“Sweetie Belle, can I come in?” Rarity opened the door slightly, and saw Sweetie was in her bed, looking directly at the door. Opening it further, she stepped into the room. Sweetie tilted her head, but said nothing.
“A big opportunity has come up in Manehattan, I really have to leave. Twilight’s agreed to watch you, I will be back in two days.” Rarity brought her sister into a hug, and smiled warmly as she snuggled. Sweetie whined, and eventually she was released from the prison.
“Wait, can I come?” Sweetie pulled off the blankets, and turned to stand up. However, Rarity caught her in magic and levitated her back into bed.
“Of course not sister, you’re much too sick for that.” Rarity raised an eyebrow and Sweetie pouted, heaving a sigh. Turning, Sweetie picked up the book list with a hoof and held it out to Rarity.
“Could you get these for me then? I really need them, they might earn us a cutie mark!” Sweetie beamed at Rarity, who rolled her eyes and relented. Looking down the list, she left herself a reminder to go to the bookstore in Manehattan once her business was done.
“Thank you!” Sweetie leapt toward Rarity, and hugged her tight, both smiled and laughed joyfully, before it became evident Rarity had to go. Separating, Rarity waved to her sister.
“I’ll get any I can find sister, don’t worry.” Rarity turned and left just as Twilight arrived. Sweetie smiled in greeting, but knew Twilight would soon be leaving to get items from her castle. Turning to look at her table, Sweetie sighed.
‘So items in my room stay. What if I put an item outside? I’ll need to borrow my sister’s clock too, I need to see if I can find the exact time it loops. I don’t want to risk sleeping outside until I’ve read the books, but it doesn’t mean I can’t experiment.’ Sweetie walked over to her vanity table and moved all her brushes and such to one side, and placed a stack of blank paper.
“Right, all set for when they arrive. Now let’s see, what can I do in the meantime…” Sweetie sat down, and levitated a pen over from her saddlebags, and smirked. Just because she wouldn’t be able to do some stuff until Rarity came back, or until the end of the loop, didn’t mean she couldn’t try certain things.
‘I won’t risk anything too extreme just yet, in case it doesn’t loop and I’m free from this nightmare. But maybe I can help us get our Cutie Marks, or bribe Spike into doing something. Come on Sweetie Belle, think! You’re stuck in a loop, what mischief can you get up to that won’t cause serious damage if the looping ends…’
After some thought, Sweetie decided going to school was the best idea for the moment. She couldn’t remember ever going to school on a Tuesday during a time she had headaches. So, as she sat down and waited for the class to start, it came as a surprise to learn she actually had homework from ‘last week’.
“Diamond Tiara, you may start.” Cheerilee stepped to the side as the filly walked to the front of the room. Turning around, she smirked, and stood tall as she read out her piece of paper.
“I am Diamond Tiara, and this is my report about my family history. As you well know, my family is rich. My grandfather was rich, his grandfather, all the way back to the very beginnings of my family’s history, to a pony called Quite Rich. And so you see, our family is always going to be rich, as I will absolutely be far richer than anypony in this room for the rest of my life. The end.” Diamond Tiara sauntered back to her desk, and sat down.
“Thank you, Apple Bloom?” Cheerilee smiled warmly as Apple Bloom trotted up, and beamed to everypony.
“Mah family’s roots go back beyond the foundin’ of Ponyville, back to the founding of Equestria even. We Apple’s are widely spread, and we always have each other's back. We are honest, hardworking, and always happy to lend a helping hoof. An I hope I can keep up that legacy as I grow up too. I am proud to be an Apple.” Apple Bloom received a few claps as she bowed and returned to her seat.
“Scootaloo?” Cheerilee frowned as Scootaloo shrunk back, and waved a hoof, motioning her forward and giving her a comforting nudge. Scootaloo looked away from the crowd as she spoke.
“M-My parents left me at an orphanage when I was young, and they eventually put me in a home with foster parents here to give me a chance to get to make some new friends...But I do have Rainbow Dash, who considers me good enough to be her sister.” Scootaloo brightened up slightly at the mention of Rainbow Dash, and Sweetie felt a twinge of sympathy. No wonder Scootaloo never wanted to hang out at where she lived.
“Must have pretty low standards,” whispered Diamond Tiara loudly to her friend. Silver Spoon snickered, and Scootaloo’s face fell. Sweetie rounded on the two and felt anger burning inside her. However, Cheerilee was quick on the uptake.
“Diamond Tiara, that is the second comment I have heard from you, and it better be the last. If I hear one more, we’ll go see your father, and you will learn just how ‘high’ his standards are.” Cheerilee was not made to be an imposing figure. However when she stepped in front of Scootaloo to look down at Diamond Tiara, for a small moment she was the scariest thing in the room.
“Go Scootaloo! You’re the best!” Sweetie spoke up, seeing Scootaloo poke out her head and give a small smile at her. Apple Bloom began to clap her hooves together, Sweetie joined in as well. Soon enough, the entire class, barring two fillies, was applauding the orange filly. Wiping away moisture in her eyes, she looked to Cheerilee, who blinked and stepped aside. Scootaloo grinned at the class, and ignored the moisture running down her face, there was none there after all.(Tough ponies didn't believe in 'tears'.)
