Another restless night greeted the desperate filly as she tossed and turned; hoping for relief while attempting to find comfort in the longest dusk she had yet to witness. Finally finding the means to rest, Sweetie Belle dozed off and slept like an Everfree log until dawn had awoken her early that morning. The young foal looked at her clock; the hour teased her as she got out of bed.
Wonderful, now I’m exhausted…
There’s no point in attempting to sleep for half an hour since it would only make her feel weaker and more likely to fall into a deep slumber during English class.
Oh well, it can’t be helped. Maybe rarity’s already up. I could really use a coffee this morning…
~
Coffee, for you? Oh Darling, you must be kidding. You’re too young for that Sweetie Belle. Doesn’t that chocolate milk of yours give you enough sugar for a day?”
“Well, I don’t know, just a sip maybe?” Sweetie Belle’s eyelids hung from her visage like heavy drapes that couldn’t be moved or pushed aside to let some light into the filly’s morning.
“Alright, one small sip, but don’t look at me if you don’t like it.”
“Fine.” Taking a sip from Rarity’s coffee, Sweetie Belle stuck out her tongue in disgust. “How can you drink this crap? Isn’t coffee supposed to be hot?”
“I told you that you wouldn’t like it; it takes time to get used to.” Rarity smiled, taking a small sip of her own.
“Yuck!”
Rarity chuckled while she got up to make Sweetie Belle’s breakfast. Today she didn’t feel like going through the process of making pancakes or any of her other morning delicacies. Instead, she brought cereal to the table.
“Honey flavored, because you’re too darn sweet.” Rarity shone this morning; she clearly has a good night’s rest unlike her sister.
“It’s a good thing we aren’t in public…”
“That would be even more adorable!” Rarity poured a glass of apple cider beside Sweetie Bette to which she responded with a soft “Thank you”.
“You’re welcome; at least you won’t be late for school.”
As if that would be such a bad thing…
The thought of having to return to that awful infrastructure sent shivers through her spine; almost causing her to spill the cider onto the beautiful oak table.
I’ll just try to avoid them…Easy, right?
It was a good thing that Rarity didn’t catch that minor glitch in the system known as Sweetie Belle or it would have been another lesson about proper table manners. And this time she couldn’t use the same excuse; stating that their ancestors used to eat from the soil and that a small burb wasn’t that big of a deal.
~
Voicing her goodbyes to her sister, Sweetie Belle marched down the Ponyville streets that had just begun to harden after a day of constant rain.
Thank Celestia that’s over.
The sun had just started to rise up from behind Sweet Apple Acres, exposing all of Ponyville in its magnificent rays of light that chased the shadows of the night back to the underground where they belonged.
A brown colt dashed through the rows of merchant stands, kicking up dirt as he sped away from three oncoming foals.
“Get back here, you filthy bastard!”
The three bodies started closing in on him as he slammed into Sweetie Belle; knocking her onto the ground.
“Now look what you’ve done, you little shit stained blankflank, knocking over some poor little filly in your cowardice!”
“Are…Are you okay?”
“I…I think so…” Sweetie Belle brushed the dirt off of her coat, helping the mysterious colt back up from his position. “Now, what is your problem?!”
The three foals stepped back as she shouted at them, making them shiver in her wake.
“Sorry, he bumped into us in the market…”
“And that’s a reason to go chasing after him?!” Fury grew in her eyes as she marched closer to meet them.
“Ummm…” One of the foals tripped backwards, landing on his back.
“Get back to school!”
“Yes mam!” They shuttered in unison as they bolted away from the scene, nearly tripping once again over some loose stones that dislodged from within the earth.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
“Butt…Button Mash…” The young colt shook his head vigorously around to check if there was anypony else that was ready to tackle him.
“Oh nice to meet you, I’m Sweetie Belle.” The two shook hooves awkwardly while trying not to make eye contact as best as they could.
“Sweetie Belle…You go to my school, right?”
“Seeing as it’s the only school in Ponyville, I’m guessing that’s the case. Although I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before. What grade are you in?”
“6th…I’m guessing you’re in 7th or 8th?
“7th, that explains why I haven’t ever seen you before but this is a small town so that’s kind of strange. How about I walk you to school, maybe we could talk a bit more along the way?”
“Sure.” Button Mash nodded, trotting beside the older foal as they passed through the curious merchant stands that must have seen the incident occur but decided to not take any part in it. Every pony for themselves is their policy.
