Chapters The crowd of ponies surrounded her, almost all of them angrily shouting. They were yelling at her because the damage of Town Hall was right behind her. So, it's clear that because she was the closest to it when it collapsed, it must make sense that she was the one who made it come down.
“Good going Sweetie Belle!”
“You had to go too far!”
The cold, heartless comments just kept coming as Sweetie Belle stared at the crowd with tears in her eyes. But they didn't care. They just kept yelling and making fun of her for no particular reason.
“Oh so now you're gonna cry! Go ahead, we don't care!”
“It should take us forever to rebuild the building! Thanks for giving us all hard work!”
Sweetie Belle just kept crying, hoping that this was all just a bad dream. She looked around at the faces of ponies who were in the crowd, surprised that most of her friends and even family were yelling at her.
The only ones who weren't yelling at her was her best friends Applebloom and Scootaloo. They just stared at her with sad expressions, as if they knew she was innocent, but didn't want to be dragged into the situation. Sweetie was tempted to ask them to defend her, but she didn't want them to get into trouble.
As the crowd continued to yell, Sweetie just felt like nothing was ever going to get better from here. She couldn't stay in Ponyville any longer. So she slowly got up off the ground, wiped away a few tears from her eyes, and began to run away from the angry mob, who just stood in silence.
As Sweetie began to run, she could very clearly hear somepony yelling back at her something that she will never forget.
“And good riddance sister!”
Sweetie looked back to see her older sister Rarity, standing at the front of the crowd. More tears began to run down the filly’s face as she saw her, which made her run even faster than before.
Once Sweetie was out of sight, the crowd began to slowly break apart. Some left the scene of the accident, while others stayed to look at the damage.
“Well, now that she's gone,” Rarity started. “Shall we begin to rebuild this building?”
“Of course Rarity,” Twilight answered. “Let's get to work before she comes back and ruins our hard work!”
“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I hope she never comes back!”
“I'm with you there Rainbow.” Applejack added.
As the mares angrily got to work rebuilding the Town Hall, two other fillies just stood in shock at what that had both saw and heard.
“How could they,” Scootaloo yelled. “They literally just drove Sweetie Belle out of town! I mean, why would they do this? This isn't how I thought our sisters would act!”
“I know right,” Applebloom added. “We all know that Sweetie Belle wouldn't even hurt a fly! Besides, they had absolutely no evidence to prove that she did it anyway!”
Suddenly, an idea popped into both of their heads. The two turned to look at each other with small grins.
“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Applebloom asked.
“Does it have something to do with going out to find Sweetie Belle and proving she's innocent?” Scootaloo replied.
“Nope! That's not what I'm thinking of,” a voice came from behind them. “I'm thinking of making a giant ice cream sundae, covered in chocolate syrup and whipped cream with a cherry on top!”
The fillies turned around to see Pinkie Pie standing right behind them with a smile on her face.
“Pinkie Pie,” Scootaloo started. “How long have you been there?”
“Oh, just long enough. So, I'm guessing you're both going to go find Sweetie Belle in order to prove that she didn't cause that building to collapse, am I right?”
“I g-guess.” Applebloom said as Scootaloo shrugged in confusion.
“Well in that case,” Pinkie said before rushing past them and heading straight towards her best friends. “Hey girls!”
“What is it Pinkie?” Twilight asked with anger in her voice.
“I just thought I'd tell you that both Applebloom and Scootaloo are thinking about going out to find Sweetie Belle in order to prove to us all that she was innocent.”
“Oh are they now?” Rarity said as she and all her friend slowly began to walk over towards the two fillies with grins so creepy, it could possibly scare Princess Celestia.
“Well, it was nice knowing you Scootaloo.” Applebloom said her friend as the mare got closer.
“You too Applebloom,” Scootaloo replied. “You too.”
Sweetie Belle continued to cry as she ran towards the edge of Ponyville. Almost everypony in town now hates her for something she didn't even do. Even her sister, who Sweetie lives with all her heart, betrayed her and probably doesn't want to see her again.
She continued to to run until she was greeted by something that left her now in a state of fear. She was at the entrance to the Everfree Forest. Sweetie Belle knew it was a dark and scary place, but since she had nowhere else to go, she figured it was the only option left.
She began to slowly walk through the forest, tears still pouring from her eyes. Creepy looking trees and plants surrounded her, making her cry even more. She usually had Applebloom and Scootaloo to help protect her, but not this time. This time she was all by herself, and she didn't know how long that would be for. It could be weeks. It could be months. It could even be years!
