Sweetie

“Sweetie Belle!” called a voice from the front of the boutique. The pink- and purple-maned pony looked up from her bed to stare out of her door. She heard knocking from below as her ears picked up on the familiar voice. “Sweetie Belle, ah need ta talk to you!”

Applebloom? she thought with a tilt of her head. Sweetie sighed and pushed herself up from her blanket, making her way slowly down the steps to the front door. Her horn lit up in a light green aura and the door swung open. “What is it, Applebloom? I thought you had chores to do or something.”

“There’s something way more important than that.” The farm pony seemed out of breath, as if she had run here straight from Sweet Apple Acres. She might have, Sweetie thought. But what could she want?

“We don’t have another crusaders meeting until next week. What else is there?” she asked, raising her hoof in a questioning manner. The white unicorn watched patiently as her friend finally caught her breath.

The expression that followed Applebloom’s winded appearance shocked Sweetie into silence. She was worried about telling her about whatever it was, and that in turn worried Sweetie Belle. “It’s about yer sister.”

The mare’s eyes widened. “What?! What happened? Did something happen along their trip to the Griffin Kingdom?” Her heart was immediately panicking within her chest, terrified at the prospect of something happening to her older sister.

“Ah don’t know. Can ah come in?” Sweetie nodded and stepped aside to let Applebloom through, following the pony swiftly as she sat down near the kitchen. “Now ah don’t have all the details or anything, ah only heard a few things that Applejack told Big Macintosh.”

“What did she say?”

“Well, ta be clear, ah probably came in a little late to the conversation.” She paused again to lean in closer and continue on in a low voice, “Ah didn’t hear everything that they talked about because ah was tryin’ ta hear what they were sayin’ without bein’ seen, but ah heard that Rarity’s and Spike’s plan to go to the Griffin Kingdom isn’t true.”

“What!?” Sweetie screamed, hearing her voice increase in volume and pitch. She shuffled closer to the earth mare before her, expecting more information from her suddenly. “What do you mean they aren’t going there? Where would they go?”

Applebloom bit her lower lip. “Applejack said that they were goin’ ta find dragons.”

Sweetie Belle prepared to yell at her friend’s words again, but her breath caught in her throat as she thought of something. Her breathing was still ragged from the stress, but a conversation between her and her sister resurfaced in her mind. Rarity and Spike, going off to find dragons, she mused. Sis told me that Spike wanted to know about dragons, but she said after the first time he wouldn’t try again. The unicorn began to pace around the kitchen in a circle, working out the situation in her mind.

“Sweetie Belle, are you alright?”

Rarity must really like him, to agree to go with Spike to find dragons. She found herself smiling about this, despite the possibly dangerous situation. The white pony returned her attention to yellow pony, who seemed to be worried about her lack of a response. “What else did Applejack say?”

“She said that they’d likely be away for a few weeks. They’re goin’ ta find Spike and Rarity and bring ‘em back.” It was then that Sweetie noticed the almost empty saddlebags on Applebloom’s back.

And as usual you want to go find them, she guessed. Sweetie trotted in front of her friend and sat back down again, feeling a little better about what was going on. I’m still curious though. “They’re going to find them? How do they know where to go? If they aren’t going to the griffin lands, then how can they be sure that they are headed elsewhere?”

“Twilight went to see Princess Celestia. She told her where to go, but ah can’t remember where exactly. All ah really heard was that they were goin’ ta catch a train that the princess was sending them.”

“And what’s in the saddlebags?”

With that question in the air the red-maned mare removed the bags from her back and brought them to rest between them. “Ah didn’t really have much time back at the farm to get any food, so it’s just a few snacks.” Applebloom pulled open the flap and smiled softly at the mare. “Ah was thinking that ah’d be able to grab more from here.” The yellow mare jumped up from her seat and smiled with determination. “After all, we’ll need some food for the trip.”

