Sweetie Belle Gains a Soul

by Bad Dragon

17 - Need for Sleep

Pinkie Pie stood above me. “Sweetie Belle, what’s gotten into you? What are you still doing up—” she cocked her head “—I mean down; hehe.”

“Good twilight, Pinkie.”

“Oh, it’s already way past twilight, filly. Don’t you think you’re a bit young to stay out this late?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I said simply.

“Yes, sidewalks will do that to you. Also puddles, nettles and rooftops for some reason. Uh! Uh! I know—have you tried sleeping in your bed yet?”

I sighed. “I did, but it didn’t work.”

“Don’t sweat it—” she leaned closer to my coat and took a whiff of me“—or do sweat it if you’re feeling hot. Anyways, sleeping is overrated. You should do what I do and get hyped up on sugar. It's a sweet way to party all day!"

“Huh?”

Then she laughed at her own joke, and said, "C'mon! That's funny! Sugar… Sweet… Get it?”

I didn’t get it. “You don’t sleep?” I cocked my head as I looked at her.

“Of course I do! I couldn’t treat everypony to a dreamy ice-cream otherwise. And you know what”—Pinkie Pie approached the front door of Sugarcube Corner—“I was just thinking about sleeping on the job. It’s so fun to wake up to a crowd of ponies waiting in line, screaming and pounding their hooves. It’s as if I woke up in the midst of a party. At least until I figure out I’m at work and the ponies around me aren’t having fun at all! I don’t like that last bit...”

She leaned on the door with a shoulder, scraping uselessly at the doorknob with a forehoof. “Who in their right mind thought that inventing a doorknob would be a good idea.”

“Try it with both forehooves at once,” I suggested.

“Something as wicked as doorknobs shouldn’t even exist in this universe!” She banged on the door, then slid down on it in surrender.

“Alien Twilight said she broke this universe on a picnic. Maybe that’s the reason for bad things like doorknobs.”

Pinkie glanced at me. “Twilight isn’t an alien, silly.”

“Yeah, I know she’s not really an alien...” It was ridiculous to even think it.

“We’re the aliens.”

“Whaa...”

“You know what?” She turned to me. “Buck this!” She kicked at the door with a hind leg. “Sleep is for boring ponies, anyway. Let's paa”—her yell turned to yawn—“aaarty…” Her eyes closed, but she quickly forced them open. It almost looked as if she rolled them up like window blinds.

I hustled myself on all four hooves “Have you been up all night, Pinkie Pie?”

“I actually wanted to not go out in the evening. I haven’t stayed at home since forever and wanted to see if it’s still as dull as I remembered it.”

“So, why aren’t you home then?” I dusted myself with a forehoof.

I felt two forelegs leaning on my back. She touched me!

“Sweetie, let me tell you about this pony I’ve met after work when I commuted home on hoof.” Her body weight shifted onto me.

I leaned sideways and took a step away from the invader.

The support of the air alone didn’t last long. She tilted over and fell face-first onto the pavement. “Ouch!” Her head remained pressed against the ground as if it was glued.

“You startled me!” I excused myself.

She leaned back and supported her head with both forelegs as she looked at me. “Oh, but he wasn’t scary at all. He just looked—out of place, as if he didn’t belong. I’ve had this weirdest tummy rumbling around him. Then again, I seem to be having a lot of that lately.” She stood on her hind legs and looked down. “In fact, I have it right now. Listen!” Her tummy pressed against my ear and a booming roar echoed through my head.

“Argh!” I jumped away. “Too loud! Do you have a manticore in there?”

“It started the moment I saw you. Hmm, maybe you’re right and it really is just something I ate… It couldn’t be the pony, could it?”

I took a step away from her. “You ate a pony?”

“I think he came into town just yesterday and was confused because he didn’t even receive a welcome song yet.”

“That doesn’t answer my question...” I sighed.

“He seemed really weary.”

“I’d be weary, too, if you tried to eat me.”

She looked up and pressed her eyebrows together. “The unicorn kept watching them from a distance while he telekinetically wrote onto a scroll.” She opened her eyes wide as she looked at me. “Uh, uh! Did I mention that his horn is pure black? And not just that; his whole coat is dark black. His mane is bright red and so too is his tail. And the cutie mark… The sparkly lightning spanned over his entire flank.” She rolled on her back and indicated the size of the lightning with both forelegs.

