//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Time and Space in Harmony 
// by Inkspots 
//------------------------------//

	Time and Space in Harmony

by Inkspots

Chapter 7: Camping with the Crusaders

Apple Bloom was hanging out of the window of the train, waving to her sister, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, who were standing on the platform waving back.
“Are they still there?” Sweetie Belle asked from inside the compartment.
Apple Bloom tried to reply yes without the ponies on the platform hearing her.
“They can’t stand there forever, right?” Scootaloo asked.
Mercifully, the four ponies started to walk off the platform, with Applejack turning around every few steps to wave again.
“That’ll have to do, let’s go,” Apple Bloom said. She pulled her head in the window and the three grabbed their luggage and headed into the corridor. They rushed to the back of the train and opened the door of the caboose. Scootaloo peeked out to see if anypony was around, then the three jumped off the train. “We just got to get back to Sweet Apple Acres without anypony seeing us, then we can wait in the hayloft. With the expedition and the wedding, hardly any farm work’s being done.”
A few days after the expedition had been announced, Applejack had come by the Clubhouse and told the three fillies that they were going on an adventure of their own.
“It’s an all-fillies summer camp up in the mountains near Canterlot called Roan Valley. It’s got hiking and canoeing, camping, all sorts of fun stuff,” AJ had said. “And all three of you are going.”
“Why can’t we go on the expedition? That would be free,” Apple Bloom had insisted. “We could be a lot of help.”
“I know ya’ll want to come along, but there’s a good chance it’s going to be all sorts of dangerous. If it isn’t, you all can come visit in the fall,” Applejack had explained.
After she left Apple Bloom waited until she was far enough away from the Clubhouse and turned to her friends. “We’re going on that expedition.”
So they had planned and schemed, devoting an entire wall of the Clubhouse to diagrams and lists and ideas. At the end, after Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle told Scootaloo the final plan, she had been skeptical.
“But it’s so simple,” she has said.
“So there’s less that can go wrong,” Sweetie Belle insisted.
Now they were in Phase Alpha, as Apple Bloom had insisted on calling it, they would hide out in the hay loft for the two nights until the expedition left. In the days leading up to them ‘leaving’ for camp, they had stashed food, comics, pillows, and a pile of books in the very back of hayloft where they would be spending their time.
They also had Apple Bloom’s trick barrels, which were the centerpiece of their devious plot. Each barrel had a normal lid, and if opened, a pony would see food, but, beneath that initial layer of food, was a wooden floor, and beneath that a cavity where a filly could fit comfortably, until she squeezed her saddlebag in there, then it was uncomfortable. The bottom came off as well, and Apple Bloom had built them out of spare barrels around the farm.
But Phase Alpha was really just an extended sleep over, with limited stress reserved for the stealthy trips to the bathroom on the ground floor of the barn, and mostly a lot of reading and chatting.
“Hey Apple Bloom, if Carrot Top has a baby, do you think it’ll turn Sweet Apple Acres into a carrot farm?” Scootaloo asked.
“No, it’s called Sweet Apple Acres, that would be silly,” Apple Bloom replied, not looking up from her book. She had brought the two books she had picked to read over the summer for Ms. Cheerilee’s class. The first one was a novel about a settler pony who went out looking for a stray cow, and ended up trapped on the slope of a mountain all winter. She was at a particularly good part where the settler pony, a mare called Prairie Wind, was running from a mountain lion who had been tracking her for a week.
Scootaloo paced around the hayloft.
“Hey Sweetie Belle, what did  you think about my new design for the Crusader Cape?”
“I don’t think it makes sense to have Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark on it. Anyway, I’m working on a book reading cutie mark,” Sweetie Belle said.
Scootaloo collapsed into heap, then groaned and rolled around in the hay.
“This is the most boring plan ever. Maybe we should have just gone to the camp? Get a cutie mark in mountain climbing, or campfire songs, or crafts,” Scootaloo said.
“Well, we can’t go now, and if we don’t go on the expedition, then we have to stay in the hayloft all summer,” Apple Bloom said.
Scootaloo shuddered. “I think I’d rather just go back to the orphanage and be in trouble.”
Apple Bloom shut her book. “Look, just wait it out, read something, and in no time, we’ll be in Harmonia, and they have to rebuild an entire kingdom, which means they’re going to need ponies to do everything. Building and cleaning and planting. It’s like a cutie mark crucible.”
“What’s a crucible?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s like a really difficult bowl,” Apple Bloom replied. “I just read it.”

