My lunch sounds so tempting right now... but on the other hoof, I’m almost there.

Diamond Tiara stopped to look around, seeing that she was only two more blocks away from Sweet & Savory; the premiere candy shop in the better part of Ponyville. She had been there only once before, but could still recall that the building was two stories tall and shaped in a similar style to Sugarcube Corner. While the famous bakery was built to look like an elaborate gingerbread house, Sweet & Savory had a less cartoonish build, but sported several elements of its product as building decor. The windows and door trim were painted like green and red striped candy canes and the roof was tiled with half circle lollipops in a rainbow of metallic colors. It wasn’t over the top and still kept a professional appearance.

It’s better than Sugarcube Corner. I won’t be caught dead in that place after those three blank-flank losers showed me up at my own party!

The memory alone was enough to make Diamond Tiara more upset than she already was. She was still disappointed in knowing she wasn’t going to see her best friend, but the disappointment stung worse because it was solely her fault. She hated being wrong.

Diamond Tiara was lost in her thoughts about disappointments when somepony bumped into her, knocking her down.

“Oww! Oh no, I’m so sorry!”

It happened very fast, and Diamond felt her shoulder ache from the fall. Her first thought went to her coat being messed up and dirty to the sudden and unfamiliar sense of pain she felt. Her threshold for pain was low, and tears already threatened to sting her eyes and were ready to be shed, if not for the sound of the filly’s voice sounded younger than her. She wouldn’t lessen herself by looking weak in front of a pony younger than her.

Diamond made herself get up quickly, ignoring the pain in her shoulder as she started glaring daggers at the filly who had bumped into her. She was a unicorn, her small horn half covered by a mane as yellow as fresh hay. She was smaller than Diamond Tiara, and younger, just as Diamond suspected. It only took the older filly a second to see that the clumsy unicorn didn’t have a cutie mark.

Dinky Hooves... oh you will be sorry, blank-flank.

“You’re not hurt are you?” Dinky asked, “I was in a hurry to get back home from the library and I wasn’t paying attention...” Diamond Tiara didn’t reply; the look on her face spoke clear enough. She looked down at her hooves to see a cookbook on the ground. She lowered her gaze to the unicorn, a plan forming quickly in mind to get back at the clumsy filly. She lowered her eyes back down to the book, lifting up one hoof.

“Is this your book?” Diamond asked.

“N-no. I just rented it from the library. I wanted to surprise my mo-”

Diamond Tiara cut Dinky off by stomping hard on the book.

“What are you doing?!”

Dinky rushed to grab her book, but was met by Diamond Tiara’s other hoof, pushing her down roughly. The young filly gave a cry of pain and wrapped a front leg against her shoulder - she had scrapped herself against the hard stone sidewalk just as Diamond had.

The pain on the filly’s face made Diamond Tiara smile a little. It was the beginning of payback. Diamond had wanted to tear up earlier; now she was going to see that Dinky not only teared up, but that she sobbed as well.

“What does it look like I’m doing, Dorky? I mean really, who seriously walks and reads a book at the same time? That takes, like a special kind of dumb, but given who your mother is I guess it’s not too surprising.”

Dinky whimpered, looking up at Diamond Tiara’s growing mean smile and feeling afraid and angry that her mom was insulted.

“Don’t talk bad about my mom... it was just an accident. I’m sorry I bumped into you.”

“That was a really weak apology. Try again. You’re sorry for being a dumb blank-flank that bumped into me.” Diamond Tiara scrapped the library book on the rough cobble stone ground, “let me hear you say it properly, Dorky.” She stomped on the rented book again, her hoof print damaging the cover. The pages underneath could be heard being crumpled and torn.

“I... I’m very sorry I bumped into you.”

“That’s not what I told you to say. I know you’re dumb Dorky, but I just told you what to say. Now say it!” There was bite in those last two words, enough bite that the grey unicorn didn’t try and get back up. She looked around her and saw no adults, no other ponies anywhere. Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes at started grinding the book on the ground harder, dragging it with her hoof.

“I’m sorry for being a dumb blank-flank that bumped into you!” Dinky said quickly. Diamond Tiara smirked, and kicked the damage library book at the unicorn, where it came very close to hitting her head.

“Apology accepted. You’re a unicorn, so try and remember next time that unicorns aren’t suppose to be so dumb. Really, talk about being an embarrassment.”

The filly was sniffling, but bravely tried to hold back her tears. Diamond Tiara accepted the end result - Dinky wasn’t sobbing, but she knew the filly would cry later, and that was good enough for her. Her sour mood had been forgotten, but she still wanted to end on a high note.

“Hope you don’t embarrass your mom like this too,” Diamond Tiara said as she walked away from Dinky Hooves, who gently picked up the ruined library book, sniffling still.

