Visions of Sugar Belles
Out of all the places Sugar Belle could have pictured herself celebrating Hearth’s Warming Eve, Ponyville was certainly not one of them. And yet here she was, for no apparent reason, in a much larger town hours away from anyplace she’d ever been.
Even in spite of its relatively small size, compared to where she had lived for most of her life, it seemed every bit as overwhelming as Manehattan. Little bottled rainbows were hung in chains as far she could make out, something that was familiar and yet so out of place to her. Granted, she had lived in other towns like this before coming to Starlight’s village years ago, but it’d been so long since she’d seen any of this spectacle. She’d never been quite certain why a commune built on equality considered even the simplest of light arrangements a threat to the status quo, but one thing was certain: she was so absolutely blinded that it was only by a stroke of luck that she didn’t accidentally bump into anypony.
The light of the decorations, the light of the newly formed snow, all were the same to her. She might as well have been a bat pony with how little she could adjust to all of this. And yet something about this overwhelming feeling seemed to appeal to her incredibly.
As for her destination in town, that was something not even Sugar herself was particularly certain of. At first, it’d been a simple invitation, one that Pinkie had so kindly extended to her a month in advance. And yet somehow, all that had changed, turned into an obligation. Even when the plans had turned out to conflict, when she had found out over a week ago that her friend had been called to visit her family and wouldn’t be home to entertain her, here Sugar remained, waiting for something that wouldn’t come.
It wasn’t that she’d bought any train tickets in advance, or that she’d already told everypony in the village where she’d be staying. It wasn’t that nopony else she knew had any plans; all they knew is that she would be spending Hearth’s Warming someplace else. She could have just as easily stayed where she was and just told them that her plans hadn’t evened out. Yet for some reason or another, she had chosen otherwise. If only she knew why she’d made such a decision in the first place, maybe coming to Ponyville wouldn’t feel quite so off to her.
Until then, she would sit on the bench near Town Hall, idly watching the flurries, too enmeshed in her own world to even extend a hoof to the locals passing her by. Even if they were to notice, Sugar wouldn’t have a clue about what to say to them. Going through possible conversation starters in her head, her heart pounded at the realization that the sorts of things she would say to her fellow villagers could come out sounding all wrong.
For some, it would have been a mere change of location and nothing more. But to Sugar Belle, who had spent nearly her entire life in isolation of Starlight’s community, it was a whole other world. And while she might have enjoyed talking to other ponies, adventure was the most frightening of prospects to her.
Sameness was staying inside one’s comfort zone, of never letting anypony else in unless they intended to convert to your own ways. Yes, she had told herself every time she had doubts, this was the absolute truth, and while difference brought freedom, it also brought fear. She would be courageous only so long as she could keep it contained.
Without its bounds, she would only be another pony who’d rather freeze herself half to death than try to let somepony new into her life. And here she thought she’d rejected sameness once and for all, that she could take the plunge straight into an ordinary community.
Even she wasn’t quite sure how long she would sit there thinking of nothing, but in hindsight, she really ought to have known that it wouldn’t last. For standing there before her a single small filly giving her all sorts of strange stares.
“Um…what are you doing just sitting there like that? Aren’t you cold?”
As Sugar heard the tiny voice, she steadily began to take in the foal’s features. Almost by instinct, the first item that came to her attention was the other figure’s cutie mark—a music note inside a star, surrounded by a large shield. Certainly not the equal sign she was used to, but then again, it wasn’t like she expected that in the first place. Other details, like her white fur, pink-and-purple mane, and unicorn horn, came to her attention a bit later by comparison. For the first few moments, all she could really do was stare at the adorned flank and quickly avert her eyes once she realized how awkward she must look to the local.
“Are you all right?” the filly asked after failing to get a reply.
“Oh, um, I’m fine,” Sugar replied. “Sorry. I really am okay, so no need to worry.”
“You sure about that? You’re shivering an awful lot. How long have you been out here, anyway?”
“I don’t know. Maybe an hour or so, I guess? I haven’t really been paying that much attention.”
As much as she might have enjoyed being around foals back home, all Sugar could bring herself to think was how to make the filly realize she was more likely than not a nutcase. While, logically speaking, she was far from that, at least it’d be better than having to keep holding an already taxing conversation with a complete stranger. After all, it wasn’t like she’d ever have to meet her again, anyway.
A few more words pathetically sputtered out of Sugar’s mouth against her own better judgment before she suddenly and inexplicably asked:
“Um, are you happy here?”
“Where do you mean by ‘here?’” the filly replied.
“In this place.”
“Place? What place? Equestria?”
“No, this town. Ponyville, is it?”
“Yeah, and why wouldn’t I be happy here? I’ve lived here all my life. There are always ponies around to make friends with, a whole bunch of memories to look back on…”
“I don’t know,” Sugar replied. “It’s just that where you live, well, it’s pretty different. I don’t even know what to make of it, to be honest.”
