Chapters Sweetie Belle adjusted her eyes to the stream of light glaring on her face. She sat up, taking a deep breath, and listened to the chirping blue birds on the trees outside of her window. The unicorn slid out of the sheets and shivered in the crisp morning air. She slumped over to her door, opened it, and felt a whoosh of air.
Sweetie Belle took another deep breath, and the aroma of fresh pancakes and maple syrup swarmed around her. Her eyes widened slowly and a big smile spread across her face.
"PANCAKES!" The unicorn squeaked. She raced down the hall and slid down the stairs excitedly.
Sweetie Belle expected to see her sister, Rarity, standing near by the hot stove flipping warm pancakes. She trotted in with a gleaming smile, and Rarity was instead pacing back and forth with a phone levitating near her ears.
"Whatcha up to, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked excitedly, not noticing her sister running around nervously.
"SHHHHHH!" Rarity shushed, "I've gotten a crucial order due in two days!" The older unicorn continued blabbing into her phone, tugging on the spiraling wire.
Sweetie Belle shrugged, and trotted past her anxious sister. The filly glanced at the fresh pancakes sizzling on the stove. She tip-toed over the long wire Rarity continued to tug on and looked up to the cabinets, unable to reach them without jumping on the countertop. Sweetie Belle smiled and lifted her two front hooves into the air, placing them onto the edge of the counter. Lifting herself up onto the top, using her front hooves, she dragged her hind legs up, and extended to her full height.
"Ow!" Sweetie Belle winced as she hit her head against the bottom of the cabinet.
The filly glanced over at her sister, who was finally hanging the phone up. Rarity, just noticing her little sister standing on the counter, gasped and made an angered face at Sweetie Belle.
"What in EQUESTRIA are you doing up there?! You're going to get the countertop filthy!" Rarity yelled.
"I'm just getting a plate . Calm down, I just couldn't reach it!" Sweetie Belle explained with a small smile.
"Well, why can't you just use your magic !" Rarity exclaimed frustratedly.
Sweetie Belle lost her smile and looked over at Rarity with a sigh.
"Oh... Um..." Rarity remembered, Sweetie Belle hadn't learned how to use her magic yet unlike the other fillies. "I forgot, darling. I'm truly sorry." The mare flattened her ears.
Sweetie Belle looked down disappointedly. "I really wanna pancake."
Rarity perked up, "Well then I can get you one!" The older mare trotted over to her sister, levitated the filly to the ground, and swung open the cabinet reaching for a plate. Rarity zoomed over to the stove, turned off the burner and lifted a fluffy pancake onto the plate while Sweetie Belle dragged herself up to the table.
The older mare quickly organized the syrup, butter, and plate in front of the filly. "Hm... Ok... Is that all you need, darling?"
Sweetie Belle nodded with a large smile spread across her face as maple syrup dripped down her muzzle. Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes cheerfully, then turned around and trotted upstairs to her work room. After her usual start to the morning, Sweetie Belle trotted up to her sister's sewing room and peeked her head through the doorway. The mare was wearing her red glasses while levitating and dropping multiple rolls of fabric around, thread, and needles. Rarity slumped back into her chair, sighing and closes her eyes, exhausted.
"Hey sis!" Sweetie Belle squeaked quietly.
Rarity jumped slightly then turned around, "Yes? What do you want?"
"Um... I was just wondering... Could... You help me with... Um... My magic ?" The filly asked, she flattened her ears and blushed.
"Oh!" The mare sat up, "Well... I REALLY REALLY would right now. But you see." The older unicorn pointed to her mess of work she needed to attend to.
"Um," Sweetie Belle said disappointedly, "That's alright, I mean... I can ask Twilight or somepony like that." the filly stated.
Rarity sat up straight. "Oh no, darling! I can show you, I Pinkie Pie Promise! I just need a little spare time."
"Oh, okay!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, "Maybe I could help you?" She suggested.
Rarity grew nervous, "No! No! It's ok! I don't need help, maybe just a day or so, and I can help you with your magic!"
"Well, alright!" The filly answered, "Call me if you need me!" She said trotting away.
