Second Chances

Second Chances
By Hero541
Chapter 18: Don’t Be Afraid

Sweetie Belle and Cheerilee stood outside the Ponyville schoolhouse. Sweetie kept looking all around for a figure coming to get her from school. Rarity should have been there about a half-hour ago…

“Where could she be?” mused the filly, turning to look at Cheerilee.

“I’m not sure, Sweetie. It’s not like her to be this late.”

As both ponies stood there, a voice called from the distance. Both Cheerilee and Sweetie Belle looked and saw a tall figure running up to the school.

“Joshie!” called Sweetie, rushing forward towards the human.

“Hey Sweets!” he said back, scooping the filly up as she reached him, tickling her belly and making her giggle loudly.

“You must be Josh.” said Cheerilee, walking out to address the human and carrying Sweetie Belle’s saddlebags, “I’m Miss Cheerilee, the instructor here.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Cheerilee.” said Josh, setting Sweetie Belle down and shaking the teacher’s hoof.

“Where’s Rarity? I was under the impression she was going to be the one getting Sweetie Belle today.” said Cheerilee, giving Josh the saddlebags.

“Rarity’s been so busy at the shop. When I got home from my lesson with Vinyl this morning, she was fast asleep. I took her to her room and told her to rest.”

“I can only imagine how much business she’s doing right now, what with the Gala coming up and all…”

“Exactly. So, since I didn’t have anything else to do today besides help Fluttershy clean out her shed, I figured I’d come get Sweets here and take her home.” he said as Sweetie Belle nuzzled his leg.

“Makes sense to me.” said Cheerilee, “Although I was always told that Fluttershy never allows anypony into her shed.”

“That’s for a reason. That place was a death trap when I got started. It’s all good now though.”

“Very well then.”

Cheerilee looked to Sweetie Belle, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay Sweetie Belle?”

“Okay Miss Cheerilee!”

With that, Josh picked up the little filly, placing her on his back so her back hooves rested on his shoulders. He waved goodbye to Cheerilee before heading off for the boutique. As he walked, Sweetie Belle told him all about her day at school.

“… and Miss Cheerilee said that my report was the best out of the group!”

“That’s great, Sweets!” he exclaimed, feeling her tiny hooves wrapped around his neck, “You need to thank Twilight for helping you out with that once you get the chance.”

“Okay!” said the little filly.

“How’re the other Crusaders doing?” asked Josh, “I haven’t seen them around for a little while.”

“Apple Bloom’s been working on the farm a lot. Applejack keeps her pretty busy. And Scootaloo’s been working with Rainbow Dash learning how to fly.”

“That’s interesting.” said Josh, reasoning that that must be the cause of a sudden lack of the rainbow maned pegasus, “I didn’t know that Rainbow was working with Scoots.”

“Yeah. For a little while now. It’s nice that Scootaloo has a big sister now, but…” Sweetie Belle trailed off.

“Something wrong, Sweets?” asked Josh, stopping and placing the filly in his arms.

“I just… really miss them sometimes. We’d always go out every weekend and crusade for our cutie marks. But now…”

“Sometimes friends get busy like that, Sweets.” said Josh, smiling down at the little unicorn in his arm, lightly stroking her mane, “It doesn’t mean they don’t love you any more or anything like that.”

“I know. I just really wanted us to find our special talents together.” she said.

“You really want that cutie mark, huh?”

“Every colt and filly in our class has theirs except us. It kinda hurts sometimes to see that somepony else figured out their talents and here we are, still blank flanks.”

Sweetie Belle’s face fell and she looked down at her hooves. Josh grabbed her little chin and forced her to look into his eyes.

“Just because you don’t have your cutie mark yet doesn’t mean you’ll never get it. And it doesn’t mean you’re not special either. You’re more special to your sister and I than you could ever know.”

Sweetie smiled and reached her head up, nuzzling Josh’s neck.

“I know. It’s just really important for ponies to have one.”

“Well, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.” said Josh, peering around playfully, “But you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

Sweetie nodded, listening intently. Josh leaned in close to her ear.

“I don’t have a cutie mark either.” he whispered.

“You don’t?!” said Sweetie Belle, covering her mouth with a hoof.

“Nope.” replied Josh, placing Sweetie Belle on the ground.

