The Crusade For Love

by JPTrixie-Fan

Chapter Three: Double life

School had finished and the foals were once again free to go about their business, Scootaloo’s face was still slightly red from her encounter during lunch time. She’d tried for the last three lessons to conceal her burning cheeks; naturally she failed, but she did manage to lie her way out of the inquisition by saying that she’d caught a summer cold although her yellow friend saw through the act and she was determined to get some answers. Of course Scootaloo knew her friend would be more curious than all the others in her class combined and so she tried to leave the classroom before anypony else could, at the moment the bell rang she was off in a blur of orange and purple as she fled the school.
The only problem with her escape plan was that there were only so many places in Ponyville that she could hide and unfortunately Apple Bloom had beaten her to every one.

“Alrite! Out with it Scoots.” The yellow filly commanded after finally tracking Scootaloo down and trapping her in the club house.

“Out with what?” said Scootaloo in an attempt to play dumb.

“You an’ Ah both know that flu story of yer’s is a big bag of horseapples, now Ah want ya ta tell me the truth; Why was ya face so red?” Apple Bloom teased as she stepped closer to her.

“Fine, you got me.” Scootaloo began. “I met a really cute colt at lunch, he was so sweet and nice, he even gave me lunch. Oh and guess what? He likes all the same food I do! It’s like we were meant to be!” The orange filly confessed and sat next to the table where the crusaders planned their next attempt for cutie marks.

“Sounds like ya got yaself a little crush ta me, so what’s this prince charmin’s name?” Apple Bloom said fetching out the stash of sodas and candies the crusaders had hidden for emergency snacking.

“He said his name was Silver Bell and he goes to our school.” Scootaloo said inbetween taking bites out of her chocolate bar.

“No way, ya hafta introduce me and Sweetie to him sometime.”

“Don’t worry, of course I’ll show him to you guys.”

The two fillies continued chatting like old mares as they scoffed down the sweets they’d stashed.
***

At the same time across town at Rarity’s boutique Sweetie was telling her favourite stuffed bear all about the day she had; she knew it couldn’t reply, but she was just so happy that she had to tell somepony or she’d burst. Of course there wasn’t anypony she could tell, how could anyone understand how she felt for her friend?

It was those feelings that pushed her so far and it would be those feelings that would ultimately allow her to finally tell Scootaloo how much she loved her, but before she could win her over Sweetie knew that she had to perfect the spell so that it would hide her voice properly as well.

“Ok, one more time!” She said fixing the large mirror she’d ‘borrowed’ from Rarity’s workshop to the wall. Sweetie concentrated on the transformation, she had to visualise each facet of her appearance from her mane to her hooves and as she focused on her voice an eldritch glow enveloped her horn spreading down to her throat. The magic became an ethereal collar that wrapped and clamped down on her neck changing her voice from the sweet higher pitch that she had always known to a deeper more masculine tone that felt alien to the filly.

“Oh Celestia, is this me?” she quizzed as she finally finished the spell and stared at the suddenly unfamiliar reflection staring back at her.
“I’m a colt, I’m a colt, I’m a colt, I’m a colt, I’m a colt!” Sweetie exclaimed in happiness as she skipped in a circle, suddenly she stopped as a thought dawned on her. She couldn’t be sick forever and eventually Scootaloo would want her friends to meet silver, what would she do then?
“I can’t be in two places at once…”
***

Sweetie had transformed back to her normal self in time for Fluttershy to cook dinner for the three of them; vegetable mousaka with roasted carrots, turnips and hey fries on the side. It was an impressive meal, but sweetie had lost her appetite after realising that her plan was doomed to failure and so she sat playing with her meal as the two elder mares ate.

“What’s the matter Sweetie?” Fluttershy asked, noticing that she hadn’t eaten a single bite.

“It’s nothing, I’m just not very hungry.” Sweetie answered as she looked at the yellow mare and put down her fork.

“Oh my, are you still not feeling well? Maybe I should stay home and take care of you.” She offered. Fluttershy had recently moved in with Rarity after they’d started dating, but it still felt a little strange for her to call it home.

“Sweetie would you like me to call my client and reschedule.” Rarity asked as she took a sip of her wine.

“No, it’s alright I just need some rest.” Sweetie lied. “I’m heading to bed, thanks for dinner.”
Sweetie got up and headed towards her room. Again she looked at the mirror and imagined her male counterpart staring back at her, how would she keep up this charade? Eventually her double life would catch up to her and when that happened how would Scootaloo react? She groaned in frustration as she stared at her reflection then finally she turned away to climb into bed.

