The Filly with the Purest Heart

After finishing her conversation with a confused Diamond Tiara, Applebloom continued her trek to Sweet Apple Acres. She was anticipating going to the clubhouse late in the day and meeting her friends there. She had to admit to herself that the idea that Scootaloo came up with to get their cutie marks sounded like an exciting time to say the least. She hurried along through Ponyville and before too long, she had began to see the wooden fence that surrounded the family owned farm.

“This day promises to be an excitin’ one for sure, but boy am I hungry tho’.” said Applebloom as she raced towards her house, making sure to keep track of her saddlebag this time. She did not want to loose it again after what had happened yesterday.

Applejack was finishing up raking the leaves that had fallen around the house, and had placed them in several piles around the area. She was in the process of putting the piles of leaves into plastic bags when she noticed her little sister running towards her, the little filly sporting a smile across her face.

“There you are sugarcube, how was school today?” asked Applejack as Applebloom trotted up to her.

“Oh, it was okay, Scootaloo has came up with a new way that we can get our cutie marks!” said Applebloom.

“I see, well, go ahead and put your saddlebag in your room and I will make lunch for ya, and then you can tell me all about your day.” said Applejack with a gentle tone.

“Alright, I will see ya in a moment sis.” said Applebloom as she ran into her house and began to trot up to her room to unpack.

After taking care of her brief business, Applebloom returned to the kitchen where Applejack was trying to find the right meal to make her little sister happy.

“There ya are lil’ sis, what would you like to have for lunch, yer choice darlin’.” said Applejack as she turned around to face her sister.

“Oh, just a few tomato sandwiches and some hay fries, if that is okay.” said Applebloom modestly. She sat down in the same seat she used that morning for breakfast, and looked around the kitchen, noticing that Applejack had made a lot of apple preservatives and had placed them in jars beside the sink.

“Alright, two tomato sandwiches and hay fires comin’ right up.” said Applejack as she prepared Applebloom’s meal.

“Scootaloo wants us to try our hooves at being treasure hunters.” said Applebloom abruptly to her sister, as she finished preparing her meal.

“Treasure hunters, well, that sounds interesting.” said Applejack as she laid the two plates containing the sandwiches and fries in front of her sister.

“Yep, she said she got the idea from a Daring Do novel that she had borrowed from Rainbow Dash, and she is convinced that we can find something.” said Applebloom as she began to eat her lunch.

“She is always the impressionable one huh?” asked Applejack with a smile as she sat at the chair adjacent to Applebloom.

“Yeah, I guess, but you never know, it might just work.” said Applebloom.

“Where exactly does she plan on looking for treasure, did she tell you?” asked Applejack with curiosity.

“Oh, well... You see.” began Applebloom before her sister interrupted her.

“Somewhere dangerous right, knowing that silly little filly, she probably wants to go to the Everfree to try and find this treasure.” said Applejack as she began to giggle slightly.

“Umm, not the Everfree exactly sis, she wants to go to Fluttershy’s house and ask her if she wants us to search for treasure, at least I think.” said Applebloom trying to remember the exact details that Scootaloo had briefly spoken on earlier.

“Well, just be safe lil’ lady, and if you go near Fluttershy’s house, do make sure you ask her if it is okay first, she may be busy today after all.” said Applejack as she walked over and gave her sister a little kiss on her cheek.

“Aw, don’t worry sis’, I will make sure that we stay out of trouble, I am not in the mood to do any dangerous thing today anyhow.” said Applebloom as she began to put her dishes into the sink before heading out of the door.

“I take it you are going to the clubhouse right, to wait on yer’ friends?” asked Applejack.

“Yeah, they should be there anytime, I will be sure to tell Scootaloo that we need to be careful okay?” said Applebloom.

“Alright, take care then hun, see ya later.” said Applejack as she waved her sister goodbye.

