"Wow Zecora," said Applebloom, "this is really good tea."
"It is a brand-new blend, of my own design," replied the zebra, "I am pleased to hear you feel it's fine."
A small chortle of laughter filled the air in Zecora's hut. Today, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, had ventured into the Everfree Forest to visit their friend, and catch up on what she had been doing over the last few months.
"Hey Zecora," chimed in Sweetie Belle, "would you be able to let me take some of this tea back to Rarity? The stuff she has at her boutique is kinda boring."
"I shall fulfill your request, my dear," smiled Zecora, trotting over to some shelves. "Let me take a look, right over here."
As she busied herself among the shelves, one of her legs bumped into a bejeweled book, which promptly fell to the floor.
"Oh drat. I certainly did not mean to do that."
"What a fancy book," said Sweetie, eyeing the shiny cover.
"Yeah," chimed in Applebloom. "Is it one of yer potion books?"
"You draw conclusions," said Zecora. "But alas, it simply has pictures, from my past."
"Y'mean like baby pictures?" asked Scootaloo.
"Not quite as juvenile, though come to think of it, I haven't looked at them in awhile."
"Well, would you mind showing us? It might be fun to see what you were like before you came to Ponyville."
"Three curious fillies wish to know, and so I Zecora, will tell and show."
The three were soon huddled around Zecora, as she turned the yellowed pages of the book. Along with images of a younger Zecora, were those of a number of other zebras.
The girls eyes soon alighted on striped quadrupeds with maneless heads, strange discs that extended out their lower jaws, and even some with numerous items pierced through their ears.
As another page was turned, Sweetie Belle's eyes alighted on one picture. It showed a younger Zecora, seated across from another zebra. They were both bowing, though what was rather remarkable, was the head of the zebra across from Zecora in the picture...was attached to an enormously long neck, with numerous rings encircling it.
"Who's that?" asked Sweetie.
"Mistres Zeniiba, of the jungle lands," noted Zecora. "I see you are admiring her metal bands."
"Well, I've just never seen a po-I mean, a zebra with such a long neck. How did she get that way?"
Sensing the young filly's curiosity, Zecora explained more about the tribe Zeniiba came from.
In the tribe's village, it was common that over time, the female zebras would attach a series of rings along their necks. As the years went by, more rings would be added, until by the time a female zebra had come-of-age, her neck could be as long as two-and-a-half ponies in length.
"Wow," muttered Applebloom. "That must've been quite a sight t'see."
"Most certainly one of my favorite tales," smiled Zecora, "seeing the female's heads tower over the males. But please turn the page, Sweetie Belle. There are more pictures to show as well."
"Okay," said Sweetie, flipping to the next page with her unicorn magic.
That evening as she lay in bed, Sweetie Belle couldn't get the image of Zeniiba's gold-ringed neck out of her head. Even though Zecora had shown them pictures of other zebras she had met, that particular picture was still rattling around inside the little filly's head.
She looked so elegant, thought Sweetie. The princesses have long necks sure, but that zebra's neck...
Even though it was well past midnight, Sweetie soon turned on her bedside lamp, and crept over to her vanity. There, her eyes met her own reflection, and traveled down to her own neck.
Looking herself in the mirror, she tried to hold her head up as high as possible. However, if she was expecting to extend her filly-sized neck, she failed miserably.
"I wonder what it feels like to have a long neck," she muttered to herself, going back to bed and turning out the lights.
As she tossed and turned in bed for a while longer, an idea suddenly formed in her little mind!
Using her magic, she quickly brought a piece of paper and pencil over to her bed, and began scribbling away furiously.
"I can't wait to tell Applebloom and Scootaloo about this," she said to herself. "I can just hear them now."
"You wanna do what!?" asked Applebloom and Scootaloo in unison.
"I want you two to help me stretch my neck," smiled Sweetie Belle. "You know, like that zebra in the picture Zecora had?"
"Ah don't think that's such a good idea," said Applebloom, apprehensively.
"Yeah," added Scootaloo. "I mean, what if something goes wrong? I'd feel awful if we hurt you Sweetie Belle, and I'm sure Applebloom would feel the same-"
"But you won't," interjected Sweetie. "I don't want to make my neck as long as Zeniiba's. Just...long enough to find out what it feels like."
"And just how long is, 'long enough?'"
"Oh, about eye-height with Rarity. I figure that should be more-than-enough."
