Celestia's ethereal sunlight wreathes Ponyville in its warmth, the ether glows brightly replacing the night with day, the town awakes then bustles with raucous skullduggery and the sound of the bird's conventional calling. One pony waves to another, each with an expression of mirth in their countenance, this came as no surprise, providing that even under dire circumstances the town remains cheerful as always under the protection of the mane six and Celestias matriarchal-esque rule over the town. The discordant morning is further disrupted by a trio of rambunctious fillies trotting through the village arguing amongst themselves and panting as they hurried off to their next quest.
"I can't believe ya broke yer scooter! Ya knew we were gonna crusade today!"
"It's not my fault! I totally should have made that jump..."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders paused for a breather near the old well and continued their bickering in its small shade,"That is COMPLETELY yer fault! Now we gotta walk everywhere, my hooves are killin' me and we aren't half way through town...", Appleboom exclaimed with a huff as she sat down to nurse her aching hooves. The others followed suit when suddenly a small growl erupted from the orange member's gut, "Ugh! All this walking is making me hungry..." rubbing her belly in scorn an idea came to her head that made her break out a grin, "Hey! Sugar Cube Corner is just around the bend! Let's get some chow!" her companions both beamed at this idea until the white-coated unicorn of the bunch suddenly groaned in disdain "I can't, I forgot my bits at home..."
For a moment the rest of the group gave her looks of sympathy until the young earth filly slowly formed a mischievous smile,"That's alrigh' Sweetie Bell, me and Scoots will cover ya."
"We will?!" Blurted the ignorant pegasus to which she received a swift elbow to the side by the young Apple.
"You will?" the unicorn asked, not heeding Scootaloo's small outburst.
"Sure we will..." the farm pony stated slyly "...as long as ya do us a teensy favor in return."
"Like what?" Sweetie asked cluelessly
"Yeah what?" Scootaloo whispered skeptically, her side still sore.
"Oh, nothing much...just sing us a song."
The white unicorn began to blush biting her lip as the two other fillies looked to her expectantly,
"Oh, come on guys..."
"You come on!" Apple Bloom persisted "Yer great at singin' and you don't hav' any problems with it at the clubhouse!"
"Because then its just us, what if somepony comes by and hears me?!"
"So what?" The earth and pegasus filly asked in unison. The pale colored unicorn's eyes began to dart back and forth as she blushed "What if they...you know..." biting her lip she sighed "...laugh at me?" Her two friends soon met her with encouraging glances, the young farm filly went to her friend's side.
"Ain't nopony gonna laugh at you, sugar cube." Putting her hoof on Sweetie's shoulder compassionately as she spoke, "Yer a great singer."
"Yeah! And if anypony makes fun of you I'll slug 'em into next Tuesday!" the orange pegasus added. With pink cheeks Sweetie Belle sighed but gave a small smile nonetheless as she surrendered "Alright...just a little one though..." Scootaloo and Apple Bloom gave a small cheer and sat in front of their friend eagerly, who in turn cleared her throat anxiously as her mind raced over every song she had ever known for the perfect ballad. At nearly a whisper she began...
"T-the...snow falls white on the mountain tonight...
...Not a hoof print to be seen...
A kingdom of isolation...and it looks like...I'm the Queen..."
Though her voice had begun uncertainly it was still undeniably sweet and her companions knew that something even better was to come.
"The wind is howling like t-this swirling storm inside...
Couldn't keep it in...Heaven knows I've *tried*..."
There it was. That light feeling, it always came when she sang, sometimes it could be scary. Just feeling so weightless but at the same time so..free. Slowly her voice grew stronger.
"Don't let them in, Don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them knooow
Well, now they knooow!"
Closing her eyes Sweetie finally embraced the foreign yet familiar sensation. Moving to the rhythm of the song her heart took flight.
"Let it go! Let it Go!
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go! Let it go!
Turn away and slam the door!
I don't care!
What they're going to say!
Let the storm rage ooon,
The cold never bothered me anyway..."
The other two cutie mark crusaders brimmed with awe, utterly enraptured, as their harmonic friend climbed on top of the old well making it her stage as she continued.
"It's funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can't get to me at all!
It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for mee I'm freee!
Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You'll never see me cry!
Here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let the storm rage ooon-ah WAAAAH!"
The two fillies on the ground soon gasped with horror as Sweetie Belle suddenly toppled backwards on her hind legs and fell deep into the mouth of the old well landing with a soft thud at the bottom. The unicorn filly, who's eyes had snapped shut out of terror opened them slowly looking up she saw the only sources of light in the dark pit and hazy shadows who called down to her. "Sweetie Bloom! Sweetie Bloom! Are ya okay?!!" She recognized that voice, it was Apple Bloom, cautiously Sweetie tried to lift her head and call out but was rewarded with a harsh pounding in her skull. She could only groan as her friends conversed up above.
"Scootaloo we need ta get help! And fast!"
"Yeah! Uh- Rainbow Dash can get her out! Like she did with the last filly who fell!"
"It doesn't matter who it is! We need somepony-anypony!"
