Stage Fright!

by Ezn

Sweetie Belle Feels Just Fine

Chapter Five: Sweetie Belle Feels Just Fine

As Sweetie Belle and her two best friends arrived backstage, Rarity galloped up to them, her eyes wide with surprise. "Sweetie! What – what happened there?"

"We made the whole town laugh with our amazing comedy act!" Scootaloo said, looking very proud of herself. Sweetie nodded and pointed at her friend.

"But... but what about your audition?" Rarity asked. "It surely won't count now!"

Sweetie Belle whispered something to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, and the two of them nodded and trotted off, leaving her and Rarity. "Sis," Sweetie began, "when I got up on stage, I froze up and forgot all of my lines! Everypony was staring at me, and I just didn't know what to do! I was so scared, but then my friends came and saved me!"

Rarity's snout scrunched in confusion. "So... you're happy that they ruined your audition?"

"My friends didn't ruin it!" Sweetie replied, giggling. "They made it better!"

Rarity laid a hoof on Sweetie's shoulder. "Sweetie Belle, I very much doubt that you're going to make it to the next round of the contest now. Doesn't that upset you?"

Sweetie just shrugged. Finally, she felt able to tell Rarity what she had been trying to say to her for days and days. "There's always next time. I don't think I was ready to sing in front of all those ponies anyway. Besides, I... Rarity, I only wanted to audition in the first place so we could spend time together, and so you'd be proud of me!"

Rarity went silent for a while. "Sweetie Belle," she said eventually, "do you know I'll always be proud of you, singing or no singing? Because I will. I promise."

"Really?" Sweetie asked, unsure.

"Yes, of course. Please don't feel like you have to do things to impress me – you should do them because you want to."

Sweetie Belle looked up into her sister's eyes and saw an expression that she knew meant Rarity was being very, very serious. The last tiny knot in her stomach untangled, and she smiled broadly. Looking up at her sister's smile, she walked closer to her and reached out her forelegs.

Rarity smiled and pulled her into a hug, and they stayed that way for quite some time.

"And you know... I really enjoyed helping you practice for this," Rarity said after a while. "Maybe we can do it some more, just for fun? And of course, there's always next year's audition."

Sweetie Belle thought that was a pretty good idea. She was about to reply when Scootaloo and Apple Bloom came running up to her with enormous grins on their faces. "Looking around this audition thing just gave me a great idea," Scootaloo said. "We should hold our own singing competition! We can be..." Sweetie grinned and shared a look with her friends.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER TALENT AGENTS!" all three of them yelled at once.

The three Crusaders giggled and started towards Scootaloo's scooter and wagon, but before they went, Sweetie Belle turned around and darted back to her sister.

"That would be really fun, Rarity," she said. "Even after I get my talent agent cutie mark, I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze some singing into my tight schedule." Sweetie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe a week from today? I'll have the ponies I'm going to employ pencil you in between the appointments I'm going to have at two and three."

"I'll make a note of it in my diary," Rarity said. Sweetie Belle saw her sister wave out of the corner of her eye as she rushed off to join her friends.

---

Nailed to a tree near the centre of Ponyville the next day:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: In light of recent events and after much deliberation, we the organisers of the Sapphire Shores Singer Search have ruled to bar group acts from participating in our event going forward.

↑
The Bloom-Scoot-Belle Talent Agency welcomes group acts! We're not lame like those guys!

Comments

[Valiant_Daybreak]

Nice! Great comedic, sappy story.

[JoeyH3]

Awwww, such a sweet and adorable story! Gotta love Scottaloo and Apple Blooms's quick thinking!

[Xenonic]

That was a lovely, quick read. I hope to see more from you!

[Chris]

Glad to see this posted.

Um, not a lot else to say without repeating myself. Good job? Good job. Good job!

[SuperPinkBrony12]

This started out good but then the last two chapters just killed it. You can do better than that.

[Casca]

Okay, I didn't see that coming, even though it was the obvious choice of events.

It's so refreshing to take a break and read something that's just a story, that doesn't try to be anything more than it is. Everything was well done, but to imply that it was crafted kinda of feels off... no, everything came together very well to present a light, sweet, simple story. A good read that captures that bit of warmth just right.

[Themaskedferret]

Very cute but feels a bit mean to Rarity. She is supposed to be the element of Generosity y'know?

[Inquisitor M]

Oh, Rarity. Your ability to utterly fail to learn from your mistakes is the stuff of legends.

[fluttershywriter]

Perfect ending to a great story!

[JourneyCatMLP]

The beginning of this story was good, but then things seemed to rush by too much!

Though I'm not trying to complain, I'm just pointing that out for your good. I'm sure you didn't mean anything. I'm a very forgiving person.

[Atreyu]

You have a very captivating writing style. I really enjoyed that little yarn ^.^

[LoveAndTolerateEveryPony]

This was a very cute story. It was short but nicely written. I do imagine Sweetie Belle being shy, but we all know her talent is gonna be singing. It has to be. I also like how you stayed true to the characters you used in the story and how you showed the sweet bond between the CMC and Rarity and Sweetie Belle. I don't recall any errors. This is the best Sweetie Belle story I've read yet. Most have made me either cringe or bored. Very good job!
~LATEP