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Sweetie Crush

by Ceehoff

Chapter 10: Chapter X

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Sweetie Crush

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

Sweetie Belle's eyes opened. She could see a dark wall of shadow lurk in front of her eyes. Her eyes were mucky and thick with sleep. Her cheeks were once again crusty with dried tears from crying herself to sleep last night.

Ugh... She did not want to remember the kind of day she had yesterday. However, fate was cruel and it kept on reminding her of the sights she did not wish to see again.

Connor's disappointed face...

All the foals in the class laughing at her...

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's glares of disapproval...

Their mental voice, repeating, "You're kicked out, Sweetie Belle"...

Connor saying, "That's karma, isn't it?"...

She looked out the window. The sky was a dark, blue-ish purple with no hint of yellow or orange. Princess Celestia did not even start to raise the sun yet. Crickets' soothing chirping was muffled behind the window glass, still signaling the time of rest and darkness.

What time was it?

She lifted her heavy, sleepy head and it creaked. Ow... She turned her head, looking at a platinum colored blob. She rubbed her eyes with her hoof, warm and fresh from underneath the covers. After giving a thorough rub, she sleepily glanced at her alarm clock.

"One o'clock?! In the morning?!" she squeaked hopelessly. Then, she dropped her head back on top of the pillow, sighing frustratedly. So the bad day decided to wake up early and give her a bad time. How lovely... She loved the smell of crappy days in the morning.

Well, it should be no problem. All she had to do was go back to sleep. She still had about seven to eight hours of sleep.

Right?

----------

"Sweetie Belle! Wake up! Early bird gets the worm!" her mother called.

What was the use of telling her to wake up when she already was?

For hours?

She could feel her eyes singing with deprived sleep. Massive bags were underneath her green eyes, and her hair looked like a vulture had made its nest in there. She desperately wanted to expel a pitiful whine from her throat, but she could not manage to push it out. She sat miserably in her bed and wanted to pull the covers over her troubled head. However, if she did that, then she would have to listen to her mother's nagging barking. Her ears had hurt enough. She did not want them to feel worse. She was going to have to leave the bed anyway.

She pushed the covers off of her weak body and slowly sat up, peeling her cheek and haggard mane from her pillow.

Was that the door creaking or was that the sound of her back?

She slid off of her mattress. As soon as she touched the floor, she nearly fell forward. The limbs in her legs were weak, hardly keeping her small torso up. All around her, she felt like the air was going to crush her, engulfing her like a cocoon. Her mind was filled with assumptions of what sort of horrible things would happen today.

This was going to be a long day.

----------

She shot her snout up in the air as she stood outside Rarity's boutique. She did not desire to walk into some traitor's house. Rarity was her "un-sister" now, and she was pretty adamant about it. She was fine just sitting outside.

She knew Connor was probably still mad at her now, but what was taking him so long? She had been sitting outside for about twenty minutes, waiting for him.

Then again, why should Connor walk beside her? She went through a lot of work into separating Connor from Fluttershy, the kind of work that could have used for something more important. Plus, not only did she hurt Connor, but she had hurt herself. Her reputation. Now, whenever he looked at her, she was nothing more than a troublemaker, a desperate lover who would do questionable, hurtful, ugly things to get what she wanted. To put it simply, he only saw her as a foal.

Then, the door suddenly opened. Sweetie Belle hopped around with remaining joy to her see her favorite colt.

It was actually Rarity, who was staring at her blankly and snobbishly. Her little sister returned her gaze.

"Sweetie Belle," the mare stated.

"Un-sister," responded the little filly.

They shared a moment of silence, mentally insulting each other of their looks and reputation.

"If you want to know where Connor is, he already left for work."

Sweetie Belle's eyebrows peaked in shock.

Rarity continued to speak. "So, you will have to walk yourself to school today... or for days, perhaps."

The filly lost the staring game as she buckled her knees together and whined. "I can't do that! I need an older pony to walk me there!"

"Ask a cop," Rarity half-heartedly stated as she closed the door firmly in her face.

Sweetie Belle hung her head and heaved a massive groan.

He did not even bother to wait for her. That was tally number one on the list. She turned toward the school and began to trudge...

Alone...

----------

Sweetie Belle and Connor sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G read a note passed to her.

She knew whose hoofwriting it was: the pink, snobby filly wearing a tiara. The picture was drawn by her idiot friend with the grey, braided mane and a silver spoon imprinted on snobby, uptight, fat a--.

She crumpled it up and "sneezed" on it.

"Miss Cheerilee?" she asked the teacher, waving the scrunched paper in the air. "Can I throw this away?"