"So, how exactly are you gonna...stretch yerself?" asked Applebloom.
"With this," said Sweetie, as she showed them the crude drawing she had done the night before. "We just need to collect the supplies, build a few things, and voila: instant neck-stretcher!"
Applebloom and Scootaloo both exchanged worried looks, that Sweetie quickly picked up on.
"I know this sounds dangerous, but I'm positive I'll be fine. I just want you two to help me do this this one time, okay?"
"Promise?" asked Scootaloo.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," smiled Sweetie.
The "Pinkie Promise" quickly put the girls at ease, and the trio headed out to collect the materials for Sweetie Belle's plan.
A few hours later, they were back in their clubhouse, hammering and sawing away. Soon, the fruits of their labor were completed.
In the center of the room, sat a perpendicular wooden table, with a seam 3/4 of the way up it's surface. On either side of the seam, were two stout metal clasps, screwed securely in place.
At the top of the table, were two metal rings, with thick rope running through them. The ropes extended up and over the central rafter of the clubhouse, and down to two massive barbells (which the girls had borrowed from Bulk Biceps), situated on a small stack of chairs. The twin barbells were so heavy, that it looked like the chairs were going to break apart at any second.
However, this danger was lost on Sweetie Belle, who was hugging her friends excitedly.
"Oh thank-you thank-you thank-you," she smiled. "It looks perfect!"
"Yeah," yawned Applebloom, "I just didn't think it'd take us all day to finish."
"Ditto on that," said Scootaloo, looking out the window as the sun disappeared behind the hills outside. "What say we all go home, and do this stretching thing tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" squeaked Sweetie Belle. "But girls, it's ready right now!"
"But we're tired, Sweetie Belle," yawned Applebloom again. "B'sides, Applejack says it's best not to operate dangerous stuff when yer tired."
"Dangerous? This isn't dangerous," insisted Sweetie Belle, galloping over to the upright table, and opening the metal clasps. "Look, it's not gonna take that long. Just give me a few hours-"
"A few hours?" whined her friends.
"Yeah. I figure it shouldn't take me that long to get stretched as tall as Rarity. Just a few hours, and then we can go home. Pinkie Promise?"
With a tired sigh, the two fillies conceded, and a few moments later, Sweetie Belle had her back against the table, her neck firmly held under the metal clasps, and her chin resting on the top-most clasp. On either side of her, Applebloom and Scootaloo stood by the stacks of chairs.
"Okay girls," smiled Sweetie. "Let's do this!"
The two fillies attempted to pull the chairs out from under the masive barbells, but their weight made them almost impossible to budge.
Eventually, Applebloom and Scootaloo began to buck at the lower chairs with their hind legs. It took some time, but suddenly, the sound of splintering wood was heard as the lower chairs gave way, and the weights crashed through the other chairs!
Suddenly, the ropes pulled taut, the weights hovered in the air. A few seconds later, a squeaking scream was heard, jerking Applebloom and Scootaloo to their hooves!
The two rushed to their friend's side, where they noticed that the upper clasp on the table, seemed to be pushing up against Sweetie's chin, as her eyes were clamped shut.
"Ah knew this was bad," gasped Applebloom. "Scootaloo quick! We kin-"
"No...don't," came Sweetie's voice, faintly. "F-f-fine."
"Fine!?" asked Applebloom. "You look like you're in-"
"Applebloom, look!" Interrupted Scootaloo, pointing to the metal clasps.
As the two fillies watched, they saw the space between the clasps, slowly grow wider by the merest of millimeters. After 15 minutes, the space was at least a quarter-of-an-inch wider.
"It's...it's working!" exclaimed Scootaloo.
"Told...you...it...would," smiled Sweetie Belle, though the expression looked more like a grimace.
"Ah still don't like this," muttered Applebloom, gazing worriedly at her friend.
The three fillies attempted to stay awake as the stretching of Sweetie Belle's neck slowly continued, but as the stars peeked through the nearby windows, the day's activities slowly began to take their toll on the girls. One-by-one, their eyelids began to droop.
Surprisingly, Sweetie Belle was the first to nod off. With at least 2 inches of her stretched neck showing through the widening gap between the clasps, and even with her chin bunched up against the top-most one, she was soon snoring in no time.
Applebloom and Scootaloo attempted to stay up to make sure their friend reached her "proper height," but soon, Scootaloo was asleep on the wooden floor, and Applebloom followed shortly afterwards.
