//------------------------------// // Day 6: Not So Friends // Story: Cutie Bloom // by Black Kyurem //------------------------------// ~ Day 6 ~ "Now I know the real reason why Apple Bloom wanted her cutie mark so badly..." The following day, the few ponies who actually volunteered to help search for Apple Bloom were up and about looking all around Ponyville and its outskirts. But none of them were having luck because what they didn't know was that Apple Bloom was still at Apple Loosa with Braeburn. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were casually walking through Ponyville, apparently on their way to the Sugarcube Corner. "Ah, what a great day," said Diamond Tiara, seemingly proud with herself. "Still can't believe those ponies are driving themselves crazy with a namby-pamby search party. Well, I'm going to have myself a real party with that apple-sucking blank flank gone. I'm sure Pinkie Pie won't mind." But these words had a strong impact on Silver Spoon. Her friend wanted to manipulate Pinkie Pie into throwing a party to celebrate Apple Bloom's disappearance? As many times as she had hurt Apple Bloom for teasing her alongside her cohort, something about a party didn't seem right. "Diamond Tiara, wait," she finally said. "What?" said Diamond Tiara. "This... this isn't right." "What are you talking about, Silver Spoon? It's a party! We're gonna have fun!" "But why? Why are we doing this? Why are you doing this?" "Oh, don't get soft on me now! We agreed that blank flanks are for babies, remember? Only real fillies and colts have cutie marks! Those Cutie Mark Losers couldn't get those even if they tried! That's why I turned the Foal Free Press into a gossip column. My plan was to get the scoop on all the private lives of Ponyville and make them miserable and then those three dumb fillies would take the heat for it. If there's anything I love, it's making those ponies suffer!" Silver Spoon looked hurt. "No. I... I don't believe what I'm hearing," she said, on the verge of tears. "I... I can't do this anymore! I won't do this! If you wanna throw a party, do it yourself! I'm not your lackey! I care about feelings! And I'm not heartless like you!" Diamond Tiara gasped. "How dare you!" she snarled. "Look, if all you wanna do with your fillyhood is make others miserable, then I'm not gonna help you anymore." Silver Spoon then started to shed a few tears. "If this is how you think your friends should behave, you don't have any!" And she ran off crying. "Silver Spoon!" Diamond Tiara called. "Wait!" But Silver Spoon was gone, causing Diamond Tiara to frown. She walked up to the Sugarcube Corner door anyway, but the door swung open and Pinkie Pie suddenly popped out from upside-down while inside, startling her. "Oopsie-doopsies!" she said cheerfully. "We're closed! Come back later!" Diamond Tiara gave her a weird look, but Pinkie only grinned at her, blinking a couple of times. She then dropped and crashed on the floor. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom was on the outskirts of Apple Loosa carrying her sack and stick, with Braeburn and Little Strongheart ready to see her off. "You sure this is what you wanna do?" asked Braeburn. Apple Bloom nodded. "Well... good luck, Apple Bloom. And be careful out there." "Ah will," said Apple Bloom. And then she left Apple Loosa on her own. Soon she was out all alone on the prairie, not knowing where she would go, but believed that maybe her destiny would guide her. I'm just a wandering loner All alone in this outside world Just another country filly Tryin' to find meaning in this world Tears came to Apple Bloom's eyes as she sang on. Oh, I don't know just what I'll find Now that I'm on my own But I'm tired of being a nopony I wanna prove how much I have grown I'm just a wandering loner Looking for my destiny Been hurtin' on the inside too long Tryin' to find talent just for me The tears dripped from Apple Bloom's face as she finished singing and trudged on across the San Palomino Desert. By mid-afternoon, her hooves hurt so much, she had to stop and take a rest, though out in a desert would not be such a good idea. She then spotted a cave up ahead. "Maybe ah can rest in there," she said to herself. She went into the cave and found huge red lump sticking out of a pile of treasure. She got up on the lump, curled up and dropped off to sleep in a matter of seconds. Back in Ponyville, Silver Spoon was looking for Applejack. It was time for her to fess up for picking on Apple Bloom alongside Diamond Tiara all those times. It was fun at first, but seeing as it just made Apple Bloom sink into depression, Silver Spoon's heart softened and now she wanted Apple Bloom to be okay just as much as anypony did. That's when she suddenly heard Diamond Tiara's voice. "But dad!" she shouted in what sounded like protesting. Her father was apparently forcing her to help search for Apple Bloom. "Diamond Dazzle Tiara," said Filthy Rich. "You are going to come with me to help search for Granny Smith's granddaughter, and when we find her, you are going to apologize to her! Do I make myself clear, young mare?" Diamond Tiara snorted, but she had no choice. "Yes, dad," she said reluctantly. And of course, Silver Spoon saw the whole thing, but didn't even bother to bail her out. Meanwhile, Snips and Snails had been wandering in the Everfree Forest searching for Apple Bloom, not knowing that she wasn't even there. "Remind me again why we're doing... what we're doing," said Snips. "We're looking for Apple