"Yes, Sweetie Belle, you can, but you don't really have to ask again. Are you sure you don't have a cold?"

"No, I accidentally breathed in my pencil shavings."

"Oh, okay. Well, anyway, class, Talon, the Second King of the Griffons signed a treaty with the ponies that..."

The little filly walked up to the small wastebasket directly beside Cheerilee's desk and tossed the "tissue" into it. As soon as she turned around, she saw the giggling pair of snobs. Darn those two. Darn those two to Pony Heck! That was the fourth note that they had passed to her.

She glanced over to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, who were deep into the rhetoric of Cheerilee, not paying attention to the lovesick filly. It put her even more into the dumps. They were giving her the silent treatment, which was appropriate to the damage she had done against the regulations of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She did not have the will to smile apologetically and innocently at them. Heck, it was hard just trying to see them. Her eyelids were so heavy and her eyeballs felt dry like sand. She could feel her head rock back and forth like she had dumbbells for earrings.

Boy, did those pages in her book look airy and soft... Maybe if she could just rest her head on it and close her eyes for a few seco--.

"Hopefully, I'm not boring you, am I?" Miss Cheerilee asked, giving her a stern glare.

"Huh--? Wha--? Oh, no. I'm sorry. It's just... I'm tired."

"Are you sure you're feeling all right, Sweetie Belle?"

"Maybe a little feverish," the filly responded, touching her forehead.

"Love feverish?"

"Yes, Diamond Tiara, lov-- Hey!"

All the foals in the room laughed, except for the Crusaders and Miss Cheerilee.

Celestia, how Sweetie Belle hated Diamond Tiara.

BRRRRIIIINNNNNNG!

"Oh, it's time for recess! Have fun, my little ponies!"

Everypony cheered and stampeded out of the building. Finally, a chance to wake up. The tired unicorn shifted her rear off the seat of her desk and ran to the door, nearly tripping over her own hooves.

"Sweetie Belle! Can I talk to you for a second?" Cheerilee asked.

The unicorn stopped in her tracks, nearly falling on her face. She turned back around and meekly walked up to her.

"I'm sorry, Miss Cheerilee, for nearly sleeping, I just..." she began.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry," the teacher stopped her, looking apologetic herself.

"What for?"

"For telling your secret..."

"Oh... that," Sweetie Belle hung her head. "It's not... well, to be honest, it is partly your fault..."

"I completely agree with you. Go on."

"Well, it's actually Rarity's fault. I made her swear not to tell and she did. She told you. I just don't really understand why you would go as far as to tell it, but I guess it doesn't matter now. Everypony knows now."

"Wait, Rarity told me?"

Sweetie Belle was about to speak, until she was cut off by confusion. "Well... who else would know my secret but her? Surely, she told you, right?"

"She didn't tell me."

...

"What?"

"She didn't tell me. The secret Rarity told me was that River Dance was going to propose to Willow at the baby shower in a few days... Oops... Oh, please keep that a secret. I just don't know what it is about me and secrets nowadays."

"Okay, but if Rarity didn't tell you... Then, who did??"

"Diamond Tiara."

"WHAT??"

"She said she wanted to do this because she wanted to be your friend and said she did not want you to feel ashamed for falling in love with a colt who was older than you. There is nothing wrong with that, you know. With everypony supporting you, then you would not feel so ashamed anymore and feel happy. Apparently, you see how that turned out."

"Diamond Tiara... She... Rarity..."

"Again, I apologize for all this trouble I caused you. I was so foolish to take that chance. Maybe that is why you're feeling so down and dreary today. I'm so sorry."

"It... It's okay, Miss Cheerilee," crept out of her mouth subconsciously. She was lost in her own thought, filled with utter guilt.

So, Rarity did not sell her out after all. She still cared about to her to not reveal her dark secret, which was still revealed. All of those things she said to her big sister... Oh, Celestia, she felt like she was going to vomit.

"Do I really need to owe her an apology... A big one..." Sweetie Belle muttered to herself.

However, her big sister was not the only one she needed to owe an apology to.

She resumed her way out of the school building. She turned her head left and right. She had to find Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and convince them to take her back. The playful screeching of a nearby filly made her brain cringe in disturbance. Normally, that sound would not affect her, but today from being so tired and deprived of sleep, she was more sensitive to loud noises.

To her luck, she found them sitting on one of the lunch tables next to the playground. Her heads were low between their shoulders, which signified that they were deep in thought, thinking about what to do to get their cutie marks. She looked at her own flank, bare as a snail without its shell. Even though it was yesterday that got kicked out, she really missed working with them to earn her cutie mark.