~
The two young foals parted ways as they infiltrated separate hallways of the now seemingly smaller school. Two different ponies from two different grades should by school logic avoid becoming friends but the outcome seemed inevitable and Sweetie Belle wasn’t much for logic. Sweetie Belle learned that her fellow schoolmate loved to play video games, not that she was a fan of them. But when Button Mash spoke of all the different world’s he’s encountered and all the different ponies he got to be, she seemed to show interests. She also found out that her acquaintance also liked milkshakes almost as much as herself but nopony could ever possibly like them more than the short purple-maned filly.
Alright, I still have ten minutes before class starts…what to do?
“Heya, Sweetie Belle! Woah, watch out!”
A streak of purple and orange dashed through the hallways, screeching to a halt. Scootaloo stored her scooter in her cramped locker while panting back to meet her fellow crusader.
“You’re going to get that thing confiscated one day…”
“Not a chance!” Scootaloo was now imitating her mentor’s voice.
Rainbow Dash would be so proud…
“Anyways, we still have a few minutes before class. Would you like to get a shake at the cafeteria?”
“Yuck, I’m not even sure they use real milk in those, sweetie Belle. Thanks but no thanks; Cheerilee would have a heart-attack if she spotted us with milk shakes before gym class.”
“Alright, you’re probably right…I guess we should just get to class early. Better to be safe than sorry.” Sweetie Belle surrendered to her friend’s logic that was far more advanced in the morning than her own.
~
Another day of academics along with another wasted lunch period in the courtyard; trying to keep away from their instigators. The cutie mark crusaders would hang low for the time being, avoiding any contact with their advisories that seemed to only get up in the mornings to cause chaos. It’s a wonder how their cutie marks didn’t end up being portraits of Discord. Speaking of Discord, Ponyville has been quite peaceful lately, no magical plants or parasprites to cause the fillies harm; just a couple of spoiled brats to stand in their way. But that mattered not, for the time being, the cutie mark crusaders would continue to do what they had to so that their blank flanks would be blesses with their destinies; so they could finally find out who they really are, not what other’s told them they should become.
The last bell echoed through the empty hallways as foals, big and small, trotted from their classrooms; exhausted and lifeless. One more schoolday, one more schoolday and Sweetie Belle could leave this awful town. If only Time Turner could come up with a plan to make it sooner. But time passed slowly in Ponyville for some reason despite its history. When the mane six weren’t fighting off demons, the town seemed dull. As much as she hated to think of it, Sweetie Belle embraced the darkness and enjoyed chaos to a certain extent; at least it’s better than having to study…
“Wait, Sweetie Belle!” A young colt bolted towards the exhausted filly, seeming to wake her up as if she had been sleep-walking.
“Oh, hey Button Mash.” She continued to trot along with her newfound friend, searching the perimeters for the remaining crusaders.
In the distance, Sweetie Belle spotted a pink bow making its way through the crowd of slow-moving ponies until it emerged from the sea of bodies.
“Hey, Apple Bloom, over here!”
“Hey Sweetie Belle, what is it?” A curious filly caught a glimpse of the young colt that stood beside her friend. “And who might this be?”
“Apple Bloom, this is Button Mash; Button Mash, this is Apple Bloom.” She proceeded to introduce the foals to each other as they shook hooves in a casual manner.
“Who’s the new blankflank? Another cutie mark crybaby to add to your pathetic little group?”
Out of the shadows, a small pink filly emerged, slowly trotting up to meet the three young foals.
“We aren’t crybabies and he ain’t even a crusader!”
The small colt shrunk back at these words that were targeted at Diamond Tiara but seemed to have deflected and reached him.
“No offense.” Apple Bloom whispered in his ear. “What do ya want anyways, Diamond Tiara?"
“Oh well, nothing much. Silver Spoon is absent today and I just thought, why not have a little fun with you three instead?” The diamond giggled, circling the powerless foals like a shark eying its prey, as she at them demonically.
“Well, we don’t want to play with you!” Apple Bloom shouted back as she slowly started to back away.
“Too bad, we’re going to have some fun, whether you like it or not!” Diamond met apple eye-to-eye, a smirk on her face as the hallways started to evacuate; oblivious to the chaos that was about to unfold. Only four foals remained in the empty school grounds.
“Now, let’s get started, I’ll give you a ten second head start. You know the rules, they’re quite simple. Just a simple harmless game of tag, am I right?”
“Run…” Sweetie Belle stood petrified as two foals ran in the direction of the school entrance; leaving only her and Diamond Tiara left.
“You really should start running, you know?”