* * * * * *

Finally, the night of the party, Scootaloo helped lift Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle up onto the roof of the barn where they looked out over the massive party. The air beneath the trees glowed with light and hummed with conversation. The three watched as various ponies rushed cakes and platters around the apple orchard, the dance floor bustled with ponies, and the buffet table was the center of an endless stream of hungry guests.
However, very quickly their attention turned to the distant, empty edge of the orchard where three wagons waited, and in front of them stood a single vigilant Night Guard.
“He’ll give up and join the party eventually,” Sweetie Belle insisted.
Two hours later the trio were still perched on the roof, and the Night Guard hadn’t moved an inch.
“Oh come on! Who does that? During a party! A PINKIE PIE PARTY!” Sweetie Belle yelled, flailing her hooves on the roof.
“You’re going to get us caught, Sweetie,” Apple Bloom said.
“Well apparently it doesn’t matter, how are we going to get past him?” Scootaloo said.
Apple Bloom thought about it for a moment. “We won’t have to! We’ll get somepony to put us on the cart.”
“How?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Just follow me,” Apple Bloom said.
The trio got off the roof and entered the hayloft. They packed up everything they were taking with them, then they climbed down to the first floor of the barn. In the back corner, behind a woodpile, they grabbed their three fake barrels. Apple Bloom pulled out a marker and wrote on top of each barrel ‘Expedition Wagon 2.’
“Now, we just move them out to somewhere a pony will pass by, and they’ll put us on the cart,” Apple Bloom said.
“But they’re all partying, who’s going to stop that to heft barrels onto a cart?” Scootaloo asked.
“I think I know just the pony,” Sweetie Belle said.
Soon, three barrels began creeping their way out of the barn. Apple Bloom’s even had a little hole in it so she could see where they were going. They left the relative quiet of the barn and were soon sneaking about the edge of the party towards the wagons. Occasionally a pony would approach, and Apple Bloom would whisper to her friends and the barrels would drop, motionless, until the pony passed. Finally, as they neared the wagon, Sweetie Belle heard Twilight’s voice.
“Apple Bloom, go towards Twilight,” she said.
Apple Bloom turned her barrel until she could see the purple pony, who was walking along towards the wagons with Pinkie Pie. As she neared, the barrels dropped to the ground and waited. Suddenly, all three were lifted into the air. Each filly had to quickly put the bottom on their barrel so they weren’t discovered. They waited, Apple Bloom didn’t even dare to breath.
They were set down again. Apple Bloom dared to look out of the small hole on her barrel. She could see little besides Pinkie’s voluminous tail, but she could hear the three ponies talking, then silence. Then after a long pause, the barrels flew into the air as Twilight slid them into the second wagon. Apple Bloom wanted to cheer with delight, but kept silent. They had hoped to get out of the barrels and sleep on the floor of the wagon, but with Dark Matter outside they didn’t dare move enough to leave the barrels. Apple Bloom couldn’t even warn her friends against it, she just hoped they had enough sense not to make any noise.
The hours dragged on. The noise of the party faded away eventually, and Apple Bloom drifted in and out of sleep, occasionally waking up enough to take note of the even breathing and small shuffling noises of Dark Matter, then falling back into an uncomfortable sleep, hunched over he supplies in the bottom of a barrel. Finally, as dawn approached, she heard Dark Matter walk away from the wagon. She looked out of her hole and out of the back of the wagon to see hints of light at the edges of the sky.
“Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom whispered.
“Huh?” Apple Bloom couldn’t even recognize who’s sleepy voice it was.
“The guard left, we can get out of the barrels,” Apple Bloom said. She removed the false bottom of the barrel and as quietly as she could lifted it up and over her head. Sweetie Belle simply levitated hers off, and after a few moments, the three of them were out. They stood in the back of the wagon and stretched and yawned.
“Oh shoot, it’s almost morning,” Scootaloo said. “We’re going to be leaving soon.”
“Well, we should get some sleep outside of the barrel,” Apple Bloom insisted. “Who’s going to stay up though?”
The other two groaned.
“Alright, we’ll play for it,” Apple Bloom said. They decided they would play Horn, Hoof, Wings for the pony to stand watch. Hoof beat horn, horn beat wings, wings beat hoof. “One, two, three.”
Apple Bloom pointed her hoof down for hoof, and the other two pointed their hoof forward for wings. “Shoot, I gotta stop throwing out hoof.”
So Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo curled up in the back corner of the wagon and quickly passed out, while Apple Bloom watched the sky outside slowly brighten, and soon the trees started to echo with the music of birds calling back and forth to one another.
The farm seemed different. Not because of the hour, she would often be up early, helping her brother and sister out before she headed off to school, and not because it was festooned with streamers and lights and tables. But it wasn’t the same farm anymore. It was Big Mac and Carrot Top’s farm. It would belong to them, and their children. And then Apple Bloom realized she felt different too. Not like a pony leaving home, like she had in summers past when she had gone to visit family members or go to summer camps. She felt like a big question mark.

* * * * * *

Apple Bloom looked out of the hole in her barrel. The sky was purple and pink, but she thought it looked like a slightly darker shade of purple and pink, and as far as she could remember, that meant it was night time in the Everfree Forest. She wondered when the wagon train would stop for the night. In fact, all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were thinking that, for the same reason.
And that reason was bladders.
“Scoots, Belle, I think it’s getting late,” Apple Bloom whispered to the barrels next to her. “I reckon we’ll stop soon.” But even if they stopped, she wondered if her and her friends would be able to escape from the barrels for a much needed bathroom break. Food was conveniently stored just above them, and they packed canteens, but now they regretted every drop they had drunk during the day.
“This. Is. The. Worst. Plan. Ever.” Sweetie Belle whispered with long, pained pauses between each word.
“It was your plan,” Scootaloo said.
“Well, more like a group plan,” Apple Bloom admitted.
Apple Bloom banged her hoof against the bottom of the barrel in time with the steps of the ponies outside, just to give herself something else to think about. She didn't know how long she had been doing this, when the wagons stopped, and a loud, echoing shout came from outside the wagon. Eventually, when fighting didn’t break out, the three fillies decided they had to escape the barrels, or this was quickly going to become the most embarrassing camping trip ever.
Scootaloo was practically trying to throw the barrel off of her when Apple Bloom hissed at her to be still. The ponies were hitching back up to the wagon. Apple Bloom wanted to scream in frustration, but after a moment of moving around, she realized that they were simply circling the wagons. She watched as the ponies began setting up camp, which meant they would be getting out food. Just after she thought this Dark Matter approached the wagon and began pulling out the cooking stand and soup pot. Twilight came over and the two began talking. Apple Bloom tried to listen, but she could barely concentrate. She pushed her hooves together until it hurt, then relaxed, then pushed them together again.
“I need to get back to work Princess. Excuse me,” Dark Matter said. Then he left, carrying the soup pot. Twilight breathed heavily for a moment, then stalked off with her head hung low.
Beside her, Apple Bloom heard Sweetie Belle begin to lift her barrel.
Then Jade and Pinkie Pie were there, grabbing vegetables for a soup. Jade even opened the lid to Apple Bloom’s barrel, but when she saw that it only had hay, she closed it again, so Apple Bloom let herself breathe.
Finally, it was silent. All the ponies seemed to be around the campfire, waiting for dinner.
“That’s it, we’re doing this now, I don’t care if we get caught,” Scootaloo said.
“Alright, but be quiet,” Apple Bloom insisted.
The three lifted their barrels and glanced outside of the wagon. A campfire was burning and the ponies were splayed about, all trying to stay off their feet, except Dark Matter, who was stalking the area between the camp and river.
Without consensus the fillies leapt from the back of the wagon and hit the ground running into the forest. They slipped between the trees and bushes and after twenty yards they stopped, looked at one another, and dashed off into different directions.
Several minutes later they returned to the clearing they parted from.
“We’ll never speak of this again,”Sweetie Belle said.
“Speak of what?” Apple Bloom asked knowingly.
“Of this, this whole-” Sweetie Belle caught on. “Anyway, I don’t want to go back into a barrel. Let’s get in trouble already and get some soup.”
“I don’t want to quit after spending all day in a barrel, then what would the point be?” Scootaloo asked.
Apple Bloom began to speak, but heard a noise behind her. She motioned for the other fillies to be quiet and follow her. The trio left the clearing and hid behind a bush. After a moment, Jade appeared with a satchel. She stopped, looked around at the trees, then bent down and plucked a plant from the ground and sniffed at it, then sighed, put it in her satchel with a smile, and headed towards the river. Once they were sure she was gone, they crept out of the bushes.
“Anyway, we don’t have to get back in the barrels, we just need to get into the back of the wagon,” Apple Bloom insisted.
“I wish we could just camp out here, the weather’s pretty nice,” Sweetie Belle said.
“In the Everfree Forest? Just out in the middle of it?” Scootaloo added.
“Oh yeah, well, when you’re not being attacked by Timber Wolves it’s kinda pretty,” she said.
They headed back to camp, and quickly ran into a problem: Twilight and Quick Fix were outside of the circle of wagons with a telescope. They watched as the two ponies swung the telescope across the sky and talked, and completely blocked their way back into the wagon.
“So, maybe sleeping outside?” Sweetie Belle whispered.
Apple Bloom looked at her with a murderous glare.
“Quick Fix, shhhh,” came Twilight’s voice.
Apple Bloom’s blood ran cold. She grabbed her two friends by the neck and pulled them away from the camp and behind a tree. Just as she settled into position, she saw Jade returning from the river with her satchel. She walked right past them, humming, and up to Twilight and Quick Fix.
“Oh, good evening,” she said.
“We thought you were a monster,” Twilight replied.
Apple Bloom released her two friends. Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief, but they said nothing. After a bit the three ponies packed up the telescope and returned to camp. They approached, and saw that Rarity was on first watch, so she was mostly buffing her hooves, which made sneaking back into the wagon easy.
The three quietly shifted the barrels around and made a hidden well where the three could lay out their blankets and curl up beside each other and not be seen from the front or back, and after each pony stretched their limbs as wide as possible, the trio drifted off into sleep.

