AN: Okay, the title sucks; you try and come up with an episode name to fit this concept.
Silverless Spoon
The Cutie Mark Crusaders went to school like they always did. They, more or less, paid attention in class and went through the day. But as they were leaving, because nature just hates it when things go right, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon came trotting their way.
They did what they always did, taunted. By this point, the Crusaders had learned to take it in stride, like rainfall or school itself, these two bully ponies were just things that happened, no way control it or sneak passed it. That didn't mean it didn't still get very, very annoying.
"You two used to be blank flanks to you know!" Scootaloo snapped, wanting them to just shut up. "That's true, but luckily we had the strength and perseverance to overcome that tragic time." Diamond mocked, causing Silver Spoon to laugh.
In that instance, Sweetie Belle got an idea. It was an idea that she, and many others, had gotten in the past. It was a fairly obvious idea, but one that no pony had ever tried before for fear of what would happen if it were to fail. Never the less, Sweetie took a shot.
"You know Silver Spoon, I don't know why you stick with Diamond. She nasty and mean, but I don't think you are."
Silver Spoon just smirks, "Oh pu-lease, like you're really going to get me to turn on my friend." "Better luck next time Blank Flanks!" Diamond laughed as the two walked off.
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "It was a good try." Apple Bloom said. "Yeah, oh well. If she thinks Diamond is a good pony, that's her delusion."
As Silver Spoon walked home, she couldn't help but laugh again at the Crusaders attempt to turn her to their side. "As if," She said to herself, "Diamond and I stick together, no matter what." She was completely unaware of the creature watching her from afar, grinning an unnaturally wide grin.
The next day was an event that changed what ponies knew about cutie marks, and clearly not the work of an excitable trickster. A pony had lost their mark. Doctors were baffled, Twilight went berserk trying to figure it out, and ponies everywhere were terrified that the same might happen to them.
After some time, it was determined that Silver Spoon's condition was not contagious, and may in fact be a direct result of her families wealth, the very thing that had given Silver Spoon her mark to begin with, collapsing in a bizarre, and in no way supernatural, shift in the economy.
Silver Spoon went to school like she always did; only now she was the one on the receiving end of the torment. Silver Spoon had spent so much time helping Diamond Tiara mock the ponies with blank flanks, and now those ponies took their opportunity to do the same to her.
Silver Spoon did her best not to let it get to her, knowing that Diamond would defend her against those bully ponies. So she stuck it down, enduring the cruel jokes and blocking out the taunting as she'd seen her own victims do.
And then she reached Diamond Tiara. And her longtime friend and ally… ignored her. She didn't make fun of her like the other ponies did, but she didn't defend her either. She just sort of tuned her out, pretended that she wasn't there. Silver Spoon was confused; she didn't understand why Diamond was leaving her defenseless.
When school was over, Silver Spoon confronted Diamond to ask her why she'd ignored her all day. Diamond didn't say anything at first; she seemed to be debating whether or not to say anything at all. After a few moments, she did speak.
"Sorry about that, but I really can't let myself be associated with you right now, what with your… problem and all. It's nothing personal, really. It's just until it wears off and you get your mark back, okay?"
And with that, Diamond Tiara walked away, leaving Silver Spoon alone and dejected. A sense of dread set in as Silver Spoon realized with a shock that she didn't have a single friend to help her.
Her dread turned to outright horror as she heard the Cutie Mark Crusaders approaching. Silver Spoon had made fun of them more than any other pony in the school. She could hear them getting closer. She didn't know if she could handle being made fun of by them. She could see them now; oh the terrible things they would say…
"Are ya okay Silver Spoon?"
It had been Apple Bloom who had asked the question. Silver Spoon looked at them in confusion. "What?" Silver Spoon asked back.
"Are you okay?" Scootaloo repeated. "It can't be easy to have your cutie mark just up and vanish like that." "And all the ponies at school were really mean about it." Sweetie Belle added. Silver Spoon didn't understand.
"Why are you being nice to be?" She asked. Now it was the Crusaders turn to give her a confused look. "What do you mean?" They asked in unison. "Well, why aren't you being mean to me, like all the others? I made fun of you to." Silver Spoon explained.
"So? You're having a bad day, we wanted to help." Scootaloo said. "Yeah, 'two wrongs don't make a right.' Rarity told me that." Sweetie Belle said.
Silver Spoon was in awe. She had worked with Diamond Tiara to make the Crusaders miserable. Now Diamond had abandoned her and here the Crusaders stood to try and make her feel better. It wasn't easy logic for her to comprehend.
"Oh! I got an idea!" Apple Bloom said. She pulled Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo into a sort of huddle and began talking with them. Silver Spoon watched anxiously as they talked. Whatever Apple Bloom was suggesting, Scootaloo didn't seem to like it. Sweetie Belle looked to be agreeing with Apple Bloom, and after a while, Scootaloo conceded. The three fillies turned to Silver Spoon grinning.
"Silver Spoon, how would you like to be a Cutie Mark Crusader?!" Apple Bloom asked.
Silver Spoon's jaw dropped. "With your mark gone, we figured you could use some help getting it back." Sweetie Belle said. "I-I…" Silver Spoon was speechless. The Crusaders gave her a hesitant look.
"Don't you want to join?"
"I… would like that, yes." The Crusaders had already explained why they were being nice to her, but Silver Spoon could still hardly believe it.
