I blew a tuft of pink and purple hair out of my face as I packed my saddlebags. I had gotten new seals for them after the competition, Rarity insisted on making them for me. They matched my cutie mark, a pink heart with music notes imposed on it. I took a moment to admire it. There it was, my cutie mark, there for all the world to see. I let out a small squee and continued packing. Rarity pushed open the door.
"Sweetie Belle? I want you to come see this. I made it for you." Measuring tape dangling around her neck? Check. Little red reading glasses? Check. Mane slightly imperfect? Check. She had made a dress for me, I was sure of it.
I followed her into her workroom, and there on one of her mannequins was the most beautiful dress ever created by ponykind.
It was a light purple silk formal gown, with a matching amethyst pendant. The sleeves were made of a pretty gauze that made me a little scared to touch it. I looked at the beaming Rarity, then at the dress, then back to Rarity. Dress, Rarity. Dress, Rarity.
I ran up and hugged her. "It's perfect. It's absolutely perfect."
"Only fitting for the perfect sister." was her muffled response. "Now try it on, I want to see if it fits."
I slipped the dress on and looked at myself in the mirror. I blinked. I looked so....different. I had adopted a shorter manecut from when I was a filly, and in the dress I looked like a Canterlot noble. I was so swept up in my appearance that I didn't even notice Rarity was fastening on a pink heart brooch until her cornflower blue glow was right in my line of sight. "There." Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. "Now it's complete."
She stood next to me on her modeling platform. "My little Sweetie Belle...Seems like only yesterday you were a little filly searching for your cutie mark...Now look at you, off to university with a cutie mark and a scholarship."
She started crying then, a smile still on her face but tears spilling onto the platform. I patted her awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.
"I...I just wish you could always stay with me." When she got a grip, her mascara was running everywhere, but she didn't seem to care. "I'll go clean myself up, you finish packing. The train's going to be here soon."
Rare's mention of the time jerked me out of my nostalgic reverie. I looked at the clock, and realized I had forty-five minutes to double-check my bags and hightail it over to the train station. I gave Rarity one last pat and ran upstairs. Okay. School supplies? Check. New dress? Check. My music player? Not check. Shoot. Where was it.....
Ten minutes later I'd unearthed it from under my bed, triple-checked my bags, and flew out the door, Rarity behind me. I skidded into the train station with five minutes to spare, leaning against one of the pillars and sighing with relief.
"Sweetie Belle! Hey, Sweetie Belle!"
I turn around to see Scoots and Apple Bloom jumping up and down and waving. I ran over and hugged them both. They'd gotten their marks before me, AB's was a wrench and a pencil crossed akimbo, and Scoot's was her trademark blue scooter. She'd long since grown out of that old thing, but "I got to keep the cutie mark" she'd always say, to laughter.
"Congratulations on your scholarship, Sweets!" Apple Bloom smiled. "Everypony knew you were going to get a cutie mark in singing."
"Yeah!" Scoots chimed in. "You sounded beautiful during the competition!" More group hugs, this time with Rarity, and the conductor rang his little bell. "All aboard the train to Manehattan!"
I grabbed my saddlebags and dashed onto the train.
"Don't forget to write!" Apple Bloom called, while at the same time trying to restrain Scoots from flying alongside me all the way there.
"We'll miss you!" Scoots this time, trying to escape AB's iron grip.
"I love you!" This was Rarity, tears streaming down her face for the second time today.
I waved to all of them until the train started moving, and even then I waved until they were out of sight.
*******************
I headed down the aisle, finding an empty seat a few benches down. I took off my saddlebags and set them next to me, fishing out my music player. I sighed and relaxed into the sweet relief of music until...
"Hey, what's up?"
I jumped, my earbuds flying out of my ears. I paused my song and looked at the two mares standing in the aisle.
The mare who'd spoken had a blue, choppy mane, and wore purple tinted glasses so I couldn't tell what color her eyes were. Her coat was a very pale yellow, so pale I could mistake her for a natural white-coat. Her cutie mark was a barred eighth-note. She was a unicorn like I was, and her Canterlot accent had a hint of what sounded like Trottingham.
The other pony was a light gray earth pony, with a long, dark gray mane styled neatly. Her eyes were a pretty shade of light purple, and she wore a white choker with a pink bow around her neck. Both of them were waiting for my answer.
"Oh, um, not much." I fumbled for my earbuds and sat back down.
"May we sit here?" The earth pony's accent was much more silky and Canterlot-esque.
