Chapter 2: Sweetie Belle’s Start
*Sweetie belle! Wait!” cried out Rarity. Sweetie Belle froze where she was, carrying a large bundle of ribbons and sewing supplies. She tried to look past them to her sister who shouted out to her. Rarity’s face was frozen in panic as her eyes were glued to Sweetie Belle’s front hooves. “Just slowly take a step back, darling. Please,” Sweetie Belle tried to look in front of her but lacked the physical ability to do so due to the large stack of sewing supplies she carried that stacked higher than herself. She slowly took a step back, wearing a confused look on her face. Rarity focused her magic on a white, furry object in front of Sweetie Belle. Opalescence levitated into the air, making her wake up from her nap. She looked around confused as she squirmed around lightly, being picked up by the magical grip around her. Rarity brought her fluffy, white cat to the side and placed her gently on the bed. Opalescence looked around in a grumpy manner, staring at Rarity annoyed. After a long yawn she curled into a ball and laid back down, continuing her much needed nap. Her little sister smiled nervously.
“Opps, sorry about that. Thanks for moving her for me,” With a smile she continued on with carrying the large pile to her older sister. Within three steps one of the ribbons fell partially down as she took a step without her noticing. When the ribbon was tugged it caught her off balance, making her fall backward and the large pile of supplies tumbling with her. Rarity tried to warn her but was only able to open her mouth as her sister came crashing down to the floor. Sweetie Belle’s head popped out of the pile with some fabric draped over her head, looking up to Rarity nervously. “Opps, sorry again,” Rarity shook her head, disappointed to her sister’s lack of caution.
“How many times must I tell you, honestly. Only carry what you can. If you carry too much you will only end up making a larger mess than you started,” Sweetie Belle looked away from her sister’s stare, her ears drooping down in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry Rarity, I swear I am trying, it’s just that I-”
“-Only want to help, I know dear,” Rarity finished. Sweetie looked back at her sister to see her smiling softly down to her. Rarity walked over and placed a gentle, creamy white hoof on her cheek. “I know you mean well, you always do, and I am very thankful to have such a thoughtful filly as my little sister,” Sweetie smiled back up at her older sister. “You just have to realize that just because you can’t help me with the big things in life, doesn’t mean you aren’t helping me at all. Even if you do meaningless things and tasks, they help out far more than you will ever know,” Sweetie Belle processed everything that Rarity said, carefully thinking about it. After a moment Rarity embraced her little sister, which she happily returned the hug.
“Thank you Rarity,” Rarity snuggled into her sister, sighing happily.
“Of course, darling. What are sisters for?” They broke off to look at each other, giggling to one another. Rarity kissed her little sister’s forehead softly and returned to her desk, still keeping one eye on her. “Now how about this. If you really want to help me, I need a new sewing needle kit from the store near by. This one here-” levitating a needle that already had a thread tied to it, the needle looked wore out and the point seemed to be getting flat.”- is going to be worn out soon. Here-” She levitated a small bag of coins over to Sweetie Belle.”- This should cover the price of their sewing needles,” Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded at her.
“Ok, I will be back as soon as I can!” With an excited jump into the air she ran down stairs, leaving Rarity at her work station. She smiled to herself, walking over to the desk. From one of the shelves, she pulled out a picture frame, pulling it up to her face with a blissful smile. The photo was that of Sweetie Belle when she was four years old. She was going down the slide by herself for the first time. She had such a huge smile on her face, looking over at her. A tear fell onto the picture frame, coming down from Rarity’s cheek. Rarity hugged the picture frame with a smile as a couple more tears dripped down her face.
“Where has the time gone? You are growing up so much, my little Sweetie Belle. It seems time truly waits for no pony. It won’t be much longer before you start exploring the world and find yourself a stallion,” She brought the picture back out and placed it back onto the shelf, sniffling a little. She wiped away her few remaining tears and brought back her composure. “Now now, Rarity, no need to get so emotional every time you look at that. You still have plenty of time with her, no need to worry,” She smiled confidently and levitated her worn out needle and got back to work on a dress half finished on the table. “She is just going to LOVE this dress, I just know it!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sweetie Belle walked down the streets of Ponyville, looking around at the views around her. Of course she has walked down these same roads for a while now, but she still finds joy in everything she saw. Sometimes she sees something new. Sure, sometimes she didn’t find anything interesting, but that never stopped her. She could see birds flying around, singing their cheerful songs. Squirrels crawling about, looking for food. Ponies walking here and there, completing their daily routines of their everyday lives. One thing made her stop for a moment, something that she saw in the corner of her eye. She stopped and turned to the scene, walking over a little closer to see what was going on. A short distance away she could see a couple having a picnic by the pond. They smiled and laughed together, which made Sweetie Belle smile. She couldn’t hear them clearly but she knew that they really liked each other.