Applebloom then exited her house, and began to trot at a brisk pace towards the clubhouse that was not too far away from her family’s farm.

“I hope Scootaloo will listen to reason, then again, maybe she plans on being careful this time around.” said Applebloom with a giggle as she got closer to the clubhouse.

Diamond Tiara had arrived at her friend’s house. The events with Applebloom just a short while ago continued to be on her mind. She was able to pull herself from thinking of those words that Applebloom told her for a short while as she began to knock on the front door of Silver Spoon’s Three story mansion. For about two minutes, there was no response, at least not one that Diamond Tiara immediately registered, and she began to get slightly worried.

“Huh, is she out with her parent’s right now..what is up?” asked the confused filly to herself.

After nearly three minutes of waiting in front of the door, she finally heard a muffled voice and the sound of hooves trotting down wooden steps.

“Hold on, I’m coming, sheesh!” yelled an exasperated voice as it approached closer to the door.

“She does not sound very pleased, what could have happened?” asked Diamond Tiara to herself with worry.

The silver-coated filly had finally unlocked the front door and opened it. Although on her way to open the door, she had a rather sour expression on her face, upon seeing who it was on the other side, she immediately beamed with a shining smile.

“Oh, Diamond Tiara, I did not think you would be here today, this is a rather nice surprise for sure.” said Silver Spoon.

“Spoony, I am glad to see you, why were you not at school today, and is your parents home?” asked Diamond Tiara as she approached Silver Spoon to give her a hug.

“Watch out darling, I have a cold right now, and I do not want you to get it as well.” said Silver Spoon as she appeared to try and hold back a cough just now.

“I guess that explains why you were not at school today, hehe, oh well.” said Diamond as she backed up slightly from her friend.

“As to the question of my parent’s whereabouts, they are out of town as usual, they both had to attend some stupid meeting about relegating the financial disputed up in Baltimare or something.” said Silver Spoon with a tone of annoyance as she turned to the side of the front door to allow her friend to come in.

“That sucks, they are never around for you, I hate that you have to be alone so much.” said Diamond Tiara with a tone of anger in her voice as she sat on one of the three couches in the main living room of the mansion.

“I get used to it, besides, they have never been ones to show affection anyway, I have been basically forced to raise myself for the past three years due to them having to be out of town so much.” said Silver Spoon as she closed the front door and began to trot over to a rocking chair that sat straight across from the couch that Diamond Tiara had sat on.

“So, what brings you here today Diamond?” asked Silver Spoon as she picked up a tissue out of a box sitting on the table next to her. She rubbed her muzzle before sneezing again. She then made sure to throw it into the garbage can on the opposite side of the rocking chair immediately after.

“It’s about those stupid, classless, insufferable blank flanks!” said Silver Spoon with a new tone of annoyance in her voice as she leaned further back into the couch that she had just began to get comfortable in.

“Oh, them again, right.” said Silver Spoon before she continued.

“What did they do this time, spill something unsavory around you, display rather bad manners again, or were they just plain annoying again?” asked Silver Spoon as she picked up a glass of tea off of the table beside her.

“Aw, where are my manners, would you like some tea Diamond, I had just prepared a nice warm batch minutes before you arrived.” said Silver Spoon with a kind gesture towards her friend.

“You are sick, I will make it myself, oh and thanks for the offer..just take it easy and I will be right back.” said Diamond Tiara as she waved at her friend and walked into Silver Spoon’s kitchen where she saw a tea kettle and a few cups beside it sitting on the stove.

After preparing her tea, she hurried back to speak to her friend about the events that had transpired that day. She still had a spell of confusion waver in her mind up until this point, and she figured if she told somepony about it, the feeling would undoubtedly disappear.

“Alright, whenever you feel ready to talk to me, go ahead.” said Silver Spoon with a calm tone towards her friend.

“Thanks.” said Diamond Tiara. She then continued to speak about the events of the day.

