//------------------------------// // 50 - Epilogue // Story: Sweetie Belle Gains a Soul // by Bad Dragon //------------------------------// Most of the ponies from Ponyville came to the yearly talent show. It was time for the last performance of the day. The anticipation could be felt in the air. Nopony was fully at ease. Many had tried to visit the talked about filly in the hospital, but the doctors had been firm and had only let her closest friends and relatives visit her. It was to be their first sighting of the infamous one after the notorious event at Friendship Rainbow Kingdom castle. Behind the crowd was a shrouded figure. Red eyes squinted under the gray cloak. She argued with Zecora. At one point, the latter jerkily waved a hoof at her, then thumped away. The hooded figure lifted her head, revealing a grin under a nasal bone. At the very edge of the front row sat Binder Strap. He hugged a small restraint jacket in his lap. His eyes glanced at the gray, hornless Unicorn beside him. “She’s not well, no matter what they say. They only get worse after the first phase. You remember how you were before the electroshocks, don’t you?” Cast Achiever tensed his muscles. “If magic abuse is on your mind, the mental health cannot be found.” “That’s right. Her body is cured of ill magic, but without electroshock therapy, I doubt she’ll ever be docile.” Also in the front row, but on the opposite side sat Twilight. Her wings were still wrapped up in white dressings. A small crossed bandage covered her cutie mark. With her eyebrows pressed together, she focused on the stage. “Is this the last one?” Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack. “I don’t think I can stand much more of this sitting on my plot. After the disappearing tail trick I performed yesterday, this is literally torture for me. Do I even need to be here?” “You told Scootaloo you’d come,” Fluttershy commented. “Her heart would break if she saw you fly away.” “Ugh!” Rainbow Dash responded, crossing her forelegs on the chest then quickly put them back on the seat to distribute some of the weight off her plot. Diamond Tiara crouched on the ground before the front row. “Why did they even let her perform? She wasn’t in school for days,” she said to Silver Spoon who was perched beside her. “Shh!” Rarity whispered loudly through her teeth. “It’s about to start!” She clapped her forehooves in anticipation then suddenly perked up her ears and turned to Pinkie Pie. “Deary, can you please do something about your tummy rumblings?” “I’ll ask it to stop really nicely, but I can’t give you a promise. It’s more of a talker than a listener. I fed it candy before I came here. It usually likes that. Something must have really upset Tum-Tum to make it act up this way. Ever since I got here, it’s been growling like crazy.” Pinkie Pie pressed her muzzle to the tummy and whispered to it as she softly stroked its sides with both forehooves. “I’ll soon feed you cupcakes. The special kind.” She winked at it. The curtain waved then spread open, revealing the stage to the audience. Sweetie Belle slowly walked to the center of the set. She had a rolled-up paper strapped to her forehead, representing her horn. Glancing across the large crowd, she gulped her saliva then spoke loudly, “Oh, I have so much to do. Schoolwork, magic training with a local magician, chores at home and hanging out with my friends. There’s no way I can get all those things done in time. I wish there were more of me.” Scootaloo, dressed in a tight black bodysuit, firmly stepped forth. When she walked behind a cardboard bush her hoof hit a hurdle on the floor. “Auch!” Apple Bloom yelped from behind the bush. “Watch it!” “Sorry.” Scootaloo swallowed and looked at Sweetie Belle.  “I can grant you your wish.” “Who are you, stranger?” Sweetie Belle took a step closer, putting a forehoof above her eyes. “What are you, mysterious creature?” Scootaloo crouched down and Apple Bloom, dressed in a tight, white bodysuit, stood up. “I can be you.” “Oh, gosh, a changeling!” Sweetie Belle sat down, covering her head with both forehooves. “You are right to fear me because I will now take over your life and make everypony hate you because I’m evil like that.” Apple Bloom picked up a lasso in her muzzle and swung it over Sweetie Belle. The rope failed to hook onto the filly Unicorn and fell to the ground around her. She quickly lifted it up with her hooves and tightened the noose. “Oh no, you have trapped me, and now I cannot stop you from hurting my friends.” “Mua-ha-ha!” Apple Bloom exclaimed so hard that she coughed, earning uneasy looks from Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. She swallowed and continued. “I will now go make you look bad in front of everypony.” “Nooo!” Sweetie Belle raised a hoof toward the shapeshifted changeling, but quickly retracted it when she remembered that she was supposed to be tied down. “I shall now leave you here to be trapped while I do my wicked evil. Mua-ha-ha!” “Nooo!” Apple Bloom turned around and walked behind the curtain. Sweetie Belle tried to crouch away, but her forehooves got tangled in the rope. She dropped down and slid herself across the floor to the other side of the stage, pushing herself only with her hind legs. Scootaloo bit on the edge of the cardboard and tried to drag it away. After a jerk, the makeshift bush fell on the floor, revealing her to the audience. She stood there, mouth agape. After a few moments, she flapped her wings and slid out of sight, leaving the mockup bush behind on the stage. Sweetie Belle pushed a table on the scene. A paper vase lay on it. Disguised Apple Bloom walked forth and looked around. “This must be her home. I will trash it and everypony will blame her for it. Mua-ha-ha!” She walked to the vase and knocked it off the table. “Mua-ha-ha!” She pushed the furniture off the stage where Sweetie Belle crouched, hiding. On the opposite side, Scootaloo walked from behind a curtain. She was adorned with a fake, white beard and a gown that covered her body. On a hoof, she carried a book. “My apprentice, is that you? You look a little evil.” Apple Bloom walked across the stage. “Yeah, it’s totally me. I am your apprentice you’ve been expecting. Don’t question this.” “Okay then... I have an important book for you to read.” Scootaloo the magician said. Glancing at Twilight in the audience, she added, “Not that other books aren’t important...” “Give it here.” Apple Bloom stated firmly. “Okay then, here you go.” Scootaloo extended a forehoof and Apple Bloom bit on the book. Scootaloo slid backward off the stage. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom walked to the middle and lay the book from her mouth to a forehoof. “Mua-ha-ha! I will not even read this book. I will, instead, throw it away.” She fearfully glanced at Twilight in the audience and carefully laid the book on the floor. “Mua-ha-ha, I’m so evil!” She walked behind the curtain. Sweetie Belle plunged on the stage. The rope was still wrapped around her. She struggled with it for a while without saying anything. By the time the enwrapped captive managed to pull herself out of the binds, she perspired. “I… I managed to break free.” Under her breath, she added, “barely…” The exhausted filly clambered on all fours. “I need to go save my fragile reputation now.” She ran behind the curtain. A moment after, she jumped back on the stage. “I just came.” Somepony choked then coughed in the audience. “I’m at my home now.” She placed both forehooves on her cheeks and sat down. “Oh, no! My home is a mess. That is bad. I need to tidy it up to increase my good reputation score.” A table from before slid on its previous spot. Sweetie Belle walked from side to side, looking around. When the sought after vase flew at her from the backstage, she turned to Apple Bloom behind the curtain and whispered, “Better late than never.” “You’re welcome...” came a response from the hidden pony. The vase was different from the one that was used before. It consisted of colored paper, representing glued parts of the one that had been shattered. Sweetie Belle picked up the paper jar and put it on the table. “There. This priceless, ancient artifact was broken before, and now I made it even better with the power of mystical gluing technology. It’s more than whole now. All is good.” She pushed the table out of sight then jumped back out. “Oh, there is a book lying on the floor. That is bad. I should read it because that’s what books are good for.” She opened it in the middle and stared at it for some time. The silence grew ever thicker as Sweetie Belle kept reading the book on the stage. Somepony