“Really? Right now, everything’s pretty normal around here, no magical battles or critters escaping from the Everfree or anything. I’ve never really known anything else, though, so maybe I’m just used to it by now. All this crazy stuff’s been happenin’ since I was a baby, but I can sort of see why you’d think that was weird. What’s so different about a bunch of lights and parties, though?”
“Nothing, they just didn’t really celebrate Hearth’s Warming where I come from. That’s all. We didn’t celebrate much of anything, for that matter.”
The white filly merely gave her another perplexed look at hearing Sugar’s previous statement. So far, so good. Even after that divergence from plan, she was still on track for the time being. Just a few more remarks like that and the foal’s young mind would surely move on to other things.
“My friend Apple Bloom says her cousin’s family is like that,” the filly began, “but she’s not like you. Even after being around different traditions, she still takes to ours. She’s probably the biggest Hearth’s Warming Eve partier around here; she has all these sweaters and cakes and…”
“I make cakes,” Sugar blurted out once more, cursing herself as soon as she said it. “What I meant to say was that I know somepony like that, too. Come to think of it, that’s actually why I came here. I was supposed to visit her.”
“I only really know one pony like that in town, and she’s gone off to see her family for the holidays. You’re talking about Pinkie Pie, right?”
Sugar simply nodded in response, not wanting to further humiliate herself.
“I’m sure she didn’t mean to leave you behind. I mean, I get why you’re upset, but she treats her friends way better than that. Trust me. It had to have been a mistake.”
“I’m not that upset. Disappointed, sure, but I can manage. I wanted a change of pace, so I came here anyway.”
“Then why weren’t you talking to anypony? Just tell them you know Pinkie, and you’ll probably hit it off with them right away. She knows everypony around here.”
“I said before, this place is different to me. It’s not exactly the easiest thing in Equestria to just act like everypony else, and I ought to know.”
“You don’t have to act like everypony else. Just talk to them like you’re talking with me right now, and you’ll be fine. We get tourists all the time, with Princess Twilight living here and all. Nopony will mind a bit if you just talk to them. They might even let you into someplace warm, and…”
The filly could barely get another word in before the strange mare on the bench turned to trot away from her.
“Wait, stop!” the younger pony called out to her. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know,” answered Sugar, slowly coming to a stop. “I just wanted to be alone, where I won’t have to worry about messing up around somepony from a way of life I still don’t understand at all or making a fool out of myself.”
“Oh. You could’ve just gone to a library or someplace where you wouldn’t be bothered. It'd sure keep you warmer than just sittin’ out here in the cold.”
“Look, I’m fine. I really don’t know why you keep worrying about me getting cold, but I’m okay. The place where I came from got like this, too. I’m used to it.”
After hearing this, the filly suddenly broke eye contact with her, giving Sugar the slightest of hopes that her visitor would finally leave her alone. However, her hopes were soon dashed when she realized that the foal had only averted her eyes in order to cast a spell. From the looks of it, she’d only started knowing how to use magic a few months ago, as her green aura fluctuated back and forth with effort.
Even in spite of the discomfort this filly had been causing her, the older mare couldn’t help but crack a nostalgic smile as she watched. Her parents and sister had been earth ponies, so they didn’t have any idea how to help. Perhaps it was those sorts of thoughts that led her to what she did next.
“Careful,” Sugar whispered. “It can be a lot harder to focus your magic when it’s chilly out like this. If your horn isn’t used to it, you can overstrain it.”
“Wait, you can overwork your horn? That never happens to my magic teacher.”
“That’s because she’s so experienced. You can ask about it later, but trying to use it now isn’t worth it. Can I help instead?”
“Sure,” the filly answered. “I was trying to levitate something in my saddlebag.”
Not wanting to risk her magic in spite of her relative experience, Sugar decided to pull the saddlebag off the foal instead. Even on the off chance she would overstrain her own horn, there was no way she’d ever let her companion know how cold she was really getting.
Opening the contents of the bag, she then remarked, “You have a lot in here. What did you want out of it.”
“The pink scarf. My sister makes them and gives them to ponies in need. Here.”
Before Sugar could protest, the filly had already climbed onto her and was trying to tie the scarf around her neck, making sure not to use her magic.
“I’m okay, really. You don’t need to give me anything—“
“No,” the foal stated firmly. “If you’re going to stay out here, then you have to wear this. Rarity never lets me outside without one.”
“Your mom?”
“No, my sister. She sure acts like my mom sometimes.”
“That’s nice, though,” Sugar responded. “I had a sister, but I haven’t seen her in years. She didn’t want anything to do with my town. In hindsight, maybe I should’ve listened to her.”
“So that’s why you asked me if I liked it here? Because you don’t like it where you live?”
“No, it’s not that. Not at all. It’s just that lately, everypony’s split up between whether they want to go back to the old ways or live more like the rest of you. When I first came here, I thought being like you guys would’ve been the best option, but I now I realize I don’t really belong here to begin with. At the same time, though, I really don’t want to go back to the way things used to be.”
After she’d tied the scarf over Sugar’s neck, the filly leaped onto the bench right next to her, huddling close to the older unicorn.