Or it could be right now.
As she walked, Sweetie Belle couldn't help but get the feeling that she was being watched. Her thoughts were proven right when she heard a familiar, sinister voice.
“Why hello there young filly. Why are you in doing here in a place like this?”
Author's Note
Please ignore the fact that the Mane 6 are unlikable. They shall see through their mistakes eventually. (And no, that is not a spoiler. You've probably guessed that the moment you started reading this story )
“W-who's there,” Sweetie Belle yelled out through sobs.
The voice let out a small laugh as it began to speak again. “Oh little filly, I could be anything you could imagine.”
There was a flash of light in front of Sweetie Belle, blinding her for a split second. Once it faded out, it revealed that there was a floating tissue in front of her.
“I could be a tissue that wipes away those tears under your eyes.” The voice said before getting up close in Sweetie’s right eye and began to wipe away the tears. It did the exact same for the left eye.
“Or,” the voice began, before another flash of light. “I could be your new best friend.”
The light faded out yet again, only this time revealing a colt around Sweetie’s age. He had a grey coat with a black mane and tail and yellow eyes.
The colt wrapped his hoof around Sweetie Belle’s neck as he continued talking. “So, what do you have say new bestie?”
“I-I, uh, I d-don't--” Sweetie started, but was interrupted.
“Oh, I know exactly who to be.”
“W-who?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Myself!” The voice answered.
Another flash of light blinded Sweetie for another second before fading out. Once the light was gone, Sweetie Belle saw before her a creature she had both heard about and even seen multiple times before.
“D-D-D-Discord?”
“Yes, it is I,” the creature replied. “The absolute spirit of chaos, Discord!”
As he said his own name, a giant sign appeared above him, spelling out the word ‘Discord’ in huge neon light letters. After a few seconds however, the D at the end of the sign fell off and landed on the ground, causing Sweetie Belle to let out a small giggle.
“Oh I hate it when it does that!” Discord yelled at the sign before it disappeared with a snap of his fingers.
He then turned his attention back onto Sweetie Belle. “So, what's an adorable filly like you doing in dark and creepy place like this?”
Sweetie Belle opened her mouth, but no words came out. She began to remember the nasty, horrible things the town of Ponyville had said to her. Her face immediately went from one of slight happiness, to one of complete sadness.
“Oh come now,” Discord said in the calmest voice he could manage. “You can tell your old draconequus friend anything.”
“E-everypony in town hates me for n-no reason,” Sweetie quickly said. “T-they all thought I d-destroyed Town Hall, w-when in reality I-I was just walking close b-by.”
“Sheesh, and I thought I got treated badly the most,” Discord said once the filly had finished speaking. “Well, I think I know one pony in town that can help you out.”
“R-r-really?” Sweetie asked, now trying to wipe away a few more tears.
“Hey, if she can be able to reform me, she must be the right choice,” The draconequus answered before grabbing the filly and holding her in his arms. “Besides, she's probably the only pony who could never personally hate any other creature.”
Sweetie Belle soon flashed a small smile as Discord, who then quickly snapped his fingers. Before she knew it, she was no longer in the Everfree Forest, but instead in a familiar looking house.
“I can't believe we have to repair something that we didn't destroy,” Rainbow Dash said angrily. “Why can't we just go find that waste of a filly and have her rebuild it herself?”
“Do you want this to be more destroyed that it already is Rainbow?” Twilight asked.
The pegasus sighed. “Good point.”
At that moment, Applejack showed up on the scene. “Alright, I just told Applebloom that if she goes to try and find her friend, she's be grounded. I'm also guessing that Scootaloo’s parents told their daughter the same thing too.”
“Excellent work darling,” Rarity responded. “Now, let us all get back to work rebuilding Town Hall. There's still lots of work to do.”
At that moment, what remained of the building in front of them suddenly began to to shake before it fell apart, ruining all their hard work.
“Oh come on,” Rainbow Dash yelled. “What caused it to fall down now?”
The group of friends decided to answer that question by going behind the rubble to see who or what destroyed it again. If it was Sweetie Belle returning, then they would have a problem on their hooves.
But to their surprise, there wasn't a unicorn filly anywhere to be found. All that was there was a certain grey pegasus with a blonde mane and tail, lying face-first on the ground. She lifted her head up slowly, revealing her yellow, crossed eyes.