“I overheard those stupid fillies and the plans that they had for getting their stupid cutie marks, and when I decided to break the news to them about how foolish an idea that it was, Scootaloo got pretty fed up with me.” said Diamond Tiara to her friend.

“That sounds like her, that pegasus is always high strung about something, I think she is the most annoying pony in all of Ponyville.” said Silver Spoon with a chuckle as she sneezed again.

“Yeah, and if it was just that, then I would have no problem with what those blank flanks said.” spoke Diamond Tiara as she had to re-focus herself again.

“What, did the other two crusaders gang up on you too since I was not there, if so then how cowardly of them.” said Silver Spoon as she started to get a slight hint of anger in her voice at the prospect that her friend could have been hurt.

“No, that is not what happened at all, Applebloom tried to break up the fight between me and that stupid pegasus, and she did not even seem to be mad at me.” said Diamond Tiara with confusion as she took a sip of her warm tea.

“What, huh?” asked Silver Spoon who had just finished her own tea, a look of surprise stirring over her brow.

“Yeah, and even Sweetie Belle was trying to treat me nice, only Scootaloo herself was being rude to me, it’s funny... I kind of appreciated Scootaloo’s honest disdain towards me, at least her behavior today made sense.” said Diamond.

“It sounds to me like they may be trying to prank you into lowering your guard, Tiara.” said Silver Spoon cautiously as she pointed one of her forehooves at her friend.

“I thought so too, so after class, I decided to confront Applebloom herself about it, but not only did she still insist on being friendly, she even said she wanted to get to know me and you.” said Diamond Tiara as she looked down towards the floor with a small hint of sadness.

“What a freak, wanting to know more about us, despite all of the stuff that we do to them, now I am sure that this has to be some kind of joke.” said Silver Spoon who was still trying her best to understand what her friend was telling her.

“No, call me crazy, but she honestly seemed to be sincere about it, and... Umm... Did you really have to call her a freak?” asked Diamond Tiara as she could not help but feel bad after hearing her friend call Applebloom a freak,

“What, Tiara, you actually believe her, I mean come on, you have said worse things about her in the past after all.” said Silver Spoon with even more confusion running through her mind.

“I know Silver Spoon, maybe you are right, she was probably trying to get me to perform something so unbecoming of myself as to lower my guard and feel vulnerable around her.” said Diamond Tiara as she had finished her own tea.

“See, now you are acting like yourself again Tiara, those fillies are no doubt mad at us for the way we treat them, and they are only trying to get back at us by trying to play with our minds.” said Silver Spoon as she picked up another tissue and rubbed her muzzle gently with it.

“You may be right, but at the same time Spoony, why do we honestly treat them like that for, what have they really done to us?” asked Diamond as she got off of the couch and started to ponder some of her actions towards the crusaders.

“What?” asked Silver Spoon with an even more bewildered tone than before.

“I mean why are we always so rude to them anyway, I never really thought about it until this day, I guess the conversation with Applebloom made me think about this more.” said Diamond Tiara as she walked over to Silver Spoon and place a hoof gently on her shoulder.

“I don’t know Tiara, I only ever followed in your lead, since you did not seem to care for them that much, I always assumed that they did something bad to you in the past, that is all.” said Silver Spoon as she returned the gesture and placed her own forehoof onto her friends face.

“Well, that is the thing, none of them ever truly did anything to me, for as long as I have known them, I do not know why I am resentful towards them.” said Diamond Tiara as she removed her hoof from her friend’s shoulder and walked a short distance away.

“Look Tiara, this is obviously upsetting you right now, let’s take our minds off of it for a while and go to my room, maybe we can solve some more of those crossword puzzles if you would like too.” said Silver Spoon with a gentle tone to her friend.

“I think I would like that Spoony, I think I would like that a lot.” said Diamond Tiara with the same gentle voice as the two fillies walked upstairs to Silver Spoon’s room.

