Sweetie Belle stood outside the orphanage waiting for her orange friend to come out. Scootaloo had asked her to come over because she had something important to tell her and of course Sweetie didn’t mind, after all she would do anything for the orange filly.
Finally, Scootaloo came running out from the large and rather rundown building with a smile stretched across her face as she approached Sweetie.
“Hey Sweetie Belle thanks for waiting, I didn’t keep you long did I?” Scootaloo asked through her smile.
“No problem, I’ve only just got here.” Sweetie lied; in truth she had been there for quite a while, but she couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed about it. “So, what did you want to tell me?” she continued.
“Silver asked me to be his filly-friend, can you believe it?” Scootaloo said happily, not noticing the sudden look of shock and horror on her friend’s face.
‘What?! How? Silver can’t have…’ Sweetie thought as she stared at the orange filly. At that moment a white colt strolled out of the door and stood next to Scootaloo. Sweetie stared at the colt in disbelief and took a step back.
“No…”
Silver turned to Scootaloo and started walking her away from the white filly; Sweetie tried to pursue them, but she couldn’t move almost like she was frozen in shock. After several steps he turned around and approached Sweetie. “Don’t take what’s not yours…” He began, placing a hoof on Sweetie’s lips; she wanted to resist, she wanted so fiercely to push him back, but she was powerless. “… Her heart belongs to me and so do her lips. I’ll let you off this once, but next time you will be punished!” He finished and pushed Sweetie back so hard that she fell on her backside with a loud, painful thud.
Suddenly and without warning her world turned black and she was left sitting alone in the darkness as Silver’s voice echoed around her; in desperation she called out for Scootaloo…
***
“SCOOTALOO!!!” Sweetie Belle screamed so hard that her lungs struggled to draw breath and she woke herself from the blackness of her dreams with her heart hammering out of her chest.
As she woke from her nightmare a lone tear rolled down from her eye; she sat up and looked at the mirror, nothing. There was nothing but her own reflection staring back at her blankly. She leant forward and placed her hooves on her face; for the last few days her dreams had been so vivid that she could have mistook them for reality, so much so that she could feel the bruise where Silver had pushed her and she’d even called out for the orange filly as she awoke. At first she’d blamed the stress of maintaining the magical field that allowed Silver to exist, but after thinking about it for a while she’d begun to attribute them to her fear that Scootaloo may like her alternate persona more than the real version.
In truth she loved being Silver because it meant she could be true to her feelings and better yet it meant that Scootaloo would love her in return, but last night had shaken her resolve; again the white filly stood before her vanity mirror and began her spell. After a few seconds cocooned in the eldritch light the spell was complete and she once again stood face to face with her alter ego; the disguise felt comfortable despite the fears that accompanied it, but ultimately those fears were easy to dismiss by simply reminding herself that no matter what she was still Silver and she would do anything for Scootaloo.
Sweetie stared at her reflection for a few moments more before she finally decided to check the time, Ten o’clock; she still had an hour or so before she had to meet the others at the clubhouse for crusader business and so she used this time to plan her next encounter with Scootaloo.
***
Apple Bloom stared at the ceiling of her room. She wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, she didn’t have the energy to; not after how late she’d stayed up last night. Eventually she decided to roll out of her bed just as her older sister knocked on her door.
“Hey AB get up ya friends’ll be here soon!” Applejack shouted in an attempt to wake her sister up.
“Yeah, yeah Ah’m up, what’s for breakfast?” The red maned filly asked as she looked for her favourite bow, just then she stopped as she came across a photo that she and the other crusaders had taken a few months ago; they had just attempted acting in the community theatre, of course it was an utter disaster, but they still had a lot of fun and even got their picture in the Ponyville Press. She stared at the photo for several moments before bringing it closer and kissing it; she didn’t know why she felt the way she did, but she knew that she couldn’t resist kissing the filly in the photo.
“AB! Ah said get up!” Applejack clearly hadn’t heard her younger sister reply and burst into her room just as her lips left the glass of the picture frame. “… Apple Bloom? What are ya doing?” The orange mare asked almost afraid to hear the answer.
