Sweetie Belle Loves Learning
Sweetie Belle loves learning
by Serene Secret
translation by Nova Twinkle
There was a knock on the door.
You put down the book in your hooves and looked up, squeezing your eyes. Burn the midnight oil just to read can cause dizziness, even for a seasoned late-night reader like you. You lighted your horn and encapsulated the wooden door with your magenta magic aura. Actually, the door wasn’t even locked, in case anypony wanted to pay the local library a visit.
Behind the door stood a snow-white unicorn. Her delicate violet mane emitted an opalescent glow under the shining moon.
“Twilight, I’m sorry to bother you this late.” The unicorn tilted her head, hints of apology leaking through her blue eyes.
But behind her almost natural smile, you saw something had deeply unsettled her.
“Oh, Rarity, please come inside. Is there any problem?” You collected the books and notes spread across the table with expedition, sorted them into seven neat stacks according to their field and size.
“No, thanks. I just… want you to do me a favour.” She stayed outside, forehoof nervously sliding across the floor.
“Are you… OK? ” Confusion and uneasiness everfree-forestly clouded your thoughts.
“Uh, it's about Sweetie Belle. She was having extra lessons here two days ago?”
As if on cue, that name gave you a headache.
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Sweetie Belle was no doubt the most energetic filly. Countless bad ideas of Cutie Mark Crusaders were brought up by her.
You led the three exhausted fillies towards the library. ”So, what gives you the idea that making a pony pyramid on top of city hall will earn you cutie marks?” You refrained from yelling.
“That. uh… Cutie Mark Crusaders Assassins?” Sweetie Belle was facing you innocently, blinking her eyes to earn more cuteness. And also stop your upcoming lecture.
“Listen, Sweetie Belle.” You slowed your pace, “If I wasn’t passing by at the right moment, you three could very likely fall and… I’m sorry girls, but life is not a joke.”
“I’m sorry, Twilight.” ”Me too.” “Sorry.” Three fillies faced down in guilt.
Sigh. “No need for that. Promise me, Safety is your number one priority.”
“Yes, Twilight.” Hearing their promise, you gave them a big hug with your hooves and wings.
“Say, Twilight. We are really tired out for the climbing. Can we try teleport?” Apple Bloom gave a nervous smile.
“Ok. Come closer and don’t move.” You can already see their exhaustion crippling their learning efficiency. Magical aura sparkled around your horn, and with a dazzling light, you were facing a familiar roll of bookshelves.
“Wow.”
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“She is… pushing herself too hard recently. Of course I am appreciative of her studying purposefully, but her…” Rarity was calculating her words. ”fascination?”
“Or possession?”
“Yes, that. She is practicing till very late these days. I just saw her mint-green magic through the crack of door. For Celestia’s name, Sweetie Belle is staying up this late to learn magic, and I’m not even sure how to feel: happy for her diligence or sad for her heedlessness? Fillies these days… We even had a fight. Now she locked herself in her room and won’t talk to me. Twilight, you are the only pony I can turn to.”
You let out a long held breath, waving your hoof. “You can count on me, Rarity. Study instead of sleep? Sounds like a familiar filly to me.”
You can't help but recall your younger days. Cadence got you a million times practicing magic under the quilt. To out-fox the fox, you even developed a method to reduce magic aura brightness.
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“Twilight! Twilight! Look at this!” Sweetie Belle screamed, holding a book in her levitation field. After an intense green flash, the book was, well, charred, to say the least. Her prior excitement froze. “Why?”
You (Twilight “the Bookworm” Sparkle) gasped at the atrocity. After six forced Pressure Control Move Cadence-style, you finally found your voice. “Sweetie Belle, what have you… what were you intended to do?”
“I’m sorry, Twilight. I followed the book to the word.” Seeing her eyes misted, your anger dissipated instantly. “I just want to teleport the book.”
“Oh, Sweetie. Don't feel too hard about it. It is natural for an undertrained pony to miscast such an advanced spell like teleportation.”
“So, are you looking down at me?” Her sudden eruption stopped you in track. “Why? You were in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns at my age, and I cannot even cast a single advanced spell?”
Her words immediately reminded you of the last time she practiced fireball spell. “Sweetie Belle, I’m not looking down upon you. It’s just… Everypony has her unique talent, and isn’t it your goal to find yours?”
“But I learn levitation so slow!”
She was now holding you in an embrace, pouring tears all over your coat.
You were suddenly at a loss. “Let me guess, did Silver Spoon say something terrible, again?”
“Yes! She… she said I’m an… an earth pony with a stick on my head!” Her fragmented words echoed in your chest.
“And I even picked a fight with them for this.” Applebloom injected. Scootaloo was facing the floor, obviously recalling something horrible.
Stroking her cheek, you sighed. “Listen, Sweetie. If you work hard enough, you can be a respected magician eventually.”
“Really?”
“Come on, are you forgetting who your teacher is?”
A smile replaced the frown.
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You trotted on the lunar-illuminated streets of Ponyville.
“So, Princess Luna is not interfering with this? Last time she…”
“Don’t even mention it.” Rarity’s face jerked at your words. “That was simply awful. Besides, if Sweetie Belle keeps staying up, Luna will probably miss her fast-paced dream. Perhaps she is having a sweet dream after this kind of workout.”
“Perhaps. Ah, here we are.”
“Her lights are out.” Rarity glanced at her sister’s room.
“Maybe she has gone to bed. After all, spell cast practice is a demanding work.”
There’s something unsettling you can’t put your hooves on.
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“But, why?” Sweetie Belle was again fuming.
“One step at a one, Sweetie.” It was nearly impossible to get your words to the other two fillies through this magnitude of frustration. “You should have at least grasped those basic spells before moving on.”
“But teleportation is awesome! And I can seek reven… I mean rapprochement with other ponies.”
“Sweetie Belle, listen. Advanced spells are based on those more basic ones. If you do not have a good command of the basic, you can get into big trouble. Remember that time you almost burned the library down?”
“No! If I work hard enough, I can do this!”
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“Rarity! She’s not at home!” You exclaimed.
“Her door is locked!” after only a second of hesitation, Rarity took a few steps back, and rammed the door open. ”Sweetie Belle!”
“Windows, locked!”
“She’s… not here!” Rarity was on the blink of tears by now.
That is when you set your eyes on a familiar book lying on the floor: Advanced Spells: Spatial Location. Beside the book scattered some manuscripts.
Something occurred to you.
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No! If I work hard enough, I can do this!
“I know what happened to her. Perhaps… Perhaps she learned the spell and teleported to somewhere else…” You forced a smile on your face. Not just to Rarity, but also to youself.
If you do not have a good command of the basic, you can get into big trouble.
You skimmed through Sweetie Belle’s manuscripts. “She… she has not learned the spacial positioning.”
A droplet of liquid dropped from above, splattered on the paper.
Blood.