//------------------------------// // 1. Between the Lines // Story: The Shape of a Question // by Astrarian //------------------------------// “Sweetie Belle, I do so enjoy your company, but… is something troubling you?” Sweetie Belle’s magic sputtered and the roll of fabric which she was moving across the room quivered mid-air. Her tongue poked out of her mouth as she concentrated on not causing an accident. Once the fabric was safely stacked on its shelf alongside all of the other rolls of fabric, she said nervously, “No, of course not. There’s nothing wrong with me.” Rarity was looking at her over the top of her glasses. “Are you sure, darling? You can tell me if there is, you know.” She smiled kindly. “Perhaps I can help you. After all, you’ve been so helpful with my dresses over the past few days.” Sweetie Belle looked at the floor briefly, blushing and smiling. “I am absolutely certain I couldn’t have finished all of these magnificent outfits for Hoity Toity without you,” Rarity continued. Rarity had accepted Sweetie Belle’s offer to help for the week with caution. Sweetie’s tendency to fall over her hooves and knock everything in the room akimbo was hardly desirable when Rarity was on a tight schedule. So Rarity couldn’t have been more pleased to learn that Sweetie Belle’s budding magic reduced her accidental clumsiness rather than increasing it. Pleased as punch, Pinkie Pie might say. “Your magic is really coming along in leaps and bounds. I must thank Twilight for helping you. Thank Twilight…” Perhaps Rarity could make Twilight a new dress. Although there were no upcoming royal events that Rarity could think of. Well, what did it matter? Being in style shouldn’t be restricted merely to important social gatherings and Twilight was certain to have need of a new dress soon enough. Rarity could envisage aspects of the design already: ruffles highlighted by sequins, tiny silver stars along the seams, culminating in a centre-piece jewel – a rare yellow tourmaline, of course. It would perfectly complement Twilight’s coat. A wonderful idea! “Rarity?” Sweetie Belle asked. Rarity sighed with delight. Then she shook her head to clear her creative vision. As she focused on Sweetie Belle again, she used her magic to flip to a blank page in her design pad. “Well, I’m just saying that I would be very happy to repay all of your hard work by helping you to solve whatever problem is upsetting you,” Rarity elaborated. She had another repayment in mind too – however, it was a surprise and hence not something to be mentioned right now. She’d designed a new dress for Sweetie Belle, something dazzling that would impress her school friends. Truthfully, making the gift had added some pressure to Rarity’s workload throughout the day for she was only able to work on the dress once Sweetie Belle had gone home each evening. But she didn’t regret the decision one bit. “I’m not upset,” Sweetie Belle reiterated. “Sweetie, I fear you are not quite yourself.” Sweetie Belle hadn’t mentioned her quest for her cutie mark all week. She hadn’t shown any sign of wanting a favour for helping Rarity all week. And she hadn’t sung sweetly under her breath while working, a habit of hers which Rarity enjoyed. Rarity got off her work-stool. Immediately – perhaps consequently – Sweetie Belle turned the focus of her magic to an unravelled roll of ribbon on the floor. Concerned, Rarity was about to speak again when the bell above the front door of the boutique rang. “I’ll go and see who it is!” Sweetie Belle announced, galloping out of the workroom. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were trotting towards the back stairs when Sweetie Belle tumbled through the doorway into the main shop. “Hi, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom greeted. Sweetie Belle skidded to a halt, ears flattening against her head briefly. “Oh, hi, you two,” she said. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. “Apple Bloom’s finished her chores for the day, and I’ve finished practising my latest trick,” Scootaloo said, momentarily hovering off the floor as she flourished her wings. “So do you wanna do some crusading?” “Twilight’s bound to wanna rearrange all the books in her library,” Apple Bloom explained. “But since the castle is so much bigger than the old library—” Apple Bloom looked momentarily sad— “she’s gonna need some help, sure as Celestia made little green apples.” “Princess Celestia didn’t make little green apples,” Scootaloo said as though Apple Bloom had been overcome by temporary madness. “They grow on the trees in your orchard.” Apple Bloom frowned at her. “Our apples are red.” “Same difference,” Scootaloo said. She turned her attention back to Sweetie Belle. “Anyway, we’ll get our cutie marks as librarians.” In unison with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo cried, “Royal castle librarians!” They high-hooved one another triumphantly and grinned at Sweetie Belle. “That sounds like a good idea,” Sweetie Belle said. “But, um, Rarity still needs lots of help with her big order for Hoity Toity.” “You’ve been helping her ever since we got back from Appleoosa,” Apple Bloom said morosely. “We’ve hardly seen ya all week. Can’t you crusade for one afternoon?” “Or we can help you,” Scootaloo proposed brightly. Her past disdain for all things ‘namby pamby’ – including fashion – had mellowed significantly. “If the order’s taking this long you could use some more hooves, right?” She was willing to do whatever was necessary to get Sweetie Belle out of the boutique and back into the wide, exciting (and just a little bit scary; not that she would ever admit so to anyone except Princess Luna, of course!) realm of Equestria. “I don’t know if Rarity would like that. Maybe I can just come and find you once we’ve finished,” Sweetie Belle suggested. “I wouldn’t like what?” Rarity asked as she stepped off the final stair. “Why, hello, girls. It’s so lovely to see you both.” “Hi Rarity,” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom chorused. “Sweetie Belle was just telling us about your order for Hoity Toity,” Apple Bloom said. Her accented enunciation of the fashion critic’s name made him sound even more ridiculous. “We thought we could help you finish the dresses so Sweetie Belle can come crusading with us,” Scootaloo said. Rarity laughed, hoping that no hint of the negativity such a proposal stirred was audible. “Oh, thank you so much for the offer, but we actually just completed the final touches, so there’s no need.” Thank Celestia. “As a matter of fact, I simply need to tidy up and package the dresses for delivery, which is no trouble at all. Thank you ever so much for your help, Sweetie Belle, but I have no desire to keep you from your friends any longer.” Hopefully an afternoon of crusading for her cutie mark would cheer Sweetie Belle up. As Rarity leaned down to hug her sister in gratitude, Sweetie Belle interrupted her. “Don’t you need help planning Twilight’s dress?” she asked. By turning to face Rarity, she presented her back to her fellow Crusaders. “I’d really like to say thank you as well. It’s my magic she helped with.” “Oh—an interesting idea— I suppose—but, Sweetie Belle, however did you know I was planning to make Twilight a dress to show my appreciation?” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo giggled in the background as Sweetie Belle smiled up at her. “Oh, Rarity. You are my sister.” “Ah. Well. Yes.” Rarity cleared her throat. She was ready to politely refuse the offer, at least until later in the week if Sweetie Belle absolutely insisted, and then she noticed Sweetie Belle biting her bottom lip anxiously. Rarity was a designer at heart and while Sweetie Belle had more flair for fashion than somepony like Applejack (Rarity chuckled inwardly at the memory of the horrific dresses Applejack had made when afflicted with Rarity’s cutie mark), she was hardly a nascent fashionista. So Rarity would have expected her younger sister to direct big, shimmering eyes in her direction in order to convince Rarity to let her help, tapping the guilt and affection in Rarity’s heart as effectively as Rarity herself could find gemstones hidden in the ground. Sweetie Belle’s evident agitation contradicted this expectation, and thus unnerved Rarity. “Please, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle begged. “I know I’m not as good a designer as you, no-pony is, but I’d really like it if we could, um, collaborate.” Otherwise Rarity would make the entire dress before Sweetie Belle could even contribute an idea, let alone have that idea refined into something more aesthetically pleasing. Simultaneously flattered and perturbed, Rarity said, “Well, that does sound lovely, darling. But