"Well... here goes."

She walked slow up to the lunch table. Her nervousness grew every inch she walked. They just looked so intimidating from behind.

"So what are we going to do now? Painting? Sculpture?" she heard Scootaloo ask.

Sweetie Belle felt a nervous chill crawl up her little spine.

"Well, sculpture's outta the question. Remember when we tried ta put together that table when we were sleepin' over at Fluttershy's? Yuck."

Just hearing their voices made her feel like turning back, but she knew she had to come back to them. She wanted her cutie mark just as desperately as she wanted Connor. However, she was not so sure anymore. Would he ever like her now?

"Oh, yeah... What abooouuuuuut... bungee jumping?"

"Nah, we already tried that."

"Uhhh, hey, girls," Sweetie Belle meekly spoke.

"We did? Dang... Well, how about pottery?"

"Girls?" the unicorn said louder.

"Hey, yeah! No, wait. Didn't we do that just a month ago?"

"Ugh, I can't remember!"

"Girls!" she squeaked.

The two little fillies exhaled through their noses and turned to the little filly. So much for their silent treatment.

"Yes?" Scootaloo spoke first.

"Hey, girls. I... I just want to apologize for what I did. For... you know..."

"Rocking on your dreamboat behind our backs?"

"Yeah... That's it..." Sweetie Belle spoke shyly.

"Plus, you did it just after you swore not to..."

"Yeah... That, too... I'm really sorry, girls. I made a mistake, and I feel really bad about it. Will you guys forgive me and take me back?"

"No..." Apple Bloom answered firmly.

"N... No? Wh-wh... I... I'm sorry!"

"We forgive ya, Sweetie Belle, but we ain't takin' ya back."

"Why??" squeaked the distraught, white unicorn.

"You broke the rules," Scootaloo said. "It was even a rule that you came up with. You broke your solemn promise!"

"I know! I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Just give me another chance!"

"We have, and you blew it! We had a goal, Sweetie Belle: to get our cutie marks as quickly as possible! The number one and most dire goal we had. So dire, that we couldn't even wait."

"Time is money, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom spoke. "And ya spent most of it tryin' to get a colt who is already datin' and older than you! He's outta your league."

The scolded filly was about to correct her, but her guilt got the best of her and kept her in a cage.

"We wanted ta get our cutie marks together, but you were too busy tryin' to attract a colt who is off-limits. I know Connor's a nice feller to you, but yer swimmin' the wrong creek. Yer fightin' a battle ya can't win. It's a waste of time. Yer wastin' our time makin' us wait fer you, and we can't take it anymore. If yer not gonna go along with the ride, then we're gonna hafta leave without ya. Ah'm sorry, Sweetie Belle, but that's how we feel."

"You know how desperate we are to get our cutie marks. We are all in this together. Well, we were," Scootaloo took the wheel.

"But, girls!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "I can change! I can't get my cutie mark on my own!"

"You'd better start getting used to it."

"You're my friends! Why are you doing this to me?"

"Real friends help other friends learn," the farm filly replied simply. "That's what we're doin' right now. If yer goin' to purposely abandon us for your needs, then why should we bother keeping up with you?"

"Well, real friends forgive and help other friends!" Sweetie Belle said, pointing an angry hoof at them. "Plus, you know what? I think that rule is a stupid rule! What's wrong with love? There's nothing wrong with love!"

"You'll lose yourself if you have too much of it!" Scootaloo said. "Just like what's happening to you now! Why do you love Connor so much? Other than the fact that he was a human once, he's just a colt!"

"How dare you!" the unicorn nearly shrieked. "He's not just a colt! He's like my older brother! He's like a friend I never had! You don't even compare to him! He treats me the way I want to be: respected! You two are just so caught up into getting your cutie marks that don't even know what it feels like to be treated that way! You know nothing! Nothing, I tell you!"

"What about us?" Scootaloo asked hypothetically. "We gave you respect. We treated you like the friend we never had. We cared for you, yet you say we don't even compare to him?"

The burning flame that resided in Sweetie Belle's heart just extinguished. She really just said that in front of them in their faces? She was just so lost in her frustration, that she never realized the things she said until too late.

"N... no! I... I didn't mean--!"

The pegasus leaned closer to the farm filly. "You see what I mean, Apple Bloom? Losing yourself..."

"No!" the unicorn denied anxiously.

"If that's the way you feel about us, then don't bother coming back."

Sweetie Belle's eyes were filled to the brim with tears. At first they were sad, but then, they became angry. She stomped her little hoof.

