Nurse Redheart was sitting at the reception desk, trying her hardest not to fall asleep. She had spent the last six hours distracting herself by using a pair of pencils and a piece of paper to play a game of "office hoofball" on her desk, "kicking" a small paper "ball" into the pencils using her hoof. Sick of that, she was now bored.
It wasn’t that her job was boring, no, far from it. She was glad for these days. There was a reason why a town of only a few hundred ponies needed a fully equipped hospital and a full contingent of nurses; this town was crazy. Whether it was widespread food poisoning, Cutie Mark Crusader shenanigans, or just some huge mythological creature waltzing into town and blowing up a few buildings, there were days the nurse just wanted to hang up the nurses cap; or at the very least leave.
But she couldn't.
Her family was here and she was one of the best nurses in the practice. The other nurses were great with their patients and knew what they were doing, sure, but they were a mess in a disaster. 'If it wasn't for me,' the nurse thought, 'Tirek might have actually killed a pony in that stupid 'magic show' of his. Oh, and speaking of magic shows, don't get me started on that 'Princess Twilight Sparkle'. This town was relatively peaceful until that bundle of bad news moseyed on into town. There were seven broken bones, seven, from that whole 'want-it-need-it incident' alone! Why, I bet she'll just walk in right now and ruin what could have been the first lazy day I've had in-'
It was at that moment that Twilight—carrying Sweetie Belle—rushed into the hospital foyer.
'Oh. You have got to be kidding me … .'
"Nurse, we have an emergency! I've got a filly with a case of magical possession and I need a room ASAP!"
'Urghh … you could at least learn my name, you harpy … ,' Nurse Redheart thought, "Right away Princess" she spat vehemently. She paged the doctor to Room 12 which she knew was unoccupied and turned to face the Princess again. "Right this way," she snarled, leading her down the hall. 'Another day ruined by our magnanimous new ruler … .'
"Right … ," Twilight said. 'Jeez, what's her problem,' she pondered for a minute. 'She seems stressed. Maybe I can get her a pass to the spa or something when I've finished settling in at the castle. She did help a lot during the Tirek incident. Maybe I'm not being as appreciative as I should be?’ She shook her head, ‘Stop getting distracted Twilight, Sweetie Belle needs you focused right now!'
The nurse lead the two down the hall and through the last door on the left. Twilight lay Sweetie down on the bed. It seemed that she still couldn't talk but she curled into a ball, which led the princess to believe that Sweetie could at least move on her own. Twilight briefly explained the situation to the nurse and then turned back to the filly. The nurse—seeing that her job was done—left the room and talked to the doctor—who was just about to enter—about the current situation that Twilight just discussed.
Twilight—who was no longer worrying about flying as fast as possible—could finally do something about the situation. 'Whatever is possessing this filly must be powerful. I can't detect an ounce of magic except for Sweetie's own … wait, there is something off about Sweetie Belle’s magic … .' Twilight tried performing a simple magic-scanning spell. Again all she could detect was Sweetie's magic. She tried increasing the power of the scan and once again could only detect the filly's magic, although it was stronger this time. 'That's strange, Sweetie Belle's magic seems to rise in proportion to my own. But that would mean that there is some direct consequence to me casting my magic, which shouldn't … be … .'
Twilight immediately stopped her casting. 'That's … that's just evil! Is this thing using this innocent filly's magic to block out my own? No, there's no evidence of that, it might be a natural reaction … Urghh! Even if it was, the conclusion is still the same. If I keep this up it could drain her of all her magic. In this state, she could die! There must be some way to-'
Her thoughts were stopped when Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash burst through the door all at once.
There was a short moment of silence where everypony looked to each other, confused as to who should start the conversation. These were two ponies Twilight didn’t specifically ask for so she waited for them to start. Then, Pinkie and Dash both tried to talk. Then they stopped. When everypony started trying to talk over each other, the doctor loudly cleared his throat. Until now, he was content to wait until Twilight was finished … whatever magic thing she was doing.
