“No, no, no, that won’t do at all!”
A crumpled piece of paper landed atop the overflowing garbage pile, bouncing off and landing on the floor.
Rarity sighed. “Oh, this is infuriating!” She removed her glasses and rubbed the bags under her eyes.
The door opened with a creak. “Sis, are you okay?” A young filly entered the room.
“Sweetie Belle! What are you doing here?”
Sweetie Belle shrugged. “Mom and Dad were concerned that we haven’t spent enough time together lately, so I stopped by.” She sat on her haunches, surveying the chaos around her. Papers lay strewn across the desks near scraps of cut cloth. Mannequins stood in the center of the room, dressed in gaudy outfits made of more gem than fabric. In the corner, Opalescence hid beneath even more half-stitched prototypes.
“What happened?”
A blue aura surrounded the mannequins, stripping them of their clothes. The glowing mass of cloth joined with the other rejected designs from the corner and flew out the window, eliciting a hiss from Opalescence. Rarity turned to face her sister with a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“You needn’t worry about it, dear, I’ve got it all under control.” She put her glasses back on. “Run along; I’m very busy with this order from Photo Finish. I just can’t seem to find my muse today…” Returning to her desk, Rarity hastily scrawled a new design on a new piece of paper. Using her magic, she held it up next to a mannequin for comparison. The sight drew a frown. “Dear me, what was I thinking?” she murmured. “The dimensions are all off. I must be losing my mind!”
As her sister scribbled adjustments and muttered to herself, Sweetie Belle watched from near the doorway. She raised an eyebrow. “Sis, maybe you should take a break…” she suggested.
Rarity gasped, clutching a hoof to her chest. “With this deadline looming? How absurd! How could you even suggest something like that?”
Pointing toward the window, Sweetie Belle deadpanned, “You threw your cat out the window.”
Eyes wide open, her sister ran to the window. “Opal?” A faint mewl answered from below. “Oh, Opal! Mommy’s got you!” A very irritated feline levitated through the window and into Rarity’s arms. Opalescence glared at Rarity. Her owner appeared not to notice as she cooed and prodded her poor pet.
Rarity felt a hoof on her shoulder. Her sister stood next to her, eyebrows creased. “After the Sisterhooves Social, you told me that sisterhood is a give and take relationship. Well, what’s going to happen is you’re going to give me your time, and I’m going to take you on a walk.” Sweetie Belle looked straight into her sister’s eyes. Rarity opened her mouth, but closed it again upon seeing Sweetie Belle’s eyes soften into a pleading look.
Rarity broke eye contact, looking around her cluttered workspace. A defeated sigh escaped her. “Fine. Perhaps I could use a short break.”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up. “Yay! We get to spend time together!” Her sister’s hoof rose in front of her, blocking her path to the door.
“This is merely a reprieve from my work. I cannot afford a spare second until this dress is made.” A notepad floated to her side from the desk. “As such, I will be taking this along.”
The hoof retracted, and Sweetie Belle bounded through the door and down the stairs. A loud clatter followed her as she raced to the front door. “Let’s go, sis!”
Rarity took her time, striding gracefully like a true lady. “I’m coming!” She paused at the window, taking a look at the sky. Clouds hung low and dark like a shadow over the horizon.
“Do you happen to know the forecast today? I can’t recall what it was for the life of me…”
Shrugging, Sweetie Belle replied, “No. Miss Cheerilee said something about it today, but I was talking to my friends at the time.”
“Of course,” Rarity mused to herself. She did not like the look of those clouds at all. It occurred to her that she may have been better off cancelling the walk and instead curling up under a blanket with hot cocoa. Her sister, however, did not like quiet afternoons spent inside; the idea was cast aside.
Rarity strolled up and opened the door, which Sweetie Belle immediately ran through faster than one could say ‘Trouble’. “Shouldn’t you grab an umbrella? There are rainclouds on the horizon,” she called, grabbing one for herself.
“It’ll be fine.” A crack in her voice betrayed Sweetie Belle’s impatience. Chuckling, the older sister finally began their walk.
…
Sweetie Belle led the way, humming to herself as she admired the scenery. Her sister trailed behind, hovering the notepad in front of her.
“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle whined. “The point of going for a walk was to get away from your work. I thought you’d enjoy spending time at the park.”
Rarity lowered her notepad and glanced at her surroundings. “Yes, lots of tall trees and grass. Very lovely.” The notepad levitated once more, obscuring Rarity’s view as she added more notes to her latest sketch.
Sweetie Belle shook her head. A robin flew by and she whistled at it using a tune Fluttershy once taught her. The bird tweeted back, fluttering around her. She held out her hoof, letting the bird roost there.