sighed in the audience. It wasn’t long before the sighing spread out like an infection. Scootaloo, adorned with a white beard and a gown, walked forth. “Ahem!” She waved Sweetie Belle to come closer. “Oh...” Sweetie Belle closed the book, snatched it with her mouth and ran toward Scootaloo. She laid the book before the magician. “I read it whole. I totally did!” “Okay then.” She reached out with a hoof and patted Sweetie Belle on the head. “You have outgrown me, powerful and mighty apprentice.” Apple Bloom crouched toward them from one side of the stage to another, in plain view of everypony. The shiny, white fabric she was adorned in didn’t help with the camouflage. Sweetie Belle glared at her. “Couldn’t you go around? Ugh!” She jumped up and down on the spot, trying to redirect the focus of the audience from Apple Bloom to herself. When the displaced filly finally made it to the curtain at the right side of the scene, Sweetie Belle hopped toward the center. “Yay! My fragile reputation is now saved.” Apple Bloom jumped out of the curtain. “You have disturbed my evil plans, and I don’t like it when you do that. I will now perform my revenge against you.” As she jumped back, Scootaloo in the black, tight dress jumped in her place. “By using green, changeling magic, I will cut off your horn now.” With her teeth, she picked up a jade hula hoop from behind the curtain and aimed it above Sweetie Belle’s head. By jerking in an arch with her neck, she threw it forth. The hula hoop hit Sweetie Belle’s chest. “Ouch!” She pressed a hoof on her sore spot. “Watch it!” After glancing toward the crowd, she clenched her teeth. “Um… Oh no! You have hit my horn with your evil magic. And now I am without my horn. The stump also hurts a lot, which makes me a victim and not a rule breaker.” She reached with a leg on the top of her head where the rolled up paper was strapped on. As soon as the hoof touched the cone, it detached and fell to the ground, revealing the stump on her head. “My horn is gone.” “Mua-ha-ha! I will go away forever now, and you won’t be able to revenge against me.” Scootaloo jumped off the stage. Sweetie Belle sat down, looking at the curtain. “Come on...” She nervously glanced at the audience then glared back at her friend, clenching her teeth from the anticipation. Scootaloo finally managed to put on the beard. She walked on the stage and slid a hood over her head. “Don’t feel bad, my apprentice. Everything was messed up before, but you at least tried to fix it, and you also got hurt in the process, which scores you bonus reputation points. Me and everypony else won’t hate you anymore because of that and because you don’t seem so very evil anymore.” “Thank you!” Sweetie Belle said. Scootaloo continued, “It is best that we forget all the bad that has happened and live happily ever after from now on instead.” “Yay!” Sweetie Belle jumped in the air, clapping all four hooves together. She flew high and crashed low behind the curtain. Scootaloo slowly walked backward, biting her lip. The stage went quiet. A coughing sound emanated from the crowd. Sometime later, Sweetie Belle peeked from behind the curtain and limped a few steps forward. “Um… That’s all we have.” There was silence among the gathered ponies. Twilight recovered from all the facehoofs she’d been giving herself during the performance and looked at the surrounding crowd. She sighed and forcefully clapped, without changing her serious face. Her hooves pounded against each other in the midst of the deafening silence until one by one, the rest of the ponies gradually followed suit. Some clapped their hooves together while others thumped them on the ground. The clapping spread among the confused ponies, but there was one in the back row, who seemed to be immune to the social pressure. The black pony with the red mane didn’t clap. He just shook his head and trotted away. Cheerilee walked on the stage. “Attention, everypony. The winners of this year’s talent show are about to be announced. All performers, please make your way to me.” She waited for the foals to gather behind her. “Due to this year’s low participation, we’re only giving out the reward for the best performance. The winner takes it all!” “Just one?” Apple Bloom turned to the other two. “It’s all good. We wouldn’t have a chance at the