//------------------------------// // Chapter the Third // Story: Crusader Managed Chocobos // by Magical Trevor //------------------------------// “Oh come on! Where did you go?” Sweetie Belle complained, trotting around empty instrument cases. Sweetie Belle looked around, eyebrows furrowed as she squinted at her surroundings. Such a small animal shouldn’t be able to hide in a room like this, right? It was, maybe, as big as her classroom, if that. There were only half a dozen instrument cases, so how could her pet elude her this well? “It just doesn’t make any sense!” “Wark!” Sweetie Belle blinked, then looked at the open door. She stared blankly at the opening in the room for a minute, wondering just how she had been so oblivious as to miss the fact that there was a door in the room. When she heard her pet chirping some more, however, it galvanized her into action. Rushing outside as quickly as she could with her dress, she looked around, hoping to see a small blue speck fluttering around somewhere. “Alright, just concentrate, Sweetie Belle. You just have to find a magical bird that’s come from another realm... No problem! Rarity always said that there’s no such thing as a problem. A problem is only a challenge in disguise...” Sweetie Belle sighed before straightening back up, trotting forward with her head held high, hooves barely making a sound against the gleaming marble. Remembering that there were adults in the next room, she moved with as much poise and dignity as she could, hoping she would be able to just blend into the crowd as she searched for her elusive avian. Seeing some blue out of the corner of her eye, Sweetie Belle spun around on a hoof-tip, changing her destination. Murmuring apologies and greetings, Sweetie Belle dodged nobles and guests alike as she approached her pet. “There you are! How could you just ditch me like that? That’s just rude and totally uncalled for! I’m gonna tell Rarity on y-” Sweetie Belle blinked as she realised the blue she had seen earlier was not in fact her Chocobo, but Vinyl Scratch. Sweetie Belle blinked again when she realised that Vinyl was not only wearing a dress, but also had her mane stylized, and was talking with one of the members of the orchestra. “You’re not my Chocobo...” The grey earth pony tittered, hiding a grin behind a hoof. Straightening her pink bow-tie, she said, “Oh how precious! Is this your cousin or something, Vinny? How do you do, little one? What’s your name?” “I don’t don’t think so, Vee,” Vinyl Scratch said, blinking as she stared at the small filly. “Huh? Vinyl Scratch isn’t my cousin,” Sweetie Belle answered, tilting her head to the side. “I’m just looking for my pet! Have you seen a blue bird flying around? It’s small, blue, and talks like this.” Octavia listened as Sweetie Belle proceeded to imitate the bird call in question, eyes growing large as dinner plates at the filly’s ability. Then she started giggling as Sweetie Belle let loose a ‘Wark!’ “So it says wark?” Octavia asked, her sides still shaking slightly as she fought to keep her voice even. “Uh-huh! And she’s cute, and ornery, and can fly, and looks like a blue baby chicken,” Sweetie Belle reiterated, nodding firmly. “And I have to find her before my sister Rarity finds out, or I’ll get in trouble for not telling her I have a pet, and then I’ll get in trouble for my pet getting into trouble and getting away from me, and then she’ll punish me by shunning me, or ostracising me to my room, or shunned in the place I’ve been ostracised to, and, and, and I don’t wanna be an ostrich!” The area around Sweetie Belle fell silent as ponies heard her panicking, before Vinyl Scratch started laughing. “You’re all right, kid! Getting turned into an ostrich after being shunned. That’s a good one! So you’re looking for a little blue bird, huh? Gimme five seconds.” Sweetie Belle struggled, with Octavia’s help, to control her hyperventilating, watching as Vinyl poked her head above the crowd, slowly turning in a circle. “Yup. Didn’t see anything. Might wanna try the orchestra though. Lots of small places there for a bird to hide or have fun.” “O-oh. Where’s that?” Octavia nudged Sweetie’s flank, before starting to lead the way. “Just follow me, okay? Just try not to attract a lot of attention to yourself, alright? The gala’s a fairly quiet... social gathering, so try to stay-” “I see her!