CHAPTER 6
Your aptness, the very center of your pride, is just as prudent as a living being, and you must treat it as such. Let it journey into the endless wonders to make the world happy or let it suffer the cold, lonely confinement of your own boundaries… Your choice.
That’s the tenet Rarity learned from her parents before she decided to unravel her talent for clothing art, it’s since become embodied with her nature. She’s been wanting to repeat that quote to Sweetie Belle when she ever caught a hint of anything she thought she’d go beyond in. It was on the day after we last left our heroine. When she came home from her lively experience with her new friend, Rarity was sleeping on the couch, on account of she got up early that morning to work on a special dress and needed a long, long rest. She didn’t want to disturb her sister’s “beauty sleep”, so she wound up informing her sister about her new obsession the next morning, when they were both awake (for once in a while). It was one of the few, yet treasured times Sweetie and her sister shared a sentimental moment together, one of those rare times when they were able to help each other.
I say this now because I encourage all of you to take this sagacious advice. Throughout my life, I’ve encountered many ponies and even other creatures who have “stated the fact” that they have given up hope all because nearly nopony they knew would ever take what they have to say or anything they want to do with their lives seriously, and therefore, they feel that nothing they have to offer is anything, and leave everything that makes them what they are as living beings alone to writhe. I’ve always hated the fact that I never had the wisdom or even the appropriate words to help them. Now I say to you, the reader, as I scrawl my very words, I exhilarate that whatever you have to offer anyone, whether it’s a groundbreaking phenomenon or even a simple magic trick, share it with the world, because you will find what makes this thing you have special. You are going to make the world happy. You all matter a great deal. And Rarity, if you ever read this, thank you.
Now let’s keep on truckin’ with this story. Sweetie Belle and Rarity were just finishing their breakfast, consisting of gourmet pancakes coated in warm butter and maple syrup with smoked bacon, when suddenly, Pinkie Pie barged through the entrance doors, dashing to the breakfast table as if she were skiing on ice. “No time to explain! Kidnapping you!” she shouted as she nabbed Sweetie Belle and darted back through the door.
“What the heck, PinkIIIEEE?!” Sweetie tried to make Pinkie aware of her dissatisfaction. Pinkie simply ignored her and dropped her to the ground, throwing off Sweetie’s speech. They were quite a distance away from the boutique, maybe a mile or two, in what may have been ten seconds.
“You two stay here!” Pinkie ordered ominously, facing opposite of Sweetie, she was surprised to find a nervous Icarus and a frustrated Chestnut Drone of all ponies trying to get away from Celestia knows what Pinkie was planning and stopping dead in their tracks with shocked expressions in response Pinkie’s intimidation.
Pinkie then zoomed right in front of the two, pathetically trying to appear like a drill sergeant, she shouted “You, Chestnut Drone, were about to perform at the Hackamore Festival in Manehattan, and it was going to be your biggest gig in years.” She continued as if interrogating him. “Is that true?!”
Chestnut unpleasantly responded, “Yes.” It was odd to hear such a short response out of a normally lively and talkative stallion.
Pinkie continued “And is it also true that just last night, it turned out they stole a lot of the set pieces from another festival that happened in Las Pegasus.” That was actually quite a big scandal that rapidly went viral at the time. “Now the whole thing’s cancelled. Your big break is gone for good, and everything you thought you was going to return to you is destroyed, the cheers, the applause, the music, everything! Right?!” Pinkie made sure he swallowed every grim detail.
The more Pinkie talked, the more irritated Chestnut became. In a bizarre fit of anger, he snapped back at Pinkie, “RIGHT!!! I already have my own memory to remind me of everything I don’t have, I don’t need some smartass filly to break into my apartment, kidnap me, and read everything back to me!”
Pinkie quietly responded to the answer to her question, ignoring everything else he said, “’Right?’ “WRONG!!!!” Pinkie roared immediately after her soft repeat, overwhelming the weight of Chestnut’s rant in two words. “You’re talking to Pinkamena Diane Pie” she proudly announced herself, “the Warrior of Laughter. I can easily set another tour for you here in Ponyville. Much bigger than you ever dreamed.” she boasted, getting into Chestnut’s face. “Because you, my friends, still have plenty more to live for.”
Chestnut pushed her away and scoffed, “Yeah sure, now can I call the cops?”
Pinkie responded, “I’d say ‘Harmony Warrior’ is a bit of a step above ‘cop’ don’t you think?”
“You’re serious right now?” Chestnut bitterly responded.
“No, I’m Pinkie Pie.” She then gestured toward Icarus on his left, “And I know you’ve also been wanting to have this gem perform with you.”