I looked around to see if there was any filly going to school early, so I could excuse myself. I had enough chaos in the night and wasn’t feeling up to dealing with all her randomness, on top of that.

Her legs shoved in the air, sliding her body forward on the ground. “I snuck up on the pony from behind to see what he was writing.”

She jumped up on all fours. “Then, I tapped him with my tail from the other side.” She whipped me with her tail.

“Hey!” I put a hoof on my flank where she slapped me.

“The newcomer reacted differently than you. He was so edgy when he jumped up and spread his legs like this.” She imitated the actions as she described them. “His big eyes darted around and then he saw me.”

“You’re kind of hard to miss.”

“Nah, everypony would totally miss me if I ever went away. I know I would miss me if I wasn’t around me anymore.”

I facehooved.

“Anyway, I waved him hi by flapping my tail high above my croup and said I was Pinkie Pie, but he merely stared at my waving tail then said, “Odd Case”. That’s an odd name for a pony, I thought. But then I figured I could call him OC, which is short for Odd Case and it’s just so fun to say it. OC!”

She jumped up and down around me screaming, “OC, OC, OC!”

She stopped just one jump short of the puddle at my side. “When I stopped singing to him, I told him that he made an error in his letter. He wrote ‘Dear Hive Queen’ instead of ‘Dear High Queen’. Can you believe that?”

I shook my head.

“Anyway, I’ve never seen him before. He must have come from another queendom, hence the High Queen. So, no, you probably don’t know him, either. And if you did, you’d tell me about him, right? You still remember our deal, right?”

“You’re talking about the commission that you wanted us Cutie Mark Crusaders to take on, aren’t you? We’re not a mercenary group, Pinkie Pie. We just want to get our cutie marks…”

“Picture it!” She exclaimed. After kneeling beside me, she slid a hoof across the horizon. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, the new ponies spotters! You could totally get a cutie mark if you stalked out around the town for me.”

“We could?”

“I’d do it myself, but I have a hard enough time stalking all my friends. Too bad I can’t be in more than one place at a time—anymore.” She bowed her head.

“Anymore?”

“Anymore!” She loudly whispered.

I sighed. “What would a cutie mark for stalking even look like?” I asked.

“It would be so freaking amazing. I imagine it would be like two big eyes on your flank; always present. Watching.” Her eyes opened wide, watching the very soul within me. Then, out of the blue, she suddenly dunked her head in the puddle beside me.

“Pinkie Pie?”

She lifted her head and slammed face-first into my flank. “Something like this!”

“Hey!” I scrubbed at my flank with a forehoof in an attempt to get rid of the sludge from my coat, but the big-eyed mud-face only smeared more. “You made me dirty!”

“You weren’t picturing it, so I had to paint it for you.”

“I’m not sure I want a cutie mark for stalking ponies,” I groaned.

Her eyes spread wide. “Oh, and there’ll be cupcakes at the end!”

“Whaa...” I backtracked away from the confusion incarnate. “I’ll talk to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo about it again, okay? I’m not making any promises, though. We already have other assignments at school. Speaking of which, I think I’ll go there right now.” I turned toward the main road.

“It’s still too early for school, or maybe it’s too late. I can’t make up my mind about it. Oh, have I told you I haven’t slept at all since yesterday morning? Anyway, you wouldn’t believe the areas Odd Case and I explored last night!”

“Well, I’m glad you had fun…” She freaked me out even more than she usually did. I wanted to be alone!

She jumped over me and rolled on her back blocking my path. Her face was right below mine, our snouts almost touching.

“Wait!” A hoof rose toward me. “I haven’t told you what I did with my OC yet.” She touched me again!

“I’d really rather—”

“He was also playing hard to get, like you. I had to chase him all over Ponyville throughout the night.”

“Maybe he just wanted to be alone! And what does playing hard to get even mean?” I took a step back and left her hoof to dangle in the air above her.

“No, I think he wanted to hang out but was just a bit shy. He asked me if I could tell him everything I know about the oblivious inhabitants, and I offered to introduce him to everypony at the party that I would throw for him instead. He then suddenly changed his mind and didn’t want to meet anypony anymore. I don’t get why some ponies act so randomly…”

“Maybe he didn’t want to be around ponies he didn’t know.”