He raised one leg of his shorts, showing that there indeed was no mark there.

“How do you know what you’re supposed to do if you don’t have a cutie mark?” asked Sweetie as Josh covered his leg once more.

“I just figured out what I was good at and wanted to do. I didn’t need a mark on my leg to tell me that.”

“Does anypony in your world have a cutie mark?”

“Well,” he said, “some people can have a mark on their leg. Most of the time, though, it’s either a birthmark or a tattoo.”

“What’s a tattoo?”

“It’s a… aren’t we getting a little off topic here?” he said, resuming his walk with the filly in tow.

“Sorry.” said Sweetie Belle, falling in step with Josh as best she could.

“It’s okay. So, you don’t know what your talent is?”

“Not really.”

“I know you’re good at singing. I’ve heard you sing once or twice before. Maybe you ought to give that a shot.”

“B-but, I’m afraid to s-sing in front of other p-ponies.” she said, her ears flattening against her skull.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Sweets. Everyone gets scared sometimes. Just don’t let that fear get in your way of doing what you’re good at.” said Josh, stopping once more and picking up Sweetie Belle

“That’s easy for you to say.” said Sweetie, begrudgingly, holding her pink and purple tail in her hooves as Josh cradled her, “It’s your job to perform on front of others.”

“I’ve never told you about the first time I performed in front of a big crowd, did I?” he asked.

Sweetie Belle shook her head and looked intently at Josh, awaiting the story.

“Well, it was about four or five years ago.” he began, sitting down on a nearby park bench, Sweetie perched on his leg, “I had been making music for a little while and had performed at small clubs and such. One day, I got asked by a label manager to do a performance before another performer went on. I had heard of the guy before, and I knew he was really good, so I agreed to go on before him. I had my set all ready to go and everything when I looked out and saw how many people were at the show. There must have been about 1,000 people at this thing.”

“I was really scared once I saw all those people out there. I knew they’d all be watching me perform, and I was really worried that I’d mess up in front of all of them and make a fool of myself. I almost pulled out of the show at the last second!”

“So, what happened after that?” asked Sweetie Belle, leaning in close, listening intently.

“Well, I just had to be confident in myself. I knew my music was solid, and even if I did mess up once or twice, it’d still be an awesome show. I went out there that night and had one of the best times of my life. If I’d let my fear get the better of me, I wouldn’t have ever been as successful as I am now. I may not even be here.”

Sweetie sat, her mouth agape, in awe of Josh’s courage that night.

“That’s incredible!” she exclaimed, waving her hooves in the air, “I didn’t know you were so brave!”

“Anyone can be brave like that, Sweets.” he replied, smiling at the excited filly, “Even you. You just have to have confidence in yourself. Just tell yourself that you’ll do well, and you will. I promise.”

“I think I can do that. I’m still not so sure I’m ready to perform or anything like that just yet…”

“Tell you what Sweets,” said Josh, placing Sweetie Belle on her back once more and continuing his walk once more, “if I ever do a show around here, I’ll bring you up onstage with me, so you can see how much fun I have when I’m up there. It’ll show you that I’m not scared, and that you don’t have to be either. Does that work for you?”

“Yeah! I hope you do a show soon then!”

Josh smiled as the filly bounced up and down on his back. He saw the ice cream parlor come into view soon. He felt a few of the bits Fluttershy had given him for helping her out jingle in his pocket. Aw hell he thought, making for the tiny shop, Why not?

*****

Rarity awoke, yawning and stretching her hooves. It had been a crazy busy week at the boutique and it felt good for her to finally rest a little. After all, she’d missed a lot of sleep the last few days…

She walked down the stairs, just in time to see Sweetie Belle dart into the shop, giggling and running about as Josh chased her.

“Are you two just now getting home?” asked the fashionista as Josh stopped for a second to rest.

“Yeah.” he said, panting a little as Sweetie Belle ran and hid behind a pony mannequin, giggling all the while, “I got some bits from Shy today for helping her with that shed, so I decided to take Sweets here out for some ice cream.”

Josh darted forward, grabbing Sweetie Belle as she began to run away. She giggled even louder as Josh scooped her up and tickled her little white belly. Rarity smiled at the adorable sight. Josh didn’t know it, but Rarity truly wished he could stay here forever, if only to allow her the pleasure of a sight like this every single day.