Apple Bloom awoke with a fright from her bed, feeling as though she had just fallen into it from a balloon. She looked up to see her roof in tact, and it reassured her that she had successfully waken up from a dream. She was no worse for it in a circadian sense, as she heard the rooster crow just a moment later. She had her morning chores to get through, and after that, she could see if their efforts in the last 24 hours had turned up results. She was relieved to have gotten through the most unpredictable and dangerous segment of it, and, for the first time in a little while, she looked forward to her morning chores.
As she was helping Applejack plant new seeds in the dead part of the orchard, however, she remembered the obligation she still had. “Applejack!” she asked her big sister. “Can I cut out for a little while? I promised my friends I would meet them at the treehouse around three.”
“How come this is the first I’ve heard of it?” Applejack asked.
“I fell asleep on your back before I could mention it.” Applejack was unsatisfied by this answer, but there was no time to debate. “Sorry, I really gotta go, I’ll cover for you in the evenin’ to make up for it.”
Applejack wanted to stop her sister and talk more about it, but she was tied down by the seed cart. Frustrated, she called out, “You really expect me to seed this all by myself!” before planting a mouthful of seeds in the hole in front of her. “Nuts to this, I’ll let her do her half of the work in the evening.” She left the other direction, leaving the field half seeded.
When Apple Bloom arrived at the treehouse, she was relieved to discover that she was the first and only one there. She climbed to the lookout perch above the main clubhouse, and saw Sweetie Belle making her way to her location. She ran down stairs and called out, “Hey, Sweetie! How you feelin’ today? You better.”
“I feel pretty okay, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie called down from the ground. “Can’t really speak for Scootaloo though.”
“I like the sound of that,” Apple Bloom called out, “but I think we should bunker in here just in case.”
Sweetie began ascending the retractable entry ramp. “You know a treehouse is basically the opposite of a bunker right.”
Apple Bloom hit the top part of the ramp, causing the bottom to fall off and the top to bounce back into an erect position. “I know that. Now, are you sure you’re not still feelin’ feelin’s?”
“I’m not a robopony, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sweetie responded.
“I mean do you still love Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked severely.
“Yes,” Sweetie answered on reflex.
“Dang it,” Apple Bloom said. “We must need more time. You didn’t see or hear her in the dream, right?”
“Was it really her that was there?”
“I’ll take that as a 'no"” Apple Bloom said. “How long do I have to separate y’all?”
“Maybe we’re too different from cats,” Sweetie suggested. “I mean, ponies have special someponies and get married, but cats really don’t. Opal's mom and dad were never together…”
“What are you sayin’?” Apple Bloom asked frantically. “Do you mean you think it might be permanent?”
“Maybe,” Sweetie answered. “Or maybe it will just take a little longer.”
“How can you be so calm about this?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I don’t really mind it this way,” Sweetie admitted. “I’ve always liked Scootaloo. She was my only friend before I met you. When I was shy and afraid of trying new things, she got me to come out of my shell. I’ve always admired her. I thought about it, and I think that I’ve always wanted to fall in love with her. The potion just made it easy.”
“I think the effects are gettin’ worse!” Apple Bloom said dismissively. “Are you tryin’ to tell me, after all that, you really don’t want to get rid of the spell?”
“I do!” Sweetie insisted. “I don’t want Scootaloo to be brain washed forever if we can help it. If we can cure it, I still want to, I’m just saying I can deal with it until we do.”
“Well, before we try a longer span of time, we better talk to somepony who knows potions. I didn’t wanna bring Twilight into this, but I guessed we might have to no matter what. That’s why I picked her for my judge. I gave her the formulas to figure out a cure, and to distract her from actually punishin’ me.”
“Luna said she thought you were clever,” Sweetie recalled. “How did you ever come up with that plan?”
“Oh, that part wasn’t planned,” Apple Bloom admitted. “The whole plan was that I would confess, get the blame, and accept the consequences so that you guys would be guaranteed of not seein’ each other. The Twilight part was lucky thinkin’. ‘Specially since it seem like not seein’ each other did nothin’ for ya, so the first part was a waste anyways.”
