//------------------------------//
// Chapter 24 - The Chains That Bind 
// Story: A Heart of Change 
// by SilentBelle 
//------------------------------//


A Heart of Change – Chapter 24: The Chains That Bind
By: SilentBelle


“What do you mean, 'There's something inside her'?” Apple Bloom asked Scootaloo.

The tent was barely large enough for Apple Bloom to stand up inside of, and by the light of Sweetie Belle's flickering horn, she looked down at Scootaloo. The pegasus was sitting on the floor of the tent before Sweetie Belle and had cast her eyes downward while her wings hung limply at her sides.

After a moment punctuated only by a few more winces from Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo finally spoke in a haunted whisper. “I went into her dream. I know it was stupid of me. I shouldn't do something like that without her permission first. But look at her! I had to do something!”

Apple Bloom looked over Sweetie's squirming form. The unicorn had slipped halfway out of her sleeping bag. Her eyes were still firmly shut, and her breathing came in irregular, sharp breaths while her horn shot off showers of glowing green sparks which fell harmlessly to the tent floor.

Thankfully, the earlier burst of fire seemed to have been a onetime thing, at least that's what Apple Bloom hoped. She wondered if perhaps dragging Sweetie outside would be a better idea. While the sparks didn't seem all that likely to cause a fire, if Sweetie did end up casting off another torrent of flame, their tent could easily be ruined.

“So, what did you find inside her dreams?” Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo took a deep breath and turned to face Apple Bloom. The pegasus' eyes were wide with worry, and the grip of fatigue showed its mark in the creases around her eyes. The pegasus looked more tired than Apple Bloom had ever seen her. Scootaloo's voice carried that deep weariness in her tone as well. “I had thought that ponies only ever dreamed of one thing at a time. The dreamscape is supposed to be an empty place, save for the dreamer and whatever she has imagined... but when I tried to track down Sweetie Belle, there were three different paths to take.”

“Three paths?” Apple Bloom wasn't too sure how Scootaloo's Lucid Dreaming ability worked, but she'd take what she heard at face value. “Where did they lead?”

“I chose to follow the closest one, and it led me to Discord—or part of him. Or something—I don't know. I didn't recognize him. He was just an old unicorn, not a draconequus anymore.”

“Was that his fragment, maybe? The emerald that Sweetie was trapped in. That used to belong to Discord, right?” Apple Bloom frowned. “So all these changes that happened to her body were because she took in part of Discord when she remade her body? Can magic even work like that?” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Though since she's changed as much as she has on the outside, then it’s not unreasonable to assume that she’s been changed on the inside as well. Discord... Why couldn't he have just left her alone?”

“But that's not all,” Scootaloo said. “I don't think Discord's really the cause of this, or he's not the main cause anyway. We talked for a bit, and he seemed really... defeated. I don't think he ever wanted to do something like this to Sweetie Belle.”

“But he's Discord. He was the biggest trickster there's ever been. What if he was faking it? What if it's all just a scheme to take her over from the inside, or...” Apple Bloom wracked her mind. What does Discord want? Chaos? Freedom? Power? To be alive again? Could he use Sweetie to...?

“I don't know what Discord was doing there.” Scootaloo shook her head sharply. “But there's no point in dwelling on it. So, after a while, I decided to go down another path to try and find Sweetie and talk to her. And that's when I came across someplace strange. It was a really detailed cave that I'm pretty certain Sweetie's never been to.”

“What's so strange about that? You can end up anywhere in a dream, right?”

“It's just in the nature of dreams, Apple Bloom, seeing a cave like this wasn't right. If you go to someplace that you've never been before, the surroundings are usually very vague or even nonexistent. But this place—the cavern walls, all the stone—it all looked unique, rough, and so real. Unless Sweetie had somehow been there before in real life many times, if it were a recurring nightmare from her childhood, or if she were a Lucid Dreamer and had spent time crafting the cave of her own volition, then there'd be no way it would have looked so real. And then a second later, I figured it out.”

“You found another pony besides Discord in there?” Apple Bloom reasoned.

“Not a pony, it was a dragon. It knew that I was a Lucid Dreamer and it nearly got me with its flame when I tried to talk to him. If you hadn't pulled me out of the dream by tackling me, I'd have been roasted.”

“Not just in the dream, either. Flames shot out of Sweetie's horn and almost got you too. What the hay is a dragon doing inside of Sweetie's mind?” Apple Bloom wondered aloud. “This doesn't make any sense.” She gave Sweetie Belle another glance before whispering to herself, “But a Draconequus... a dragon pony. Then is the dragon the cause of Sweetie's new look?”

Scootaloo pulled herself to her hooves, in a sluggish manner, and she shrugged with her wings. “How should I know? What I want to know is how can we help her. It's obvious that she's in pain. Isn't there anything we can do?”

Apple Bloom rested a hoof on Sweetie's forehead for a few seconds. She doesn't have a fever. Just the irregular breathing and the bursts of magic. Ah don't think any of the medicine Ah brought will help her at this point. “We might just have to wait until she wakes up and discuss the situation with her in the morning,” Apple Bloom reasoned and moved back to her sleeping bag. “Hay, Scootaloo, you look like you could use a rest yourself. You're barely even able to stand upright.”

“We don't have time to wait around and do nothing, not with that beast inside her mind. Every second we can use to save her counts! Sweetie would do all she could to rescue either of us if the roles were reversed. Heck, she did exactly that with the mind magic the other day.” Scootaloo trembled as she placed a hoof on the unicorn's forehead and fixed her eyes upon her.

She's trying to enter her dream again! Apple Bloom sprung into action, pushing Scootaloo aside from Sweetie Belle and growled in irritation. “So you're just thinking ya can go back into her dream while you can barely stand? Without any plan, or any idea how to help her? What if it kills you? What will Ah say to Sweetie then? To Rainbow Dash?”

“I'm not afraid of dying, Bloom! I'd tear the flesh from my bones if it meant saving either of you two. I owe you two at least that much. I'm just afraid of one thing right now.” Scootaloo looked up at Apple Bloom, her eyes quavered in the faint light of Sweetie's horn. “What if I can't help Sweetie when she really needs help? What if I can't do anything? How can I be so powerless? Tell me, Apple Bloom. If going in there won't help her at all, then what can I do?”

