My Little Pony: Friendship is Fate

by Kujo Blaze

I'm worried about Sweetie

…I’m worried about Sweetie. I know it won’t do any good to worry about her, but I should at least see if she’s okay… I walk through the fourth floor, where the first year students are located. There’s no pony in the hallway and not many left in the classrooms either. It seems they’ve already gone home or to their clubs.

“…Dammit, Sweetie will be at her club too.” Well, I’ve come this far. I’ll go to her classroom, and when I’ve checked she’s not there, I can head to work.

“Let’s see…” I look into classroom 1-B. The red tinted classroom is quiet and there’s no sign of life. There’s no pony in the classroom. All the students have gone to their respective destinations.

“……” In that red classroom, a lone shadow remains. “Sweetie.” I enter the red world and call out to her.

“…Storm?” The face, covered by her long hair, looks even more lifeless than this morning. “What is it? Do you have some business here?”

“No, I have nothing to do here. I was just worried about you. You seemed a bit sick this morning.”

“……” Sweetie makes a gloomy face. She’s clearly not doing well.

“Sweetie, if you don’t feel well, you should go home. I can walk you to the intersection, so let’s go together.”

“…No, I’m fine. I don’t feel bad. I’m going to go to the club as usual and have dinner at your place after that. I’m okay, so please don’t worry.” She picks up her bag and starts to walk like she’s running away.

“Idiot, what are you saying with a face like that? Come on, skip your club. After all, there’s no point in doing archery in that state.” I block Sweetie as she tries to pass me.

“…Oh.” A crash. Sweetie falls over just from being blocked.

“Hey…!” I quickly pull her hoof back. The body I’m dragging is surprisingly light. “Y-You surprised me… Sweetie, are you really all right? You’re not standing steadily at all.”

“……” Sweetie looks away apologetically. Geez, what’s wrong with her today?

“Anyways, you’re skipping the club today. I’ll skip my work too, so let’s go home.”

“……” Sweetie is silent and does not answer. She doesn’t shake my hoof off, but it also seems she won’t go home obediently.

“What’s going on, Sweetie? You know it’s pointless to go to the club like that.”

“…You’re right. But Trixie wants me to, so I have to go.” Sweetie mutters.

“……” …! If she says so with a face like that, I can’t respond. It seems the circumstances at Sweetie’s house are complicated and they’re not something I can meddle with. …No matter how much I think she is part of my family, her real family is the Belles. Whatever I say, they’re just words of an outsider. “…You’re only going to watch at the club?”

“Huh…? Oh yes. I know myself that I can’t shoot right now.”

“I see. So you’re basically just preserving Trixie’s authority.” I pull out a chair and sit on it. I also pull another chair out from the desk next to it.

“Um… Storm?”

“Just sit down. I won’t try to stop you from going to the club, but rest for a while. You can tell Trixie I held you up and made you late.”

“I-I can’t say that…! If I do, Trixie will, uh…”

“Trixie messes with me all the time. It’s nice that she has something to talk about every day. And it’s not a lie, so you shouldn’t feel guilty saying it.” I urge Sweetie to sit down.

“……” Sweetie sits down quietly.

“All right. Then, wait here for a while. I’m going to go steal some tea from the student council room. You’re forbidden from getting up until I come back.”

“…Huh? But you might get into trouble…”

“Only if a teacher finds me. Hey, I’m used to this. There’s no problem unless I run into a teacher in the hallway, so you can wait here.”

“I-I can’t. I can’t wait here while you’re doing something dangerous. Storm, I don’t care about the tea.”

“I’m saying it’s not dangerous. Just sit down. Drinking tea in the classroom is a good thing to try once.”

“Oh…” I jump out into the hallway. The student council room isn’t far away. I’ll get the tea set quickly and surprise Sweetie. …Time passes. While we do something silly like drinking tea together in a classroom, we just stare outside. Outside the window is a glowing sunset that hurts my eyes.

“……” Sweetie stares blankly at the sunset. I have nothing to talk about, so I follow Sweetie’s example and keep my mouth shut. Time passes slowly since we’re not talking. Sweetie isn’t the talkative type, and she often just stares at the scenery. I guess she’s more relaxed by herself. Come to think of it, Sweetie wants to be alone a lot. It’s not like she’s excluding herself from the crowd, but she wants to isolate herself within the crowd. She looks outside the crowd more than in it. That must be why she stayed here in the classroom. Sweetie doesn’t actively try to spend time with others. Pinkie and I are special. Even I wouldn’t have known her if I hadn’t met Trixie.