"You're selfish! Both of you! You can't do this to me! I'm your friend! You care too much about are your stupid cutie marks over your best friend is asking for your forgiveness and help! What kind of friends ignore friends?! Well, you know what? I think that is a stupid rule! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Real friends help friends regardless of rules! That's what true friendship is! But, NO! You two are ditching me for your own desires! Come to think of it, look who's talking about ditching friends for his or her own desires? You two are hypocrites! Well, fine! If that's how you two are going to be with me, then screw you two!!" (She heard Connor say that enough times for her to learn from it.) "You two are dead to me now! The only one who's alive to me is Connor! When we are together, you'll both be nothing! Good-bye, un-friends!"

With that, the little filly stomped off in anger, the kind of anger she had not experienced since the time Rarity was stubborn about not going to the Sisterhooves Social with her. The two little fillies sitting on the desk watched on, hurt, affronted, and mad.

Then, Sweetie Belle stomped off to the farthest tree from the playground, collapsed on her front, buried her face in her hooves, and cried.

What was the point? With Connor still upset with her, there was no way she was going to prove to them that they will be together. She did not want to crawl back to them and prove them that she could not do it. She would show them. She would show them! She would show them all that it would be possible.

However, how was she going to get Connor to fall in love with her again? She did not have much time. It was not because of anything important coming up in the future. No, she just wanted it to be done. She was too impatient.

An ugly thought entered her mind. If she had any sanity left inside of her, it wished itself gone, so it would not get involved with what she was about to do next.

After school...

----------

"The nerve of Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Saying all of those things to us! It's unforgivable! She called us hypocrites! We're not the hypocrites, she is! We're her friends! Well, used to be..."

"Hmm..." Apple Bloom nodded half-heartedly, looking in a direction away from the pegasus.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothin', I was just lookin'."

"Jeez, and you're not even paying attention..."

"Ah was! It's just... look! See that?" the country filly pointed at a window looking into the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner.

"What?" she asked as she squinted.

Through the window, a long, glossy, waxy rope of taffy was being tugged and stretched in the taffy puller. As the stretched ropes intertwined with each other, their surfaces melted into each other, making one huge, delicious rope of taffy again.

"Look at that taffy! By it's green color, ah'd say it must be Granny Smith flavored! Mmmm, mah favorite!"

"Ew," Scootaloo winced.

"No, not mah Granny Smith, Granny Smith apples! Gee whiz, Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom gave her shoulder a firm bunny punch.

"Oh, right. But still, that sounded weird."

"Oh, hush. Mmm! That looks so darn good! Ah could just leap in and eat it all!"

"Yeah, and get your mane stuck in it," the pegasus chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Like that time when all the three of us were trying to get our cutie marks for making taffy."

The farm filly shared a laugh. "Yeah! We were such a tangled mess."

"Ha! Yeah, good times..."

The two fillies stared awkwardly into space.

Scootaloo cleared her throat. "Yeah, whatever. Good times. Whatever. I'm still mad at her."

"Yeah, me, too," Apple Bloom thrusted her nose up into the air.

"WAAHHHHHHHH!! My hair is ruined!" a mare bawled as she ran past them. Her hair was a dyed mess of blues and pinks.

From where the bawling mare ran stood two ponies standing in the doorway of a salon, a tall one and a smaller one. The taller pony glared at the smaller one, who blushed sheepishly. A gold tag labeled, "Intern," was pinned on her pink polo shirt. She glumly hoofed it over to the taller pony, who snatched it out of her hoof.

"Uh, oh," the yellow farm filly chuckled. "Somepony had a little accident."

"Remember when we tried to do that?" the little, orange pegasus laughed. "She looked like a freaking circus clown! Too bad we didn't get our cutie marks, though... Still, that was hilarious!"

"No kiddin' we didn't get 'em!" Apple Bloom said. "We had no plum idea how to dye somepony's mane. Still, ah enjoyed it. It was purty fun! It was Sweetie Belle's idea."

"Yeah, she sure had an idea going. I..."

They both stared blankly into the distance once more.

"Yeah... Sweetie Belle..." they both mumbled.

Their blank stares were broken when they heard the sound of crying. They turned to a little colt who was sitting on his haunches, tearily eyeing a lollipop, lying broken and shattered on the ground. Standing next to him was an Irish-green pegasus filly with a curly, orange mane, holding her lollipop tightly in her mouth by the handle. Seeing that the colt was stripped of his treat, she smiled warmly and tapped his shoulder with her wing. Wiping his eyes, he saw the filly lend him her own in her other wing. The little colt smiled through his tears and took the lollipop meekly like a shy sheep. The pegasus sat down next to him and placed a gentle hoof on his back as he happily licked away on his candy. However, in between his licks, he made sure to give the filly a hug. Then, they both scampered off, chatting happily, leaving the farm filly and the orange pegasus hanging their heavy heads.

