Chapter 1
"I just can't wait for tomorrow night! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!"
Applebloom jumped circles around her two friends. They were standing around their clubhouse in the late summer head, talking idly and waiting for the sun to set. In one more night, the Fair of Fyre Lights would take place in Ponyville for the first time since the fillies were born, and they could not be more excited. It was all they were able to talk about for the past two weeks.
"Yes, Applebloom," Scootaloo said, with only a mild rolling of her eyes. She was sitting in the middle of the floor next to Sweetie Belle, the third Crusader. "We all are."
Applebloom seemed oblivious to her friend's sarcastic comment, however, and continued her happy trot around the clubhouse undeterred.
"What are you most excited about, Sweetie Belle?" she asked as her orbit neared the white filly in front of her.
Sweetie Belle looked thoughtful for a moment. She had been brushing Scootaloo's mane, against Scoot's will, of course, and the brush hovered in midair next to her as she contemplated.
"I guess," she said finally, the brush moving back to Scootaloo's fuchsia mane, "wearing the outfit Rarity made for me!" She smiled and looked far away. "I haven't seen it yet, but it's going to look sooo pretty, I just know it!" As Applebloom hopped on by, Sweetie picked up on her enthusiasm, and began to hop along with her.
"I bet you will, Sweetie!" Applebloom squealed at her friend. "In fact, I bet you'll be the Princess of Light!"
Both she and Sweetie Belle burst into little giggles, then, and the brush fell with a loud clunk onto Scootaloo's head.
"Ow!" Scootaloo cried. "You grainbrain, you dropped the brush on me."
Scootaloo stood up and shook her mane out a little. Since she'd gotten her cutie mark, she hadn't cut it even once, and it had grown long enough to almost rival Rarity's elegant curls. She constantly complained about it, but the other Crusaders didn't think she'd ever cut it.
Sweetie Belle looked up from where she and Applebloom had been leaning against each other with laughter. "Sorry, Scoots," she said sheepishly, lifting the brush with magic and placing it back on the shelf.
"No problem," Scootaloo said, waving her hoof a little. "I think you'll be the princess too... of course, you wouldn't be if they let pegasi be princesses!" She flashed a smile and pulled out her wings to pose. Her friends burst into giggles again, collapsing on the floor where they stood.
"What? What's so funny?!"
The sunset came slowly that day, and everything was cast in long, eerie shadows as Sweetie Belle started to make her way home. The days had been growing longer and longer, but now that the summer was beginning to draw to a close, these late days with her friends were going to start dwindling. Sweetie thought about it as she walked down the dirt road that led to Sweet Apple Acres.
Now that all the Crusaders had their cutie marks, they seemed to hang out less. This was something they they had all feared, somewhere in their hearts, but now that it seemed to be looming over them, Sweetie couldn't help but truly dread it. When Scootaloo, who had been first, had gotten her mark, they were able to at least stick together and try to find out her own and Applebloom's. Then, when Sweetie's had appeared on her flank, the two of them had done everything they could to make Applebloom continue to feel like one of the gang. But now, they didn't have any real reason to hang out anymore.
Sweetie kicked at a rock in her path, frustrated. It wasn't like they were doing it on purpose! She knew that. But everyone was spending so much time on their talents, and thinking about their future... there wasn't a lot of time left for them to really goof off the way they used to. The rock went flying into the orchard next to the road, and Sweetie sighed. It hadn't helped.
By the time she had made it into Ponyville, the sun had almost dipped below the horizon, and Luna had already begun the moon's nightly ascent into the sky. The moon was almost full, and it cast nearly as much light as the sun. Tomorrow would be the brightest night of the summer.
Reminded suddenly of the fair, Sweetie decided to drop into her sister's boutique before going home for dinner. She was antsy, and a little excited, to see Rarity's progress on her dress.
"Come in!" called Rarity's voice from the back of the store. She didn't sound the tiniest bit stressed, even though her clothes ponies were nearly all empty; she obviously had a lot of customers for tomorrow. "If you're looking for a dress for the fair, I'm quite sorry, but we're positively- Sweetie Belle!" Rarity walked out of the back, a needle and thread following closely behind. When she saw her sister, her face lit up from concentration to surprise.
