Chapter five
"Hello?" Scootaloo picked up the phone she had in her dorm room she was sharing with adoptive sister Rainbow Dash. "Hey Scoots! It's me Sweetie!" Scootaloo perked up immediately and sat back on the bottom bunk of the bed which was hers since she couldn't fly that high. "Yo Sweets how's it hanging?" Sweetie Belle giggled. "You're so corny. Um, yeah it's fine, but I miss my best friend. I've just gotten off stage and I have a breather for an hour. Hey, have you seen Applebloom around lately? I don't think we hang out with her all that much. I want to include her more when we hang out. Maybe if you get a break at Rainbow's practices over the summer, say on the weekend we could all hang in Canterlot! Wouldn't that be awesome? Just like old times!" Sweetie Belle enthused. Scootaloo's eyes widened. She didn't know Sweetie Belle felt like this. Uh oh, she thought. "Uhhh…ummm…listen Sweetie Belle, about that?" "What? Did you two have a fight or something?" She gulped and it was just audible through the phone.
"No uhhh…I kinda told her yesterday that she should…well not be friends with us anymore…but I did it nicely and everything and she's been growing apart from us! It was just the natural progression of things. We've been friends longer Sweetie Belle, since we were really little fillies and our relationship to each other is stronger than our ties to Applebloom." Scootaloo tried to explain. "What?! You said what?! Oh don't tell me…you told her I felt the same way didn't you?" Sweetie Belle's voice went all high, her voice squeaking at a screeching high note when she emphasised words angrily. "Well…you know actually…I did, hehehe?" Scootaloo chuckled half-heartedly, with a worried tone. "Scootaloo sometimes I wonder…how I could be friends with someone so insensitive! Scootaloo she's not a cutie mark, she's a person! You can't treat her like she's useless! We could've always kept being her friend, no matter if she gets that dumb mark or not!" Sweetie Belle squeaked in rage all through her sentence.
"But cutie marks are important! How else are we supposed to grow up if we don't know what we're going to do in life?" Scootaloo argued. "Scootaloo! We grow up regardless! I can't believe you'd say something like that, Applebloom is far from a baby." Sweetie Belle counter-argued. "She kind of is! She whines all the time and doesn't get out of her room anymore. She's sure not acting like a teenager. And plus when we get together all we do is talk about the cool things we do now we have our marks. We leave her out. You leave her out." Scootaloo argued. "I wanted to fix that between us! But now it looks like I'll never get a chance to. Thanks for nothing, and some friend you are!" "Why does everyone say that?" Scootaloo grumbled. "Maybe because it's true." Sweetie Belle swiftly came back and then hung up the phone. Rainbow Dash was standing at the door and folding her arms.
"Uhhh…hey Rainbow Dash? How's it…going?" Scootaloo asked trying to seem innocent. "Scootaloo. We need to have a talk." "Why?" Scootaloo smiled but it turned out like a cringe. "It's about your friends. I heard the conversation." Rainbow Dash told Scootaloo. "Ok ok…I kind of broke off my friendship with Applebloom, but it's for the best!" "Scootaloo, you love Applebloom. You're going to regret breaking up your friendship with her." Rainbow Dash tried to convince Scootaloo. "But she doesn't even try! She just sits in her room and doesn't do anything!" "Well Scootaloo, friendship is all about give and take. I think if I'm honest, you guys have taken a lot from Applebloom. In fact, she was the one who originally came up of the idea for you to hang on a regular basis with the Cutie Mark Crusaders back in middle school!" Rainbow Dash said. "Yeah…well she did, maybe I can stand to make things better…even if we're not going to be best friends anymore. That didn't feel good while I was doing it." Scootaloo looked guilty but a bit hopeful.
Then Rainbow Dash's face fell as she realized what she had to break to her. "Ummm…Scoots, listen. You might not get a chance all so quick." "What? Why?" "Applebloom…has gone missing." "Shit! When did this happen? Is your marefriend ok?" "Just yesterday…early in the morning Applejack discovered she was gone. The police reckon if she wasn't kidnapped, and there isn't any sign of breaking and entering, blood, and the leads for illegal stuff…like you know abuse and murder haven't got strong evidence as there are no signs of it and the crime rate in Ponyville at the moment is like less than 0.5 percent. The most plausible explanation that she decided on a whim to run away, all her stuff and some of her clothes are gone too. The room was virtually empty, now-" "Did I do this? Did I make her run away? I'm a horrible friend Rainbow." Scootaloo began to weep slightly, not even trying to put on a brave face, so Rainbow Dash knew this had to be serious. She grabbed her shoulder and made her turn towards her, making gentle eye contact.