She turned and extended her hoof toward her sister. “Rarity, look! I got a robin to land on me!”
“Very nice, Sweetie Belle. It’s a very pretty bird…” The pencil continued to scratch against the paper, but the notepad remained in front of Rarity’s face. The robin flew off.
Sighing, Sweetie Belle continued walking. Her humming ceased, replaced by a series of loud and obnoxious sighs.
The notepad fell to the ground with a loud thwack! Rarity glared at her sister. “Honestly, Sweetie Belle, I have no idea what you want from me. I must get this dress finished, and I have only three days to do so!”
“I want you to spend time with me for once instead of focusing on your dumb dresses!”
Rarity gasped. “Dresses are not dumb. They are works of art, a way in which I reflect the beauty in the world.”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because you’re doing such a great job of noticing the beauty around you.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Rarity approached her sister, hesitantly putting her hoof on the filly’s shoulder. “If you feel… jealous, then I could make a dress for you next.”
A loud groan came as an answer as Sweetie Belle brushed off her sister’s hoof. “No, you don’t get it! Look around you! Look at these flowers! Look at the birds! Look at the sky!”
A white streak tore through the darkened clouds. The ground shook with a loud rumble and a clap. With a jolt, the filly ran to her sister’s side. She stepped on the notepad, sending it flying. The world inverted as the ground raced toward her.
“Sweetie Belle!”
Gathering her wits, the stunned filly noticed her sister’s notepad. The top few sheets lay crumpled, and one lay torn in half. She scrambled to her haunches and looked up at her sister. “Rarity, I’m so sorry!”
Rarity walked over to her notepad. She picked up the mangled parchment, leafing through the smeared, dirtied, and creased designs. Dozens of drawings, the result of hours of work, lay within those pages. The aesthetics of the sketches varied wildly; on one, a large hat matched the wide hem of a long and billowing dress, while another was simple, slim and short. All night she had slaved over this notepad, hooves against her temples as if the pressure could squeeze some brilliant idea from her skull.
Then inspiration had struck. On the top page, half of the best idea yet still clung to the notepad’s spine. Rarity’s trembling hoof reached out and slowly picked up the pad.
“Rarity?” The sound of her sister’s voice snapped Rarity out of her reverie. She shook her head.
The notepad dropped from her hoof.
She turned toward her sister with a small, sad smile. “It’s fine. That design was simply awful anyway,” she said, histrionically rolling her eyes. Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened as Rarity hugged her. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, I should have paid more attention to you.”
“I-It’s okay, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle replied. She slowly wrapped her foreleg around her sister. “I forgive you.”
The two sat there in their embrace. They remained silent until one felt a wet splatter on her head.
“Rarity, did you just drool on me?”
Rarity gaped at her sister. “Certainly not! What an uncouth thing to do!” Another droplet of moisture landed on the older sister’s head. “Something landed on me too. Is it…?” She looked toward the sky and was greeted by a series of raindrops on her face.
“Rain!” Sweetie Belle cried. She ran ahead, ducking under trees as much as possible.
Rarity pulled the umbrella out of her saddlebag. The canvas opened, shielding her from all the falling droplets. She took brisk strides toward home. Her eyes darted toward her sister.
Sweetie Belle shivered as she ran. Her mane clung to her head in a moist, matted mess. Water dripped from her coat. Streams ran from her mane down over her chin and cheeks, creating the illusion that she was crying. Rarity’s heart sank at the sight.
“Come here,” she said. The drenched filly quickly complied.
The umbrella was only designed for one mare. Much like the majority of Rarity’s possessions, it was purchased for style rather than functionality. As such, sacrifice had to be made in order to shield two ponies. Rarity shifted the umbrella to cover her sister, leaving her own right half exposed.
Sweetie Belle nuzzled her sister, flashing her a grateful smile. Rarity matched the smile with one of her own before a shiver coursed through her. “Let’s get out of this rain,” she said. Sweetie Belle nodded. The two raced together through the torrent toward the warmth of home.
...
The shawl glowed as it draped itself around Sweetie Belle, who was sitting on the floor of Carousel Boutique. Rarity approached her from across the room, levitating two cups of hot cocoa. Sweetie Belle thanked her sister as one of the cups landed in front of her. She sipped the warm beverage, feeling a wave of heat flow through her. She sighed contentedly.
Rarity sat on the floor across from her sister. Silence hung over them, nearly as heavy as the wool shawls. “So what do you want to do now, Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked, breaking the quiet.