"Go ahead." I gestured to the bench in front of me, facing mine. They both sat down.
"Name's Vinyl Scratch." The blue-maned pony said, raising one hoof.
"And I'm Octavia." The earth pony raised her hoof.
"I'm Sweetie Belle." I raised my hoof.
"What music are you listening to?" Vinyl asked, pointing to my music player. "What genres?"
"I like country music ever since Apple Bloom got me into it, and I've taken a liking to classical and some wubstep." I answered.
Vinyl whistled. "That's quite the combination. Tavi here plays cello, and I'm usually behind the mixing table." She nudged Octavia.
"I'm personally also a classical fan, and ever since Vinyl showed me vocaloids I've enjoyed those as well." Octavia nudged Vinyl back.
I tilted my head to the side. "Vocaloids?"
"It's a kind of anime-esque music." Vinyl explained. "Very electronic-y."
"Oh."
"Have you been to Manehattan before?" Octavia asked me.
"I actually haven't. I'm excited."
"I've been there twice for orchestra concerts. It's very beautiful, in its modern way. I like it."
"She's a classy mare, see." Vinyl teased. "Very Upper-Canterlot. I prefer the run-down parts with the nightclubs."
"It wouldn't kill you to go to one classical concert. You know, have a bit of class, and a proper taste in music?"
"Oh, and you're acting like you've never heard of vocaloids now."
"Guys!" I pressed the side of my face up against the window. "Look! You can see the skyline!" We all pressed our faces against the window, and gazed at the just-beginning-to-light-up skyline of Manehattan.
Vinyl glanced at me. "By the way, who's Apple Bloom?"
"One of my best friends, along with Scootaloo. Here, I've got a picture of them."
I rummaged around in my bag until I found an old picture from a few years ago of us three. AB was in the middle, and we were all posing. It was yesterday when we took it as a memento for me to bring. Vinyl's eyes softened as she took the picture in her magic's grip. "You guys must have been good friends."
"We are good friends. We even had our own little not-so-secret society, called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and we would go on endless little escapades to try and find our cutie marks. We were late bloomers, you see." Vinyl nodded. "We've got our marks now, but we're still PFFs." I smiled. Ah, memories....
"Everypony, we have arrived at Manehattan Station. I repeat, we have arrived at Manehattan Station. All getting off at Manehattan Station, please fetch your luggage and leave the train." The conductor rattled off on the announcer. Vinyl gave me my picture back, we got our luggage, and headed off the train.
Octavia was right. Manehattan was drop. Dead. Gorgeous.
Skyscrapers pierced the air all around us, and the roads were clogged with carriages of all shapes and sizes. The sidewalks were filled with ponies, and the only reason we hadn't been trampled was due to the safety of the train station. Windows covered the sides of the skyscrapers and held pockets of light, making the whole city glow. We all just stood there for a bit, taking it in, until Vinyl asked a very good question.
"How the hay are we supposed to get to MSTA?"
Octavia opened her mouth, then closed it. Open, close. Open, close.
"That's actually a very good question, Vinyl."
"And I've got the answer."
We all spun around to see a mint green unicorn behind us. Her mane was a pretty cyan streaked with white. Her cutie mark was a golden lyre, and her eyes were amber colored.
"I'll take you to MSTA. Name's Lyra, by the way. Lyra Heartstrings."
"Thank you kindly." Octavia answered.
"No trouble. I was headed there myself. Follow me."
We followed Lyra through the thicket of buildings and ponies until Lyra stopped and pointed in front of her. "Behold. The Manehattan School of The Arts."
A sprawling campus lay in front of us, scattered with dormitory buildings and classrooms. Students had invaded the place; quite a few groups of ponies were sitting in the shade talking and laughing, while others were playing sports. The buildings themselves held the same old-timey charm of the city it was located in, and students also filed out of them, off to their dorms or the small bar that was on campus.
"This. Is. Twenty percent cooler." Vinyl broke the awestruck silence. "Let's go in."
We walked onto campus, then stopped. "Um, where are we supposed to go?" I piped up. Octavia fished out her schedule from her bag. "Our dormitory assignments are up in the top right corner. We go there and sign in, then go up to our dorms and unpack, all that jazz. Orientation is at five o' clock." She announced.
I levitated my own schedule in my emerald green glow, and sure enough, there it was; Phillharmonica House, 2-17. "Well, I'm off. See you all at orientation!" Lyra waved and headed off. "Yeah, same here." Both Vinyl and Tavi left. I headed off to Phillharmonica House, which was easily noticeable due to the name of the house being clearly visible in big black letters above the door. This school paid a lot more attention to aesthetics than most others; then again this was The Manehattan School of The Arts.
