Three of a Kind
“Okay, back up,” Gilda said, moving out of the way so Zecora could get to her cauldron. “You’re friends with Shadow Strike?”
“For the last time, her name’s Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom snapped as she ground a mixture of herbs in a small stone bowl. “And yes, she’s one of our friends from Ponyville.”
“Sweetie Belle, Shadow Strike, it’s all the same,” Gilda muttered. Zecora’s one-room hut was far too cramped for her tastes. A bubbling cauldron sat over a fire at the center of the room, and the walls were lined with eerie wooden masks. Zecora and Apple Bloom moved constantly from one shelf to another in search of ingredients, forcing Gilda and Scootaloo to constantly move out of the way. To make matters worse, the cauldron was emitting a foul-smelling gas that made the griffon’s eyes water and throat sting.
“Gilda, you do not know that,” Zecora said as she examined her brew and added Apple Bloom’s herb mixture. “Your suspicions may fall flat.”
“How long has Sweetie Belle been here?” Scootaloo asked.
“We’re not really sure,” Apple Bloom answered. “As you could probably tell, she doesn’t like talkin’ much. As far as we know, she showed up about five years ago.”
“Same time as the uprising,” Gilda noted.
“She hides in the jungle all alone,” Zecora added. “No one is able to find her home.”
“Guess we’ll have to go looking for her,” Gilda decided.
“Maybe you should, but not today,” Zecora said. “The soldiers will chase you away.”
“We’re wasting time!” Gilda groaned, stomping the ground with a talon.
“If the zebras haven’t found her, we won’t either,” Scootaloo said. “I think we should stay here, for now.”
Gilda was still scowling as she walked towards the door. “Surveillance, then,” she said, pushing the door open and jerking her head outside. Scootaloo walked through the open door. Gilda shut the door behind her as she followed. “What’s on your mind, Scoots?”
“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked, giving her friend a frown.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Gilda explained. “Ever since Apple Bloom told us that strange mare’s name.”
“I… I’m just surprised to see her here,” Scootaloo replied.
“Uh-huh.” Gilda raised her eyebrows as she examined one of her talons. “You know, I’m surprised you’re not more eager to find her. She killed your mentor, after all.”
“Might,” Scootaloo said with a hint of a growl in her voice. “Might have killed her.”
“So what’s the problem?”
Scootaloo didn’t know why Gilda kept pressing the issue, but she answered anyway. “It’s like Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle’s an old friend of mine.”
“And a traitor,” Gilda added. Scootaloo started to protest again, but the griffon cut her off. “You have to face the facts, Scoots. She showed up here for the first time five years ago, right when Nightmare Moon stole Zecora’s first potion. She hides out in the jungle, she doesn’t talk to anyone, and not even the zebras can find her. Sounds like a spy and an assassin to me.”
“We don’t know that yet,” Scootaloo said, her voice rising. “There are a lot of reasons she could be acting this way.”
“Like what?” Gilda asked. Scootaloo glared at her. The griffon stared evenly back.
“I don’t know,” Scootaloo said after a moment.
Gilda studied the sergeant’s face carefully. “What’s really bothering you, Scoots?”
Scootaloo let out a heavy sigh and dug at the soft earth with one hoof. “Sweetie was one of the best friends I had back in Ponyville,” she said. “Us and Apple Bloom, we tried everything we could think of to get our cutie marks. We used to call ourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” she added, smiling at the memory.
“And then Nightmare Moon destroyed it,” Gilda finished.
Scootaloo nodded, her smile vanishing. “We were at our clubhouse when she attacked. Apple Bloom’s big sister came running to get us. She told us to hide in the orchard until the danger was gone, but Sweetie Belle wanted to find her sister and ran straight to her boutique. By the time we caught up with her, the boutique was burning to the ground.”
Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut and hung her head, wishing for a moment that her mane was long enough to hide her face. “What happened then?” Gilda asked softly.
“Nightmare Moon spotted us,” Apple Bloom said, walking outside with two steaming bowls on her back. “Soup?”
“Soup?” Gilda repeated. “Is that what you’ve been making in there?”
Apple Bloom nodded as she set the bowls carefully on Zecora’s front step. “I know it smells weird while it’s cooking, but it tastes great.”
Gilda looked at the soup warily. “You were saying?”
Apple Bloom took a seat next to Scootaloo. “Nightmare Moon was after my sister and her friends,” she said. “Applejack held her off while Scootaloo and I ran away. I went to the forest, and that’s how I ended up with Zecora.”
“And what about you, Scoots?”
Scootaloo took a deep breath to steady her voice. “I ran into Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “She teleported me away from the town and told me to stay with Pinkie Pie while she went to rescue more ponies. I think she tried to get Applejack, but she was too late,” Scootaloo added. Apple Bloom nodded.
“I wasn’t there, but I heard she saved a lot of ponies that day,” the yellow mare continued. “She couldn’t save my sister or all of her friends, but she did her best.”
“So what’s this have to do with Sha—Sweetie Bell?” Gilda asked.
“I thought she was dead,” Scootaloo muttered, her voice cracking. “I thought she died in the boutique. And now you’re saying she’s a spy and we have to—to—”
“It’s okay,” Apple Bloom said, patting Scootaloo’s shoulder. The orange mare bowed her head as her tears ran freely.
Gilda clawed at the ground for a moment, not sure how to say what she needed to say. “Look, Scoots, I get that you’re old friends,” she said slowly, “but we can’t let Zecora’s potion get stolen again. We need that potion if the Griffon’s Nest is going to succeed, and we have to defend it at all costs.”
“I don’t want to kill her,” Scootaloo sobbed. “I can’t.”
Apple Bloom glanced up and saw a black-robed figure standing just inside the tree line. The figure gave her a short nod before disappearing into the jungle. “Would you like to talk to her?”
Scootaloo wiped a few tears from her face. “What?”
Apple Bloom glanced at Gilda before continuing. “I’ve tracked her down a couple times,” the yellow mare explained. “I can tell you where you might find her.”
“Why didn’t you say so before?” Gilda demanded.
“Because I’m not about to send a bloodthirsty griffon after her,” Apple Bloom snapped, giving the griffon a glare. “Listen, Scoots, I know where you can find her. It’s not her home, but we’ve met there a couple times in the past. I can take you there if you like.”
“Perfect,” Gilda said. “We can set up an ambush. You’ll draw her out, and I’ll—”
“No,” Apple Bloom said sternly. “If she goes, she goes alone. Sweetie Belle’s one pony you don’t want to mess with.”
“It’s okay, Gilda,” Scootaloo said softly before the griffon could keep arguing. “I’ll be okay. At least this way… this way I can know for sure.”
Gilda looked from one pony to the other. “Fine,” she mumbled at last. “I’ll stay here and stand guard.”
“Thank you,” Apple Bloom replied. “Let me get my things, and we’ll be on our way.”