//------------------------------//
// Chapter 48 - Growing Pains 
// Story: Second Chances, Many Changes 
// by ASGeek2012 
//------------------------------//

Apple Bloom hopped up onto her crate and turned to face the rest of us. "Hear ye, hear ye! This here meetin' of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is called ta order!"

I suppressed a roll of my eyes, but one corner of my mouth twitched upward in a brief, tiny smirk. The way they treated this whole lark with such seriousness had its own charm. Cherry sat next to me, watching the spectacle with a faint, amused smile.

"Seein' as this is likely the last meetin' before we gotta head back ta school, we got a lot ta get done today," Apple Bloom continued. She pointed a hoof at Cherry. "First thing, we gotta induct Cherry all formal-like inta the Crusaders!"

Cherry blinked. "Um, is that absolutely necessary?"

Apple Bloom smiled. "It sure is! Us blank-flanks gotta stick together, now more than ever."

"Oh, I agree wholeheartedly," I declared.

Cherry turned to me and narrowed her eyes slightly. I suppressed a giggle behind my hoof. To my relief, her smile returned.

"Especially with everything Spoiled Rich has been doing lately," said Sweetie Belle.

"We'll get ta that, too," said Apple Bloom.

I raised an eyebrow. "We will?"

"We got a surprise for you and Cherry!" Scootaloo said.

I gave her a suspicious look. "You do?"

Sweetie Belle smiled. "You're going to love it, trust me."

"You do remember what happened the last time you said something like that to me, right?" I said.

Now it was Cherry's turn to giggle softly at my expense. "I would love to hear what they have for us, Candy. I'm sure it can't be too dangerous."

I grinned, not so much for what she said as the sound of her voice. I recalled the joke Mom had made about Cherry being taught to "speak like a proper country bumpkin in no time." Cherry's voice had indeed picked up a faint country twang.

A few strands of my mane drifted in front of my eyes, and my fur ruffled slightly when a welcome breeze blew in through the open windows and door. The day promised to be sunny and hot according to the weather schedule, so little wonder they had ventilated the place better.

Apple Bloom waved a hoof. "Don't worry none, Candy. This don't involve chasin' down dangerous critters. In fact, it's all about a critter who we think ain't dangerous at all."

I already didn't like the sound of that.

"Don't give it away, Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle said.

Too late. I had a feeling I knew what she was talking about. Or rather, who.

"Sorry 'bout that. I'm jus' kinda excited about it." Apple Bloom hopped off her crate. "But let's get ta the new member stuff. Cherry, could ya step forward, please?"

Cherry glanced at me before rising to her hooves. "So, um, what do you want me to do?"

"Hold up your fore-hoof, Cherry," Sweetie Belle said.

Cherry hesitated, but did as requested.

"Now, gather around, Crusaders!" said Apple Bloom

I smirked and stepped forward. I leaned over to Cherry and whispered, "Watch your ears."

Cherry blinked. "Um, what?"

We each raised a fore-hoof and clopped them together, and I braced myself. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS NEW MEMBER CHERRY BLOSSOM, YAY!!"

Yeah, I shouted along with them, even if I felt a bit silly. Cherry deserved nothing less. She gave me a bemused look, her flattened ears slowly rising. I couldn't help myself and giggled. I must have had the same expression on my face when they had inducted me.

Cherry recovered fairly quickly and smiled. "Thank you very much for this honor. You really are all very nice."

"So now that we have that done," I said. "What's this surprise of yours?"

Apple Bloom swept a fore-leg towards a far corner of the room. On their worktable sat piles of rectangular shapes under a table cloth. A box sat underneath the table. "Sweetie, you wanna do the honors?"

Sweetie Belle smiled and stepped forward. She levitated the cloth from the table. Upon it were what looked like several placards attached to thin wooden sticks, like makeshift signs.