* * * * * *

“Wake up, we need to move out!”
Apple Bloom heard Dark Matter’s voice, and for a moment her sleepy mind lit up with fear that he was talking to them, then she realized he was outside of the wagon, rustling ponies out of their tents.
Apple Bloom quietly nudged Sweetie Belle awake, then Scootaloo, who had to cover her mouth to silence her dramatic yawns. The camp began to bustle outside, and inside the wagon the Cutie Mark Crusaders grimmly set to work climbing back into their barrels. Before they were all settled in, Apple Bloom risked talking.
“Just one more day of this, then we’ll be there, and we can get in so much trouble. Then Cutie Marks, alright?”
“Alright,” the other two replied.
The wagon ride started off slowly, with the wagon constantly starting and stopping. Apple Bloom’s dread grew at the prospect of another night in the forest before reaching the city. She decided to focus on her arguments she was planning to make to get Applejack to let them stay in Harmonia and not send them back to Ponyville.
Her best so far was simply to appeal to Applejack’s hard working nature, and convince her that taking them back to Ponyville would waste so much time she could spend working. Honestly she suspected that Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy wouldn’t be hard to convince, but her big sister, Rarity, and Twilight were a different story. Honestly, she had no idea what the other three would say.
Her contemplations were interrupted when the air was pierced by a distant roar. From within the barrel she had no idea where the roar was coming from, and after a moment, the wagon launched forward. She tried to brace herself as the speeding wagon jostled her inside the barrel, but soon her arms tired to constantly straining and he resigned herself to the bruises she would have in the morning.
In the roar of the speeding wagon, Apple Bloom dared to ask her friends how they were holding up.
“I think my wings are going to be sore for a week,” Scootaloo replied.
“I have such a bad headache I’m not even feeling the other sore parts,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Well, at least we’ll be there soon, right?” Apple Bloom offered, trying to make her voice sound optimistic.
After what seemed like a lifetime of rocking and banging around in the barrel, the wagon stopped. Apple Bloom listened, and incredibly, it sounded like they were getting out of the harness. Where they going to abandon the wagon? After a moment the wagon began moving again.
“Fluttershy, we can do this,” Twilight yelled from the front of the wagon.
“I don’t know if we-”
“We can do this, we’re doing this!”
Apple Bloom felt the jolt as the wagon left the ground and Pinkie Pie’s piercing laugh as they took to the air. Then, horrifyingly, she felt the barrel she was in slide across the crate it was resting on. The flying wagon was tilted upward, and after a moment, she felt the barrel slide again, and she was tumbling down. Outside of the peephole she saw the stone walls of the canyon twirl around her. She didn’t even realize she was screaming, until she hit the water. With the impact her head hit the side of the barrel and darkness took her.

