The Belle tolls for love

A SILENT PROTECTOR

SIX MONTHS LATER...

Rarity lay unconscious on the floor now with Twilight standing over her with a manikin leg as Cheerilee stood in front of Sweetie Belle protecting her. “Tw-Twilight?! What have you done?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in horror.

“Cheerilee, grab Sweetie Belle and run!” Twilight exclaimed in a panicked tone.

“But Twilight, what about you?” Cheerilee asked in a worried tone as she lifted Sweetie Belle up and put the filly onto her back.

“Don't worry about me, I'll sort things out here! Now go!” Twilight exclaimed at which point Cheerilee dashed from the carousel boutique as fast as her hooves could carry her.

How could things have come to this? What have I become? It all felt so unreal. As I stared at my best friend whom I had just knocked unconscious I realized one horrifying fact. When she woke up she would still know what happened, Sweetie Belle and Cheerilee wouldn't be safe, not as long as this unicorn was alive...

Could I really do it? Could I kill one of my best friends to protect them? And would I be able to stop there? After all, the others would start asking questions. Would I have to kill them too? Maybe I should start from when I began...when I decided I would protect the two at all costs. Even if it meant my own life.

The day I decided I would become...

THEIR SILENT PROTECTOR

PRESENT DAY....

I woke up earlier the next morning as I always did. I would have a book ready to be read every morning usually, but this morning was different. This morning I had something more important to do. I had to make sure Cheerilee had learned from her past mistakes. Looking back and seeing it from an adult mare's point of view I see now she wasn't running away. She really had no choice.

She had let her defenses down in public, let me act towards her in ways she shouldn't have allowed. Because of this, questions began to arise. It soon grew to the point that in order to protect us both, she had to leave me. She truly did it because she loved me so, even if it hurt more than anything in my life. I didn't know why exactly I had taken a sudden profound interest in Cheerilee and Sweetie Belle's relationship. Perhaps it was because it reminded me so much of the relationship we shared.

Regardless, I felt a old part of me that I had tucked away in the back of my mind resurface, a part of me I thought I had buried forever, unearth itself from my subconscious and burst to life within me. This part of me I both loathed and loved. It was this part of me that allowed me to push Cheerilee to the point of no return that day many years ago, to love me as I did her.

“Hey Twilight, Where are you going?” Spike asked curiously as Twilight began to head for the door.

“I'm going to get a little fresh air. Hold down the fort till I get back okay?” Twilight replied with a smile.

Twilight then left the library and teleported close to Cheerilee's house. “They should be waking up anytime now.” Twilight thought to herself as she sat and waited for the two to wake up.

Sure enough a few minuets later, Cheerilee had walked out of her front door to pick up the newspaper off the lawn and walked back inside.

I decided to take a risk a get a closer look so I sneaked over to the home and peered in through the window.

“Morning Sweetheart, did you sleep well?” Cheerilee asked with a smile as she walked back into the bedroom, got back onto the bed, and curled up next to the filly.

“Yeah, I’m feeling a whole lot better today too.” Sweetie Belle replied, stretched her limbs, yawned loudly before jumping out of bed, and began to leave the room.

“You aren't going to try and make breakfast again are you?” Cheerilee asked with a smirk which caused the filly's ears to flatten in annoyance as she turned around and looked at her.

“um, no?” Sweetie Belle replied with a guilty expression again.

“Why don't we go out to eat instead? I heard there's a wonderful restaurant in town that serves the most delicious oatmeal.” Cheerilee said in a suggesting tone to which Sweetie Belle's expression lit up with excitement.

I watched the two leave Cheerilee's house and stayed close to them but they never saw me. It was then I saw it, Cheerilee's tail was firmly wrapped around Sweetie Belle's as they walked towards the restaurant. Strike one Cheerilee, two more to go.

“You never learn do you? Ugh!” Twilight remarked aloud in annoyance only to slam her hooves over her mouth in a panic fearing they had heard her.

