Inspiring Generosity

by Neonz

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sweetie Belle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity, Slice of Life
Length: 4866

After witnessing her older sister selflessly giving back, Sweetie Belle leads the cutie mark crusaders on a mission to do the same.

After witnessing her older sister selflessly giving back, Sweetie Belle leads the cutie mark crusaders on a mission to do the same.

Published 2012-12-18 17:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-18 17:20:01 UTC

Chapter 1

Dedicated to my mother, although she’ll never know it because I’ll never allow her to read this. Haha.

Thanks for the inspiration.

…

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle whined from her sister’s couch. The little unicorn foal had been watching her sister work fervently on completing what seemed like hundreds of red, white, and green striped scarves for the past twenty minutes, and was getting restless. “Why did you invite me over if you’re just gonna work the entire time?”

Rarity didn’t look up from her work. She was hovering a pair of knitting needles in front of herself, and was weaving the yarn into a scarf pattern at an astounding pace. “Sweetie Belle,” she said as she squinted at the yarn through her red glasses. “You’ll see in a few minutes; I’m nearly finished.”

Sweetie Belle groaned and rolled onto her back, as if hoping that the world turned upside down would be more exciting. Her green eyes wandered to the massive pile of scarves that Rarity had created, and she raised an eyebrow. “Who’s gonna buy that many scarves, anyways?”

Rarity finished knitting another scarf, magically connected red tassels to either end, and then added it to the pile. She levitated the yarn back onto her needles, and continued knitting. “Oh, these aren’t for selling, Sweetie Belle,” she explained without looking over.

Sweetie Belle turned herself upright again, and shot her sister a confused look. “I don’t get it. I thought you hated knitting? Why would you make all of these scarfs for no reason?”

Rarity finished the scarf she was working on, and placed it with the rest. “I don’t hate knitting, Sweetie,” Rarity explained as she put the needles and yarn back into her cupboards. “I just prefer to make more elaborate designs, and knitting is simply too much effort to warrant making dresses. Besides that, it’s practically impossible to attach gemstones to yarn. But knitting does make the most delightfully warm scarves!” She magically placed all of the scarves in a large pink jewel-encrusted bag, put her glasses on the table, and trotted to her sister. “Now then, let’s be off!”

“We’re leaving?” Sweetie asked, her tone a mix of excitement and confusion. "But, where are we going?”

Rarity smiled at her younger sister. “You’ll see.”

…

The snow had fallen thick around Ponyville, and the transformation that the white fluff had created was breathtaking. Every tree and every house was painted a brilliant white, and the townsfolk didn’t dare go outside without some form of weather protection, be it a saddle, hat, or boots. Rarity had wrapped red, white, and green scarves around both her neck and Sweetie Belle’s, and the two were heading into a part of town that Sweetie wasn’t familiar with.

“Where are we?” Sweetie Belle asked as she looked around the new area. The houses here were notably more worn-down, and Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but be glad she didn’t have to live there; it looked like it was awfully cold, especially against the backdrop of the setting sun.

Rarity nodded ahead of them, and Sweetie looked over to see a fairly large, but otherwise unimpressive building. It was longer than it was tall, and a large sign over the top declared it to be “Hope’s Soup Kitchen”. Like all of the other buildings in the vicinity, it was in need of repair. It looked like the last place Rarity would want to venture to, so Sweetie Belle was even more confused than she already was. Rarity smiled at her little sister’s expression. “Go on, sweetheart; open the door for me so I can get this bag in.”

Sweetie Belle did as she was told, and was very surprised by what she saw next. The door had led to a massive room, where nearly one hundred ponies were sitting at long tables with bowls of what looked like soup in front of them. Sweetie Belle noted that none of them looked very happy, so she turned anxiously towards her older sister for guidance.

Rarity trotted into the room with her large pink bag hovering just ahead of her and a big smile on her face. “Hello, everypony. I’m so sorry to interrupt your supper…” she greeted as several sad faces looked over to find the source of the voice. Once their eyes landed on Rarity, their faces lit up.

“Rarity!” A few of them knew the unicorn mare by name, and Sweetie watched in amazement as her sister opened the pink bag and magically levitated the scarves into the air.

Rarity hovered one scarf to every single pony in the room. Some of them looked elated to receive their gift. Others appeared shy, or maybe a bit embarrassed, but all of them were smiling. A chorus of “thank yous!” echoed across the hall.

