Cutie Mark Crusader Camping Trip

by Yukito

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sweetie Belle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Romance, Silver Spoon, Adventure, Diamond Tiara
Length: 51974

CMC, DT, and SS are forced to put up with each other during their school's camping trip

In an attempt to end the constant war between the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their biggest enemies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, or at the very least tone it down a bit, Cheerilee decides to put the five of them together in the same group for the upcoming camping trip. What's the worst that could possibly happen?

Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon shipping inside. Thou hath been warned...eth.

This fic was originally inspired by Your Antagonist's 'The Serenade of Silver Belles', which you should all go and read.

Was originally going to be just a SilverBelle fic, but decided to expand it to also include background stories for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

Published 2012-11-26 05:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-21 16:42:49 UTC

Prologue - The Day Before

Scootaloo zoomed through the air faster than she ever had before. A large grin was plastered to her face as she blasted through some clouds, before turning to her partner, Rainbow Dash. The two of them were wearing matching Wonderbolt outfits, and were in charge if clearing the sky above Ponyville.

“You ready, kid?!” Rainbow Dash shouted over to Scootaloo, lowering her goggles over her eyes.

“Yeah!” Scootaloo shouted back, mimicking the motion.

The two started to flap their wings faster, and began speeding up greatly. This was it. This was the moment that Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash would simultaneously break the sound barrier. The moment that Scootaloo had waited so long for. It was all about to become reality!

“-loo? Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo’s eyes slowly began to open, and she raised her head slowly. She took a moment to figure out where she was.

“Are you back with us, Scootaloo?” Cheerilee asked, narrowing her eyes at the orange Pegasus filly, who was smiling back sheepishly.

“I-I wasn’t sleeping, Miss Cheerilee! Honest!” Scootaloo responded.

“Really? Then perhaps you’d like to answer the multiplication question I just gave you?”

Scootaloo winced, and quickly thought up a random number in her head. “82?”

Snickers could be heard from almost every student in the class, and Scootaloo felt her face beginning to heat up as her cheeks turned red.

“Scootaloo… We’re learning History right now, not Math,” Cheerilee said, before turning back to the board. “I want you to stay behind after class.”

Cheerilee continued her lesson, and Scootaloo groaned from many things. From her being caught sleeping in class, from her now having to stay behind after class, and also, from her dream of breaking the sound barrier with Rainbow Dash… Being just that. A dream, and nothing more.

‘Man, can this day get any worse?’

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle decided to wait for Scootaloo outside. They didn’t have any crusading to do today, but they still had plans, which involved all three of them together. They were going to pack for the school camping trip tomorrow, and had agreed to hold their strategy meeting after school today, in their clubhouse. They asked Cheerilee to put them in the same group, a favour the teacher (reluctantly) accepted.

“Honestly, her grades are already low enough, and yet she thinks she can afford to sleep in class?”

The two crusaders cringed at the voice behind them, but decided to try their best to ignore it. Unfortunately, the owner of said voice had other plans.

“It’s because she has no ambition that she’s still a blank flank,” Diamond Tiara said as she (purposefully) approached Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom spun around to confront the filly. “That’s not true at all! Scootaloo’s always the most eager one of us tah earn her Cutie Mark! She has plenty ambition!”

Diamond Tiara grinned, obviously pleased with the response obtained from Apple Bloom. “So she’s the most motivated of the three of you, yet she’s still a blank flank?”

“Maybe she simply doesn’t have any special talent,” Silver Spoon, standing next to Diamond Tiara, suggested, giggling alongside her friend. “No wonder she doesn’t seem to commit any in class. She must have seen how pointless it all is.”

“Scootaloo would never give up!” Sweetie Belle shouted, her cracking a little bit, causing the three other fillies to cringe a little bit. “She’s just tired because she’s always working hard! Sure, she could focus a little more on her schoolwork, but-”

“Hey! What’s going on out here?!” The four fillies turned to see Scootaloo approaching them from the side, her wings flared as she scowled at the two that seemed to be giving her friends a hard time. “You two again?! Don’t you ever get tired of making fools of yourselves?”

Diamond Tiara scoffed, and approached the Pegasus filly. “Us, making fools of ourselves? At least we don’t fall asleep in the middle of class all the time, and score less than 30 on our tests!”

“At least I don’t copy my friend’s notes just to get high grades!” Diamond Tiara flinched, giving Scootaloo a satisfied grin. “Yeah, I know, Diamond Tiara! We all do, and if you don’t get your act together, you’re gonna get caught be Miss Cheerilee real soon!”

“Oh yeah, blank flank?!”

“Is name-calling all you got, spoiled little Princess?!”

“Don’t you dare talk that way about her, you ruffian!”

“Scootaloo’s not a ruffian!”

“Yeah! Don’t insult mah friends if ya know what’s good fer ya!”

“Or what, you’ll get violent?! Go ahead! Then my daddy will sue your family for every last bit you have!”

“Hidin’ behind daddy again?! Try standin’ on yer own hooves for once, ‘Princess’!”

“I don’t know what we’re yelling about!”

The group paused for a moment, and stared at a small Unicorn filly – who they recognised as Dinky Doo – sitting nearby, who soon got up and walked away. They then went back to their arguing.

Cheerilee sighed as she watched the scene outside the window. The sight of the five fillies fighting just outside of the school, shortly after school let out, had become an all-too-familiar sight for her, and it seemed that the fights were getting more and more frequent as of late.

When she saw Apple Bloom throw a dirt clod at Silver Spoon in a fit of anger, she felt like she should run outside and break it up. But she knew that it would be pointless; they would be fighting again very soon, she was sure of it.

What she needed was something to make them stop fighting altogether, or at least something to calm them down, so that their squabbles were less violent.

“That’s it!” Cheerilee shouted sternly as she saw Scootaloo tackle Diamond Tiara to the ground. Luckily, Sweetie Belle was able to hold the Pegasus back, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon decided to withdraw before the situation escalated too much.

“This has gone on long enough! It’s time for drastic measures!”

Cheerilee opened her desk drawer, and pulled out a sheet of paper. It was the group assignments for the camping trip. She scrolled across the page to group 5, where the three crusaders had their names written down. Next to them, in group 6, were five other names. Cheerilee crossed out two of the names in that group, and moved back to group 5.

She hesitated for a second, but convinced herself that it was a good plan, and that it would definitely work. Underneath Sweetie Belle’s name, Cheerilee wrote down Diamond Tiara, and under that, Silver Spoon.

“By the end of this trip, hopefully the five our will at least be less hostile towards each other.” Cheerilee stared at the sheet for a few seconds, before letting out a deep sigh as she put it away. “Hopefully…”

Scootaloo gritted her teeth as she watched Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon fleeing the scene as quickly as they could. “Yeah, you’d better run!” she shouted, still being held back by Sweetie Belle. Once they were out of sight, she took a few moments to calm down. ‘Think happy though, Scootaloo… Flying with Rainbow Dash… Cooking with Rainbow Dash… Talking with Rainbow Dash…’

When Scootaloo seemed to have calmed down, Sweetie Belle cautiously released her, and waited for one of her friends to say something.

“So…” Apple Bloom finally said, “… We should probably get goin’. Applejack said the farm needs ma help today, so I can’t stay out too late.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Scootaloo said, stretching her hooves and her wings.

Sweetie Belle nodded, but then blushed as she felt something in her body. “Uh, actually, girls…” The other two crusaders turned to their friend. “I have to… Visit the little fillies’ room.”

Scootaloo sighed, and fell down on her back, laying down on the grass beneath her. “Fine! Just hurry it up, ‘kay?”

Sweetie Belle nodded again, and rushed off towards the school building, which was thankfully still open.

Sweetie Belle rushed down the school corridor, not wanting to make her friends wait too long for her. She got to the restroom, and walked inside. Once she did, however, she almost bolted out again, after seeing what – or rather, who – was in there.

“Gah!” she shouted, startled to see another pony in the school’s restroom this long after the final bell had rang.

Silver Spoon was clearly just as startled by the Unicorn’s sudden appearance, almost jumping out of her skin herself when Sweetie Belle suddenly yelped at her. “W-What?!” she shouted, before turning to see who had just entered. “Oh, it’s just you…”

Sweetie Belle looked down at the floor, and shifted uncomfortably on her hooves. “Um… What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Silver Spoon responded sarcastically. “I had to visit the little fillies’ room, and now I’m washing my hooves.”

“Oh… Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” The two fillies stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds, before Silver Spoon broke the gaze by turning her head away, focusing her attention back onto her hooves.

Sweetie Belle walked past Silver Spoon, and headed towards one of the stalls behind her. After doing her business, she left the stall feeling refreshed, and headed towards the sinks to wash her hooves. She was surprised to see that Silver Spoon was still there.

“How long does it take you to wash your hooves?” she asked, looking at her questioningly.

Silver Spoon didn’t respond, but instead continued to focus on her hooves… An awful lot more than Sweetie Belle thought was necessary. Curious, Sweetie Belle leaned over to examine Silver Spoon’s hoof, and let out a loud gasp when she saw blood dripping from it.

“W-WHAT?! What happened?!” she asked, now entering full-on panic mode.

“I just cut myself. It’s no big deal… Except I have no bandages, and Miss Cheerilee seems to have left already.”

“What do you mean it’s no big deal?! We have to treat that right away!”

“I said it’s fine!” Silver Spoon shouted. “I just have to wait for it to stop bleeding! That’s all!”

“How did that even happen?”

“… I cut myself… When I was running from you three,” she said, turning her head to the side, to avoid any contact with Sweetie Belle’s gaze. “Diamond Tiara would hate me if I got blood anywhere near her coat or mane, so I excused myself to take care of it.”

Sweetie Belle titled her head in confusion, and was now staring at the back of Silver Spoon’s head. She had always wanted to ask Silver Spoon a certain question, but always felt that she would just bother her, or that it wasn’t her place to ask it. But now, she really had to ask.

“Why are you…” she began, before hesitating for a moment. Silver Spoon turned to face her, with a bored expression on her face. “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking… Why are you and Diamond Tiara friends?”

Silver Spoon arched an eyebrow at the strange question. “I don’t see how that is any of your business, blank flank!”

Sweetie Belle cringed a little at the name, but shook it off. “You keep calling us that, but never in a truly hostile way,” she said, confusing the other filly even more. “Whenever you pick on us, I always feel that… I dunno, maybe you’re just doing it for fun? Like a harmless prank?”

“Is that so?” Silver Spoon asked, in a uninterested tone.

Sweetie Belle nodded, and continued. “But when Diamond Tiara does it, I get the impression that there’s more to it than that. She’s doing it to spite us, but you don’t mean any real harm towards us. So, why-”

“Again, I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Silver Spoon responded bitterly. “I will be friends with whoever I want. In any case, she’s much better than those losers you hang out with.”

Sweetie Belle frowned as she fell silent, starting to lose her patience with the other filly… Something that rarely happened to the usually cheery Unicorn. In fact, to date, the only pony she can remember ever being truly angry with was her sister.

After she finished washing her hooves, she shut off the water and dried them. She was about to head out, but noticed Silver Spoon still holding her hoof under the water, waiting for the bleeding to stop. ‘For somepony at the top of her class, she sure can be pretty silly sometimes,’ Sweetie Belle thought to herself, a little giggle escaping as she remembered one or two times where common sense seemed to elude Silver Spoon.

Silver Spoon glared at Sweetie Belle upon hearing the barely suppressed giggle. “What?” she demanded.

“Huh? Oh, nothing! I, uh…” Sweetie Belle wanted to simply run past Silver Spoon and leave the restroom, but unfortunately, her sister’s lessons on proper pony etiquette wouldn’t let her. ‘It’s not polite to ignore somepony when they ask you a question.’

“If you have something to say, then say it.”

“Um… I was just… Wondering how you got your Cutie Mark?” Silver Spoon clearly didn’t believe the Unicorn, but didn’t say anything. “Well, I thought hearing how you got it, might help me to find mine?”

Silver Spoon turned her attention back to her hoof, completely shutting Sweetie Belle out of her mind now. Behind her, she heard hoofsteps walking by, slowly. Curious, she lifted her head up to look in the mirror before her, and saw Sweetie Belle walking away looking… Sad?

“… I got it when I visited my father’s business,” she said, causing Sweetie Belle to stop and turn back to face her. “I realised my special talent in business management, when I watched my father work, and as he taught me the secrets of a successful business.”

Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin as she titled her head in confusion. “Wait… What does that have to do with spoons?”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “It’s not the spoon itself; it’s silverware, which is a symbol of wealth. It shows that I can bring in good profits for any business I decide to run.” Silver Spoon noticed that Sweetie Belle was still staring at her in confusion, and let out an annoyed groan. “Did you want something else?”

Sweetie Belle quickly snapped out of her thoughts, and smiled and she shook her head. “Um, no. Thanks,” she said. Silver Spoon simply nodded, and got back to her hoof. Sweetie Belle suddenly remembered that she had her saddlebags with her, and in them was…

Silver Spoon heard the click of a saddlebag, and the sound of somepony rustling through some items. She didn’t bother looking up though, not until she saw something in the corner of her eye. She turned to see what it was, and saw Sweetie Belle offering her a plaster. She raised an eyebrow at the sudden gesture.

“You’ll be here for a while if you just wait for the bleeding to stop on its own. I always carry spare bandages with me, so you can have one, if you’d like.”

Silver Spoon stared blankly at Sweetie Belle for a few seconds, before turning off the tap and accepting her offer. “… Thanks,” she said, drying her hooves before applying the plaster.

The two stared at each other awkwardly for a bit, before Silver Spoon decided to break the silence and leave. “Well then, I’ll be on my way. Unlike you and your friends, I actually have important business to attend to.”

“You mean like letting Diamond Tiara copy your notes? Or visiting the spa so you can make yourself feel more mature?” Sweetie Belle said mockingly, before she realised what she was saying, and quickly shut herself up. ‘Whoa, where’d that come from?’

Silver Spoon harrumphed and left the room. Usually, she would have accepted the filly’s challenge to throw verbal assaults at each other. But for some reason, she didn’t feel up to it right now. No, not that… She simply chose not to. ‘I must just be tired or something,’ she told herself.

Sweetie Belle felt something in her stomach as Silver Spoon left. It was something she’d never felt before, and she couldn’t tell whether it was good or bad. “I hope I’m not getting sick, not when the camping trip is tomorrow,” she thought aloud, before remembering that her friends were waiting for her. “Oh no! I’ve gotta get back to them!”

“Okay crusaders!” Scootaloo shouted as soon as her friends were sitting down in the clubhouse. “Time to make sure we have everything we need for tomorrow’s camping trip! Now remember, we need enough supplies to last us the weekend, but we can only carry so much, so we’ll have to choose wisely what we pack!”

“Right!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shouted in unison, before joining their Pegasus friend in sorting through a pile of randomly accumulated items, and throwing practically every other item they came across inside their bag.

“We have ta do this quickly!” Apple Bloom stated. “We got here later than ah expected, and ah’ll have ta go back to the farm real soon!”

“Well, maybe if somepony hadn’t taken forever going to the bathroom,” Scootaloo said, narrowing her eyes accusingly at Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle didn’t say anything, and it was then that Apple Bloom noticed that she had stopped throwing random things into their bag, and was now just staring at the pile with a blank look on her face. “Sweetie Belle? You okay?”

Scootaloo turned her attention from the pile and back to Sweetie Belle, and groaned in annoyance at the spaced-out filly.

Sweetie Belle didn’t hear Apple Bloom’s question. Her mind was thinking back to her encounter with Silver Spoon earlier, and the strange feeling she felt after Silver Spoon had left. When did the feeling start? Was it when she first saw Silver Spoon in the restroom? No… When she asked her about Diamond Tiara? No. The Cutie Mark story? Giving her the plaster? When she-

Sweetie Belle’s eyes shot wide open, and she felt the same feeling in her stomach again. It reappeared at some point between offering the plaster to Silver Spoon, and Silver Spoon leaving. It didn’t take long to pinpoint the right moment – it was when Silver Spoon said “thanks”.

‘What’s going on? Why am I feeling this way? Is it ‘cause I wasn’t expecting Silver Spoon of all ponies to thank me for anything? Or is it…’

“Equestria to Sweetie Belle!” Sweetie Belle snapped out of her thoughts, and turned her gaze to Scootaloo, who was glaring at the white filly. “’Bout time! C’mon, we don’t have time for your to be dozing off again!”

Sweetie Belle stared at Scootaloo for a few moments, before remembering why she was there. “Oh, right! Sorry,” she said, blushing as she turned her attention back to the pile.

Applejack made her way up the stairs to the crusader’s clubhouse, ready to take Apple Bloom back to the farm. “Well, ah think we did quite well!” a voice called out from inside. Curious, Applejack peeked through a window, and saw the three fillies looking at their packed camping bag… Which looked ready to explode at a moment’s notice.

“Whoa!” Sweetie Belle shouted, startling the others. She lifted up a pack of three toothbrushes – a white one, a yellow one, and an orange one – and laughed as she carried to over to the bag. “Almost forgot these! That would have been bad!”

“Geez, don’t scare me like that!” Scootaloo said. “I thought you’d seen a ghost or something.”

Apple Bloom shot Scootaloo a playful grin. “Aww, are you afraid of ghosts, Scootaloo?” she asked in a teasing voice.

“W-What?! Of course not!” she shouted, but Apple Bloom wasn’t convinced. Before she could protest any further, though, a loud yelp was heard from Sweetie Belle, and the two fillies turned to see an explosion of all the things they had packed flying towards them.

Applejack looked impressed… She didn’t know it was possible to pack so much stuff into one bag.

The three crusaders emerged from the pile, rubbing their heads and groaning slightly. Sweetie Belle looked at the other two with a sheepish grin. “Eheheh… Maybe we packed too much?”

“Ugh… Y’think?” Scootaloo shot back, taking the frying pan off of her head and throwing it to the side.

Author's Note

As stated in the description, this fic was inspired by Your Antagonist's 'The Serenade of Silver Belles' (http://www.fimfiction.net/story/42124/The-Serenade-of-Silver-Belles-). If you enjoyed this (or even if you didn't), you should all totally go and check this out.

Day One - Arriving and Arguing

The following morning, the three crusaders had awoken early to gather at their school, along with the rest of their classmates, eager to begin their three day long camping trip.

Cheerilee started announcing the groups to everypony, and each pony would respond once their name was called out, to ensure that everypony was present.

The crusaders all met up and stuck together through the roll call. All three were excited about the trip, and were so caught up with talking to each other that they almost missed their names being called out.

“Apple Bloom?” Cheerilee repeated after hearing no response.

“Oh! Here!” Apple Bloom replied, after a nudge from Applejack turned her attention back to the teacher.

“You’re in group five!” she announced. “Scootaloo?”

“Here!”

“Sweetie Belle?”

“Here!”

Cheerilee hesitated for a moment, worried about the response when she called out the name of the next pony in the group. She looked at her students and their parents/guardians, and steeled herself. “… Diamond Tiara?”

There was a sudden hush among all of the students, which caused some concern among the older ponies, who didn’t know quite what was going on. The silence didn’t last long, as two loud voices soon burst out from the crowd.

“WHAT?!” Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo shrieked in unison, before turning to look at each other with horrified looks on their faces.

‘Well, that confirms that she’s here, I guess…’ Cheerilee thought, already feeling uneasy about this.

“No way!” Scootaloo shouted, turning back to her teacher. “You know we don’t get along! Why did you put her in the same group as us?!”

“For once, the blank flank is right!” Diamond Tiara shouted, earning a glare not just from Scootaloo, but from her father, too. She ignored them, however, choosing instead to glare intensely at Cheerilee. “This must be some mistake! I specifically requested not to be grouped up with them!”

Cheerilee sighed, and marked off Diamond Tiara’s name as ‘present’. “I’m sorry, Diamond Tiara, but it couldn’t be helped,” she lied. Already her idea that maybe three days working and playing together might help the five fillies grow more friendly towards each other was starting to seem like a lost cause to the teacher, but there was no escaping it now.

“At least tell me the final group member is Silver Spoon!” Diamond Tiara shouted, almost pleadingly.

“… Silver Spoon?” Cheerilee asked, reading off of her register.

Diamond Tiara let out a relieved sigh, and Silver Spoon confirmed her presence.

Elsewhere, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were sulking about how things were starting to look bad for their much-anticipated camping trip. Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, felt a pang of relief upon hearing Silver Spoon’s name in their group.

She wondered why she felt relieved, but quickly dismissed the thought. Maybe she was just happy that Diamond Tiara didn’t have to be alone. Even if she was a bully, she didn’t deserve to be all alone, right? ‘Right,’ Sweetie Belle told herself, before taking a moment to glance over at Silver Spoon…

And found that the grey filly was looking her way. No, not her way. She would have liked to think that she was, but she wasn’t. She was looking right at Sweetie Belle, and the momentary eye contact, however brief, quickly caused the Unicorn to blush, and turn back just as suddenly as she looked over at her.

She couldn’t tell for sure, since she only looked at Silver Spoon for a second, but Sweetie Belle was sure that the other filly was blushing, too.

“Alright, everypony!” Cheerilee cheered, snapping Sweetie Belle out of her daze. “Gather into your groups, and follow close behind me and Ms. Hooves!”

The grey Pegasus mare standing behind Cheerilee waved into the crowd, a big smile on her face. She blew on her whistle and motioned for all of the students to follow the two of them.

“Have fun, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said as she gave her sister one final goodbye hug.

Applejack rustled Apple Bloom’s mane playfully. “Make sure ya eat properly, y’hear? An’ no stayin’ up too late ta tell scary stories.”

Scootaloo’s mother tried to give her daughter a goodbye hug, but Scootaloo squirmed and struggled against the loving embrace. “Mom! Please, I’m not a little filly anymore!”

“You’ll always be my little filly, Scootaloo!”

Behind her, Scootaloo could hear the sounds of snickering, and didn’t even have to turn around to tell who it was. Once she was released, the orange Pegasus turned to face Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who were still snickering, not over Scootaloo’s mother giving her a hug, but over her reaction to it.

Scootaloo was about to tell the buzz off, but remembered that they were in the same group, and thus, had to stick together. She sighed, and decided to bear with it, for now. “Come on, let’s go already,” she said sulkily.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gave their sisters one last goodbye, before running to catch up with Scootaloo. Behind them, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon followed, but made sure that there was a noticeable gap between them.

Silver Spoon caught Sweetie Belle frowning at them, and felt like she was being silly, and petty. She quickly dismissed such thoughts, and harrumphed as she turned her head up.

Sweetie Belle realised that she was staring at Silver Spoon with a frown on her face, and turned her head away just as quickly as Silver Spoon did, brining her attention to the conversation between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

“We’ll find our Cutie Marks for sure, with all the activities we’ll be doin’!” Apple Bloom said, trying to cheer Scootaloo up.

It seemed to work, as Scootaloo quickly smiled and nodded quickly. “Yeah! With all that’s been planned, there’s gotta be something related to our special talents!”

Sweetie Belle also nodded. “This will be the best weekend ever! Just wait until we come home, and Rarity sees I’ve found my special talent!”

The three began talking about what activities they were looking forward to the most, and what they could do in their allotted spare time to try and discover their talents.

Behind them, Diamond Tiara let out an annoyed groan. “Three days and nights, with those three? This will drive me mad! And worst of all, we have to share a tent with them!”

Silver Spoon nodded, not really paying attention to her friend’s outburst. “The Unicorn I don’t mind so much; at least she knows proper etiquette, from her sister.” Silver Spoon nodded again, her ears twitching at the description of Sweetie Belle. “But the other two? A Pegasus brute and a pony who rolls around in the mud for fun?”

Silver Spoon found herself just nodding at everything that Diamond Tiara said. Her focus was directed elsewhere, though. Before she knew it, she had found herself staring at a particular white Unicorn walking in front of them. She wasn’t thinking anything about the Unicorn in particular, but simply stared at the back of her head, her mind completely in the clouds.

“Silver Spoon?” Silver Spoon nodded again, confusing Diamond Tiara. She waved a hoof in front of her friend, which snapped her out of her trance. “What’s with you? You’ve been staring at that blank flank for a while now.”

Silver Spoon blushed, and quickly turned to face Diamond Tiara. “I-I was not!” she squeaked, startling her friend. “W-Why would I be staring at somepony’s flank? I’m not-”

Diamond Tiara, seeing that Silver Spoon misunderstood, cut in to correct her. “No, I mean that you were staring at the Unicorn, who is a blank flank.”

Silver Spoon’s blush deepened, and she lowered her gaze to the ground. “Oh…”

“What’s with you? Did something happen between you and that blank flank?” Diamond Tiara gasped, and shot a glare at the back of the Unicorn’s head. “Did she hurt you?! If so, I’ll never forgive her!”

Silver Spoon quickly shook her head. “No, no! Nothing happened! I was just…” Silver Spoon’s brain worked quickly to think of something to say. She calmed herself down, and regained her formal, high-class posture. “I was merely thinking about how much of a pain this whole trip is going to be, now that we’re in the same group as them.”

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, and turned her gaze back to her friend. “Geez, don’t scare me like that,” she said, turning her attention back in front of her. “And yeah, you’re right… This is gonna suck so much.”

“Okay students!” Cheerilee shouted as she stopped, causing the foals following her to also stop in their tracks. Derpy began moving down the groups, handing everypony a ticket. “We’ll board the train one pony at a time, and in an orderly fashion! The train will leave in thirty minutes, the trip will be three hours, and there are no restrooms on board! If you need to go, now’s the time!”

Derpy passed by the crusaders, and handed them their tickets. Sweetie Belle excused herself to use the restroom, and Silver Spoon found herself watching the Unicorn again. She quickly caught herself this time, though, and turned away to collect her ticket from Derpy… But not before noticing that, for a brief second, Sweetie Belle was also looking at her.

Sweetie Belle boarded the train and found her way to her fellow crusaders, who were sitting in their allocated cabin… With Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

The two sides glared at each other, and a deadly silence filled the air. The tension could be cut with a butter knife. All it would take is one wrong comment to set off this powder keg.

So of course Sweetie Belle’s first question would be: “Uh, hey! Everypony doing okay?”

Diamond Tiara didn’t miss a beat, and responded with: “Of course not! Don’t speak to us, blank flank!”

This was Scootaloo’s cue to jump to her friend’s defence. “Don’t call her that!” she shouted, flaring her wings as she took a threatening step forward towards the pink filly.

Silver Spoon moved herself in-between the two fillies. “At least try to be civil during this trip! It’s bad enough that we have to be in the same group together, the last thing we need is-”

“You tryin’ ta say we’re uncivil?!” Apple Bloom shouted. “You’re the ones who always start everythin’!”

The tension was now even worse than before, and Sweetie Belle groaned, and just wished that she had kept her mouth shut. She walked over to one of the unallocated beds, and dropped down on it, burying her face into a pillow.

She turned to face the four fillies, who were still arguing. She looked at her friends, and frowned at the hateful faces that they were making. She wished they would just let it go… Maybe she could try to draw them away, to another part of the train? ‘No… Every time I try to make things better, I always end up making things worse…'

Cheerilee entered the room moments later, to announce that the train would soon be leaving. As she expected, the atmosphere was most unpleasant… She let out a deep sigh, tried to bring some peace to the group. “Girls, the train ride is going to last three hours… Don’t you think that, instead of fighting, you probably find some fun game to play together?”

The four fillies mumbled something inaudible to the teacher, who simply sighed and left the room, to check up on the rest of her students.

The deadly silence returned to the room, and lasted for a few minutes, before Silver Spoon’s gaze caught Sweetie Belle lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling with a big frown on her face.

Silver Spoon sighed, and walked past Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and made her way towards the cabin’s door. “Come on, Diamond Tiara. These two aren’t worth it,” she said, turning her gaze back to her friend.

Sweetie Belle’s ears twitched, and she sat up and looked over at Silver Spoon.

Diamond Tiara got up and walked over to the door, making sure to cast the three fillies a hateful glare as she walked past them. Silver Spoon opened the door, and followed her friend outside, leaving the crusaders alone.

A few minutes after they had left, Scootaloo finally decided to break the awkward silence surrounding them. “So… What should we do first?” she asked, still frowning over the recent events.

Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin in thought, and then jumped up and hit the light bulb above her head. “Ah know!” she shouted excitedly. “We could go ‘round the train an’ map it out! Like explorers!”

Sweetie Belle rolled onto her side to face Apple Bloom. “We already tried that with Ponyville,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, but Ponyville is somewhere we already know! Real explorers map out places they’ve never been before!”

“Apple Bloom, we have been on this train before,” Scootaloo said.

“Only parts of it! And we don’t know if it’s changed or not since last time!”

The other two considered her arguments, and found no fault with her logic. Excitedly, the three fillies jumped to attention, and huddled up. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER EXPLORERS! YAY!”

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara sat in one of the passenger cars, playing seven hoof poker with a pack of playing cards that they had brought along. The pack in question was designed by Diamond Tiara, and every card in it included a picture of either herself, or Silver Spoon, with the exception of the joker cards, which had a rather unflattering picture of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Silver Spoon had a pretty good hoof; three Kings and two threes, making a full house. And judging from the look on friends face, it would probably prove to be the superior hoof. ‘I’ve won two hooves in a row… Guess I’d better fold, she thought to herself as she lay her cards face down on the table in front of her. “I fold.”

Diamond Tiara shot her a smug grin, and placed her own cards face down too. “Good choice. There’s no way you could have beaten what I had, anyway.”

Yeah, sure, Silver Spoon thought as a smile crossed her face. Well, at least she’s feeling better.

“Finally, you’re feeling better,” Diamond Tiara said as she began gathering the cards together.

Silver Spoon was momentarily left speechless at this, but quickly regained her voice. “Huh?”

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, and began shuffling the deck of cards. “Please, you were clearly down after we left our cabin.”

“I wasn’t down,” Silver Spoon argued. ‘… Was I?’ “It was you that was down.”

Diamond Tiara looked up and narrowed her eyes at her friend. “I was annoyed, not down. There’s a difference, and you should know my annoyed face by now, Silver.”

“… Oh, right,” was all she could say, restraining the urge to facehoof herself for not realising it sooner… Which she found strange, since she was always so quick to catch onto her friend’s feelings. “Well, I wasn’t down, either,” she quickly added, but saw that her friend wasn’t buying it.

“I know your different faces, Silver Spoon, and the one you used earlier was definitely your sad one. Though I don’t understand why… You’ve never let those blank flanks get you down before.”

Silver Spoon thought about it, and honestly wasn’t sure whether she was feeling down or not. “It… Wasn’t that,” she said, uncertainty clear in her voice. “I guess… I’m just feeling a little nervous about being away from home for so long.”

Diamond Tiara stared at her for a few seconds, before sighing and dealing out the cards. “So that’s what it was,” she said, smiling. “That’s good. I thought you were feeling sorry for them or something.”

Silver Spoon scoffed, and lifted up hoof to see what she had. Two twos. “Why would you think that? That’s just ridiculous!”

“Yeah, guess you’re right.” Diamond Tiara grinned at her hoof. Silver Spoon felt like this time, she wouldn’t have to fold. And indeed she didn’t; Diamond Tiara won with a three of a kind, whereas Silver Spoon only had a pair.

“I’m going to go get some drinks,” Silver Spoon said, getting up from her seat. “Do you want anything?”

“I’ll go with you,” Diamond Tiara, but the offer was quickly rejected by Silver Spoon.

“I, um… I like these seats… I don’t want to risk losing them to anypony,” she said, turning around quickly to make sure that Diamond Tiara didn’t see through her lie. “You wait here, and I’ll be back shortly, okay?”

Diamond Tiara shrugged and leaned back in her seat. “Fine, I guess it is a good view from here… In that case, get me a cup of Earl Grey tea, or whatever kind of tea they serve on this train, if it’s not available.”

Silver Spoon nodded, and proceeded out of the room. Once she was gone, Diamond Tiara turned her gaze towards the window, and growled angrily at the passing landscape. ‘Silver Spoon’s never hid stuff from me before. Those stupid blank flanks are responsible for this. I just know it!’

Silver Spoon walked down the train car slowly, wanting to spend as much time on her own as possible to clear her mind. The last thing she needed now was Diamond Tiara by her side… She liked spending time with her (mostly), but sometimes, she was just too much to take, and right now, Silver Spoon wasn’t in the right frame of mind to deal with her.

“Alright! Now to move on to the next car!”

Silver Spoon stopped when she heard the familiar voice, and looked up to see Sweetie Belle walking her way, holding a notepad in her mouth and a pen in her ear.