"Before anypony starts shouting," the doctor said, "I suggest you take your discussion outside. I'll need to check on the wellbeing of this poor filly and I would prefer it be done in quiet."
Everypony but Twilight looked sullen and left without another word. Twilight gave a quick word of apology to the doctor for her friends and left immediately afterward, leaving the nurse and the doctor alone with Sweetie Belle. In the hallway outside the door, everypony gathered in a small circle. Twilight—deciding to avoid the awkwardness this time—started the conversation herself.
"I see that nopony I asked for has arrived yet … ," Twilight sighed, "Okay, why are you two here?"
"Well … ," Rainbow Dash started, before she was cut off by the overly-enthusiastic pink pony.
"Well I was sitting at Sugarcube Corner—like I usually do after the store closes—when suddenly I got a twitch in my tail followed by two ear flops and an itchiness in my hooves when-"
She was immediately silenced by Twilight's hoof in her mouth. "Pinkie Sense, got it." Releasing said hoof, she turned to Rainbow Dash asking, " … and you?"
"Right. So I was sleeping on a cloud over Sweet Apple Acres when suddenly I see Scootaloo race by on her scooter. Seriously, that kid is fast on that thing. Anyway, so I saw Scootaloo and decided that if there was something she was racing at top speed towards, it was probably worth a look. So I ended up here. Still have no idea what's going on though."
"Wait," Twilight said, sighing again and slowly bringing a hoof to her face, "so you're telling me that Scootaloo-"
The door behind them opened suddenly as Scootaloo was thrown by Nurse Redheart into the hallway. A quick angry glance from the nurse was all anypony saw before the door was slammed loudly behind her. Scootaloo looked sheepishly Twilight. "Hehe … hey Twilight. So before you say anything, I didn't do anything too bad this time, honest. I just snuck through the open window and-"
Twilight cut the filly off with a hoof and sighed. "It's alright Scootaloo … I shouldn't expect anything less. Why don't you go over to Rainbow Dash and explain the situation."
At the sound of Rainbow Dash's name, the orange pegasus' eyes glimmered. Recognizing her idol among the pony's present, she jumped up and nearly ran the cyan pegasus down as they both half-ran, half-flew down the corridor. Pinkie Pie, wondering about the situation herself, shrugged and hopped happily after them. Sighing again, this time with her hoof to her face, Twilight continued to herself, "Alright, with that out of the way … ."
This time, the ponies she was expecting entered the hospital. Meeting Applejack, Spike, Rarity and Cheerilee as they walked through the foyer, Twilight said, "Why don't we continue where I left off earlier. I assumed you filled Spike and Rarity in on the way over?" Twilight asked, Cheerilee and Applejack nodded so she continued.
"Alright. First things first. Rarity," Twilight looked at the frantic white unicorn, "Sweetie Belle is fine … ," Rarity visibly relaxed, " … for now."
Rarity now looked confused. "What do you mean for now darling? Cheerilee tried to explain and it sounds pretty awful to me! Will Sweetie Belle be alright!"
Twilight was shocked at the aggressiveness she was seeing in her friend. Reminding herself the state of shock Rarity must be in, Twilight calmly continued, "She is being influenced by some magic I don't know of. It is intelligent and seems to actively prevent my tampering with it. It has done nothing to harm Sweetie Belle so far but we obviously can't take that risk forever. Speaking of which … "
She turned to Spike, "Spike, take a letter." The dragon pulled out a quill and parchment from … somewhere, and began writing.
"Dear Pri … Dear Celestia," Twilight dictated, "I must ask that my request for a team of archaeologists to examine the metal cave I mentioned in my earlier letter be expedited. This is no longer simply for academic curiosity, a filly's life may be at risk. I also ask that you send a team of unicorn guards to protect the filly. While I don't have proof of what is going on precisely, I can say that potentially dangerous magic has begun to influence the filly and I suspect it originates from that cave. I will keep you up-to-date as I learn more. Until I learn what I can about this, I feel there can be little that can be done without endangering the filly’s life. Your faithful- umm … scratch that- Sincerely yours, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Alright, you can send that as soon as you're done Spike."