“……” I sneak a glance at Sweetie. When Trixie introduced me to her 4 years ago, she was just a small mare. Now she’s my junior who comes to help around the house, and her foolish image is disappearing. Sweetie has grown beautiful. …No, she was beautiful before, but I think she’s become too beautiful as a member of the opposite sex. On top of that, she’s thoughtful and gentle. With that many good qualities, I can understand her being called beautiful alongside Rarity Jewel.

“……” But it’s strange, I don’t understand it. Sweetie is alone often. She doesn’t seem to have any friends in the archery club, and seeing how she’s alone in this classroom, she might not have any friends in her class either. …Come to think of it, I only know Sweetie from the archery club and from my place. I don’t know how she is at school or at home.

“……” While I think about this, looking up at the red sky… “Storm, do you remember?” Looking outside, Sweetie asks me a question.

“…? Remember what?”

“It was a long time ago, back before I met you…”

“Um, you mean before we knew each other…?”

“Yes. It was four years ago, right when I entered this school. I wasn’t used to the school, and I was walking about aimlessly when I saw something strange. …Yeah, I really wonder how it ended up like that. Even though it was after school and the track team had left, somepony was still running around alone. When I looked closer wondering what he was doing, I realized that he was doing high jumps by himself.” A smile. It must be a lovely memory, as Sweetie is smiling happily.

“It was a really red sunset. Everything was red and beautiful, but so lonely. In it, he just continued to run alone. Running, jumping, dropping the pole, and repeating. There was no pony around and he clearly couldn’t jump over it, but he kept trying. It wasn’t something that could be done with effort. The pole was way over his head. Even I could tell that it was impossible, so he must have known as well.”

“…?” I understand, but I wonder what she’s talking about. I don’t think it’s strange to see somepony practicing after school.

“I was a bad filly back then. Something bad had happened to me, and I just wanted to take it out on somepony. I wanted to see this pony fail, give up, and be discouraged, so I kept watching him. But he wouldn’t give up. He repeated it over and over, even though it was impossible for him. Not complaining at all for all that time.”

“…Wow. Maybe he was on the edge? Like the next day was the test, and he wouldn’t get chosen unless he could jump that high?”

“No, that wasn’t it. He wasn’t on the track team or anything.” Oh, I see. …Well, that’s fine… But why are you smiling, Sweetie? “And then, while I was watching him, I realized. He didn’t care about what he was doing. He just happened to run into something he couldn’t do, and he was obstinate about not losing. The sun set, and he just cleaned up and went home. He must have been really tired, but he walked away calmly like nothing had happen.”

“I don’t get it. If he quit, that must mean he jumped over it, right? So how high was it?”

“Ahahaha, well, the thing is, he couldn’t jump over it. He tried for 3 hours, but he was convinced at last that he couldn’t jump over it.”

“Man, that’s some ending.”

“He was so earnest that I even worried about him. He’s probably somepony very dependable. But that made me feel uneasy and lonely.” Her voice itself sounds so lonely, it seems like it will be swallowed by the red in this room.

“Okay, I understand the story… But what about it, Sweetie?”

“No, it’s okay if you don’t understand. That just means that even though it looked that way to me, it was just an everyday thing for him.” Despite her gloomy mood earlier, Sweetie smiles sweetly.

“……” …And then, even though I’m pretty dull, I understand when she puts it like that. I don’t remember it myself, but four years ago was right after my father died. Back then, I did lots of reckless things, so I guess I did something like that. “…Uh, Sweetie, so that was…”

“Yes, he is the senior before me now. Back then, he was so small that I thought he was my age.” …Ugh. I wish she wouldn’t talk about my height back then. Well, I’m not that tall even now, but I did grow, you know? “That’s it. I’ve known Storm since then.”

“I-I see. That’s the first time I heard that.” I look away. She saw me during an embarrassing moment. Then.

“Yes, we were both looking at the same thing.” With a gesture like a prayer, Sweetie says something strange.

“Huh…?” I ask, feeling worried. But as if to drown it out, the familiar bell echoes through the school. “…Oh, the bell.” It’s been thirty minutes since I stopped Sweetie. The clock says four-thirty.

“I guess I held you up too long. I’ll clean up, so you can go on ahead. You feel better, right?”

“Yes, I feel great thanks to you. Please look forward to dinner tonight.” Sweetie gets up. It doesn’t seem like she’s bluffing as she really seems well.

“Yeah… oh, sorry Sweetie. I have to go to work now. I’ll be late today, so you don’t have to push yourself to come to my place.”

“I understand. Then I’ll just cook your dinner and leave.” Sweetie bows and leaves.

“Oh well.” Pinkie will be at my house, so she should be able to take Sweetie home when she leaves. I have to make a living too, so I should go to work quickly… Twenty minutes after taking the bus from my school, I arrive at the neighboring town of New Ponyville across the bridge.