“Oops, my bad,” she said to the group in front of her. “I didn't see where I was going.”
“It's alright Derpy,” Twilight said, holding in her anger. “Just try and stay away from this area. We’re trying to rebuild Town Hall here.”
“Oh okay,” Derpy said, now with a small smile on her face. “I'll try my best.”
The group of ponies then started to walk away from the pegasus as she began to fly away from the rubble. As she flew away however, she said something to herself that the group not only heard, but made them stop in their tracks.
“That's the second time today I flew into a building that got destroyed.”
“Wait wait WAIT,” Rainbow yelled as she opened her wings, and flew into the air in front of Derpy. “Second time? When and where was the first time?”
“Oh, I think was around this area actually,” the grey pegasus simply answered. “I think was around a few hours ago, and I accidentally flew into a building, causing it to fall. But everypony was too busy talking to a young filly that they didn't notice me.”
Rainbow was speechless. She could believe what she had just heard. She, as well as the rest of the town, got angry at the wrong pony.
“Derpy,” she said. “We’ll be talking about this situation later.”
“Okay Rainbow Dash.” Derpy replied before she turned and began to fly away.
Once she was gone, Rainbow then flew back down onto the ground in front of her friends. “Girls,” she said with sadness in her voice. “We placed the blame on somepony else.”
“Fluttershy,” Discord called out. “I have returned, and with somepony else too.”
Sweetie Belle looked around at the familiar cottage, while still being held in the arms of the draconequus. She recognized the decorations and photos that surrounded her. She knew whose house this was, and why Discord had brought her here.
“Oh, hello Discord,” a called out to them. “Who is it you brought with you?”
After a few seconds, the pony who asked the question walked into the room. She was a pegasus with a light yellow coat, light pink mane and tail, and a cutie mark consisting of three butterflies.
“Oh, hello Sweetie Belle,” Fluttershy said to her. “How are you today?”
Sweetie gulped before she answered. “G-good.”
“Is there something wrong Sweetie Belle?” Fluttershy asked. “You're not looking like yourself.”
Sweetie looked back at Discord, who was still holding her in his hands. The creature looked back at her, knowing quite well what she was said.
“This filly here has been kicked out of town by everypony for something she didn't do!”
The pegasus gasped. “Oh my. What did they accuse her for?”
“Something about Town Hall being wrecked even though she never wanted to destroy it in the first place, or something like that,” Discord continued. “Anyway, I eventually found here walking in the Everfree Forest and decided to make it up to her. So, I brought her to you, because I know you can help her out!”
At that moment, the draconequus snapped his fingers, causing a bright light to shine for a split second. Once the light was gone, Fluttershy found herself sitting in a wooden chair, holding a clipboard in one hoof and a pencil in the other. She looked over to see Sweetie Belle, who was now lying across a giant red couch. Discord was nowhere to be found,
“Now go on,” Discord's voice said to them. “Ask her about how she's feeling and make her feel better!”
Fluttershy sighed as she put the objects the her hooves down and got off the chair. “Discord, I don't think that is going to work right now.”
She looked over at Sweetie Belle. “I think she needs some time to herself before she's ready to speak again.”
Sweetie Belle’s head quickly turned as she saw Discord emerged from the back of the couch.
“Oh alright,” the creature said. “We’ll let her be by herself for a bit. When she's ready, we’ll all talk about it together to figure out how we're going to make her feel better.”
Fluttershy looked back the filly on the couch. “Is that alright with you Sweetie Belle?”
Sweetie sighed. “Y-yes. That w-would be fine.”
*Knock Knock Knock*
“Fluttershy,” a voice called through the door. “Open up. We need to speak with you.”
Sweetie Belle gasped as she jumped off the couch and ran up to the pegasus, grabbing her front leg as she began to chatter her teeth.
“H-h-how did they know I-I was h-here?” She asked.
“No idea,” Discord said shrugging. “I didn't see anypony before we left.”
Fluttershy looked at the draconequus before speaking. “Discord, could you please go and tell them to leave while I look after Sweetie?”
“Anything for you Fluttershy.” Discord answered before snapping his fingers and disappearing in a flash of light.
“C’mon Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash snarled as she hovered in the air. “What's taking her so long?”
“Now calm down there Rainbow,” Applejack said to the flying pegasus. “She probably has a lot of work to do.”
“Oh, like taking care of animals? It shouldn't take that hard to care for them!” Rainbow shouted back.