I pushed the door open, and a smart-looking stallion sat at a desk tapping away at a computer. He looked up at me and smiled. "Hi! My name's Inkwell, and welcome to The Manehattan School of The Arts! So, if you'll just tell me your name..." He levitated a quill above a freshly printed out spreadsheet.
"I'm Sweetie Belle." He scribbled a little check mark on the spreadsheet. "Curfew is at eight o' clock, be sure to get back to your dorm by then. Orientation is at five." He waved as I headed up to the second floor. 2-13, 2-14....here we are! I looked at the two nameplates on the door.
SWEETIE BELLE
BRUSHSTROKE
Inside was a white pegasus mare. Her mane was about 4 hooves long, and amethyst purple. Her tail was shorter, but also straight, and her cutie mark was a paintbrush dipped in blue paint. She looked up, and I could see her eyes were jade green.
"Hi. So you're Sweetie Belle?"
"Yep." I set my bags down by the bed she hadn't already taken. "You're Brushstroke?"
"Yep."
Awkward silence.
"What are you drawing?"
She picked up her sketchbook in her mouth and showed me. It was an incredibly detailed drawing of campus. The buildings were all in the right places, little ponies were leaving class or talking, and she had even included the little treble clef topiaries.
"That's really good!" I took the sketchbook in my magic. "There's me! And Vinyl and Tavi, down at the bottom!" She had drawn our first steps onto campus.
"My special talent's drawing, as you could probably tell, and the best stuff to draw is what you see. You can see everything from that window over there." She pointed to the window on her side of the room.
I headed over to the window, and sure enough, everything and everypony on the front lawn was visible.
"I'd like my sketchbook back, thank you."
She held out one hoof. I gave it back, awkward smile time. She went back to sketching. Sitting on the bed, I unpacked, my possessions swirling around me enveloped in emerald green light. I placed my music player and the group photo with the CMC in my drawer, my dress in the closet, and finally, leaving my school supplies in my saddlebags, I hung those on my little hook by the door. All without moving a muscle.
Brushstroke stared at me in sheer wonder. "I can get quite a bit done using my wings, but dang!"
I blushed, realizing how much of a showoff I must have seemed like. "Um...my sister, Rarity, she's really good at levitation magic, and I guess I inherited her talents or something."
"You must have. My dad's a unicorn and he can levitate three things at once, tops. Say, what does your sister look like? I could draw her."
"White coat, dark purple mane all curly, three light blue gems for her cutie mark, dark purple curly tail, and she's a unicorn."
Brushstroke scribbled furiously for a few minutes, then some erasing, then more scribbling. "Wait, what color are her eyes?"
"She says the color's 'official' name is azure, but it's just dark blue."
Another minute of scribbling from Brushstroke. "Done!"
She held it in her mouth and showed me.
"I tried the best I could given what you told me, I really, really hope I got her mane right, I tend to have trouble with manes and faces-" I stuffed a hoof in her mouth. "It's wonderful, Brushstroke. Do you mind if I send this to her as a gift?"
She spat out my hoof. "That's fine with me."
We both looked at the clock. Four fifty-five. "Orientation's at five." Brushstroke mentioned, oddly calm. Then we both dashed out of Phillharmonica House, ran all the way across the front lawn (Brush flew for part of it), and burst into the auditorium, drawing a few stares. Lyra waved us over, and we sat down next to her. Octavia and Vinyl sat in the row above us.
"Who's your friend?" Lyra asked.
"I'm Brushstroke." Brush raised a hoof.
We talked for a few minutes- Lyra told us about these two-legged things she called "humans" and Brush offered to draw them -when a hush fell over the room and orientation started.
A unicorn mare walked on stage and waved to everypony. "Hello, and welcome to the Manehattan School of The Arts! My name is Rebecca, and I am your principal. I hope you all exit this school with a new gleam in your eyes to beautify Equestria with the art form you choose to pursue!" She beamed.
The rest of orientation was fairly boring, basically reviewing everything on the website and in our student handbooks. After an hour and a half, we were dismissed. We were allowed to go out to the city (Yay!) but we had to be back on campus and in our dorms by eight. We ended up going out to eat, and Vinyl paid because she lost the coin flip. Then I ended up splitting the bill with her because I felt bad, which resulted in us arguing all the way back to campus. I had a feeling I was going to like it here.
