Whispered Words - Chapter Five
Scootaloo paced around her room to no end. She couldn't help but think about her best friend, Sweetie Belle. There were a lot of things on the orange pegasus's mind. For one thing, she couldn't stop thinking about Sweetie Belle's desire to befriend Silver Spoon. Secondly, she kept thinking back to the times when she confessed her feelings to the oblivious mare. Scootaloo slapped herself across the face with her own hoof.
Snap out of it, Scootaloo! Rainbow Dash would hate me if she saw me like this, she thought to herself, but it was no use. She had been wondering all week about what Sweetie Belle saw in Silver Spoon. It aggravated Scootaloo that Sweetie Belle wanted to befriend the enemy, but she let it go because all she wanted was to see her friend happy.
The pegasus thought back to the last time she had attempted to confess her feelings to the singing mare.
About eight months ago, right when the Cutie Mark Crusaders entered their first year in high school, Scootaloo realized the depth of her feelings towards one of her best friends, Sweetie Belle. She loved it when the purple maned pony smiled. She loved it when Sweetie Belle sang to her, but most of all, she loved seeing Sweetie Belle happy. For nearly four months, the pegasus thought she was simply deepening her bond with her best friend, but soon realized it couldn't have been that-- she didn't feel the same way about Apple Bloom.
One day, about four months ago, Apple Bloom was away (for once). Scootaloo had the chance to be with Sweetie Belle. She decided that was the day she was going to get the strange warm feeling off of her chest. Sweetie Belle was innocently eating a sandwich Rarity made for her for lunch. The two were sitting at their usual spot-- the picnic table in the courtyard. It was a nice day outside, so Scootaloo thought she'd give it a chance. There was no turning back.
"Hey, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle looked up. Her mouth was full of her daisy sandwich, but she replied anyway.
"Yeah?" Scootaloo almost bursted out laughing. She had to admit, it was cute seeing Sweetie Belle like that.
"At least swallow your food first!" Scootaloo joked. Sweetie Belle nodded, and swallowed her sandwich without even chewing. Before long, the white mare found herself choking on bits and pieces of her food. Immediately, Scootaloo kicked her friend in her stomach, and the food shot out of her mouth. The orange pegasus skilfully dodged the slobbered sandwich. "Whoa there, you eager beaver, I meant chew and THEN you swallow."
"Oh." Sweetie Belle blushed. "So... what did you want to tell me?" Scootaloo tensed up. Admittedly, the little choking fiasco did lighten up the mood a little bit. However, the scooter pro was unable to get the words out. Finally, after running the line through her head multiple times, she took a deep breath in, and exhaled.
"Sweetie Belle, what do you think of-- I mean, ABOUT! What do you think about... having feelings for another pony? I mean-- what does it mean to you? Er, no, scratch that! What do you think it means?" Scootaloo asked. 'Good job, Scootaloo. Way to not be nervous!' the pegasus thought to herself. Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment. She had another mouth full of daisies, and didn't want to speak, so she simply shrugged. Scootaloo face hoofed herself. Finally, she got impatient. She let her feelings speak for themselves. She swallowed the lump in her throat. 'Here goes nothing!'
"The truth is, Sweetie Belle, I-I think I have feelings for you!" the pegasus pony exclaimed. Her eyes were closed shut. She didn't want to make eye contact with the pony she just confessed her feelings to. Sweetie Belle stared at her friend in complete shock. She was so surprised that she even dropped her lunch on the table. The silence pursued for a few minutes until Sweetie Belle found something to say.
"Scootaloo... I, uh... what... huh?" Sweetie Belle mumbled incoherently. Finally, Scootaloo decided to open one of her eyes and took a peek at Sweetie Belle's face. There was confusion written all over it. The tom-pony heaved a sigh. She was too cowardly to pull through with this. She had to come up with something that could divert Sweetie Belle's thoughts, or at least trick her.
"Haha, no, wait, Sweetie Belle! Sorry for putting you in the moment there. I just wanted, to uh, heh, prank you?" said Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle's facial expression proved that she knew where Scootaloo was going with her explanation, but still didn't quite understand what she meant. "Okay, I guess I should just come out with it." Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.
"Well, if you think about it, when you put two and two together... I have feelings for you, and we're best friends... So I'm just expressing my gratitude... You know, thanking you for being my friend all this time," Scootaloo lied. Truthfully, she didn't like lying to her friend, but there was no other way. She wasn't quite ready just yet.
"Ohhhh!" said Sweetie Belle, who finally caught onto Scootaloo's point. "I get it! Well, if that's the case, then I have feelings for you too, Scoots!" The orange pegasus blushed. Although she knew what Sweetie Belle meant, she couldn't help but think of what she had just said in a different way. Scootaloo grinned at Sweetie Belle, and she smiled back.