“Sis… Ah… Ah’m…” Apple Bloom struggled for an answer, but she eventually sighed and came clean to her older sister confessing that she had feelings for one of her friends; Applejack stood speechless for a few moments as she tried to process what she’d just heard from the yellow filly, it was like finding out that gravity didn’t exist.
“AB…” The older pony began “Ah… Ain’t got a clue what to say, but if ya want mah advice just tell her how ya feel; ya never know, she might feel the same way and if she don’t Ah’m sure she’ll still be ya friend.” Applejack’s words held small comfort to the filly who was now sitting on the edge of her bed and staring at the photo with a sombre expression.
“Sis, ya won’t tell anypony will ya?” Apple Bloom asked looking worried.
AJ chuckled nervously. “O’course Ah won’t… now how ‘bout comin’ down fer breakfast?” she asked and turned to head out of her sister’s room.
“Okay…” the yellow filly sighed and followed her older sister.
***
Light hoof steps brushed the dead leaves and grass as sweetie walked through the Apple family’s orchard, the ground was still wet with dew from the night before and Sweetie found herself slipping on errant wet leaves that littered the ground; she didn’t care much though, in fact she found it amusing to see how far she could slide. As she slid once more she giggled, she was in a good mood despite the unnerving hallucinations and the pain of last night’s dream; she’d convinced herself that it was all caused by stress and fatigue, nothing more.
Finally, the white filly reached the clubhouse where Apple Bloom was waiting for her with a slightly uneasy expression.
“Hey Apple Bloom where’s Scootaloo?” Sweetie asked as she drew closer.
“She’s back at mah house, said she needed the bathroom or somethin’. Sweetie… Ah gotta ask ya somethin’…” The farm filly began as she stood staring at her unicorn friend.
“Sure, what’s up?” the white filly smiled and straightened her mane.
“Ah wanted ta ask…”
“I’m baaack!” Scootaloo interrupted the yellow filly and ran towards the clubhouse. “What were two talking about?”
Apple Bloom blushed lightly and turned from the other two taking a moment to compose herself before facing them once more. “It’s… It’s nothin’, Let’s get started already!” Apple Bloom said hastily and the three quickly headed inside the clubhouse to begin planning their next exploits.
After roughly an hour of hectic planning and debates the trio decided that their next crusade was cave exploring, they were only going to explore an old cave that the Apples used as a temporary barn when the other was destroyed by an accidental fire; after the barn was rebuilt the cave was emptied and now it sits abandoned on the west fields, but according to Apple Bloom’s description it was deep enough that there could be any number of untold treasures hidden within.
It was settled, they would become Cutie Mark Crusaders Cave Explorers; if they were honest with each other none of them really wanted to go into a deep, dark cave that could have anything lurking in its depths. However it was that same lack of honesty that left them heading towards the west fields and towards the cave.
***
Blackness, Blackness and more Blackness greeted the Crusaders as they delved deeper into the tunnels within the cave; their only light was a small torch that Sweetie had brought with her from the clubhouse, the sound of hoof steps echoed so loud that none of the Crusaders noticed when they became separated.
Sweetie suddenly noticed the eerie quietness that filled the tunnel. “Girls, I think we should go back…” she turned, but found no pony around. “Girls?!” She panicked and tried to back track, only serving to get herself lost deeper down another tunnel that led deeper into the blackness.
“Scoots? Can ya see anythin’?” Apple Bloom asked as she searched the caverns, but there was no reply; only her own echo returned to answer her. “Darnit! Where the hay are they?” with both Sweetie and Scootaloo separated from her the country filly found herself following whatever sound she could make out in the echoing, pitch darkness.
Of course Scootaloo was in the same predicament as her fellow Crusaders, but she was coping a lot worse due to her fear of being alone in the darkness, and the strange echoes coming from all around her were doing her wavering courage absolutely no favours; she finally took the only option available to her and started following what sounded like voices in the cave’s depths in hope of finding her friends.
