Splash Dash

by Impossible Numbers

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Scootaloo, Slice of Life, Sweetie Belle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 9518

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and the one and only Rainbow Dash chill out in the river, and thrash out a silly story amongst themselves while doing it.

While hiding from her sister's latest attempt to smarten her up, Sweetie Belle joins Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo at Ponyville's local river to have fun in the cool water. Together, they come up with a silly story explaining the origin of the infamous "Beauty Curse", a blight Rarity apparently suffers from.

Published 2016-09-18 22:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-09-18 22:50:01 UTC

Water, Water, Everywhere

“Sweetie Belle! SWEETIE BELLE!”

Sweetie Belle had been waiting for that shout. The instant her ear flicked at the noise, she ducked behind her bush and squinted through the crisscrossing leaves and branches.

As expected, Rarity strode out of the undergrowth on the opposite side of the river. Hard as it was to tell over that distance, she seemed to be slightly redder in the face than usual, and her elegantly curled mane was uncurling where she’d unsuccessfully dodged a couple of low tree boughs.

Maybe I should have left a little note, thought Sweetie Belle. I mean, she’s probably worrying her mane off over me.

“SWEETIE BELLE!” yelled Rarity in a distinctly unladylike manner. “Playtime is OVER! Mom and Dad want us at the family reunion tout suite, and you are not going without proper social attire! SWEETIE BELLE!”

Why not? thought Sweetie Belle irritably. Mom and Dad won’t care what I look like, so long as I’m enjoying it. Why does she have to make a big drama about every single little get-together?

She watched as Rarity eased into a sitting position, and listened when the mare cooed, “Sweetie Belle? Don’t you want to look nice for your family? Most of them haven’t seen us in years. You’ll want to look your best! And I had my heart set so much on your new princess dress. I’m absolutely certain you’ll love it too if you just come back and try it.”

Despite herself, Sweetie Belle licked her lips and hummed like a connoisseur. Yes, there was the dress, and it did look nice, and as much as she thought it would be itchy and over the top… maybe it wouldn’t be too bad if they ever went to a Canterlot event or a wedding, if she had a chance to try it on first… Maybe she had enjoyed enough playtime…

Yet, when she heard the whirring of wings and the swish of hooves skimming water, all treacherous thoughts fled from her mind.

Against the flow of the river, Rainbow Dash shot past, her wings a blur. Despite herself, Sweetie Belle gasped at the sheer fluidity of the flight, at the way Rainbow easily wound through the air and curved from bank to bank like a subsonic snake winding its way upstream. Her limbs were tucked under her, an inch away from her own broken reflection in the moving water.

Behind her, Scootaloo’s jaws were clamped tightly on her tail, her own wings spread as wide as the stubby little things could go. Her four hooves slalomed over the surface, cutting a white thread that wound in synch with the rainbow blur above it. Even over the gurgle of the river, Sweetie Belle could hear her muffled whoops and laughs.

On the opposite bank, Rarity was nodding with appreciation at the colours and curves, her plight momentarily forgotten. A shake of her head soon corrected that.

“Rainbow Dash!” she yelled.

A zip, a swoosh of rainbow, and Sweetie Belle blinked: Rainbow Dash hovered over the water, while below her Scootaloo flapped and skimmed in circles, like a skater, for the sheer pleasure of it.

“The one and only,” said Rainbow Dash. “Problem?”

“Yes, problem! Huge problem! Sweetie Belle’s disappeared off somewhere, and we’re leaving in a few hours, and I haven’t even seen her in her new dress yet!”

Sweetie Belle ducked down into a crouch and held her breath. Now was the moment she’d been dreading, in spite of herself. Not a sound escaped from her lips.

Still ignoring Scootaloo’s circling tug of her tail, Rainbow shrugged in midair. “Sorry. Haven’t seen her. Maybe she’s at Sweet Apple Acres? It’s a hot day. She could’ve gone for some nice cool cider. I know I would, if I wasn’t showing Scoots here the ropes.”

A muffled yell came from the blurred circle below.

“Yeah, great idea!” Rainbow waved at the bank. “Hey, Rarity. Wanna see our Dolphin Dives trick? It’s a little something we’ve been working on. You’d be the first to see it in all its awesome glory.”

Even over that distance and over the river’s gurgling, Sweetie Belle could see Rarity pout and hear her hum thoughtfully. “Tempting, but I’m afraid I can’t. Time is of the essence. If you do see her, you will let me know?”

“Aw, you worry too much. I’m sure she’s fine. She’ll turn up sooner or later.”

Finally, Scootaloo let go and was fired like an arrow from a longbow, slicing over the surface downstream with an arrowhead of white in her trail.

“WAAAAAAHOOOOOOO!” she shrieked. Then she slowed down and went sliding under the surface.

Rarity turned to leave, but then shot round. It was so sudden that Sweetie Belle squeaked in alarm, despite the voice in her head laughing at her, and ducked still lower until she was lying on her belly.

“You know your mane is completely sodden, don’t you?” said Rarity.

“Gee,” said Rainbow, “ya think? I hadn’t noticed for all the splashing I’ve been doing.”

“You know, you should be careful you don’t spend too long in the water. It’ll wrinkle your skin something dreadful.”

“I think we’ll live,” said Rainbow, “but thanks anyway. Good luck.”

As Rarity stumbled through the foliage, back to shrieking the cursed name over and over, Sweetie Belle breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t as if she wanted to worry her big sister, but then her big sister was quite capable of worrying herself anyway. There were hours to go, and she was already fussing over some dress that’d take two minutes to try on.

She yelped at the sound of the splash, but when she jumped up and peered over the bush, she saw that Rainbow Dash was simply pulling Scootaloo out of the river.

“It was awesome!” Scootaloo paused to spit water out of her mouth. “I was floating right over the bottom! I went wherever I wanted! Just one flick of my wings and bam! I was there! Bam! Then I was there! Bam! It’s like flying! Put me back! Put me back!”

“Oh, no. Anyone can float. What you need, Sport, is a challenge.”

Sweetie Belle giggled as Scootaloo was placed carefully on the bank just a couple of yards in front of her, watching as she shook herself down like an excited terrier. If only Rarity was that awesome to play with. But she had to be talked into doing something as scary as jumping into puddles in the rain.

“By the way!” Scootaloo called over to the bush. “She’s gone! You can come out now!”

“I hope she doesn’t worry too much about me,” said Sweetie Belle as she pushed her way out. “You know how overexcited she gets.”