"Oh, who are we kiddin'?" Apple Bloom sighed hopelessly. "We are hypocrites."

Scootaloo was about to argue. However, she could not. It was true. "She's right. We did ditch her for our own desires."

"It was more than wantin' to get our cutie marks that formed this club. It was friendship. In fact, it was her idea to start this club, too."

-----

"Ooh! We could form our own secret society!" Sweetie Belle said, raising her hoof.

"I'm liking this idea," Scootaloo gestured to the little white filly.

"A secret society! Yeah!" the farm filly pondered.

-----

"That's right," the orange pegasus said softly. "She did."

Apple Bloom beat her little chest with her small hoof. "Well, we won't be hypocrites anymore! Sweetie Belle needs our help! For friendship's sake, the Cutie Mark Crusaders will be reunited once again! Come on, Scoot! We got a filly to find!"

"Oorah!" cheered the little pegasus.

"To Sweeti-- Wait, what?"

"'Oorah'."

"What in tarnation is that?"

"It's a kind of cheer. Connor told me that these guys called the 'Marines' back on his world use that."

"Whatever... To Sweetie Belle's house!"

In an eyeblink, the two fillies scampered off, willing to find their unwell friend.

----------

"Sweetie Belle's not here?" said Apple Bloom.

"No, girls, she's not," the little unicorn's mother replied. "I'm sorry about that. Did you two want to play with her?"

"Well... We really came to apologize to her for something we did to her earlier today during school," Scootaloo replied, brushing a meek hoof over the welcome mat.

"Well, that's very nice of you, girls, but I'm afraid you came at a bad time. She said she had to do something, but she didn't tell me what exactly."

"Well, okay, ma'am. Thank you," the country filly nodded. "When she comes home, tell her what we came for."

"I will, girls."

"Thank you," they both said in unison, though it did not sound very enthusiastic.

"That's kind of weird..." Scootaloo said, scratching her head. "Sweetie Belle always goes home the moment school ends."

"Ah'm sure it's fine. We'll see her tomorrow. We'll tell her then."

"I guess so. Tomorrow, then."

The two Crusaders hopped off the front steps and began walking in the direction toward the treehouse, where they always meet. As they walked, they took a moment to calm themselves from worrying by admiring the surroundings around them. The air smelled moist and clean like fresh laundry. The sun was beaming brightly, which made the temperature slightly hotter than yesterday, but not so hot that it would cause one to sweat just by walking. The color of the green leaves shone brightly against the sea-blue sky, which was ornate with small, fluffy clouds.

"It's certainly a nice day, don'tcha think, Scoot?" Apple Bloom asked her fellow Crusader.

"Yeah," the pegasus replied in awe. "It's pretty hard to stay depressed on nice days like this. Everything's just really happy and bright in color! The trees, the buildings, the sky, the grey rainbow, Sugarcube Corner, the--."

Grey rainbow?

"Well, somepony's not showing any colors today," scoffed the bow-wearing pony. "What's the deal here? Let's check it out."

They kept the bland rainbow in their eyesight as they ran past crowds of ponies. Eventually, they were out of the town and were heading into the forest. They dodged past trees and big bushes, never allowing their target to get out of their sight. Then, they ran into a flat piece of land, free of trees, making a big hole in the forest. There, they saw the end of the grey rainbow. Right next to it was a vacuum cleaner, which was on its side, as if it were left there in a hurry.

"Huh, well ah'll be darned!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "Somepony had just gone and stolen all the glow from that rainbow!"

"Rainbow?" Scootaloo asked.

"Uhhh, yeah, Scoot. It is a rainbow. Well, it was before somepony tampered with it."

"No, Rainbow! Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo hopped up and down, ecstatic to see a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail resting on a cloud. "Omigawsh! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Down here!"

The pegasus' head poked out from underneath the cloud. "Hey, kid..." she said. She did not sound very thrilled or happy.

Her little fan's face twisted in confusion and hurt. Did she do something? What did she do? All she did was say "Hello".

"What's wrong?" Scootaloo called. "I'm sorry for whatever I did! I'll do whatever you want! Just name it!"

"Whoa! Easy, tyke! It's not what you did, it's what your friend, Sweetie Belle, did!"

The sound of the filly's name grabbed Apple Bloom's attention. "Wait... Sweetie Belle, ya say??"