"Awesome!" Scootaloo cheered, "Now let's get out of here before Pinkie Pire senses that some pony was sad and busts out the party cannon."
Not two minutes after they'd left, Pinkie arrived on the scene pulling her party cannon and carrying a plate of cookies.
In the following days, Silver Spoon slowly began to open up to the Crusaders, becoming their friend. It surprised her, the Crusaders, and when the school ponies began bullying Silver Spoon and the Crusaders rushed to her aid, it surprised the school ponies to.
Diamond Tiara didn't let on any shock, aside from an initial widening of her eyes when she saw them together. Mostly she just ignored Silver Spoon like she had the first day. She also seemed to be trying to avoid the Crusaders, leading them to believe that, with Silver Spoon on their side, Diamond knew she couldn't handle them.
Silver Spoon grew to admire the Crusaders' perseverance. When she'd been a blank flank, the first time around, she gone completely stir crazy. The Crusaders had to, but they just kept on trying, whereas Silver Spoon had simply given up, resigned to a fate of being a blank flank for the rest of her life. Never mind the fact that her mark had appeared the very next day.
After about a week, the school ponies stopped picking on Silver Spoon, their good sense finally catching up with the rest of them. It seemed life would go on as they had before, with the key difference of Silver Spoon not being on Diamond Tiara's side.
But then, as the ponies were leaving school, it happened. Diamond passed the Crusaders, saying, "Later Blank Flanks," like she always did. She didn't even realize she was doing it; it was pure instinct to her by this point. After she said it, she froze, realizing that she had just deemed her old friend no better than the Crusaders. Diamond wondered for a moment if she should just keep walking, but Silver Spoon wouldn't have it.
"You know, I used to think that we were in the right, ragging on the blank flanks. And you know what else, I can't tell you for the life of me why. I guess I just thought it was a good idea to copy you, don't know how I got that into my head."
Diamond turned around to face Silver Spoon, her face blank at first, but slowly turning angry. "So this is it, huh? You're siding with them now?" Diamond Indicated the Crusaders. "Why not? There's nothing wrong with them! We've been picking on them for no good reason. And besides, at least I know they won't ditch me just because I'm a blank flank again." Silver Spoon snapped.
"No good reason, how can you say that?" Diamond questioned, wondering what the Crusaders had done to her friends sense of logic.
"I can say it because it's true! Name one thing you know about them that worth making fun of that isn't them being blank flanks." Silver Spoon challenged. Diamond immediately opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. It occurred to her now that she knew extremely little about the Crusaders.
The Crusaders watched in awe of the battle taking place. They'd never seen Silver Spoon defy Diamond like this. It was truly an event that would go down in the history books.
Silver Spoon smirked at Diamond's lack of a response. "You see? We were the ones in the wrong; we were making fun of something that they have no control over. I get that now, maybe eventually you'll get it to."
And with that, Silver Spoon turned and walked away, followed by the Crusaders, leaving Diamond alone and dejected.
"How did you do that?" Sweetie Belle asked when they got to the clubhouse. "I don't know, I guess I was just telling Diamond what every pony has wanted to tell her." Silver Spoon shrugged. She'd been acting like it was no big deal, but inside she was a mix of excitement and dread.
The Crusaders celebrated Silver Spoon's triumph in battle, until Diamond Tiara arrived at the clubhouse.
"What are you doing here?" Scootaloo questioned, expecting hostility in return. To the Crusaders' surprise, Diamond just said, "I… wanted to talk to Silver Spoon."
"If you want to talk, then talk." Silver Spoon said plainly. Diamond eyes looked over the other Crusaders, then back at Silver Spoon.
"Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of my friends." Silver Spoon said, emphasizing the word 'friends' for effect.
Diamond looked uncomfortable, but spoke anyway. "I… I'm sorry for not helping you out. I shouldn't have let those other ponies make fun of you like that." "Then why did you?" Silver Spoon asked. Diamond seemed to flinch, "I don't know. I just… I was afraid. I don't know what I was afraid of, but I was afraid. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense-"
"None at all." Silver Spoon said. "Okay, it makes no sense, but it's true. I shouldn't have acted like that; I'm sorry."
Silver Spoon wanted to be angry at Diamond, feeling that she deserved it. But she'd heard Diamond give enough fake apologies to know when she was being sincere.
"It's okay. Well, it isn't okay, but I forgive you." Silver Spoon said, walking over to her friend. Silver Spoon said goodbye to the Crusaders, and left with Diamond Tiara. Before they left, though, Diamond stopped, looked back at the Crusaders and said, "Thank you, for helping her out I mean."
"Any time." Apple Bloom said, slightly confused, as they walked away. "Did we just make friends with Diamond Tiara?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm... not sure." Apple Bloom replied.
Tom Foolery crossed his forelegs, blinked his eyes, and the next morning, Silver Spoon's cutie mark was returned, along with her family's wealth. "Either this is getting easier, or I'm just that good." Tom said to himself grinning.
AN: Does anyone think else get the feeling that the writers of MLP and Gravity Falls are actively trying to one up each other? Personally, I get an image of the writers of the two shows in a stand off with the song 'Anything You can do, I can do Better' playing in the background. Gravity Falls one ups MLP's 'Dragon Quest', MLP made 'Twilight's Kingdom'; it's a riveting battle. This episode is what I think would happen if MLP tried to one up Gravity Falls' 'Golf War.'