‘At least I can eat with her tomorrow…’ She thought as she closed her eyes and hugged her teddy pretending it was the filly she loved.
***

Rain thrashed down as school started, but the orange filly didn’t mind; she was too busy thinking about lunch time and her ‘date’ with the handsome colt she’d met yesterday. Her orange cheeks became red thinking of him, the way his eyes seemed so familiar and comforting almost like she’d met him before. Finally Cheerilee entered the classroom and shook her head to dry off before starting class.

“Alright fillies and colts its time for maths…” The dark pink mare began and looked at the faces of her students. “Oh no, is Sweetie still not well?” She asked the yellow filly at the front of the class.

“Ah dunno Miss Cheerilee we ain’t seen hide nor hair of her.” Apple Bloom answered then looked at Sweetie’s empty desk. “Ah s’pose we could see how she’s doin’ after school, right Scoots?”

Scootaloo wasn’t paying attention, her mind was far too focused on her lunch date that she only half heartedly responded to the question. “Huh?... Oh erm sure.”

“Thank you girls and while you’re there could you take her the homework too?” Cheerilee asked.

“Sure Ah guess.” Apple Bloom replied looking at their teacher who’d just placed the worksheet in front of her.

Another boring lesson ticked by slowly creeping towards lunch time; Scootaloo couldn’t wait, she was so excited that each second that passed felt like ten minutes. Finally the longest five minutes of her life ticked by until the lunch bell rang to dismiss the foals, but just as it rung Cheerilee stopped her class much to the orange filly’s Frustration.

“Oh come on!” She blurted out as her teacher began telling the class about the next lesson, until they were finally allowed to leave and Scootaloo ran out of the classroom faster than a bullet.
***

The rain had stopped and Scootaloo waited patiently under the jungle gym like she did before and as promised there, behind the same tree was Silver who was carrying a large boxed lunch with him.
Silver sat next to Scootaloo and the two began talking, silver took a sip from his plum juice; Scootaloo became entranced by the white colt’s lips as they wrapped around the straw imagining her own lips in place of the straw. She shook her head to dispel the redness on her cheeks, but she couldn’t, she was fascinated by Silver; everything about him seemed familiar and kind as if they had known each other for years, but they had only just met… Her chain of thought was broken when Silver spoke, reminding the filly of just how close they were together. “Do you like the food Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo responded with a shy flush of her cheeks and a look of embarrassment “Y-yes it’s delicious, who taught you to make it? Your parents?”
Seeing this opportunity to create a common bond between the two, Silver decided to lie, its not like Scootaloo would find out she was lying and Silver did have no parents, she justified. “Actually no I’m an orphan; I was taken in by a family that lives just outside of Ponyville, on the outskirts.”

“No way!” the orange filly interrupted to the surprise of the other foal.

“W… What?!” Silver replied in shock.

“You’re an orphan? So am i! That’s amazing.” Scootaloo stated as she leant forward on her front legs to get closer to the white colt.

“Whoooa!” Suddenly the orange filly slipped on the fresh mud beneath her and landed atop the white colt, their lips accidently met causing the pair to blush furiously. It took several agonisingly long seconds for their muzzles to part and even after they did the two said nothing, both feeling somewhat embarrassed by the whole incident. Finally the bell rang for the end of lunch and Scootaloo began to get up, but she felt a hoof pull on her tail.
Turning her head she saw that Silver was blushing and looked like he had something he needed to get off of his chest, but he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with her.

Silver took a deep breath then looked up at Scootaloo. “C… can we do that again?”

Scootaloo didn’t make another sound; the request from the handsome young colt had rendered her completely speechless and made her cheeks turn red. ‘What should I do?’ she thought as Silver drew closer.

Sweetie’s mind had gone completely blank and her body moved of its own accord, she could feel herself inching closer to the other filly. Nothing else mattered to her now, like a wolf on the hunt she could see nothing but the delicate orange lips she desired so strongly. Sweetie’s breathing became heavy as she moved in on her prey, but as she reached her mark she felt nothing. There were no tender lips, only empty air.
Scootaloo had chickened out at the last moment and taken a step backwards leaving the white colt embarrassed as he sat puzzled, his lips still pursed from the kiss that never came to be.

“I’m sorry Silver, but I… I’m just not ready.” The orange filly blurted out as she ran back into the school.

Sweetie sat stroking her lip and reflecting on what had just happened as she watched her first kiss flee back into the school. Finally she decided to rise to her hooves and return to her sister’s home not wanting to get caught by her other classmates for fear they might see through the now failing disguise.
***

“That was amazing…” Sweetie thought aloud; she had taken a much longer, more isolated route to the boutique to avoid being spotted and so it didn’t matter if she spoke as nopony would hear it.
“I wish I could stay a colt forever.” Again she spoke to herself, it wasn’t like there was anypony around so it didn’t matter. As she wandered she let her mind drift freely into the wonderful fantasies that she intended to make real.

