Chapter 3: Sweetie Belle
Chapter 3:
Sweetie Belle
“Where's my lunch?” Sweetie Belle poked her head through the door into Rarity's room. “Didn't you say you were going to put my lunch in the refrigerator?”
Rarity's hooves worked a piece of cloth through her sewing machine. Her mane was frazzled, as though she'd been up all night. “I did, darling,” she replied without looking up. “It should be in there. Did you check the bottom shelf?” She began to stitch the seam.
“I checked!” Her voice was beginning to peak into particularly squeaky annoyance at her sister. “It's not in there!”
Rarity sighed and put down the fabrics she was working with. “All right, let's see if we can find it.” She trotted out the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. After only a few seconds of sifting through the produce on the bottom shelf, she uncovered a brown paper bag.
“I swear, it wasn't there before!” Sweetie squeaked.
“Uh-huh.” Rarity rolled her eyes again. “Are you sure you've got everything you need?”
“Yeah. I've got my lunch, my jacket, and lyrics to our new Cutie Mark Crusader's Theme Song.” She held the paper up towards Rarity's face.
“Eh... a new theme song?” Rarity shuddered at the dreadful thought of their performance of the original a few years previously. “What for?”
“There's going to be an all middle-school talent show, so we thought we might do another song. After all, last talent show it was such a big hit.” Sweetie Belle pulled her coat on. “Although we were thinking that we might switch up jobs a little bit.”
Rarity turned on the coffeemaker. “How so?”
“Have you seen the clubhouse? Applebloom's been adding to it ever since Applejack gave it to us, and it looks amazing. I bet she'd be a natural at set-building!” Sweetie Belle pushed the door open. “Anyway, I'll see you this afternoon.”
“Hang on!” Rarity called her back. “Aren't you going to Mom and Dad's after school?”
“Oops. Right. See ya later!” She quickly bolted out the door, eager to get to school.
The coffeemaker shut off, and Rarity poured herself a mug. It wasn't that she didn't like having her sister around, but it was certainly stressful; she had a huge order to fill for tomorrow, and could use a break from the constant responsibility of having to keep Sweetie Belle entertained. Having Sweetie stay with their parents for the night would allow her to focus on her work and hopefully complete her order in time for her weekly spa trip with Fluttershy.
At that moment, the door opened again and Sweetie Belle burst in. She grabbed her saddlebags off a nearby chair and ran out again, throwing a “bye, Rarity” over her shoulder.
Rarity sighed again. Foals were stressful.
* * *
Sweetie Belle walked briskly towards the school, glancing every so often at the Ponyville clock tower. She'd been a little scatter-brained this morning, and she'd spent a little bit too long talking to Rarity, and as a result, she was running late. Her pace increased.
It was cool and slightly overcast; Sweetie was glad she'd remembered her jacket. She wondered vaguely if the other fillies would think it was fashionable.
Unlike Applebloom or Scootaloo, she was having no trouble adjusting to the steep hike in academic standards at Middle School. She simply had to keep doing her work the way she'd always done it— on time and to her teachers standards. Sometimes she just didn't get it when Scootaloo and Applebloom complained about having too much work. Wasn't that the point?
No, the biggest changes for her were social. With her friends so bogged down with work— Scootaloo actually had to take tutoring— she was finding less and less time to hang out with them. As a result, Sweetie Belle had been exploring the different after-school clubs and extracurricular activities. Some of them seemed fun, and Rarity said they might help her get into college. That was a long way off, but still... it never hurt to be prepared. And these extracurricular activities had other foals, some of which Sweetie Belle was starting to get to know.
At first she'd felt a sort of guilt; a feeling of 'I'm friends with these ponies that Applebloom and Scootaloo don't know.' But she figured it wasn't as if she couldn't make other friends... right?
Sweetie Belle was rudely interrupted from her thoughts when she had to jump out of the way of the scooter barreling down the hill towards her from the heights. She let out a high-pitched shriek as she dodged aside.
“Scootaloo! Watch where you're going!” she squeaked in anger.
Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head. “Heh, sorry about that. I just love taking that hill top speed.” She paused. “Wait, why aren't you at school yet?”
Sweetie Belle cringed, turning slightly red. “I had, um... some organizational difficulties.”
“Seriously Sweetie?” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “You forgot your saddlebags again?”
“Hey, just because I'm slightly organizationally challenged—”
“— slightly? That's the second time you've forgotten it this week!”
“Okay, maybe a little more than slightly...” she glanced back at the hill. “Wait, why where you up there anyway?”
“Up where?” Scootaloo was keeping a lazy pace on her scooter so that her friend could keep up.