Soon the echoes of her friend dissipated, leaving her alone in the cold stony pit. Tears soon poured down her cheeks as she began to sob, not only had Sweetie's head continued to pound violently but she soon discovered a new pain in her hindleg. Whenever she twitched it was like an electric shock shot up her hip and brought a river of new tears, she felt the need to look and asses the injuries she had collected but didn't dare move her head in fears of an even more vigorous punishment. All she could do was lay and sob as she looked up the cavern to the light with half lidded eyes, the cold dirt underneath chilling her to the bone as the minutes dragged on.
Finally she heard sounds up above again but this time she saw a shape coming toward her, long and slender, it soon brushed against her nuzzle. A rope? Yes, it was, and it had been tied into a sturdy noose.
"If you can hear me, sugar cube, I need ya ta lift yerself into that noose! Then I can pull ya up!" This voice was deep yet familiar, trusting it Sweetie slowly began to lift herself but soon cried in agony as both her leg and head worked against her.
"It's alrigh', Sweetie! You can do it! We're here for ya!"
Gritting her teeth Sweetie started again, with every whimper she released words of comfort and encouragement rained from above. Finally her strength prevailed and the front half of her body was through the noose, tugging on the rope she slowly ascended sniffling and clinging for dear life. Trembling she tried to look upward but quickly shut her eyes to the blinding light keeping them sealed the rest of the way up her ears going flat. After what felt like an eternity she felt some very large yet gentle hooves come around her waist and lift her up, returning warmth to her coat.
"It's over now, sugar cube. You can open yer eyes."
Before her was a red familiar face, Sweetie blinked "B-big Macintosh...?" her voice came out small and raspy. The stallion began to hush the filly, setting her down on her flank softly and wiping the tears from her face he said "It's alrigh', hun. It's gonna be alrigh'." Sweetie Belle could only stare as Big Mac looked over her aching leg and pulled out twigs from her hair, from the corner of her eyes she noticed her friends with panicked looks their mouths running a mile a minute with inquiries. In the distance she saw a small group of ponies galloping over, it was her sister Rarity and Apple Bloom's sister AppleJack, along with her parents. It even looked like her dad had a doctor pony hoisted on his back. Soon the group was upon them in a mad frenzy, the doctor pony had looked confused and even frightened before but as soon as he set eyes on her his faced turned stoic and he set to work examining her leg.
All of this commotion hadn't fazed the small unicorn though, her eyes still remained lock on the red stallion before her and he soon stared back with eyes like emeralds. He was smiling at her, a warm comforting smile. She barely noticed the stammered questions and worried expressions of her friends and family, in fact her head and leg weren't bothering her that much either.
Soon the noise and aches melted away as Big Macintosh's glance intensified, he brought his face closer bringing a hoof under her chin, Sweetie blushed but didn't look away.
"Sweetie Belle..." the stallion said her name in his buttery deep voice.
"Y-yes...Big Mac...?" Sweetie Belle's voice wasn't as raspy as before but it was still small.
"Sweetie Belle." he said again though his inflection was a bit different this time.
"Y-yes, Big Mac?"
"Sweetie Belle?"
"Big Mac...?"
"SWEETIE BELLE!!!"
The unicorn jumped at the stallion's sudden shout and tumbled backward down into a quilted abyss...
The next thing she knew she was looking up at her bedroom ceiling, panting heavily Sweetie Belle sat up rubbing her sore rump she found herself on the floor. ...Must have fell out of bed... she thought to herself, suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by an accented voice.
"Sweetie Belle!!"
Dashing to her window she found the source, her friend Apple Bloom stood outside with Scootaloo on her shiny new scooter, attached she had a wagon with two helmets and both their saddlebags inside.
"Come on, Sweetie Belle!" she began again "We're gonna be late fer school!"
With that the unicorn snapped into action, grabbing her saddlebags she raced down stairs only stopping to snatch a piece of toast off her dad's plate on her way out. Tumbling into the wagon the fillies were off, the ride was relatively quiet due to the fact that Apple Bloom was trying to complete a math assignment she had forgotten about the night before, and Scootaloo was busying herself with finding the quickest route to school while hollering at any poor sod that got in their way. This left Sweetie Belle time to mull over her thoughts, that was the third time this week. This dream had been fluttering in and out of her head ever since that day, it had been months now, her leg had healed and she no longer needed to take painkillers for her head anymore but the dream and the bubbly emotions that came along with it hadn't even begun to fade.
Sweetie Belle was a big pony, she knew she couldn't ignore this anymore, it was time to face facts. Time to face the fact, that whenever Apple Bloom mentioned her older brother Sweetie was suddenly all ears, that whenever they headed to Sweet Apple Acres for lunch she always meandered about the barn trying to catch a glimpse of him, that whenever her mother took her grocery shopping she always insisted they needed more apples, that whenever she was finally near him her face flushed, her legs shook, her heart raced and her stomach became knotted.
It really wasn't fair. How come this had to happen to her? She didn't ask for this! This couldn't be happening, right?...No...It was like Rarity always said 'A lady always faces the truth'...and this little lady was in love with Big Macintosh.
