When Sweetie Belle meets a strange mystical pixie, she has no idea what will entail. But when she starts doing magic and acting strangely, her friends and sister start to get worried. Will Sweetie Belle ever be the same?
When young Sweetie Belle meets a strange mystical pixie, she has no idea what will entail. After discovering that the pixie can help her to perform magic, she decides to have a little fun in PonyVille. But the pixie starts to influence her for the worse. Will things ever be the same?
Sweetie Belle opened her eyes blearily. Morning sunlight shone through her pink curtains, casting a rosy glow over the room. She yawned and climbed out of bed.
"Sweetie Belle," Rarity called from the kitchen. "Are you up yet?"
"Coming!" Sweetie Belle answered. She yawned again and trotted down the stairs.
Rarity had already set a place at the table for her; she sat down and glanced down at her plate.
"Um, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle said, prodding the egg on her plate with her hoof. "Aren't you supposed to cook it?"
Rarity smiled. "It is cooked, Sweetie. It's called hard-boiled. You're supposed to crack it."
"Okay..." Sweetie Belle said doubtfully. She picked up the round white egg and tapped it on the edge of the table. To her surprise, the egg shell stayed on the egg after it cracked, and no goopy mess spilled out.
Sweetie Bell began peeling the rest of the egg shell off. "So can I help you make some more dresses today?"
"No!" Rarity cried. "Um... I mean, no, I won't be needing your help today."
Sweetie Belle knew why; yesterday, she had nearly ruined Rarity's new collection of dress designs with a jar of glitter and some scissors. "Thats ok." She said. "Maybe I can hang out with AppleBloom and Scootaloo."
Sweetie Belle trotted out the door after graciously thanking Rarity for breakfast. "I wonder what AppleBloom's doing." She said to herself.
She galloped over to Sweet Apple Acres to find AppleBloom chasing after a muddy Winona. "Get back here, ya filthy doggy!" Applebloom shouted.
"Hi AppleBloom!" Said Sweetie Belle.
AppleBloom skidded to a stop. "Oh, hi Sweetie Belle!" She smiled.
"So, I was thinking we could go find Scootaloo and try and-"
"Sorry, I can't." Said AppleBloom. "I mean, I would, but it's Winona's bath day, and with AppleJack and Big Macintosh out in the fields, it's all up to me."
"Oh," said Sweetie Belle, trying to hide the disappointment in her face. "That's ok. Thanks anyway."
She trotted back towards PonyVille, wondering where she could find Scootaloo.
As a matter of fact, Scootaloo was in the middle of town, hammering nails into a large wooden board.
"Hi Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle grinned widely. "What're you doing?"
"Mkng uh rmp." Scootaloo said through a mouthful of nails.
"What?"
Scootaloo spit out the nails. "Making a ramp to jump on my scooter." She explained.
"Oh." Said Sweetie Belle, glancing up at the towering structure. "I guess you're too busy to hang out then."
"Yup." Said Scootaloo, trying to hammer in a few more nails.
"Okay." Sweetie Belle said dejectedly. "I guess I'll see you later then."
"Bye." Scootaloo called distractedly.
"What now?" Sweetie Belle said. She grumpily trudged back to Rarity's boutique.
"Hello dear," Rarity said, intently using magic to stitch her dress together. "Did you have fun?"
"No." Said Sweetie Belle. "I didn't do anything at all! My friends are too busy to play with me!"
Rarity tied off the thread and began cutting out pieces of fabric. "I'm sorry to hear that, Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie Belle sighed and walked out the door, not going anywhere in particular. Before she knew it she was at the edge of the dark forest.
"I may be bored," She said to herself. "But I'm sure not going in there!" She had turned around and was walking away when she heard a soft tinkling sound. "Huh?"
She turned back around to see a tiny, winged... pixie! The pixie danced in the air, bathed in a soft green light.
"A pixie!" Sweetie Belle gazed at the tiny creature, enraptured by it's delicate beauty. It had light green skin, thin, translucent wings, and dark round eyes. She wore a lovely green dress made out of leaves. "I've never seen one of those before!"
The pixie noticed Sweetie Belle watching her, and waved. Sweetie Belle waved back.
"What's your name?" Sweetie Belle asked.
The pixie did a loopy-loop in the air and pointed behind her, towards the dark forest.
"Dark Forest?" Sweetie Belle asked. "That's your name?"
The pixie shook her head and then nodded.
"Forest?" Sweetie Belle guessed.
The pixie nodded, putting a finger on her nose.
Sweetie Belle giggled. "I'm Sweetie Belle." She stuck out her hoof in greeting. "Nice to meet you."
The pixie placed a miniature hand on her hoof and smiled. She looked up and gasped.
"What're you- oh, my horn?" Sweetie Belle smiled. "That's right, I can do magic just like you!" The pixie danced excitedly. "Except I'm too little to do any real magic." Sweetie Belle frowned.