And as Rarity had promised to help, she escorted Sweetie Belle to Twilight's library. The filly reached the doorbell and excitedly jumped up and slammed her hoof against the small button. After a loud crash and a familiar voice yelling for Spike, the door creaked open, revealing a small dragon.
"Oh..." Spike blushed, "Hi, Rarity! Haven't seen you in a while..."
"Hey Spike!!" Sweetie Belle squealed.
The dragon jumped back, just realizing the filly. Twilight trotted up to the door gently pushing the dragon away. "Sorry about that," She laughed. "Anyways, hi Rarity! Oh, hey there, Sweetie Belle! What brings you here?" She asked cheerfully.
"Oh, right!" Rarity said, "Well, Sweetie Belle here-"
"I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to learn how to use my MAGIC!" Sweetie Belle interrupted loudly, she said with a large, bright smile.
Rarity winced slightly then looked back over to Twilight, "Precisely." She added.
Twilight stood quietly for a moment, obviously thinking. "Well, alright! But I'm going to warn you, handling your magic for the first time is a bit difficult." she explained.
"Oh, that's okay!" The filly answered excitedly.
"Well somepony seems a bit hyper..." Rarity muttered, "might have been the maple syrup. I'll have to get the sugar-free next time."
Twilight giggled and invited the two inside. She brought them upstairs to her room and brought a few books along the way. After several minutes of thinking and calculating, and planning out how to teach a filly using simpler terms, she opened a book and pushed it in front of Sweetie Belle's muzzle.
"Okay! I'll just need you to read through these two pages," The alicorn said, using her magic while pointing and flipping between the pages carefully, "then we'll begin!"
Sweetie Belle looked through each page thoroughly and, unlike Twilight, flipped the page using her hoof disappointedly. The filly tried her hardest to understand what everything said, though almost all of the words were too complicated to comprehend.
"Uh, ok I'm done!" Sweetie Belle said with a pinch of uncertainty in her voice.
"Ok! Now we can start!" Twilight said excitedly, "To begin, I'm going to ask you some basic questions from those two pages you read. Question 1, 'How old does the average unicorn learn to use their magic?"
Sweetie Belle hesitated, "Uh... Oh! Um, four?" She guessed carefully.
"Close, it was three!" Twilight corrected. Sweetie Belle blushed, "Second! How many steps are there in the process of using your magic?" The alicorn asked.
The filly immediately flattened her ears, "Oh... three?"
"Again, very close! It was four," Twilight corrected again, "Last question! It's a tricky one," Sweetie Belle tensed up, "List all four of the steps in using your magic!"
"AWW COME ON!" Sweetie Belle yelled, and flopped on her back helplessly, "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER!?"
Rarity looked at the filly disappointedly, "Now, now, there is NO reason to give up! We all come across struggles and uncertainties sometimes, we just need to push through that problem!" The mare said confidently.
Twilight sighed, three straight hours of helping Sweetie Belle learn the basics is harder than you think.
"So, Sweetie Belle. What have we learned?" The alicorn asked.
"Stay straight," Sweetie Belle said, standing and saluting. The three laughed quietly, "Believe in yourself!" She said with a gleaming smile, "And relax!" The filly finished, shaking her hooves around.
Rarity and Twilight glanced at each other and smiled, "Ok, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity said, "We think you're ready."
The filly jumped around excitedly, "What are we learning now? What? Huh! What's next?!"
Twilight quietly walked out of the room for a moment. When she came back she was smiling, levitating a book and placing it down onto the table.
"Aww! Not more reading !" Sweetie Belle complained.
Rarity giggled and looked over to Twilight, "No, Sweetie Belle. I don't think Twilight wants you to read this book. Maybe you can try and levitate it?" The mare suggested.
Sweetie Belle's eyes widened slightly and stared at the book. "Oh..." She answered quietly. There was a long pause as the two mares cautiously waited for her to try and move it.
Minute after minute ticked by, the filly concentrated as hard as she could. Twilight and Rarity widened their eyes and watched carefully as Sweetie Belle glared at the book intensely. Flattening her ears, Sweetie Belle winced and noticed tiny lime green sparks bounce from her horn. The filly jumped up and smiled, though sat down and noticed larger sparks fly away. They became more frequent until finally, after days of trying, a flickering green aura encased her horn. The book in front of her struggled to levitate, though it lifted off of the ground.