The older filly smirked, and now felt she had earned herself a tasty treat from Sweet & Savory.

Sharp Dresser paced back and forth. His fears had been easy to ignore at first, but as the minutes went by, they grew and grew until they felt like a buzzing in his ears that he couldn’t stop. He was starting to have second thoughts about poisoning Diamond Tiara.

He had locked himself in his private room in the Rich manor, a spacious room filled with fine furniture and a closet of excellent suits for any occasion. He lived comfortably, rarely ever wanting for something he couldn’t just buy on his own. The windows of his room were covered by thick curtains, hiding his room and himself in shadows as he walked in a circle, plagued by his doubts.

“Maybe I was wrong. She’s just a foal, she’s not too old to change her ways yet. Surely... surely she doesn’t have to die?”

Sharp Dresser was alone in his room. The hired help often commented that he had a habit of talking to himself. They had never heard him answer himself though.

“She won’t change. You know that. Ponies like her never change.”

He stopped and felt a sliver of fear grow inside him. It was true, he had never known a bully to change their ways.

“But, I really don’t know that. She’s just so young...”

He turned his head towards a wall, where a gold framed mirror had been hung. It was huge, easily bigger than himself, and reached from floor to ceiling. His reflection stared back at him, showing the concern he had.

“It has to be this way. This is what you wanted all along. You wished for courage and you finally got it. You’re finally raising your head up high and taking a stand against ponies who bully others. You know how hard it is going through life feeling like a victim, like somepony always has to rub your flaws in your face, laugh at your fears, and mock your feelings. You’re doing the right thing.”

Sharp Dresser sat on the floor, still facing the mirror. His uncertainty still haunted him. He had felt very brave after Diamond dismissed him earlier, when she told him to throw away perfectly good food just because her bratty friend wasn’t going to be with her. The sheer selfishness of the filly had been the last push he needed to finally do something about her. It had felt like the right thing, at the time.

“I’m going to be a murderer though.”

“No pony will know it was you. You only had the one flower. The chef made her lunch. Everyone hates her. Everyone wants her to go away. You hate her.”

Hearing the word hate felt oddly heavy to him. Diamond Tiara was a rude, selfish, thoughtless pony with a bad habit of cutting down others for her own amusement or cruel gain. He had seen it before as he had grown up, from the very first mare who use to bully him for his taste in clothes. Even as a grown stallion, he still remembered the old hurts of the filly named Rarity who always had to cut him down for the clothes he wore, and of course for not having his cutie mark at the time.

He hated bullies like that, more than anything else.

“You’re right,” Sharp Dresser said softly, placing his hoof against the smooth glass surface of the mirror, where it connected to his reflection, “I do hate her. So why do I feel like I’m doing something horribly wrong? I felt so sure of myself earlier.”

“It’s a scary thing sometimes to do what is right. It takes courage. You have courage now, and soon you’ll have a little revenge too. Dear ‘Princess’ Diamond won’t be missed. She had nothing good to offer the world - just her resentment and cruelty for others.”

It all sounded so right to him. In truth there wasn’t much he could do now anyways. He couldn’t go find Diamond Tiara out in Ponyville and take away her lunch without explaining why. Chances were the fat filly had already eaten the poison, and was dying alone in the streets or in an alley somewhere. It was a cruel end for a cruel pony.

The doubts in his heart still wouldn’t go away.

“I don’t feel brave anymore. I thought by doing this, I could finally feel brave? What happened to the courage I had earlier?” Sharp Dresser asked his reflection.

There was no response this time. The unicorn searched his own face, not liking what he saw. His eyes felt hot and fear was boiling inside him.

He didn’t notice right away that the reflection of his horn started to glow, an aura of red magic changing what the mirror showed to reveal Diamond Tiara on the cobble streets of Ponyville’s business market, just as she pushed down a grey filly smaller than herself.

“Put your doubts aside and see why you’ve done the right thing.”

He couldn’t hear what was being said nor he didn’t want to. The face of the grey foal spoke loud and clearly to him. Diamond Tiara had that look on her face that Sharp Dresser hated to see; a smugness about her that came from an inflated sense of superiority. He saw her ruin the foal’s book, and felt the hate inside him quash the fear and doubts that had been gnawing at him just moments ago.

“That horrible mule,” Sharp Dresser growled.

“See? This hateful little pony deserves to be done away with. Today you’ve helped ensure that the foal you see will be the last one Diamond Dazzle Tiara ever makes a victim out of. Be proud, Sharp Dresser. You had the courage to do what’s right.”

When the image on the mirror faded, Sharp Dresser was shown his reflection again. He was smiling now, the corners of his mouth pulled high into a tight mean grin. The warm brown of his eyes looked darker in the mirror, as if a trick of the light and shadows turned them into a slightly brighter hue, like the color of rich dark red wine.

