“Urghaaagh…”
For Sweetie Belle, the previous night felt like the worst one ever. Although her headache—caused by the crazy landing Scootaloo performed the night before—had subsided, the leftovers from the motion sickness had prevented her from having a restful sleep. While she was lucky enough not to throw up like poor Apple Bloom, she still felt an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, even now. She wasn’t even at the door before she resolved that—if she had any say in the matter—she would never do that ever again.
‘It was a lot of hard work, that’s for sure, with the building and the flying and the…landing…’ Sweetie Belle thought. Her tired eyes then sparkled and a small smirk made itself present, ‘…but Scootaloo got her Cutie Mark!’
At that thought, she straightened up in pride at her contribution. ‘Finally, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are making significant progress! I knew that Babs getting her mark was a sign of good things to come! Not only that, but Scootaloo got the best Cutie Mark ever! She was flying like any daredevil pegasus in that flying machine.’ Reminded of that ride, her stomach lurched and she groaned. “Well, it isn’t the fun kind of flying, that’s for sure,” she muttered, “but Scootaloo sure seemed happy about it.”
Sweetie Belle made her way out of her room, yawning all the way down the steps of the Boutique and into the kitchen, where her sister was waiting to greet her with a large assortment of food on the table.
“Good morning, sister!” Rarity exclaimed.
“Please, Sis, could you tone it down a little?” Sweetie Belle suggested as she winced, rubbing her temples and turning her head away from the noise.
“Oh, Darling, I’m sorry,” Rarity consoled in a loud whisper, wrapping her sister in a big hug, “just let me know if there is anything that I can do for you.”
“I’m fine, really,” Sweetie Belle denied, rolling her eyes and moving to escape her sister’s embrace. ‘Jeez, I wish she wouldn’t coddle me so much,’ she thought still failing to get out of the hug. ‘A hot water bottle on my head, soup in bed, and singing lullabies last night. Seriously, just for an upset stomach. I mean, after last night, if she would just give me some medicine and send me to bed early like she used to, I would have been much happier.’
“I’m serious, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity replied, looking serious indeed. “You looked positively infirm after that ‘rollercoaster ride’ last night. You nearly passed out! You can’t be getting yourself into these ridiculous situations in your condition.”
“I’m not a foal, Sis,” Sweetie Belle contended, finally getting out of the hug and turning her back on Rarity. “So what if I got a little sick,” she continued as she turned back to face her sister, “Scootaloo got her Cutie Mark! If that isn’t something worth getting sick over, I don’t know what is! With my smarts now, it’s only a matter of time before we all get our Cutie Marks, our destinies! I’m tired of not knowing what to do with my life, and the only way I’ll ever figure it out is outside doing Crusading with my friends. If I get a little sick, that’s a small price to pay.”
Rarity put on her best disarming smile and spoke her next words carefully, trying as best as she could to defuse the situation. “Darling, Sweetie Belle, I know what you want to do—and I am not saying I will stop you from doing it—but why should you pay a price at all? Why must you think that these new crusades should be so dangerous? Your old ones were bad enough, but one wrong move in that flying death-trap and it could have been all over! I bet that if you just-”
“Just do something carefully and safely?” Sweetie Belle finished. Upon seeing Rarity’s hopeful smile, she said, “No, after almost four months in the hospital—just lounging around—I've had it with doing things I know will work out. The nurse at the hospital said that I never did anything new, that I had no…spontaneity.
"Well you know what, she was right! My time at the hospital, the old crusades, they were just repeats of things I had done before. The same methods with the same results. I never looked at the big picture; never tried to see things from a different perspective or take a risk. What happens when I do? Scootaloo gets her Cutie Mark! This isn’t coincidence and I’m not going back to what I did before. If this is what my destiny is, the only way to find out is to live it; or I will regret it.”
During this response, Rarity was thinking what to say next with apprehension and dread. ‘I knew this rebelliousness was coming the moment she left the house to build that flying machine, but what do I say? Do I let her keep risking herself with these dangerous stunts, or do I force her to stop and potentially end what little childhood she has afforded herself? She’s right that with her smarts, it would only be a matter of time, but what of her experience? She isn’t an adult and her intelligence could get her hurt or worse!
‘She only got sick this time with that dangerous flying machine—and that was under supervision—but what about next time? If she does something complicated, like potion making or steam engine construction. She could unknowingly put herself in danger without anypony there to save her if she needs it.’
However, despite the immediate need, looking at the determined face of her sister made it clear that she couldn’t make any decision rashly. ‘If I say anything now, I might drive her to get into even more trouble. I’ll need to talk to Twilight about this. It’s lucky that her first day of class is today, because I don’t think I’m ready to help Sweetie Belle though this yet.’
