Velveteen
By: Zyrian
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Her hair was frizzy
Frayed hair begat frayed nerves; her mane had been the social bane of her existence since she was a filly, but this was not her first rodeo with the tangled mass upon her head. If there were any doubts about her ability to style a coiffure, she’d just have to remind the nay-sayers of just to whom she was sisters with. If there was one quality that Rarity had impressed upon her, it was to not give up from a challenge, no matter the difficulty.
She quickly made her way over to the vanity mirror on the far wall and pulled out a rusty tin. Wiping off the dust from the top revealed the once-colorful and vibrant label:
“Mrs. Pie’s Famous Shortbread Cookies” were revered not only as delicious confectioneries, but also as practical devices; The old tins provided an inconspicuous storage space for items not intended for prying eyes. Sweetie Belle was given this container decades ago by a certain pink party pony, who told her she’d need it some day.
Removing the lid revealed faded pictures, the back of each inscribed with flowing script detailing when the photo was taken, as well as who was in it and where they were at the time. The most prominent was one of Sweetie’s favorites: Her and Rarity framed by the ambiance of a party Pinkie Pie had thrown in celebration of Apple Bloom gaining her cutie mark. Sweetie Belle would often return to this picture when the stresses of the world had become too great, if only to see the smiling face of her sister again.
Putting the yellowed memento to the side, Sweetie picked up what was by far the most worn photograph in her collection.
It was a day spent like many others in her youth; adventuring with Applebloom and Scootaloo on their seemingly neverending quest to find their purpose in life. This time, their classmate, Featherweight, decided to tag along and document their crusades with his new camera. The photo displayed the aftermath of that day.
While the activities of the day resulted in various scrapes, patches of matted fur, and surprisingly, tree sap, it did not produce any results in the realm of cutie marks. Nonetheless, it was a sweet reminder of simpler times.
Happier times.
Looking at her own flank, Sweetie Belle sighed. Throughout her life, many things changed; ponies grew up, settled down, had foals, and ultimately found their purpose. Yet there she stood, an unchanging time capsule of simpler days; An eternal reminder of who...what she was. Shaking her head, she returned to the box.
Brushing aside the photographs revealed an errant piece of yarn connected to the bottom of the tin. Using her magic, Sweetie Belle tugged at the thread, pulling lose a false panel and revealing the hidden contents inside.
Underneath the panel was the standard grooming fare; a few small brushes and combs, but additionally contained within were several spools of thread, needles, and differing sizes of scissors. Sweetie Belle gave a once over in her mirror before nodding to herself. Her morning ritual had begun.
Several minutes of vigorous brushing passed before a tearing sound cut through the otherwise silent room. Looking down at her hoof, Sweetie Belle grimaced as she looked at a particularly gnarly patch of curls that had separated themselves from her scalp. She hadn’t even felt it this time.
It had been becoming more and more frequent as time went on, but that couldn’t be helped. Sweetie Belle took the patch of hair and used her mirror as a guide as she carefully sewed the patch back on to the front of her scalp.
A few careful minutes later, Sweetie Belle looked at her handiwork. Her curls bounced back and forth as she shook her head around, to test the strength of the new seam.
Satisfied, she started to put her supplies away as she heard a knock on the door.
“Sweetie Belle, are you up yet? it’s nearly time for breakfast!”
Applebloom’s gentle, yet weathered twang greeted her ears as she finished placing the tin in the vanity’s drawer. Sweetie Belle quickly checked her fore and rear legs, gently pushing aside her coat to reveal lock-stitched seams. Upon close inspection, some of the seams were becoming worn, the age of thread fading the colors.
It will have to do for today, Rarity’s skill with fabric was matched by none. Sweetie would be fine for a while yet.
Padding downstairs, Sweetie Belle met the warm eyes of her friend and smiled. Having to crane her neck a bit, Sweetie Belle could see the laugh lines on Applebloom’s face as she returned the gesture.
There was only one place set at the table, but that was okay.
Applebloom tutted as she looked over Sweetie Belle’s small form. Stopping at the filly’s still blank flank, she brushed off an errant piece of lint.
“Thank you, bloom”
“Any time, partner”
Sweetie Belle couldn’t tell if it was the chair, or Applebloom herself creaking as the old mare lowered into her spot at the table. Sweetie took her place opposite Applebloom and made herself comfortable, but couldn’t help a frown from crossing her face as she noticed the increasing effort it was taking Applebloom to move around.
