//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: The Secret of a Rainbow // by Little Brave Heart //------------------------------// Chapter 3: The Secret of a Rainbow "Scootaloo! Hey, Scootaloo, wake up!" Apple Bloom whispered softly in the peagasai's ear. But all she did was roll lazily onto her stomach. "Come on Scoot, we have crusading ta do!" Scootaloo slowly opened one eye, and then the other. She grunted. "Fine, you woke me up." "What are ya doing in my house? Not that ah don't like having ya here, but...." Apple Bloom trailed off. "Don't you remember? I can't fly, and I need to fly to get up to my cloud home. So, I need to live here until I've recovered." Scootaloo suddenly spoke, wide awake. "Oh yeah. I forgot ya lived on a cloud." Apple Bloom replied giggling slightly. "Well, We still have crusading ta do, I reckon we better go and get Sweetie Belle." "Oh, yeah. We got a whole day of things to do to try and earn our cutie marks!" The orange filly spoke confidently. "That's the spirit!" Her friend encouraged her. Scootaloo got out of her bed and followed Apple Bloom out the door and downstairs. They brushed their hair and freshened up, then walked out the door onto the farm. "Alright, Sweetie Belle would be awake by now right?" Scootaloo inquired. "Well, I guess so. Ah don't see why not." Apple Bloom replied in her western accent. "Well, there's only one way to find out, go there." With the peagasai's last quote, the two walked down the dirt road in direction of Sweetie Belles house. ------------------------------------- The two had reached Rarity's boutique, and they walked inside. For once they didn't hear the cry of Rarity yelling at her younger sister. They both looked at each other with confused looks at the silence. They went into the dress making room, and saw Rarity on her sewing machine. "Hey, Rarity!" Scootaloo called out to the white unicorn. She looked up from her work, and turned her head to see who was in the doorway. "Oh, hello girls. If your looking for Sweetie Belle, shes upstairs in her room." Rarity informed them, then turned her focus back to her sewing machine. They both nodded and then walked up the stairs to find their friend. The fillies turned the corner and walked into the room labeled "Sweeties Room." They saw the white filly with a needle and thread and two pieces of purple fabric. "Uhg!" The filly groaned in frustration. "I'll never be as good as Rarity! I need to learn how to get this stupid horn to work!" She said as she tapped a hoof against her white horn. "I'm sure Twilight could help ya with that." Apple Bloom spoke up. Sweetie Belle gasped and turned around. "Scootaloo! Apple Bloom!" The unicorn squealed with delight. "Ya know, ya'll should see Twilight if ya wanna learn spells." Apple Bloom suggested again. "Well, I guess so. I do want to find my special talent, and Rarity says a unicorn does that by doing something that has to do with magic, like Rarity levitates things to make dresses. I think it would work!" Sweetie Belles face filled with a huge smile. "Yeah, that can be our crusading for today." Scootaloo suggested. "Hey, Scootaloo, what happened to your wing and forelegs?" Sweetie Belle questioned. "Oh well, uh...." "She had a bad landing on her flight test, but she still passed." Apple Bloom interrupted. The orange filly let out a sigh of relief. It was getting harder and harder to keep her secret in, she didn't want to lie to her friends. Hopefully some good, fun crusading will clear her mind. "Well, that's good. Good that she passed her test, not that she got hurt of course!" Sweetie Belle said breaking the silence. "I guess we should get to Twilight's. I'm not gonna get my cutie mark just standing around here!" "Oh yeah, lets get going!" Apple Bloom said confidently. Scootaloo just nodded her head. They walked down the steps and to the door quickly. "By Rarity!" Sweetie Belle called. "Huh? What? Oh, um, yes dear. Have fun!" The white mare replied, clearly focused on her dress making. The three fillies nodded and walked out the door, onto the dirt path. "So, Twilight is probably at her house, studying." Scootaloo said rolling her eyes. "Most likely." Sweetie Belle agreed. "Well, what are ya'll waiting for? Lets get to it!" Apple Bloom implied. They both nodded their heads and trotted off in the direction of the library. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A big tree house known as where the lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, resided. They knocked a hoof on the wooden door. "Just a minute!" A voice sounded from inside. In a few seconds, a purple mare appeared at the door. "Oh, hello girls. Scootaloo! What happened? This is a lot more injuries than usual." Twilight questioned. The small peagasus was sick of having to tell the story over and over, every time lying to somepony. So she stayed silent, and so did Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Twilight Sparkle shuffled her hooves awkwardly. "Well, I guess you don't want to talk about it." The lavender unicorn eventually said. "Come on inside, and then you can tell me why you came." She said gesturing a hoof inside. The threesome walked inside the hollow tree house. They all sat down on a couch, and Twilight sad on a chair across from them. "So." The purple unicorn began. "Why are you here? To check out a book?" "Well. No. You see, I want to learn how to use magic. So, we came to you, because your the best unicorn we know at magic." Sweetie Belle explained. Twilight Sparkle blushed slightly at the white fillies admiration. "Well...my books tell me you are old enough to begin using simple spells like levitation. Should we get started now? I know you three have crusading to do." Twilight suggested. "Well, that IS our crusading for today." Scootaloo informed her. "Oh really? Well, okay. lets get started. You two can watch." The purple unicorn walked over to a book shelf and picked out a book with a yellow cover. Its title was "Simple spells for beginner unicorns." She flipped a few pages with her magic and placed it carefully on the coffee table. "Levitation spell..." Sweetie Belle read. "Alright. Close your eyes, and imagine the book floating." Twilight instructed the filly. She did as she was told. She shut her eyes tight, but not too tight. "Rrrrggh..." Sweetie Belle let out a frustrated moan. But soon, a very light colored purple white light illuminated from Sweetie Belles horn. Her two friends and Twilight Sparkle gasped as the book slowly began to float off the table, but then it landed with a thud as Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and let out a big breath. "D...Did I...Do it...?" Sweetie Belles voice came in tired rasps. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Now I know how proud Princess Celestia was when I preformed that spell!" Twilight's face lit up with a huge smile. Seeing happiness and for once, not ending up in a hospital or with scratches for their crusading missions, made Scootaloo forget about her secret, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to keep after all, as long as she had her friends.