“Alright,” Rarity conceded with a sigh, “I see your point and we will talk about this later. Whatever is going to happen, we will both need some time to think it over. Whatever the case may be, school is about to begin and you need to eat, wash and get ready.” She nudged her sister to the table of food. “Move! I will not have a dirty filly off to her first day back at school. Oh, just think what the others would say.” She said, trailing off as she realized how late they both were with this latest distraction.
“Now remember, Sweetie, you have your magical therapy with Twilight after school!” Rarity yelled out to her sister as Sweetie Belle left from the front entrance of the Boutique. Rarity waited until Sweetie Belle was just out of sight before she turned the sign on the door to its ‘open’ side and returned back inside.
Sweetie Belle—now finally out of the overbearing clutches of her sister—was free to walk by herself to an intersection near the end of the street. It was here that she would meet Scootaloo; a ritual that began when they found each other walking to their first day of class, even before they had met Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom was absent, even now. Since Sweet Apple Acres was on the other side of town, it was easier to just meet her at school instead.
“H-hey Sweetie Belle…” a timid voice came from her left.
She turned to see her orange friend—who at the moment was giving an excellent Fluttershy impression. “Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked, confused by her friend's meek voice and asocial demeanor. “What’s up? I thought you would be super happy today? You got your Cutie Mark! Why are you so…well, not you?”
“Oh y-yeah,” Scootaloo replied nervously, shifting slightly from side-to-side, “and I totally was—happy I mean. It’s just, well, about the Cutie Mark…I, um, you see…”
“Yeah?” Sweetie Belle asked as they both unconsciously made their way to school. She looked back at her friend’s flank to make sure that the mark was still there. “What is it? I can see you didn’t lose your mark.”
Scootaloo sighed, turning away slightly. “I know it’s stupid, it’s just, well…” she said, turning back, “…am I still a Crusader?”
“Well, duh, of course you—” Sweetie Belle started.
“No! Don’t just say that Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo interjected in a huff. “Think about it. I-I can’t crusade for something I already have, so how can I be a Crusader?”
Sweetie Belle was at a loss for words, not because she thought that Scootaloo was right, but that she was even considering it at all. She hadn’t really given the issue much thought since they all shared a dream with Apple Bloom a while ago. Still, it was a no-brainer that Scootaloo was still a Crusader, it just wouldn’t make sense otherwise. So, thinking quickly—as every moment was only making Scootaloo worse and worse—she looked at the schoolhouse coming into view and got an idea. “You can still crusade, Scoots, you would just be a different kind of crusader.”
Scootaloo looked down groaned. “Well sure, whatever right? I mean, I wouldn’t really be crusading though and—”
“Hey!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in an attempt to snap Scootaloo out of her morose outlook. “You’re still going to help us get our Cutie Marks, right?”
“Well, yeah I guess, but—”
“—and I don’t remember there being anything in the Cutie Mark Crusader Oath about quitting. In fact, wasn’t half of it just different words for friends, right?”
“Hey! I fixed that, remember?”
“Well, are you still a friend?”
“Yeah! Of course!” Scootaloo admonished. “How could you think that I wouldn’t still—”
“Then you are a Cutie Mark Crusader, and that is that,” Sweetie Belle finished in a tone that brooked no further argument. Still, she could see that her friend was not entirely convinced. “Look, Crusaders are fighters right? Fighters for a goal? Well, how do fighters train?”
“They punch and kick stuff, I guess…” Scootaloo trailed off, not really understanding the point.
“No, they train under a teacher. You think Apple Bloom picked up all those Kung Fu moves all on her own?”
“I suppose not-”
“—because she didn’t. Everypony could use a teacher, and what better teacher than somepony who’s done their Crusade, right? Hay, maybe we’ll even give you a new title like ‘Senior Crusader’ or something.”
“Heck no, Sweetie Belle! That makes it sound like I’m a senior citizen or something!” Scootaloo giggled. “T-thanks, Sweetie Belle, I don’t know how you said all that so well, but I needed that. I—”
She was about to continue that thought, but instead quickly wiped her eyes and coughed instead.
“Hey, Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!” a voice called from the distance. Sweetie Belle turned away from Scootaloo to see that Apple Bloom had come to meet them just outside the school. “Hey girls, did I miss anything?” she asked, noticing that the two were looking at her rather awkwardly.
“Well—” Sweetie Belle began to say.