“Trip? You don’t mean to follow them.” Sweetie Belle pushed herself up as well, becoming worried again at what was going on. Of course you mean to follow them.
“O’ course!” The farm pony nodded rapidly, resting a hoof on Sweetie’s shoulder as she stepped closer. “Our sisters are in trouble, and ah refuse ta be left out of another adventure because we’re too little.”

“Are you sure we’d even be able to pull this off? What about the train?”

Applebloom waved her concerns away with a forehoof, still appearing resolute in her conviction. “Ah’m sure that we can sneak on. We’ve managed to sneak onto trains before with Spike and even worse things than that.” The farm pony trotted over to the refrigerator and the cupboards, packing away frozen foods and snacks into her bags. “Now come on, we’ve still gotta tell Scootaloo about this.”

Sweetie Belle watched as her friend prepared for the perilous trip of following their sisters into the unknown, thinking over the situation. Sis…you didn’t tell any of us where you were going. She thought back to all of the conversations that she and Rarity had about Spike, whether it was about his helpfulness or how cute Rarity said that he was; how he had tried to save her from the diamond dogs, or how the white unicorn had gone after him without question when he left to find dragons the first time.

She smiled at the fond memories that she thought the two of them shared. Both of you have done so much for each other…I can see why you would agree to go with him Rarity, but now it’s my turn to save you.

With her mind made up, the pink- and purple-maned pony turned around and headed for the staircase. “I’ll be right back. I need to grab my saddlebags too.”

The three friends walked up the dirt road from Rarity’s boutique, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom having raced over to the orange pegasus’ house once they had finished packing. Now the friends were working out how to go about accompanying their sisters secretly. “Alright girls, we’ve gotta be sneaky. We can’t let anypony see us while we do this.”

“Do ya think that the train will still be there when we arrive?”

The white unicorn glanced back at Applebloom briefly, before returning to look out for any of her friend’s sisters or Twilight. If we’re spotted now, with these saddlebags full of supplies, they’ll surely piece things together. “Did Applejack say when the train would be leaving?”

“No. Ah would guess that it would leave once all of them are on board. Ah think Princess Celestia sent the train ahead just for them, so that they’d have a better chance of finding Spike and Rarity.”

“That would make sense, I guess.” Scootaloo glanced off to the side and gasped loudly. “Girls, quick, Fluttershy’s coming up the road.”

“Hide! In the bushes,” whispered Sweetie Belle, jumping into the shrubs by the side of the road. Her two friends joined her in quick succession and the unicorn strained her ears to hear if the shy mare had spotted them.

“I hope I have everything that I need,” Fluttershy mused as she walked past. “And I hope that I’m not too late. Better pick up the pace just to be safe.” Sweetie Belle glanced through the bushes to see her galloping off in the direction of the train station. She walked out cautiously, making sure that no other ponies were around to spot them with their saddlebags on.

“Alright, girls. We have a little bit of time, but we can’t be slow. If Fluttershy is the last one to get over there, that means they’ll be leaving soon.” They began to trot down the street, checking the alleyways and the roads for any of the rescue party.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, smirking as she picked up her pace. “And we have to be on that train too.”

“Well, I hope that you have a plan for getting onto the train Applebloom. The train crew probably isn’t expecting any other passengers this time.” Sweetie Belle matched the speedster’s stride, nervously waving a hoof toward Lucky Clover and Cherry Blossom as they walked past.

Applebloom nodded to the unicorn and turned into the alleyway just before the train station. “Of course ah do.”

The three mares caught their breath and snuck down to the other end of the street to spot the train parked at the station. It was only a three car train, probably an emergency train placed together for this dire situation. I wonder why the princess is going to all of this trouble, Sweetie Belle thought. She’s never really used her power as princess before this.

“We’ve gotta hitch a ride on the caboose,” the yellow mare spoke up, shaking Sweetie from her thoughts. Applebloom pointed a hoof at the platform on the end of the train line. “From there we’ll sneak in and ride the train down to wherever our sisters are goin’.”