Apple Bloom took a deep breath and fixed her eyes on Scootaloo. Yes, we're all afraid of being powerless, Scootaloo. Sometimes when Ah'm with you two I can't help but feel like Ah can't do anything to help either of you. No matter what Ah say, or however many plans Ah make, you're both always jumping forward without hesitation, without considering anything beyond your gut feelings, and you always pull us into trouble. But you're also both pulling us forward, leading us to places Ah never would have seen on my own. Ah can't help but feel like Ah just get in the way at times, that Ah'm powerless before either of you. But even so, if my objections and plans only end up helping once in a while, then that's enough reason to let my voice be heard. “It's too dangerous to go in there again Scootaloo. We're both at our limits. Let's wake her up instead, if we can.”

Apple Bloom reached out with her hooves and gave Sweetie's sleeping form a sturdy shake. “Wake up, Sweetie Belle!”

Scootaloo shook her head. “It's not going to work. She's deep into her dream. If she could be woken by normal means, I'd have found her as soon as I entered the dream. We can't reach her from out here.”

“Then we'll have to wait for her to wake up. All we can do for her is to make sure that we are fit and ready to face whatever we have to tomorrow.” Apple Bloom sat down on her sleeping bag. Across the tent, Sweetie continued her raucous and uneven breathing. She looks like she's struggling with a sickness or something. And what Scootaloo wants to do is no different than grasping at the closest random plant in a forest and hoping it has the right sort of medicinal property. If she goes into Sweetie's dream, Scootaloo's just as likely to make the situation worse as she is to make it better. “It's probably safest to let her dream her way out of it.”

“When she looks like this?” Scootaloo gestured with one of her forehooves. “When she's losing herself to that dragon?”

Apple Bloom turned away from her friends and slipped into her sleeping bag and clenched her teeth in frustration. As much as she hated not doing anything, she knew in her gut that waiting was the best option. “Sweetie's strong, Scootaloo. Ah believe that she'll make it through this.” Ah have to, because there's nothing else I can do. “Don't you?”

Scootaloo let out a disheveled sigh. “She is strong. And willful, and arrogant, and always getting into trouble. I always want to help her when I can. But when I can't, she always makes it through somehow. She's stronger than me.”

“Then let's do what we can to help her by resting up so we can support her when she gets through this.” Apple Bloom closed her eyes and laid back in her sleeping bag. Is this the right choice? Is there a right choice? If we do nothing can Sweetie really make it through the night? If Scootaloo entered her dream again, could she save her? But what would happen to her if she ran out of energy as she was in the dream? “Sometimes waiting is the hardest job of all.”

“Fine,” Scootaloo said bitterly, “I'll rest. But if she's still like this in the morning, I'm going in to save her, consequences be damned.”

Not that Ah would stop you if you actually did delve into her dream right now. In fact, Ah was half expecting you to do it anyways, Apple Bloom thought, with a twinge of shame. But you know that too, don't you, Scootaloo? Ah may argue with both you and Sweetie, but Ah still want you to make the choices that you think are the right ones. “Thank you, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo just sniffed in displeasure before collapsing down onto her sleeping bag.

Apple Bloom listened worriedly to the sound of Sweetie's irregular breathing until sleep finally took her.


* * *


Fatigue called a morning chant within Sweetie Belle, as if it were a throbbing, distant, second heart. Each dull pulse brought her a sliver of awareness as her surroundings slowly became a half-coherent mess of magic.

Sweetie Belle felt a pressure exuding from within her. It felt as though she had run a hundred laps around the old Ponyville racetrack the day before. Although, she supposed wearily, such an analogy isn't really fair. I've never run around that track more than once. But I'm pretty sure this must be how Scootaloo felt every time she got back from an intensive day of training.

Sweetie opened her eyes and noticed one of Scootaloo's wings lay draped over her, warm and soft, and slightly haphazard, like an orange blanket left askew in the wake of a fitful night of sleep. Sweetie let a wan smile cross her lips. Her sleeping habits never change, huh? Gingerly, Sweetie fed a small trickle of magic through her horn and gently wrapped it around Scootaloo's wing, then, softly as a cloud, she eased her friend's wing back to her side.

When Scootaloo didn't wake, Sweetie let out a small satisfied sigh and rolled out of her sleeping bag and onto her hooves. As she moved to the front of the tent, the sound of a campfire crackled a welcoming from outside. Poking her head out the front of the tent, she spotted Apple Bloom at the far side of their campsite, sitting down beside the fire.

With a smile Sweetie moved toward her friend, the cool morning air causing her to shiver a little. “'Morning, Bloom,” Sweetie said quietly, as the mare turned her head to meet her. The earth pony had a notebook before her and a pencil in her mouth.

“'Morn,” Apple Bloom managed to reply before setting the pencil down along the open spine of the book. “Glad to see you're up.”

“Hmm, wish I could say the same,” Sweetie said with a chuckle as she turned her neck from side to side in an attempt to relieve a crick. After a few failed attempts, she just shrugged her shoulders and did her best to ignore the annoying feeling. “I feel worse for wear than before I went to sleep. I guess I slept wrong or something.”

“Oh?” Apple Bloom asked, a frown forming on her brow. “Anything in particular feel wrong?” As she asked, she slipped her notebook back into a nearby pack.

“Nothing serious. My body just feels tired is all. But it doesn't ache or anything, it feels... I dunno. Heavy, I guess?” Sweetie tilted her head back and gave herself a once-over. “Maybe I'm not used to having my body back.”

“Well, Ah'll put on some water for tea. Maybe that'll perk ya up some.” Apple Bloom got to work and threw a small log into the campfire before tossing a metal grate over the stones and placing a kettle atop it.

“Thanks,” Sweetie said, running a hoof through her messy mane, “I think that might help. Still, I can't believe that you can really start a fire, chop wood, and make tea, all without a horn. If it weren't for my horn, I wouldn't be able to spark a flame no matter how much I tried.”

Apple Bloom shook her head gently. “Y'know, Sweetie Belle, Ah think you just put too much emphasis on magic. Sure, it's useful and all, but there's plenty that we can do without magic.”

Sweetie clicked her tongue in exasperation. “You don't get it, do you, Bloom? Magic is in everything. There's no such thing as 'without magic'. So I can never put enough emphasis on everything.”

“Quit bein' difficult, Sweetie Belle. Ya know I meant just the spells that unicorns cast. You don't always have to use your horn to solve a problem, especially when your own four hooves can get the job done easier.” Apple Bloom frowned. “Just 'cause each different type of pony uses their magics differently doesn't mean that any of our different applications are automatically inferior to any other.”

“Well, sure...” Sweetie let a small smile creep to her lips. “But I think just about anypony would agree with me that setting up a tent with your mouth and hooves just isn't as practical as a unicorn's horn.”