“Nope!” Scootaloo cut-off, eager to avoid that subject at all cost. “Hey Apple Bloom, so did you manage to get the glider back to the farm alright? Sorry I couldn’t stick around, but Rainbow Dash wanted to teach me this cool flying trick she thought up for it and—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Apple Bloom waved it off with a hoof, “no need ta explain or nothin’. Ya just got your Cutie Mark; Ah wasn’t gonna do nothin’ ta stop ya from havin’ fun. Besides, the glider was on wheels and with ma sister’s help, it was a cinch gettin’ it back ta the farm. Ya woulda done the same for me, Ah know it.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Scootaloo replied.
“Oh! This is so great I could just jump for joy!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, grabbing both of her friends into a group hug. “We’re all back together, Scootaloo has her Cutie Mark, and we still have a few minutes before class starts.” She turned to Scootaloo, “So, you want to show off your Cutie Mark to everypony?”
Scootaloo scowled at this, however. “Afraid not, Sweetie,” she said, tilting her head to point at something behind Sweetie Belle.
“Show off what now?” a voice giggled from that direction.
“I think they said something about a Cutie Mark, Di,” another voice replied.
The three fillies turned, only to face two obnoxious ponies to match the voices: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They had their usual smug expressions, which could only mean that they were—as usual—up to no good.
“Yeah, that’s right!” Scootaloo proclaimed, rising to the challenge and proudly straightening herself up. “I got my Cutie Mark.”
“Oh, well then,” Diamond Tiara acknowledged. Seeing the proof emblazoned on Scootaloo’s flank, she quickly realized that her usual bullying wasn’t going to work at the moment.
Thinking quickly, she continued, saying, “Oh, wow, that is a surprise. At this rate, the rest of you blank-flanks might even get your Cutie Marks by the time you’re my Daddy’s age.” The two laughed out loud at the thought. “Besides, I bet that your Cutie Mark isn’t anything special.” She leaned in a bit to the left to get another brief glance. “Oh, a wrench with wings? Haha! Let me guess, your destiny is to juggle wrenches for a living? Oh! Or maybe you put tiny foam wings on stuff like arts-and-crafts. Isn't that adorable, Silver?”
“Oh, that must be it, Diamond, that's just precious,” Silver Spoon agreed, both of them again laughing at the thought.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes at this. “Oh, you would think that, wouldn’t you? No, it means that I can build and fly flying machines better than anypony. Just ask Rainbow Dash!”
“Wow, really?” Silver Spoon faltered, genuinely surprised and impressed.
“Ha!” Diamond Tiara rebutted, not shocked in the slightest. “Is that the best lie you could come up with? That you—with your little itty-bitty foal wings—could actually fly?” She turned to her friends and leaned in conspiratorially. “Don’t bother believing her, Silver Spoon,” she whispered, loud enough for everypony to hear, “she’s just embarrassed by what her Cutie Mark really means.”
“That is what it means, rocks-fer-brains,” Apple Bloom attested. “We made glider and flew all over Ponyville for hours yesterday. Ya must have seen it, Diamond, even with a thick head like yours.”
“Whatever,” Silver Spoon scoffed, “I bet you just flew a kite around or something to pretend.”
“Hey, want to bet that Scootaloo can’t even prove this 'special talent' of hers?” Diamond Tiara asked Silver Spoon rhetorically. She pointed a hoof at the filly in question accusingly. “Well? Why don’t you fly around for us if you really are so good at it?”
“Yeah,” Silver Spoon agreed as they began to laugh mockingly. “You know what, Di? I bet with all her hot air, she’ll just float away anyway!”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were both now seething with anger and annoyance. Sweetie Belle, however, was strangely calm and collected. *Hmm,* Sweetie Belle thought, *considering my past experience with these bullies. With the right words, pressing on their insecurities could lead to a favorable outcome.*
Sweetie Belle placed a hoof on the withers of each of her friends and gave them a nod as a silent signal to them to play along with what she was about to do.
“Oh?” Sweetie Belle asked Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “That seems a little hypocritical of you two, don’t you think? I don’t remember seeing any of you performing any of your special talents. Why not give us a demonstration right here and now? After all, Scootaloo just got her Cutie Mark yesterday so she hasn’t had much chance to practice. Just imagine. If she sees a show by two experts like yourselves, she’ll be able to put on a much better show, right?” She ended that sentence with a wink and a nudge to her two friends.
“Huh?” Scootaloo questioned, taking a moment to understand what Sweetie Belle was trying to do. “Uh, oh! Yeah, what Sweetie Belle said!”
“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agreed. “Why don’t you two show us what you got!”
“Well, fine!” Diamond Tiara blurted out, not willing to step down from a challenge to her image. “Still, uh, I think Scootaloo should go first, she’s the one who needs the most help, obviously. How can we know about all the improvements she need to make her special talent less stupid unless she does it, right?”