"Scootaloo…we don't know what was going through her head. We can't just read anypony's mind. Now…ok maybe if you'd said some bad things to Applebloom that would be a factor. But that's just what cause ponies to run away. Factors. But factors pile up. It can't have been you and you alone to make her run away. I spoke to Applejack and while I don't want to disclose anything private between us, but, I will say this, Applebloom, like about half the whole teenage population at any given time, was having some family issues as well, that had been going on for a while in the background. Given that she's probably resentful of the way a lot of ponies treat her like a kid just because she hasn't got her cutie mark...that's the straws that break the camel's back. She feels unloved by us, and she probably said screw it, and up and left. That's what makes a pony run away. If they hate where they live, and their circumstances, they'll find a way out. Now Applebloom perhaps should've waited until she could properly move out a few years later, or she should've faced her problems. But this is the real world, and ponies make mistakes. Including you." Rainbow Dash ended her talk by snuggling Scootaloo for a few seconds, before letting go as to not get too mushy.
Meanwhile Sweetie Belle was whisked away after her phone call and given a quick diet lunch of hay seed and flower salad with tomatoes and cottage cheese, which was mildly flavoured and definetly not as exciting as apple fritters or the fried cheese her father used to make, but she ate it anyway knowing perfection was unattainable but yet desirable in the recording world. She was ordered to diet by her record company even though herself and Rarity protested that she was never heavy, she just always loved food and gained some adult curvature to her figure when puberty began. They told her that thin was in. Sweetie Belle missed what she looked like a year ago and thought she looked ghostly now that she'd lost 40 pounds, tinier than Applebloom, she was slightly underweight even. But the company always said she could loose 10 extra, so they kept her on a miserable extreme-low calorie diet. Rarity often fought hard battles with the company, acting as Sweetie Belle's guardian on her contract until she was out of her teens.
She also moved around Equestria with Sweetie Belle so she could make sure they weren't doing anything outrageously inappropriate with her and her image, and she would offer to chauffeur her baby sister around to all her events—if she wasn't busy with dress-making appointments. Today she happened to be free all day, so she got tickets to Sweetie Belle's performances as well. "Oh Sweetie Belle! That was a marvellous performance, have you had a good lunch?" Rarity chimed in, entering the filly's trailer. "Well it was a boring lunch. But ok." "Is that diet tough? I happen to like a good salad." "Yeah but you always liked salad much better than I did, and let's face it, it shows." Sweetie Belle sighed and Rarity giggled. "Ok ok maybe it's easier for those of us who prefer the fresh, gourmet flavours I guess. Don't you think you'd like if I made a more balanced healthy meal for you tonight? It won't even feel like you're eating something good for you." "Yeah that sounds so great, your cooking's delicious…but I don't know if the stupid company will allow it. I hate this Rarity, my ribs are showing. I want my flank back."
Sweetie Belle complained and Rarity giggled slightly at her uncouth admittance, but then put her arm around her. "Listen, if you're unhappy, and this continues…I think you need to find some other way to project your destiny. You're slightly underweight dear, and it might be alright to be like this, for now. But what if they ask for twenty, thirty more pounds? That's neglecting one of your basic needs as a pony, part of which is to be a healthy, safe weight. You're going to be unhappy and ravenous and wanting to pig out on your favourite foods before you lost weight, and that's not good for you either. If you desire to fatten up, we must do it slowly so it can be properly sustained. After all, it took you a year or under a year to loose all of it, so it only makes sense that we should use the same sort of time period to put it back on. Maybe you should also consider exercise, as that will help to bulk up healthily." Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "How do you know all this? You're just twelve years older than me."
"Well, darling…I haven't had much personal experience, but I do remember that when Mother was pregnant with you, and apparently me as well, she found it very had to eat the large amounts mothering ponies usually would be pleased to eat, you know to sustain herself and child? Apparently Mother has all her life loved food but found it hard to keep weight on that she'd gained, it was easy for her to loose weight, unlike most ponies. The doctor explained to us it was a gene that supressed appetite. It has to do with our family history. Do you remember Princess Cadence? She calls Celestia Aunt Celestia, but really her title should be Great-Great Aunt Celestia, and this is possible because Luna had a love child thousands of years ago at a young age, to a dog believe or not! A royal dog though. He died during her pregnancy in a freak accident. Her father…was not a gentle pony as you see Celestia and Luna, he was a fearsome brute, of a long poisonous bloodline.