“It takes more out of ya though,” Apple Bloom countered.

“Yeah, I suppose it does.” Sweetie shook her head and sighed. “I know what you mean though.”

“Really...” Apple Bloom shook her head but let the subject drop.

A short silence fell upon them, punctuated only by the whispers of a tongue of flame scraping against charred logs and the sound of water kettle coming to a boil.

After a minute, Sweetie smiled and sent a small tendril of her magic into the dancing pattern of flames before her, with nary a pause she twisted her emerald pattern until it shared the shape of flaming heat, and as quick as lightning she shot it out toward the source of the flames. The heat of flames was a simple pattern, and because of that, very easy to draw into her own magic. She pulled at it gently, and watched gleefully as her magic pattern began to grow from a faint fleeting mirage, to an emerald as true as any gemstone she'd ever come across. It still bewildered her that no other ponies could see such magics.

Using her bolstered magic, she formed a simple telekinesis spell and lifted the kettle from the grate and poured two cups of tea, and then left them alone so they could steep for a few minutes.

“Magic really is in everything, huh?” Apple Bloom said distantly as she gazed into the weakened flames. “And to think, you can really see it all.”

Sweetie let out a short chuckle. “Hmm? I thought you were still a little skeptical.”

“Well, Ah was. And rightfully so. But after lookin' over everything you've showed me, and testin' it out for first-hoof, Ah don't have any reason to doubt ya.” Apple Bloom reached a hoof into the saddlebags laying at her side and pulled out a small metal plate, about the size of her hoof. “Take a look.”

Sweetie frowned and grabbed the plate from her friend's proffering hoof. It was a simple thing of iron, though there was a decorative pattern which stood out, etched into its surface and painted with what could only be sylvite. “Is that the sigil for a light spell?”

Inquisitively, she fed a tendril of her magic into the patterned ink on the metal plate. As she did so, she noticed her magic running through the lines of the sylvite pattern, causing a pale glow to form in the center of the metal. It was a faint light, and the pattern wasn't as sharp as one she'd see from a typical unicorn's horn, but the fact that there was any glow at all was enough to draw a breath of surprise from her.

“Woah, Bloom, it actually works.”

“Ah just based it on the sketches you showed me earlier. It shouldn't be impossible to make a one that will allow a pony to fly.” Apple Bloom smiled nervously. “Honestly it still seems unbelievable when I see a light appear suddenly on that plate. But Ah still need to work out the right way to power such a pattern so that even those who don't have a horn can use it.”

“Well, one of the easiest sources of magic to use is fire,” Sweetie offered, “the heat can get strong enough to warp nearby patterns and draw them into the flame's pattern. That's what happens when the wood catches on fire.”

“A fire would be dangerous though,” Apple Bloom said with a sigh. “What about gemstones? How easy would it be to use those to power a spell?”

Sweetie nodded knowingly. “I like gemstones, they make for good sources of magic, and when they're used, they're reduced to simple dust. They have pretty much the simplest patterns of just about any solid object I have ever seen. Gems might be the best for what you're trying to make.”

“We're trying to make,” Apple Bloom corrected her. “But before Ah even get started on that, Ah think we have bigger things ta focus on.” Apple Bloom took the metal plate and fit it snugly back in its place in her bulging saddlebags.

“Yeah, we need to catch that unicorn, and stop him before things get entirely out of hoof.”

Apple Bloom hummed as she took a sip of tea. “But how are we gonna face him? What sort of plans do you have, Sweetie? Do ya have any good magic spells if it comes down to a fight?”

“You mean like magic dueling?” Sweetie chuckled smugly. “Well, I bet neither you nor Scootaloo knew that I actually went to Canterlot and participated in a magic dueling contest.”

“Really? That's a thing they do?” Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“It's a tradition that came from the royal guard and their training regiment. A way of assessing skill, though it eventually got popular enough for those who weren’t part of the guard, yet dabbled in magic, to start holding tournaments regularly. So it's more about flashy performance and spectacle, rather than winning a straight-up fight.” Sweetie shook her head sadly. “You score points by knocking your opponent off balance or deflecting their spells with your own. Turns out it's more of a game than an actually useful exercise. They didn't let ponies use any dangerous magic, in fact, doing so was strictly prohibited.”

“Ah see.” Apple Bloom nodded. “No sense in letting ponies hurt each other. So Ah don't imagine you won this magic dueling competition, bein' that if ya had, Ah'd have heard this story countless times already.”

“I got disqualified in the first round.” Sweetie Belle looked up to the distant morning clouds as she recalled the event. “I only agreed to go because it was an excuse to visit Canterlot again.”

“So how'd you manage to get disqualified?”

“Well, you're only supposed to use air magic or telekinesis spells to knock your opponent off their hooves. If you can get your opponent to have all their hooves off the ground at three separate times, or once for five seconds, then you win the match. However, I wasn't allowed to bring in any gemstones for the duel, which meant I didn't have enough magic to face any serious opponents. And I even told Twilight exactly that, but she insisted that I take part regardless. 'All certified magic teachers bring their students to compete in these matches', she'd said.” Sweetie snorted disdainfully. “She just wanted me to humiliate myself in front of everypony.”

“Ah doubt that's why Twilight wanted you to compete,” Apple Bloom said, her voice sounding a little hurt. “What was the prize if you had won?”

“Hmm... Money, a title, and bragging rights, I guess. As well as an official certification of magic-craft for the student who wins.”

“A certification of what-now?”

“It's what a unicorn who has practiced magic under a certified magician gets when they reach adulthood. Twilight said she would give me mine in a year if I manage to pass the final exam they have set up.”

Apple Bloom shook her head in wonder. “Wow. I never knew that there was such a system in place. What does being certified do for you?”

“It lets you use certain magic without causing legal troubles, but it also means you are solely responsible for all the consequences of your own spells. Until I get it, any consequences from my own spells, such as property damage, go through Twilight rather than directly to me. Though she changed her policy to make me pay for half of anything I break.”

“And that's what was always giving Twilight headaches then?” Apple Bloom laughed. “Ah should've known. But didn't ya want to be a fully fledged magician, recognized by Equestria and everything? Why wouldn't ya want to win the tournament?”

“Because they're too narrow-minded. Do you know what it's like to stand before them all and tell them that the way that magic works is actually different from what they think it is? And to even show them only to have them scoff and throw some garbage explanation back at you. 'Magic is an intuitive art. It's the expression of the self upon the world around us, the extension of our willful imagination.' Feh! They don't realize that magic is everywhere, in everything: me, you, that pine tree over there, and in all the air too.”