“That’s not it, silly. Who doesn’t like meeting new ponies? I know I do. I really do. If you ever see a new pony in town you’ll tell me right away, right? You do want to get on my good side, don’t you? Think of all the sweets I’m entrusted with on my job. It would be a shame if the free samples were to run out.”

“Look, we couldn’t spy on entire Ponyville even if we tried. And if by some miracle, we could, it wouldn’t be possible without spreading out, but then the whole crusade would become lonely. Scootaloo could die from boredom. I think she might even be allergic to it.”

“But stalking is never boring! There’s nothing more exhilarating than keeping tabs on ponies. I remember this one time when I tried to hang out with all my friends at once. It was super exciting and easy because we were all together.” Her shoulders slumped. “But then they had to go places, and I couldn’t be with them anymore...” Her head bowed.

“Sometimes ponies go away so that they can meet again at a later time,” I explained and walked to the other side of the street.

She kept sliding on the pavement alongside me, blocking my way. “They were just doing different things, that’s all. I know how that is. I once wanted to learn playing instruments, but it was hard to choose which one to start with. They told me that I should just pick one of the many playthings, even though I wanted to have my way with all of them. You know what I mean?”

“No...”

“So, I decided to do all of them at once, anyway. It took me forever, but I managed them, somehow.”

“I’m not following—”

“Yes, isn’t sleep deprivation smashing!”

“Whaa—”

“—Turns out, hanging with friends in different places is even harder.”

“Maybe you should just let them do their own—”

“—But I did it anyway.”

“I’m glad for you...”

“There’s always a way to do what you set out to do, as long as you don’t give in.”

I took a few steps back. Walking around her didn’t work, I hoped that jumping over her would get me on the main road to school. I crouched down to break into a gallop.

“I had to clone myself to do it, but I did it!”

Just when I was about to leap forward, I stopped in my tracks and almost fell over my forelegs. “You did what?” I whipped up with my tail to lower the bottom half of my body. Both hind legs connected with the pavement again. I sat down and gazed at her with wide opened eyes.

“I made more Mes—They were all me, but more of me, so I called them Mes.”

“I bet that’s what caused the Pinkie Pie rampage on Ponyville. Hmm, I should have known you were somehow involved in the mess.”

“Did you figure that just now?”

“I’m smart like that,” I said proudly.

“I wonder what gave me away. Could it be the fact that they all looked exactly like me?

“Could be...” I tried to act all mysterious like.

“...Anyway, my plan turned out sour which is odd for me because I’m usually pretty sweet, but I’m just saying. If you want to hang out, there’s always a way for you to hang out with me. Oh! Oh! I have an idea! Let’s hang out. At least until the boring school takes you away from me.”

My body moved closer to her. I didn’t know exactly why, but the mention of cloning sparked a wave of curiosity from deep within me. It demanded to be sated. “How did you do that, Pinkie Pie?”

“Well, one Me went to Applejack and one Me went to Rainbow—”

Air gushed out of my nostrils. “I don’t care about any of that!”

“Jeez… And I thought I was the one with a short attention span.”

I sighed. “How did you—clone yourself?”

“It kind of makes you wonder. Was it really I who did it?”

“Can anypony clone himself?”

“Well, you can’t anymore. Twilight placed a giant boulder over the cave.”

“The cave?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, the one with The Mirror Pool in it.”

“Where is it? I’ve never seen it before.”

“It’s in the Everfree Forest.” She thumped a hoof on the pavement in a rhythm. “Where the brambles are thickest. There you will find. A pond beyond the most twisted of vines!” She pounded her hooves repeatedly, then slammed hard with a hoof against the ground for a big finish.

“Where are the brambles thickest?” I leaned closer to her.

“See, isn’t hanging out fun,” Pinkie Pie cheered.

I narrowed my eyebrows. “Where is it? Tell me!”

“Oh, it’s just over that hill.” She pointed a hoof in the direction. “It has a giant boulder on top of the entrance. You can’t miss it. However, if you see the Castle of Two Sisters, it means you missed the spot and went too far. There are some tentacled remains there that can be loads of fun if used in the right way. Technically, they are vines, but I call them tenties because they’re super prehensile. You might want to miss those; I would if I were you. In fact, I miss them already...”

