Belle stared at herself in the big mirror on the wall of the gym she'd turned her little house on the edge of Ponyville into. Curling her left foreleg up made the muscles bulge huge and perfect beneath her smooth brown skin, and rearing back on her hind legs, she hit a double-biceps pose, not a single flaw in her mass, her symmetry, her curves, anything. So why did she feel so empty? Puffing a breath through her nostrils, she flopped backwards onto one of the workout mats and began doing ab crunches in the hope they might clear her head. But she couldn't stop thinking about yesterday, about the way she'd frozen when those stacks of apple crates had started falling. If that new unicorn Twilight Sparkle hadn't been there to freeze them with her magic before anypony got hurt, Belle hated to think what might've happened! And just before the accident, the way Twilight had been marveling at Belle's muscles while also wondering what good they were... It all kept tangling through Belle's mind and wouldn't let her concentrate. Sure, she was the biggest little pony in Ponyville--maybe in all of Equestria--but try as she might, she couldn't keep the questions down. What was the point? What use were all these muscles? She'd been crunching away faster and faster, turning everything over in her thoughts, but a sudden crash brought her back to the here and now: without her noticing, the motion of the exercise had sent her scooting along the floor till she'd bashed right into her barbell cage, the whole apparatus tipping as she watched. A quick lunge, and she grabbed the steel framework before it could topple into the racks of weights, carefully lined up along the wall beside the mirror-- But that pretty much settled it. She was just gonna hurt herself or break something if she kept this up! Setting the cage back into place, Belle shook her green mane, clomped to the door, and trotted out into the crisp autumn morning. Maybe a jog would clear her head, a little break from the routine she'd been following day in and day out for-- How many years now? Belle almost stopped right there in the road, Ponyville already behind her, the tree-lined hills ahead. How long had it been since she'd done anything other than train? The answer made her pick up her pace again, cantering along till the outbuildings of Sweet Apple Acres appeared through the trees. Every year she helped Big Mackintosh with the plowing at the farm; maybe she could spend the morning doing that! Reaching the gate, she headed for the barn, and her ears perked to see Applejack out front, a cart in pieces beside her, the little earth pony working on it with a strip of sandpaper between her front hoofs. "Morning, AJ!" Belle called. Applejack looked up. "Well, now! Howdy there, Belle! What'ch'y'all doin' out this way?" Belle opened her mouth...and found herself remembering when Applejack was still a filly, running around the orchards with the other Apple foals. And now here she was, in charge of the whole spread! While Belle had...what? Nothing but a little house full of exercise equipment: she even slept on a stack of floor mats! "I was just wondering," she finally forced out. "It's not plowing season, is it?" "Plowing? It's just gettin' on toward harvest! And, well..." Applejack's smile went sideways. "You don't reckon to try your hoof at apple bucking again, do you?" More memories, these ones making Belle's cheeks heat up: the one time she'd tried rearing back with her hind legs to buck apples out of the trees the way Applejack did, she'd smashed the tree to kindling and sent most of the apples flying to squish against the side of the barn. "I could practice some more, couldn't I?" "I cain't afford to lose the trees." Applejack cocked her head. "There somethin' wrong, sugar cube?" "I just--" Belle didn't really know how to explain it. "I'm looking for something to do." Applejack's brow wrinkled. "I thought you was all into that there bodybuilding." "Well, yeah, but--" Belle couldn't help stomping a hoof, the barn rattling, the trees all around shaking like a breeze had gusted through. "I've built the body! Now what?" "Huh." Applejack set down the sandpaper and stood. "Tell ya what. Lemme round up Big Mackintosh, and we'll all head on into town, see if'n we can't find--" "No! That...that's OK!" A chill rustled Belle's mane. "You're busy, AJ, and I don't wanna be any trouble." "Shoot a mile, Belle! Ain't no trouble!" Applejack's freckled face beamed as bright as the autumn sun around them. "We're friends, ain't we? And friends help each other out!" She turned, started trotting into the barn. "C'mon! Mac's prob'bly out on the north forty eatin' scrub!" "No!" Belle