooden desk she sat at. There was only a single minute of class remaining and she couldn't wait to get out. She had already gotten tired of hearing all the ponies whispering when they thought she couldn’t hear them. No pony had had the guts to just talk to her. As if she would bite their heads off or something, but that was to be expected.

“So I heard Silver Spoon got her hooves on some mare in a lower grade, any idea who it was?”

“No idea, but I feel sorry for her. Besides- psst -you even listenin’, dude? I think Silver Spoon probably blackmailed her into a relationship.”

“Could be. Hey, did you know she was a fillyfooler?”

“Who doesn’t, she followed Diamond Tiara’s royal tail around for how many years? Something had to of happened between those two. I haven’t seen the two of them together like they used to be in Celestia knows how long.”

“Oh and we have to find that red unicorn, named Firelock. She’s the one who got in Silver’s face. I heard she’s one we have to find to get a full story.”

“Dude, did you see her ear twitch? Think she can hear us?”

The bell finally rang. Both the ponies behind her stood and left. Silver Spoon waited for them to pass her. “And yes, I heard your whole conversation.”

The younger one stopped and just looked at her for a moment, seeming speechless. Silver smirked as she packed her satchel and stood up to leave. Both the ponies, whom she didn’t actually know, simply stood there whispering quieter. There was too much noise and Silver couldn’t hear their continued conversation as she left the room.

Alright, where to find Aura? She thought as she hurried towards the front doors of the building. Her pace was hurried and excitement pricked at the bottom of her hooves.

“Silver Spoon!” somepony shouted. Silver spun around to see Diamond Tiara catching up to her. “Silver, what’s up with you? You know you have rumors flying everywhere this morning, right?”

“Of course I know, Diamond. I do have ears, does nopony realize that?” Silver answered with a hint of annoyance. Does everypony think I’m deaf?

“Well? Care to explain what happened, I mean, I’ve been worried about you since we talked at your place two days ago,” Diamond said taking a step closer to Silver.

“Hey, Diamond.” Silver smiled. “Don’t worry so much, ‘kay?

Diamond just grunted but started towards the front door. “I’m supposed to catch Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at the steps, are you coming to the Corner with us?”

“Actually, I’m meeting someone out by the apple tree. I can see if she wants to join us!” Silver’s excitement peaked again and she quickly trotted down the hallway towards the school’s front entrance. She looked back as she pushed the door open, Diamond Tiara was close behind her wearing a big smile.

Outside the door, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle sat at the bottom of the steps waiting for Diamond. They were deep in conversation and hadn’t noticed us walking up to them. “Hello ladies,” said Diamond Tiara, taking the initiative as she usually did.

“Oh! Hey Dia,” said Scootaloo, looking up between her friend’s heads. Both Sweetie and Bloom cocked their heads back and smiled.

“Hey, Diamond! Did ya know Silver Spoon got a new marefriend?” said Applebloom. “I thought she had’a thing for Featherweight.”

Silver just snorted in order to make her presence known. “Apple Bloom, I did have a ‘thing’ for him. Though I’m over him now… for obvious reasons.”

“I know you two are friends and-”

“And what? Apple Bloom, ever since the two of you started hanging out, I haven’t even seen him, much less spoken to him. He hasn’t said a word to me in over a month or two…” Silver said with agitation burning in her eyes.

Sweetie stood and stepped between the two mares, facing Bloom while Diamond turned to face Silver. “Silver Spoon, calm down. There’s no reason to be angry with Apple Bloom over something Featherweight did to you.”

“He was my best friend! She took him from me…” said Silver. “Look, I have to go get Aura… I’ll see if she wants to eat at the Corner, but I really don’t want to be near Apple Bloom right now. Please tell me she’s not going to eat with you, girls.”

“I’ll talk to her and the others. Go get your friend and wait by the tree, I’ll be over soon to let you know what’s up. Okay, Silvy?”