“That’s true,” Sweetie Belle relented, her agreement coming to the surprise of her friends; but she quickly responded back, “but you and Silver Spoon have had yours far longer, so it should be like second nature, right? So why don’t you show how it is done.” She then put a hoof up to her mouth in mock fright and gasped. “Or wait! Could it be that you can’t do your special talents?”
“Ha! You wish!” Diamond Tiara sputtered before quickly reining herself in. “Anyway, obviously everypony knows that my special talent is being better than everypony else, and I’m proving it right now!”
“You mean, even better than Princess Celestia?” Sweetie Belle criticized.
“Uh…well, not her…” Diamond Tiara struggled, “but certainly better than ponies like you!”
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow, “How?”
“Obviously because I have a Cutie Mark, duh!”
“But Scootaloo has a Cutie Mark too now,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. Again she gasped in feigned shock. “Does that mean you're not better than us anymore?”
“No, I-” she fumed. “Silver Spoon! Why don’t you show them up with your awesome talent!”
“Well…” Silver Spoon lamented softly, “I-I don’t have my filigree tools or any silver wire so I can’t-”
“Well,” Sweetie Belle smiled smugly, “I guess that means you must not have any special talents either—”
“We do so!” Diamond Tiara cried, “I’m better than all of you! My dad has more bits than your families and I can get anything I want, so there!”
Sweetie Belle giggled, “So you are saying that if a slug had more money than you, it would be a better pony?”
“What…n-no, that wouldn’t make any sense!”
“Oh wait!” Sweetie Belle said, coming to a sudden epiphany. “That’s it! You must have paid somepony to get those marks for you!” Diamond and Silver looked like they were about to retort but Sweetie Belle cut them off, looking to her friends. “Don’t you remember, girls, that time when Diamond brought in that butler to perform all those stunts to get everypony to like her?”
“Yeah?” Scootaloo said, surprised at this sudden change in Sweetie Belle’s demeanor.
“Uh…sure, Sweetie,” Apple Bloom agreed with equal hesitancy.
“Yeah, she must have paid that butler to get her that Cutie Mark! Why else would she think that money makes her better than other ponies? Apparently it can get you everything.” Sweetie Belle’s then became contemplative. “Still, this idea seems a bit off, maybe I should ask everypony else about what they think.”
Just then, the schoolhouse bell rang, signifying that class was to begin shortly. Sweetie Belle smirked and looked at her friends, saying, “Well, I guess that means we’re all out of time. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anypony that the two most bratty and annoying ponies in class can’t even do their special talent for even one measly minute. Let’s go.”
As they left, Apple Bloom spared a passing glance back at Diamond and Silver. They were speechless, their mouths were agape in surprise at what Sweetie Belle just said to them.
“Wow, Sweetie,” Apple Bloom commented, “remind me not ta get on your bad side. Ah feel sorry for them now. Doncha think that was a mite harsh?”
“Really, you think so?” Sweetie Belle asked hopefully, “That’s what I was going for. Oh, I've never done that before, but it felt so good to beat them at their own game like that. I mean, could you believe what they just said to Scootaloo?” She turned to the pegasus, “They thought you were lying about your Cutie Mark! I mean, how dumb do they think we are? Even if you were lying, ponies would figure it out anyway, so why bother?”
Scootaloo—who, despite her calm demeanor, had been a bit hurt by what the bullies had said—shook off her surprise at her friend and grinned. “You know what, Sweetie, you’re right! They deserved every word of that, and if they decide not to pick on us now because we can dish it out better than they can, then all the better!”
Listening to all this, Apple Bloom frowned. “Ah don’t know about all that,” she said as they entered the schoolhouse. “Ah mean, sure, if anypony deserves a good ribbin’ for what they’ve done, it’s them. Still, doesn’t it make us as bad as them if we start bullyin’ back? Not to mention all that stuff you said about spreadin’ rumours behind their backs. To be honest, Ah don’t even know what Diamond’s mark means—Ah forgot on account of it bein' so long ago—but Ah’m sure they earned it like everypony else. Ya can’t just buy a mark. If ya could, it wouldn’t be worth Crusadin’ for.”
They all took their seats before Sweetie Belle rejoined the conversation. “Well, it isn’t like I was actually going to do any of that,” Sweetie Belle responded, “I just wanted to get under their skin for once. Now we have…leverage in case they try to bully us again.”
Apple Bloom was even less convinced by that line of reasoning. “What was wrong with just ignoring them like we usually do? You weren’t here, but over the summer holidays they didn’t even bother us once. This seems pretty mean; not to mention that it sounds kinda like blackmail.”