“And you get multiplied if you enter the cave?”

“No, you have to be ready to go in the pool. And you need to speak the words.”

“What words?” I asked.

She thumped a hoof on the ground again.

Both ears perked up as my vision narrowed. The focus stayed fixed on her moving lips. “And into her own reflection she stared. Yearning for one whose reflection she shared. And solemnly sweared not to be scared. At the prospect of being doubly mared!” The rapid hooves thump snapped me out of my focus.

I wanted to remember the song she sang. I’ve never heard it before.

She cocked her head and observed me “You want to sing it too?”

My mouth gaped as I nodded.

“You go, girl! I’ll give you the rhythm.” She sat on her tush and thumped on the ground with both forehooves.

I recited. “And into her own reflection she stared…”

She nodded. “Yearn—”

“—Yearning for one whose reflection she shared. And…”

“Solem—”

“—solemnly sweared not to be scared. At the prospect of being doubly mared!” My mouth morphed into a grin. I knew the words!

She ceased thumping and looked at me with a smile plastered on her face. “See, wasn’t this fun!”

“And after saying these words the clones rose to do your bidding?”

“Not clones; Mes!”

I sighed. “Is that all you did to make the Mes?”

She nodded. “Mhm.”

I hopped back a few times. “The information you shared pleases me. I’ll take my leave now.”

While I galloped toward her, she rolled on her back and grinned. “Go for it, plaything!”

I took a long hop, then jumped over her. Just a moment after, I landed. Yet, I didn’t find myself on the ground.

“Sweetie Belle, what are you doing up there?” She smirked. “Did you forget yourself in the air after you jumped?”

I was above the ground, standing on Pinkie Pie’s legs. She had caught my hooves—with her hooves! “Ugh! Put me down!”

“Why in such a hurry, little filly? Aren’t we having fun?” A gaping smile spread beneath me as if she was preparing to eat me whole. “There’s still plenty of time before school starts, and I haven’t told you everything about my OC yet.”

I half-closed my eyes as I gazed down at her. My teeth remained clenched as I muttered, “Let! Me! Go!”

“I found you floating the air. Finders keepers! You’re mine now. Hehe!” She tickled me on the belly with her tail.

I twitched and shoved it away with a hoof. “Stay back! You have no claim to this body!” My gaze shifted forth as I made a big leap. Her hooves moved alongside mine, and I ended up in the exact same spot again. She had trapped me above her!

“Are you sure about that?”

“Ugh!” I thumped a hoof against hers.

“Hehe, what else will you try, hula toy?”

“You think you can keep me down—I mean up? Me, the untamable pony?” I smiled as I began to walk, slowly.

She mirrored my motions exactly and only let my legs move while keeping my body motionless in the air above her.

“No way you can keep up with me!” I broke into a gallop, pushing down with my legs as hard as I could. “You’ll see that I’m full of smartness!” All my muscles tensed as I took a big leap and landed—on her hooves.

“You can run all you want if you love running so much; hehe. We can still talk while you do, though. So… do you want to hear more about my OC?”

“Argh!” I banged both forehooves on hers. “How are you even doing this?” My tension rose by the moment.

“I can play ten instruments at the same time. Holding you in place like this is easy for me.”

Tapping my hooves on hers in frustration didn’t help any, but I wasn’t done for just yet. A crafty idea clogged itself in my mind. Glancing to the side, I pinned both ears forward. The corners of my mouth wanted to turn up as I thought about my clever deception. I firmly pressed my lips together to hide the grin and opened my eyes wide as I faced forward. All the muscles tensed up before I crunched down and launched myself—sideways.

I soared through the air.

“Hee-hee!” The giggles came from below me.

I landed and immediately sighed in frustration when I found myself on Pinkie Pie’s hooves again.

“I can feel your moves before you make them,” she snickered. “You can’t trick me this way. I’m not even using my Pinkie sense. You’ll have to step up your game if you want to get somewhere.”

“Ugh!” I thumped a hoof on hers.

“What else you got, plaything?”

“Aaa!” I spun around as fast as I could. When my rotation was at the maximum, I jumped forth—and landed on her hooves.