Spike did just that. The letter turned into green smoke and whisked through the open hallway window.
Rarity, however, was not satisfied. "Twilight how can you say that you are doing everything you can?! We have to get rid of that magic … thing as soon as possible. Why, if we get the girls together with the Elements of Harmony we could-"
"Stop right there, Rarity." Twilight said with a stern look at her friend. "I understand you are shaken up by Sweetie Belle being in a hospital for the second time in as many days, but this is no time for rash decisions! Even if we could get the elements from the Tree of Harmony without endangering Equestria, we have no idea what it would do. I tried scanning Sweetie Belle with a simple spell and the thing—as you accurately put it—used your sister's own magic to stop me. If we try the usual methods of removing dark magic, we could put your sisters life in very serious danger. Trust me … "
Twilight stopped, Rarity wasn’t the one she was frustrated with. Seeing Rarity now on the verge of tears from her tirade, she recomposed herself. Calmly, she nuzzled her friend and continued. "Trust me, I'm your friend. I'm here to help Sweetie Belle. Your sister will be protected by a team of skilled unicorns and you can be here—at a safe distance—ensuring that she is alright the whole time. I'll be in that cave—learning everything I can—and I will be back with an answer. Why don't we go in and talk to your sister, okay? She's not that bad off, I promise." Rarity nodded silently, tears coming down her face.
Twilight silently motioned for the other three not to follow them as they made their way into the room. Twilight’s stance wasn't as firm as she made it out to be. She wasn’t outright lying, she would find a cure. 'But will she be okay? Will I save her in time? How far does the influence go?' Twilight thought as the two entered the room.
The doctor seemed finished with his examination and he and the nurse were near the door writing on sheets of paper, the preliminary diagnosis. Rarity, as soon as she saw her sister, immediately ran over and hugged her, whispering something in the filly's ear.
Twilight turned from the teary reunion and talked to the doctor. "So, what is the prognosis. What’s caused Sweetie to seize up like that? I suspect magic but, as of yet, I have no proof apart from Sweetie's own … very limited testimony."
"Well," the doctor began, "while I did notice strange magic in the filly's brain, I found nothing of the sort in the muscles of neither the face nor the body. There is nothing wrong with the filly that I can see from my scans. I suspect if her muscles are freezing up then the source is the brain itself. This 'influence' would have to be interrupting and sending alternate messages from the medulla. That, or the filly is lying to us." Taking the effort to whisper to Twilight now, he continued. "To be honest, I think there is nothing wrong with her but I bow to your superior knowledge of magic. If what my assistant says is true about what you told her, then the ‘influence’ could already have her. In that case—for the safety of Equestria—shouldn’t we-”
"No," Twilight said, glaring angrily, "I'll stop you right there before you say something you'll regret, doctor. If the influence has her completely, we wouldn't have ever noticed anything to begin with. Why lock the muscles if it has complete control? More importantly, why would Sweetie make an attempt to tell me something was wrong? No, there is a brave filly lying on that bed and I'm going to do everything I can to prevent Sweetie Belle's efforts from going to waste. Luckily it only has limited control. It is not fighting us or Sweetie so I want you to keep an eye on her for now and be sure she doesn't leave this room. I sent for a group of guards to come this way to keep everypony safe. Once they arrive, I'll be leaving to personally find some answers. If the Element of Magic and the Princess of Friendship can't find answers, nopony can."
Twilight didn't like using her titles … ever, but the noticeable relief on the doctors face that the situation was under control was enough for her to know that it was worth it. What she learned in defeating Tirek and during the reconstruction of Ponyville afterwards, was that she was a princess. Sometimes, the best thing to do was to tell ponies something was being done, even if she herself did not feel she was up to the task.
As the doctor nodded his farewell, he and the nurse left Rarity and Twilight with Sweetie Belle. Twilight stood next to Rarity—who was holding the filly tightly in her forelegs—and asked, "Is everything alright?"
"Oh yes darling," the white unicorn said between sobs, "you had me worried but it looks like there's nothing wrong with my wonderful sister … well, apart from the fact she won't talk about what you think is wrong."
