//------------------------------// // Newly Discovered Beauty // Story: When I Hear Her Voice // by Brohgue //------------------------------// Two years after the events of the Prologue. The crusaders are early teenagers. (Thirteen or fourteen) *** “RUN! Get outta here’!” Sweetie and Scootaloo hesitantly started to stand. “GO! If you run then you won’t get in trouble. I’m the one who set the shed on fire!” Sweetie and Scootaloo gulped and galloped away from Sweet Apple Acres. “Where do we go!?” Sweetie started to panic, until a thought came to her like a bullet. “Hurry! We can hide in the clubhouse!” Scootaloo obliged and sprinted down the gravel road, with Sweetie close behind. Surely, they could hide long enough for this to blow over. They approached the worn down wooden structure. They soon reached the ladder and quickly climbed. “I think we’re good,” Scootaloo said between pants. Sweetie, however, was slowly trotting around the clubhouse. Her eyes came upon a large portrait, drawn several years earlier. The portrait was scribbled messily on the canvas it inhabited. Sweetie grinned. “Hey, Scoots. Come take a look at this.” The portrait portrayed two fillies, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. A big red heart hung above them. Even further above that, there was messy writing that said Inseparable Friendship. Scootaloo walked to Sweetie’s side and scanned the picture. She scoffed and returned to her original spot. “You kept that old thing? I still don’t know why you drew that,” Scootaloo teased. Sweetie lifted the picture from the shelf and brought it to her friend. “Oh come on! This is so cute!” Sweetie said, still admiring the poorly drawn picture. Scootaloo sighed and stood on all four hooves, stretching her limbs and back. Sweetie joined her and stood on her hooves, before cantering happily to a large desk in the corner of the elevated room. There, she observed the other crude pictures covering the walls. Scootaloo caught a glimpse of Sweetie’s cutie mark, a golden bell surrounded by musical notes. She had almost forgot Sweetie’s talent was singing, considering she had only heard her sing about six times. She decided to ask something she’d never asked; to hear that beautiful voice once again. Scootaloo approached her friend, placing a hoof on her shoulder when she reached her. Sweetie turned around to see her friend. Scootaloo smiled and started to speak: “Hey, Sweets, I was wondering if you could… y’know.” Sweetie tilted her head in confusion. “Sing a song, for me?” Sweetie was taken aback by the question. She shook her head to regain her thoughts. Sweetie stared down at the floor and ran circles with her hoof. “I don’t know, Scoots. I can get kind of shy.” Scootaloo tried to do her best puppy dog eyes as she knelt down. “Pwease?” Sweetie stared blankly at Scootaloo. She sighed and gave in to her best friend’s request. “Fine,” she sighed. After her victory leap, Scootaloo quickly sat on her haunches. She gazed up at Sweetie with a goofy grin. It looked so adorable. Sweetie smiled and started to hum a tune. “Buh nuh, buh nuh, buh nuh, buh nuh.” Sweetie clear her throat loudly and began to sing: “What if the storm ends, and I don’t see you, Aaas you are now, ever again, The perfect halo, of gold hair and lightning, Seeeets you off against, the planet’s last dance.” Scootaloo stared wide-eyed at her friend. She looked like a goddess in her eyes. So beautiful. Scootaloo felt tears welling up in her eyes as she gazed upon eternal beauty. This was something Scootaloo had never experienced, it was like she’d found something to live by. She’d discovered a new feeling that only Celestia could describe. Her heart was beating quickly, her body felt warm and tingly. It seemed like now she was seeing Sweetie not as a friend, but more than that. Sweetie, however, was completely lost in song. She had regained her love for singing, having forgotten how amazing it felt to sing lyrics. Only one word could describe this experience for both the young fillies. Amazing. “Just for a minute… the silver forked sky, Liiiit you up like a star, that I will follow. Now it’s found us, like how I have found you, I don’t want to run, just overwhelm me. What if the storm ends, and leaves us nothing, Exceeept a memory… a distant echo. I want pinned down, I want unsettled. Raaattle cage after cage, until my blood boils. I want to see you, as you are now, Eeeevery single day, that, I am living.” Scootaloo couldn’t help but let her tears flow freely, her massive smile returning. She gazed at the goddess before her, admiring every single detail, from her beautiful features, to her amazing talent. Scootaloo basked in the breath-taking awesomeness that was Sweetie Belle. “Painted in flames, all peeling thunder, Beeee the lightning in me, that strikes relentless. (Long Pause) What if the storm ends, and I don’t see you, Aaaas you are now, ever again, The perfect halo, of gold hair and lightning, Seeeets you off against, the planet’s last dance. Just for a minute… the silver forked sky, Liiit you up like a star, that I will follow. Now it’s found us... like I’ve found you, I don’t want to run, just overwhelm me.” Sweetie opened her eyes. Scootaloo was sitting mere inches away, with tears flowing like a river. Scootaloo wrapped her in a hug, holding her tight. Sweetie was surprised by the sudden embrace, but she soon returned the gesture. “That was the most...” she paused, “...amazing thing I have ever heard.” Sweetie pulled herself from the crushing bear hug she was in and looked into Scootaloo’s eyes. A look of worry spreaded across her face. “Scoots, are you… alright?” Scootaloo nodded, her smile increasing. “Alright!? I am better than alright!” She leaped into the air. “I am fantastic! That was the best singing I have ever heard.” Scootaloo pulled her into another bear hug. She felt so attached to her friend -- no, her best friend -- NO! Her love. Not as a friend; this love conquered her love for Applebloom. It smothered her love for Rainbow Dash. She did not understand the concept of this new feeling, but one thing was for certain. Scootaloo was in love.