“History's lords have ever painted the future
in tones of fire and shadow.”
—Astrolord Cloak
S I L V E R S P O O N
How unusual.
One could be forgiven for not knowing precisely what my thoughts referred to as "unusual", as there were a great many things unusual about that particular moment in time.
It was unusual that I had found myself slowed to a halt in the middle of Ponyville’s hectic streets, despite them being flooded with ponies as they made their way home from long days of work and school.
It was unusual that the cause of my sudden distraction had been a pair of mares trotting past, despite me rarely holding any particular interest in the common folk of our quaint little township.
It was unusual that those two mares had chosen to adorn themselves in rather heavy beige trench coats and hats, clearly intending to obscure their identities despite the heat of the summer afternoon.
It was unusual that the smaller of these mares was burdened with what appeared to be a black cardboard box, its sleek design boldly proclaiming its contents in gigantic lettering for all to see: “HOOFBOX”.
But above all else, it was unusual that I had immediately recognized the squeaky timbre of the little mare as she had passed by, unaware that her attempts to remain disguised were being entirely compromised by her excited nattering.
As the two mares vanished into the crowd, I blinked as a thought came unbidden to my mind:
What in Stars’ name was a Hoofbox, and why was Sweetie Belle, of all ponies, carrying one?
“Silver Spoon.”
I blinked. Shaken from my reverie, I turned to face the filly who had addressed me.
“Yes, Diamond Tiara?” I replied to my best friend with a smile.
“We’re going to my store,” the filly informed me coolly, as if I didn’t already know.
I raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“You standing there in the middle of the street isn’t gonna get us there any faster.”
Ah. Well. She wasn't wrong there. “My apologies.” I swept my bangs from out of my face. “For a moment I thought I had spotted someone I recognized.”
Diamond quirked an eyebrow at me. “Who?”
“A friend,” I said simply, trotting past her. “I was mistaken.”
“Naturally,” she replied sardonically as she matched my pace. “It’s not like there’s anyone else in this backwater besides me that’s worth spending time with.”
“True enough,” I agreed with a nod, and we trotted through the town square.
Two years’ worth of growth had done little to elevate Ponyville beyond its status as an austere little farming town. It was still wooden frames and thatched roofs as far as the eye can see. Its advancement was no doubt stymied by the citizenry, who were annoyingly content with maintaining the town's everlasting mediocrity. The only major concession they had made in recent memory was the expansion of the Barnyard Bargains retailer, which had become a large shopping plaza where several storefronts now made their home.
Of course, Diamond Tiara took no small amount of pride in this fact, seizing every opportunity to remind our schoolmates that it was her family’s business that was responsible for contributing the lion’s share of contemporary culture to Ponyville.
‘Contemporary’, perhaps, but ‘culture’ was rather… generous. It was a glorified department store.
We approached the structure in question, its utilitarian Manehattan-esque masonry a stark contrast to the rest of Ponyville’s humble wooden architecture. As we trotted through the open doors, Diamond turned to me.
“How much are the tickets for tonight’s show again?”
“A hundred bits for front row seats,” I replied.
“Cool.” She walked up to the counter, where a teenage stallion was muzzle-deep in a comic book. She rapped her hoof on the counter’s surface. “Hey, you!”
The pimply teenager jumped as he was forced out of his reverie. “Er, yes miss, hello, welcome to Rich’s Barnyard—“
“It’s me, you pathetic breeder,” she snarled at him.
“Oh! Yes, Miss Diamond, what can I—“
“I need bits from the register. Ten lunars will do. Chop chop!” She folded her legs atop the counter, awaiting a response.
The stallion stared at her for a moment, scratching the back of his neck in a clear sign of indecision. “Er…”
“Well? What are you waiting for?” She huffed irritably. “Do you want me to report you to my father again?”
“N-no, Miss Diamond,” he stammered. “It’s just that… he, um, Mister Rich doesn’t want you pulling money out of the register anymore.”
“Ugh. This again.” She dropped to all fours. “Fine, I’ll talk to him myself. Where is he?”
“He… should be in the back offices.”
“Terrific. Just what I wanted to deal with today.”
With a huff, Diamond returned to me.
