//------------------------------// // How Sweetie Belle Got Her Cutie Mark // Story: Cutie Mark Chronicles Redux // by ColtClassic //------------------------------// For the first time in her life, Sweetie Belle wished she was younger. If she was younger, all of this would seem exciting. It would just be a sleepover at Rarity's, with all sorts of new ponies to meet. She would play with the babies, and she wouldn't notice the hushed tones of the adults or the worried looks on her parents' faces. She wouldn't follow her sister around, desperate to help, only to be told distractedly to go to bed. Her night would be spent tearing through the house, pestering the grown ups, not huddled next to her sleeping mom, worrying about what would happen next. The rustle of ponies moving about the dark store never stopped, but the clatter of rain against the window panes eventually softened from an angry barrage to a quiet tapping, and the young unicorn was able to drift fitfully off to sleep. It was already bright out when Sweetie woke up. She pulled herself out of her sleeping bag, her body aching from a night spent on the floor. She yawned loudly and gazed blearily around the shop. The usually neat storefront was a damp, sprawling mess, the belongings of over a dozen ponies piled between sleeping bags. Most of their owners had left already, but Rarity was talking with the Cakes near the door, and Sweetie Belle could see a light green mane sticking out from beneath a pile of blankets in the corner. She tiptoed as softly as she could past the sleeping pony as she approached her older sister, who was talking with Mrs. Cake. “...really, if there's anything we can do to repay you-” “I won't hear of it, at least not until this whole mess is over. Good luck, and... and please, let me know if hear anything. About either of them.” “Of course. Will, um, she be okay?” The baker gestured tentatively past Sweetie Belle to the gently snoring pony in the corner. Rarity sighed and furrowed her brow. “I bandaged her leg last night as best I could, but I'm no doctor. She refused to be taken to the hospital, though. She said it isn't serious enough to take attention from ponies who need it more. I'll try to at least get her to move to my bed when she wakes up.” The couple nodded uncertainly as they left the boutique. Rarity's horn lit up as she closed the door behind them. Sweetie Belle took a deep breath, determined to keep the quaver out of her voice. “Where are Mom and Dad?” Rarity started, noticing her younger sister for the first time. She looked more tired than Sweetie Belle had practically ever seen her. Dark bags hung under her bloodshot eyes, and her normally perfect mane was tangled and frayed. Sweetie Belle wondered if she had gotten any sleep at all. “Oh, Sweetie Belle, you're awake. Mom and Dad have gone home to look at the damage. They weren't able to stop the river from flooding, I'm afraid, so it's a good thing you three came up here. It's such a mess, Ponyville won't be the same for months...” She trailed off, but as Sweetie Belle tried to speak up, Rarity cut her off sharply. “You're to stay here, and that's final. It's still dangerous out there, and I won't have you getting in anypony's way.” Sweetie Belle snorted indignantly and stomped a hoof. “I just want to help!” “I know you do, sweetie. Just- here, you can help me by keeping an eye on the twins. The Cakes are trying to salvage whatever they can from the Corner, and they asked me to watch Pound and Pumpkin for them.” Rarity turned and her magic went to work. The piles of sleeping bags, blankets and suitcases were pushed gently to the sides of the room as she levitated a mop before her and set to cleaning the mud that ponies had tracked in from the storm. Sweetie Belle trotted away from her and approached what she realized was her old crib. Peering into it, she found that the Cakes' young foals were indeed there, asleep beneath an old patterned quilt. She pressed her face against the wooden bars and sighed. She was jealous of the twins. They didn't have a clue what was happening, or that anything was even wrong. Truth be told, Sweetie Belle was confused too. The last time she had seen her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had been yesterday afternoon. They were all over at Scootaloo's place, making a go at being Cutie Mark Crusader Field Hockey Players (it was Scootaloo's turn to pick) when Rarity had come galloping down the street. She practically dragged Sweetie Belle away by the ear, and yelled something to the other girls about getting inside right away. When Sweetie Belle