“Well, if they're just being too stubborn to admit that they don't know exactly how it all works, then the fault's on them, but it's also up to them to realize it.” Apple Bloom let out a sigh. “Their intuitive practice of magic has worked for them so far, so there's no sense in trying to make them see the world how you see it.”

“But there is sense to bringing about the truth behind magic to those who practice it. And I showed them at the tournament. My opponent kept sending telekinetic magic at me, but I grabbed her magic and stopped it every time before it reached me, and made the pattern my own. But then when I knocked my opponent on her rump, the judges said that I was cheating. They claimed that I put up a shielding spell, of all things, and said I broke the rules.” Sweetie felt a fire inside her chest growing at the memory, but she held it back. There was no sense in getting angry at Apple Bloom. Sweetie shook her head and took a breath to calm herself. “But it doesn't matter. That's in the past. I'll focus on showing them what real magic is about when I actually have to deal with those ponies again. We have more pressing issues to deal with right now, anyway.”

“Like how're we gonna face the unicorn who's been assaulting the Crystal Empire.” Apple Bloom nodded. “Back on topic, have ya learned any good combat spells over the years? The other Sweetie seemed to have a whole whack of magic to use in a fight.”

Sweetie frowned at Apple Bloom's words. Well, sorry that I'm not the other Sweetie. I didn't have much of magic supply to work with these past few years, and Twilight always tried to keep me away from any of the dangerous spells. Besides, when it comes down to it, those types of spells aren't very useful or practical outside of trying to beat you opponent to a pulp. “I know the principles behind the elemental combative magics, but I never practiced them much.”

“Well, then why don't ya show me some of the spells you know, then? Ah want ta know what you can do, then Ah can figure out how Scootaloo and Ah can best support ya if the worse comes ta worst.”

Sweetie smiled and moved away from the campfire. “The easiest of elemental spells is the lightning spell, simply because electrical magic is pretty much the most basic magic pattern. And because it's so simple, it tends to interact with other nearby patterns a little too well.”

Sweetie pulled a small amount of magic into her horn, and trained herself toward a distant tree. For a moment she tensed, and then she shot the magic out of her horn. She felt the discharge crack from her horn as she saw the faint green electricity dart out. It sped toward her target, but then curved down sharply a few feet from the tree, and struck the ground. “It doesn't travel far, because it's too attracted to other patterns. Though because of that attraction, it does disrupt other magic very well, but when anticipated, it's all too easy to ground it, or better yet, to take the spell and change the pattern to what you want.”

Apple Bloom nodded her head, and considered the magic for a moment. “So if you were flying through the air for whatever reason, using lightning spells would work better, right? Since there aren't too many obstacles for the magic to be attracted to in the open air.”

“Uh huh.” Sweetie smiled at Apple Bloom. If you were a unicorn Bloom, you could probably become one of the best magicians out there. “And next, we have fire.”

Apple Bloom nodded again, and this time she pulled her notebook back out of her saddlebags, and began penciling in her observations.


* * *


A hiss of something far too hot arched overhead and shot coloured streaks of orange, brighter than mere sunlight across Scootaloo's eyelids. Scootaloo opened her eyes to see the inside of their tent, empty, save for Scootaloo and her belongings.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle! Don't go throwing those fire spells so close to the tent! Do ya want ta roast Scootaloo while she sleeps?!” Apple Bloom's voice called out clear from across the campsite.

“I still had half a foot before it'd have caught the tent on fire. Don't worry, Bloom. If there's something I have when it comes to magic, it's finesse.”

“And a propensity ta land yourself in a heap o’ trouble.” Apple Bloom let out a short chuckle. “It wouldn't be the first time ya burned something by mistake.”

“Hey! The clubhouse was before I had any finesse with magic.”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom replied with a playful confusion in her tone. “Ah was talkin' about the time that you were trying those dryin' spells. Or the time Scootaloo was telling me about when you were trying to use those thunderclouds to boost yer own magic supply.”

“Well...” Sweetie said, her voice carried a familiar, flustered annoyance to it, the sound of it brought a small smile to Scootaloo's lips. “You can't cross bridges without burning a few.”

There was a moment of silence, punctuated only by the calls of a few morning birds and insect calls.

Apple Bloom let out a hearty laugh. “Is that your idea of an idiom?”

“Oh, be quiet Bloom!”

Scootaloo got up from her sleeping bag and gave her wings a stretch as she listened to her friends continue to bicker back and forth. Scootaloo was glad that her friends were in such high spirits, it had been too long since she had last heard Sweetie Belle speaking without despair, fear, worry, or cold anger colouring her voice. As for Apple Bloom, it had been quite a while since she had heard her laugh so heartily.

Scootaloo stretched out her joints contentedly. It had been too long since she had last awoken feeling so refreshed. Maybe I was making mountains out of anthills last night. She cherished the thought for a moment, but the image of Sweetie Belle's struggling sleeping form remained crystal clear in her mind. No. There's still something seriously wrong. I have to get to the bottom of this. But first, we should have breakfast.

Grabbing her saddlebags, Scootaloo made it out of the tent and headed toward the campfire, where Apple Bloom was making some sort of oatmeal in a pot over the fire.

A short distance away, in a clearing, Sweetie was frolicking around with a smile engulfing her face as she pointed her horn down toward the ground, then pulled upward with the speed of a whip. Following her movement, a series of stones shot up out of the grassy ground, which as much force as if somepony had bucked each of the stones. The arcing projectiles fell dozens of feet away, hitting the ground with a shower of muffled thuds.

“I call that one a stone shower. Once you figure out what sort of stones are beneath the earth it's a simple matter of using your magic to pull them to the surface and launch them wherever you need them.” Sweetie turn back to face Apple Bloom.

The unicorn had worked up a sweat, and her breath was a little short, but the smile she wore was the same as Scootaloo always remembered seeing for the past five years: the smile that she began to wear after she finally gained her cutie mark. She really does love using magic.

“Huh?” Sweetie's simple smile shifted to one of surprise. “Oh, Scootaloo, you're up!”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo moved near the fireplace and sat down, “and I'm starving.”

Apple Bloom gave the pot a solid stirring. “Just a little more and it should be done. Fruit and oats. Kinda bland, but it's what we've got.”

“I'm not going to complain,” Scootaloo said. “So long as we aren't just eating grass off the ground the whole way.”