“Ah, that’s just Rarity. It’s not your fault if she can’t go a day without fussing over dresses. I say let her get on with it and have some fun. Ooh, ooh, you wanna go?”

Sweetie Belle grimaced at the blur of wings. “Erm, I’m not sure that trick works on unicorns.”

Beside the two, Rainbow Dash landed with a thump and stretched her forelimbs cat-like, arching her back until her spine cracked.

“Easy peasy. I just fly faster. All you gotta do is steer with your front legs. Don’t mind the splashes; so long as you don’t go under, that just means your back hooves are pointing down too much. You’ll have to make up for it by leaning right back so your front half can steer at full strength…”

Despite her inner foal shrieking with joy at Rainbow’s speech, Sweetie Belle found her mind coming back to Rarity. She stared out across the banks to the wall of tree trunks opposite, and she fancied even now, among the birdsong and the slight rustle of leaves in the breeze, that she could hear the distant shouts of her sister.

“Why is she that obsessed over looking nice?” she murmured.

“Why is any pony?” said Scootaloo with a shrug. “Nothing beats freestyle. Besides, it’s just a look.”

“Oh, just looking nice is OK. You feel good about yourself, and you give other ponies something to admire, and it’s great. And some of the dresses are pretty. Like this one time, Rarity made a little black dress for someone, and she put just the right amount of glitter on it. It was like looking at the night sky!”

“Bleh. You’re catching something.”

Sweetie Belle blushed and frowned. “I am not!”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” said Rainbow Dash with a grin. “Time for you two to chill. How about a cool-down swim, and then we move up to the big league stuff?”

The two sides, momentarily gearing up for a war, wound down cautiously. Both of them shrugged and sauntered over to the edge of the river, where Rainbow was stretching her neck out and spreading her wings wide.

“Hop, spring, and dive! Look lively, ponies! You’ll be judged on moves, speed, and entry. Come on! Hut! Hut! Hut!”

Scootaloo went first, hopping onto Rainbow’s back, springing onto the mane and scalp, and – with a helpful upward thrust from Rainbow – soaring up and over, twirling, spinning, and then curling up into a –

“CANNONBALL!” she shrieked. The splash hit Rainbow right up to her face, but she barely flinched.

“Ten out of ten for style, Squirt, but cannonball ain’t a dive.”

“It is too!” cried out Scootaloo’s head from the surface. Her mane was plastered over her eyes.

“Think you can top that, Sweetie Belle?”

She glanced down at the trickling water, which lapped at the earthy slopes of the banks. With a giggle, she jumped backwards and got behind Rainbow Dash, and then closed her eyes and hopped onto the rock-hard back, sprung with a pirouette onto the straw-like mane, and felt herself being pushed up and into clear air. A few twirls later, she stretched her front legs down and her back legs up, and winced as the shock of cold smashed into her.

When she finally surfaced and shook her mane out, treading water alongside Scootaloo’s awed gasp, she was in time for the big splash and held her breath against another shock of cold over her face.

“And we have a winner,” said Rainbow, who popped up in front of her. “The crowd goes wild for Sweetie Belle, diver extraordinaire! Sorry, Scoots. Better luck next time.”

“You gotta admit that was a great cannonball, though.” In a whisper, Scootaloo added, “Not bad, Sweetie Belle. That was one graceful dive. Can you teach me how to do that?”

“Wow, it really is catching, isn’t it?” Rainbow smirked.

Scootaloo went red. “No, it’s not! I’m not catching anything!”

“Oh, don’t you know? Any pony can catch it if they hang around someone like Rarity for too long.” Rainbow eased backwards and rested – forelimbs behind her head – on the surface, crossing her rear limbs with nonchalant ease. Sweetie Belle could see her wings sculling just under the ripples. “It’s a well-known curse.”

Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrow at her. “What curse?”

“The Beauty Curse.” Rainbow waved a hoof in the air as though tracing pictures in the clouds. “It’s an ancient and evil spell that creeps up on you and starts taking over your brain. One day, you’re thinking That’s kinda pretty or What a gorgeous outfit, and then you get worried about how your mane looks, or about what eyeliner to wear, and then… it gets you.”

Sweetie Belle snorted. “That’s silly. Rarity doesn’t have a curse.”

“Oh, I can believe that,” said Scootaloo, who was trying to imitate Rainbow’s debonair floating and kept dunking her head by accident. She coughed up some water in mid-attempt. “Rarity must have it bad.”

“And…” said Rainbow with a sudden grin, “that’s not the worst of it. You start to get mushy, gushy, lovey-dovey thoughts in your head. Actually, that’s how you get it, sometimes. You go your whole life thinking nothing worse than That painting was OK I guess and then you see a good-looking stallion or a pretty pink mare, and BAM!” She slapped the water. “Instant curse!”

Despite herself, Sweetie Belle giggled. She knew Rarity better than that, but even she found it hard sometimes to think of her without also thinking of dresses and lovey-dovey stuff. Rarity had once been smitten with a prince, for crying out loud, though thankfully she’d stopped going on about it.

Scootaloo grunted and had to right herself to stop her head being dunked by her own rear end. “Is there a cure? Tell me there’s a cure!”

From her resting position, Rainbow shrugged. “Maybe.”

“I wonder… where the curse… came from…” Sweetie Belle grunted with the effort of kicking.

“You OK there, Sweetie Belle?”

“There’s… I think there’s a current…”

Rainbow flipped over, spreading a ripple as she did so, and her wings rose up in an arc like oars. “Not quite at the Scootaloo level of stamina, are ya? Here, hop on for a bit.”

Sweetie Belle frowned as Rainbow drew level with her. “Er… are you sure?”

“Pfft. Sure!? I’ve had heavier stuff on my back. Scootaloo, for one thing.”

“Hey!” Scootaloo splashed her. “I am not heavy! And anyway, it’s all muscle.”

“Hop on. Just don’t wriggle too much.”

It was surprisingly warm on Rainbow’s back. Sweetie Belle tucked her hooves in and sat up as straight and stiff as she could. She was trying to avoid the wings, which arced up and over, and she watched as they sank into the water and the warped blue strips slid under the surface, pushing them both along. There was a grunt as Scootaloo doggy-paddled to keep up, and the pair of them turned and made their way slowly upstream, one smooth and graceful, the other jerky and panting slightly.

With a sigh, Sweetie Belle relaxed. Now that she had an idea of what her boundaries were, she simply yawned and stretched out from croup to withers, tucking her tiny cannons under her chest and resting her head on her front knees. The lap of water and the caress of the breeze slid over her. Hidden at the back of her mind, her worries and guilt and uncertainty began to drip away.

