//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: Secrets and Lies // Story: CMC: Training is Magic // by Cold Spike //------------------------------// Running with a sack full of stuff wasn’t the smartest idea Scootaloo had ever had. Indeed, it weighed her down so much that by the time she had reached Bubbles’ house she was breaking so hard that her heart was pounding in her chest. Panting, she knocked on the door with all of her might then silently waited. When the door swung open, Scootaloo started speaking at a speed that could easily rival Pinkie Pie. “Hi, Bubbles, I need you to please listen and to not interrupt because a bunch of ponies might come here asking if you’re my mother, and Mrs. Firehen and I need you to lie and say you’re my mom and that I live here and I’m your daughter! Okay?” she said, This long-winded explanation without stopping to breathe finally pushed her over the edge, and she collapsed onto the porch. Dinky came strolling into view, curious to see what the noise was about, but she remained silent. Bubbles coughed then leaned down to Scootaloo. “Care to repeat that?” she said, urging her on. When Scootaloo caught her breath, she spoke much more clearly, “Look, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need you to pretend to be my, uh, my mom. And your last name would be Firehen. Or you can say you adopted me or something, either way works,” Scootaloo added rather quickly. The mare looked into the filly’s pleading eyes. Scootaloo nearly broke down sobbing; at least, that was the impression she got. Bubbles took a deep breath then spoke quite calmly herself, “Why?” Scootaloo began shaking, but she tried to keep her cool. “I can’t explain right now, okay? I just need you to do this, please?” she begged. The mare sighed and looked up as if hoping to see what she should do written in the clouds. In the distance, she spotted Dinky’s teacher of all things, followed by another filly and a stallion. She looked back down. “Scootaloo… I can’t just--” “Please…” Scootaloo said. A few tears dropped onto the wood below. Scootaloo then looked behind and spotted her teacher marching toward them. She growled then quickly wiped her tears and went to leave. She won’t help me… she thought miserably. Upon seeing tears, Bubbles couldn’t restrain herself. She reached out and hugged Scootaloo for all she was worth. She knew it was risky, stupid, and perhaps even dangerous. She had no idea what trouble Scootaloo was in, or how much she could get into by hiding her from authority figures. However, just seeing the tear-filled face woke something in her. She just seems so scared. Like I was once… the mare thought. “Okay,” Bubbles whispered, “just play along, but you will tell me what this is about when it’s over. Understand?” Scootaloo had never nodded so profoundly or quickly in all of her life. When Diamond Tiara strolled up with her teacher, Bubbles spoke, “Ah, Miss Cheerilee, what is this about?” The teacher’s eyed looked down to Scootaloo, who had thankfully wiped her tears away. “Ditzy?” Cheerilee said in a shocked tone. “You are Scootaloo’s mother?” “I am,” she said. “Why, what’s the matter?” Miss Cheerilee composed herself, but couldn’t help blushing. “Well… I had found it a little odd when Scootaloo enrolled herself in school. I had been meaning to look more closely into this matter, so I could have her contact information, but I suppose that’s my fault for letting this issue slip by for so long. But her… well, you never came to speak to me about her… even when you enrolled your other daughter, Dinky,” she said suspiciously. Most ponies would think Bubbles was ditzy from first glance, perhaps even slow on the uptake; but you didn’t get to be one of the swiftest mailmares in Equestria by being slow. True, she wasn’t the best flier, but she could still outthink others when she needed to. She still made mistakes, loads of them; but that didn’t mean she was as stupid as others assumed. “That’s because I only recently adopted Scootaloo as one of my own. It’s a long story, but I met her on one of my own of town deliveries. Ponyville has no orphanage, of course, but Cloudsdale is another matter,” she replied without skipping a beat. Again, Miss Cheerilee looked taken aback, as did Diamond Tiara. “Your last name isn’t Firehen? Of course, I understand not using your last name when signing papers, such as Dinky’s enrollment forms, but what is it then?” Bubbles wasn’t the only pony great at thinking on her hooves. This time, it was Scootaloo’s turn to say something, “Um, Miss Cheerilee?” she