The pixie flew up to Sweetie Belle and landed on her nose. Sweetie Belle stared at the pixie, cross eyed and a bit confused. The pixie then hovered upwards until she could place a hand on Sweetie Belle's horn.
At once, Sweetie Belle felt her entire body hum with magic. What was going on? She felt her hooves leave the ground, and suddenly the ground was gone! Not only that, but the dark forest and the sky were gone too! Sweetie Belle looked around, but she saw only blackness.
And then, everything was back.
"What just..." Sweetie Belle trailed off. She was in the middle of the dark forest! "Forest?" Sweetie Belle asked the pixie nervously. "What just happened? How did we get here?"
The pixie didn't answer. Instead she flew past Sweetie Belle, towards a clearing that she hadn't noticed.
"Forest?" Sweetie Belle trotted after her, not wanting to be alone. "Wait, is that Zecora's hut?"
It was. Tiki masks and strange potions decorated the front of the hut. Forest beckoned for Sweetie Belle to follow and flew through the door. Sweetie Belle reluctantly entered.
"Of a second guest, pixie, you did not tell." Zecora smiled. "But I am always happy to receive Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie Belle smiled back. "Hi Zecora."
"Although you try to hide it in your poise, I sense the weariness of magic in your voice."
Sweetie Belle nodded, amazed. "I don't know how it happened!" She said. "One minute I was talking to the pixie and then it got dark, and then-"
"You are much too young for that type of magic, I see." Said Zecora. "Perhaps it was the work of a mischievous pixie."
Forest spun in the air and flew to Zecora, tittering in her ear.
"This pixie says that a bond has been erected," Zecora translated. "Through both of your magic, you are now connected."
"What does that mean?" asked Sweetie Belle. "I can do magic now?" She concentrated really hard on her horn; all that happened was a slight glow and a small puff of smoke.
"Not by yourself can you do it, unicorn. I believe that the pixie must touch your horn."
Sweetie Belle looked at Forest, who immediately understood. The pixie flew towards her and placed a gentle hand on her white horn. Sweetie Belle felt the magic hum through her body again, but this time she had power over it. She concentrated on a wooden bowl on the table; to her surprise, it rose into the air!
"I can do magic!" Sweetie Belle leaped into the air with glee.
The pixie folded her arms.
"We can do magic," Sweetie Belle said. "Thanks, Forest." The pixie grinned widely and zipped out the door. "Bye Zecora!" Sweetie Belle started to follow Forest.
"One more thing before you go," Zecora said. "There is something you must know."
Sweetie Belle turned around.
"Take care that this bond does not end," Zecora warned. "This pixie will get angry if it loses a friend."
Sweetie Belle nodded and trotted out the door. "Hey Forest, wanna try some real magic?"
Twilight Sparkle was just finishing a letter to her brother, Shining Armor, when Rarity burst into the library, looking frantic. "Twilight, you have to help me!" She panted.
"What is it, Rarity?" Twilight asked.
"It's my sister, Sweetie Belle." Rarity said. "She's doing magic, and I can't figure out how!"
Twilight laughed. "Sweetie Belle doing magic? Rarity, you know that-"
"Yes, I know!" Rarity said. "She shouldn't be able to do real magic until she's older. But she's doing it now! Come see!"
She galloped through the door. Twilight followed hesitantly.
Sweetie Belle was in the middle of town with Scootaloo. Scootaloo watched, amazed, as Sweetie Belle sent wooden boards soaring up onto a huge wooden ramp, fitting each one in the right place. A crowd of ponies had gathered to watch the young unicorn do magic.
Twilight stopped in her tracks. A pony so young, doing magic? Twilight racked her brain; she had never read any books about this! What could possibly-
Then she spotted it. A flash of green light on Sweetie Belle's head. A pixie!
"I'll be right back," Twilight said to Rarity, and she galloped back to her library.
"Where is it, where is it?" Twilight muttered to herself, searching in book after book. "Here it is!" she exclaimed, stopping at a light blue book on magical creatures.
"One of the rarest and most fascinating bonds of all is that of a pixie and a young unicorn. The pixie unites her magic with that of the unicorn, enhancing the powers of both and uniting them with a bond of friendship."
"Thats good." Twilight said. She read on: "However. if the young unicorn dares to break the bond that she has formed with the pixie, terrible events may occur."
"Terrible events?" Twilight cried. "What terrible events?" The book did not elaborate.
"I have to go warn Sweetie Belle!" Twilight dashed for the door. It wouldn't open!
"You're not going anywhere." The ominous voice came from the ceiling. Twilight looked up and gaped in horror.
"This is so much fun!" Sweetie Belle squealed. She sent the last board floating up into it's place and the crowd cheered.