“There is a story, in fact,” said Rainbow after a while. “Wanna hear it?”

“Story?” Scootaloo forced herself to grin rather than grimace with the effort. “Sounds cool! Tell us! Tell us!”

“Sure, yeah. Why not?”

Sweetie Belle sensed a change and glanced up. Rainbow must have noticed Scootaloo’s strains, because she stiffened her wings and let them float on the surface. Barely concealing her sigh, Scootaloo did the same, and they were carried gently by the current, inch by inch.

“Is it a lovey-dovey story?” said Sweetie Belle. “I think that’s how it would start.”

She tensed at the shifting muscles under her, but then realized Rainbow had just shrugged. “Lovey-dovey? Sure. Why the heck not?”

“So it’s a love story,” said Sweetie Belle chirpily, “about how the Beauty Curse was first made.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” piped up Scootaloo beside her. “You can’t have lovey-dovey stuff before you have a curse.”

“You can. It’s just that the curse makes it even worse.”

“I don’t think that’s how it goes at all. So how did they love each other before then? Did they schedule their love lives, or something?”

“Maybe love back then meant something else, like just being slightly more interested in someone than anyone else was.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow with a nod. “That’s it. They used to schedule their love lives because otherwise they’d just forget ‘em. Good thinking, Sweetie Belle, Scoots!”

Scootaloo’s face struggled between a grin of pride and a grimace at Rainbow getting in on the act. “Uh, thanks?”

As they drifted back downstream, Sweetie Belle peered down, past Rainbow’s flopping wing. Squinting as she was against the sun’s startling reflection, she thought she could make out the silver sheen of a tiny fish.

“Ooh, look! Look, a fish! I think it’s… uh… a merrow!”

Rainbow peered down. “Nah. It’s just a fish. And I think you mean a ‘minnow’, or something. A merrow is a mermare.”

“Have you seen a mermare?” Sweetie Belle almost jumped up. “Because that’s amazing! I’ve never seen one! Where did you see it?”

“She hasn’t seen it,” said Scootaloo. “That’s just an old pegasus bedtime story. I’ve been told that one dozens of times. Er… you haven’t seen one, have you?”

Rainbow grinned. “Maybe I have. Maybe I haven’t.”

“So…” said Sweetie Belle. “What’s a merrow? What kind of mermare is it?”

“I don’t remember that well. It’s like a sea-pegasus, really, but with fish scales instead of feathers. You see one, and you know there’s a storm coming. The story says that ponies on the coast used to look out for them before going sailing.”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!” Sweetie Belle waved a hoof in the air.

“Yes, you there in the front row? You know this isn’t class, right?”

“Could the lovers be two merrows? That’d be so sweet! Like a fairy tale.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Scootaloo. “No fairy tales! One of them can be a marrow, and we’ll call it an epic fantasy.”

“‘Merrow’,” corrected Sweetie Belle. “Not ‘marrow’.”

“That’s what I said. It’d be like a pegasus and a unicorn, or a pegasus and an earth pony. Now we just need names, and we’re good to go! Hey, can I have a turn? Can I? Can I? Can I?”

Only then did Sweetie Belle notice she was starting to shiver. She nodded, stood up, and leaped with wide limbs into the water, making Rainbow splutter under the splash.

“Wheee!” Scootaloo threw herself and several drops up and onto Rainbow’s back, ignoring the grunt this caused. “Aw, it’s nice and comfy up here.”

“Careful!” Rainbow suppressed a giggle and shuddered. “Careful where you… put your hooves! Ahahahaha!”

When Scootaloo finally settled down, Sweetie Belle winced and lunged for Rainbow’s outstretched wing; she didn’t fancy her chances against the current.

“Names! Names!” said Scootaloo.

“OK,” said Rainbow Dash. “So we’re going with this merrow-whatever love story, right?”

“Right!” the other two chorused.

“Cool, cool… so how about we make it really grim and gloomy? Mwahahaha!”

“Aw…” said Sweetie Belle.

“Yes!” said Scootaloo.

“Two against one, Sweetie Belle. OK...” Rainbow Dash chewed her lip thoughtfully. “So these two ponies… they live in a total dump. Horrible place. Nothing ever happens there. They only love each other because it’s soooooo boring. And dark.”

“This is gonna be good,” said Scootaloo. “I can tell.”

“And they did craaaazy things, like fetching water from far away and carrying it back to the river. And speaking French! They were all mad and silly and dumb, and they –”

“Not all of them,” said Sweetie Belle, and she clung on tighter to the wing. “The lovers are going to be different. And they’re the ones who go out and have an exciting adventure together.”

“Sure.” Rainbow grinned evilly. “Because they hated living in a backwater place that’s sooooo borin –”

“What’s a backwater?” said Scootaloo.

The grin vanished. “I was just saying. It’s a boring place where nothing ever happens.”

“No, I mean why’s it called a backwater? That’s a weird name. ‘Back’ and ‘water’? Is it like ‘the outback’, but wetter?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it? I always heard it called a ‘backwater’. Maybe it meant something a long time ago. I dunno. Do I look like Twilight Sparkle to you?”

“I know what it means!” piped up Sweetie Belle. “I heard Cheerilee talk about it. It’s where you get a lake or something that’s connected to a river, but nothing happens to it, because it gets no current or flow. That’s why it’s so still and boring.”

Scootaloo nodded in agreement and paced up and down on Rainbow’s back, eliciting a few giggles and shakes. “That’s it, then! The merrow pony lives in the backwater, and that’s why it’s so boring and terrible. Nothing ever changes. It would drive anyone mad!”

“Scoots!” Rainbow bit her lip and gritted her teeth. “Stop… heeheheehee… stop doing that… Ahahaha! You know I’m tick… heheheh… Well not by much, but still… HAHAHA!”

“Oh. Sorry.” Scootaloo sat down.

“Lethal pressure points,” said Rainbow quickly to Sweetie Belle. “Deadly in the hooves of a master fighter. Which Scootaloo might be. Some day.”

“Right.” Sweetie Belle smirked sidelong at her. “You end up giggling to death.”

“Anyway, so we’ve got our merrow and our… what was the other one again? Unicorn?”

“Nah, nah,” said Scootaloo. “Pegasus pony. Make it a pegasus pony.”

“I thought you wanted a unicorn?”