Rarity and Twilight beamed at the flying pages, then realized that Sweetie Belle was jumping around excitedly. The book sped past Rarity's muzzle and she gasped in shock.
"Careful now, Sweetie Belle!" Twilight said, "Being too hyper can cause your magic to go haywire!" Rarity added.
Sweetie Belle blushed and flattened her ears again, "Oops, sorry Rarity!" She sat down next to the floating book and smiled.
The excited filly experimented with her new magic she tried to move the book around, though she never succeeded at maneuvering it very far before it flickered out and fell to the floor. Though, Sweetie Belle continuously attempted to position the book, struggling occasionally.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Few Weeks Later...
"Ok.... Good Sweetie Belle! Careful now... Steady... Steady..." Twilight said but was rudely interrupted by a crash of plates, Sweetie Belle winced and looked over at the pile of shards.
"Oops..." The filly blushed, "I-I'm sorry!"
"Oh well, I can clean that up later.... Uh.. Why don't we use a stack of books instead?" Twilight suggested.
Sweetie Belle looked up from the mess, "Good idea!!!"
The alicorn laughed and walked out of the room, "Spike!!!!!!! What in the name of EQUESTRIA did you do!?" Twilight yelled. Curious, Sweetie Belle walked quietly down to the stairs and noticed a giant pile of books covering the library floor.
Spike ran out from another room into Sweetie Belle's view, "WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO!?" He asked.
"That's what I'm asking you !" Twilight said, obviously confused.
The alicorn turned around and noticed Sweetie Belle, "Um... It might have been me..." Sweetie Belle stated nervously.
Spike ignored what everypony was saying, "I just finished organizing all of this!!!"
Twilight glanced at Sweetie Belle and blushed, "Oh... Why do you think this was because of you?"
Sweetie Belle blushed, "Well lets face it. One, you were working with me so you couldn't have done it! Two, Spike was probably making something in the kitchen considering he's wearing and apron. So it was probably me, it felt like I was carrying much more also..."
"Well... You're a pretty good thinker when it comes to arguments..." Spike stated, walking over to help Twilight put away the stacks of books.
The filly giggled, "That's why Rarity try's not to argue with me much!" Sweetie Belle trotted down and levitated one book at a time back to its proper place.
Sweetie Belle was sprawled out hanging upside-down off the side of her bed. She sighed heavily, bored out of her mind. After several moments of silence and deep thought, Sweetie Belle rolled over and sat up, walking over to her mirror and looking at herself quietly. The filly glanced at her horn then back at herself and grinned. She levitated multiple things from her dresser and carried them around her room, posing and showing off each object. Sweetie Belle broke out in song while standing up on her bed, levitating a comb in front of her muzzle as if it were a microphone.
The filly continued to sing and twirl throughout her room as Rarity peeked her head through the door and smiled at the singing unicorn.
Sweetie Belle jumped when she turned and saw her older sister, "Oh hi, Rarity!" She squealed, "Whatcha doin?!" She asked excitedly, Rarity hardly ever came into Sweetie Belle's room.
"Hello darling, I just overheard your fabulous singing and wanted to come and see. That's all." Rarity answered calmly.
"Oh, well okay!" The filly said, and carefully put down the floating items, "Thanks!" She squeaked.
The older mare gleamed and slowly turned around, closing the door behind her. Sweetie Belle bounded across her room and continued to hum as she looked at herself carefully, analyzing each detail on her face. She made different expressions at herself as she looked, then grew bored and trotted out to the hallway.
A slight jingle of chimes came from the entrance and Sweetie Belle raced down the stairs to see who had visited. The filly beamed when she noticed Twilight had arrived. Rarity bursted through the door opposite of where Sweetie Belle stood, trotting towards Twilight with a rack of dresses and outfits. The older mare tilted her head out from one side of the rack, and perked up at the sight of the alicorn in her boutique.
"Oooooooh! Well hello, darling!" Rarity beamed, "Whatever are you doing here?"
"Hi, Rarity!" The purple unicorn said, then turned and noticed the filly, "Hey, Sweetie Belle!" She greeted. "I'm just here to ask for a favor."