said tentatively. Cheerilee looked down to the filly and smiled. “What is it, dear?” Please, oh merciful Discord, if this works, I’ll be rotten and chaotic for a lifetime! she thought excitedly. “Um, there are no Firehens. Diamond Tiara was making it all up. I didn’t say anything because I knew I’d have to talk about getting adopted,” she quietly trailed off when the teacher’s eyes widened in surprise, but then she scowled. “Diamond Tiara!” she called, waiting as the filly slowly walked into her field of view. “Is that true?” “What? No! She’s Scootaloo Firehen! She’s a liar!” Diamond accused, pointing her hoof angrily back at the pegasus. Catching on quickly, Bubbles turned to face Diamond and frowned. “I don’t know what she’s talking about, Miss Cheerilee, but Scootaloo was simply Scootaloo when I adopted her. I believe Diamond has some explaining to do,” she said coolly. Diamond’s father, who had remained silent throughout the ordeal, stepped forward. “I believe she’s right. Come, Diamond, we can talk about this in your teacher’s office,” he commanded, then shepherded Diamond away with the teacher. Before they were clear out of sight, Diamond called back angrily, “I’ll get you for this! I don’t know how you did it! But I’ll get you!” she shrieked, causing other ponies to stare in shock. Diamond’s father promptly picked her up angrily then stormed off with the teacher in tow. Scootaloo couldn’t believe her luck. Not only had she gotten away with it scot-free, but Diamond was going to be punished as well! She laughed, she broke down on the porch and started giggling in fits, unable to control herself. Bubbles coughed. “Ahem,” she said coldly. Scootaloo’s laughter died down then she looked up at the mare fearfully. “Uh, heh, I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” Dinky leaned in from the doorway and slowly nodded. “Eeyup.” Scootaloo sighed, feeling the fun was now over with. “Eeyup…” Bubbles had been pacing back and forth in front of Scootaloo for nearly ten minutes. When she spoke, her voice was calm, but also somehow far from it. “I don’t understand at all,” she admitted. “I used to be a breezie, what’s there to understand?” Scootaloo said irritably. “‘What’s there to understand’? You used to be six inches long and lived in a magical dimension!” she nearly shrieked in alarm. Scootaloo shrugged. “I wasn’t that short…” The mare slapped her hoof to her forehead, then slowly dragged it down her face. “Scootaloo, even if I did understand how you came to be, that still leaves me with a very real problem. I just lied to my daughter’s teacher about something very big,” she emphasized, trying to drive the point across. Scootaloo scowled. “So what! Grownups lie all the time about big pony stuff, like that one time Rainbow Dash was supposed to take me flying, but forgot about it!” she argued back in a huff. “You-!” Bubbles nearly shrieked again but stopped herself when she quickly realized that she was being serious. To a filly her age, something as simple as somepony not keeping their promise was a big deal. Scootaloo simply didn’t understand and yelling at her wasn’t going to help any of them. She took the biggest deep breath possible then spoke as calmly as ponily possible, “Listen, what I did could get me in a lot of trouble. Trouble I can’t just fix. Even if I did believe that you used to be a breezie-” Scootaloo went to protest this, but Bubbles held up her hoof, “it won’t matter to royal guards. They’ll see a filly who’s very confused and a parent who kidnapped her. I don’t know what they’ll think, but it won’t be good news for either of us,” she finished, then sighed and sank into the couch. Scootaloo remained quiet for a while after that. She knew that if word got about Bubbles not allowing her newly adopted ‘daughter’ to live in her house, then they would both be in big trouble. She was sure Miss Cheerilee would be questioning Bubbles more often about both Dinky and her own well-being. When Scootaloo spoke, it was quiet, “You could just let me live here.” The mare sighed and nodded. “I’m going to have to now, thanks to you. Do you really not have an actual home?” she said irritably. “I told you, I used to be a breezie. I didn’t like it there and wanted to fly like other pegasus ponies. I’m not going back there,” she responded in a huff of her own. “I’m sure whatever happened in your home you can fix it and go back. It’s okay to make up stories, Scootaloo, but not about this.” “Really?” Scootaloo said in a disbelieving tone. “This town has invasions and chaos gods and Trixie taking it