“I changed my mind. One of them has to fly. So they go gaga over each other through sheer boredom, and then there was a witch, and she cursed them, and that’s how –”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No no no, that’s too sudden. You have to lead into it gently. It’s a story.”

“Aw, but I wanted a witch.”

“Then we’ll have a witch,” said Rainbow with a shrug. Scootaloo cheered. “But she doesn’t curse anyone. That’s too easy. So, the merrow and the… pegasus, wasn’t it? Yeah, they’re sitting on the edge of the backwater thingy, wondering what to do next, and then a fog rolls over them.”

Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shivered, the former throwing up drops as she did so.

“Thunderclouds rumble in the sky. Darkness falls over the land. And then, on the edge of an eldritch forest, with wolves howling and crows flying over the trees… duh duh DUUUUH!”

She reared up at once, forelimbs wide. Scootaloo yelped and rolled into the water with a plop.

“The witch appears!”

Sweetie Belle clung onto the wing for dear life, while behind her, Scootaloo surfaced with a splutter.

“You didn’t have to do that!” Scootaloo yelled. “At least let me know before you do it. Try it again and do it fair this time! I mean… uh… Can I have another go, please? When I’m expecting it?”

“I don’t like this story…” Sweetie Belle shivered and clung tighter to the wing. “It’s getting too scary.”

“Ow!” Rainbow grimaced. “Let go! You’re cutting off the blood supply! Ow!”

With a squeak, Sweetie Belle let go and gasped at the shock of the water hitting her back and swallowing her whole. She rolled forwards and kicked against the bottom, zooming up to the light and breaking the surface.

After a fit of coughing, she parted the curtains of hair draped over her eyes and said, “Sorry, Rainbow Dash.”

“It’s nothing. Ow.” She massaged her wing back into shape, and occasionally dipped it under the surface. “That’s some grip you got there, Sweetie Belle. I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse than this happen to it.”

Scootaloo was sniggering when she pointed. “Looks like you’ve been fishing, Sweetie Belle!”

Something wet slapped Sweetie Belle on the face. She shrieked, and the minnow threw itself off her head and plopped back into the river.

“I’ll tell you what,” said Rainbow, trying to make light of things while wincing occasionally at her wing, “you can be the witch, Sweetie Belle. What do you want her to do?”

Sweetie Belle’s chest puffed up with pride. She barely had to think; her acting talent was always champing at the bit for moments like this.

“Hark, what light from yonder window breaks, for I am the good witch, i’faith! My name, forsooth and anon, is Sweetie the Water Witch, and thou art lucky to have met me, nuncle!”

Her horn flashed for a moment. Rainbow nodded with approval and glanced over at Scootaloo.

“Well, the ball’s in your court now, Scoots. That’s a Water Witch we’ve got on our hooves. Your move.”

“Uh…” Scootaloo cast about wildly for inspiration. “OK, OK… um… The witch wants to… grant… a wish?”

“Good. Good. We’ll go with that.”

“And the wish is… um… the wish is… to make the merrow… uh…”

“Beautiful!” said Sweetie Belle. “She – I mean, I, good pony – wish to grant thee a wish, for goodness sake, so that thy star-crossed lover shalt forevermore be beautiful as a warm spring day.”

“Careful, Sweetie Belle,” said Rainbow, who made a sign in the air to ward off evil. “The curse is upon you! Don’t let it win! It’ll make you go all gooooooeeeeeey!”

“No, it won’t. Very funny.”

There was a snap. When they turned around, Scootaloo was on the bank, holding a forked twig in her hooves. Wings a buzzing haze on her back, she flew down to them as though walking down a slope, softly skimming across the surface with the ease of a swan coming in to land. Sweetie Belle winced at the encroaching wave before the twig was thrust into her face.

“Here!” said Scootaloo. “If you’re gonna be a witch, you need a magic wand.”

“That looks more like a dowsing rod,” said Sweetie Belle, but her horn glowed and she accepted it anyway with a levitation spell. “Why would a witch need a dowsing rod? She can just magic some water whenever she wants to.”

“But she is a Water Witch. Maybe she has to dowse for water. Maybe it’s the source of her power!”

Rainbow shot out of the river, a curtain of water rushing off her back and legs and tail. Hovering and framed by the light of the sun, she spread her forelimbs wide dramatically.

“That’s it!” she said. “A quest! A quest to find the enchanted water that will make all their wishes come true! Sweetie Belle, hand the dowsing rod to Scootaloo! The pegasus is going on a journey!”

Scootaloo squinted up at her. “What, to find water? That’s not gonna work. They’re surrounded by the stuff.”

“I said enchanted water. The dowsing rod will point to it, and all they have to do is follow it. Like, uh…” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Like the Legend of the First Water. You ever heard about that one?”

Both foals shook their heads.

“Really? Even you, Scoots?”

“Nope. Nothing like that. I know about the Diamond Water one, though. That’s where there’s this spring, hidden in a cave in a forest that’s always on fire, and if you put a diamond in it, it becomes shinier and better.”

“That’s the First Water one. It’s just a different name.”

Sweetie Belle frowned. “But the pegasus wants to makes the merrow pretty. Why are we talking about a Diamond Water?”

“Because,” said Rainbow Dash, “the First Water makes everything… well, better. Like it’ll take a decent singer and turn her into a world-famous superstar.”

“Ah,” said Sweetie Belle with a wise nod. “So it’ll make the plain-looking merrow look really pretty?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “If you say so.”

“This is getting silly,” said Scootaloo. “We haven’t even given them names yet, and already they’re going on a quest.”

“Sure,” said Rainbow. “How about… Thunder Punch and Hydra Wipeout?”

“Awesome McVicious and Storm Cooler.”

“Juggernaut and Dreadnought, the Terrifying Two!”

“Radical O’Star and Shark Crusher Slipstream, the Amazing… uh…”

Sweetie Belle raised her foreleg again. “I have an idea. I remember Rarity singing me a bedtime song when I was little… well, little-er. It was about two ponies who made wonderful slumber potions for fillies who couldn’t get to sleep.”

“Are they cool names?” said Scootaloo at once. “Like Knockout Scout and Sand Bag Hammer Hocks?”

“Uh…” Sweetie Belle shook her head.

“Let her talk, Scoots,” said Rainbow with unusual gentleness. “It’s only names for two lover ponies, after all. They don’t all have to be cool.”

“I was thinking…” Sweetie Belle screwed up her face with concentration. “I was thinking Clarabelle Water and Rag Water. Or Clary Water, if Clarabelle’s too long.”

“Yeeuuch,” said Scootaloo. “That is way too cutesy.”

