The Three Sisters: Like Fudge
By Wanderer D
Chapter 15: I'm no saint
Silver Spoon pushed the last dish into place in the rack and shook her head, glaring at Diamond Tiara, who lazily polished a fork while several dozen more soaked in soapy water. "Are you planning on finishing tonight?" she finally asked. "I was planning on actually, you know, dressing up, grabbing a bag, getting candy... that with it being Nightmare Night and all."
Sæla looked down at them from the chair where she was filing her claws. "I also want to go home sometime."
Diamond Tiara growled and threw the clean fork into the container where it belonged before glaring at the other two. "Stop pressuring me! It's not my fault that I have to do this! It's beneath a mare of my calibre!"
Silver Spoon's eyes narrowed. "If you stopped whining, you'd be done by now, Tiara!"
"It's all the Crusaders' fault!" Diamond Tiara cried, petulantly grabbing another fork and starting to polish it. "They should have just—"
"Just what, exactly?" Sæla asked, snorting. "Just sat there and let themselves be verbally abused by others because of a prank you two thought was harmless? We get enough stupidity from self-righteous idiots that don't understand our dietary needs, but it's worse when they pass their idiocy to children and then the children get to insult us! You two are lucky those fillies were not hurt by some stressed-out or overly provoked customer! Sure, they would be arrested, and sure the chances of others letting that happen were slim, but there could have been some real damage done if two of them didn't have a more educated palate."
"Only freaks would eat that stuff!"
"Diamond Tiara!" Silver Spoon snapped. "Can't you learn to shut up even when it's for your own benefit?"
"What do you care?" Diamond Tiara snapped back. "You didn't even want to do this! You were borderline siding with them! Why don't you go become a Crusader then?"
"Maybe I should!" Silver Spoon stood up. "I put up with your negligence, panic attacks, half-cooked plans and constant antagonizing for what? To have to pay every single time for sticking to your side when what you need is somepony to tell your father that you needed spanking while growing up! You're insufferable! I'm done with you!"
Silver Spoon spun around and looked at Sæla, who seemed to be regarding her with some grudging respect. "I finished with my part, can I go now?"
The griffoness snorted, but nodded. "You can go. I'll stay here and watch Tiara finish her job."
"Good," Silver Spoon replied, glancing at the staring filly. "At least one adult is willing to put her through a complete punishment." And with that, she trotted out of the kitchen.
Immediately Diamond Tiara threw the fork aside and tried to gallop after her friend, but Sæla was far quicker and blocked the exit, opening her wings instinctively and puffing her chest while she glared down at the filly. "No. You are finishing your job tonight, young filly."
"You can't do this to me, you overstuffed turkey!" Diamond Tiara cried. "My daddy—"
"Is fully aware of what you did and personally told me he'd compensate me with additional money to make sure that you finished your punishment." Sæla's glare didn't diminish. "If you were half as good at cleaning cutlery as you are at alienating others, you would have been done hours ago!"
"But it's not fair!"
Sæla didn't move an inch, and soon Diamond Tiara was back, sniffling in frustration as she polished more forks.
"Kid," Sæla growled. "From what I have seen, this is the first time in your life fairness has had anything to do with you."
Silver Spoon closed the restaurant's door behind her, doing her best to not slam it. The last thing she needed was to loosen it from its hinges and have to stay even longer to fix it. Already Ponyville was finishing decorating for Nightmare Night. It was pretty late in the afternoon, and the festivities would begin in a few more hours.
She started walking down the road towards her house, still feeling agitated and angry at just how selfish Diamond Tiara was.
"You finally made it out," a voice said, making her start.
Silver Spoon looked up at a small pegasus who was flying down towards her from a nearby rooftop. "Thysa," she greeted unenthusiastically. "I'm not in the mood."
Thysa shrugged, walking next to her. "I'll just walk with you, then."
Rolling her eyes, Silver Spoon continued down the road, trying her best to ignore the changeling.
Thysa, for her part, seemed content to simply trot along, sometimes letting her eyes wander over to the decorations that were being put up, but for the most part paying enough attention to follow Silver Spoon's lead.
"I didn't want to do anything to you girls," Silver Spoon finally said, not looking at her companion. "It was all Diamond Tiara's idea."
Thysa was quiet for a little bit. "But you didn't stop her."
Silver Spoon was about to argue that she had tried, but bit back her response. Complaining wasn't really trying. Truth be told, a little part of herself had wanted to see what would happen, even if a bigger part had not wanted to do anything with it.
"No," she finally acknowledged. "I didn't."
"It was pretty bad there, for a little while," Thysa said. "Everypony keeps saying we were safe, but I could read some of the feelings of the patrons... a lot of them were very frustrated and angry. If Sweetie Belle hadn't eaten those Fruit Bats with me... I think if only one of us had eaten, it could have turned out differently. You can't keep insulting people for trivial things like diet or preferences just because you don't like what they do."
