Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon. Do two names in MLP bring up more hatred them theirs? Sure Discord bent the world to his twisted whims and Nightmare Moon tried to destroy all plant life by bringing eternal night, but these two are really mean! They’re immediately more relatable as antagonists because we’ve all probably dealt with people like this before who just like to mess with us for whatever reason they can come up with. That being said, is there something about these characters to make them redeemable? Should we, as fans, hold a mirror up to ourselves whenever we start hating on these two? Well there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to keep reading!
So what do we know from canon? Diamond Tiara is a character originally created by Meghan McCarthy for the episode Call of the Cutie and she was given her name by Lauren Faust. She’s rich, bratty, vain, and a bully who mercilessly makes fun of the CMC for their lack of Cutie Marks (among other things). Despite fitting the stereotype of a pampered princess, she does appear to be very hard working as well as business savvy. As much as we’re not supposed to like her in Ponyville Confidential, you can’t deny that she was a great editor considering that she was able to get a school paper circulated throughout Ponyville. Still, the show has so far been content to show her as a one dimensional foil for the CMC and have yet to give her any screen time that doesn’t involve them in some way. She’s voiced by Chantal Strand who was the voice of Starsong in G3, but has mostly stuck to anime voice overs. She also did the English dub for Duchess Morebucks in PPGZ who is the older sister of Princess.
Silver Spoon has even less characterization than Diamond Tiara (she was barely in Ponyville Confidential) and her role is more or less being her lackey. There’s one scene of her being nice which a lot of people have extrapolated to mean that she isn’t as mean as Diamond Tiara, though I feel later appearances have indicated otherwise.
She’s voiced by Shannon Chan-Kent who, like Chantal Strand, has mostly done anime voice overs. The one that I’m aware of is that she was the voice of Fabiola Iglesias in Black Lagoon, a character who knifes a guy in the junk.
Aside from Ponyville Confidential and some brief moments in episodes like Family Appreciation Day, these two are never seen apart. While they continue to be jerks to the CMC, they have yet to be actively malicious towards them by setting traps or making elaborate plans to humiliate them. While they aren’t true villains like Sombra, Sunset Shimmer, or Nightmare Moon, the show has never given us a reason to sympathies with these characters, so they tend to get lumped in with the rest of the bad guys. That being said, there have been times when other characters have been mean to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but it’s been considered justifiable because those two have been jerks. Look at Family Appreciation Day where Applebloom spends the entire episode belittling her granny because Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made fun of her. Of course, once she learns that her grandma was an important person in the creation of Ponyville she immediately changes her opinion of her and doesn’t hesitate to rub it Diamond Tiara’s face.
Applebloom was pretty rotten in that episode considering that she didn’t appreciate Granny Smith until after everyone else thought she was cool, but no one really calls her out on it like they do with Diamond Tiara. Another example would be when Babs Seed turns on a dime against them, rather than explaining to them that she no longer wishes to bully the CMC. I feel that Babs should have taken some responsibility for helping egg Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon on, so she should have given them a chance to prove themselves unwilling to change before exploding at them for doing the exact same thing that she was doing just yesterday.
Other than that, there’s not much else that the show has given us. We know who Diamond Tiara’s father is but not her mother, although some people have theories.
I don’t think there’s much to say about Screwball being Diamond Tiara’s mother considering its only real reason to exist is because they have similar color schemes. It might be an interesting angle to give Diamond Tiara some pathos, but I haven’t seen enough fan made content outside of some artwork to determine how well this idea would work.
So aside from that, what have the fans given these two characters? From where I stand, there’s a somewhat disturbing undercurrent of cruelty when it comes to how some people portray Diamond Tiara in fan made content. People get frustrated with her terrible behavior, so it’s cathartic for some fans to make content where she gets a taste of her own medicine.
I get that she’s written to be hated and that her actions are deserving of some comeuppance, but I feel it gets taken too far sometimes. It seems that some of us just want an excuse to be mean and have found the perfect punching bag so to speak. I do blame the writers to an extent for making her the way she is, but for crying out loud, our credo since day one has been Love and Tolerate. Thankfully, I don’t see too much of the outright nasty stuff out there, but I think it’s worth noting that most bullies act the way they do because they have issues that need to be addressed, and letting your animosity towards someone fester is only going reflect badly on you.