Sweetie Belle sighed, rolling her eyes, “Yeah, I guess you’re right…maybe. I’ll try to-”
“Alright class! It’s time to get started!” Cheerilee interrupted cheerfully, bringing their conversation to a premature end.
“We’ll talk later,” Sweetie Belle whispered before Cheerilee continued.
“Good morning, class!” Cheerilee exclaimed in her teacher-sing-song voice.
“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee,” the students responded. Some of them even seemed genuinely happy to be there.
“It’s so great to see everypony again! I hope you all had a wonderful summer vacation!” Cheerilee said with a smile.
The students responded with a mixture of answers, but they all seemed relatively positive.
“It sounds like you all had some exciting stories, I’m sure. Well, speaking of stories, I am also proud to announce that our very own Scootaloo got her Cutie Mark just yesterday!” At that, everypony muttered amongst themselves, some straining to catch a glimpse.
“Yes, yes,” Cheerilee continued, “it is all very exciting and I’m sure Scootaloo won’t have any complaints about coming to the front of the class later today and telling everypony all about it.” If Scootaloo’s newfound poise and expression was any indication, she would not have any trouble at all.
“Miss Cheerilee!” Diamond Tiara spoke up above the murmuring. “Why does she get special attention. I’m sure many of us—especially me—have way better stories from our summer holidays that would beat any lame story Scootaloo would have.”
Cheerilee frowned a bit. “Diamond Tiara, you should know by now that everypony—yourself included—got a chance to share their Cutie Mark story with the class. It is only fair that Scootaloo has a chance too.”
Diamond Tiara grumbled but didn’t say anything further. Cheerilee raised an eyebrow at this. Normally it would be at least a good minute of arguing before she stopped, but there was something off about the filly today. Not that Cheerilee would complain about this newfound obedience, of course.
“Well…anyway, if there are no more interruptions…” Cheerilee dared, waiting a moment for any form of response. When there was none, she continued with a smile, “Good! In other news, I'd like to welcome back Sweetie Belle!"
The other students didn't give her quite the same looks as they gave Scootaloo on account that her presence was far more obvious. "As you know, Sweetie Belle had an accident while out with her sister searching for gems and had to stay in the hospital all through Summer Vacation." Her face darkened as she continued, "What many of you might not have noticed, however, is that this accident has caused Sweetie Belle to lose her magic."
The whole class—save her friends—gasped at this; even Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara didn't say a word. Still, even without their jeering, she didn't enjoy being reminded of it.
"Yes, I know, it really is quite shocking, and I hope that everypony is supportive of her as she recovers."
A few ponies raised their hooves at this, but Cheerilee shook her head, saying, "I won't be saying any more than that. Any other information about this is something her family has asked that I keep private. If you want to know anything else, you'll have to ask Sweetie Belle herself."
Once again seeing that the class was silent again. It was then that Cheerilee realized that it probably would have been a better idea to save some sort of happy news for last. Unfortunately, what she would say next wouldn't be joyful in the slightest. "Well—now that all that is out of the way—why don’t we get back to the focus of everypony’s first day back at school, the placement test!” Despite Cheerilee's best efforts to play up the event, everypony groaned in response. Still, at least that was better than silence.
“Yes, I know, nopony likes the placement test, but it is really important! Not only does it tell me what you remember from last year, it also can help you avoid a lot of extra work.” She continued speaking as she hoofed out the test. “If you have any questions about the test, feel free to raise your hoof and I will help you as best as I can. That doesn’t mean I will be giving you the answers, however.” She looked at both Snips and Snails especially when she said this, since they were the ones who usually asked most of the questions.
As she finished giving them to each of the students, she went back to the front of the class. “This is a very long test,” she finished, “so it may take you all class to finish it. You will still have recess and can play with your friends. I only ask that you don’t talk about the test with them. Most of your tests are different anyway, but it is still wrong to give your friends any help; this is about what each of you know on your own.”
Seeing the glazed looks of her students, she realized that she had run out of the allotted attention-span they would give her. “Well, anyway, good luck,” she started before being reminded of one final thing. “Oh, right! Some of your tests also have a question that asks you to write a story. Feel free to take those pages home at the end of class and finish it by Friday. I don’t expect you to finish that part today.”
Sweetie Belle—having heard the speech given for the past five years—had largely ignored what was said and was already going over the test in front of her. She could easily tell at a glance that most ponies wouldn’t be able to answer everything correctly. There were just under 100 multiple choice questions, a few fill-in-the-blank and a big writing question. It went over every topic they had gone over last term, so even if a pony had done some studying before the test, they would have no hope of possibly covering everything. Sweetie Belle learned that the hard way.
