Suddenly Sweetie Belle

Chapter 2

A New Journey… Or Not.

I sat in one of the many chairs that the front room contained; eating some fruit that Asha had brought me. It had been a stressful hour of brainstorming before the obvious answers came to mind.

“But how am I going to catch a plane?” I squeaked, munching on a pear, “I don’t have any money.”

“You could always get some money from your bank account. But there are other, more pressing, issues at hand,” Asha calls from the kitchen as she prepares her breakfast, even though she could just poke her head around the wall.

“Like?” I ask, dropping the half-eaten pear back onto the table in front of me.

“We have school in fifteen minutes.” Asha states dramatically, though the dramatics were unsuccessful.

So it turns out I forgot we had school today. Meh. I’ll just freak out a little and then get it over with. It’ll be just fine. I mean, what could go wrong? Absolutely nothin’, that’s what.

“You’d better get dressed and ready then,” I comment, entirely aware of the fact that Asha was still in her PJs.

About ten minutes later, during which I channelled my inner Fluttershy and freaked out really quietly, me and Asha were walking to school, which was only about a thirty second walk, even if you’re a filly. Not much of any real note else happened in the meantime, or during the walk, but arriving at school was when everything started crashing down around me. Metaphorically.

It may be important to know that after the wash I was forced into, I had brushed my mane and tail, in an attempt to get it to go the way Sweetie’s mane and tail normally go. But, as I was never very good at brushing things, even when I had hands, it ended up looking like I’d just been in a serious accident with some scissors and hair gel.

Back to the point, all the people around were either talking about what they had done earlier in the week, places they’d been and people they’d met mostly, or doing what they usually do before classes start, some were playing Australian football while others were tapping away at their iPhones, until they saw me, at which point they shut up and stared incredulously. Feeling more nervous by the second from all the attention, something that wasn’t really helped by the formerly-slightly-taller-than-me brick columns having become veritable mountains thanks to my new body, I wasn’t really paying any heed to where I was going. As such, I smacked face first into another friend.

“Ow,” I squeaked, rubbing my sore muzzle again, “That still really hurts.”

He looked inquisitively at me for a second, before averting his gaze upwards to match Asha’s.

“So,” he started, dragging out the sound, “Who’s the pony?”

Asha opened her mouth to answer, but I beat her to it.

“First of all, that’s unicorn to you,” I squeaked sternly, though I could hear some giggling, “Second,” I continue, putting on the sad eyes that I’ve always known to work extremely well whenever Sweetie Belle uses them, “I’m quite hurt that you don’t remember me, even if I’m in a new body.”

“Damn it Jason, did you wish really hard?” He asked jokingly, obviously accepting the transformation much quicker than Asha.

“No!” I squeaked loudly, “At least, I don’t think I did.”

“Right,” he said, before returning his attention to a slightly miffed Asha, “So like I asked, who’s the pony?”

Skipping past the boring events that happened while I was at school, which consisted of either people asking which pony I was, grabbing me in a nearly suffocating hug, though that was mostly just Jess, or ‘Dash’ as I call her, or just generally being jerks, I trotted back to Asha’s place to grab my stuff. Or at least, I was before someone started ruffling my mane.

“Come on,” The someone, namely the friend I bumped into at the start of the day, Dylan, jokingly complained, “You really need to relax a bit man.”

Before I could tell him to shut up, Asha picked me up and carried me away from Dylan, who now had a look on his face that could be simply described as ‘what is this, I don’t even’.

“Are you really sure you want to do this?” Asha asked in an intimidating manner, though that may have just been the fact that she was much bigger than me settling in.

“Do what?” I cocked my head inquisitively, genuinely unsure what she means and not just screwing with her like I usually do.

“Travel all over the world, just to get some help?” Asha practically shouted, making me wince slightly.

“Yes,” I squeaked solemnly, bowing my head, as if the paved footpath were suddenly very interesting. “I need to do this. I need to find where I’m needed. Now more so than ever.”

I stumbled back a bit when Asha slapped me, tears forming in my eyes and the sound of Dylan running over being the only things I could register. I couldn’t do anything as Asha verbally berated me and found I couldn’t run when she went to slap me again. I could only shut my eyes and hope it would be over soon.

Not feeling her hand hitting my now slightly tear-stained muzzle, I dared open an eye. What I saw was Dylan standing in front of me, his hand wrapped tightly around Asha’s wrist. He was clearly frustrated, if his stance was any indication, but I couldn’t guess whether it was directed at Asha or me.

I could vaguely see Asha silently coming to terms with what she’d done, guilt and shock vying for top position while tears formed in her own eyes. Dylan saw fit to let her go then, stepping away from between us, flinching slightly as I darted behind him, cowering away from Asha.

With a sigh, Dylan picked me up, placed me back on the footpath in front of Asha and returned to school, presumably to catch the bus home. Before he was too far away, he turned and pulled the sternest face he could.

“Stop fighting and make up already, you two,” He said with a hint of warning in his voice, and with that left us on our own.

I gasped slightly when Asha hugged me, but soon reciprocated. I could tell that she was crying because my withers were getting damp. I hate it when others cry.

“Please don’t leave,” Asha said between sobs, “I don’t want you to go.”

“But I have to, there just isn’t any other way,” I squeak, my own voice betraying the emotionless husk everyone see- used to see me as, “The others might need me, especially Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”

“What about me? Us? Your friends?” Asha sobbed, her tears drenching my withers, “Did you think for even a second that we might need you?”

“I hate having to do this,” I squeak, breaking the hug and essentially severing the last connection that keeps me here, “I really do. But this is the only way. I’m sorry.”

And then I galloped as quickly as I could away from there. Never looking back.

A long and painful twenty-some odd minutes later, I made it back home. I didn’t think that I’d ever be here again, but things change. At least it puts my mind at ease, feeling the familiar gravelly driveway under my hooves. Stumbling about for a good five minutes to get the spare key from the shed so I could get inside, I found myself just not giving the slightest fuck. Where I would normally manoeuvre around the various books, cards and stuffed animals that were lying around my room, I instead trudged right over the top of them, jumping up and flopping down on my bed with an audible fwhump.

“Celestia fucking damnit!” I shouted, beating my pillow with a hoof and crying my eyes out. Sure, I may have been crying whilst galloping here, but that doesn’t mean I can’t now and anyone who thinks I can’t can go fuck themselves, “Why are you so fucking stupid Jason?! Huh?!”

I could hear someone opening and closing the back door, reminding me that I forgot to lock the gate and door when I got here. I didn’t hear any car approaching beforehoof, so I guess whomever it is walked here.

“Hey,” A familiar voice called into my room, in a gentle tone, “D’you mind if I come in?”

I sniffled slightly in response, hoping that whoever it was would have the decency to just leave me the fuck alone. I heard a thud before the person wrapped their arms around my barrel.

“You left that stuff at my place. Figured you’d need it for your big adventure,” Asha continued, the sadness in her voice clear as the sky after a pegasus dealt with the clouds.

I turned around and sobbed loudly into her shoulder, wrapping my fore hooves around her neck, while she just sat on my bed and held me close.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” I cried, though it was slightly muffled by my crying into her shoulder.

“Shh, shh,” Asha responded soothingly, “It’s ok. It’s ok.”

We sat like that for a while, before I stopped crying, rubbing the last of my tears out of my eyes with a hoof.

Exhausted from the hectic day I’d had, I’d slipped out of her grasp and fallen asleep right there and then, faintly able to hear her singing ‘Hush Now, Quiet Now’.