“You came down from the Heights.”
“Oh, uh... right.” She paused. “I fancied a more scenic route to school.”
“Right.” They turned the corner in amicable silence.
“Are you ready for the talent show?” Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie nodded. “We're still on to do the new and improved Cutie Mark Crusader's Theme Song, right?”
“Uh, yeah. I guess. I might be a little bit busy.” Scootaloo offered an apologetic smile.
“The workload's that heavy for you?” Sweetie asked, slightly incredulous.
Scootaloo scratched behind her ear. “Well, there's that, but...” she trailed off.
“But...?” Sweetie pressed. “But what?”
“Well, I, uh, thought I might try out for the hoofball team.”
“That's awesome! To be honest, I tried out for A Capella myself, but I'm pretty sure I absolutely blew the audition.”
Scootaloo stopped Sweetie, placing her hooves on Sweetie's shoulders. “Are you kidding?” she asked. “You're practically the best singer in all of Ponyville! You're gonna nail it!”
Sweetie Belle blushed, but said nothing.
“Oh, come on,” Scootaloo persisted. “You know it's true,” she poked, trying to elicit a smile from Sweetie.
“There were lots of ponies there who were better singers than me.” She pushed open the door and held it. “After you, Miss Scootaloo,” she said with a mock bow. “Oh hey,” she exclaimed, brightening up. “That rhymes!”
Scootaloo sighed, walking through the doorway.
* * *
“Sweetie Belle?”
She stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the room, where she took the piece of chalk from Mrs. Quotient with her magic. The glow surrounding her horn faltered slightly, but she managed to keep the piece of chalk afloat.
“You can solve this equation for x, leaving you with x = 2y + 6. Then you can plug that in for x in the other equation.” She did so. “This gives you 3(2y + 6) + 4y = 3, which you can solve for y by distributing the 3 and simplifying. You get 10y = -15, so y = -1.5. Then you can plug that back into the original equation to get x = 3.” She stood back, and a few scratches on the chalkboard later, she set the chalk back on the tray underneath the board.
“Very good, Sweetie Belle.” Mrs. Quotient glanced up at the clock. “All right, I'm afraid I have to let you foals go now. Please finish up numbers 9-25 odds for homework.” She waved her hoof. “Class dismissed.”
There was the same immediate rush for the exit that usually ensued. Sweetie Belle hung back with Applebloom and Scootaloo.
“What've we got next?”
Applebloom checked her schedule. “Lunch. An' good thing, too. Ah'm hungry as a horse.”
The turned into the hallway and followed the rush of students towards the Cafeteria. As they passed a group of colts, Applebloom fished a brown paper bag out of her saddlebag and stepped back. “Ah'll meet y'all outside,” she called.
Sweetie waved her hoof, and then squeezed her way over to her locker. Scootaloo followed her, grabbing a lunchbox from her own locker. They then managed to push through the throngs of ponies to the double doors that led out towards the fields, where they spotted Applebloom and Twist sitting under some trees. The two fillies walked over.
“And she jutht gave me an application and told me to fill it out,” Twist was explaining. “And tho I'm probably going to apply. I mean, it ith my thpecial talent.”
“What's going on?” Scootaloo flopped down on the grass next to the other two.
“I might be able to get a job at Sugarcube Corner!” Twist was beaming. “Ithn't that exthiting?”
They all nodded in agreement. As Twist began to rattle on about the job opportunity, Sweetie Belle chewed her peanut butter sandwich and let her mind drift. The talent show was only two weeks away, and neither Applebloom nor Scootaloo seemed particularly motivated to work on their act. Was this what it felt like when friends drifted apart? She shuddered. No, she and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were best friends. They wouldn't let that fall away. Certainly not before they got their cutie marks.
Sweetie looked at Twist's flank. Two peppermint sticks in a heart. On the one hand, she was really looking forward to getting her cutie mark, but more and more she felt a nagging feeling holding her back. What if her cutie mark wasn't right? What if her special talent was something she had no interest in? Even if she did get the perfect cutie mark, what would that mean? Cutie marks were a sign of maturity. They were what differentiated a filly from a young mare. Was she really ready to grow up? She sighed. Life was complicated.
She picked up her now empty lunch bag and stood up. “I'm going to head inside,” she responded to the inquisitive looks that Scootaloo and Applebloom gave her. “Get ready for my next class.”
Sweetie Belle slipped through the doors and through the mosh pit that served as a cafeteria. She wandered through the halls, going generally in the direction of her locker but not focusing on where she was going. She turned around a bend when she spotted Grace Note, a senior she had met during the A Capella auditions, putting up a piece of paper on a bulletin board. Grace caught sight of Sweetie and waved her over.