* * * * * *

Apple Bloom woke up because her feet were wet, and she feared she had gone to the bathroom. She didn’t want to think about how she would hide it from her friends, until she looked down and saw that the bottom of her barrel was full of water. Then it came back to her: the mad dash through the forest, the flight over the canyon, her barrel slipping out of the back. She was suddenly terrified. Was the water rising? Was she going to drown? Without a second thought she punched a hoof through the top of her barrel, pushing the false bottom and food out of the top. There was air above her, and she didn’t seem to be moving. She wiggled out of the barrel and looked around. Canyon walls towered above her on both sides. She couldn’t even see the top of the canyon through the misty clouds that hung overhead. She looked at her barrel, which was caught between the shore and a large rock. A little further downstream she saw the river went over another cliff. She walked over and saw that she was feet away from going over a fifty foot drop into the water and rocks below.
Suddenly she thought about her friends. Had they fallen out as well? Or had they made it to the other side? She returned to her barrel and pulled it out of the river. She grabbed her saddlebag, which was damp, and fished out her flashlight, which thankfully was still dry. She turned it on and held it with her teeth, then headed upstream. The canyon walls, she could see now with her flashlight, were covered in thick vines that grew up from the base of the walls into the cloudy air above her. She scanned the river, and after a few minutes of walking she found another barrel. She opened the lid and felt for the false bottom. It was there, so she pulled it off and looked inside. Sweetie Belle was inside, unconscious. Apple Bloom tried to pull her out, but found that the unicorn’s horn was embedded in the side of the barrel. She gave a yank, and with a yelp Sweetie Belle awoke.
“Stop stop stop! You’re going to yank my horn off,” she cried out.
Apple Bloom stopped. “Well we’ve got to get you out of there.” She rubbed her chin. “I’ve got an idea, hang on.”
“What kind of idea?”
Apple Bloom walked around to the other side of the barrel. She could see the tip of Sweetie Belle’s horn poking out.
“Close yer eyes,” she said, then she hit the barrel with two quick jabs, breaking the plank holding Sweetie’s horn above and below it. Then she went back around the other side and pulled Sweeite Belle out, then dragged her barrel out of the river.
“Where’s Scootaloo?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, I’m not even sure her barrel fell out,” Apple Bloom admitted. “Just be glad your barrel stopped here, there’s a waterfall down that way.”
The ponies continued up river, calling out Scootaloo’s name. Apple Bloom swung her head around, casting her light at the river and the walls of the canyon. Eventually they found a barrel smashed on the rocky bank.
“You don’t think?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Apple Bloom edged forward, then carefully with her hoof moved a piece of the barrel aside. It was empty.
They both let out sighs.
“Hey, up here!” came a voice. Apple Bloom looked up. High above her was Scootaloo, clinging to a small outcropping of vine covered rock.
“Well how’d you get up there?” Apple Bloom yelled up.
“I leapt out of my barrel, but I’ve only got one good wing right now. I glided down to here, but, uh, I’m not sure I can get down,” Scootaloo admitted.
“Just jump, we’ll catch you,” Sweetie Belle suggested.
“She doesn’t weigh nothing,” Apple Bloom said.
“I heard that.”
“Well, can you climb down the vines?” Sweetie Belle suggested.
Scootaloo looked down below her. “I’ll try, just, be ready if they break.” The pegasus carefully backed down over the edge, wrapping her legs around the thick vines, then sliding down a bit. Apple Bloom tried to keep the light shining on the wall so Scootaloo could see where she was going. After a few minutes she had descended about halfway to the ground when her legs gave out and she tumbled off the wall. Apple Bloom’s yell was muffled by the flashlight in her mouth, but Sweetie Belle let out a screech of terror. Scootaloo didn’t crash on the ground though, but floated there, suspended by Sweetie Belle’s telekinesis. Sweetie Belle slowly lowered her to the ground.
“Well why didn’t you say you could do that?” Scootaloo asked.
“I didn’t know I could. I’ve never picked up anything heavier than a bolt of fabric,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Well thanks anyway,” Scootaloo wrapped Sweetie Belle in a hug.
Apple Bloom spit out the flashlight and turned it off to save the battery.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.
“I’m surprised you’re okay, your face is covered in blood,” Scootaloo said.
Apple Bloom touched the side of her face with her hoof, then felt around for a cut, finding it just beneath her mane.
“I didn’t even see that in the dark,” Sweetie Belle said.
“It’s alright, I feel fine,” Apple Bloom insisted.
“Well we’re not fine. We’ve got to get out of here,” Scootaloo said.
“The others will come looking for us in a bit,” Sweetie Belle insisted.
“They don’t know we’re down here,” Scootaloo reminded her.
“Oh. Right.”
Apple Bloom turned the flashlight back on and looked around. Remarkably, across the river she spotted a cave at the base of the cliff.
“Well, it’s pretty late, we can camp in there for the night,” Apple Bloom suggested.
“Fine, anything but a barrel,” Sweetie Belle said.
“I never want to see another barrel again in my life,” Scootaloo added.
The three fillies split up, grabbing their supplies and their barrels and dragging them to the cave. After thirty minutes they were sat in the entrance with their things.
“We need a fire, I’m freezing from that dip in the river,” Apple Bloom said.
“How are we going to make one?” Scootaloo asked. “I didn’t bring matches or anything.”
“Well, we’ve got wood...”
“I can make a spark,” Sweetie Belle said. “At least, I’m pretty sure I can.”
Apple Bloom grabbed some dead vines from the wall of the canyon, wanting to save as much of the wood as she could, and built up a small fire. Sweetie Belle took about ten minutes to spark the tinder and get the fire going, but soon they were sitting around a warm fire.
Apple Bloom took stock. She had a significant gash on her head, Scootaloo’s left wing was bruised and stiff and useless, and Sweetie Belle still hadn’t removed the wooden board on her horn, which gave Scootaloo something to laugh about. They had two intact barrels, one broken barrel, and part of their disguise food supply, which looked like enough to last them maybe four days. The stream seemed to be clean water, and they each had their personal pack, so they weren’t helpless, but they weren’t in good shape.
After they judiciously portioned out some of their hay, Sweetie Belle levitated a plank of burning wood and used it like a torch. She walked deeper into the cave, flushing out some bats, but after a minute she found the cave ended without revealing a sleeping bear or lion or horrible beast. She returned to the campfire.
“So, cave exploring Cutie Mark?” she asked.
Apple Bloom looked and saw nothing. Sweetie Belle returned the wood to the fire and sat down with a huff. “I guess it makes sense, we didn’t do it together.”
“Well, I don’t think that’s what stopped it. There’s every chance you might get a Cutie Mark from something we don’t do,” Scootaloo said.
“I always figured we’d get a Cutie Mark at the same time, like Applejack and Twilight and all them, they all got their Cutie Marks at the same time because they’re super special friends,” Apple Bloom reasoned. “We’re super special friends right?”
“We’re double plus special friends, but we’re not the Elements of Harmony,” Scootaloo replied. “I think they might be a special case.”
“Yeah, I’ve asked all the ponies in school and a lot of ponies who come to the shop, and pretty much none of them got Cutie Marks at the same time as their friends or siblings,” Sweetie Belle added.
“Well that’s for regular ponies, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I can’t imagine us not getting our Cutie Marks as a team,” Apple Bloom said.
“I guess it might happen. What do you think an escaping certain death Cutie Mark looks like?” Scootaloo asked.
“Like a pony just stepping out of the way of a wagon,” Sweetie Belle offered.
“I’ve never seen a pony with another pony on them as a Cutie Mark,” Apple Bloom commented. “That would be pretty weird.”
They sat in silence after that. Apple Bloom tried to imagine getting her Cutie Mark alone. What would the group do then? Would she still get to be a Crusader? She caught herself nodding off, thinking about her Cutie Mark. She got up and stretched.
“We should get some sleep girls, in the morning, or... morning-ish time, we can work on getting out of here,” Apple Bloom said.
Sweetie Belle rolled from where she was sitting onto her blanket, Scootaloo helped Apple Bloom put out the fire, and then they laid down to sleep. Apple Bloom stared up into the darkness of the cave ceiling.