“I like it,” complimented Scootaloo, seeming to become excited at the prospect of another secret mission. The white pony couldn’t deny that she enjoyed going on these types of trips, but she was more worried about her sister at this point. “We’ve done this sort of thing before anyway, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Yeah, those conductors don’t really pay attention when they check the cars.” Applebloom wandered out into the open and turned back to wave Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo forward. “Come on, ah don’t see anypony on the platform. They must already be inside. We gotta hurry!”

As quietly as possible, the three mares trotted over to the back of the train. Nopony else was around this side of town, thankfully, so they had no trouble. As Sweetie Belle made it onto the train, the horn blew and the train began to pull out of the station. The orange pegasus galloped and managed to fly onto the railing of the caboose, Sweetie helping her up afterward. Applebloom was still galloping for the train, but it was steadily picking up speed.

“Come on, Applebloom!” cried Scootaloo, holding out an orange hoof for her to grab. “You can gallop faster than that.” Sweetie Belle readied her magic to pull her friend aboard, seeing the determined expression crossing the farm pony’s face.

Applebloom drew closer, almost inches from the train car. She was straining to keep up, but the look on her face never left as she seemed to focus on the Scootaloo’s foreleg. The red-maned pony jumped, reaching out with her hoof to grab onto Scootaloo’s. Sweetie Belle worked fast and used her magic to pull her friend up and over the rail, safely setting her down on the wooden floor.

All three of them were breathing heavily, sitting down hard on the floor of the caboose, but Sweetie was glad that they had all made it without injury. Once she had caught her breath, the unicorn stared at the door to the inside. She pushed herself up and tried the handle. Locked, she thought grimly. The wind was quickly picking up outside and Sweetie Belle thought that it probably wasn’t a good idea to stay outside while they were hiding.

“Now what?” she heard Applebloom question behind her.

Scootaloo walked up beside the unicorn. “Is the door locked?”

“Yeah, but I should be able to unlock it. Hold on.” Sweetie focused her vision on the door handle and imagined where the lock on the handle would be on the other side of the door. Her horn began to glow and within a few moments, she heard the click of the lock jiggle open. She smiled and pushed the door open, stepping in and aside so that the others could enter as well.

Once everypony was inside, the white pony turned the lock again, so that nopony suspected a break-in. “Well, we’re here. Nice job, Sweetie Belle,” the orange mare began, looking around at the bed and the other décor of the caboose. “Do you think we should move up to the center car or something?”

“Probably,” Applebloom said, nodding her head in agreement. “There aren’t many places to hide here, bein’ so cramped.”

“We’ll just have to be careful not to get caught by anypony.” Sweetie Belle trotted forward quietly, peering through the window on the door. It seemed to be a dining car, given that there was an counter for ordering on one side of the room. The mare spun around to face her friends proudly. “We owe both Rarity and Spike for how we ended up as crusaders. We wouldn’t be crusaders still if it weren’t for my sister, so we can’t be sent back.”

“Yeah, and Spike was always happy to talk with us about the crusaders.” Scootaloo stood beside the mare, keeping her attention on the handle for some reason. “What do you think, Sweetie Belle?”

“I’ll go in first and see if everything’s empty. I’ll call you in when I think it’s okay.” The others nodded to her with slight concern on their faces. Sweetie Belle smiled and turned around, pushing the door open with her magic, just enough for her to squeeze through.

The floor was carpeted in this room, unlike the unfurnished wooden floor of the caboose. Tables and chairs were placed on the right side of the dining car and light shone in from the afternoon sun. She made sure to remain hidden behind a table or chair as she surveyed the area, just in case somepony appeared at the counter or through the opposite side door.

After several moments of nopony entering, the white unicorn thought that it was safe to bring her friends in. She stayed low however, still being careful not to make any noises. Sweetie lit up her horn and turned the handle of the door, motioning for the others to stay low to the ground. They sat down at the edge of the tables and chairs and discussed how this would happen.