“It’s just a matter of time now,” Sharp Dresser’s reflection said.

“So, it was just a fluke?”

The frustration and disappointment was easy to read on Sweetie Belle’s face as she and Rarity walked towards home. Sweetie Belle pulled the red wagon with her tail as it was now mostly full of gems. In all, she had found seven green garnet gems using the gem-seeker spell. Rarity had showered her little sister with praise - the gems were of the highest quality she could have hoped to find. To Rarity’s surprise, all seven gems were flawless. To have found such perfect stones on the first real attempt at using magic had made Rarity very proud of Sweetie Belle.

The problem came after finding the seventh gem - Sweetie couldn't find any gems at all after that. Rarity confirmed there were still normal red and orange gems in the area, digging up a few just to add to her collection, but Sweetie couldn’t make the spell work again to find those gems. It made no sense to either of them, and had made Rarity start to question aloud if Sweetie simply had beginners luck.

Now, she was trying to step back from that assumption, not wanting to ruin her little sister’s confidence.

“Well no, I wouldn’t call it a fluke. You did succeed in finding the gems I was hoping to find. And such excellent gems too! It could be that your magic is still developing, and tonight happened to be a successful spurt of magic at the most opportune time.”

“Seriously?” Sweetie asked in a flat tone. Even she didn’t believe that her magic just happened to work right when she needed it to, but wouldn’t work again when she simply wanted it to. “I mean, I did everything right, and I used the spell just like you taught me. I could see those garnets clearly in the ground, just like you could see all the other gems around us. It doesn’t make sense that we’d get different results using the same spell the same way.”

Rarity’s shop was coming into view, though Rarity herself was focused on her sister. Sweetie wasn’t upset so much as she was disappointed, and that sense of frustration that comes from doing something right but getting the wrong result was something Rarity could understand very well.

“Well, I might not be an expert on the matter, but magic works different for all of us. Remember what I said about the gem-seeker spell and how I can use it in ways others cannot? Sometimes our magic will give us different results with the same spell. This is not a science; magic follows different rules. But I think once we arrive home we can try practicing with your magic again. I’m going to need your help to finish up that dress.”

Sweetie’s eyes lit up at the offer her sister had made. Her heart made a leap and excitement sparked inside her and even around her horn in tiny green bursts that lasted less than a second.

“You mean it? Like... a big sister helps little sister family fun activity?” Sweetie Belle asked, her smile huge and white, her eyes growing wide with hope.

“Of course dear! As your big sister, it is my duty - no, my sacred duty as your big sister to see to it that you develop your magic to its full potential and promise. As soon as we get home Sweetie Belle, you and I are going to take the small progress you made today and we’re going to grow it into full fledged magic, from simple things like raising your teacup properly to complicated feats like putting your makeup on perfectly!”

“I get to wear makeup now?” Sweetie squealed excitedly.

“No of course not, I just got caught up in the moment. What I mean to say is that as soon as we get back to my shop, you’re going to help me finish making the dress for Miss Tiara. I’ll guide you on how to control thread and needle, fetch fabrics, simple things like that.”

Sweetie’s excitement faltered, having nearly forgotten why they had even been out looking for the garnets in the first place. “Oh right, her dress. How is that suppose to help me with my magic again?”

“Well it’s quite simple really. You’ve succeeding at casting magic today. This means that you know what it feels like to use your own natural magic. You just need to remember what that feeling is like and should be able to start using your magic for the things you couldn’t do before.”

There was clear doubt on Sweetie Belle’s face as she hung her head low. She couldn’t feel as confident as her sister did about feeling her magic.

“But if I couldn’t use the gem-seeker spell to find those normal garnets, what makes you think I can do anything else?”

Rarity stopped and smiled down at Sweetie Belle, smiling big as if Sweetie had made a joke. “Because the seven stunning green garnets in that wagon prove you have magic ready to be used. The gem-seeker spell is just one spell. When we get back, we’ll do some basic unicorn magic like levitation and telekinesis. I was being very serious about wanting your help in finishing this dress for Miss Tiara. Not only are you going to help make it perfect, I want you to be the one who gives it to her when she stops by.”

Sweetie Belle’s ears flattened against her head as she stepped back. “ME? Alone? But WHY?”

“Simple - the dress is going to be your token of good faith to her. Remember how I said that she most likely doesn’t know what it is like to be given a gift she didn’t already expect to get? I bet no pony has ever given her something she never had to ask for. Now it’s true she’s expecting this dress, but she won’t expect it to have been made by you. Generosity can have a powerful affect on others. Remember Sweetie Belle, friendship has a generous heart.”