“Technically, that's not the only job she has now.” A familiar voice said to the group.
“Discord, is that you?” Twilight yelled.
As soon as those words left her mouth, she felt something crawling on her back. She turned her head as fast as she could to see what was there, only to see Discord, as small as a bug, about to climb her neck.
“Yes Twilight, it is I,” he said in a high pitched voice. “And I am here to tell you one thing and one only.”
Twilight sighed. “Well, what is it?”
With a snap of his fingers, Discord teleported in front of the group, holding a sheet of paper in his hand. He handed to Twilight, who began to levitate it with her magic. The paper only had two words written on it in red ink.
‘GET LOST!’
Twilight looked back at Discord, who was now trying to hold in his laughter. “Okay Discord, enough games! Move aside so we can speak with Fluttershy!”
“Did you see the note I gave you,” Discord replied. “She has something that she has to deal with and it needs to be done without you cold-hearted filly-blamers!”
The group’s hearts almost stopped as they heard the creature finish his sentence.
“Y-you saw w-what happened?” Rarity asked.
“Well no,” Discord answered. “But I did hear about what you four did from the victim of the attack! I found her in the Everfree Forest and she told me everything. I knew that she was going to need a place to stay for now, and I thought that Fluttershy would be only answer.”
“So Sweetie Belle is in there?” Applejack asked, pointing her hoof at the door.
“Yes, she is,” the draconequus replied. “And that's where she's going to stay until you ponies smarten up and think about what you’ve done!”
With another finger snap and a flash of light, Discord was now suddenly holding a rolled up newspaper. He then began to lightly hit Twilight on the head with it, all the while saying, “Bad pony! Bad!”
“Well Discord,” Twilight said as she kept getting hit. “It should be noted that we are here to apologize to Sweetie Belle. We recently found out who actually caused Town Hall to fall apart, and we were all in the wrong for blaming a harmless filly who didn't do a thing.”
“I'm sorry Twilight,” Discord said as he stopped hitting her. “But from the way the filly looked when she heard your voice at the door, it's clear that she isn't ready to accept your apology. So, I suggest that you follow what that note says and leave.”
Snapping his fingers once again, Discord disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the ponies with the single sheet of paper. Twilight tried to open the door, but it turned out to be locked. They all sighed as they began to walk away from the cottage.
“What are we going to do now Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked the alicorn. “We have to say we’re sorry!”
“Rainbow’s right dear,” Rarity added. “I just want to see my sister’s face again, just to tell her I'm sorry!”
“There's nothing we can do right now,” Applejack said, causing everypony to look at her. “Discord won't let any one of us inside. We’ll just have to wait until Sweetie’s ready to accept an apology.”
“How long will that take?” Rainbow asked.
“Who knows,” the earth pony answered. “It could take days, it could take weeks. All we know for right now is that we can't get in right now.
“We can't get in,” Twilight said as she had a small smirk on her face. “But maybe if somepony else can, they can get Sweetie Belle to come out of the cottage so we can apologize!”
“Twilight, that's an absolutely amazing idea,” Rarity said. “But, who else can can be able to be let into the house if none of us can? Discord would most likely say no to anypony who is at the door.”
Twilight simply answered with, “I can think of two off the top of my head.”
“No.”
“Come on Applebloom,” Applejack said to her sister.
“No!”
“Do it for us. Please.”
“For the last time, the answer is no!” Applebloom shouted back.
“Why don't you want to go and see your friend Sweetie Belle?” Applejack asked.
“Because you said I would be grounded if I was with Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom answered. “And now you want me to go and see her? This is just getting confusing!”
“I told you that you would be grounded if I caught you trying to find Sweetie Belle,” Applejack said back. “But now, she has been found and is now at Fluttershy’s cottage. So now that's she's been found, I want you to go play with her.”
“But aren't you and your friends still mad at her for ‘destroying’ the Town Hall?” The filly asked.
“N-no, we made up with h-her,” Applejack lied. “W-we now k-know who caused the b-b-building to collapse, and she t-took the apology v-very well.”
Applebloom sighed. “Oh alright, I’ll go and hang out with Sweetie Belle.”
“Okay great,” Applejack said as she let out a sigh of relief, thinking her lie had worked. “Now you ahead and see your friend, and take Scootaloo with you.”