“Why is that? What was it where you live, and why isn’t it like here?”
"Well, for one, there's that," Sugar said, pointing at the filly's cutie mark.
“Lots of ponies here tell me my cutie mark’s pretty unique, too,” the filly responded. “It matches with two of my friends’, and that hasn’t happened in a really long time. My magic teacher’s been researching it like crazy, but I’m not really in a rush to question it. I’m just happy to have one after all this time!”
“That isn’t exactly what I meant. What I meant to say was, um, that we didn’t really get cutie marks. I already had one once I moved over there, but they changed it so it’d be like everypony else’s.”
The foal stared at her in confusion yet again for a few seconds before finally coming to an understanding.
“My sister’s been there, I think. The town where that one unicorn stole everypony’s cutie marks and replaced them? I wouldn’t want to live there at all.”
After seeing the mare beside her flinch slightly, she clarified, “Not like that, of course. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I’ve spent so long trying to get a cutie mark and it’d be a real shame for somepony to lose something they’d worked that hard on and—darn it, I’m really messing up, huh?”
Instead, Sugar chuckled in understanding.
“That’s exactly how I feel, even just talking to you. You get so afraid of offending ponies that you just shut down, right?”
“I guess I get it now, why you’re so afraid to talk to other ponies and all. But why didn’t you just go inside some store or someplace where ponies are too caught up in their shopping to pay any attention?”
“I didn’t want to risk it, I guess. And to be honest, even now, I’m pretty scared. I’m not really used to seeing everypony all…different like this.”
“You don’t like it when everypony is the same, but you feel uncomfortable when everypony’s different. That may have done you good for a while, but to me, that’s no way to live. You have to let ponies in if you really want to change. That’s what Rarity would tell me.”
“Then your sister’s probably right. It’s just hard for me to get used to, is all. It’ll take a while, that’s for sure.”
“But you can start now, right?” the filly responded. “I mean, you have your cutie mark now. You’re free from all that pressure now. Why let it keep controlling you? If you’re so interested in seeing how we live, why not come with me?”
“What do you mean, come with you? Where’re you going?”
“I’ve been outside handing out scarves, but I also wanted to get some ponies to come out caroling with me. Mayor Mare’s been trying to get a group together, but we need a few more helping hooves. I told everypony I’d try to find more singers, because Rarity did something like that in Manehattan a few months ago. I wasn’t there, but she put on a whole neighborhood play and brought everypony together. Now that I have my cutie mark, I’ve decided I want to try to do something like that. And, well, I like singing, so it’d make sense.”
“So you’ve already decided what you want to do with your cutie mark?”
“Yep! Help other ponies and sing, definitely. I don’t really like singing in front of crowds all that much, but if it helps ponies like you get in the spirit of Hearth’s Warming, then it’s definitely worth it. Besides, if you’re going to get up your courage talking to other ponies around here, then I’ll have to get used to crowds, too. If we’re going to change, I say we might as well do it together.”
“I sure wish I was like you, then. I’m a grown mare, and I still don’t know what I’m meant to do with this mark of mine. I mean, sure, I’d bake like I always liked to, but—“
“You don’t need to know what you’re going to do with it. Just let life take you along. Besides, that town of yours only got their cutie marks back a few months ago, so basically it’s like you just earned yours again. If you didn’t know what you were going to do with it before, then this is your chance to figure it out again.”
“Really?” Sugar questioned. “I guess I never thought of it that way. And you’re sure they’d let a tourist go caroling with all of you?”
“Of course. As long as you can sing, anypony can join the group. We’re always glad to have new faces in Ponyville. And if you’re willing, I’m sure they’d love to hear your story so they can help out, too. There’s no need to be afraid anymore.”
“Then I’ll definitely go with you,” whispered Sugar, her voice breaking as tears of joy swept across her face.
Leaping off the bench, the filly extended a hoof towards her new friend, urging her to do the same. With her hooves on the city streets heading towards a new beginning, Sugar almost felt like her courage had increased sevenfold.
“Where’re we heading now?” she asked the filly.
“Rarity’s. The caroling session isn’t for hours, and we have to get you warm. She’ll be glad to see you, too.”
“What do I do if I forget the words? I just realized I haven’t sung these songs in a long time.”
“We have songbooks. Don’t try to get out of your promise now!”
“Of course not. Not after the way you gave me a chance here. Come to think of it, though, I was so focused on trying to push you away that I don’t think I ever got your name.”
“Sweetie Belle,” the filly answered as the two continued on.
“Mine’s Sugar Belle. So maybe I will turn out like you after all.”
“Yeah,” Sweetie responded, “it must mean it was really meant to be. We’ll work towards our cutie marks together even after Hearth’s Warming. We’ll work towards beautiful hearts and sing out to the world. In my mind, that’s what it really means to be Belles.”
The path to Ponyville seemed to extend into the horizon, far longer than either of the two could’ve realized. But then again, it was also their path to the future.
“And once a Belle finds another Belle, it’s a promise for good.”