Sisterhood

“Sweetie Belle!”

Sweetie screamed and ran through Rarity’s boutique. Rarity, gritting her teeth, chased her little sister in a desperate attempt to punish her for what she had done. As they ran they knocked over mannequins, dresses, fabric and anything else that got in their way. The entire house was a complete mess and Rarity didn’t even care; all she wanted was to catch her little hurricane of a sister.

Finally, Sweetie was cornered. Literally. Without realizing it, she had run into a corner of the main lobby. Rarity slowed down and prepared to pounce. Sweetie’s eyes darted back and forth looking for a way out. Just as Rarity was about to jump, a small spark from Sweetie’s horn tipped over a few large rolls of fabric. Sweetie hopped over the mound of cloth that held her sister down and turned to observe her victory.

Victory was short lived, however, as Rarity quickly levitated the silks, wool, and satin into the air. Now she was armed. Sweetie’s eyes went wide as she gulped. She screamed and ran, narrowly dodging projectile wads of cloth. She headed for the stairs and swerved down the second floor hallway. Rarity was close behind. Close, that is, until Sweetie slammed her bedroom door shut.

Rarity skidded to a halt just before hitting the door. “Sweetie Belle! Open this door this instant!”

“No!” Sweetie shouted through the door.

“You completely ruined them!”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“And yet you did anyway!” Rarity screamed, slamming her hoof on the floor. “Honestly, how could you do something so… so irresponsible!?”

“I’m sorry!” Sweetie’s voice began to quiver.

“Sorry isn’t going to fix it. This was the most important thing in the whole world to me! And now all four are ruined! They’re irreparable!”

Sweetie remained silent.

Rarity turned and walked toward her own room at the other end of the hall. “Maybe you should just go back and live with Mom and Dad!”

Sweetie opened her door just enough to stick her head out. “Maybe I will!”

“Maybe you should!” Rarity said, gripping the knob on her bedroom door.

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!

“Fine!”

Both sisters slammed their doors. Sweetie opened her door to yell, “Fiiiinnnnnne!” at the top of her lungs before slamming the door again.

Rarity scowled and floated a bed pillow over and stuffed her face in it, letting loose what can only be described as a series of high-pitched and frustrated grunts. After her scream therapy, she took a few long breaths to calm herself as much as possible. She tossed the pillow back on the bed and heard a low growl come from where it landed. Opalescence had taken refuge from the war downstairs by wrapping herself in the blankets.

“Oh, Opal,” Rarity said as she sat on the bed and hugged her cat. “I do apologize for all that roughhousing. Ooh, that sister of mine. Sometimes she just… Ugh!”

Opalescence uncaringly stared up at Rarity.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. Writing about it would help.” Rarity lit up her horn and magically pulled a small, black book out from beneath her mattress. The words ‘Rarity’s Diary’ were written on the cover in fancy calligraphy. She flipped through the book and, reaching the last page, realized it was already full.

“Ooh… I should have a new one around here somewhere.” With a quick scan of her little bookshelf, Rarity floated over three books from her diary section. She looked at them and sighed. None of them were new like she’d hoped. “What now?” she asked Opal who was licking her paws.

Rarity eyed the oldest of her diaries with interest. It was bright blue with a worn-down crayon drawing of her and her parents on the cover. She smiled at her old art. “Hmm. Perhaps some light reading will take my mind off things.” She chuckled a bit as she flipped through the pages. “Oh my. Ha, I never even put the date back then.”

Rarity kept skimming through the book until a certain passage caught her eye:

WOO-HOO!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!! This was the best day ever. I finally got my cutie mark. And I can do magic now. And I got to make the costumes for the school play. And I know exactly what I’m going to do when I grow up. I’m going to make the most beautiful dresses in the world. They’ll be so good the princess herself will ask me to make them for her.

Rarity grimaced. “Like that will happen now. Hmm, I wonder why this was crossed out.” The entry was near the end of the book. What little writing came after it gave no hint as to why that particular passage had been crossed out. She picked up the second diary and began skimming, determined to find an answer. A little less than halfway through, another passage caught her eye:

January 7, 2002.

I have a little sister! She was just born this morning and I got to see her this afternoon. Oh, she is just the cutest little thing all wrapped up her pink blanket, sleeping like a little angel. Her name is Sweetie Belle. Isn’t that just adorable? I can’t wait to dress her up in all kinds of clothes.