As the two friends approached Silver Spoon’s room on the third floor of the mansion, Diamond Tiara suddenly spoke up, surprising the young silver-coated filly.

“I almost forgot, but this is the funniest thing ever.” said Diamond Tiara chuckling to herself.

“What is it Tiara?” asked Silver Spoon as she opened the door to her room.

“Applebloom and Sweetie Belle actually invited us to join them on that stupid treasure hunt, what do you think of that?” asked Diamond Tiara.

“Really, well forget about it, I am sick right now anyway, so let’s just hang out in my room for a while, okay?” asked Silver Spoon as the two fillies sat on the rug in the middle of the bedroom.

“Yeah, forget I said anything.” proclaimed Diamond Tiara with an almost subtle somberness to her voice.

Applebloom had finally arrived at the staircase that led to the entrance of the clubhouse. She decided to enter the clubhouse to see if her friends have arrived.

“I wonder if they are already here?” asked the filly to herself as she entered the clubhouse.

There were many sheets of paper posted on the bulletin board, each paper which had words scribbled upon them depicting one of the crusader’s many schemes to acquire their cutie marks. Almost all of the sheets of paper had large red marks crossed over them, suggesting that those past schemes did not work.

“Heh, I wonder if this latest adventure will also warrant a red x mark on it too?” laughed Applebloom to herself as she noticed that her friends have not yet arrived.

“So they are not here yet eh, I guess I should just wait here until they show up.” thought Applebloom to herself as she took a seat at the round table that adorned the center of the clubhouse.

After what felt like twenty minutes of waiting, Appleboom finally heard faint hoofsteps outside the clubhouse and quickly got off of her seat to open the club house door. When she looked down towards the bottom of the staircase, she saw Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo trotting towards it.

“Girls, you made it, I was beginnin’ to think that you would not show up!” said Applebloom with a look of joy.

“Oh about that, I had to help Rarity with a dress real quick, she wanted to know what I thought about it, and you know how that goes.” said Sweetie Belle with a sigh.

“Yeah, and I had to pack some stuff that we would need into my saddlebag here, it turns out that you need a lot of gear for treasure hunting, who would have thought,” said Scootaloo as she had her saddlebag strapped around her.

“Let’s come inside, we can discuss the plan in here.” said Applebloom as her two friends ascended the stairs and entered the club house.

“That bag sure does look awfully heavy Scoots, are you sure that we will need this much luggage for our treasure hunt?” asked Applebloom as she looked at how full the saddlebag seemed to be.

“Trust me Applebloom, we will need every bit of it, Daring Do was always prepared for her adventures, and I figured that we should be as well.” said Scootaloo as she took her saddlebag off and sat it on top of the round table.

“I didn’t really bring anything, I figured you would have that covered Scootaloo.” said Sweetie Belle as she took a seat at the round table.

“That’s fine, I wasn’t really clear about that part anyway, you two don’t need to bring anything, as long as you are here, that is all that matters.” said Scootaloo as she sat between her two friends.

“Aww shucks, Scootaloo, that’s nice.” said Applebloom with a smile.

“Now, before we begin to go over the plans for the day, I need to ask you girls a question.” said Scootaloo as her tone changed to a more serious one.

“Oh, okay, what is on your mind?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“About what happened with Diamond Tiara today, what was that all about.” said Scootaloo as she looked at both of her friends with a confused look draped across her face.

“Huh, about that Scoots, I was serious, we do not need to be fightin’ all the time, it just felt like a waste.” said Applebloom to her friend.

“What do you mean, she was the one who started it, she did not have to butt in if she did not have anything nice to say.” said Scootaloo with an annoyed expression.

“I know, but that is just how she is right now, and you getting mad at her will not help things.” said Applebloom with a calm tone.

“So what, we should just try and be nice to her while she bullies us, that does not sound like something that makes sense to me at all.” said Scootaloo as she turned to Sweetie Belle.

