//------------------------------// // Chapter Three - Half of the Truth // Story: Whispered Words // by Ponyzilla //------------------------------// Whispered Words - Chapter Three When classes ended, the first place Silver Spoon thought of going to was the nurse's office, but she was feeling rather unsure about her decision. She wanted to be left alone... I can't go back. And if I do go back, she'll think I'm succumbing to her persuasion skills... But I still want to see if she's okay. It's the least anypony can do, right? Silver Spoon thought to herself. She shook her head around and sighed. Finally, she decided to listen to her guts and went ahead to visit her anyway. When she arrived, she noticed a yellow earth pony and an orange pegasus right outside of the door with their backs pressed against it. The grey mare walked up to the crusaders. "Why are you two 'crusading' in front of the door?" Silver Spoon asked, attempting to make her question sound like an insult. Apple Bloom immediately jumped up and glared at her. She made a face that even scared Silver Spoon. "For yer information, I don't see yer flank in there, tryna help her! We tried goin' in, but all she said was, "leave me alone, ah'm fine girls, but I just need some time to think." Just what exactly did ya do to her?!" Apple Bloom couldn't contain her anger. Scootaloo tapped her back, and Apple Bloom stopped glaring, but she still made it obvious she was frustrated. Silver Spoon backed away. "I did go in there," she replied. She could feel her own anger boiling up inside of her skin. "I did go in there, but she said the same thing to me. Just what do you think you know about me anyway? Do you honestly think I'd leave anypony alone when they're hurt?" "YES!" Scootaloo shouted. "You, along with your little, 'Diamond Tiara', are the sole cause of other ponies' pain!" Silver Spoon was taken aback by Scootaloo's argument. Apple Bloom smacked the orange pegasus's head from behind, which knocked her over. "Oww, what was that for?" "Yer bein' an idiot. This is no time for fightin'. Sweetie Belle hates it, remember? Ah think we should try goin' in there one more time..." "Don't", Silver Spoon interrupted. The farm pony looked at her, confused. "She said this was something that even you two don't know about, so don't try to pry it out of her." Apple Bloom stared hard at the wealthy pony. "Y'know, that doesn't matter to me. If she's hurt, Ah'm gonna go find out what's wrong at all costs. If she gets hurt because of me, then so be it, but it hurts more to see our best friend alone in there, fussin' over something that we don't know about," Apple Bloom stated firmly. "Now if yer so concerned about her, you should come on in as well." Apple Bloom slowly opened the door. Scootaloo was the first to enter, followed by Apple Bloom. "Well?" the cowpony asked Silver Spoon, who was still standing still in one spot. The grey mare made eye contact with Apple Bloom. "I don't get how you crusaders can be so nice to each other," she admitted. Apple Bloom simply smiled at her. The smile quickly turned into a grin. "We're all best friends. Ah think bein' nice to each other is the least we can do after the great memories we've forged together. And besides, it never hurts ta show a lil' kindness." she replied as she went ahead and entered the nurse's office. Silver Spoon could feel a smile forming on her face, and she followed suit. Sweetie Belle was now awake. She was standing by the windowsill, staring out at Celestia's sun that was slowly setting. Both of her injured hooves were still actively tormenting the weak mare, but she beared with it. She didn't exactly know why herself, but she always felt compelled to make injuries less serious than they seem. A few years ago, when she was at a party with her sister, she was punched straight in the stomach by a mischievous stallion, who obviously had way too much to drink that night. She blacked out immediately upon impact, but before losing consciousness, she was glad to see the stallion being taken away. When she woke up, Rarity was by her side, sobbing, asking Celestia to spare Sweetie Belle's life. Although Sweetie Belle was used to seeing Rarity overreact, that night was the one time she felt absolutely pained upon seeing her sister cry. That's when she vowed to never make anypony worry about her. She hated seeing other ponies cry. That was also the night when Sweetie Belle made a pact with herself to stay away from colts and stallions, unbeknownst to her friends, of course. She could still feel her stomach churning even up to this day. Although she saw the stallion being taken away with her own two eyes, she knew the pony did not stop kicking her until he was completely out of sight. From that night on, her digestive system became noticeably weaker, which impacted her appetite, and as a result, took a toll on her fitness level. She wasn't a chubby mare, not in the slightest bit, but she was, without a doubt, the weakest mare. She didn't have enough room in her stomach to fit the most important meal of the day and in her head, she'd blame her lack of appetite for her clumsiness. Despite all of that, she didn't hate herself. She knew she was good at some things at the very least, and her cutie mark was proof of that. She owned an amazing voice. She'd practice her singing near Fluttershy's cottage, and her voice drew many animals in. They all loved hearing her, and she loved performing for them. However, she found it noticeably hard to root her voice without her stomach hurting, but she still insisted on continuing to sing for the animals. Of course, the animals didn't know better, or how much Sweetie Belle was truly hurting