“Well, we might have to do some foraging as we go. There's only so much food Ah could pack, so it's best if we keep an eye out for food along the way. There ought to be something we can eat in the woods, it's still summer after all.”

“I'm with Scootaloo on this one,” Sweetie said as she plopped down beside the pegasus. “As long as I don't have to fill my stomach with a bunch of soggy grass ever again, I think I'll live the rest of my life as a happy mare.” She then tilted her head toward her saddlebags and used her magic to bring her bowl out and proffered it to Apple Bloom. “All that magic made me hungry.”

Apple Bloom shook her head but gave in to the request and ladled her a bowlful.

Sweetie offered her a smile as she took the bowl back and stuck it with a spoon. “Thanks, Bloom. You're the best cook I know!”

“Ah wish Ah had a kitchen and proper ingredients to use, then Ah could really show ya what a good meal it.”

Sweetie nodded. “Alright, then. How about you do that once we get back to Crystal Empire? You can use the palace kitchens and cook up a storm.”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom replied before filling two other bowls with oats. “Ah'd like that.”

“Then it's a promise!”

Scootaloo gave Apple Bloom an appreciative smile as she accepted the warm bowl of breakfast. Scootaloo didn't want the doubt to creep into her mind, but she couldn't shake the thought. Who knows if we even will make it back from this.

They spent a few minutes eating their meal as the sun rose higher, and the damp chill of the morning air began to dissipate. Eventually they finished eating and Apple Bloom was quick to volunteer to pick up some water from the river, on the condition that both Sweetie and Scootaloo agreed to wash the dishes. Apple Bloom grabbed her saddlebags and water containers from each of their bags before setting out.

Once Apple Bloom had left, Scootaloo turned to face Sweetie Belle. The unicorn was sitting down, watching as the fire slowly died out, her eyes traced lines that Scootaloo could not see. Scootaloo knew she saw magic, but it still felt strange to see her friend looking at something that she herself could never comprehend no matter how hard she tried. Maybe this is what it feels like for her when she watches me fly.

“Say, Sweetie...” Scootaloo felt her own words sticking to the inside of her throat as she spoke, but she refused to let herself fall silent. Scootaloo wished that she had only imagined what had happened the night before, that it had somehow just been a bad dream of hers. But she knew it wasn't, it couldn't have been. She deserves to know what I did.

“Yeah?” Sweetie asked, turning her head away from the fireplace. As she looked toward Scootaloo, Scootaloo felt a shiver run down her spine. The bemusement from Sweetie's face had suddenly disappeared, replaced by a gentle smile.

“Are you feeling okay? I mean, after last night...”

“Huh?” Sweetie glanced back at herself, as if to make sure that her body hadn't suddenly spread a pair of wings, or that her cutie mark hadn't suddenly changed on her. “I'm totally fine. A little tired, but otherwise, I've never felt better.”

Scootaloo looked into her eyes as Sweetie spoke. There was something about the way her eyes narrowed, Scootaloo could feel uncertainty quietly whispering out to her. And while Sweetie's smile was delicate, it didn't reach her eyes. It's her mask, Scootaloo realized. It's the one she wears when she doesn't want anypony to know what she's done. She's never worn it when she's looked directly at me before, because, after all, we were more often than not both partners in crime. I always thought that if she were facing me, she'd never wear it. A feeling of revulsion settled into the pit of Scootaloo's stomach.

“The weather's great, and I have more magic at my disposal than ever before. I just went through the four elemental exercises at full power without having to take a break. It was incredible. I wish I'd had this much magic sooner. I could have done so much more in the past five years.”

Scootaloo clenched her jaw tightly and looked right into Sweetie's eyes. Hoping to look past the mask on her friend's face. “And do you also wish you had that dragon inside you?”

A look of shock dilated her slit pupils, but to her credit, the fake smile on her lips did not waver. “W-What are you talking about?”

“The dragon chained inside you, burning with hatred and anger, with a deep growling voice—”

Sweetie's smile fell flat and fear pooled into her eyes. “How do you know about the voice?

“Last night, after you went to sleep, Sweetie, you were struggling.” Scootaloo didn't want to have to revisit the memory, but she couldn't falter, not now. “You kept saying, 'I am Sweetie Belle!' barely more than a whisper. Each breath you took was harsh, as if you were fighting for your life. I was worried that you were losing yourself to something. I tried to wake you, but you wouldn't stir. So I entered your dream.”

“You... used your dream magic on me?”

“I had no choice!” Scootaloo interjected. “You sounded like you were in pain. I had to do something.”

Sweetie slammed a forehoof on the ground. “Scootaloo, you can't just jump into my mind like that!”

“No.” Scootaloo shook her head. “I know I should ask before I do something like that, but even so, I can't agree with you. It was wrong of me, but I'd do it in an instant if I saw you like that again.”

“But it's my mind Scootaloo! You have no right to go into it!”

“And you had a right to go into mine?!” Scootaloo rebuked, poking a hoof against Sweetie's chest.

“Well, that damn snake had you in his grips. If it weren't for me you'd be nothing more than a mindless slave right now!”

“I know that! But what about you, Sweetie? I saw that dragon inside you. He's not any better than that snake.”

“That has nothing to do with you, Scoots! It's my problem to deal with, I'll handle it on my own!” Sweetie's horn lit up, and Scootaloo felt a sudden pressure enclose around her, and she was pushed back a couple of feet. The bracelet around her foreleg sparkled brightly for a moment.

“You're wrong!” Scootaloo shouted back and leaped up beside Sweetie Belle once again. “If it's a struggle that you're facing, then I'll help you through it! And I won't take 'no' for an answer.”

“No!” Sweetie rebuked once again, and her horn began to flash brightly. “That is my answer!”

Determined, Scootaloo braced herself and looked Sweetie directly in the eyes. I'm not running away. Not this time! With every ounce of her will, she peered past the glaring light of Sweetie's spell, and into those slit eyes. Even as she felt Sweetie's spell press down upon her and constrict her, Scootaloo noticed the familiar sense of vertigo as though she were falling into Sweetie's open eyes.

With a small, triumphant smile, Scootaloo's consciousness faded for a moment.


* * *

Green as the trees' leaves,
These deep pools of water hold
A friend. She's drowning.

No hesitation.
Merely rebuking stillness
Through desperation.

She searches the green.
A forest of memories
She once had called home.

Alongside the wind,
Scent of the familiar
Entwines with fire's smoke.

She fears for the loss,
Not of the ephemeral
Past far behind her.