"And for my final trick," Sweetie Belle announced dramatically. "I will turn the ramp... pink!"
She felt the pixie put her hand on her horn. Sweetie Belle concentrated hard, focusing on a rosy pink color.
The crowd gasped, and Sweetie Belle looked up. It had worked! The ramp was pink!
Scootaloo trotted over to Sweetie Belle. "How in Equestria did you do that?" She asked. "I thought color spells were supposed to be really hard!"
Sweetie Belle only shrugged. "I guess I'm just really talented."
"Well Miss Talented," said Scootaloo. "Since you finished my ramp for me, we can go see if AppleBloom wants to do any crusader stuff."
"Yay!" Sweetie Belle said. A thought occurred to her. "Just give me a minute. I forgot my saddle bag."
Sweetie Belle ran into Rarity's boutique and found her saddle bag on the floor. She slipped it on and set Forest on the table. "Forest," she began. "I'm gonna need you to hide in my hair so my friends don't see you."
The pixie crossed her arms, looking angry.
"It's not that I don't like you!" Sweetie Belle said hastily. "It's just that if they see you, they'll say that it's you doing the magic and not me."
Forest sighed and nodded reluctantly. She flew up onto Sweetie Belle's head and nestled in a curl of her hair, right next to her horn.
"Thanks Forest." Sweetie Belle said, cantering back to where she had left Scootaloo.
"You can do magic?" AppleBloom said, amazed. "But you're so young!"
"Maybe you'll get a cutie mark in doing spells!" Scootaloo said excitedly.
"Yeah." Sweetie Belle smiled nervously. "Maybe."
"Well go on." said AppleBloom. "Show us some of your tricks!"
Sweetie Belle nodded and looked around. She spotted Winona, running around the apple orchard, even muddier than before. "You haven't given Winona a bath yet?" She asked AppleBloom.
AppleBloom sighed. "I've tried, but I just can't catch her."
Sweetie Belle concentrated on Winona. In her hair, Forest placed a hand delicately on her horn, unseen by the other fillies.
AppleBloom and Scootaloo gasped as Winona was surrounded by a shimmering green light and lifted into the air. Sweetie Belle concentrated harder, making the dog soar over their heads and into an open wash tub.
Winona struggled, but nothing she did could stop the assault of sponges and soaps being scrubbed over her. Sweetie Belle lifted Winona out of the tub and back into the air, where she dried her off using a variety of spins and loopty-loops.
Sweetie Belle trotted through the door to Rarity's boutique to find none other than Rarity herself waiting for her.
"Where have you been?" Rarity demanded.
"Playing with my friends." Sweetie Belle responded cooly.
"I don't suppose you've been doing magic?" Rarity asked.
"So what if I have been?" Sweetie Belle said bluntly. "It's not against the law for a unicorn to do magic, is it?"
Rarity narrowed her eyes. "No." she said. "But it's very unusual for one your age to be able to levitate a dog."
"How did you-"
"Oh please dear. AppleJack told me." Rarity rolled her eyes.
"Why does it even matter?" Sweetie Belle said. "Not jealous, are you?"
Rarity gasped. "Sweetie Belle! This is terribly unlike you!"
"No!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "It's just like me!" She could hear Forest whispering something in her ear, and for the first time, she understood her. Ruin the dresses. That'll teach her.
Sweetie Belle concentrated, focusing on a pain can on one of the shelves. It rose into the air.
"What are you- stop that!" Rarity cried. "Stop it right now or I'll-"
"Or you'll what?" Sweetie Belle grinned menacingly. "Tell mommy on me?" The pain can floated to the middle of the room.
"No!" Rarity said. "Please!"
Sweetie Belle stamped her hoof, and the paint can exploded. It burst in a wave of purple, splattering paint on everything in the room, except for Rarity and Sweetie Belle.
Rarity ran to her paint-ruined dresses, tears pooling in her eyes. "How could you?" she bawled.
Sweetie Belle took a step back. What had she done? "I-I'm..." She looked around the room. Rarity's hard work, her fabric, all stained and ruined. She ran up the stairs and to her room, leaving a sobbing Rarity behind.
"We need to talk." Sweetie Belle said to Forest, bending her head so that the pixie could hop onto the table. "That wasn't very nice."
No, the pixie snickered. It wasn't. But that explosion was very powerful. I wonder what we could do if-
"No!" Sweetie Belle said. "I didn't want to hurt anyone! I just wanted to do magic!"
And we did magic. But I want to do more.
Sweetie Belle glared at the pixie. "I don't want to do magic if it hurts people. Maybe you should go back to the forest, Forest."
The pixie flapped its wings, hovering in front of her. You sure you want me to leave?
One of Rarity's sobs echoed in Sweetie Belle's ears, striking her to the core. "Yes." She said firmly.
The pixie snapped it's tiny fingers, and Sweetie Belle fell to the ground, as if all of her strength had been drained from her. She remembered Zecora's words: The pixie will get angry if it loses a friend.
All of the sudden, the light darkened in Sweetie Belle's room. She strained to glance out the window; there, hundreds of pixies had congregated, blocking out the sunlight.
Forest let out a tiny, high-pitched scream, and underwent a shocking transformation. Her green skin turned black, and her eyes glowed red. Outside the window, the other pixies all did the same thing.
Sweetie Belle could only stare in horror as the pixies opened her window and swarmed inside. Her eyes widened when she saw, floating in after them, an unconscious pony: Twilight!
Sweetie Belle tried to scream but no sound came out. The pixie had drained all of her energy.
Almost as if sensing her thoughts, Forest glared down at her, grinning. She was slightly darker than the rest of the pixies and her eyes glowed a brighter red.
We're not pixies anymore. Forest said, her voice now low and menacing. We are dark sprites. The other dark sprites murmured in agreement.
Sweetie Belle struggled against the ropes but it was no use; she was weak, and without Forest, she couldn't do any magic. Twilight was still unconscious.
Today, my brothers and sisters! Dark Forest grinned. Today we will rise up against the pony folk, and claim what is rightfully ours: the magic of the unicorns!
The rest of the sprites cheered.
Starting, said Dark Forest, with these two. She turned towards Sweetie Belle and Twilight. The dark aura around Dark Forest grew more pronounced as Sweetie Belle grew weaker and weaker. She was now struggling to hold her eyes open.
No! She thought. I can't let this happen! Think, Sweetie Belle! She could remember everything about that day; the hard boiled egg for breakfast, AppleBloom chasing Winona around the orchard, and when she first met Forest-
"You never wanted to be my friend." Sweetie Belle said, the sudden realization hitting her. "You only wanted to make a bond with me, so I could break our friendship and make you turn into that." She glared at the dark sprite.
So you finally figured it out. Dark Forest hovered in front of her. It doesn't matter. You'll be dead soon.
Sweetie Belle looked up at Dark Forest. "I'm just a filly. I don't know much. But I do know one thing." She summoned the last of her strength and broke the ropes, staring defiantly at the dark sprite. "No one makes a fool out of Sweetie Belle."
Twilight jumped up as well, casting a protective force field around the two of them.
"Twilight!" Sweetie Belle said. "I thought you were unconscious!"
"I was," Twilight smiled. "Well, up until a little while ago. I decided to fake it and step in at the right moment. Turns out that this was the right moment."
Enough of this! Dark Forest yelled in anger. Get them!
Hoards of dark sprites threw themselves at Twilight's force field, but they only bounced off harmlessly.
"I-I don't feel so good." Twilight swayed, and the force field flickered. "They're draining my power." She explained. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this force field up."
Sweetie Belle took a deep breath. "Forest!" She yelled at one of the sprites. "I learned a lot about magic from you. I'm gonna have to use some of that magic against you."
Dark Forest laughed. You can't do magic. Not without me.
"Oh yeah?" Sweetie Belle edged towards Twilight. "On my signal, drop your force field and do a banishing spell." she whispered in her ear.
"I-I don't know if I can." Twilight said weakly.
"I'll try and do it too." Sweetie Belle told her. She looked up at her sprite. "Goodbye, Forest."
"Now!" Sweetie Belle shouted. At once, the force field dropped, and Twilight's horn sputtered with magic. Sweetie Belle concentrated hard, trying to unite her magic with Twilight's. Magic hummed through Sweetie Belle, and she tried even harder.
What are you doing? Dark Forest demanded.
The two unicorns stood side by side, focusing their magic together.
No! Stop! The sprite's voice grew fainter by the second. You will never-
Sweetie Belle looked up. Every single sprite in the room was encased in a swirling ball of green energy. One by one, the balls disappeared, dissolving into nothingness. The last to dissolve was the one containing Forest. Sweetie Belle watched as, inside the ball of magic, Forest's skin turned green once more. The pixie looked up at the young unicorn with an apologetic look in her eyes. She mouthed, I'm sorry, before disappearing with a small pop!
"We did it!" Sweetie Belle looked at Twilight, a smile spreading across her face.
Twilight smiled. "Actually, Sweetie Belle, I think you did it. Those banishing balls were green, not pink. That magic was yours."
Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. "You mean that I... banished them?"
Twilight nodded. "That's really good for a young unicorn. In fact, that was one of the best banishing spells I've ever seen. I could talk to Princess Celestia-"
"No." Sweetie Belle said quickly. "I mean, thanks for the offer, but I'm done with magic for now." She smiled.
"Suit yourself." Twilight went down the stairs to tell Rarity what had happened.
Sweetie Belle glanced over at the spot where Forest had last been. "Thanks Forest." she said. "I forgive you."