Silver Spoon tends to get a lot more slack from fans than Diamond Tiara does, so most of the fan made content isn’t as negative. The most prominent ones I’ve seen are her shipped with Sweetie Belle, and her having a Smithers/Burns relationship with Diamond Tiara. To tackle the first one, I can kind of see where this is coming from, but there really isn’t a lot to imply a romantic relationship rather than a friendship based on some basic empathy with each other’s situations. I wrote in last week’s article that Sweetie Belle seems to be the least zealous about getting her cutie mark, preferring to follow the other two’s leads. Fan interpretations of Silver Spoon have given her a bit of slack for her behavior, treating her as more of an unenthusiastic companion to Diamond Tiara. Having these two characters who aren’t as into the craziness their friends get into (and most likely butt heads over) gives them a simple setup for a Romeo and Juliet style ship.
When she gets shipped with Diamond Tiara, she tends to be put in a subordinate or worshipping role which I guess reflects her role in the show, but it doesn’t seem to be explored much more than that.
I have seen some art that suggests she’s more of a rock and confidant for Diamond Tiara to lean on in her moment of weakness. I kind of like this interpretation more because it gives us something interesting for Diamond Tiara as opposed to just being her character from the show as she’s portrayed, which as I’ve mentioned earlier is pretty one dimensional . There’s not much more to discuss with these two characters as far as fan made stuff is concerned, so let’s discuss what the future holds for these two snobs as far as the show goes.
As long as there are CMC episodes, they’re going to need antagonists, so there’s no doubt they will continue to make their lives a living hell. I’m not sure what the chances are of some sort of reformation, or even a softening, of these two characters, but I certainly hope that the writers will do something with them to make them less one dimensional. To make a comparison to another show, when The Simpsons started Mr. Burns was the cliché sitcom boss who was overly mean and one dimensional. There are early episodes with them that are great, but I feel that later episodes with the character were able to turn him into one of Springfield’s most endearing citizens by giving him some tragedy in his life and showing that there’s still a bit of humanity in him.
This also helped Mr. Smithers become a bit nicer as the series went along who went from a nasty suck up in the early seasons, to someone who admires Mr. Burns despite his flaws, and does what he can to keep him from becoming pure evil. Hopefully the show will go a similar route if the fans start to warm up to the pair, and we can get some dimensionality from them without having to give up everything that makes them the primary antagonists of the CMC. How I would accomplish this is for Diamond Tiara to find a mentor of some sort who can teach her how to deal with whatever problems are causing her lash out so much, and I think I know the perfect pony to do that.
If you think about it, Rarity could have easily become Diamond Tiara if she had had an easier life that didn’t require her to fight for what she wanted. What little we’ve seen of her family doesn’t indicate she came from a wealthy background, so her appreciation of the finer things in life was something she had to learn on her own. Diamond Tiara lives in the world that Rarity worked her entire life to get into, so I can see why she takes it for granted. Unlike Rarity, she doesn’t know any other life so of course she’s going to be spoiled rotten. I feel that Rarity has the right mix of compassion and stubbornness to really get to the heart of Diamond Tiara’s neuroses and get her to change for the better. It’s actually not that crazy of an idea, giving Rarity and Sweetie Belle prominent roles in the episode, and would teach kids a lesson about healthy outlets for dealing with the problems in their life.
Whether or not the series creators decide to go any further with these two characters is kind of up in the air at this point. They aren’t starving for ideas from the looks of it, so there’s no point in defanging a major antagonists (who isn’t a big celebrity guest star i.e. Discord) without wringing the concept for all it’s worth. Hopefully the show will go on long enough for them to change up the dynamics at some point and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are a good place to start. Even if these characters never get their moment to shine, I’ll always have a soft spot for them and hopefully the rest of the fandom will as well.
.
.
FAN FAVORITES
Fan Fiction
Cutie Mark Crusaders Camping Trip by Yukito
Did I mention this last week? Well now you have another chance to click the link if you haven’t already! I really like how, despite these two groups having to work together and understanding each other better, that the tension is still there. Diamond Tiara is still the entitled princess we all know and love, but this experience has changed her in some way. I really like the middle ground approach that realistically assess the situation and lets us know that ponies don’t change overnight, but the small steps are important. Silver Spoon is a bit overdone in her sappy back story, but Sweetie Belle’s earnest approach to everything does bring out a side of Silver Spoon that is very believable, and you can understand why these two are interested in each other, even if neither of them wants to admit it at first. It’s a great story that’s funny and heartwarming, and knows how to pull out the best in these characters. Also, Cheerilee is hilarious in it.
.
