//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Lesser Light: My Time in the Limelight // by soothsayer //------------------------------// Ms. Dandelion had just led Narci out the door when the were bet by two fillies. They were standing together but the distance between them didn't bode well for their blossoming friendship. "Ms. Dandelion, I belief we can escort Narci from here," rung the crystal voice of Silver Spoon. Sweetie Belle eyed the gray filly suspiciously, "Uh, yeah! Ms. Dandelion, we want to walk her to school," added Sweetie. Neither of the fillies had noticed as Narci sank behind the yellow mare, "This is just embarrassing! I've tried to avoid them knowing that I need somepony to help me get to school," she thought. She hadn't registered that Dandelion had turned back to the door until she felt a hoof brush against her flanks, "Go along now Miss Narcissus! Don't keep your friends waiting." Sighing Narci trotted up to the couple. The blurry white form met her half way and gave her a nuzzle, "What's wrong? Did you not sleep well?" asked Sweetie in a concerned voice. Before she could answer she felt a foreleg wrap around her neck, "He wasn't too hard on you last night, was he?" asked Silver. This prompted a questioning look from Sweetie. She didn't want to talk about her conversation with Mr. Rich knowing she couldn't say anything about it without revealing their deal. "I slept fine," she lied, "And he was just bad because Ms. Cheerilee sent him a note letting him know I skipped class." A deep blush flared to life on her cheeks. While trying to hide one lie another had mad its way to the surface. "You skipped class!" the other two said in unison. Narci sighed again as she looked towards Sweetie, "That's so, risqué!" sung Sweetie. Narci couldn't help but laugh. She had been expecting Sweetie to chastise her for breaking the rules but Sweetie seemed to think it was cool. Silvers foreleg slipped off of Narci's neck and she walked away. Sweetie and Narci watched the gray filly take a few steps and then sit down. A frown started to form on Narci's face as she started wonder about how Silver now viewed her. The only reason she had skipped class was because she could face Silver. Waltzing up beside the gray filly Narci was caught off guard when Silver wheeled around to look at her. A few moments passed and she heard low whisper, "You want to do it again?" The previous nights conversation with Mr. Rich flashed through her mind with a special emphasis on the keeping her nose clean part. However the thrill of it all washed away her budding doubt, "Hey Sweetie, how would you like a rule breaking cutie mark?" Sweetie nervously pawed at the ground, "It would be cool I guess!" And so the three head off to enjoy the forbidden fruit. Knowing that they had to stay out of sight the three carefully made their way to the Cutie Mark Crusader's Club house. They had just gotten settled in when they heard the tardy bell ring off in the distance. "Well what are we going to do today?" asked Sweetie who was having a hard time thinking of how to spend the unplanned midweek break. Rummaging through her saddle bags Silver pulled out some coloring books, "We could color!" she said flourishing a box of crayons. "Nah! That isn't exiting enough. And besides I have a hard time staying inside the lines with my eye sight," said Narci. Sweetie wasn't listening and had already begun to flip through on of the coloring books, "It's not like we can do much, we don't want to be caught by any grown ups." Huffing at the last remark a edge crept into Narci's voice, "How about we check out those caves that Scootaloo was talking about?" Wide eyed Sweetie glanced at Narci, "Caves are no place to go without somepony knowing that you going in them," she said with a grin. She thought that line of logic would end Narci's crazy talk. "We can just leave a not here. I'm sure that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo will find it if we are late getting back." cajoled Narci with a confident grin. "I agree with Sweetie," added Silver which caused a faint smile to cross her lips, "A cave is no place to go without adult supervision." "What are the two of you, little fillies," mocked Narci. The phrase echoed in Sweeties mind as she remembered the uncomfortable experience she had endured at the first utterance of those words so she pressed her tail as firmly against her body as she could. This time her bubble wasn't popped. Silver groaned at the phrase, although she was a little filly she hated that idiom or any thing like it. It constantly reminded her of what her mother would say as she pushed Silver out of her laboratory. Silver just wanted to help but her mother would always tell her she was to young to help and that if she wanted to help her the best way she could do it was do get out of her mane. "I'll do it!" squeaked Silver. Green eyes darted back and forth between the two gray fillies and then Sweetie let out a sigh of resignation, "Cutie Mark Crusader spelunkers, yay!" she said flatly. "Even without Scootaloo and Apple Bloom I still get talked into doing something dangerous. Why can't I get dragged into doing something less likely to kill me." she thought. The walk from the club house to the Whitetail Woods was a dangerous undertaking. Compared to their earlier foray into the adult ridden world the trek was fraught with danger. They would have been caught by Applejack had Silver not tackled the other two carting the three into the cover of a trailside holly bush. And that had been a mistake. Silver's talent was cooking not identifying prickly bushes. All three of them squirmed in discomfort with Narci muttering a few non-foal approved curse words. They waited until the orange farm pony was out of earshot before they attempted to extricate themselves from their sharp leafed captor. "Ow ow ow OW!" wined Sweetie as the holly's sharp tipped leaves pulled at her mane. Silver was having a similar problem but she opted for a less vocal method of complaining, she grunted at the evil plant. They were taunted from Narci who had already freed herself form the bushes grasp, "If your hair causes the two of you so much trouble why don't you get a shorter mane cut like me. It's easier to wash and is perfect for a rough and rumble life style." Finally free of the bush Sweeites hair looked like it belonged to punk rocker and not the more docile and frou frou filly, "If you hadn't been talking so much we would have heard AJ long before we did. Its your fault that Silver had to knock us into that prickly bush" she said bitterly. Silver popped out of the bush and currently was pulling the end of her ponytail out the push in vain, "Girls would you help me please," she pleaded. Sweetie and Narci flanked the filly and tugged on the silver rope, the extra force was all that was needed as it rebounded with a snap right into Silvers muzzle. The three crashed to the ground with a combined, "Oof!" Pulling the tip of her ponytail up to her muzzle with one hoof as the other rubbed her now sore nose she surveyed the damage. Her beautiful mane was frayed at its tips. Almost to the point of tears she was stoked in the direction of another emotion as giggles erupted in the air around her. And despite the tragedy of her now uneven mane she couldn't help but join the other two fillies in their hysterics.