Silver Spoon nodded and turned away from the group. She headed towards the apple tree which wasn’t too far away. Now that the crowds were thinning out, she could see Aura waiting next to the tree reading a book. She held a pencil between her lips as she scribbled down notes.

As Silver neared her, Aura glanced up. “Silvy! I was wondering how much longer you were going to make me wait.” Aura stood and packed her stuff into her satchel before stepping towards Silver and stealing a quick peck on the lips.

Silver returned the peck and smiled, “Do you wanna go eat at the Corner with Diamond, Sweetie, and Scootaloo?”

Aura smiled, “I’d like that. Since Berry Pinch is gone and- Hey! There’s Button Mash! Let’s see if he wants to join us.”

Silver watched as Aura walked over to him, he stopped before shaking his head, Aura returned alone. “He said he’s going to be meeting somepony somewhere for lunch, then said he was waiting on Rumble and Shady, I let ‘em know Rumble wasn’t here and that Shady’d been planning to go help Mom with that cake.”

Silver noticed Featherweight appear in the doorway, he met with Apple Bloom and then the two of them left. Diamond Tiara and the others walked over to the apple tree, “Silver, you and your girlfriend coming?”

“Yeah, we are,” answered Aura enthusiastically.

“So who’s this?” Scootaloo whispered, leaning towards Sweetie Belle.

“Not a clue,” Sweetie whispered in return.

Diamond Tiara turned her head and gave the two a dirty look, effectively silencing the two before smiling back at Aura and Silver. “Sis, I can’t wait to hear more about your adventure yesterday, but for now, let’s get going. I’m hungry!”

The five of them started walking towards the Corner. “Hey Silver, I’ve been hearing rumors all morning, about you. I’m guessing they’re true,” said Sweetie Belle, resting her gaze on Aura. “I’m glad to see that you’re making friends so easily. I had told Tiara that you would be able to do it. she didn’t seem as confident though.”

Silver just smiled. “I didn’t realize Diamond was so open with you about what we had talked about in private.” She let her gaze land on Diamond, who had adjusted her speed to match Sweetie’s. They were walking close enough to each other that their fur would occasionally brush.

“Sorry, Silvy, I was worried about you and had no one else to really talk to, so I ended up talking to Sweetie Belle during one of our classes yesterday after you disappeared. I was getting worried about you. No one knew where you had disappeared to.”

Silver and Aura were walking side by side just behind Sweetie and Diamond, scootaloo walked along next to Sweetie Belle. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you earlier Diamond. Just so much has happened in such a short amount of time.”

“It’s fine. So what happened?” Diamond asked slowing down so she was walking alongside Silver, opposite of Aura.

Silver was about to speak but Aura cut her off, “She bumped into me yesterday as me and my friend were on our way to lunch. We ended up inviting her to come with, she seemed distracted and a little upset. Before we could get to where we were going, we ran into Rumble, you know him I think, well he was a bit drunk and so we decided to skip school to take care of him. We decided to go get Shady Daze from Button’s place since they had both skipped school, and we headed over to Pinch’s place.”

“Wait, you mean Berry Pinch? Isn’t she, like, Rumble’s plaything? I mean I don’t know her personally, but I only ever hear bad things about her,” Scootaloo interjected, making her presence known.

Aura’s face tightened, her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed, “Just because she has a reputation doesn’t mean she’s a bad pony. You’re talking about my best friend as if she’s nothing more than a sex toy and I don’t appreciate it.”

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide, “Oh shit! Sorry, I didn’t realize-”

Sweetie Belle interrupted her friend, “Aura, right? Don’t mind her, she can be a bit insensitive at times. She didn’t mean it that way.”

Aura simply stuck her nose in the air and grunted, “Whatever.”