'Yeah... that'll have to do... for now.'
Scootaloo shoved her face into her pillow and screamed into it. She blushed upon remembering the memory.
Oh man, I was so stupid! Why did I miss out on that chance?! Scootaloo chastised herself. She definitely regretted missing her chance. There was never a moment where Scootaloo was allowed a free moment with Sweetie Belle alone. Apple Bloom was always there, and Scootaloo couldn't even think of telling the farm pony about her feelings. As of late, the situation worsened. Sweetie Belle seemed to express lots of interest in Silver Spoon, much to the orange pony's chagrin.
Truthfully, Scootaloo didn't mind Silver Spoon. It was the competition she was afraid of. Sweetie Belle showed such a deep desire to befriend the enemy that it felt like her friend had forgotten all about how Scootaloo felt-- though, it wasn't like she even knew how she felt.
While Scootaloo didn't want Sweetie Belle to get closer to Silver Spoon, at the same time, she wanted her to do so as well. While she wanted Sweetie Belle to herself, she also wanted her to be happy, even if it meant excluding the winged pony from her life.
Scootaloo envisioned a smiling Sweetie Belle in her head. She then added Silver Spoon to the fantasy world, and Sweetie Belle's smile suddenly turned into one of the biggest grins anypony could ever bear on their faces. It was inevitable; Silver Spoon had already won without even trying. The pegasus pony smiled at the image in her head. If Sweetie Belle was happy, then Scootaloo was happy-- that's what Scootaloo had always thought.
Well, if that's the case, then why can't I stop crying? She slapped herself again, trying to get the emotions out of her system, but once again, violence proved to be no use. I need to go for a walk, she declared in her brain. Scootaloo decided to go to the one place where she'd always run away to whenever she faced emotions that she ultimately could not deal with: the hilltop.
Sweetie Belle had planned a great evening for her and Silver Spoon. She loaded her back with whatever she could carry that wouldn't cause her to collapse on the way to the hilltop, and set off. Rarity was still gone, so nopony was there to tell her she was not allowed to leave the house.
Sweetie Belle trudged up the hill as best as she could. When she reached the hilltop, she collapsed onto her front, but was relieved to find that she didn't lose consciousness. She panted heavily, trying to catch her breath. She was about fifteen minutes early. She wanted to set everything up beforehand.
About ten minutes later, Sweetie Belle was feeling satisfied about the work she'd done. She stared at the materials she had set up, and grinned. Then, she sat on the grass, waiting for her date to arrive.
Sweetie Belle wasn't the only one with fitness problems. Having being raised in a wealthy environment, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara never found the need to exercise, so they omitted such activities from their to-do list. However, as she was trudging up the hill, Silver Spoon began regretting opting out yoga or jogging for something as mundane as shopping. At that moment in time, Silver Spoon promised herself that she'd get out more and improve on her fitness level so she could avoid having to spend her days in a hospital. Nevertheless, the grey mare still made her way up the hill. She, like Sweetie Belle, fell onto her stomach due to exhaustion. She was definitely craving something-- anything-- to hydrate her.
"Here," said a voice. Silver Spoon saw a water bottle being handed to her. Her eyes shifted upwards, and sure enough, she saw a familiar purple maned pony, flashing a wide grin at her. Silver Spoon accepted the water bottle, opened it, and gulped it down. Now feeling refreshed, the wealthy pony was able to get up on her four hooves again.
"Thanks," she said, wiping away little drops of liquid that had remained on her lips.
"Any time!" Sweetie Belle replied.
"So, what did you drag me up here for?" Silver Spoon asked. Without a moment of hesitation, Sweetie Belle moved aside, revealing a picnic blanket and food on top of it. What stood behind the picnic supplies was an amazing view of Ponyville. All of the town's lights were on, including ones that hung from houses to celebrate the upcoming holiday, Hearth's Warming Eve. Above the town was Luna's full and round moon that shone brightly. The night was void of any clouds, which allowed the two mares to enjoy the view of the stars.
Silver Spoon walked towards the picnic blanket, but her attention was focused on the stars. Everything looked beautiful. The weather was perfect and the view was stellar. She turned and looked at Sweetie Belle, who was staring right back at her.
"How's this for a first date?" Sweetie Belle asked charmingly. The question caught Silver Spoon off guard. She blushed, and turned back towards the view of the town. The grey mare remained silent for a moment, which worried Sweetie Belle.
"Wait, no, I didn't mean it like--"
"It's fine," Silver Spoon interrupted. "The view is amazing, the food looks fantastic. I can't believe you managed to find a night as perfect as this one in the winter."