The loss of the path,
Treacherous, yet beautiful
She treads upon it.

A worthy pathway,
With a distant end unknown.
She holds fear and hope.

Close companions.

* * *


Scootaloo opened her eyes to see a familiar dreamscape. She felt the familiar cloud beneath her hooves, and she saw Luna's moon with Scootaloo's own cutie mark etched upon its surface. Scootaloo took a steadying breath. It was her dreamscape, the place she made to bring her comfort and solace from the world's problems, a place held deep within her mind.

Though if I'm here after delving into Sweetie's dreams, that means I've gone beyond just influencing her surface dreams. The surface dreams are merely the reflection of passing emotions, beyond such dreams are where the real self of any pony dwells. In here I'll get to see the real Sweetie.

Scootaloo looked out at her dreamscape and instead of just open blue sky, below her, she saw another dreamscape. Sweetie's dreamscape.

Scootaloo recognized the layout of Ponyville, though her eyes could tell that the buildings were little more than a backdrop, much like Luna's moon, or the peerless blue of the sky. However, at the center of Sweetie's dreamscape was a very real building which Scootaloo recognized immediately as the clubhouse—or at least most of it was. The front of the building had its familiar wooden ramp and raised porch, however, instead of having their observatory on the second floor, the building shared the same roofing and shape as Rarity's Carousel Boutique.

Strange buildings were not unusual to come across in dreams, in fact, Scootaloo was rather comforted that Sweetie held the two buildings as the most important places to her. Now I just need to meet with her and talk with her. I'm not running this time.

Scootaloo dove from her cloud and flew right to the entrance of the clubhouse. With a determined breath, she pushed open the door and stepped through the portal.

The room formed around her as easily as the open air breathes of wind, but the lighting was dimmer than she had figured it would be. The wooden walls and floor carried a familiar scent while faint streamers of dust flitted through the air—just what she would have expected to see from their clubhouse. Yet the familiar surrounding was warped in places. The wood gave way to cold, rough stone, as well as the soft incandescent from patches of nearly molten rock. To add to the strangeness, of the room—if it could even be considered a room anymore—the walls held patches of skeletal, half-dead bushes.

At the center of the room, nestled in a cocoon of shadow and dull orange light, Scootaloo could see a massive draconic figure with massive metallic chains running off its every limb. The dragon let out a soft snore as smoke rose from its nostrils. Its breath raised and fell evenly, the action causing a rumbling to fill the entire chamber, not unlike a slow heartbeat.

Around the dragon's neck, a particular chain burned deep red of incandescence, and Scootaloo's eyes were drawn down the entire length of it. At its end Sweetie Belle sat upon the ground. She looked just as Scootaloo remembered her being before she had lost her body. There were no fangs, no slit eyes, just Sweetie as she was. Although there was one difference: the chain which ran from the dragon pierced through Sweetie's chest. The chain was a seamless part of her.

Sweetie was scowling at the dragon sleeping beside her until Scootaloo's approach drew her attention.

“So you came in this way, huh?” Sweetie turned her face away, bitterness drawing her mouth tight as she clenched her jaw. “Well? Are you satisfied? Is this what you wanted to see, Scootaloo? What has become of me? These chains? This dragon and his anger?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “No, Sweetie, what I wanted to see was you and to make sure you are okay. I came because I'm worried about you.”

“Well, you don't have anything to worry about, Scootaloo. I'm stuck like this now. I bound myself to this dragon in exchange for my body back.” Sweetie gave herself a glance then laughed hollowly. In a mere second Sweetie Belle's features shifted from the Sweetie Belle of Scootaloo's memory and took on the draconic features of her new body. “It's who I am now, Scootaloo. I can't go back. This chain runs from my heart to his.”

“Then we'll find a way to break the chain,” Scootaloo insisted. She reached out with her will and pressed against the chain. As she did so, she felt a resistance and permanence surrounding the metal which dwarfed everything else in the dream around her. It feels as if the dream itself is centered around this chain. Like it's the only real thing in here. More real than me or Sweetie.

Scootaloo tried to fight against the thought in her mind, but there was a certainty to it that she could not shake. The chain was real, and she could not change it.

“The chain can't be broken.” Sweetie said sadly. “I tried last night. I used all the magic I have, and everything I could think of, and nothing manages to touch it. Besides, if I broke it, I'd probably lose my body. Then I'd really have nothing left.”

“But-”

“But nothing, Scootaloo! I made a choice when I cast the spell. I knew that it was risky. I was even prepared to lay down my life when I was casting it. I was.” Sweetie stamped a hoof on the hard rock of the chamber floor. “I don't regret my choice. I won't let myself regret my choice! I got my body back, and, sure, it's different. But what's life without a few changes? I can't allow myself to get caught up on something like this.”

“'Something like this'? Sweetie, this is you we're talking about. You can't just trivialize this problem!” Scootaloo shouted back. “Are you really saying you're fine with being chained to this dragon? I heard you last night, and then in your dream as well—the dragon was awake then, and he's not going to stay quiet when he wakes again.”

Sweetie winced slightly at Scootaloo's words. “But he's chained up, with chains that are stronger than anything I've ever seen before. I have it under control, Scootaloo. You don't have to worry.”

“Yes, I do!” Scootaloo rebuked and she stepped right up to Sweetie, their faces only inches apart. Dreams are a place of emotions, she tried to remind herself, to calm herself, but an anger and frustration had kindled within her, and her words flowed forth freely. “I always worry about you, Sweetie! Damn it all, but I can't help it!”

“But you can't do anything about this! These changes, these chains, they're permanent!”

“That might be true, but that doesn't mean I'll just give up on saving you. I'll never do that.” Scootaloo felt as though a coil in her gut tightening itself, and with it a fear pulled at her. It told her to run, to hide, to fly, to be anywhere other than where she was now. I won't run! Not this time! If there's one time I won't run, it's now!

Scootaloo reach up hoof which felt as heavy as the chain binding the dragon looked, and managed to place it on Sweetie's shoulder. “Because I love you, Sweetie.”

As the words left her mouth, Scootaloo felt the coil in her stomach disappear, and with it, her face flushed hot with embarrassment. The world around her shifted suddenly and she felt the merciful blanket of oblivion enshroud her.

“Scoots...?” Sweetie's voice of whispered surprise followed her into the darkness.


* * *


Beside her nearby pack, Apple Bloom stood before a gentle, shallow stream, the product of the melting glacier atop a nearby mountain. The water was clear and cool to the touch as she filled up a bucket and a trio of containers. She then took a drink, and let out a sigh.