As the three fillies slept through the night, Bulk Bicep's weights kept descending, the upper part of the wood table kept ascending, and Sweetie Belle's neck...kept stretching.
"Belle...Sweetie Belle...Sweetie Belle!"
Sweetie Belle heard a voice calling her name out of the darkness. Slowly, she opened her sleepy eyes, and was surprised at the sight in front of her.
A number of wooden beams greeted her vision, and it took her a few moments to realize she was looking at the upper rafters of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse.
"SWEETIE BELLE!!" came the combined voices of her friends.
"Girls?" she asked. "What's going on?"
"Look down," commanded Scootaloo.
It was then Sweetie remembered the clasp at the bottom of her chin. Unable to tilt her head down, her green eyes looked down over her cheeks, as best she could.
What she saw next, was a shocking sight!
A long, white column extended from under her field of vision, and down to a white body against a wooden table below. A few seconds later...Sweetie realized the body she was looking at was her own, and the white column...was her neck!
"G-girls?" she asked. "W-what's happening?"
"We fell asleep," said Applebloom, walking into Sweetie's field-of-vision.
"I tried to stay awake as long as I could," chimed in Scootaloo, "but-"
"W-w-what do I look like?" asked Sweetie, a tone of worry creeping into her voice. "The-the floor length mirror. Bring it over and show me."
Her friends obliged, and soon, Sweetie Belle was seeing what they were seeing.
The weights were still attached to the long rope cords of the stretching apparatus, but they were now resting on the floor. Overnight, they had pulled the young filly's pure-white neck longer, and longer, and longer still. By the looks of things, Sweetie's neck was now twice as long as her little body.
"Girls?" she said. "I think we need to go see Twilight...right now!"
Getting Sweetie Belle to Twilight Sparkle, proved to be no easy task.
Once Applebloom and Scootaloo had untied the ropes attached to bulk bicep's weights, all three of the girls screamed as Sweetie's clamped head quickly descended downward as the upper part of the table crashed down onto the lower-part, with the filly's extra-long neck spooling out in front of her like silly string!
It was also upon removing the clamps, that the girls screamed again, as Sweetie's tiny head slumped to the floor, still attached to the serpentine neck snaking out from her trembling body.
She was then loaded carefully into their little red wagon, and with Applebloom holding onto Scootaloo, the orange pegasus sped towards Ponyville as fast as she could.
When they pulled up to the Golden Oak Library, Applebloom hopped off, and began pounding on it's door.
"Twilight!" she yelled. "Twilight it's Applebloom! We gotta problem!"
A few moments later, the door opened, and the purple alicorn emerged.
"For Celestia's sake, Applebloom," said Twilight, "a few polite knocks are more than enough for me to-"
It was then that her eyes alighted on the wagon, where Sweetie's neck and head lay on top of her body, like a pile of thick spaghetti.
"Twilight," she said worriedly. "I need your help."
Once Sweetie Belle had been brought into the library, Twilight had the girls lay her out on the floor, with her long neck covering a great distance.
After a short examination, they were relieved that the scared filly had not lost feeling in her neck. Twilight even checked to see if Sweetie felt any pain, but light pressure along portions of the neck, revealed nothing that caused them alarm.
"But why can't she lift up her head?" asked Scootaloo.
"I think it's because her neck muscles have been stretched so long," said Twilight. "They're not meant to be...well, like this."
"Can you get me back to normal, Twilight?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Please don't be mad at us," pleaded Applebloom.
"We didn't mean for this to happen, honest," nodded Scootaloo.
"While I'm very concerned with what you did," said Twilight, "I don't think I should punish you."
"Whew," sighed the three fillies.
"That's for your families to do."
The three sighs, turned into three big gulps a few seconds later.
Eventually, word turned to how this had happened in the first place. When Sweetie Belle explained about the picture she had seen at Zecora's, Twilight quickly sent Spike to the Everfree Forest.
Soon, the library door was thrown open, and Zecora stopped in the doorway, gazing down at the little filly's neck stretched across the floor.
After Twilight had filled Zecora in on everything the girls had told her, the zebra also conducted her own examination on Sweetie Belle.
"She still has feeling," she said, "Of that I am glad...but all this can be either good, or bad."
"Wh-whaddya mean?" asked Applebloom.