“How long do you think we’ll be on this train?” Applebloom asked.

The orange pony shook her head, looking concerned. “I don’t know. How do we even know that Twilight and the others will be getting off at the end of the train ride? They could make a stop on the way, and then we won’t even know.”

“We’ll jus’ have ta make sure that we don’t miss our jump off point,” the farm mare answered, glancing over her shoulder at the counter. Sweetie herself always kept it in her peripheral vision, making sure to alert her friends should a mare or stallion walk up to check if anypony was around. “Ah’m sure that if we just look out the window we’ll spot ‘em leavin’ if we stop.”

“Yeah, but we’ll have a more difficult time of it than they will,” Scootaloo countered. “We will have to leave through the back again, and who knows how populated the next station will be.”

“Alright,” Applebloom grumbled, throwing up her hooves in exasperation. “So ah didn’t think this plan through far enough, but we had ta do somethin’. Our sisters are in trouble and we’re old enough now ta help ‘em if they need us.”

I hope we’ll be fast enough to help my sister, Sweetie Belle thought. She wasn’t really paying much attention to the two ponies arguing in front of her, she was more consumed by her fears about where her sister and Spike were and making sure that the three of them were not caught. Her eyes focused on the door at the other side of the train car, seeing the knob turning.

She gasped, alerting Scootaloo and Applebloom to the situation. “Girls, quick. Somepony’s coming. I have an idea, but you two have to stay still.” She shut her eyes and focused on her magic, hoping that her friends had listened to her and remained seated. Come on, she thought frantically, putting all of her thoughts into casting this spell. If this was anytime to use this, let it work.
Sweetie Belle opened her eyes again, seeing that the door was swinging shut again. Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow had entered the room and were making their way over to the counter.

“Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo whispered, crouching down below the table. “What did you do?”

The pink- and purple-maned mare put a hoof up to her muzzle to silence her. “It seems to be working so far. I disguised our presence like Twilight did at the crusaders meeting. Hopefully we’ll be just as invisible.”

“You can do that for all three of us?” Applebloom asked quietly, interest and an impressed look clear on her face.

“It’s one of the simplest spells. As long as we remain still and out of the way, I could keep this spell up for hours.” The others seemed truly impressed with her solution to this problem, though they still looked nervous as they looked to their sisters and friends.

Sweetie Belle could understand their stress, saying what she expected was their issue. Hopefully, we won’t need to move at all and nopony will bump into us by accident. She bit her lip and watched as the three mares made their way over to the dining area. They sat down a few tables across from her location, allowing the white pony to take some comfort.

“What are they doing?” Applebloom asked in a low tone, most likely unable to see them from where she was sitting. To the unicorn, it appeared like the three mares had ordered plates full of sweets.

“Alright, everypony,” she heard Pinkie announce suddenly, facing away from Sweetie and her friends. The pink mare was seated in front of the other two, sitting in a chair before two tables. Applejack sat at one table with a tray of food and Rainbow Dash sat at the other. “What we have here is another ‘most extreme pony’ challenge!”

“What?” the pink- and purple-maned mare whispered in confusion, never hearing about this type of pony challenge before. The others seemed to know where this was leading, glancing at one another with excited faces before looking back.

“This time it’s a ‘most extreme eating pony’ challenge!” the party mare continued, appearing to shuffle along on her seat. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. Well, that explains the what. If only I knew the why. Pinkie kept on with her introductions, though the mare shut out the noise after a while, not being interested to see who could stuff the most food in their mouths. I’m pretty sure that Rarity would feel the same way.
The speedster and the farm mare seemed to be paying close attention to the competition, as the eating began. Her two friends traded challenges about who would win and how much their respective sister would eat. The white pony sighed and sat back on her haunches, wondering how her sister was doing at this point. Wherever she is, she thought glumly. I hope that she’s having a better time than I am right now.