“Daddy’s being difficult again. I’m gonna go try and talk some sense into him. Wait here and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Without waiting for my response, she twirled around and made a beeline towards the rear end of the store. Typical Diamond, I thought absentmindedly as I began wandering the isles of the store in search of a means to entertain myself.
In short order, I found myself utterly bored, aimlessly wandering between endless racks of flashy clothing, glass displays of sparkling jewelry, and platforms laden with bottles of perfume. I wrinkled my nose as the noxious odors permeated my surroundings. It reeked of mother’s charity formals.
Finding an empty bench in the next department over, I sat down to clear my sinuses of the fumes. Diamond was still nowhere in sight. Honestly, how long did it take for her to squeeze a few bits out of the old stallion?
My gaze wandered over to the magazine stand beside me. Trashy tabloids, teen heartthrobs, celebrity gossip; the usual inane rubbish…
Hmm? What was this?
My eyes fixated on a magazine, its cover adorned with a photo of the Wonderbolts amid an intricate aerial maneuver, magnificent streaks of light and color trailing from their forms. Slowly I stretched out a hoof—
“Eyyyy, check this out!”
Suddenly, the magazine was whisked off the stand by a beige aura of magic.
Oh, for Sun’s sake, what manner of thuggish—
Irritated, I shot my gaze up at the offender… and realized that the putrid yellow colt who had taken the magazine was none other than my gangly classmate, Snails.
“Hey Snips, look!” the unicorn said excitedly as he raced up to a plump little green colt. “The new AeroRadical is out!”
“That’s not what we’re here for,” grumbled his squat little friend. “C’mon, let’s go look at the new Hoofboxes.”
My ear twitched as I caught mention of the familiar word. A little filly in a beige trench coat trotted through my memories.
“Fiiiine,” groaned Snails. He unceremoniously dropped the magazine on a nearby product stand and followed after Snips.
With a quick glance around, I left my seat and began tailing the two colts through the store as they scrambled towards the west end, where several stratoscreens lined the wall, flashing non-stop advertisements.
“Over here!” shouted Snips, pointing at several black boxes underneath one of the screens. Skulking behind one of the shelves, I immediately recognized them as the same box Sweetie Belle had been carrying earlier today.
“Awesome! Looks like they still have plenty,” said Snails excitedly. “Are these the brand new ones?”
“Heck yes, just came out!” Snips said with an excited grin.
“Are we both getting one?”
“Obviously. How else are we gonna play Eternity when we’re not hanging out together?”
Ah, that explained it. It was one of those video game machines. How wretched.
I almost dared a smidgen of sympathy for the colts, who were easily the two least attractive of all my schoolmates—no filly in her right mind wanted to be anywhere within ten feet of them. To say nothing of the fact that they had no redeeming qualities that could make them of any use to anyone.
Too unsightly for breeding, too scrawny for labor, too cowardly for war. What use were these colts to anyone? It’s as if they were destined for a life of lonely mediocrity.
No surprise that they would seek the self-gratifying solace of a video game.
I had heard stories of what happened to colts who played video games. They slowly lost themselves in these fake worlds, addicted to the sense of worth that was bestowed upon them, addicted to seeking success via the eternal pursuit of “points” and “high scores”, addicted despite the fact that none of it was real.
That was, perhaps, the greatest irony of it all: the more they lost themselves in these games, the more lost they would become to society. After all, a male that was playing a video game was a male that wasn’t breeding, laboring, or defending their homeland.
Yet, how could they not be drawn to it? They were so cursed by their worthlessness that they were left with no other choice but to succumb to it wholly, to seek shelter in the only place where they could feel like anything they did had meaning.
It was a place for failures to play at triumph.
I stared at these two colts with newfound pity.
They would never be anything like me, I was a lady, after all. I commanded respect and responsibility. I was set to inherit the Silver fortune.
I would become someone. And they would forever be nothing.
“How much is it though?” came the dopey warble of Snails’ voice, breaking me from my musing.
“Not sure.” Snips turned one of the boxes around. “Lemme see if it’s on the… holy horseapples!” He leapt backwards in shock. “Two thousand?!”
“Seriously?!” said Snails incredulously. “How the hay are we supposed to afford that?!”
Oh, you pitiable little peasants. Twenty solars was nothing for the likes of my family.
…or Sweetie Belle’s, apparently.
Hmm.