“You agree with me right Sweetie, there is no reason to be nice to Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, it’s not like they care about us anyway.” said Scootaloo trying to reason with her friend.

“I don’t know Scootaloo, I was confused at the time, but the way Applebloom was handling it compared to you seemed to make more sense to me.” said Sweetie Belle in response.

“What, so are you two just going to leave me hanging then, is that how it is?” asked Scootaloo as she began to have a hurt look on her face.

“No Scootaloo, you know I love you and Sweetie like sisters, I would never leave you alone, I really do care about you.” said Applebloom as she placed her right forehoof onto the distraught pegasus’ face.

“Yeah Scootaloo, I feel the same way, we did not act that way today to be mean to you, we were just trying to go about it a different way, I guess.” said Sweetie Belle as she sounded unsure of how to properly respond.

“Huh, well I don’t know what you two are trying to pull here, but I will never accept those two stuck up fillies as friends, not after the time that they teased me for not having parents.” said Scootaloo with a tear starting to fall down her left cheek.

“They did what?” asked Sweetie Belle with a shocked look on her face.

“Yeah, it really hurt, and I can never forgive them for that, what right do they have to judge me for something like that, they don’t understand the struggles that I go through, and they just ignorantly tease me because of it.” cried Scootaloo as her face fell between her hooves. She began to sob quietly into the round table as her two friends looked upon her with concern.

“That does sound like a bad thing to do, and you are right Scootaloo, if you really do not like them, then it would not be right fer me to try and convince ya’ otherwise, but I think the best thing we can do right now is talk to Diamond Tiara about it.” said Applebloom as she began to gently stroke her crying friend’s mane.

“No, I don’t care about them, I don’t want to understand them, I HATE THEM!!!” yelled Scootaloo as she started to sob even more.

“I know it hurts Scootaloo, but don’t let that make you feel bad, just know that you are an awesome pony and that nothing anypony says can ever change that.” said Sweetie Belle as she gave Scootaloo a tight, yet gentle hug.

“Thank you girls, you are right, I cannot let this ruin my day, as much as I hate those two, it is not right to let these feelings ruin me right now, we have a fun day still awaiting us.” said Scootaloo as she placed her face up from her hooves and wiped her tears away.

“There, there, that’s it, just relax Scoots, we both love you, and we always will.” said Applebloom as she joined Sweetie Belle in giving Scootaloo a warm embrace.

“Oh thank you girls, I love you too, a pony could not ask for better friends, no family.” said Scootaloo as she now began to shed tears of happiness.

“We will always be your family Scootaloo, until the end of time, I swear it by the honor of my name.” said Sweetie Belle as she also began to cry.

“No matter what might come up between us, we must never leave each other feeling sad, it is our responsibility to look after each other.” said Applebloom as she continued to hug Scootaloo tightly.

“We must learn to share this love with not just ourselves, but everypony around us, no matter how bad they might seem, I just cannot bring myself to hate another pony.” continued on Applebloom as she released Scootaloo from her loving embrace.

“You are right Applebloom, hating another pony only makes me feel sad too, to show love even in the face of hate is the only way for me to truly be happy.” said Sweetie Belle as she moved her hooves onto Scootaloo’s face, and gently turned the pegasus’ head to meet her own.

“Our love for you will know no bounds Scootaloo, just know that whenever you feel down, and never forget that.” said Sweetie Belle as she gently rubbed her muzzle against Scootaloo’s cheek.

“Thank you girls, I love you both, I really do love you both.” said the young pegasus with tears of joy covering her cheeks.

“Now let’s forget about all of the bad stuff right now, and let’s go have us a Cutie Mark Crusader’s Treasure Hunt!” yelled Applebloom with absolute glee as a wide, peaceful smile covered her face.

“Yeah, I like the sound of that.” said Scootaloo quietly as she began to feel the love around her force her depression to completely wither away.