Silver turned to face Diamond again, “Anyways, after we all got to Berry’s place, we ended up drinking and having a good time. Well, after a little while someone decided it would be a good idea to play truth or dare or chug. After a few rounds, which also included some very funny scenes involving Shady Daze, someone decided to dare Aura to kiss me. When she faltered and ran off, the game ended. Eventually, I ended up talking to Aura and well…”

Silver Spoon blushed and looked at Aura to continue the story, “She came into the room, Berry and I were talking, Berry was apologizing for the dare and that she knew she’d gone too far with it. Playing off the fact that she knew I had alway had a crush on Silvy.” She smiled, “I was so happy to see her show up in that doorway, and after talking to her for a few minutes we shared a kiss, our first kiss actually.”

“So, is that all that happened?” Sweetie Belle asked, her voice cracking with excitement like it used to do when she was younger. Diamond giggled at it as Belle’s cheeks changed colors.

“Of course not, Pinch caught the end of the kiss and ended up making me chug anyways, she shoved a bottle in my mouth and forced half the bottle down my throat. She apologized for it after I puked in her front yard, but I couldn’t help but laugh it off,” Silver Spoon said continuing where Aura had left off. “After that though, everything got hazy, for me at least.”

Aura gave her a smile, as if to tell her thanks for sparing her the embarrassment of her drunken escapades. “It got pretty foggy for me too, but I remember laying next to Berry on her bed, Berry was being a good friend and helping me through whatever it was I was going through right then, suddenly Berry was gone and Silver Spoon was there cuddling up beside me and wishing me sweet dreams.”

“Sounds like the two of you had an eventful night, so what happened this morning that got all these rumors flying?” Scoot said as she wore a grin.

Aura laughed, “Apple Crumble and her friends, Firelock and Cyan Skies were trying to pick a fight with me and Silver. They were asking why Diamond Tiara wasn’t around and suggest that I stay away from Silver. I told them that they can’t judge a pony based off of stuff that happened years ago, like being thrown down that old broken well,” both Diamond and Silver looked at each other while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged a look. “I told them to lay off my marefriend or else I’d show them how fast I could kick their asses. They ended up leaving after that with their tails between their legs.”

“Wow,” said Scootaloo a little excited, “You’re a pretty badass mare, you know that right?”

“I blame Berry Pinch, I used to be as timid as a bunny, but thanks to her and the trouble she’s always getting into, I’ve had to toughen up to bail her out everytime,” said Aura with a smile.

“Obviously she doesn’t know Angel,” said Sweetie Belle with a laugh.

“That bunny’s got attitude problems. Come to think of it; how the hell is that rabbit still alive?”

“No idea, who’s Angel?” Aura asked, tilting her head to the side.

Sweetie answered, “Angel is a bunny that belongs to Fluttershy. That little rabbit has an attitude problem. Though he’s getting pretty old by now, I’m surprised he’s still as lively as he is.”

Silver’s stomach growled, realizing just how close they were to Sugarcube Corner. There were quite a few ponies there. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were talking about something, they were standing near the entrance. Noticing Apple Cobbler had just served a group of students their lunch, she recognized none of them, but Apple Cobbler walked spotted them and started towards them as their group took their seats around a table.

“What can I get for y’all?” Her voice carried the usual Apple family accent, but her voice was quiet and friendly.

Sweetie Belle was first to answer. “I’ll just take my usual, a dandelion sandwich, please.”

Everyone else placed their orders. “Oh! and a pitcher of water please, it’s kind of hot out today.” Tiara requested pleasantly.

“So you ditched school to go drinking?” Diamond asked glancing over at Silver.

Aura answered for her, “Actually, we ditched school to take care of Rumble, he was getting thrown out of a restaurant when we found him. He skipped today because of a hangover. I can only imagine what he’s been up to lately. He’s been skipping a lot of school lately.”

Silver laughed awkwardly as Diamond stared at Aura, seeming a little dumbfounded. “Hey, Diamond, I was meaning to ask you something. Are you and Sweetie Belle, well, you know…”

Diamond’s eyes went wide and her cheeks turned a darker shade under her pink fur. “I’ll… I’ll talk to you later about it.” she turned towards Sweetie Belle who just laughed in return. Sweetie Belle nodded and Diamond shook her head in response.