Sweetie Belle – the ever polite pony that she is – stopped in her tracks and dropped her pad down onto the floor. “Um, hey, Silver Spoon,” she said awkwardly as the other filly also stopped.

“… Hello,” Silver Spoon replied, and suddenly, the two felt like they did when they met after school the previous day. She remembered the incident in their cabin not too long ago, and looked down at the floor, feeling a little guilty over what had happened. “S-Sorry about earlier,” she said, much to Sweetie Belle’s – and her own – surprise.

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle, both out of confusion over what she was apologizing for, and the fact that she was actually apologizing at all.

“Earlier, in the cabin… You were just trying to lighten the mood, but we used it as an excuse to make things worse.” ‘W-What am I saying?! Am I really apologizing to this… This blank flank?!’

“Oh, that,” Sweetie Belle said, a frown forming on her face once again. Silver Spoon felt the same guilt pass through her again, but the frown was soon replaced with a reassuring smile. “Well, it’s not the first time… It seems I always make things worse whenever I’m trying to make them better.”

“I-Is that so?” Silver Spoon asked, pretending to not be interested.

“Yeah, and it’s not like I haven’t dealt with hard-headed ponies before.”

“… I guess it is a regular occurrence between us, huh?”

Sweetie Belle giggled a little, causing Silver Spoon to blush… Much to the grey filly’s shock. “Well, I was actually talking about my friends. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are just as bad, y’know?”

“Oh… Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

“My sister, too. She’s always so stubborn when she thinks she’s right, or when it comes to making sure things are done just perfectly. You should see the way she argues with Applejack.”

Silver Spoon found herself also giggling, and before she knew it, the awkwardness from earlier had gone. “Yeah, my sister is pretty stubborn, too. That’s why I was so glad when she moved away.”

“Oh yeah? Did your sister ever stay up pulling constant all-nighters just to win a silly little bet against her friends?”

“No, but she did go deep into the Everfree forest, all by herself, to get a certain herb, just to prove that she could.”

“Wow, how’d that turn out?”

“She got the herb, but developed a fear of the dark… Which she then stubbornly tried to beat by venturing into the forest again.”

The two fillies shared a laugh together, before Silver Spoon realised what she was doing, and quickly regained her composure. “A-Anyway,” she said, after clearing her throat. “I’m in a hurry, so…”

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to keep you,” Sweetie Belle said, moving aside to let Silver Spoon pass.

As she did, she stepped on the notepad that Sweetie Belle was carrying earlier, and lifted it up to the Unicorn. “What’s this?” she asked, curiosity taking over.

“Oh, I’m mapping out the entire train,” Sweetie Belle said with a hint of pride in her voice. “Well, not me alone… The other crusaders are helping me. Wanna see?”

Before Silver Spoon could respond, Sweetie Belle opened up her notepad and… Whatever it was that was in there, it left the grey filly felling bewildered. It seemed to just be a mess of squares of rectangles, with the occasional circles and… What appeared to be a crude drawing of an elephant in the corner.

“Uh…” Silver Spoon looked up at Sweetie Belle’s face, and saw her looking back at her with a big, hopeful grin. Silver Spoon wanted to be honest, to just tell her that whatever she had, it wasn’t a map, and that she should just stop drawing and never try again. Instead, what she said was: “It, um… Looks… Good?”

“Doesn’t it? I thought so too!” Sweetie Belle’s smile grew even bigger, and for some reason, this made Silver Spoon feel… Happy?

Silver Spoon suddenly realised that her mind was a lot clearer than it was earlier, and that no longer felt as bad as she did minutes ago.

Remembering that Diamond Tiara was still waiting for her, Silver Spoon excused herself, and moved past Sweetie Belle. As she did, the Unicorn called out to her. “It was nice talking to you! We should… Do it again?” she said, the last part coming out as a question as her confidence slightly derailed.

Silver Spoon smiled for a second, but quickly replaced it with a neutral expression. “Perhaps, if I have nothing better to do…”

Silver Spoon walked off further down the car, leaving Sweetie Belle by herself. When she heard the door click, Sweetie Belle turned around and began walking down the car. ‘Well, that was… Strange,’ she thought to herself, the realisation that she had just shared a civil conversation with Silver spoon sudden hitting her. She shrugged it off, and continued moving onwards.

The rest of the train ride was rather peaceful for the fillies and colts of Ponyville Elementary. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon continued to play card games and chat to each other throughout the rest of the trip, and, besides a few incidents in the more crowded cars, the Cutie Mark Crusaders surprised everypony by how quietly they were doing their crusading.

Diamond Tiara was happy to see that Silver Spoon was a lot more cheerful than earlier, but couldn’t help but wonder what it was that cheered her up so much, where her attempts had mostly failed. When she thought about it, she felt angry at the fact that somepony else was cheering up her, and uneasy at the fact that they were clearly better at it than she was.

Once the train had stopped, everypony got off and assembled in their groups around Cheerilee and Derpy Hooves.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo scowled at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as they approached, and the two glared back for a moment, before turning their heads away and choosing to disregard them. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle frowned, and simply focused her attention on their teacher, waiting for her instructions as soon as she had finished checking that everypony was present.

“Okay class! We’re all present and accounted for! Is everypony in their groups?” Most of the class shouted “yes”, and Cheerilee turned around to lead her students to their next destination.

“What are you two most looking forward to?” Sweetie Belle asked her two friends as they walked along with the class.

“Ah’m lookin’ forward ta the Arts and Crafts sessions,” Apple Bloom said.

“I’m looking forward to the flying events!” Scootaloo said cheerfully, flexing her wings.

“But ya can’t even fly,” Apple Bloom pointed out, causing Scootaloo to sneer at her.

“And that’s why I’m looking forward to it! I’m gonna learn!” Scootaloo puffed out her chest with an air of confidence. “Then I’m gonna surprise Rainbow Dash when we get back!”

“Hey, maybe I can learn magic while we’re here!” Sweetie Belle said, smiling widely now that she had something new to look forward to this weekend. She turned around to address the other two in their group, who were doing their best to keep at a distance from the crusaders. “What about you two?” she asked.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked at her as if she were insane, along with Scootaloo. “Why’re you asking them?” Scootaloo asked, taking a moment to send a hateful glare to the two behind her.

“Well, if we’re going to be in the same group all weekend, we might as well try to get along, right?” Sweetie Belle said, as if it were common sense. “No point ruining the weekend by fighting all the time, right?”

“Then why don’t you just not talk to us?” Diamond Tiara suggested. “We agree that we don’t want to ruin this weekend, so just stay away from us, and we’ll stay away from you, ok?”

Sweetie Belle frowned and turned away. Scootaloo growled angrily at Diamond Tiara, who simply shot a smug grin back at Scootaloo.

“I’m looking forward to the music class,” Silver Spoon said, surprising the others in her group and causing them to look at her strangely. “W-What? You asked a question, so I answered it. Do you have a problem with that?” Before anypony could answer, she quickly turned to face Diamond Tiara. “Besides, I was actually going to ask Diamond that same question, anyway.”

Diamond Tiara looked at her friend suspiciously for a second. “… Well, I’m looking forward to the talent show, myself,” she said quietly, so that only Silver Spoon could hear. She then grinned and looked over at the three crusaders, who flinched when they saw that same look she always had when she was about to start something. “Maybe this year, you three will be able to win the contest you actually entered into.”

“Hey! We still won!” Scootaloo protested.

Diamond Tiara scoffed. “Obviously Miss Cheerilee was just being kind to you. A real judge would never give first prize to a performance like what you gave.”

“You wanna bet?!” Apple Bloom shouted, drawing the attention of some of the foals around her.

Sweetie Belle sighed and brought a hoof to her face. ‘So much for not starting anything…’ She was about to try and stop the situation from escalating any further, but was cut off by Scootaloo.

“At least we don’t hide behind our friend’s talent, and pretend that it’s our own!” Scootaloo said, grinning at Diamond Tiara, who was now fuming.

“H-How dare you?! You’re just a stupid blank flank! You don’t have any talents!”

“Do too!”

“No, I take that back! A Pegasus at you age who can’t fly? That has to be a talent!”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened, and then narrowed again in anger. “I-I’m just a slow developer, that’s all!”

“That was a low blow, Diamond, even fer you!”

“Don’t call me that, hayseed! Only Silver can call me by my first name alone!”

“H-Hayseed?!” Apple Bloom shouted, stopping along with Scootaloo. The other three in their group, along with all of the fillies behind them, also stopped. “Ah think it’s time somepony taught you some manners, ‘cause yer parents obviously haven’t!”

“Don’t bring my parents into this!” Diamond Tiara warned, stepping forward towards the yellow filly. “At least I have par-” Diamond Tiara stopped herself quickly, wondering if she was going too far. It didn’t matter, though; Apple Bloom knew what she about to say, and was now burning red with anger.

“HOW DARE YOU?!” she screamed as she charged forward and tackled Diamond Tiara to the ground.

Silver Spoon wanted to step in to break up the fight, but was too stunned by the enraged filly to act quickly enough. She looked over at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo looked ready to jump in and help her friend, and Sweetie Belle was… Upset. She was looking down at the floor, with a huge frown on her face. ‘Is she… Is she crying?’

Silver Spoon was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a yelp form Apple Bloom, and looked back at the two fighting fillies beside her to see Apple Bloom sitting on the floor in front of Diamond Tiara, holding a hoof to her eye. ‘Diamond may be a coward, but she can pack one heck of a kick,’ Silver Spoon thought to herself, feeling relieved that her friend seemed to be fine… That is, until Scootaloo charged forward and tackled the pink filly.

“DON’T HIT MY FRIEND!” the Pegasus shouted.

“SHE STARTED IT!”

“NO, YOU DID, WITH YOU THOUGHTLESS COMMENT!”

“SHE CALLED ME TALENTLESS!”

“YOU ARE!”

“E-NOUGH!” a new voice shouted, before both fillies were pulled apart from each other. Diamond Tiara looked up to see Derpy carrying her in the air, and Scootaloo found herself being held back by Cheerilee. “Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, to the front with me!” Cheerilee ordered in a stern tone.

“But-”

“NO BUTS!” she shouted, startling all of the fillies – and even Derpy a little bit – around her. “I’ll talk to you three later, but for now, I want you two at the front, and Diamond Tiara can walk with Ms. Hooves at the back!”

The three fillies grumbled to themselves, but after one more stern look from their teacher, they conceded. Cheerilee led Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to the front, and allowed Sweetie Belle to come along with her.

Diamond Tiara followed Derpy to the back of the groups, and allowed Silver Spoon to come too. The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, but the entire class was talking about the fight that had just happened. It had already become a hot topic throughout the class, but then, since this time Diamond Tiara actually fought back, instead of running away, it was almost to be expected.

“It’s isn’t fair,” Diamond Tiara moaned. “They started it! Why didn’t that stupid Unicorn just keep her muzzle out of our business?”

Silver Spoon narrowed her eyes at her friend. ‘Because she was trying to make our weekend easier for us,’ she thought to herself, but wouldn’t dare say it out loud. Instead, she put on a smug grin, and patted her friend’s back with a forehoof. “Yeah, seriously. Some ponies are just so rude.”

Once the class made it to the campsite area, each group was tasked with setting up their tents, with Derpy Hooves available to ask for help if needed. The exception was group 5, as three of their member were taken to the camp administrator’s office by Cheerilee, to receive a stern lecture. Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon were asked to wait at the campsite for them to return.

“… Sooooo…” Sweetie Belle said, trying to break the silence between herself and Silver Spoon. “Wanna try setting this up while we wait?” she asked, pointing towards the flat tent beside them.

Silver Spoon thought about simply asking her to be silent, but thought that anything would be better than simply waiting in silence. “Sure,” she said, getting up and examining the tent… And having no idea what to do. She decided their best bet would be trying to copy those around them.

“We’ll just follow what everypony else is doing,” Sweetie Belle said, as if reading Silver Spoon’s mind. The other filly nodded, and the two began work on setting up the tent. After a few slipups on Sweetie Belle’s end, and a good number of guesses on Silver Spoon’s end, the two finally managed to set up what may or may not be a well-constructed tent.

“It… Looks fine,” Sweetie Belle said, just as their maybe tent shook a little bit. “… Wanna try going in?”

Silver Spoon looked at the abomination with a look of uncertainty, and shook her head. “No thanks. I think you should go in first.”

“I don’t know… It looks kinda…”

“Unstable?”

“Yeah! Very.” Just as she said that, their ‘tent’ collapsed in on itself, causing them both to frown at their wasted efforts. “Maybe we should ask Ms. Hooves for help?”

Silver Spoon looked over her shoulder at another group that was having trouble setting up their tent, and saw Derpy hovering in the air, holding a broken metal rod in one hand, and a wrench in the other, with a worried expression on her face.

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to help,” she said, turning back to their wreck of a tent. She sighed as she looked over the mess before her. “If only Diamond were here. She’s pretty good at setting these things up.”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow at that. “She is?”

Silver Spoon nodded. “We used to go camping all the time, and her father taught her how to set up tents. She tried to teach me, but she’s… Not the best teacher.”

Sweetie Belle giggled, gaining Silver Spoon’s attention. “Yeah, I can imagine. She doesn’t seem to have much patience with other ponies!”

Silver Spoon narrowed her eyes at the Unicorn’s comment. “Well, your friends are hardly better!”

“I never said they were,” Sweetie Belle responded, confusing the other filly. “When it comes to proving herself, Apple Bloom won’t sit still for more than a second, and Scootaloo… Well, she just won’t sit still period. And as you know, they can be quite stubborn.”

Silver Spoon nodded, and then looked down at the floor. “I guess… Both of us have quite hard-headed friends, huh?”

Silver Spoon looked up when she heard Sweetie Belle laughing, and found herself joining in. “You can say that again!”

The two continued to laugh for a short while. When they finished, Silver Spoon gave Sweetie Belle an apologetic look. “Um… Sorry about earlier,” she said. “About Diamond’s behaviour. You were only trying to help. She went too far.”

Sweetie Belle gave Silver Spoon an innocent smile, and shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I should have minded my own business… And Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shouldn’t have provoked her like that.”

“Whether they provoked her or not, there was no call for the things she said.”

Sweetie Belle was confused by Silver Spoon’s sudden kindness, not being used to this side of her. She saw the worried look on Silver Spoon’s face, and blushed when the sudden urge to comfort the filly with some display of affection crossed her mind. She turned her attention back to the tent, and tried to change the topic. “S-So… Should we give this another go?”

“I don’t know,” Silver Spoon said, before grinning at Sweetie Belle. “Do you think you can actually do your job without falling down five times?”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and turned back to Silver Spoon. “At least I took the time to read the instructions. I never knew you were so lazy.”

The two broke out into laughter again, not aware, or simply not caring, of the attention from the other groups that they were getting.

“Well, might as well try,” Sweetie Belle said. Silver Spoon nodded in agreement, and the two fillies began their second attempt at setting up the tent. “… You know, you’re not so bad, Silver Spoon.”

“… You’re… Not too unpleasant to be around, either.”

“Why do you always give us such a hard time, when you can obviously be nice when you want to be.”

“Because it’s fun,” Silver Spoon said flatly. “Granted there are other ways to have fun, and I do know that, but Diamond gets the most fun teasing you three.”

“You call what she does ‘teasing’?” Sweetie Belle asked, her voice cracking at the shock from Silver Spoon’s comment. “Maybe a year ago! Nowadays, it’s just outright bullying!”

Silver Spoon sighed and shook her head. “Yes, maybe… But it keeps her happy.”

“… You really care about her happiness that much?” Silver Spoon didn’t answer. “So much so that you’d lower yourself down to her level?”

“… I-”

“What is that supposed to be?” a new but familiar voice asked. Silver Spoon turned around to see Diamond Tiara standing behind her, with Cheerilee and the other two crusaders approaching. “Is that a tent? Because it sure doesn’t look like one.”

Silver Spoon frowned at her friend, and stepped aside. “Well then, why don’t you show us how a proper tent should look?”

“With pleasure,” Diamond Tiara said with a smirk, stepping towards the tent and starting work on it.

“Hey!” Apple Bloom shouted. “We wanted to set it up! We might find our Cutie Marks in, um… Tent… Setting up?”

“Yeah, ‘cause that sounds fun,” Diamond Tiara replied sarcastically, angering Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

Cheerilee facehooved, and stomped a hoof to stop another fight from erupting so soon. “You’ll all set it up, together!” she said, silencing her students’ argument with her stern tone. “Or do I need to tell your families to come and collect you?”

“No, ma’am…” the three fillies mumbled. Cheerilee smiled, and offered to lend a hoof to help them. Partially out of concern, given how the tent looked currently, but mostly to make sure that no fights broke out the moment she turned her back.

‘Hopefully they’ll calm down by the time we begin today’s activities…’ She walked around to the back of the tent to see if Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon needed any help… And was surprised, to say the least, to see the two fillies giggling to one another. ‘Well… Maybe there’s hope for this plan yet.’

The first activity that group 5 participated in was fencing. Scootaloo was happy to take part in any sporting events, but Diamond Tiara didn’t quite share her enthusiasm.

“Alright kids, let’s see what you can already do,” the instructor said once all the fillies were suited up and prepared.

“Wait, don’t ah know you from somewhere?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Possibly. You may have met me back in Ponyville. The name’s Pokey Pierce.”

“Ooooh! Ye’re the one that tried ta chat up mah sister last week!”

The other fillies snickered, causing Pokey Pierce to turn red. He cleared his throat, and tried to move things along. “Yes, well… Let’s just get things started, shall we? Have any of you ever fenced before?”

Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon both raised their hooves.

“Ah did once, when ah had the Cutie Pox, and ah think some of it stuck with me.”

“I’ve attended a few classes with my mother, so I know the basics.”

Pokey Pierce nodded and asked them to demonstrate their abilities. Both fillies stepped forward and got into the standard fencing stance, and performed the actions instructed by their tutor.

“Hmm… Not bad. Could do with a bit of practice on your hoofwork, Silver Spoon, and Apple Bloom, you should slow down a bit. You’re trying too hard.” He turned his attention the remaining fillies that were waiting to the side. “Now, let’s get your friends up to speed. Apple Bloom, you help Scootaloo with her technique, and Silver Spoon, you help Sweetie Belle.”

Diamond Tiara glared at Pokey Pierce through her helmet. “Hey! What about me?”

“I’ll help you out, Diamond Tiara.”

“But-”

“Okay! Let’s begin!” he shouted enthusiastically, ignoring Diamond Tiara’s protests.

Silver Spoon looked over in her friend’s direction for a while, watching as she (reluctantly) practised the basic fencing techniques with Pokey Pierce… And stifled a giggle whenever Diamond Tiara tripped over herself.

“What’s so funny?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Silver Spoon turned her attention to the white Unicorn approaching her, and cleared the grin from her face. “Nothing. Shall we begin?”

Sweetie Belle nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! This might be what I finally earn my Cutie Mark in!”

“Well then, to start, get into the en garde position.” Seeing Sweetie Belle’s confused face, Silver Spoon demonstrated by getting into the position herself. “On your hind hooves, left forehoof in the air like this, and right forehoof extended forward, holding your foil.”

“But I’m left-hoofed.”

Silver Spoon facehooved. “Fine, right hoof in the air, and left hoof extended forward.” Sweetie Belle nodded, and assumed the position… And ended up falling over a couple of times, causing Silver Spoon to roll her eyes and giggle, despite herself.

“Hey! It isn’t that funny!” Sweetie Belle said, pouting as she rose to her hooves after falling for the fifth time.

“Oh, but it is,” Silver Spoon said with a wry grin on her face.

“Is not!”

“Is too.”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

The two fillies were now glaring at each other, silently daring the other to make the next move. Silver Spoon accepted the challenge, moving forward and walking behind Sweetie Belle. “W-What are you-”

“Here, I’ll support you so that you can stand up on your hind legs properly, without falling over,” Silver Spoon said, placing her forehooves on Sweetie Belle’s hips, causing both fillies’ faces to turn a shade of red. “Now, try standing up, and I’ll help you keep your balance.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and slowly lifted up her body, standing on her two hind legs. She wobbled a little bit, but as Silver Spoon said, she was kept from falling thanks to the other filly’s support.

Once she felt confident that she could stand on her own, she let Silver Spoon know, and the other filly released her – cautiously – and then went back to her position in front of Sweetie Belle.

“Now, pick up your sword,” Silver Spoon said. She noticed Sweetie Belle straining to reach her sword that was nowhere near her, obviously not willing to break her stance in order to make it easier on her. “… Why don’t you just use your magic?”

“I can’t,” Sweetie Belle responded, looking down at the floor with an annoyed look on her face.

“Not even simple levitation?” Sweetie Belle shook her head. “Huh… I thought all Unicorns could do that at our age.”

“Well I can’t,” Sweetie Belle spat back with venom in her voice. Silver Spoon was visibly taken aback by this, and Sweetie Belle quickly apologized. “S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to say it like that…”

“No, it’s fine,” Silver Spoon said, composing herself. “I shouldn’t have… How about I just go and fetch a sword for you?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and watched as Silver Spoon walked over to the foil sitting on the found nearby, and picked it up. She handed it over to the Unicorn, who accepted it with a quiet “thank you”.

“Okay, now let’s try lunging,” Silver Spoon said, standing in front of Sweetie Belle, ready to parry her attacks. “Just like I showed you.”

“Um… Okay…” Sweetie Belle said nervously. She took a deep breath, and lunged forwards… And tripped over herself, tumbling towards Silver Spoon.

The other filly quickly dropped her foil, and reached out to grab the falling Sweetie Belle. When both fillies ended up on the floor, with Sweetie Belle on top of Silver Spoon, they let out pained groans, and slowly rose back up to their hooves.

They stared at each other for a moment, before they both, almost simultaneously, broke out into laughter at what had just happened.

“Sorry, Silver Spoon,” Sweetie Belle said in-between giggles.

“It’s fine,” Silver Spoon assured. “Let’s just try it again, from the top.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and tried to get back into position. “Uh… I think I may need some help again,” she said, blushing as she realised she couldn’t actually assume the stance without Silver Spoon’s help.

“Honestly, you’re so useless,” Silver Spoon said, rolling her eyes.

“Well then it’s a good thing I have such a dependable coach, right?” Sweetie Belle teased, causing the two to start giggling again.

Meanwhile, the other three fillies were looking over at the two who seemed to be getting along well with equally confused looks on their faces.

In the evening, when everypony had gathered around for dinner, the crusaders made it a point to sit as far apart from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as possible. Thankfully, this was allowed, as dinner didn’t count as a ‘group activity’.

“So, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said as she poked at her salad with a fork, giving it a strange look. It didn’t look very appetising to her, but she was really hungry, so she tried anyway, albeit hesitantly. “What’s the deal with you and Silver Spoon?”

Sweetie Belle almost choked on her own salad, and took a quick drink of her water to wash it down. Once she could breathe again, she faced Scootaloo. “What do you mean, ‘deal’? We were just trying to get through the activities as pleasantly as possible.”

Apple Bloom didn’t buy it, especially from the redness on Sweetie Belle’s face. “Maybe, but it looked like you were more than just ‘tolerating’ each other,” she said. “It looked like you getting’ along mighty well.”

“… Is there… Something wrong with me getting along with somepony?”

“When that pony is Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, then yeah,” Scootaloo said, receiving a quick nudge from Apple Bloom.

“What Scootaloo means is, it kinda doesn’t feel right tah be getting along with them, after everythin’ they’ve put us through.”

Sweetie Belle looked down at her salad with a saddened look on her face, and slowly resumed her eating. ‘But, we had so much fun together today. Why is that so wrong?’

“You okay?” Apple Bloom asked, concerned for her friend.

“I’m fine!” Sweetie Belle snapped, surprising the other two crusaders. She realised this, and tried to recover. “Um, I’m fine. I’m just… A little homesick,” she lied, though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she didn’t want to offend them, by telling them that she was upset with them outcasting Silver Spoon like that.

“I-Is that so?” Apple Bloom asked, and then turned her attention to her meal. “… Yeah, ah kinda miss Applejack an’ Big Macintosh an’ Granny Smith, too.”

Scootaloo, seeing her two friends looking so depressed, brought it upon herself to lighten the mood. “Ah, don’t worry about it! I’m sure you’ll forget all about it tomorrow!”

The other two nodded, and smiled at their friend’s efforts to try and cheer them up.

Sitting at practically the other corner of the room, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon ate their meals slowly. The two were used to more refined food than this, so it was practically an insult on their taste buds to eat what they had. But it was the only choice they had, lest they go the whole weekend without any proper dinners.

“Hey, Silver Spoon,” Diamond Tiara said. “You were getting pretty friendly with that blank flank today. What was that all about?”

Silver Spoon swallowed the food in her mouth, and looked over at Sweetie Belle momentarily, before turning back to Diamond Tiara. “Just trying to make the time pass by pleasantly, that’s all.”

“But still, acting all chummy with the enemy?” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes at Diamond’s Tiara’s exaggeration. “And that’s not all… You’ve been acting strangely lately.”

Silver Spoon noticed the uneasiness in Diamond Tiara’s voice, and started to panic. “H-Hey, don’t worry, alright? Like I said, I just don’t want Miss Cheerilee to call our parents to take us home. It’s not like I’m actually friends with them or anything.”

“… So, there’s nothing going on between you and that blank flank?”

“Nothing!” Silver Spoon assured her. “C’mon, Diamond. We’re friends, right?”

Diamond Tiara nodded, and resumed eating her meal in silence. ‘Yes, we are… So why can’t you be honest with me?’

After everypony was finished with eating their dinners, Cheerilee gave everypony two hours of free time. They were to stay within the fences of the camping area, which was still quite a big space, and they were prohibited from entering any of the buildings unless there was a member of staff inside, but otherwise they were all free to do as they wished.

Naturally, there Cutie Mark Crusaders’ plans all involved trying something that would get them their Cutie Marks. They tried spying, by eavesdropping on Cheerilee’s conversation with Derpy, only to get caught instantly from not being able to keep quiet for more than five seconds.

They tried ghost hunting, by entering the woods (or little part of the woods was included within the fenced-in area), and attempting to find something supernatural. Then Scootaloo pointed out that it was still rather light, so they gave up after ten minutes of searching. Although Sweetie Belle still had fun, putting up papers on various trees with drawings of a tall, slim pony with no face.

They then tried to earn their Cutie Marks in fishing in the nearby lake, but only succeeded in angering two Sea Ponies they found trying to have a romantic date. And sadly, that didn’t earn them any Cutie Marks.

Their spirits lowered, and the evening drawing to a close, the crusaders decided to head back to their classes’ campsite.

When the clock struck 21:00, all groups were to get into their tents and settle down. It was an early time, even for foals their age, to settle down for the night, but the next morning, they would have to wake up at 07:00.

After Cheerilee and Derpy examined each tent to make sure everypony had settled down, they retired to their own tent, which was at the centre of the campsite, and was slightly bigger, so that it could be easily found and reached if there was an emergency.

Diamond Tiara groaned and stirred in her sleeping bag. Not because it was uncomfortable. In fact, it was specially made by her father’s friend, a pony who specialises in mattresses and sleeping bags, to be the most comfortable sleeping bag in Equestria.

No, she was annoyed because Sweetie Belle, who was still afraid of the dark, even at her age, requested to have a nightlight on. A request which Cheerilee accepted. And it driving Diamond Tiara crazy.

“I can’t believe I forgot my sleeping mask,” Diamond said to Silver Spoon, who looked just as annoyed. It didn’t help that the crusaders then started to tell ghost stories, making sleep even harder for the two rich fillies.

“Hey!” Silver Spoon shouted. “Do you mind? Some of us are trying to sleep!”

“Oh, come on,” Scootaloo said, “What’s a camping trip without ghost stories? Right guys?”

Apple Bloom nodded enthusiastically, whilst Sweetie Belle nodded more slowly, clutching onto her pillow as Scootaloo continued her story about the Headless Horse.

Diamond Tiara pulled a sweet out of the bag next to her and threw it into her mouth, and then covered her head with her pillow, attempting to drown out the annoyance.

“You call those ghost stories?” Silver Spoon scoffed. “Please, Diamond Tiara knows some stories that would have you wetting your beds before they’re even finished!”

“That so?” Apple Bloom asked sceptically. “Well then, maybe she’d like ta tell some, then.”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo said. “If she’s so much better at them than us, let her prove it!”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and tossed one of Diamond Tiara’s sweets into her mouth. “Like I said, we’re trying to get some sleep. Now stop with all the noise and turn off that stupid light already!”

Sweetie shook her head furiously and covered the light with her body, as if trying to protect it.

“Or else what?” Scootaloo challenged.

“Or else we’ll tell Miss Cheerilee that you’re refusing to settle down!”

“Go ahead,” Apple Bloom dared. “We’ll tell her you’re sneaking snacks after dinner!”

Silver Spoon’s hoof stopped inside the bag of sweets in front of her, and she narrowed her eyes at Apple Bloom.

“Um, maybe we should settle down,” Sweetie Belle said, sensing a fight fast approaching.

Silver Spoon sighed and placed the sweets back inside of Diamond Tiara’s bag. “Look, you don’t have to turn off the light, but at least show some courtesy to the ponies around you and stop making so much noise.”

“Make us!” Scootaloo shouted, jumping up to her hooves.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle pleaded.

“Fine by me!” Silver Spoon responded, also getting up.

“Silver Spoon, no!”

“ENOUGH!” Diamond Tiara shouted, throwing off her pillow and glaring at the crusaders. “I’M TRYING TO GET MY BEAUTY SLEEP! I’VE HAD A VERY EXHAUSTING DAY, AND WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU-”

“O-Okay, Diamond! Just calm down, okay?” Silver Spoon said, cutting off Diamond Tiara’s rampage and holding her back, just in case. “Look, you should just settle down already. You do not want to mess with her when she’s sleep-deprived.”

“Oh yeah?” Scootaloo said, taking a step closer. Sweetie Belle stopped her by grabbing her hind leg, and looking up at her pleadingly. “… Oh, fine,” Scootaloo said, giving in to Sweetie Belle’s puppy dog eyes.

“Hear that, Diamond? They’re going to settle down now.”

Diamond Tiara huffed, and lay back down on her pillow, turning away and closing her eyes tight to resist the shine of the nightlight.

The five fillies lay down in the tent in an uncomfortable silence, and none of them even dared trying to move about, not wanting to create a single sound. Finally, after about thirty minutes, the first signs of sleep showed themselves. Apple Bloom started to snore away, soon followed by Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon raised her head, and saw Sweetie Belle laying down, breathing peacefully in her sleeping bag.

Assuming that all of the other fillies were asleep, Silver Spoon got up, picked up one of her bags, and left the tent.

Sweetie Belle heard hoofsteps behind her, but didn’t move from her spot. She instead continued pretending to be asleep, and waited until the hoofsteps passed over her before she opened her eyes.

She saw Silver Spoon leaving the tent, and waited a few moments before getting up and following her. She peeks outside of the tent, and saw Silver Spoon walking in the direction of the lake. At first, Sweetie Belle thought about going back to bed, but she couldn’t leave Silver Spoon all by herself; what if something had happened to her?

‘I’ll tell Miss Cheerilee… But, I don’t want to get her in trouble…’

Sweetie Belle ultimately decided to follow the other filly herself, to find out what she was up to, and to make sure that she was okay. She grabbed her nightlight lantern in her mouth, and braved her way through the darkness of the night, all the way to the lake. Every time she thought she heard or saw something, she just told herself that she had to make sure Silver Spoon was okay, and that was enough to keep her moving.

Once she made it to the lake, she saw Silver Spoon sitting by the side, tossing rocks into it. She stopped when an angry Sea Pony popped up and told her that they were trying to sleep, and then continued to just sit in silence for a bit.

Sweetie Belle approached her, though Silver Spoon didn’t seem to notice until she spoke up.

“What’re you doing out here?” Sweetie Belle asked, prompting Silver Spoon to turn around to face her.

“… Just trying to clear my mind,” she said.

“Oh?” Sweetie Belle sat next to Silver Spoon. The other filly didn’t seem to mind. “… Rough day, huh?”

“It’s nothing new. Diamond tends to get easily aggravated, and I always just spend some time by myself to clear my mind when she does so.”

“If she’s such a bother, why do you put up with her?”

“What, you mean those two friends of yours never get on your nerves sometimes?”

Sweetie Belle looked up for a moment, and then shrugged. “I… Guess they’re a little too much sometimes, but for the most part, we have so much fun together that I barely notice it.”

Silver Spoon said nothing for a while, and raised her knees up to rest her face on them. “… You asked earlier, why Diamond and I give you guys such a hard time.” Sweetie Belle nodded, remembering Silver Spoon’s answer. “Like I said, we just find it fun… But, for me, there’s another reason.”