Zecora then went on to talk again about her friend Zeniiba's culture. She explained that while the stretching of the zebra's necks had been gradual, she had never encountered one who had done what Sweetie Belle had. The fact that the weights had stretched her neck for a number of hours, weighed heavily on her mind.
It was then that Zecora proposed to Twilight, that the stretched filly be allowed to relax and monitored over the next few weeks.
"We must wait and hope her neck will recede. At this point, it is best we leave it be."
"Very well," said Twilight."Come on girls, let's get Sweetie Belle home."
For the next few weeks, Sweetie Belle was confined to her bedroom, with a number of blankets and pillows cushioning her neck and head. Naturally, her parents were shocked by what had happened to their little filly. They had just come back from a cruise, and the last thing they expected, was to see their daughter lying on her bedroom floor, stretched out from one end, to the other.
Each day, Scootaloo and Applebloom visited their friend, who was slowly growing tired of doing nothing. Like the good friends they were, Sweetie's friends would take turns helping to feed her, play games, and even read to her.
The news of what happened hadn't been lost on those who knew Sweetie Belle either. Several of the girl's older pony friends stopped by to see how she was doing. Fluttershy brought a small group of her animal friends to visit, and Applejack had her little sister deliver a basket of apple fritters to Sweetie.
When Rarity heard what had happened to her little sister, she went to investigate, and was in awe at what she saw!
After getting over the initial shock, she put her fashion orders on hold, and made her little sister a few new items to try and cheer her up.
Sweetie Belle's parents also discovered that given how long her throat had become, it took awhile for her food to travel down the lengthened neck. This was remedied by feeding Sweetie smaller portion sizes, with a larger caloric content, allowing her to feel full while consuming less.
Twilight would also visit Sweetie Belle daily, continuing to take measurements and examine her. However, as the days wore on, the Princess of Friendship became more and more concerned.
Finally, at the end of the two weeks, she arranged for a meeting with Sweetie Belle, and her family and friends.
The event was held in Sweetie's room, with the participants sitting next to Sweetie Belle, still lying on the floor, cushioned by a number of pillows and blankets.
"Please tell us you have good news, Princess Twilight," said Sweetie's father. "Is our little Sweetie Belle gonna be alright?"
"I'm afraid that's a two-part question," said Twilight.
"What do you mean?" asked Sweetie's mother.
"Just that I have good news, and...bad news."
"What's the good news, Twilight?" asked Rarity.
"Well, from all my observations, Sweetie's health has not deteriorated since the incident."
"And, the bad news?" asked Sweetie, her head cradled on a thick pillow.
"I've been monitoring your neck for the last few weeks Sweetie Belle," said Twilight, making eye-contact with the filly's big green eyes. "I've taken careful measurements, and I am sad to say, that you have not lost an inch of length since I first measured you."
"Darling," said Rarity, "Are you saying-"
"Yes," replied Twilight. "I'm afraid Sweetie Belle's stretched neck...is permanent."
Author's Note
Well, hope those of you who read the story, are eager to know what is to come.
I have often found that when looking for strange or odd pony-related art, some of the pieces just make my brain wonder. Artist astrozone on FurAffinity is pretty interested in long, stretched-out necks (not to mention weight-gain!). While he had done some art of the regular ponies, a few pieces showing Sweetie Belle with a stretched neck made me wonder if there was a story in those images somewhere.
I'm not sure where it comes from but I am often intrigued by figures who do not seem to fit into "normal" society, and wondering how a little filly with an extremely-long neck would have her life changed, made me curious.
This was also one of the first times I really used in building up a story. I had thought of using her more often, but the fact that her rhyming all the time, made me tone down how often she appeared.
The style of this I feel differs quite a bit from my usual writing, as much of the story is described, rather than told extensively through character interactions, like my last few stories. I feel it makes this one a bit more "clinical,"
There was silence in the room for a few moments, before Sweetie Belle suddenly broke into whimpering sobs. Soon, her little head was surrounded by her friends, Rarity, and her mother.
"I'm sorry," said Twilight. "I wish I could return her to normal, but there's nothing I can do."
"Well wait a minute," said Sweetie's father. "Yer an alicorn, right? So, why don'tcha use that there magic of yers to shrink her neck down?"
"Of course!" chimed in Scootaloo. "Twilight, why didn't you-"
"I already considered it," replied Twilight. "But some things, even magic can't fix."
"W-why not?" Sniffed Sweetie.