‘I guess it must be a test designed to measure a pony’s long term memory,’ she thought idly, filling in the time waiting for Cheerilee to tell her to begin. *If that’s the case, this will be the perfect test of the Tablet’s pre-education compression. The only way to complete this test successfully is if the Tablet preserved all former memories. Otherwise, the new information’s syntactic and cultural bias—or lack of such—wouldn’t provide the adequate clarification needed to comprehend the exact wording provided in answering the multiple choice questions, as proven in cross-cultural psychological surveys detailing the effects of ethnocentrism on the analysis of these types of limited-response questions, particularly in tests attempting to gauge and objective idea of mental capacity or intelligence. Therefore, assuming that-*
“Umm, Sweetie Belle?” Cheerilee asked, breaking the filly out of her thoughts.
She looked up at her teacher with before looking around her in confusion. “Huh?” she replied, only now realizing that she had completely missed on what had gone on around her.
“Um, you can start now,” Cheerilee replied, tapping her hoof to the paper in front of her with a knowing smirk. She then turned back to the front of the class, having realized that her student had simply ‘zoned-out’.
Sweetie Belle grinned embarrassedly, looking around shyly, only to see the giggling faces of her classmates.
“Hehe, right. I’ll just start now…”
“Alright, class. That’s enough for now,” Cheerilee exclaimed, breaking the ponies out of their concentration.
It took the class a moment to realize that they were free to leave before they all suddenly jumped into action and ran out of the schoolhouse and into the yard outside.
“Please, don’t all run out at once-” Cheerilee started before cutting herself off. Her voice was drowned out by the cheers of her students trying to savour their well-deserved moments of freedom. Almost everypony was already clambering out the door with reckless abandon. Cheerilee took a moment to sigh before doing her best to get everypony out in an organized fashion.
As Sweetie Belle tucked in her stool and made her way out the doors behind everypony else, she thought about the test, still surprised at the difficulty she was having. It wasn’t that any one question was challenging or confusing, rather it was that she couldn’t seem to remember what she had learned. While she could perfectly recall the math, science, Equish and social science portions, she had trouble in the history, arts and relationships sections.
‘I don’t get it,’ she thought, biting into her pencil a little in frustration, ‘I never had problems in those subjects before. In fact, art used to be my best one. I should know this stuff. Sure, I only did a little homework at the hospital because I only missed a few weeks of class, but it has only been four months and I've done these tests before, no problem. Is something the Tablet did?’
She broke out in a cold sweat at the implication. ‘I-I never thought about it, but what if the Tablet did something wrong? It was made by precursors, for precursors, right? Could it have miscalculated and removed pieces of my memory? I mean, I knew that it would do a lot of shuffling to fit everything in my brain, and I figured that it had some algorithm to ensure that everything would fit without losing anything, but what if it was wrong? I remember Rarity and a lot of things about my past, but what if I forgot something important, something so ‘me’ that losing it makes ‘me’ not…me. Like a secret diary I kept that I don't remember now, or somepony I met that who nopony else knows about. How would I find out if I don’t remember? Oh, why was I so stupid! I was such a stupid filly and didn’t ask these really important questions and now I will never know and-’
“Sweetie Belle!” somepony yelled next to her, causing the unicorn filly to topple to the ground in shock.
“Gah!” Sweetie Belle replied, bringing a hoof to her poor ear. “What the hay was that for!”
“I’d ask you the same question, Sweetie. I called out your name a whole bunch of times,” Scootaloo huffed as Apple Bloom offered a hoof to help their friend back on her hooves.
“Huh?” Sweetie Belle asked as she finally righted herself. “What do you…oh, I spaced out again,” she finished as she looked about, realizing that—just like in the classroom earlier—the whole environment around her had changed without her realizing it. She was near the edge of the schoolyard far away from where everypony else was playing.
“Yeah, ya kinda did, Sweetie,” Apple Bloom agreed as her expression became somber. “Ah don’t want to bring up bad memories or nuttin’, but the last time ya were like that, that Tablet-thingy was in yer head. It—it isn’t still there, is it?”
Sweetie Belle sighed. “No,” she replied, shaking her head, “although sometimes I wish it was.”
“What!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom yelled in tandem.
“Why would you want that!” Scootaloo continued.
“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agreed, “Wasn’t that the whole reason why we went on that crazy adventure with ya? Ta get rid of that thing messin' with your mind?”
“Well, not really,” Sweetie defended, “I mean, maybe at first; but it didn’t take long before I realized how great it was. With the Tablet, I could do anything! Run away from an entire country, save the world, you name it!”