"That … that's what's wrong with her." Twilight said, "the ‘influence’ only activates itself when someone is trying to understand what the influence is. Sweetie Belle appears fine otherwise."
"Then why don't we just ignore it?" Rarity asked. "If it can only hurt her if we acknowledge it, then we shouldn't. 'A tree that falls in a forest with nopony around doesn't make a sound.'"
"And we won't Rarity, at least not directly," Twilight countered. "I agree, trying to understand this from Sweetie directly won't be much use, but maybe if I go into those caves from two days ago-"
"You're right, of course, darling," Rarity interrupted, a mournful look on her face. "Don't mind me, I'm just thinking out loud now. I just wish I wasn't so useless-"
"You're not useless sis!" Sweetie Belle piped up, finally finding a way out of her sister's forelegs. "Also, I wish you wouldn't talk about me like I'm not here,” she mumbled to herself. “If anypony should feel useless, it's me. I know I'm just a filly, but if there was some way I co-could … ." Sweetie Belle began to dry heave and fall back on the pillow of her bed, forehooves stroking her temples.
"Don't talk Sweetie, we understand." Turning to Twilight, Rarity motioned her friend out of the room.
The two closed the door behind them as they walked to the foyer to meet up with the rest of the group. "I'll need to talk to my parents as soon as I can." Rarity said to nopony in particular, "They should be coming home tomorrow morning so that leaves time to get Sweetie's things from her room and … ." Rarity's voice trailed off as she continued to list things she needed to do.
Twilight turned away from the white unicorn, only to notice that Apple Bloom was included now in the group of ponies in the hospital foyer. She was currently being berated by her sister for not staying home. 'Well, no surprise there. Can't keep those fillies apart no matter what you do.'
"Alright," Twilight said, seeing the large group of ponies now gathered here, "I think this little meeting is becoming a bit too much for this hospital. Why don't we head down to Sugarcube Corner so we can all get on the same page with what we know about Sweetie Belle's 'condition'."
The group all agreed and they left the hospital. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both begged Rainbow Dash and Applejack to see their friend. Applejack had no problem convincing her sister to reluctantly agree to come along with the rest of them but Twilight needed to assist Rainbow Dash against Scootaloo’s ‘look’.
They headed to the bakery, meeting Fluttershy along the way. She had headed into town for last-minute ingredients for her animals. They decided to bring her along as well. Twilight was considering leaving her out of the situation this time but it seemed fate had other plans.
The group finally found themselves at Sugarcube Corner and settled themselves down at the tables inside, ordering two dozen cupcakes. Twilight began the summary of the events. "Alright, I'm going to assume nopony knows what has happened so that we can be sure we are all on the same page," she said, looking at Fluttershy.
Twilight discussed the incident at the gem fields and the metal cave, then discussing Sweetie Belle's weird behaviour. She started with the math assignment, then her freaky knowledge of architecture and finally the main issue, that she cannot seem to talk about what's wrong.
"So now that you know the circumstances. I'll tell you my conclusion. I believe that Sweetie Belle is being influenced by some type of dark magic which is controlling her actions. When I scanned the filly, it appeared the 'influence' fought back … with Sweetie's own magic."
Except for Rarity, Spike, Cheerilee and Applejack who had heard this already, the attendants all gasped. "And so, because of this, I can't find out anything directly. Anything I could know comes at the risk of Sweetie Belle's well being. I've already requested a team of unicorn guards to stand watch until I find a solution. Until then, we must keep her safe and under constant observation as an archeology team and I search the metal cave for any clues as to what is causing this.
"Since we don't know what we're dealing with, we should be prepared for anything. I’d appreciate it if you all could keep a careful eye on each other to be sure that this thing isn't spreading. Ideally, I would have preferred a full quarantine because of how dangerous it is, but after several days without knowing about it, it would have no doubt spread to half of Equestria if it was contagious enough. Still, we don't want to take any chances so keep on the lookout for any odd behaviour. Cheerilee, I'll need you to do the same for the fillies and colts at school."