Sweetie Belle watched with wide eyes as her big sister walked back over to her. “You made those scarves to give away?” Sweetie asked as she watched a few of the ponies try their new scarf on.

Rarity nodded. “I do it every year," she explained. Sweetie’s eyes were wide with wonder. “I figured this year you were old enough to come with me.”

“I didn’t know you did that?” Sweetie stated, looking confused.

Rarity smiled. “Oh, I don’t do it for any sort of recognition. I don’t want anything in return, you see. I do like handing my work out personally, though, because then I get to see all of their smiles…” She glanced back towards the tables to emphasize her point. “It’s really wonderful to give back, especially around this time of year, don’t you think so?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, a smile spreading across her own face. “Yeah… yeah, I think so too!”

…

“She just gave ‘em all away? To strangers she didn’t even know?” Apple Bloom asked, her orange eyes wide with wonder.

“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. She had just recounted the story of the previous night with Rarity to her two best friends in their clubhouse, and both of the other fillies looked amazed. “And everypony just looked so happy!” She smiled. “It was really fun!”

“I don’t get it.” Scootaloo admitted. “I mean, those ponies don’t even have money for food. Why would they want a silly scarf?”

“That’s not the point, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom piped up. “Point is, a buncha ponies’ lives were made a little happier, right Sweetie Belle?”

“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle agreed. “Rarity says that they don’t ever get special stuff like scarves, so that’s why it makes them so happy! And besides, they get food at that place we visited.” Sweetie looked thoughtful for a few seconds. “It looked kinda gross though. Like, soup with a bunch of random things thrown into it.”

Scootaloo winced. “Ugh. Why would they eat that?”

“They don’t have no choice, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said sadly. “Boy, it would be nice if somepony made them somethin’ else for a change, though.”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Yeah… wait!” The other two crusaders turned to her curiously. “What if we made supper for them?” Sweetie Belle asked excitedly. “We could give back, just like Rarity did!”

“YEAH!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo cheered, but then hesitated.

“Wait, we don’t know how to cook,” Scootaloo pointed out.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Well, maybe not, but Granny Smith always says that “if y’all can read, y’all can cook!” How hard can it be? We just need a cookbook.”

“I guess so!” Scootaloo agreed. “What are we gonna make?”

“Everything,” Sweetie Belle said excitedly. “I want it to be the best supper they’ve ever had!”

“Maybe we can get our cutie marks!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Cutie mark crusader chefs, anypony?”

“No,” Sweetie Belle stated, causing both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom to look at her in bewildered confusion. “The point is to give without getting anything; if we get our cutie marks, then we ruin the point of giving back!”

“Ah guess that makes sense," Apple Bloom said, tapping her chin.

“Yeah, okay," Scootaloo agreed. “Just this once, we won’t try to get our cutie marks.”

“Okay, let’s go to my house!” Apple Bloom decided. “We have lotsa apples for cooking, and lotsa recipes for baking!”

The three fillies jumped up and bumped hooves, cheered, then rushed out of the clubhouse.

…

Each of the cutie mark crusaders stood perched on a tall wooden stool in the Apple family kitchen. Apple Bloom had found a large recipe book, and it was now spread on the counter in front of them.

“Okay, let’s see…” Apple Bloom flipped through the pages. “Apple strudel, apple cake, apple soup, apple cinnamon crisp, apple and hay salad, apple – ”

“Um, Apple Bloom…” Sweetie Belle interrupted. “Is there anything in that book that doesn’t have to do with apples?”

Apple Bloom looked up from the book. “Why? What’s wrong with apples?”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo glanced at each other. “Nothing!” Sweetie Belle quickly replied. Apple Bloom smiled and went back to reading.

“So, whadda we wanna make?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well…” Sweetie Belle started, looking thoughtful. “We need an appetizer, a main course, dessert, and I guess some sort of drink!”

“No soup, though!” Scootaloo added. “They get enough soup already!”

“Alright...” Apple Bloom sifted through the book. “We could make apple kebobs for an appetizer. They look real easy – ya just stick a bunch of apple slices on a big stick and coat ‘em in lemon juice so they don’t go all brown.”

“Sounds good to me,” Scootaloo said. “What about the main course?”

“I know!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “I had this big cheese and spinach pie at a restaurant once and it was soooo yummy. We should make that!”

“Ew, spinach?” Scootaloo asked, looking skeptical.

“That’s not in the book.” Apple Bloom said, tapping it for emphasis.

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “We can go to the library later and find another book. What about dessert?”

