Pink Ranger
Sweetie Belle shook her head and looked around herself to take in her surroundings.
She appeared to be in some sort of dressing room with five other ponies. They were dressed in over the top, pink feather outfits that made them seem like they were twice their own size.
She shook her head and stared straight ahead, now fully taking in her own reflection.
She could almost be a dead-ringer for her sister! Her mane had been curled, hanging over both of her shoulders; one pink, one lavender. Her eyes had dark purple eye-shadow to help the green of her eyes stand out. She also wore a sparkling, sleeveless, pink dress.
She cringed at the garment. Rarity would never been seen making something like this...Where am I, anyway?
As she was thinking this, a white pony in a suit came up to her. “Ready for the show, Sweetie?”
Sweetie Belle blinked, stupidly, before shaking her head. “What show?”
“Your debut album? C'mon girl, don't zone out on us now!” The pony said, motioning to the door where she could see a stage.
“B-but...I never,” She stuttered, looking away and heading to a different door. “I'm sorry, I just have to-”
“No time, you have to get out there and sing your heart out, dear!” One of the show mares said, pushing her towards the stage.
The last thing Sweetie Belle saw before the scene faded away was a sullen looking brown stallion walking away from the door she was trying to get to.
The scene changed where she was now in the familiar Carousel Boutique, looking around confused.
She looked up and noticed her sister looking fairly sad, but happy at the same time. “I'm so happy for you Sweetie Belle!”
“Um...What?” She shook her head, looking down at the trench coat she was wearing.
“Sorry, it's just been so long since I last saw you, I figured I'd let you know that first!” Rarity clarified, turning towards the kitchen. “Would you like to sit and have some tea? I'd love to catch up.”
Sweetie Belle, despite the confusion, wanted to say yes and put her sister at ease, but the next words that came out were not her own. “I'm sorry, but Miss Belle needs to be in Manehatten by the hour, so can't stay long.”
She flinched and noticed the grey, Earth Pony bodyguard standing next to her.
She wanted to tell the guy to go buck himself, that whatever was in Manehatten was nowhere near as important as her sister, but Rarity just smiled in pained understanding.
“Oh of course, not to worry. I'll let everyone know why you couldn't stay longer,” Rarity nodded, just as Sweetie Belle was being told to head towards the train station.
As the scene faded, she noticed the same stallion as before look down as he dropped a bouquet of flowers.
She was now standing in the street, in the middle of a down-pour, water falling from the sky in deluges. The umbrella she held in her magic just about keeping everything from her mane to her shoulders dry.
She was confused but looked up and noticed the same brown stallion as before looking at her, miserably. “I...I'm sorry Sweetie Belle...”
Now that she heard his voice she could tell who it was, clear as day. Sure, he was bigger, had ditched his propeller hat, favouring to go without head-wear, and his muscles were more defined, but she'd never forget the colt she'd had a crush on since she was eight.
Button Mash.
But he didn't look like his cheery, fun-loving self. He looked miserable, his mane plastered to his neck and forehead from the rain, but doing nothing to hide the redness in his eyes or the tears falling out of them.
She tilted her head to the side at his words, but a sense of dread was building up. A very similar one to the one she felt when she was forced away from Rarity.
He noticed her silence and turned away. “I can't...I can't date you anymore...”
She gasped, feeling her chest tighten painfully. We were...but he...I...
He clenched his eyes shut and continued. “I just can't do this anymore! I never get to see you, spend time with you, Hell! I can't even go out in public with you cause of the damn paparazzi! It's just...”
“B-Button...?” She let out, losing the will to keep her magic going, causing the umbrella to fall to the side. She didn't know how she got him in the first place, but she's wanted him for years and she'd be damned if she was going to lose him now. “...Please...”
He looked into her eyes and sighed, turning away. “It's not you, Sweetie Belle, it's me. I can't handle this! I've never been good in public and I...I-I...” He choked out a sob and started to run away, much to her shock. “I'm sorry!”
“Button!” Sweetie Belle called back, starting to run after him, finally having some control over herself. She could barely keep her eyes open through the rain, but she's not going to stop. She was in love with that colt, dammit, and she wasn't going to miss her chance with him just because the weather ponies were overzealous with the storm clouds.
He turned a corner and Sweetie tried to follow, except she had slipped and fallen into a large puddle which had form on the pavement.
She tried her hardest to get up to follow him, but it was too late. She had lost sight of him.