comedy act this year, anyway. Nopony laughed.” “We’re definitely better than Snips and Snails,” Scootaloo said. “Those two did the same trick from last year. They even failed at it the exact same way.” “And here are the results, ” Cheerilee continued. “Among the three teams, the winning one is…” Foals on the stage gasped from the anticipation. “Twist, for producing candy before our very eyes.” She pulled a lollipop from somewhere and put it in her mouth. “Quite delicious, if I may say so myself. Give it up for Twist and her sweet tooth!” “We lost.” Apple Bloom said as she bowed her head. “I thoughs you were zhe best.” Twist said to the Cutie Mark Crusaders as she stepped to the front of the stage. “And here’s your medal, Twist. You deserve it.” Cheerilee swung it over the filly's head. The crowd applauded. “Sank you!” “Thank you, Twist and thank you, audience,” Cheerilee continued. “If I had known that so many visitants would come, I would’ve had more chairs set up for you all. Join us again next time, and you all have my word that nopony will be left standing.” The crowd stood silent.  “That’s all, everypony. The show’s over. Trot safely.” The crowd slowly dispersed without causing much ruckus. Most were lost in their pondering. With their gazes fixed to the ground, they walked on the main road through Ponyville. The three fillies disappeared behind the curtain. “Don’t worry girls, there’s always next year,” Sweetie Belle said. “It’s easy for you to say,” Scootaloo raised her voice. “You already have your cutie mark.” “I wish I didn’t.” Sweetie Belle sighed and bowed her head. “The stupid cutie mark doesn’t even represent any of my talents. It’s supposed to be for my proficiency at magic, but I can’t even cast any spells at all. I wish I could hope for something cool like you girls can. I also miss the crusading and—” “Actually, Sweetie Belle…” Apple Bloom interjected. “We want to talk to you about that.”  “Of course you do...” Sweetie Belle’s eyes shied away as she sighed. “Oh, it’ll have to wait though.” Apple Bloom gazed toward the edge of the stage. “Applejack is getting anxious to hug me. It’s a thing we have…” she excused herself and ran off down the stairs. “I’ll catch you girls in a bit.” “I’ll just put our props together in the meantime.” Scootaloo sighed. “And I’ll just…” Sweetie Belle started but got interrupted. “That was truly marvelous,” came a voice from under the stage. Sweetie Belle looked at her sister. “Your dresses were tight.” “Ugh...” Her mother tried to clamber onto the stage. “The costumes weren’t the reason why everypony clapped, Sweetie…” She pulled herself up and clambered on all fours. “Whew.” Her eyes turned back to Sweetie Belle. “You are.” “I concur,” said a deep voice behind Sweetie Belle, walking up the stairs of the stage. “Daddy!” Sweetie Belle ran toward him. “Did you like the show? Did you like it?” She jumped up and down in front of him. “Your mother and I enjoyed it very much, along with everypony else here. You did well, Sweetie.” Cookie Crumbles leaned down to her daughter and gave her a kiss on the stump. “Go join your friends now. Tell them to meet us all at Pinkie’s.” “What will happen there?” “Can’t tell. It’s a secret,” her mother whispered. “There wasn’t any get together for our last show.” “It’s not about the show, Sweetie Belle,” her dad snickered as he turned to the stairs. “What is it about then?” “Well...” her mother said. “I’d tell you that Pinkie Pie is really glad to see you back and that she’s been baking cupcakes since the morning, but it’s a secret, and, honestly, I shouldn’t be telling you anything at all.” “You and the herd can go on ahead. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and me have to clear the props first. We’ll meet you there.” “You promise?” “I promise, mommy!” “Don’t make us wait too long, okay?” “Okay. There are a few props we need to take away, and I want to talk to them about something for a bit. We’ll be there soon. ” “If you need any help, I can…” “Just go!” Sweetie Belle pounded a hoof on a plank. “Alright, alright... Don’t forget, though! You gave your word, missy.” She turned around, took a step forward, glanced back, then jumped off the stage. “Stage dive!” “Mom, there’s nopony there to” — Sweetie Belle cringed when she heard a thump — “catch you...” Biting her lip, she slowly backtracked to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Sorry about that, girls. It seems everypony wants to check up on me. I haven’t been alone for even one moment since I woke up in the hospital. It’s like nopony trusts me after everything that had supposedly happened.” “Speaking of trusting you...” Apple Bloom drew closer, pushing a closed box on the floor toward Sweetie Belle. “Scootaloo and I already talked about what you did.” “You talked about me, without me?” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “You lay unconscious in the hospital…” “Oh, right…” Sweetie Belle bit her lip. Apple Bloom continued. “You quit the club yourself. We couldn’t just make you a crusader after that.” “I’m sorry that happened.” She bowed her head. “Yeah, we hoped you’d feel that way,” Scootaloo said. I bowed my head. “It’s not out of malice,” Apple Bloom jumped in. “We needed to be sure you weren’t still messed up. We figured that if you could put up with us until the end of the talent show, we’d know you’re alright. We also needed to hear that you actually wanted to be in the club.” She raised an eyebrow. “I do! I really do!” Sweetie Belle turned her head and glared at her flank. “But I have this useless cutie mark now…” She hit herself on it. The other two fillies smiled at each other and slid the box at Sweetie Belle. She stopped it with a forehoof and cocked her head to observe it from different angles. “You’re right.” Apple Bloom said. “You can’t be a regular Cutie Mark Crusader anymore.” Sweetie Belle clenched her teeth and bowed her head. “I understand.” Apple Bloom pushed the box even closer. “That’s why we decided to offer you the position of an Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader!” She opened the top of the box. There was a clothing inside it. Scootaloo reached in and lifted the Cutie Mark Crusader cape. It spread out before Sweetie Belle, leaving her breathless. “It’s your old one, but better. I cleaned it up for you.” Scootaloo proudly tapped herself on the chest. “ I even had to use some soap for the stain that was near the edge of it—” “Just give it to her, already.” Apple Bloom facehooved. Sweetie Belle sat down and reached out with both forehooves, gracefully accepting the gift from Scootaloo. “It’s beautiful. Thank you. Both of you. Thank you!” She swung it over her body. “Welcome back, Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom said. Gasping, Sweetie Belle pulled the string from one side of the cape under her neck and pinned it to the buckle on the other. She looked at them with open mouth. They were both smiling, and so was she. “We should celebrate this!” Sweetie Belle said. “And it just so happens that there’s a party in town and we’re all invited.” “Oh, you already know about that,” Apple Bloom smirked. Scootaloo snickered. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ve already packed the props. Wanna help me lift the box to the cart, Apple Bloom?” “Sure,” she responded. “Right after I get myself out of this tight clothing. It itches as if I had sand in my coat.” She rubbed one foreleg against the other. “I know what you mean.” Scootaloo puffed through her nostrils. “I just want to rip the clothes off to get myself free of it.” Sweetie Belle pointed to her saddlebag at the backstage corner. “I’ll just neatly fold the cape and put it in my saddlebag. Celestia forbid if I get a stain on the uniform after you spent so much time cleaning it.” “Good thinking, lots can happen at the party,” Scootaloo said while she walked toward a big box with the props, stripping her clothes off on the way. “Rainbow Dash promised to teach me the disappearing tail trick, but warned me that things could get messy fast.” Sweetie Belle turned around and whispered to herself. “Good. They accepted me. Now I only have to prove to them that I’m worthy of their trust.” “Did you say something, Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom glanced back. “Um, no, I was just—talking to myself.” “Oh, um, okay...” Apple Bloom turned around but held her forehoof in the air, not making a single step forward. With eyes half-closed, she looked back at Sweetie Belle. “What?” Sweetie Belle faced her with raised eyebrows. “What’s wrong?” Apple Bloom took a step toward Sweetie Belle and cocked her head. “Hug?”