Icarus looked terrified, either at the hint of being forced out of his comfort zone, which he knew was about to happen sooner or later, or just at Pinkie’s inauspicious approach to get him out of it. He was also real frustrated, he really liked Sweetie Belle and wanted nothing more than to keep being her friend, and he hated that this was the fourth time they’ve gotten in an awkward situation together in just two encounters.
Pinkie shifted over in front of Icarus and lowered her head to her level, he backed up a bit, clinching his teeth. “And you, Icarus of Saddatevka, have been given a gift from Celestia to win the hearts of millions, yet you choose not to use it. Why exactly is that?” Upon hearing that, Sweetie instantly reflected on the advice her sister just gave her.
The fear on Icarus’s face slowly subsided, he stared into the nothingness, leaving Pinkie’s question to linger in his mind. He never answered the question, but apparently Pinkie didn’t need an answer, and his reaction was all she needed, because she swiftly turned towards Sweetie with a more eager and caring look than she gave the other two. “Same goes to you. You don’t think anypony knows you like to sing?” She asked, trying to give Sweetie a reality check. Sweetie was shocked at the reveal of her privacy being invaded, but she listened to what Pinkie had to say nonetheless. “Let me tell you, you’re lucky I heard you singing your song, you’re lucky you had someone to admire you, and it really bothers me that you won’t sing it again.” she exclaimed with her voice choking up, “Seriously, that’s like my favorite song now!” Even though Sweetie’s emotions towards the situation changed drastically, her expression made little to no change. There was practically a minute of silence.
Chestnut looked to both Icarus and Sweetie and finally began to contemplate Pinkie’s speeches, as corny as they sounded to him at first. He wanted to find a way to enlighten the two young gems along with Pinkie, whom, from how he viewed her relationship with her friend, Sweetie, he started thinking she deserved a better treatment than what he’s just presented her with. By quietly clearing his throat, he tried to gradually break the silence. He then gave a curious yet friendly look towards Sweetie Belle. “Hmm… So you do singin’ too, huh?”
Sweetie, without realizing it, ignored that fact that she’s dreaded being asked a question like that and looked up at her hero. She opened her eyes wide and quietly squeaked, “Mm-hmm…” but then continued, looking more embarrassed, “well, only a little actually.”
“Oh really?” Chestnut replied, “What kind of singin’?”
Icarus thought of advertising Sweetie’s talent she revealed in the old hut, but stopped after he took his breath to blurt out everything. He later told Sweetie he stopped for two reasons: one is that he didn’t want to ruin the flow of Sweetie’s redemption and just let the grown-up take care of it, and the other is that if he told anyone about her revealing her talent to someone she just met, instead of someone like Pinkie Pie, who’s clearly more caring for her and treats her like a true friend more than he could have ever treated anyone, it would destroy a really beautiful bond. So he just let the process move along.
“Well, I like a lot of jazz and show tunes.” Sweetie replied less shyly.
“No kiddin’!” Chestnut chuckled and joyfully continued “Who do you like? Dandy? Fats? Or how ‘bout Cino?” He then proceeded to hum the bassline to one of his biggest hits, “Kick Ya Downstairs.” In which Sweetie immediately joined in, singing the words. With Icarus’s spirits lifted back up as well, he proceeded to sing the harmony. I’ve heard this song before, and it’s got a real hot beat, so I can imagine how amazed Pinkie and Chestnut were to hear these two miracles croon this thing. When telling me this, Sweetie said that singing aloud outside in the clean air was much more rewarding than singing in her bedroom or a crummy old hut, because it made her feel healthier. At that moment, the four ponies standing in that spot had the biggest smiles to be grown on their faces in a long time, even Pinkie’s casual jolliness couldn’t compare.
When they all settled down, Pinkie dismissed the two young ones. “Alright you two, run along and have fun. Chestnut and I have a huge gig to plan out.” She continued with her voice becoming more hint-like towards the end, “We’ll just need to sort out the budget, structure the set, hire a few performers…”
Sweetie and Icarus gasped and quickly pleaded in unison, “Can we be in the show, pleeeeease?”
Pinkie and Chestnut chuckled. “I was hoping you’d ask! Two cute little angels: check!” Pinkie cheered.
For the rest of the day and many, many days after, Icarus joined Sweetie Belle and the rest of the Crusaders in several activities, they got something sweet at Sugar Cube Corner, played on Applejack’s farm, and even enjoyed relaxing under the sky. However, with the show quickly coming together, Icarus and Sweetie became busier and busier with practicing their routines and consulting with Pinkie and Chestnut, the managers.