Author's Note

Sugar Belle's POV

An Early Morning: 1

I woke up, pretty early in the morning; even if I guess it could have been any time of the day, on the topside. Living in the stable, under a mountain; does this, to all of us.

I am Sugar Belle, according to my Pip Buck. We all have one, I was actually born with it. At my fifth birthday; the buck was up loading the Sugar Belle icon, thus making me the baker of the stable.

According to tradition, I moved to my own room at age five, due to the mark I had been given by my Pip Buck. As an apprentice to the baker, I do bake quite a lot. It is an important position, but doesn’t make me special in any way.

Of course, the bakery is next to the orchard, where the apples grow; safe from the outside and ready to be bucked by the farmer.

Living by the bakery is quite acceptable, why complain? While it is no luxury or status, but it is a home to me. No Pony is homeless here, why should any pony be?

The point of living close to the bakery is that it is my job and my purpose; saving me time to go to and from the work I enjoy performing. Both for myself, and for my fellow Ponies and stable residents.

Of course, as a baker, I had to get up early; so I could make the first batch of baked goods in time for breakfast, to all Ponies of the Stable. I don’t complain, it’s a good job and a good life. It is what Starlight Glimmer envisioned for me and the stable in which I live. She guided us down to safety, as the first sign of the war came before her, or so we are told. Who told her, or how she learned of it, no pony knows.

Since we do have a mighty fine Apple orchard near the bakery, I have plenty of apples to work with. I love my apples, they are good to eat. Apples are good for Ponies. Of course, Apples keeps the Doctor away; not because they smell bad or make you smell, but because they keep you well nourished and happy.

I had been given the Sugar bell mark, so I bake all the juicy and tasty treats; not so much loafing for me, or the heavy bread baking. I couldn’t complain.

Just like any Pip-buck technician would explain; the Buck manages magic, so it can keep me up-to-date with everything I need and manage an assortment of spells, useful in my daily life and line of work. I guess this is why our Founder, starlight Glimmer permitted its use and even went as far as to permit it to hold our mark. Of course, who am I to say, I am just the baker in line. I don’t know the technician in person, I have no real connections. Every Pony in the stable comes by the bakery from time to time.

I have an important job, but I am just a pony like every pony else. I do not mind, I am just happy to manage the bakery. It’s a job, my job; my purpose in life, and the stable. Every pony recognizes me for it, but I don’t need more.

In effect; I am living the dream, Starlight envisioned for us. My life is just as good, as it had been before the war forced us down; making her establish the stable, in place of our old stable. Her vision is keeping me safe, protecting me from the war. A war we never asked for, and the atrocities none of us ever knew was even possible. Not even starlight had the faintest idea, before the war broke out.

I merely produce confectioneries, for regular ponies; it is all I ever wanted, nothing more and nothing less. The life of a pony, a humble baker in a small and nameless village. I don’t need stories or fables, I can recall the life of Sugar Belle, all the way back to the time we entered the stable. Even a few years back, before the war; when I was living a happy life, with friends and fellow ponies.

Getting out of bed, early; is part of the baker’s job, and that is me. Getting up early, is only a few hours earlier than every pony else; but in the stable, where Celestia’s sun never has a chance to guide us. That is no real difference.

I simply slip out of my bed, step out and trot to work; it is not far, because I live close to the bakery. Why should I be living in the other end of the stable, just to that I have to gallop through town for an hour, to get to work? Besides, I love my job.

Once I reach the bakery, I step in and prepare for the day. I produce all the regular, tasty confectioneries.

After about an hour, I take the time to have my breakfast. I have more than enough baked, by then. Besides, very few ponies are in, this early. Short of a few of the farmers.

After breakfast, I continue baking, all the way up until lunch. If not just for the baking, but I also love seeing the smiles on the ponies as they enter our bakery. It is ours, and I merely work her. Just as I did not need a fancy title, I don’t need to own the bakery. This is my job, until I am too old and weak. By then, there will be another pony, taking my place in the bakery.