Sweetie Belle tilted her head. “Hm? Why do you ask that? I thought you were going to get back to sewing that dress.”
Rarity traced a hoof around the rim of her glass. “I can’t. That was my last notepad.”
The notepad! Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened. “Oh no! I completely forgot about it.” She moved toward the door. “Maybe we can still save it…?”
“No, don’t trouble yourself about it,” Rarity said, airily waving her hoof. “I planned on getting a few new ones anyway. I was merely putting it off until this project was finished.”
“But… the deadline! You only have three days!”
A grin filled Rarity’s face. “Do you really think this is the first time I’ve faced this kind of time crunch?” She laid down on the floor. “I’ll be fine. Necessity is the mother of innovation, as they say.”
“Okay…” Sweetie Belle replied, as she sat in front of her hot cocoa once more.
“So what did you want to do? We could play that one game you like. 20 Questions, was it?”
Chuckling, Sweetie Belle said, “But you’re horrible at that game. I thought you hated it.”
Rarity’s grin stiffened into a toothy grimace. “Well, sisterhood is a give and take, you know.”
“I know.” Sweetie Belle laid down, supporting her head with one hoof. “But I thought maybe we could just talk.” She swirled the cocoa in her cup. “We spend so much time fighting that we hardly end up really talking.”
An invisible blow struck Rarity in the gut. “Is- is that really what you think of our relationship?” Sweetie Belle nodded. “Sweetie, I-” She looked her sister straight in the eyes. “You will have my undivided attention for the rest of the night. There will be no fighting, just sister bonding time.”
The silence returned as Sweetie Belle stared at the bottom of her cup. Raising her gaze, she asked, “Promise?”
“Promise,” Rarity grinned. She raised her glass to take a sip. “How was school?”
“Oh, it was fine.”
“Hear any good gossip?”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “It’s always about gossip with you, isn’t it?” She smiled slyly and added, “But since you mention it, Scootaloo seems to think that Button Mash likes me.”
“Awe, your first crush,” Rarity teased. Her sister pouted.
“I don’t have a crush on him. He’s just... okay.”
“I see…” Rarity said as she sipped her cocoa.
“I don’t!” Sweetie Belle pouted as her sister stifled a laugh with her hoof. She took a loud slurp of her cocoa, prompting Rarity to crinkle her nose in disdain.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Well, what do you think about your other classmates?”
Sweetie Belle stared up at the ceiling. “Where do I begin...?”
The two talked all night, sharing secrets and gossip until Sweetie Belle’s eyes became too heavy to keep open. She softly drifted to sleep.
Rarity carried her sister upstairs, tucking her into the guest bed. She stooped over to kiss her sister’s forehead. “Goodnight, Sweetie Belle,” she whispered.
As she made her way toward her own room, she passed her workroom. The door was still open, and she couldn’t help but look at the mess she had made. She could have cleaned up the mess, rather than going to bed. She could have even stayed up and worked on the dress; the papers in the trash bin had only been used on one side, after all.
Rarity looked back at the room where her sister slept. No, some things were more important than work. She stifled a yawn and closed the workroom door.
The blankets were warm and inviting when she crawled into bed. She closed her eyes, smiling as sleep overtook her.
...
Rarity opened her eyes, stretching as she stepped out of bed. The sunlight lent a soft glow to the room through the curtains. She opened the window, filling the room with light, accompanied by a soft breeze. The air outside still smelled faintly of rain, even as the streets dried.
She walked downstairs, hesitating in spite of herself for fear of what she might find. Surprisingly, the kitchen was devoid of both smoke and of her sister. Instead, at the table there was a bowl of cereal with a note next to it. It read:
Dear Rarity:
By the time you read this, I’ll be at school, so you don’t have to worry about where I am. I wanted to make you breakfast, but then I remembered the last time I did, so I poured you cereal because I didn’t want you getting mad at me again. By the way, I got you something. It’s in your workroom.
Her curiosity piqued, Rarity walked back upstairs to her workroom. She opened the door to find the room exactly as she left it, save for one change. A new notepad sat on the desk. Another note was written on the first page.
Thanks for spending time with me last night. I know it kept you from working on your dress, but I had a lot of fun, and I hope you did too. This notepad is both an apology for the one I destroyed and as a thank you for last night.
Love you, sister!
Sweetie Belle
Underneath the note was a drawing of Rarity and Sweetie Belle as they talked during the rainstorm. Rarity smiled, then jolted as inspiration struck her. She had the perfect idea for the dress!
She carefully tore out the note and pinned it to the wall above her desk. She then grabbed the notepad and began to sketch her final design for the dress.
Thank you, Sweetie Belle.