As the squabbling colts began counting whatever bits they had between them, I trotted away towards the front of the store.
All things considered, twenty solars was nothing to scoff at, and I sincerely doubted Sweetie Belle had much money to go around. For a filly like her to spend that much on a video game machine…
If there were anything more pitiable than a man who played video games, it was a mare that did the same. After all, we were ladies. It was our charge to lead, to ensure the financial security of our families, to uphold the responsibilities and opportunities granted to us as pioneers and politicians and businessmares.
Of all ponykind, we were the ones destined for greatness.
Except for the precious few failures among us that would never achieve it.
Oh, Sweetie Belle. I knew you were pathetic, but to be such a catastrophe that you must submerge yourself in the world of failed men?
What a tragic fate.
The front counter came into view, and still Diamond was nowhere in sight. Once again, the colt behind the register was deeply engorged in his comic book.
I gave the scrawny stallion a quick once-over. His face was pockmarked with pimples, and he sported a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that magnified his eyes nearly twofold. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than myself.
Definitely not that high on the mating totem pole. I’d be willing to bet a lunar that this stallion was one of those video game players as well.
With nothing better to do, I stepped forward.
“Excuse me?” I said, rapping lightly on the counter.
“Hmm?” He peered over his comic book. “Oh, hey there, little filly. Can I help you find something?”
‘Little filly?’ I was nearly thirteen winters! Of course, I said nothing as I graced him with a polite smile.
“Actually, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions regarding those, er, ‘Hoofbox’ machines you have on display?”
“Oh boy, could I!” he exclaimed, nearly dropping his comic in his excitement, though a slight blush crept between his pimples as he regained his posture. “I mean, er, sure, what did you need to know?”
“I was just curious… they’re rather expensive, no? Surely they’re not so amazing as to be worth that much?”
"You mean you don't know?!" His eyes widened, so disbelieving of my ignorance that I might as well have admitted to being a Gryphosi spy. “Oh mare, let me tell you! They’re super powerful, the graphics are amazing, and it plays all the latest games. If you have a nice stratoscreen, it can feel like you’re actually there!”
His face lit up dreamily as he spoke, as if the Stars themselves had sought to bequeath him an unspeakably gorgeous new fillyfriend.
Hah. As if.
“That sounds… remarkable,” I said in mock awe.
“That’s not even the best part!” he grinned. “The Hoofbox is the first one that lets you play video games with other ponies all over the world!”
That was certainly interesting. “I assume they work over the Stratonet?”
“That’s right!” he nodded empathically.
“Fascinating…”
“Heh, no kidding!” He leaned back in his seat. “I didn’t realize so many fillies like you were into video games! Another one came in with her older sister about an hour ago to buy one!”
And opportunity struck. “Is that so?”
“Yeah! Strange new world, huh?”
Strange new world indeed.
I leaned forward conspiratorially. “Perchance, was it Sweetie Belle?”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Wait, how’d you know? She said she hasn’t told anyone else that she plays video games.”
Oh, how your secrets amused me, little Crusader.
“Posh. We’re friends, obviously,” I lied dismissively with a wave of my hoof. “She mentioned that she might be getting one soon.”
“Ah, I see.”
A sudden thought came to my mind. Now that I knew Sweetie Belle’s curious little secret, I couldn’t help the grin that overcame my expression as I realized the many possibilities that lay before me. I glanced around quickly to ensure that Diamond wasn’t within earshot, then leaned closer to the stallion.
“In fact, I was thinking about getting one so that I may join her. You know, just as a little surprise. After all, I’ve been wondering what all the fuss has been about with these… video games.”
“Really? I bet she’d like that.”
“Yes, but… I’m afraid she didn’t inform me which game she was getting.”
“Oh, it just came out, it’s called Eternity,” he said, pointing to a small display on the counter, where several plastic game cases were propped up for display. The one in question pictured several armored soldiers, each wielding a large firearm of some sort, or generating some kind of strange magic with their hooves.
This was entirely too nerdy for me.
…But I couldn’t possibly pass up a chance to torment a Crusader within the confines of her own escapism.
“Do you deliver?” I asked the stallion. “Discreetly?”
“Yep! If you gift-wrap it.”
With a flourish, I dropped two dozen golden coins upon the countertop. “The Silver Estate. Tonight, if you would.”
