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A Second Chance

by Jay David

Chapter 43: Three Fillies and a Drake

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The woodlands on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres was a calm and peaceful place at this time of year, filled with not only luscious green-leafed trees, but also the songs of many birds filling the air. Deep within this area, nestled safely among the trees, was an oak, larger than any other, and within its branches was the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. On the outside of the treehouse was Apple Bloom, carefully placing a nail into a loose board on the side of the place, with a hammer in her other hoof. A few calming breaths passed before she struck the nail with her tool, forcing it in perfectly with a single blow. After backing away slightly, she placed her hoof upon the board, feeling how firm it was, and smiled. Another job well done, she thought to herself, and placed her hammer away in a nearby open tool box. To think, makin an buildin stuff was mah talent all along. Ah'd never have thunk it, if it weren't for that talent show. A smile crept onto her face. Scoots an Sweetie got theirs too, on our first try. Seems amazin. But then, ah guess that's the story with everypony's cutie mark. Looking upon her fine repair work, Apple Bloom closed her tool box before making her way inside, wherein she saw Scootaloo, making a few adjustments on the wheels of her scooter.

"Broken?" Apple Bloom asked.

The pegasus filly looked up at her, smiled and then shook her head.

"Nah. Just need to get out a few leaves that got caught in my last stunt. The moves come easy now, but all this junk gets in the way."

Apple Bloom nodded and that, making her way over to the podium at the end of the room. She glanced up at it carefully, sighing to herself. This group was made to help us find our cutie marks. But now...we have em, way sooner than ah thought we would. What do we do now? Give ourselves a new name or somethin?

"Er...Bloom?"

The earth pony turned, seeing Scootaloo give her a somewhat concerned look.

"You okay there? You kinda spaced out for a moment."

Apple Bloom giggled a little before shaking her head.

"Nah. Ah'm just thinkin. Ya know...about us getting these marks an all."

Scootaloo smiled at that, turning to look upon her own mark, that of a scooter wheel and purple lightning bolt.

"Yeah, they ARE pretty awesome, aren't they? I mean...not as cool as Rainbow's of course, but..."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes after hearing that. Here we go again, with Scoots an her Rainbow Dash obsession. So, the young filly sat down as her friend began listing off all the ways in which she felt Rainbow was the greatest pony in the world. Ah've never seen anypony so devoted ta another than Scoots is to Rainbow. A thought occurred to her in that moment. Then again, it was because of Rainbow that Twilight, Applejack an the others got their cutie marks, so ah guess she's gotta have somethin goin for her. A smile crept onto her face as she dwelt on that. Those were some amazin stories the mares told us. All the trouble they went through to get their marks. Sounds like some tough time fer em. Wonder how much trouble me, Scoots and Sweetie would have had ta go through if we hadn't entered that show? However, after considering that, Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she began looking around, and quickly realised that there were only two fillies here, not three.

"Hey, Scoots? Where's Sweetie?"

Scootaloo stopped her Rainbow-based rant and began looking around, before turning to Apple Bloom with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Knowing her, she's probably making kissy-faces with her new coltfriend."

Realisation crossed the young filly's face after hearing her friend's words, and soon enough, they both broke down into a bout of giggles. Eyup, her an Spike sure do spend a lot of time together these days. As the laughter died down, the two fillies looked at each other for a while, before Apple Bloom gained a smirk not unlike Scootaloo's. She gestured to the door with her head, and after looking at it herself, Scootaloo smiled and nodded in agreement. So, the two fillies raced out of the treehouse, making their way through the trees in search of their targets. It took a while, but eventually, they began to hear the distinct sound of some singing nearby. Sweet and melodic, they knew exactly who it was, and so rushed off in the direction of those pleasant sounds. After rummaging around in some bushes, they eventually poked their heads out of the other side, and sure enough, there was Sweetie Belle. She was currently standing atop an old tree stump, and before her, was Spike. The young dragon was kneeling down before her, watching with a look of rapture as the unicorn filly sang to him. It was a beautiful sound, and one that the other two fillies couldn’t help but enjoy listening to. In time, the song stopped, and Spike gave out an enthusiastic applause, to which Sweetie blushed. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo watched with held-back giggles as their friend leapt forward, embracing the young drake in a warm hug, before finally finding that they could hold back no more.

"AWWW!!!" they called out in unison.

As expected, the two lovebirds swivelled their heads around, a bright shade of crimson covering their faces as they finally noticed their impromptu audience. As Apple Bloom and Scootaloo emerged from the bushes and walked towards them, Spike stammered his words a little.

"How...how long have you two been there?"

Scootaloo smirked.

"Long enough, Casanova."

Naturally, Spike buried his face in his claws after hearing that, to which Sweetie looked at her friend angrily. However, that anger soon faded with Apple Bloom’s next words.

"That song was really good, Sweetie. Yer getting better an better every day."

A smile crept onto Sweetie's face.

"Thanks. I figured now was a good time to practice, mostly to cheer him up."

The other fillies gained a look of confusion and turned to Spike, who was still hiding his face from them.

"Somethin wrong, Spike?"

The young dragon lowered his hands and let out a sigh.

"It's nothing. It's just...I guess I've been feeling a bit distant from Twilight recently."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

"What? You're with her all the time."

Spike nodded.

"Yeah, but it's different to how it used to be. Before we moved to Ponyville, I was by her side all the time, helping her in whatever she needed doing. Now though, she's doing all this stuff I can't help with. Like that ugly black seed she had in her study the other day. She said I wasn't to go anywhere near it. And the stuff I can do, she decides to do herself. I know she thinks she's doing me a favour, giving me less work, but I just...I miss it."

The fillies all saw the look of concern on Spike's face, and knew he meant every word of it. Apple Bloom especially seemed to regard him with worry. Ah guess ah can understand that. If Applejack didn’t want me to do as much to help out on the farm, ah'd be feelin pretty down too. However, a slight look of annoyance then crossed Spike's face, his voice more irritated than before.

"And then...there's her new friend."

The shared look of confusion across the faces of all three fillies prompted Spike to explain himself.

"This owl came by the other night, and Twilight took him in. He's helping her during her night studies, when I'm asleep. And the way she talks about him...ugh...I guess..."

Sweetie looked to him, seeing the discomfort on his face, and walked towards him, placing a hoof upon his shoulder.

"You think she loves you less?"

Spike looked to her, almost shocked by the statement, and immediately shook his head.

"No! I mean...I guess...it just feels like my being an assistant doesn't mean as much as it used to. I know she loves me. I mean, heck, she practically smothers me the rest of the time, like just before we moved to Ponyville. She made this big thing about treating me right and stuff. But when it comes to my helping her...it just feels like she doesn't need me, not like the old days."

Seeing this, Sweetie let out a sigh, embracing him in a warm hug again. This time, instead of blushing fiercely, Spike simply held her in turn as she spoke softly into his ear.

"Don't worry Spike. I'm sure everything will be fine. This is Twilight we're talking about. You know she won't push you away."

Hearing that, the young dragon let out a sigh and put on a small smile, for Sweetie's benefit if nothing else.

"I know. I just...I just wish I felt as important as she tells me I am."

Next Chapter: Family Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 48 Minutes
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