* * * * * *


“Is it morning?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I think so? I’m not used to needing a watch,” Apple Bloom replied.
The canyon was brighter, that was true, but the wispy clouds hadn’t burned off as Apple Bloom suspected, simply thinned. The grey stone beneath the vines could be seen in places where the canyon walls had recently fallen away.
“Well, I know down river is a waterfall, we should go up river and see if there’s a way out,” Apple Bloom suggested.
“Well, they can’t see us, but we could call up to them?” Sweetie Belle suggested.
She stepped out of the cave and stood in the middle of the canyon, then yelled in a piercing squeak up into the clouds. The answer was a terrible roar from whatever creature had chased the wagon train, causing Sweetie Belle to dash back into the cave.
“I didn’t want that thing to hear us, whatever it is.”
“Did either of you get a look at it?” Scootaloo asked.
They both shook their heads.
“Well come on, let’s hoof it up river,” Apple Bloom repeated.
The trio walked for about a mile upriver, following the slow curve of the canyon west. What they saw would be remarkably beautiful if it wasn’t so discouraging. The canyon ended at a massive waterfall, easily five times the height of the one Apple Bloom had almost gone over. The river crashed down on a rocky wall hundreds of meters high, letting off a continuous stream of mist that Scootaloo said was probably creating the constant cloud cover.
“So, downstream it is,” Sweetie Belle said in a matter-of-fact voice.
The trio turned around and walked the length of the canyon in the other direction. They reached the smaller waterfall Apple Bloom had seen in the night, which had seemed so dangerous and now looked kind of meager.
“Okay, we could probably get down this side here if we pull some vines from the walls of the canyon, use them like ropes,” Scootaloo suggested.
The Crusaders grabbed at vines and all together pulled them from the canyon walls, then dodged the rocks and pebbles that came tumbling after it. After thirty minutes of getting too short or too weak vines, they pulled down a thick, healthy vine and threw it over the waterfall, where it dangled just a few feet above the ground. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo tied it off to a rock.
“I’m not sure why I’m asking, but, knotting Cutie Mark?” Apple Bloom offered weakly. Scootaloo glanced over and shook her head, and Apple Bloom said no more. Sweetie Belle pulled on the rope and found it to be secure enough to start climbing down.
“It’s not so bad, but it’s very wet,” she called out.
The other two ponies soon followed, and after ten minutes the trio were at the bottom of the small waterfall, and damp from sweat and spray. After a break at the bottom the three picked themselves up and started walking. The canyon walls were getting wider and wider, and the river became less of a rapid and a more tame flow. Still the purple dusk of the Everfree Forest continued, even though the river was slowly curving back towards Ponyville.
Scootaloo stopped eventually and looked around.
“Okay, bear with me, but I think this is the Dew Drip River that runs south of Ponyville,” she said.
“What makes you think that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I saw it from the air once,” she said.
“But, how?” Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo blushed. “Uh, well, Dash took me up flying one day, you know, just, getting started before the wing-spurt happens. Look, point is we were on this cloud south of Ponyville and I could see the Dew Drip River coming out of the Everfree Forest and going past Ponyville, so I think this is it.”
“How far do you think that is?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Hmm,” Scootaloo closed her eyes, digging through her memory. “Maybe a hundred miles?”
Sweetie Belle’s jaw hung open. “We’d starve before we made it back, not to mention we’d have to walk back through the Everfree Forest, so we might get eaten before we starve.”
“We’ll think of something,” Apple Bloom insisted. “Let’s just head this was a bit more and see if there’s anything.”
They continued on and the river widened. Here and there trees and shrubs started appearing. After an hour of walking they found a stone jetty sticking out into the river. Carved pillars flanked it on the shore, and a paved path led back up from the river to the cliff face. They walked over and found it entered a cavern and started climbing up ramps. Hope grew in their hearts until, at the top of the third ramp, they found the cavern caved in.
“Today is not our day,” Scootaloo said.
“Not our week,” Sweetie Belle added.
“Not our life more like it!” Apple Bloom yelled. “Everypony else just gets a Cutie Mark, they don’t have to go zip lining or fall out of a flying wagon or starve to death in a canyon.” Her yells echoed through the cave. She sat down, her eyes watering.
“Apple Bloom, it’s okay, we’re going to make it out of this,” Sweetie Belle said.
“You don’t know that,” Apple Bloom managed.
“Well, saying it doesn’t hurt,” she replied. “Let’s get out of here, anyway, this isn’t going to help.”
The three walked back out to the jetty and Apple Bloom stood away from the other two, trying to get her eyes to stop watering.
“If only we had a boat,” she heard Scootaloo say.
Then it dawned on Apple Bloom.
“We do have a boat!”
“No, I don’t think we do,” Scootaloo replied.
“Well, we’ve got two barrels, vines, and a bunch of planks, so we’ve got boat making supplies,” Apple Bloom explained. “And if we head this way, I bet we can get some nice branches to add to it. All we’ve got to do is build a boat and sail down the river. We won’t get eaten, and we’ll end up just south of Ponyville, then we can walk back.”
“Hey that’s not a half bad idea,” Scootaloo said.
“Yeah, except I can’t build a boat, can you?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Well it won’t be pretty, but I think I can get something that floats, and that’s pretty much a boat, right?” Apple Bloom replied.
They agreed that, given the circumstances, that was good enough. They decided they would gather branches and leave them at the jetty, then head upstream and gather vines from the canyon walls, then in the morning they would bring all the supplies downriver and start building.
They spent another hour downriver, breaking branches off trees and listening to the alien chirps of the Everfree Forest birds. Once Apple Bloom was satisfied they dragged them all to the jetty and left them there, beneath one of the carved pillars.
“You know, this must be part of Harmonia,” Sweetie Belle mentioned before they headed back upstream. “This must have been a little dock, and the cavern went all the way up to the city.”
The three stood on the jetty, looking up to the mythical city they had never managed to reach.
“Alright, let’s head back before we get a cloud watching Cutie Mark,” Apple Bloom said.
“Hey, I’d take what I can get at this point,” Scootaloo said.
The three headed back upriver. Finally they reached the small waterfall and rested before the climb. Eventually their hungry stomach prevented them from loitering longer and they climbed up, Apple Bloom, then Scootaloo, then Sweetie Belle.
“After we go down it tomorrow, let’s not go back up, this is too much work,” she panted after reaching the top.
“We shouldn’t need to come back up. But right now, we can pull down vines and throw them over,” Apple Bloom instructed. They began tearing down thin, young vines and throwing them over the side of the waterfall, into a pile at the base. After their jaws ached from pulling vines the trio trudged back upstream to their cave and collapsed inside.
“Let’s get a fire going, I think I can get the spark quicker this time,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Actually, we can’t burn anymore wood, we need it all for the boat,” Apple Bloom said.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo groaned.
Eventually they ate some hay, then laid down on their blankets in the darkness, but none of them were very sleepy. They weren’t even sure what time it was. Outside, the river created a subtle white noise that filtered into the cave. Sweetie Belle hummed aimlessly as she laid in the dark, creating cords and climbing scales. Scootaloo wasn’t even restless, she just laid still on her good side, staring out towards the river.
Apple Bloom was on her back, looking into the blackness of the ceiling. She raised her hooves and began moving them, arranging the planks and barrels, imagining the boat she was going to make. Soon her focus wandered, she tried to trace out the features of Scootaloo’s face, then Sweetie Belle’s. Then she did her sister, her brother. Tried to do Carrot Top but she suspected she was way off. Then she traced out the layout of the barn, then the layout of the farm. She kept going bigger, the farm, then Ponyville’s streets, then cities in Equestria. Before long she was trying to trace out the distant coasts she had seen on the map in geography lessons.
She reached the outer limit of what she knew, and her arms dropped to the side. She looked into the darkness that held her creation, and decided it was flawless.

