“Alright Sweetie Belle”, said Beat Box. “Let’s take it one more time from “waiting on your cutie mark”.”
Sweetie Belle was standing in a recording room, looking at her producer through the glass. She was having a hard time concentrating with the reunion coming up and fatigue from another long week. She had done this same number four times already, messing them up in one way or another. Usually she only had to attempt something once or twice before she nailed it. Beat Box could tell something was amiss. They went through two more attempts before he decided to just call it a day.
“Ok Sweetie”, Beat Box said. “Let’s take the rest of the weekend to relax. We’ll start fresh Monday morning.
“That sounds good to me”, she replied. It was almost unheard of for them to quit early on a Friday, but it had been an extremely long and stressful week for both of them. Not only was she recording songs, but she was also writing for herself and other artists. On top of that, Beat Box was in the middle of training her to be a producer. The three-way occupation combo was taxing, but it guaranteed her a future in the unstable music industry. She could barely see straight from how exhausted she was, but she loved her job.
Sweetie Belle exited the recording room and made her way down the hall for a drink of water. She got her drink and sat down, massaging her eyelids, which were having a hard time staying open.
“Maybe you outta have a superhero on your flank instead of that microphone. I don’t know how you do it.”
Sweetie Belle looked up to see the one of the two Executive Producers of Octavia Scratch Records. “Hey Vinyl.”
“You’ve got to try and get more sleep girlfriend. You’re running yourself ragged.”
“Easier said than done.”
“Well, Beat Box told me he let you off early today. Go home and get some sleep Honey.”
“You got it Boss.”
It was only two o’clock. Sweetie Bell had plenty of time to go home and recharge her batteries with a couple hours of sleep. She gathered her things of left.
The earlier mention of her cutie mark by Vinyl caused old memories to resurface on the way home and she allowed herself to bask in them on the short walk.
Coincidentally, Applebloom and Scootaloo had gotten their cutie marks roughly around the same time. The three had made a pact upon the beginning of their friendship that anypony among them who got their cutie mark would turn around and help those who had not yet experienced that fortune. Sweetie Belle was oblivious to the possibility of music being her special talent. This was largely due to the fact that she was too shy to sing for crowds.
One day the other two crusaders asked her to rehearse their theme song for them, saying that they were having trouble remembering the lyrics and music. Sweetie Belle sensed that something was amiss, but she agreed. She didn’t know that they were secretly recording the song. The two promptly shared the recording with everypony they knew. Sweetie Belle resented them at first, but after several days of being showered with compliments everywhere she went she saw the sense in what they had done and quickly forgave them. Over the next three months her friends did what they could to help her get over her stage fright and eventually a microphone appeared on her flank.
Sweetie Belle arrived at her home, which had once been Carousel Boutique. Rarity had given this home to her after she and spike had relocated to their new home/shop south of Ponyville (see The Dragon and the Pony). Sweetie Belle had promptly moved out of her parents’ home to moved in to her sister’s old home upon this development. She planned on turning the downstairs shop area into a record store one day, but so far she had yet to find the time for such an endeavor.
She made her way upstairs and set her alarm for four-thirty so as to have plenty of time to get ready for the reunion. She crawled into bed and fell asleep almost the second her head hit the pillow.