First she imagined where that kiss may lead, would Scootaloo be braver next time?
“Oh sweet Celestia there’s going to be a next time!” The white filly squeaked with joy and practiced kissing the air, again letting herself imagine every scene she would share with her friend.

Another fantasy flashed into her head; curling up next to her as they sat doing their homework, Sweetie would get stuck on a question and of course Scootaloo would show her how to answer it. Their eyes would meet and soon so to would their lips. Sweetie squealed in happiness once again and decided that she had better get to work if she wanted her thoughts to become reality.

Sweetie hopped happily through the fresh puddles enjoying large splashes she created each time she landed. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of herself in one of the puddles and stopped; the reflection was not her own but Silver’s. After shaking her head she looked back and she was met with her own face looking back, sharing the same confused expression that she bore.

“That was weird…” the white filly thought as she increased her pace.
***

Night had finally fallen and as promised the other crusaders had dropped by to deliver her homework although Sweetie cut their visit short saying that she had to get some rest due to the hay fever; of course it was a lie. Recently she had gotten more adept at telling lies and they flowed from her lips as naturally as water from a spring. In truth she hated having to lie to her friends; more specifically she hated lying to Scootaloo, but it had to be done if they were to be together.

With the face of her desire fresh in her mind Sweetie hugged her pillow and pretended it was the orange filly, she ran her hoof through the imaginary mane and kissed the soft cushion several times; finally getting carried away with her fantasy she began to roll around on her bed with the pillow before falling off in her over enthusiasm.

“Owww…” she moaned as she climbed back up onto her bed.

“Maybe I got a little carried away, I guess I’d better practise.” She joked to herself before she slid the large book from beneath her pillow and leafed through the pages to find the spell she needed. She began the spell, but as the glow engulfed her body she wondered how she was going to be both Sweetie and Silver. Finally the magic that surrounded her dissipated leaving her in the colt’s body that almost like a second life for her now. Sweetie stared at the mirror for a long time as she contemplated how to tackle her double life.

“What do I do?”
***

The next day Sweetie wandered into Cheerilee’s classroom long before the rest of her classmates, her mind was beset by the problem of her alternate persona and how she would keep up the charade in the days to come. Finally the class rolled in and the other crusaders sat next to their friend. Apple bloom was the first to talk offering a simple “Howdy” to her white friend. Scootaloo was a lot more cheerful than the other two crusaders due the events of yesterday’s lunchtime, however she hadn’t told anyone about the accidental kiss and so to the rest of the world it looked like she was just more energetic.

When Cheerilee entered the room the lessons began and very soon it was lunchtime again; the orange Pegasus filly turned to her friends with a smile that was almost unnerving and asked them to come with her to eat at the jungle gym. Immediately Sweetie’s ears perked up at the mention of the meeting place and she tried to think of an excuse as to why she couldn’t join them, but there was nothing. She’d grown used to lying, but she couldn’t think of a single thing and she was running out of time.

The crusaders sat at the jungle gym expectantly waiting for the mysterious colt that Scootaloo had been meeting each day, but after ten minutes he didn’t show.

“I errr… guess he’s running late.” Scootaloo said as she gulped back her nervousness hoping that that was really the case.

The three fillies waited under the metal frame for over thirty minutes and there was no sign of Silver; of course there never could be and Sweetie knew that as long as she waited with them Silver wouldn’t ever show.

Sweetie stood up and turned from the other fillies. “I erm… I’ve got to go to the bathroom.” She lied.

“Just hang on a few minutes… he’ll show up. I know he will.” Scootaloo pleaded and Sweetie obeyed, not having a lot of choice in the matter.

Finally the bell rang to end lunch and Scootaloo slowly stood up, a look of pure disappointment crossed her face and it hurt Sweetie to know that she was the cause. ‘If only I could have slipped away.’ She thought as she walked over to her orange friend.

“I guess he must be out sick today…” Scootaloo said her voice was calm but carried with it a sad undertone. Sweetie looked upon her friend; she knew that she’d been let down by almost everyone she’d ever met and now she’d been hurt by Silver too.
‘It’s not too late to fix this…’ Sweetie thought as she accompanied the other crusaders to the classroom.
***

School had finally finished for the day and the foals were all heading home save for the Cutie Mark Crusaders who had all ventured to their clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres, but instead of their usual antics the three sat talking about Scootaloo’s mystery colt.