wouldn’t you like to spend the afternoon searching for your cutie mark?” “No!” Sweetie Belle said desperately. Over Sweetie Belle’s withers, Rarity saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s faces fall. Standing in front of Sweetie Belle gave Rarity ample opportunity to watch her sister’s eyes widen, expression shifting between guilt and fear. Was Sweetie Belle… avoiding Apple Bloom and Scootaloo? Surely not. Yet no other explanation sprang to Rarity’s mind. “I really want to say thanks to Twilight,” Sweetie Belle said, turning to her two friends. “She’s helped me so much with my magic. I couldn’t have done everything I did this week without her. And I couldn’t have helped Trouble Shoes get out of j—um—you know, when we got him out of that place he shouldn’t have been in. I couldn’t have done that if Twilight hadn’t been teaching me.” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo glanced at one another. “And if Rarity starts planning the dress today, without me, well, that’s not very collaborative.” Sweetie Belle grinned a little too widely at Rarity, tail twitching nervously. Rarity had indeed intended to plan Twilight’s dress that afternoon. Given Sweetie Belle’s strong feelings on the subject, however, she could always do something else. Or leave the boutique if it was proving terribly difficult to keep her creative urge in check. “I can wait until tomorrow to begin the design process,” she said. “But I want to do it,” Sweetie Belle said. “You understand, don’t you? And so do Apple Bloom and Scoot?” She smiled disarmingly at each pony in the room. “Well, if you feel it’s that important…” Rarity began, trailing off when Apple Bloom glared at her. The amount of rancour made Rarity feel even more uncomfortable. As though it was a crime to want to immediately act upon one’s inspiration! Rarity frowned. Scootaloo smiled at Sweetie Belle. “That’s cool. If it’s what you want to do, you should go for it. Maybe you’ll get a cutie mark in collaborating.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh, maybe we can too!” Rarity was afraid she was going to ask to help with Twilight’s dress. Although that had the potential to shed some light on Sweetie Belle’s behaviour she feared it would drive her sister to unknown lengths. Instead, Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom and said enthusiastically, “Come on, let’s go and collaborate!” She started pulling Apple Bloom towards the front door of the boutique. Scootaloo’s fervour was undeniable. Apple Bloom’s disbelieving frown slowly cleared. “Okay… See you later, Sweetie Belle,” she said hesitantly. “Hope you design a real nice dress for Twilight.” “Yeah, show it to us later! Bye, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo shouted in exuberant farewell. The two fillies exited the boutique. Rarity quashed her fiercest frown, settling for a less intense expression. “I would like you to tell me what that was all about, and I’d like you to tell me now,” she said firmly. “But I had such a good idea for Twilight’s dress,” Sweetie Belle replied. “What if you used some of your rubies to make a picture of her cutie mark on her dress, so ponies can see her special talent even though they can’t see her flank?” “Twilight’s cutie mark is pink, and I don’t have any pink rubies right now. Now, I think the fabric should be chartreuse, and the centre-piece an amethyst to bring the outfit togeth—” Rarity suddenly shook her head rapidly and resolutely. “Oh, Sweetie Belle! You’re trying to distract me. Well, it shall not work!” She stamped her hoof. “I will not be side-tracked!” Startled by Rarity’s outburst, Sweetie Belle took a few steps backwards. To Rarity’s dismay, uncharacteristic tears filled her sister’s eyes. Sweetie Belle was more than capable of enduring Rarity’s dramatic outpourings, even matching them. Their previous arguments had proved that. Something was terribly wrong. “Sweetie, I’m very sorry,” Rarity said gently. “I didn’t mean to upset you. But it sounds like you’re lying to me, and that hurts. It’s hurting both of us,” she added as a tear fell from Sweetie Belle’s cheek and splashed onto the floor audibly. “You shouldn’t do something that you don’t want to do in order to avoid something else.” Rarity worriedly tugged Sweetie Belle into a hug. “Won’t you please tell me what’s wrong?” “I don’t know if I can,” Sweetie