The three fillies thought about the question for a few seconds, then all at once perked up and shouted. “Cupcakes!!”

“Yeah! We can go to Sugarcube Corner… Ah bet Pinkie Pie will help us make cupcakes, just like she did with me!” Apple Bloom said excitedly.

“And for drinks,” Scootaloo said, looking at Apple Bloom. “Do you guys have any more cider?”

“Ah’ll ask.” Apple Bloom said, then took a huge breath. “APPLEJACK!! DO WE HAVE ANY MORE CIDER?!”

Applejack rushed into the kitchen, looking alarmed. Once she saw that the three fillies were perfectly fine, she sighed in exasperation. “Heavens, Apple Bloom, ya scared me half t’death!”

“Sorry, sis…”

Applejack chuckled. “And no, we don’t have any cider leftover from cider season… we were cleaned right out.” The three fillies groaned sadly, giving Applejack a reason to probe further. “Why did ya want to know somethin' like that?”

“We’re gonna make a meal for the less fortunate ponies!” Sweetie Belle piped up.

“Yeah, speaking of,” Apple Bloom added. “Do we have any lemon juice? We wanna make apple kebobs.”

Applejack looked surprised for a moment, then smiled warmly. “Well Ah’ll be. What a wonderful gesture… and apple kebobs seem easy enough for you three to handle. Lemon juice is in the fridge, sis, and you know where the apples are. Use the apple slicer, not the knife, y’hear? Lemmie know if you need help; Ah’ll just be outside.”

“Thanks Applejack!” The three fillies cheered, and Apple Bloom hastily gathered the ingredients.

For the next hour, the crusaders meticulously sliced the apples, placed them onto kebob sticks, and rolled them in lemon juice. Once they had completed one hundred of them, they stopped and smiled proudly at their work. It had taken them a while, but the result looked very tasty.

Apple Bloom placed the kebobs onto a sheet, covered them in plastic wrap, then slipped them into the refrigerator. “That was easy!” Apple Bloom commented.

“Yeah… now we have to go and get a recipe for cheese and spinach pie.” The three girls grinned, collectively nodded, then rushed out of the house and towards the library.

…

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the three beaming fillies who had raced into her home. “You want a recipe for cheese and spinach pie? …Might I ask why?”

“So we can cook it,” Scootaloo answered on behalf of the group. “Duh.”

Twilight ignored the young pony’s snarky remark. “Is this another ploy to earn your cutie marks?” she asked suspiciously.

“No, we aren’t trying to earn our cutie marks today,” Sweetie Belle answered, and Twilight looked a bit surprised.

“Yeah, we’re tryin’ to help out ponies in need by cooking them supper!” Apple Bloom added.

“We don’t want anything in return," Scootaloo stated with a nod. “Not even our cutie marks.”

Twilight shocked expression quickly turned into a happy one. “Oh girls, it’s so wonderful that you can put other ponies’ needs ahead of your own desires… how thoughtful!” she praised, causing the three youngsters to smile. She levitated a book down from the shelf, and handed it over to Sweetie Belle. “You three have somepony to supervise you while you make this, right?”

“Yeah… Pinkie Pie!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. Twilight suddenly looked very concerned for their safety, though the cutie mark crusaders didn’t seem to notice. “C’mon girls, let’s go to Sugarcube Corner!!”

…

“Pie?!” Pinkie Pie bounced joyously into the air. “I love making pie! Of course I’ll help you make some!” She giggled and led the three young fillies into the Sugarcube Corner’s kitchen, which was far more spacious than the Apple family’s. “Wait, what kind of pie are we making again? Blueberry? Chocolate? Apple? You know, if it’s apple pie, I bet Applejack would be a lot more help than me, I mean, she’s the best apple pie baker in all of Ponyville!”

“Not as good as Granny Smith, Pinkie!” Apple Bloom corrected with a grin.

“Actually, Pinkie Pie, we want to make cheese and spinach pie!” Sweetie Belle announced and presented the cookbook to a suddenly uncertain looking Pinkie.

“Spinach?” Pinkie’s expression turned to one of sadness, and she paused in her bouncing. “Oh, I don’t think we have any spinach… Or cheese, now that I think about it," she admitted, and tapped her chin with one hoof. “Why don’t we make a different kind of pie?” Pinkie asked, perking up again.

“Nah, we needed it for a main course," Scootaloo answered. Pinkie tipped her head curiously.