Rarity jumped in excitement, "Why, it's an honor! What do you have for us to do?" She asked.
"Oh well you see..." Twilight said glancing back at the filly, "I have a large order of books coming in to the library tomorrow, they're from Princess Luna and Cadence and are very important!" Twilight stated, "I was wondering if I could have an extra hoof with organizing the books!" She explained.
Rarity flattened her ears and blushed, "Oh... Right."
Sweetie Belle bounced over to the princess's side and gleamed, "Of course I can help! Just let me know what time I should come over tomorrow!"
"Oh actually," Twilight stated, "I may need to rearrange the library a bit and I was wondering if somepony could lend me a helping hoof!" She said, glancing towards Sweetie Belle.
The filly ran over to Rarity and circled around her in excitement, "Can I go Rarity?! Can I go? Can I go? Please!?"
"Well... Why not, darling?" The mare said, backing away from her overactive sister.
Sweetie Belle jumped twice as high and yelled, "WOOOOOHOOOOO !!!"
"Great!" Twilight exclaimed, "Oh, and Rarity? Would you like to come along? It would be a pleasure to have you!" The alicorn asked calmly.
"Oh, well..." Rarity said hesitantly, "I guess I could sneak in a little time with friends!"
"Wonderful!" Twilight said joyfully.
"YAAAY RARITY'S COMING!" Sweetie Belle squealed, becoming even more hyper.
The mare winced slightly, "Anything for a friend!" She stated.
Twilight grinned and trotted out of the boutique with the other two ponies.
"WAAAIIIT!" Rarity screeched, "I FORGOT SOMETHING!" She raced back to the boutique, flipped the sign on her front door making it say 'CLOSED!', then ran inside. A moment later she burst out of the boutique carrying multiple bags of luggage. She trotted calmly up to the others and smiled, though they gave her a boring expression in return, "Whaaaat? We are spending the night... Aren't we?" Rarity asked.
Twilight sighed and giggled a little, "Well, yes I suppose so."
Sweetie Belle bounced around the two mares excitedly, "I'M SO NERVOU-CITED!"
"You need to stay away from Pinkie Pie just a pinch more." Rarity mumbled.
The three ponies were quiet the during the rest of the walk to the library. Twilight trotted up to the door and knocked slightly. A loud slam, which sounded like a stack of books, was heard before a voice yelled from inside saying they could come in. The door creaked open and the older mares walked in first, seeing Spike covered in layers of books spread across the floor. Sweetie Belle trotted in, and after glancing at Spike she snickered.
The baby dragon noticed Rarity and hopped to his feet. "Uh... Hi guys..." He blushed. "Sorry about tha-"
"No need to be sorry, Spike!" Twilight interrupted joyfully. "We need to clear out the bookshelves anyways!"
"Huh? Wha-what?" Spike stuttered in confusion.
Twilight sighed and looked over at Spike, "Remember? That HUGE
Spike made a bored expression, "Oh... that ." He grumbled.
The three ponies ignored his statement and began to levitate all of the books to the ground. Rarity controlled the upper left side of the library, Twilight controlled the upper right, and Sweetie Belle got the lower shelves that were easier to reach. After an hour and a half of levitating and dropping books and scouring through the shelves, every book in the library was laying on the floor in neat stacks. Spike was stepping carefully through the pillars of books, searching for the 'F' column.
"F...F...F... Where's F?!" Spike said anxiously.
Twilight turned towards the dragon and flew to a smaller stack, "It's over here, Spike. Everything is in alphabetical order, so you don't need to wander around." She stated, then flew back to the shelves and continued to work.
"Oh... Right," Spike said quietly, maneuvering through each stack.
Rarity laughed quietly while she observed Sweetie Belle strut around the library, levitating multiple piles of books confidently. The filly beamed as she raised the stacks to their proper stacks. After working nonstop for hours, the group had finally cleaned out every shelf. Shortly afterwards, they collapsed and fell asleep.
*****
Early in the morning, a slight ring came from downstairs. Twilight grumbled and slid out of her bed and slowly walked downstairs to the front door. Sweetie Belle awoke and quietly followed the alicorn down the steps, though stopped halfway. The door creaked open, revealing a grey pegasus with a golden mane, and slightly deformed eyes.