“I have my big sister! And I have my foster parents! They have both taught me that the one pony I must be loyal to is myself. I may not be strong, I may not be wise! But I don’t need to be. I don’t need a history to tell me who I am! I have pride in myself because they have pride in me. My friends have pride in me. I can fly as high as I want, because they are there to catch me if I fall.” Scootaloo bowed, and headed back to her desk with her head raised high, the entire class clapping her.
Sweetie wiped away a tear, glad she had been here to support Scootaloo, even if she hadn’t done so previously. This situation with Diamond Tiara had to be sorted out. Sweetie couldn’t stand seeing her friend get hurt, and having to hear the same insults was getting tiring. And most of all; revenge.
“Sweetie Belle, you’re up next.” Cheerilee smiled warmly as Sweetie stood up and turned to the class.
“I didn’t do my homework, whoopsie!” Sweetie smiled awkwardly, and winced as the entire class laughed at her. Glancing to her friends, they shared a small smirk. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo winked, approving of her answer. Cheerilee sighed, but shook her head and smiled.
“Oh very well, but you better have it ready by next week.” Cheerilee looked down as Sweetie nodded enthusiastically, oh she would most definitely have it by next week.
After a boring lesson with Cheerilee on how Pegasi bucked clouds, they were once again discussing digging holes. Sweetie looked at her friends, and sighed.
“Look, I got an awesome idea, I mean do we really want hole-digger Cutie Marks?” The other two winced as Sweetie spoke, and she continued.
“I say we try to get our Cutie Marks in something we haven’t done before. Let’s ask Applejack if she can teach us how to raise a barn. Could you imagine how cool a barn-raising mark would look?” Sweetie smiled, she had them hook, line, and Cutie Mark. If she was lucky this would actually turn out to be what she was destined to be good at.
“Wow Apple Bloom, that’s an amazin’ job.” Applejack watched in silent amazement as Apple Bloom hammered together the foundation for the barn as if it was child’s play. Even Applejack took longer than her, and it wasn’t like the built a barn every week, let alone let Apple Bloom help with more than pulling it together.
Glancing to the other two, they were having less luck. Scootaloo kept trying to rush it, and the frame was just tumbling to pieces, whereas Sweetie Belle was trying to get it ‘absolutely perfect’. Applejack shook her head and bit her lip, glad she had suggested building a mini barn for Winona instead of getting them building a full one.
“I dunno what you’re talking about sis, this isn’t that hard.” Apple Bloom glanced over to her friends and blinked in surprise, looking to the one Applejack was making to guide them with. Compared to Applejack’s one, she was actually doing very good. Maybe she was actually good at something. Apple Bloom smiled and went back to her task.
‘I’m going to put all my heart and soul into this. This is a lot of fun, and I want to make it special for Winona.’ As she worked, she barely noticed the other three had stopped, and were just watching her work. After she finished, she stepped back and nodded, that was the best she could do.
“Wow,” spoke her two friends. Turning, she smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. Suddenly, there was a tingling on her flank, and she glanced to it, blinking. On her flank, was a picture of the half finished barn being built, a saw, and a smile painted on the side of one of the pieces.
“I got my Cutie Mark!” Apple Bloom was so happy, she exploded into a bouncing ball of energy with her friends. Applejack stood back, smiling. It was not everyday somepony got their mark after all.
“We should totally keep the Club going though okay? I wanna be there when ya’ll get yours.” Apple Bloom brought her friends into a hug, and they all smiled, nodding. It was decided, the Cutie Mark Crusaders would now allow ‘graduated’ members to help those who had yet to graduate.
“Thank you for the books Rarity.” Sweetie took the books in her magic and brought her sister into a hug. After properly thanking her, she dashed upstairs, jumped onto her bed, and opened the first one, closing the door with a click. Flipping through it, she began to read.
‘Okay, so Time Loops are always constant, the time doesn’t normally change. This books says there’s a trigger, something that is keeping them in the loop. It might be related to my headaches. There’s also mention of death being one possible way out of a loop. I’m not that desperate. Jeez, there’s so much, I’m going to have to start writing a list…
Sweetie decided to once more convince Rarity she was ill, after all why would she miss out on a snow-day? There was just too much information to go through, and she needed to read the books thoroughly. Maybe it would be better to bring Twilight in and get her to shorten it. That would require another loop, however. Before long, she glanced up and realised it was already night, and went to sleep.
It had been harder to do so on Friday, but she had managed to once more play hookey, and stay home to read. As she glanced up to the night, she slipped a bookmark into the book, and picked up a toy. Sneaking into Rarity’s room, she slowly levitated her clock out of the room. Rarity wouldn’t let her have one for some reason. (Something about her setting an alarm once for 4am. That was ONE time!)
Sweetie left the door open, and placed the teddy in the hallway, where she could see it. Placing the clock down on the table, she levitated up her paper plane, and glanced between the bear and the clock as time ticked by. Sweetie found it hard, but eventually slipped past the ‘I need to sleep’ phase of the night.
11:59...teddybear
12:00...teddy-wait what?
The teddy bear was gone. Sweetie glanced to her teddy bear toys, it wasn’t back in the pile either. It was just...gone.