Cherry and I stepped forward. She uttered a delighted gasp. I just stared. The signs bore the Crusaders' writing, proclaiming things like "CRUSADERS FOR KEVIN" and "WE LOVE KEVIN" (with a heart symbol for the middle word, of course). A few larger ones bore longer slogans, like "SOME CHANGELINGS JUST WANT A HUG" and "A CHANGELING IS AN ENEMY ONLY IF YOU AIN'T WILLING TO MAKE A FRIEND."

I had a feeling Apple Bloom did that last one.

I sighed and face-hoofed. "Girls ..."

Cherry's eyes glistened as she beheld the signs. "Oh, my ... this ... this is so sweet. Thank you so much for doing this!"

Scootaloo raced forward, fluttering her wings. "And that's not all!" She disappeared under the table and butted her head against the box, pushing it into the light. "We made these, too!"

The box was filled with banners and buttons with similar themes as the signs. As most ponies tended not to wear clothing and thus had nothing to pin anything to, the buttons had string attached so as to be worn like a pendant.

Apple Bloom stepped up to us, smiling. "We figgered we'd put the banners over the town an' give the buttons ta other ponies."

"I'm sure we can find somepony that will agree with us," said Sweetie Belle.

"So then maybe the town won't be so hostile towards Kevin when they have that meeting at Town Hall," said Scootaloo.

I took a deep breath. I had to remain calm. Yelling wasn't going to solve anything. They meant well. "Girls? Can you answer me one thing?"

The three youngest members of this merry band nodded in unison.

"You remember how I said we have to avoid drawing attention to Cherry, right? Just how in the name of Celestia do you think this even remotely accomplishes that?"

Cherry sighed softly, but the other Crusaders were unperturbed. Apple Bloom kept right on smiling as she said, "Well, y'see, I got ta thinkin' 'bout this the other day when Cherry and me were talkin'. I thought if Spoiled Rich saw there were lotsa ponies that wanna see Kevin stay, then Cherry becomes jus' another supporter. Kinda like disappearin' inta a crowd."

I just stared for a long moment. "But that ... I ... you see ..."

I lapsed into dumbfounded silence. Something the Crusaders had come up with actually made sense. I didn't know whether that meant I was going crazy or the world was coming to an end.

"We already had the idea for making a sign or two," said Sweetie Belle.

"But when we ran into Diamond Tiara the other day again, she got under our fur enough that we wanted to go all out," said Scootaloo.

"An' that's when I got the idea that this could help make Cherry look like jus' another pony who happens ta want Kevin ta stay," said Apple Bloom proudly.

I frowned and stepped towards them. "Wait. You ran into Diamond again? When?"

"Jus' yesterday," said Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "She went on and on and on and just wouldn't shut up! Ugh!"

Cherry stepped up to me. "What is it, Candy?"

I narrowed my eyes at the open windows and door. "Did you ever mention to her what you were going to do?"

"Naw, we were smarter than that," said Apple Bloom.

"But, um, she does know we were meeting today," said Scootaloo.

My eyes widened. "And how did she find that out?"

Scootaloo averted her eyes. "It, uh, kinda slipped out."

Apple Bloom frowned. "She was makin' fun of us fer havin' nothin' important ta do."

"So we said we were meeting today to do, well, important things," said Scootaloo.

"We just didn't tell her what those important things were," said Sweetie Belle.

I glanced at the window again. I gritted my teeth, my horn glowing as I cast the first part of the detection spell. "Everypony be quiet!" I whisper-shouted.

Apple Bloom's pupils shrank slightly. "What's goin'--?"

Sweetie Belle rushed up and waved her silent. "Shh! She's doing that spell I told you she learned from Twilight."

I turned my heightened senses outside. The breeze whistled softly through a space between two timbers. Leaves rustled. Far in the distance, Applejack's dog Winona barked. And ...

... something moved in the tall grasses.

I frowned and stepped carefully to the door. I couldn't hold this part of the spell for long before I had to either abort it or cast the second part. If I botched this, I'd have to wait at least twenty minutes for my magic to replenish before I could try it again.