“…Oh, it’s not five o’clock yet? I guess I still have some time.” Old Ponyville is a residential district, so it’s hard to find part-time jobs there, but the developing New Ponyville has many available. The school rules allow for part-time jobs, so I work a few easy ones. Within them, I prefer hard physical labor that ends as quickly as possible. It’s killing two birds with one stone, as it builds my body while I get paid for it. Today’s job is a simple loading job from five to eight o’clock. Even though it’s only three hours, there’s six hours worth of work to do. They make you run around without minute’s rest. So I should rest when I can, even if it’s just for ten minutes. It’s a waste of energy walking around until my job, so I guess I’ll rest in the park.

This park among the buildings is like a big field. A park should be filled with ponies like families and lovers on weekends, but it’s empty here now. No… this place is always desolate.

“This place is the same as always.” I’m a bit sad. The utterly neglected ground looks awful compared to the neatly organized surroundings. The desolate area makes the wind feel cold. This is the remains of the conflagration ten years ago, and this is the place where I was saved from burning to death.

“I wonder why they don’t plant grass here. It’s a waste to keep it like this.” It’s a large area, so if they retiled it, the park would get bigger. Thinking absent-mindedly, I sit down on a bench.

“……” I stare at the burned land to pass the time. I don’t remember what happened here back then. I probably don’t remember because I was a kid, and it wouldn’t have been an easy scene to memorize. All I can remember is that it was hot and I couldn’t breathe. And that ponies died to save others.

“I wonder why…” For example, a stallion that tried to save a foal from a burning house. He saved the foal, but died in its place. For example, there were ponies who had their throats burned, but they gave what little water they had to one pony, and the others died. For example, there was somepony who ran alone to get away from the fire as fast as possible, and everypony that he passed on the way died. And for example… Ponies who died because they gave away something that was saving them, only to save others they didn’t even know.

“……” I didn’t like things like that. It makes me mad that those who tried hard were sacrificed. Am I greedy to want an ending where everypony is safe and happy? All I wanted was to see ponies relax peacefully, so why couldn’t I manage such a simple thing?

‘That’s difficult. What you want is to save everypony.’ Doctor answered so to the question I asked as a foal. Of course, as a foal, I denied it. Because Doctor saved me. I knew he was a sorcerer who could do anything. I knew he was a superhero who couldn’t ignore ponies in need, who saved them for no benefit. So I believed Doctor could have saved everypony back then. When I told him that, he made a troubled expression and said something that I remember to this day.

‘Storm, saving one pony means not saving others. Look, a superhero can only save the ponies he has saved. It’s obvious, but that is the definition of a superhero.’ I understood that. It’s obvious, now that he’s said it. Let’s say there’s a robber and some hostages, and the robber intends to kill the hostages. With normal methods, most of the hostages will be killed. Even if you use a miraculous method to save all the hostages, there will still be one pony who isn’t saved. That, of course, is the robber who hostages were rescued. The ponies a superhero saves are only those he decides to save. That’s why even Hasbro cannot save everypony.

“All the more so if it’s a natural disaster. No pony could have saved everypony.” The fire ten years ago was like that. It’s not something I, who was miraculously saved from it, can talk about now.

“But I don’t want that.” I don’t want such a thing. I don’t want help that has a limited capacity. You have to help, no matter how impossible it is. I can’t stand to have strangers dying around me like back then. So if I had been there ten years ago, even if it was impossible, I would have gone into the fire and… “I would certainly have died in vain.” That’s for certain. Geez, I’m hopeless.

“Gah, it’s five o’clock already.” The five o’clock bell rings. I stand up and quickly make my way to my work. When my job’s done, the sun has already set. It’s a bit before eight. I finished ten minutes early because I worked too hard. It seems I worked frantically since I went to that place before work. Here in front of the station, the night’s just getting started. There are lots of ponies, and a constant flow of cars on the road. The buildings are still lit up, and just looking at them makes me feel like I’m watching a grand festival of illumination.

“I guess I don’t have to buy anything for Pinkie.” I walk looking up at the lighted building. It’s the biggest building in New Ponyville, so I can’t see the top clearly. I just gaze up the building, just enjoying the night’s scenery…

“…?” …When I think I see something out of place. “What was that?” I stop and stare at the rooftop. I focus my eyes, looking at the thing as small as a grain of rice.

“…What the…” It looks like somepony I know. Why is she there? What would she be doing there? With her long mane fluttering and doing nothing, she looks down at the town.

“……” It doesn’t seem like she notices me down here. No, there’s no way she could see me. She’s so high up that I, with better eyesight than most, can barely see her by improving my vision with magical energy. I can recognize her since she’s standing there alone, but there’s no way she would notice me down here among all these ponies. She’s just looking down at the town. Maybe she’s looking for something, as I can feel her sharp stare even from down here.