“What is it?”

“I’m… Jealous.” Sweetie Belle looked utterly confused at that, which is what Silver Spoon expected. “I hate being tied down to one destiny. I’ve hated it from the moment I got this stupid thing.”

Sweetie Belle titled her head, now even more confused than usual. “But, you’re always talking about how you love your dad’s work, and how you always want to take over for him when you’re older.”

Silver Spoon nodded. “I do. Father’s always working so hard, and his employees are always so thankful to how well he treats them. From the first time he showed me his business, I’ve always wanted to help him out, and succeed him when he retires.”

Sweetie Belle noticed the photo album at Silver Spoon’s hooves, which showed pictures of her in what she assumed to be her father’s workplace, with various graphs and charts in the background. It looked like her father was teaching her the basics of a successful business.

“But it was so hard. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t do it. Math has never been a problem for me in school, but when I have to apply it to a business scenario, I’m so lost, and just don’t know where to begin. There are so many rules and techniques and things that I just can’t get a hang of.

“And then, when I got this.” She pointed down to her Cutie Mark. “I just gave up. My destiny was decided for me, and it wasn’t business.”

Sweetie Belle recalled a different story from Silver Spoon the previous day. “Then, what is your special talent?”

Silver Spoon looked at her with a look of annoyance and anger, causing Sweetie Belle to flinch. Sighing, Silver Spoon’s face returned to a frown, and she buried her face in her knees again. “… Silversmithing,” she mumbled, though it was loud enough for Sweetie Belle to hear.

“You mean… Making things from silver?” Suddenly, something clicked in Sweetie Belle’s head. “Oooh, that’s what the silver spoon means!”

Silver Spoon nodded, and flipped a few pages in her photo album. There were pictures of Silver Spoon with her parents, and in the background, a banner that read: “Congratulations! You discovered your talent!”.

Sweetie Belle recalled that Silver Spoon didn’t have a cute-ceañera. In fact, if she remembered right, Silver Spoon took a week off of school suddenly, and when she returned, she had her Cutie Mark.

Inside the photos, Silver Spoon looked depressed, and her parents seemed to be doing all that they could to cheer her up.

“One day, I went on an errand for my father. He asked me to pick up a candlestick for him from the silversmith. When I got there, I was in awe of all the wonderful works of silver around me. I was amazed that so many wonderful things could be created by just one pony, and I just had to find out how he did it.

“He invited me to watch him work for a bit, and explained to me each and every step as he went along. Unlike when my father tried to explain his work to me, I actually found this easy to understand. I was a fast learner, and very passionate about it, too. I asked if I could have a go, and he said yes.”

Silver Spoon reached into her bag, and pulled out a broach, in the shape of a spoon. It was made out of pure silver, with a little pink paint on the handle in the shape of a heart.

“This was the first thing I made… And when I finished it, I got my Cutie Mark.”

“It’s beautiful,” Sweetie Belle said, admiring the broach.

Silver Spoon handed it to her, receiving a questioning look from Sweetie Belle. “If you like it so much, you can have it.”

“Oh no! I couldn’t! You put a lot of work into it, so-”

“Exactly. It should be with somepony who actually likes it,” she said. “Take it. It’ll look good on you, anyway.”

Sweetie Belle blushed, and took the broach from Silver Spoon. “Um… Thank you,” she said. The two fillies looked away from each other, and an awkward silence followed. Sweetie Belle broke it when she felt it had gone on for too long. “Y’know, you shouldn’t… Hate the talent that you have.”

Silver Spoon looked at her with an annoyed look on her face. “What do you know?! You don’t know what your special talent is yet! You can’t possibly understand what I’m going through!”

“B-But, you made something so beautiful, and on your first try, too!” Sweetie Belle protested, holding up the broach to Silver Spoon. “And, you said that, inside the store, there were all kinds of wonderful things, all made from silver, right?” Silver Spoon nodded slowly. “You can make such beautiful things… They can make a lot of ponies really happy. I think it’s a great talent, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of it!”

Silver Spoon looked at her in disbelief. “You… You really think so?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, smiling at the grey filly. “I do.”

The two stared at each other for a few moments in complete silence, simply looking into each other’s eyes, lost in each other’s gazes. The sound of an owl in the nearby trees snapped them out of it, and Silver gather her photo album into her bag, and got up. “We should probably be heading back now.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and picked up her lantern in her mouth. She heard Silver Spoon going on ahead, and almost dropped the lantern in her panic. “Ah! No, wait!”

Silver Spoon turned back to look at the filly. “Hm?”

“D-Don’t go on without me! Please?”

“… You’re afraid of the dark that much?”

Sweetie Belle nodded her head timidly, and Silver Spoon couldn’t help grinning wickedly at her. “Well then, you’d better keep up!” she said as she dashed off.

“N-No way!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she ran after her. “Please! Stop!” She heard Silver Spoon laughing as she ran in front of her, and when she finally caught up, the other filly decided to slow down to a walk. “Y-You’re so mean!”

Silver Spoon harrumphed and turned her head up. “A filly your age shouldn’t be so afraid of the dark.”

Sweetie Belle let out an annoyed groan, and then had a good idea for revenge when she passed by a bunch of trees. She quietly picked up a nearby rock, and threw it into the trees, causing Silver Spoon to jump at the sudden sound.

“W-What?! Is somepony there?!” she shouted into the trees, only to receive no answer. She heard laughter behind her, and turned around to see Sweetie Belle laughing at her. “Y-You! That wasn’t funny!” Sweetie Belle continued laughing, which only spurred on Silver Spoon’s anger even more. “Stop that at once!”

“Aw, don’t worry,” Sweetie Belle said teasingly as she approached Silver Spoon, her laughter dying down. “I won’t tell anypony,” she said as she neared Silver Spoon, smiling sweetly at her.

Silver Spoon’s face turned red, and soon afterwards, so did Sweetie Belle’s.

“… L-Let’s just get back to our tent,” Silver Spoon suggested.

“Y-Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said, and soon, the two were walking side-by-side, neither saying a word to each other, but occasionally stealing a glance of the other filly, only to look away when the other seemed to be turning their head.

When they got back to the tent, they were pleased to see that none of the others in their group seemed to have woken up, and they made their way to their own sleeping bags. After she put her new broach into her bag, and positioned her nightlight nearby, Sweetie Belle lay down on her side, and rested her head onto her pillow.

“Night, Silver Spoon,” she said.

It took a while, but she finally received a response. “Good night, Sweetie Belle.”

Day Three - Revelations, and New Bonds

Diamond Tiara’s eye twitched as she tried to take make sense of the scene that unfolded before her. It was early in the morning, long before when most foals usually get up. She made sure her alarm would wake her up at this time so that Silver Spoons could brush her hair, before anypony else noticed her bed mane.

So why, she wondered to herself, was Sweetie Belle already awake at such an hour? And why, was she running a brush through Silver Spoon’s mane, humming some happy tune and wearing a big, goofy smile on her face as she did so?

Silver Spoon, for her part, looked like she was in pain, but at the same time was clearly trying to hide it. Of course, if Sweetie Belle had been paying any attention, she would have noticed that Silver Spoon was, in fact, cringing with every stroke of the brush, and that there were a few tears starting to form in her eyes.

Diamond Tiara examined Sweetie Belle’s brushing technique, and it hardly took a professional manedresser to see that the filly’s brushing was way too rough. She practically slammed the brush into Silver Spoon mane, and combed it through so hard so, every now and then, a few strands of hair were actually coming out.

So why was Silver Spoon silently taking such obviously brutal punishment? ‘And why so early in the morning?!’

“Hey,” Diamond Tiara called out, obviously taking the two fillies by surprise as they jumped and spun around quickly at the sound of her voice. “What are you two doing?”

Sweetie Belle calmed herself down, and picked up the brush that she had just dropped. “Um, well,” she started, shifting her glance between Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon nervously, “I kinda woke up early this morning, for some reason, and since Silver Spoon was already awake, I thought we could… Brush each others’ manes?”

Diamond Tiara turned her gaze to Silver Spoon, who confirmed Sweetie Belle’s story with a nod. “I woke up early, too. I was going to wake you, but Sweetie Belle was already up, so…”

Diamond Tiara groaned, and walked over to where the two were sitting. “Well, whatever. Silver, if you’re done, perhaps you could tend to my mane?”

“But, I’m not finished yet,” Sweetie Belle said, feeling a little downcast.

“It’s fine,” Silver Spoon said. “You’ve done plenty. Really, it looks… Great.”

Sweetie Belle’s spirits lifted a bit from the compliment. She watched as Diamond Tiara searched her bag for her mane brush. “Hey, maybe I could brush your mane,” she suggested, to which the two rich fillies immediately flinched.

“N-No way!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Silver’s the only filly I trust with my mane! I certainly wouldn’t leave it to a blank flank like you!”

Sweetie Belle turned her attention to the floor, looking rather annoyed by Diamond Tiara’s response. “You don’t have to be like that. I was just offering to help…” she mumbled.

“Yeah? Well, don’t,” Diamond Tiara said, handing her mane brush to Silver Spoon and turning around so that her friend could begin. “And if you tell anypony about my mane, I’ll…”

“Your mane?” Sweetie Belle asked. “What about it?”

“… Never mind,” Diamond Tiara grumbled.

Silver Spoon sighed, and mouthed an apology to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle harrumphed, and marched back over to her sleeping bag, lying down and trying to earn some more rest before they would have to get up.

On the other side of the tent, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were silently complaining to each other that their ‘Plan A’ had failed.

“Why did she have to get up so early?” Scootaloo asked, glaring at Diamond Tiara in the corners of her eyes.

“Well, it’s still only mornin’. We’ve still got more chances,” Apple Bloom said. “Next time, we’ll have tah try an’ keep DT occupied.”

“So Cutie Mark Crusader Matchmakers is still a-go?”

“Well, duh.” The two bumped their forehooves together, and continued pretending to be asleep.

After yesterday’s incident in the bathing area, Cheerilee was a little wary about letting group five bathe together again, and considered letting the crusaders bathe separately from the rich fillies. Unfortunately, time constraints wouldn’t allow it, and she had to take her chances with letting the five bathe as a group.

She made sure to tell Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle, the two who seemed to actually be making an effort to keep things peaceful, to tell her immediately if the others began fighting. They reluctantly agreed.

“Just so you know,” Scootaloo said as she began to get into the tub, “I really can’t control my wings that well, so if they splash you, it isn’t intentional.”

Diamond Tiara shot her an annoyed look as she got into the tub from the other end. “Maybe we should just tie them down.”

Scootaloo glared at her, but didn’t have time to respond before Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon entered the tub in-between them. “How about if we just sit in the middle?” Sweetie Belle said. “That way, you won’t get splashed by Scootaloo’s wi-AH!” Sweetie Belle was cut off by a sudden splash of water hitting her in the face.

“S-Sorry,” Scootaloo said, looking embarrassed as her wing continued flapping softly.

“See? It’s annoying, isn’t it?” Diamond Tiara asked, doing her best to stay as far away from the Pegasus as possible.

“I-It isn’t so bad,” Sweetie Belle said, before receiving another splash from Scootaloo. “… I-It’s kind of like a bath and a shower mixed together, right?”

Silver Spoon giggled at Sweetie Belle, who was now staring cautiously at Scootaloo’s wings. Apple Bloom, sitting on the other side of Scootaloo, was receiving the same splash treatment as Sweetie Belle.

“Well, ah certainly don’t mind,” Apple Bloom said. “Me an’ Applejack used tah splash each other all the time when we took baths together, so it’s nothin’ new tah me.”

“So childish,” Diamond Tiara said.

“Diamond-” Silver Spoon started, but was cut off by Diamond Tiara.

“I know, I know. No fighting until we get back to Ponyville.”

Diamond Tiara huffed, and turned her back to the rest of the group, resting her head on the side of the tub. Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon started to discuss what they were looking forward to today, and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo put their plan into motion, dispensing with idle chit-chat so that they could wash themselves off quickly.

“Welp, we’re done,” Apple Bloom said, jumping out of the bathtub and stretching her hooves. Scootaloo followed her, and the two began to dry themselves off.

“Already?” Sweetie Belle asked. “That was fast.”

Scootaloo wrapped her towel around her neck and prepared to leave. “Yeah, well, don’t worry about finishing quickly for our sakes,” she said. “You two just take your time.”

“You mean three,” Diamond Tiara said, turning around to give Scootaloo a strange look. “You should at least be able to count that high.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged grins, and approached Diamond Tiara. “Well, it looks like you’re done already, too,” Apple Bloom said, examining Diamond Tiara, and getting a little too close for the pink filly’s liking.

“What are you talking about?” Diamond Tiara asked, pushing the farm filly away, but then finding her left foreleg being pulled by Scootaloo. “What are you doing? I’m not even close to being finished yet!”

“‘Course ya are!” Apple Bloom said, joining Scootaloo in trying to pull Diamond Tiara out of the tub.

“What is wrong with you two?!”

Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle watched with equally confused looks on their faces, both concerned about a possible fight erupting between the three fillies, but also amused at the little tug-of-war game they had going on. Silver Spoon suggested they move back when she noticed the veins popping on Diamond Tiara’s forehead, and Sweetie Belle followed her advice.

“ARGH!” Diamond Tiara pulled back as hard as she could, lifting the two fillies up and pulling them into the tub, splashing most of the water in it everywhere. “I’ll be done when I say so!”

“Girls!” Cheerilee shouted from outside. “Is there a problem in there?”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo quickly scrambled out of the tub, and began drying themselves off again. “N-No! No trouble at all, Miss Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom said, hoping that their teacher wouldn’t come in.

“… Well, okay. Just try to keep it down, alright?”

The five fillies were shocked that their teacher let it go, just like that. She hadn’t come in to see for herself what was wrong? And more so than that, she actually believed them, without any more questions?

“We will,” Sweetie Belle answered as she applied some shampoo to Silver Spoon’s mane.

“Hey! What’re you-”

“Stop squirming!” Silver Spoon immediately stopped flailing about as soon as a little shampoo got into her eyes, but still questioned what the Unicorn filly was doing. Instead of giving an answer, Sweetie Belle just continued rubbing the shampoo into Silver Spoon’s mane.

‘Well, at least she’s not as rough as she was with her brushing,’ Silver Spoon thought to herself. A shiver passed through her body, and she turned to see Diamond Tiara glaring at the two of them. She gave a simple shrug, to show she had no idea what was going on either, and sighed when Diamond Tiara turned her back to her.

The first activity that day was cooking. On the way to the cooking class, Diamond Tiara pulled Apple Bloom and Scootaloo aside to talk to them about their strange behaviour. Or as she considered it, ‘stranger than usual’ behaviour.

“What in Equestria is wrong with you two today?” she asked them once they were far enough away from Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle. You two were acting like complete morons in there. You usually just act like idiots. So what’s the deal?”

Scootaloo frowned at Diamond Tiara’s thinly veiled attempts at insulting them, but managed not to get dragged into a fight with the pink filly.

“We were trying tah get them alone together,” Apple Bloom explained, pointing to the other two fillies in their group. “Y’know, like we discussed yesterday?”

Scootaloo nodded. “Obviously we couldn’t just tell you in front of them, or else it would have been pointless.”

“And you thought that was important enough to interrupt my bathing? Or to cut your own short? I don’t think you even used shampoo,” Diamond Tiara added with a disgusted look on her face.

“It’s not that big a deal,” Apple Bloom said with a shrug. “Big deal if ah miss one day of bathing.”

“It is a big deal!” Diamond Tiara snapped. “You’re a filly for pony’s sake! Don’t you have any pride in your appearance?”

“Y’know we’re just gonna get dirty again from today’s activities, don’t you?” Scootaloo pointed out, rendering Diamond Tiara mute. “Anyway, we’ve got a plan for the next activity. Try not to mess it up this time, okay?”

Diamond Tiara scoffed. “Well maybe if I knew what it was…” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, and whispered into Diamond Tiara’s ear. “… That’s your big plan?”

“Yeah. What’s wrong with it?” Apple Bloom asked, feeling slightly insulted. She spent thirty minutes it up, and she thought it was pretty good!

“Well, this is only to give them a nudge, before we start our actual plan,” Scootaloo said, before letting out a quick laugh. “And even if it doesn’t, it should be good for a laugh, at least.”

Apple Bloom, also laughing alongside her friend, gave Scootaloo a quick nudge. Diamond Tiara wondered what they meant, but decided not to question it. If it was these two, she felt she’d be better off not knowing.

“Okay class!” Derpy shouted enthusiastically as soon as the three groups doing the cooking class that morning had assembled. “Today, we’re going to be baking… MUFFINS!”

A small pair of hooves clapping and a low cheer were heard amongst the gathered students, all coming from one small grey Unicorn filly, whilst the rest of the students remained quiet.

“Making muffins is easy! Just follow the instructions, and you’ll do fine.” She shot a reassuring smile towards the students. “But, if you do experience any trouble, don’t hesitate to ask. It is my special talent after all,” she said with an air of pride as she puffed out her chest.

“Aren’t those bubbles on her flank?” Silver Spoon whispered to Diamond Tiara, who nodded in response. “I thought so.”

“On your marks, get set… GO!”

Everypony began baking their own muffins, using the ingredients provided, and assisting each other whenever necessary. Things went smoothly for approximately a full minute, before a scream from Sweetie Belle directed everypony’s attention to a fire coming out of one of the ovens.

“Everypony stay calm!” Derpy shouted as she donned a fire brigade hat, and hovered over to the fire with a fire extinguisher. She managed to put it out quickly enough, and assured everypony that there was no reason to panic.

“I’m so sorry!” Sweetie Belle said as soon as things had calmed down.

“It’s fine,” Derpy said. “It happens to everypony. Don’t worry about it.”

“No it doesn’t!” Diamond Tiara whispered to Silver Spoon. “We’re not even using the ovens yet! How did she set one on fire?!”

Silver Spoon looked over at Sweetie Belle’s ingredients, and noted that she hadn’t even opened them up yet. “… Hey, Sweetie Belle?” she called out, getting the Unicorn’s attention. “Maybe you shouldn’t jump ahead? The instructions are kind of there to be followed…”

Sweetie Belle blushed, and cast an annoyed look down at her instructions. “I wanted to do the fun stuff first, and save the boring parts for later…”

“It doesn’t quite work that way. You can’t just skip steps because they’re not as fun. You’ll never find your special talent that way.”

“Are you saying I’m gonna be a blank flank forever?!”

“Well, I didn’t say that, but if you continue approaching things that way…”

“Girls,” Apple Bloom cut in, earning a sharp glare from the two arguing fillies. “We don’t have much time. Don’t you want to get these muffins baked before we run out of time?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, her face covered in flour, and two eggs balanced on top of her nose. She pulled her head back quickly, and allowed the two eggs to fall onto the side of the bowel. They cracked open, and the shells fell outside, whilst the yolks fell inside. “You don’t finish ‘em in time, you gotta wait ‘til lunch before you can eat anything.”

“Whoa!” Sweetie Belle said as she admired Scootaloo’s egg-balancing abilities. “That’s so cool! I wonder if…” Sweetie Belle pointed her nose up, and tried to balance an egg on it. It didn’t take long, about five seconds at most, before she lost her balance, and the egg fell down to the floor. “Awww…”

“Pfft! Don’t feel so down! It takes years of practise to do something like that.”

“On the other hoof, it’s a completely useless skill,” Diamond Tiara said as she cracked an egg against the side of her bowel. “So you don’t really accomplish anything from being able to do it.”

“You’re just sayin’ that ‘cause you can’t do it!” Scootaloo challenged, now balancing three eggs on her nose.

“I don’t want to do it. I have more class than that!”

“If that’s what class is, then I don’t want it! Sounds boring.”

“You know-”

“AAH!”

Everypony turned to Sweetie Belle again, who, at some point, had acquired an automatic whisk, and had set the power too high. She was now covered in the muffin mixture, and the two rich fillies quickly backed away, to avoid getting splashed themselves.

“Turn it off!” Silver Spoon shouted.

“S-Sorry!” Sweetie Belle apologised, fumbling with the appliance in her hooves before finally managing to turn it off. Derpy Hooves came over and took the whisk Sweetie Belle. “Sorry…”

“It’s okay!” she said, liking some of the mixture from the whisk. “For now, why don’t we stick to manual mixing?”

“Okay…”

Silver Spoon couldn’t help but wonder where she got the automatic whisk from, considering none had been laid out for them to use. She shrugged it off, and got back to her own mixture, keeping a close eye on the chaotic filly to make sure she didn’t make any more messes.

Silver Spoon opened her oven to check on how her muffins were doing. There was pleasant smell coming from within, but she felt that they weren’t quite finished just yet. She decided to close the oven door and wait for an extra five minutes. Surely just five more minutes couldn’t hurt, right?

“Um, excuse me.” Silver Spoon turned to Diamond Tiara, and saw a yellow Pegasus filly with a purple mane approaching. Her Cutie Mark was a single white feather. Silver Spoon recognised her as Alula, a pony in their class who once gave Diamond Tiara a card on Hearts and Hooves Day. “I, um, was wondering… If you would like a m-muffin?” she asked shyly, blushing as her eyes shifted all around the room.

Diamond Tiara, who was also blushing but trying to remain composed, looked at the tray of muffins extended to her, and then at the nervous Pegasus filly, who was doing her best to look anywhere but at Diamond Tiara.

“Um… Thanks,” Diamond Tiara said, taking one of the muffins in her hoof, and then dropping it almost immediately. “YOWCH!” she shouted, shaking her hoof and blowing on it.

“Ah, sorry!” Alula immediately apologised. “I only just took them out of the oven, so they haven’t had time to cool yet!”

“In that case, you should have warned me!” Diamond Tiara scolded, her eyes watering as she ran her hoof under a nearby cold water tap. “Or better yet, give them some time to cool off before handing them out!”

Alula’s eyes began to tear up, and she placed the tray on Diamond Tiara’s bench. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, before turning around and running away. Diamond Tiara reached forward and opened her mouth to speak, but the Pegasus filly was already gone.

“That was a lil’ mean, Diamond,” Apple Bloom said, glaring at Diamond Tiara. “It was only an accident.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed. “She was trying to be nice, y’know?”

Diamond Tiara harrumphed, and got back to her own muffins. “I never asked her to be nice, did I?”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and sighed. “That’s what she says,” Silver Spoon whispered to Sweetie Belle, “But later, she’s going to be beating herself up over it.”

Sweetie Belle giggled, despite feeling sorry for poor Alula. “I just hope Alula will be okay.”

“It’s not the first time Diamond has yelled at her,” Silver Spoon replied. “Last Hearts and Hooves Day, Alula gave Diamond a card. Diamond wasn’t expecting it, and didn’t know how to respond to it… So she resorted to her default.”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. “Her ‘default’?”

Silver Spoon sighed, and placed a forehoof to her head. “If she doesn’t know how to handle a problem, she simply makes it go away… Aggressively.”

Sweetie Belle glanced over at Diamond Tiara, who was receiving a stern lecture from Derpy (though it seemed Derpy was more mad about the dropped muffin, than Diamond Tiara yelling at Alula), and then back at Silver Spoon. “But, she still tried to get close to her, even after that first incident, right?”

Silver Spoon smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Who knows? Maybe one day, she’ll break through Diamond Tiara’s tough exterior, just like I did.” Silver Spoon frowned for a second, shifting her gaze over to Diamond Tiara.

Sweetie Belle playfully nudged Silver Spoon’s side. “Hey, is it me, or did that sound like jealousy?”

Silver Spoon turned to Sweetie Belle and was about to protest, but couldn’t say anything to the smirking filly. After all, she was right. Despite all those years that Silver Spoon had wanted Diamond Tiara to get along with other ponies, at the same time, Silver Spoon’s relationship with Diamond Tiara had grown into something special.

They were BFFs. They did everything together, kept no secrets, always had each other’s backs, and had agreed to be each other’s bride’s maids when the time came that they would get married.

Now, she felt like her position was being threatened. If another pony could actually break through Diamond Tiara’s tough outer shell, and become friends with her, where would that leave Silver Spoon? Would she and Diamond Tiara still be BFFs? Would Diamond Tiara start spending less time with her, for the sake of another pony?

All of this was starting to make Silver Spoon feel depressed, before she realised how ridiculous it was. Even after finding out that her friend was hanging out with Sweetie Belle, one of the ‘enemies’, Diamond Tiara still accepted her, and assured her that she would always be her friend, no matter what. Surely this new filly, Alula, wouldn’t cause any threats to their friendship, right? ‘Right,’ Silver Spoon assured herself.

Silver Spoon looked up at the clock, and gasped when saw that ten minutes had passed since she had last checked on her muffins. She opened her oven up, and frowned at the sight of blackened muffins before her. They still smelled somewhat pleasant, but there were far too burnt to be eaten now.

Silver Spoon heard giggling from the opposite side of the bench, and looked up to see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo giggling to each other. She assumed that they were giggling because of her little cooking mishap, and shot them a harsh glare.

“Hey, Silver Spoon?” Sweetie Belle asked, breaking Silver Spoon’s glare and turning the grey filly’s attention towards her. “I’ve finished my muffins, and was wondering if you’d like the first one?” Sweetie Belle blushed, and shuffled her hooves on the floor. “A-As a thanks, for helping me so much yesterday.”

Silver Spoon also blushed, and realised now that this is what the two were giggling about. “I-I don’t mind,” she said. “But, what about your friends? They helped, too. Shouldn’t they get first picks?”

“We’re friends too, y’know,” Sweetie Belle said, narrowing her eyes at Silver Spoon, who simply nodded in response. “And, they actually said… Well, more like insisted, that you go first.”

Silver Spoon raised an eyebrow. “Why?” she asked, but simply received a shrug from Sweetie Belle. “Well, whatever. It’s their loss.”

Sweetie Belle smiled, and held out a tray of… Something, towards Silver Spoon. “Careful, they’re hot,” she warned, earning a sharp glare from Diamond Tiara, before the pink filly stared at the tray as if she had never seen muffins before.

Though what was one Sweetie Belle’s tray could hardly be called muffins… ‘W-What am I looking at?’ Silver Spoon thought to herself. ‘Is that even food? They’re not shaped like muffins at all… They’re not just burned, it looks more like charcoal mixed with more charcoal-Did it just bubble?!’

“Well?” Sweetie Belle asked innocently, tilting her head to the side.

Silver Spoon looked up at Sweetie Belle’s face, and saw the look of concern planted on it. She heard more giggling to her side, and grit her teeth together as she stared at the ‘muffins’. ‘Oh, I am so going get them back for this…’ Swallowing hard, Silver Spoon reached for the smallest pile of burnt, bubbly, whatever it was that she could find. It didn’t crumble in her hooves like she was expecting… Instead, it felt more runny. ‘Is this a non-Newtonian fluid?’

She brought the thing to her mouth, and hesitated slightly. She looked over at Sweetie Belle, who looked nervous, and then shoved the whole thing into her mouth.

‘Oh sweet, merciful Celestia. Please end me now.’

Silver Spoon chewed the runny, gooey substance in her mouth slowly, doing everything in her power not to gag on the stuff, and tears started to well from her eyes. She swallowed as quickly as she could, and then began panting for air, shivering at the horrible aftertaste left on her tongue.

“Well?” Sweetie Belle asked. Silver Spoon looked up to see her smiling. Smiling, after feeding her that! Silver Spoon considered the possibility that Sweetie Belle was actually a secret agent, who specialised in poison cooking, and used her charm to ensnare her victims and make them spill their guts, before killing them.

“I-It was good,” Silver Spoon said. It wasn’t what she wanted to say, but Sweetie Belle was obviously proud of the spawn of Tartarus that she had created, and Silver Spoons couldn’t bring herself to scold her the way Diamond Tiara had scolded Alula earlier. She didn’t want to see Sweetie Belle crying. For some reason, the thought of such a thing made her feel sick (or maybe that was just whatever she had just eaten).

“It was?” Sweetie Belle, her smile growing wider. “I’m so glad! Would you like another one?”

Silver Spoon immediately took a step back when Sweetie Belle pushed the tray forward again, and quickly shook her head. “N-No!” she shouted, causing Sweetie Belle to frown. “Uh, no… I couldn’t. Not until your other friends have some, too.” She turned to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, sending a demonic grin their way. ‘If I’m going down, I’m taking you two with me.’

“Oh, we can’t,” Apple Bloom said, sending a grin back at Silver Spoon. “We’re actually allergic to muffins.”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “Oh, please,” she said.

“Oh, no!” Sweetie Belle said, surprising Silver Spoon. Was she actually buying this? “I’m so sorry! I almost got you two killed!”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo waved their hooves. “Nah, it’s fine,” Scootaloo said. “We’re just sorry we can’t enjoy your tasty cooking.” She sent a wink towards Silver Spoon, who was starting back in complete disbelief.

“I can’t believe it!” Sweetie Belle said, stomping the floor in anger. “Why is it that everything I try and bake for you, you’re allergic to?”

Silver Spoon slammed a forehoof to her face. ‘She can’t be for real,’ Silver Spoon said to herself.

“How about you, Diamond Tiara?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking over at the pink filly behind Silver Spoon.

Diamond Tiara jumped immediately upon hearing her name being mention, and turned to face the tray of ‘muffins’ being offered to her. She looked over at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo grinning at her, and grumbled. “… I-I’d love to,” she said, keeping their ‘non-hostility truce’ in mind. “But, uh… I was thinking I should… Go and find Alula!” She opened up her oven, and pulled out her own tray of muffins, which didn’t look quite ready yet. “She looked really sad. I thought I should and apologise to her… Maybe share my muffins with her.”

“Surely you can have at least one muffin before ya go?” Apple Bloom asked with a snicker.

Diamond Tiara shook her head. “I, uh, really shouldn’t. I ate too many sweets last night, and… O-Ooh, my stomach feels really bad.”

Silver Spoon couldn’t believe this. She mouthed “traitor” to her friend, to which her Diamond Tiara mouthed back “every filly for herself”.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Diamond Tiara,” Sweetie Belle said. “I hope you feel better soon.”

Diamond Tiara laughed nervously, and then taking her tray of muffins and rushing outside, after asking Derpy where Alula was so that she could apologise.

“Well then,” Sweetie Belle started, “I guess it’s just you and me eating these, Silver.”

Silver Spoon nodded, blushing at Sweetie Belle’s use of only her first name. Sweetie Belle walked over to a sink to wash her hooves, and Scootaloo leaned over to whisper into Silver Spoon’s ear: “Hey, if she eats those, she’s gonna realise how bad her cooking is… And that you weren’t honest with her.”

Silver Spoon’s eyes widened in shock, and Scootaloo pulled back just in time before Sweetie Belle returned. Sweetie Belle licked her lips as she looked over her own tray of muffins, and Silver Spoon started shaking as she looked over at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who had somehow acquired bags of popcorn, and were watching the scene with great amusement.

‘Forget simply getting them back. I am going to haunt them from beyond the grave for this!’

Sweetie Belle seemed to have settled on a muffin, and reached out for it. However, before she could grab it, Silver Spoon quickly grabbed the entire tray, and tilted it so that each of the muffins fell into her mouth.

A tear rolled down Silver Spoon’s face, and for a moment, the grey filly could have sworn she caught a glimpse of a white-coated, red-maned Alicorn smiling down at her, extending a hoof and telling her that her soul was now at rest.

Silver Spoon chewed what was in her mouth, her entire body shuddering whenever her tongue came into contact with the horrible substance, and she swallowed the entire thing in one go.

The three crusaders stared at her in shock, their mouths all agape. Finally, Scootaloo broke the silence. “Heh, you must’ve been pretty hungry, huh?”

Apple Bloom walked around the bench, and patter Sweetie Belle on the back. “Good work there, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom said. “Ma sis always says the way to a colt’s heart is through his stomach!”

Sweetie Belle looked at her confusedly. “Silver’s not a colt,” she pointed out.

“Same principal,” Apple Bloom countered. “Just keep bakin’ her these here delicious treats, an’ soon, she’ll be all over you!”

Sweetie Belle blushed fiercely, and turned her head away. “I told you, it isn’t like that!” She tapped her forehooves together, and smiled as she looked over at Silver Spoon out of the corner of her eye. ‘But… I’m glad she liked my cooking so much…’

Silver Spoon was struggling to keep her balance. She reached for the bench with a forehoof, and had to force herself to stay standing. She let out a few groans, and felt her breakfast starting to force its way up her throat. She felt something press against her head, and looked up to see Scootaloo offering her a bottle of water.