"Yes. Just a few minutes ago, I was using this rainbow to practice my totally awesome new tricks! You know, circling around it, corkscrews, backflip around it, when all of a sudden, I realized that all of the color was being sucked out of it. I saw Sweetie Belle with the vacuum and I went WHOOSH directly down to her saying, 'Hey! Do you mind? I'm trying to do my awesome tricks. I can't practice my tricks around a grey rainbow!' Then, she grabbed my sleeping cloud with her magic and tore a piece off of it, and I was like, "Hey! What gives?! This is my sleeping cloud! Stop it!' Then, she asked me for one of my feathers, and I said, 'Heck, no!" She tried to grab one, but WHOOSH! I got away before she laid her teeth on it. Suddenly, this army of rogue ponies appeared out of nowhere. She told them to grab one of my feathers like they were her slaves, and then, I said, 'Oh, you wanna do this the hard way? We'll do this the hard way!' So, WHAM! POW! WHAP! SWISH! BAM! I defeated them all! Then, one hundred more jumped me! And--!"

Scootaloo was lying on ground on her stomach, soaking in what Rainbow Dash was saying like she was listening to an epic story told by a legendary pony hero.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. Bequethed with her older sister's trait of picking up lies, she simply said, "Come on, Rainbow Dash. That's hogwash."

"Hogwash?? How is it hogwash?? It's true!"

The farm filly walked over to the vacuum cleaner and picked up the long nozzle with her mouth. The long, plastic nozzle was bent directly at the middle. In between the cracks of the broken plastic, there were pieces of hair in different colors. The filly stared at Scootaloo's role model, looking unimpressed.

"You think that's my hair?? That could be anypony's hair! I don't know what you're tal--OW!" She clenched the top of her cranium, which was swollen and throbbing in pain.

The farm filly blinked, still unimpressed.

"What?!" Rainbow Dash asked, still feeling the energy from telling her story of "heroism".

Apple Bloom blinked again, not changing her displeased expression.

The pegasus growled. "Fine! Ugh, you're just like Applejack! Here it is: Sweetie Belle knocked me out with that stupid vacuum cleaner hose and took one of my feathers while I was knocked out. You happy now? Ugh, I can't believe I let a small foal make a fool outta me! Now, the Wonderbolts would never enlist me!"

"Thank you for being so honest," the farm filly said, rolling her eyes. "Sheesh."

"Now, that's weird," Scootaloo said. "What does Sweetie Belle want with a rainbow's glow, a bit of a cloud, and one of Rainbow Dash's feathers? It doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't," Apple Bloom said, scratching her head, looking confused herself. "Not one bit. Nothin' could really be done with any of those things. It just sounds so--."

The yellow filly stopped talking almost immediately. Her little head flinched upwards, causing her big, red bow to flop over her mane before springing back up again. Her pensive expression immediately changed to fright and realization of an epiphany that something really, really bad was going to happen.

"Ohhhhhh, dear..." she whispered.

"What? What is it?" her pegasus friend asked, craning her neck for her face to meet Apple Bloom's.

"A tuft of cloud, a bright rainbow's glow, stir with a pegasus feather, fast, not slow..." she muttered.

It was Scootaloo's turn to look frightened. "Wait... Why does that sound so familiar? 'A tuft of cloud'..."

"'A bright rainbow's glow'..." Apple Bloom continued.

"'Stir with a pegasus feather'..."

"'Fast, not slow'..."

"Which means... she's making the... the..."

...

If there was a symphony orchestra following them around, the sound of a violin shrieking to a crescendo would sound appropriate right about now.

"Oh, no!" both fillies whimpered.

----------

"Connor! You're here!" Sweetie Belle squeaked happily.

"Hm, yeah," he unenthusiastically said. "Care to tell me why I'm here? I've got a lot of work to do at the bar. This had better be worth the trouble trying to convince Cherry Limeade."

It was just as she expected. Still upset. However, it was part of the plan. She fell onto her haunches and stared meekly at the red, pink, and white patterns of the blankets lying upon the grass. She took a deep breath.

"Look... I called you here because... I want to apologize for framing you with Lily..."

"And...?" he asked, eyeing her in test.

"Annnnnd, showing those photos of you two to Fluttershy. It was wrong of me to do that, which costed you your relationship with her."

"Right," he huffed.

"I'm really sorry, Connor. You want to know why I asked you here? Well, earlier today after school, I was going to cheer myself up by making some punch at home. My favorite kind, 'Berry Blend". I made a little too much. So much, that I couldn't drink it all by myself."

"Sooooo..." the colt trailed off, not getting her concept.

"I'd like to make a peace offering. I want to give you some, because I thought just saying, 'Sorry,' was not going to be enough. Plus, I would like your opinion on how it tastes."