asked what the big deal was, Rarity merely pointed her horn at the sky, which was rapidly filling with dark storm clouds. She didn't understand why Rarity was so scared-looking. A little rain never hurt anybody. But it turned out not to be just a little rain. By the time the storm clouds broke open and the torrent started, powerful winds made walking outside difficult, and stray bolts of lightning had already claimed several of Ponyville's trees. Rarity's Boutique was on relatively high ground, but the flooding river had nearly destroyed many of the buildings in the center of the village. Every able-bodied pony in town was running around frantically, helping others reach safety or pitching in at Ponyville Hospital, all while Sweetie Belle sat in the darkness and fretted. Even now, all she was apparently good for was looking after some babies. They weren't even doing anything, just lying there- There was a loud clanging noise, and Sweetie Belle swiveled her head around to see that Rarity had accidentally knocked a sewing machine. Her sister was glancing nervously to the pony rustling beneath her blankets in the corner, but Sweetie Belle's attention was grabbed by the movements coming from the crib. From beneath the quilt poked out two tiny yellow heads. For a split second all they did was blink in confusion, but then their faces scrunched up and for the second time since yesterday Sweetie Belle sensed the onslaught of a tempest. She had no control over her magic yet, but for that brief moment she tried harder than she ever had in her life to make it work, wishing with all her might that she could prevent the inevitable. It was no use. The stillness of the Boutique was broken by the high-pitched wail of the two infants. Rarity could only gape in horror, frozen in the act of righting the fallen machine. Sweetie Belle made shushing noises and reached out to stroke their manes with her hoof, but the relentless cries continued. How could such small ponies make such a loud noise? She thought her eardrums were going to burst. “Try this!” Rarity yelled as she levitated a bottle out of a bag at the foot of the crib. Sweetie Belle grabbed the bottle and offered it to the babies with her hooves, but Pound Cake smacked it aside and resumed bawling. “For the love of Celestia, do something!” Rarity lay on the ground, almost in tears, her hooves covering her ears. Sweetie Belle's mind raced. She looked around the room for something, anything, but all she could think about was the ear-splitting cries that pounded at her skull. Finally, she turned to the twins and grabbed at the only thing she could think of. Hush now, quiet now It's time to lay your sleepy head Hush now, quiet now It's time to go to bed Sweetie's loud and brassy reimagining of the lullaby was a running joke between her and her friends, but now she sang it as it was meant to be sung for the first time. She didn't know what to expect, but to her surprise the twin foals stopped sobbing almost as soon as the first notes left her mouth. As she entered the second verse, she grew more confident as the two stared at her, yawning between sniffles. Drifting off to sleep The exciting day behind you Drifting off to sleep Let the joy of dream land find you Pound and Pumpkin lay their heads down and closed their eyes once more, and Rarity breathed a sigh of relief as she trotted over and used her magic to tuck them in. “Thank you, Sweetie Belle. That was quick thinking. And very lovely, I might add.” “I'll second that!” The two sisters spun around at the sound of the strange voice. The pony in the corner had risen from her blankets and was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her unbandaged foreleg even as she smiled across the room at them. Her coat was minty green, and her mane and tail were pale green, almost white. Although her features were weary and her mane frazzled, there was an unmistakable sparkle in her eyes. “Oh, I'm so sorry they woke you, miss, erm...” “Heartstrings. Lyra Heartstrings.” Her smile grew into a grin and she held out her wounded leg. “You must be Rarity. I don't think we had time for a proper introduction last night in between you patching up my sorry flank and me passing out on your floor.” Rarity tsked as she trotted over to examine the leg. “You really should head to the hospital, Miss Heartstrings. The cut in your leg was quite deep. I cleaned it up to the best of my ability, but I'm not a nurse or doctor and I'd hate to see it get infected.” “Maybe later. I'm sure they have enough on their hooves at the moment.” “Well, at the very least you should move to