My name is Sweetie Belle. I'm sixteen years old, and I live in the town of Ponyville with my sister, Rarity, and my best friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

I had a good childhood: spending my time with family and friends, hanging out at the park, sleepovers at mine or a friend's house, slurping on a sundae or three at Sugarcube Corner, and trying my best to find my true calling in life — my cutie mark.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and myself formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and together we did anything and everything we could to get our marks. More often than not, we failed – and often ended up hurting ourselves in some way – but we persevered.

Scootaloo was the first of us to get her cutie mark, a scooter wheel with wings made of fire on either side. She got it after she became the first pony to jump over Ghastly Gorge, and since then has made a name for herself as Equestria's finest daredevil.

Apple Bloom was next, gaining a cutie mark depicting a crossed paintbrush and hammer in front of an apple, earning it after she successfully rebuilt Town Hall all by herself — since nopony else saw the point, as they just assumed Derpy would destroy it again.

This of course means that I was the last one to get my cutie mark. I worked at it for months, but eventually I was pressured by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo into trying my hoof at singing — something I had always avoided due to the fact my voice had a tendency to crack when I raised it. But Scootaloo reminded me, rather curtly in fact, that I had grown out of that. So I gave it a shot, filling in for one of the Pony Tones when she fell ill.

And that's how I earned the microphone in front of a heart which now takes pride of place on my flank. My sister was beside herself with glee, and went on and on about my cuteceañera — though I was just glad I'd got my mark full stop. Sixteen is too late an age to finally discover what it is you're really good at, and I was kicking myself for not having tried singing when I had the chance.

But I digress: the whole point of this story isn't so I can tell you how I finally got my cutie mark. This is a story of magic and adventure in a far-off land, a land I never knew existed. Of good and evil, loyalty and deceit, magic and adventure, war and peace.

It is also the story of how I lost my innocence.

So, please, read on — and allow me to tell you the story of how – in one week – my life was changed forever. Next Chapter: Prologue Estimated time remaining: 8 Minutes