Sweetie Belle's Secret
Chapter 3
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Sweetie Belle woke with a yawn, stretching her forearms as she blinked her eyes from sleep. Today was the first day of school! "The best part," she thought, "Is that I won't be called a blank flank at school any longer!" The white filly jumped out of her bed, and ran down the stairs. She was at her sister Rarity's boutique, since she always slept over there before the first day of school. It had become a tradition.
Sweetie Belle gulped down a bowl of cereal, wanting to head straight out the door and run to school.
"Good morning Sweetie Belle," Rarity said with a yawn. She had come down the stairs in a fluffy white robe and pink slippers, rubbing an eye with her hoof. "What has you so excited? You're usually so tired the first day of school."
The young filly was trembling in her seat, hardly able to gather herself to speak.
"I'm excited because I got my cutie mark!" She squeaked, "But not just that, Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, and the other fillies and colts won't be able to make fun of me anymore! I'm not a blank flank!"
Sweetie Belle was gathering pencils, paper, books and a ruler into her saddle bag, slinging it onto her back.
"Oh yes!" Rarity said as if she had forgotten something, "I almost forgot about that! Well, you better hurry along now, to show off your cutie mark!"
Sweetie Belle nodded, and rushed out the door. This was it!
---
The white unicorn filly approached the door of the old school building. It looked like she was early. No other ponies were around. Ms. Cheerilee must be in the school building, since she was always early. She pushed open the red and white door with her hoof, creaking a little as she stepped inside. Ms. Cheerilee was at her desk, sorting papers into a green folder. She looked up, noticing Sweetie Belle come in, and she looked astonished seeing the young filly in the doorway.
"Sweetie Belle?" the dark pink mare had a look of shock on her face as she continued, "You're three minutes early! On the first day of school? You're always late on the first day!"
Sweetie Belle shuffled her hooves on the wooden floor in embarrassment. "Well, yes I know," She started, "But, you see, something special happened that made me super happy over the past couple days! I finally got my cutie mark!" She turned her flank toward Ms. Cheerilee, with a smile on her face.
"You're the first one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders to get a cutie mark!" The teacher said, "That's great! Whats your special talent?"
"Singing!" Sweetie Belle said with a squeak.
"I always knew you were great at singing," Her teacher said, "Now, how about you get your things together, class is starting in one minute."
Sweetie Belle obeyed, bounding over to her purple cubbie that was still labeled with her name on it in the front. She unloaded her saddle bag, taking out two notebooks, and three pencils. This was always the things she pulled out on the first day, usually taking notes on the lesson. Two ponies came in, and Sweetie Belle recognized them as Featherweight and Berry pinch. Their cubbies were far away from hers, but she could show all the ponies at recess today. She put her supplies on her desk, awaiting her other classmates.
Before long, every pony was piling into the schoolhouse. Talking and laughing, and slowly starting to sit at their desks with their things. She didn't think Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had noticed her cutie mark yet, but it was okay. They hadn't made any remarks like usual like on the past first days. "Did they notice, but just were too shocked to say anything?" Sweetie Belle thought.
But now was not the time to worry about that. Scootaloo was in the front row, struggling to stay awake, her head down on her desk. Apple Bloom seemed drowsy too, but she was doing much better than Scootaloo. Ms. Cheerilee was pulling out a book and turning to page 56 in the lesson book, and was starting to calm the ponies down.
"Alright my little ponies!" The mare teacher started, "I know you all must be tired, but its time to wake up and start the lesson! We'll be starting with some review from the last school year." Ms. Cheerilee picked up a white piece of chalk, and started writing 90x30 on the chalk board. Scootaloo was now snoring away at her desk, and she hadn't even bothered to open up her red colored notebook that was beneath her head now.
But Sweetie Belle had opened up her yellow notebook, with a pencil in her mouth, writing down the multiplication problem and trying to solve it before Ms. Cheerilee did. Before she knew it, it would be the real moment she had been waiting for; recess.
---
The bell had just rung, letting the fillies and colts out of the school house for recess. She saw Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara at the edge of the field, strolling over to her.
"Oh, look!" Diamond Tiara started, "Its the blank flanks!" Silver Spoon laughed along with Diamond Tiara.
"Actually," Sweetie Belle said with amusement clearly in her voice, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo smiling behind her, "I got my cutie mark!" She spun around, showing them the cutie mark on her flank. Silver Spoon gasped, and looked as if she was going to faint at any second.
"Well, it looks like you're no longer a blank flank," Diamond Tiara said, with no mean tone in her voice at all, "Looks like you can hang out with us now! I mean, you got it after us, but still, you have a cutie mark. You can't be seen with these other two-" Her glare flicked over to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, "Blank flanks." She finished with a snicker.
Sweetie Belle didn't know how to respond. But before she could, the grey and pink fillies were encircling her, herding her over like Applejack herds cows. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were standing on the gravel path, shock clear on their face as they watched their best friend being dragged away by their two worst enemies.
"Well, are we just going to stand here?!" Scootaloo said buzzing her wings, "We can't let Sweetie Belle be corrupted by those two! The Cutie Mark Crusaders will fall apart if we lose Sweetie Belle!"
Apple Bloom shook herself as though she just took a swim. "Ah know!" She said with her head raised, "But what can we do? That's Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon we're talking about here! Besides, we have the meeting this afternoon after school."
"Oh yeah." Scootaloo said with a slight chuckle, "I bet we can talk to her then."
But Apple Bloom wished she could believe her friends words, as she gazed across the grass field, watching her best friend laughing and talking to Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara as almost the whole class gathered around the threesome. "Would this be the end of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"
---
Apple Bloom walked on the dirt path, scuffing up small clouds of dust as her hooves brushed by. "Now," the yellow filly thought, "Ah can go to the Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting to settle this thing once and for all!"
She kept walking on the path, on her way to the clubhouse. She met herself face to face with the red and white door before she knew it. Apple Bloom hadn't realized that she was pretty angry, and she had been walking pretty fast, almost running. She pushed open the door with a creak and stepped in to the clubhouse, her bright pink bow brushing against the frame of the door as she walked in. She found Scootaloo there, with an annoyed expression on her face. She was tapping one of her orange hooves on the wooden ground.
"There you are!" the filly pegasus started, "I was getting bored of waiting. Wheres Sweetie Belle?"
Apple Bloom honestly didn't know, but she knew she would be there soon. Sweetie Belle had said last night that she had something special planned for this meeting. But she was starting to doubt herself. "What if Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were hanging out with her after school instead of us?" The young filly thought to herself.
They waited, waited and waited for what seemed like months. But then, they heard a creak, and their ears perked up. A white figure stepped inside the door with an uneasy expression on her face.
"H-hi guys," Sweetie Belle stammered, "Well, I'm here, sorry I'm late."
Scootaloo's wings buzzed, and she hovered over to her friend. "Sorry?!" She said with rage, "How could you do this to us! You were hanging out with Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara!"
Sweetie Belle looked shocked at what she was hearing. "I know I was!" She defended herself, "But they forced me to! My plan is going to work perfectly though to work this all out, because they said you two could hang out with us if you had cutie marks. You both have special talents, you just don't realize it! Not that you have to be friends with Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, but at least this won't happen anymore!" Sweetie Belle was trying to catch her breath after she had said so much.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other with confused looks. "Whada' ya mean, we have special talents?"