"Oh hello, Ditzy," Twilight said quietly, "I didn't know you delivered mail this early." She stated.
"Yea, I decided to take the morning shift. It's easier on my schedule." Derpy explained while rolling multiple wagons inside.
Twilight smiled and signed a paper attached to a clipboard, "Thank you..." She said then closed the door. Twilight sighed heavily, collapsed onto one of the carts, and fell asleep.
Sweetie Belle tip-toed the rest of the way down the stairs and trailed around the wagons, examining the books inside, reading many of the titles and levitating some closer to her. She searched for something that sounded interesting to her, anything that would challenge her knowledge of magic. She weaved through each pile and hadn't found many fascinating titles. Sweetie Belle reached the wagon Twilight had collapsed on, she carefully levitated multiple books to the surface, reading and flipping through them curiously. After being unimpressed, she set them down and picked up a few more. The filly accidentally bumped the cart and shifted Twilight's position. Sweetie Belle stood silent for a moment, observing for any sign of her stirring, then carefully continued to skim through each book.
Sweetie Belle reached to the bottom of the cart, hopeless to find an interesting book. She levitated the last seven books from the cart and read through each one unenthusiastically. Her eyes widened slowly as she read through one of the last books:
Untold Magic of the Empire
Sweetie Belle stared at the large book in her magic, the cover was made from leather that was old and torn up. Green and purple lines spiraled around the title written in black letters: Untold Magic of the Empire . The filly smiled and tip-toed past the sleeping pony and sat down at a small table in another room. Sweetie Belle levitated the book up to the table and flipped to the first page.
"Hmmm..." The filly said curiously flipping through each page, "What's in this book that can challenge me?".
She continued to scan through the pages until she reached a divider that read, 'Advanced Magic '. Sweetie Belle grinned mischievously. The unicorn flipped through the 'Advanced Magic ' section, then stopped. She stared at one spell in particular eagerly. The spell created large, shiny crystals that would appear out of thin air.
Sweetie Belle gasped and smiled excitedly, "Ooh! I really want to try this! Then I can show Rarity I can do Advanced Magic! She'd probably really like the gems too!" She squealed quietly.
The filly read the spell carefully, making sure she didn't miss any details. Though the only detail that she missed was the 'Warning' label. Sweetie Belle took a step back from the table and concentrated on the book intensely. She focused as hard as she could. After a moment, sweat broke from her forehead and Sweetie Belle continued to force the spell. She winced and growled at herself to keep trying. Finally, a thunderous crack broke the silence. Razor sharp, black crystals shot up from the ground around her. Sweetie Belle flattened her ears as her eyes turned green and red, along with purple flames. Her horn bubbled purple and black and she whimpered nervously. A few, single tears rolled down her cheek as she noticed the dark crystals encasing her.
The moment before she was fully trapped in shiny, black stone, she screamed, "Rarity!" Then was completely covered and couldn't move.
Sweetie Belle thought she must look a lot like that chaos creature back when she was on the field trip in Mrs. Cheerilee's class...
The filly in the statue looked miserable. Her ears were flattened, eyes closed with flames on the ends, and her head tilted back to look like she was yelling. Trails ran down her cheeks and at the end of her muzzle were two frozen teardrops.
At the sound of Sweetie Belle's cry for help, Twilight blinked her eyes open and looked around to see what the problem was. Rarity trotted quickly down the staircase, looking around nervously.
"What's the matter Sweetie Belle?" Rarity said loudly, "Sweetie Belle?" She repeated, "Sweetie, where are you!?" The mare yelled.
Twilight mumbled and shuffled around the library with a tired expression, "Where'd that filly go?" Suddenly, Twilight stopped when she noticed the mess of books that were in the wagon, "Uh... Rarity? Do you think maybe Sweetie Belle made this mess?" She asked glaring at the order of special books.
Rarity trotted over to the carts, "Hmm... When did the books get here anyways?"
"Earlier this morning, I think." The alicorn answered quickly.
"Weird..." The unicorn answered slowly, then continued to walk throughout the library searching for the filly. "Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle where are you young mare!? Why aren't you answering?" She shouted.