Nopony said a word after Twilight was done. Even Pinkie Pie was unusually quiet, although that might have been because she had half a dozen cupcakes in her mouth. Twilight—not seeing any questions—adjourned the meeting.
Rarity got up next. "Thank you everypony for caring so deeply for my sister," she said. Turning to Twilight, she continued, "Can we get back to the hospital as soon as possible darling? I don't want to leave Sweetie Belle alone for another minute."
Twilight realised now that they had left the filly and immediately regretted coming to town to talk. She agreed, and the group immediately left and headed straight for the hospital as quickly as they could. When they arrived, they found the staff in an absolute mess, running every which way. Twilight feared the worst.
"Doctor what's going on? What happened here? Is everypony alight?" Twilight asked frantically.
"Oh Princess, I’m so sorry. I know you said to keep a watchful eye on the filly, but I left the room for one minute and-"
The doctor was cut off as Rarity shoved him away, galloping down the hall and into the room her sister had been not an hour prior. The room was empty save for a small note.
'Sorry, wish I could explain but I need to go on an adventure. Will be back soon. -Sweetie Belle'
"Sweetie Belle!!!!" Rarity half-yelled, half-cried. The rest of the group stood in stunned silence.
It was only then that they noticed two more fillies—who had been in their group until now—were also absent.
About an hour earlier, Twilight and Rarity—having seen Sweetie Belle in pain once again—decided to leave her alone with the doctor for a while.
"Don't talk Sweetie, we understand," Rarity said as she left the room with Twilight.
Sweetie Belle massaged her temples, a migraine settling in after she tried to tell ponies about the tablet again. Every time she tried, the symptoms got worse. First it was just that the words wouldn't come out. Now it came with coughing, shaking, heaving and migraines.
Now that she was alone with nothing to do but wait for the guards that will come and protect her, she could try to do the one thing nopony else could, talk to Tablet.
'Well I hope you’re happy. Your dumb secret is about to be revealed and Twilight will remove you from my brain and everything will go back to normal.' Sweetie Belle said angrily to the black depths of her consciousness.
When she didn't get a response, she sighed sadly. 'Alright … I didn't mean it. I'm just scared. I still can't really trust you. You know things that nopony should know and you’re in my mind, controlling my actions … . At the same time, though, I like having you around.
‘I’ve been messing up a lot. I know my dad tells me that 'messing up is just a part of growing up' but Scootaloo and Apple Bloom don't mess up near as much as me. I can't cook, or clean, or make dresses. Even just before I met you I messed things up. The worst part about messing up is I don’t even know how to get any better.
'Normally if I don't know something, I'd ask somepony like Twilight or Cheerilee. Sometimes they can answer me, but lately it seems that I'm always just pointed towards a book. I’d read the book and it would be too hard and I wouldn't get it and they would be too busy to help. Then I'd go to my sister, but she if there is anything she can do, she just does it for me and I never get to learn for myself. When I made breakfast for her, she just did it herself, when I made dresses for a concert, she did the same thing. I used to blame her for it, but recently I’ve realized that it’s not really her fault. She’s a great sister the rest of the time but she doesn’t have the patience to teach me anything. I get it, but it's frustrating. Apart from the magic during Twilight Time, I’ve had nopony to teach me anything. I asked Twilight and Cheerilee before but they told me I should be asking my parents for help … but I can’t ask when they are never around … .
'Then you came along. You taught me how to solve that math assignment and made it fun too! You're always around to answer my questions—whether I like it or not—and they always seem like they're made just for me. It's like reading a book, but only the parts I want, and somehow I always get it. I can be the smart, useful filly I always wanted to be.
'I guess I messed up, huh? Now Twilight will get rid of you for sure and all because of your stupid rules. Why can't I talk about you? I just want to tell everypony how you helped me. I can Pinkie Promise that I'd never say anything mean about you. Can't I even just tell them that?'