I heard another soft rustle in the grasses, moving slowly away from the clubhouse.

I clenched my teeth. "Gotcha."

A wall of energy surged forth from me. Where it hit the grasses, sparkles outlined the shape of a little pony. I heard a tiny gasp, followed by a yelp when my levitation magic snagged a filly with a gray coat, two-toned silvery mane, and glasses perched on her muzzle.

Her legs flailed as I lifted her into view. "Put me down! Put me down!" she cried.

The other Crusaders appeared at the door. Apple Bloom gasped. "Is that who I think it is?!"

I smirked. "You mean Diamond's minion Gold Spork, or whatever her name is."

"It's Silver Spoon!" the filly cried indignantly, her glasses going askew.

Scootaloo giggled. "I like Gold Spork better."

Cherry placed a hoof on my shoulder. "Candy, be careful, please."

"Cherry, chill, I got this," I said softly to her.

Silver Spoon straightened her glasses. "You better listen to her! I can get you into a lot of trouble for this!"

"You mean the same trouble you can get into for sneaking onto Sweet Apple Acres?" I said in a lofty voice.

Silver's ears drooped. "Well, I ... that is ... th-that's not the same thing!"

"Oh, okay. Apple Bloom? Go fetch Applejack for me, will you?"

Apple Bloom gave Silver an impish smile. "You got it, Candy! Boy, will she be mad. Hoo-wee, glad I'm not the pony doin' such a dishonest thing!"

"Gaah! No! Wait! Stop!" Silver cried.

Apple Bloom stepped up to the still levitated filly. "Whatsamatter, Silver? Afraid of what a 'country hick' can do to ya?"

"Like tell your parents what you've been doing?" said Sweetie Belle.

"Because, you know, you wouldn't want to lie to somepony like Applejack, now would you?" Scootaloo said with obvious glee.

Silver covered her face with her fore-hooves and moaned, "Please, just put me down."

"Oh, I'll put you down all right." I stepped back from the door and carefully floated her inside, depositing her in a far corner of the room. I made no attempt to hide the signs and such, as the Crusaders were going public with them anyway.

Silver Spoon swallowed hard. "So is that it? You going to filly-nap me or something?"

I stepped forward. "Don't be stupid. I'm not holding you here. I just want to talk to you."

She lifted her muzzle and looked away. "Hmph!"

"Oh, wow, yeah, you got Diamond's moves down pat. You're such a great lackey."

Silver stomped a hoof. "I am not a lackey!"

"Then why are you doing all of Diamond's dirty work?"

Silver gave me an imperious look. "She's just so busy that she can't do everything herself, otherwise she would be doing this, too."

Apple Bloom thrust a fore-hoof towards her. "So ya admit ya were listenin' in!"

"I-I never said that!" Silver Spoon cried.

Sweetie Belle face-hoofed. "Oh, give it up already. We caught you."

Silver swallowed, her eyes darting about. I thought at first that she might be looking for an escape route (which I would have reluctantly granted, as I had no intention of harming her), when her eyes fell on the table. Her lips curled into a satisfied smile. "Well, well, well," she said as she trotted up to the table. "Looks like you're the ones who've been caught."

Cherry stepped closer to her, and I tensed. "Nopony is doing anything wrong here, Silver Spoon."

"Oh?" Silver swept a fore-leg at the table. "What about all this? You can't tell me this doesn't mean you're all changeling sympathizers!"

"Fine, so we are," Apple Bloom declared, standing next to Cherry. "An' dang proud of it."

"Same here," said Sweetie Belle as she did the same.

Scootaloo stepped forward as well. "We all are!"

Silver blinked, her jaw dropping. "Uh ... but ... oh, come on! You're not the least bit upset about this? You're not going to beg me to keep this from Diamond Tiara?!"

"Um, Silver?" Sweetie said. "She kinda already knows how we feel."

"Yes, but now she'll really really know!" said Silver.

"Now yer starin' ta sound kinda silly," said Apple Bloom.