Spike hopped down the stairs rubbing the sleep from his eyes slowly, "What's with all the noise?" She mumbled.
Rarity zipped up to the dragon, "Have you seen Sweetie Belle? She won't answer anypony and we can't find her!" The unicorn continued to maneuver around the library nervously.
Twilight trotted past Spike slowly and he followed after her. After endless minutes of searching the library, Rarity trotted into another room hopelessly.
The mare stopped dead in her tracks and widened her eyes, "Gaaah," She mumbled, "Twilight? Darling? I think I found... S-Sweetie Belle..." She explained nervously staring at the dark statue.
Black scorch marks were shredded across the room. The once bright, green paint was now dull. The cabinets on the wall had been ripped to pieces by the blast. Debris was littered everywhere.
Twilight rushed to Rarity's side. "You found her? Where is she? What happ-" Twilight paused, an expression of horror swept over her face.
Rarity whimpered and slowly trailed up to the cold, dark statue. The filly trapped inside looked terrified, as if she had just experienced an earthquake. Twilight trotted towards the filly and gasped.
"They're dark crystals!?" the Alicorn questioned.
Rarity, with a small tear rolling down her face, glanced at Twilight, "Whatever do you mean, darling?"
Twilight tapped the figure with her hoof, "Yes... dark crystals. Just like the ones in the Crystal Empire." She confirmed.
"The Crystal Empire!? You mean those rocks that idiot Sombra had used while he ruled?" The unicorn whispered in fear.
Twilight sighed, "Yes, those exact same crystals... I just can't imagine how they got here! And how did Sweetie Belle
"Equestria may never know." Rarity drooped her head.
A while later, Spike entered the room and gasped, Twilight and Rarity sat continuously chipping away small bits and pieces of the statue. "What are you-? How long have you two been-? How did-? WHAT ?!" Spike yelled.
"We don't even know, Spike." Twilight stated frustratingly.
Spike cautiously tip-toed throughout the room, attempting to stay calm. "Wait a second, is that? Sweetie Belle ?!" He shrieked.
Rarity sighed dejectedly, "I don't even know how this all happened. Though it's still all my fault."
Twilight gave her a stern glance, "This isn't anypony's fault, Rarity. Please understand that."
Spike interrupted, "How long have you two been sitting here mining away?"
Twilight checked a nearby clock on the wall, "4 HOURS?! WE'VE HARDLY GOTTEN ANYTHING DONE THOUGH! " She gasped, bounding to her hooves and looking around nervously. "Ooooh I was so busy today! And now I'm even more behind schedule!"
The alicorn rushed around the room nervously, "How am I going to catch up?! But we have to save Sweetie Belle! But I'm so busy! Oh no... Oh no oh no oh no oh no o-" She was interrupted by Spike grabbing her with a firm expression.
"Listen, Twilight. Every time you freak out like this, we only get more behind schedule! So just relax. We'll get through this. We always do!" Spike reassured her.
Twilight sighed and flopped onto the floor, "Good point, Spike. But how are we going to help Sweetie Belle?" She pointed towards the trapped filly, "It's been 4 hours and we've hardly made any progress!"
The tiny dragon paced around the library, "When did those books get here, again?"
"Earlier this morning! I don't remember seeing Sweetie Belle when they arrived though." Twilight answered.
Rarity trotted towards them, "Oh why does it matter? Let's just find some fancy reverse spell!" She whined.
"Rarity's right, let's just go find that book." Spike agreed.
Rarity growled, her mane had become shaggy and messy, "I absolutely have to fix this horrid mess of a mane!"
Twilight sighed, "Hang on, Rarity, we need to find something that will help us. Don't you care about your little sister?"
The unicorn jerked straight up and bored into Twilight's eyes, "Are you saying I'm a bad sister?!"
Twilight looked at her with an unamused expression, "Well you're definitely not the worst, but you're not the best either."
Spike snickered and looked over towards Rarity, who quickly grew defensive, "Well I'll have you know that I- Er... Oh never mind! Forget this nonsense! I need to save my sister!" She said heroically.
Twilight and Spike shook their heads silently and giggled as they continued to sort through the books.