*This device's terms of use are clear. You cannot divulge the means, method or product Acarel uses to deliver this Knowledge Tablet™ Service.*
'But why does that matter!!!' Sweetie Belle yelled in her head, her voice almost seeping out causing the doctor looking over her to turn slightly. Sweetie Belle calmed down a bit and the doctor turned back. 'Urghh … ,’ Sweetie Belle sighed, ‘I've never heard of this 'Acarel'. Can I just get rid of this 'no-speaking' thing somehow?'
*Yes.*
Sweetie Belle lay back down on the hospital bed in stunned silence.
'What do you mean 'yes'?! If you could tell me, why didn't you say so earlier?! You've got to have known how badly I want this gone!'
*You never asked if it was possible so this device could not answer.*
Sweetie Belle thought back and the tablet was right. Until now, she just tried to figure it out on her own. She tried to talk to somepony or get around its rules. She kept treating it like it was a regular pony, but it wasn't. It was like those 'golem' things Twilight talked about in her magic class. Magic machines. If you don't tell it exactly what you want, it won't do it. She was so angry at it for not telling her … yet she couldn’t help but think it was her fault too.
'Oh … right. Well don't think I'm not still angry with you!' she huffed. The doctor was now pretty confused at seeing all these various expressions—since the conversation was all in her head—and was trying his best to get paperwork done in the corner while ignoring the crazy filly. 'Alright, well then why don't you tell me what the best way is to remove this no-speech thing?'
*The most expedited way would be to establish a connection to an Acarel Database. Unfortunately, this platform does not have permission to access the useful systems remotely. As such, Sweetie Belle will need to access them directly. Entering as a guest on the public network, a list of personnel and systems still available to revoke the Non-Disclosure Clause will be available from the customer service prompt. If none are available, although unlikely, the agreement would be effectively null-and-void and terminated.*
'Right … sure. So I just need to find this dat-base right? Great … except I don't know where any dat-bases are.'
*There is currently three databases that can still be pinged on emergency channels. The closest one is located at 34.202291 latitude -118.347571 longitude, 1,894.562143 km distance from here.*
'Umm … right. Could you tell me where that is in laypony terms?'
*That would be a 4 hour 'trot' south-east from the south-east edge of Los Pegasus, the closest Equestrian settlement.*
'If I know my geography … wait, isn't that in the San Palomino Desert?'
*Yes.*
'Oh come on! Isn't there a better one we can get to?'
*The second database is 4,183.824134 km west of the west coast of Equestria, submerged 0.871232 km below the surface of the ocean. It’s exact location is of questionable validity, however. The final database orbits the planet in an inclined, highly elliptical orbit. Its data is the most reliable. Its closest approach would be tomorrow at 4:18am when it is 501.829716km above the surface of the planet, by its estimates.*
'Well, I don't know what half of those words mean but I think I got the gist of it. Unless I want to go scuba-diving or flying really high in the sky, I got to trek through a desert.' Sweetie Belle smiled. 'Ah, who am I kidding, this is going to be great!' She sat up, shaking herself to psych herself up. 'Once I get the other Cutie Mark Crusaders we can be Cutie Mark Adventurers … again!' Sweetie Belle got out of bed, a fire in her eyes. 'I'm not going to just sit back and wait for this to be fixed, I'm going to fix it myself!'
The doctor was surprised at the now smiling filly. The expressions she was making earlier had him concerned. Seeing Sweetie Belle on her hooves, he said, "I'm glad to see you're up Sweetie Belle."
"Thanks," Sweetie Belle responded, "I know it's strange to ask but is there any way I can leave the hospital now. I'm feeling a lot better."
"I'm afraid I can't do that Sweetie. We don't know exactly what's wrong with you and until we do, we have to keep you here."
"But what if I told you t-tha-that … urghh!" Sweetie yelled, clamping her forehooves to her head in pain.
"See Sweetie, this is exactly why we can't have you leave right now. You need bed-rest and careful observation or the 'influence' could hurt you even more."
"B-b-but … ."
'What the hay Tablet? I can't even tell them I found a way to remove these migraines for good?'