Sweetie Belle laughed again but said nothing more, at least, not until she turned towards Scootaloo, “So, Scoot, what’ve you been doing down at the bike shop? Learning anything?”

“Just that I hate when foals are trying to ride their scooters in the shop. Augh, they can get so annoying!” Scootaloo scuffed a hoof against the dirt under the table in annoyance.

“Well that’s a bummer,” said Diamond as her gaze swept from Scootaloo over to Aura. “So Aura, I want to hear more about you and my sis, if that’s alright.”

“Sure, what do you want to know?”

“How long have you had a crush on her?”

“Well, for as long as I can remember, to be honest…” Aura began to blush a little before turning towards Silver Spoon and smiling a little.

Diamond spoke up again, “Well, I had heard a rumor that Silver Spoon suddenly showed up with some mare and was declaring they were dating. I didn’t know she was a fillyfooler.”

This made Silver and Aura blush, “Well Apple Crumble wasn’t being too nice, she, Firelock, and Cyan Skies were being rude… Firelock even called us both whores,” said Aura quietly.

Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara looked as if they’d seen a ghost, their shocked expressions mirroring each other. Scootaloo, however, had steam flowing from her ears. “If I hear about them messing with you two, I’ll make sure they don’t do it again.”

“Violence isn’t the answer to everything, Scoot.” said Sweetie Belle.

Just then, Apple Cobbler showed up holding a couple plates with sandwiches on them, Pinkie Pie accompanied her, carrying a collection of glasses and a pitcher of water, afterwards, Pinkie Pie bounced off. Cobbler smiled after setting out the sandwiches and Tiara’s salad, “ah’m hopin’ ya’ girls enjoy it.”

“Apple Cobbler, you know your daughter was picking on our friends this morning, right?” Sweetie Belle said quietly.

Cobbler paused looking a bit shocked, “Wha's she up ta now?”

“She was picking on one of our friends this morning, Apparently her friend, Firelock, called her and her friend ‘whores’. It’s a little upsetting, but please don’t tell her who told you, okay?” said Diamond.

Apple Cobbler simply nodded, “I’ll take care of 'er an' 'er friends. Firelock an' Cyan Skies? righ'? that's who ah usually see 'er with…”

“Yeah, that’s 'em,” said Silver feeling a little upset. Cobbler nodded, with a sudden understanding, before walking away. Diamond and Aura both hugged Silver at the same time and she smiled as Aura kissed her cheek.

The school’s final bell rang as Silver walked out the front door. She had excused herself from class a little early, wanting to walk with Aura before heading home. She wasn’t looking forward for whatever her father had to say to her.

Sitting down at the base of the apple tree, she watched the front doors as ponies began spilling out across the front lawn of the school.

Crap! No, don’t spot me, just keep walking…

No! Damnit. Go away.

Silver spoon rolled her eyes as Apple Crumble, Cyan Skies, and Firelock made their way across the grass towards her.

Just leave me alone…

As they walked up Silver put on a fake smile but didn’t speak.

“Hey there, Silver. Where’s Aura? oh right, she’s staying late today. You know how detention is, don’t you.”

“How did she get detention?” Silver Spoon asked, not believing what Crumble said.

“Well, one thing led to another and she started yelling at somepony during last period. She was sent down to the office just before the bell rang,” said Crumble as both, Skies and Firelock, laughed in unison.

“So Spoony’s all alone today, poor you.” Firelock chimed in.

“Why are you three making it a point to bug me?” Silver asked feeling anger begin to boil under her skin. Crumble just laughed but didn’t answer the question. Taking advantage of the mare’s hesitation, Silver stood up and smiled. “I really hate bugs, especially the ones that just beg to be squished.”

Cyan and Fire stepped forward, heads down low as if ready to pounce. Crumble laughed and turned away, “Come on girls, let’s leave the filly fondler alone, she might try to touch us in inappropriate ways.”

