The Audience Will Follow (Sweetie Belle’s Poem)
It was such a beautiful morning
Nice, quiet, tranquil
Not to mentioning the brightly shimmering sun in the east
I was sure nothing could ruin my day
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I was the first one awake, and took the time to idly enjoy my bed
It was comfortable and I was snug
I wondered if my family was as happy as I was
And that’s when I decided it
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I would make them lunch!
Not just any lunch, but a huge picnic
So I hopped out of my cozy mattress and ran downstairs, careful not to wake anypony up
The kitchen was void of others, as I thought
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“What to make?” I asked myself
I opened the pantry door and found bread, waiting hopefully in the front for somepony to eat it
Sandwiches, perfect
Bread in hoof, I trotted over the nearby fridge
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Opening it, I found some cheese and butter from yesterday’s grocery trip
I glanced over at the black stove, then back to the cheese
Grilled cheese would be even better!
I rushed the ingredients to the table
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What goes well with grilled cheese?
Tomato soup! Duh
Realizing the tasty treat would make this the best picnic ever, I went to reach for a pot above the stove
The cabinet with the pots was too high for me to reach, so I stacked two chairs atop one another
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That’s when things went wrong
I lost my balance and crashed onto our floor
The noise was loud enough to wake up the entire family
Who of course, came running downstairs to check out
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“Oh my, what in dear heavens has happened?” my sister gasps
“Dearie, are you alright?” asks my mom
“Yeah, I- ow” I recoil as I try to get up
“I think I banged my head”
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“What could you have possibly been doing Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asks
My eyes shift rapidly across the floor
I had wanted it to be a surprise
“Well,” I started “I was gonna make us a picnic, so we could all have lunch together”
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My dad walked over and patted my head, lightly though just in case I did bang it
“Aw Sweetie, you know you didn’t have to do that for us”
“I know, but I thought I could surprise you”
“Well this was definitely a surprise, little sister”
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“I’m sorry a knocked all the pots over”
“Don’t be honey, we’ll help you clean it up”
“And then can we go on a picnic?!” I piped up, ecstatic now that my parents weren’t angry
Mom and dad shot each other an ‘I’m sorry Sweetie Belle, but’ smile
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“I’m sorry Sweetie Belle, but” called it “Your father and I are meeting with two friends of ours”
“We’ll be in Manehatten all weekend, we thought you knew”
My bubbly smile dissipated with the unfortunate news
Even with the wonderful weather and grilled cheeses, I still wouldn’t be able to play with my family
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“Maybe your sister can go with you?” they offered
Rarity shook her head disappointingly
“Sorry Sweetie, but I’ve got a huge client from Canterlot coming today, I simply cannot miss him”
“It’s ok” I lied, sighing heavily “I understand”
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The three of them went on to get ready for their days while I remained behind in the kitchen
Nothing left to do, I just finished the grilled cheese sandwich I was going to make for myself
And since I had already gone through the trouble of getting the pot
I made some soup as well
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Mom and dad packed their bags and left to Manehatten
Rarity went up to her room with supplies
I knew Rarity, and when she had a client, she didn’t usually want me around
‘Just in case’ she’d say
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So with that in mind I set off to the clubhouse with my lunch beside me in a tiny knapsack
It was a short walk to our clubhouse, and when I got there, it was completely silent
The walk had been quiet too, and I wondered where everypony had gone
Without anypony there to give me an answer, I settled for the fact that I enjoyed the silence
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It was really sad though, I had had a new song that I wanted to sing to Rarity and my parents
I thought they might enjoy a little family day tribute
Now I doubted they’d ever hear it
Soon enough, the silence unnerved me and led me to create my own sounds
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“Oh mom and dad, why do you make me feel so sad”
“All I wanted was to sing a song to you, but you never knew”
“Oh, my sister Rarity, why couldn’t you stay with me?”
“Why couldn’t you play with me, am I old news?”
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“All I wanted was an audience, to show that I could represent”
“My prestigious family-ey-ey”
“All I wanted was smiling ear, a pony who would care to hear”
“The singing of Sweetie-ie-ie”
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“Oh wow, Sweetie B, you’re amazing!” called out a familiar voice
The voice took me off guard though, making me jump and shriek off key
My friend laughed at this
“Scootaloo!” I yelled “What’s the big idea?!”