Time passed as the three friends sat near the tables of the dining car, the unicorn taking to staring at the interior of the train car. Eventually the competition found its champion. However, to the chagrin of Applebloom and Scootaloo, it wasn’t either of their sisters. Once Applejack and Rainbow were able to stand and walk again, Sweetie Belle watched the other mares leave through the opposite door again. Sighing in relief that the ordeal was over, the unicorn let down her illusion and stood up from her spot on the carpeted floor. Carpeted or not, she grumbled. That was far too long to be sitting. “Girls, I’m going to check the other car.”

“Huh? Why? We just got out of being caught by them.”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Yeah, but we know next to nothing about what’s going on. We know that my sister and Spike are in trouble, but other than that we have no way to get to where they are if we get separated.”

“Ah agree with Sweetie Belle,” the yellow mare replied, after a few moments of puzzling out her reasoning. “If we do lose them we should have a little information to get back on track.”

“I suppose,” Scootaloo conceded, scratching her neck with a forehoof. “That way we don’t need to run the risk of being spotted while tailing them. If we know which way they’re going, we can go there ourselves and wait for them.”

The yellow mare grinned and lifted a hoof. “Exactly. Now hurry up.” The three ponies made their way up to the door cautiously, standing on either side so as not to be hit should it open. Applebloom turned back to stare at the unicorn. “Sweetie Belle, can you cast that spell again? When we’re in there, we can just sit and listen to them talk.”

She nodded in response. “I think so. It might be a little tricky, because I can only cast it on non-moving things. A moving illusion would take way more magic and I don’t think that I could manage that.”

“So, we’ll have to sneak in, making sure that we’re not caught right at the door, find a hiding spot behind the seats and then have Sweetie Belle cast the spell.” Scootaloo grinned at her thought out idea for a plan. “Sounds cool to me.”

“Of course it sounds cool to you,” Applebloom countered, looking cross at the pegasus. She glanced over to Sweetie Belle, who was still going over the complicated plan that her friend had suggested. “What matters is that Sweetie Belle here thinks that she can pull this off. What do you think? It depends on your ability to cast the spell in time.”

The pink- and purple-maned mare swallowed hard and thought it through. If the three ponies managed to sneak through the door without being spotted, the rest of the operation was quite simple. I just hope that they’re all distracted enough to not see the door swing open. Sweetie Belle stood up straight and lined up with the door, waiting for the others to do the same. “The hard part is getting through. If we do that, I shouldn’t have trouble with recasting the spell on us.”

“Awesome,” the speedster replied, putting a hoof around the mare’s shoulder. “You should go first, since you can set up the spell while we sneak through after. We’ll be right behind you.”

Sweetie Belle nodded in understanding and took deep breaths to calm her nerves. She had seen her sister do this whenever she was stressed with an order or when something didn’t go quite the way she had hoped. It’s never really worked before for me, but, she paused, staring directly at the door, shut before her. I have to make sure that I know where Rarity is, before we might be split up.

Without waiting for another wave of nervous shivers to run down her spine, the white pony ducked down and pushed open the door, sneaking in as quickly and quietly as she could. She heard her friends run through behind her, sitting down close to one another on the left side of the train car. Sweetie had hid behind the first seat and quickly cast the illusion on her and her friends.

“So that’s why the princess is so willing to give us this train,” Rainbow said, sounding incredulous. “I can’t believe it.”

“Yeah,” Applejack agreed, sounding stunned beyond a doubt. “Is she sure that she found Spike like that? How do we know that he’s really that old?”

Sweetie Belle heard the lavender alicorn sigh. “Princess Celestia said that she found Spike three hundred years ago as an egg on the Ibexian Tundra. If that is what she said happened, how can we say otherwise? None of us were even alive back then. Only Spike was, and I don’t think that he’d remember.”