“Nice work there, SS,” she said. Silver Spoon took the bottle with no objections, but grumbled something about Scootaloo’s nickname for her. “Protecting Sweetie Belle’s feelings like that, at your own expense? I never took you for a ‘knight in shining armour’ filly.”

Silver Spoon scoffed down the entire water bottle as quickly as she could, and let out a relieved sigh as the unpleasant taste in her mouth disappeared.

“When we get back to Ponyville, you’d better be on your guard,” she warned, to which Scootaloo simply nodded and looked un-amused. Seeing this, Silver Spoon leaned closer, and shot the most menacing look the Pegasus had ever seen her way. “I mean it. Watch. Your. BACK.”

Scootaloo actually looked nervous this time, and gulped as she nodded once again, this time being a little more sincere.

“Okay class!” Derpy shouted excitedly, holding a mountain of muffins in her hooves as she hovered in the centre of the room. “Time to move on to your next activity now!”

The next activity for the entire class was the same as the first activity from yesterday; the class was split into groups of Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns.

Scootaloo was excited to have this chance to develop her flying, especially after she remembered how she (somewhat) managed to fly for a little bit yesterday, but when she and the rest of her group met up again, the look on her face and the tone of her voice suggested that she hadn’t had much luck.

Sweetie Belle was a little more excited when she returned, happily declaring that her accomplishment from yesterday wasn’t just a fluke, and that she was now able to focus her magic on command. She still couldn’t cast any spells, just gather the energy into her horn. But to the little filly who previously had been unable to do even that, it was considered the greatest achievement of her life.

The three Earth Ponies of group five returned in a similar state to Scootaloo; dusty coats, scratches on their bodies, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon seemed to be out of breath. Apple Bloom was grinning from ear-to-ear, and didn’t waste this opportunity to taunt the two rich fillies for being so unathletic.

“You two really don’t work out much, do you?” she asked, giggling when the two seemed to have trouble even forming a simple answer.

Sweetie Belle gave a bottle of water to Silver Spoon, who immediately started to gulp down the refreshing beverage. When she was done, all that remained in the bottle were a few droplets dripping down the sides. Sweetie Belle frowned, since she was planning to have a drink herself, but brightened up when Silver Spoon thanked her.

“We don’t need to work out,” Diamond Tiara said. “We’re business ponies, not athletes. Isn’t that right, Silver Spoon?”

Silver Spoon hesitated for a moment, turning her attention to her Cutie Mark, before turning back to the other fillies in her group. “Uh… Yeah, that’s right.”

“Girls, lunch is in ten minutes!” Cheerilee shouted from outside.

“Okay, Miss Cheerilee!” Apple Bloom called back, before turning to Scootaloo. “Scootaloo, didn’t you wanna show me that thing before lunch?”

Scootaloo nodded. “Oh yeah, that’s right!” Sweetie Belle looked at the two confused. “Sorry, Sweetie Belle, but we’re gonna go on ahead…”

Scootaloo exited the tent, followed by Apple Bloom. The three remaining fillies exchanged confused faces, and shrugged to each other.

“What are those two up to now?” Diamond Tiara asked Sweetie Belle.

“I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle answered, “But knowing them, it probably won’t end well.”

On the way to the cafeteria, at some point, Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle began their own conversation, completely forgetting about Diamond Tiara. Needless to say, this annoyed the pink Earth Pony filly, but that wasn’t the main cause of her anger right now.

No, what annoyed her right now, was how she was suddenly pulled away from the path by some unknown force, blindfolded, and then dragged away. When the blindfold was removed, she found that it was actually Apple Bloom and Scootaloo that had foalnapped her, apparently so that she wouldn’t ‘get in their way’.

“What do you two think you’re doing?!” Diamond Tiara shouted as soon as Apple Bloom removed her hooves from Diamond Tiara’s mouth. “And why are you two wearing those strange outfits?!”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, dressed in black one-piece outfits, told Diamond Tiara to be quiet, whilst looking around to make sure they hadn’t been spotted. Diamond Tiara demanded an explanation, and for Scootaloo, who was still holding her, to release her at once.

“Just calm down already!” Apple Bloom said. “Listen, ah’m sorry if we scared ya-”

“HA! You, scare me?” Diamond Tiara scoffed, her body still shaking a little bit. “Don’t flatter yourselves. I just don’t want those muddy hooves of yours messing up my coat is all.”

“Whatever,” Scootaloo said, not quite believing her.

“Now what do you want?” Diamond Tiara asked, a little more calmly this time. “If this is about those two again-” A pleasant scent caught Diamond Tiara’s attention, and she looked to her left to see what it was. “… Oh, you can’t be serious.”

Apple Bloom smiled proudly at her and Scootaloo’s plan. “Eeyup, we sure are!”

“How would this even work? What about Miss Cheerilee?”

Scootaloo grinned and released Diamond Tiara. “That’s where you come in. We need you to distract Miss Cheerilee for us.”

Diamond Tiara groaned and began to walk away. “I don’t think so. I am far too hungry to take part in this childish game of yours.”

“Ah figured you’d say that,” Apple Bloom said, causing Diamond Tiara to stop and cautiously turn back to face her. “So how ‘bout we make a deal? You help us, an’ ah’ll make sure that next zap apple harvest, you’ll get eighty percent off of all zap apple-related products!”

Diamond Tiara considered the deal for a moment. Eighty percent off was a generous discount indeed, and even though her family was rich, she, like any other foal in Ponyville, only had a certain allowance to spend every week. And, with the blood of a successful business pony running through her veins, she just couldn’t resist taking advantage of such a money-saving offer.

Sighing as she gave in, she turned around and walked back to the two fillies. “Ugh, fine. I’ll do it.”

“Great!” Apple Bloom shout as she and Scootaloo spat onto their hooves, and then extended them towards Diamond Tiara. “Let’s shake on it!”

Diamond Tiara stared at the two in complete disgust, completely taken aback by their actions. “W-What is wrong with you two?! That’s just… Uncouth!”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “What’s uncouth mean?”

“It means she thinks we have bad manners,” Apple Bloom explained.

“Ooooh,” Scootaloo said, before turning back to Diamond Tiara. “What’s wrong with a friendly hoofshake?”

Diamond Tiara wasn’t sure if they were joking, or if they were honestly just raised not knowing any better. She thought about explaining to them how utterly gross (not to mention unhygienic) touching another pony’s saliva was, but wondered if they would even get it if she tried.

“Ugh, never mind!” she shouted as she began to walk away. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, unsure of what exactly her problem was, just shrugged to each other, and ducked down behind some nearby bushes, ready for what would surely be a great show.

After they arrived at the cafeteria, Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle looked around for the two remaining members of their group. No matter how far they looked, though, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo didn’t seem to be present.

“That’s strange,” Sweetie Belle said. “Where are they? Those two are never late to a meal.”

Silver Spoon looked behind her to ask Diamond Tiara if she could see them, but then realised that her friend was missing. “Hey, Sweetie Belle? Did you see where Diamond went off to?”

“Diamond Tiara’s missing?” Sweetie Belle asked, turning around to confirm that the pink filly was, indeed, absent. “Huh… That’s strange.” A possibility struck Sweetie Belle, and she let out a depressed sigh. “I hope they aren’t fighting again.”

“Uh, Sweetie Belle?” a voice called out behind the Unicorn filly. She and Silver Spoon turned to the source of the voice to find that it was Snails, a rather… Interesting Unicorn, was the way that Silver Spoon thought best to describe him. He was slower than most ponies, and his grades were below average in most subjects, but his Biology grades were the best in the class, and his magic was among the most developed out of all the Unicorns their age range. “Apple Bloom asked me to give this to you.”

He handed her a yellow piece of paper decorated with apples in the bottom right corner, and then walked away over to his friend, Snips. Sweetie Belle thanked him as he walked away, and then looked over the paper.

Sweetie Belle,

You and Silver Spoon meet us at the location on the map at twelve hundred hours! Do not be late, or you will be court-martialled later! This is a mission of the upmost importance! Failure is not an option!

Apple Bloom
P.s. Burn this note after you read it.

Sweetie Belle looked below the message at the rather crudely drawn map. She couldn’t quite figure it out at first, so she asked Silver Spoon to help her out. Together, they managed to deduce that the huge rectangle in the centre was the cafeteria, and that what appeared to be a bunch of ‘T’s were in fact trees, possibly the woods behind the cafeteria.

An ‘X’ was within those woods, in what appeared to be a clearing.

“Your friends have an… Odd way of arranging meetings,” Silver Spoon said.

“Oh, this is nothing,” Sweetie Belle responded. “They’re always trying new ways for us to communicate without others knowing what we’re saying. One time, they tried using smoke signals. Thankfully Applejack was able to put the fire out before it killed more than two trees.”

“So I guess they want us to go to where this X is?” Sweetie Belle shrugged, but agreed that that was the most likely scenario. “Do you think Diamond’s already there?”

“Who knows? But I guess we’ll find out if we go.” Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes and tapped a hoof against her chin as she scanned a particular part of the letter again. “What does ‘twelve hundred hours’ mean?”

“It’s military time,” Silver Spoon explained. “If you remove the colon from digital time, it becomes one whole number. ‘Twelve hundred’ is ‘one thousand two hundred’, and if you put the colon back in, you get…” Silver Spoon left her sentence hanging, to see if Sweetie Belle understood what she was saying and could finish it.

“Oooh, I see! So that would be twelve o’clock, right?” Silver Spoon smiled and nodded. “That’s just stupid. What’s wrong with just saying ‘twelve o’clock’?”

Silver Spoon opened her mouth to speak, but found that she actually didn’t have an answer for that. “… I don’t know. I guess military conflicts are so rare in Equestria, that they decided to pass the time by making up new ways to tell the time?”

Sweetie Belle giggled, causing Silver Spoon to join her. “Wow, they must have a lot of free time on their hooves,” she said. “But I totally understand. Sometimes, in class, I work on making my new secret language.”

“Really?” Silver Spoon asked, amused. “So that’s what you’re doing all the time. And I thought you were just slower at writing than everypony else. Mind if you teach me some time?”

Sweetie Belle looked away and shuffled her hooves on the floor. “Well, it’s not quite complete yet, but I guess you can have a look when we get back to Ponyville…” Sweetie Belle looked up at the clock, and saw that it was 11:55. “We’d better get to this meeting spot. I’d hate to be court-martialled… I mean, I don’t know what that is, but I’m sure I wouldn’t like it.”

“But what about Miss Cheerilee?” Silver Spoon asked, but then realised that Cheerilee wasn’t actually present in the cafeteria. “Huh… I guess she has a lot of work to do, or something.”

“So, we going?” Sweetie Belle asked. Silver Spoon nodded, and the two left the cafeteria together. As soon as they did, the fillies and colts that they didn’t realise were watching them quickly gathered around one table.

“See? I told you something funny was going on!”

“Since when did those two become friends?”

“Ten bits says they’re more than friends!”

“I’ll take that bet!”

“I say it’s just a trick! Silver Spoon’s just setting her up!”

“Or maybe it’s Sweetie Belle setting Silver Spoon up.”

“No way! AB or Scootaloo, maybe, but not Sweetie Belle!”

“You think DT got into a fight with Silver Spoon?”

“Five bits says she did!”

“Well fifteen says that Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle are seeing each other in secret!”

“A forbidden romance? How lovely!”

Diamond Tiara, watching from outside, rolled her eyes as the fillies and colts inside started to make various betting pools on what was going on. “Seriously, don’t they have anything better to do?”

“Diamond Tiara?” Cheerilee asked as she approached the cafeteria, causing said filly to jump at look at her with a wide smile on her face. “Is something wrong? Why are you not inside have your lunch?”

“Oh, well, you see…” Diamond Tiara gulped, and walked up to Cheerilee, causing the teacher to stop in her path. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about…”

“Oh? Well, what is it? You know I’m always available if you need somepony to talk to,” Cheerilee said with a reassuring smile.

“Um, well…” Diamond Tiara motioned for Cheerilee to lower her head, so that she could whisper into her ear. The teacher complied, a little worried about whatever it was that Diamond Tiara was talking about. “It’s a little personal… Can we talk in private?”

“Does it have to be right now?” Cheerilee asked, raising her head and looking down at the filly with a look of concern. “Wouldn’t you rather eat first?”

Diamond Tiara bit her lower lip, and summoned her many years of acting experience (mostly from playing innocent whenever she pulled a prank on somepony) to put on the best frightened look that she could. “It needs to be now,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I don’t know if I can keep it to myself any longer, and I really need somepony to talk to.”

Cheerilee, seeing her student starting to cry, quickly knelt down and placed a comforting hoof on Diamond Tiara’s shoulder. “O-Okay then! We can talk now, if it’s so important to you! Come on, let’s go back to my tent.”

Diamond Tiara sniffed, and nodded as she wiped the tear from her face. As she followed Cheerilee, she let out a quiet groan and looked back at the cafeteria, her stomach rumbling from the earlier exercise and the thought of the lunch she had yet to eat. ‘I swear, I’d better get that discount, Apple Bloom…’

After following the directions on the so-called ‘map’, Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle eventually reached what they assumed to be the clearing where they were to meet the rest of their group. It wasn’t very far into the woods. In fact, they could still see the cafeteria building through the gaps in the trees.

When they got there, they found a blanket lying on the ground, with a basket placed in the centre, and two plates on either side. But no Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, or Diamond Tiara. On top of the basket was an envelope, with the writing ‘READ ME’ on it.

After ripping it open, Silver Spoon pulled out the letter inside and began to read it.

Dear Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon,

Sorry, but something important came up, so we’re gonna be a bit late. Why don’t you two go ahead and start without us? Me and Apple Bloom made this awesome lunch for you two! We hope you enjoy it. Together. In this secluded area. Away from prying eyes. Together.

Sinseerly,
Scootaloo

As Silver Spoon read the letter, the first thought that popped into her mind, was that ‘me and Apple Bloom’ should be ‘Apple Bloom and I’. The next thought was about the scruffy hoofwriting, and the numerous spelling mistakes that had been messily scribbled out.

Finally, her thoughts turned the most pressing, and most obvious issue here: this was quite clearly a setup.

“Do they think we’re dense or something?” Silver Spoon asked as she placed the letter down on the blanket.

“Hm? What do you mean?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Silver Spoon looked at her to see if she was being sarcastic, or if she was genuinely confused. “Y-You can’t be serious,” she said, before pointing to the picnic laid out for them. “Can’t you tell that they set this whole thing up for us? To get us here alone together?”

Sweetie Belle titled her head to the side. “Why would they do that?”

“Because they think we’re-” Silver Spoon stopped and blushed as she stammered to complete her sentence. “They think we’re in lo… Lo…” She cleared her throat, and turned around so that she wasn’t facing Sweetie Belle. Somehow, seeing that filly’s face made it even harder to say what she was trying to say. “They think we’re in l-love with each other, that’s why!”

Sweetie Belle’s own face turned as red as Silver Spoon’s, and she let out an “ooh” as she shuffled her hooves on the floor nervously. The two were left in a uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, before a nearby groan snapped them both out of it. They turned to each other, as if each one suspected that the noise came from the other.

A low grumble came from Sweetie Belle’s stomach, which triggered a similar noise from Silver Spoon’s. The two responded by laughing nervously, and then turned to the picnic that had been set out for them.

“W-Well, they did go through the trouble of setting all this up for us,” Sweetie Belle reasoned. “It would be a shame to just waste it.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Silver Spoon agreed, walking around and sitting down on one side of the blanket. “Plus, there was something that I wanted to talk to you about.”

“There is?” Sweetie Belle asked as she opened the basket. Before Silver Spoon could continue, Sweetie Belle let out an excited gasp, and pointed her horn towards the basket. “Oh, Silver! Check it out! I wanted to show you how I can focus my magic now!”

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes, and groaned as she strained her mind, willing her magical energy into the tip of her horn. A few green sparks emitted from the tip, soon followed by a flash of green light, and then another. Soon, the green light became more permanent, and her horn was glowing a steady green colour.

“Wow! Impressive!” Silver Spoon said. She had seen magic before, so the display wasn’t exactly what she’d call ‘impressive’, but she knew how much it meant to Sweetie Belle, and how much work she must have put into it.

Sweetie Belle heard the praise coming from Silver Spoon, and smiled. Coming from anypony else, she would have simply been happy, and probably ended up bouncing around the room singing “yes” over and over again. But coming from Silver Spoon, for reasons the filly wasn’t entirely sure of, meant so much more. It made her chest feel tight, and put her mind at ease. It even removed much of the strain caused by focusing her magic.

“Wait, I thought you said you couldn’t cast any spells,” Silver Spoon said in a confused tone.

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle asked, opening her eyes to see what Silver Spoon was talking about. It was only for a moment, before Sweetie Belle’s concentration was broken by what she had seen. Before her very eyes, for just a few short seconds, there was one of the sandwiches from the picnic basket, floating in the air within a wobbly green aura.

The surprise caused Sweetie Belle to lose her focus, and drop the sandwich down, though thankfully, Silver Spoon managed to catch it in her hooves before it hit the ground.

“… Did… Did I do that?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Unless there’s another Unicorn around here…” Silver Spoon looked around as if to check for the presence of another pony. “… Then yes. Yes you did.”

Sweetie Belle continued staring ahead with a blank look on her face, still trying to process in her mind that she had just performed her first ever spell… And then, she smiled. A big, wide smile, and she reached forward and pulled Silver Spoon into a big, sudden hug.

“W-What are you-”

“I did it!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, right into Silver Spoon’s ear, causing the other filly to wince and become disorientated for a bit. “I performed magic! My first ever spell! I can’t believe it, this is soooo great! Just wait ‘til I tell Rarity! And Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!”

Silver Spoon, after managing to worm her way out of Sweetie Belle’s grasp and fixing her glasses that had been dislodged on her face, tried to calm down the excited filly. It took a few attempts, and she eventually had to resort to raising her voice to calm her down, something she regretted the moment she saw the frown on Sweetie Belle’s face.

“Oh, s-sorry,” Sweetie Belle said. “I just got a little excited…”

“A little?” Silver Spoon scoffed, reaching up and tidying her mane. “If this is how you are when you discover magic, I don’t think I want to be around when you finally get your Cutie Mark.”

Sweetie Belle giggled sheepishly. “I-It’s just, this is a really big deal for me, y’know?”

Silver Spoon sighed, and smiled at the other filly. “Yes, I know… And I’m happy for you, Sweetie Belle. Really.”

Sweetie Belle returned the smile, and reached over to hug Silver Spoon, more gently this time. “Thanks.”

Silver Spoon swallowed, and returned the hug given to her by Sweetie Belle. She felt her heart rate increasing quickly, and she was sure her entire face was as red as a tomato by this point. She kept trying to think of logical solutions as to why she was feeling this way, and acting so strange around Sweetie Belle, but despite her best attempts, there was only one conclusion that she could ever reach.

‘No, that’s got to be wrong,’ she told herself, but when Sweetie Belle’s hold on her tightened, and she felt her own temperature rising, and her heart felt like it was trying to jump out of her chest and make a quick getaway, she actually considered for a moment that maybe, just maybe, Diamond Tiara was actually right about her.

She struggled for a moment to get the words out, and she did, she noticed that her breathing had increased since earlier. ‘Another sign… It can’t be true, can it? That’s just-’ Her thoughts were interrupted when she caught the scent of the other filly’s shampoo, and she shuddered as she took in the pleasant scent. ‘… Oh Celestia, I think it’s true…’

“… Sweetie Belle?” Silver Spoon finally managed to say, although her voice was a little shaky. Sweetie Belle simply acknowledged that she had heard Silver Spoon with a nod.

“There you are!”

The two fillies jumped and quickly pulled away from each other, and turned to the direction of the voice to find Cheerilee walking towards them, an angry look on her face. “I told you not to wander away from the class! It’s for safety reasons!”

Behind Cheerilee, a guilty looking Diamond Tiara emerged from the bushes, grinning sheepishly at the two fillies that were sat together on the picnic basket.

“OH, COME ON!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shouted in unison as they emerged from the bushes, directing their glares towards Diamond Tiara.

“Why did ya tell her?” Apple Bloom whispered to Diamond Tiara.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Diamond Tiara answered, “I ran out of things to say to her, and she got suspicious when I kept trying to delay her.”

“Couldn’t ya have come up with something to keep her away? It can’t be that hard.”

“I’d like to have seen you try.”

“GIRLS!” Cheerilee shouted from the front of the room. “You are in detention! And you will not be leaving until you finish writing ‘I will follow the teacher’s instructions at all times’ one hundred times!”

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom said in unison, before getting back to their lines.

After the five fillies were done with their lines, they spent the remainder of their hour receiving a lecture from Cheerilee about why it is important to follow the rules at all times, and why not following the rules can be dangerous.

Once the hour was over, the five were released and allowed to go back to their activities. The first one they went to was swimming, where they competed with another group in a series of races, and a few games of water volleyball.

During their time in the pool, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo considered having Sweetie Belle almost drown so that Silver Spoon could perform CPR on her. Diamond Tiara wasn’t sure if they were serious or not, but she did know that they were complete idiots, and didn’t want to take the chance.

“What makes you think Silver Spoon even knows CPR?” she said to them, and thankfully, that seemed to be enough to get them to abandon that idea.

“Well then,” Apple Bloom said, “Why don’t you almost drown, so we can perform CPR?”

“Yeah! We might get out Cutie Marks in being lifeguards!” Scootaloo added.

Diamond Tiara stared at them with a blank face, and simply said: “No.”

The two crusaders moaned, and got back to their game of water volleyball. “Ye’re no help at all,” Apple Bloom muttered. Diamond Tiara responded as any mature filly would: she scoffed and splashed water at the farm filly, and then swam over to Silver Spoon for protection.

The rest of the activities that day followed much the same routine; Apple Bloom and Scootaloo would, wherever possible, try and get Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle into an awkward situation together, and Diamond Tiara would simply watch from the sidelines. Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she did find some amusement in watching the two fillies nervously trying to squirm their way out of the situations they’d find themselves in.

Their activities ended at 17:00, and the class was given free time for the next hour. Afterwards, they would have dinner, and then move on the camp’s final activity: an all-class paintball tournament, which each group pitted against each other.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo suddenly had to excuse themselves, no surprise to the other three fillies, who were well aware of what the two had been doing all day, but surprising to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, Sweetie Belle also said that she had somewhere that she wanted to be.

This left Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon by themselves, so the two decided to go for a walk through the woods.

“Hey, you didn’t hear a wolf, did you?” Diamond Tiara asked nervously, looking around, but all she could see were trees, bushes, more trees, and the occasional piece of paper with a strange drawing of a tall, faceless pony and strange writing. “What’s with all these papers, anyway?”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, and nudged Diamond Tiara’s side. “Don’t worry. We’re in the fenced-in area, so there wouldn’t be any wolves around here.”

Diamond Tiara nodded, though she was still uncertain. “I guess…” The two continued walking in silence, waiting for one of them to start up the next topic of conversation. “Hey, have Apple Bloom and Scootaloo been bothering you with their lame tricks today?” she asked. “‘Cause if they have, you should totally say something.”

Silver Spoon shook her head. “No… Well, they’ve been getting a little annoying, but…” She stopped and turned her attention to Diamond Tiara, who also stopped next to her. “Wait… Did you just say ‘Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’?” Diamond Tiara was confused, but nodded nonetheless. “… Not ‘blank flanks’?”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened, and her cheeks turned red. “W-What are you getting at?”

Silver Spoon giggled and leaned closer to Diamond Tiara. “Sounds like somepony’s been making some new friends this camping trip.”

Diamond Tiara’s blush intensified, but she remained on the offensive. “Oh, like you’re one to talk! You and that bla-” She stopped when she saw a disapproving frown appear on Silver Spoon’s face. “See?! That’s what I mean!”

Silver Spoon backed up and cleared her throat. “I don’t know what you mean…” she lied.

“You have that blank-Sweetie Belle, have been getting more than just a little close, don’t you think?”

Silver Spoon shuffled her hooves on the ground nervously, and looked around cautiously, just to make sure that nopony was around. “… I… Okay, yes, I’ve been getting close to Sweetie Belle,” she said, surprising Diamond Tiara. “What? You said no more secrets, right? Then I’ll tell you! I like Sweetie Belle. A lot!” Silver Spoon’s face was now a full on blush, and she had to close her eyes to avoid running away out of embarrassment. “I can’t quite explain it, but I really, really, really, really like her, okay?!”

Silver Spoon panted heavily when she was finished, leaving a bewildered Diamond Tiara in front of her, wondering just what in Equestria had happened. Silver Spoon had admitted her feelings towards Sweetie Belle… That couldn’t have been easy, and it showed on Silver Spoon’s face that she must have put a lot of effort into forcing those words out.

Diamond Tiara took a moment to consider what this meant. Silver Spoon, her best, and only friend, had such strong feeling towards somepony else. And this somepony else was one of the same ponies that, just days ago, the two of them considered enemies, and would do their very best to harass at every opportunity.

Diamond Tiara meant it when she said that she was okay with Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle being friends, but at that time, she thought that’s all they would be. Just friends. Simple friends, who would hang out occasionally when everypony else they knew was busy.

Even when she noticed that Silver Spoon did feel more towards Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara never truly grasped how strong those feelings would be… Now, she was feeling uneasy. She felt threatened. Right now, Sweetie Belle was on equal hoofing with Diamond Tiara in regards to how important the two were to Silver Spoon. She may even be on a higher level!

“There, I said it!” Silver Spoon said. “I shared my true feelings with you, just like you wanted.”

Diamond Tiara gulped, and looked around, just as Silver Spoon had done earlier. “Y-Yeah… Um, if we’re being honest…”

Diamond Tiara stopped speaking all of a sudden, and Silver Spoon raised an eyebrow. “What? If you have something on your mind, tell me. Just like we promised, remember?”

Diamond Tiara hesitated, and then nodded. “… Who’s more important to you?” she asked, and seeing that she had confused Silver Spoon, decided to clarify. “Who’s more important to you? Sweetie Belle, or me?”

Silver Spoon looked positively shocked at the question posed to her, and stared at Diamond Tiara with her mouth agape. ‘D-Did she just…’ “How could you ask something like that?”

Diamond Tiara flinched, and turned her head away, trying to hold back the tears forming in your eyes. “J-Just tell me… I can take it. If Sweetie Belle is going to replace me, then-”

“Of course she wouldn’t replace you!” Silver Spoon shouted, surprising Diamond Tiara and bringing a hopeful look to her friend’s face. “But, if you ask me to choose between the two of you… I-I just can’t. The way I feel towards the two of you is so different, but there’s no doubt I love you as strongly as I love Sweetie Belle.”

Diamond Tiara sniffed, and let a few tears fall. “You do?”

Silver Spoon nodded. “The way I feel towards Sweetie Belle is… It’s strange, and confusing, but there’s no doubt that I love her, and want to spend more time with her… And the way I feel towards you, though it’s not ‘love’ in the same sense, you’re my best friend in the whole world. And you always will be.”

Silver Spoon reached forward and embraced the now-crying filly, who returned the hug happily. “I want you to be happy, and I want to be there for you, whenever you need somepony to give you strength.”

“What’s with that?” Diamond Tiara said with a slight chuckle. “You been watching those cheesy shows you mother likes or something?”

“I’m just sharing how I feel,” Silver Spoon said. “Some idiot told me it would be a good idea… But I think she may have been right.”

Diamond Tiara didn’t say anything for a few minutes. She and Silver Spoon just held each other, not even caring if anypony happened to walk by, and then finally parted when they had both calmed down.

“I’m sorry,” Diamond Tiara said. “You just spent so much time with Sweetie Belle today, I guess I got a little jealous…”

“No, I’m sorry,” Silver Spoon said. “I was just so excited about my new friendship with Sweetie Belle, but I shouldn’t have forgotten about you like that.”

“Well, I’m more sorry.”

“No, I am,” Silver Spoon argued.

“Are not.”

“Are too.”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

The two glared at each other for a few seconds, before both simultaneously bursting out into laughter, dropping down to the floor and clutching their stomachs. It took a few minutes for the two to finally stop, and when they did, they decided to head on back, since their free time was almost up.

On the way back, Silver Spoon decided it was time to get Diamond Tiara back for her teasing yesterday. “Hey, Diamond,” she said, getting Diamond Tiara’s attention. “You never told me how things went between you and Alula earlier.”

“What do you mean?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Oh, you mean that. I was just trying to get away from bla-UGH! Sweetie Belle’s cooking.” She rubbed a forehoof in-between her eyes. “Sorry, it’s hard to get used to calling her by her name.”

Silver Spoon giggled. “It’s okay. Just make sure you don’t call her that when she’s around. Anyway, so you mean you didn’t go and apologise to her?”

Diamond Tiara shrugged. “Why should I? I’m not her friend or anything.”

Silver Spoon sighed and turned her head away. ‘Oh well. There are still plenty of ponies out there…’

“It’s like you said,” Diamond Tiara said. “I’m just no good at making friends…”

Silver Spoon shook her head, and placed a hoof around Diamond Tiara’s shoulders. “It’s fine. You’ll get the hang of it… In fact, I think you’ve actually been getting better these past few years.”

“You really think so?” Diamond Tiara asked, a hopeful look on her face. Silver Spoon nodded, and Diamond Tiara smiled.

“HEY! YOU GUYS!”

The two fillies looked in front of them to see Apple Bloom running towards them. Silver Spoon quickly retracted her hoof.

“There ya are! Ah’ve been lookin’ everywhere,” Apple bloom said once she had reached them. She turned her attention to Silver Spoon. “Miss Cheerilee’s lookin’ for ya! She’s over by the lake. She said tah get there as soon as possible.”

“She did?” Silver Spoon asked disbelievingly. “Why?”

Apple Bloom shifted her eyes left and right, her face scrunched up. “Er, dunno.”

Silver Spoon sighed and facehooved. After a few seconds of mulling it over, she decided to play along. “Fine. I’ll go there now. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Mah pleasure!” Apple Bloom said as Silver Spoon walked away. As soon as Silver Spoon was out of sight, Apple Bloom turned to Diamond Tiara with a grin on her face. “Wanna go watch?”

Scootaloo watched as Silver Spoon arrived at the lake and began looking around. She had told Sweetie Belle that Cheerilee wanted to meet her at the lake to talk to her, but the Unicorn filly was taking her time getting there, and Scootaloo was beginning to worry that her and Apple Bloom’s plan had been foiled.

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned around to see Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara. “She not here yet?” Apple Bloom asked quietly. Scootaloo shook her head. “What’s takin’ her?”

“Who knows?” Scootaloo responded. “Maybe somepony messed things up again.”

Diamond Tiara caught the accusation sent her way, and narrowed her eyes at Scootaloo. “I told you, I didn’t have a choice last time. And besides, I was with her whilst you were with Sweetie Belle,” she said, motioning her head towards Apple Bloom, who confirmed Diamond Tiara’s alibi with a nod.

“Girls?” The three fillies jumped and turned around to see Cheerilee looking at them. “What are you still doing here? Come on, it’s time to head back.” Cheerilee looked up and past the three fillies. “Is that Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle? I’d better go and get them, too.”

Apple Bloom turned around to find that Sweetie Belle had indeed arrived, and then ran in front on Cheerilee, stopping her in her path. “Please, wait,” she said.

Scootaloo joined her friend in blocking Cheerilee’s path. “Just… Give us some time!” she pleaded. “It’s very important! Just ten more minutes, please!”

Cheerilee looked at them with a questioning glance. “What do you mean? What exactly is so important?”

“We… We can’t say, but trust us, it’s super important!” Apple Bloom said.

Cheerilee studied the three faces before her. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were looking at her with big, pleading eyes, and Diamond Tiara, although she was trying to act uninterested, also had a look that told Cheerilee she wanted her to give the other two fillies some time alone.

Sighing, Cheerilee decided to give them their extra time. “Fine. You have ten minutes… After that, you’re coming back to the campsite with me.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo thanked Cheerilee, and got back hiding behind some nearby bushes whilst they watched Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon. Diamond Tiara joined them, though visibly less enthusiastic. Cheerilee decided to give them their extra time, under the condition that she stay and watch them, to make sure they weren’t getting into any more trouble. She didn’t understand what was going on, but the five seemed to be getting along. And if that were the case, then giving them a little extra time seemed like a cheap price to pay.

Silver Spoon looked around the lake nervously, waiting for somepony to show up. Even though Apple Bloom told her that it was Cheerilee she would be meeting, she was fairly certain that wasn’t the case. She was sure this was another setup… But she didn’t mind. In fact, this was helpful to her. After all, she had something that she really needed to talk to Sweetie Belle about. Two things, actually. And this was a good chance to talk to her all alone, away from prying ears.