Rainbow grinned at her. “Then it’s perfect for two sappy lovebirds. I’ll take it.”

“Rainbow Dash! You’re catching the curse!”

“Me? Never! I’m immune to it. Always have been. So, now we have our heroes and our quest, it’s time to go questing, to seek out the enchanted spring! On a dragon!”

Scootaloo almost jumped clear of the water. “COOL!”

“But how?” said Sweetie Belle. “There wasn’t a dragon.”

“Well, there is now.” Rainbow lowered herself until her hooves almost touched the river. Both wings stretched downwards on the downstroke, one before Scootaloo, the other before Sweetie Belle. “Climb aboard, foolish ponies! And fasten your safety belts. It’s going to be the ride of a lifetime!”

They hesitated for only a second while Rainbow beat both wings slowly and steadily. Then Scootaloo whooped and clambered up the wing and onto Rainbow’s back, while Sweetie Belle hung on grimly to the primaries of hers, dribbling water. With a creak of joints, Rainbow hauled her up like a crane and dropped her carefully next to Scootaloo. Both fillies embraced the broad withers, each hooking their outermost pasterns on the spot between beating wing and pumping shoulder.

Sweetie Belle gulped and pointed the dowsing rod forwards. “OK. Take us to the enchanted water, great scaly beast, so that I may grant the wish and make the merrow beautiful!”

“Arrrr, little witch!” Rainbow threw a mock salute. “Up we go!”

“Hold on tight,” whispered Scootaloo. Her face was lighting up like a sudden sunbeam in a cave.

They shot up. Sweetie Belle was almost thrown off her back as the world around her vanished into a blue streak, the air shattering in their wake and whipping at them with gusto. She shut her eyes tight and flattened her ears against the screeching of the wind. She could barely hear Scootaloo screaming with excitement next to her, and it was a while before she noticed the dowsing rod had been whipped away by an eddy.

“LOOK DOWN!” yelled Rainbow over the shrieking wind. “TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE!”

“EVERYTHING!” shouted Scootaloo. “THIS VIEW IS AWESOME!”

Sweetie Belle’s mouth suddenly bulged, and she realized with horror that her throat was burning. Frantically, she wormed one hoof free and tapped Rainbow on the back of the neck, hoping she’d understand.

Luckily, Rainbow chose that moment to slow down. The air stopped screeching, she stopped feeling like she was being punched by lots of tiny hooves, and her insides had a chance to catch up and settle down. Beside her, Scootaloo was laughing and buzzing her wings with joy.

“Look at that view!” she said.

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and saw nothing but blue back. Tilting slightly, she peeked over the edge.

Beyond a couple of white splodges that must’ve been low-lying cumulus, the green patchwork of the countryside was laid out below her, cut through its middle by the meandering river that shone white with reflected sunlight. There was the black green mould that was the Everfree Forest; that pink dot there was the barn of Sweet Apple Acres; and that brown and yellow maze, complex and dotted like the dark face of a sunflower, could only be the town of Ponyville. From up high, it was all one gigantic drawing, but even up where everything blurred into colours, she could see the contours of the hills and the slits of dark green for the hedgerows and lines of trees.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Focus, Sweetie Belle,” said Rainbow, but her voice dripped with smugness. “OK, Scootaloo, where are we headed? Scootaloo?”

Sweetie Belle glanced across. Her friend was frozen, wide-eyed, gaping at the ground far below as though drinking every drop through her pupils. Clearly in no condition to speak.

“I think we should head for the lake,” Sweetie Belle said. “I lost the dowsing rod, but we can get a new one. Or we’ll pretend we still… have… it…”

Her gaze was caught in the gravitational pull of the world below as her mind finally caught up with her eyes. It was so huge…

“OK, Sweetie Belle. I’m going down.”

“Wow! It’s so… beautiful,” murmured Sweetie Belle.

“Eh, you’re a unicorn. I get it. Not often you get to come up here and look down, now is it?”

They dropped slightly, but then Sweetie Belle sensed her insides trying to jump out again and she almost crushed Rainbow’s shoulder blade into matchsticks. If there was the slightest pain inflicted on the “dragon”, then Rainbow didn’t so much as grunt at it.

Instead, the wings spread wide and she began to veer to the left, cruising round. Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. They were gently gliding, and as they spiralled downwards, she watched the clouds drift by. It was like one of her favourite dreams.

“So what happens now?” she said, still staring down. Despite the gale whipping at her mane, it was surprisingly quiet up here.

“Hmm?” said Rainbow Dash. “Oh, the story. Right. Now we’re flying over the great seas of the north, into the unknown.”

“Amazing! Look at that cloud. It looks like a narwhal.”

It was wide and rounded at one end, tapering to a point at the other. Although the long strip before it was actually another cloud behind it, from this angle the whole thing did look vaguely like a narwhal.

“That’s right,” said Rainbow, and when she turned her head Sweetie Belle saw the edge of the grin. “That’s the great tribe of narwhals! They guard the secrets of the north with their nasty tusk-horn thingies. Don’t worry about ‘em. They wouldn’t bother a dragon.”

Sweetie Belle glanced across at Scootaloo, who still hadn’t moved. She seemed entirely locked in a world of her own. They passed the last of the cumulus clouds and were now circling around the mosaic of Ponyville.

“No! Don’t land here! Rarity might be close by! I don’t want her to see me!”

Then she spotted a gleam of a mirror beyond Scootaloo’s nose.

“The lake!” she yelled. “That’s perfect! Let’s go there!”

“Aye aye, captain!”

The circling turned into a beeline, still slow and gentle but now focused entirely on the shiny eye of the lake. The lower they went, the worse the flapping of the wind became, and Rainbow had to beat her wings to dampen the rush hitting Sweetie Belle’s face.

“White sky,” said Rainbow Dash, glancing up at the cap of clouds. “Up north, that’s an ice sky. We’re in frozen territory all right.”

“But it’s clear over the lake,” said Sweetie Belle. “What does that mean up north?”

“Oh, that’s good. That’s water sky. That means we’re facing open waters. Your enchanted spring should be close by. Brace yourselves!”

The sandy ground loomed up before them. Now that they could see the treetops flashing past on either side of them, Scootaloo broke out of her trance and the two fillies gripped Rainbow hard, bracing themselves for the impact.