shouted again, panic building in her chest. It was bad enough she was useless on her own, but to interrupt working ponies while they were doing their jobs? She spun, galloped full-tilt for the gate. "I can't...I don't...I--!" "Belle! Wait up!" She heard the clip-clop of Applejack's hoofs on the hard-packed dirt, but Belle lowered her head, poured all her frustration into her muscles, and ran like she'd never run before, the wind cold against the tears along her cheeks. Before she knew it, she'd left Sweet Apple Acres far behind, the hills rockier, the trees the regular oaks and elms of the forest above Ponyville. Which made something else Twilight Sparkle had said yesterday pop into Belle's head, something about Belle clearing avalanches away by smashing the rocks. Did ponies do that? Belle remembered as a kid the Winter Wrap-up, the Running of the Leaves, everything the whole town did to regulate and maintain the land around Ponyville--and her stomach tightened. She'd been so wrapped up in her training the last couple years, she hadn't gone out to help with any of the town's regular group activities... Well, that was gonna change right now! Whoever was in charge of taking care of the hills and mountains was probably out here somewhere: Belle would track them down, tell them she wanted to help, and-- She'd slowed to a canter by this time and was coming around a large clump of rock jutting up from the forest floor when she heard a gasp: in the clearing ahead stood a pale yellow pegasus surrounded by squirrels, a basket of nuts on the ground beside her, each squirrel taking two nuts from the basket and scampering away. An instant later, though, only the basket remained, the squirrels scattering into the trees almost as fast as the pegasus. Belle stopped, blinked at the basket, then at the suddenly empty woods. "Hello? I...I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for whoever's in charge of avalanches." No answer. Belle looked around some more. "Hello?" "Oh. Yes. Hello..." The barest whisper came drifting from the branches above Belle. "And while I'm sure you're a very nice pony and not a mean giant who wants to start an avalanche and crush my little woodland friends, you're still very, very big and very, very scary. So if you don't mind, I'll just stay up here hiding from you till you go away." More than a chill ran through Belle this time; it was like her spine had turned to ice. "I...I'm sorry," she said again, more memories hitting her: the sideways glances she'd always gotten in school--even then, she'd been bigger than the other students and even some of the teachers--and after she'd started training in earnest, the white around the edges of other ponies' eyes when she would run across them during her jogs, the nervous laughter, the nickering whispers. Could it be? Were ponies afraid of her? And for all that she wanted ponies to remember who she was, wanted them to respect her and maybe--she had to admit that she'd had these thoughts before--maybe even be a little bit in awe of her, she didn't want them to run from her like she was a monster! But...wasn't that what had just happened? Where her hoofs took her then, Belle didn't know till a familiar scent made her look up out of her gloom to see she'd wandered back to her place, the bright houses and shops of Ponyville further on down the lane. But the paint on her walls chipped and faded, the weeds ragged in her front yard, the windows streaked with dust-- Sure, she kept her back garden well tended, the rows of wheatgrass and the herbs she used in her dietary supplements neat and regular, and she polished and cleaned the equipment inside the house all the time. But when was the last time she'd invited anyone over? Other than a few of Applejack's parties, when was the last time she'd so much as spoken to a neighbor? Belle's ears fell...then perked. She'd spoken to Twilight Sparkle yesterday, hadn't she? And another of the things the little unicorn had said sparked in Belle's memory, lifted the cloud around her. Excitement lightening her hoofs, she trotted down the lane toward the Ponyville library. This time, she definitely felt the stares of the ponies ambling along the streets, going in and out of the shops, pulling carts and gathered at tables in the cafes. Belle smiled and nodded, and most of them smiled and nodded back--some a bit nervously, true, but the faces she recognized from the audience at the lifting contest yesterday seemed friendly enough. She came out into the town square and crossed it to the library, a tall, gabled building she hadn't been into since her schooldays. And now that someone was living there... Belle stopped at the