Sugars and Belles and Stuff

"And here we are!" Sugar Belle announced. Her poofy fuchsia mane bounced as she brought in a tray of fresh, steamy, croissants for her friends.

"Oh, Sugar Belle, these looks fantastic!" Fluttershy observed, a smiling lighting up her face.

"Much better than those muffins from a couple days ago!" Pinkie agreed. She made a face as her stomach grumbled. "Gah, I'll never eat another muffin!" Pinkie reached over the table and grabbed a croissant. Without a second thought, she shoved it into her mouth.

"Delicious!" Pinkie proclaimed, licking her lips. "But your cutie mark is a super swirly cupcake with cherries and fancy frosting! How does that relate to muffins and croissants?"

Sugar Belle blushed.

"Thank you, Pinkie," she responded. "As you can see, my special talent is baking, but it's not just restrained to cupcakes. I can bake croissants, cinnamon buns, muffins, you name it!" As she spoke, Sugar Belle glanced down at her restored cutie mark, as if afraid it would disappear at any second.

"Baking is terrific!" Pinkie mumbled through a mouthful of croissant.

"Hush, Sugar Belle is talking!" Fluttershy reprimanded her quietly, before she turned back to Sugar Belle. "Go on!"

"I earned my cutie mark at a very young age," Sugar Belle explained, sitting down across from Pinkie and Fluttershy. "I was helping at my friend's family's bakery. She didn't enjoy baking, while I couldn't get enough enough!" A smile spread across Sugar Belle's face. "And after a few months, my cutie mark appeared!"

"Super awesome!" Pinkie exclaimed, wiping the crumbs off her mouth. "I almost wish my cutie mark was a pie instead of balloons!" Pinkie grabbed a marker and squiggled a pie over her three balloons. Fluttershy and Sugar Belle chuckled lightly at Pinkie's antics.

"Sugar Belle, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Fluttershy asked before taking another bite.

"Not at all!" Sugar Belle assured her.

"Why did you decide to join Starlight's cause?" Fluttershy asked. "It almost seems as if she forced you to it."

"Oh, no, I joined of my free will!" Sugar Belle replied immediately. "I told you I was young when I earned my cutie mark. Young, eager, and hopeful. I thought that I would become famous for my sugary goods, almost overnight, I suppose."

"But things didn't work out?" Fluttershy asked. Sugar Belle shook her head.

"Things didn't work out," she repeated. "Nopony wants to buy a muffin from a young filly like I was. I was heartbroken for a while."

"You stopped baking?!" Pinkie cried in alarm. She banged her hoof on the table, startling Fluttershy and Sugar Belle.

"No, I didn't stop baking," Sugar Belle answered, "I just didn't sell anything."

"Phew!" Pinkie wiped her brow in relief. "Imagine life without your cupcakes!"

"I didn't sell anything for years," Sugar Belle continued. "Competition is stiff in the baking industry. Many ponies have talent and flair for baking. How would one little filly be any different?

"Until I met Starlight, while I was on vacation. She saw the predicament I was in. She told me that under her philosophy, my special talent wouldn't matter." Sugar Belle sighed. "I didn't have any friends, and I was selling flowers for a living, something that wasn't very enjoyable for me. What she said... well, at the time, it made sense."

"So you joined her?"

"So I joined her," Sugar Belle confirmed with a firm nod of her head.

"How could you go without baking?" Pinkie asked. By now, she was already on her fifth croissant.

"I don't know, Pinkie, I'm sorry," Sugar Belle apologized. "I can make you some more muffins right now, if you'd like."

"Only if you want to bake, Sugar Belle," Fluttershy told her kindly. Sugar Belle beamed and left to prepare another batch.

"Pinkie," Fluttershy whispered, leaning in, "Please stop telling Sugar Belle it's awful to give up baking. Awful as it may be, she's only just gotten her cutie mark back, and she probably doesn't want you reminding her about her past, where she might have lacked judgement as a younger pony. Don't do that, okay?"

"Alrighty tighty, Fluttershy!" Pinkie rocked back and forth on her chair. "Sounds like a plan!"

While they waited for Sugar Belle to return with the promised muffins, Fluttershy and Pinkie finished off the rest of the croissants.

"I just remembered," Pinkie blurted out suddenly. "I swore off muffins!"

"Oh, Pinkie." Fluttershy giggled softly. "You never Pinkie Promised to give up muffins!"

Pinkie sat up straight, happier now that Fluttershy had pointed out a loophole.

"You're right!" she yelled. "Hey, Sugar Belle, when will those muffins be done?"

"In a minute, Pinkie!" Sugar Belle answered from the kitchen.

True to her word, Sugar Belle was out of the kitchen a minute later, this time carrying several muffins with her.

"Those look so delicious, Sugar Belle!" Fluttershy commented.

"Thanks, Fluttershy," Sugar Belle answered. "Hopefully they won't taste like cardboard!" She winked at Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie was already gobbling down a muffin.

"Swet Cewestia, Depwy nweeds ta eat deese!" she exclaimed.

"Do you want to continue with your story, Sugar Belle?" Fluttershy asked. "If you'd like."

Sugar Belle nodded.

"I joined her, and immediately made friends with everypony in her village. I got to be the official baker, even though my talent for baking was long gone. It's just a name, Starlight told me, it didn't make me better than anypony else.

"But I always had doubts, even if I kept them hidden in the very back of my mind," Sugar Belle continued. "Maybe ponies could live in harmony without their cutie marks."

"Why didn't you do anything about it?" Pinkie queried.

"You met Starlight. She's so intimidating! So, I kept to myself. Party Favor and Night Glider shared my doubts, but we rarely talked about it.

"And you know the rest of the story!" Sugar Belle finished, picking up a muffin in her magic aura. "You six came, and freed us all!"

"We're just trying to do our part!" Fluttershy responded, smiling serenely.

"One part of a whole pie of stuff we need to do!" Pinkie added. "In fact-"

"Incoming!" Night Glider suddenly crashed through the doorway, followed closely by Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry about the door, Sugar Belle!" Night Glider apologized.

"Oh, it's okay! I can fix it later," Sugar Belle answered.

"Hey, we were just playing Dodge Ball! Wanna play with us?" Rainbow invited them.

"You bet your pastel mane I do!" Pinkie cried, bouncing outside.

"Sure!" Fluttershy and Sugar Belle responded. Leaving their muffins on the table, the two new friends trotted outside to join the Dodge Ball game.

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