“Here it is,” she said, motioning to the list. “The final cut for A Capella.” She winked at Sweetie Belle. “Have fun at lead Alto.”
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YAY, SWEETIE BELLE MADE THE TEAM :D
this chapter did not sucked because i like it
Your story is added to the Equestrian High. The junior high folder.
This didn't suck, I liked it! Maybe this time, The CMC can pull off something amazing! I suspect that for their first show, Hasbro made Scoots's voice sound worse that actually is for singing.
4424129
Actually funny story about that...
I've heard an interview with Maddy Peters (who voices Scootaloo) in which she says she had to rerecord that song like 40 times because, while she had been told to make the song bad, she hadn't been told *how* bad. Apparently she just kept doing takes and the directors were just like "make it worse" every time
Glad to hear you enjoyed this, though
4422912
Wow, thanks!
4426121
Bit of a shame though, since she is the most audible voice in Hearts Strong as Horses, we know she has a good singing voice, shame we'll probably never hear a decent version of We Are The Cutie Mark Crusaders, or The CMC Talent Show Song. Oh well. For the trio doing things that weren't their specialities, they didn't actually do that bad. They are pretty versatile, no wonder they get lots of different cutie marks, even if most of them are in the same gist.
4422895
D'aww, thanks
Still, the next chapter should be better
4422891
Just out of curiosity, for A Capella would you consider it a "team"? Usually I've heard the term "group" or "ensemble" used... idk. Sorry for my OCD word choice fits, I'm actually an editor who sometimes pretends to write
4426131
Yeah... while I may not have been impressed with Scoot's singing, I was pretty damn impressed with that musical backing track, which she "wrote." That guitar solo was actually decent... maybe that's Scoot's special talent
4426139 Your welcome and ok
4426143
Who knows, they have had plenty of potential talents over the years, while Sweetie may be good singer, maybe Scoots could be the music writer while Apple Bloom builds the set, and just to get their sisters involved, Applejack caters to the concert with her apple products and Rarity makes the costumes.
4426139 I think a group cause I saw Pitch Perfect like 10 times.
4426143 And Scootaloo should do scooter tricks
4426171
Same here lol... love that movie
4426175
That meant to be a joke lol
4426180 I think I might make a mlp and Pitch Perfect crossover soon
This was a fine chapter. Not terrible, but good.
4427774
*sees the social notification. Goes to page*
*looks for your comment and doesn't find it*
*realizes that you've changed your profile picture*
But eh, maybe it's just because Sweetie Belle is one of my favorite characters and I didn't really feel like I was doing her justice. But it felt forced and uncharacterized to me. Whatever lol.
4428015 Just reaized that you said middle school in this chapter, while on the long description it says high school.
Do. Not. Next. Time.
That isn't to say stop the story, that is to say, if you have qualms with quality, take time to edit or rewrite. It doesn't have to be now, but at some point; write it so that you are confident in this piece like the rest. Don't live in regret that "that one first Sweetie Belle chapter seemed to weaken the story." You have as much time as you need, but don't consider the chapter done just because it's published.
4470466
Well, as I mentioned in the author's note, this isn't actually a story. This is just a writing exercise for me. I really don't care if it's of quality or not, and I'm not taking much time to look over it or edit anything. It's really just to keep me motivated and writing. I think I mention in the authors note at the end of the first chapter that this is "a writing exercise, so it isn't necessarily the most plot-driven story. This also means that I'm not bothering to edit this and just posting it verbatim. Read at your own risk." But yeh.
However, thanks for taking the time to point out this stuff 4470442. I'll go back and edit this stuff in. This isn't really meant to be for anyone to read, I just posted it in case some people wanted to read it, so I'm not too fussed about the editing, but since you've graciously taken the time to point this stuff out, I'll go back and do that stuff.
I feel like this is overly-repetitive while actually saying nothing, because I'm tired and I'm in the middle of finals lol
I apologize profusely for any lack of sense in this comment.
I thought Sweetie Belle was a Soprano...?
5737784
Honestly we don't have much to go on from the show, since it's not really specified at all. In terms of voice actors, it's even more complicated, since she's had multiple singing voices. In "Hush Now, Quiet Now" she was pretty clearly an alto, sung by Michelle Creber. However, in her most recent song, where she's actually sung by Claire Corlett, it's a little more fuzzy, but she sounds pretty much like an alto to me. It doesn't make a huge difference in the context of anything, especially since I haven't really been actively working on this fic, but for the sake of argument, here's Hearts Strong as Horses with Sweetie Belle's vocal emphasized:
. You make the call.