Rarity smiled and chuckled half-heartedly. She was trying to take her mind off Sweetie Belle but it seemed her diary wouldn’t allow that from here on. Her thoughts were stuck on Sweetie’s foalhood. Rarity remembered how excited she was to be a big sister. How somewhat disappointing it was to find out that a foal meant late night crying and sometimes extreme messiness. But it also meant fun and cuteness and closeness that outweighed the bad things.

It wasn’t long before Rarity was reading another passage:

May 22, 2003.

As my friend Pinkie would put it, this was one doozy of a day. First of all, it’s my birthday. How old am I? A lady never tells. Though I am still a bit young for moving out, my parents actually bought me a house here in Ponyville! It’s only a short walk away from home. But still, my own house!

The best part is that it doubles as a boutique! Apparently it used to be a live-in general store, but all it really needs is a few touch-ups and some paint and I’ve got my own fashion store. Mom and Dad said I would need to pitch in to help pay off the loan, but they wanted to help kickstart my fashion career as soon as possible. Oh, I just love them so much. But that’s not the end of it. Something even better happened later.

I couldn’t wait to move in and spend a night in my new house. We moved the bare essentials immediately with the agreement that I spend the night at home for at least four nights each week. Even little Sweetie Belle tried to help out, though I’m not sure she knew what was going on. The little darling can’t even speak yet and she’s so clingy.

We all ate dinner together at my house. “My house.” I just can’t say that enough. My parents gave me the usual speech about coming home if I need anything and that they’ll be checking in in the morning blah, blah, blah. And that’s when it happened. Sweetie must have finally realized I wasn’t coming back because she started making a fuss when they went to leave. My mother tried to calm her down and hold her still but she kept reaching for me and trying to wriggle free. And then she said it. “Wawidy!” Her first word! And she said my name! Oh, I could just die! It was the most heartbreaking thing I’d ever heard.

I talked with my parents and convinced them to let Sweetie sleep over with me. In fact, she’s laying next to me, sleeping, as I write this. Oh, I wish she could stay here forever. I remember writing somewhere in my last diary about the best day ever, but I was wrong. This is truly the best day of my life.

Rarity slowly closed the book. She frowned and looked like she was fighting back tears.

Sweetie sniffled and wiped tears out of her eyes. She sat on the floor next to her bed, taking clothes from a pile and packing them into a suitcase twice her size. Each article of clothing triggered her to wipe her eyes dry again. There was a lot of stuff she had collected over the years. Books, toys, clothes, drawings, pictures. There was no way it would all fit in one suitcase.

A knock at the door made Sweetie jump a bit. She furiously wiped away any sign of her being upset as Rarity walked in. Rarity remained silent as she walked over and stood in front of Sweetie. Sweetie refused to look up at her sister, choosing instead to turn her head away.

“What? Can’t you see I’m packing?” Sweetie said, trying to sound angry.

Rarity looked at the suitcase and pushed it out of the way just as Sweetie was about to put another piece of clothing in it. She nelt down and embraced her little sister in a hug. Not sure whether to act with anger or to return the hug, Sweetie tried to wriggled out. But Rarity would not let go.

“I’m sorry,” Rarity finally said.

Sweetie stopped squirming around. “You’re sorry? Why? I’m the one who ruined everything.

Rarity broke the hug and took a step back to talk face to face. “Remember when we were arguing and I said those dresses were the most important thing in the world to me?”

“…Yeah.”

“Well, that wasn’t really true. I was just upset and let my emotions get the better of me. The truth is, you are the most important thing in the world to me. Sometimes I forget that. And for that, I’m sorry. Sweetie Belle, I don’t want you to move out, not if you want to stay.”

Sweetie jumped up and hugged her sister. “I don’t want to leave either.”

The two of them smiled and held the hug for a moment.

“Well that’s good,” Rarity said in a light-hearted manner, “because you have a lot of things here and I simply do not wish to do that much heavy lifting.”

Sweetie chuckled. “But wait. What about the dresses? Isn’t there something we can do?”

“Oh, probably not, Sweetie. It’s a little late to remake them from scratch, especially with all the destruction we caused downstairs. But I’m sure everything will be fine. Maybe I’ll even get another chance in the future.”