A grin overcame his face. “Absolutely.”
- – — E N D — – -
Sun's sake, you guys are on this shit FAST.
T+30s = i.imgur.com/xSd804c.png
Oh my gawd. Can't imagine what Silver is going to to do to Sweetie :o
I'm wondering what's all this going to lead up to.
5425651 Well it obviously didn't work out, since they apparently became gaming buddies :P
5425651
Ya.... Silver became one of her best and most loyal guild members.
Nice... nice... MOAR! Also, wow, could they be anymore sexest? Lol
ONE OF US. ONE OF US!
*sigh*
CUE THE GAMERGATE HORSESHIT
5426002 Cue the Gamaregate horseapples as well
Silver Spoon, I know you have your head up your plot, but ditch Diamond ASAP. The girl is a volatile mess and you know it.
5426002
5426076
Yeah, clench 'em tight. It'll happen soon enough.
5425914 The hell?
5426151
If this is about the second protagonist, and that second was in last chapter. Then it stands to reason that Silver was that pony .... but I think my brain broke at that. Seeing as Silver let Deets almost rape Sweets irl (Well sexually assault). And joined in the torment of her guild mate if that's the case.
That's the only glaring error I saw. Otherwise, good chapter. Hope things look up for you soon.
Yes, you should be embarrassed by this shit. Here's an example:
The first letter of the first word of this sentence is italicized.
I'd provide other examples, but I couldn't find any. How am I supposed to justify my existence as an editor?
I was getting a wing-boner over how I could rip you a new one for changing the identity of “Shadow”—until I realized this was set in the past. Well played…
5426738 Sigh… FML indeed.
Edit: On second consideration, I suspect this was deliberate as a way of showing the clerk was a mere breeder. I still should have caught that and pointed it out, then be overridden.
oh spoon the path you have started on is a slippery one. too become a game troll... those most hated of the trolls, the most disgusting of gamer's.
sweetie bell shall slay-est thou good in her badflankery!
Calling Silver Spoon a protagonist as this point in the story is either a spoiler or a mistake, because at the point in the story we're up to, Silver is an antagonist
5427232 silver spoon is one of her most loyal guild buddies though...
5427482 I must not have caught that...
As soon as I read the end of last chapter I was like: Silver?
This chapter:
So I'm assuming this was before Sweetie Bell became clan leader right? I guess Silver (who is probably shadow) actually found out she liked video games.
the plot deepens! the entrancement grows!
A chapter a week keeps the audience meek!
5426400 Forgive my dumbness, but who's Deets? I can't remember...
5428136 Diamond Tiara
5428136
DT / Diamond Tiara. It's a fanon nickname like Silvy is for Silver Spoon.
5428186
5428214 Right, sorry. Just realized I missed the chapter before this one.
5428231
No problem. Iwas talking about when DTand Silvy got Sweetie Belle alone in an alley and "attempted to find her balls" and attemptd to sexually assault her to find them for her. Before Sweets decked her. If I remember correctly. Last chapter was pretty good though I was waiting to be surprised at the mystery member of Sweeties Guild ... but if it's Silver Spoon with what happened in the alley ... it breaks the mind thinking about it.
I knew Shadow is Sil from the Beginininininining!
A new chapter? Wohoo!
This is going to bite her in the flank badly later. I'm sure of it
5428350 Pay close attention to how Silver Spoon reacts, in this and in other scenes.
5430336
I'll re-read it either later today or sometime tomorrow and get back to you on that one.
SOCIAL COMMENTARY RAWR
5430336
Okay time for a close watch, and a more intelligent responce than my last one .
Silvy in http://www.fimfiction.net/story/219939/2/this-game-of-mine/a-light-in-the-dark
In http://www.fimfiction.net/story/219939/6/this-game-of-mine/up-the-ante
[Which surprisingly is in character. She rarely ever instigates, but adds in when it can stick in the barbs the deepest. The only time it was otherwise was in Flight to the Finish, when she did the worst of the antagonizing to Scoots].
[In denial much? But with a F to M ratio of 1.85 to 1 (only.4 higher than post US Civil War era ratio), and males looked down upon as breed stock, I guess even in that culture in Earth Pony villages would be slightly taboo (even though unicorn magic could over come that problem.)]