Earth and Sky by Warren Hutch
Yet another story I mentioned in the past. This one is here almost entirely because of Diamond Tiara considering that Silver Spoon only makes brief appearances towards the end of the story. Diamond Tiara on the other hand is the primary antagonist for most of the story, working behind the scenes to try and ensure the failure of our heroes in their quest. It’s probably the most accurate portrayal of where the character will end up if she continues to go down the path she’s set for herself. I’d hate to spoil the surprise of where exactly she is, but needless to say it makes way too much sense given what we know about her. What I also like is that she’s very good at her job (won’t specify to avoid spoilers), but throughout the story we can see how much her jealousy and anger keeps her from doing what needs to be done. She uses many valuable resources just to carry out her revenge on someone who she’s barely interacted with since they were fillies and had nearly forgotten about in the intervening time. It does a lot to give us an idea of how her mind works, informing us that despite all she’s been able to achieve in her life, she’s very far from happy and let’s this long seated hatred fester within her, almost as if she finally has something to do with her life.
SOMEWHAT SPOILERY
Probably the best part of the entire story for me was when all the ill will she’s been building up finally catches up to her, and she goes through some serious trials where she’s confronted with all the mistakes she’s made in the past. It’s a fantastic part of the story that believably gives her some sort of redemption which is always better than just having the villain suffer for their mistakes.
END OF SPOILERS
This story is one of my absolute favorites, and Diamond Tiara’s role in it is the best part in my opinion. I can’t recommend this any higher as one of the best adventure stories (let alone fan fictions) I’ve ever read.
.
Moving on: Silver Spoon’s story by Hollyfern
What? Not enough new stuff for you? Alrighty then, here’s one I discovered while doing research for this article that I’m still trying to finish. The basic idea is that Silver Spoon is all alone after Diamond Tiara moves away, and ends up making friends with the CMC and Twist. The premise is good and I like the idea of seeing more of Silver Spoon’s home life, but there a few nagging issues for me. First of all, Silver Spoon is ridiculously wealthy to the point that it’s surprising she doesn’t live in Canterlot. A three story house, full servant staff with maids, chefs, and butlers just for her because apparently her parents aren’t around. Did I mention she has a pool and elevator inside this mansion? It’s hard to believe that she doesn’t have at least some fake friends who want to hang out with her because of her money. Another issue I have is that things work out a bit too easy for her. It takes the bare minimum of effort and risk on her part to have lots of stuff fall into place. There’s a part somewhat early into the story where she improves upon the map the CMC made of Ponyville while she’s alone in the clubhouse. When she’s finished and hears her friends coming up the stairs, she panics about drawing over someone else’s map without asking permission and tries to throw it away. Now this could have been a chance for some conflict to rise up between her and her new friends if they suspect her of doing something to the now missing map, but fate is looking out for Silver Spoon, because after she throws it out the window, a strong wind blows it back inside and it lands right in front of the CMC who of course love the new map. It’s stuff like that which kind of undercuts the supposed change that Silver Spoon is going through, and takes away from the story’s impact. All that being said; I really do enjoy these slice of life stories where we’re just seeing them go through their daily routines and learning things along the way. It works on that level, and I’m not too far into the story so it could easily pick up at some point. There’s also a sequel so there’s even more to read if you end up liking this story. Consider this somewhat of a recommendation, especially if you’re into these kinds of stories.
.
Well it looks like college won’t necessarily kill this article, but there’s always more homework to be done, so I might end up skipping a week here and there. Until then, I hope you guys still enjoy reading these, because if you’re not, then why the hell am I doing this in first place? Think I’m wasting too much of my life thinking about ponies when I should be focusing on my schoolwork? Well then you can shut up Mr. voice in my head! Either way, let me know what you think in the comments below!
.
.
Image Sources
Diamond Tiara and silver Spoon by Silentmatten
Diamond Tiara and Screwball from ZeldaCourage
I still love you Mama by The-Laughing-Horror
Request: Separation by Moonstruck-badger
I Freaking Hate Diamond Tiara by rastaquouere69
Me Slapping Diamond Tiara For Being A Bully by TigerPrincessKaitlyn
Confidence -artwork- by Sephiroth7734
Where are the apples? by KP-ShadowSquirrel
Commission: MLP: SilverSweet 2 by Angel-Wing101
Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon by TheXIIILightning
She Totally Swiped That Tiara by thedarklordkeisha
Dear Diary by thedarklordkeisha
Tea time with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon by JourneyCurl
Rarity and Diamond Tiara by NeonTrees642
Spitfire’s Gym Class by ParadigmPizza
.
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_SuperDude92
The Reviewers Unite 