"Kind of?" Scootaloo said.

I stepped over to Silver Spoon. "Okay, out with it. What are you really trying to find out?"

Silver backed up a step, one fore-hoof raised. "What are you talking about?"

I waved a fore-hoof at the door. "You see anything keeping you here? I'm not holding you here against your will. You could've made a break for it any time. Instead, I think you're on a fishing expedition right now."

Silver frowned and slowly set down her fore-hoof but said nothing.

"So what were you really after, huh?"

"I don't have to tell you," Silver snapped. "So maybe I will leave."

My heart raced. I had to know how much information they had on Cherry. "Silver, I'll make you a deal."

"Huh?" the other Crusaders said in unison, even Cherry.

"What are you talking about?" Silver said in a wary voice.

"Tell me why Diamond Tiara is so interested in Cherry, and I'll make sure your parents don't find out what you did."

Silver's ears drew back.

I smirked. "Ha! So they would be upset with you, wouldn't they?"

"Yes, they would," Silver Spoon said in a low voice. "But why should I believe you?"

I sighed. "Fine. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Pinkie Promise. Satisfied?"

Silver glanced at Cherry. "All right. Diamond wanted me to find out if Cherry ... if Cherry is a changeling."

Fortunately, her gaze was still averted when I tensed. "Why?"

"Because this all started with her!" Silver said, jabbing a hoof in Cherry's direction. "She was the first to make noise about supporting Matilda and letting Kevin move into Ponyville. So Diamond figured, what else could it be but Cherry wanting more changelings to infiltrate the town?"

"And what did you find out?"

Silver hesitated before narrowing her eyes at me. "That there's definitely something strange about her. She just seemed to poof into existence one day, and nopony has any idea where she came from."

I raised an eyebrow. "You mean like me when I first showed up? Yeah, that's a big deal these days. Oh, wait, no it isn't! Want to try again?"

Silver Spoon snorted. "Whatever." She glanced at Cherry. "Still, it could be that she's a changeling, but I'm not sure yet." She lowered her voice and averted her eyes. "And Diamond's been riding my flank about it."

Cherry stepped away from the other Crusaders. "Silver Spoon, do you want to know what I really am?"

I bit my lip to suppress a protest; I feared giving Silver Spoon any sort of hint that would justify anypony's suspicions of Cherry. Yet when I looked at Silver, I saw her swallow hard and tremble. She stared at Cherry with wide eyes, her hooves poised as if she were ready to bolt.

Cherry glanced at me, some of her mane dropping over one eye. She took a deep breath and turned back to Silver. "I am an earth pony mare named Cherry Blossom." She paused before adding with a sigh, "Exactly as I appear."

Silver stared for another moment before she relaxed. "Well ... I'd expect you to say that no matter what you are."

"Just let it go, already!" Sweetie Belle groaned.

"Silver Spoon," Cherry said softly. "You were frightened just now. Why?"

Silver's ears drew back. "No, I wasn't! What's there to be scared of? You? Hmph! G-get over yourself." Her gaze flicked towards the door. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah, go back ta Diamond Tiara and tell her how ya failed ta find any dirt on Cherry," Apple Bloom said.

Silver started for the door as she muttered, "I won't have to. I'll hear it enough from her."

"Then maybe you need a better friend," I said.

Silver glared at me. "What would you know about friendship?!"

I glanced at Cherry but said nothing.

Silver snorted and cantered to the door. She climbed down to the ground and took off at full gallop as soon as her hooves hit the ground.

"I have to admit," Sweetie Belle said. "I feel a little sorry for her."

"I don't," said Scootaloo. "She doesn't have to be mean just because Diamond is."

"Next yer gonna tell us we'll feel sorry for Diamond Tiara some day," said Apple Bloom.

Sweetie looked away. "Well, I wouldn't go that far."

Apple Bloom stepped up to the table. "Anyhoo, we gotta start puttin' these up. Come on, Crusaders, let's get goin'!"