on the inside, so they allowed her to proceed, but Fluttershy had heard the incident from Rarity, and having read multiple health related books, she had a pretty good idea of how hard Sweetie Belle was pushing herself. However, being Fluttershy, she was unable to kick Sweetie Belle out, which is why the white mare still has her crowd of animals to sing to even up to this day. Sweetie Belle sighed to herself. Although she skipped breakfast every morning (and occasionally lunch, and sometimes even dinner, if she can sleep through it), she was still rather energetic. After all, she was able to keep up with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, but only barely. After each day of crusading, she'd always return home, extremely fatigued. She wouldn't even make it to the bed before passing out and collapsing from exhaustion. Rarity constantly advised her to stop overexerting herself, but Sweetie Belle would always claim that she was not overexerting herself, she was simply pushing herself, and that there was a large difference between the two concepts. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure why, but she found it hard to give up on whatever she starts, unless it was life threatening, of course. She desperately wanted to befriend Silver Spoon at all costs. She wanted to get through to her. She wanted Silver Spoon to get out of her shell and open up to her, but unbeknownst to herself, Sweetie Belle desperately wanted somepony like Silver Spoon to listen to her thoughts. "Sweetie Belle?" said a voice. Sweetie Belle quickly turned around, and sure enough, there stood her two best friends and Silver Spoon. "Sweetie Belle, if you wanna talk, we're all ears," said the orange pegasus. Sweetie Belle appreciated the fact they wanted to listen, but she just didn't think it was the right time yet. "Thanks for visiting guys, but really, I'm fine," Sweetie Belle replied, trying to sound as happy as possible, but being her closest friends, Apple Bloom knew there was still something wrong. "Sweetie Belle, ya gotta stop understatin' everythin'!" said the farm pony. "I'm not--" "Dear Celestia, I bet if you were run over by a stampede of buffalo, you'd still say you were okay! "Oh, perfectly fine, why do ya ask? I was only run over by a pack of buffalo! All I have are a few broken bones... kidney damage, y'know, normal stuff."" Apple Bloom imitated Sweetie Belle. "All I have is a burnt hoof and a hoof that was stepped on, and Apple Bloom, you were run over by buffalo? Are you okay?!" Sweetie Belle asked, completely oblivious to the fact that Apple Bloom was only impersonating the white mare. The farm pony face hoofed herself. "Anypony else wanna argue with this lil' marshmallow?" "Hey!" Sweetie Belle shouted defensively. "Come on, Sweetie Belle! What's on your mind?" Scootaloo pried. Sweetie Belle pursed her lips. She simply wasn't ready to spill yet. "I thought we were your friends." Sweetie Belle looked up at the orange pegasus in shock. Did she just play the 'friend card'? the white mare thought to herself. The three mares standing by the door were waiting for an answer. "Well, if you were my friend, you'd stop prying..." Sweetie Belle replied with an innocent tone in her voice. "Touche... Silver Spoon, you're up," Scootaloo declared. "What?" the grey mare asked, taken by surprise. "I'm not even her friend, I can't..." "D'ya have ta be a friend to comfort a pony that's hurtin'?" Apple Bloom replied. "I said I'm fine!" "No you're not!' "Stop tryna fool yerself! Yer in pain, and we all know it!" Apple Bloom hollered. "GIRLS, what is the meaning of this?" an authoritative voice rumbled the room. The nurse pony had walked into the room. She pointed at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. "Please leave Sweetie Belle alone. I will not tolerate arguing in my office." The two crusaders obeyed the nurse. Just as Scootaloo was about to exit, she turned around and looked at Sweetie Belle. "I know it hurts to tell other ponies how you're feeling... but if you can't trust us, your best friends, then who do you trust?" Scootaloo asked. Without waiting for an answer, she left with Apple Bloom. The nurse turned her attention to the injured mare. "Well then, Sweetie Belle, the school closes in 20 minutes. Unfortunately, you'll have to leave, but I will give you another back of ice to heal that bruised hoof of yours before you leave," said the nurse as she exited the room once again. Sweetie Belle nodded, and thanked the nurse. Afterwards, she turned her attention to Silver Spoon, who was idly standing around. "Silver Spoon..." Sweetie Belle said weakly. "Do you want me to leave too? I can--" "Wait, don't go! I have a lot to tell you... but you absolutely can't tell anypony else about this!" Silver Spoon nodded. She didn't even know why she was staying by Sweetie Belle's side. She wasn't even her friend, and nor was she intending on becoming her friend. All she knew was that she couldn't stand seeing Sweetie Belle sad. She wanted her to return to her normal smiling self. Deep down, Silver Spoon wanted to help the white mare, friends or not. "It never hurts to show a little kindness." The words Apple Bloom spoke from earlier repeated themselves in Silver Spoon's head. She smiled to herself. She shook her head and left her thoughts behind. Right now wasn't the right time to find out why she wanted to be by Sweetie Belle's side. Right now was the time to listen to her. She looked up at the white mare, who was taking several deep breaths to regain her composure. Before long, Sweetie Belle opened her mouth, and began to spill out the feelings that have been bottled up inside of her. "The truth is..."