“Awww, that is really sweet!” She whispered to herself, containing a squeal inside. She left the couple alone and returned down her path towards her original destination. Sweetie Belle walked along the path like she normally did when she saw her closest friends, Applebloom and Scootaloo. Her smile grew once again and she waved over to them. “Applebloom, Scootaloo!” She called over. They turned to her and waved back, trotting over to her.
“Hey Sweetie Belle, whatcha doing?” Asked Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle shifted her hips to make it jingle with the coins inside.
“I’m helping my sister out with a dress she is making. She told me to go to the store to buy some needles,”
“Sounds boring,” Scootaloo commented, rolling her eyes.
“Ah think it’s rather nice of ya, Sweetie.Helpin yer sis out an all,” Applebloom added, smiling over at Sweetie Belle.
“Yea yea, what ever. So Sweetie Belle, we have a new idea for cutie marks, wanna hear?” Sweetie Belle nodded her head excitedly.
“Of course! Whatcha girls thinking this time?” She asked curiously. Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other, smirking at one another, then turned back to Sweetie Belle who bore a curious expression.
“Prankster cutie marks!” They said at the same time. Sweetie Belle thought about it for a second and then back at them with an enthusiastic smile.
“That actually sounds like fun! I bet we could totally get that kind of cutie mark. How hard could it be to pull off pranks?” They all jumped up in the air and slapped each other a high five in mid air. Sweetie Belle was getting excited but then remembered the task she was given by her older sister. “Oh, right. Can you gives give me a few minutes? I have to get those needles for Rarity and then I can go with you girls. Where should we meet up?”
“Just meet us up at the club house! We were gonna go there anyway. Just don’t take too long, ok?” Scootaloo answered back. Sweetie Belle nodded in reply.
“Ok, I will see you girls there. Later!” Sweetie Belle started walking by, Applebloom and Scootaloo waved back.
“Don’t take too long, ya hear?” Applebloom called back as they turned around and headed off. Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and smiled to herself, thinking about going on a new adventure on getting her cutie mark. She fantasised about having such a cutie mark, thinking about the kind of ponies she would prank.
“You are SOOOO talented Diamond Tiara! I actually have to butter up my parents if I want something. I wish I could get my dad to get me stuff that easily!” Sweetie Belle snapped out of her day dreaming and turned her head to the voices that she heard. It was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking around, talking to each other. She stopped and glared at them.
“Oh great, it’s THEM! I really don’t want to deal with them right now,” Diamond Tiara turned around and pointed outward.
“Hey, Silver Spoon, look who it is!” Sweetie Belle froze in her tracks, snapping out of her glare.
“Oh no, don’t tell me they saw me. Great, now I have to be teased by them today on a weekend,” As she looked at them carefully she noticed that they weren’t looking towards her direction. She turned to see who they were pointing at and saw it was Button Mash, sitting down under a tree, playing a videogame by the looks of it. “Oh no! They plan on making fun of him! But he has never done anything wrong. I have to stop them!”
“Looks like it’s the other blank flank, all alone without a single friend. How pathetic!” Sweetie Belle glared fiercely at them, her hoof shaking in anger.
“You bullies! I’ll show them!” She started walking over as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made their way over to him as well, stopping right in front of him. Sweetie Belle watched carefully as she slowly made her way over towards them. I can’t believe they think they have to make fun of everyone, I’ll show them! she thought to herself.
“Hey there, blank flank! What are you doing? Playing on your little box?” Diamond Tiara asked harshly as they got to him. Sweetie Belle was almost there but stopped to see that Button Mash wasn’t even paying attention to them. She decided to hide behind some bushes and watch what happens.
“Maybe he has something up his sleeve for them, I gotta see this!” She whispered to herself, watching them from the bushes. Button Mash was playing on his joyboy, focusing all his attention to it. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were getting aggravated from Button Mash’s lack of response to their antagonizing.