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Still laughing she said “Nothing, I just thought you sounded cool”
She rethought her words for a second and then rephrased “Well, not cool really, but you sounded good”
I raised a suspicious eyebrow at this, “What do you mean?”
“Rainbow Dash is cool, she’s like, the best of the cool ponies, but your song was just, good”
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“Thanks Scootaloo” I snapped sarcastically
“Hey, I don’t mean it was bad, just not cool”
I decided I would take her words as compliments instead of insults, because I knew she meant well
Still, I hadn’t planned on anyone listening to that song
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My idled mind started wondering if she heard the whole thing
And if she did, did she understand what I was singing about
My orange pegasus friend noticed my unresponsive look and waved a hoof in front of my face
“Helooo, anypony home?” she joked
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I shook my head awake, “Yeah, I’m here”
“You doing alright Sweetie Belle?” she asked, sounding very concerned
It was unusual for Scootaloo to seem concerned as she wasn’t much of one for mushy girly things
She liked to stay tough and courageous, so seeing her show a softer side threw me off
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Since I still had said anything, she pressed further
“So was that true? What you said about an audience and your family and stuff?”
My eyes hit the ground again, looking for answers although the grass couldn’t talk
“Yeah, I guess, I mean it’s true, but whatever”
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“Pah, lier” she spat “You don’t have to hide it you know, I understand”
“You do?” I questioned her, unbelieving in her enthusiasm
“Yeah, I always wish I had more time to spend with the ponies I care about”
“And even though I don’t sing, I always want more ponies to watch me do tricks on my scooter”
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Scootaloo understood after all
I guess I shouldn’t doubt my friends when they say they want to help
But even though my purple maned friend expressed similar feelings
She still didn’t tell me how to solve my problems
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“Wait, Scootaloo” I spoke up
“Yeah?”
“So how do you deal with those feelings?”
Scootaloo tilted her head inquisitively, as if it was an answer I should already know
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Taking note of my blank stare and obvious unknowing of the situation, she replied
“Hmm, I can’t really say I’ve done much about it at all”
My jaw dropped slightly in confusion, what great advice
“Then how do –” she cut me off
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“I mean, you don’t have to do anything about it at all”
She had piqued my interest with the continuation of her explanation, so I kept quiet
“I guess I just took some advice and applied it to both problems”
“What advice?” I wondered, trying to figure out where she was getting all of this
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“Rainbow Dash once told me that if you just keep being awesome, ponies will watch you”
“Ponies like to see other ponies do cool things”
“So I took it as if you keep doing what you always do, ponies will eventually have to see you”
“You can’t just be kept in the dark forever right?”
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As Scootaloo talked of her ever endeared mentor, her own face brightened up
With each word, her smile infected me with a new sense of hope
I had gotten discouraged by my family earlier, but my friend was helping me see a new light
However, one half of my problem was still left unanswered
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“So what does that have to do with being with your family?”
Realizing she had missed that part, the pegasus back tracked
“Oh, right! It’s that same thing!” she exclaimed
“What?”
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“If you keep on being a good friend, or sister or daughter or whatever, you’ll get your chance”
“All the ponies you know are like an audience”
“Keep on doing what you do, and eventually they’ll show up”
Feeling her response was sufficient, she sat down on my picnic blanket, grinning
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I thought over what my friend had said
She seemed very confident that she was right about everything
So confident in fact that she took a bite out of my grilled cheese sandwich
“Hey, that’s mine!” I called her out
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She paused mid chew, her face so odd looking that I instantly cracked up
“Spo cn Ji hag it?” she asked, her voice muffled by the melted cheese in her mouth
“Sure” I laughed as she swallowed my lunch
I didn’t mind too much, I still had my soup after all
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The two of us enjoyed the lunch I prepared on my picnic blanket
The day was still as memorable as it was in the morning, and I was happy for the blue sky
Scootaloo and I decided to go and find Applebloom so we could all play together
As we packed up the blanket, Scootaloo reminded me of her advice with a deviously tinted smile
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“Remember Sweetie Belle, just be awesome and the audience will follow, whoever they are”