Belle said dejectedly. The sun was shining brightly outside the boutique and Scootaloo’s exuberant mood suited the weather to a tee. Crusading in such nice spring weather would be so awesome, especially since the weather ponies had scheduled rain for the following day. They could ask to rearrange Twilight’s library then, saving themselves from getting wet while potentially earning their cutie marks. Perfect! “Where shall we start?” Scootaloo asked Apple Bloom eagerly. She put her helmet on and dragged her scooter onto the path that led to the boutique’s front door. “I know. What about the Everfree Forest? We must be able to do some sweet collaborating in there!” “I don’t even know what collaboratin’ is,” Apple Bloom complained. “You don’t? Me neither.” However, Scootaloo’s zeal was unimpeded by this realisation. “We need a dictionary. Let’s go talk to Twilight!” Without further ado she leaped onto her scooter and zipped away towards Twilight’s castle on the outskirts of the town, rapidly disappearing into the distance. Apple Bloom looked glumly over her shoulder at Carousel Boutique. They shouldn’t need a dictionary because Sweetie Belle should be outside crusading with herself and Scootaloo. Not like she and Scootaloo were stupid, but Sweetie Belle knew a lot more fancy words than they did. Apple Bloom huffed thoughtfully. It wasn’t like Sweetie Belle to decline an afternoon of crusading. Since when would she rather design a dress than quest for her cutie mark, especially since their past experiences with the school talent show and the special play she’d written had shown that costume design wasn’t her special talent? It could be that she didn’t feel well. If that was the case though, why wouldn’t she just say so? She’d been quite reluctant to go crusading in Appleoosa too… Sweetie Belle’s behaviour didn’t make a lick of sense to Apple Bloom, and that made her irate. “Come on, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo’s voice rang out across Ponyville. Apple Bloom vowed to uncover the mystery behind Sweetie Belle’s odd behaviour before following Scootaloo’s summons. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo didn’t even need to visit the Everfree forest to end up having plenty of fun that afternoon, which was fortunate since they weren’t meant to wander in the forest anyway. Twilight needed little convincing to rearrange her schedule in order to make re-shelving day the following day, and she also revelled in teaching them what collaboration meant. They helped Spike to create a variant of his classic sapphire-cookie recipe, jumped in unison when one of Pinkie Pie’s hidden confetti cannons went off, and came up with an action-packed method to use to shelve the library books. Finally they let off some steam by racing along the vast corridors, using one banner which fluttered in any breeze as the finish line. Twilight had gotten much better at flying, but she still couldn’t keep up with Scootaloo on wheels. The banner flapped madly when three ponies and one dragon sprinted past. All of the activity helped ease the heaviness that had settled like a rock in the pit of Apple Bloom’s stomach upon leaving Carousel Boutique. Twilight also persuaded them to pen an entry in the Journal of Friendship about what they had learned in Appleoosa. The two sat in the castle library in between precariously piled books, pondering how best to express how they had helped Trouble Shoes to realise his true destiny. In a burst of inspiration, Scootaloo began writing. Spike wandered in holding a bowl that contained their second batch of cookies. Twilight was picking out some new books to study. “This must be collaborative too,” Apple Bloom said. “Yes, precisely,” Twilight answered. “I would really like Sweetie Belle to write down what she learned as well. I was wondering why she didn’t come with you this afternoon.” Scootaloo put down the pen. “She couldn’t come with us,” she started to explain. “She really wanted to help Rarity design a dress for y—” Apple Bloom pointedly tugged a feather out of Scootaloo’s wing before her friend could finish her sentence. “Hey!” Scootaloo protested, more from surprise than pain, and then comprehended the magnitude of the slip of her tongue. She gave Apple Bloom her best apologetic grin. “Apple Bloom, that wasn’t very nice,” Twilight chided. “Naw, it’s fine,” Apple Bloom