"Sweetie Belle, you're still a growing filly. Using magic on your body at this stage in your life could be very dangerous. If I tried to make your neck normal again, your body might think of it as being...permanent."
"Whaddaya mean?" asked Applebloom. "Ah got the cutie pox from one of Zecora's potions, and I haven't had any cutie mark problems since."
"But the cutie pox didn't alter parts of your body," continued Twilight. "Let's say I did use magic to make Sweetie's neck normal. Her body might assume that size I shrunk her neck down to, IS normal. As Sweetie grows into a pony, her neck might stay that same size. I'm sorry everypony, but there's too many variables that could cause greater interference with Sweetie Belle's body as she matures."
There was silence in the room, punctuated by Sweetie's sobs, before Scootaloo spoke up.
"So, what can we do?" she asked.
"We can do what friends and family do best," replied Twilight. "We can help Sweetie Belle adjust."
"Right," nodded Scootaloo.
"You got it," smiled Applebloom. "Don't worry, Sweetie Belle. We're here for you, no matter what."
"And I as well, darling," said Rarity, stroking her little sister's hair.
"Us too, dear," said her mother.
"T-thanks everypony," Sweetie replied, with a few sniffles.
The rest of the summer should have been one of fun and games for Sweetie Belle. Instead, she found herself surrounded by family and friends, as she worked to become acclimated to her new lifestyle.
Her family reached into their savings, and had a new bed made for her, along with a specially-made pillow that cushioned her head and neck.
When it came to Sweetie Belle herself, the first thing that was decided upon, was helping her strengthen her neck muscles to be able to lift her head.
The first step of the plan, was to get her to at least lift her head off the ground. The first few days were a struggle, and Sweetie Belle burst into tears several times, feeling like her neck was doomed to be nothing more than a limp noodle.
Fortunately, her friends visited her daily to help boost her confidence, and after a week's time, the trio cheered when the white filly's head finally lifted off the floor for a few seconds!
The next step, was strengthening the muscles all along her neck. This was achieved by hanging weights over various areas along her neck.
The daily workouts in her bedroom were taking up most of the hours in a day, but Sweetie Belle was soon able to control her neck with graceful ease after a month's time. She could lower her head down to the ground, and even hold it aloft without feeling tired. However, given the "low ceilings" in her family's home, she couldn't extend herself fully while indoors. This soon led to her friends trying to get her to go outside.
At first, Sweetie claimed she didn't want to for fear that other ponies would see her, but relented when her friends claimed they would be there for her if things got bad.
It was quite a big day, as Sweetie took her first steps out of her room after weeks of training.
Things got tricky when she tried to go down the stairs. Her birds-eye-view made her a little disoriented, and she came dangerously close to tumbling down the steps several times. Fortunately, her friends were there to help her keep her footing.
Once outside, Sweetie Belle was finally able to unfurl her neck, and extend herself up to her full height (which was almost eye-level with her home's second-story window!).
"Well, how do ya feel?" asked Applebloom.
"...tall," replied Sweetie, looking down at her friends.
"Well, come on girls," smiled Scootaloo. "Let's get some exercise. Race you to that tree over there!"
The girls took off at a fast trot. The air was filled with the sounds of excited fillies for a few seconds, when suddenly, there was a squeak, and a loud thud!
Applebloom and Scootaloo turned to see Sweetie Belle collapsed on the ground, and quickly rushed over to her.
"Are you okay?" they asked. "What happened?"
"I don't know," said Sweetie. "I was running when suddenly, my legs felt like they got tangled up, and down I went!"
"Maybe yer just a lil' rusty," said Applebloom. "Bein' cooped up inside for the last month or so. Let's give it another go."
The girls tried to run around a few more times, but each attempt resulted in Sweetie once again crashing to the ground.
"I don't understand what's wrong with me," said Sweetie, a look of confusion and sadness spreading across her face.
"Don't worry," said Scootaloo. "Let's just walk around the yard for a bit. Maybe you just need to get the hang of walking again, before you can run."
Walking turned out to be no problem for the lengthened filly, and after a few trots around the outside of the house, Sweetie felt she was ready to try and run again. Unfortunately, these attempts were no better than the ones before.
Shortly after the girls returned to the house, Twilight showed up for Sweetie's daily check-up. The girls took the time to tell her what had happened during their time outdoors, with emphasis on Sweetie Belle's running troubles.