The three younger mares sat back in silence, the white unicorn barely believing what she was hearing. Spike? Three hundred years old? Does Rarity know about this? Whether she did or not, this revelation defeated the purpose for her sister going over the reasons why the two of them could not be together. It had been a long time ago, four years if Sweetie Belle remembered correctly.

It was a few days after Spike had given Rarity that fire-ruby. Sweetie had listened in to the conversation that the violet-maned mare had had with herself.

“Oh, I know that he’s sweet to me,” Sweetie heard Rarity begin. “So kind and caring, and always so helpful. I still cannot believe that he actually gave this to me. I should really do something nice for him.” Rarity’s little sister watched silently as she paced around the work room.

The proper lady had fashioned the necklace for the splendid gem by then, though she held it in her magic while she walked, glancing down at it occasionally. “I didn’t think that he’d ever work up the courage to tell me how he felt…and when he did…I couldn’t hear it.” Rarity paused and hung her head sullenly. “I don’t even know what to say to him about that. Spike, you’re very kind, but you may be too young…and I just...”

Sweetie had snuck back away from her room, not making a sound, but that had been her first clue to how her sister might feel about Spike. You might not have known what to say, but you sure didn't seem to mind having his attention. She grinned at that. The day that the two of them had spent together, not a day before this trip, had the pink- and purple-maned pony ecstatic. They must have talked about that a little. Why would Rarity agree to go on this trip if she didn’t still like him?
“So, the trip to Vanhoover,” Fluttershy started, startling Sweetie Belle out of her imaginings. “Has Princess Celestia told you if there’s a ship docked on Starswirl Island to meet us?”

“No. I haven’t heard back from her since we talked, but she said that she’d contact me once she spoke to the ibex.” Sweetie’s eyes widened. Ibex? Why would they need to talk to them? “Hopefully we’ll be allowed to board their ship to the western continent, but should the princess not be successful, I’ve been looking into other possible means of transport.”

“They’re going to the western continent?” Applebloom whispered under her breath. She looked over at Sweetie Belle, who imagined that her face was just as perplexed and shocked as hers.

“Cool. Hopefully we’ll be able to at least find that ship the princess mentioned.” It had been Pinkie. The unicorn could never mistake that excitable, bouncy voice for anything else. “If we don’t at least find The Sea Princess we’ll never get anywhere.”

“Shoot, look at the time,” Applejack said. “Ah think it’s time for bed girls. We’ve got a busy morning waiting for us if Princess Celestia’s plan comes through.” Sweetie heard the other four mares agree with her and several hoofsteps growing quieter as their conversations subsided.

Soon, the three friends were alone in the passenger car. The unicorn’s head was swimming with what she had heard. The western continent? Ibexian Tundra? Rarity and Spike are going to find dragons and Spike is three hundred years old? Sweetie Belle turned to the window, realizing that quite a few hours had passed by on the train. “Girls, it’s already dark out. I think this trip is going to be an overnighter.”

“Can you believe how old Spike is?” Scootaloo shouted, flying a few inches into the air out of excitement. “I knew that dragons age differently than ponies, but wow.”

“And they’re going to a completely different continent too. Ah can’t believe that Rarity agreed to go with him, uh, no offence Sweetie Belle.” The farm mare grinned nervously and rubbed her foreleg. Sweetie Belle shook her head and pushed herself up from the carpeted floor.

“It’s alright. I can’t believe much of it either.”

“Do you know why Rarity would agree to go and find dragons with Spike?”

Sweetie walked a few paces, over to the opposite side of the car before turning back around. She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should tell them what she thought. “It’s…it’s only a guess, but…I think my sister might like him.”

Cirrus clouds covered the skies above the coastal city of Vanhoover. Ponies strolled about the streets of the southern city, off on business or vacation. Sailor ponies were converging at the dockyard and setting up for voyages across the sea to several different places.