“Ah. Fresh glacier water I see,” a familiar playful voice called out from her saddlebags.

“Lord Sky Chaser,” Apple Bloom replied as she turned and fished out the scrying stone that he had given her. The amber orb glowed in a faint golden light, in its surface a warped image of the blue unicorn dressed in flowing orange robes in looked back at her. It reminded Apple Bloom of looking upon the backside of a silver spoon, only instead of her own face she was greeted with his overly saccharine smile. She set the scrying stone gently upon the ground. “Ah figured you'd show up sooner rather than later.”

“Lady Apple Bloom,” he replied jovially, “I am most pleased that you deemed it necessary to bring along my scrying stone.”

“Ah was of half a mind ta throw it out a window,” Apple Bloom said with a slight smile on her lips. “But Ah figured it might fetch a pretty bit if Ah decided ta sell it, or at the very least, you might prove yourself to be of more use than trouble.”

“I live to serve,” he said, his image bowing.

“Amongst other things,” Apple Bloom finished for him.

“Indeed. There's no great purpose in tying one's self down to a single task.”

Apple Bloom considered his words for a second and then asked, “So how'd the Prince take to us up and leaving yesterday?”

Sky Chaser let out a small laugh. “With a clenched jaw, it was all he could do to stop himself from ordering half his guards to chase after you three. In spite of how you may have seen him act before, he's quite worried about you three. I haven't seen him so distressed about anypony since Twilight Sparkle last visited. The prince was most particular about focusing his glare upon me, as if it were my duty to keep three young mares locked in the palace. One could almost imagine he blames me for you three sneaking out of the city yesterday.”

“And you almost sound like you had no part in it whatsoever.” Apple Bloom shook her head at the insufferable stallion.

“I have a part in most of the things that happen within the Crystal Empire,” he conceded. “And my prince knows this. It is my job, after all.”

Apple Bloom still didn't know what to think of the stallion. She was certain that he was planning something, but that in itself was no surprise. “So then why are you scrying here anyway?”

“To say a simple 'Good morning'?” Sky Chaser offered. When Apple Bloom didn't smile, he simply let his own smirk fall. “Let's just say that the events of our distant unicorn friend don't show signs of stopping. It's not another quake, but it looks as though he is gathering storm clouds from the mountain wilderness and pulling them over the city.”

Apple Bloom frowned at the news. “Without the crystal heart, there's no way to protect the city against him. If he's able to power up another storm system, he'll have the whole city at his mercy.”

“Which is why the prince has formed a team of our best rain dancers to do what they can to quell the building storm.”

“Rain dancers, huh? Ah always wanted ta see how they managed the weather.” Apple Bloom looked to the boundless blue sky above her. “Ah'm guessin' every last cloud within in fifteen miles of the city is bein' pulled over there.”

“A fair assumption.”

“And how about Princess Luna? What's she up to?”

“She was wearing an even more foul expression than the prince when she heard that you had all run off. I bet Miss Scootaloo is bound to get an earful or two when next they meet. But for now though, Princess Luna is resting.”

With a sigh, Apple Bloom paced back and forth along the riverside. “Sounds like a mighty mess, you'll have ta deal with. But this could also be the perfect opportunity for us three. If that unicorn wants to make a concerted effort against the city, he won't be anticipating us, or rather, he won't be focused on stopping us from reaching him.”

“A conclusion I imagined you might make, Lady Bloom.”

Apple Bloom came to a halt and frowned at Sky Chaser's grinning image. “You sure do smirk a lot, you know? Considering the situation we're in, it seems rather inappropriate, don't you think?”

“They say smiling is good for the heart,” Sky Chaser replied. “And it's better than scowling at everything as my dour friend, Captain Snowfall, seems to do.”

Apple Bloom took note of the uneven smirk on Sky Chaser's face. It looked as though it were drawn out by practiced muscles. His eyes had a golden glow to them, and they were fixed on her. But in spite of the smile and his eyes, he looked decidedly expressionless, as though his face were a mask. “Doesn't each smile just cheapen the next one though?” Apple Bloom wondered aloud.

Sky Chaser laughed. “Only if they aren't genuine.”

“So, you're saying you can be genuinely happy all the time?” Apple Bloom let out a short laugh. “Nopony can be happy all the time. It seems kinda forced to me...” Apple Bloom let the thought drift away from her for a moment before shaking her head. “But that's not important right now. We have to get moving again, locate and stop this unicorn before he can do more damage.”

“Of course.” The image of Sky Chaser bobbed its head. “Being able to pull off such a feat would be quite the lofty accomplishment, but one should always remember what their true objective is.” With his smile still resting easy upon his lips, he pulled off an overly extravagant bow. “I'll contact you again soon, my lady.”

With a dull popping sound, the image in the crystal faded, and Apple Bloom only saw her own face reflected back at her. “True objective? Geez, what does that guy even want from me anyway?” she muttered.

He has a reputation for ruining other ponies' lives, and for having a hoof in everything that happens in the Crystal Empire. Though she couldn't help but think of the other side of the coin. He does hold Shining Armor in high regard, and likewise, Shining Armor seems to put a lot of trust in him. He's also got quite a bit of influence and finances as well. If Ah ever want my own plans to bear fruit, Ah might have to use him.

With a frown on her face, Apple Bloom grabbed the amber scrying crystal and put it back into her bags before heading over to the stream to take another drink.


* * *


“Scoots!” Sweetie shouted out as the world flooded back into existence before her eyes. With the ground reforming firmly beneath her hooves, so too did a fiery anger and sense of embarrassment envelope her. She turned her head about and managed to spot an orange and purple blur racing away through the sky, out of reach.

Sweetie ran forward, chasing after Scootaloo. “Hey! That's not fair, Scoots! You can't just do that then run away!”

“Because I love you, Sweetie.” Scootaloo's words echoed in her mind.

“You just say that to me then run?!” Sweetie clenched her teeth and reached into the pool of magic within herself and began weaving a familiar pattern with her magic. “I don't think so!”

I decided never to use this spell again, after what happened to my body. Sweetie shook her head fiercely and forced the magic into place. The three dimensional sigil formed around her horn brightly, almost bright enough to blind her, but squinting past the light, she made out Scootaloo's distant form. But I decided I wasn't going to drag Scootaloo into this either. But then she has to butt in and do this to me?