----------

BAM!

"MISS RARITY!!" the two Crusaders shouted at the top of their lungs, causing the white mare to nearly gore her eye out with a needle.

The unicorn fumed in her place. "Honestly! Why is it that every time I try to do something involving needles that somepony loudly intrudes, and I nearly skewer myself!? Honestly!!"

"Miss Rarity! Omigawsh! Miss Rarity! Omigawsh!..." they shouted, hopping in front of the put off unicorn.

"Girls, girls! What's going on here?"

The two fillies were both shouting at the same time. They were like two record players, playing loud songs that were not even the same. All Rarity could hear was, "Sweetie Belle!", and "She's going to--!", and "It's going to be a disaster!", and "You gotta come with us! Hurry!"

"GIRLS!!" the fashionista shrieked, silencing them. "One at a time! What's going on?"

"It's Sweetie Belle! She's lost her mind!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Sweetie Belle?? What's--?"

"She's gone amuck!" Apple Bloom intervened. "She's runnin' wild as a goose on a sugar rush! Ya gotta help us, Miss Rarity!"

"Why--?"

"She's made the love poison! She's gonna use it on Connor!" the pegasus said.

Rarity gasped. She remembered the love poison. She remember that frightening Hearts and Hooves Day. She remembered seeing love-poisoned Miss Cheerilee smash a huge hole into the front of her boutique just when she heard love-poisoned Big Macintosh from outside. She remembered sitting and gawking in absolute defeat in that massive hole. She had to pay a very large amount of money to repair that hole when she could have used that money to buy Fleur de Lis's Limited Edition "Brass Shine" shampoo, which was closed off to the market two days later. (It was a freakishly expensive shampoo. Freakish...)

"No! Not my little sister! Not my front door!" she screamed. "Lead the way, girls!"

"We don't know where she is!" Apple Bloom responded in panic.

"Fine! Then, I'll use my seeking spell to find her!" she said as she focused her magic. Her horn grew a mighty baby-blue. "We've got a filly to catch! Onward!!"

----------

Connor turned his head with his cheek facing toward the sorry filly. His face winced in discomfort and suspicion.

Noticing his uneasiness, she walked over to one of the two small glasses of a hot pink liquid, fizzing with heart-shaped bubbles. She sat herself down and looked at him, shooting a sad frown that begged for his forgiveness.

"Please? Do you forgive me?" she asked.

The colt's eyes shot up and down, looking at Sweetie Belle and the two glasses of sketchy liquid. When he looked back up at the little filly, she smiled weakly with her head sunk between her shoulders.

The colt's suspicious frown turned into a warm smile. As hurt as he felt that he was separated from Fluttershy, he thought it was so noble of her to apologize for the wrong she committed... which was originally his wrong. Plus, he was not the kind of guy to not be unforgiving, unless somepony did something really dastardly to him.

"Aw, how could I stay mad at you?" he smiled, which set the filly's heart afloat. "You're very considerate."

"Thanks, Connor! I'll never do anything like that ever again! For you! So, does this mean you will--?"

"Yeah. From standing over here, I'd say that punch looks pretty damn, I mean darn good! I can tell."

"I can assure you it is," she smiled with pride. At least, it will be for me... soon! she squealed to herself.

----------

A white unicorn, a yellow filly, and an orange, flightless pegasus were brushing through bushes, leaves, and past the trees as fast as their legs could carry them. Beams of sunlight flickered over their coats like fireflies flying at high speed. Panting and the whacking of branches against their bodies overwhelmed the noise of the chittering squirrels and singing birds.

"Are we there yet?" Apple Bloom asked through her panting.

"Almost there! Hurry before it's too late!" Rarity said with her head tilted down, so her horn would lead.

"It might already be too late!" Scootaloo said.

"Well, we'd better git there before anymore damage is done!" the farm filly said to her pegasus friend.

----------

"Whoo!" Connor hooted. "That smells good. It smells so strong with flavor. You really must've put a lot of work into it as well as love."

"Yeah... 'Love'," she smiled, giggling to herself in excitement.

She shut her eyes and imagined herself getting kissed on the cheek by her favorite colt. It was going to happen in only a few seconds. She could hardly stifle her squeal of joy. The moment had finally arrived! After so much work she had put into, she would finally achieve her dream being Connor's favorite little filly.

"Why are you shutting your eyes?" she heard his voice behind her eyelids.

"Oh! Sorry, I, uhhh, got something stuck in my eye. It's nothing!"

"Oh, okay. Well, down the hatch!"