[Yeah that took no provocation at all to throw in.]
[A sentiment further slammed into readers in the Interlude. A very strong Misandry view point].
[Wow what a clanmate. You can see by now why even watching Silver's actions the thought of her as a clanmate is utterly baffling.]
______________________
But with all of that. Her actions didn't take away from the show's character's actions in the least. Not to mention that the only use of harlot was from Diamond's mother. And with the need of Mash to retell what happened, it being Silver Spoon is baffling. As is I don't know wether to hate her more, or what. And how is she disguising her voice to sound like an older stallion?
So yeah don't know whether to hate her more for taking part of all the trash she's been helping eets do in this fic so far, or see if she redeems herself. Heck it'll be interesting fall out if Sweets finds out. Especially after they tried sexually assaulting her.
So... the original purpose of the Hoofbox was for Silver to act as a troll.
Hmm.... I wonder how well that worked out...
Pretty sure at some point during their childhood Silver and Tiara were dropped on a desert Isle with only a town of barbarians and a science booklet with everything ripped out except one paragraph. And that paragraph is "male and female animals like to have babbys". That is the only way I think someone can get that screwed up.
5457778 Or Filthy and Proper were idiotic enough to hire glaringly racist or sexist unicorns as nannies...
stallion
stallions
__________________
5457778
5823729
Or you know. Their families are sexist, and raise their family to believe that mares are the superior sex, and stallions are only good for three things. Think of it like a reverse earth, or whatever the flipside of Chauvinistic is. After all with a species where mares really do have all the power (both on Earth, and from what we see in Equestria), it's not far out that some families would take the stance that if you aren't a mare, you are basically a worthless sperm factory.
But in stead of the chauvinist / male dominant view that women are only good for cooking, cleaning, and popping out babies. They have stallions are only good for rutting, labor, or fighting. In that order, as a stallions proper place. After all families pass down their beliefs, prejudices, and paradigms to their children. So nasty bits of work that they're spewing is nasty bits of work they grew up around.
Gohome Gamerboy
Nice story, a little bit exagerated, I've been bullied to the ground, spit upon while I was on the floor, and while it was for being a nerd, I doubt that could happen for videogames... Bah, I don't know if it was like that when it started. Though you're probably colluding several reason for bullying at the same time.
Interesting read.
6365841 Let's just say I had a fun time when I was a kid! Yay!
Nah. I am modeling a lot of these events after stuff that happened in my own life, but yes, it feels exaggerated for a lot of reasons.
1. I'm compressing a few years of bullying into, like, one or two weeks.
2. This conflict between the CMC and Diamond/Silver has been developing for a while, and the video games thing just pushed it over the edge.
3. Most of these attitudes towards gamers aren't common nowadays, but they were a bigger deal in the 90's and 00's.
4. There's extra stuff that didn't happen in my real life that I threw in for narrative (like Diamond's parents manipulating the school, and the matriarchal bent of Equestria).
5. Cutie marks don't exist IRL.
Rest of it's real though. Homophobic slurs on the board, friends getting shat on for associating with me, the fight after school, getting subdued by school discipline officer, arguing with the principal over fault, all of this happening on the verge of graduation, treasured guildmates from around the world, a super-supportive sister and teacher, hiding identity over the internet... All inspired by or directly pulled from real things in my life.
And then after trying it for long enough, she'll come to realize the true value of the medium she has, and it will slowly eat away at her from the inside, as she actually becomes friends with Sweetie Belle. Yet she is still too afraid of becoming a target like Sweetie Belle is, so she keeps bullying her with Diamond in real life, even as she's screaming inside at what she thinks she's being forced to do. Then one day she realizes that she could have stopped at anytime, and it shatters her as she realizes that it wasn't Diamond doing all those horrible things to her secret friend, but her all along, of her own free will. Her reaction is intense.
Or, you know, she could just continue to be a horrible person and irredeemable character with a one dimensional personality, the perfect villain for the story you're telling. Either way this is going to be a wild ride.
...and apparently I was wrong about my guess. Oops.
So much sexism. It's enough to make me uncomfortable through the words of a fictional character in an impossible world on screen.
I dearly hope it's only the view of a elitist minority,.
I see, reverse sexism. Hope she grows out of it.