“Yeah, but aren’t you already super smart now?” Scootaloo contended. “I mean, what could the Tablet-thingy do that you can’t just do yourself? You pretty much designed most of the glider yourself. Sure, I helped a lot and was able to understand everything you did, but that’s because I got my Cutie Mark doing it.”
‘Well, the Tablet could tell me my destiny, probably,’ Sweetie Belle thought in melancholy. “Well, whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway, it’s gone now.”
“That still doesn’t explain why ya keep ‘zonin’-out’ all the time,” Apple Bloom said, bringing them back to the topic at hoof.
“I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle moodily waved off, “I just am, I guess. It’s not like it means anything. It’s probably just because I’m thinking more or something.”
“That may be true, but you’ve also been kinda grumpy,” Apple Bloom noted, “not to mention you looked pretty angry when you talked down to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon earlier. Ah don’t remember ya bein’ so flippy-floppy with your feelin’s before.”
“Well, you would be too if you lost as much as I did!” Sweetie Belle cried out. “Maybe I don’t like writing things with my mouth again or putting in all that work at Twilight Time, only for some random accident taking my magic away and ruining everything! Why do I have to keep losing things again and again! First my free will, then my magic! What’s next, huh!”
‘Maybe my memories?’ she thought, tearing up and looking away. She honestly wasn’t sure the reasons for these changes herself, but Sweetie Belle definitely felt good saying it.
Apple Bloom was deeply concerned about her friend now. Sweetie Belle used to be the type to let her emotions get the better of her, but Apple Bloom noted that those times were usually about somepony getting on her nerves. For all the time Apple Bloom knew her, Sweetie Belle never had internal turmoil and recently, she took for granted that Sweetie Belle had accepted that she could no longer use magic.
Feeling a bit guilty that it had come to this, Apple Bloom attempted to think of some sort of silver lining to all of this. ‘Sweetie Belle’s right,' she thought, 'Ah never thought about it, but Ah reckon she’s lost a lot more than most ponies. If Ah was in her horseshoes...' She shook her head. 'Oh, snap out of it, Apple Bloom. Think! Wait, that’s it, thinking! All the smarts she has is somethin' good, right?!’
“Come on, Sweetie Belle, it ain’t that bad,” Apple Bloom comforted, bring a hoof to her friend’s withers, “just think of all the good things.”
“What, like this newfound ‘intelligence’?” Sweetie Belle lamented, already seeing what Apple Bloom was getting at. She sniffed slightly and tears welled up in her eyes as she continued, “I’d trade it all back just to have my magic again and to forget about all these…worries I have now. I may not have been the smartest filly, but at least I was happy… To be honest, I don’t think I’ve even been happy since I woke up in the hospital.”
“Now that’s just stinkin’ thinkin’,” Apple Bloom contended. “Don’t ya remember when we were workin’ on the glider? Ya were pretty happy then; and when we finally came in after the landin’? Ya can’t tell me that those tears were ‘cause ya were sick.”
“But none of that really mattered,” Sweetie Belle countered. However, seeing Scootaloo—who had only been listening until this moment—look at her with an annoyed expression, Sweetie quickly amend her statement. “I mean, sure, Scootaloo got her Cutie Mark and I was really happy for her, but then what? No amount of making gliders or getting ponies Cutie Marks is going to get me my magic back. I’m like this for good.”
“But imagine all the things you can do now!” Apple Bloom continued, undeterred by Sweetie Belle’s self-condemnation. “Didn’t ya just show Twilight yesterday some type of amazing new science thing? Ah remember Twilight sayin’ that that piece of paper would be the life’s work for any other pony. Don’t ya think that bein’ able ta do that’s a bit better than some dumb magic. Although Ah might be biased and all, considerin’ Ah’m not a unicorn or nothin’.”
“Yeah, Apple Bloom’s right!” Scootaloo agreed, finally seeing a point in the conversation that she could jump in and help. “I used to think like that too. I didn’t tell you girls about it, but every once in a while—usually when Rainbow Dash or my parents would go to Cloudsdale and I’d be stuck at home—I would look up at the weatherponies moving the clouds around and I would get all depressed and stuff. Every pegasus could fly but me and it sucked. You know what, though? Being able to design and build my wings that let me be up in the sky with Rainbow Dash was way better than anything I thought that flying could be."
“I—I guess?” Sweetie Belle responded hesitantly, more confused than anything. “Still, I don’t get what that has to do with me and my magic. Sure that worked for you—I mean, you got your Cutie Mark for it—but what does that have to do with me?”