She had triplets, the females appearing as ponies, and the one male appeared as a dog, but the father falsely portrayed them as stillborns, and gave them to paupers in Saddle Arabia, a month's journey by train. The eldest female, the unicorn Midnight Mavern, wielded amazing skills in magic, passing on magic to her all-unicorn children, and went on to be a very ancient descendant of Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armour. The middle male Sir Douggery the Second…had his own children as well but the third generation had been so bred out that they were all living and looking like ponies, and his eldest granddaughter, reportedly the beauty of all Saddle Arabia found an ugly but loving peasant husband and they had Cadence, born about eight hundred years or so before Luna's return. The youngest female, is related to us my dear. She was called Rarity! Do you see a resemblance?
Midnight Mavern was a navy pony, similar to Luna, whilst Rarity had a white coat like Celestia and her father's fame, and a sparkling shroud of baby blue mane. Rarity discovered the Crystal Empire, and ruled as Queen Rarity all up until she died. Then Sombra sadly took over. But do you know what gene was similar amongst all of Luna's many descendants?" "The…appetite gene?" "Yes! Luna was always a tiny pony and found it tough to gain weight even when she wanted to as she discovered she was with foal. Celestia never had a problem though, she even gained some eighty years ago when she discovered chocolate and ballooned to a big size. Let me tell you if you think your diet is miserable you should read up on Celestia's ancient diet. No cheese or dairy, no eggs, no root vegetables, no sugar, no flour, no grain, no nuts, no beans, little carbs whatsoever! She was constantly eating seeds with watery salad as her main item.
Horrible really, but ponies were much stricter on royals than the light in which we view them now. So that's how I can retain how I am quite easily, to make a long story short. You likely are more like our father, or perhaps you have Celestia's food inhaling genes." Rarity concluded amusedly. "But…hang on. If Midnight Mavern and Douggery the Second were brother and sister…EW are Shining Armour and Cadence related! Gross!" "Wait Sweetie Belle! You need to remember that would make them related…about one thousand years ago! So, that means that the brother sister connection gets weaker with each new family forged and new generation. The lines have likely been blurred. Shining Armour and Princess Cadence are probably so distant it is no different than anypony else marrying somepony. It is not immoral." "Alright if you say so. What time is it? I might be late for my meeting if we don't go soon, but…thanks Sis." "Anytime." Rarity smiled and ushered Sweetie Belle into the horse and cart, taking the reigns.
After a meeting that lasted forever, Sweetie Belle hang around so she could chat with Fine Tune, the only female executive on the board, and a new friend in a world of old strangers, although Sweetie Belle couldn't openly be friendly towards Fine Tune because Fine Tune would be fired for fraternizing with the artist. Fine Tune was also young, and a musicial prodigy who went through high school when she should've been in middle school or younger. Fine Tune decided to become an executive producer at a record company, but was around eighteen. "Oh geez Belle you look famished." "Yeah, well salad and tomatoes aren't gonna fill this belly up! Well mostly ribs now. I wish they'd be less strict on my diet. At least I get to eat what Rarity's cooking now, as long as it's healthy." "I say you should just eat up on the low. They're not following you twenty-four-seven! Eat what you want when they're not looking."
"I also don't like the material their giving me. I asked specifically for a half album of my material. Now it's two songs or nothing! What happened? I don't wanna sing this pop crap. What the heck is "Shake Your Sugar Rump" anyway? " "It's the industry. I love it but I hate it. They're trying to make you pop. Which equals zero integrity basically nowadays. But don't despair. Pop can be fun to do." "But I wanted integrity in my songs! I wanted to sing about real problems, not about my body and getting laid." Fine Tune giggled at her bold statement. "What the songs are all metaphoric-y, what else does "Use My body" or "Touch It" or "Your Pointy Horn" mean anyway? I'm thinking about breaking contract to be honest. But I don't know where that leaves us. I just can't release this album though, it's junk! I'll be a laughing stock." Sweetie Belle grumbled. "Belle…wait. I know some guys down on the avenue that might be able to help you. I can help out as well." "What?" "We can branch out and create our own record label if you don't want to go through with this. The boys down on the avenue are super-talented! They're a group of producers and also have a new kind of underground music they call rap. They talk in rhymes, but fast." "I knew a zebra like that. But she spoke slowly, not fast as you say."
"Yeah it comes naturally to zebras. Some ponies even do it as well. I know a group of five, fired up talented young stallions, I've shown them your voice on tape and they love it for it's soulful qualities. They live on the street of Avenue Five." Fine Tune told Sweetie Belle. "Wait wait wait! Isn't that on the edge of Canterlot and near the Brooklyn Villages? That is such a dodgy place I can't go there! I'll get mugged! And I'm white!" Sweetie Belle protested with a slight snobbish edge. "Don't be a snob. Why the heck would it matter if you're white? They'll get over it. Well eventually I hope, at least you don't look TOO much like Celestia. She's the "man" they all kinda like to stick it to. That's why you hear all the 'white' references coming from there. Anyways, it is shady, yeah but it is a great opportunity and we'll go together. Safety in numbers. Just don't bring your wallet." Sweetie Belle looked deep in thought for a minute. "If we were going to see these ponies/zebras…hypothetically, where would we meet them and at what time? And I think we need to be there…kind of incognito because this would be the kind of situation Rarity would LOATHE me to be in to the max."