The world spun. If I was on solid ground, I’d fall over, but she fixed my balance with her hooves. Even though I was dizzy, she made me more stable than I’d be if I was sober.

“Put me down!” I jumped on her hooves.

“You didn’t say the magic word!” She laughed.

“Ugh!” I thumped with a hoof. “And into her own reflection she—”

“—Those aren’t the right kind of magic words!”

“Which magic words then?” I whined.

“There’s a single word more powerful than any incantation. Do you wish to speak it?”

My grin widened as my head nodded.

“When you want something from somepony, what do you say?”

“Give me… something?”

She raised both eyebrows. “How about: please?”

My body shook. “Argh!” I snorted in disappointment.

“Just say please, and I’ll put you down. It’s that simple.”

She was in control and wanted me to admit it. I had tried everything, and I couldn’t escape her hooves. She won. I closed my eyes and bowed my head. My body tightened and teeth clenched as my lips formed the first letter of the word, “P...”

My eyes opened wide when something forced itself to the surface. Suddenly I realized I'm not the only one stuck. In fact, I literally had an upper hoof. I was the one with the terrain advantage.

I murmured under my breath, “Defeat is never an option for the swayer of destiny.” A widening grin climbed up my teeth.

“What is this now?” Pinkie Pie cocked her head. “Do you want to dance some more, swayer of the hooves? Go for it, hehe! I can do this all day. Maybe I can even catch a nap in between.”

I ordered, “Don’t let me go!” If she followed along with my plan, I could break her resolve and reclaim what was rightfully mine.

“Um… Sure!” She pinned both ears as her tummy grumbled. “I’ll keep you up until I hear you say the magic word!”

I turned around, facing her backside. She matched her hooves with mine perfectly. Just the way I wanted.

“And after some more dancing, the innocent filly would say ‘please’ and all would be well again,” narrated Pinkie Pie with a serious tone in her voice.

I folded both hind legs and crouched down, tush leading the way. “Just keep me right above you.” A mischievous smile drew itself across my face.

Pinkie’s body shook. “Oh, that one was a doozy. I wonder what’s dropping…”

I spread my buttocks.

“Holy poop, Sweetie Belle!” Her hooves launched me over her head.

I landed on the ground. My plan worked to a Turd. Both hind legs pressed together because I was almost at the point of no-return. Luckily, I managed to hold it in and keep the street clean.

“How? I narrated it!” Her mane straightened as both eyebrows pressed together. “It should have worked...”

I grinned at her. “My dark-brown wizardry is even stronger than your petty magic word, Pinkie Pie!”

Besides her ears flopping, she wasn’t moving.

I took the opportunity and galloped away from her toward school.

My legs carried me on until I was utterly exhausted. I stopped at a nearby bush and looked back. It seemed that I lost her. The streets were still empty because the day wasn't in full swing yet. I looked toward a nearby bush. On a normal day, I’d wait with my excretions until I’d get to the bathroom. However, with all the recent running, my bowel movements worked overtime. The pressure built up inside, and it took all my focus to keep it from bursting out. I looked left and right as I backed toward the inviting bush.

“Are you gonna try to poop on me again?” the bush asked.

“Whaa—” I looked up and there was a pink head hovering above me from the top of the bush. “How did you—”

“Weren’t we having fun?”

“Sure…” I took a few steps away from the bush. “I just need to get to school, okay?” I broke into a gallop again.

A trash can in front of me opened, giving rise to an annoying, pink head that spoke to me. “We still have plenty of time. The fun school bell hasn’t even chimed yet, and neither have I.”

At that point, getting to the class wasn’t on my mind. It was way to early, anyway. The first priority was finding a working bathroom that wouldn’t talk back when I tried to use it. I had a serious need for such a bathroom and I knew school had it. “I don’t want to risk being late.” I ran past her. It was always very embarrassing when I failed to reach a bathroom in time. I wanted to cut back on such occurrences as much as possible.

A shadow surrounded me. There were two pink running legs on the left side and two pink legs thumping the ground on the right side. A head popped from above me and lowered to my level. It spoke, “Let me tell you what I did with OC!”

“I don’t care about your stupid OC!” I ducked down stopping in my tracks.

Her tail stroked my mane as she passed over me.