“Do you see them?” Applebloom whispered from beside the speedster. Scootaloo shook her head, as the three friends hid behind the docks of Vanhoover’s shipyard. They had managed to find sleeping arrangements on the passenger car and successfully made their escape through the caboose of the train. Now they were simply waiting for an opportunity to board the craft that Twilight and her friends had been discussing on the train.

“No. We did rush over here once the train stopped. They’re probably-” the orange pegasus stopped. She stood up and leaned out from their hiding spot at the end of the dock of ships. Sweetie Belle walked forward and glanced around Scootaloo. Sure enough, their sisters and friends were approaching swiftly. The dock was crowded with sailors and packages being prepared for the journey, while sea birds flew overhead and the waves of the sea washed up near the three mares.

Sweetie could see the plank set out for those sailors that were charged with loading the equipment onto the vessel, but none of them were foolish enough to try and sneak on that way; at least not without a distraction. Hopefully, the arrival of the Princess of Friendship is enough of a distraction.
The three mares watched and listened intently as the five ponies and a stallion exchanged words aboard the craft. Most of the conversations went unheard by the unicorn, but she managed to catch a few words spoken by her sister’s friends. Once the ponies moved away from the plank, the three other mares saw the opportunity.

“Quick! Nopony else is around,” Scootaloo whispered, pushing herself up from their hiding spot behind the docks to trot up the plank. Sweetie Belle followed quietly after the red-maned mare, managing to spot a good place to hide on the deck of the ship.

The white unicorn dove behind some barrels and boxes near the stern of the vessel. She poked her head out for a moment to make sure that they were not seen, before turning to the yellow pony. “Are you sure that this is a good place to hide, Applebloom?”

“Sure ah’m sure. We’re perfectly hidden here.” Sweetie Belle watched from their spot as a couple deck ponies walked about the upper decks of The Sea Princess.

“Well,” said Sweetie, settling back behind the cargo. “Whether we’re perfectly hidden here or not, I doubt that we’ll be able to follow your sisters down below decks any time soon.” The three friends glanced at each other, seeming to agree that she was right. Every sailor pony aboard this vessel was crowding the deck now, making it impossible to move from their spot amongst the barrels.

The sun was sinking low again near the horizon, nearly another day had passed since the three mares left Ponyville. The Sea Princess had been speeding along the coasts of Equestria for several hours now and Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo had only just recently managed to make their way below decks.

Once again hiding in a secluded area of the large ship, the white pony was swiftly growing tired. The first post had been assigned to her; to make sure that nopony discovered them as the three mares sat unmoving. Sweetie Belle was once again casting her illusion spell on them, though none of them wanted to run the risk of being discovered by a wandering deck hoof. It’s almost time to get Scootaloo up, she thought to herself as she yawned tiredly.

Below decks, everything looked boring and bland. The pink- and purple-maned pony had long since scanned every last nook and cranny of the hall that the three were on, and none of them held any interest in her whatsoever. Maybe Rarity wouldn’t like being on this ship…though, if it was Rarity, she probably wouldn’t be hiding here.
Suddenly, the mare heard hoofsteps coming down the hall. They were hiding along a hallway that branched off from the sides of the ship, a relatively good place to rest, but now somepony was walking down from the stern of the vessel. Sweetie Belle’s ears perked up to make out the side that the pony was on. On the right, she decided, turning to face the oncoming mare or stallion.

Within a few seconds, Pinkie Pie walked past the trio, pausing briefly in the center of the hallway. She was humming a tune as she went, though Sweetie couldn’t pick up on what song she was singing at the time. “Hi girls!” she exclaimed, only waving and tilting her head to the side before continuing on her way. Her quick discovery startled the unicorn and also seemed to wake the other two stowaways as well.

“What?” Sweetie Belle whispered, being completely perplexed by the pink mare’s uncanny ability to spot them when they were invisible. “Pinkie, wait.” She risked stepping out into the open to catch the other mare’s attention before it was too late.

