A Simple Day

by aduck

Rating: everyone
Tags: Discord, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Spike, Sweetie Belle
Length: 1504

A day in the life of Sweetie Belle, in the retirement home of Calm Meadows.

A day in the life of Sweetie Belle at Calm Meadows.

A prequel to A Full Royal Petition.

Published 2014-04-26 23:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-04-26 23:10:02 UTC

A Simple Day

A Simple Day

As usual, it was Celestia’s blinding sunlight that caused her to wake up. She blinked, groaning at the invading rays. “Why do I allow you to torment me so?” Then the smell of hay waffles began to permeate the room. “Oh yah.”

Sweetie Belle slowly left the warmth of her bed, her limbs cracking as she drew to her full height. The gray haired mare stretched, further cracking some limbs. Her stomach rumbled. “First breakfast, then I wash up.” She wouldn’t miss Spike’s waffles for anything. He really was such a good cook.

Diamond Tiara simply grunted in greeting as Sweetie Belle sat down next to her. Her aged tiara was dangling slightly, prompting the unicorn to push to a more stable position. In front of the earth pony was a series of papers, and a calculator.

“Still having trouble with the grandfoal?”

The earth pony who dyed her hair purple snorted. “Grandfoal? More like grandfool! These investment ideas are simply foolish, and bordering on pure idiocy!” A red pen etched out sums and wrote in correct numbers. The waffles were barely touched.

“If I recall correctly, you made some foolish mistakes yourself. Though those were ones of how to act politely, rather than the numbers behind the investment.”

“I learned, and got better.”

“And so will he.” There was a short pause. “You should eat. Your hunger might cause you to make a mistake.” Diamond grunted, but she did put down the pen, and then took a bite out of her own stack.

The two ate in silence; the dull murmurs of the surrounding ponies generating enough sound. The red pen scratched across the paper, and was only put down occasionally to make room for waffles.

Within short order, the waffles had been demolished. Sweetie swallowed the last of her milk, and stood up. She gathered up her tray, and began to leave.

“Sweetie…” Said unicorn turned to face the speaker. “…Never mind.”

What she saw in the face of her once rival was enough. “I understand. Have a nice day.” She once again resumed her trek.

'You are most welcome Diamond Tiara.’ It was a pity they still couldn’t say it out loud to each other. At this age, you never knew when you might have your last chance to speak to somepony.

The news, as always, was rather dull. These days it seemed like nothing happened. There were no empires showing up from the past, no gods being released from their prisons, nothing. Just everyday life.

“Droll, isn’t it?”

Sweetie Belle faced the misshapen creature. Annoyingly enough, he was wearing a copy of the capes her friends once wore. It was fluttering in some non-existent breeze, much like Princess Celestia’s mane.

“Yes, but at my age I find I prefer it this way.” She placed the paper down. “And what of you Discord? Do you find yourself dreaming of old days of glorious chaos and tree sap?”

The elder god snorted. A simple folding chair appeared, along with tea. “Never. Why dream of the old, when there is the new. That’s the wonderful thing about chaos. It will always surprise. Always.”

A clawed hand almost daintily sipped the tea. “I did enjoy your antics though. You three were my favorite fillies at the time. And then you grew up.”

“Yes we did.” A pause punctuated by obnoxious slurping. “How are the others?”

“Either still angry with me, or only friendly. Fluttershy is the kindest, but then again she always has been.”

“That wasn’t what I was asking.”

He grinned. “No it wasn’t. Take it from me, no news is good news.” The chair and tea disappeared. Why had he even conjured it if he wasn’t going to sit in it? “I do enjoy these talks though. It means something interesting will happen. Not sure what though. Oh well, should be interesting.” With that he disappeared.

“That would be ominous, if only something interesting had happened last time. Work on your delivery Discord.” Really, the most interesting thing that happened last time was meeting Bubbly Laughter.