“Get back here Scootaloo!” As Sweetie shouted, she threw her will against one end of the spell's sigil, and lobbed it as far as she could toward Scootaloo.

She had only a second to prepare for the disorienting lurch as she felt the world shift around her. With a pop of magic, she felt her physical senses reawaken in the scent and cool embrace of the wind, and rush of empty air beneath her hooves, as well as the familiar shiver of magic fatigue pervading her body. But just below her was her target, and she set all other feelings aside.

Scootaloo only had a fraction of a second to look up, her mouth agape in surprise to see Sweetie's furious eyes gazing down at her. “Sweetie—”

“Scoots! Don't you dare try to run away from me after what you did!”

Before Scootaloo could respond, Sweetie Belle crashed into one of her wings from above, and managed to wrap her hooves around the pegasus' barrel. The extra weight and force of the collision, caused Scootaloo to spin out of control, and she beat her wings frantically to try and regain some semblance of balance.

Sweetie felt the violent rush of wind as the world began to somersault around her. But she didn't care about that. She looked Scootaloo right in the eyes and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Coward!”

The air thrashed around Sweetie as Scootaloo somehow managed to stabilize their descent enough to have a choice of what to crash into: a large conifer just on the fringe of a nearby mountain forest, the taste of which was quite decidedly pine.

With the sharp cracking of several tree limbs, both Sweetie and her target tumbled to the ground. Sweetie landed on her side, and Scootaloo on her back beside her.

With one steadying breath, Sweetie wrenched herself off the bed of dry needles and leaped squarely atop Scootaloo. Each of her legs pinned the pegasus to the ground.

“Coward,” Sweetie repeated.

Scootaloo winced, and Sweetie was certain it was because of her words rather than the fall that they had just taken. There were traces of tears in her eyes and she tried to look away. “Yeah, I know I'm a coward. I can't change that.”

“You damn well can,” Sweetie said fiercely. “Finish what you started! You said you'd never give up, you even go as far as to say you,” she paused for a second before finishing the sentence quietly, “you love me.” Sweetie felt a flush of anger fill her face. “And then you bloody well just run away in the next second? What in Tartarus is wrong with you?!”

Scootaloo flinched. “I don't know. Probably everything.” Through no small effort, she managed to turn her gaze back to Sweetie Belle. “I'm scared.”

“Scared?” Sweetie shook her head. “Yeah, who isn't? I just teleported a hundred feet into the open air, knowing full well that I wouldn't have enough extra magic to cast a feather spell on myself if I'd missed.”

“No!” Scootaloo rebuked. “Not like that. That's nothing, it's just a few seconds. I mean real fear. Everypony has at least one thing that they really fear, more than just about anything else. It's something I've seen in dreams--nightmares. In the worst ones, they are struck with those fears.”

“What? Like a pony can't be really scared of falling?”

“No. I mean like how you are afraid of losing your mind, Sweetie!” Scootaloo's face distorted into a frustrated cringe. “You were calling out in your sleep, saying, 'I am Sweetie Belle', over and over again. But there was doubt there. There was fear. Real fear.”

Sweetie shuddered as the words struck a chord in her. “She's right you know,” a familiar voice said quietly in her mind.

“Scoddri...” she whispered.

“You're scared, Sweetie, thinking that maybe you're going crazy, thinking that maybe your mind isn't only yours. Scared that you aren't the one in control.”

The chains, this cage. Never again! The thought was not her own, yet she felt the anger, the hatred, and the need to act. To struggle. It was the dragon's voice.

“And that maybe the voice you heard... Scoddri... maybe it wasn't real... Maybe it was just something you made up to protect yourself when you were frustrated or lonely.”

“No!” Sweetie shouted. “No! Scoddri was real. He was a friend and I couldn't save him!”

“I know,” Scootaloo said. “But the doubt's still there, right? The fear. The worry. All of it. So you try to ignore it, but it lingers. Because that's what true fear is. It stays there in your mind for you to face it. You face it again and again. Hundreds of times, but it keeps coming back.”

“Shut up, Scootaloo!” Sweetie pushed harshly against Scootaloo's pinned shoulders. “If you think you know so much about all this stuff, then tell me, what makes you an expert? What's your fear?”

“You,” Scootaloo said, her voice hoarse and nearly a whisper. “You're my greatest fear. How will she react when she finds out? What if we drift apart? What if you die in some magic stunt that you do? What if you lose your body and your mind?” Scootaloo shook her head. “I know I shouldn't worry about stuff like that, but I can't help it. You're the only thing in this world that gets to me like that. The only thing. That's why I'm scared, and that's why I ran.”

“But—” Sweetie tried to interject.

“But I also know that these fears and worries have to be overcome. They cripple me, just like yours cripple you. But I can help you, Sweetie. You can have your doubts about yourself, but know that I'll never doubt for a second that you are who you are, even if there's another voice or two in your mind. I know you, and I'll always be friends with you. What you mean to me is stronger than even that chain in your mind.”

Scootaloo gave Sweetie a small smile, though her eyes bespoke of tears. Those violet eyes had always been a reassuring sight whenever Sweetie had seen them before. Whether out on a crusade, doing homework, or just spending time in each others' company, those eyes had always been the same all those years—they carried the colour of solace and a constant reminder of friendship. But to see them quavering so delicately, as if a simple flutter of an eyelid could shatter them forever, Sweetie couldn't find the words to argue.

“So,” Scootaloo continued, “it doesn't matter if you don't care about me, but I'll be here to support you. Stronger than any chain.”

“I—” Sweetie began nervously, and stepped off of Scootaloo. “You're my best friend, Scoots. I've learned to depend on you and trust you since we first met, and I've probably even taken that friendship for granted sometimes. But you were right about my fears, maybe more right than you know. If it weren't for you or my sister believing in me and trusting me, I don't think I could have continued on from that day in Canterlot. So, thank you, Scoots.”

Scootaloo pulled herself up from the ground with a small smile and a larger groan.

“But as for your... uh... confession. I don't know what to say. I'm flattered, but I've never thought of you like that. I'm sorry.”

“That's fine,” Scootaloo said with a forced smile.

“But,” Sweetie continued, and walked over to her friend, “I've never thought of anypony like that before. Ever. I've never really thought about it, so I can't give you a real answer. Not yet anyway.” She reached up to Scootaloo and pulled her into a hug. “But I know how you feel about me, so, thank you. I will tell you when I know. I promise.” Sweetie closed her eyes as she held Scootaloo in a firm, yet gentle embrace.

Thank you for putting up with me.


* * *

End of Chapter 24