Applejack opened the door after the second knock.
"Oh hey there, Sweetie Belle," she said, smiling. She removed her hat and motioned Sweetie inside. "Apple Bloom just got back from the bog. She an' Scootaloo are in her room if ya wanna head on up there."
Sweetie murmured her thanks and trotted up the familiar staircase. She could hear her friends talking as she made her way down the hallway to Apple Bloom's room. When she arrived, she stood in the doorway and knocked on the door frame.
"Oh hey, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said. "Come on in."
Apple Bloom's room looked almost the same on this day as it did the first time Sweetie could ever recall visiting. She looked at the wood plank walls, painted alternating shades of green with a few daisies added here and there as accents. Pushed up against the wall immediately to Sweetie's right was the large, blue wooden wardrobe with hearts carved into its doors that she would sometimes hide in during hide and seek. Along the wall to her left, near the middle of the room, was Apple Bloom's covered, four poster double bed—complete with pink apple blankets—which they would sometimes share during sleepovers. A toy chest painted the same blue as the wardrobe was along the far wall next to the window, and a matching dresser was directly across from the bed. Upon that dresser was a new addition to the room: a glass aquarium that held a rather large frog within.
Sweetie entered the room and sat down near the foot of the bed. "Hey, girls," she said. "What's up?"
"You missed it," Scootaloo said. She continued rapidly. "Me and Apple Bloom were at the bog, and the smell was awful, but it was so cool because we were searching for ages and didn't find anything. Until we heard this big old croak, and Apple Bloom was like 'What was that?' but I was totally relaxed and knew it was just a frog, and—"
"Hey!" Apple Bloom interjected. She pointed an accusatory hoof at Scootaloo. "You're the one who jumped back and fell into the bog!"
Scootaloo cringed, and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. "Yeah, well, I was just, um, preparing a sneak attack just in case it was a monster pretending to be a frog."
"Likely story," Apple Bloom muttered.
"It's a better story than your frog-catching skills," Scootaloo retorted, rolling her eyes. "We'd have been at that bog all day if I hadn't grabbed the jar off of you and done it myself."
"What?" Apple Bloom said, aghast. "I'll have you know that we wouldn't have even been at the bog if we didn't use my supplies! You didn't even have—"
Sweetie Belle looked away and automatically tuned out the rest of her friends' argument. They'd make up soon enough, and besides, she didn't come over to hear about frog catching, she came over to let her friends know that she'd be away for a few days. It wasn't like they'd never had time apart before, but letting them know was just a nice thing to do. She stared at one of the walls while she waited for her friends to finish.
"And they're at it again," came a voice from nearby, followed by a sigh.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Sweetie absently responded.
"Holy sweet Celestia!" came a sudden shout from Scootaloo. Sweetie glanced over to see her friend staring wide-eyed at her. "How'd you do that?"
"Scootaloo, language!" Apple Bloom scolded. "Do ya want Applejack to come up here and tan our hides?" Scootaloo wasn't paying attention, however. Her eyes were glued to Sweetie Belle.
"Seriously," Scootaloo said, oblivious to Apple Bloom's glare. "How did you do that thing with your throat?" She was grinning as if she'd just seen Rainbow Dash pull off a new aerial move.
Sweetie stood up and took a step backward. She looked at Apple Bloom. "I'm not sure what she's talking about," she said, truthfully. She glanced at Scootaloo. "I didn't do anything with my throat. Did you maybe bump your head when you fell in the bog?"
"I didn't fall into the bog," Scootaloo grumbled. "I jumped in on purpose!"
"You fell in," Apple Bloom said.
"Did not!" Scootaloo shouted.
The discussion once again devolved into an argument, and Sweetie found herself glaring at the wall impatiently. She wasn't sure what Scootaloo had been talking about, and it was unsettling that her friend would suddenly say something so weird. She absently rubbed her throat with a hoof. Certainly she would notice if something odd had happened.
"So how did you do that?" a voice asked.
This time Sweetie took notice. The voice wasn't Apple Bloom's, Scootaloo's, or even Applejack's, and it had come from somewhere above her. She looked up and saw that the frog Scootaloo had captured had its face pressed up against the glass of the aquarium. It was staring at her expectantly.
Uh oh. So that was what Scootaloo had seen. The last thing Sweetie needed was her friends thinking she had gone crazy. She stole a glance at them and saw that they were both too occupied with their argument to give her any notice. She peered up at the frog and risked a quick response.
"Not now, can't talk," she whispered.
The frog's reaction was immediate. It bounced up and down and put its webbed hands on the side of the glass.
"So you can hear me!" it exclaimed. The frog lifted a finger to its chin. "I wonder how you managed that? Anyway, that's not important. You must help me get out of here!"
Sweetie did her best to ignore the frog's outburst. Every now and again, Apple Bloom or Scootaloo would look her way, then focus back on their argument. One of them would see her if she responded, and while she didn't know exactly what Scootaloo had seen, it didn't take much imagination to figure it out. She needed to get out of there before it happened again.
"Hey! I know you can hear me," the frog said indignantly. "Get me out of here, I promise you won't regret it!"
"Um, girls?" Sweetie said. A bead of sweat ran down her face as she did her best to ignore the frog. "Girls!" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom halted their argument and looked her way. Even the frog went silent.
"Oh, sorry Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said. Any indication that she had just been arguing disappeared and was replaced with an expectant smile. "What was it you wanted to say?"
Sweetie looked back and forth between her friends. It was amazing how quickly they got over their disagreements. It was one of the things she loved about them.
"I came over to let you know that Twilight set aside a few days for some, um, special training to help me with my magic." It wasn't a lie, it just wasn't the entire truth. "It means that I'll be gone for a few days. I just wanted to let you know."
"Aww, we're gonna miss ya!" Apple Bloom said. She moved in for a quick hug. "Even if it's only a few days."
"Yeah," Scootaloo agreed. "I was gonna show you some new moves I learned on my scooter but—" she grinned—"I'll just show you when you get back." Her eyes lit up. "And you can show me all the cool magic tricks you've learned!"
"Hey!" Apple Bloom said suddenly. "Do you have time to stick around for lunch? Granny was gonna prepare some for me an' Scootaloo, but I'm sure she won't mind making a little extra!"
"Sure!" Sweetie beamed. "I'd like that very much."
"And you can sneak me out of here when they go downstairs!" the frog cried from his glass prison. "Sounds like a brilliant plan!"
Scootaloo walked over to the aquarium and looked at the frog. "Gee, he sure is a lot more lively all of a sudden. Wonder why?" She shrugged and ran over to the bedroom door. "Oh well. Let's get going! I'm starving."
"Me too!" Apple Bloom said.
"As am I!" the frog pleaded. He gave Sweetie a pointed look.
Sweetie followed her friends to the doorway and watched them trot down the stairs. She turned back to face the frog.
"I'm really sorry," she mumbled, then turned back and headed downstairs to join her friends.