It was the middle of the summer, the peak of the daily temperatures, when anypony with a tiniest bit of sanity stayed inside. Sweet Apple Acres’ cider sales were way up, Sugar Cube Corner’s ice cream sales were through the roof, and conspiracies of the weather being a cruel propaganda campaign by Princess Luna to raise appreciation for the night were spreading like wildfires, along with various wildfires spreading like rumors. Only the foolish or the desperate left the coolness of their homes, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders fit into both categories. They were out crusading, though not on a quest, but for a celebration.
One of the CMC’s founding members had just gotten her cutie mark that day. Bits had been exchanged over this, as this was the event of the decade for Ponyville. The CMC had been so close friends that the entire town couldn’t help but get hyped for the first to happen. Though an unnamed rainbow-hued mare had instigated the betting, many had participated, though the winners had been far fewer than the losers; the Apple family was looking at few more years of their current, ragged barn, and the same polychromatic mare was looking for some side jobs alongside her weather control. That day, Sweetie Belle had received her cutie mark.
She had discovered her propensity for music many years before, during the advent of the Crusaders. She sung during her free time, too shy to do it in front of anyone else, fearing their criticisms. It was only with the help of her friends that she had overcome that, and begun her slow trek towards her destiny.
She had first gone to Fluttershy, who she had learned held a great number of skills, singing being high upon the list. After a bit of convincing, Fluttershy acquiesced, and their lessons began. She went to Fluttershy’s daily, enraptured by the new art form she was learning. She learned plenty from Fluttershy, but she yearned for more; so she went to enlist Twilight Sparkle’s help in the more technical side of music.
Twilight, being the librarian of the town, was ecstatic to help, and brought a cart of books on music theory, resonance, air compression, and various other books related to music, sound, or other various complex physics. Grasping them in her magic, which Rarity had quickly taught her between dress orders, she started a quick orbit around her head, the better to read quickly with. Starting at this complex display of magic, Twilight cast a quick magical aptitude analysis spell, and was surprised to find that Sweetie was extraordinarily talented in magic. A quick discussion later, and Sweetie was attending sessions with both Fluttershy, for music, and Twilight, for magic, ecstatic to the end.
Sweetie enjoyed her tutoring sessions, far more than she had ever school. She began practicing outside of her sessions, often late into the night, going without food, drink, or sleep. She often awoke in her bed with a note from her sister, gently chiding her on her self-care. After months of learning, she had become adept at both fields, with Twilight and Fluttershy beginning to prompt her to let her studies take her on a journey, towards her destiny, and her cutie mark. She had never stopped crusading with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, but they had each come to the realization that their cutie marks were along their own path, and thus they hosted fewer, but more profound crusades.
It was only after months of pushing herself beyond reasonable limits that she discovered what made her special. Late at night, after two straight days of study on classical music and a separate study on the idiosyncrasies of telekinesis, nodding off despite her best efforts, she had swapped a force sigil and a treble clef. Right before she collapsed, she was startled awake by the screeching of a bassoon in her ear. Searching for the offending instrument, the mistake escaped her notice, and she left the room to fall asleep in a comfortable bed, for the first time in months.
The next morning she awoke, earlier than Twilight on one of her study binges, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and began anew. She began casting at the sight of the sigil, and was briefly confused on its position upon her music sheet, but was cut off from her confusion by the blaring of a bassoon.
Quickly amused by this feat of musical magic, Sweetie went on to attempt to play the bassoon through sheer magic alone, failing miserably, waking the entirety of Ponyville, and breaking a not-inconsiderable amount of windows throughout the small town. Rarity burst through the door, expecting some form of disaster, and finding it in the form of a small filly with a wide grin on her face. Scowling, Rarity attempted to right the mess that the musical explosion had left in its wake, before deciding to leave it for another time, then turned to look at Sweetie Belle, who was still beaming at her accomplishment of magic.
Later that day, during lunch at Sugarcube Corner between Rarity and Twilight, the fashionista brought up her displeasure at Sweetie’s magical outburst, surprising the unicorn, who had naturally assumed that it was just another everyday occurrence in Ponyville. Twilight made a note to bring it up during their next session, before returning to her meal.
After their meal, Twilight returned to the library, finding the filly within, eagerly awaiting her mentor. The older unicorn began interrogating Sweetie, about the magic involved, the sigils written, the sheet music, and numerous other aspects, trying her best to recall any precedent., and failing. Sweetie Belle, in all her wonder, had stumbled upon a new field of magic, previously undiscovered by any musician or magician. Briefly she considered the implications of this, then seized the chance to be the first mage to study this. She would need some time to observe, compile statistics, then write her thesis paper. With this in mind, Twilight suggested to the filly that she focus her combined music and magical talents on this.
As time went by, Sweetie learned, conquered, and mastered this art form, astounding even Twilight. Soon, her talents had surpassed the mere magical aspect, and she began to study among various musical legends around Equestria. She learned how to play many instruments, and in the process, learned to form them from pure magic. The lyre from Lyra in her resident Ponyville, the cello from Octavia in Canterlot, even “wubs” from Vinyl Scratch, who came through Canterlot on one of her many tours. Learning each instrument, adding them to her rapidly growing rank of masteries. After numerous months, Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy quietly set up a performance for her in the Canterlot Castle.
Nervous, but determined to prove herself, Sweetie Belle walked upon the stage, trembling and eyes firmly shut. She opened her eyes cautiously once she was in the center, and almost fainted at the sight of so many ponies. It was only the sight of her two friends in the front row that steeled her resolve. Sighing, she shut her eyes again, drew her magic, and began to play. Initially, most of the spectators were confused, a musician with no instrument? Most started visibly once sound began to flow from the air surrounding them, first, a lone instrument, then two, then twenty. An entire orchestra flowed from Sweetie’s horn, surrounding the audience, and enthralling it. Numerous times Sweetie began to doubt herself, her skills, her lack of experience. The she would open her eyes, glance upon her friends once again, then continue, doubts reassured, for the moment at least.
Once she had come to the end of her song, she opened her eyes, panting, and saw her friends cheering for her. Her spirits soared, all self-doubt banished by the mere presence of her true friends. She almost missed their jaws dropping as a light glow appeared briefly behind her, and spun around to find that her destiny had been revealed. At long last, she had her cutie mark, a tri-pointed star eclipsed by an eighth note.
The rest of the day was a blur, whether from excitement or a mild heat stroke. This was why the Cutie Mark Crusaders braved the heat and elements, to celebrate the day that they had all waited so long for, and plan for the days when they could each celebrate a similar achievement.
Still elated from the day’s events, Sweetie Belle was just now beginning to feel the inferno that pretended to be weather around Ponyville. After agreeing to a celebration for her newly gained cutie mark, Sweetie Belle had followed Apple Bloom and Scootaloo towards Sweet Apple Acres, and their clubhouse. She had assumed that that was their final destination, but Apple Bloom had taken a sharp right right before the path to their clubhouse began, and Sweetie had no clue what was this way, as she had never been that way before. A quick glance back towards Scootaloo revealed little, as the orange pegasus appeared just as confused as she.
Apple Bloom didn’t stop until she reached the top of the hill that they had built their clubhouse upon. At the top, awaiting the rest, with a dramatic pose and a fluid gesture, she waved down the other side of the hill.
“Huh. When did that get there?”
Agreeing with Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell could only stare at the enormous barn that stood on the other side. Painted gold and red, this barn was huge, bigger than even the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Running down to it, Apple Bloom stopped both of them outside, and slipped inside alone. Not long after she had gone inside, various sounds came floating from inside; the sound of power tools, hammers, fire, welding even, in unfathomable volumes and quantities. Sweetie Belle could not hazard a guess as to what the other filly was doing inside as varied and chaotic as the sounds were. Through all this chaos, Apple Bloom quickly came back outside, covered in oil, wearing a grin from ear to ear.
“Ah present to y’all,” followed by a quick whip on a nearby rope, “the biplane!”
Inside the newly revealed barn, was a... contraption of some sort. It seemed to be mostly made of wood, with two horizontal bars surrounding a central tube. Between the bars was several ropes connecting the two, as well as sheets of fabric running along each bar. Along the central tube was a metal block connected to a piece of metal shaped sorta like a fan.
“Okaaay? I really like its... fan?”
Apple Bloom knew that Sweetie defaulted to that praise whenever she was lying, and scowled at her. “This is no ordinary machine, Sweetie! This is something new, something nopony has ever managed before. This machine allow earth ponies and unicorns to fly alongside pegasus!”
The only thing faster than Sweetie’s jaw dropping was Scootaloo’s leap into the air.
“Really? That’s AWESOME!” Flipping around a few times in the air, Scootaloo dropped down next to Apple Bloom, who was climbing into the front seat of the biplane. “Does it really work?”
“Of course it does! Ah designed it myself!” Feigning insult, Apple Bloom quickly hid her own doubts. “Ah made sure it was safe! And since today is so special, Ah decided that today Ah’d take Sweetie out on a ride with it. Ah’d take you in it too, Scootaloo, but, you know, it wouldn’t be special to you, seeing as you fly everyday. But you should come with us anyways. It’d be way more fun that way.”
Nodding in agreement, Scootaloo began to help Apple Bloom pack things into the biplane, and beckoned to Sweetie Belle to help. Eager, Sweetie rushed over to help in the preparations. While they were preparing, Apple Bloom took the time to show the other two Crusaders the plane, and name the various components. Not long after she had finished the quick lesson, they were set to go.
After adjusting a few knobs and levers, Apple Bloom turned a key built into the dashboard, which resulted in a low thrum to emit from the engine. After carefully checking the various dials and indicators that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo couldn’t understand, Apple Bloom leapt down from the cockpit, went up to the propeller, and gave it a swift buck, being careful to quickly step back. The fan blazed into motion, the entire biplane struggling against the brakes that Apple Bloom, in light of their previous exploits, had been very meticulous while installing. Hopping back into the cockpit, Apple Bloom waved to Scootaloo, signaling her to stand back. Checking to makes sure both she and Sweetie Belle were strapped in, Apple Bloom pulled on the brake release, and with a gentle tug, moved the accelerator forward, bringing the biplane along the stone runway she had painstakingly built.
As the plane moved down the runway, at ever increasing speeds, Scootaloo took off alongside it, pacing herself to stay right beside it. She could see Apple Bloom and Sweetie inside, the first calmly determined, the second hanging on for dear life. Scootaloo fought to stay calm as Apple Bloom pulled back of the stick, bringing the biplane off the ground and into the air, but slowly relaxed as Apple Bloom’s latest engineering marvel showed the same quality and care as all of her others had.
Sweetie Belle, however nervous, trusted that her friends would keep her safe. Once in the air, her gaze wandered, watching every which way around her, looking from horizon to horizon; she could see almost all of Equestria from their current vantage point. She had never experienced anything like it. She suddenly envied Scootaloo, being able to experience this anytime she wanted. Riding the wake of this envy was a strong surge of pity as Sweetie Belle thought of all the years the Scootaloo had been unable to fly, stricken with the fear that she may never be able to fly. It ended bittersweet, as after the long, hard years of torment, she ended up as one of the greatest fliers borne of Ponyville.
Sweetie remained lost in her train of thought and the view until Scootaloo spoke up.
“Think we should start heading back? That’s Manehatten down there; the Griffonian border isn’t too far away.”
“They still mad at ya?” Apple Bloom inquired, voice laced with amusement.
Confused, feeling left out of the loop, Sweetie Belle piped up, “What happened?”
Turning in slight surprise, Apple Bloom turned to look at Sweetie. “Ah never told you?”
Still confused, Sweetie shook her head. With a grin, Apple Bloom gestured towards Scootaloo, indicating that she would tell the story. Putting the plane into a shallow bank, Apple Bloom watched Scootaloo sigh in irritation. Pulling up a cloud to sit on, Scootaloo began her story.
“Remember last summer, around the founding of the Cloudsdale chapter of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, when we decided to get our cutie marks in business management? It was my turn, and Appleoosa had requested a legion to help with their renovation. Being Apples, they could build it easily enough, but the old structure were still standing, and the legion was to help bring down their library, hospital, and town hall for bigger and better ones.”
At this point, Apple Bloom interjected, “Why are Crusaders always stereotyped to be good at destroying things? We never get called in to help build anything.” Considering her talents in engineering, this was certainly unfair to Apple Bloom, but the other two could only wonder where the stereotype had come from.
“Anyways, due to a, erm... clerical error, the legion arrived in Griffonia, and, ummm... well, lets just say the griffons didn’t like some foreign ponies tearing down their perfectly good library. And hospital. And town hall. Eventually, Griffonia traded them with Equestria, so it turned out alright. Though Princess Luna was super mad that she had to free that group of griffon tax evaders. So, yeah, all Crusaders might be banned from Griffonia for one or two...”
“Years?” Sweetie asked. Two years was a long time.
“Centuries?” Scootaloo replied sheepishly. “We probably shouldn’t go there anytime soon, on pain of eternal night.”
Sweetie Belle’s protests of innocence were cut short by a loud bang coming from the engine and a sharp swerve from the biplane. Sweetie Belle, who had raise herself from her seat to get a better view of Scootaloo as she told her tale, was thrown violently from the cockpit, too quickly for her screams to be heard by her friends. Scootaloo swung down to fly after her, but stopped hurriedly to check on Apple Bloom. The earth pony had already grabbed a wrench and was fighting her way towards the engine block gave a curt nod to Scootaloo, who flashed off after Sweetie Belle.
Flying faster than she ever had before, Scootaloo pumped her wings for all she could, and more. She fought air resistance in the fight for speed, desperately trying to catch her falling friend. She thought of nothing but her singular goal until she felt her outstretched hooves brush what felt like a wall of air. Blinking, trying to see what obstacle she had reached, Scootaloo was surprised to see the beginning of a mach cone forming in front of her.
She had done it! She had reached the speed necessary to make a sonic rainboom! At this, a thought of her friends flashed through her mind. At this short a distance, she couldn’t risk making a sonic rainboom. It would shatter the biplane and push Sweetie even faster towards the ground. Scootaloo speeded up again, but once she ran into the sound wall, rather than push through it and rip a hole in it, she twisted her wings, spinning her around and passing through the wall of sound, rather than break it. This obstacle cleared, Scootaloo hit even faster speeds, flying through the sky, at speeds she never could have imagined. Speeds so fast that, in her determination she didn’t even notice, her speed created such friction with the air that, following in her path, was a bright streak of purple flame.
Quickly closing on Sweetie Belle, a quick flare of her wings brought Scootaloo to subsonic speeds and whirled her backwards into an upright position, where a painful collision was transformed into a graceful backflip. After a few loops, Scootaloo brought the two of them back into a normal glide down towards the ground.
Not long after Scootaloo had dashed off, Apple Bloom reached the engine compartment. A wrench in her mouth, she slid open the cover, and almost dropped it in a coughing fit brought on by the trapped smoke inside. Waving her hoof to clear the air, Apple Bloom looked forward to try to calculate how long she had to effect repairs. Current angle times the speed they were travelling at... multiply by gravity per second per second... subtract the drag coefficient... extend the arc and...
“Horseapples.”
Of course. It couldn’t be any other place, it had to be Sweet Apple Acres. Not just one of the fields, which would be bad enough, but the main barn, which would bankrupt the Apple family. With renewed determination, Apple Bloom worked her way back towards the engine.
Looking inside, Apple Bloom saw that the cables running to the plane’s elevators and rudders had snapped, flailed around, and got caught in the pistons. Those would need to be cleared and reconnected before there was any hope of saving the biplane, and quite probably Apple Bloom with it. With the wrench, she loosened the pistons, allowing the cabled to run clear of them, before she tightened it back up again. With the cables cleared, she reached for them, and was interrupted as the now-loosened cables brought the pane into a whirling spin.
Desperate, Apple Bloom reached for the cables, and caught one. She gave it an experimental pull, and could feel the rudder shift left. Reaching for the cable that moved in response, she grabbed at it and tied it to her right hoof. Attaching the other one, she pulled on the two in conjunction, bringing the plane out of its spin. Working towards the last two cables, Apple Bloom grabbed one, and pulled it. The plane’s dive grew steeper, and she quickly dropped it, grabbed the other one, and pulled hard. Jumping out of its dive, the pressures on the pane were nearly too much for it to bear, the entire frame creaking and groaning under the stress.
Apple Bloom was thanking her luck when it turned, again, against her. Nearly level, the plane’s tail, under the immense pressure of coming out of a steep dive, bent, then broke, snapping cleanly off. Looking back, Apple Bloom could see a fire starting up, growing bigger and closer quickly. Belatedly, Apple Bloom realized that the flame was purple, but did not have enough time to consider this before Scootaloo swooped in, grabbing her from the doomed biplane.
Landing on a nearly hillside, the three solemnly watched the plane fly over Sweet Apple Acres, crashing deep into the Everfree forest. A slight sigh came from Apple Bloom, who had hoped for some salvageable materials. Immersed in the moment, not one of the three noticed the dual flashes of light, or the dual revealings of true destiny. For Scootaloo, a tri-pointed star immersed in violet flames, and for Apple Bloom, a three-pronged star with and overlayed wrench and the lightest outline of an apple behind it.
It was a sunny day in Cloudsdale, as it usually was, being above the clouds, and Scootaloo had decided to start her spring cleaning early. She had allowed her home to get into quite a mess, one that would impress even Twilight Sparkle, though not quite on purpose. She was busy these days, working a job that required her to fly all across Equestria on the drop of a hat, and this kind of environment was not conductive to a clean, orderly home. But, the time of the year had come around again, and Scootaloo resolved to clean quickly, so she could get back to doing more worthwhile things.
Opening her door, Scootaloo walked in from the front porch, stopping only a step inside, partially from shock and partially from the sudden lack of available walking room. The floor was covered in junk, ranging from pizza boxes to books to clothing. She hadn’t been gone that long, had she? It had been only... there was that trip to Manehattan, then the one to Canterlot, then... Okay, maybe it had been a while.
Hearing cats meowing throughout her house, she stepped over a pile of discarded food, around a stack of Daring Do novels, and came to the door to her kitchen. Scootaloo pushed it open and stepped through, before promptly tripping over a half-disassembled unicycle.
“Where did that even come from?” Rising, Scootaloo dusted herself off and gave considerable thought to simply kicking the cloud that existed as her floor into oblivion. Where was Cloudsdale currently floating over anyways?
Grabbing the broom, Scootaloo pushed heaping piles of trash into the trash bin she had attached to her porch. With the living room now traversable, she went upstairs to grap the vacuum she would sorely need.
Hours passed, the monotony of cleaning wearing down Scootaloo’s already-diminished motivation for cleaning. Eventually, the first floor was cleared, and she worked her way up through the second floor, then her bedroom. This room was far better than the rest of her house, so Scootaloo began to have hope that there was light at the end of the tunnel. Then she opened her closet and a mountain of stuff fell out. With a sigh, that hope was snuffed out, and she began to sort through it.
She had nearly finished when she came upon a dusty, cracked picture frame; opaque to the point that Scootaloo couldn’t see the picture. Taking the back off, she took out the picture contained within. With a start, she saw which picture it was, and was surprised at the pain it evoked. It was taken not long before she had gotten her cutie mark. The original Cutie Mark Crusaders stood in a group hug, grinning at some excapade or another. With a sudden catch in her throat, Scootaloo realized that this image captured one of the last times the Crusaders had ever spent time together.
It had been six long years since she had seen them.
When confronted by a giant purple inferno that replaced the sky, half of Ponyville wondered if it was the end of days. The other half wondered what the Cutie Mark Crusaders had gotten themselves into this time, and sent rescue squads immediately. The Elements of Harmony were included on these teams. When Rainbow Dash, who had recently been inducted as a Wonderbolt, noticed the purple column of flame that she, instinctively, knew could only be from her adopted sister, the resulting surrender of the speed of sound shattered the Wonderbolts barracks into a rapidly-dissipating chromatic pile of rubble.
After their doomed biplane ride, which, to both the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Ponyville, quickly became known as simply, The Event, the Crusaders became wrapped in their destinies. Scootaloo understood that they each needed time to focus on their talents, and devoted herself to the art of flight. Not even a month had gone by before the Wonderbolts came a’knockin, looking for fresh talent, coincidentally the mare who had lit the sky on fire.
It wasn’t until then that Scootaloo truly understood what her destiny was. Not only did she enjoy flying, she was good at it. On her second week as a Wonderbolt, Soarin had, on a dare since Rainbow Dash was away on an errand, offered to teach the Buckaneer Blaze to the green mare. Everypony expected to get a good laugh at the newby trying, and failing, to execute a second-year trick. The only pony who had been amused was Rainbow Dash, when she returned to a grinning Scootaloo and a team of blinded pegasi.
But her success couldn’t be chalked up to beginner’s luck. The trainer hated to train Scootaloo, not because she was a miscreant or anything, but because she would sleep through their lessons. And what only angered them even more was that, after missing the entire session, she would be shaken awake, only to then execute the move perfectly. Eventually, the trainers gave up, and left her to develop her own tricks.
And develop tricks she had. Along with her “Light the Sky” technique, she had developed many others. She had developed the method of lengthening one’s contrail, and drawing complex shapes with it, as well as many of the other artistic contrail techniques. She had also designed Rainbow Dash’s technique of sideslipping the mach barrier, and the various techniques enabled by that, incredible loops, gut-wrenching dives, and much, much more.
In a collaboration with Twilight Sparkle, Scootaloo had evoked the dark magicks of Science, utilizing Twilight’s newfound theories on the universe she called “Quantum Mechanics”. In her new trick, she could almost literally be in two places at once. (In reality, she was either in one or the other, but nopony could ever tell which.) The first time she had done it, Scootaloo had savored the disbelief on the crowd’s face. Only later did she learn that Twilight had waited in releasing her thesis on the subject, allowing Scootaloo to dispel the scientific doubts her revolutionary ideas would face. Scootaloo didn’t mind, having the added benefit of doing what was considered impossible at the time.
Being a prodigy led to quick ascension in the Wonderbolt ranks, perhaps too quick. Only half a year after her entrance to the Wonderbolts, Spitfire announced her retirement, and that a new team captain would be voted upon. Only a few months earlier, Rainbow Dash would have been a shoo-in to win, but now, Scootaloo, despite neither wanting the position, nor running for it, seemed to have a good chance of winning it. At every turn, Scootaloo would ask everypony not to vote for her, that she didn’t want it, wasn’t running for it, even removing her name from the ballot three times, yet she still ended up with nearly half the votes.
Despite the accidental competition, she and Rainbow Dash remained close to one another. In all those months, and the following years, their bond had never broken. They still competed, as they knew all of the other’s tricks but one. Scootaloo, with all her talent, had never been able to replicate the sonic rainboom, and Rainbow Dash, with her natural speed and power, hadn’t been able to light the sky yet. An ongoing competition, both of them knew it was only a matter of time until the other mastered it.
Scootaloo was broken out of her reverie by a knock on her front door. Opening the door, she looked around for the knocker for a moment, before noticing the letter on her step. Picking it up, she opened it, and softly read it aloud to herself.
“Dear Scootaloo,
Twilight Sparkle has invited us to lunch at the library in Ponyville, to discuss the Wonderbolts and their performance schedule. She says to be there by two in the afternoon. I’ll be there early to help set up. She’s having some renovations done, so come in the top landing. It’ll be unlocked.
Sincerely,
Rainbow Dash”
Looking at the clock, Scootaloo noticed that it was almost one, and she had a hour-long flight ahead of her. Recognising Rainbow Dash’s “accidental” delivery at the last possible minute, Scootaloo grinned to herself as she gathered her things, then promised to pay Rainbow back for that as she blazed her path towards Ponyville.
Near Ponyville stood a house, more of a mansion, really, abandoned and decrepit; the subject of many a ghost tale told by the schoolyard foals that went to school nearby. Nopony remembered the house, or who built it, who had lived in it, or even who currently owned it. Nopony would ever have guessed who its owner was. The mansion, as well a much of its surrounding forest, belonged to the wealthy inventor who lived inside, hidden away in self-exile, Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom sat at a desk somewhere on the first floor, not caring which desk she was at, as she kept dozens of them around, scattered throughout the house. She would often just sit at whichever desk was closest, either to grab a pad of paper for some new inspiration, or to sit and ruminate upon the universe, society, or the past. At this point, she was thinking of home, where zapapples were currently in season for the week.
Various plans for automating the harvesting shot through Apple Bloom’s mind. Grabbing one of the identical pads of paper, she began to draw and think, accidentally thinking aloud, which often helped her think, though she rarely caught herself doing it.
“Hmmm... A arcane-conductive alloy? Or perhaps a magic inhibition field? Do zapapples have enough magic to warrant both?” Scratching along the paper, the pencil added strokes signifying magic protection, alloy strength, conductiveness, both magical and electrical, and various other elements that would be repeatedly changed.
“An artificial bucking device, or a vacuum-suction device?” Neither appealed, due to the zapapple’s inherit properties, but removing its magic would either remove those as well, or break the whole idea. Sighing, Apple Bloom dropped the paper, and began mindlessly fiddling with a few scraps of metal and wires laying upon the desk.
Seconds, or hours, passed by, with Apple Bloom’s hand always moving, and her mind working similarly. According to her mental versioning, she had thought of, and discarded, three hundred and twenty-two plans for a zapapple harvester. Looking at her hooves, she noticed that she had built a miniature helicopter, not unlike the one she had designed the month before. When she wasn’t paying attention, she always went back to ideas she had never perfected to the last detail. She hadn’t optimized the mass-to-drag ratio, but they had demanded it quickly, and she had delivered as such.
With a small, sad smile on her face, Apple Bloom pressed the small button on the copter's side, starting it up, then releasing it into the air. It flew around a bit, before circling around her and flying away. Frowning, Apple Bloom lamented the reduced timescale she had been given, as she had been unable to program all the features she felt it needed to be worthy of the title “Finished”. Given more time, she would have—
*THUD*
*CRACK*
Freezing, her heart pounding, Apple Bloom had flashbacks to an incident a few years back. Potion making had just reached popularity, and numerous injuries were caused by a general lack of safety and knowledge, particularly what to do when a potion was dropped or cracked. Apple Bloom had been hired to try and help; the end result had been a few safety posters and one particular rhyme. What was it again?
“Red should be spurned,
Green should be burned,
If it’s yellow you should fly;
All of the above, do or die.”
It was far from a catchy tune, but injuries dropped sharply, so it had worked. Craning her head, Apple Bloom looked back to see... a broken picture frame. Letting out her breath, she reached out and grabbed the mischievous helicopter, and shut it off. Leaning down, Apple Bloom picked up the picture, and turned it over. Cracked to much to see what it hid, she flipped it back over, took off the back cover, and took out the picture held within.
Fighting a sudden burst of loneliness, Apple Bloom stared at the picture, one of the last before they had each gone their separate ways. Scootaloo had gone off to be a Wonderbolt, and Sweetie Belle had gone on some form of journey, Apple Bloom didn’t know where to, leaving Apple Bloom alone. She couldn’t hold it against them, they each had their lives to live, but still... she wished it hadn’t been so sudden. She had never gotten to say goodbye.
Disassembling the copter, Apple Bloom reflected on her past six years. Right after The Event, several scientists and businessponies had approached her about her biplane. Taking advice from Twilight Sparkle, who was, at that point, binge-studying law school, she had taken measures to protect her inventions. But, being a lone pony, as the Apple family had no intention of using the “newfangled” technology, she had entered a joint-venture as the inventor.
Overzealous from the huge sums of royalties she had received, she had bought a mansion on the edge of town. Her plane had sparked a transportation revolution, outdating trains and pegasi alike, and using more efficient planes for long-distance travel. Still in that venture, she had gone to work on a new, combustion-based engine for trains. But as a small project to amuse herself, she had placed it in smaller carts, calling those “auto-mobiles”. She had even taken a large hunk of metal, almost like a turtle’s shell, and attached an engine to that, all on a self-challenge. This last design she had named after her inspiration, Rainbow Dash’s pet turtle, “Tank”.
But transportation didn’t hold her interests long. The individual parts were too slow to make, so she set about expediting that process. She had found that, if you got a large group of workers doing one small task, the process could be speeded up greatly. One other important factor was that since each step was identical, the end results were interchangeable. This cure for a personal annoyance eventually got the tile of “Industrial Revolution”.
Losing interest once again, and once again after significant profit, she left the industrial sector, and went back to her home, agricultural sector. She had been hearing complaints of cotton farmers all her farming childhood life, how the seeds were impossible to remove at any quick rate. Many farmers were having to lay off their workers, mostly dragons at the time. Dragon unemployment rates were skyrocketing as more and more farms had to follow suit.
Deciding to step in and help, Apple Bloom invented a “cotton gin”, which allowed a lone dragon to remove seeds from fifty pounds of cotton per hour, far higher than the previous rate of one per hour. With this invention, hundreds of farmers were able to employ thousands of dragons, stifling an economic crisis. And, yet again, this charitable invention became yet another revolution.
But at this point, Apple Bloom had had enough. When ponies looked at her, they stopped seeing “Apple Bloom”, and started seeing “The Greatest Inventor Who Ever Lived”, a name the humble Apple Bloom was in contention with. All of society looked at her this way, and after so long, she couldn’t stand it anymore. She packed her things, and moved to her mansion she had foolishly bought so many years back.
She had never stopped working and inventing; anypony who wanted to could send her a letter, and she would usually complete the request and send it back, also via mail. Usually the recipient sent back a bag of bits, but Apple Bloom was long past needing bits, or even wanting them. She worked for the enjoyment of it, and the fact that she helped ponies while doing so.
Gathering her helicopter, which had been rebuilt several times over the course of Apple Blooms ruminations, she walked down the stairs towards the kitchen, which was usually empty. Midway down the stairs, she heard a knock on her door, and immediately dismissed it.
“Probably just those same schoolfoals, daring each other to knock on my door. Again.” Grumbling to herself, she waited for the inevitable second knock, which always came after the prodding of friends and allusions to various winged fowl. And waited. And waited.
It never came. Peering out the viewport, Apple Bloom could see no sign of any foals, or even any pony in general. She reluctantly unlocked the locks, and cautiously opened the door. There, sitting on her doorstep, was a letter, freshly delivered. Curious, Apple Bloom picked it up, and returned inside. On it, it read:
“Dear Apple Bloom,
Twilight Sparkle has invited us to lunch at the library in Ponyville, to discuss Sweet Apple Acres, and a few of your inventions. She says to be there by two in the afternoon. I’ll be there early to help set up. She’s having some renovations done, so come in the back entrance. It’ll be unlocked.
Sincerely,
Applejack”
Looking at the clock, Apple Bloom was surprised to see that it was half an hour before two. Her home was just about that far from the library; she would have to hurry. Grabbing a cloak and some large sunglasses, she slipped out the front door, locked it, and begun her trek to Ponyville.
Alone, amongst a crowd of hundreds, Sweetie Belle stood, offering greetings and polite small talk. Maneuvering her way between crowds of ponies, she slipped into and out of conversations with dozens of ponies, Fancy Pants here, Hoity Toity there, even Prince Blueblood for a quick moment, making sure to greet all of the most influential ponies at the party. Hours passed, smoothly gliding between groups, likely meeting everypony at the party, and certainly meeting everypony who had been invited.
Eventually the socialite meeting dwindled, ponies leaving in pair or groups, each satisfied with the event, each imagining their climb upon the social ladder that had resulted of their night. Eventually the only pony left was Sweetie Belle, who, with a long, extended sigh, took in her surroundings, and the mess that had been left behind. Such duties of cleaning up always landed upon the host.
Luckily, the host herself rarely had to do it, as she had an extensive cleaning staff who faced this task regularly, and, in return, was paid generously for facing the extensive task of cleaning the dregs left behind by high society. Leaving behind her personal tip, a set of refined jewels, one for each pony, Sweetie Belle abdicated to her personal study, where she found peace and solace in the quiet held within.
Collapsing into a plush chair, Sweetie Belle looked over the stack of letters that had been delivered to her desk during the party. Numerous from admirers, which would be read at a later point, but rarely responded to, as Sweetie’s personal time to respond to such letters had been steadily shrinking and shrinking. Several from political advisors, which would be placed priority, upon the start of the next day. The last, a large, bound package, was labeled in a neat, precise script that Sweetie immediately recognized as belonging to her onetime mentor, Twilight Sparkle.
On the outside of the package was a note. Pulling it from the package, Sweetie Belle opened it, and read it’s message aloud to herself.
“Found this while doing some spring cleaning. I thought you should have it. --Twilight”
Frowning at its ambiguity, Sweetie Belle pulled the wrapping off of one side of the package, and turned it over. From the interior of the package came spilling out a worn journal, covered in soot and dust. Brushing it off, she flipped through a few pages, and realized that it was her journal, from when she was studying under Twilight, first learning magic and music. She reached over to set it back on her desk when a picture came tumbling out. With another frown of annoyance, Sweetie Belle exerted her magic to bring it floating up towards eye level.
When she saw the picture, a jolt of loneliness shot through Sweetie Belle. The picture had been right before The Event, where they had each gotten their cutie marks. It had also been one of the last times the Cutie Mark Crusaders had spent time together.
With a sigh, Sweetie set down the picture. Their separation had been mostly her fault. When they got their cutie marks, Sweetie Belle had been so excited, she had immediately drawn up plans to travel, expand her magical and musical skills. And, what had seemed a good idea at the time, she had left immediately. Her pilgrimage had taken her across Equestria and beyond, to Griffonia, to the Zebrican Tribes, to Saddle Arabia, and at each stop she learned a new instrument, or a new skill, or a new trick.
When she returned to Ponyville, she could do more magic tricks than Trixie, play more instruments than Octavia, but she had no friends to share it with. Scootaloo had gone off to be a Wonderbolt already, and Apple Bloom was engrossed in some technological revolution or another, and Sweetie Belle was alone.
Initially, she had moped around Rarity’s boutique, but Twilight and Fluttershy had arranged for her to perform for a local group, who had wanted the Pony Tones, who had been previously booked. Eager to do anything besides mope, which had gone on long enough, Sweetie leapt at the chance to perform. Conjuring a dozen instruments, she had enraptured the audience, who had seen such performances before only from an orchestra. Facing wild applause, Sweetie had left the stage, only to be invited to three more performances.
Each performance, she would change genre, instruments, style, everything. Each of her performances was unique, and as a result, became wildly popular. Soon she was traveling Equestria, an orchestra in Canterlot, or an army of DJs in Phillydelphia. Ponies of all statuses began to clamor for her performances. Taking a cue from Rarity’s book, she began to acquire connections in the higher lifestyle, becoming a pony everypony should know.
And soon, she was. But she never fully fit in with the upper class, could not understand their cutthroat tactics among friends. The lower classes had an especially hard time wherever there was a high concentration of upper class ponies. Growing tired of this imbalance, she had a private discussion with Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Mayor Mare. Mayor Mare’s term was nearing its end, and she had made mention of retirement. Over the course of several hours, she had explained her plan to join politics, to help the poorer ponies, and had received the three’s solicitations. With Ponyville’s top three socially important ponies supporting her, she won the election hands-down.
Serving her stint as mayor, she quickly discovered her capabilities for politics, and the social side to it. She could handle ponies well, leaving everypony feeling satisfied after a compromise. She excelled at reading ponies as well, and just generally was a successful mayor. She did, however, hating being called “Mayor Belle”.
Approaching the present, she had served two successful terms as mayor, she had moved to Canterlot, where the wealth gap was the highest, and the poor the most oppressed. This was were she was now, in the middle of a campaign to become mayor of Canterlot. Her major opponent was Prince Blueblood, who represented everything the rich stood for, had large amounts of money and influence, but didn’t have the successful political experience Sweetie Belle had. So each side was hosting parties and running campaigns, but the race was neck-to-neck, and neither side had a clear advantage. So, as of now, the race continued.
A knock on her door startled Sweetie Belle out of the light doze she had fallen into. When she looked outside the door, nopony was there. Looking down, she saw a scroll, tightly wound, held shut by a glittering red ribbon. Sweetie grinned, the was exactly one pony in Equestria this letter could have come from. Opening it up, she read the note:
“Dear Sweetie Belle,
Twilight Sparkle has invited us to lunch at the library in Ponyville, to discuss your run for Canterlot mayor. She says to be there by two in the afternoon. I’ll be there early to help set up. She says to come in the front door, as opposed to your usual back, because the back door has rusted so much it’s become inoperable.
Sincerely,
Rarity”
Glancing at the clock, she saw that she had just enough time to catch the twelve-thirty train to Ponyville, where she would arrive just in time for lunch. Sighing that luck was on her side, she grabbed her overcoat, and dashed out the door.
Panting from her flight, Scootaloo landed quietly on the upper floor of the library. A quick glance at the Ponyville Tower showed that she was exactly on time. A few more ticks of the clock, and it would be exactly two.
“Pause for dramatic effect...” Scootaloo thought to herself as she approached the door.
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Ding!*
As the first bell rung, Scootaloo swung the door open, and saw...
~~~
Covered in her cloak, Apple Bloom approached the back of the library. A quick glance at the Ponyville Tower showed that she was exactly on time. A few more ticks of the clock, and it would be exactly two.
“Good, Ah’m on time. Ah hate being late,” Apple Bloom thought to herself as she approached the door.
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Ding!*
Arriving exactly as the first bell rung, Apple Bloom cracked the door open, slipped inside, and saw...
~~~
Walking through the streets, Sweetie Belle waved to a few ponies that she knew, but gestured that she didn’t have time to stop ad chat. A quick glance at the Ponyville Tower showed that she was exactly on time. A few more ticks of the clock, and it would be exactly two.
Conflicting advice shot through her head. “A lady is always early,” a phantom voice of Rarity said, as “A politician is always fashionably late,” another voice of her sister responded.
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Ding!*
Deciding just to be on time, Sweetie Belle walked through the door right as the first bell rung, and saw...