over and weird Everfree creatures, but you don’t believe that a breezie turned into a pony? Are you flippin’ serious?!” Dinky, who had been watching from the stairs, quietly walked down. “That’s not the point, Scootaloo! Those are different, they’re… they’re…” Her voice trailed off. Scootaloo took the opportunity to keep talking louder. “And then there’s changeling invasions and magic rainbow fixing beams and tons of other crazy stuff! Your world is amazing! Breezies are boring. We’re always being told what to do, how to live, where to live and why! I had to get out of there, okay? And I won’t go back… I’ll run away from this place if I have to if you have to make me leave my friends because you’re just being so stupid!” Scootaloo exclaimed, hot tears leaking down her cheeks. She just felt so angry, but she didn’t want to stop talking; not until Bubbles understood everything. Every single thing she had kept hidden away from everypony. Perhaps if she actually told the truth, for once, then they would understand! “Scootaloo, I-” Bubbles tried to get out calmly. But Scootaloo would not be silenced. She rounded on Bubbles, causing her to back up into the couch. “And everypony is just so great and I’m so lame! I can’t even fly yet! I could fly when I was back there, I could fly all I wanted, but not as some big stupid pretend pegasus! And I just… I just… I can’t take it anymore!” She then finished with a final huff and slammed her head into the couch cushion. She attempted to stop the tears from flowing, but she just felt so angry. She was stuck no matter what she did. Bubbles would never agree to let her stay, and eventually, she would be in trouble all over again. The mare sat rooted to the spot. She forgot about getting in trouble and potentially losing Dinky forever. Right now she just wanted Scootaloo to stop hurting, but what could she say? That she would let her live here? Pretend that she was adopting Scootaloo just for the sake of holding down a big lie? No! she thought firmly. It wouldn’t be unfair to Scootaloo or to herself and Dinky. She wasn’t sure if Scootaloo was telling the truth or not, but either way, it sounded like she really didn’t have any place to be. What could she do? What were her other options? Dinky suddenly walked into the middle of the room then promptly made a beeline toward the crying filly. She tapped her on the shoulder, making her glance up in confusion. Dinky hugged her then turned around to face her mom. “Um, can we keep her?” she said, as if asking to keep a lost puppy who had shown up on the front doorstep. “I…” Bubbles response died in her throat. Looking at Dinky, she couldn’t help but feel something familiar rise up to greet her memories. She felt like a weak mare again, scared of being pregnant and not knowing where she should go. It was obvious Scootaloo was feeling something similar, even if they were different scenarios. She bowed her head and exhaled slowly. “Okay, Scootaloo, you can stay here; but-” Dinky, not letting of Scootaloo, began to bounce up and down with glee. “Hurray! I get a new little sister!” she exclaimed loudly. “I think I’m older than you…” Scootaloo said indignantly. “Hurray! I get a new big sister!” Bubbles nodded. “Hurray, mommy has to go redo our budget. Excuse me,” she said quickly then went to dash off upstairs in a panic. Scootaloo wiped the tears from her face, then stopped Bubbles in her tracks. “I can stay? Just like that?” “...Yes. Just… give me time to think about this. And please stay in the house, for now, it’ll be safer.” Scootaloo watched her ascend the stairs, more thankful to her than she ever thought possible. Is this where I belong? Sweetie Belle slammed the door to Rarity’s boutique open while muttering to herself. Rarity had been waiting for her who raised a brow at whatever she had been muttering about. The mare cleared her throat and eventually, Sweetie stopped then blinked and looked around. “Huh?” Rarity sighed. “Sweetie Belle, this is the fourth time you’ve come here and haven’t so much as said hello to me. What have you been muttering about?” Sweetie Belle blushed in response. She hadn’t actually realized that she had been talking to herself. “Sorry, big sis. I’ve been trying to memorize this rune pattern… thing. I still can’t get my light spell to work better, but Twilight still taught me a new spell. I just can’t seem to get it,” she said in a mopey tone. “Oh! I see. Well, I’m glad to know my little sister isn’t talking to herself,” she replied promptly. “What?” “Nothing! Now, make sure to get your homework finished