Sweetie wasn’t so sure, but Rarity’s confidence was hard to ignore. Her sister seemed so sure of herself, and it was that kind of confidence that she admired in her big sister. Sweetie Belle wanted Rarity to be right, because if she could turn Diamond Tiara from a bully into a friend, the way Babs had changed, then it would make all their lives better.

And if she got to improve on her ability to use magic in the process with Rarity’s help, she’d be foolish to say no.

The dress was mostly completed, needing only a few touch ups to meet Rarity’s approval. Sweetie knew only the basics of how to sew, as was evident by the cutie mark crusader capes she had made long ago. She and her friends had put those capes through a lot of abuse, but they still wore the originals - Sweetie had only needed to patch them up once in awhile, but had made them well enough that the girls hadn’t destroyed them despite the shenanigans they got themselves into.

It was with that sense of accomplishment that Sweetie started to help her big sister with Diamond Tiara’s dress. She didn’t miss the irony in that the first time Rarity had ever allowed her to help make a dress for a client would be when that client was the last pony she’d expect to do anything for.

“Careful now! Push the needle through the fabric gently. Remember don’t pull with your mouth too hard or your seams will pull too much on the material.”

Rarity, to her credit, was handling Sweetie’s help very well. She had Sweetie Belle work only on the small details, nothing that was beyond her ability, or could accidentally set the dress on fire. The trim of the skirt on the summer dress was something that didn’t need to be quite as perfect, and Sweetie Belle was small enough that it wouldn’t hurt her neck to sewn that low to the ground the way it would for Rarity.

The dress was being modeled by one of Rarity’s smaller ponikins. The main feature was the skirt that would drag just an inch off the ground and dyed to be a neutral shade of cerulean blue trimmed with magenta dye. The torso of the dress was completely done in the same shade as the skirt, with short sleeves for the front legs that had a small sample of white frill trim to them. The outfit would be completed with a main accessory - a ribbon collar in magenta dye, studded with the green garnets Sweetie Belle found.

As Sweetie finished off the trim, she noticed her sister carefully fixing the green garnets to the collar of the dress. The gems had been styled into princess cuts, which Rarity had explained to Sweetie would, “reflect a high degree of brilliance” which she knew translated into being “really shiny”.

Sweetie took a moment to consider what Diamond Tiara would say when she found out the gems, seven 24 karat rare garnets, came from her. She couldn’t be sure if Diamond would appreciate it or not, or if she did, would she suddenly start being nice to her simply to get more things out of her?

“Rarity, are sure this plan is going to work? I mean, Diamond’s just so... so...” Sweetie tried to think of the right words she wanted to explain a pony such as Diamond Tiara, but the words just weren’t there. She wasn’t mean most of the time, just dismissive and stuck up, but that was only when you caught her attention. The rest of the time Diamond just hung out with Silver Spoon, the two cutting themselves off from the rest of the world. The two didn’t make it a habit to go out of their way to make her life and her friend’s life miserable.

“Stuck up.” Sweetie finally decided on.

Rarity’s magic fixed the last gem on the collar of the dress before she turned her attention to her sister.

“Of course she’s stuck up,” Rarity said casually, much to Sweetie Belle’s shock, “She’s extremely well off, has no siblings so she has never had to share, and has never known what it feels like to want something she can’t have. That makes for a very spoiled kind of character. And, I’ve seen her cutie mark - her special talent is being herself, so there has to be a higher than normal level in pride in a pony like that.”

Sweetie was still trying to get over the fact that her proper big sister just called a filly stuck up. She wasn’t sure if she should laugh a little or a lot.

“But, all that does not make her unredeemable. I’m speaking from a position of experience here. Until you were born I was all those things as well. Sometimes, it takes a special pony to come into your life to make you see things in a new and better perspective. What we’re going to do is help in that by having you be the one to give this dress to her. It will make for a good conversation piece, and before you know it you both will be talking and treating each other friendly.”

It sounded easy, way too easy in fact. Her time crusading for her cutie mark had taught Sweetie Belle that whenever something sounded easy, it often was anything but easy.

“It’s a good thing this dress didn’t have to be overly complicated. It’s just about done and there is still more than an hour left before she’s suppose to show up. Sweetie Belle, lets try using your magic again for some simple levitation. See my bolt of cerulean cotton? I want you to try using your magic to pull two feet of that fabric.”

Sweetie Belle frowned, looking to the corner of Rarity’s workroom where several bolts of cloth were hung. She had tried earlier to use her magic to lift a sewing needle, but her horn never lit up and she was forced to use her mouth to do the sewing.

“If I can’t lift a tiny needle, what makes you think I can lift cloth?” Sweetie asked.

“You won’t know until you try. Just remember to recall the feeling of your magic around your horn. Call that feeling back, and direct it towards that bolt of cloth. Imagine you have it in your mouth and are gently pulling it towards you.”