***
After several minutes of aimless searching in the darkness Sweetie found her way to a widened cavern full of mirror-like stones with a small opening in the ceiling where just enough light could peer through to reflect off the stones and illuminate the cave.
The musty smell of moss and mould filled the cavern; it wasn’t a welcoming scent, but nonetheless Sweetie ventured deeper into the darkness in search of an exit. But there was nothing. Sweetie sat next to one of the larger stones and thought about her next move; eventually her thoughts drifted to her friends and finally to her feelings for Scootaloo, more specifically the feelings of jealousy. It was a strange feeling to be jealous of herself; to know how much somepony loved her, but only when she wasn’t herself.
‘Maybe you should just become me forever…’ the voice returned causing the filly to worry; up until now she’d thought it was down to tiredness or magical fatigue, but she was well rested and she hadn’t transformed into her alternate persona in several hours so there was no rational excuse for why it had come back.
‘I said become me forever….’ It screeched causing her to panic and fall against one of the many stones.
“GO AWAY!” Sweetie cried in desperation as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “SHUT UP!”
Her screams echoed through every tunnel attracting the attention of the other crusaders.
***
Apple Bloom was the first crusader to reach the glowing cave, her hooves were sore from walking and her eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the light that was now emanating from the cave where Sweetie Belle was hiding. As she approached the opening of the tunnel, the voices became louder until she could finally make out what Sweetie was saying.
“Get away from meeee!” the terrified filly screamed and swung her hoof at a non-existent aggressor.
Again Silver’s voice flooded into Sweetie’s mind. ‘Just give up! It’s not like you really love her anyway, she’d be better off with me!’
“No…. I do love her; she means the world to me!!” Sweetie sobbed and curled into a ball.
“Who’s she talkin’ to?” Apple Bloom whispered as she ducked behind one of the larger stones, her cheeks were covered in a light blush despite her concern for her friend. “She loves somepony?” she thought aloud in a hushed tone and moved closer.
“Go away Silver; please!” Sweetie screamed desperately.
Finally, Apple Bloom realised what was going on; there never was any Silver, it was her all along. Regardless of the reason or cause Apple Bloom couldn’t bear to see her friend in pain any longer and she immediately ran to her friend’s aid; within seconds she was at Sweetie’s side, but her friend didn’t seem to recognise her.
“Leave me alone please!!” Sweetie cried and swung her hoof at the imaginary antagonist.
“Sweetie Belle it’s me… Apple Bloom…Silver’s gone……” The yellow filly said in an attempt to reassure her terrified friend.
Sweetie broke down in tears as Apple Bloom drew closer to her; she recoiled at first, but she quickly ran out of room and tried to hide herself behind one of her front legs. Apple Bloom’s eyes filled with tears as she tried to hug her friend only to feel her shivering in fear in her grasp.
“shh… shh… it’s alright, Ah’m not gonna hurt ya…” Apple Bloom softly reassured her friend as she stroked her mane.
Sweetie Belle sobbed lightly as Apple Bloom caressed her mane, after a few moments Silver’s voice faded away and Sweetie slowly became more lucid. Her eyes widened until they returned to their normal size and finally as she regained awareness, Sweetie Belle wrapped her forelegs around Apple Bloom and clasped her so tightly that it almost squeezed the air from her lungs. Of course Apple Bloom didn’t mind, she was just happy that her friend was alright.
“Let’s get ya outta here… ok?” Apple Bloom said sadly as she helped Sweetie up.
“You…. You won’t tell anypony will you?” Sweetie asked shakily as she got to her hooves; tears streamed down her cheeks leaving wet trails as they fell from her sore eyes.
Apple Bloom’s heart broke as Sweetie’s eyes stared into her own; she knew now that even if she confessed her love for her friend that it would be rejected because Sweetie had already given her heart to another and the worse part was that she may never know the price Sweetie paid to win her affection. Again Sweetie’s sad eyes looked into Apple Bloom’s and she begged her not to tell anyone what had happened; with a heavy heart the country filly sighed and reluctantly agreed.