“……” I forget about time and keep looking up at the mare standing in the sky. She is on top of a tall tower. She’s like a witch, looking down at the land with the moon behind her.

“Oh…” And then. She must be done with whatever she was doing, as she disappears. Her figure has disappeared and the scene returns to the beautiful view of the night.

“That was Rarity, right?” I have no proof, but I think I’m right. There aren’t many mares with looks that stand out that much, and more than that, I’m not stupid enough to mistake a mare I secretly admire.

“…I see. But still…” Well, it’s… Rarity sure has strange hobbies. I return to Old Ponyville. Unlike New Ponyville, it’s really quiet here as if it were midnight already.

“I wonder if Sweetie’s okay.” She seemed to be feeling better, but since she came to my place to make dinner, I think I’ve made her push herself again.

“I guess I’ll go check on her.” It’s not like I’ll achieve anything by going to her house now, but it should make me feel better than doing nothing. There’s nothing wrong at her house. There’s no sign of the “strange foreigner” Sweetie was talking about, and the lights are on only in Sweetie and Trixie’s rooms as usual.

“Huh?” …Wait a minute. Then what was that light yesterday? Was there somepony other than Sweetie and Trixie in the house?

“Excuse me. Do you need something?”

“…!?” I spin around. … in the darkness of the night, as if hiding in the sound of bugs, a figure is standing. He’s an unfamiliar old stallion. He must be really old, but he has sharp eyes and a presence that doesn’t match his small body. Perhaps it is the difference in the years we have lived, but he has a dignity that pressures me.

“What is wrong, young one, why don’t you answer? If you don’t answer, I shall jump to conclusions. Hmm, so, can I assume you’re the stranger Sweetie was talking about?” Sweetie…? …Then, could this pony be… “Geez. Since it is my granddaughter’s wish, I can’t just let you go. I’m sorry, but I will have to hurt you a bit. Just to be sure, you don’t intend to hoof yourself over to the police graciously?” The unknown old stallion asks me such a question. T-There’s no mistake. This is the first time I’ve met him, but he must be…

“Ah… no, you’ve got it wrong…! My name is Storm Whooves. I’m in the same class as Trixie, and I’m an acquaintance of Sweetie, and I just came to see how they were doing…!”

“Oh. I see, you’re their friend. Then I’m sorry for stopping you. Well, I can go and get them. Or would you like to have dinner with us?”

“N-No, I was just stopping by, so I’ll be going. By the way, is Sweetie home already?”

“Zánik.” The old man says an unfamiliar word.

“Huh?”

“Zánik Belle. It is wrong for me to not name myself when you have done so.” Zánik Belle says so and walks toward the entrance. It seems like he doesn’t care about me any more.

“……” Overwhelmed, I see him off without a word. …And then.

“Sweetie is home. More importantly, Storm Whooves. Is the daughter of the moons doing well?”

“…Huh? Moon what?”

“Do not play dumb. It is natural for the daughter of the moons to go and see Whooves. I am asking you how well it is this time around.”

“…???” Um, I don’t understand at all. …I’m sorry Sweetie, but your old stallion is pretty hard to deal with.

“…Hm, it seems you really don’t know.” Zánik sighs. He looks so shocked that I feel kind of sorry for him.

“…Well, I don’t understand, but I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s nothing you should feel bad about. It was a mistake on my part. I’m sorry to bore you with such things. Here, if you want to see my Grandfoals, do not hesitate. The old stallion will go away, so please do not reserve yourself.”

“Um, no, I really just stopped today. …But, um… do you live here?”

“I do. But as you can see, I am old. So I just live in the rear tatami room all the time.”

“……” …I see. I came to their house until about a year ago, but it seemed then that no pony other than Sweetie and Trixie lived there.

“Then excuse me, Storm Whooves. Please stay friends with my grandfoals.” Despite his appearance, he leaves with light footsteps. There is no change in the house. But the sound of the bugs has suddenly stopped.

…The day ends. Finishing a rowdy dinner and seeing Pinkie off, I take a bath. After that, I practice my daily routine in the shed. I complete it as usual and go to sleep. It is one in the morning. The day ends peacefully with no troubles.

Congratulations you earned a Sweetie route point: +1

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Comments

[the other sans]

He must have been really tired, but he walked away calmly like nothing had happen.
Yes, he is the senior before me now. Back then, he was so small that I though he was my age.
Just to be sure, you don’t intend to hand yourself over to the police graciously?
The unknown old man asks me such a question.

1. Again, no idea on this part. Just preference really
2. Thought.
3. Another no idea.
4. Stallion.

[Thespurgin]

I am rather enjoying this... and waiting for when the prologue and the primary story finally merge.