soon before father returns. I’m ecstatic you’re excited about magic practice, but unfortunately, that’s not part of your schooling… yet, anyway,” she added as an afterthought. “Ugh, alright. It shouldn’t take me long, it’s just math.” Sweetie frowned in response to more homework but didn’t complain. After all, the sooner she finished, the sooner she could practice not making her coat purple. Sweetie made a beeline into her room. In reality, it was Rarity’s guest room; but she was there so often that she liked to call it her room. Once inside, she made quick work of her homework but didn’t bother to double check if it all was correct. Magic time! she thought gleefully. By now she had memorized the light spell by heart as if using telekinesis. She could flick it on and off like a switch. The issue now was making it brighter. After activating her magic and lighting up her room, she hesitated. For the last few days, she had been pausing, reluctant to add more magic. I don’t think Rarity would appreciate my face going all purple, probably not proper fashion sense. With the light still on, Sweetie’s mind began to wonder about her friends. A pang of guilt struck her like a lightning bolt. If she didn’t get better at her magic, then they would either have to break their promise or never crusade again! She thought of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom’s smiling faces and couldn’t help but smile herself. Sweetie wanted nothing more than for them to join together and get lost somewhere, trying to find their marks. A warm feeling penetrated her skull suddenly, but it was not unpleasant. Quite the contrary, it felt wonderful. She opened her eyes and gasped as her horn was shining at least three times brighter than before. In her haze she'd forgotten to hold back; instead, thinking of her friends helped for some reason? She shook her head in bewilderment. “I don’t get it…” Why had thinking of her friends slowed her magic? Twilight had said over and over how she needed to learn to cap her speed, but she didn’t know how. She had certainly felt overly joyed to think of them, so was that it? Happy meant slow? Maybe, a voice thought out to her, maybe concentrating on somepony else distracted you from speeding up your magic, the rational side of her head guessed. It made some sense, but she had been trying to slow it down for days! Why would thinking of somepony else solve that now? You thought of your friends, your friends who stick by your side through thick and thin, who give you the confidence to try new and exciting things, to be confident in yourself! the voice urged quite sagely. Sweetie had to nod in agreement there. I really need to go see them… Sweetie thought mournfully. She had been ignoring them for far too long, and all over some dumb promise. Looking back up at her horn, she willed it to slowly die out. She didn’t want to stop it, but Twilight had told her that it was important to keep practicing. Just because she had succeeded didn’t necessarily mean she had perfected it. She took a deep breath, then turned her spell back on. This time, however, she turned away from the mirror she had been using to practice on. She could already feel the magic flowing into her horn and willed it to grow stronger. Knowing it was fast-acting, Sweetie quickly thought of her friends for a distraction. Confident, she thought. Like before, the distraction worked to siphon off the excess magic. It was as if concentrating on something else was slowing her tasking abilities down, slowing her mind down. When the light increased again, Sweetie squealed with delight. She began bouncing around the room, forgetting about the horn entirely. “I did it! I did it! I- achoo!” Sweetie Belle sneezed so hard that she fell onto her stomach, which was quickly followed by the all too familiar feeling of a magical backlash. Sighing, she looked over to the mirror, and what stared back at her was a purplish, frowning face. “Rarity’s not gonna like this…” Apple Bloom collapsed onto the tree branch, the one that she had been practicing on all morning. For the first time in what felt like ages, she let her mind wander free. She had been focusing on apple bucking all morning and it never got any easier. A dazed, pleasant feeling overtook her as she rested in the shade. She yawned, then lazily looked around. “The last one I did two apples, so hopefully Ah’m getting better at this,” she said to nopony. “Yeah, I must be. But I’ve been practicing for a week at least and I still can’t make a barrel of apples drop!” She sighed and sunk into