Silver Spoon grimaced. "I can't believe she forced herself to eat them. No offense to you or any other omnivores or carnivores, but 'bat' doesn't sound like something you should be eating."
Thysa shrugged. "My aunty is strange, for a pony."
Silver Spoon almost fell when she stumbled. "Your aunt-is she also a—"
"Nah," Thysa shook her head. "It's a complicated story. She might tell it to you someday, if you want to be their friend."
Silver Spoon snorted. "Why would they even want that?" They had reached the entrance to her home, so she stopped and turned to face Thysa. "I told you before: I'm no saint. I enjoy the thrill of getting away with things I shouldn't. With being mean and the feeling of being on top of a situation while others struggle."
"And yet, you seem to have more respect and willingness to not only accept the consequences, but also to try and not go overboard," Thysa replied.
"That's hardly enough to make up for the rest."
"But it's a start, if you want to make something of it."
"And what?" Silver Spoon scoffed. "Be the 'bad' crusader? Make them feel like they have to fight me at every turn to not do something mean to others?"
"You don't have to be mean to feel fulfilled," Thysa said. "That feeling you get out of it, it's not dependant on exclusively being mean."
"So I have to change everything I am to fit with a group of nice fillies?" Silver Spoon asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sometimes change isn't a bad thing, you know?" Thysa said. "I would know... it saved my life."
Silver Spoon's other eyebrow rose. "How so?"
"It stopped my family from killing each other."
Silver Spoon cringed, but shook her head. "There's change and then there's change, Thysa. I've lived most of my life being like this. It's all I know, and quite frankly all I want to be right now."
"They are willing to be your friend, you know."
"Yes because they think I'm the victim and Diamond Tiara dominates me." Silver Spoon turned to look past the gates at her home. "She does neither. And I'm honestly tired of her idiocy. She keeps getting us in trouble, for the lamest things."
"Seems to me you really need new friends."
"It seems to me you're butting in when you shouldn't, Thysa."
The changeling-turned-pegasus seemed like she was going to say something, but visibly chose to change the subject. "So what are you going to wear for Nightmare Night?"
Silver Spoon pursed her lips in thought before sighing and opening the gate. "Want to see? You might find it a little funny."
Thysa grinned. "I'd love to!"
They both walked in, closing the door behind them, not noticing the purple dragon that had done a double-take the moment he had seen them together.
"Well," Spike said. "That's an interesting development!"
There is no fairness in this world.
As Death said,
Grind the universe and show me a single molecule of justice and fairness.
... Yeah. Trump card in comebacks.
"It stopped [insert] from killing [insert].
I'll Dun DUN DUN YOU!
WHY IS THIS CHAPTER SO SHORT!?
WHY!? CRUEL WORLD! WHY!?
Isnt sweety the aunt?
Spike is spying. Fun.
Well, at least for once DT got what was coming to her. She should be glad the punishment wasn't more severe.
And Spoon's road to redemption! Albeit a slow one, but very few things happen right away.
Good chapter, even if a bit short
5788595
Yes, and?
Way to go Silver! I hope she can make good on that desire to be friends with the Crusaders.
OH SNAP!!! You done just got told Tiara!!!!
I'm glad Silver Spoon is finally breaking away from Tiara. I can see her taking it slow, but I can honestly see her enjoying a friendly competition with the Crusaders and becoming a friendly rival if she doesn't want to become close friends but keep the chance to feel superior.
Great chapter! Though I do feel bad for DT, a little. She's a brat, but as SS suggested she's been raised in this manner all her life. Empathy doesn't come naturally for everyone, and she doesn't appear to have been taught it. She does need this punishment of course, but reading about a child sniffling in frustration just makes me feel bad for her. I hope by the end of the story DT isn't left miserable and friendless!
5788707
I can't feel bad. She knows what she's doing, regardless of how she was taught. Look at Silver, she's mature enough to understand this psychological issue of her own sadism. Tiara, therefore, is also of an age and mind capable of understanding that what she's doing is bad and wrong, but she doesn't care because it makes her feel good.
No pity for someone who understands they shouldn't do something and then they do it anyway, when it ends up hurting people. All that malice doesn't get forgiven or excused by some sniffles or the fact she can feel sorry for herself. Because she's -only- sorry for herself, and not anyone else.
I must have more chapters with DT being burned and punished
5788574
Yes, I did love that part of 'Hogfather'. The non-human in 'The Rithmatist' runs along those lines too. Every other one of his kind seems afraid of clocks. And he explains:
"Because man created it. There is nothing inherently important about a second or a minute. They're fictional divisions, enacted by mankind, fabricated. Yet in a human's hands, these things have life. The arbitrary becomes a law. For an outsider these laws can be unsettling."
Doesn't seem like that big a twist. But I suppose we'll see.
Eh, one step at a time, Silver.
Though I can't help but hope, in spite of everything, that Diamond starts to turn around as well at the end. Possible changeling queen plots aside, this continuity is remarkably free of straight-up villains so far, and to some that may sound like a complaint but I enjoy me some Rousseau Was Right.