"Well, what can I say? I guess I have a knack with this sort of stuff! I've become so much like my sister. I just know when something looks absolutely perfect, and how to take advantage of it," Sweetie Belle replied, smirking. She trotted up right beside Silver Spoon, and took a seat next to her. "Come on, let's eat! Don't want the food that I took ages to find go to waste!" Silver Spoon found herself giggling at Sweetie Belle.
The white mare had put out a jug of tea, two cups, a palette of crackers and cheese, and some hand picked daisies. The two ponies both knew it wasn't much, but Silver Spoon appreciated the gesture. She helped herself to a cupful of tea, and brought it towards her mouth. She blew the steam away, and took a sip. Sweetie Belle, on the other hand, was not so smart with her tea, and instead of blowing the heat away from her cup, she chugged the tea straight away. She immediately dropped the cup, but managed to gulp down the boiling hot beverage.
"A-are you okay?" Silver Spoon asked. Sweetie Belle nodded while coughing at the same time. Her tongue was dangling out of her mouth, trying to cool it off. She had undeniably burned her tongue. Silver Spoon couldn't help but stifle a laughter, but went the white mare's side and attempted to comfort her. "Of course you had to be the living proof of Murphy's Law." Sweetie Belle smiled stupidly at Silver Spoon, which made the latter's heart skip a beat.
Silver Spoon found herself enjoying Sweetie Belle's company, despite having only spent a day with her; however, the day seemed to go by so slowly. She had felt so many feelings throughout the day that nopony has ever made her feel. She stared at the accident prone pony, and smiled at her, but the happy feeling soon dissipated. Once again, she had been caught off her guard by the innocent unicorn.
"Why are you doing this for me?" the grey mare interrogated. Sweetie Belle answered without even hesitating.
"Because I want to be friends," she declared.
"Yes, well, I know that. You've been talking about that all day."
"Should there be another reason as to why I want to be your friend?"
"Well, why don't you have another reason to?" Silver Spoon asked. That was the question that she had wanted to ask ever since Sweetie Belle made it her goal to become friends with her. She stared hard at the unicorn, patiently awaiting her reply. Sweetie Belle grinned.
"I don't want anything from you, Silver Spoon-- besides the fact that I want to be friends, so I guess I want your approval, but besides that, there's really nothing else. I just think you're a nice mare when you're not busy bullying other ponies. Really, anypony that I consider a friend is somepony who I think is really special and amazing. And besides, this picnic scheme doesn't necessarily relate to me, wanting to befriend you. You don't have to be friends with somepony to show them a little kindness. I mean, this place has the best view in all of Ponyville. Coming here relaxes me, and I just wanted to share this special place with you."
"But--"
"Silver Spoon, believe me. I'd never use you. That's not what friends are for. You can ask for help when you need it, but you don't utilize other ponies as if they were objects. I just want to show you my world of possibilities that you can discover, and maybe later, if you're comfortable, you can share things with me," Sweetie Belle replied. She sounded completely honest, and there was no doubt in the world that she was being absolutely, one hundred percent, sincere. Silver Spoon kept quiet, which worried the purple maned pony. "W-well, you know, it's only been one day, so I don't expect you to--"
"It's okay," Silver Spoon cut her off. "It's been less than a day, and your efforts have already been paying off. Truth be told, I really don't mind... your company or anything. In fact... I guess... it's not entirely bad having you with me, even though you always seem to find a way to get yourself caught up in life and death situations."
"Hey! ... You know, if I was still... you know, 'untalented', I think my younger self would think being accident prone was my special talent," Sweetie Belle giggled. Silver Spoon found herself laughing at the white mare's joke as well, much to her surprise. The grey mare paused for a bit. She pursed her lips, and decided to release what was on her mind.
"Sweetie Belle..." she started. The white mare looked over at her. The moonlight illuminated Sweetie Belle's emerald eyes, catching the grey mare off guard. She shook her head and snapped out of it. "I think... I think I wouldn't mind being your friend." Sweetie Belle gaped at Silver Spoon.
"R-really?!" she shouted in excitement. She was jumping up and down, flapping her injured hooves all over the place. She didn't mind the pain, though. In fact, she didn't feel any pain. The happiness that bloomed inside of her washed the negative feelings all away. She went ahead and pounced on her new friend. She gave her the biggest hug anypony could experience, and much to Sweetie Belle's surprise, Silver Spoon hugged back.
Scootaloo stared at the scene from behind a tree. She made sure to keep her distance from the two mares, but was still at a place where she could witness everything. The orange pegasus released a smile. Sweetie Belle was happy. Scootaloo should've felt the same way, but why didn't she feel happy? Instead of feeling joy for her friend, she found that her chest tightened a bit. She had never felt that way before. She turned around. Scootaloo couldn't bear to watch another second of Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon's hugfest. She slowly sat down on the cold, hard ground with her back leaning against a tree. Her heart pounded, tears welling up.
And with a blink of an eye, the first teardrop was shed.