She shut her eyes again, eagerly waiting for sounds. His chugging throat as it gulps down the liquid, the lovestruck gasp escaping his lungs, his corny yet lovely confessions of his love for her... She could not wait!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The screaming of a familiar voice immediately demanded Sweetie Belle to open her eyes. All she could see was a white and purple blur dive between her and Connor, knocking the glass out of the colt's hoof before he could sip in one drop. Also, as it passed by, it knocked over the filly's glass, too. The blur landed, sliding over the grass, skidding to a stop. That color of the pony's coat... that purple, wavy, fabulous mane... It belonged to...

"RARITY!!" Sweetie Belle shrieked at the top of her lungs. "You idiot!! Look what you've done!"

"Yeah, Rarity, what the hell?" Connor said sounding almost frustrated as the little filly. "I was going to drink that!"

"That was close!" shouted Scootaloo as she and Apple Bloom ran up to the picnic blanket.

"Scootaloo? Apple Bloom? What are you doing here??"

"Connor, don't drink that liquid!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, pointing her hoof at the stain of the hot pink drink.

"Why not? It's punch! Punch that Sweetie Belle made for me."

"It's not punch!" Scootaloo said. "That's--!"

All of a sudden, Rarity was right next to the colt, smiling drearily. A little pink stain resided on her bottom lip. Her eyes were glowing red and pink expanding rings. She leaned really close to the colt, who was backing way up in confusion and discomfort.

"Rarity?" Connor stammered.

"Oh, Connor, I... never noticed how so... ravishing you are."

"Come again??"

"Connor, I... I...!"

"What?? You're what??"

"Connor, I... I...!

"Spit it out already! Are you okay?"

"Connor," she said not taking her eyes off of him. "I... I'm in love with you!!"

"Ohhhhhh, you have got to be kidding me! Not you, too! Haven't I--GURK!! You're choking me!"

"Hold me, my love! Hold me like you have never held me before! Embrace me, my lovey-dovey, willy-nilly, bitsy-witsy, cutie-patootie, schmoopum-poopums!" she said, nuzzling her soft cheek hard against his, humming happily. "Mmmmmmmmm!"

"Wh--? 'Schmoopum-poopums'?? What the f--?!"

"Oh, darling!" she tossed her head way back, acting very dramatic. "I love you so much! Say that you love me, too!"

"Get the hell off of me! Girls, what the hell is going on?!" he asked the two Crusaders.

"The love poison! That punch ya were about to drink was the love poison!" Apple Bloom said.

"Love... poison??" he said, looking at Sweetie Belle, who shrunk back in fear and shame.

"Whoever drinks it will be in love with the next pony he or she sees," Scootaloo nodded.

"Run away with me, wossum-possum! Run away with me! Together, we will make glooooorious music!"

"Rarity, shut--!" Connor was cut off by her hooves grabbing his face.

"Oh, my love! I cannot contain myself any longer! I must, I must, I must! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!" she pecked at his cheek repeatedly.

"JESUS CH--! Get off of me!"

He could not take it anymore. Feeling the power coming from his hysteria, he tore the lovestruck unicorn's face from his. Her lips were soon kissing the air in front of her. Almost violently, he threw her off of him. Rarity was rolling in the grass, sighing happily and dreamily as she hugged herself. Connor's head snapped toward Sweetie Belle, who looked extremely frightened. His stare was colder than the ice in the deepest circle of hell.

"You..." was all he could say, before he dashed away.

Sweetie Belle reached for him, but he soon disappeared in the foliage of the forest. Her eyes were filled to the brim with tears.

"Yoo-hooooooo! Connor! Wait for me, my love! Wait for-WHOOP!" Rarity fell flat on her face. Behind the fallen unicorn, Scootaloo's foreleg was extended.

"Apple Bloom! Get the picnic blanket! She's out cold! Cover her face while you have the chance!"

"Darn tootin'!" replied the yellow filly, yanking the blanket with her teeth. She curtained it over the unconscious unicorn's face and fastened the ends, leaving the unicorn's head completely covered.

"That oughta take care of it," Apple Bloom said, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

The two fillies looked behind themselves to see a teary-eyed Sweetie Belle, looking down at the grass in front of her.

"Let's go, Scoot," the farm filly said. "Ah got the top, you got the bottom."

They lifted Rarity off of the ground and began walking away.

"Yeah... She really needs our help," the pegasus said to her fellow crusader.

"Once we get Rarity back to the boutique, then we'll see her."

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Rarity disappeared behind the foliage. The only pony that remained in view was Sweetie Belle.

Tears slid down the blades of the grass.

"What have I done?" she whimpered.



To be continued...

Next Chapter: Chapter XI Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 45 Minutes
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