Silver Spoon swallowed when she heard approaching hoofsteps, and slowly turned her gaze upon their owner. Sweetie Belle was now standing her, looking ragged and out of breath, as if she had just run a marathon. The two fillies stared at each other in silence for a bit, and then began to speak.

“Uh-” they both said in unison, before stopping to let the other go first. When it seemed like neither would, they tried again. “I-”

They couldn’t help but begin to laugh, and then continue laughing for a full minute. When their laughter died down, Silver Spoon removed her glasses to wipe the tears from her face, and Sweetie Belle took this chance to speak first.

“They got us again, huh?” she said, though she didn’t sound disappointed. “Well, I kinda figured it was another trick… I may not be the quickest when it comes to noticing things, but even I wouldn’t fall for their tricks so many times in one day, without noticing that something was up.”

Silver Spoon gave her glasses a quick polish with her hoofkerchief, put them back on, and nodded. “I kind of figured they were setting us up like this… But it’s fine. There was something I wanted to talk to you about, anyway.”

“Oh yeah, you mentioned that earlier,” Sweetie Belle said. “But first…” Sweetie Belle reached for her saddlebag, opened it up, and pulled something out. A small piece of cloth, which she seemed to be using to wrap something up. “I have something for you. As a thanks for the broach you gave me before.”

Silver Spoon looked at the piece of cloth in the other filly’s hooves. “That’s very thoughtful of you, but there was no need to do that.”

“But I wanted to,” Sweetie Belle said. “Because we’re friends. And when a friend does something nice for you, you show them your appreciation.”

Silver Spoon smiled, and reached forward to take the present from Sweetie Belle. “Well, if it means that much to you…”

As Silver Spoon began to unravel the cloth, Sweetie Belle began explaining her gift to her. “It’s just a little something I started in the arts and crafts activity yesterday. I spent my free time today finishing it up… It may not be so good though,” she added, worry starting to take a hold of her as she watched Silver Spoon looking down at her present.

In Silver Spoon’s hoof was a small barrette in the shape of a blue flower, the same shade of blue as the beads around her neck, made by many small beads woven together. It was clear that Sweetie Belle wasn’t an expert at arts and crafts just from looking at the thing; some of the beads were the completely wrong shade, some looked like they were about to fall off at any moment, and it was clear that she got help from a teacher at first, but then went solo for the rest, as the quality clearly declined in certain areas compared to others.

Even so, Silver Spoon accepted the kind gesture sent her way, and loved the gift that Sweetie Belle had given her. “Thank you,” she said as she admired the barrette. She was silent for a bit, before she looked back up at Sweetie Belle. “Hey… About that broach I gave you…”

“Yes?” Sweetie Belle pressed when Silver Spoon suddenly trailed off.

“… Did you really think it was so good?”

“Of course!” Sweetie Belle said, smiling widely. “It was beautiful! It kinda makes me jealous, since I can’t make things as well as you…”

“Is that so?” Silver Spoon looked down at the ground with a frown, and Sweetie Belle asked her what was wrong. “I… I’m considering taking up silversmithing.”

“You are?” Sweetie Belle asked, receiving a nod from Silver Spoon. “That’s great! I mean, it is your special talent, after all. I’m sure you’d do really well!”

“But,” Silver Spoon added, “But what about father? What am I supposed to tell him?” Silver Spoon started shaking on the spot, and Sweetie Belle moved closer to make sure she was okay. “Father’s expecting me to carry on the family business after him… I don’t want to disappoint him. I want to be able to help him however I can. What should I do? If I become a silversmith, something I can actually do, and something I enjoy doing… I’d be letting father down for sure.”

Silver Spoon let out a few sobs, and Sweetie Belle leaned forward and nuzzled her to calm her down. “… I… I don’t really know,” Sweetie Belle said. “I can’t really say for sure, since I don’t know your family that well… But, does your father love you?”

Silver Spoon nodded almost immediately. “He does… He’s always telling me how proud he is of me… And whenever I’m sad, or ill, he always takes the time to help me feel better.”

“Then there should be no problem,” Sweetie Belle reasoned. “I’m sure if you just talk to your father, he’ll understand. Most likely, he just wants you to be happy, no matter what it is you do.”

“But…” Silver Spoon sniffed, and looked up into Sweetie Belle’s eyes. “But, his workload’s getting bigger and bigger, and father’s been so overworked lately. If I don’t help him… What if he can’t handle it all on his own?”

“I’m sure,” Sweetie Belle started, “That your father, more than anything, just wants to see you smile. If you give him that, that’ll probably be all the help he needs.” Sweetie Belle focused her magic into her horn, letting out a series of grunts and groans as she did so, and the barrette became surrounded by a wobbly green aura. It levitated into the air, and made its way to Silver Spoon’s mane. “I’m sure… Your father would…”

Sweetie Belle felt a surge of pain pass through her mind, and suddenly fell down to the ground, her magic focus breaking and the barrette falling down with her. Silver Spoon quickly moved to catch Sweetie Belle, and the Unicorn filly ended up with her head on Silver Spoon’s lap, staring up blankly at the grey filly above her.

Silver Spoon let out a sigh of relief that Sweetie Belle is okay, before giving the filly a stern look. “You dummy. Don’t push yourself. You’ve only just learned how to focus your magic, right?”

Sweetie Belle giggled sheepishly. “Sorry,” she said, giving Silver Spoon her best puppy dog face.

Silver Spoon blushed, and had to turn away to avert her gaze from Sweetie Belle’s eyes. “J-Just be more careful in the future. Okay?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and pushed herself up, so that she was sitting on the ground next to Silver Spoon. She found her barrette on the floor, and picked it up with her hooves. After dusting it off real quick, she reached forward and applied it to Silver Spoon’s mane, the other filly sitting perfectly still whilst Sweetie Belle messed with her hair.

“Anyway,” Sweetie Belle said, “I’m sure you father would rather see you happy, and doing your own thing, than see you depressed for the sake of helping him.” Sweetie Belle pulled back and examined her work. The barrette was now on the left side of Silver Spoon’s mane. A little lopsided, but still on. “It really suits you.”

“It does?” Silver Spoon asked, blushing as she turned to the lake beside her to look at her reflection. “… I suppose it kind of does,” she said.

“‘Kind of does’?” Sweetie Belle asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that it’s obvious you’ve never applied a mane accessory before,” Silver Spoon answered, smirking at the Unicorn filly. “Seriously, a dodo could have applied this better than you.”

Sweetie Belle pouted and turned away. “Well so-rry!” she said in mock anger. She turned back when she heard laughter behind her, and when she saw Silver’s Spoon laughing face, she couldn’t help but smile. She waited for the other filly’s laughter to die down before speaking up again. “That’s good,” Sweetie Belle said, bringing a look of confusion to Silver Spoon’s face. “I like seeing you happy.”

Silver Spoon smiled, and walked towards Sweetie Belle. “… There’s… One other thing, that I needed to talk to you about.”

Sweetie Belle swallowed nervously as Silver Spoon approached her, and felt her cheeks becoming hot. “T-There is?” she asked, not backing away despite how close Silver Spoon was getting.

“… I’m… Not really sure where to begin,” Silver Spoon said, her face becoming redder the closer she got to Sweetie Belle. “I’ve never felt this way before about anypony…” She took in a deep breath, and fixed her gaze on Sweetie Belle’s eyes. “I… Really enjoy spending time with you, Sweetie Belle. Even if you can be a little dense-”

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

“… Even so,” Silver Spoon continued, giggling at Sweetie Belle’s cute reaction, “Despite your clumsiness, you density, your total lack of co-ordination, and all your other flaws… I still really like being with you. And I want to continue being with you even more. I want to know more about you, and I want you to know me.”

Sweetie Belle returned Silver Spoon’s smile, and took a moment to think of how to begin her response. “I… I kinda feel the same way, too… Despite all the times you picked on me and my friends in the past, these past few days with you have been really fun. And, whenever I’m near you, or even think of you, I feel… Strange.”

“Like your chest gets tighter, or you feel like your heart is going to burst if it doesn’t slow down?” Silver Spoon asked, receiving a nod from Sweetie Belle.

“Like my entire body heats up, and my legs feel all shaky… And, I feel really disappointed when one of us has to go, and then I’m wondering when we’ll next get to see each other again, even if I know it’ll be soon…”

Silver Spoon reached forward with her forelegs and placed them on Sweetie Belle’s shoulders. “And, when we get back to Ponyville, I want to hang out with you more. I want to get to know everything about you, and spend so much time with you, talking, playing, laughing… And…”

Silver Spoon trailed off as Sweetie Belle put her own forehooves on either side of the rich filly’s face, and pulled her forward. She noticed Sweetie Belle closing her eyes, and could only close her own as she let the other filly guide her forward, her heart pounding against her ribcage so hard she could practically hear it.

She felt her lips touch something soft, and immediately, the world around her was forgotten. She melted into the kiss, and wished that time would come to a halt, so that she could savour this moment for as long as she wanted.

“YES!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exclaimed in unison, high hoofing each other. “Cutie Mark Crusader Matchmakers, success!” The two crusaders quickly looked over their shoulders and at their flanks, but when they saw that there was nothing there, they both let out disappointed moans.

“That’s what all this was about?” Diamond Tiara asked. “You went through all of this trouble, just for your Cutie Marks?”

“Of course not!” Apple Bloom said. “Like we said, we wanted tah help those two by givin’ ‘em a lil’ nudge.”

“It’s just, if we found our Cutie Marks too, that would have been totally awesome!” Scootaloo added.

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, and then looked at Cheerilee, who was gaping at the scene before her. She was certain her teacher was in a state of shock, and would need some help snapping out of it. ‘She realises we’ve gone well over ten minutes, right?’

“I’m heading back,” Diamond Tiara said. “You know, to where the rest of the class is waiting?”

Cheerilee heard Diamond Tiara’s word, and shook off the shock of seeing two of her students kissing before her eyes. ‘I know I wanted them to get along, but I didn’t quite mean get along that well,’ she thought to herself. “Yes, quite right,” she said. “We should all head back now. That includes those two.”

Apple Bloom gasped and shook her head quickly. “Miss Cheerilee, don’t ya know a thing ‘bout romance?!”

“It would be rude to interrupt them,” Diamond Tiara said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. “But on the other hoof, it would also be pretty funny.”

Cheerilee sighed and rubbed her temple with a forehoof. “Girls, we’re already running late as it is. You three head on back, and I’ll handle those two.”

“But-” Apple Bloom began, but was cut off by Cheerilee.

“No buts! Now go, or else you won’t be taking part in the camp’s final event!” An empty threat, since she didn’t have the heart to deprive them of joining the rest of the class in the final event, but she knew it would be enough for these three.

“Right-o!” Scootaloo said, saluting to Cheerilee. “Heading on back at once, ma’am!” She and Apple Bloom took off back towards the camp at quick speeds, whilst Diamond Tiara walked back a little more calmly, but not before directing one final glance towards Silver Spoon.

After a rather awkward encounter with Cheerilee at the lake, Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon also made their way back to the campsite, their faces completely red and their voices silenced from embarrassment. This didn’t stop the two from holding hooves as they walked, though that was for the most part Sweetie’s Belle’s doing, and Silver Spoon’s inability to pull her hoof away.

When they got back, their worst fears were confirmed when they saw the looks on their friends’ faces; Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were giving the two sly grins, and giggling to themselves as the two approached them, and Diamond Tiara, though she looked bored to any normal observer, to Silver Spoon, it was clear that she was trying to act innocent.

“You guys were watching, weren’t you?” Sweetie Belle asked timidly, and with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

“Watchin’ what?” Apple Bloom asked innocently, unable to clear the big grin plastered on her face.

“Yeah, what are ya talking about?” Scootaloo asked, just barely holding back her laughter when she saw her friend’s face turning even redder.

“Okay class!” Cheerilee announced, gathering the attention of everypony present, much to Sweetie Belle’s delight. “We will have forty-five minutes to eat, and then we shall make our way over to the paintball field! For those of you who do not wish to take part can have free time, and there is an observation area if you simply want to watch your friends taking part!”

Normally, she would have made preparations for anypony who hadn’t received permission from their parents, but this year, much to Cheerilee’s surprise, every single student was able to hand in a signed consent form. The parents of Ponyville must have really trusted her… And that kind of put the teacher on edge a bit.

During dinner, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo did more teasing, and asking about what happened at the lake, than any actual eating. They started off subtly, pretending that they had no idea about what had happened between Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle, but eventually started to become more obvious about their teasing.

“We’d better not catch you two makin’ out in our clubhouse,” Scootaloo said, giving Sweetie Belle a quick nudge.

“Stop it already,” Sweetie Belle said, hiding her face in her hooves.

“Aw, come on now,” Apple Bloom said, patting Sweetie Belle’s back. “Ain’t nothin’ tah be embarrassed ‘bout! Ye’re just two fillies in loooove.”

“You know,” Silver Spoon said. She was also blushing, but she wasn’t going to let these two get the better of her. “You do realise that Sweetie Belle is beating you both at romance, right?”

Scootaloo didn’t seem to mind too much, but Apple Bloom’s eyes widened as she realised that Silver Spoon was right. “Ah… Ah hadn’t thought about that,” she said.

Silver Spoon put a hoof to her chin. “Hmmm… Maybe that’s why you’re teasing us right now. Maybe you’re just jealous of her, and are worried that you’ll never find special someponies of your own.”

“Pfft! Yeah, right!” Scootaloo said. “Like we would care about stupid, icky stuff like that!”

“Y-Yeah…” Apple Blooms agreed, though she sounded more uncertain than Scootaloo did.

Sweetie Belle gave Silver Spoon a quick smile, and got back to her dinner. Scootaloo continued to come up with jokes on her own, but without Apple Bloom backing her up, they weren’t as successful as earlier. That is, until Diamond Tiara joined in, occasionally misinterpreting Silver Spoon’s words purposefully to add fuel to Scootaloo’s jokes.

Silver Spoon glared at Diamond Tiara, who simply shot a wicked smile back.

After the five had finished their meals, they and the rest of the class followed Cheerilee and Derpy Hooves to where the paintball tournament would be taking place.

“Scootaloo! How’s it lookin’ out there?!” Apple Bloom shouted over to the orange Pegasus that had been sent ahead to scout out the area.

“You know,” Diamond Tiara said, “There’s not much point in her being stealthy if you call out to her whilst she’s working.”

“Hey! I heard a voice!”

“Over there!”

The four fillies hiding behind a large rock suddenly flinched, and Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom, both at either end of the cover, cautiously stuck their heads out to take a look, only to pull them back suddenly when the enemy began to open fire.

“Great! Now we’re pinned down here!” Silver Spoon said.

“Sorry,” Apple Bloom responded. “Ah hope Scootaloo’s okay…”

Just as she said that, a loud, familiar scream could be heard coming towards them, and was soon accompanied by an orange blur shooting past and taking cover behind a nearby tree. “Guys! It’s bad! Groups six and eight are out there, duking it out!”

“Shouldn’t we take this chance to run past them?” Apple Bloom asked, but Scootaloo shook her head.

“We’d be running right into the middle of a battlefield. We’d make it okay…” She pointed a hoof at the three less athletic members of their group, “But they wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Apple Bloom considered that, and nodded. “Then, what? We just sit here and wait for the two groups tah kill each other?”

“Sounds good to me,” Sweetie Belle said nervously, accidentally pointing her gun at Apple Bloom as she shifted in her spot.

“SWEETIE BELLE! Watch where you’re pointing that thing!” Apple Bloom shouted as she quickly pushed the barrel of Sweetie Belle’s gun away from her with a hind leg.

“Sorry!” Sweetie Belle apologised, moving her gun so that it was facing somewhere else.

“Not at me either!” Diamond Tiara shouted, prompting Sweetie Belle to move her gun away again.

“Sorry!”

Silver Spoon sighed, and couldn’t help but giggle at Sweetie Belle’s klutzy ways. She looked around the corner again, very cautiously, and caught sight of two fillies walking away with downcast expressions on their faces. They must have been shot, and were now leaving the arena.

She couldn’t see any other foals around, and risked sticking her head out further. “It looks like can get through this way,” she said to the others, looking towards a nearby burned down shed that they could use for cover. “Then we can get around and attack them from behind.”

“Ya sure?” Apple Bloom asked, crawling over to Silver Spoon. “It could be a trap.”

“Hey! What about me?!” Scootaloo shouted. “I’m stuck behind this tree! I can’t move without getting shot!”

Diamond Tiara moved to the side of the large rock, and motioned with her hoof for the three behind her to go. “I’ll stay with Scootaloo. You three go on ahead.”

Silver Spoon nodded, and wished her friend luck. Apple Bloom volunteered to take the lead, and moved out first, moving from cover to cover one at a time. She managed to reach the shed without any shots being fired at her, and signalled for Silver Spoon to go next.

“Okay Sweetie Belle,” Silver Spoon said, “I’m going to go first, and you follow me right after. Just run as fast as you can to the next cover, okay?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and Silver Spoon quickly ran towards a nearby tree that would act as her first new cover. She looked out cautiously, and then ran over to two barrels. Sweetie Belle moved to the now-vacant tree, and waited for Silver Spoon’s next movement.

The two continued this for the next two obstacles with no problems, but when Sweetie Belle attempted to make her next move, a shot rang out and hit the ground in front of her, forcing her to fall back behind the tree that she had just been hiding behind, narrowly dodging two more shots.

“Sweetie Belle!” Silver Spoon shouted. She tried to run towards her new fillyfriend, but found herself pinned down by the same shooters.

“Stay where ya are!” Apple Bloom shouted to both Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon. She poked her head out above the charred sheet of metal that was providing her cover, and saw two colts, one a short grey Pegasus, the other a tall yellow Unicorn, scanning the area, with their guns at the ready. “Ah gotcha…” she said quietly as she aimed her gun in their general direction. Her aim was a little shaky, and she didn’t have much confidence in her marksmanship.

‘C’mon Apple Bloom. You can do this, and ya could even get a Cutie Mark for it, too!’

Licking her lips as she steadied her aim, she fired two shots. One hit the Unicorn’s helmet, startling him and causing him to fall backwards, and the other would have missed the Pegasus, had his wings not suddenly stretched out from surprise at his teammate being suddenly hit.

The Pegasus’ wing was clipped by the paintball round, and he let out a loud yelp of pain as he dropped his gun and checked his wing.

“Gotcha!” Apple Bloom shouted triumphantly. She watched the two colts sulk, and slowly made their way out of the arena. She turned back to Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon, who were awestruck by the farm filly’s skills. “Okay! It’s safe for ya tah cross now!”

Silver Spoon nodded, and quickly made her way over to the burned down shed. She looked over at Sweetie Belle, who quickly crossed over to a nearby rock. Just one more run to reach her friends… Sweetie Belle took in a breath, and bravely charged forwards. As she did, Apple Bloom was busy checking her flank, only to be disappointed when she saw nothing there.

Silver Spoon saw something sparkle in the distance, and turned to some far away bushes to see something metal sticking out of them. Her eyes widened, and she turned her attention to Sweetie Belle, who was completely unaware of the impending danger.

“No, wait!” Silver Spoon shouted, but it was too late; Sweetie Belle was already halfway across, and all her warning did was stop the Unicorn filly, making her an easy target for the enemy. Silver Spoon quickly dashed out from her cover, and over to Sweetie Belle. “Watch out!”

The sound of a gunshot rang through the air, and Sweetie Belle watched in bewilderment as Silver Spoon jumped towards her, and pushed her out of the way. She fell down to her haunches with a loud thud!, and looked on in horror as Silver Spoon suddenly dropped to the floor, a red mark trickling down her side.

“S…” Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened, and she quickly ran towards the grey filly. “SILVER SPOOOOON!” She turned Silver Spoon onto her back, and stared down at her with wide, teary eyes. “No, hang in there! You’re gonna be okay!”

Silver Spoon shook her head, smiling bravely as she took deep, heavy breaths. “It’s too late for me,” she said, slowly bringing a hoof to Sweetie Belle’s face and wiping away the filly’s tears. “You have to go on… You can’t let my loss drag you down.”

Sweetie Belle grasped Silver Spoon’s hoof tightly with her own. “I’m so sorry… It’s all because of me…”

“No, Sweetie Belle,” Silver Spoon assured her. “I should have checked the area more carefully… Please, don’t blame yourself. Just… Make sure you win… And remember me, for who I was…”

Silver Spoon closed her eyes, and stopped her breathing. Sweetie Belle released the filly’s hoof, and nodded her head slowly. “… Don’t worry, Silver Spoon.” Sweetie Belle grasped her gun tightly, her eyes burning with fiery resolve as she stood over her downed fillyfriend.

“You two done yet?” Apple Bloom asked, looking at the two as if they were a couple of grade-A goofballs. “Silver Spoon, ye’re supposed tah clear outta the way when ya get hit.”

Silver Spoon pushed herself up onto her hooves, and dusted herself off. She saw the red stain on her side, and grimaced. ‘That had better come out later,’ she thought to herself as she began to leave the arena.

Sweetie Belle managed to run over to where Apple Bloom was without being shot, and the two began to devise a new plan together.

“Right, so here’s what ah was thinkin’,” Apple Bloom said. “You sneak ‘round an’ take out the enemy, an’ ah’ll distract ‘em. Since ah’m faster an’ all, ah’ll stand a better chance.”

“So… I’ll be on my own?” Sweetie Belle asked with worry.

“Don’t worry so much,” Apple Bloom said with a comforting smile. “Just remember what we taught ya before we started.”

Sweetie Belle thought back, and looked over her gun. “Um… Oh!” She pulled it up as if she were aiming at a specific target, and placed her hoof at the trigger. “Like this, right?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Just be careful. You have limited ammo, and these things can be quite-”

BANG!

“YOWCH!” Apple Bloom shrieked as a shot hit her right hind leg. “SWEETIE BELLE! AH SAID BE CAREFUL!”

Sweetie Belle dropped her gun in panic, and quickly started apologising to Apple Bloom.

BANG!

“OWWW!” Sweetie Belle felt a sharp pain through her back, and turned around to see Twist standing behind them, a dark grin on her face.

“Got ya. That was for my teammates!”

Scootaloo quickly pointed her gun up, and fired a few shots forward. Diamond Tiara turned to where Scootaloo was aiming, and saw Twist run around the burned down shed, taking cover from the Pegasus filly.

“Darn it!” Scootaloo shouted when she saw the other two crusaders walking away, Sweetie Belle looking upset, and Apple Bloom looking annoyed. “Well, guess it’s just us two, now.”

Diamond Tiara sighed, and put a hoof to her forehead. “Can’t they do anything right? They even dragged Silver down with them.”

Scootaloo glared at Diamond Tiara, and was about to respond, but the sudden appearance of Twist prompted her to quickly take cover behind the other side of the tree. “Now what?! We’re surrounded!”

Diamond Tiara looked around the side of the rock, and found that they were indeed pinned down from both sides. She looked around, but could find no way out. “… There’s nothing we can do,” she said grimly.

Scootaloo looked at her, and the two, as if reading each other’s minds, nodded to each other. “On three?” Scootaloo asked.

“Might as well do something,” Diamond Tiara said.

“Right! We’ll go out in a blaze of glory!” Scootaloo took a breath, and began counting down. “One… Two… THREE!”

“Ah still can’t believe you actually survived that!” Apple Bloom exclaimed with astonishment as she studied the cards in her hoof. “And you won, to boot!”

The five fillies, along with the rest of the class, were now on the train ride home. Whilst most of the class (Cheerilee and Derpy Hooves included) were exhausted from the day’s events, group five proved to have unnatural reserves on energy, and were now playing a game of Texas hold ‘em, a game that Apple Bloom had learned from Big Macintosh and Caramel last Hearth’s Warming Eve.

The other foals that were still up-and-about at this time couldn’t help but noticed the five fillies sitting together, talking, playing, and not trying to kill each other. Gossip speared quickly throughout the train, and soon the entire class had gathered in the car where group five were playing, watching from a distance and talking to each other about what was going on.

“Um… Guys?” Sweetie Belle said when she felt the multiple pairs of eyes on her and her friends. “Are we… Being watched?”

“Just ignore them,” Diamond Tiara said, flipping the final card on the table. She groaned and tossed her own cards aside. “Nothing.”

Scootaloo grinned and revealed her cards. “A pair of eights!”

“Two pair,” Apple Bloom said, sticking her tongue out at Scootaloo.

“Um… I got nothing,” Sweetie Belle said, revealing her cards.

“Wait,” Silver Spoon said, moving one of Sweetie Belle’s Kings up to the pile. “Five hearts. That’s a flush.”

Sweetie Belle blinked as she looked over the cards. “Oh… Is that good?”

Silver Spoon nodded, and revealed her own cards, showing a pair of Queens. “Best hoof on the table.”

Sweetie Belle’s face lit up with excitement, and she let out a small cheer and she hugged Silver Spoon, causing the grey filly to blush and attempt to pry her off. As expected, the mumbling around them increased after that little display.

Sweetie Belle released Silver Spoon and apologised. “Sorry. I just got excited, since it was the first hoof that I actually won.”

“Well try to keep your mind on the game,” Diamond Tiara said, gathering up the cards and shuffling them. Sweetie Belle scooped the pile of sweets towards her, since they didn’t have anything else to use as betting material, and Diamond Tiara to deal out the next set of cards.

After a few more games, and a few foals actually daring to get close enough to the group’s table, Diamond Tiara finally snapped, and ordered everypony to stop watching them, practically biting their heads off and scaring a majority of the class away.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were both stunned into silence by the sudden act, which didn’t go unnoticed by Diamond Tiara, as she saw them gaping at her. “What?” she said harshly, glaring at the two fillies.

“Well…” Scootaloo started. “That was just… Kind cool,” she said, surprising Diamond Tiara. “The way you helped Sweetie Belle like that? I didn’t know you were such a softie at heart.”

“What are you-” Diamond Tiara was interrupted by a sudden hug from Sweetie Belle, confusing her even more. “W-What are you doing?!”

“Thanks,” Sweetie Belle said, letting her go and moving back to her seat next to Silver Spoon. “I was getting really nervous… I don’t like it when so many ponies look at me like that…”

Silver Spoon smiling approvingly to Diamond Tiara, who honestly had no clue what was going on. Still, she seemed to have done something right, so she just rolled with it. “W-Well… It was…” She stopped and gave the Unicorn filly a strange look. “Wait… What about the talent show? Ponies were looking at you then.”

“But that was onstage,” Sweetie Belle argued. “This was just me trying to have fun with my friends… It’s kind of hard to be yourself with so many ponies looking at you, y’know?”

‘No, I don’t,’ Diamond Tiara thought to herself, but decided to just go ahead and deal the next set of cards. Once the fifth card had been laid out on the table, she revealed her own hoof with a smug grin on her face. “Straight!” she declared, her face beaming with pride.

“Darn it!” Scootaloo said as she revealed that she had nothing. Apple Bloom revealed a pair of twos, and then waited for Sweetie Belle to make her reveal. “… Sweetie Belle?”

The three fillies looked over at Sweetie Belle, who was now leaning on Silver Spoon’s shoulder, snoring away quietly. Silver Spoon, still fully awake, looked incredibly uncomfortable, and indeed she was. She had no idea what to do now. She didn’t want to risk moving, in case she woke Sweetie Belle up, but at the same time, her legs were growing tired, and she needed to move them to wake them up.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo giggled at the site, and both got up. “Well, it is pretty late,” Apple Bloom noted, looking outside the window to see that it was already night-time.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go hit the hay,” Scootaloo said, walking out of the train car, followed by Apple Bloom.

Silver Spoon looked up at Diamond Tiara with pleading eyes, silently asking her friend to help her out. Diamond Tiara stared back for a bit, and grinned at her friend’s dilemma. This was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.

“Well, I’d better be going, too,” she said, gathering up her cards and putting them back in their pack. Silver Spoon stared at her in disbelief, and watched as Diamond Tiara squeezed past the two fillies so that she could leave the car. “Good night, Silver. Hope you sleep comfortably.”

With that, Diamond Tiara left the train car, leaving Silver Spoon all alone with a sleeping Sweetie Belle leaning on her shoulder. Silver Spoon tried to move Sweetie Belle gently, but when it sounded like she might wake up, she stopped immediately, and let out a light whimper.

Thankfully, she was able to move her legs into a more comfortable position, but she was still pinned down by the adorable little filly beside her… That was now drooling on her. ‘Great,’ she thought to herself as she gently rotated Sweetie Belle’s head, and placed a hoof underneath Sweetie Belle’s chin to close her mouth up.

With a resigned sigh, Silver Spoon decided to just leave it be, and leaned her own head on Sweetie Belle’s, taking care to avoid the horn.

When Cheerilee entered the train car about thirty minutes later, she found the two fillies sleeping together, with Sweetie Belle being held in Silver Spoon’s hooves, both of them with peaceful looks on their faces.

“… Well, they’re certainly getting along now,” Cheerilee said to herself as she gently picked up Sweetie Belle, using her experience as a foalsitter to make sure she didn’t wake either filly up. She placed the small Unicorn on her back, and then did the same for Silver Spoon.

She took them to their cabin, where she found Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Diamond Tiara sleeping on the floor, a board game in progress sitting in front of each of them. She sighed and got to work on putting each filly into a bed, making sure each was tucked in before leaving.

“Good night, my little ponies,” she said as she left their cabin. She sighed a happy sigh as she leaned against the closed door, and began to make her way back to her own cabin. “Now, if only they could stay like this…”

Epilogue - Same Old, Same Old?

“So once we find the Tan of angle A, we can use the inverse Tan function to find the angle’s value,” Cheerilee explained as she worked through an example on her board. “Any questions?”

At once, it seemed that every student in the class had raised their hooves. Cheerilee frowned at the sight. Yesterday, she had asked all of her students in the class to do some reading on the next topic, trigonometry, that night, and when she asked this morning if everypony had done that and understood it, they had all just nodded and mumbled that they had.

Now, she was having her doubts. She had her doubts before, but now she was certain: nopony ever did any of the prep work that she set out for them. She sighed and looked up at the clock. It was just five minutes until the final bell rang, so there wouldn’t be enough time to go over it again. Instead, she simply handed out some worksheets for them to complete over the weekend, along with some instruction sheets that explained exactly what she had just gone through on the board.

“Remember, anypony who doesn’t do the homework I’ve set out for them will have to do it on Monday, after school.” That little threat was enough to motivate the majority of the students. The rest, she would just have to hope would decide not to be lazy. The bell rang, and the students began to pack their books into their bags. “Well then, I’ll see you all on Monday. Enjoy your weekend, my little ponies!”

The students filed out quickly, all too eager to get out of the school building at the end of a long week. Cheerilee waited until the final student had left, and then walked over to her desk to begin revising her lesson plan for Monday, since it was apparent that her students didn’t understand a thing that she taught them today.

“What was that?! You wanna say that to my face?!”

Cheerilee sighed and stopped her approach, instead turning towards the open window and moving towards it. “They’re at it again, aren’t they?” she asked herself in a flat tone, peering outside the window to see five little fillies outside.

“I was simply stating the obvious. A ruffian like you wouldn’t know the first thing about jewellery.”

“Oh yeah?!” Scootaloo stomped a hoof on the ground and glared at Diamond Tiara, her wings flaring. “I’ll show you! I’ll come back on Monday with some totally awesome Cutie Mark that puts yours to shame!”

Diamond Tiara laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure,” she said sarcastically. “And then I’ll just wash it off with a bucket of water, blank flank.”

Scootaloo growled angrily at the condescending filly, with Apple Bloom joining her by her side.

“Hey,” Silver Spoon said, interrupting the fight. “Can you guys make this quick? I have to be somewhere soon, and you said you’d show me your new necklace today,” she said to Diamond Tiara, who was still revelling in the looks of rage she had induced in her two arch-enemies.

Diamond Tiara looked at Silver Spoon, and then at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and then sighed. “Fine,” she said in a bored tone, before walking towards the two crusaders. “… Blank flanks.”

“Plot head,” Scootaloo said.

“Spoiled brat,” Apple Bloom added.

The three fillies, now done with their abusive exchanges for the day, silently agreed to leave it at that, and Diamond Tiara began walking away, stopping at the school gates to wait for Silver Spoon.

Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle giggled together. At first, they were worried when Diamond Tiara began antagonizing Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, but they soon realised that the three had reached some sort of agreement. They still didn’t like each other, so they still fought outside of school hours, but their fights were kept purely verbal, with the occasional prank here and there.

Now they just had to make sure their friends didn’t go too far with their pranks, and all was pretty much well with the five of them.