my room. I'm sure you'll be able to rest more comfortably there.” At this Lyra gave a chortle and pulled back her leg. “I've done enough resting today, I think. It looks like half the day is gone. And I was hoping to get a chance to talk to this one.” She leaned over and peered around Rarity, giving Sweetie Belle a wink and a smirk. This caused Sweetie Belle to give out a squeak and attempt to hide her face behind her tail. “What's your name, kid?” “Sweetie Belle,” she replied, barely managing a mumble. “Cute. She yours?” Lyra asked, turning back towards Rarity. “Mine? I- oh! No, she's my sister,” replied Rarity, looking as if she was trying to decide whether or not to be offended. “Oh yeah, now I remember. I think I saw you two at the Sisterhooves Social. Got yourselves plenty dirty, if I recall.” Rarity huffed. “Yes, well, it was all part of-” “You've got a pretty sweet set of pipes there, kid.” With a growing sense of concern, Sweetie Belle examined her hooves and body. She wasn't sure what to make of Lyra, but her sister was looking more and more irritated. “What are you talking about? I don't have any pipes.” The green unicorn chuckled. “I mean your voice. You're a pretty good singer. I bet you're popular with the colts.” “Oh.” Sweetie Belle suddenly found herself fascinated with the floor beneath her front hooves. “I usually don't like to sing in front of other ponies. I only did it now because the babies were crying.” “Huh.” When Sweetie Belle glanced back up, Lyra was still staring on her, only now she had a frown on her face. Not an angry or upset frown, but more like she was trying to solve a puzzle or a riddle. “Now really, Miss Heartstrings, I think you ought to get some rest,” failing to hide the frustration in her voice. “Are you kidding? I'm fit as a fiddle!” Lyra stood up, wincing as she put weight on her injured leg. Nonetheless, she levitated a saddlebag out from beneath her discarded blankets and began to hobble across the room. “And where exactly are you planning on going?” “To help with the relief efforts. Half of Ponyville's been trashed by this storm, I'm sure, and everypony's gonna be out there working, and I intend to lend my hooves.” Halfway to the door, she turned to Sweetie Belle. “And I have something special in mind if you want to help out, kid.” Sweetie Belle blinked. “Wait, you want ME to help?” Rarity stepped forward, placing herself in front of Sweetie Belle. “I'm afraid not. Sweetie Belle is-” “I wanna go! C'mon, Rarity, PLEASE?” “I told Mom and Dad I would look after you, and no offense, Miss Heartstrings, but we've barely even met.” “You know me, I'm practically your neighbor. We'll be right down the street with half the town. And c'mon, do I look like I'm in any condition to pull off a foalnapping?” Rarity began to protest, but Lyra barreled on. “You look like you've got plenty on your plate, and I promise to look after like she was my own sister.” Rarity looked between Lyra's determined gazed and Sweetie Belle's puppy dog eyes. Finally she sighed in defeat. “Sweetie Belle, give me your word to be on your best behavior, and I'll let you 'help' Miss Lyra. And I except you to be back here in half an hour.” “I can! I will! Thank you, Rarity!” Lyra gave Rarity one last wink as Sweetie Belle followed her out into the village, which Rarity countered with a click of her tongue. “Though what you need Sweetie Belle's help for is beyond me.” “Um, what do you need my help for?” The two unicorns had reached the river‒ or at least, as close as Lyra was comfortable getting. Fallen trees and branches had made a wreck of streets and houses all across Ponyville, but by far the worst damage was near the Everfree River. With so little warning beforehand, there had been no time to for the town's residents to gather sandbags and try to hold back the rising water. The torrent had proved too much for the winding river, and although the flood waters had receded, it had left a large chunk of the town in greater disarray than Ponyville had seen since the awakening of Discord. The ground had been transformed into a veritable sea of mud, and the laboring residents of Ponyville had only just begun to clear away the piles of debris. All around them Ponies bustled, hauling branches, searching for lost possessions, or returning cautiously to homes they had fled the night before. A construction crew had already begun work repairing the town's central bridge, which had been largely swept away. Above them, pegasi pulled airborne chariots loaded with supplies from one side of the river to the other, disappearing in and out of the low