"Well," said Twilight, "from what you girls have told me, I think I forgot to mention that given how long her neck is, Sweetie Belle's center-of-gravity has changed."
"Say-whut-now?" asked Applebloom.
"All of our bodies have a gravitational center, Applebloom. This allows us to keep balanced when we walk, run, and do many other things. Our bodies grow within certain constraints of this, and allow us to stay balanced when we do our daily activities."
"But, what does that have to do with my center-of-gravity?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"When your neck was stretched Sweetie Belle, it changed your center of gravity. Instead of being balanced around your body like other fillies your age, your center has shifted."
"So, what does that mean?" asked Scootaloo.
"It means that unfortunately, Sweetie Belle might not be able to run."
"WHAT!?" cried the three fillies in unison.
"I know it's not what you wanted to hear. I'm afraid it's just one more thing you'll have to adjust to, Sweetie Belle."
The little white filly didn't say a word, but just quietly nodded her head.
As summer waned, Sweetie Belle continued with her neck exercises, and made daily trips outside with her friends. However, she didn't stray far from home, and was usually not outside for more than an hour.
One afternoon, the girls were having a talk, and the subject turned to school, which would be starting soon.
However, it was at this point that Sweetie Belle excused herself, and went inside.
A few days later while Sweetie was reading a book in her room, there was a knock on the door. She opened it, to find her mother with a brand-new pair of saddle-bags in one hoof.
"I saw them at the store, and thought they'd be perfect for the new school year," she smiled. "They're so colorful, and I know how you like fashion stuff like yer big sister-"
Thanks, Mom," said Sweetie Belle, burying her head a little deeper in her book. "You can just put them by the door."
"Oh but honey, don't you wanna take a look-"
"I'll look later, Mom. Can you just, leave me alone?"
"Um, okay dear," replied her Mom, before leaving the room.
The little pony's quietness became so frequent, that soon Applebloom and Scootaloo sat down and had a talk with their friend about it.
It was here that Sweetie Belle admitted that she was having second thoughts about going back to school.
"But you can't do that," said Scootaloo. "Ms Cheerilee says all ponies need a good education."
"Well, Ms Cheerilee doesn't have to worry about everypony in the class staring at her," said Sweetie Belle.
"Actually, she kinda does," noted Applebloom. "She is our teacher, after all."
"Oh...well, they're not going to be staring at her neck. Oh, why did I have to go and do something so stupid!?"
"Calm down, Sweetie Belle," said Applebloom, stroking her friend's back. "It'll be alright. After all, we're not gonna give up on you, and neither are your family."
"Yeah," said Scootaloo. "Besides, once we get past the first day, it's gotta be smooth sailing for the rest of the year, right?"
"Welcome to the first day of school, everypony," sang out Ms Cheerilee, as she saw her students take their seats. "I hope you all had a fun summer, but now it's time to get back to learning!"
The little schoolhouse was soon filled once again with the usual cacophony of chatter, as the fillies and colts entered and took their seats. Soon, all the seats had been filled...except for one directly between Applebloom and Scootaloo at the front.
"Girls," asked Ms Cheerilee, looking at the two of them, "where's Sweetie Belle?"
"She's right outside the door, Ms Cheerilee," said Applebloom, "Sweetie Belle's, a little embarrassed to come in."
"Really? That doesn't sound like the Sweetie Belle I know."
"She kind of had some...things happen to her over the summer," said Scootaloo. "Just trying to get her to come today was rather hard to do, for, a number of reasons."
"Oh, I'm sure it's just a little case of post-summer jitters," said Cheerilee. "I'll go have a talk with her, and get this all sorted out."
A few moments later, Cheerilee exited the classroom through the front door. Five minutes later, she quietly re-entered the room.
"Attention class," she said in her "cheeriest" tone. "It seems our classmate Sweetie Belle has been through some...changes this summer. Now I want you all to be on your best behavior, okay?"
Ms Cheerilee opened the door, and hushed murmurs filled the air as the class saw what appeared to be Sweetie Belle's little white body, with a long neck that disappeared behind the top of the doorframe.
"Come on in, Sweetie Belle," said Ms Cheerilee. "It's alright."
As the room continued to watch, the long neck curled down, and Sweetie Belle's head entered the room, slowly followed by her body.
Sweetie could feel everypony's eyes on her, as she slowly walked into the classroom, her head almost brushing the sloped roof of the schoolhouse ceiling. She soon found her desk (which happened to be right in front of Diamond Tiara), and slowly sat down, before magically removing her saddlebags.