"What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming until the fair!" Rarity smiled at her sister and turned around, walking back to her sewing room in the back of her shop. "Come on back, I still have some work to do on your ensemble."
Sweetie Belle smiled and trotted along.
"Well, it is only a few hours away," Sweetie pointed out, stepping into the room. As usual, it was a complete mess. Empty bolts of cloth and different colors of thread littered the room, adding to what Rarity liked to call "creative chaos." Sweetie just called it a mess; but tonight she kept her mouth shut and followed her sister.
Rarity pulled the dress up to Sweetie and squinted for a moment at her. Then she looked at the dress. Then back to Sweetie. "Well," she said finally, poking the floating needle through a stray piece of fabric, "I'll be done by then."
Sweetie Belle just nodded. She loved watching her sister work, and even though sewing hadn't turned out to be her Super Special Talent, part of her still wanted to be like her big sister. After a few minutes, though, Rarity broke the silence with a question.
"So, where were you all day? I went by the house earlier and you weren't there."
"Oh," Sweetie Belle said, eyes breaking away from watching Rarity's needle. "I was with the Crusaders."
"And how are they doing?"
"Fine, I guess."
"You don't seem to see them as much lately." Rarity's sentence was punctuated by the sound of her biting the thread and tying the end into the fabric.
"I guess not," Sweetie Belle answered truthfully. It was hard to keep the sigh out of her voice as she admitted it.
Rarity turned around and found some threads of a different color. After comparing the two shades of pink for a moment, she picked one and walked back to the dress she was working on. "That's fine," she reassured Sweetie Belle. "You are all busy."
Gracefully, Rarity continued to hoof sew the dress for a few minutes. Sweetie Belle didn't say anything. She really didn't want to have this conversation. After a moment or so of watching, she decided to change the subject.
"Rarity," she started, tentatively. Then she looked down at her hooves, unsure of how to continue.
"Yes?" Rarity said, eyes still on the dress.
"Do you think... d'youthinkIcudbetheprincezzuvlight?" Sweetie Belle finished in a rush. She felt a blush creeping up to her horn.
"What was that?"
Sweetie Belle sighed. Was she difficult on purpose?
"The Princess of Light. Do you think I could..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Rarity spun around, a grin glued to her face.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity's squealed, her voice squeaking as she said her sister's name. "Oh, darling, of COURSE you could be the Princess of Light! Especially with this simply stunning dress I'm making for you. You'll be the belle of the ball! ...or, would that be the filly of the fair... the coquette of the carnival?" Rarity looked off for a moment, thinking, then came back down to earth with a giggle. "Why ever would you be embarrassed to ask something like that?"
Sweetie Belle, who had been avoiding looking her sister in the eye, finally looked up and shrugged. Because I was afraid you'd react like that, she thought flatly.
"I dunno," she mumbled, instead. "Don't you have be, like, good at magic and stuff?"
Rarity turned back to the dress, a new fervor in her sewing.
"Well, yes," she admitted, cocking her head to the side a bit. "There is some skill involved. But you don't need to worry about that! My little sister has more skill in her tail than most unicorns have in their whole body. You just need to show everypony the light inside you!"
A few minutes later, as Sweetie Belle was walking home, she thought about what Rarity meant. During the Fair of Fyre Lights, unicorns from all over Equestria would be using their magic to decorate Ponyville and the land around it. Sweetie had heard stories her whole life about lanterns floating in the trees, and multicolored flames that bounced across the ground, never burning anything. Everypony would be working hard to create their own, unique light; one that would burn until morning and show off the light inside of them.
As she neared the house she shared with her parents, Sweetie Belle wondered if she'd be able to match all the amazing unicorns from all across Equestria. Maybe, if her friends were allowed to help her... but she shook her head. It was about the light inside of her, not the light inside her friends. She'd have to figure out a way to show her light, and become this year's Princess of Light.
Deep in the dark of the Everfree Forest, something stirred.
There was a chattering in the distance. A primal voice that called to them, carried by the wind. "They are coming," it said. "Soon, they will be here, and we will be ready."
Suddenly, a thousand, burning little eyes opened and looked around the forest. White hot and fiery, they blinked and peered at their surroundings.
"It is almost time. Just one more day."
And just as suddenly as they had opened, the eyes all closed at once.