grey clouds that hung over the town. Sweetie Belle felt lost in the swell of ponies, noise and commotion. Her odd companion wasn't helping matters. The two of them sat apart from the crowd, side by side in the shadow of a closed flower shop. The green unicorn was absorbed in fiddling with a golden instrument she had pulled from her saddlebags. The faint green glimmer of her horn matched the aura surrounding the harp that closely resembled her Cutie Mark. “This darn thing better be in tune, for all the grief it caused me to save it.” “You said we were going to help out down here.” “Trust me, kid, we are. But first I'm gonna tell you a little bit about myself. I'm from Canterlot originally, but that town always rubbed me the wrong way. Ponies had their noses too high in the air to see where they were going. I flunked out of the music program at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Not for lack of talent, I assure you. Let's just say the professors and I didn't see eye to eye about a lot of things. “After escaping the tortures of higher education, I decided to hit the road. See what the wide world of Equestria had to offer me. Never made it farther than my first stop, though. I came to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration a couple years back. You know the one I'm talking about.” Sweetie Belle shuddered. Everypony in Ponyville remembered the terrifying return of Nightmare Moon, even if they wished they didn't. “But after the dust from all that settled, I found myself reluctant to leave this town. After the party for Celestia's return, I realized there was something special here. A friendliness. A neighborliness. A down-to-earthiness. A... well, this.” Lyra gestured to the crowd. Sweetie Belle peered out at the ponies around, confused as to what her new friend was talking about. All she could see was a bunch of ponies toiling in the mud, most of whom looked like they were having the worst day of their lives. “I don't get it.” “Look, your sister is a bit of a neat freak, right? Likes everything just so. But when a couple dozen of her dirty, disheveled, and recently homeless neighbors‒ myself included‒ showed up at her door in the middle of a storm, she didn't bat an eye before taking them in. That's definitely not something you'd find very much of in Canterlot. “Anyway, I'm now proud to call myself a resident of Ponyville. I get a few gigs here and there, but say what you will for this town, the classical concert scene isn't exactly thriving out here. So I've learned to make do with the income of a street performer. Which brings us to the task at hoof.” Sweetie Belle's eyes grew wide as it dawned on her what Lyra was planning. “That's how you're gonna help? By playing music?” “No, that's how we're gonna help. I was hoping you'd pitch in on the vocals.” Sweetie Belle's face turned red, and her mind raced to formulate an escape plan. Her best bet seemed to be to give Lyra an excuse, but all she could think of was “I have to go wash my lizard,” which even she realized didn't make any sense. She considered simply bolting, but a combination of politeness and terror kept her rooted to the spot. She began stammering, and it occurred to her that she may in fact have been tricked. “I-I-I r-really don't l-like to sing in f-f-front of-” “I get it, kid. I'm no stranger to stage fright. But believe me when I say you've got something special with that voice of yours. I'm not one to philosophize, but there's something about music. It... uplifts your soul. It's not anything you can put into words. It's something I felt when I first picked my lyre all those years ago, and I bet it's something you feel whenever you sing. And I know for sure,” she made a sweeping gesture to the crowd of haggard ponies, some of whom were already giving them curious looks, “that it's something these ponies need to feel right now.” A tiny war broke out in Sweetie Belle's head. On the one hoof, she wanted more than anything to help, to not be just some useless filly, to do something, anything, to lift the dark cloud that had settled over everything she knew. On the other hoof, she could already feel her legs tremble at the thought of all those ponies watching her, judging her, yelling at her, telling her she should give up and go home. She wished Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were there. They were both so fearless, so confident. They would tell her... They would tell her to do it. She turned to Lyra. She couldn't bring herself to say it, but the other unicorn gave her a knowing grin. “Do you know The Lost Pegasus?” Sweetie