refuted around the feather in her mouth. Scootaloo nodded and turned her disarming smile on Twilight. “Y’all know want to know something that’s real fun?” Apple Bloom asked, looking at Spike. Eyes widening warily, Spike shoved the entire cookie that he was eating into his mouth. He remembered the train ride he had taken with the Cutie Mark Crusaders to the Crystal Empire. “Hold on a second,” he said in a spray of cookie crumbs and sapphire shards. With a wicked smile Apple Bloom advanced on Spike. A future of excruciating sensation loomed. It was too much; Spike immediately dashed away to escape it. Twilight chortled as Apple Bloom galloped in hot pursuit of the dragon. Interesting that a dragon covered in scales could feel pleasure if tickled. There must be a book about the physiological truth of tickling somewhere – perhaps not in her library, although Twilight wasn’t well-versed with its literary contents any longer. The clattering of Apple Bloom’s hooves resounded in the great room. Even though Twilight spent much of her time in solitary study, and her friends’ efforts had made the castle far more homely nowadays, it seemed she preferred the place when it contained sounds of life. A castle felt properly used when there was more than one pony and one dragon within. “That didn’t hurt you?” Twilight asked Scootaloo, ruffling her wings sympathetically. “Nah.” Scootaloo waved her hoof dismissively. “Apple Bloom knows which feathers are okay to take.” “Really?” Twilight extended one of her wings, studying it with interest. “I assumed it would hurt no matter which feather you pulled out.” “Nah,” Scootaloo repeated. “I’m too awesome to let losing one little feather bother me.” Twilight blinked at how reminiscent of Rainbow Dash the words were. It was like she was with them. Then again, in a sense she already was, thanks to the Daring Do posters that watched over the castle library. Scootaloo returned her attention to the journal until the smooth swoosh of a moving library ladder rapidly approached. Spike had mastered the art of moving quickly on rolling ladders back in the Golden Oak Library, and the large size of the castle library increased its value as a skill. He vaulted off the top of the ladder as it passed by, landing lightly on Apple Bloom’s back as she cantered back in conjunction, and then performed an acrobatic somersault to ultimately land in front of Scootaloo and Twilight. “Sweet moves!” Scootaloo praised. “Thank you, I’ll be here all week,” Spike said, bowing ostentatiously. “All year, in fact. Maybe forever.” He scratched his chin with a claw and then picked up his abandoned bowl of cookies. He offered one to Apple Bloom, who accepted happily, nibbling around the sapphire chunks. “What’s Sweetie Belle designing with Rarity?” he asked. “Her deadline for Hoity Toity was today. The dresses had to be on the one o’clock train to Canterlot.” Scootaloo gave a nervous chuckle. Apple Bloom clenched her jaw. She’d intended for the tickle-chase to distract both Twilight and Spike. “I guess Rarity must have another order.” “Huh,” Spike said reflectively. “She didn’t tell me she had any other orders.” “Maybe it’s something for you!” Scootaloo blurted without thinking. Apple Bloom groaned discreetly. Spike puffed his chest out proudly. “For me, hm? Well, of course. That makes perfect sense. I am her favourite dragon, after all.” “You’re everypony’s favourite dragon,” Twilight complimented him. “But it could be anything,” she added sensibly. “Rarity always has so many designs to finish. I’m glad to hear that Sweetie Belle is helping her. It’s so nice when they’re getting along.” Apple Bloom tilted her head contemplatively. “What do you mean, Twilight?” “Well, Sweetie Belle and Rarity don’t live together like you and Applejack do, so they’re not able to constantly strengthen their relationship.” Twilight spoke like this deduction was the most logical thing in the Equestria. “Huh?” the fillies said together, each giving Twilight her best confused face. The Princess of Friendship turned and looked at them. Her eyebrows lowered thoughtfully; conversely, her eyes sparkled at the prospect of clarifying her point. “Well… Scootaloo, don’t you find that you really value the time you spend with Rainbow Dash?” “Rainbow’s not my sister,” said Scootaloo, blushing furiously. Twilight giggled. “I know that.” “But she’s