Chapter Four: Sweetie Belle Feels Frightened
As Sweetie Belle was dragged through the streets of Ponyville by her sister, she noticed that most of the town was going in the same direction as them. Sweetie Belle saw a few familiar faces in the crowd, but a lot of unfamiliar ones as well. It looked like ponies from neighbouring towns had travelled to Ponyville just for the show. The audience would probably be the biggest group of ponies Sweetie Belle had ever seen in one place.
The Sapphire Shores Singer Search auditions were being held in the Town Hall, which Sweetie and Rarity reached in almost no time at all. Sweetie hadn't been inside since the roof was fixed, but she remembered that there were a lot of seats in front of the hall's stage.
"Ah, here we are," Rarity said cheerfully, smiling at Sweetie Belle before turning to the green unicorn mare at the entrance. "Hello! I've brought Miss Sweetie Belle to audition."
Sweetie glanced up and smiled at the unicorn, but her mind was far away. She entered the building with Rarity and found their way to the backstage area, where a number of other contestants were waiting for their turns. None of them looked even nearly as nervous as she felt.
She and Rarity took their seats on one of the benches that had been set up for contestants. "Sweetie, listen up for your number. It's thirteen," Rarity said. "Remember that: thirteen."
Sweetie Belle nodded. She didn't like any numbers very much at all, but she decided then that thirteen was definitely her least favourite one.
"My, my, you've been awfully quiet today," Rarity said. "Saving your voice for the performance? Good idea!"
Sweetie Belle smiled weakly. Her breaths came out in shallow gasps, but now that she was sitting still, she felt a little bit calmer. As long as she still had time before her performance, she would be able to relax a little, and maybe then she would be able to handle her nerves.
She had barely taken three deep breaths when a loud announcer pony shouted, "Thirteen! Contestant number thirteen, please come to the stage!"
Sweetie could not believe her rotten luck. Her newfound sense of calm disappeared immediately.
"That's you!" Rarity shouted, shaking with excitement. "You're up, Sweetie Belle! Go on, it's time to show those judges what singing is all about!"
Before Sweetie Belle could think of a last-minute excuse not to go on stage, she felt herself being pushed across the floor by an extremely excited Rarity, and had to start moving her legs so as not to fall over. The stage came closer and closer, and then she was right in the middle of it, the curtain behind her and the audience ahead.
She was standing in front of a crowd of hundreds. Eyes of all colours were focused directly on her. Faces of all colours were turned to her, and none of them seemed to be smiling. She couldn't see Scootaloo and Apple Bloom among all the big, unfamiliar adult ponies.
"Hello, Sweetie Belle," said a pink pegasus mare sitting behind the judges' table, between a brown unicorn stallion and a green earth pony mare. "What are you going to be singing for us today, sweetheart?"
Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to tell them, but no words came out. What was she going to sing? She racked her brains, desperately trying to remember what song she had chosen, but it refused to come to her. She had spent most of the previous evening singing it, but think as she might, she couldn't remember a single word, or even the tune of her song!
The crowd stared at her, waiting. The whole room was silent, and Sweetie Belle just knew that if she stood in silence for much longer, they would all start murmuring. Worse still, if she admitted she'd forgotten her song, they would laugh at or boo her!
Sweetie tried to calm herself and sing something – anything. All she needed to do was think of a song and sing it, but for the first time in her life, the words just wouldn't come to her. The words were never far away when she was sad or bored or frustrated, but now that she was frightened, there was nothing.
So when Sweetie Belle opened her mouth again, her words still refused to come out. Nothing even vaguely songlike came to mind. Scattered muttering rippled through the crowd, and Sweetie's throat suddenly felt very dry, as if she'd been wandering in a desert. She felt even less like singing that she had a moment ago, if that were possible.
"Miss Sweetie Belle, is there something wrong?" asked the stern-looking brown stallion judge.
"Yes!" shouted a voice. Sweetie clapped her hooves over her snout before realising that it wasn't her own.
It was Apple Bloom's.
Sweetie spun around to see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo standing behind her on the stage, huffing and puffing from running, but also smiling. Apple Bloom winked at her, and some of the dryness left her throat.
"Fillies and gentlecolts!" Scootaloo shouted into the audience. "My name's Scootaloo, she's Sweetie Belle and she's Apple Bloom! And together we are..."
Apple Bloom nudged Sweetie Belle, and the three of them shouted, Sweetie somewhat weaker than the others, "THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"
"Sorry we were late, everypony," Apple Bloom said, grabbing a microphone. "But we're all here now, and we're going to sing We Are the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
With that, Scootaloo took the microphone from Apple Bloom and launched into the song the three Crusaders had sung at their school talent show. Apple Bloom started dancing like she was fighting with the air, and only fell on her face once the entire time. Scootaloo sang loud and horribly out of key, but shut her eyes tight and gripped the microphone with all the confidence of Sapphire Shores herself.
Feeling relieved that the audience wasn't staring only at her anymore, Sweetie Belle could feel more words coming to her, and, just because she felt like singing, sung along with Scootaloo. "When you're... a little pony..." She didn't have a microphone, though, so it was very soft.
At the end of their performance, the girls held each others' hooves and bowed to the audience, who clapped and cheered and laughed for them. The laughter was the loudest, but as Apple Bloom was quick to remind Sweetie, "It's our comedy act! Laughin' is a good thing!" Sweetie was amazed at how much better that made her feel about it.
The laughter and applause continued for a long time, and Sweetie Belle and her friends bowed a few more times before heading off the stage, big smiles on all of their faces. Sweetie thought she heard something – a faint voice, maybe – coming from somewhere near where the judge's table was, but somehow it didn't seem like anything she needed to worry about.