the dirt. “What gives?” she mumbled to nopony in particular. Another thought struck her and as it weaved its way into the forefront of her mind, she felt nearly sick with guilt. “Dear Celestia, it’s a been week since I’ve talked to my friends! Even in class!” True, she had spoken with them in passing; but not about Crusading or about anything fun, or even what was going on with their lives. They had made a sort of silent pact to not discuss things until they had fine-tuned their skills in their own magic. But I saw them yesterday! she thought desperately. Only… only, it wasn’t the same. She remembered that they had all been sitting in class when their teacher had to leave to grab some supplies. Ordinarily, this would mean free time to chill out and talk with one another. This time, there had been no talking or laughing or playing. The Crusaders glanced at one another and, in a silent agreement, could just tell that their training hadn’t been going as smoothly as they would have liked. Their ears folded down, their heads dropped and they all silently nodded at one another. When they left class that day it was with extra determination to get things done as soon as possible, but there was no rushing magic. Magic didn’t have a speed you could just increase by working harder or faster. Magic was simply an oddity that you had to practice it until you could understand its subtle requirements for perfection. When Apple Bloom, after a week's worth of work, finally realized this fact, she had one thing on her mind: I’m boned, she thought bitterly. She had never pretended to be perfect at anything, Subtle wasn’t her way of doing things, either. Normally, when she wanted something done, she would just tackle it head on; but this was just too different. Alien, even. Magic was just too hard, and yet she had to keep trying or admit defeat and quit. Apples don’t quit, a voice announced firmly in her head. “Yeah? I bet you never had to learn Earth Pony magic you stupid… uh, voice!” she yelled out, realizing just how silly she must sound. “Maybe if I just go visit them, I could see how they’re doing. We don’t have to go Crusadin’. It can just be for fun!” Making up her mind, Apple Bloom strolled off from the tree, happily speculating on what her friends had been up to. “What’s Big Mac up to?” she said to herself. Looking ahead she found her brother busily pushing something up the hill. A new idea occurred to her.  “Hmm, I could see my friends… or I could learn even more about farmin’ from Big Mac! Then I’ll be Crusadin’ with them in no time!” She darted forward. “Oh, Big Mac! Big Mac, stop!” The stallion promptly stopped his pushing of the strange box then looked around. “What is it? What’s wrong?” he said in a panic. “Nothing’s wrong, I just thought you could use some help, maybe? On the farm and with your, uh, box.” Big Mac paused then scrutinized her all over. Something wasn’t quite right here, but he couldn’t quite put his hoof on it. “What about your friends? They won't be, uh, helpin’, right?” he said, wondering in an even deeper panic. “Not unless they want to learn Earth Pony stuff, so no,” she confirmed for him, making the stallion sigh in relief. “Can I help?” “Sure. I need to get this here box to the spare barn, then we’ll be plantin’ some new trees. If yer up for it?” Without even waiting for him to start, Apple Bloom had already begun to push and shove at the box. To his astonishment, she actually seemed to be moving it, albeit with a tad bit of difficulty. Big Mac grunted, impressed, and then started pushing alongside her. “Yer gettin’ mighty strong,” he commented casually. “Thanks! I’ve been practicin’ buckin’ a whole lot! Granny was teaching me all about it.” He nodded. “Did she get to plantin’ yet in her teachin’s?” Apple Bloom frowned and shook her head. “Nope, not yet. Granny gets tuckered out too fast and I just have to practice on my own. It’s frustrating,” she said with a frown. She had been thinking about it so much that she forgot to push, leaving Big Mac to pick up the slack. “Whoops, sorry, Big Mac!” she exclaimed as she went to correct herself. “It’s alright. We’re almost there, anyway.” “We are?” she grunted with the effort needed to move the box. Her ears pricked up as she felt the shadow of the barn fall over them. “Huh.” Once the box was laid inside the barn and out of the way, the two took off for the center field. Apple Bloom was amazed to find she didn’t even need a break. I guess I am getting stronger! Cool! At the very least, it was one step closer to her goal. When they reached the