“We’re making supper for the less fortunate folk, Pinkie!” Apple Bloom explained.

Pinkie smiled and nodded vigorously. “Oooohhh, I see!” she exclaimed and started bouncing again. “Well, they need to have dessert too, right? I mean, I’m really good at making desserts, so I think that’s what we should make instead!”

The three fillies shared looks, and then nodded. “Cupcakes!!” They cheered simultaneously.

Pinkie happily cheered with them, then rushed around the kitchen and gathered ingredients. “Should I sing the cupcake song again, Apple Bloom?”

“Nah Pinkie, Ah think Ah remember it.”

“Oh okay!” The crusaders stood back and watched as Pinkie mixed all of the ingredients in record time, poured the mixture into a cupcake pan, then slid it into an oven that was somehow already preheated. “Okay, now you girls keep an eye on those. I’m kind of sort of working right now, so I shouldn’t really be making cupcakes. But I’m just a hop and a skip away if you need me!” With that, Pinkie zipped out of the room, leaving three confused crusaders.

“Apple Bloom, how long do we cook these things for?” Scootaloo asked.

“Why’re ya askin’ me?”

“Because you’ve made them before?”

“Oh… right.” Apple Bloom thought back to when she tried to earn her cupcake eating cutie mark, and had failed miserably. “Uh… well, Ah’m not really sure, but not too long.”

“Well, we can’t undercook them either!” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

The three fillies resorted to watching the oven anxiously. After only a few minutes, Scootaloo was bored. “Okay, they’ve gotta be done by now… we’ve been here forever.”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “It hasn’t even been five minutes, Scoots.”

“Well, check them then, if you’re so smart.”

“Fine!” Applebloom opened the oven door, and a huge wave of black smoke poured out of it. The three fillies screamed and dove out of the way.

Pinkie Pie heard the commotion, rushed back into the room, and hurriedly opened the windows. “Are they done?” she asked happily and removed the tray from the oven. The cupcakes were completely blackened.

“Not again…” Apple Bloom groaned. “How is that even possible?! It wasn’t even five minutes, Ah swear it!”

Pinkie Pie carefully removed one of the blackened baked goods from its tray, blew on it to cool it down, then, to the fillies’ horror, downed the cupcake in one bite. “Mmmm… s’good!”

The cutie mark crusaders looked at each other worriedly. “Okay, well, let’s forget about cupcakes for now…” Sweetie Belle decided. “We need to get back to the cheese and spinach pie.”

“Applejack won’t let me use an oven.” Apple Bloom said sadly.

“Yeah, my parents won’t either… and Rarity’s too busy to watch us, so she won’t let us…” Sweetie Belle said.

“Well, who else is there?” Scootaloo asked, then gleefully perked up. “What about Rainbow Dash?!”

“Rainbow Dash lives on a cloud, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom reminded her.

“Oh… right.”

“Well, Fluttershy doesn’t live on a cloud…” Sweetie Belle thought out loud. The three crusaders grinned, then rushed out of the bakery.

…

“Oh, hello girls.” Fluttershy smiled as she looked at the three fillies standing in her doorway. “Is there something you three needed?”

“Yeah, we really need to use your oven," Sweetie Belle explained as if this was a typical request from a group of foals.

Fluttershy took a few steps backwards to allow the foals to step inside, but looked very uncertain. “Now, what would you three need my oven for?”

“To make a cheese n’ spinach pie,” Apple Bloom explained with a grin.

“We wanna make supper for the ponies who go to the soup kitchen," Scootaloo added.

A smile spread across the yellow pegasi’s face as she learned about the plan. “Oh girls, that’s so wonderful! Come on inside, I’m just here with Rainbow Dash – ”

“Rainbow Dash?!” Scootaloo bounced excitedly into the air and fluttered her tiny wings before landing back onto Fluttershy’s wooden floor. “Rainbow Dash is here?!”

“Heh, yeah, I’m right here.” Rainbow Dash’s voice came from the kitchen, and Scootaloo bounded after it. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle quickly followed, and Fluttershy headed in after the three crusaders.

Rainbow Dash was sitting at Fluttershy’s table, looking a bit worse for wear. A first-aid kit was opened on the table in front of her, and a large bandage had been stretched across her forehead.

Scootaloo hesitated at the state of her idol. “Rainbow Dash, what happened?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry about this.” She pointed at her forehead. “It’s just a scratch.”

