“Guys! Guys!” Sweetie Belle called out to her fellow crusaders that morning as she galloped into the schoolhouse. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had been engaged in conversation with each other, and when they heard Sweetie calling for them, they turned and waved at her.
“Hey, Sweetie, what’s up?” Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie Belle trotted the rest of the way over to them and sat down on the ground to catch her breath.
“Button… Mash… Cutie… Mark… Help….” Sweetie Belle panted.
“What?”
Sweetie Belle held up her hoof, signaling that she needed a second before she could speak. When she finally caught her breath, she explained, “Button Mash doesn’t have his cutie mark yet, we should help him get it so he can figure out his destiny!” Sweetie Belle said in a flourish, her face flushed from the excitement and from running all the way to school.
“Sweetie, that’s a great idea!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle said excitedly. She smiled and her friends smiled back at her. They didn’t seem quite as happy though. “Is…. Is something wrong?” She asked.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exchanged looks. “Well... “ Apple Bloom started, “You seem to be spending more time with Button than with us…” She seemed hesitant to say this, but once she did, she seemed relieved.
“Oh.... I’m sorry. We should hang today, and I’ll make it up to you guys.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Sweetie, you don’t have to. We know you really want Button to like you, and if you want to focus on that right now-”
“No, I shouldn’t ignore you just because I have a crush on him.” She spoke somewhat quietly, but then raised her voice as she continued, “He won’t mind if I hang out with you for today, or whenever. He knows that you guys are my best friends.” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo smiled back and the three of them hugged. “Come on, the bell is about to ring, we don’t want to be late, let’s go inside.” Scootaloo said, breaking up the hug. They all had just sat down in their seats when the bell rang.
Sweetie looked over and saw that Button was already in the classroom, sitting in his seat near the back of the classroom. He must have arrived after she had, and come in before her. Which meant that he had to have walked past her… But…. Did that mean that he had overheard any of her conversation with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom?
Sweetie shook away the thought and tried her best to pay attention to Cheerilee. Throughout the day, she kept finding herself getting distracted with thoughts about Button Mash. Each time she found her mind drifting, it became harder to snap herself back into reality and pay attention to whatever it was that Cheerilee was talking about.
At the end of the day, Button walked over to her desk to talk with her, “Hi, Sweetie Belle.” He said.
“Oh, hi, Button.” She responded. A question suddenly popped into her head. “Button, why do you always call me by my full name?”
“What?”
“You always say Sweetie Belle instead of just Sweetie. Is there a reason for that?” She asked.
“Oh… Ummm…. I hadn’t realized it. I can call you Sweetie if you want.” He said. Sweetie noticed that he was blushing slightly, but she decided to ignore it.
“Just whatever you’re comfortable with.” Sweetie said. She noticed Apple Bloom and Scootaloo standing in the doorway of the schoolhouse, looking at her and Button. “Well, I’ve got to go now,” she said standing up. “I promised the girls I’d hang out with them today.”
“Alright. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” He said with a smile.
Sweetie smiled back at him as she left. She met up with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in the doorway and the three of them left.
“So where should we go today?” Sweetie asked.
“We could hang out in the clubhouse and talk?” Apple Bloom suggested.
“Or go see Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said. Sweetie and Apple Bloom laughed.
“I vote clubhouse.” Sweetie Belle said.
Scootaloo deflated, but immediately perked up again, her little wings lifting her slightly off the ground. “We could talk about getting Button Mash his cutie mark.” She said.
“But…” Sweetie Belle started. “Didn’t you guys just want to hang out?”
“Yeah, but Button is your friend, soon to be coltfriend,” Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom giggled at this, “And we want to help you. And since we can’t find anything to talk about, we might as well try and figure that out.” Apple Bloom suggested.
“Well, if you say so.” Sweetie Belle agreed hesitantly. The girls walked to the clubhouse, talking about random things. When they arrived, they sat themselves in a circle in the center of the clubhouse and then began talking about Button.
“So what is he good at?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, he’s really really good at video games. That might be his talent.”
“Playing video games? Really? Does he win a lot? His talent could be winning at video games.” Scootaloo said.
“That’s possible.” Sweetie Belle said, bringing her hoof to her chin in thought.
“Do y’all remember how Twist got her cutie mark?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yeah, she said that…. Umm…. She said she finally realized how good she was at making… What did she make again?” Scootaloo asked.
“I don’t really remember, but the point is that when she realized that she really was good at it, her cutie mark appeared. So, maybe if we can get Button to believe that he is amazing at playing video games, he could get his cutie mark.” Apple Bloom said.
“Wow! Apple Bloom, you’re a genius!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
Apple Bloom let out a chuckle, “Thanks.” She said, smiling at her friends.
“So, Sweetie, if you’re ever playing games with Button, try and convince him that he’s really good at it, and let us know if it works.” Scootaloo said with a smile.
“Why don’t we all three play together? Then we could all try, and you guys could see how good he really is.” Sweetie suggested.
“That might be fun. Tomorrow at school we should ask him about it.”
“Yeah!”
The three of them smiled at each other and then decided to leave the topic and talk about other things. At first, they couldn’t think of anything else to talk about, but then Sweetie Belle had an idea.
“So, you guys asked me if I had any crushes, and I answered, and now we’re all trying to help him get his cutie mark. So, do you guys have any crushes on the colts at school?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo blushed. Sweetie Belle gasped, “Oh! You do!” She exclaimed. “Who? Who are they?” She asked excitedly.
Neither Apple Bloom nor Scootaloo said anything at first. Finally, Sweetie Belle began to prod, “Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? One of you has to tell me. Please?” She added.
Scootaloo sighed. “Fine… I’ll go.” Sweetie Belle smiled, excited to find out who her friends had crushes on.
“You know Thunderlane’s little brother? Rumble? He’s a year older than us, not in our class, but I’ve seen him training with his brother and…” She paused, she was blushing heavily. “Anyway, the point is, I have a crush on him.”
“Awwwwww!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom said in unison.
Scootaloo blushed and turned away from her friends. “You’re turn Apple Bloom.” She said. Apple Bloom blushed heavily and her smile changed slightly.
“Umm… Well…. You guys might find it weird….”
“No we won’t. Come on, tell us!” Sweetie Belle urged her on.
“Fine… It’s ummm…. Well….. I have a crush on….” She took a deep breath. “It’s… Spike.” She said quickly.
Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were surprised. “Spike?” They asked at the same time. Apple Bloom nodded.
Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo, and Scootaloo looked back at her. Seconds later, “Awwwwwwwwwwwww!!! That’s sooooooooo adorable!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
“I totally support interspecies relationships!” Scootaloo said, trying to shrink her smile. “That’s the cutest thing ever!” She said.
Apple Bloom smiled, her face growing bright red. She turned away from her friends and tried to hide her red face. The girls giggled and talked for a little while longer.
“You guys should talk to them. Apple Bloom, you talk to Spike and Scootaloo, you could talk to Rumble, maybe even help him out with his training.” Sweetie Belle said.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom smiled and agreed. The three of them decided they would take a break from each other and focus on their crushes, only for a little while. They hugged it out and then they went home for the day.
Sweetie Belle couldn’t wait. They all had crushes and if everything went as they planned then they would all have colt friends! She was so excited, both for herself and for her friends. She really hoped at the colts would fall for them. Oh, and Spike too. Apple Bloom and Spike would make a really cute couple.
Sweetie Belle thought of all this on the way home, and while she ate dinner and as she lie in bed trying to fall asleep. She might have even dreamed of the six of them happy and just being together. She slept with a smile and woke with a smile and was excited for what was to come.