At the call of her name, Pinkie turned her head and grinned back at the pony around the corner. “Hmm?” she asked, like she was totally oblivious as to what the three of them were doing here. The unicorn waved her back over and thankfully, she obliged.

“How did you know it was us?” Applebloom wondered once she had regained her sense from being asleep. The pegasus was in the same position as her, though Sweetie saw their sleepy faces turn to ones of nervousness after they were fully conscious.

“Oh, well I hide behind and in barrels all of the time when hiding from Rainbow Dash…though she always seems to find me.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I wonder why.” The party pony merely shrugged her shoulders as she continued to hop in place.

“I don’t know. So anyway, what are you girls doing here? Didn’t Twilight tell you not to come along?” Pinkie tilted her head curiously, her curly pink mane shifting to account for the change in angle. Applebloom shook her head in reply, causing Pinkie to cease her bouncing and listen in.

“She didn’t tell us anything. Ah heard about Rarity and Spike from mah big sister.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle nodded her head with determination. “So we had to come along, even if it meant danger or trouble. Rarity is in danger, and I have to make sure that she’s okay. She’s my big sister, after all.”

“And Applejack and Rainbow Dash are mah and Scootaloo’s big sisters. We couldn’t let y’all go alone this time. Ah don’t think that even you five could last too long out on a completely different continent, especially one that’s frozen for most of the year.”

“Please Pinkie,” Sweetie added, staring up at her with her giant sad eyes like she did so often with Rarity. “You can’t tell the others that we’re here. They can’t send us home. Our sisters are always getting into trouble and more ponies just mean better odds of finding Rarity and Spike.”

“We’re almost as old as you were when you started on your quests for the princess,” Scootaloo put in, an expression of resolve crossing her features. “So don’t say anything and I know that we’ll be of help when the time comes. I know it.”

Pinkie giggled and waved a hoof at the three assembled ponies. “Oh you guys. You’re so silly. Alright, I won’t say a word- ah! I mean, I won’t say anything about you being here on this ship.” The magenta-maned mare sighed and wiped a hoof across her forehead. “Phew. I almost promised that I wouldn’t talk at all. Could you imagine how horrible that would be?”

“I can imagine something like that,” Scootaloo responded, smirking at the two friends afterward. Sweetie Belle returned the smile and faced Pinkie again. It would be pretty upsetting though, the white unicorn mused. And besides, I don’t mind hearing you talk.

“Well, I gotta get back to the girls. It’s getting pretty late and I have to make sure that I didn’t miss anything important.” She stepped out into the hallway again and resumed her bouncing. “Have fun you three. Bye.”

They waved back and sighed with relief once the lower decks were empty again. “Well,” began Sweetie as she sat back beside her two friends. “That is one way to wake up the next watch. It’s your turn to make sure that we’re not discovered, Scootaloo. My illusion should still be in place while I sleep, but you should still be careful not to let ponies venture too close.”

“Roger that, Sweetie Belle,” the orange pegasus spoke up with a quick and stiff salute.

Applebloom giggled. “Careful there, you’ll poke yer eye out.” Scootaloo glared daggers at the earth mare, but the pink- and purple-maned mare was far too tired to pay their renewed argument any mind. Instead, she lay down on her side, against the wall and shut her eyes.

Don’t worry, sis, she promised as she curled up on the wooden floor of the ship. I’m coming to get you back…safe and sound. Sweetie Belle yawned one last time into her hoof, before succumbing to her drowsiness and falling asleep.

Author's Notes:

Good morning,

Phew, I finally managed to complete this chapter, and in the nick of time too. Far too close for my liking, but this chapter was a bit of a challenge. It’s not one of my best chapters, I admit, but I still like the different point of view that Sweetie manages to bring about Rarity and Spike. Also I felt that it would make sense that these three would find out and would want to come along.

The next chapter is fairly complete already and after that chapter twenty is ready to be posted the week after. I suppose that that is all for now, until next week. Thank you for reading. Ta ta!