“Hello! I’m talking here!” Diamond Tiara stated, raising her voice at him. Button Mash didn’t even bash an eyelash. He didn’t even look up.
“Oh, hey. What’s up?” He asked blankly, continuing his game play. They galred down at him in response. Sweetie Belle had to hide a giggle.
“They are getting so mad! This is a little funny,”
“We are talking to you, blank flank! Don’t you dare ignore us! Don't you even try to act like you are better than us!” Silver Spoon spoke outward at him, raising her voice at him in a demanding manner. He glanced up at them for a brief second but went right back into his game.
“Yea I’m kinda busy here, so make it quick guys. I have to slay the goblin prison chief to rescue my fellow brothers in arms if I have any chance to vanquish the goblin army of Lucifer” Sweetie Belle looked over at him confused, raising an eyebrow.
“What did he just say? Who is Lucifer? What is a goblin prison chief?” She asked herself in a quiet whisper. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked at him with confusion and looked at each other, lost for words. They turned back to them with cruel stares down at him. Sweetie Belle leaned forward as if about to pounce.
“That sounds SOOO nerdy, gross! So it looks like you need to focus then, huh?” Diamond Tiara put her hoof on the screen of the joyboy and forced it down. Sweetie Belle was about to get up.
“So what if I-”
“That’s it, They’re about-” she started. The area suddenly got cold. Sweetie Belle froze in place as she kept her eyes on Button Mash and her archrivals. Button Mash didn’t look up, his face was hidden from her angle. Button Mash whispered something but she couldn’t tell what it was.
“What did you say?!” Diamond Tiara asked cautiously A dark, eerie aura hovered around Button Mash as he slowly looked up to the two fillies picking on him. Hatred burned deeply in his golden-brown eyes. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon took a step back from him, fear taking over their faces as they started cowering before his dreadful gaze. He stood from his spot and cast a dark, ominous shadow upon the pair of fillies. Sweetie Belle gulped down at the scene before her. She swallowed her fear and leaned back down in her bush, trying to hide better.
“Wow, Button Mash can be really scary! This looks like a scene from a horror movie or something,” She whispered to herself.
“I said. . . . don’t touch my joyboy, EVER!” The two jumped back away from him, shaking where they stood. Diamond Tiara looked like she was trying to still act tough, but was clearly doing a bad job at it. She would laugh, if Button Mash wasn’t being so scary right now. The look on their faces was priceless!
“Whatever, w-w-we have other things t-to do an-anyway. Let’s g-g-go Silver S-Spoon!” They both turned tail and ran off, leaving Button under the tree. Sweetie Belle watched in amazement as she just witnessed her two very much disliked rivals run for their lives. Once they were gone, Button Mash wiped off a trail of sweat.
“Whoa, I didn’t think that would actually work! I mean Valdus can do it no problem, but some pony like ME pulling off the Terror Gaze of Lucifer! That is awesome!” He smiled to himself victoriously and gave himself a victory arm pump.
“What the hay is the Terror Gaze of Lucifer? He doesn’t make any sense. Still, he is a really cool pony. He was so calm, and cool. He made them turn tail and run for their lives! I can’t wait to tell Applebloom and Scootaloo about all of this! He is actually really cool, I think he might be almost as cool as-” Sweetie Belle started.
“What? No, NO! Dang it! Now I have to do that quest all over again!” He sighed in defeat. “Well. . . at least I didn’t lose too much progress. At least it should be easier this time” Sweetie Belle frowned at him, instantly losing the sudden appraisal she was holding.
“Or not,” Sweetie Belle shook her head at him as he sighed once more and sitting down again, his back on the tree. “Still, it was really cool how he stood up for himself. Even though he is a complete dork,” she giggled to herself, a bit too loud because Button Mash’s ears flicked towards her direction. Opps, I better go. She silently moved back , slowly getting out of the bushes and fast walked away from him. “That was a close call, almost got caught,” She continued to walk away and towards the store she was originally going for. Once she got a good, safe distance away, she turned to find that Button Mash wasn’t looking for her nor following her. She sighed peacefully and smiled to herself.
“I can’t wait to tell the gang about this. They are gonna flip after hearing this!” She smiled and snickered to herself as she continued to think about everything that had just happened.