Spike placed the daffodil sandwich in front of Sweetie Belle, and then sat down opposite her with a bowl of gems. The oak bench groaned slightly, taking the weight of the dragon. “Lunch is served, Madam.”

“Why thank you, kind sir.” The ritual complete, the old friends began to eat.

“Spike…do you ever miss the old days, back when we lived in Ponyville?”

The dragon, easily twice her size and yet small for his age, simply shrugged. “Sure I miss it somewhat. Everypony misses the days when they were young. It was fun…but you know what, so is the now.” A handful of the rubies disappeared. “What got you thinking about them?”

“Discord came by.” Spike’s eyes widened.

“King Jerkface himself, huh. I never got why you forgave him.”

She sighed. “I didn’t, not really. I just…I grew old. For me, I would rather move on than hold onto hatred. I didn’t forgive him, I just don’t hate him anymore.”

“I won’t forgive him. What he did to Fluttershy, it makes me sick. If I could, I would bar him from the property.” The talk swiftly changed to more pleasant topics, and the food was devoured.

Sweetie Belle was rocking slowly in the old chair. She could hear the foals playing in park nearby. It was an oddly soothing sound, considering its irregularity in pitch and volume. A purple scarf was being knitted by her magic.

A small dust cloud was approaching from the playground. Sweetie smiled. It would appear the foals were coming again for stories of her youth. A simple charm was placed on the scarf to ward off dust.

Within a minute several shapes had emerged from the cloud. A white pegasus reached Sweetie first, plopping down on the grass. “I win!”

Congratulations were passed as the other foals arrived. Boasts of future victories also went around.

“Hello young ones. It is nice to see you again…and what is this? A new face? Who are you, young one?” It was indeed a new face. There was a small yellow coated filly, with an orange mane and red eyes.

“Miss Belle, this is my younger sister Sunny Joy.” The speaker was a gray unicorn, with a black mane.

“Oh, so this is the bundle of delight you have told me about Bubbly Laughter.” Send bundle briskly marched up to the old mare.

“Big sis says you knew Granmare Dinky! Did ya really?” Sweetie Smiled.

“I did. I grew up with her. She was the sweetest filly I ever knew. Would you like to hear some stories about her?”

“Yes! I don’t really remember her…but I know she was kind.” Other cries for a story rang around the group of ponies.

Sweetie nodded. “One of the kindest. Let me tell you how I met her. It involved her mother, Ditzy. Now Ditzy was very kind, but accident prone. She was also the mail mare of Ponyville. Now it all start when Ditzy accidently crashed into my sister’s home…”

The celery soup tasted better than normal that night. As usual, Diamond Tiara was not enjoying it as much as she should, the foalish mare.

The foals had loved her stories of her youth. It was a good thing she had lived in Ponyville. Enough had happened that she didn’t have to resort to telling her own past. That would be embarrassing.

Plus is was always fun to talk about Twilight.

A simple game of hide and seek had followed. It wasn't hard to spot the young fillies, but Sweetie did enjoy playing the blind old mare. The young ones always enjoyed their victories in hiding from her.

“I think this generation will do well.”

Diamond snorted. “Ha. They aren’t like us.”

“No, but that is a good thing. You grandfoals will turn out fine, you’ll see.” Sweetie finished her soup, and started to prepare for bed. It was important to get her sleep. Today had been a good, simple day, and there were far more in the future.

As she entered the room, she turned to the cape hung on the wall. It was old, faded, and bore many a stich. A hoof was gently placed on the old cape. Memories flashed before her.

“Hey girls. I made a new friend today. I think you would like her. She reminds me of how we used to be, all bright eyes and eager to explore the world.”

A pause, a collection of breath.

“I miss those days. Still, I wouldn’t trade those fillies for you girls; they have grown on me. So, Scoots, you take care up in the Fields Above. And AB, I look forward to your next letter.”

The hoof was lowered, and the old mare settled into her bed. Luna’s moon was shining above, the stars arranged in their clever patterns.

Today had been a nice, simple day. And that was fine.