There was a jolt, a lot of shaking and bumping, and then they opened their eyes and Rainbow Dash was galloping down the track and towards the rising edge of the water. Grit bounced off her flanks. She slowed to a canter just in time to zoom over the shore and along the surface, and then her legs snapped into place, spread out like columns. Hooves skidded across the lake, her wings spread wide like parachutes, and then all momentum slowed to a trot’s speed, and her legs sank into the waters.

Sweetie Belle yelped and slipped off, once again gritting her teeth against the chill that smacked into her side. Both she and Scootaloo came up to snatch a gulp of air, their manes fanning out on the surface.

Rainbow tucked her wings in like a big blue goose, and bowed her head. “Thank you, thank you. You’ve been a wonderful audience. Don’t forget to tip your waitresses.”

They both began treading water, but with no current Sweetie Belle was soon relaxing her limbs and letting them bob up and down. “This is it! This is the enchanted spring I was talking about.”

“All right!” yelled Scootaloo. “WOO! That was AWESOME! Do it again! Do it again!”

Rainbow shook her head, accidentally slapping her own face with her wet mane. “I think you’ve had enough excitement for one day. So what now, Water Witch?”

“Come on!” Scootaloo insisted, pressing her hooves against Rainbow’s chest. “Let’s go up again! We’ll make it part of the spell she has to do to make the water work!”

“A spell. That’ll do it,” said Sweetie Belle, and she glanced around for inspiration.

On the bank nearby, a mare and a filly were settling down for a picnic. Both of them were frozen in the act of reaching down for delicacies, and both were watching the three of them with polite interest.

Slapping slightly, Sweetie Belle struggled onto the edge of the lakebed and then galumphed onto the shore towards them.

“Uh, hello,” she said. She was painfully aware of the puddle forming under her slicked-down coat and wrinkling legs. “Golden Harvest. Dinky. Um. Nice day we’re having.”

“Hello,” said the mare, nodding. “Rarity was just asking after you.”

“Oh, was she? OK. Um. This is going to sound kind of silly, but we’re playing a little game, and uh, we just got to the point where the Water Witch has to make a magic spell to make a mermare-like creature become beautiful, and we barely managed to escape the narwhals, and uh… well… do you have any ingredients for a magic potion on you?”

Golden Harvest glanced down at their picnic ensemble. Then she glanced across at Dinky. Finally, she looked up at Sweetie Belle’s mop of a mane.

“I’ve got some bread,” she said at last. “We were going to feed the ducks with it, but the ducks aren’t here today.”

“You can have one of my magic cherries, if you want,” said Dinky, who was quicker off the mark. “I like apples better anyway.”

“Thank ye, fair maiden.” Sweetie Belle tilted her foreleg and lowered herself in an approximation of a curtsey.

She splashed back into the shallows where Rainbow and Scootaloo were arguing over proper landing technique. Without further ado, the bread landed between them, causing a flat spurt of water to hit them both right on their noses.

“Behold full mightily, mere mortals!” cried Sweetie Belle. “I have cast my bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days, and good luck shalt befall thee for thine yonder good deeds!”

A flock of doves flashed by over their heads. While both pegasi glanced up to watch, Sweetie Belle noticed the way their beating wings danced on the lake surface. A switch flicked on deep in her burning brain.

“To thee and thine shalt this brilliant brew be known…” she intoned as well as her squeaky voice would allow, “as the Dancing Water! Sip its divine… uh, radiance! And thy beauty shall wax wroth!”

“I dunno what you just said,” said Rainbow Dash, “but that was some mighty fine gibberish.”

“Is she talking to me?” said Scootaloo. She had a hunted look. “I’m not drinking a prettifying potion! I’d rather eat dirt.”

The cherry levitated between them. Groaning with the effort, Sweetie Belle focused her magic and snapped the stalk, separating each individual fruit.

“And now the holy union!” she continued. “One bite from each of the cherries, and the spell shall be complete!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Scootaloo. “You talking to me and Rainbow Dash!? This is getting weird.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow uncertainly. “I thought I was supposed to be the dragon.”

“Oh, come on.” Sweetie Belle dropped the act and the cherries. “It’s only a game. Look, I’ll do it if you’re so squeamish. I’ll be… uh… the merrow, yeah. I’m Clary Water the merrow. And so, Clary Water the merrow takes the enchanted Dancing Water!”

She took a bite. It was juicy and chewy, but her teeth scraped against the pit, and she stopped to telekinetically extract the offending piece. The rest of it disappeared down her gullet.

“Y’shee?” she said around the mouthful. “I’sh d’lishush.” A gulp later, she added, “Here, you have the other one.”

Scootaloo backed off, tripped, and vanished under the surface with a yelp and a splash. Sweetie Belle sighed and shook her head.

“You can be so silly at times, Scoots. Here, you Rainbow Dash. You can be the pegasus Rag Water. You have the other piece.”

Under the looming cherry, Rainbow winced and tried a nervous chuckle. “Uh, thanks but… I’m not hungry. Anyway,” she added more enthusiastically, “it’s the merrow who has to eat it. She’s the one getting the prettifying spell. That’s how the story goes. The pegasus –”

“Rag Water,” said Sweetie Belle sternly.

“Yeah, Rag Water… gives…?” She glanced at Sweetie Belle.

“Clary Water.”

“…Clary Water the spell as a gift. And there! We’re done! Now, who wants to try some deep water stunts?”

Scootaloo burst through the surface, spitting and patting water out of her ear. After a bout of spluttering, she coughed and said, “Hold on! Hold on! What happened to the Beauty Curse?”

The other two looked at her blankly.

“You know! The one that makes ponies like Rarity go all gooey and lovey-dovey?”

“Oh,” said Sweetie Belle. “Well, the next bit of the story is –”

“That was the Beauty Curse,” said Rainbow Dash quickly.

“What!?” Sweetie Belle drew herself up haughtily. “No it wasn’t! That was a sweet little story about two lovers on a quest to make their wishes for beauty come true… and… oh…”

“Exactly.” Rainbow smirked at her with the air of one who couldn’t have put it better herself.

“Well… OK, but… I thought it was kinda sweet…”

“So the witch did put a curse on them!” Scootaloo huffed and splashed a hoof in irritation. “Aw, come on! That’s what I said to begin with!”

“Ah,” said Rainbow Dash with the plummy tones of a connoisseur, “but when it comes to the storytelling craft, you can’t just rush in with no technique whatsoever. My way, we got an epic journey to forgotten lands, mystical elements, ancient rituals, and big dragons and narwhals!”

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “But your way…”

“And you got a free ride over Ponyville.”

“I like your way. Can you teach me the way? Teach me the way! Teach me!”