Belle blinked. “Yeah, I think so. But that song's really, um, old.” “I know,” Lyra replied as she strummed a chord with her magic, “but old songs stick around for a reason.” Sweetie Belle had expected Lyra to stand up and make some sort of announcement, but the unicorn merely leaned back against the wall behind her, closed her eyes, and confidently struck the opening notes of the song. Sweetie Belle only had a second to prepare. She stepped forward, and the noise around her began to grow quiet as ponies took notice of them. For a terrifying moment, she didn't think she would be able to do it. Her heart seemed to be pushing up into her throat, and the ground beneath her seemed to be falling away. But then her voice rose up of its own accord, and she managed to sing the first quavering notes. Oh, once was a lost soul Wandered earth and sky In search of the place Where her true love did lie As the sound of the music rose, the voices of ponies around them began to die down. After a few moments, the confused and curious face of every pony in the area was on the odd pair of unicorns. Sweetie Belle faltered beneath so many gazes, but pushed onward, miraculously hitting every note with her young voice. The crowd began to gather around them at a short distance as dozens of ponies rested from their work to listen to the impromptu performance. A few voices rose in protest, but they were quickly shushed by their neighbors, some of whom were beginning to smile. Through the dark of the night And the heat of the day Never once did she rest Never once did she stray Sweetie Belle's mom had sung the ballad to her when she was younger. It followed a simple melody, but it was one that stuck in your head for hours after hearing it. The story was an old pony tale about a pegasus mare in love with a unicorn prince. His mother couldn't stand the thought of his son marrying a pegasus, so she cursed him with a spell that made him forget her. However, the spell backfired against her‒ the stallion forgot everything about who he was, and wandered into the wilderness, never to be seen again. Sweetie Belle always thought it was a terribly sad story, but as she sang it now, she suddenly understood things she never had about the song. She saw the lost pegasus clearly before her, never giving up, never losing hope, and she felt a soft, joyous spark within her heart. In a flash, she understood that she could give that to the ponies all around her. All she had to do was raise her voice, bring the emotions that she felt out into the song, and she could share that spark with them. With each verse, her voice grew stronger, her heart grew lighter, and the faces of the ponies around her grew more entranced. Nearly everypony was smiling, and more than one pony had to quickly wipe away a tear. The persistent notes of Lyra's strings pushed her onwards, and by the time she reached the last verse, her voice rang high and clear over the hushed crowd of ponies. Her mane had turned grey From the miles she flew But she whispered “At last I can lie here with you” Even before Lyra finished the last notes, the air was filled with the sound of cheers and the stomping of hooves. Sweetie Belle could still feel the weight of the attention she was receiving and the heat in her face, but she also couldn't stop smiling. She felt connected with the other ponies- with her audience‒ in a way she had never thought was possible. Behind her, Lyra was taking a bow, and she fumbled to drop into a curtsey. The interruption didn't last long. A few ponies walked over to compliment them or offer them bits (which Lyra adamantly refused), but the crowd dispersed as quickly as it formed. Ponies returned to the work at hoof, but Sweetie Belle could see a determination on dozens of faces that she knew hadn't been there before. She also felt, as she looked into the crowd, that she could see her neighbors more clearly now. She realized that she recognized every one of their faces, and that they truly were more than just ponies that happened to live side by side. “Hey kid, you okay?” Sweetie Belle started as she realized she hadn't said anything in awhile. In fact, she had been staring off into space. Lyra was giving her a nervous grin. “Yeah. It's just... woah.” “I feel ya. Every performance is a kind of like that. But the first time, man, it's something else. Trust me, you'll remember this when you're singing in the future.” “In the future?” Lyra's smile grew so wide that it looked like it might fall off her face as she pointed to Sweetie Belle's flank. “Something tells me your singing career's just getting started.”