"Well…they are night owls. They're the kind of dudes that sleep in till 3 in the afternoon, so that could work with your whole 'incognito' vibe. We can show up at their pad after your sis goes to sleep. She's quite an early bird, right?" Sweetie Belle nodded. "Yeah she's all about that beauty sleep. But I'm a night owl through and through. She goes to bed about 10 and leaves me to my own devices, she's usually knocked out by 11. So that could work." Sweetie Belle offered. "How about I come up to the house at midnight? Be waiting at your door and I'll send you a text when I'm at the door. We can take a taxi to the avenue since it's too dark to walk around there safety, then have a few drinks and discuss partnering up." Fine Tune planned. "Ok, but light drinks for me. I don't drink that much." Sweetie Belle told her. "I'm still surprised you do drink. You're fifteen!" "Yeah but Rarity's been giving me champagne on special occasions since I was thirteen. She's surprisingly relaxed about the whole thing, despite being uptight about almost everything else." Sweetie Belle replied.
"Great! So it's settled. Let's go…are you free tomorrow?" "Yeah totally not booked! I'm nervous but excited at the same time!" "You go girl!" They high fived and then shared a playful laugh. "I'm so glad to have a friend like you now. I mean we've only known each other a year now, but I can tell we'll be hanging for a while yet! I just wish all my friends were being loyal…" Sweetie Belle sighed. "Troubles at home?" "You know my bestest friend way back since Unicorn and Pegasus Kinder, Scootaloo? Well she told one of our best friends to go beat it and I haven't seen that other friend Applebloom properly in ages. And she kind of spoke for me and it…just…I've always been the shy, "weird" one of our group but she's never used the fact that I'll keep my feelings and opinions inside forever…and now she's just started to do it! That pissed me off you know? I feel like a pawn in her life! I need to get some new friends. I hope the five guys are friendly…"
"Wow. That's rough. You know I'm here though. And those guys are a little rough around the edges, so be prepared, but if they like you, they're pretty loyal and friendly. They practically treat me like a sister! I've known them forever." "You have so many friends! And so does Rarity…I regret I was so shy as a child. For my whole childhood I had two friends to show for it! Well I guess Rarity is more of my cool older friend now that I've grown up properly and don't need any babysitting. Although I could use her cooking skills if I wanna move out someday. But she doesn't really count because we were raised together so being friends is practically a given! You have all these strong bonds, and I'm here…feeling like a loser. I dunno…" Sweetie Belle vented. "Belle, listen, don't just sit there and regret! Some of us are shy at certain points in our lives, it doesn't matter though. You are so brave as a shy pony, you've only known me for a year or a little less and you've told me ALL this stuff about yourself! I know your life story! I think that's pretty incredible for somepony who calls herself "shy".
And it doesn't even matter if you are shy! You have great qualities of your own! You're the wisest young pony I know for one, you would rather have a message in your music, and heart instead of tons and tons of money. You're also one of the funniest and coolest ponies around and I think it's really weird you weren't the most popular pony growing up, but—shit I am no good at this talking stuff. Ok, well sorry. But your cool!" Sweetie Belle laughed. "You're a classic! I've gotta get going though. Rarity will think I got lost or something. Bye now! Midnight tomorrow?" "Midnight tomorrow. Go get 'em." Fine Tune winked assuredly at Sweetie Belle and she waved back.
She came back to Rarity's makeshift flat in Canterlot a few blocks away to the overwhelming smell of dinner, her tummy half-filled from her tiny lunch and beginning to rumble. "Hi Rarity! Whatcha making there?" Sweetie Belle happily asked, closing the door behind her. "Oh finally Sweetie Belle, I was about to call your cell-phone! Well at least you've given me some time to prepare a hearty yet refreshing dinner tonight. We're having a Mexican taco salad. Seeing as we're in summer and all…" "Oh boy!" Sweetie Belle licked her lips. Rarity had finished and layered blue corn chips, homemade refried beans, salsa verde, tomato and onion relish, greens, and a reasonable portion of queso blanco. All organic and fresh of course, knowing Rarity, and Sweetie Belle devoured it in a particularly uncouth way.