Silver Spoon laid back down on the grass and watched as the three of them disappeared into the crowd. She felt hot anger flowing through her, to the point that she just wanted to hit something, preferably a certain Apple. Spotting Diamond Tiara, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom coming out of the building, Silver Spoon stood and walked over to them. She ignored Bloom but greeted everyone.

“Hi, Silver! How are ya’?”

“Doing pretty good, I guess. Just waiting on Aura. I was going to walk her home before heading back to my place. Though I guess she ended up letting her temper get ahold of her during her last class… Apparently she started yelling at Apple Crumble and her friends,” she said noticing Apple Bloom perk up at the mention of her cousin.

Diamond nodded with a bit of understanding, “Well that sucks. Are you going to wait out here for her?”

“Well, yeah, I told her I’d walk her home. I don’t usually go back on something once I’ve said I’d do it.”

“Wait a minute! What’s all this ‘bout Apple Crumble?” Bloom asked butting into the conversation.

“Well, this morning when she saw me and Aura together, her and her friends began harassing us for no reason. We haven’t done anything to them, but I guess Aura and her have a bit of history. And, well, you already can guess why she would go after me, especially while Diamond’s not around.

“We don’t got time for this, Apple Bloom, c’mon aren’t we supposed to be helping Applejack with something? Like now?” Scootaloo said as she offered Silver a wink.

“oh righ’, the apple buckin’...” Bloom said turning as if ready to leave.

Scootaloo turned too and Sweetie Belle looked at Diamond, “I’ll drop by your place, later on, tonight, okay?”

Diamond smiled, “Alright, darling.” Her eyes suddenly went wide as she looked at Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, both their backs were turned and they were still walking away. Then she glanced at Sweetie Belle, who was glowing under her white fur. “uhhh…”

Silver Spoon understood now, what Berry Pinch had said at the party the night before resonated with clarity. So she is with one of the Crusaders.

Sweetie Belle seemed frozen, allowing a silence to linger amongst the three of them, finally Scootaloo shouted over her shoulder. “Come on Sweetie, we’ve got shit to do!”

Sweetie Belle shook her head and whispered something into Diamond’s ear before nodding to Silver and galloping off towards the other two. “So what was that all about?” asked Silver.

“Oh, urm… nothing important, I’ll wait here with you until Aura gets out.”

“Really, nothing? Diamond, couldn’t you have trusted me with something like this? I mean it’s obvious that you and Sweetie Belle are dating.”

They walked over to the shade of the apple tree and laid down next to each other, no one else was there by now, except for a few other ponies walking away from the school. She sighed, “Silver, I wanted to tell you sooner, I really did, but I didn’t want it to get out… I was afraid…”

Silver simply put her hoof on her friends, “I know, and I don’t really care. I mean I understand your reasons, yours and hers, so don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony.”

“Thanks, Silvy.”

Aura finally stepped out of the front doors of the school, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara looked up. Diamond smiled. “Well, there’s your girl, I guess I’ll head home now, leave you two to your business.”

Silver Spoon nodded, “You got your own girl to go see, so have fun, sis.”

With that Diamond stood and walked off in the opposite direction just as Aura approached. “Hey! I’m glad you waited for me.”

“Of course I’d wait for you, I told you I’d walk you home, didn’t I?”

“That you did,” said Aura with a big smile. She started walking and Silver followed her.

“So what happened? How’d you get a detention?”

“Well, Firelock and Cyan Skies were sitting behind me and they were talking about how nasty your… um…” Aura paused trying to think of a lighter word for it, “mare parts were. They were also talking about your glasses and that you can’t see past the end of your muzzle without them. So I blew up on them. Told them to stop talking about you when you couldn’t defend yourself. And I know for a fact that they were just talking shit to talk shit and to piss me off.”

“Well, apparently they succeeded… Aura, don’t let them get to you like that, even if they’re talking about me. I don’t care what they say about me, they’ve been doing it for years. I deserve it to be honest, and so does Diamond, but we both just grew up, learned to let them be the foals they are.”