“Alright Applejack,” the filly said she walked out of her house, knowing full well that this was all just some big trick. Applebloom always knew the her sister was a terrible liar. Everypony knew it. So it should come as no surprise that this was just a way to secretly get her sister and her friends to apologize to Sweetie Belle.
“Oh Applejack,” Applebloom thought to herself. “You’re such a liar.”
Sweetie Belle was currently lying down on the bed that belonged to Fluttershy. She stared at the ceiling, several thoughts pouring into her head second by second. Should she talk to Fluttershy about how she's feeling? Will she listen to her? Would she join her friends and begin to start hallucinating her?
She knew there was only one way to find out. She got off of the bed and began to walk towards the living room. Once she got there, she saw Fluttershy lying on the couch, eyes closed to show that she was sleeping.
Sweetie Belle knew she came at the wrong time and was about to go back to the bed. As she was leaving however, she saw the pegasus opening her eyes.
“Oh, hello Sweetie Belle,” Fluttershy said through a yawn. “Are you ready to start telling me more about what happened?”
Sweetie Belle gulped. “Y-yes, I am.”
Fluttershy got up from where she was sleeping. “Alright, just sit here for a second while I go get something that will make this chat a bit better.”
As the pegasus left the room, Sweetie sat where Fluttershy told her to. She put her forehooves together as she placed them on her lap, letting out a long sigh as she waited for Fluttershy to return.
After another minute or two, Fluttershy returned, carefully balancing a plate with a teapot and a few teacups on her back, holding it in place with her wings. She then placed it on the small coffee table in front of Sweetie Belle, who was simply watching the pegasus.
“This will make our little talk a bit better,” Fluttershy said to the filly. “Would like some tea Sweetie?
“Y-yes please.” Sweetie Belle answered.
Fluttershy spread out one of her wings, wrapped it around the handle of the teapot, and held it up at an angle, causing the liquid inside to pour out into the cup. Once there was the right amount of tea in the cup, she put the teapot down and pushed the drink towards Sweetie.
“T-t-thanks Fluttershy,” the filly said before she took a small sip. “T-this is r-really good.”
“Oh, you’re welcome Sweetie Belle,” Fluttershy responded, sitting down next to the filly. “So, how are you feeling?”
“A b-bit better,” Sweetie answered. “I s-still wish t-that everypony would b-believe me.”
“Well, I’m sure they will eventually,” the pegasus said as she wrapped her wing around Sweetie Belle’s body. “I never thought my friends could be that angry towards somepony. Hopefully they do come to their senses.”
“I j-just want e-everything to go back to n-normal.” Sweetie said as she grabbed onto Fluttershy, pulling her into a tight hug as tears fell out of her eyes. Fluttershy returned the hug, rubbing her hoof through Sweetie's pink and purple mane.
“It's going to be alright Sweetie Belle.” Fluttershy said to her in a calming voice.
“I know it will.”
“I’m so confused,” Scootaloo said to Applebloom, who was walking right next to her. “Yesterday we were told not to go near Sweetie Belle, but now we have to go out and play with her?”
“I guess so,” Applebloom answered. “Applejack told me that they made up with Sweetie Belle, but I know when my big sis is lying. This is probably just some excuse for them to get her outside and apologize to her.”
“Yeah, I think you're right,” Scootaloo said. “So she said Sweetie Belle’s at Fluttershy’s place right now?”
“Yep, that's what Applejack told me,” the earth pony responded. “She's most likely taking care of her for the time being.”
“I just hope Sweetie's okay,” Scoots said, looking down in shame. “We should have stood up for her when we had the chance.”
“Agreed,” Applebloom said. “I don’t even care if we got it trouble, we are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and we always stick together!”
“You’re right Applebloom,” the pegasus said. “We always need to be by Sweetie’s side. Let's get over to Fluttershy’s place!”
The two then began to run as fast as their little legs could carry them. As they ran faster and faster towards the edge of the town, a group of mares stood silently as they watched them leave the scene.
“Now Twilight,” Applejack spoke up. “Are you sure this plan is going to work?”
“Of course,” Twilight Sparkle answered. “Sweetie Belle could never turn down her best friends.”
“But I think they know that this is some kind of trick,” Rarity said. “Didn't you hear them?”
“Yes, I heard them. But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is our apologies to her.”
“I just hope this works,” Rainbow Dash said. “We messed up big time and we deserve every bit of hatred she gives us.”
“Oh, this plan is going to work Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, looking back at where the fillies ran off to. She began to smirk.
“I know it will.”