“Besides,” said Sweetie Belle, who’d begun experimenting with a breaststroke around them, “the witch didn’t put the curse on them. The spell came from the Dancing Water. The witch just helped. And then the bad thing happened!”

Scootaloo’s ears pricked up. “Sounds good! So what’s the bad thing?”

“Well, normally it’d be happily ever after. Rag Water and Clary Water go home, and as soon as they touch down, all the merrows and the ponies come together and say what a lovely mane and coat Clary Water has. Everyone sees beauty for the first time ever, and then they know what true love is.”

“Wow.” Scootaloo shuddered, spraying the surface with her shivering mane. “That is a bad thing.”

“And beauty would have died with Clary Water, except for one thing…”

“Ooh, ooh!” Scootaloo ducked down, and when she shot up in a burst of froth and showering drops, her hair was slick with seaweed and two shells protruded as sabre teeth from her mouth. “The terrifying, horrifying Monster of Merrowland! Raarrr! Raaarrr!”

“NO! No monsters!” Sweetie stopped and splashed her. “That’s no way to explain things.”

Spitting the shells out, Scootaloo added, “Fine! Then you do it.”

“Heh,” said Rainbow Dash suddenly. She’d been watching the pair go back and forth, concentrating and humming to herself, but when they glanced around, she continued, “Have you ever wondered why Rarity hates getting soaked?”

“Because it ruins her mane?” said Scootaloo.

“Exactly. But that’s only because the rush of water washes away all the beauty. That’s why she never crosses a bridge, either. All that running water, washing away all the enchantment…”

“That doesn’t make sense either,” said Sweetie Belle, “because I’ve seen Rarity cross lots of bridges –”

“Lots of bridges, eh?” Rainbow smirked at her.

“Well… maybe not lots, but…”

“And you ever looked close – real close – at her whenever she did so?”

“Um… No…”

“Well, if you had looked, then you’d see that some of the beauty would’ve been washed off, but ever so slightly. That’s why all kinds of other creepy creatures and evil monsters can’t cross running water, either. It washes away evil enchantments.”

“Where’d you learn that?” said Scootaloo.

“I read it in a Daring Do book once. Daring Do and the Howl of the Bandersnatch. That’s how she beat the witches of Trottingham, the magical Cutty-Sark of the River Doom, and the cursed Nuckalavee of Orcades. No evil enchantment can survive running water.”

Scootaloo shrugged. “Makes as much sense as anything else, I guess.”

“But it’s not an evil curse!” moaned Sweetie Belle. “It’s sweet.”

“Yeah, at first,” said Scootaloo in the tones of one who didn’t even believe that much. “But then Clary Water got back into the river… or crossed a bridge, or something, and then the Beauty Curse was washed away.”

“You guys!” said Sweetie Belle, rolling her eyes.

“So when the pegasi came down to the backwater to collect it for the next rain,” said Rainbow Dash, “it was tooooo late. The Curse rained down with the water on everyone within a hundred miles! Ponies started fussing over themselves and each other, and the longer it stayed with them, the better the curse got at spreading!”

“Puffs of air from the mouth!” Scootaloo chirped happily. “Tears and spit all over the place! Sweat off lots of pony coats!”

“And that’s why,” added Rainbow Dash with a grin, “the only known cure for a pony with the Beauty Curse is… a splash of cold water!”

Both wings, which had been easing their way down to the lake’s surface, shot up and sent a bow wave slicing across to the fillies. It knocked them both hooves-over-heads, tumbling away. Sweetie Belle trailed bubbles before she flipped over and went back to the surface.

Scootaloo had already broken through, and was glaring at the mass of splashing legs, shaking torso, and flapping wings that was Rainbow Dash trying not to collapse through sheer laughter.

“Oh yeah!” she yelled back. “Try this on for size!”

“Bring it on, Squirt!”

She shot forwards, wings a blur, ploughing her hooves through the surface until the bulge reached up to her elbows, and then she stopped and plunged down. The wave smacked Rainbow up to her neck. Sweetie Belle piled on, and the three of them soon dissolved into a fit of froth, blurring limbs, yelps, chuckles, and flashes of colour trying to top the biggest surges and waves.

“SO!” said a voice from the shoreline. A horribly familiar voice.

The three snapped from water-fighting to a standing stop so suddenly that they almost got whiplash. Rarity was tapping her hoof on the sand a yard or so inland. Her expression was a laser. The air between them shimmered and almost burst into flame.

“Oh,” said Rainbow Dash, and it was shocking how much she sounded like Fluttershy in that moment. “Uh… Hi, Rarity.”

The laser beam of a glare flitted for a moment towards Sweetie Belle, who was so sodden she seemed to be melting. Rainbow ventured a brave grin that would be remembered fondly by its comrades… posthumously.

“Worry too much, do I? You’ll let me know if you see her, will you?” said Rarity.

Rainbow glanced down and then blinked, apparently seeing Sweetie Belle for the first time.

“Aheh,” she said. “There you are, Sweetie Belle. Where have you been all this time? She must’ve snuck in while Scoots and I were… practising our water defensive moves.”

“Really? So the Sweetie Belle who’s been cheerfully talking to you the last few minutes must have been an imposter, I assume? Ah, and I see the imposter has mysteriously conveniently evaporated herself in all the commotion. Sometimes, I do wonder if you ever really grew up, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow, to her credit, did not duck below the surface at this point, but by the look on her face, it was a close-run thing.

“Come, Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity coldly. “You’ve dodged my dress-up for far too long already. Who knows how many adjustments I’ll have to make before we attend!? And that’s before I move on to my dress this evening. Come along!”

Sweetie Belle sighed. At least Scootaloo pushed through the water to pat her on the back with sympathy.

As slowly as she dared, and refusing to look up, Sweetie Belle trudged out of the water. She was trying her best to ignore the stares not only of Rarity and the two pegasi, but also of Golden Harvest and Dinky, the latter of whom was rearing up for a better view.

Her insides squirmed again, worse even than when she’d been soaring into the sky. She’d hoped to slip away after a while and pretend she’d just wandered off willy-nilly. Not that Rainbow and Scootaloo were strangers to trouble, but she’d gotten them into it this time.

“We were just –” began Scootaloo.

“Now now,” said Rarity, if not angrily then certainly with a wagging finger in her tone of voice, “I know it’s all fun and games to you, but this is simply no time for that sort of thing. Not with the reunion mere hours away.”

“It’s just a splashabout.” Rainbow tried a shrug.