* * * * * *

“This isn’t breakfast, this is just cruel,” Sweetie Belle complained. “Eating this is just going to remind my stomach how hungry it is.”
A small pile of dried fruit was breakfast.
“I’ll eat it if you don’t want it,” Scootaloo said. Sweetie Belle hunched over her pile defensively.
“Back off.”
They quietly ate their ‘breakfast’ after that, then set to work. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo each grabbed a barrel and rolled them down towards the waterfall which was difficult because the slope of the bank made the barrels want to roll into the river, however, neither wanted to see the inside of the barrel ever again. Sweetie Belle collected the scattered pieces of the broken barrel and their camping supplies and was making quick, light trips back and forth to the waterfall.
In truth, it wasn’t terribly hard work, but they were hungry, cold, and each sore in exciting ways. Sweetie Belle’s horn occasionally sparked magic from the barrel wound, which would cause her to wince with pain. Scootaloo kept accidentally moving her sore wing, then she had to stop and grit her teeth for a few minutes before she could go on. Apple Bloom’s head had scabbed over, and she was grateful that her friends weren’t mentioning how horrible her blood encrusted mane probably looked, but she was cold and damp as it was, and had no desire to dip into the canyon stream to wash the wound, which itched fiercely.
As a result, it took most of the day to get the supplies to the waterfall, then they spent an hour wrapping up bundles of wood and lowering them on spare vines down to the pile below.
“So, should we go down?” Sweetie Belle asked.
The three ponies looked hesitantly over the edge.
“How about no?” Apple Bloom offered. “It’s late, we wouldn’t be able to finish the boat tonight, so we can just do all the building tomorrow, and leave tomorrow afternoon?”
“That sounds great, laying down sounds, really, really great,” Sweetie Belle said. They grabbed their blankets and returned to their cave. Before heading in, Apple Bloom couldn’t take the itching anymore. She dipped her head into the stream and rubbed at her head wound, trying to clean it. She lifted her head out of the water and went inside the cave.
Both of her friends looked at her and broke out laughing.
“I didn’t just freeze my head for ya’ll to laugh at it,” Apple Bloom said.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that your mane is sticking out in, pretty much every direction,” Scootaloo said.
“I wish I could take a picture, a mane like that would give Rarity nightmares,” Sweetie Belle added.
Apple Bloom defiantly made no attempt to fix her mane, she just rolled out her blanket and laid down.
Her sulking lasted for only a minute or two before an explosion echoed outside. All three ponies sat up straight and looked outside, then rushed out. Looking up they saw, through the clouds, the sky lit up with a rainbow of colors.
“Oh, oh! I think that was a Sonic Rainboom,” Scootaloo said. “Rainbow Dash told me about them. But, I wonder why she’s doing Rainbooms?”
“Maybe they’re fighting that thing? The, you know, the roaring thing?” Sweetie Belle suggested.
After a few moments they got their answer when a huge chunk of cliff fell through the clouds and crashing into the river upstream from where they were standing. They ran back into the cave, wondering if any other huge piles of rocks would come tumbling out of the air, but after a few minutes of stillness, they crept out.
In the darkness of the canyon they could see only a pile of rubble. They approached it, looking to see if the creature was in the rubble. Seconds later, the rubble itself moved, and all three let out a shriek. The stone chimera rose, shaking, to its feet, the three it had left. It’s tail was missing, as well as huge chunks on various parts of the body, and the entire thing was laced with cracks.
The three fillies stood rooted in fear as the chimera dragged itself out of the river and then turned its head towards them. Its mouth opened, attempting to roar, but the jaw fell off.
“What do we do?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I think we should run,” Apple Bloom said.
“My hooves won’t run,” Sweetie Belle hissed back.
The chimera stepped towards them, fell to its knee, then got back up and took another step. Scootaloo swallowed loudly.
“Alright, I got this,” she said.
“Are you crazy?” Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo pried herself from her friends clutches and stood between them and the chimera.
“Back off you... you broken down statue! Stay away from my friends, I’m warning you,” she called out.
The statue took another step, almost in striking distance.
“I warned you didn’t I?” Scootaloo took a few paces back, then ran forward and leapt, back legs first at the chimera’s face. She hit it, and the stone beast’s head toppled off at the neck, and then the beast flopped onto its side with a crack.
“Scootaloo that was amazing!” Sweetie Belle yelled.
“I’m not sure how much of that was me,” she replied, scratching her head in confusion.
“That’s not the only thing,” Apple Bloom said. “Look, your flank!”
Scootaloo looked down. Her flank was still glowing slightly, and there she saw her Cutie Mark. It was a deep red heart with a bright, orange flame burning in the middle of it. Scootaloo started crying almost instantly.
“I can’t believe it, I got it, I got my Cutie Mark,” she said, choking back tears.
“But for what, exactly?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I think it’s a courage Cutie Mark,” Apple Bloom replied. “Courage or passion or something.”
Their speculation was interrupted by a noise from the rubble.;`	  
The statue was in pieces and completely still, then after a moment, they heard another noise within it. The three edged forward, looking for the source of the sound, then Apple Bloom spotted a pony in the rubble.
“Oh my gosh I think it ate somepony!” she cried out. The three then scrambled forward, trying to push pieces of the chimera away. They eventually opened up inner cavity of the beast, and saw a pony within, but it wasn’t any of the members of the expedition. It was a unicorn mare with a blue coat and pink hair, which was dirty and tangled. She had was bound to the inside of the statue with metal cuffs on her hooves and around her torso. Most of the cuffs weren’t connected to anything anymore, but the unicorn’s back leg was still bound to the chimera.
“Quis enim es tu?” she asked weakly. The three fillies looked at each other in confusion. “Ubi sum?”
“Did you catch any of that?” Sweetie Belle asked the others, who shook their head. Apple Bloom got into position and kicked at the metal binding until it snapped, and the other two pulled the mare out and onto the bank of the river. There, they saw that an ornate, gemmed dagger was thrust between her ribs.
“You’re hurt!” Apple Bloom said. “Who did this?”
The mare lay there, her eyes glassy, her breath shallow.
“I don’t think she speaks Equestrian,” Scootaloo suggested.
“Do we try to take it out?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Or does that make it worse?”
Apple Bloom waved her hoof in front of the mare’s face. Her eyes focused slowly. Apple Bloom pointed at the dagger in her ribs, then shrugged her shoulders, trying to convey her question.
“Taraxipos occiderit me, nihil potestis facere mihi in salutem,” she managed. Speaking sent her into a coughing fit. Apple Bloom saw blood dot the stones in front of the unicorn’s mouth.
“She’s dying, isn’t she?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I, I didn’t mean to kill anypony,” Scootaloo said, tears returning to her eyes.
“No Scoots, you didn’t kill her, whoever stabbed her did,” Apple Bloom said.
“But, why was she inside the statue? And who stabbed her while she was inside it,” Scootaloo asked.
“I don’t know, okay? But there must be something we can do, right?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Quot caesa mannis sum, miror?” she asked softly. “Quam bene merui fatum?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I don’t understand you,” Apple Bloom said, she was crying with frustration now. “I wanna help but I don’t know what to do.”
“Nolite flere super me manet, et ego non sum dignus ut tandem mori,” she said, then closed her eyes.
Apple Bloom sat there at the unicorn’s head, crying. Scootaloo was a few steps away, sitting in silence. Sweetie Belle walked over and sat next to Apple Bloom and the mare. She moved the mare’s head into her lap, off the rocky ground. She began humming aimlessly, then it turned into a tune, and then a song, which was carried into the air by the river’s sound.
I often sing for those I love
Who find warmth with the sun above
No more on earth their forms I'll see
When I am gone, who'll sing for me