“So… You’re coming by tomorrow, right?” Sweetie Belle asked Silver Spoon timidly. Silver Spoon nodded, and Sweetie Belle’s face lit up. “Great!” She looked past Silver Spoon and over at Diamond Tiara. “You’re invited too! If you want to come, that is…”

Diamond Tiara pretended to be uninterested as she ran a file again her hoof. “If Silver’s going, I might check it out for a bit,” she said.

Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle stared at each other for a bit, before turning to face Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who were both grinning at the two fillies. “Hey-” Silver Spoon began, but was cut off by Apple Bloom.

“We get it,” she said, grabbing Scootaloo’s foreleg with her hoof. “C’mon, Scootaloo. Let’s give ‘em a bit of privacy.”

Scootaloo complied, following Apple Bloom towards the school gates. “Try to keep it quick this time,” she said, laughing as the two turned red from embarrassment.

Once their friends were out of the picture, Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and puckered her lips expectantly. Silver Spoon didn’t let her fillyfriend down, and leaned forward to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. A gentle kiss which soon took off in intensity, and caused Silver Spoon to back away suddenly when she felt Sweetie Belle’s mouth opening up, and the other filly’s tongue brushing against her still-closed lips.

Silver Spoon, looking completely flustered, quickly wiped a hoof against her lips, staring at Sweetie Belle in astonishment. “S-Sweetie Belle!”

Sweetie Belle merely giggled, and then took a step towards Silver Spoon, sending her a mischievous grin. “Yes?” she asked in an innocent tone.

Silver Spoon sighed and turned away. “What am I going to do with you?” she asked quietly.

“Well, there’s that new carnival that just came to town,” Sweetie Belle suggested, “And Bon Bon’s Sweets is having a sale this weekend…” She noticed Silver Spoon’s bemused grin, and realised that the question was rhetorical. “Oh… Eheheh, sorry…”

Silver Spoon laughed, and reached over to plant one more kiss on Sweetie Belle’s cheek. She pulled back and waved to the filly. “See you tomorrow.”

“See ya, Spoony,” she said, waving goodbye to Silver Spoon, who cringed at the nickname that Sweetie Belle had picked out for her.

Silver Spoon wiped the sweat from her brow, and stopped for a moment to check her work. “… Something’s not right here…”

“Yo!” Silver Chain said as he entered his workshop, receiving a polite “hello” from Silver Spoon. “How’re things goin’?”

“… Not too well,” Silver Spoon admitted with a frown on her face. Silver Chain walked over to see what the problem was.

“I think you’re rushing it a bit,” he said, picking up the object that Silver Spoon was working on and examining it. “What is it?… A bell?”

Silver Spoon nodded. “It’s for a… Friend of mine,” she said, blushing as the image of Sweetie Belle entered her mind.

Silver Chain noticed the blush, and gave her a sly grin. “I see… Well, it seems you’re tryin’ too hard to make this perfect. Just slow down, ‘n’ take it easy. Just like I showed ya.” Silver Spoon nodded, and Silver Chain gave her back the bell that she was working on. “Anyway, I’m glad you finally took me up on my offer. No other ponies in this town’re interested in silversmithing, an’ I thought I was gonna die without takin’ on an apprentice.”

Silver Spoon raised her hammer, and brought it down hard on her project. “Well, you’ll have to thank my friend for that. She convinced me to follow my passion, not my parents’ hoofsteps.”

“Whoa, easy there!” Silver Chain said as he grabbed the hammer from Silver Spoon’s hoof. “Like I said, you’re tryin’ too hard. Look, why don’t ya go take a break? Get some fresh air, an’ clear yer mind.”

Silver Spoon was about to protest, but the sweat running down her head, and thought of going outside to take a nice, refreshing drink in the cool air was too much for her to ignore. “Okay,” she said, getting up and leaving the workshop.

Silver Chain looked down at the bell that Silver Spoon was working on. Whilst an untrained eye would think it was an amazing piece of work, Silver Chain could already identify numerous points that showed the filly’s amateurish nature. “She has a ways to go,” he said to himself with a grin. “But she’s a great pupil, so she should be fine.”

The following day, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara arrived at Sweetie Belle’s house early in the afternoon, each of them carrying a box covered in wrapping paper on their backs. They were greeted by Sweetie Belle’s parents, who had already gotten to know Silver Spoon very well over the past week.

They set their presents with the others on a nearby table, and walked over to a table with a punch bowl, ignoring the looks from many of the foals being sent their way.

“Why are they looking at us like that?” Diamond Tiara asked in a disgruntled tone.

“Because we don’t exactly have a reputation of getting along with the crusaders?” Silver Spoon answered.

“Oh, right.” Diamond Tiara shot a glare around the room, causing most of the foals to flee. Once they reached the punch bowl, the two rich fillies helped themselves to some of the refreshing beverage, only to interrupted by the sudden appearance of a white Unicorn mare with a purple mane.

“You must be Silver Spoon,” the mare, whom the fillies identified as Rarity, said. “It’s so nice to meet you. Sweetie Belle has been talking about you a lot lately, and I just wanted to thank you for being such good friends with my sister.”

Silver Spoon blushed and told her that it was nothing, whereas Diamond Tiara giggled and gave her friend a quick nudge. “Yeah… Very good friends.”

“S-Shut up!” Silver Spoon whispered, sending a quick glare at Diamond Tiara. Rarity looked confused by the little exchange, but decided not to pursue it any further.

“Oh, it looks like Sweetie Belle would like to talk to you,” Rarity said, noticing Sweetie Belle standing at a distance, looking timidly in their direction. “I’ll just leave you three alone.”

As Rarity walked off, Diamond Tiara finished her drink and set the cup down. “I’ll just leave you two alone,” she said, mimicking Rarity’s tone from a moment ago, but still grinning at her friend as she began to walk away.

Silver Spoon was about to respond, but when she saw Sweetie Belle approaching her, she stayed silent.

“Hi, Spoony,” Sweetie Belle said once she stopped in front of Silver Spoon. “Glad you made it.”

“O-Of course,” Silver Spoon said, admiring Sweetie Belle’s appearance. The filly was wearing a lovely white dress, with a pink and purple trim, similar to her mane, which Silver Spoon assumed had been made by her sister. She also noticed that Sweetie Belle was wearing that broach that she had given her, bringing a smile to the grey filly’s face.

“Hey,” Sweetie Belle whispered, “Can we… Go talk in my room?”

Silver Spoon’s eyes widened, and she took a few steps back. “Y-Y-Y-Y-Your room?!”

Sweetie Belle nodded, a blush on her face. She leaned forward so that she could whisper again. “It’s kind of hard to talk like this,” she said as she motioned to her side. Silver Spoon looked around the room to find many pairs of eyes rested on them, some with interest, some with anticipation… All with curiosity. “Everypony’s watching us.”

Silver Spoon hesitantly nodded, and Sweetie Belle led the way towards her room.

“Hey there, blank flanks,” Diamond Tiara said as she approached Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. The two fillies groaned, and turned around to see the pink filly on her own. They already knew why; they were part of the crowd that was watching Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle moments ago. “This party is like, so lame. I don’t know why so many ponies decided to show up.”

“Well then, maybe ya should just go,” Apple Bloom said, glaring at Diamond Tiara, who simply harrumphed in response.

“I’m waiting for Silver Spoon,” she said in a bored tone. “I was hoping I could kill some time here, but, as expected, nopony here is worth talking to.”

“Then why’re ya talking to us?” Scootaloo asked.

“I was just curious as to whether you got your Cutie Marks yet. Though, as expected, you haven’t.”

The two crusaders hardened their glares towards Diamond Tiara, and everypony around them began to back away. This is what they were all expecting from the moment the two rich fillies entered Sweetie Belle’s house. Already, bets were being made on who was going to win the inevitable fight.

“Maybe our special talents are kickin’ yer flank,” Apple Bloom suggested with a grin. Diamond Tiara scoffed, and told her that there was no way a blank flank could ever beat her at anything. “That so?” Apple Bloom nodded towards Scootaloo, who nodded back with the same grin on her face.

“Care to put your mouth where your mouth is?” Scootaloo asked as she pointed towards a game of ‘pin the tail on the pony’ set up at the other end of the room, which was currently not being used. “Unless you’re chicken?”

“What was that?!” Diamond Tiara snapped, prompting the two fillies to make a series of chicken imitations at the filly. “How dare a couple of cry-babies like you talk down on me like that?!”

“Cry-babies?!” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yes, cry-babies!”

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara butted heads together, eliciting a cheer from the crowd, who thought that the match was about to start. However, rather than exchanging kicks, Diamond Tiara walked past Apple Bloom, and towards the game at the other end of the room. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo followed shortly afterwards.

“Fine then! I’ll take you on, and naturally, I’ll beat you so hard that you’ll be begging for my forgiveness. Which I won’t give,” she added coolly.

“You’re on!” Scootaloo said as she donned the blindfold, and picked up the tail. A thought crossed her mind, and she removed the blindfold shortly afterwards. “How do we compete with this game?”

Diamond Tiara smacked a hoof to her face, and was soon back to throwing verbal insults at the orange Pegasus, who returned them just as eagerly.

Apple Bloom, however, was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder before she could reach the two arguing fillies. She turned around to see Rarity behind her.

“Apple Bloom, dear, have you seen Sweetie Belle around? I wanted to talk to her about something, but I can’t seem to find her.”

“She’s in her room,” she said without thinking, and quickly placed her hooves to her mouth as soon as realised what she had done.

“She is?” Rarity asked, a look of concern on her face. “How very strange… Perhaps I should go and make sure she’s alright.”

Rarity began to leave, and Apple Bloom quickly ran in front of her to make her stop. “No, wait! You can’t!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at the little filly, looking down at her questioningly. “And why not?” she asked. Apple Bloom motioned for Rarity to kneel down, and when she did, the farm filly whispered into Rarity’s ear. Rarity’s eyes widened at what she was being told, and she suddenly bolted up to her hooves. “W-What?! Sweetie Belle is-”

Apple Bloom shushed her quickly, and looked around to see the many curious eyes looking upon them. She nodded to Rarity, who simply couldn’t believe what she was being told.

“S-Sweetie Belle…” Rarity swooned on the spot, and rose to her hind legs, stumbling about for a bit before falling backwards. Apple Bloom quickly pulled a couch from… Somewhere… And placed it in Rarity’s path, making sure she collapsed onto it, instead of onto the floor.

Silver Spoon walked into Sweetie Belle’s room, which was as neat and tidy as it always was, save for a few sheets of paper and crayons lying in the middle of the room, and turned around when she heard Sweetie Belle close the door.

Sweetie Belle approached Silver Spoon, and nuzzled her cheek lovingly, before locking lips with the other filly. The two held the kiss for a bit, before separating and gazing deeply into each other’s eyes.

Sweetie Belle shifted uncomfortably where she was standing, and struggled to get the words that she wanted out of her mouth. “Um… So, I was thinking… My parents are busy tonight, so they’re taking me out to eat tomorrow, instead. And, I was wondering, if you don’t have any plans… Would you like to come along?”

Silver Spoon felt her heart fluttering at the filly’s invitation. ‘Would this be our first date? I think it would… I’d be going on a date with Sweetie Belle, for the first ever time! How could I possibly say no?’

Silver Spoon cleared her throat, and tried to act cool and composed as she gave Sweetie Belle her answer. “Y-Yes!” she blurted out, her face completely red and her legs shaking beneath her. She swallowed, closed her eyes, and told herself to calm down. “I-I’d love to, Sweetie Belle…”

Sweetie Belle hugged Silver Spoon tightly, and felt the hug being returned. “Yay! This is gonna be so great!” she said excitedly, her horn sparking a little bit as she did so, causing her to back away and blush intensely. “S-Sorry! I-It does that from time-to=time! Twilight said it’s just a phase, but…”

Silver Spoon giggled at the cute filly’s reaction, although since Sweetie Belle thought she was giggling at her herself, the Unicorn filly glared and told her to stop.

“S-Sorry,” Silver Spoon said, her laughter slowly dying down. When it finally stopped, she reached into her saddlebag, and pulled something out. “Um, here… I made something for you.”

Sweetie Belle’s anger from moments ago was gone, and was quickly replaced by a look of excitement. “You did? But, wait… I thought you left your present with the others…”

Silver Spoon shook her head. “This isn’t for your birthday. It’s just something I wanted to make for you.” Sweetie Belle let out a quiet “awww” at that, and watched as Silver Spoon opened up a small cardboard box and pulled something out. “It… Didn’t turn out so well, but I hope you like it…”

Sweetie Belle took the item into her hooves and examined it. “It’s… A bell?” she asked, shaking it and hearing it jingle. “A silver bell!” she exclaimed, looking up at Silver Spoon with a smile on her face. “It’s great! Did you make it yourself?”

Silver Spoon blushed, and kicked the floor with a hoof. “My Master helped me out a bit…”

“‘Master?’” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Silver Chain. The silversmith I told you about before.”

“Oh!”

“Yeah. I’m his apprentice now…”

“You are? Cool!” Sweetie Belle said. “If you can make neat stuff like this now, I’d love to see what you can do in the future!”

“You really like it?” Silver Spoon asked.

Sweetie Belle nodded, and moved closer to Silver Spoon. “I do, because it’s something you gave me,” she said, bringing a blush to both of their faces. ‘Oh man! That’s just so-’

The two fillies stared at each other in complete silence for about half-a-minute, each one avoiding eye contact with the other most of the time, but stealing a quick glance every now and then. Finally, Silver Spoon spoke up. “M-Maybe we should go back to the party.”

“Mhm,” Sweetie Belle responded, placing her new gift down on her dresser, and heading for her door. As she opened it, she felt Silver Spoon’s hoof connecting with it, and leaned over onto the grey filly.

“You ready?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Ready,” Sweetie Belle answered as the two stepped outside, hooves locked together, and returned to the party.

Day Two - Friendships, Old and New

Silver Spoon stirred about in her sleep, snoring quietly, and occasionally mumbling something nonsensical. A gentle prod caused her to groan and swat a hoof at the source of the sudden uncomfortable feeling.

Diamond Tiara poked her friend again, a little harder this time. She could have sworn that Silver Spoon muttered Sweetie Belle’s name, and was momentarily taken aback by this.

‘W-Why is she dreaming about that blank flank?’ she thought to herself, but a quiet stirring behind her reminded her that there were more important issues at hoof. She shook Silver Spoon from side-to-side. “Hey, wake up,” she whispered.

Silver Spoon slowly opened her eyes, and stared up at the roof of their tent in annoyance. ‘And it was such a good dream, too. It was about… I can’t remember, but I know I was enjoying it.’

Looking over at her friend, Silver Spoon’s anger was instantly blown away, and replaced with a look of amusement as she failed to hold in her giggling. “Sleep well, Diamond?”

Diamond Tiara scowled at the laughing Silver Spoon. “Quiet!” she shouted as quietly as she could. She quickly pointed to the fillies sleeping behind her. “Do you want them to wake up and see me like this?”

Silver Spoon pretended to think about it for a second. “Maybe I do,” she teased, grinning at Diamond Tiara, who was clearly not amused. “Just kidding,” she said, not sure if Diamond Tiara had seriously believed her or not. “Don’t get your mane in a mes-PFT!”

She couldn’t even finish her sentence, erupting into muffled laughter once again as she looked over Diamond Tiara’s mane. A fun fact about the filly that only two ponies – Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara’s mother – knew, was that Diamond Tiara always woke up with the most atrocious bed mane ever.

Usually, her mother would brush her mane every morning, but whenever Silver Spoon slept over, the two friends would brush each other’s manes in the morning. This time, however, Diamond Tiara was on a time limit. She had already set an alarm to go off at 06:00, just to make sure she awoke earlier than everypony else, but she hadn’t anticipated sharing a tent with Apple Bloom. Farm ponies were known for starting their days very early.

“Just, hurry up and sort this out, before they wake up!” she demanded, handing a brush to Silver Spoon. “Above all, I don’t want them to find out about this,” she said, turning around and waiting for her friend to start.

Silver Spoon let out a loud yawn, and slowly crawled over to Diamond Tiara. She was still tired, and rather annoyed that she was expected to get up so early just to tidy up her friend’s mane, but she knew it was for the best. The alternative was Diamond Tiara overreacting, and locking herself in her room, or maybe even ruining everypony else’s mane, just to make her own look better.

‘I wouldn’t put it past her,’ she thought to herself as she ran the brush through the hair.

At the very least, she could look forward to the same treatment from Diamond Tiara, and she did like it when Diamond Tiara brushed her mane for her, so it wasn’t a total loss.

“Did you sleep well,” Silver Spoon asked again, though this time it wasn’t out of sarcasm; it was a genuine question.

“As well as can be expected when you’re sleeping next to those three,” Diamond Tiara responded. “Honestly, what was Miss Cheerilee thinking, grouping us together with these blank flanks?”

The two nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard Apple Bloom tell them to stop calling her out, but calmed down when they saw that she was still sleeping. “… Did she… Respond to that out of habit?” Silver Spoon asked.

“How should I know?” Diamond Tiara responded. “What’s worse is that we have to share a bath with them…”

Silver Spoon recalled Cheerilee mentioning that each group would take their baths in turn. There were two tubs, but they were small, and could only fit up to five foals in at once. Proof that the school’s budget for outings was rather tight.

The groups with mixed gender would go first, with the males and females using separate tubs. After that, the groups of just one gender would go, and each group was to bathe as a group. Which, for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, meant sharing a bath with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Suddenly, Silver Spoon realised something. “Wait, why am I brushing your mane if we’re going to be taking a bath soon enough anyway?”

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and responded: “Because I can’t walk around looking like I take no pride in my appearance, even for a second!”

“… Oh, right,” Silver Spoon responded, wondering how she hadn’t realised that. It must have been because she was woken up so early.

“So, where did you go last night?” Diamond Tiara asked. Silver Spoon stopped brushing for a moment. “I was awake when you returned. Where did you and that blank flank go?”

It took Silver Spoon a moment to process her thoughts, and she quickly wracked her brain for a reasonable explanation. Then she thought: ‘Wait, why don’t I just tell the truth? Maybe omit some stuff out, but still the truth.’

“I was just taking a walk,” she said. “To get some air. And then I happened to bump into Sweeti-Into that blank flank.”

“I see,” Diamond Tiara said, turning her attention to the sleeping Sweetie Belle, and glaring at her. “And that’s all?”

Silver Spoon caught the glare, and felt mixed emotions. On one hoof, Diamond Tiara seemed to actually care, which made her happy. On the other, she didn’t like the way she was looking at Sweetie Belle… It was nothing new, but usually, she glared at the crusaders as a group, not just Sweetie Belle on her own. And for some reason, Silver Spoon didn’t like it.

She decided to try and shift the conversation, and also, to get a little revenge for being woken up early. “Diamond?” she asked, prompting her friend to look at her. “Are you… Jealous, by any chance?”

Diamond Tiara immediately scoffed, and turned her head away. “O-Of course not! I’m just trying to make conversation, that’s all!”

“Ah! You turned your head away!” Silver Spoon said, leaning over Diamond Tiara’s shoulders and trying to get a better view of her friend’s face. She caught a quick glimpse, before Diamond Tiara turned her head as far as she could. “Why is your face red?” she teased, before leaning around the other shoulder.

Diamond Tiara was quick, and rotated her head to avoid her friend. This would continue for a while, with Silver Spoon constantly pressuring Diamond Tiara to let her see, and Diamond Tiara ordering her to stop.

“Silver Spoon, stop this at once! What is wrong with you?!” Diamond Tiara shouted.

Silver Spoon just continued grinning at her friend. “Oh? I think you were smiling just then,” she said, as she put her hooves to Diamond Tiara’s hips and started rubbing.

Diamond Tiara resisted the laughter building up inside of her as best she could. “Was… Not…” she said, before it became too much, and she erupted into laughter as her friend continued tickling her. “S-Stop! It! Silver! Spoon!” she said in-between laughs.

It didn’t take long before Diamond Tiara turned around and attempted to pry her friend off of her, but when that failed, she resorted to plan b: revenge tickling.

Silver Spoon, caught completely off guard, began laughing immediately upon being tickled, and was forced to stop tickling Diamond Tiara for the time being.

After a few minutes of tickle wrestling, an activity that the two hadn’t partaken in so long (it brought up good memories for the two of them), they eventually stopped so that they could breathe. Silver Spoon found herself hanging above Diamond Tiara, her forehooves pinned to the ground on either side of the pink filly, and both were breathing and sweating heavily, with their faces red.

A squeak startled both of them, and they quickly turned their attention to front of the tent, where they saw Sweetie Belle sitting up, her hoof over her mouth, and her eyes watering.

“I-I’m sorry!” she said, getting up and turning around. “I-I didn’t mean to… I’ll just… Go outside.” She began to leave, and didn’t realise that Silver Spoon was about to say something before she added: “Um, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are still asleep… P-Please be careful.”

Sweetie Belle quickly ran out of the tent, and Silver Spoon tripped over herself as she quickly tried to get up from her position. “Wait! It’s not what it looks like!” she shouted. “It was… We were just…” Suddenly, she realised what she was doing, and she also noticed the strange look that Diamond Tiara was giving her.

“Why are you so flustered?” she asked. “Nopony’s going to believe a word she says, even if she does talk. And it’s not like anypony will really care… Well, besides my legions of admirers, I guess.”

Silver Spoon thought about it, trying to think of the reason why she was so flustered for herself. “I… I don’t know,” she said. ‘Why am I so worried? It’s not like I cheated on he-Wait! There’s nothing between us, anyway! I can’t cheat on her!’

Whilst Silver Spoon’s mind was going through total chaos, Diamond tiara had picked up the brush inside her friend’s bag, and brought it over to Silver Spoon’s mane. This broke the grey filly out her thoughts, and the tent returned to its calm, peaceful silence that it was earlier that morning.

“I think… I need to go take a walk,” Silver Spoon said after Diamond Tiara was finished brushing. “You want to come?” she asked as she got up.

Diamond Tiara pulled out a book from her bag and opened it up to the bookmarked page. “No thanks. I’m almost finished with this chapter, and I don’t really like walks, anyway.”

Silver Spoon nodded, and made her way outside the tent. For a moment, she wondered where Sweetie Belle could have gone, but immediately shook that thought from her mind. ‘W-Why?! Why am I so concerned about that… That blank flank?! We may be on friendlier terms since last night, but she’s still the enemy!’

She angrily walked through the campsite, making her way past various tents, her mind once again a total mess. So far, the fresh air was doing little good. ‘Why do I care so much if Sweetie Belle thought I cheated on her? AH! No, that’s not it! She thinks I’m in a relation with Diamond, she doesn’t think I cheated on her! Why does that though keep crossing my mind?! And why can’t I stop worrying about her right now?! I shouldn’t care where she is!’

Whilst lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the pony in front of her until it was too late. She fell down onto her flanks, and rubbed her nose as she groaned.

“Oh my, sorry Silver Spoon. Are you okay?”

Silver Spoon looked up to see Cheerilee looking down at her in concern. The teacher offered a hoof to help her student up, but Silver Spoon silently rejected it, and got up on her own strength.

“I’m fine. Sorry about that, Miss Cheerilee,” Silver Spoon said as she dusted herself off.

“No, it’s my fault,” Cheerilee said. “I’m looking for Sweetie Belle, and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was…” Cheerilee’s eyes narrowed, sending a shiver though Silver Spoon’s spine. “… Perhaps you could explain why Sweetie Belle ran past here not too long ago, looking like she was about to cry?”

Silver Spoon’s expression turned to fear, and didn’t go unnoticed by Cheerilee. “I thought I made myself perfectly clear about the consequences of any more fights between you five.”

“It’s… Not like that,” Silver Spoon said, sweating bullets as she backed away from her teacher’s heated gaze.

“Really? Then enlighten me, Silver Spoon. What is it like?”

“W-Well-”

“Much better!” a voice shouted behind Cheerilee. She turned around to see Sweetie Belle approaching, looking much happier than earlier. “Oh, Miss Cheerilee! Good morning!”

“G-Good morning,” Cheerilee said, looking between the two fillies with a confused look on her face. Silver Spoon looked just as confused. She focused her attention on Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, are you feeling okay?” she asked. “You looked a little… Upset, earlier.”

Sweetie Belle blushed and turned her head away nervously. “I’m fine, I just…” Her voice lowered to a quiet mumble. “Had to go to the little fillies’ room.”

Despite her reduced volume, Cheerilee heard her very clearly, and her eyes immediately widened. “T-That’s all it was?” Sweetie Belle nodded, and Cheerilee breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, just as long as you’re all right,” she said, before turning back to Silver Spoon. “It seems I owe you an apology. I can’t believe I jumped to conclusions like that.”

Silver Spoon nodded. “It’s okay, Miss Cheerilee.”

“Well then, I’m going to go take my morning bath. If you need anything, please ask Ms. Hooves.”

The two fillies nodded, and watched Cheerilee leave them. Once she was out of earshot, Silver Spoon turned to Sweetie Belle. “Why did you do that?”

Sweetie Belle tilted her head at Silver Spoon’s question. “Do what?”

“Cover for me,” she said, annoyed that Sweetie Belle was still apparently playing dumb. “You were upset at me for what you saw, but then you came back to help me out, didn’t you? Why?”

After a few seconds of silence, Sweetie Belle started giggling quietly, and then loudly, unable to contain her laughter anymore. “A-Are you for real?” she asked once she had calmed down. Silver Spoon was bewildered, to say the least. “I wasn’t covering for you. I really did need to go to the restroom,” she said, blushing once she realised how casually she had said that to Silver Spoon.

Silver Spoon blinked a few times, and then turned her attention to the ground. “Then… What you saw earlier…”

“Well, I was surprised, but then, I’ve walked in on Rarity enough times that it doesn’t bother me that much anymore.” She leaned closer to whisper into Silver Spoon’s ear. “But, you shouldn’t do that kind of stuff when there are other ponies in the room. What if we had woken up?”

Silver Spoon quickly shook her head. “You’ve got the wrong idea! We were just playing!” Silver Spoon quickly said, once again unsure why she felt the need to explain herself to Sweetie Belle. Maybe it was just to protect her image? Yes, that must have been it.

“You were… Playing?”

Silver Spoon quickly nodded. “It was just a complete accident that we wound up that way. We’re not like that, we’re just good friends, honest!”

Sweetie Belle looked embarrassed as she turned her face away from Silver Spoon’s gaze. “O-Oh… Um, I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions,” she said. After some more awkward silence passed between the two, Sweetie Belle decided to speak up first. “Um, I’m gonna go back… You coming?”

Silver Spoon nodded, and followed Sweetie Belle silently to their tent. In her mind, one thought was repeating itself over and over: ‘Why didn’t she seem to mind when she thought that Diamond and I were… And why does that make me feel uneasy?’

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle’s mind was in just as much a state of chaos as Silver Spoon’s. ‘Why did I get so upset from seeing them like that, and why does it mean so much to me that I was just misunderstanding?’

Group five’s bath went about as well as everypony had expected it to. Which is to say, it was a disaster. Five fillies, notoriously known for always being at each other’s throats, all in the same, small tub together? It was only a matter of time until one of them said something that ignited the spark of hatred filling the air.

Diamond Tiara ‘requested’ that Scootaloo stop flapping her wings, as the splashing water was a bother to her. Scootaloo pointed out that she couldn’t control it; random wing spasms are common for Pegasi her age, especially when they were bathing.

After an intentional splash of water in Diamond Tiara’s face by Scootaloo’s wings, the two started going at it in the tub, with Apple Bloom cheering for Scootaloo to win.

Silver Spoon was keeping her distance, not wanting to get close to Diamond Tiara when she was fighting. However, when Sweetie Belle jumped in to try and separate the two, and consequently got kicked in the eye by a stray hoof, Silver Spoon immediately ran to the filly’s side.

“Are you okay?!” she asked in a panicked state, trying to move Sweetie Belle’s hoof aside to check the damage.

“I-I’m fine,” Sweetie Belle bravely said between sobs. As her hoof was removed, Silver Spoon gasped at the sight of bruising around Sweetie Belle’s eye, and, more importantly, the blood running out of her nose.

“No you’re not!” Silver Spoon said, pulling Sweetie Belle away from the other three fillies, who hadn’t seemed to notice anything that had happened to Sweetie Belle. “Come on, we need to get that looked at.”

Sweetie Belle tried to protest, insisting that they needed to stop the fight before somepony got hurt, but when Silver Spoon pointed out that somepony had already gotten hurt, Sweetie Belle nodded and followed Silver Spoon to the bathing area’s entrance.

“Stupid… BLANK FLANK!” Diamond Tiara said as she pulled at Scootaloo’s mane with her mouth.

“Spoiled brat!” Scootaloo spat back as she kicked Diamond Tiara, attempting to make her let go.

“Ruffian!”

“Pompous mule!”

“Flightless pigeon!”

“GIRLS!”

The two fillies stopped fighting suddenly, and slowly turned their heads to the side to see Cheerilee standing over them, looking very, very cross.

“M-Miss Cheerilee,” Scootaloo said, sliding out from underneath Diamond Tiara. “W-We were just-”

“Save it,” she said, pulling the two ponies to their hooves. “All three of you, dry yourselves off and come with me.” She turned around and began walking. When she didn’t hear them following, she turned back to see Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara glaring at each other. “Now!”

The three fillies flinched, and immediately stepped out of the tub and began drying themselves off with their towels.

Silver Spoon took the icepack off of Sweetie Belle’s eye to check it. It was still pretty swollen, so she reapplied it.

“S-Sorry, Silver Spoon,” Sweetie Belle said. “I made things worse again, huh?”

Silver Spoon shook her head. “You were trying to protect your friend. I respect that.” Silver Spoon sighed, and lowered her head. “I wish I could be that brave. All I can do is stand to the side, while Diamond Tiara fights by herself.”

“It’s not about being brave,” Sweetie Belle said. “I’d rather be hurt myself, than have my friends be hurt. And… As much as I dislike Diamond Tiara, I wouldn’t anything bad to happen to her.”

A silence passed between the two.

“I don’t like seeing other ponies being hurt,” Sweetie Belle said softly, as she held back a sob.

Silver Spoon, seeing this, felt obligated to do something to calm the distressed filly. Almost without thinking, she raised her free forehoof, and moved it around Sweetie Belle’s back. However, before she could finish the hug, the tent door was suddenly opened, and she had just enough time to pull back and act casual as three fillies entered the tent.

“This is all your fault!” Diamond Tiara shouted to Scootaloo.

“My fault?! Get over yourself! You started that fight, and you know it!”

“Ah just don’t get why ahgot called away!” Apple Bloom complained, sitting herself down when she entered the tent. “Ah didn’t get into any fights!”

The two crusaders saw Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle staring at them, and immediately ran up to their friend with concerned looks on their faces.

Silver Spoon gave the icepack to Sweetie Belle, and backed away.

“What did you do that for, Silver Spoon?” Diamond Tiara asked, prompting Silver Spoon to turn around and face her. “There was no need to bring Miss Cheerilee into this!”

Silver Spoon frowned and looked over at Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle got hurt, so I-”

“Are you forgetting? She’s the enemy!”

“Even so, she hadn’t done anything this time around, but she got hurt anyway! I couldn’t just leave her…”

Diamond Tiara huffed and turned away. Silver Spoon looked around desperately for something to help her out of this jam, and found Diamond Tiara’s brush. She picked it up, and began brushing Diamond Tiara’s mane.

Diamond Tiara didn’t object, and actually seemed to calm down from the interaction, too. “So,” Silver Spoon began, “What happened with Miss Cheerilee?”

“… We’ve been suspended from the first three activities. She wants us to do ‘lines’ in a separate room.” Silver Spoon stopped brushing for a moment, and had a horrified look on her face. What was she going to tell her father? She had always been a perfect student (grade wise, at least), but now… “Not you,” Diamond Tiara clarified. “You and the blank flank are free to go. It’s just us three.”

Silver Spoon let out a sigh of relief, but then remembered that the first activity was a group activity, and was separate for Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns. “That means I’m all alone for the first activity…” she said.

“Sorry,” Diamond Tiara mumbled, looking down at the floor. “She also said that, if we fight one more time…”

“Then it’s back home fer us,” Apple Bloom finished.

Diamond Tiara nodded. “This is why I told her not to put us with you three. What was she thinking?”

“What was I thinking?” Cheerilee asked herself as she rubbed her head. “I can’t believe I thought that grouping those five together would actually serve to lower their hostility towards each other.” She sighed and checked her watch. Fifteen minutes before she would have to go. “Was I just being naïve?”

“Yep!” Derpy answered almost immediately, which did not help the teacher to feel any better. “But it is working for two of them, at least.”

“… Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle,” she said, receiving a nod from Derpy. “Those two certainly have been making an effort, and they’ve even seemed to have gotten closer… Which makes this whole thing even worse!”

“How so?” Derpy asked.

“If the other three fight again, I’ll have to send them home. If I did that, I’d either have to send Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle, providing they don’t chose to go on their own, or they stay, and be at a clear disadvantage for Sunday’s final event!”

Derpy understood now, and put a hoof to her chin. “That is a problem…”

Cheerilee sighed again and got up. “I swear, being a teacher used to be so much easier…” She made her way to her tent’s door, with Derpy Hooves following. “I’ll lead Diamond Tiara and the others to the spare room, where they’ll have breakfast before doing ‘lines’. I’ll trust you to take care of the rest.”

Derpy saluted and followed Cheerilee outside. “Question: do they have muffins?”

After a rather peaceful breakfast, the foals were split up according to whether they were an Earth Pony, a Pegasus, or a Unicorn. The foals were now at the age where their bodies were developing, based on their race, and this activity was designed to help them along.

For foals like Sweetie Belle, who were slow developers, this was an especially helpful activity. Scootaloo was looking forward to this, too, but she had missed out on the chance. Fortunately, there would be another activity of this nature tomorrow, but of course, that would all depend on whether or not she could get to tomorrow without getting into another fight.

Sweetie Belle was one of three Unicorns in the class who couldn’t use her magic at all, so she was assigned to practice basic magical control exercises, the purpose of which would be to tap into the magic reserves within her. Before any spell could be performed at all, she would need to get a hang of this exercise.

“HNNNNNG!” Sweetie Belle focused hard, putting her all into focusing her magic into the tip of her horn… But nothing happened.

“Don’t try to rush things,” the advisor, a tall stallion, said. “I suggest you start with the base of your horn, and work your way up. It’s slow, but if you try to rush it, it’ll take even longer.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and frowned as she turned her attention to gathering magic at the base of her horn, instead of at the tip. It took twenty-five minutes, but finally, she felt a warm, pleasant feeling at the base of her horn.

“Ah!”

“Good work!” the advisor said enthusiastically. “Keep it up! You’re getting the hang of it!”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and was about to continue her training, when a loud bang was heard on the other side of the room caught the attention of everypony present.

“Snips! Snails! I told you not to use too much force!”

The advisor ran off to deal with the issue, leaving the three foals on their own. Sweetie Belle heard the sounds of somepony breathing heavily, and turned her attention to the open door, where she saw Silver Spoon outside, struggling to catch her breath.

Sweetie Belle took advantage of the distraction to sneak away from the group, and approach Silver Spoon.

“Hey there,” she said as she approached the exhausted filly.

“… Hey,” Silver Spoon said, her breathing slowing down.

“Is the exercise a little rough?”

“… It’s stupid. Just because I’m an Earth Pony, they got me running a marathon, training my leg muscles.” Silver Spoon looked over Sweetie Belle’s body, and saw that she wasn’t the only one working up a sweat. “Is magic training really so tough?”

Sweetie Belle’s ears flattened and she looked a little sad. “Well, for me, it is…” Suddenly the Unicorn perked up a little bit. “Huh, I just realised…”

“… W-What?”

“Well, for all the grief you give me and Scootaloo for being slow developers, your leg muscles don’t seem as strong as an Earth Pony’s usually are.”

Silver Spoon blushed, both out of embarrassment, and out of fury. “T-That’s not true!” she said. “I just have better things to do than work my leg muscles each and every day!”

“Now that I think about it,” Sweetie Belle said, grinning from ear-to-ear, “Physical Education is the one subject you don’t do so well in, isn’t it?”

Silver Spoon’s face went from embarrassed and angry, to just plain angry. “Well, it’s not like you’re any better!”

“Actually, I am!” Sweetie Belle said, a devious grin on her face. “I rank above you in Phys. Ed., so that makes me better!”

Silver Spoon was at a loss for words, and decided to simply get back to her running… It had to be better than this.

“Y’know,” Sweetie Belle said, causing Silver Spoon to wait before running off. “I’m actually kinda glad… I’m not good at many things, and my grades are always below yours, no matter how hard I try… So to actually be better than you in one area, even if I’m still in the lower tier of students, makes me really happy.”

“… But, you’re still in the top tier for some subjects, like Math and History,” Silver Spoon pointed out. “Pretty impressive, for a blank flank.” Sweetie Belle glared at Silver Spoon, causing the latter to flinch. “T-That wasn’t meant as an insult… This time.”

Sweetie Belle’s face softened, and she let out a sigh. “… Um, I think we should probably head back to our activities,” she said. Silver Spoon nodded, but neither of them actually moved. They just stood there, looking at each other in awkward silence… And Silver Spoon felt her heart rate increasing quickly.

Sweetie Belle felt the same thing, and both were unsure of what this strange feeling between was.

“Um, did you… Want something else?” Silver Spoon asked, gazing into Sweetie Belle’s eyes.

Sweetie Belle felt her body stiffen as she gazed back, and it took her a few tries to finally form a coherent sentence. “N-No, I just…”

The two continued staring, losing all track of the world around them… Until a ball smack Silver Spoon in the back of the head, causing her to stumble forwards into Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle, in an attempt to prevent Silver Spoon from falling over, ended up wrapping her forelegs around the other filly… She was now giving the filly a hug. And she… Didn’t dislike it.

“Hey, Silver Spoon!” a colt shouted from behind said pony. “C’mon! We got twenty minutes left, and the coach wants us to play hoofball!”

Silver Spoon was fully aware of the situation that she was now in, but couldn’t let anypony see her in such an embarrassing state… Least of all Sweetie Belle. She quickly regained herself, and turned away from the Unicorn.

“Coming!” she shouted, quickly running away from Sweetie Belle. She spared one last glance back to find the filly still stood there, forelegs stretched out… And smiling.

It took Sweetie Belle a moment to realise that Silver Spoon was no longer actually there, and when the advisor asked her to come back into the building, she quickly obeyed.

“Alright kids,” the advisor said once Sweetie Belle was back in her position. “We’ve got twenty minutes left. Let’s see if we can-”

His motivational speech was cut off by Sweetie Belle. Or more specifically, by the bright green light being emitted from her horn. He stepped back, along with the other two foals next to her… And then panicked.

“S-Sweetie Belle! That’s too much energy! Tone it down a bit!”

“I don’t… Know how!” Sweetie Belle said, struggling to suppress the magic that she had built up.

The advisor wasn’t sure what to do next. From the foals’ performances, he hadn’t actually expected any of them to successfully focus their magic anytime soon, and especially not to this degree. He hadn’t told them how to control the levels of their magic.

The crisis was averted, however, when the other advisor, a short mare this time, helped guide Sweetie Belle into shutting her magic off, by using her own.

The male advisor sighed, and decided to dismiss Sweetie Belle for now, not sure how to actually proceed with her in the time left.

Sweetie Belle, elated by both having successfully focused her magic, and having been given a break, excitedly rushed outside, cheering “yes!” over and over again as she skipped along.

The two advisors watched her leave with strange looks, and when she was out of earshot, the male advisor leaned over to ask his partner: “What was up with that?”

“Hm?” was the mare’s reply.

“Y’know, suddenly being able to focus her magic like that. Nopony improves that much in such a short amount of time.”

The mare snickered, and looked over at Sweetie Belle in the distance, who was watching the game of hoofball being played by the Earth Ponies… And paying particular to one certain grey filly. “Clover the Clever theorised that magic is love, given true form… Many scholars also theorise that magic is powered by love.”

The stallion looked at the mare with a questioning look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The mare sighed, and walked off. “Figure it out,” she said, leaving the puzzled stallion to fit the pieces together.

“Hmmm… Ah! No way!”

The next two activities passed fairly well for Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon, as they didn’t have their friends constantly at each other’s throats in the background. The second activity that day was swimming, and since neither filly was very good at swimming, they spent most of the time just practicing in the shallow end. Well, Silver Spoon practiced, but Sweetie Belle soon dragged her into a game of ‘splash tag’.

The third activity was making wax candles, something which Silver Spoon was surprised to find she could do very well. Maybe it was because her special talent was also a type of crafting art, or maybe she just had beginner’s luck, she didn’t know. But Sweetie Belle certainly didn’t share whatever it was that made Silver Spoon’s candles turn out so well.

Silver Spoon helped Sweetie Belle make a second set of candles from scratch, since they had the time. She realised that Sweetie Belle was often being too rough, or too quick, whilst making the candles, and told her to take it more slowly, and use more care in her work. The second batch turned out pretty well.

All groups were given fifteen minutes to rest, and gather whatever they wanted, for their next activity: the scavenger hunt.

After arriving at their tent, the two excited fillies saw the gloomy atmosphere between Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Diamond Tiara.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom said, trying to hide her annoyance towards the two rich fillies. “How’d yer magic trainin’ go?”

Sweetie Belle practically beamed at the chance to share her success with her two friends, and even though they didn’t really understand the significance of it, they still cheered for her and showered her with praise.

Silver Spoon made her way past the crusaders, and sat down beside Diamond Tiara. “Are you okay?” she asked, seeing the gloomy expression on her friend’s face.

Diamond Tiara responded with a harrumph. “Of course I am. As if I would allow those blank flanks to get to me,” she said, purposefully loud enough for the crusaders to hear. “Let’s go, Silver Spoon.”

Silver Spoon watched Diamond Tiara grab her bag and walk towards the tent’s door. “Wait, we still have fifteen minutes before-”

“If I stay with these cry-babies any longer, I think I’m gonna go insane,” Diamond Tiara said, earning a growl from Scootaloo and a glare from Apple Bloom. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle was able to stop another incident from occurring.

Silver Spoon picked up her bag, and followed after her friend. As she passed by Sweetie Belle, she cringed at the look of disapproval on the Unicorn’s face. But she decided to simply ignore it. Right now, Diamond Tiara needed to calm down, and that wouldn’t happen if Silver Spoon chose to stay and left her all alone.

When they were alone, the three crusaders got their things together. There were bonus points for sketching the areas involved in the scavenger hunt, and they would need their bags to carry the items they found back to the campsite. They also packed some snacks and some water bottles, since this activity involved a lot of walking.

“Alright, Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Scootaloo shouted, prompting Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to jump to attention. “This is where we’ll find our Cutie Marks, for sure! It’s time for Cutie Mark Crusader Scavenger Hunters!”

“YEAH!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shouted in unison.

“Ah think detectives might be a better way tah describe it, since we have tah solve riddles an’ all.”

“That actually sounds a lot cooler,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Okay then. Cutie Mark Crusader Detectives!”

“YEAH!”

Once they were done with their little war chant, they each reached into their bags and pulled out their official Cutie Mark Crusader Capes, and put them on. Sweetie Belle saw something sparkly underneath hers, and found that it was the broach that she had gotten from Silver Spoon last night. She decided to try it on, and was delighted to find it fit rather nicely on her cape.

“Where’d ya get that?” Apple Bloom asked, pointing to the broach.

“Oh, um… A friend gave it to me…” Sweetie Belle answered, wondering just how accurate that statement was.

“Cool,” Scootaloo said, leaning in to examine it. “It’s… A spoon?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and Apple Bloom looked as if she were trying to work something out. “Hmmm… Where have ah seen that before?” she asked herself, looking up at the ceiling as she tapped a hoof to her chin.

Sweetie Belle pretended to look at a watch that she wasn’t wearing, and quickly made her way to the door of the tent. “Oh my, would you look at the time? We should really be getting to the meeting area.”

“But we have ten minutes left,” Scootaloo said, giving Sweetie Belle a strange look.

“Well, better safe than sorry, right?” She gave the two a nervous grin, and prompted them to follow her. They eventually did, and the three made their way to the area where the scavenger hunt would soon be starting.

“Gotcha!” Scootaloo shouted as she grabbed the marble hanging from a tree branch. “That makes number three! We’ll be done in no time at all!”

Diamond Tiara wore a bored expression on her face, and let out an audible yawn. “Good. Then we can get back to the campsite and have some lunch.”

Apple Bloom frowned and turned to face Diamond Tiara. “You haven’t even done anythin’ yet! Yah keep leavin’ it all tah us!”

“Well maybe if you gave us the map, or the riddle sheet, we’d be able to do something!” Silver Spoon said.

“Yah think so?”

“I know so!”

Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom exchanged death glares with one another. Apple Bloom’s expression then softened, and she grinned at Silver Spoon. “Alright then, prove it,” she said, before turning to Scootaloo. “Scootaloo, give ‘em the sheet. Sweetie Belle, give ‘em the map. Let’s see how well they do on their own.”

Scootaloo wanted to argue at first, but decided it might be fun to watch the two rich fillies squirm, so she reluctantly gave the riddle sheet to Diamond Tiara.

Sweetie Belle was more happy to hand over the map to Silver Spoon, and the crusaders looked at the two with expectant looks… Though the ones from Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were more mocking than sincere.

“Hmph! Fine then, let’s just get this over with!” Diamond Tiara said, before reading the next riddle on the sheet in her mind.

“… Well?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Quiet!” Diamond Tiara ordered, before walking over to Silver Spoon. “Let me see that for a second.”

Silver Spoon nodded and held the map out so that Diamond Tiara to examine it.

“Alright, I’ve got this,” Diamond Tiara said confidently. “This way.” She led the way to the next location, with the other four fillies following silently behind her.

“We there yet?” Scootaloo asked, annoyed at how much they had walked compared to the rest of the clues.

“I don’t get it!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “It should be right here! I’m sure of it!”

“Riiiight,” Apple Bloom said, grinning from ear-to-ear. “Just admit it: you’re clueless!”

“What did you say?!”

“You heard me!”

“Girls…”

“Or maybe you girls have already found the marble and are hiding it!” Silver Spoon accused.

“Why would we do something like that?” Scootaloo asked.

“To make us look stupid!” Diamond Tiara explained.

“You do that all on yer own!” Apple Bloom shouted.

“GIRLS!” The group turned to Sweetie Belle, who was looking at the other members of the group very sternly. “Stop fighting! You remember what Miss Cheerilee said, don’t you?”

“You stay out of this, blank flank!” Diamond Tiara said.

“Don’t call her that!” Scootaloo threatened.

“ENOUGH!” Sweetie Belle screeched, causing the four ponies to immediately fall silent and stare at her with wide eyes. “Either stop this, or I’m going to tell Miss Cheerilee that you’ve been fighting again!”

“You wouldn’t!” Diamond Tiara said. “That would mean betraying your friends!”

For once in her life, Scootaloo agreed with Diamond Tiara. “Yeah! What’s up with that?”

Sweetie Belle didn’t lose her stern look. “If you’re only going to be fighting on this trip, then there’s no point of even having this trip!” Sweetie Belle said. “I’d rather just go home and miss the rest of the activities, than constantly go through this stupid back-and-forth with you guys!”

Silver Spoon was amazed by this new side of Sweetie Belle, and was somewhat in awe. She caught Sweetie Belle looking her way, and quickly averted her eyes. As she did so, she noticed something strange. “… What’s that?” she asked, pointing to an orange glow in the trees.

The other fillies turned their heads to see, and were just as curious about the glow as Silver Spoon… That is, until the gentle glow turned into a ferocious fire, which was quickly spreading towards them.

The fillies screamed and immediately bolted in the direction away from the fire, as fast as they could.

“W-What’s going on?!” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Looks like a forest fire!” Apple Bloom said. “Wait, we’re running away from the campsite!”

“It’s not like we have much choice!” Silver Spoon pointed out.

The fillies eventually came across a river, which had a rather fast current, leading towards a waterfall. Looking behind them, they saw that the fire was still catching up to them, and, after some squabbling, decided that their only chance would be to jump the river.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo jumped across first, soon followed by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Sweetie Belle was the last one to attempt the jump… And was very nervous about it, too.

“Hurry up!” Scootaloo said.

“You can do it, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom assured her.

“But I-”

“Come on!” Silver Spoon said, panicking as the flames made their way closer towards Sweetie Belle. “You can do it! Just… Hurry!”

Sweetie Belle looked into Silver Spoon’s eyes, and saw the look of worry that was in them. Silver Spoon was worried about her… She was making Silver Spoon worry. She firmed her resolve, and prepared herself to jump.

“NO!” Silver Spoon shouted after Sweetie Belle had jumped. The jump came up a little short, and the Unicorn fell into the river below. The only thing that stopped her from being immediately swept up by the current was Silver Spoon grabbing her hoof, but even didn’t last long.

Diamond Tiara quickly grabbed a hold of Silver Spoon. Apple Bloom then grabbed Diamond Tiara, and Scootaloo completed the chain… None of it helped in the end, as the five fillies were simply too weak to fight against the river’s current. All five were swept down the river, and could see the waterfall fast approaching.

“GRAB A HOLD OF WHOEVER’S NEAREST!” Silver Spoon shouted, quickly grabbing onto Apple Bloom, who grabbed back.

Diamond Tiara, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all grabbed onto each other, and waited for their impending doom…

Sweetie Belle awoke with the worst headache she had ever experienced in her entire life, and groaned as the light from the sun offended her eyes. She slowly got up, and immediately felt like throwing up. “Is this a hangover?” she asked herself, remembering that her sister would often say that’s what she had whenever she was feeling groggy.

“You’re awake?” Silver Spoon asked, startling Sweetie Belle. “Oh, sorry. You should probably lie down for a bit.”

Sweetie Belle was very confused by this situation, but she also felt absolutely terrible, so she agreed, and lay down on her back. She tried to recall what had happened. She remembered the scavenger hunt, which was going well at first… And then Diamond Tiara taking over… And the forest fire!

“Now I remember!” she said as she suddenly sat up straight. A throbbing pain ran through her head, and Silver Spoon was quick to hold her to help her calm down. Sweetie Belle heard strange noises behind her, and wondered what it was. “What’s that sound?”

Silver Spoon released Sweetie Belle, and glanced behind her. “The others woke up before us,” Silver Spoon said, and Sweetie Belle quickly realised what she had meant by that. “They haven’t stopped bickering since, but at least they haven’t started throwing kicks yet.”

Sweetie Belle slowly rose to her hooves, and turned around to see her friends and Diamond Tiara arguing about whose fault this all is. Deciding it would be best to stop this before it escalated any further, Sweetie Belle stepped forward to put an end it, with Silver Spoon following behind her.

“Oh, look who’s finally awake,” Diamond Tiara said bitterly, glaring in Sweetie Belle’s direction.

“Lay off her, she’s just woken up!” Scootaloo said, flaring her wings.

“She’s the one who fell into that river and dragged us down here in the first place!”

“Diamond,” Silver Spoon said, stepping forward before anypony else could speak up. “Can’t we save this for later? For now, we need to figure out how to get out of here.”

Diamond Tiara looked at her friend in disbelief for a moment. Did she seriously just side with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, over her best friend?

“This area of the woods is outside of the fenced-in area,” Silver Spoon said. “That means there are wild animals living out here.”

Aaaaoooooohhhhh!

The group remained silent, and shivered as the unmistakable sound of wolf howling pierced the air.

“I-I see your point,” Diamond Tiara said, walking closer to her friend for comfort. “So, what do we do?”

“We should stay put an’ wait fer help!” Apple Bloom said, reciting what she had read in one of the books in the Golden Oaks Library about surviving in the wild… The reason why she had read that book in the first place escaped her at the moment, but she was sure there was a good (possibly Cutie Mark related) reason behind it.

“That could take forever!” Scootaloo complained.

“She’s right,” Silver Spoon said, surprising Scootaloo. “And there are things out there that would love to eat us… We need to get moving. At the very least, we need to find somewhere suitable to set up a camp. Here is no good; many animals probably come here to drink from the river.”

Sweetie Belle suddenly remembered something, and looked around for her bag. When she found it where she had woken up moments earlier, she dragged it over and dug through it.

“What’re ya lookin’ for?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Got it!” Sweetie Belle cheered, pulling out a compass. “I knew this would come in useful! Now we can find our way back!”

The two crusaders cheered and praised her, causing Sweetie Belle to blush as she studied her compass. “Now, let’s see…” A few seconds later, she turned to her two friends, and asked: “Do either of you know how to use a compass?”

The crusaders both facehooved and shook their heads in disbelief, and Silver Spoon struggled to hold back a giggle, something which didn’t go unnoticed by Sweetie Belle, who shot a glare at the grey filly.

Diamond Tiara groaned, and snatched the compass from Sweetie Belle. “You’re so useless! Give me this…”

“Hey-” Sweetie Belle began, but was cut off by Silver Spoon’s hoof stretched out in front of her.

Diamond Tiara studied the compass for a moment, and then frowned at Sweetie Belle. “Well, this is no good,” she said.

“Why not?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Well for one thing, there’s no needle,” Diamond Tiara explained, showing the compass to Sweetie Belle. “And also, the four direction are covered in… Paint?”

Sweetie Belle blushed and turned her head away in shame. “S-Sorry,” she said quietly.

“Hey, at least she’s trying!” Scootaloo said, quick to defend her friend.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s trying or not! She’s not making the situation any better!”

Aaaaoooooohhhhh!

The sound was closer than earlier, and the five fillies were completely alarmed by this.

“Fight later! Run now!” Silver Spoon said, picking up her own bag and fastening it to her side.

“No arguments here!” Apple Bloom said, and the five fillies quickly made their way through the trees, heading away from the river.

“Is everypony here?” Cheerilee asked as she looked over her class. She noticed that some foals were missing. “Where are groups five and eight?”

A filly near the front raised her hoof. “Group eight is explaining the fire to the police.”

Cheerilee nodded, and let out a sigh as she marked group eight as present. ‘This is so embarrassing… It’s one thing they snuck alcohol onto this trip with them, but they also tried fire-breathing in the middle of a woods?! What is wrong with foals these days?’

“And group five?” When nopony responded, Cheerilee started to grow concerned. She asked Derpy, but she didn’t know anything either. “Oh no…” She told Derpy to watch the foals, and quickly ran off in the direction of the ranger station.

The five fillies walked quickly through the woods, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon at the front, and the crusaders slightly behind them.

“Y’know,” Scootaloo started, “If you think about it, this is actually kinda neat.”

“Yeah, we might get our Cutie Marks in survival!” Apple Bloom said. “Ah wonder what that would look like?”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, but smiled at her friends’ attempts to lighten the mood. She walked a little faster to catch up to Silver Spoon. “Silver, can we take a break soon? I’m kinda starting to get tired…”

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara stopped immediately, followed by the three crusaders. Silver Spoon looked between Diamond Tiara and Sweetie Belle nervously. “D-Don’t call me by my first name like that, blank flank.”

Sweetie Belle frowned and silently apologized, and walked back to her friends, who were glaring furiously at Silver Spoon.

Diamond Tiara gave Silver Spoon a strange look, but the latter filly pretended not to notice. “Anyway, you do bring up a good point… We should probably stop and eat something soon.”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “You have food on you?”

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara exchanged glances, and then opened their bags to reveal a few packs of sweets inside. Expensive looking sweets, at that.

“Whoa!” Apple Bloom said upon seeing how much they had with them. “You two really like sweet stuff, huh?”

For reason completely beyond her, Sweetie Belle was the first thing to enter Silver Spoon’s mind at Apple Bloom question, but she quickly shook that thought out, and set her bag down.

“I need to visit the little filly’s room,” she said. “Does anypony else need to? It would be a good idea not to wander off alone.”

Sweetie Belle timidly raised her hoof in the air. “Alright, you come with me, then,” Silver Spoon said, before walking towards the trees, motioning for Sweetie Belle to follow her.

The remaining three fillies sat down and began to distribute the sweets evenly amongst the five. Diamond Tiara glanced in the direction that Silver Spoon had gone off in, and rose to her hooves. “I think it would be for the best if I go with them,” she said.

“Why? They’ll be fine as long as they stay together, right?” Scootaloo asked.

“Silver Spoon, maybe. But the blank flank?”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. “Really? In this situat-”

“I’m being serious. You have to admit she’s clumsy, and not the best in stressful situations.”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom didn’t say anything, but admitted in their minds that Diamond tiara was probably right. “Besides, the alternative is the three of us sitting her together.”

After that, it didn’t take long for Scootaloo to agree. “Yeah, you’d better go,” she said, waving her hoof dismissively. “And please, take your time.”

Diamond Tiara growled, but let it go. With a final harrumph, she turned and began to follow after Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle came out from behind the bushes near Silver Spoon, blushing fiercely as she approached the grey filly.

“All done?” Silver Spoon asked, receiving a silent nod in response. “Good. Let’s go back.” When Sweetie Belle didn’t start following Silver Spoon back, the latter turned around to see what was wrong. “Sweetie Belle?”

“… Why did you say that to me earlier?” Sweetie Belle asked, and, upon seeing the look of confusion on Silver Spoon’s face, decided to elaborate. “I was just trying to ask you something, and you…”

Silver Spoon realised what Sweetie Belle was getting at, and turned her head downwards. “That was…”

“I thought we were friends,” Sweetie Belle said, both surprising Silver Spoon, and also, filling her with a guilty feeling.

“… I never said we were friends,” Silver Spoon said, feeling her chest tighten up as she did so. “We may have gotten along the past two days, but that was only for the sake of getting through this camp peacefully. We can’t be friends!”

Sweetie Belle looked at Silver Spoon with a horrified look on her face, and seemed to be on the verge of tears. “Why not?” she asked weakly. “You’re not a bad pony… You’ve shown that you can be nice when you want to be, so, why?”

Silver Spoon didn’t say anything, but she wished that she could. The way Sweetie Belle looked right now… It was tearing Silver Spoon apart.

“Is it because of Diamond Tiara?” Sweetie Belle asked. Silver Spoon flinched, confirming the Unicorn’s suspicions. “Why? Why go so far for somepony so mean?”

Silver Spoon grit her teeth, and suddenly shot her head back up to glare at Sweetie Belle. “You don’t know a thing about her!” she shouted, startling the other filly.

Sweetie Belle gulped, and tried to regain her composure. “Then… Tell me about her. Tell me why you would be friends with her, even if it means you can’t be friends with anypony else.” Silver Spoon didn’t respond for a bit, and a tear rolled down Sweetie Belle’s face. “Please?”

That was it. Silver Spoon couldn’t stand it anymore. To see this filly crying, and knowing that it was all her fault. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and opened her mouth to speak, though it took a while for her to convert her thoughts into speech.

“Diamond Tiara… Doesn’t have any other friends besides me,” she said. “Probably not very surprising, I know. When I first met her, five years ago, I didn’t like her either. Our fathers set up a play date between us, and she quickly tried to befriend me.

“I don’t know whether it’s that we were both from rich families, or something else, but she treated me different from other foals… She still maintained that air of superiority she always carries, but she went easier on me… Made an effort to befriend me.”

“But you still didn’t like her?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Silver Spoon shook her head. “I saw how pompous she was around other foals… How she thought she was better, just because of her family name. I hated it, and I hated having to spend time with her. One day, I finally decided to tell her how I felt… But what I saw changed my mind.”

“What did you see?”

“… Diamond Tiara, alone in her room, playing with dolls. One doll was named Diamond. Another was Silver. There was a Sweetie, a Ruby, and a Snails. And a few more… They were named after foals from our class at school.

“She made them all get along with each other. They had a tea party, and exchanged pleasantries. And then, the Diamond doll had a birthday party, and celebrated with the other dolls. At first, I was confused. But then, I saw Diamond crying to herself. Holding herself, and violently throwing her dolls aside.”

Silver Spoon sighed, and lowered her head as she faced the ground. “She was so alone. She didn’t have any friends, and her parents were always working.” Silver Spoon lifted her head up, showing Sweetie Belle a determined look on her face. “Nopony deserves to be all alone like that. Not even Diamond. That’s why, I decided that I would be her friend… I would be there for her.”

“… Even with how mean she is to others? Didn’t you ever try to… I don’t know, change her?”

Silver Spoon shook her head. “The thought had crossed my mind, but I chose to become friends with Diamond Tiara. And part of being friends with somepony, I think, is accepting them, for all their good and bad points. If somepony has to change in order to become your friend, then it’s not true friendship. That’s how I feel, at least…”

Silver Spoon’s face softened, and she smiled gently. “Well, over time, I came to realise that Diamond isn’t so bad, once you get past her… Attitude. She’s very loyal to her friends… That is to say, me, and she’s a lot of fun, too. She may be easily provoked, and a little spoiled, but I wouldn’t change a single thing about her. She’s my BFF, and I’ll always be there for her. And that’s why, we can’t be frie-”

“Are you an idiot?!”

Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle jumped at the sudden voice that called out to them, and turned to see Diamond Tiara approaching them.

“I was wondering what kind of secret you were keeping from me. I thought it was something serious, like a family crisis, but now I find that you just worried about making friends with this blank flank?!”

“D-Diamond,” Silver Spoon started, trying getting in-between Diamond Tiara and Sweetie Belle, “It’s not like that. I told her I have no intention of being her friend, so-”

“And why not?” Diamond Tiara asked.

Silver Spoon wasn’t sure if she had heard correctly or not, but answered anyway. “W-Well… She’s the enemy, so…”

“Again, are you an idiot?!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Yes, she’s the enemy, and yes, I don’t like the idea of you being so chummy with her!” She paused for a second, and looked down at the ground, her body trembling slightly. “But, you’re my friend, Silver. My BFF. And I want you to be happy… If that means you make friends other than me, then that’s fine.”

Diamond Tiara walked closer to Silver Spoon, and narrowed her eyes at her. “I might be “pompous” sometimes, or a “spoiled brat” at others,” Diamond said, letting Silver Spoon know how much of the conversation she had head, “But give me some credit. I’m not so stupid as to expect you to be as happy as I am with the idea of only having one friend in your life.”

“Diamond…”

Diamond Tiara leaned forward to nuzzle her friend’s check, an act of affection which was returned by Silver Spoon. “Remember what we promised each other, when we first became friends?”

“… That we would always have each other’s backs,” Silver Spoon said. “And that we would never lie to each other. We would never keep any secrets, unless it was a surprise.”

Diamond Tiara pulled back and nodded. “And yet, you’ve been keeping all this bottled up. And not only was it painful for me, knowing you were keeping something from me, but it was also painful to see you tear yourself apart over something, and not letting me help you with it.”

Silver Spoon wiped away the tear that had started forming in her eye, and sniffled. “I’m sorry, Diamond. I just…”

Diamond Tiara sighed, and then shot a glare towards Sweetie Belle. “You, blank flank! You’d better not be just setting Silver up, or I swear, my daddy will have your family evicted from Ponyville so fast, you won’t even have time to say your farewells!”

And with that, Diamond Tiara let out a huff, and walked back towards where Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were. Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle simply stared in the direction she had marched off in, both completely speechless and bewildered.

“That was… A side of her I’ve never seen before,” Sweetie Belle said, turning her gaze to Silver Spoon.

“Yes, well… I told you she’s loyal to her friends,” Silver Spoon said, turning and smiling at Sweetie Belle. “In case you had trouble understanding her, she was basically saying she doesn’t mind us being friends.”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “Yeah, I kinda got that,” she said. Both fillies started to giggle together, and when they stopped, they found themselves looking into each other’s eyes, and smiling at each other. “… Y’know, I-”

Aaaaoooooohhhhh!

The two fillies froze up suddenly, and slowly turned their heads to look behind them. That last howl sounded very close, but they had hoped it was just their imaginations playing tricks on them… It wasn’t.

Behind the two fillies, a large, ferocious grey-furred wolf could be seen approaching them from behind the trees. Once it took a step forward, they both simultaneously let out a loud scream, and bolted back to where the others were as quickly as possible.

Apple Bloom looked up at Diamond Tiara as she returned, and then looked around to see if the other two were with her. “Where’re Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon?” she asked.

Diamond Tiara and gave them the excuse that she had prepared. “I couldn’t find them, so I decided to simply come back.”

Scootaloo bolted upright, and looked off into the direction the fillies were last heading in with concern. “This is bad! What if something’s happened to them?”

“What I meant, was that they had already gotten too far into the woods for me to find them. If they don’t come back in five minutes, then we go and look for them.”

Aaaaoooooohhhhh!

“… That sounded mighty close,” Apple Bloom said quietly, getting up and looking around nervously.

Diamond Tiara was about to tell her that she was just being paranoid, but didn’t get the chance to before Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon came running from the behind some bushes, screaming something incoherent at the group.

“W-Wolf!” Sweetie Belle finally managed to say properly as she and Silver Spoon passed the group.

The other three fillies saw the wolf approaching, and didn’t waste any time following the two, screaming just as loudly.

