Faithfully Yours

                                                                                                                                                       18th January

Dear Apple Bloom,

Rarity says you and Fluttershy are pretty busy these days, and everypony says Ponyville isn't the same anymore, so if you can't reply, that's okay. I'll probably DIE not knowing when you get your cutie mark, but I guess if you're just looking after Granny Smith then your cutie mark would only be an icepack or something, right? So I'm gonna hope for your sake that you're still a crusader.

What's wrong with Granny Smith anyway? Oh, I might ask alot of questions in this letter, even if you can't reply. I'm just so bored out here with my folks, and my last letter from Scootaloo was before Hearth's Warming Eve. Did you have a good one by the way?

I dunno if Scoots wrote to you, or if it got there if she did, and I kinda wrecked her letter when I was trying to make a friendship crane. You'd laugh if you saw it, art is SO not my forte. (But then you're probably laughing now, it was kind of a stupid thing to do). Still, when we see each other you've gotta teach me how to make them properly. I'll bet you can make all sorts of oragamis.

So I guess I'll tell you what Scootaloo said, or what I can remember anyway. She can't come visit either of us any time soon, because being Rainbow Dash's assistant is pretty hard work. Does Rainbow come visit you guys much? I dunno how she could since she's a superstar and super-busy, but I think that if we're like that when we're older,  me a pop star and you a farm pony or whatever we are, I'd find a way of seeing you. I wonder if Fluttershy and Rainbow ever thought about these things when they were our age. Boy, that makes me wonder if I even want a cutie mark.

Scootaloo hasn't got one yet either, or she might now, but she didn't when she wrote to me and I'll bet she's just doing the same thing as she was before, with no time for crusading. She says she does a whole lot of 'being there for Rainbow', and asked if that could be her special talent. Dunno about you, but I don't think so. I've done  enough 'being there for Rarity' to last me a lifetime, and I sure haven't got any cutie mark out of it. Doesn't stop her wanting me there again though, and if there's one place more boring than here, it's Appleloosa. I don't think a cutie mark can be about where you are or who you're with, because then you'd be useless without them or anywhere else, which doesn't seem right to me. The new mayor says everypony should be useful in their own right. Being there for someone is just being, which anypony can do, and with all the protection stallions hanging around the town, I guess that's just not enough now.

I didn't believe her when she said Rainbow cries. I can't even see her doing that once, let alone every night. Scootaloo never sees it either, she just hears it through the bedroom door and knows it can't be anypony else, even though Rainbow smiles at her before she goes in and when she comes out. It's not like she used to smile, Scootaloo says, because her face has changed. Looking at the posters, I don't see it, but Scoots says it's because she's around her enough to notice. She's probably just boasting, you know what she's like. Like when she told me that there's this big secret she's keeping for Rainbow, something Rainbow doesn't want anyone to know. It's the reason why she looks so "different" now. Grown-up stuff, Scoots says, and that she can't tell us. No fair, we're her best friends, and if Scoots is grown-up enough then we sure as Celestia are. But don't worry, give it a few more letters and I'll have gotten it out of her. No harm in her two best friends knowing too, right? We can keep a secret just as well as she can. Anyway, she can't torture me like this, I'm going crazy as it is.

Apparently Rainbow fights alot with Soarin, but she always starts the fights and always wins them, so I don't know why she'd cry about them. Soarin always caves in and accepts whatever problem she has with him. That's what Scootaloo says. That he's like "yes, sorry, okay honey whatever you want." And then she smiles at him and says "ok then, awesome" and then goes away and cries.

Scoots says they fight most about the summer derby, and how Soarin doesn't train as hard as he should. Not that it should matter to Rainbow, since it's every wonderbolt for him and herself, and there's nothing Rainbow likes more than winning. I guess it's boring to win easily, without any challenge. I told Rarity and she said that maybe Rainbow's afraid of winning this time, because it's such a big thing, the derby. It's about the best of the best, the very top. And it's lonely at the top, because there's only room for one. If Rainbow and Soarin can't get there together, why make him train any harder?

In any case it looks like she got her wish, because news all over town is that Soarin's been training real hard and he's gonna win. All the protectioners say so, they're taking bets left right and centre. My dad bet a fortune, so as much as I like Rainbow, I sure hope Soarin comes out top. Nopony wants to be in debt to the protectioners, although your sister IS Flim's wife, so you'd probably be okay. Must be great having such a rich and powerful brother-in-law.

Boy, I can't wait until we next meet up, just writing this letter's been the most fun I've had all week.

Write back soon if you can, okay?

Sweetie Belle xxx