“Don’t worry Scoots Ah’m sure he was just sick today is all, Ah reckon we’ll see him tomorrow.” Apple Bloom stated.

“Yeah I’m sure that he MUST have had a really good reason for not being their today. Like, maybe he couldn’t get away from his friends.” Sweetie said in defence of her alter ego; she was trying desperately to justify his absence, but she knew all too well that as long as she was there He could never appear.

“You guys are right, I’m just being silly.” Scootaloo joked, but a niggling worry lingered at the back of her mind. ‘What if it’s because I ran away?’ The orange filly fretted for a few silent moments then finally she gave voice to her secret to gain the other’s opinions.
“Guys there’s something I need to tell you… yesterday, we were eating and somehow i slipped….” She began.

“Then what? C’mon out with it Scoots!” Apple Bloom interjected.

Sweetie looked on in awe as she realised that Scootaloo was going to reveal the fact that they kissed, she turned a slight red as her friend continued.
“Ok, I slipped and somehow we ended up kissing.” The orange filly’s confession made all three blush slightly, still she continued to voice her thoughts. “Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t a full make out session. It… it only lasted for a few seconds, but afterwards he asked me to do it again…”

“Annnnd?” Sweetie asked leaning in over their small table. She knew the outcome; she was there after all, but she’d found herself becoming enthralled in Scootaloo’s story.

“Well… I panicked and ran away saying I wasn’t ready. Do you guys think he’s mad at me for not kissing him again?” Scootaloo asked; her concern now out in the open.

“Nah, he cain’t be mad for that an’ if he is then he aint worth ya time.” Apple Bloom said in her usual blunt manner.
In truth she knew nothing about love except what her family told her and even then it wasn’t very clear; just ‘it’s the most wonderful feelin’ ever lil sis’ Or ‘Eeyup’. So Apple Bloom always found herself in the dark when other ponies needed advice, but as always she did her best and this time was no different.

“Of course he’s not mad!!” Sweetie blurted out and stood up, slamming her hooves on the table as she did. “I… erm… I mean I don’t think he’s not mad, you said you weren’t ready and I’m sure he respects that.” Now Sweetie had a question she needed answered and Scootaloo was the only one she could ask.
“Was he a good kisser?”

Scootaloo’s orange cheeks were now a bright crimson and a small grin stretched across her face, but she did her best to answer. “I don’t really know; it was only a few seconds, but it did feel good.”

‘It felt good’ At that moment Sweetie wanted to sing louder than ever before, but she decided to just smile at her friend in her elation; she still had to solve the problem of how to be in two places at once, but right now Scootaloo was smiling and that was what mattered to the white filly. The rest of the day was uneventful save for the trio planning their next crusade which they decided to scrap after realising that demolition was too dangerous and therefore out of the question.
***

That night Sweetie lay in her bed looking at the fashion mirror she’d ‘borrowed’ from her sister and thought about the last few days; it was like a wonderful dream. Her plans were coming to fruition; Scootaloo was falling in love with her… ok, so it was her alter ego, but it was still her at heart.

She looked up at the ceiling; memories of the lunchtimes she shared with the orange filly floated around her mind causing her to sigh in happiness. Again she thought of wiping the crumbs from Scootaloo’s cheeks and blushed; then she remembered their kiss and how much she longed for more. Then she remembered Scootaloo’s disappointment when she didn’t show; it cut her like a dagger.

She turned back to the mirror and stared for several moments at the silhouetted reflection, but it didn’t look at all like her. It almost looked like Silver; no, it was Silver. Her reflection was that of her alter ego and it seemed like he was speaking to her. Sweetie shook her head and returned her gaze to the mirror; Silver had disappeared and her own silhouette stared back at her.

Sweetie sat up and looked at her reflection again; she was sure that she saw Silver. She was certain, but the reflection that looked back at her now was normal. She looked down at her lap and put a hoof against he forehead.
“What’s going on?” she said rhetorically as she thought about what she’d seen, then it struck her; she’d seen his reflection the other day in the puddle and both times she wasn’t in her disguise. After a few moments of thought she lay back down and tried to sleep figuring that she was so tired that she was imagining things; finally closing her eyes Sweetie fell into slumber.

Author's Note:

howdy all, sorry it took so long but it's finally here.
so what do you think so far?
please like, comment and favourite.

see you next chapter
JPTrixie-Fan

Comments

[xenomorphpinkie]

its moving along. I kinda want sweetie to go to twi for help but I know that wouldn't go good. keep it up though

[JPTrixie-Fan]

2749962
thanks for the imput, i have already started chapter 4 but due to my unpredictable work rota i'm not sure when i can finish it.
that said i hope you'll enjoy the ride.