Who'll sing for me when I am gone
As I so oft for friends have done
And it won't be long 'til when I'll see
When I am gone, who'll sing for me

The time to go is drawing nigh
'Til I too must say goodbye
When up above with her I'll be
Get all my friends to sing for me

Who'll sing for me when I am gone
As I so oft for friends have done
And it won't be long 'til I'll see
When I am gone, who'll sing for me

The mare was silent. Sweetie Belle had kept her composure until the last verse, but then she let go, and was crying quietly. Apple Bloom stared into the middle distance, until a light caught her eye. She watched as a Cutie Mark slowly faded into view on Sweetie Belle’s flank. Two bass clef notes were turned towards each other, forming a heart with musical bars running through it. Apple Bloom almost said something, but she didn’t trust herself to speak.
An hour later they had dug as deep a hole as they could in the rocky cave they had camped in. Then Sweetie Belle lifted the unicorn up with her magic, despite her horn arching with magical energy that made her wince. She set her down in the grave, and finally, before they brought over the rocks to cover it, Apple Bloom braced herself and pulled the dagger out with her teeth. The other two looked at her.
“She shouldn’t have to go like that,” Apple Bloom said.
They covered up the grave with stones, and without having to discuss it, they turned and left, heading for the waterfall. In the dark they climbed down the vine and headed for the cavern near the jetty, and without speaking, they threw down their blankets, curled up close to each other, and fell asleep.