Bloom because she's lost," replied Snails. "I thought she ran away. Something about being called a blank flank." "Then why hasn't she run away before?" "Beats me." Suddenly, Snips realized that he and Snails had been wandering in circles after stumbling upon a twig. "Uh... Snails? Does that twig look familiar?" "Yeah, we passed it three times now." "Should we stop and ask for directions?" "Don't be stupid! There's nopony out here!" "Nopony? Uh... I think we're lost." Snips and Snails trembled. "HELLLLLLLLP!" they both screamed at the same time. Fortunately, they were heard by Rainbow Dash, who came to their rescue in the blink of an eye. "Oh, you douche bags!" she cried, doing a facehoof. "I told you not to go into the forest!" "Eh, what's a douche bag?" asked Snails. Rainbow Dash groaned and did another facehoof. "Forget it," she complained. Back with Silver Spoon, she soon found Applejack crying in the town square. Her mane was slightly messed up due to lack of sleep and she also looked like she had hardly eaten anything for days. "Applejack?" said Silver Spoon, approaching her slowly. Applejack turned and saw the face of one of the two rich fillies that always bullied on her little sister. "What do you want?" she asked in an upset tone. "I... I have a confession to make." And so Silver Spoon filled in Applejack on everything she and Diamond Tiara did to Apple Bloom, but also mentioned that Diamond Tiara was ultimately responsible for throwing Ponyville up in arms with her gossip column and pinning the blame on the Cutie Mark Crusaders just because they didn't have their cutie marks. "Ah can't believe it," sulked Applejack. "Should have known... Ah got mad at the wrong fillies! Ah'm so stupid!" "I'm so sorry, Applejack," said Silver Spoon remorsefully. "I never meant to cause Apple Bloom so much grief that she would run away. I don't want her to take her own life either. But... I can't say the same about Diamond Tiara. She... wanted to have a party this morning." "She what?!" Applejack's face twisted with animosity as Silver Spoon flinched. "I know, it was too much for even me. So I broke up with her this morning." "All this... just because mah little sister has no cutie mark?!" Applejack slumped. "Now ah know the real reason why Apple Bloom wanted her cutie mark so badly. You two fillies wouldn't leave her alone just because she didn't have one!" she suddenly bellowed. "I'm sorry!" cried Silver Spoon. "I'm so sorry! I never meant for this to happen!" "You should have thought about that before," snarled Applejack. "And here ah thought Twilight and ah taught you girls a valuable lesson on the advantages of not havin' a cutie mark. You never did learn your lesson, didn't you? Ah'm very disappointed." She lifted one of her hooves up and stomped the ground. "What's going on, AJ?" said Twilight Sparkle, approaching the situation. "Twi, it was them!" "Hmm?" "Those two rich fillies! They're the reason Apple Bloom ran away!" Twilight looked down at Silver Spoon, who was now quietly weeping. "I don't understand," said Twilight. "Why did you two do it?" "I don't know," sobbed Silver Spoon. "Diamond Tiara was always disrespectful of fillies without cutie marks. She would call them babies... make fun of them..." Twilight sighed and shook her head. "That Diamond Tiara is the real reason everypony's private life is no more," said Applejack. "And she made mah sister and her friends take the full brunt." "I can't believe this," said Twilight Sparkle. "How could one filly be so... dangerous? Now I feel awful that Spike and I wouldn't even talk to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. All those problems... they weren't them, they were you two!" Twilight rounded on Silver Spoon. "Looks like I was right to tell Filthy Rich about Diamond Tiara." "What are we gonna do?" moaned Applejack. "Well, as long as everypony is still mad at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we need to tell them the truth." Applejack's eyes suddenly widened, looking past Twilight. "Twi... Ah think they already do." Applejack pointed out to Twilight that somehow a lot of ponies in Ponyville overheard what Twilight and Applejack had been saying. They were now talking amongst themselves, mentioning their stupidity for being played for fools. "That little filly's the one who played us?" said an exasperated Amethyst Star. "And she pokes fun at fillies with no cutie marks!" exclaimed Rose Luck. "That Filthy Rich failed to raise Diamond Tiara properly!" said Daisy. "The horror, the horror!" "Let's give 'em a piece of our minds!" declared Caramel. "Hold it!" shrieked Twilight, getting everypony's attention. "You're all going about this the wrong way! Losing our tempers and getting angry is not the answer, nor is it an option. We need to handle this calmly." "What about Apple Bloom?" asked Applejack. "Oh... right. Listen, everypony. Finding Apple Bloom comes first. Let's not go pointing hooves just yet." Fortunately for Twilight, everypony agreed and continued their search, within and outside of Ponyville. Twilight let out a sigh of relief and then noticed that Silver Spoon had been hiding behind her. "It's okay, Silver Spoon. But I think it's best if you just go home. I'm proud of you for coming forward and telling the truth. I know it must have been hard learning your friend's true colors. And the sad part is, maybe she wasn't really your friend." Silver Spoon shed a few more tears and then turned around, crying as she walked away. Twilight felt sorry for her.