Luckily for me they hadn't, but it was more then obvious to me now that Cheerilee hadn't learned to keep a lid on her affections in public. This fact worried me. I couldn't bare to see her have to leave again. Not only would it break Cheerilee's heart to do so yet again, it would destroy Sweetie Belle. Being so young, she would never understand why Cheerilee had to do such a thing. I barely understood at the time and I was five years older than her.

I decided to follow them a little longer in secret before I let my presence be known, however my cover would be blown before I had meant for it to be thanks to a certain pink friend of mine.

“Hi Twilight! Why you following Cheerilee and Sweetie Belle in secret for? Are you being a spy like-mmmhph,dreumph,umgph!” Pinkie Pie began to exclaim only for Twilight to stuff a hoof in her mouth to shut the rambling pink mare up.

“Pinkie Pie, do you always have to be so loud?!” Twilight hissed only to notice Cheerilee and Sweetie Belle now walking towards them at which point the purple unicorn yanked her hoof out of the pink mare's mouth and smiled at the two.

“Oh hey Twilight. What brings you out here?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

“Oh you know, just enjoying the fresh air.” Twilight replied with a nervous smile.

“But Twilight, weren't you just foll-OW!” Pinkie Pie began to saw only to get a swift hoof to the nose which caused her to hold it with a teary-eyed look.

Looking back, I think I may have been a little too harsh on her. She was after all being Pinkie Pie, but a swift hoof to the nose was the only way I knew of to shut her up at the time.

“Sorry Pinkie! I thought I saw a bumble bee on your nose!” Twilight exclaimed feigning a guilty look as she turned to look at Pinkie Pie's nose now which was bleeding slightly now from the blow.

“It's okay Twilight, I know you wouldn't hit me on purpose!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in a nasally tone.

Okay, now I felt like dirt.

“Let me just take a look at that.” Twilight replied no longer feigning guilt now as she looked over Pinkie Pie's nose.

“Don't worry about me Twilight! I'll be fine! I'll just get it looked at by nurse Redheart. It's actully pretty funny! You thought I had a bumble bee on my nose haha!” Pinkie Pie replied as she turned around and skipped away as if nothing had happened.

Drive the proverbial guilt knife deeper into my chest why don't ya?

Soon after Pinkie Pie was out of sight Twilight turned to look at Sweetie Belle and Cheerilee again whom were still standing there. “So where are you two off too?” Twilight asked with a smile trying to get rid of the awkward atmosphere now.

“Well, me and Sweetie Belle are off to the unicorn buffet for some breakfast. Would you care to come along?” Cheerilee asked curiously with a warm smile.

I couldn't have asked for a better excuse to keep an eye on these two.

“Sounds great, I'm starved!” The purple unicorn exclaimed as she rubbed her stomach.

“But Cheerilee, I wanted this to be a date.” Sweetie Belle whined as she looked at the earth pony with a pouty expression.

Looks like Cheerilee wasn't the only one who needed to learn a lesson or two.

“Sweetie Belle, I don't think it's such a good idea for you to say that so openly.” Twilight remarked looking about herself now. Thankfully, no pony was around to hear her say this.

“Twilight is right Sweetheart. We need to keep our relationship a secret and it would be blown if you said something like that with everypony around.” Cheerilee said agreeing with the mare.

“Speaking of keeping things a secret, you sure are doing a poor job of it at the moment.” Twilight remarked in a sour tone as she pointed a hoof at Cheerilee's tail which was still wrapped around Sweetie Belle's.

“Ops.” Cheerilee replied with a blush as she let go of the filly's tail and gave a nervous giggle.

“It'll be a lot more than a simple ops if you two get busted.” Twilight replied in a knowing yet stern tone.

“Twilight, I am well aware of this. You don't need to be so protective of me and Sweetie Belle. I've learned from my past mistakes and I think we can handle ourselves.” Cheerilee replied in an annoyed tone as she gave the purple unicorn an annoyed look.