Rarity went over to her sister, giving her a one-armed hug that she rarely ever did. The sign of affection made Sweetie Belle gasp, and quickly throw her front legs around Rarity’s neck in a tight hug.

“Okay! This time I’ll do it for sure!” Sweetie felt full of confidence as she pulled away from Rarity, feeling now like she had to do this simple magic because her sister believed she could.

Rarity stepped back, giving Sweetie Belle room she didn’t really need. The young filly reminded herself about how it felt when her magic went off, how her horn tingled and the way her magic aura wrapped around it. It was a lot like snuggling down in a thick blanket - her horn had felt warm and comfortable in a way she didn’t realize it could feel.

That feeling was firmly in her mind as she stared at the light blue bolt of cloth. She could imagine taking it super carefully, just like Rarity would want her to do, and pulling on it from the middle.

Her horn tingled, just a little. Sweetie held onto that feeling and focused on it harder, shutting her eyes even just to get her horn to light up. The feeling started to become more and more noticeable, as was the aura of green light around her horn.

From behind her, Rarity smiled excitedly and urged her sister on. “You’re doing it! Just hold on to that feeling Sweetie Belle. Extend it out.”

Sweetie opened her eyes, seeing her horn was actually glowing now. The green aura of magic was waving excitedly around her horn and Sweetie grinned. She focused on taking that feeling in her horn and reaching out, until she finally felt like she had a hold of something.

It was one of the most curious feelings she had ever known. The gem-seeker spell felt like a pull on her, like something was tugging on her horn and then seeping into her head and filling her eyes. Casting levitation magic felt different; she felt like she was holding something, but not with her mouth. The closest feeling she could use to describe it was holding something between her hooves. She started pulling, gentle as she could, and felt something give.

“Yes! Yes! You’re doing it Sweetie! You’re... getting the wrong cloth.”

Sweetie Belle blinked, her attention so focused on her horn and the way the magic felt that she hadn’t realized she was pulling on the wrong bolt of cloth - she had taken a hold of Rarity’s olive green silk.

“Uh, opps. Let me try that again,” Sweetie imagined letting the cloth go, and the green silk fell gently to the floor, about two feet having been pulled. She stared at the cerulean cotton and reached out with that feeling again.

Once more, her magic took hold of the green silk, and pulled out another two feet of cloth.

“That’s not where I’m aiming you dumb horn!” Sweetie growled, frustration making her magic aura flicker around her horn.

“It’s okay, just take your time Sweetie Belle...” Rarity gave a small smile while her eyes held great concern. Sweetie had pulled on the green silk two more times, then a bolt of expensive pink cashmere, followed by accidentally opening a drawer to pull out a large bundle of pure wool fleece.

“Come ON horn!” Sweetie yelled, making her horn glow bright. Her magic aura reached out above the bolts of cloth, to a light blue painted chest, pulling it roughly towards her. The force of the magic had launched the large chest right towards Sweetie Belle. She yelled in fright and covered her head with her front legs, just as Rarity’s magic aura caught the chest before it could hit her sister.

The momentum of the chest had flung its lid open once Rarity caught it, and the clothing inside spilled out onto Sweetie Belle.

“What happened?! You were grabbing all my expensive cloths-” Rarity went silent. Sweetie Belle was half covered in a mess of royal purple and dark violet cloth. A wide-brimmed hat that was too large for her head covered her face, but as she pulled it away she saw the mess she had made, and also what she had accidentally found.

All around her were the Mare-Do-Well costumes Rarity had made long ago. Rarity’s blush was as deep as it could get as her magic gathered up the costumes, folded them in midair, and tucked them back into the chest.

“Let’s just pretend you didn’t see that.” Rarity said, but Sweetie Belle was suddenly on the chest, opening it up and getting better look at the costumes.

“Rarity! You made these? You were Mare-Do-Well all along?”

Rarity yanked the chest away, using her magic to tuck it back on the highest shelf of her showroom where it had been nice and forgotten.

“No I wasn’t, though I did make the costumes. It is just a silly project I did for a friend and they served their purpose. And before you ask, no - I am not secretly a crime fighter and I won’t tell you who I made them for. Honestly, I’m embarrassed to say I even made these now. But what made you get this chest, and why were you grabbing all my fine cloth instead of the cotton I asked for?”

Sweetie’s excitement at having found Rarity’s secret stash of clothing was quickly forgotten by her inability to use her magic right, even though she had at least been able to use it period.