“So,” Sweetie Belle asked, “do you want me to ‘lower the draw-bridge’ for when Scootaloo get’s here?”
“Might as well,” Apple Bloom answered, disappointed. She wanted to stay positive, so she postulated further that, “Maybe Scootaloo is better already, and only you’re gonna take some extra time.”
“Maybe…” Sweetie replied. She was reluctant to support it, even though, by all accounts, it was the best that they could hope for.
“Hello!” a raspy voice called down from below.
Sweetie rushed to discover who it was, but, to her disappointment, it was just Spike. “Hey, Spike,” she called out, “what do you need?”
“Twilight sent me here!” he said. “She says she met you three in a dream, and that you agreed to meet today. I told her she’s crazy, but she insisted I go and escort you fillies to the castle.”
“We’d love to go,” Apple Bloom called down from above, “but we’re still short a Crusader. Could you come back in an hour?”
“Sorry girls, but no matter how I feel about it, I have to do what Twilight says. It’s part of my dragon code. I’m just gonna stand here until you’re ready for me to take you there.” True to his word, Spike stood firm in his place. As he did so, though, the two ponies above noticed that Scootaloo was closing in on their location, and Spike was standing just in the mote that the scooter dug through its most tread path.
“Uh, Spike,” Apple Bloom pointed out, “I really do think you best to not stand there.”
“I told you, I have to. It’s my job as a dragon.” Spike insisted.
Sweetie Belle said, “Spike, you really don’t want to be standing there right now!”
“Guys, I’m fine standing here, what are you-” In the middle of his sentence, the little dragon was stuck from behind by a speeding scooter. He went flying into the tree the treehouse was built in, face first, causing the more ripe apples to wobble and detach.
“Sorry, Spike!” Scootaloo said quickly. “I was lost in my thoughts. I totally didn’t see-” An apple fell onto her helmet, causing a “clang” sound and disorienting her.
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie cried out, carefully climbing down the side of the clubhouse. “Are you okay!?”
“Force is equal to mass times..." after a brief moment of this incomprehensible rambling, she concluded, "Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I’m fine too, by the way.” Spike said as Sweetie Belle ran toward Scootaloo and Apple Bloom began to climb down.
“We can ride off in just a second then, Spike,” Apple Bloom answered him. “Say, Scootaloo, how are you feelin’ today?”
“Your hair!” Scootaloo cried out, ignoring Apple Bloom and Spike entirely. “It’s all burnt up! Were you in that fire?”
“Oh, yeah,” Sweetie Belle said, remembering her scorched locks. “Does it look bad?”
“You were in that fire and I wasn’t there to help you!” Scootaloo lamented. “Oh, my poor, sad, sweet, little raincloud!”
“I’m gonna go ahead and chalk you up as still nuts,” Apple Bloom remarked. “I’m gonna go get the waggon and you’ll ride us all to the castle on your trusty scooter, arlight?”
“Right,” Scootaloo answered. It occurred to Scootaloo that Sweetie might not still be feeling as fondly to her as she was yesterday, so she worried she might have betrayed herself.
To her surprise, though, she saw Sweetie smiling back at her, asking “Am I really your ‘sweet little raincloud’?”
“Um, yes?” Sweetie Belle said, unsure of whether Sweetie Belle would take that as endearing or embarrassing.
“That’s so sweet!” Sweetie said, hugging her.
“Guys!” Apple Bloom called out to them. “Can we please get a mozy on!” She and Spike had already taken their seat in the red waggon. The couple complied with haste, Scootaloo mounting her scooter and guiding Sweetie Belle to a position behind her.
Shortly, they came to Twilight’s castle. “Good afternoon, my little ponies!” Twilight greeted them from the door. “These girls didn’t give you much trouble, did they Spike?”
“Yeah, not much more than a few bruises,” Spike said under his breath.
“You fillies can follow me into the parlor, and we can discuss my findings!” The three followed Twilight as she requested. Each took a seat at a prepared chair facing a very busy blackboard, which they gauged was Twilight’s handiwork. “I’ve missed this,” Twilight admitted. “Ever since I’ve become an alicorn, most of the magic that had been troubling me has just come so easy. It’s nice having a lot of spells at my disposal and everything, but studying all of this biology, alchemy, and formulas… I just love solving long-form magical problems!”