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, not having been paying attention to Octavia at all. Octavia sighed as her temporary ward abandoned her without a thought, though straightened as she heard a familiar voice next to her. “I wasn’t aware that you had experience in foalsitting, Miss Octavia.” “Fancy Pants! I thought you said you had a prior engagement,” Octavia said, her eyes brightening as her smile grew. .o.O.o. “Name, name, name, gotta think of a name,” Sweetie Belle chanted to herself in a sing-song voice, unconsciously matching the music playing. “Wanna find a good one or I’ll go insane. Gotta make it perfect, oh what could it be? Wanna make her happy so she’ll chirp in glee.” Allowing the swing music to grip her hooves, Sweetie Belle danced along as she sang to herself, making her way to a piano on the other side of the enormous dance hall, where she saw a tiny speck of blue. “Can somepony, anypony please help me? Do you even hear this filly’s heartfelt plea? I just need some help, it won’t take that long. Gonna think of one before I finish my song. “How about Leblanc? It sounds like a chance. Of course then again, that name comes from Prance. How about Vanille, it’s a flavourful name. But on second thought, that flavour is lame. "How about some Hope? It could brighten the day! But then I’m afraid it’ll be cliche. Quistis, Squall, Rinoa? I just can’t decide! Just can’t find a name that has lots of pride!” Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to keep singing, but the ponies currently playing on-stage refused to indulge her, ending the song abruptly. Sweetie Belle ignored the soft thumping on the floor around her, deciding to give a lady-like snort at their rudeness. Before she could give them a piece of her filly mind, however, she heard a familiar whistle, reminding her of her original goal: finding and naming her pet Chocobo. Her Chocobo was surrounded by several nobles at a piano used to help tune instruments. Sweetie Belle grinned giddily as she heard the excitement and wonder in the nobles voices, knowing that in asking for a graceful, affable pet would pay off. Maybe she wouldn’t get in trouble after all! If the nobles liked the Chocobo enough, then Rarity would just have to like it too, right? Her Chocobo spun and twirled around atop the piano, dancing as it whistled along as best it could with the song playing. Humming along, Sweetie Belle walked to the other side of the piano and reached up, resting her forehooves on the corner of the piano carefully so as to make sure that her shoes wouldn’t scuff it. She started to bounce along with the music, her tail swishing back and forth as she sang along with the song quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone else. When her Chocobo fluttered up to her, she stopped, tilting her head to the side. When it whistled at her, Sweetie Belle jolted slightly, remembering her purpose. “Oh yeah! I still have to name you! Uhh... You like to dance and sing... How about,” Sweetie Belle murmured, scrunching up her muzzle, “umm... Oh! How about Yuna? Rarity says that’s the name of one of her favourite-” Sweetie Belle squealed in pain as she fell from the side of the piano, landing on her back. As the Chocobo started pecking at her tender snout, Sweetie called out, “W-well, since you’re being one, h-how about Paine as yo-oww! C-c’mon, stoppit! I’m doing my best!” At hearing the unicorn filly whimper, and realising that ponies were staring, the little blue chick snorted, before settling down on Sweetie’s stomach, huffing indignantly. “O-okay... I’m sorry, I’ve never named anything before, alright?” Hearing Sweetie Belle’s voice so soft and hoarse, the squeak at the end caused the little blue Chocobo to sag on Sweetie’s belly, laying its head down. “Come on, a name... You’re from another realm, so...” Sweetie blinked as the Chocobo perked up, its eyes bright. “Okay, I’m on the right track,” Sweetie mused. Straining her newly budding magic, she levitated her pet off her stomach, allowing her to roll over and get to her hooves once again. “Another realm, another realm...” “Wark!” Sweetie Belle paused, glancing to her back, where the Chocobo was jumping up and down, waving its tiny wings wildly. “Err... Relm?” Greeted by an exuberant whistle, Sweetie smiled as the little bird started flying in circles, spinning and swirling around, heading back to the piano. Snapping her mouth shut, Sweetie made her way to the piano, her hooves moving jerkily. I can’t believe she freaked out on me for calling her Yuna. Maybe it reminded her of someone? Worries now behind her, Sweetie Belle let herself relax, tapping a hoof gently against the piano as she swayed back and forth, listening to the classical music. As the next song started, Sweetie’s eyes widened a little before she smiled, starting to sing under her breath. Sadly, she was unaware of the nearby mare, giggling uncontrollably. “Time to give out cutie marks Pinkie Pie style!” .o.O.o. “Well... That went well,” Twilight moaned, her head on a table at Pony Joe’s. Rainbow Dash attempted to throw a donut on Twilight’s horn, but stopped when she felt Applejack’s hoof on her foreleg. “Eeyup,” Spike agreed, lazily throwing a donut and making it, causing Princess Celestia to snort in amusement. Rainbow