Fluttershy flew over to sit at the other end of the table. “I-I wanted to go to the emergency room, but – ”

“Fluttershy, it’s just a scratch!” Rainbow Dash repeated with an eyeroll. “Anyways, I was doing some awesome new flying tricks outside,” Rainbow threw her hooves in the air for emphasis, “when suddenly I was ambushed by a bunch of stupid ducks… I mean seriously, shouldn’t they all be south by now?”

Fluttershy’s ears flattened to her head and a frown appeared on her face. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash, they didn’t mean to knock you into that tree! The weather team must have forgotten to guide them out, the poor babies… I was only trying to help…”

Rainbow groaned. “Yeah, yeah, you can stop apologizing. I’m fine.” The cyan pegasus turned her attention to the three foals. “Anyways, did I hear right when you said you were cooking for the less fortunate ponies? ‘Cause that’s seriously cool of you.”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo confirmed, pleased by the praise Rainbow had bestowed on them. "We were hoping we could make cheese and spinach pie here.”

“Here’s the recipe.” Sweetie Belle handed the recipe book to Fluttershy, who quickly looked it over.

“Oh girls, I think it’s wonderful what you’re trying to do… but this is an awfully difficult recipe. And it would take a lot of pies to feed all of the ponies over there, don’t you think?” Fluttershy smiled kindly, but the faces of the three crusaders fell.

“So… you’re not gonna help us?” Apple Bloom asked. All three of the fillies gave their best huge-eyed pouts.

“Well, it is getting kinda late," Rainbow Dash pointed out. “You sure you want to do it today?”

“Late?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, and rushed to the window to inspect the sky. The sun was definitely starting to set, and the blue sky was tinted pink. “Oh no…” Her ears sadly flattened to her head.

“But we already made all of those apple kebobs!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash glanced worriedly at each other. “Girls…” Fluttershy said slowly. “Why don’t you take those apple kebobs you made over?”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash agreed. “I mean, it’s better than just soup, right?”

Sweetie Belle looked at the ground. “I guess…” She sighed. “I don’t know…”

“C’mon, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom said as she nudged her friend. “Let’s go back to Sweet Apple Acres and gather ‘em up!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo agreed. “It’ll still be really awesome, even if it isn’t an entire meal, right?”

Sweetie Belle nodded glumly, and followed her two friends as they departed.

…

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were eager to grab the tray of apple kebobs and head out the door, but Sweetie Belle followed at a much slower pace.

“Aw, c’mon Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom called to her. “We tried our best, right? And we still made lotsa yummy apple kebobs!”

“I… I just wanted it to be special…” Sweetie Belle admitted, stopping for a moment to sit slumped on the ground. “Just like how Rarity made all of those amazing scarves…” She sniffed, and a single tear fell down her face and disappeared into the snowy ground. “I feel like all of this effort was for nothing.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at one another for a moment. “Sweetie Belle…” Apple Bloom walked over to the white unicorn foal and nuzzled her encouragingly. “Come on, Ah think we did a great job!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo agreed. “I mean, if it wasn’t for you, we never would have had this idea in the first place. We can always try again later, but for tonight at least they get apple kebobs, right?”

Sweetie Belle gave a weak smile. “Yeah… you’re right girls. We gave it all we had and should be happy about that.” She stood up and pointed into the distance. “Let’s go!” The three fillies giggled and bumped hooves before rushing off into the beautiful chilly night.

…

“Okay, this is the same building Rarity took me to yesterday,' Sweetie Belle explained as they walked up to the entrance of the Hope’s Soup Kitchen. “Ready, girls?”

“Ready!”

The cutie mark crusaders all entered the building, but as they turned to look at the tables, they were absolutely flabbergasted. There were dishes of amazing looking food already lined up – everything from salads and roasted vegetables to fresh fruits and juices to pies, cookies, and even cupcakes. Not only that, but there were twice the number of ponies in the building than Sweetie Belle had remembered from the day before.

“What’s going on?” Sweetie Belle asked as she watched some of the ponies joyously eating away at the buffet.

“There they are!” a voiced called out, and every single face turned to look at the three fillies. A round of applause slowly spread across the room, accompanied by the beaming faces of nearly two hundred ponies.

“Oh, girls!” Twilight trotted over to them, looking ecstatic. “Isn’t this wonderful? You must be so proud of yourselves!”

“But…” Sweetie Belle started, looking very confused. “We didn’t do anything!”

“All we brought were these apple kebobs," Scootaloo added as Apple Bloom handed them over to Twilight, who accepted them with her magic.