“Don't you see? For some reason, I thought that using the wings I was born with to sail through the air like Rainbow Dash was some sort of important thing. I thought ‘Nothing could replace the feeling of preening myself for the big race’ or ‘Feeling the wind through my feathers as I flapped them in the breeze’, but I was wrong. I may not know much about flying, but flying that glider was definitely the best thing ever. It was even better than Rainbow Dash holding me up as we flew over Winsome Falls, because it was me. I beat fate and flew anyway and you can do that too, Sweetie. You already do magic!”
Sweetie Belle didn’t respond, rather she gave her pegasus friend a deadpan look.
“No, really, you do! It’s because of that magic that I was able to fly at all!”
“Oh please, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle sighed, rolling her eyes, “if you say the ‘magic of friendship’—”
“No, no,” Scootaloo denied vehemently, “magic crystals!”
“Magic crystals?” Sweetie faltered, looking at her friend incredulously.
“Yeah, that paper you made; you can make magic crystals with it, right? Well, if it worked so well to get me flying, why not use them yourself!”
Sweetie Belle looked away for a moment. When she turned back, she put a hoof out as if to convey something but then put it back down, evidently still thinking. ‘Well, if I publish this, it would make them cheaper...’ she thought.
“Well, yes, possibly…” Sweetie Belle spoke, continuing the previous train of thought out loud, “but thaumic crystals—the ones that generate power—have always been a prohibitively expensive form of renewable energy. Bit-for-bit, they could never really match a unicorn's output. Therefore, apart from basic revolute and prismatic transducer motors for very small-output, lightweight, and/or non-unicorn applications, nopony uses them for anything else. It’s only things like automatic door latches or remote distress beacons or something. Certainly nothing like transfiguration or even telekinesis. Nopony researches it, and even if I get something to work, it would just be something anypony could use.”
The other two looked at each other, both equally confused. Still, Scootaloo spoke up, “Well, I’m not really sure what you said, but that last part sounds like me, doesn’t it? That doesn’t matter though. So what if there are some things that other pegasi can do that I can’t or that anypony can use flying machines. I know that I’ll probably never be as fast as Rainbow Dash—but that doesn’t mean I’m going to quit! I may be the only machine-flyer in Equestria that doesn't fly a dumb blimp, but that also means I'm the best one too! Someday, maybe I can make something faster than Rainbow Dash, or maybe some sort of big flying machine that can move big things really far and fast! The possibilities are endless!”
Sweetie Belle just stood there thinking for well over a minute as both her friends looked on in worry. Apple Bloom wanted to say something else, fearing that maybe Scootaloo had said something that belittled the heartache that Sweetie Belle was going through, but just as she was about to respond, Cheerilee called them back in.
“Alright everypony! Recess is over! You have to finish your tests!” This call was reciprocated by a cacophony of groans and moans as the previously happy fillies and colts sauntered their way back inside.
Scootaloo, seeing that Apple Bloom was unwilling to move her friend back inside gave Sweetie Belle a quick shove. “Hey, did you hear Miss Cheerilee?” she asked, “We have to go back in now. We can talk about this later if you want, okay?” Scootaloo internally gagged at the idea, but didn’t show it. All this ‘feelings’ stuff was never something she liked, even if she was getting better at it now that there was nothing holding her back anymore.
“No…” Sweetie Belle whispered, shaking her head. “No, I’m alright, Scoots. I just—I just…” She groaned. “Oh, jeez, I’m sorry girls; we ended up completely missing recess because of me. I’ve just been so down and confused and my heart got in the way of my head. You’re right! I can’t be a magical pony like Twilight, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to quit.”
As the three walked back to the classroom, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo let out a breath of relief that their friend was finally back to normal…well, whatever was ‘normal’ now for Sweetie Belle.
“I don’t even know why I even spoke out like that, to be honest,” Sweetie Belle commented with a sigh as they went to their seats. “I guess I just thought—somewhere deep down—that I’d get my magic back somehow and that realization that it wouldn’t just…came out all at once. I’m really sorry for worrying you girls. Could you forgive me?”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom rolled their eyes.
“Really? Is that even a question?” Scootaloo asked, “After you told me that I could still be a Crusader, of course I forgive you."
"Wait, why didn't ya think you're still a Crusader, Scoots?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Alright, settle down, class," Miss Cheerilee said now that everypony was sitting.
'Thank Celestia,' Scootaloo thought.
"I'm going to want to know what you meant after class, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom whispered.
Scootaloo, realizing that she wasn't likely to get her friend to forget her 'slip-up,' looked over to Sweetie Belle with pleading eyes. The unicorn filly only shrugged and giggled, prompting a look of defeat and a groan from Scootaloo.
'You know what,' Sweetie Belle thought as she looked down on her test with renewed vigor, 'maybe I didn't lose all that much after all.'