*Unfortunately, doing so would be acknowledging an 'influence' was affecting you. This would be directly revealing this devices-*
'I got it … ,' Sweetie Belle sighed. At this point, she had long given up trying to convince the Tablet to let her talk about things.
"Right," the doctor said, taking Sweetie in his magic and putting her back on the bed, "you just need to stay here for a few days and Twilight will find some way to cure you."
Sweetie grumbled as the doctor went away saying something about getting some more of his paperwork. She picked up a quill and wrote a short note. When she was done, she thought about what to do next. ‘I was hoping I could convince my sister and her friends to help but if I can’t speak I guess I’ve got to do this alone … .’
As soon as she was sure nopony in the room, Sweetie Belle carefully opened the window that lead to the back of the hospital, leaving the hospital room behind her. There was nopony that was going to believe her if she couldn't say anything about where she was going. Well, anypony but her friends. ‘I may still be able to convince Apple Bloom and Scootaloo … .’ She decided to give it a shot.
Going into Ponyville, she made sure to stay clear of the main roads. If anypony saw her, they'd just send her right back to the hospital. Coming out of an alley near Sugarcube Corner, she saw Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, her sister, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exit the bakery. She went back in the alley and hid behind a box. The group turned towards her but thankfully headed down the road, back towards the hospital in a rush. She had been planning on waiting until evening before heading to her friends’ homes to get them but this was even better.
When she saw the ponies were all turned away from her, she quickly grabbed her friends from the back of the group and pulled them into the alleyway with her.
"What th-" Scootaloo said before she silenced by Sweetie Belle's hoof. Apple Bloom didn't say a word, stunned into silence.
Sweetie Belle shushed them both but they soon recognised their abductor and smiled. Sweetie whispered, "Be quiet girls. Nopony is going to believe me, but I need you to trust me. I need you to come on an adventure."
"An adventure?" Scootaloo said gleefully before she was again shushed by Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah. I can't tell you anything because of … things. I just really can't tell you but you have to trust me."
"Ah trust ya Sweetie." Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah, I trust you. Besides, you never want to go on an adventure, so this must be pretty serious." Scootaloo agreed.
"Hey!" Sweetie Belle replied defensively, "I do so!"
"Well, whatever. If this is going to be awesome adventure, though, I got to tell Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo smirked.
"Yeah, and Ah'm gonna have ta talk with my big sis fir-" Apple Bloom started.
"No! You can't tell nopony you're coming with me." Sweetie said, hastily interrupting her friend.
"Huh? Why not?" Apple Bloom asked, Scootaloo nodding in agreement.
"Nopony will believe me. You heard them right? They want to keep me locked up in that hospital until they have c-c-cur- … urghh … until they find stuff out. You have to believe me that I need your help but you can't tell nopony."
Her two friends looked a lot more hesitant now. Eventually Scootaloo shrugged and went over to her friend. "Ah, what the hay. If it's between waiting until Twilight looks at some dumb ruin and going on an awesome adventure, I know what I'm picking!"
Apple Bloom still seemed to need more convincing. "Ah'm not sure if Ah can just leave without telling nopony where Ah'm goin'. It just don't seem right."
"Oh, come on Applebloom, it isn't a real adventure if we know where we're going! Come on, you trust Sweetie right? Besides, we've gone into the Everfree tons of times without telling nopony." Scootaloo said with an air of confidence.
"Yeah and nopony liked us doin' that neither." Apple Bloom huffed.
"Please?" Sweetie Belle said, looking at Apple Bloom with the same eyes she does when she asks her sister for something.
"Don't look at me like that." Apple Bloom muttered. She was already considering to go but the waves of cuteness and innocence coming off of Sweetie Belle's puppy-dog stare was too much. "Alright, alright Ah'll come."
Sweetie Belle jumped between her friends and hugged them tightly "Cutie Mark Crusader Adventurers!" Sweetie Belle yelled.
"Yay!" They all replied before the other two slowly said, "Wait. What are we adventuring for?"
In the distance—through the wind—an almost intelligible voice could be heard.
"Sweetie Belle!!!!"