Twilight laughed. “I’ll put these with the rest of the food, thank you.”

The three fillies looked at each other with confused faces, but noticed that more ponies were approaching them.

“There y’are!” Applejack announced as she walked over to them.

“Isn’t this just the most bestest thing ever?!” Pinkie Pie asked with a giggle.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed beside Pinkie Pie and Applejack. “Oh, you three look a little confused.” Fluttershy commented with a smile.

“You see,” Rainbow Dash started, “Fluttershy and I thought it was really awesome that you three wanted to help out, so we decided to make a salad… and told a few other ponies about your plan, as well.”

“Yeah, me too, me too!” Pinkie Pie sang. “I told every single pony who came into Sugarcube Corner today: “you should really bring something down to Hope’s Soup Kitchen tonight; I hear there’s a big surprise supper going on!” and look! They all brought stuff down!” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Oh, and I remade the cupcakes for you… five dozen of them!”

“Yup, after Ah heard yer plan, me and Big Mac went and made a big barrel ah cider from the apple reserves," Applejack told them. “We mighta told a few others, too," she added with a wink.

Twilight walked back over to the group. “Yes,” she started, “Well, I knew Pinkie Pie wouldn’t be a whole lot of help with the pie you were trying to make because she’s much better at baking desserts, so Spike and I found another copy of that recipe book in the library and made it ourselves.”

“Really?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed with a huge grin. “Thanks!”

A white unicorn mare suddenly came rushing towards them, and Sweetie Belle lit up at the sight of her sister. “Oh, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity exclaimed and wrapped the foal into a hug. “I’m so proud of the three of you!”

“Thanks…” Sweetie Belle said as she was released from Rarity’s grasp. “But, I still don’t understand what we did," she admitted, tipping her head in confusion. “I mean, you guys brought all of the food! We didn’t do anything…”

Rarity smiled and shook her head. “From what I’ve heard, you three spent all day trying to make the perfect supper for complete strangers – ponies that would otherwise never get to experience such a thing. Sweetie Belle, that level of generosity is sometimes not even seen in adults, and when we see it in fillies your age… it’s really quite inspiring.”

“It was Sweetie Belle’s idea!” Apple Bloom piped up. “Me and Scoots were inspired by her first!”

Sweetie Belle blushed. “Well, I was inspired by you, Rarity," Sweetie Belle explained. “The way you took all that time making those scarves… I wanted to do something, too!”

“That’s precisely what I’m talking about, girls! And look how many ponies you’ve inspired tonight!” Rarity praised, looking over at the plates of food. “Sometimes it only takes a small gesture to create something that’s much bigger. Like I said, I’m very, very proud.” The crusaders looked between each other with huge grins.

“I think I’ll write a letter to the princess about what I’ve learned today," Twilight decided, causing the three fillies to look up in awe. “Would you three like to help me?”

Scootaloo gasped. “We could inspire the princess!”

Apple Bloom nodded eagerly. “Yeah! And she could inspire the rest of Canterlot!”

“And then all of Equestria!” Sweetie Belle added excitedly.

The older ponies laughed at the youngsters’ eagerness. “Spike!” Twilight called. The baby dragon appeared at her side with a quill and paper.

“Ready!” Spike announced.

Twilight smiled at her assistant. “Thanks, Spike. Okay girls, what have you learned about today?”

The three crusaders glanced at each other, then collectively nodded. Sweetie Belle cleared her throat. “Today we learned that even a small gesture can make a big difference.”

Scootaloo nodded. “We learned that generosity is awesome because not only does it help others, it can inspire them, too.”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “And we learned that if you throw yourself into something, you’ll get good results… even if they aren’t what you expected.” The three fillies giggled.

“So!” Sweetie Belle continued. “With the help of other ponies, one small idea can become a really big reality! And all it takes is a little bit of inspiration.”

“Got it!” Spike announced and tapped the paper with his quill to signify he was finished.

“That’s wonderful, girls,” Twilight smiled.

“Shall we go home, Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked.

Sweetie Belle nodded and trotted over to her sister. Apple Bloom did similarly with Applejack, and Scootaloo with Rainbow Dash as they headed to the exit. Before they departed into the cold night air, Sweetie Belle looked up to her sister with huge green eyes. “Thanks for inspiring me, sis.”

Rarity looked down with a smile. “Thank you, Sweetie, for inspiring all of us.”

...

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