"Well, I'm glad we're all here and ready to start the necks-I-I mean, the next school year," said Cheerilee, correcting her verbal mistake (but getting some snickering remarks from the class).
"Ms Cheerilee," called out Diamond Tiara. "I can't see the board with Sweetie Belle's NECK is in the way!"
"Oh dear," said the teacher, looking up at Sweetie's head. "Sweetie Belle, could you, lower your head please?"
"Okay," said Sweetie quietly, and the class watched as the long white neck angled forward...placing Sweetie Belle's head right in Ms Cheerilee's face!
"Hmmm...well, maybe we should have you, switch desks with somepony."
And so, Sweetie Belle found herself sitting at the back of the classroom, while her friends sat up front.
As the lesson went on, Sweetie felt several pokes along the lower part of her neck. However, by the time she looped her head down to look, nothing seemed out-of-the-ordinary, as the students around her appeared to be writing away at their desks.
One little colt a few seats up made eye-contact with her at one point, and unseen by Ms Cheerilee, revealed a small pony he had made out of putty. As Sweetie watched, he began stretching the putty pony's neck.
Sweetie tried to ignore this, but as her eyes soon looked down on Silver Spoon's desk, she saw the grey filly was writing a list of names.
She could make out "Taffy Belle," "Stretchy Belle," and several others.
"Ms Cheerilee," called out Sweetie, stopping the lesson.
"Yes, Sweetie Belle?" came her teacher's response.
"Silver Spoon is making fun of me."
"Making fun of you?" asked the grey filly. "Why would I do something so ridiculous?"
"Must be the air up there," smirked Diamond Tiara. "All musty and dusty up in the rafters."
"Don't you talk that way about my friend," retorted Applebloom.
"And why not, blank-flank?" chided Diamond.
"GIRLS!!" came Cheerilee's voice, silencing the argument, before addressing Sweetie Belle again. "Now everypony, stop whatever misbehaving is going on, and let's get back to the lesson at hand."
The class's attention returned to the chalkboard, but Sweetie Belle could still see Silver Spoon, writing even more demeaning names on the piece of paper.
When the bell rang for lunch and recess, Applebloom and Scootaloo waited for Sweetie to slowly make her way outside. Soon, they were sitting down at a table, as Sweetie began to slowly consume a sandwich.
"So, how are you doin?" asked Applebloom.
"Well, aside from Diamond Tiara making a big deal about my neck, Silver Spoon writing mean things about me, and that jerk of a colt making a putty-pony of me, I'm just-"
"HELP! HELP!!"
The conversation was interrupted as the girls heard a shrieking voice. Looking around, they saw a little filly named Aura, looking up at a ball stuck in a tree.
"Aw, not again," said Scootaloo. "She's always throwing that thing up in the tree and getting it stuck. When will she learn?"
"Hey, I got a great idea," said Applebloom, "Sweetie Belle, you can show just how useful havin' a long neck can be by helpin' her out!"
"Useful? But her ball is all the way up in the-oh, right! Good thinking, Applebloom!"
Gulping down the last of her sandwich, Sweetie Belle slowly moved across the playground. As she did so, several of the kids watched her, as she soon came up next to Aura.
A small crowd had gathered as Sweetie extended her neck up to it's full length. Her head was slightly higher than the branch the ball was on, but using her magic, she plucked it from it's place in the tree, and lowered it down to the little filly.
"There you go," smiled Sweetie Belle, lowering her head down to Aura's eye-level.
"Thank you, Sweetie Belle," said the smiling filly. "That was real nice of you."
As Aura ran off with her ball, Applebloom and Scootaloo ran up to their friend.
"See?" said Applebloom. "Havin' a long neck isn't so bad after all."
"Yeah," said Scootaloo. "Besides, long neck or short neck, you're still Sweetie Belle."
"Aw, thanks girls," said Sweetie. "You know? It felt real good to-OW!!!""
Sweetie was cut off mid-sentence as a ball hit the middle of her neck at a great speed! The shock of the impact was enough to make the tall filly lose her footing, and tumble onto the ground. Unfortunately, her neck fell in an arc, and her head smacked into the trunk of the tree!
"Who threw that!?" demanded Scootaloo, her eyes scanning the playground.