“I see that face, and you stop it, ya hear? I’m not as nimble as I used to be, but I’ll be around for a while yet!” Sweetie Belle laughed at the silly, hoof-shaking expression Applebloom made.
“Now that’s the smile I remember.”
The rest of the meal continued in relative silence, with the occasional quip from Applebloom about happenings in the town, and how Sweetie Belle should leave the house more. The silence was interrupted by a crash from the adjacent room.
Startled out of their quiet conversation, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle rushed over to the sitting area, where a baseball rolled to a stop near the center of the room. Looking for the source of the projectile, Sweetie Belle was greeted with the faces of a young pegasus colt and two of his friends.
“Oh no, not again!”
“We’re so sorry!”
“We’ll fix it, we swear”
Applebloom lifted a hoof to silence the three before they could continue their kowtowing.
“Don’t y’all worry about it too much, my friends and I have broken enough windows in our crusading days.”
As if a switch had been flipped, the demeanor of the three foals changed to that of surprise. The rainbow-haired colt, baseball bat still in hoof, was the first to speak up:
“How do you know about crusading? We’ve been trying everything we could think of, and nothing gets us closer to getting our cutie marks!”
Applebloom chuckled as she reached for a broom, slowly sweeping up the bits of glass, as Sweetie Belle held the dustpan.
“You could say I’ve had some of the same troubles in my time.” Applebloom winked at Sweetie Belle. “But don’t you fret! Your cutie marks will come when they’re nice and ready! Just try to stay out of too much trouble, now. If you promise not to take out any more of my windows, I’ll let this one slide.”
“Yes ma’am, we promise.” Turning to leave, the foals grabbed their things before a gasp from the unicorn of the group stopped them in their tracks.
“Guys, look! She doesn’t have her cutie mark either!”
Applebloom chuckled as Sweetie Belle sat in shock, beginning to back away from the scene before other questions could be asked.
“That’s right. Now how about you run along with them, Belle. I’m sure they could use a fresh mind with more ideas.” Another wink.
“Come on, it’ll be fun! There’s always room in--”
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom barely had time to cover their ears before the inevitable.
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” All three finished at once.
“I--I don’t know what to say.” Stammered Sweetie Belle.
“Don’t worry about it none, Belle. I have it all under control here. Go have some fun with your new friends.” Before she had a chance to react, Applebloom nudged Sweetie Belle forward.
“Yay!” The three bellowed in unison. They each put a hoof into the center of their little formation, waiting for Sweetie Belle to join.
It had been years since Sweetie Belle had left the house. Enough time had passed that the current population of Ponyville, save a select few that were sworn to secrecy, knew of her...problem. This would be an opportunity to finally meet some new ponies, make some new friends.
Be happy again.
Sweetie Belle slowly lowered her hoof onto the others, almost having to grab on as the force of the shout almost blew her away from the group.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Friend-Makers, Yay!”
Sweetie Belle smiled as she was loaded onto a scooter and hauled away by the rambunctious foals. She wasn’t as young and spry as the others, and while makeup and glamour spells could keep her appearance fresh, she would have to take things easier than she used to, but that was okay.
Before the group could get too far away, Applebloom had one last thing to say before Sweetie Belle was out of hearing range.
“Be back before dark, stay out of trouble, and above all, have fun, young filly!”
Sweetie Belle smiled to herself as she saw the form of Applebloom shrink in the distance before whispering to herself:
“I will."
Life had its difficulties at times, and many of her old friends weren’t with her anymore, but today was a new day, a new start. Sweetie Belle had some years left yet, and by Celestia, she was going to make them count.
“So where are we going?” Sweetie Belle managed over the rushing wind.
“I don’t know.” The red hued unicorn drawled.
“That’s the fun.” Added the timid, pink earth pony.
“Everyday is a new adventure! A new chance to find out what our purpose is! And now, with you, we have someone to share that with.” The rainbow-maned colt finished. “By the way, we never did get your name.”
“My name,” Sweetie Belle hesitated. This was a new start, a new beginning. This was a chance to live again, and leave her worries about her past life behind her. No matter what happened, she would endure. Sweetie Belle smiled.
“My name is Velvet.”