Diamond Tiara felt her legs aching from as she ran, and started to slow down. Scootaloo grabbed Diamond Tiara’s hoof and dragged her along, forcing her to keep up.

“Where’s Fluttershy when ya need her?!” Apple Bloom shouted.

“Just keep running!” Silver Spoon said.

Eventually, the five fillies came across a large ravine, with only a flimsy-looking rope bridge connecting the two sides, as far as they could see.

“That doesn’t look stable,” Scootaloo said.

“I don’t think we have much choice!” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

The five agreed, and quickly began to run across the bridge, and they were halfway across before the wolf caught up, and also began to cross.

As they made their way to the other side, they felt the bridge start to give out beneath them. “Oh horseapples!” Scootaloo said as she saw the bridge collapsing before them. “LET’S GO!”

Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon were the first two to cross, and managed to get onto the other side just before the bridge disconnected. Diamond Tiara had to jump to make it, and was followed by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who both just missed the edge of the cliff.

“NO!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she saw her two friends begin to fall, but was amazed at what she saw when she looked over the edge. Apple Bloom was still in the air, being held by Scootaloo, whose wings were flapping hard.

“Scootaloo! Ye’re flyin’!” Apple Bloom shouted excitedly, despite the situation.

“Not… Quite!” Scootaloo said in a strained voice, clearly struggling to stay hovering. “I can’t… Keep this up…”

“Grab this!” Scootaloo looked up to see a tiara dangling just above her head. She strained her neck to reach forward and grab it into her mouth, receiving a disgusted groan from the pink filly above. “Wah!”

“DIAMOND!” Silver Spoon grabbed Diamond Tiara as she began to fall, and Sweetie Belle grabbed Silver Spoon to support her. Together, the three fillies managed to pull up Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

Once they were all safe, with the wolf now at the bottom of the ravine, they took a moment to catch their breaths. Diamond Tiara looked at her tiara with a disgusted look, since it was now covered in Scootaloo’s saliva, and asked Silver Spoon to keep a hold of it for her, seeing as how she had left her bag on the other side of the ravine.

“Tha… Thanks… For savin’ us,” Apple Bloom said, looking at Diamond Tiara.

“… You should… Be more careful… Blank flank…”

Apple Bloom scowled at Diamond Tiara, but she was much too exhausted to be truly angry right now.

Once the five had rested long enough, and could now breath properly, they decided that they should probably get moving again. Silver Spoon pointed out that there was smoke in the distance, which could mean there were other ponies. They all agreed to go in that direction.

“You don’t think there are any more wolves around, do you?” Sweetie Belle asked Silver Spoon as the two walked side-by-side. In front of them, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shivered at the thought of seeing another wolf, and Diamond Tiara, at the very front of the group, was pretending to focus her full attention on leading the way.

“No, I don’t think so,” Silver Spoon said. She didn’t actually know if there or not, but for now, she wanted to calm Sweetie Belle down. Sweetie Belle leaned against Silver Spoon, looking around with a worried look on her, and Silver Spoon had to turn her head to hide the blush on her face.

“What about other dangerous animals?”

Silver Spoon looked at Sweetie Belle, still leaning against her as they walked together, and slowly inched her hoof closer to the Unicorn’s. She stopped just short of their hooves connecting, and began to pull back, but Sweetie Belle reached out and grabbed the grey filly’s hoof herself.

“I want to get out of here,” Sweetie Belle whimpered, tears forming in her eyes.

Silver Spoon gulped, and held on tightly to Sweetie Belle’s hoof. “D-Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll make it out of here just fine.” She raised her head and looked over to the three fillies in front of her. “Right?”

Apple Bloom turned her head and smiled nervously at the two behind her. “Er… Yeah!” she shouted back, before turning her attention back to in front of her. “What’s up with them?” she asked Scootaloo in a whispered voice. “When’d they get so close?”

Scootaloo glanced back for a moment, and caught Silver Spoon quickly turning her face away from Sweetie Belle, and pretending to have looking at the scenery. “I dunno,” she whispered back. “But it’s kinda creeping me out.”

Apple bloom walked a little faster to catch up to Diamond Tiara, along with Scootaloo. “Hey, why’re those two actin’ so friendly?”

“Don’t know,” Diamond Tiara said, sounding uninterested. “Maybe that blank flank just has good tastes?”

“That doesn’t explain why Silver’s hangin’ with her,” Scootaloo said.

“Silver Spoon,” Diamond Tiara corrected. “And I agree; I don’t see what she sees in that blank flank.”

“Will ya stop callin’ us that already?” Apple Bloom asked. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re kinda in a bad situation.”

Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo stopped suddenly, soon followed by Apple Bloom, and then the two fillies following behind them.

“A fork in the road?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at the two separate pathways in front of them. “Great. Now what?”

Diamond Tiara noticed that one of the paths sloped up. “… I’ll go check out this path, and see if it leads anywhere,” she said, walking forwards.

“Not alone you won’t!” Apple Bloom said, and she and Scootaloo started to follow after her. “You two stay here! We’ll be right back!” she shouted back to Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon.

“Shouldn’t we all stay together?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo was about to agree, but Diamond Tiara spoke up first. “No. What if somepony comes down that other path?”

Sweetie Belle, finding no fault with that logic, agreed. Silver Spoon quietly assured her that everything would be okay, and the Unicorn tightened her hold on Silver Spoon’s hoof, smiling at her in the process.

“Why did you say that?” Scootaloo asked. “She’s right; we should all stay together.”

“Scootaloo… Look…”

Scootaloo turned her attention to where Apple Bloom was pointing, and almost gagged when she saw a dead rabbit on the path, rotting in the sunlight.

“The last thing we need is that blank flank breaking down into tears, and slowing us down more,” Diamond Tiara said.

Apple Bloom wasn’t sure whether she was being mean, or nice in her own way. She decided, for the sake of keeping things peaceful for now, that she would assume the latter.

“Come on. We’ll take a quick look down this way,” Diamond Tiara said.

The other two nodded, and the three fillies walked together down the path. Once they felt that they had gone down the path far enough, and found nothing but more trees in front of them, they decided to go back and try the other path.

However, on their way back, they heard a loud scream that was all too familiar to them.

“SWEETIE BELLE!” the two crusaders shouted.

Sweetie Belle decided to sit underneath one of the nearby trees whilst she waited. Her entire body was hot from all the walking she had done in the past fifteen minutes, and being so close to Silver Spoon for most of that time probably didn’t help much, either.

The cool shade helped a lot, and she took the time to appreciate the beautiful scenery around her, having been too scared earlier to admire it properly. The leaves on the trees were a lush green, there were butterflies fluttering through the air, and the ground was decorated with a variety of beautiful flowers.

“It’s kind of nice here,” she said to Silver Spoon, who was standing not too far from her.

“Yeah… It is,” Silver Spoon agreed, not taking her eyes off of the path that Diamond Tiara had walked down.

Sweetie Belle looked behind here, and there was something that caught her attention. “Wow!” she shouted as she quickly got up and ran through the trees, moving towards an apple tree that bore very delicious-looking apples. “Silver Spoon, come check this out!”

“Wait!” Silver Spoon shouted, chasing after Sweetie Belle. “Don’t rush off! It might not be safe!”

A loud scream from Sweetie Belle caused Silver Spoon to stop immediately, and examine the situation before her. Sweetie Belle was in front of her, fear spread across her features as she slowly sunk into the ground.

“What’s going on?!” Sweetie Belle asked in a panic.

“It’s quicksand!” Silver Spoon exclaimed. She quickly extended a hoof forward. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle wasn’t that far in, and could reach her just fine. “Grab on! I’ll pull you out!”

Silver Spoon pulled as hard she could, but just couldn’t find the strength to pull the Unicorn out. She cursed her legs for being abnormally weak for an Earth Pony, and started to feel herself slipping.

Sweetie Belle noticed this too, and started to panic. She shut her eyes tight. ‘Silver Spoon’s going to get dragged in, too, and it’s all my fault!’ Her horn sparked a little bit. ‘I have to do something… I can’t let Silver Spoon get pulled into this… I have to do something!’

Sweetie Belle felt her horn suddenly heat up, and a sharp pain ran through her head, causing her to let out a loud squeak of pain. Silver Spoon opened her eyes to see what was going on, and saw a green light surrounding Sweetie Belle’s horn and hind legs.

Sweetie Belle started to rise out of the quicksand, and Silver Spoon put all of her strength into pulling her out. ‘Just a little more!’ she thought to herself, as she saw one of Sweetie Belle’s leg leave the quicksand.

With one final tug, the trapped filly was freed, and was pulled through the air towards Silver Spoon.

Sweetie Belle groaned, and rubbed her temple when the pain had finished subsiding. “Ow…” She felt her horn return to its normal state, and then opened her eyes to see what had happened. She saw Silver Spoon in front of her… Looking up at Sweetie Belle with what was possibly the biggest blush either filly had ever seen.

“A-Are you okay?” Silver Spoon asked, not daring to move in the position that she was in.

Sweetie Belle joined her in blushing when she realised that she was propped over Silver Spoon, practically pinning the other filly to the ground with her forehooves. “Y-Yeah,” she said.

She knew she should have gotten up, but for some reason, she didn’t. She didn’t want to end this moment just yet… She wanted to keep this moment going for as long as she could, with the two fillies staring into each other’s eyes, their faces inching closer and closer to each other…

“A-hem!”

The two fillies snapped out of it upon hearing somepony clearing their throat, and turned their heads to see their friends standing next to them. It was Diamond Tiara who had cleared her throat, and she was looking down at the two with an angry look on her face.

“You know, I almost expected such inappropriate behaviour from the blank flank, but from you, Silver Spoon?”

Behind her, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were staring in wide-eyed astonishment. Scootaloo’s eye was twitching, and she wasn’t sure quite what to think of the situation. Apple Bloom looked almost thrilled with the situation, giving the two a coy look as she let out an “ooh”, as if reaching some sudden realisation.

Sweetie Belle quickly clambered her way off of Silver Spoon, and flailed her hooves about in front of her. “N-No! I-It was an accident! We weren’t doing anything, I swear!”

Silver Spoon also got up, and nodded quickly. “She’s right! I was just saving her from the quicksand!”

“Riiiiight,” Apple Bloom said, enjoying every moment of Silver Spoon’s ever-intensifying blush. “And you two movin’ yer faces closer together was also from the quicksand?”

The two fillies were now as red as tomatoes, and they stumbled over their words as they tried to explain themselves.

“Look, if you two want to get all lover-dovey with each other, that’s your own business,” Diamond Tiara, sending a wink towards Silver Spoon. “We can even go out to a restaurant together later, to celebrate. But, there’s a time and a place for that kind of thing.”

“I told you, it’s not like that!” Silver Spoon shouted, quickly rising to her hooves.

“Ooh, now I see why you two have been so close lately!” Scootaloo said, causing Apple Bloom to roll her eyes at how slow she had been to reach this conclusion. Scootaloo looked over at Silver Spoon, and then back at Sweetie Belle, this time with a strange look on her face. “Really, Sweetie Belle? Silver Spoon?”

Diamond Tiara scrunched her face in anger, and turned to confront Scootaloo. “That should be my line!” she shouted. “That blank flank isn’t good enough for somepony of such class and sophistication! The only reason I’m okay with it is because, for some reason, Silver Spoon seems to like her!”

“I told you-” Silver Spoon began, but was cut off by Apple Bloom.

“So, when’s the weddin’?” she teased, chuckling when Sweetie Belle suddenly got up and started glaring at her.

“Giiiirls!” she whined. “Stop it! There’s nothing going on between us! We’re just friends, right?” Silver Spoon didn’t answer straight away, so Sweetie Belle quickly nudged her side. “Right?!”

Silver Spoon jumped at the sudden nudge she felt by Sweetie Belle, and quickly nodded in agreement. “A-Anyway, shouldn’t we be getting a move on? Did you find anything down that pathway?”

Diamond Tiara turned around to face Silver Spoon. “You’re right,” she said. “We were going to check the other path next… I think we should all go together this time. It seems we need to keep an eye on you two.”

As they were walking down the second path, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo decided to interrogate Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon on their new ‘relationship’.

“How long’s this been goin’ on?”

“What do you see in her, Sweetie Belle?”

“Does this mean we have tah start getting’ along now?”

“Seriously, what do you see in her?”

Sweetie Belle groaned and rolled her eyes. “We’re just friends!” she shouted, turning her head to look back at her friends. “And Scootaloo, stop saying that! She’s a lot nicer than you think!”

Silver Spoon, now blushing from how Sweetie Belle was so passionately defending her, sped up her pace in order to catch up with Diamond Tiara.

“Yeah, well, I have a hard time believing that, considering all she’s put us through,” Scootaloo said.

Sweetie Belle’s ears flattened, and her expression fell, as she remembered all that Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara had done to them before. “But, she still deserves another chance, right?”

“Are you serious?” Scootaloo asked. “We should just forget everything she’s done and just… Be friends with her all of a sudden?”

“I never said we should forget,” Sweetie Belle said. “But, she is a good pony at heart. She-” Sweetie Belle was about to recite Silver Spoon’s story about her becoming friends with Diamond Tiara, but she stopped herself when she considered that Silver Spoon might not like it. “… She gave me this broach, after all.”

The other two blinked, staring at the broach on her cape, and their eyes suddenly shot wide open. “Oh mah gosh!” Apple Bloom shouted. “That’s why it looks familiar! It’s Silver Spoon’s Cutie Mark!”

“She gave you that?” Scootaloo asked. “For free?” Sweetie Belle nodded. “Well… I guess she may not be so bad, then, but she’s still a bully, y’know?”

“She never does anything so bad,” Sweetie Belle said, desperate to defend Silver Spoon.

“It’s mostly Diamond Tiara that’s the problem,” Apple Bloom admitted. “But she hangs out with her, and goes along with her whenever she gives us grief.”

“She… Has her reasons,” Sweetie Belle said.

“What reason?” Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“We’re you friends! What d’you mean you can’t tell us?”

“Because Silver Spoon’s my friend, too, and I don’t think she’d appreciate it if I went around telling all her secrets!”

Scootaloo flared her wings, ready to counter-argue, but was stopped by a hoof from Apple Bloom. “Scootaloo, c’mon now,” she said, grinning at the Pegasus filly. “Don’t be jealous. It’s not like we’re being replaced or anythin’.”

“J-Jealous?! Of that snotty little, spoiled-”

“That’s enough!” Sweetie Belle shouted, surprising her two friends. She quickly realised that she had raised her voice, and quickly calmed herself down again. “Um, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call her things like that…”

Scootaloo huffed, and turned her head to the side. “Fine… As long as she doesn’t start something first…”

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. “Ah still don’t like her very much, but if you see some good in her, ah guess ah can put up with her.”

Sweetie Belle stopped for a moment to pull her two friends into a group hug, an action which earned a gag from Scootaloo. “Thanks, you guys!”

Silver Spoon caught up with Diamond Tiara, who was walking far in front of the others. “So, are we going to continue down this way?”

Diamond Tiara nodded, and pointed up at the sky, through the treetops. “The smoke is coming from that direction. We might find it if we follow this path.” She shot Silver Spoon an annoyed glance. “You sure you’d rather hang with me, instead of that blank flank?”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, and tapped Diamond Tiara’s shoulder gently with a hoof. “And leave my BFF on her own?” she said with a grin. Diamond Tiara smiled back, but quickly reverted to a neutral expression. “And about earlier… It really was an accident.”

“I know,” Diamond Tiara replied, surprising her friend. “What? Just because I copy your notes, it doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

“Oh, I never said you were,” Silver Spoon said, though her mind was thinking something different. “It’s just… So, what was all that about back then?”

“The teasing?” Diamond Tiara grinned wickedly at her friend. “Come on, you know me. It was fun,” she said, giggling a little under her breath.

Silver Spoon looked at her in shock at first, and then in disbelief. “You were… Just having a laugh?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Silver Spoon pouted, and then turned her head to face away from Diamond Tiara. “You know I’m going to have get you back for that, right?”

“I’ll be waiting,” Diamond Tiara said playfully.

“… And, there really isn’t anything like that going on between me and Sweetie Belle, just so we’re clear,” Silver Spoon added, her face turning red.

Diamond Tiara didn’t immediately answer this time. ‘Oh, please. You can’t honestly expect me to believe that, can you? Your face turns red just from mentioning her name!’ “Sure, whatever you say.”

They heard a raised voice behind them, but didn’t quite hear what it said. They both turned around to see the three crusaders slowing down as they talked to each other.

“Maybe we’d better slow down a bit?” Silver Spoon suggested. “If Miss Cheerilee hears that we ditched them, we’ll never hear the end of it.”

Diamond Tiara sighed, and reluctantly agreed. The two slowed down, to make sure that the crusaders didn’t lose them. As she looked back again, she saw Sweetie Belle stopping to give her friends a big hug. She turned to Silver Spoon and grinned. “You might want to see this,” she said.

Silver Spoon looked over her shoulder, and then quickly turned back again, her face flushed. “W-Why would I have wanted to see that?”

Diamond Tiara’s grin was growing wider by the second. “Has she hugged you like that yet?”

“Why would she?!” Silver Spoon shouted, her voice cracking as she did so.

“Hmmm… So you’re losing to a couple of blank flanks…” Diamond Tiara giggled. “You’d better step up your game.”

Silver Spoon struggled for a witty retort, so instead, she decided to withdraw. She slowed her pace, allowing herself to fall between Diamond Tiara and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Now that it was quiet, and she had nopony to talk to, her mind started to wander… To images of Sweetie Belle running towards her, and wrapping her forelegs around the grey filly in a big hug.

‘Ugh. Dumb brain…’

It had been one hour since the fillies were declared missing, and Cheerilee was on the verge of having the biggest panic attack she’d ever had since her first day as a teacher, when a young colt hurt himself, and she thought that she would be fired immediately.

She left the class to Derpy, and told her not to mention that the crusaders were missing. Of course, most of the class realised that the crusaders weren’t there, and Derpy not being able to find a suitable cover story seemed to clue the smarter students in to the truth of the situation at hoof.

Cheerilee had arranged a few search parties to scout the woods, and was using a telescope at a ranger station to see if she could spot the fillies herself. With every second that passed that she hadn’t spotted them, or received word of their safety, another strand of hair popped out of place, and her teeth ground together over and over. Minuette was going to have a fit during her next appointment, but right now, she only cared about finding her five students, and making sure that they were all safe.

‘Knowing those three, they’re probably trying to make an adventure out of this, and the other two are probably just getting annoyed, and causing disputes between them!’ She let out a sigh, and turned the telescope to another portion of the woods. ‘I hope they at least stay together…’

The sound of clicking made itself present behind Cheerilee, and she quickly turned around to see a message coming through on the telegraph. The ranger beside her, who was viewing the woods through a pair of binoculars, rushed over to see what it was.

Once it had come through, he read it quickly, and then turned to the teacher with a smile. “They’ve been found!” he said excitedly. Cheerilee let out the breath she had started holding when she saw the message coming through, and asked where they were, and if they were okay. “They were found by two Scout masters, on the other side of the ravine. They’re currently being led to the Colt Scout camping site. I can take you there, if you wish.”

Cheerilee quickly nodded her head. “Yes, please!”

The ranger put the message down, and led the teacher outside. “Alright. It’s quite a walk, though. Will your students be okay?”

Cheerilee thought about that. Derpy was a good teacher’s assistant, but leading the whole class, by herself? But then, the students at the campsite were safe, and the five that were missing were still in the woods. Even if they were with adults, they were still her responsibility, and, above all else, she wanted… No, she needed to know whether they were okay or not.

“They’ll be fine,” she said finally. “Just take me there. Hurry!”

“Man, I’m so hungry!” Scootaloo’s stomach rumbled, as if to emphasis her point. “I can’t wait ‘til we get back! I hope they saved us some food from lunch!”

“Ah hear ya,” Apple Bloom said, panting as she struggled to follow her friend up the hill they were climbing. “Ah just hope they aren’t too mad at us for goin’ outside the fenced-in area…”

“How mad could they be?” Scootaloo asked. “I mean, it’s not like we did it on purpose or anything.”

“Just a little further now!” one of the Scout masters shouted, though it was the tenth time in what felt like half-an-hour to the fillies.

Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder, to see the other three in their group lagging behind a bit. “Ya’ll alright back there?” she asked, receiving nothing but strained groans from Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon. “Mr. Merit says it’s jus’ a lil’ father now.”

“Great,” Sweetie Belle said, before dramatically dropping to her stomach. She felt herself rise again, and found that one of her forelegs was now being draped around Silver Spoon, who was carrying the filly the rest of the way up the slope.

“He said that… Ten minutes… Ago…” Silver Spoon said in-between breaths.

Diamond Tiara glared at the four ponies leading them. “How… Do they… Do that?”

“It’s ‘cause we work out!” Scootaloo shouted, turning around to look at Diamond Tiara, a huge smirk on her face. “C’mon, you call yourself an Earth Pony?”

“An Earth Pony who can’t use her legs?” Apple Bloom asked sarcastically. “Gee, it looks like ye’re not so perfect after all, ‘Princess’.”

Sweetie Belle would have been more worried about a fight breaking out between Diamond Tiara and her friends, except she was just far too tired to care right now. Thankfully, Diamond Tiara was in much the same state.

When the group finally reached the top, the Scout masters offered the three exhausted fillies a drink from their water flasks. There wasn’t much inside, so they had to share it. Once Silver Spoon was finished, she handed the flask to Sweetie Belle, who drank from it quickly.

She wiped her mouth, and handed the flask to Diamond Tiara. She heard giggling next to her, and looked over to see her friends grinning her way, obviously finding something amusing.

“Y’know,” Apple Bloom started. “Silver Spoon’s lips touched that flask first… That’s kinda like an indirect kiss.”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened suddenly, and she quickly. “N-No it’s not!” she protested.

“Yuh-huh!” Apple Bloom said, nodding her head.

“Nuh-huh!” Sweetie Belle responded, her face turning red.

“Yuh-huh!” Scootaloo said, joining in.

“Just stop it already!”

“And what about you two?” Silver Spoon asked, facing Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who looked at her with confused faces. “You two have been pretty close this whole trip… I think it’s you two, who are hiding feelings from each other.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes shot wide open, and she quickly shook her head. “Are you kiddin’ me?! No way!”

“Hey!” Scootaloo shouted, feeling somewhat insulted.

“It explains why you’re always getting into trouble together,” Silver Spoon continued, causing both of them to blush even harder. “What, you two want to spend some detention time alone together?”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo quickly started listing reasons why Silver Spoon’s deduction was wrong, and why they would never, ever have feelings like that for each other. As the two went off on their rant, Silver Spoon shot a quick smile and a wink at Sweetie Belle, who smiled back.

“Girls! Over here, quickly!”

The girls stopped what they were doing, and looked over at the Scout master’s curiously. Hearing a huff behind them, they quickly spun around to see a large wolf, even bigger than the last that they had found, staring at them with hungry eyes, its jaw slightly open, and drool leaking from between its sharp teeth.

The girls wasted no time in getting up, and running over to the Scout masters. They hid behind them, whilst the two older ponies stared the slowly approaching wolf down. One of them, Mr. Barbell, took out a folding knife from his jacket pocket, and pointed it at the wolf. He was quite a muscular stallion, but he wasn’t so confident in his abilities to fight a wolf one-on-one without a weapon.

“Girls,” Mr. Merit said, not taking his eyes off the wolf, as the group slowly backed away from the ferocious beast. “When I give the command, go right and hide in the bushes.” The fillies nodded, and the two Scout masters waited for the right moment. The wolf’s stance lowered. “NOW!”

All of the fillies quickly ran to their rights, and ducked into the bushes. Four curious heads poked up, and gasped in horror. “SWEETIE BELLE! THAT’S LEFT!” Apple Bloom shouted.

The Scout masters would have facehooved, if their attentions weren’t already drawn to the wolf as it charged forward, running towards Sweetie Belle, who was mid-way between the Scout masters and the bushes. She wouldn’t make it in time, and the Scout masters could only hope they could reach her before the wolf did.

Suddenly a blur of magenta shot through the air, past Sweetie Belle, and hit the pouncing wolf, sending it flying onto its back. Everypony stopped immediately to see what had just attacked the wolf. What they saw, when the dust had settled, was a magenta Earth Pony mare, with a Cutie Mark of three flowers with smiling faces.

“STAY. AWAY. FROM. MY. STUDENTS!” the mare shouted, in a voice that would give the Royal Canterlot Voice a run for its money.

The wolf growled at the mare on top of it, but then backed away upon receiving a terrifying glare, which caused its entire body to shiver. “Leave now, or I will be very cross!” She leaned in closer, pressing her nose against the wolf’s. “Do I make myself clear?”

The wolf quickly nodded, sweat running down its head as it let out a panicky whimper. The mare got up, and shot the wolf one final glare, before it bolted off back into the woods.

Once it was gone, the teacher turned around and ran over to Sweetie Belle, who was now sitting on her flanks, watching the scene with awe and wonder. “Are you okay, Sweetie Belle? That mean old wolf didn’t hurt you, did it?” Cheerilee asked, examining every area of Sweetie Belle to make sure that she was fine.

“I-I’m fine, Miss Cheerilee.”

Cheerilee let out a relieved sigh, and pulled Sweetie Belle into a hug. “Thank Celestia,” she said, a tear running down her face. She turned her attention to her other students, who had emerged from behind the bushes, and had approached their teacher. “You’re all safe… I’m so glad…”

“Miss Cheerilee!” the ranger shouted as he ran up to the group, panting as he tried to catch his breath. “Man… You can… Really run, huh?”

“These are all of my missing students,” Cheerilee said, rising to her hooves. “Thank you, for helping me reach them.”

“It was nothing,” the ranger said, blushing at the teacher’s smile. “More importantly…” He turned to the Scout master. “Are there any other ponies in the woods right now?”

Both Scout masters shook their heads. “None that we know of,” Merit said.

The ranger was relieved, but didn’t allow himself to relax just yet. “There aren’t supposed to be wolves out in this part of the woods… We’re gonna have to close it off, for now.”

Cheerilee told her students to stay close to her, and started to lead them down the path. The ranger and Scout masters followed, staying vigilant the whole way.

“Um… Miss Cheerilee?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We’re not in trouble, are we?”

Cheerilee shook her head. “No, of course not,” she said in a gentle tone. “I’m just so happy that you’re alright… When we get back, we’ll get you all something to eat, and then you can join the others in their activities… We should be able to make it back in time for the last two.”

The three crusaders smiled widely, and cheered amongst themselves, very loudly. So loudly, that Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, and Cheerilee had to rub their ears afterwards.

“We might still get out Cutie Marks!” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah! We missed most of the activities today, but there’s still a chance!” Sweetie Belle added.

“Ah’m totally gonna ace the arts ‘n’ crafts activity!”

“Yeah, sure,” Diamond Tiara said sarcastically. “Or maybe you’ll just-”

“Maybe,” Silver Spoon quickly cut in, “You’ll get it in the final activity tomorrow. It’d be much more special then!”

The four fillies, and also Cheerilee, looked at her in total shock. Cheerilee turned her head back to the front of her, wondering to herself what in Equestria could have happened whilst they were lost in the woods together.

Silver Spoon motioned for everypony to huddle up. Whilst Sweetie Belle had no problem with it, the other three did so reluctantly. “I really don’t think we want to try Miss Cheerilee’s patience, you guys,” she whispered, glancing up for a moment to make sure that their teacher wasn’t listening in. “You saw how she handled that wolf… Do you really want to get on her bad side, after witnessing something like that?”

The other fillies gulped, and then, after exchanging glances, nodded their heads.

“Agreed,” Apple Bloom said. “No fightin’ until after we get back tah Ponyville.” She placed her hoof in the centre, and it was soon joined by Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Silver Spoon, and finally, Diamond Tiara.

“Agreed,” the other four said, before breaking up the huddle and following their teacher in silence.

Once they were back at their class’ campsite, the five fillies were led to the cafeteria, where some food had been set aside for them. Their stomachs growling, practically begging for some sustenance, the five fillies wasted no time wolfing the food down.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, for the most part, remembered their table manners, but they were so hungry that they would occasionally slip up. They didn’t care, though; they were just happy to finally have some food in them.

Once their meals were finished, they were escorted to the arts and crafts room. The activity had already started, but they still had thirty minutes to participate.

Sweetie Belle was interested in bead weaving, and went to one of the instructors to receive some a help with it. Silver Spoon was more interested in the pottery making, and wandered to join the group that was making pottery plates.

Diamond Tiara was about to join her friend, when she received a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, both of which leaned closer so that they could whisper to her, an action she didn’t particularly care for very much.

“Hey, listen,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah know ye’re probably not interested, but me an’ Scootaloo wanted tah ask ya tah help us with somethin’.”

Diamond tiara raised an eyebrow at the two. “And that would be?” she asked, not caring enough to lower her voice to a whisper.

“We want to help those two get together,” Scootaloo said.

“Ah’m sure you see it too,” Apple Bloom continued. “Those two totally dig each other!”

Diamond Tiara, now somewhat more interested, also started whispering. “‘Dig each other’? Are you from the eighties or something? Anyway, what business of it is yours?”

“Because they’re so darn slow!” Apple Bloom said, her frustration starting to show. “An’ if we don’t give ‘em a lil’ nudge, they’re never gonna get past this whole “we’re just friends” thing!”

“You care too, don’t you?” Scootaloo asked. “For Silver Spoon’s sake?”

Diamond Tiara looked over her shoulder at Silver Spoon, and then back to the two crusaders. “… Well, maybe a little,” she admitted. “But what can we do? Isn’t it up to them?”

“Pfft, yeah right!” Scootaloo said. “We’re their friends! It’s our job to interfere!”

“… Are you sure?” Diamond Tiara asked. She wasn’t an expert, but she was sure that didn’t sound right.

“Worked for Miss Cheerilee an’ Big Macintosh,” Apple Bloom said. “… Kinda.”

“Look, if you don’t wanna help, just say so! But if not, then, at the very least, don’t get in our way, okay?”

Diamond Tiara thought about it for a moment. She didn’t particularly care if Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle got together, but then, she did want Silver Spoon to be happy. And she had to admit, whilst fun at first, it was starting to get tiring seeing Silver Spoon in constant denial like this.

“… Fine,” Diamond Tiara said. “What do I need to do?”

The other two fillies grinned, and started whispering their plans to Diamond Tiara. Their initial plan, their backup plan, and their backup backup plan. They had learned from personal experience: plans A and B don’t necessarily work well most of the time.

Once the day’s activities were over, and the foals had enjoyed their free time (which Apple Bloom and Scootaloo made a point of teasing Sweetie Belle about spending it with Silver Spoon), the class assembled at their campsite, and entered their tents, getting ready for ‘lights out’.

Silver Spoon had washed Diamond Tiara’s tiara earlier, and returned it to her after it had dried. “Thank you,” Diamond Tiara said to her friend, before placing the headpiece by her pillow.

Silver Spoon removed her glasses and lay down. “You’re welcome,” she said, before letting out a loud yawn. “Today was pretty tiring, huh?”

Diamond Tiara nodded, her eyes starting to feel heavy as soon as her head met her pillow.

“Alright, ah’m gonna turn the lamp off, guys,” Apple Bloom said, checking to make sure everypony was lying down.

“What, no ghost stories tonight?” Silver Spoon asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah, we were gonna play a board game tonight, but we’re plum tired from today’s ‘incident’.” That was a true sign of how tiring the incident was; even the Cutie Mark Crusaders were worn out. ‘Not tah mention, we got a lot tah do tomorrow,’ Apple Bloom added in her mind, grinning deviously as she did so.

“Just so we’re clear,” Scootaloo said, turning on Sweetie Belle’s nightlight before Apple Bloom switch off the lamp. “We’d better not catch you in Sweetie Belle’s sleeping bag in the morning.”

Silver Spoon’s face flushed instantly, along with Sweetie Belle’s. Both fillies exchanged a wordless glance, before turning around so that their backs were to each other. “Idiot!” Silver Spoon shouted. “Why would that even happen?!”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo snickered, and high-hooved each other. However, their fun wouldn’t last for long.

“Just turn that darn light off already!” Diamond Tiara shouted, glaring at the two fillies. Her tiredness starting to take effect, causing her to enter ‘Cranky DT mode’ as Silver Spoon called it.

The lamp shut off, and the tent fell silent as the five fillies began to drift into sleep. Silver Spoon quietly rolled around to look behind her. Her eyes caught two big, green pearls staring back at her, and she quickly rolled back to face the other way.

Apple Bloom had to suppress the urge to giggle as she heard the sounds of two fillies moving about in their sleeping bags. ‘Tomorrow’s gonna be fun.’