YAY! it updated! Silver Spoon POV!
"I'm not in the mood" ... Takes on a new meaning when talking to the local succubi analogue...
True... Spike... True...
Typo:
"Crusader's" ... The Greengrocer's Apostrophe Strikes again!
They should just eat Tiara. Would anyone really care?
Just because Silver Spoon got fed up with being the designated villain and getting the associated comeuppance on a regular basis doesn't mean she's going to turn over a new leaf here and now. She still joined in with Tiara's cruelties, still enjoyed them. But now she walks her own path, and where it leads, none can say...
5788996
5789018 Her father would probably care and honestly Dimond hasn't done anything to deserve that, I've read her doing much worse than what she has done in this fic.
5788920 The only redemption is the one that you can forgive yourself.
Or something like that.
Looking forward to the part where Tiara is banished and thrown into a dungeon at the place she was banished to.
5789018
I wouldn't recommend it. She'd probably give the carnivores in question a belly ache. That much concentrated narcissism can't be good for one's digestive tract.
5789018 New story idea: Diamond Tiara gets eaten by Carnivores.
5789891 Yeah, but then they'd spit her up. Like that one story where Diamond Tiara was sacrificed to Hell and they kicked her out for being too unpleasant.
I love how you portray Silver Spoon. As much as I like her, I hate when she's shown as the unwilling flunky, being forced to be mean. I like how you show her liking being mean, but hating that she does.
5789970 I once heard of this diamond dog that bit Diamond Tiara.
After five days of agonizing pain... it finally died.
5790021 That poor thing!
5789891 This just made me think of the reverse: a horror story where Tiara becomes a carnivore with the singular goal of eating the crusaders.
5789891
She just complains the whole time.
"Ew, is that slobber?"
"This is so uncool."
"Now there's blood ruining all the hard work I put into my coat, you monsters!"
"My daddy is going to be so mad at you if you don't give me my leg back right now!"
"Hey! That's my [insert organ], you can't have it!"
"I bet those stupid blank flanks can't even get their dumb cutie marks for this."
5790021 Wasn't that what happened to the zombie who bit Chuck Norris? Or was that the vampire?
5790627 It was the king cobra
Sadly, the fact that the carnivore patrons were so close to violence over something as stupid as bratty children pretty much proves Diamond Tiara right about them. They are savages.
Something about the way this sentence is phrased just rings my bell.
Commence read.
Good for Silver Spoon
Thysa will have to keep trying.
Spike, still up to no good.
This is short and sweet and... damn if I didn't love it anyway!
The sad thing is the only reason DT isn't completely vindicated for her attitude is because her father's business interests lie in Ponyville. If she lived in a larger, more affluent community, she would have more peers to reinforce her corrupted world view.
5788574
I know that!
Why can it not be unfair in my favour?
5804111 I know, right!?
...
You do realize this makes us both hypocritical as hell now?
Now this is a new conception of Silver Spoon—at least to me.
Fantastic! As always, good stuff Wanderer D. Looking forward to more! Spoon's explanation caught me by surprise, interested to see where that goes. Spike is... that's just going to be great. And many hive shenanigans are about to unfold.
5804867
Well that is just not fair....
5807631 Thus bringing us back to our hypocritical statements!
5788574
Dude, death is his own proof on fairness. Death is totally fair, since it neither judges nor favors. It takes no sides, nor cares of ones power / possition. It takes all things, including one universal century some eon this universe itself. As for justice, I believe schadenfreude is perfect justice. It costs nothing, happens to everyone, and as long as it's something happening to someone else is enjoyed by all. That's a perfect form of justice.
5809876 ... I believe in reincarnation.
5810511
Same here, but anything you reincarnate into is going to die. Everything from ameobas to stars. From black holes to universes. Everything dies. Even if a soul chooses reincarnation, whatever it gets reborn into will die. And that death will become fuel for new life, which dies, to become fuel for new life, ad infinitum. So thus entropy / death is objectively a sign of multiversal fairness. Thus an answer to Death's question (At least where fairness is concerned).
5810551 And I'm going to be back annoying people. That makes me so happy!
5811158
Oh, I'm not annoyed. I'm just having a fun conversation about the Great Equilizer.
5811375 Yes guys, but is this the right place for that to continue?
5811415
Being honest ... idk. If you want me to stop, I'll stop though. And we can move it to PMs. Anywho, cool chapter, and I'm glad to see a new one up .
5811375 Equalizer: The Movie!
5788707 if no one makes her take responsibility for her actions shell never get better about it, cause thatd just be more of what created the problem
5791907
Imagine a horrible week at work, you're tired, frustrated and mostly angry because some parts of work get halted in needless bureaucracy or any other reason. You go to a place where you like to eat in peace and suddenly some vegan begins shouting in the middle of the place how everyone here are wrong. Add that his/her voice is annoying.
Probably I'd just pick up the yelling kid and threw out even if I had to pay for the food. That is wrong and yet that is emotional answer after lots of stress.
What would you do?