open door, unsure if she should knock or-- "Oh, hey, Belle," came a voice behind her, and she started back, just missed stepping on the baby dragon she'd met yesterday. "Whoa! Watch those hoofs!" "Sorry!" Belle wished she would stop doing things she had to apologize for! "I...I didn't see you there!" The dragon--Spike was his name, she remembered suddenly-- Spike rubbed his chin. "Maybe we could fit you out with rear view mirrors." He shrugged. "But business first: You looking to check out a book or something?" "No, I..." She swallowed. She should be doing leg presses, not wasting all these folks' time with her stupid problems. But she had to find out-- "I was wondering if Twilight Sparkle was here." "Sure." Spike slipped past her and through the doorway. "C'mon in." At least he didn't seem scared of her. Belle let that thought brighten her mood, breathed out, and squeezed through the doorframe into the large cluttered room, books lining the shelves, scattered over the floor, and stacked on the tables. "Twilight?" she heard Spike calling. "You've got company!" "Hmmmm?" Something purple moved in a pile of books off to Belle's right, and Twilight's head popped up. "Oh! Hi, Belle!" She looked around self-consciously. "Sorry about the mess. I had this idea for an underwater breathing spell, but I can't seem to find--" She stopped, her horn glowed, and the books around her drifted aside so she could trot out. "So! What brings you to our little corner of Ponyville?" Again, Belle had to force herself to speak. After all, Twilight came from Canterlot and talked matter-of-factly about-- "You said I was bigger than any of the Princess's guards, and I was wondering if...if you think they'd be interested in...I mean, if you knew if they were accepting applications." Twilight's eyes widened, and for an instant, Belle thought she'd made another mistake. But then the unicorn's smile widened, too. "Belle, what a great idea! Spike!" This last she called out in a surprisingly loud voice, and the dragon peered out from around one of the bookshelves, a half-eaten sandwich in his claws. "I woulda made you one if you'd asked," he said. "Never mind that." Twilight raised her head just a bit, and an air of command came over her that really took Belle by surprise. "Take a letter to Princess Celestia, please." Spike dropped the sandwich, grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from somewhere. "My dearest teacher," Twilight went on. "I've met and conversed with one of your subjects here in Ponyville, and she's expressed an interest in joining the palace guard. By all reports, Barbelle is of sterling character, and my own dealings with her have been overwhelmingly positive experiences. If it please Your Majesty, might you send Captain Destrier to interview her? Your obedient student, Twilight Sparkle." She lowered her head and looked at the dragon. "Got that, Spike?" He was still scribbling away. "Is 'sterling' with an 'er' or an 'ir'?" he asked. "'Er'." "OK!" Spike jabbed the quill at the paper a couple more times, then he rolled it into a scroll, held it up, and breathed sparkling fire over it. The scroll dissolved into smoke, and the smoke shot out the nearest open window. "It's on its way!" Twilight nodded and turned her smile toward Belle. "Would you care for some lunch while we wait?" Everything was happening so fast, it took Belle a few heartbeats to find her voice. "Yeah," she finally got out. "Sure. Thanks. But do you...do you really think--? I mean, you only just met me yesterday! How can you tell the Princess all that stuff about me?" "I'm a fast learner." Twilight shrugged. "And when something--or someone--interests me, I study all I can about that person or subject." "Me? Interesting?" Belle had to laugh. "I'm not the one who has a baby dragon sending notes for her to the Princess of Equestria!" A laugh from Twilight. "It's a long story." Her horn glowed, and she waved it at some books, clearing them away from a section of the carpet. "Now, we'll just settle down here, Spike can bring us some sandwiches, and we'll see what happens next." Spike appeared with a low table, set it on the clear area of carpet, and gave it a couple swipes with a feather duster. "Luncheon is served. Or, I mean, it will be once I make it." He tucked the feather duster under an arm and winked at Belle. "Just wait'll you meet Des. He's great!" Belle smiled at him and followed Twilight to the table. Squatting down across from the little unicorn, though, she couldn't help but wonder what she'd gotten herself into.
Our last commercial break, and Act Three wraps the whole thing up!
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