Her chest clenched painfully as her tear ducts started to fail her, letting the salty liquid pour out of them. She breathed heavily, trying her hardest not to let out any sounds...
...until she decided it wasn't worth it.
“Button! Please come back!” She screamed out into the empty streets. “I'm sorry! Please give m-me another chance! I'll do anything!”
Only the pitter patter of rain replied and she cried.
“Man that sucks,” She heard, no longer feeling the rain pelting her head. Sweetie Belle looked up, finding a pink, Pegasus mare with red eyes and a white mane holding her discarded umbrella.
“Thanks...” Sweetie Belle muttered, not really having it in her to stand, so fell onto her stomach. The pink pony shrugged, lying down next to her.
“You really love him, don't ya?” Sweetie Belle just nodded at the Pegasus. “That's why you don't do much with your talent, ain't it?”
Sweetie Belle looked over again, nodding. “Rainbow Dash had t-to leave P-Ponyville for five months for training for the...the Wonderbolts and b-barely got t-to see any of us...I never w-want to leave m-my friends behind so...”
“So you gave up your dreams to keep your friends,” The pink pony hummed, causing Sweetie Belle to nod. “Well that's admirable, I'll give you that, but it sounds pretty miserable.”
Sweetie Belle glared at the pony, motioning to herself. “Well what about now?! I have my dream, but I lost the love of my life for it and, guess what, it wasn't worth it!” She vented, causing the mare to blink. “What's the point of a dream if I have no-one to share it with?!”
The mare understood and smiled, supportively. “You do have a point, kid, but tell me? What do you live for if you have no goal? What drives you to get up in the morning? And don't tell me you'll just support whatever that boy does, cause you don't look like the type to be a stay-at-home mare.”
Sweetie Belle blinked, before she clenched her eyes shut. “I don't want to lose any of my friends so if being a stay-at-home mare stops that from happening, so be it!”
“You'd get bored,” The mare replied, bluntly. “Look kid, I'm not saying you can only have it one way or the other, if you tried hard enough you could have it all.”
“No I can't-”
“Yes you can,” The mare said. “Or did I miss the part of the story where Rainbow Dash lost all of her friends and is now an obsessive, career-driven mare?” She grinned.
Sweetie Belle sighed. “I don't know...”
“You really are a pessimist, aren't you?” Sweetie Belle flinched as the mare continued. “You always look for what can go wrong! News flash, everything can go wrong! But you shouldn't let that stop you!”
The mare laid a hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. “You have to keep your chin held high, a smile on your face and be prepared to fight for what you want! If you want to control the power, you have to learn to be positive in the face of adversity!”
Sweetie Belle blinked but, just before she could ask what the mare was talking about, she heard some hoof-steps in the rain. She looked over and saw Button running down the street to her left.
She started to chase him, barely noticing the pink jacket wrapping around her forelegs and barrel, nor the power morpher in her hoof, proudly displaying the pterodactyl.
He started getting a little further before she noticed and decided to see if she could gain some speed. She stopped where she was, going through the motions. “It's morphing time! Pterodactyl!”
Sweetie Belle, now adorning her pink uniform, her helmet having a pterodactyl image looking as if it's roosted on top of her head, rushed forwards, declaring. “Pink ranger!”
“Button Mash!” She continued, as if nothing had happened, before she was held away from the front of the castle by Spike and Scootaloo.
“Whoa girl, slow down!” Scootaloo said, spinning Sweetie Belle towards her. Both decked out in their uniforms and helmets. “I've been stuck with the guys for, like, half an hour! Least you could do is stay for some girl time!”
Sweetie Belle blinked, before looking over her booted hooves, blushing in embarrassment. Oh gosh they all heard me say that, didn't they.
As if she had read her mind, Scootaloo grinned. “Yeah, you got a good week of teasing ahead of ya for that, Lover-Girl.”
She blushed as Featherweight and Pipsqueak giggled at her embarrassment. “Oh shut up, guys!”
As they laughed, Spike was looking over Applebloom, who had still yet to finish her test. Please be okay, Bloom.
Chrysalis grinned as she stood before her army, gathered from the Changeling catacombs, all of them hissing and clicking, their horns glowing slightly in preparation. “My children! The time has finally come!”
The army cheered in clicks as the Queen used a spell to show the peace town of Ponyville, going about its day, before in panned out to show even more.
“After all these years, it's time to conquer Equestria!”