other field, it became apparent that this was where Big Mac had planned on planting the new trees. It had a great open spot with dozens of freshly dug holes, ready for soil and planting. “Alright, so what do you know about plantin’?” She frowned and shrugged. “The basics?” He chuckled at this. “I figured, I mean in regards to our tribe. Our magic?” he clarified. She made an odd funny face as she screwed up her muzzle in concentration. “Uh, focus really, really hard?” she said weakly. Big Mac snorted indignantly. “Well, that’s part of it; but I was thinkin’ more along the lines of the approach to things. For example, plantin’ new trees requires a bit of a delicate approach,” he replied in a southern drawl. “Okay, so don’t be too rough with the seeds or something?” “No, I don’t mean that at all. Here, let me show you what I mean,” he said. The stallion cantered over to an already planted tree. This area had its soil completely covered, indicating that a seed that already been planted there. Big Mac placed his right forehoof above the seed. For a few seconds, he kept his hoof perfectly still; while he himself kept his eyes focused on the spot. Apple Bloom squinted, trying to see what (if anything) he was actually doing. Then his hoof twitched as he slowly raised it just an inch higher, and what flowed out of the dirt made Apple Bloom’s jaw drop to the floor. A tiny sapling had sprouted from the ground which appeared to raise just slightly with Big Mac’s movement. Even quicker than that, Big Mac removed his hoof, then turned to Apple Bloom with a smile. “H- how’d you do that?” she said in bewilderment. “Focus. Magic isn’t just something that happens because it’s magic, it requires focus,” he said sagely. “But if you can’t feel anything, then focusing won't do much but rattle your brains some.” “But Granny Smith made it seem like learning this stuff was more complicated than that. She, uh, also said you and Applejack follow your instincts more than the, uh, ‘finer points of Earth Pony magic’,” she said with air quotes. He chuckled at this for a little bit. “Ah, one of these days we need to have a sit down with ol’ Granny,” he replied. Apple Bloom looked confused again, so he clarified. “Back when we started working on the farm, your sister and I, we tended to rush things. We were young and as far as we were concerned, any little trick or shortcut was fine enough for us. We didn’t listen to our magic, we listened to our talent. It guided us but blinded us from what really made Earth Ponies special. Eventually, we learned how to focus, how to, well, I guess… amplify our gifts. What Granny is trying to teach ya is that rushing things may work for some ponies, but not us Apples.” She went over his words in her head a few times, then quickly shook her head. “I don’t get it, why does Granny think you haven’t learned that stuff when you have?” He blushed at this and sighed. “As I said, we need to sit down and have a talk. It’s not like the evidence isn’t there, so maybe Granny just needs to hear it from our muzzles. We get real busy during harvest season and after that, we take care of other things. Hrm,” he grunted, looking a bit disappointed. Apple Bloom nuzzled his legs a bit while smiling. “Family’s important, Big Mac. Just take a moment to talk to her, alright?” Friends are important too! a voice urged her, reminding the filly about Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. A smile broke out on his face and he nodded in agreement. “Maybe we should. But for now, we need to get to these seeds. You ready for some practice?” “You bet!” For the next hour or so, the two Apples continued to plant more and more seeds. With each seed planted, Apple Bloom would do her best to listen to whatever magic she could hear, and attempted to focus on it. To her dismay, not a single even leaf popped out of the ground. When it was over, the two walked alongside each other in silence. The stallion glanced over to his sibling and sighed at the long look she was giving him. “It does take time. Granny usually did a lot of the plantin’, growin’, and even the buckin’ when we were younger. Didn’t take us long to pick up on how to do it all, and I’m sure it won't take you long either.” “I guess I should just learn more from her too,” she replied solemnly. I’ll get this! she thought with determination. “You should listen to all of us. But you did good today, progress or no progress.” Apple Bloom beamed, then thanked her big brother before bounding off toward home. I can always talk to my friends tomorrow at school, she thought.