“I don’t know... I kept reaching out for the cloth you said, but I couldn’t control where it was going. I’ll roll the bolts back up right now!” Sweetie rushed to the bolts of fabric, using her hooves to roll up the feet of cloth she had accidentally pulled. Rarity would have told her not to, but she held her tongue. Her little sister had used magic, even if she had used it wrong and nearly gotten herself hurt. Some progress was better than none, and the last thing she wanted to do was undercut any confidence Sweetie had at finally getting over her inability to use magic.

“Well, I suppose it’s okay. The main thing is that you’re making progress. Finish rolling the bolts up and we’ll take a break for lunch. And Sweetie?”

“Yes Rarity?” Sweetie asked as she used her front hooves to roll up the bolt of green silk.

“Remember - forget that you ever saw those costumes.”

The filly smiled and gave her sister a nod. She wasn’t that big of a fan of superheroes anyways, though she thought it was cool that her sister knew a real superhero.

“Before I forget about those costumes, what did you use to make them? They felt really different from spandex.”

The look on Rarity’s face was the same look she made whenever Sweetie tried to cook. “Ugh, spandex? Honestly Sweetie Belle, when do I ever make anything with such gaudy material? I’ll have you know that I used very rare spider silk for those costumes. A spider’s silk can be as strong steel with half the protective qualities of Kevlar. Now let us never speak of this again. Consider it on the No-No List.”

“You mean the list you put that big rock you named-”

“Never speak of it again!”

Outside the front of Sweet & Savory, a yellow earth pony with a brown mane and two blue horseshoes for a cutie mark was busy sweeping away dead leaves from the front of the store. As Diamond Tiara approached the shop, the stallion took notice of her and paused his sweeping, setting the broom down and opening the front door just as Diamond got to the front step of the shop.

“Thank you, sir.” Diamond rewarded the stallion with a dazzling smile. Of course an establishment like this had to have only the finest ponies working for it. It was another reason she had chosen to come here, rather than Sugarcube Corner - there was less chance she’d run into any undesirables, be them blank-flank losers or just lower class ponies in general.

The thought of such ponies brought to mind the faces of three certain fillies, three lousy blank-flanks that made her smile flatten into a small frown. Always, before she could think too heavily on them, she reminded herself that they were inferior to her, and not worth wasting any brain power on. Assuming the three losers ever did get their cutie marks, they would always be losers to her. If she had been a shining gem in school grounds, those three were the dirt that surrounded her.

As Diamond entered the candy shop, a small silver bell rang to announce her arrival. The smell of chocolate filled her nose as she stepped inside, followed by other, cooler smells of peppermint and citrus. The floor was polished and checkered black and white. The front displays showed several different milk, white, and dark chocolate bon-bons, all beautifully designed with colorful flowers, stars, and patterns of every shape.

To her right, wooden barrels leaned forward to offer their contents. Jelly beans with dozens of flavors were presented to her, all with rich color to them. Behind those barrels were more barrels filled with jawbreakers, candy corn, peppermint drops, shiny-wrapped hard candies, and chocolate bites encased in hard shells in every color of the rainbow.

At her left were the packaged goods, mostly for ponies who wanted to treat their special somepony to something nice or romantic. Gold and silver boxes lined the shelves, filled with a collection of impressive sweets. There were large chocolate hearts with romantic inscriptions on them and packaged samplers with bright ribbon.

There were endless choices for her, and she could have whatever she wanted in the store.

Before any choice could be made, the sound of hoofs coming made her turn her head. From behind the front counter came a grey filly with a big smile on her face.

“Welcome to Sweet and-”

The filly stopped, staring at Diamond Tiara in shock. Diamond stared back and all thoughts of sweets left her mind at the sight of Silver Spoon in a pink apron.

“Silver Spoon?”

The grey filly looked away from her best friend, clearly struggling for the words she needed to say. Diamond Tiara had a load of questions to ask, but the shock of seeing her best friend behind the counter of a candy store still had her dumbfounded.

She tried to recall what Silver Spoon had told her her plans would be for this weekend but nothing was coming to mind. Given that she had mistaken the dates, she couldn’t be sure about anything that Silver Spoon may have told her she was doing. Though, she was sure that her best friend never once mentioned that she had a job. The very idea was absurd.

“Uh... well, this is kinda, majorly awkward,” Silver Spoon pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose, a habit that Diamond Tiara knew was something the filly did only when she was hiding something. Diamond also noticed that her friend had been looking away from her since she stepped into the shop.

“What are you doing here?”

It was the only question that Diamond Tiara had the sense to voice. The other questions she had were pressing at the front of her tongue, wanting to be spoken but held back by a strange and gripping fear. The Silver Spoon she knew wouldn’t have to take a job doing anything. Both their families were loaded, and bits were never an issue for them.

There was a striking sense of wrongness in seeing Silver Spoon like this.

“Everything okay?” a third voice called out. The high pitch of voice seemed to snap the attention of both fillies like glass shattering on the floor.