"I'll join you later," said Cherry in a subdued voice. "Twilight is back from Canterlot and is anxious to talk to me more about my changeling memories."

"No problem, Cherry," said Apple Bloom.

I glanced at Cherry as she turned towards the door. She had not even looked in my direction. "Um, mind if I tag along?"

Cherry hesitated but did not turn around. "If you wish," she said in a soft, listless voice before climbing down to the ground.

Sweetie Belle stepped beside me. "Is she okay?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I better go find out."





Another seemingly impenetrable silence surrounded Cherry and I as we trotted out of Sweet Apple Acres. She had scarcely afforded me even a glance. I supposed I should consider myself fortunate that she had not simply pushed me away.

Not physically, anyway.

As we passed the entrance, I finally couldn't stand the quiet anymore. "Cherry, can I ask you something?"

She hesitated, then simply nodded once, her eyes downcast.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but ... were you going to tell Silver Spoon the truth about yourself?"

"Yes."

"What stopped you?"

Cherry lifted her troubled gaze to mine. "You saw the fear in her eyes yourself."

"Yeah, but she probably just thought you were going to tell her you really were a changeling."

"I thought you would be glad that I didn't tell her the truth," said Cherry, a trace of bitterness in her voice. "Now you're questioning it? What exactly do you want?"

I sighed. "Honestly? I have no idea anymore."

Cherry's expression softened. "Well, that's better than what I had thought you might say."

"Cherry, are you upset with me over something? I was only trying to help."

Cherry looked thoughtful for a long moment. "It's hard to tell. I'm upset, yes, but I can't tell if part of that is directed at you, or you just happen to be a convenient target."

"Well, we're even, then, because that's better than what I thought you might say, too."

She smiled faintly, but there was little humor to it. "I do wish you would support me a little more. It wasn't lost on me that you didn't stand with me like the other Crusaders did when Silver Spoon made her accusations."

"That had nothing to do with you," I said firmly. "I mean that. I still don't have it straight in my head what to think about Kevin moving here."

Cherry looked away for a moment as we trotted down the road into town. "Maybe it wasn't fair of me to insist you pick a side. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I think I'm trying to avoid trouble, but maybe I'm going about it the wrong way."

Cherry paused for another few moments. "Candy ... sometimes I feel you're very lucky."

"Er, I am?"

She stopped and turned to face me. "You don't have to be concerned with whether ponies will be frightened of you or even hate you. Most know you were once an alien and don't care. You're even well-liked, from as often as I hear your name from other ponies."

I blushed slightly. "So is that what this is really all about? Are you helping Kevin because you think it will be better for you?"

"No, I really do sympathize with him and his kind, but ... let's just say the whole thing with Silver Spoon made me realize just how deep the fear runs. People tend to start to hate the thing they fear."

I snorted. "What, here? In this land literally of rainbows and unicorns?"

Cherry looked off towards the spires of the castle. Even from this distance, they could be seen rising majestically above the town, sparkling in the bright sunlight. "Twilight explained this to me once. Yes, harmony and friendship are palpable forces that are woven into the magic that sustains Equestria, but they're not all-powerful. They don't solve everything."

"Now you know how I felt when she tried to explain the limitations of magic when I wanted a new body for you."

Cherry turned back to me. "The way she put it was: friendship doesn't solve problems; harmony doesn't solve problems; it's ponies using friendship and harmony that solves problems."

My gaze flicked briefly to the castle before returning to Cherry. "You really feel that strongly about helping Kevin?"

"I do." Her eyes glistened. "But I don't want this to be a wedge between us."

"Oh, well, it really isn't, I--"

"It is," Cherry declared. "All we've done the past week or so is argue. I don't want it to be that way. I ... I don't want our last days together to be like this."

My eyes widened. "Our last days? What the hay are you talking about? Neither of us are going anywhere!"