* * * * * *

The next morning Apple Bloom got up before the others. She didn’t eat anything, though there wasn’t much to eat anyway. She didn’t try to wake the other two up, she just left the cavern and headed for the small waterfall. She gathered up all the vines and planks and the two barrels, tied them all together and then pulled them back to the jetty. By the time she was back she was dizzy from exhaustion. She drank from the river, but she knew her body wanted food. She ignored it, and set about her work. She turned the barrels on their sides and set the branches and planks on top, then started lashing the whole thing together with vines.
After a bit, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle emerged from the cavern. They came over to the jetty.
“Can we help?” Scootaloo asked.
“Nope,” Apple Bloom replied.
“Are you sure?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yup.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other, then back at Apple Bloom, who was turned away from them, working on the raft.
“Are you okay, Apple Bloom? I think we’re all probably a little sad still,” Sweetie Belle offered.
Apple Bloom didn’t reply. She was washing the gemmed dagger off in the river, then using it to cut the vines to length.
Scootaloo went back into the cavern and came out with some hay. “Look, why don’t we take a break and eat breakfast?”
“I should get this done, so we can get out of here,” Apple Bloom didn’t turn around.
“Come on, what’s the matter?” Scootaloo asked.
“What’s the matter?” Apple Bloom replied. “Everything is the matter!” she yelled, turning to the others. “This whole trip has been a disaster! We’re bloody and starving and lost! And then, to top it all off, apparently I’m useless. I can’t make a good plan, I can’t save anypony, I can’t get a Cutie Mark! And I know that’s selfish and the last thing I should be thinkin’ about, but there it is.” Apple Bloom was breathing heavily. Her vision was blurry, but she suspected that was the hunger, because she didn’t think she had any tears left in her. “We were supposed to get our Cutie Marks together, and now I’m just the odd one out. Again.”
“Apple Bloom, we’re still Crusaders and all,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Yeah, we’re not going to stop being friends because you don’t have a Cutie Mark,” Scootaloo said.
“We love you, and we’ll keep loving you even if you never get a Cutie Mark,” Sweetie Belle insisted.
“Yeah, we uh, we love you, you know, friends for ever,” Scootaloo said, blushing.
“You’re just saying that. When we get back to Ponyville-”
Apple Bloom was interrupted as her friends wrapped her in a tight hug. And she realized that it felt right, it felt like just what she needed after the worst week of her life.
After a few minutes they parted.
“I guess I really should finish the boat,” Apple Bloom said trying to dry her eyes.
“Nah, you should take a look at that,” Scootaloo said, pointing down.
Apple Bloom turned her head and there it was, still shimmering slightly on her flank. Her Cutie Mark was a wooden heart, with a blossoming apple tree carved in scrollwork in the middle.
“Uh, is that for building the boat?” Scootaloo asked.
“Nah, I think it’s ‘cause I realized I couldn’t not be friends with you two,” Apple Bloom replied.
“Well it’s not for grammar,” Scootaloo commented.
“Wait a second,” Sweetie Belle said. “Mine’s a heart made out of notes, Scootaloo’s is a heart with fire, and yours is a wooden heart. We are destined to be friends!”
“Take that Elements of Harmony!” Apple Bloom yelled.

* * * * * *

Apple Bloom was laying on her back, staring into the cloudy sky. She turned her head to the side, to see Sweetie Belle, and her vision twisted and spun.
“Alright, what about, the Three Heart-migos?” Scootaloo suggested.
Apple Bloom wanted to laugh, but air just whistled through her mouth. After about five minutes she realized it was her turn to suggest a new group name. They had been playing the game all day, so they wouldn’t pass out. They had been floating down the river for three days, and they hadn’t eaten in two.
“What about, the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Apple Bloom finally managed.
“We’re already called that,” Sweetie Belle objected.
“I know, it’s a really good name, it’s on our Clubhouse and everything,” Apple Bloom said.
“Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said. “If I die, you can eat me, and carry on the journey.”
“Awww, that’s sweet,” Sweetie Belle replied. “If I die, you’re not allowed to eat me. I want an open casket.”
“How are you going to stop us?” Scootaloo asked.
“I dunno, ghosts?”
A call came from above them.
“Hey there ya’ll, you fillies alright?”
Apple Bloom lifted herself up onto her elbows and forced her eyes to focus. They were floating towards a bridge, and on it was a pony pulling a wagon.
“Mister, where are we?” Apple Bloom asked.
“You’re about five miles south of Ponyville, don’tcha know where you are? Are you lost?” he asked.
Apple Bloom grabbed the crude oar she had made out a branch and with her remaining strength, steered the raft to the bank of the river, where it stopped suddenly, pitching the three fillies out onto the bank. Somehow they explained the relevant points of their story to the pony, who offered to take them back to Ponyville in his wagon, and he even offered them some of the cabbage he was hauling. They each inhaled a head of cabbage in record time, and before they knew it, they were in Ponyville. The pony asked them if they were going to be able to get home alright, and they said yes and thanked him for the cabbage before he left.
“Well, we made it back alive,” Apple Bloom said. “And with our Cutie Marks too.”
“You know what I just realized?” Scootaloo asked.
“What?” Sweetie Belle responded.
“We’re rich! We have the money for the summer camp in our packs!” she explained. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
A few minutes later the three ponies were sat at the counter at Sugarcube Corner. Mrs. Cake had been shocked to see the three fillies enter, they were thin, dirty, covered in bruises, cuts, blood, and bug bites, and barely able to stand. After they sat down, they each dumped their money out on the counter and Apple Bloom told her to bring them all the food she had. She wandered off into the kitchen in confusion, and the three fillies were sat waiting in desperate hunger when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon entered.
“Ugh, you know, this is exactly why I’m glad I’m transferring to that private school near Manehattan. You go anywhere in this town and you just run into a bunch of dirty, smelly, blank flanks,” Diamond Tiara said loudly from the other side of the room.
The three fillies didn’t even turn around to acknowledge her, being singularly focused on the coming feast.
“What a bunch of idiots, have you become so stupid you can’t recognize words?” Diamond Tiara asked.
When the three fillies continued to ignore them, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara approached the counter.
“Is this some sort of new scheme? Ignoring me?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Because it’s not working.”
Silver Spoon tapped Diamond Tiara and pointed at the new Cutie Marks on the fillies’ flanks.
“How did you three manage to get Cutie Marks? I bet you painted those on,” Diamond Tiara said with a scoff.
Apple Bloom couldn’t take it anymore.
“You know how we got these? By being kind, loving, courageous ponies, and true friends,” Apple Bloom said.
“And no matter what, we’ll always be friends and have friends,” Sweetie Belle said. “And no matter how many schools you transfer to, you’ll never have any friends.”
“Because you’re horrible, and mean, and literally everypony in school is glad to see you go,” Scootaloo said. “Even Silver Spoon.”
“That is not true at all,” Diamond Tiara yelled. “Silver Spoon and I are true friends, right Silver?”
Silver Spoon didn’t say anything for a moment.
“Right, Silver?” Diamond Tiara said again.
“You know what? No, we’re not friends. I thought we might be, but all semester you were just so happy to be leaving finally. You don’t even care that we won’t see each other anymore,” Silver Spoon said. “I hope nopony at your new school falls for your tricks, because you’re just going to leave them too.” With that, Silver Spoon stomped out of the dining room.
Diamond Tiara stood there, mouth hanging open.
“Now if you don’t mind, we want to enjoy this meal,” Apple Bloom said.
Diamond Tiara huffed, and scoffed, and started several sentences, then just yelled and ran out. Moment later Mrs. Cake appeared with a tray of assorted muffins.
“Muffins!” they moaned in unison.