Twist, a filly who was only marginally better than the three losers Diamond Tiara hated most in her class, trotted up with what Diamond considered to be a stupid grin on her stupid freckled face. She had an apron that matched the apron Silver Spoon was wearing.

“Oh, hi there, Diamond Tiara! Did you come to pick up thome thweets? We have a thale on our new intenthe dark chocolate thoirees with thea thalt!”

Diamond Tiara didn’t respond. While she normally wasn’t a pony who found themselves at a loss for words, she could only stare dumbly at Twist’s goofy face, to watching Silver Spoon look even more guilty.

We? We, as in you, and my best friend?

“What did you say?” Diamond Tiara asked, the edge in her voice sharp enough that even Twist picked up on it, looking to Silver Spoon and silently asked if she had said something wrong.

“It’s okay, Pepper - I mean, Twist! I can help Diamond Tiara by myself. You still have to prepare the mix for the next batch of candy canes. Why don’t go take care of that?” Silver Spoon was already pushing Twist with her head back through the door into the kitchen. Thankfully for Silver, Twist seemed to pick up on the hidden meaning.

“Oh, yeah, my candy caneth. I’ll just go do that. Uh, nice to thee you again Diamond Tiara. I’ll just be in the kitchen if you need me, Thterling.” Twist called out, just before she disappeared behind the door.

Once Twist was gone, Silver Spoon turned back to Diamond Tiara, biting her bottom lip nervously.

“Listen, Diamond-”

“Sterling? Since when did you start going by your middle name? And Pepper?”

The grey mare blushed, realizing she was standing on thin ice right now, ice that seemed to be cracking all around her.

“Well, yeah. That’s her name too you know? Peppermint Twist.”

In truth, Diamond Tiara did not know that. She couldn’t recall once ever hearing Twist’s full name.

“No, I didn’t. Why would I care about the full name of some loser pony who talks like a foal in diapers? I don’t care about that. I care about why my best friend knows that though. I care about why you seem to be working with her, and why you never said anything about it to me!”

Silver Spoon gave Diamond Tiara a look of mild annoyance before she spoke back. “I’m... tutoring her. It’s really complicated okay? I mean, like...” Silver Spoon sighed to herself, trying to think of how best to explain her actions when she felt she shouldn’t have to explain anything to Diamond Tiara. “I’m trying to help her get over her lisp. I’ve been tutoring her for a couple of weeks now. It’s a sweet deal; I help her with her lisp, I get a big discount on all the candy I want. And have you seen the stallion they have working here? He has a coat like butter, and he looks just as yummy.”

“So... you’re doing this to get cheap chocolate?” Diamond Tiara asked, giving Silver Spoon a skeptical eye.

“And time with the buttery goodness sweeping up outside!” Silver Spoon flashed a smile that often won her instant believability from adults. It was an award winning smile, one Diamond Tiara had taken time to teach Silver Spoon. It didn’t work on her in the least.

“What is she, like your secret marefriend or something?” The accusation had all the bite of a snake, with just as much venom.

“No! What are you talking about? Pepper and I are just-”

“Pepper? Really now, THterling? What, does she have something over you? Is she blackmailing you?”

“I’m allowed to have other friends!”

The shout from Silver Spoon was like a slap in the face for Diamond Tiara. She once again found herself dumbstruck, unsure of how to even respond to what Silver Spoon had just said.

“I mean, like okay, she talks funny. I’m helping her with that. She makes the best candy I’ve ever tasted. And she’s nice. I mean, in a dorky way for sure, but she’s nice. She’s a nice friend to have.” Silver said, putting emphasis on the word nice, which Diamond didn’t pick up on.

Something inside of Diamond Tiara felt like it was cracking. A strange sense of falling was coming over her, like vertigo. She had to shut her eyes and focus on standing on her own four hooves before she could think of how to respond to what Silver Spoon had just told her.

She didn’t even get the chance, Silver Spoon seemed determined to keep going.

“Seriously, why am I even explaining myself to you? I’m still your friend. I’m her friend too. It’s not like she’s some loser blank-flank. I have standards after all!”

That Silver Spoon could consider Twist meeting her standards for friendship made Diamond Tiara wonder where that put her, if not on the same level as Twist, a filly with a name that wasn’t even worth remembering.

You don’t need her. I’m a better friend than she can be. I’m better than her!

“This is horseshit.”

Silver Spoon gasped, looking at Diamond Tiara like she had grown a second head. Her glasses fell off her nose, dangling around her chest as she took a step back from the angry filly.

You’re suppose to be my best friend. Mine. I’m better than that foal. I have more money, better looks, and I don’t speak like a retard.

“I’ll leave you with your new friend then. I hope you two have fun making your candy canes.”

“Diamond-”

The pink filly had already turned her back, walking for the door and giving it a hard push. The bell that hung just above the door swung quickly, ringing loudly in protest.

Diamond Tiara wasn’t paying attention to how far she had walked from Sweet & Savory, only that she needed to walk, and fast. She wanted to get away from the candy shop, away from Silver Sterling Spoon.

In the back of her mind she knew she had overreacted a little, but the initial shock and insult stung too much for her to see past the selfish behavior. It hadn’t helped that Silver Spoon and Twist addressed each other with different names. Something about that kind of connection made Diamond furious. She and Silver Spoon didn’t have special names to call each other by.

Of course, that didn’t matter anymore.

We’re not friends anymore now... I just lost my only friend. My best friend. I shared secrets with her. What am I suppose to do at school now?

Diamond Tiara stopped as a growing panic started to settle inside her. Silver Spoon had been her only friend, the only pony she actually talked to at school. Losing her friendship meant having no friends, no pony to talk to, becoming a loser and a social reject.

She stomped her hoof on the ground, panic feeding anger. Why Twist of all ponies? Diamond Tiara hardly understood half of what Twist said. There was no redeeming qualities about her, yet there was something about her that made Silver Spoon want to befriend her, and put her on the same level as herself - as if Diamond Tiara and Peppermint Twist were equal ponies.

And now I have no where to get candy. I’ll have to send the help to buy all my sweets now.

Her stomach growled, and Diamond stomped her hoof again. It was twice now that she had been looking forward to something, only to have it ruined.

She took in her surroundings; she was in the shopping district of Ponyville, just a block away from the farmer’s market. Ponies all around her were going about their daily lives. Many of them looked happy.

Diamond Tiara couldn’t get herself to put on a fake smile. Seeing that there were a group of cider trees close by, she walked to that area while avoiding having to look at anypony else.

Settling herself by a tree, she opened her saddle bags and pulled out the sandwich that had been wrapped for her. She remembered how she had her chef make two, intending to give one to Silver Spoon. She was glad that she ordered that sandwich to be thrown away now.

She bit into her sandwich hard. If she couldn’t be friends with Silver Spoon anymore, she would have to find others. The only problem was that there weren’t many rich families in Ponyville. Her options were severely limited. Canterlot was the only place where she would find other ponies like herself that she could be friends with now. Maybe even Manehatten. As she ate she made plans for the future - she would still be going out of town next weekend, she could use the time to check out the schools and find one that she could convince her dad to send her to. It would mean having to go the rest of the week alone at school, but it would be alright once she got to leave town.

She would still see Silver Spoon at school though. And Twist.

The anger inside her was cooling down enough for her to try and understand what Silver Spoon was getting at.

Maybe she does make really great candy. Fine, I can accept that. We all have our special talents at something. But why didn’t Silver Spoon tell me? She kept it a secret. From me.

That was what made it hurt so much. If Silver Spoon had some plan to get really cheap candy from a sucker like Twist, why not let her in on that plan? Silver Spoon might have liked candy more than Diamond, but that was no reason to keep it a secret.

“But she’s nice. She’s a nice friend to have.”

“I am nice too.” Diamond Tiara said to herself, finishing off her sandwich.

What did she mean by that anyways? I was always nice to Silver Spoon. I let her sleep in my bed! I couldn’t be nicer!

She was still too upset to understand Silver’s actions. There were other things she simply couldn’t accept, like how Silver and Twist called each other by different names. That was just plain weird no matter how she looked at it.

I can’t handle this right now. I need to figure out how I’m going to make a new friend. Maybe I don’t have to change schools - there must be some pony in this town that meets MY standards.

Ponyville was small, but not that small. She truthfully hadn’t paid attention to a lot of the other fillies and colts in her school and the only ones whose faces she could recall were all the lame peasant ponies. She would have to start paying attention now to find the ponies worth befriending.

There’s that dress too. Daddy ordered it for me; I bet it’s ready now. I can start looking for a new friend after I treat myself. I certainly deserve it now.

There were rose chips to go with her lunch, but she packed it away. The sandwich had tasted funny, so she would complain to the chef later. Chances were that after what happened with Silver, no food would taste quite right to her. She would simply go out and get her dress, and she would feel a little better with something new to wear.

I bet Twist doesn’t have custom made clothes for herself. Stupid foal. I hope you’re happy with her Silver Spoon.

Diamond Tiara sniffled and rubbed her hoof over her nose.

Gah. I won’t feel sad. I’m not a baby. I’ll get my stupid dress and then something to drink, like a hayshake, to wash the taste of that awful sandwich out of my mouth.

Author's Notes:

This story was proofread by the talented Raaron. I owe him a lot of thanks for his help in making this chapter the best it could be.