I seriously beg to differ with that statement.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to be so over protecting, I just wanted to make sure you two can stay happy.” Twilight replied truthfully.

“I appreciate the concern Twilight. Really, I do, but please try to trust in my judgment. Lets get going shall we?” Cheerilee replied, turned around, and began to walk down the path again with Sweetie Belle at her side.

That's just the problem Cheerilee, I don't.

As the three stepped into the buffet they could see many ponies walking about getting different foods from the serving counters along with rows and rows of tables, picnic blankets, and small bar style chairs with round tables.

“Cheerilee, this place looks rather expensive, are you sure you can afford all three of us?” Twilight asked in a worried tone.

“Nonsense, this place is well within my budget. Besides, I want Sweetie Belle to try out their oatmeal. I know she will just love it!” Cheerilee exclaimed with a smile as she leaned down and gave the filly a subtle gentle nuzzle to the cheek.

Not subtle enough if you ask me, strike two Cheerilee. One more and I’ll really have to step in.

Cheerilee decided that one of the picnic blanket areas would do them just nicely as she pointed a hoof in that direction after she had paid for each of their meals. The three walked over to one of to one of the picnic blanket areas, set their saddle packs down, and went to the serving trays to pick up their food.

Once the three had their food they went back to the picnic area they set their saddle packs at and began to eat.

“So Cheerilee told me how you two dated a few years ago. Did you really trick her into dating you like that?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

“Oh good grief, you told her how we met?” Twilight replied with a light laugh feigning ignorance.

“Well, she asked and I didn't want to lie to her you know.” Cheerilee replied with light laugh of her own.

“I wouldn't really call it tricking her per-say, but yes I did use a few under hoofed methods to win her over.” Twilight replied with a slight blush as she looked at Cheerilee now.

If there was an award for the drastic understatement of the century, that sentence would have won it hooves down.

“Sounds a lot like tricking her to me. A fake book, the letters, and the whole making her go crazy, head over hooves, in love with the mystery pony who turned out to be you, sounds a whole lot like tricking to me.” Sweetie Belle replied in an unconvinced tone.

Holy horsefeathers! This filly is a whole lot smarter than I gave her credit for! I'll need to watch myself a whole lot more from here on out from now on...

“Okay, you got me. I did trick her, but I only did it because I cared about her.” Twilight replied in a guilty tone to which Cheerilee gave a light laugh.

“What's so funny?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously looking at the earth pony now as she took a bite of her food before responding.

“It's just funny to me is all. Here we are. My ex-fillyfriend, me, and my current fillyfriend talking about how she won me over.” Cheerilee replied with a giggle.

Twilight quickly gave a panicked look about herself and realized that Cheerilee had chosen a rather secluded spot with no ponies within hearing distance and let out a sigh of relief.

I'll just call that one a foul.

“You need to be a little more careful Cheerilee. I know there are no ponies around to hear us, but you never know who might walk by.” Twilight remarked in a cautioning tone.

“You're being paranoid Twilight. I told you to trust my judgment. I chose this spot because I knew Sweetie Belle had questions for you and no pony was close by.” Cheerilee replied with a smile.

“So why did you two break up anyways? Did you two not love each other enough?” Sweetie Belle then asked at which point an awkward silence ensued.

Filly's ask the darnedest things... That was a question I would rather not answer.

“Sweetie Belle, it wasn't that we didn't love each enough. It was just that...” Cheerilee began to say but trailed off as she looked at Twilight whom wore the same saddened expression she did.

You just had to leave it up to me to answer, didn't you?

“Things got complicated.” Twilight replied in a soft tone hoping she would accept that answer.

“How complicated?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously while taking note of the depressing atmosphere.

Twilight let out a deep sigh upon hearing this and ran a hoof though her mane. “We nearly got found out. I'm sure you already know this, but I wasn't exactly old enough to be dating a mare Cheerilee's age at the time.” Twilight replied feeling herself become more and more depressed by the minuet.