"Candy, you're going to start school very soon," Cherry said in a soft voice. "You're going to be around ponies your own age. You're going to find new friends, new interests, virtually a new life all over again. Eventually, you'll sort out what your talent is, and that will take you down yet another path that will diverge from mine."

"All right, now you're being ridiculous!" I said. "Look at Twilight and her friends. Look how different they all are and how different their lives are. You see them worrying about that?"

"It's not the same thing, and you know it," said Cherry. "Or at least I assume you do. Did any of them ever tell you about what brought them together?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know, sonic rainboom, helped them get their cutie marks, and so on. What's your point?"

"They share a virtually unbreakable bond with one another. They will never drift too far from--"

"What, and we don't?!"

Cherry cast her gaze downward. "See, it's happening again. Arguing."

I frowned. "Of course I'm going to argue with you if you say something that doesn't make any sense."

Cherry raised her head. "This is my point: no matter what we do, we're going to drift apart. The bond we share is different from theirs. We came together in our world for a reason. I gave you support when you felt you had none. Then you supported and helped protect me when I needed it."

"Um, Cherry?" I said. "Isn't that the very definition of friendship?"

Cherry stepped closer to me. "I'm simply trying to clarify what kind of friendship it is. I never said we would stop being friends, Candy."

"Then what is it?" I said in a softer voice. "Why are you bringing this up?"

Cherry looked off towards the countryside past the farm. "I just have this very strong feeling that our paths in this world will become so divergent that we just won't be in constant contact with each other for much longer."

"Why?" I demanded. "Do you already have in mind something you want to do?"

Cherry was very quiet for a few moments. She craned her neck and glanced at her still empty flank. "I'm not sure. I need to think on it some more."

"I guess I just assumed that you would keep telling Twilight everything you remember of the changelings. That's going to take a while."

"But it's like you once said about working in the boutique," said Cherry. "It's a job, a task, one that you enjoy doing, but it's not a calling. I feel the same way about this."

I refused to continue along this line of thinking. I had convinced myself that I just didn't want to jump to conclusions, but I still had a bad habit of wanting to avoid any glimpse of the truth when it was not to my liking. Maybe that was why I didn't worry about us arguing. I wanted to believe we would always be there to patch things up later and not have to worry about leaving lingering resentments. I never contemplated that we would no longer have the chance because of distance, either physical or emotional.

I had been forced to say goodbye to her before; I refused to be forced to say it again.

"Candy?"

She jolted me out of my reverie, and I gazed at her glistening eyes.

"Can we agree to disagree for now?" Cherry said. "Please? Can we just stop arguing?"

That wasn't going to be enough. I shuddered as I could almost see the gulf that had opened between us, as if I were standing on the precipice of a deep chasm I had only just stumbled upon. "I have a better idea. Let's spend tomorrow together. Just you and me, and we just don't worry about changelings or Spoiled Rich or whatever."

Cherry slowly smiled. "I would like that. Oh, but don't you have to ask Rarity if she can do without you in the boutique?"

I shook my head. "Mom is planning on holding some sort of communal pet-grooming day at the boutique tomorrow. The few times I stayed for dinner with the Apple family, I found out my allergy to dogs followed me here."

"That's too bad," said Cherry. "Winona is a very friendly little dog."

I rolled my eyes but grinned. "Uh, yeah, that's kinda how I found out about the allergy."

"At least you're not allergic to cats. You can get along with Opal okay."

"If by 'get along' you mean operating under an unspoken peace treaty of mutual loathing from a distance, then yeah."

Cherry giggled. "I better get going to the castle. Would you accompany me?"

I smiled. "Gladly."

As much as I was grateful for this truce, I could not completely banish my uneasy feelings. Cherry never brought up a subject for no reason. She still had something on her mind, something she feared would lead to us parting ways.

I had convinced myself I no longer depended on her, but had I been fooling myself all along? Despite not going to her for advice, or to hear my laments, or to let me cry until my tears were spent, did I still feel such a strong attachment that I truly could not let her go?

Even now, was I still clinging to the past?