the pony most like a sister to you, except you and Sweetie Belle, I guess,” Spike said on Twilight’s behalf, and gave Scootaloo a claws-up gesture. “That is pretty awesome,” he said in a sing-song voice. After all, he too was a fan of Rainbow’s awe-inspiring feats. “I guess,” Scootaloo admitted, unable to conceal her smile. It was just so awesome to almost be the sister of certifiably the coolest pony around: Rainbow Dash. She and Apple Bloom clacked their hooves together triumphantly. “There can be a lot of pressure for ponies who don’t live together to make the time that they do spend together meaningful,” Twilight said. “When I see my brother, I always want to have the greatest time with him because I don’t see him very often. It was the same when Discord messed up plans for my day with Princess Cadance. And if you don’t necessarily see a pony that often, then any fights that you have feel even worse.” Scootaloo was nodding in response. Apple Bloom smiled suddenly. This idea made much more sense than Sweetie Belle suddenly hating crusading or not wanting to be friends with them anymore. Apple Bloom knew first-hoof that Sweetie Belle’s sisterhood with Rarity was very important. Sweetie Belle must be glad too when she and Rarity were getting along, since they sometimes fought like cats and dogs. The image of Winona chasing Opalescence came unbidden into Apple Bloom’s mind and she chuckled to herself. Sweetie Belle shouldn’t have to lie about wanting to spend some more time with Rarity, even though they’d already spent almost a whole week together. It was just a bit hard for Apple Bloom to appreciate, since she never had the chance to doubt that she was better with a sister in her life. Applejack was (barring her overprotectiveness and bossiness) the best big sister a filly could ask for. “I’m sorry, girls, I didn’t mean to distract you from your journal entry,” Twilight said. She picked up a book with her magic and examined the title before unknown categorising relegated it to one particular pile amongst many particular piles. “Hey, do you wanna see what I’ve written?” Scootaloo asked Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom took Scootaloo’s place in front of the Journal of Friendship as Scootaloo went off to investigate the prominent shelf of Daring Do books. She’d written in it once before, and read most of the entries trying to learn about the magic of friendship herself - although it turned out experiencing something for oneself was easier to learn from than reading about it. Dear Diary, Last week me and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle met a really interesting pony. Trouble Shoes is a bit of a klutz. He thought that was what his cutie mark meant, and he didn’t like it. But he loves the rodeo, so he kept going back even though he was messing things up by accident. Without friends, he couldn’t see that he was looking at his cutie mark the wrong way. But we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders (along with Babs Seed), so we know the real importance of a cutie mark is that it shows everypony who you are and what your talent is! If you can’t see the good things in your talent you can feel like bad luck is following you around. Your friends can help you see that your abilities make you awesome. I’ve learned that lesson myself. And it turns out Trouble Shoes is the most awesome rodeo clown ever! Even Applejack has never seen a better clown. It feels really nice to know that we made things better for Trouble Shoes. Knowing that we’ve helped somepony understand his cutie mark makes it a lot easier to wait for our own! Scootaloo Apple Bloom couldn’t think of a better way to explain what they had learned in Appleoosa. “It’s real good,” she told Scootaloo, picking up the pen to make one addition. Dear Diary, Ain’t that the truth! Apple Bloom “All done,” she said to Twilight. “Just a minute,” Twilight replied. Apple Bloom starting flicking the pages in the journal backwards to see the entries she hadn’t read. A few short ones were preceded by Twilight’s neat scrawl, which mentioned the words ‘cutie mark’ frequently. Apple Bloom turned the page backwards. Twilight’s writing continued unabated on both pages. Cocking her head, Apple Bloom flicked to the previous two pages, which were also filled to the margins with Twilight’s musings. The name ‘Starlight Glimmer’ was scattered regularly throughout the entry too. This piqued Apple Bloom’s interest because Applejack had mentioned Starlight a couple of times in Apple Bloom’s presence, and not with kindness. The amount of writing about this particular adventure suggested there was a lot more to the tale than Applejack had let on. Oddly, Twilight had actually titled this entry: Cutie Unmarking. Apple Bloom’s stomach dropped – and Twilight said, “Thanks for waiting.” Hurriedly Apple Bloom flicked back to the page she and Scootaloo had written on. Applejack hadn’t said anything about ponies with cutie un-marks in relation to Starlight Glimmer. That could only mean that Applejack didn’t want Apple Bloom to know about it. And that ignited a fire of curiosity in Apple Bloom’s heart. “Do you mind if I read your entry while you’re here?” Twilight didn’t seem to have noticed Apple Bloom’s rapid page-turning. If she did, she paid no heed. “Here ya go,” said Apple Bloom, pushing the journal towards Twilight with a hoof. Her mind was awhirl with questions. What was a cutie unmarking? Was it a cutie mark that wasn’t really a cutie mark? Was it the name for losing one’s cutie mark? Was it a special rite of passage? Did it happen to adult ponies? Would it happen to Granny Smith? How could ponies be unmarked? All ponies had cutie marks. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had cutie marks. Zecora had a cutie mark, didn’t she? Being a zebra, Apple Bloom wasn’t sure if she was technically a pony or not. Only dragons and griffons didn’t have cutie marks. Who was Starlight Glimmer actually? She barely noticed Twilight chuckle in good humour upon reading her entry. However, her spiralling thoughts were successfully interrupted by Twilight saying, “I don’t want you to think I’m kicking you out,” as she started walking out of the library. “But Spike and I do have a couple of housekeeping tasks to be getting on with.” “Don’t you mean castle-keeping?” Scootaloo asked, joining Apple Bloom. They followed Twilight readily enough, although Apple Bloom spared one longing look at the Journal of Friendship over her shoulder. “There is more to do here,” Twilight agreed. “We need to change some of the lamps, clean some of the doors, water the flowers and polish the statue in the dining room…” “Don’t forget that we need to clean up all of the confetti in the kitchen, and I need to polish the doorway to my bedroom,” Spike added. The checklist he held in one claw was already unrolling onto the floor. He’d tucked his bowl of cookies under his arm. “I know!” Scootaloo cried. “We’ll polish the floor for you!” She leaped into a full gallop, building up speed until she could slide for several feet on her flank along the cool, crystalline floor. “Try it, Apple Bloom,” she called, laughing. “Heck yeah, okay!” Apple Bloom shouted, forgetting about the strange journal entry for now. She mimicked Scootaloo’s actions. They repeatedly slid along the hall until they reached the main door of the castle. Giggling and panting they tumbled into the outside world. A cooling breeze fanned their manes off their warm foreheads. Apple Bloom glanced at her flank. Grime and dust had collected in her hair, turning it slightly brown. The shadow of dirt might pass for a cutie mark, if one squinted. “Cookie for the road?” Spike offered. “Cool, thanks!” “Aw, but no thanks, Spike,” Apple Bloom answered. “You enjoy them sapphires.” “I prefer emeralds,” Scootaloo said drolly. Then she grinned and stuck her tongue out of her mouth. A heap of gleaming blue sapphires was clustered in the middle of her tongue. Spike collected them carefully and then candidly tossed them above his head. Quick as a flash his tongue whipped out, catching the gemstones as they fell back through the air. Audible crunching followed. Twilight cringed at the display. The other three chortled. Scootaloo grabbed her helmet and scooter. “Thanks for teaching us what collaboration means, Twilight,” she said. “It was my pleasure. See you tomorrow, girls,” Twilight called as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom trotted away from the castle. Spike waved at them from the threshold. “Thanks for your help with my cookies!” “No problem!” Apple Bloom assured him. She waited until she heard the castle door close with an unmistakable bang. “Scoot, I hafta tell you something!” she said urgently.