“If you say so… I guess I kinda fell for their trick.” She sighed sounding a bit defeated.

“You know, you’re right, they did it just to get at us. They stopped by while I was waiting by the apple tree and told me you started flipping shit in class and got a detention for it,” said Silver. “You know, I didn’t mind waiting for you. I don’t really want to go home.”

Aura stopped walking and watched her closely. “Why don’t you want to go home?”

Silver stopped and turned back to look at her friend, “Didn’t I tell you last night? My home life is a bit… depressing.”

Aura stepped forward, threw her hooves around Silver’s neck and pulled her into a tight hug. Silver returned the hug with a small smile on her lips. “You know, Aura, my dad won’t be happy to hear about you.”

“Why’s that?” she asked pulling away and looking into Silver’s eyes.

Silver sighed, “Because he’s not exactly proud of his sister who’s also a lesbian. I don’t really expect him to be too proud of his lesbian daughter.”

“So we don’t let him know. I’m just a friend of yours.” she smiled and winked which made Silver smile in return. “C’mon, we’re almost to my house.”

Aura started walking again, Silver noticed that the fur on her shoulder and her flank would occasionally brush against her own. Neither of them spoke, they simply enjoyed the company of each other and the silence that they shared.

Eventually Aura stopped and put a hoof on the bottom step, the stairs lead to a wide front porch which had a roof to match its elegancy. The porch itself was white with simple furnishings, including a wooden table and cloth seats. as well as a two-seater porch bench which swung.

The house itself was a large two story building, white window shutters to match the exterior of the house. Aura stepped up the porch while Silver stayed at the bottom, she didn’t say anything. Aura turned towards her and smiled, “You coming?”

Silver started up the stairs, meeting Aura at the top. Aura cocked her head to the side and a sweet smile crossed her face. Silver stepped towards her and rested her chin on Aura’s shoulder, pressing the side of her head into Aura’s neck.

Just then the door opened and they both stepped away from each other. A large blue stallion stood in the door, His mane was short and spiked, much like Aura’s just instead of it flowing downwards it stuck up into the air. His darker blue tail matched his mane, short and spiked.

“Oh! Hey Dad,” Aura said sounding bit nervous.

“Hello, Aura, who’s this?” He asked in a lighthearted tone, he had a little smirk on his face, as if he had just devised an evil plan in his head.

“Oh… right, uh…” Aura glanced at Silver as if pleading for help.

“I’m Silver Spoon. A friend from school, it’s nice to meet you, sir.” Silver added the last word with some hesitation, not knowing the stallions name, and not wanting to sound rude. If he ended up being like her own dad, stuff could get ugly rather quickly.

“Good to meet you, Silver Spoon, please, come in. Would you two like some coffee? I just got home and decided to start a pot before Aloe got home. Oh, and Silver, my name’s Klein.”

“Actually, I’m sorry but I’ve got to go here shortly. I’m already running a bit late.” Silver said with a friendly smile to Aura’s father before turning towards Aura, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Aura’s entire body slumped and a hollow smile played across, “Alright, meet at the coffee shop?”

“As Celestia’s sun rises.” Silver answered, turning towards the door. Aura followed her to the door, but her dad stayed in the kitchen and made his coffee.

“Hey Silver, you sure you don’t want to just stay here tonight?” Her eyes seemed to be a bit pleading.

“I wish I could, but I need to go home sometime. I can’t just run away from home like that. I haven’t been home in two days.”

“I understand, just remember you’re welcome here whenever you need a place,” Aura said as she pulled Silver into a tight hug, “Good night, Silvy.”

“Good night, Aura,” Silver Spoon said as she returned Aura’s hug. Silver kissed her lightly on the cheek before turning to leave. She just realized that Aura lived in the middle of town, the coffee shop was off in the western direction, and her own house was off to the east, not too far, but apparently she’d be picking Aura up in the morning on her way to the coffee shop.