"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle called out as they were crushed in a hug by Scootaloo.

"Thought you could get away with not inviting me, huh?" she asked. "Well, I have contacts."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, Rainbow here doesn't count as a contact. And we sure ain't your contacts anyway. You've written all of three times."

The orange Pegasus rubbed the back of her neck. "Heh. Yeah. Sorry."

"Well," Rarity said, "I for one think we've been standing out here long enough. Why don't we all meet at Sugar Cube Corner after the girls drop their things off at their houses?"

The group started walking together, but branched off as they reached turns they each needed to take. Pinkie had bounced ahead to the sweet shop to prepare the cakes for the large group, pulling Twilight along with her. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had flown off to help Scootaloo with her things, and Applejack had pulled Apple Bloom into the market that was just setting up.

That left Sweetie, Silver, Diamond, and Rarity to walk together. Rarity had taken Sweetie's bags in her own magic and was chatting on about how happy she was Sweetie was home. Sweetie blushed a little, since two of her peers were present, but loved her sister for it anyway.

"…and I ran in to Mister Rich last weekend. He said you were doing splendid at school, Diamond. Business major, am I right?"

The fushia mare nodded. "Yes, that's right. Silver and I both." Diamond smiled at Rarity.

"Actually," Silver said, keeping her eyes away from Diamond, "I'm switching majors. Business just isn't for me."

Diamond's entire demeanor changed in an instant. "What? You can't just do that. You know what's at stake if you do." Diamond slowed down. "I told you this would happen."

Now, it was Silver's turn to ask, "What?" She shook her head. "No, this has nothing to do with that." Rarity and Sweetie Belle stood to the side, unsure of weather to leave the pair or stay. "I just can't stand it."

Diamonds ears stood straight up. "No, you've just forgot what is important. I told you to request a room change, that she was a bad influence for you."

Sweetie clenched her teeth when the fushia pony said that. Her deep breathing practices weren't working either. Years of pent up anger at the tiara-flanked pony wanted to lose itself. She and Silver had had their fair share of shouting matches, of course. But Sweetie was not a bad influence.

Before she could say anything, Silver was already speaking. "No, you're wrong. Sweetie actually forces me to go to class sometimes so I don't fail. I wanted to give up. I told you too, but you just laughed it off as a joke." The grey mare's voice was lowering."I'm not going into business. I'm doing Mass Communications, okay? I'm done with being told what to do. My cutie mark does not control me."

"So you're just throwing your life away?" Despite Silver calming down, Diamond still in a full rage. "Well, fine. Do what you want. Does your new best friend know your little secret too? Is she going to let you stay with her since daddy's kicked you out?" Diamond let out a small, unhappy laugh at Silvers face. "Thought so," she said before walking away from the group of three.

Silver Spoon had her back turned to Sweetie and Rarity, but it was obvious she was crying. It was also obvious she wanted to hide it. After a very short silent conversation consisting of raised eyebrows, pointed looks, and nods, Sweetie slowly walked up to the earth pony. "Silver? If you need a place to stay, we have an extra bedroom."

The white-maned mare took a deep breath before nodding. "I would really appreciate that." She looked over a Sweetie. "I didn't know she would…I would never have thought…" she closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Some best friend, huh? Leave me over something as stupid as a major."

The rest of the walk was filled with empty conversation about the market and the weather. No one wanted to touch on anything that had just happened. They made it to the Boutique quickly, having nearly been there when the argument broke out. Rarity walked into her room while Sweetie showed Silver the guest room.

"Who woulda thought we'd be roommates here to?" Sweetie said with a small smile. The smile faded when Silver just nodded. "I'm sorry," Sweetie said.

Silver shook her head. "That's DT for you. Really. It'll all blow over by tonight and I'll be over at her place. I won't intrude long."

Sweetie watched as Silver looked through what she had brought, trying to decide what to wear. "You know, I can't imagine Bloom or Scoots ever turning anyone down if that pony needed somewhere to stay. Especially their best friend."

"You just don't understand, Sweetie Belle. It's always been different for DT and me." The grey mare sighed, putting down a blue scarf she had been considering. "Dad kicked me out when I told him I was switching majors. That I didn't want anything to do with that stupid company of his. Mom backed him all the way, of course." Silver sat on the bed. "I told DT he kicked me out, and she was furious in her letter and insisted I come stay the weekend so we could reconnect. I know she's going to come around. She was just shocked."

A small silence fell between the mares. Neither knew what to say, but Sweetie didn't feel that she could just get up and leave. Only when Rarity called up the stairs asking if they were ready did either pony move. "Yeah, Rare, be right there. Gimme three minutes!"

"We're going to be late to your own party, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity's voice came from the bottom of the stairs. "Hurry!"

"Sure thing, sis!" Sweetie sighed and turned to Silver. "Hey, let's go get some cupcakes before Scootaloo eats them all."

Silver offered a small smile as they walked down the stairs and out the door with Rarity, on their way to Sugar Cube Corner. Next Chapter: X: ...in the Rough Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes