Sweetie Belle's destiny is a lot greater than she could have ever imagined.
After yet another failure to get their cutie marks, the Cutie Mark Crusaders return to their clubhouse in low spirits and no ideas to test out But after an incident involving a song with a mysterious magic to it, Sweetie Belle finds fate thrust upon her that no one expected.
Note: This has no correlation with the novel by Rosalyn McMillan which I have not, and probably will not read. And yes, the cover is drawn by me.
“Sheesh.” A dejected Scootaloo walked into the Cutie Mark Crusader’s clubhouse and set a small pack onto the table in the room. “I really thought we had something going for us in the whole ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Professional Wrestlers’ thing.”
Apple Bloom trotted in after the pegasus and sighed. “Frankly, Ah’m surprised that we managed to get out of Carousel Boutique with the fabric for the costumes without being noticed by Rarity.”
“Yeah, it’s too bad Twilight caught us when we went past Sugarcube Corner,” Sweetie Belle said, also trotting in. “Although, to be honest, I’m surprised she wasn’t at the library researching that box she got.”
Scootaloo brought a hoof up to her chin and hummed in thought, hoof tapping on the table slightly. “Why does she even have that box?”
The three fillies thought together for a few seconds, before Apple Bloom stated, “I got nothin’.”
“Me neither,” Sweetie Belle said, setting her stuff down onto a chair. “So, what are we doing now?”
Scootaloo jumped up onto a different chair. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Shark Jumpers!”
Apple Bloom jumped onto an opposing chair. “That’s way too dangerous! And where are we even gonna find sharks to jump over, anyway?”
Scootaloo got off of and sat down upon the chair she was once on. “I dunno. Fluttershy?”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “Fluttershy probably has sharks.”
Scootaloo stuck a hoof up into the air and started declaring “Then is it decided that we’re going to go for Cutie Mark Cru-” before Apple Bloom stuck her hoof into Scootaloo's mouth to interrupt her.
“No,” she said. “Ah still think It’s way too dangerous.”
“Aww…” Scootaloo spat out Apple Bloom's hoof and pouted. “Well then, do you have any ideas, Apple Bloom?”
Apple Bloom thought, as the trio have been doing a lot lately. “We could always try Cutie Mark Crusaders Bakers again.”
“No thank you.” Sweetie Belle shook her head.. “I still have no idea how Pinkie did that.”
The three of them had a collective shudder. “It hurts to think about it,” Scootaloo stated.
“Yeah, let’s get off the topic,” Apple Bloom said. “So Sweetie, do you have any ideas?”
Sweetie Belle sat down and thought. And then she thought some more, and eventually she decided. “Nope.”
Apple Bloom sighed and picked up a crayon that was lying on the table. “Cutie Mark Crusaders artists?”
“Nah,” Scootaloo said. “I don’t feel like drawing…”
Sweetie lifted a drawing of Twilight in her magic grasp and sighed.
The three of them sat around the table and thought. Sweetie Belle began absentmindedly humming a tune.
“Hey,” Apple Bloom asked inquisitively. “What’s that song, Sweetie?”
Sweetie abruptly stopped. “O-Oh, it’s just something I came up with yesterday…”
“Well, it’s awesome!” Scootaloo declared. “You have to write some words for it!” She paused for a moment, then declared, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Songwriters!”
Apple Bloom perked up. “Yeah! Let’s do it!”
Sweetie Belle lightened up a bit and stuck her hoof up into the air. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Songwriters!”
The other two brought their hooves up in their salute. “Yeah!”
“Okay,” Apple Bloom said. “The first thing we need is a name.”
“...This Side of Eternity,” Sweetie Belle decided.
“What?” Scootaloo asked. “How’d you come up with that?”
“I dunno.” Sweetie had a puzzled expression. “It just… Fits.”
“Well, it’s awesome!” Scootaloo declared. Then she paused again, and stated “And it really does seem right, somehow."
“And it's so... Mystical." Apple Bloom whispered. "Anyway, we’ve got a title and now we gotta write!”
“On this side of eternity,” Scootaloo started. “Our fears run cold.”
“On this side of eternity,” Apple Bloom continued. “Our souls grow bold.”
“On this side of eternity,” Sweetie Belle also continued. “No story goes untold.”
“On this side of eternity,” The three of them finished. “We shall not withhold. Heading straight on 'till morning and onwards unfold.”
“The lyrics sound like they’re from some rock song,” Scootaloo said. “I like it!”
"And that's because you whined and complained until the words 'met up with the potential of the title?" Sweetie asked, while Scootaloo made a nervous grin and slid down in her chair.
“Well, we’ve got the chorus done,” Apple Bloom said in between writing down the words. “Now, what should we do for the verses?”
“It’s finished!” Sweetie Belle declared, holding the paper in her telekinetic grasp.
“Well?” Scootaloo asked. “Sing it!”
“What?” Sweetie Belle blushed. “I-I couldn’t…”
“Well, we shouldn't,” Apple Bloom said. “You made the tune and most of the words, and you’re the best singer out of us.”
Sweetie Belle moved her hoof in a circular motion. “Well, alright. But only because you’re my friends.”
She stood up and trotted up to the podium, This Side of Eternity in tow.
And then she sang.
Sweetie Belle's voice came to a stop and she opened her eyes. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were staring up at her in awe.
“Uh, hello?” Sweetie Belle asked, seeing their expressions frozen. “Are you two there?”
Sweetie jumped off of the podium and trotted towards her two friends. She leaned in and studied their expressions, before waving a hoof in front of their faces.
“Huh? What?” Scootaloo asked, snapping to attention.
“Sweetie Belle, that was amazing!” Apple Bloom declared once she recovered, a spark appearing in her eye.
“Yeah!” Scootaloo agreed. Sweetie noticed the same flash appear in her eye. “In fact, I’d say it’s even your special talent!”
“Really?” Sweetie gasped. “Do you think so?”
“Of course!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Why, it’s so obvious I can’t believe we hadn’t noticed it until now!”
Sweetie’s face brightened and she looked at her flank. Emblazoned upon it was a simple green heart with an eighth note sitting upon it.
“Wait, what?” Sweetie squeaked. It wasn't exactly what she expected. “I see it's music-related, but-"
But when she turned back to face her friends, she was alone in a starry blue field that radiated magic, everywhere.
Sweetie Belle trotted around in a circle, looking around. She called out a few more times, asking where she was, but the only thing she heard were echoes of her own voice. She sat down, glancing around at the starry ground and sighed, feeling depressed and lonely.
And then, she heard hoofsteps.
Sweetie’s ears perked up as she turned towards the direction of the sound. She could make out a hazy silhouette of a pony walking over and jumped up to her hooves, a grin appearing on her face. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you!” she exclaimed. “I was just singing something and then I was here and I--Twilight?”
Sweetie squinted her eyes in confusion as the figure cleared out into the familiar alicorn. Twilight was smiling, as if the entire situation was what she expected. Sweetie noticed a flicker of surprise shoot through Twilight’s eyes, but the rest of her face remained in an unchanging smile.
“Hello, Sweetie Belle,” she said. “Come on, follow me. I’m sure you have lots of questions.”
Twilight turned back and Sweetie blinked in confusion. Twilight seemed to be far too calm to be the Twilight she knew, but she shrugged it off as her imagination before hurriedly trotting up to her side.
The two of them walked on for about a minute in silence, before Sweetie asked the question both of them knew was going to be asked. “Where are we?”
“According to my knowledge,” Twilight started. “We are on the other side of reality, in the realm of pure magic.”
“What?”
“This is the place where all ponies’ magic comes from,” Twilight explained. “Every star in this place represents a singular pony, and each pony represented here can tap into this realm and use the magic contained here.”
“Oh,” Sweetie said. “Why are we here?”
“You have been recognized as a Spirit.”
Sweetie blinked. “I’m not dead!”
Twilight let out a laugh, before calmly turning her head towards Sweetie. “No, no. The best explanation, I suppose, would be that you’re a symbol, a representation of something greater than yourself, and that means you have the potential to ascend.”
“Ascend?” Sweetie asked. “You mean become an alicorn?”
“Yes,” Twilight said. “Celestia and Luna are Spirits themselves, along with Cadence and I. Celestia is a representation of the day and light, while Luna is the night, and dark.”
“And Cadence is love and you’re Magic?” Sweetie asked.
“Correct,” Twilight said. “And to my understanding, you represent Inspiration.”
There was silence.
“...What do I have to do with inspiration?” Sweetie asked.
“...I’m not actually sure,” Twilight admitted. “But apparently, it’s what you are. A symbol of inspiration and inspiring others, and I’m here to bring your potential to surface.”
Upon seeing Twilight’s horn start to glow, Sweetie interrupted. “Wait!” she called. “I have another question!”
“What is it?” Twilight asked, horn still glowing.
“Why are you so calm?” Sweetie asked. It perplexed her to no end.
“Actually,” Twilight said as she lowered her horn and got ready to ascend Sweetie Belle. “I’m off the deep end on the inside. Cadence just taught me to hide it.”
“Oh, okay,” Sweetie Belle said. For some reason it relieved her to know Twilight was freaking out, but she didn’t ponder it that hard because she felt a tingle of magic ripple down her spine, which she previously only felt in her horn. The feeling intensified near her shoulders, and she finally noticed that she was, in fact, glowing.
The light brightened and Sweetie shut her eyes.
Sweetie felt two new appendages start to grow from her back, and held in a breathe. She was really becoming an alicorn. This wasn’t a dream she was having after collapsing onto her bed after a late night of chasing fireflies. It felt far too real.
Then the light faded and Sweetie caught a quick glimpse of Twilight, whose horn flashed once more and Sweetie tumbled onto the floor of the Crusaders’ clubhouse.
Sweetie got up, shaking her head, and looked around. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo disappeared. They probably went off somewhere to look for me, Sweetie thought. I’ll just wait here.
Sweetie sat down at the table and picked up the song the three Crusaders wrote earlier that day. “You know,” Sweetie asked no one in particular. “I wonder what exactly a Spirit is. Twilight kinda glazed over that.”
Sweetie looked around a bit more and sighed. “When will they get here?”
After a few more minutes of waiting and doodling various pictures of her friends, Sweetie finally got up and decided to walk out the door to look for them. Cracking open the door, she peeked out, seeing nothing.
Why am I hesitating? Sweetie thought to herself. I’ll just… go.
But try as she might, for some reason she couldn’t bring herself out of the clubhouse.
“Ugh,” Sweetie complained. “I think it’s the wings.”
Sweetie ruffled her new wings which she was still a bit self-conscious about. Everything was going to be different, now. “At least Rarity will be happy,” Sweetie sighed. “Wait! If I’m a princess now then Rarity’s royalty, too! Oh, I have to tell her now!”
Given a new sense of purpose, Sweetie Belle boldly strode up to the door and opened, only to face the face of Apple Bloom, whose hoof was stretched out to open the door from the other side.
“Oh,” Sweetie Belle said uncertainly. “Hi…”
“Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom asked. “Where’d you go? We were looking for you all over the place!”
“W-Well…” Sweetie Belle started, confused about why she was acting so shy and different than normal. Apple Bloom was her friend. And yet she felt odd in Apple Bloom’s presence at the moment
Sweetie shuffled her body and wings behind the door and out of sight. “I kinda…”
“Yeeees?” Apple Bloom leaned in. Sweetie Belle took in a deep breath.
“I kinda ascended to alicornhood…” Sweetie tried to make the news sound casual, but she wasn’t sure if she sounded as unconfident as she felt.
Apple Bloom was silent. The two fillies stared at each other for a moment, before Sweetie Belle nudged the door open and revealed her wings.
“Well,” Apple Bloom stared. “Ah… Ah might need to sit down…”
Sweetie Belle opened the door wider and allowed Apple Bloom to step past her towards the table. “I don’t really believe it either, to be honest,” she said. “I still need to talk to Twilight about everything that’ll change and I’m not sure if I’m quite ready for that, yet.” “Ah can’t believe it either,” Apple Bloom said.
The two sat for a while in uncomfortable silence. Finally, Sweetie Belle asked, “So where’s Scootaloo?”
“She’s off looking for you in town,” Apple Bloom said.
“Ah,” Sweetie responded. “I should probably go get her, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Sweetie fidgeted a little bit more.
Apple Bloom coughed.
“So,” Sweetie said. “I guess I’ll help you two find your cutie marks?”
“Ah guess,” Apple Bloom said. “It would feel wrong to kick you out of the Crusaders. We’ve been through so much, ya know?”
“Yeah.” Sweetie Belle wanted some tea, for some reason. “Well, I have to go and talk to Rarity now. She’ll probably faint from shock.”
The two of them had a chuckle. Sweetie got up and threw a sheet over her back. “Well, I’m off now,” she said. “And don’t worry, I won’t act all high and might like I’m better than you.”
Apple Bloom waved goodbye as Sweetie walked through the door. Once the alicorn was out of sight, she let out a sigh and set her head down onto the table. “Nothing will ever be the same again…”