“Yeah, who doesn’t?” Scootaloo said, directed as a joke to Sweetie. Sweetie giggled, but that was not going to distract Twilight at this point.
“What I found is very interesting. I actually had to borrow a book from Fluttershy about animal biology to understand the full extent of the difference between equine and feline when it comes to paranormal infatuation detoxification.” She could see she was losing them. “That is, how long the poison takes to stop having effects on the body and mind. You would think that, with cats, it would be longer, because an equivalent amount would be more compared to body weight. However, it seems this spell actually effects ponies much more powerfully because of the way it binds to receptors in the ponies larger brain! Bigger the cranium, bigger the impact, the harder it is to get your special somepony out of your head. Fascinating, isn’t it!?”
“So how long are we gonna need to spend apart, Princess Twilight?” Sweetie asked her.
“Weren’t you already doing since yesterday? I mean, with the cloak and all?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom answered, “but it didn’t work! I kept them apart a whole day, and they even kept from seeing or talking to each other inside a dream, but they’re still crushin’ on each other same as before!”
“Twenty-four hours is probably excessive.” Twilight said in an analytical tone. “A filly your age has a brain about fifty percent larger than a cats, so it should only take eighteen hours compared to twelve.”
“Twilight, are you listening,” Scootaloo said, impatiently, “it’s been way more than eighteen hours since Sweetie and I saw each other, but we still have feeling for each other.”
“As much as I appreciate the case you’ve provided,” Twilight replied smugly, “I’m afraid the numbers simply do not fib. Neither does my ‘detect magic’ spell!” Twilight cast something with her horn which caused all of the ponies in the room to glow red. “You see, it’s red. That means negative. So there’s no more magic going on here. Here I’ll show you.” Twilight cast a mustache spell on Spike, then cast the detection spell again. Spike glowed blue, indicating that he was magically charged. The CMC looked at each other, confused. “You’re clean, girls.”
“Then,” Sweetie Belle asked, “why do I still love Scootaloo?”
“Well,” Twilight answered, “it’s not like the last couple of days didn’t happen. You still remember it, maybe also learned from it. You probably enjoyed being synthetic marefriends with each other so much that now you want to be real marefriends.” She tried to form an analogy. “Kind of like my first day in Ponyville. I met all of my friends, Pinkie, Fluttershy, your sisters, because I was obligated to, not because I wanted to. Even though it started out that way, it was how I came to know the best friends I’ve ever had. They’ve made me the pony I am today because I chose to continue my studies here with them.” She attempted to sum up with a general moral, “Obviously it feels bad to be out of control of your destiny, but when things happen to you that are out of your control, it can present opportunities you might never have thought about, if you make the choice to take advantage of them.”
“Accepting what life has to offer you… I get it!” Sweetie Belle said.
“So y’all really ain’t poisoned anymore!” Apple Bloom said.
In relief and joy, her two friends hugged each other and jumped up and down, cheering “We aren’t poisoned! We aren’t poisoned!” in unison. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle!” they said, excitedly prancing out of the castle.
“You’re welcome girls!” She called to them. “Have a great day!” As she did, though, she couldn’t help but notice Apple Bloom still sitting in the same position, not joining her two friends in their frivolity. “Aren’t you happy, Apple Bloom? You don’t have to worry about poisoning your friends anymore.”
“I know,” she said. “It’s just, I hadn’t thought about how it would be if Scoots and Sweetie really did like each other. Will they still want to do the same things we used to? Will they still want me to hang out with them? Will I just get in the way?”
“I remember the day you met the two of them,” Twilight reminisced. “You had something in common with them that made you fast friends. That hasn’t changed yet, has it?”
“No,” Apple Bloom answered. “I guess it hasn’t. Thanks Princess Twilight,” she added, “for reminding me.”
“Don’t mention it,” Twilight replied as Apple Bloom left to rejoin her friends. She thought once more about the bond she made with her own friends, and thought that maybe what bound them together wasn’t so different. She said to herself, “Even if it changes, that doesn’t mean it’s gone…”