"Oops, sorry about that," said Diamond Tiara. "If only, Stretchy Belle there wasn't so tall, it wouldn't have happened."
If you were to ask the numerous fillies and colts on the playground that day what happened next, none of them would be able to give you a clear picture of what they witnessed.
The one thing they were certain about, was that before recess was over, Sweetie Belle had been taken to the hospital, Ms Cheerilee had had her hooves full breaking up a fight, and several sets of parents and guardians were called in.
While Ms Cheerilee had originally decided to suspend Applebloom, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon from school for a week, both Diamond and Silver's punishments were excused by Diamond's mother, Spoiled Rich.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and even Sweetie Belle's parents attempted to countered this decision, claiming their feelings that the girls had been provoked. Unfortunately, Spoiled Rich claimed her daughter explained to her what really happened, and her word was evidence enough that "dangerous ponies" like Applebloom and Scootaloo, needed to be taught a lesson in manners.
"If they're going to get upset over a ball accidentally hitting one of their blank-flank friends, who knows what horrible ponies they'll grow up to be?" Spoiled had told the girl's relations. "I can only hope this punishment will help them become better fillies."
In private, Ms Cheerilee informed the girls' relations that she did not agree with Spoiled Rich's decision, but given Spoiled's iron grip over the Ponyville schoolboard, her hooves were tied.
Sweetie Belle was let out of the hospital the next day, and found herself in a classroom without her best friends.
Though Ms Cheerilee lectured the class to behave themselves, a number of fillies and colts were still quietly making fun of Sweetie every chance they could get.
During class, Sweetie still felt strange pokings along her lower neck, but her reaction time was too slow to ever see who was touching her.
The day she came back, little Aura (whose ball Sweetie had recovered) had attempted to sit next to her at lunch, but she was blocked from sitting by Diamond and Silver.
"So sorry," Silver snorted to the little filly, "this table is reserved for blank-flanks and and other strange ponies."
Sweetie watched sadly as the confused filly trotted away, and Silver and Diamond sat next to her.
"Speaking of blank-flanks," snorted Diamond, "must be tough not having your little blank-frank friends to sit with."
"Leave me alone," mumbled Sweetie, as she laid her neck across the lunch table.
"What was that? Mother says it's rude to mumble."
"I said, leave, me, a-lone!" said Sweetie, lifting her head and turning it towards the two.
"But we're just stating the obvious," smiled Silver. "And by the looks of it, noone wants to sit with a strange, long-necked pony like you anyway."
And so it went. Sweetie attempted to ignore the two, and some of the other little fillies and colts they had coraled into making fun of her.
She even attempted to tell Ms Cheerilee about what was happening, but all her teacher could do was remind the class once again to behave themselves.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Diamond Tiara's knowledge that her tauntings would go unpunished, kept her and Silver Spoon hard at work, irritating Sweetie Belle any chance they could when Ms Cheerilee wasn't looking.
It was around Thursday of the first week of school, that during recess, after another round of taunts while trying to eat lunch, that Sweetie Belle quietly got up, and headed off the schoolgrounds towards Ponyville.
*DING-A-LING*
"Coming," called Rarity, as she exited the backroom in the boutique...only to see her little sister standing in the doorway of her shop, her neck looped down, and huge tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Sweetie Belle?" asked Rarity. "Darling, shouldn't you be in school?"
"I don't wanna go back to school!" wailed Sweetie, her body twitching in shuddering sobs. "I'm never going back to school ever again!"
Author's Note
Wow, hadn't had a chapter like this in awhile...and by that I mean one that took some finagling to be finished.
Much like the first chapter, I wanted to show and describe minor glimpses of things going on around Sweetie Belle and her new situation, while leaving much of what happened to the reader's imagination.
I almost didn't give the little filly who lost her ball a name, but I always liked the way she yelled for help in The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, and so I figured little Aura would be the perfect filly to lose a ball in a tree.
I did spend some time struggling with what could have led to the girls being suspended, but I felt it was easier to imply something major had happened, and let the reader decide what had happened (like in Calvin and Hobbes, with "the noodle incident"). Plus, I figured I didn't need to write out every single mean thing Diamond and Silver did to torment poor Sweetie Belle.
Well, hope to get cracking on the next chapter soon. Got a little more clear idea of what will happen there. This is also the first story I've written, where i actually cranked out an epilogue before getting to it. Gives me something to reach for in heading towards the story's conclusion.