Dash stared with an open mouth, before squinting her eyes at the purple dragon. “Five bits.” “Cake,” Spike snorted, throwing another donut behind his back. It landed on the edge of Shining Armour’s horn, causing it to spin around as gravity took ahold of the glazed pastry, leaving the stallion’s horn with a faint sheen in the light. “Now gimme my money!” “H-how did you... 25 if you can do it ag-” Spike pitched another, much faster than the previous ones. To everypony’s surprise, Luna jerked back as the treat neared her, only for the jerk to cause the donut to land squarely on her horn as well. Rainbow Dash slowly looked to Princess Celestia, but Spike headed that off immediately. “Uh-uh. Not gonna happen. It’s impossible to get one to land on her horn; don’t waste your time.” “Oh yeah? Bet I can too do it!” Rainbow Dash argued, flaring her wings. “Don’t move!” Rainbow Dash carefully tossed a donut at Celestia, and for a moment, her friends (1) thought she just might succeed. To her great dismay, however, once it got a few hooves away from Celestia, it immediately veered towards her open maw instead, causing the sun princess to hum contentedly as she chewed on the delicious treat. “W-what?! No fair, you cheated!” Rainbow Dash protested, slamming a hoof on the table. “Objection!” Everypony jumped as Shining Armour spoke up, his hoof pointing accusingly at Rainbow Dash. “You never said she could not use magic, firstly. Secondly, you only said she couldn’t move, and she didn’t! And finally, Celestia doesn’t have to listen to the requests of her subjects if she doesn’t want to! It’s one of the perks of being royalty,” Shining Armour finished, winking at her as he settled back by his wife. His eyes went wide a moment later as he felt something warm and wet licking his horn. He might have been embarrassed about it, too, if not for the fact that A) it was his wife’s tongue, B) the royal family’s sweet tooth was a well-known and documented fact, and C) Discord had just shown up as well, causing everypony else to direct their attention towards the draconequus. .o.O.o. “Sweetie, will you please come out?” Rarity asked softly, sniffing as she steadfastly ignored her eyes as they threatened mutiny in turning the most horrid shade of red. “I promise, everything’s going to be alright.” “Yeah, it’s not like Princess Celestia is gonna turn ya into stone for breakin her stained windows.” “Or for fainting in the middle of singing,” Scootaloo added atop of Applebloom. “Or for screaming after you woke up. Or for-” “A-anyway,” Applebloom interrupted, realising that Sweetie Belle wasn’t getting cheered up. “It’s all Pinkie Pie’s fault, isn’t it? I mean, ya didn’t ask her ta put a microphone near ya when you weren’t expectin it.” Sweetie Belle’s voice came mumbled, but easily translated by Rarity, having had plenty of practice picking up her sister’s mumbled words of shame. “Sweetie, yes, you wouldn’t have been there if you hadn’t been chasing your new... pet, but you can’t control your pet all the time! Opal still hisses and scratches at me sometimes. But-” Rarity sighed as Sweetie Belle continued to blame herself, causing the white mare to massage the bridge of her muzzle. “Yes, Sweetie, you asked for a pet, but that... Of course I’m not mad at you, Darling! How could you even think that?” The silence rang for a long moment, Rarity’s quiet inquiry having quieted the sobbing filly inside the stall, aside from the odd sniff. Trusting her sisters intuition, Rarity slowly opened the door, trotting forward with silent steps, before kneeling next to her sister. While she would normally abhor her surroundings, and about the filth that might or might not actually be present, Rarity instead hugged the sniffling Sweetie Belle to her breast. “Oh Belle... What am I going to do with you?” Rarity asked softly, nuzzling Sweetie’s mane. “N-not s-send me away, or, or loathe me, or-” Stopping Sweetie Belle’s hiccups before they could get into full swing, Rarity put a halt to Sweetie’s ramblings. “Sweetie, I thought we talked about this,” she cooed, her eyes shimmering in the light. “I could never hate you! We’re like Apple Pie, remember?” Rarity heard a faint sniff, before her sister’s mumble caused Rarity to sag in relief, a faint smile adorning her face. “Promise?” “Cross my heart and hope to fly,” Rarity said slowly, going through the motions. “Stick a cupcake in my eye... I love you, Sweetie Belle. If anything happened to you I’d...” Sweetie Belle leaned into her sister’s hug, letting the mare comfort her with her words and touch. Moments later the other two crusaders joined the hug; now that Sweetie Belle was done freaking out, everything was right in the world. “Wark!” Well... as right as everything could be, with Chocobos... (1) Rainbow Dash’s friends, sans Twilight and her family.