“How did you almost get found out?” The filly asked simply.

This was where I put my hoof down, it was painful enough to recall these memories, but those days that lead to the end of our relationship I wanted to forget forever.

“It's kind of hard to go into detail on that Sweetie Belle. Those days are ones I would rather not remember.” Twilight replied honestly.

“You see Sweetheart, I wasn't exactly cautious with Twilight. And when ponies began to question what was going on between me and her, I did the only thing I knew of that would silence the questions, and protect us.” Cheerilee replied in a saddened tone with a sigh of her own.

“What did you do?” Sweetie Belle asked in an uneasy tone. The filly by now had a good idea these questions were ones she probably shouldn't be asking, but she had to know.

“She left.” Twilight replied simply in a soft tone as a silent tear streaked down her cheek.

Saying those two simple words, it felt like somepony had taken a knife, jabbed it into my heart, and began to twist and grind it against me.

“I'm sorry Twilight. I didn't mean to upset you or Cheerilee. I just wanted to know.” Sweetie Belle said in a sweet tone as she walked over and hugged Twilight.

“I know.” Twilight replied simply as she put a hoof around the filly and gently ran it through her mane.

“It must have hurt so much. I feel so mean for making you remember all that. Can you ever forgive me?” Sweetie Belle asked with a teary-eyed expression now as she looked up at the purple unicorn.

Such a wonderful filly. So emotionally mature and wise beyond her years, yet still so naive and young. It almost made me jealous of Cheerilee. Almost...

“There's nothing to be sorry for Sweetie Belle. It's not your fault after all.” Twilight replied with a weak smile as she wiped her nose with a soft sniffle and looked into the filly's eyes then at Cheerilee whom reached over, picked up the filly, and kissed the filly on the on the lips which once again caused the unicorn to look around in a panic and be thankful no one was looking in their general direction.

“Don't worry Sweetheart, you did nothing wrong.” Cheerilee said in a soft tone.

Strike three Cheerilee, You never learn do you?

“Can I talk to you alone Cheerilee?” Twilight asked in a stern tone to which Cheerilee nodded silently, put Sweetie Belle down and followed her to the side of the restaurant area away from the filly and everypony.

“Cheerilee! You can't be doing that in public! Talking is one thing, but kissing her is the quickest way to get busted!” Twilight exclaimed in a panicked tone which caused Cheerilee to give a guilty look.

“Sorry Twilight, I knew it was a risk, but-” “But nothing! Do you want to have to leave her?!” Twilight exclaimed dramatically cutting off Cheerilee and caused the mare to be taken back along with a heavy sigh.

“No, I don't.” Cheerilee replied simply but an air of sadness could be heard in her voice as she spoke now.

“Then use that brain of yours! You can't kiss her in public, you can't flirt with her in public, you can't do anything that looks remotely like those things!” Twilight exclaimed dramatically and gave a sigh as she regained her composure. “I know you want to show you care for her, but you can't be so public about it.” Twilight said in a much calmer tone a few moments after her hushed shouts at the mare taking note of her looking more and more guilty with each word.

“I understand. Thank you Twilight. You are absolutely right. I need to be more careful with her in public.” Cheerilee replied in a low tone along with a sigh as she looked over at Sweetie Belle whom was eating her food still.

Looking at Cheerilee now, I felt responsible for her becoming the mare she is today. If not for me, she would not be in this situation now. I'm the one who set her on this path. At least that's how I felt. In my mind I knew otherwise. It was her choice to date a filly younger than her. But no matter what your head tells you, sometimes you heart can override your better judgment. I could only hope she would take my words to heart.

I wasn't done yet however, I had one more thing I needed to know. I looked over at Sweetie Belle now and immediately felt sick to my stomach. I could only hope what I was about to put this filly through was right, even though it felt so wrong...