At around the same time the pegasi-pulled carriage left Ponyville air space, another more modern mode of transport braked nearby. The Friendship Express had arrived back from it’s long trip to Manehattan, with most of the passengers on board seemingly consisting of boisterous fillies and colts who hadn’t given anycreature else on board a moment’s peace the entire journey.
As you can imagine, they loved that. Some of them were ready to sign adoption papers the very second they disembarked.
“Wow, All The Pretty Ponies was some show! I give it two-hooves up!” Sweetie Belle beamed, clutching her Bridleway balloon with great pride as she stepped off onto the platform. “And I can’t believe Miss Cheerilee treated us all to snacks afterwards!”
“Personally, I found it a bit too soppy. Why does everything these days have to end with mare-meets-stallion? Bleurgh!” Scootaloo stuck out her long tongue to emphasise her point. “Still, I did like the free burritos! Almost saved the day for me…”
“Your problem Scootaloo, is you have no romance in your soul! And I don’t count ‘loving’ a scooter!” Sweetie Belle frowned at what she regarded as her friend’s main deficiency. “Plus, why did you have to have that extra-spicy hot-pepper filling in your burrito? I could smell it all the way back to town! Yuck!”
“Hey! You like what you like, and I’ll like what I like. You forgot; I had to put up with all of your ‘oohing’ and awwing’ whenever there was a big kissing scene in that stupid play!” Scootaloo barked back, determined to have her say. “And if I hear you call me ‘Burrito Breath’ one more time…”
“Girls! I don’t mean to interrupt your ‘lively’ discussion, but did you notice Silver Spoon today?”
“Huh?”
Both unicorn and pegasus paused their simmering feud to glance at Apple Bloom, who in turn was staring through one of the outside windows at a still-seated Silver Spoon, the only occupant who hadn’t left the vehicle yet.
“She’s been lookin’ that beat-up since this morning…” Apple Bloom said with palpable concern, observing the despondent grey figure through the glass. “Even durin’ the play, she was kinda starin’ off to the side, not really watchin’ it…”
“Really? Wish I’d thought of that!” Scootaloo pondered out loud, whilst exhaling on her hoof and sniffing it to see if the stench was as bad as was claimed.
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle growled at her fellow Crusader’s notoriously short attention span. “Sorry, Apple Bloom. We’re listening… well, at least one of us is. Please, carry on.”
“She didn’t want any food afterwards, either. While the rest of us were laughin’, jokin’ and eatin’ together, she went out of her way to sit on the other side of the room and look down at the ground the whole time. She did pretty much the same thing on the way back, too. Gotta admit, I am kinda worried about her.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootallo took in this new information, and thought back to their own observations of the grey filly throughout the day.
“Now that you mention it…”
“She did seem sort of sad.”
“I could understand if it was just missing Diamond Tiara, who wasn’t with us today. But my Apple Senses are telling me there’s more to it than that…” Apple Bloom continued to watch a very static Silver Spoon with compassion. “She was glancin’ at that bracelet of hers a lot, as well. You know, the one shaped like a crown of flowers? I have a pretty good idea who gave that to her....”
“Er… ‘Apple Senses’?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Is this some kind of hidden power of yours we don’t know about yet?”
“She said ‘Apple Sauces’, silly! You did, didn’t you Apple Bloom? Because otherwise, I don’t know what you mean…” Sweetie Belle was equally perplexed. “Of course even if you did say ‘Apple Sauces’, it’s still nonsense…”
“It’s kinda hard to explain. It’s when you know some creature’s in trouble, even when they say otherwise. Granny says she thinks I got it from my parents, or something.” Apple Bloom didn’t have time to go into details, as there were more pressing issues. “Anyway, the reason I didn’t talk to her about it before is because I thought it would be kinda rude. It was sorta obvious she wanted to be left by herself. But now the train has stopped and she hasn’t even noticed, I’m thinkin’ of…”
“What are you three fillies still doing here?” Miss Cheerilee stepped into the scene, wondering why her last few remaining students hadn’t vacated the area yet. “Applejack and Rarity are waiting for you over there, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. And you know you’re supposed to wait with me until Rainbow Dash has finished Wonderbolt duty, Scootaloo. What could be so interesting that’s stopping you from… ah, I see.”
The moment Miss Cheerilee spotted the forlorn grey filly in the carriage not staring back, she immediately pieced together the situation. They were worried about their friend, bless their hearts. But how to explain things to them, without going into…
“Listen to me very carefully. You must have noticed Silver Spoon looking out-of-sorts today, I saw it too. But what she’s currently going through is her business, and it’s not up to you to interfere. If she wants to tell you what’s happening, then she will in her own time. Until then, as hard as it may seem, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave her alone. The fact you’re so concerned about her speaks very highly of your character, but there comes a time when privacy must be respected and any questions might make things worse. Now, why don’t you leave her to me, and…”
“We thought it might be something to do with Diamond Tiara.” For the second time in the last few minutes, Scootaloo’s filter had failed her. While Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded along solemnly absorbing every word, the orange pegasus’s inquisitive mind couldn’t help but ask the question.
“That… is neither here nor there.” Miss Cheerilee frowned slightly at Scootaloo’s unhindered curiosity, a reaction mirrored by her other Crusaders. “Whatever may or may not be troubling her shouldn’t matter to you right now. You fillies’ only focus should be on returning home instead of hanging around the railway at such a late hour. So, like I said, please allow me to go in and help her. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, find your sisters. Scootaloo, wait for me over there until I’m done. Now, please.”
The trio of youngsters knew better than to argue when their teacher put on that voice. They briefly exchanged goodbyes, mumbling that they’d ‘meet up tomorrow morning’, mostly so they could make an early start on the big clean-up operation caused by their tinned food drive fiasco.
After making sure the group had split up and was walking off in different directions, Miss Cheerilee made her way onto the Friendship Express to softly sit next to Silver Spoon.
“Hi there. I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I think I know what might be bothering you. I know you didn’t want to talk about it when I asked you earlier, but do you think you might have changed…”
“I’m not deaf. I heard them chatting about me outside.” Silver Spoon spoke without turning her head, her trademark white braid being the only part that vaguely moved. “I don’t care what they say. They can’t help me. You can’t help me. Nopony can help me. Even my parents don’t seem to care…”
“I’m sure that’s not true.” Miss Cheerilee exclaimed in surprise, wanting to hug the grey filly but worried that such a sudden move may cause her student to back away. “Your parents love you! How could you possibly think…”
“Because they’re keeping secrets from me!!” Silver Spoon turned to face her teacher for the first time, and Miss Cheerilee noticed now just how teary and sore the grey filly’s glasses-less eyes were. “I know something is going on with Di, but they won’t tell me anything! All they’ll say is ‘it might be a while before you can see her again’. What’s that supposed to mean?! Is she sick? Hurt? Going away somewhere? I keep asking them, but they refuse to speak about it! W-What do they expect me to do? Keep quiet, after hearing something like that about my best friend? T-They don’t care! N-Nopony cares! What am I supposed to do without her?!”
And as a distraught Silver Spoon finally allowed herself to cry freely and flung into the open arms of an equally distressed teacher…
A crouching orange figure outside, who’d long since given into the temptation of eavesdropping, put her hoof to her mouth in shock at what she’d just heard.
Wow. Wait ‘til Sweetie and Apple Bloom hear about this...