Sweetie debated with herself. Go in and see what's wrong, or ignore it and leave. She could just walk back out the door and come back later. Silver would never know she had heard.

With an inward groan, Sweetie knocked on the bathroom door. "Silver, are you okay?" Silence. "Why are you crying?"

"Why do you care?" Silver answered, her voice strained.

Sweetie's mouth fell open from shock. "I was just trying to be nice. Sorry." She walked over and laid on her bed, folding her hooves over her chest. Not three minutes later, the bathroom door opened, revealing a still damp Silver Spoon.

Sweetie glanced over at her. The grey mare's eyes were puffy and still red. "Sorry. I'm just a little stressed, I guess."

More like a jerk, Sweetie thought. Keeping her thoughts to herself, she said, "Stressed from what? Classes haven't even started yet."

Silence filled the room. Sweetie could tell Silver Spoon didn't know if she should share whatever it was with her or not, so she said nothing. Finally, Silver sighed. "I know. That doesn't matter to my father though. He came by to make sure all my classes were in order and I had all my school books. And then we talked about the future, and the company, and my family and my cutie mark and…it's just a lot of stuff. And it's just going to get worse."

Silver snorted, shaking her head, and continued talking. Sweetie didn't know if she was even talking to her anymore, so much as just getting everything out of her system. "And I don't even want to take over the stupid company or be the head of the family. I don't want it. I want to do something else. I hate how my life has been planned out since I even got this stupid thing. But because I have this stupid spoon on my flank, my fate is sealed. And there is nothing I can do about it. You Crusaders had it good. Your Cutie Marks just reflect your talents. I mean, I would love to have anything, even a stupid apple, so long as it wasn't this. I mean, the only reason DT and I even made fun of you guys was because we hated ours."

Silver sat on her bed, a muscle twitching in her jaw, and took a deep breath. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said all that."

Sweetie, for her part, sat in total shock. "It's just a Cutie Mark. I mean, I know we made a huge deal out of getting ours, but it isn't like they absolutely define you."

Silver shook her head. "You don't know my family. And I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone."

Sweetie thought back to when she had received her cutie mark. She could still feel the thrill of it everytime she thought of the musical note wrapped in a rainbow stave.

The small unicorn filly breathed in deeply. She was at Rarity's again, of course. Her parents were always off doing something she couldn't join in. Their trips used to be only once or twice a year, but now they seemed to be once a month.

It was midday, and Rarity had locked herself in her creativity room, or whatever it was she called it. Since she and the other two Crusaders had tried parachuting off the roof of Apple Bloom's barn to earn their Cutie Marks, they were grounded.

Sweetie started humming and dancing, just to pass the time. She had always loved singing. It helped relax her, or cheer her up when she was sad, or just fun to do when she was by herself. She levitated a manebrush in front of her face, using it as a microphone as she sang.

She hopped and twirled, finally bowing to her imagined audience. She jumped when she heard clapping and looked over to see Rarity. "Sweeite…that was amazing."

Sweetie Belle blushed a little. Singing was her passion and it felt good to have her sister praise her. It was something she loved, something she was actually good at, something…

Her flank felt warm for a moment, and she spun in circles trying to look at it. She had her cutie mark. She finally had her cutie mark. She looked at the music note and the rainbow stave and then to Rarity, her mouth hanging open.

The room had been silent for at least five minutes. Sweetie couldn't believe the outburst from Silver, or that she had shared something so personal. Her cutie mark meant everything to her, it always had, but Silver seemed  despise hers own.

The white-maned earth pony was looking through the closet, which was full of her clothes. Sweetie suddenly felt sorry for the pony who had made her foalhood so horrible. "Silver," she started, but was cut off.

"I don't want to talk about it. I shouldn't have said what I did, I was just upset and let my emotions get the best of me. Just forget it, okay?"

Silence lasted a moment longer before Sweetie shook her head. "No, not okay. Look, I'm not going to deal with your snotty attitude all semester. I'm not going to have you just being so…so…" Sweetie didn't know what to say, so she threw her hooves out to the side. "So get over yourself. I'm filing for a dorm change."

Silver just stared at her. Sweetie huffed. "What, do you really think I'm going to put up with you now that I don't have to? That I'm just going to sit and take it like I did in Ponyville? Well guess what? I'm not. I am sick of you and Diamond Tiara and all of your goons making my life and my friends lives miserable. We didn't deserve it then, and Celestia help me, I will not take it any longer." Sweetie was pacing now. This afternoon, it seemed, was the time for rants.

She was interupped by Silver, however. "We made your lives miserable? You three had all the adults wrapped around you hooves. You always showed me and DT up, always! You were going on adventures and doing things that everypony thought was amazing. You were even at the Royal Wedding. THE ROYAL WEDDING! DT and I wanted to go, but even our daddies couldn't get us in. But you three were flower girls. Everypony loved you guys, and then you came back and had stories of chanlings and how the Princesses were so cool and it wasn't fair. All DT and I had was each other and what loyalty we had from our school mates, but you three stole it all."

Silver took a deep breath before continuing. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders," she snarled, "so innocent and perfect and adorable little fillies that every adult loved you. You never got in trouble for anything and when you should have, your sisters or their friends were there to protect you." The earth ponies anger was fading some, her voice loosing some of it's venom as tears filled her eyes. "It wasn't fair. You guys had everything we wanted. And then when you got your cutie marks, they didn't tie you to anything. Not even Apple Blooms tied her to that stupid farm. It. Wasn't. Fair."

Sweetie didn't feel like yelling anymore. The Terrible Two, as Sweetie and her friends had nicknamed Silver and Diamond, had been jealous of them?

A knock on the door distracted both girls from the argument. Sweetie opened the door to see Tish. "Umm…there were complaints of yelling. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem? Are you going to need to change dorms?" Her eyes widened and she quickly added, "I'm not saying you do because I really don't want you to but it is required to ask when there is something like this before classes even start."

Sweetie looked over to Silver and then back to Tish. "No, I think we'll be okay. We're just…getting to really know each other."

Tish looked unsure, but left anyway. Sweetie close the door and looked back over to Silver. The tension form earlier seemed to have left with Tish, and now everything was awkward. "You were really jealous of us?"

Silver faintly blushed. "A little."

"You realize we weren't as popular as you make us out to be, right? Everypony was always on your side. Until things got physical, anyway. Bloom and Scoot were the best athletes in the school."

"It wasn't just that. You three got to do things we would never have been allowed to do. Like Sisterhood Social. My older sister never would have even thought of doing something like that, even though I asked. And if mom and dad had even caught a glimpse of us getting that dirty, the manure would have hit the fan. We had to be proper ladies, all the time."

It was strange, this conversation. It wasn't like the others when Silver had been nice to her, or her entire foalhood where she had viewed Silver as a bully. Now they were sitting as equals, just talking. Sweetie knew Silver was likely to pretend this never happened after it was over, but she had to put her best hoof forward, didn't she?

"Proper ladies? You do know Rarity, don't you?" Sweetie giggled. "Umm, it's getting kinda late, do you wanna get dinner?"

Sweetie swallowed. That was the second time she had invited Silver somewhere in as many days. It was strange, but she didn't want this semester to be like today had been, between the two of them. And besides, six was always when Rarity served dinner and she was starving.

"Yeah, I think I'd like that," Silver replied with a timid smile.

The two mares left the room, unsure of what exactly was happening, but knowing they didn't quite hate each other anymore. Next Chapter: IV: Apple Bloom Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 50 Minutes