I was at the intersection. The direct route to school had Pinkie Pie on it, so I took a detour instead.

Something hopped over me; then back from the other side. I looked up. She bounced over me again and again while keeping up with my full galloping speed.

Pinkie Pie jumped in front of me and kept hopping on the path with her muzzle almost touching mine. “OC wanted to play the catch me game, as well.” She kept bouncing backward without losing any momentum.

“What if he was just trying to get away from you? Did you think about that?”

“Hm, could it be that he needed to be somewhere else? Hmm… ” She looked up. “No, that can’t be it. We were playing catch me game all night long. I was chasing him all over Ponyville. It didn’t look as if he wanted to settle in one place.”

I saw the school in front of me. I really hoped that she wouldn’t follow me to the bathroom. That would be really awkward.

When we neared the school, Pinkie Pie’s ears perked up and her mane got less wavy.

She suddenly stopped as if she bumped into an invisible wall with her flank. Her hind legs rose, and she only balanced on her forelegs.

I ran past the stalker but still kept my eyes on her.

Pinkie cartwheeled onto her hind legs. She banged with both forelegs against the air as if she was trying to smash an unseen force field. “Sweetie Belle! I’m not allowed to go near the school since the bell incident. Come back to me, please! Don’t escape into the darkness within!”

Her pleas were left behind as I ran into the building. The corridor was dark, but I knew my way around. When I reached my destination, I kicked open the bathroom door then slipped in just before the door rebounded and shut close. I threw myself rump-first on the toilet seat and succumbed to the call of nature.

“Ah…” I sighed with relief as I heard the splashes in the toilet bowl below me. The release felt comforting. So suiting.

My eyes closed, and I dozed off.

Author's Note:

Don't forget to participate in the Comment section minigames when you're done reading this chapter.

GDoc

Comments

[Bad Dragon]

Comment section minigames for the Need for Sleep chapter of the story Sweetie Belle Gains a Soul (anypony can play them in the comment section of this story).

GAME 1
Does this story remind you of a song that you know? If yes, post it in the comments in the following format:
- Chapter of the story that this song is relevant to.
- A link or embedded Youtube video of it.
- Percentage of correlation (0% being an unrelated song, 100% being a song written exactly for this story).
- A reason why this song reminded you of this story or the excerpt of the lyrics.

Nemesea - In Control — Correlation: 60% (Lyrics)
You've lost and I control you — You won't escape, all your nightmares will break free,

Sirenia - The Darkness — Correlation: 50% (Lyrics)
This darkness deep inside — Makes me lose myself time after time

GAME 2
Record yourself reading this story aloud. Upload your mp3 to MLP: Audiobooks, for instance, and paste the link to your audio or video in the comments.

Edit: The winner is Deity of a Shadow with his Dramatic Youtube reading:

[Walabio]

Somehow, I missed the update, but your responding to me reminded me to check for updates.

Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie breaks the 4th wall again with her knowledge that doorknobs do not make sense in this universe.

I am certain that telling Miss Sweetie Belle about the MirrorPool will have absolutely no negative consequences.

When Miss Sweetie Belle had to defecate, my 1st thought is that girls don't poop —— ¡at least that is what my niece wants me to believe! —— but these are sapient equines, so now, different rules apply.

[Bad Dragon]

9414739 You're probably the only one who associates my presence on this site with my published stories/chapters.

This universe is peculiar in many ways, indeed, as if something were to disturb the universe at some point in time. I'm looking at you Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer.

Knowing Sweetie Belle, she's prone to forgetting information like the one about the mirror pool. There'd have to be a very catchy song associated with it for her to remember such info.

For a second there, Pinkie Pie also held the belief that fillies and pooping don't go together. Fortunately for the readers, she learned her lesson in time. As a side note, it's also fortunate that Sweetie Belle decided to pee before going on the road. You know what they say about pooping, right? There's no hero in this world who doesn't empty the bladder while she poops. It's a good thing Sweetie Belle's bladder was already empty.

[Betty_Starlight]

“Wait!” A hoof rose toward me. “I haven’t told you what I did with my OC yet.” She touched me again!

I'm detecting a double entendre here...

[Bad Dragon]

11143425 Most of them are actually intentional. It's an E-rated story, after all.