“And just look at what you’ve done to her beautiful mane! It’ll take forever to perfect those curls again, at least the ones that haven’t been soaked beyond all recognition.”

“She’s right, you know,” said Golden Harvest with a nod of approval.

All gazes focused on her until she blushed and turned back to her picnic, pausing only to nudge Dinky into doing the same.

“Uh…” said Rainbow Dash.

“Maybe we could play some other time?” said Scootaloo.

“Well, really! We, Rainbow-Dash-yes-I’m-talking-to-you, will discuss future playtime scheduling,” said Rarity, “later. Come, Sweetie Belle. We are leaving.”

She about-turned and strode along the sandy trail, nose slightly up in the air and frowning at the row of trunks flanking either side of them. Groaning, Sweetie Belle waved goodbye to the sorry-looking wet pegasi in the lake.

“See you, guys,” she said miserably, and then she scampered after her sister. It took a while; Rarity was covering ground with her strides that many ponies could only manage at a gallop.

“What in blazes were you doing out here, Sweetie Belle?” said Rarity at once. “You know how important family reunions are. They come around so rarely.”

“You make it sound like I don’t,” muttered Sweetie Belle. “All I wanted to do was enjoy one summer day. I was having fun. Is that such a crime?”

Sweetie Belle winced at her own words. For a moment, Rarity’s face swelled so much with her suppressed rant that she thought it was going to explode. Hastily, she jumped forwards, trying to block Rarity’s progress uphill.

“And don’t take it out on Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. It was my idea to hang out with them. I’m the one who ran away, not them. They just agreed with me, that’s all, and why shouldn’t they?”

A wheeze escaped from Rarity’s lips, but then her face seemed to squeeze back, and she swallowed down whatever lava flows had been building up in her mouth. Sweetie Belle, who’d ducked aside and abandoned her attempt at blocking, could almost see the imaginary plumes of smoke rising out of her ears.

“All right,” Rarity said, and her strides became less strident. “I won’t take it out on those two, however much they act like silly fillies.”

“And it’s such a nice summer’s day, isn’t it? Not the sort of weather I’d avoid by staying indoors, trying on stuffy dresses.”

“You’re pushing your luck, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity’s gaze drifted up to the slight rustle of the trees, the fluffy white clouds drifting overhead, and the zip and flash of songbirds darting from branch to branch. “Though it is rather a splendid day, now isn’t it?”

“And,” said Sweetie Belle defiantly, “I was the one saying that the Beauty Curse was a good thing.”

At this, Rarity stopped and peered down at her. “Beauty Curse?”

“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle continued despite the frantic warning coming from the back of her head. “You were fussing so much over prettifying things that we thought you’d caught a curse, and it’s true! You have it all the time! And it rains down from the sky, and you catch it if you spend too much time around ponies like you, but I said it was a sweet story, and there was a mermare – well, technically a merrow – and we flew on a dragon, and I was a Water Witch, and… um… well, I was saying it was a good thing, that’s all.”

Rarity stared at her for a good, long minute. She seemed to have no idea what Sweetie Belle had just said, or even what language she’d suddenly used.

Uh oh, said the much-too-late thought in Sweetie Belle’s head. Now you’ve done it.

Then, to her surprise, Rarity burst out into a chortle. It frightened a flock of birds out of the trees and split Sweetie Belle’s eardrums. Rarity even stamped her hoof trying to stop herself from racking her chest so hard.

“Oh, Sweetie Belle!” she cooed. “What a young and creative innocence you have! A Beauty Curse, moi? Non, non, non!”

She brought her chortle down to a titter behind her hoof, and then nudged her sister in her flank. When she spoke, she’d come over all giggly.

“A Beauty Curse. Honestly! I must remember that one, so I can embarrass you with it when you’re older.”

“Um…” said Sweetie Belle. “So… you’re not mad at me?”

Rarity snapped out of whatever mood had possessed her. “But what am I doing!? Come, come! We must be preparing ourselves for a personal event, and here we are wittering away like a couple of school-fillies! Onwards, Sweetie Belle! Onwards, dear youth!”

They cantered along the trail, and their ears pricked up at the approaching if faint sounds of walking ponies and distant chatter. Sweetie Belle was already imagining the rooftops of Ponyville town over the next ridge.

Now that the worst had seemingly passed, Sweetie Belle found her mind hurrying ahead to the princess dress. Yes, Rainbow and Scootaloo would probably snigger at the sight of it, but she could already see herself standing proudly like… well, a princess, dressed up as though about to attend a wedding, flowing from neck to hem with an almost shimmering royal purple. And Rarity had assured her that it had been tailored to her exact measurements, so she wouldn’t have to worry about itchy spots and tight places.

Beside her, Rarity was chatting about some far-flung corner of Equestria where a cousin or a half-cousin had set up quite a successful haberdashery, and how much she was looking forward to swapping tips and gossip about the leading designers. Sweetie Belle wondered how you were supposed to act at a family reunion. Perhaps, if she had time, it would be a good idea to visit Sweet Apple Acres…

“Rarity,” she said suddenly. “Do I have the Beauty Curse?”

Rarity stopped in mid-coo and pouted down at her. “I think you would make a fine fashionista, if that’s what you mean. However, you’d definitely have to manage your leisure hours more carefully than you do now. Ponies talk if they see you mucking in the mud.”

“Not that there’s anything wrong with mucking in the mud,” Sweetie Belle insisted.

She gave Rarity such a glare that Rarity blushed and smiled weakly. “Not… some of the time, I suppose.”

“So we are going to enjoy this get-together? Right?”

“Oh, all right. I’ll cut back on some of the ribbon and hair bows. And I’ll pack a spare dress in my satchel if you absolutely insist on getting a little dirty.”

“Sorry, Rarity,” said Sweetie Belle to the path before her hooves. “I should’ve left a note or actually explained what I was doing.”

“Well… you’re here now, and that’s the important thing. Led me on a merry old goose chase around Ponyville, I must say, but I suppose we can let bygones be bygones. Maybe, if we finish early…?” She left the question hanging.

“Oh no. I’ve had enough playtime with Rainbow and Scootaloo. Those two are crazy.”

“Crazier than mermares, what?”

As they laughed, Sweetie Belle couldn’t believe she’d spent so much time in the company of such crazy mares. Beauty Curses and magic water? It was so childish, of course. Those two were such goofballs!

As she strode along in her sister’s shadow against the hot sun, Sweetie Belle wondered if the “goofballs” were free tomorrow morning. Ah well. She’d wait until then before giving them a shout.