Far inside the wide stretch of Sweet Apple Acres lies the clubhouse of a trio of fillies determined to find their cutie marks: the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Inside the house was one of the fillies, Sweetie Belle, and young white unicorn filly with green eyes, and a half–purple-half-pink mane and tail. As she picks up the mess that fellow crusader Scootaloo always leaves behind, she sings their theme to herself. “We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders…”
Just then, two soaking wet ponies, one yellow with a red mane, and the other, an orange pegasus with a short purple mane, appear at the door frame.
“What happened to you two?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Our talent isn’t scuba diving either.” The orange one said dejectedly.
“I could’ve told you that. So what are we going to do next?”
“Ah think we should just give up fer today.” The yellow one chimed in. “’Sides, me n’ Applejack need ta practice fer the ‘fun
raiser’.”
“’Fun raiser?’ What’s that?”
“It means we’re puttin’ on a show so that ponies will give us money ta fix the barn. We’ve already got some acts all lined up.
Can’t wait to hear you and Rarity, Sweetie Belle.” Applebloom said as she trotted off towards the barn.
“Wait, what?” Sweetie Belle said confused.
Sweetie Belle walked towards the Carousel Boutique unsure of just what Applebloom had meant by “hear you and Rarity.” Did that mean the two were going to be singing together? Perhaps they were going to perform a scene from something. As long as she didn’t have to sing in front of tons of ponies, she didn’t care.
As she stepped inside the dress shop which smelled heavily of perfume and fabric, she was met by her sister’s usual customer greeting. “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique where- oh, hello Sweetie Belle. Did you have fun today?”
“Big sis, what’s a ‘fun raiser’?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Well, darling, a fundraiser is an event where ponies gather together to raise money in order to help ponies in need. Why do you ask?”
“Well, Applebloom told me about it. She also said, ‘I can’t wait to hear you and Rarity.’ What did she mean by that?”
“The Apples’ barn is in quite a horrid state and must be rebuilt.” Rarity explained. “So I signed us up to take part. You and I shall sing a duet together.”
“WHAT?!” Sweetie Belle shouted with a squeak, mortified at the thought of singing in front of all those ponies. “Why didn’t you ask me first?!”
“Well… you’d want to help your friend Applebloom, right?”
“Yeah…”
“Applejack is my friend as well, so it’s our duty to help our friends. What better way than to do it together?”
“But… I don’t think I can sing in front of all those ponies…”
“Don’t worry Sweetie Belle, you’ll do great. I’ll be right at your side the whole time.”
“Great…”
Sweetie Belle spent all that night tossing and turning, imagining what could go wrong: She could lose her voice, all her classmates could make fun of her for depending on her sister, a dragon could come down and eat everypony, the possibilities seemed endless. The next morning, when she met up with Scootaloo her mane was messy and she looked very tired.
“Good morning Sweet- Whoa. What’s wrong?” the orange pegasus asked.
“I’m gonna have to sing in front of all of Ponyville with my sister.”
“Aw, come on! You two have amazing voices. You’ll do great!”
“But… all those ponies… and I’m… gonna… why is the room spinning?” Sweetie Belle stammered out as she passed out on the floor. When she came to, Scootaloo and Applebloom were staring down at her.
“Sweetie Belle? Ya’ll okay?” Applebloom asked.
“No I’m not. I’m going to make a fool of myself in front of all of Ponyville! Do you have any idea what that’ll be like? … Oh right, the talent show.”
“Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle, we’ll just hafta help ya cure yer stage fright, and I got just the thing! Meet me here tomorrow!”
A day passed and a few more were left until the fundraiser. When Sweetie Belle walked back to the clubhouse she found a small yet expertly made stage nearby as well as Applebloom, covered with paint and holding a paintbrush in her mouth painting ponies onto various pieces of wood. “What’s all this?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“This is fer helping yer stage fright!” Applebloom mumbled through busily working mouth.
“What?”
Applebloom spit out the brush and repeated what she had just said. “I figured that some practice oughta help you buck up.”
“Thanks for trying to help Applebloom but-“
“Ya gotta at least try first.” Applebloom said enthusiastically. Sweetie Belle hesitantly stepped onto the stage as Applebloom positioned all the fake ponies. She looked out at the fake crowd and asked, “Are you sure about this? I still haven’t memorized the song yet…”
“Then sing our theme song!” Applebloom suggested.
Sweetie Belle looked at her friends who were eagerly awaiting their private performance. She took several deep breaths, trying to slow her pounding heart. She finally took a deep breath to begin singing, her friends leaned in to hear, but when she began, it was so soft that she was then only one who could hear it. Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other confused before Scootaloo said, “You need to sing louder, Sweetie Belle!”
“Okay!” Sweetie Belle replied. She began to sing louder, but still only audible to her.
“A little louder!” Scootaloo said, but Sweetie Belle still sang too softly.
“It’s no use…” Sweetie Belle said sadly.
After a few minutes, Applebloom got a brilliant idea: use a megaphone!
“Do we even have one?” Scootaloo asked.
“Big sis does! I’ll go git it.” Applebloom said before she ran off to fetch the item.
After half an hour, Applebloom finally showed up with the megaphone, covered in mud. “Don’t ask.” She quickly ran up to the stage and put the megaphone on a stand for Sweetie Belle to use.
“Ugh, what is that smell?” Sweetie Belle asked, covering her nose.
“Like ah said, don’t ask.”
Applebloom went back to her seat next to Scootaloo in preparation for their friend’s performance. Sweetie Belle took a few deep breaths and sang into the megaphone which amplified her voice to a clear and audible level for all three of them. As she finished the last note, her two best friends began cheering for her and she smiled.
For the next few days when Sweetie Belle wasn’t at the Carousel Boutiqe practicing with her sister, she went to the clubhouse to practice on her own…
The day of the fundraiser had finally arrived. Every pony in ponyville arrived to help out their favorite farming friends. One by one, the acts went on: Fluttershy’s songbird choir, Rainbow Dash’s air tricks, Applejack and Applebloom’s lasso tricks, and eventually it was time for Sweetie Belle and Rarity to finish the night with a duet. However, there was a problem…
“WHAT?! What do you mean you broke the megaphone?!” Sweetie Belle shouted as Applebloom confessed to her nervous friend.
“Well, ah was tryin to bring it back from the clubhouse… and ah sorta tripped and smashed it against a tree…”
“Oh no… What am I going to do?!”
“Ya’ll’ve been practicing so hard.” Applebloom said, trying to reassure her friend, “I’m sure you can do it.”
“I’m doomed…” Sweetie Belle complained.
“Sweetie Belle! It’s time, darling.” Rarity said as she walked onto the stage.
Sweetie Belle walked on stage, heart pounding like crazy. “Nice knowing you, Applebloom…”
As the spotlight shined on her, Sweetie Belle thought she was going to pass out again. Every pony in town was there to hear her sing, but there was no way she could do it. She was just too nervous. “Are you ready?” Rarity asked.
“Sure…”
The music started up and Rarity soon began flexing her vocal chords. As Sweetie Belle listened she soon found the courage to begin singing, though it was barely audible. Although it she was the only one who could hear her, something about the situation just felt right. She closed her eyes and remembered the time she had spent by the clubhouse, practicing in front of her friends. Suddenly, something inside took hold and she began singing louder than she ever had before. The two voices blended together so perfectly that it brought a number of ponies to tears.
As soon as they finished, the whole audience cheered as if Princess Celestia herself were standing before them. As Sweetie Belle’s spirit soared, a light began to shine behind her…
