Changing Seasons

"Tight Confines"
Part 2, Chapter 1

Clip-clop! Clip-clop! Clip-clop-clip!

Rarity entered Sweetie Belle's room and looked down at the filly, who was laying upside down on her bed.

"Sweetie Belle," she began, glancing under the bed. "Do you remember that old cot mom and dad gave you for sleepovers?"

"Uh-huh," Sweetie Belle replied, straightening herself up. "You said it was 'quite icky' and you didn't want me or anypony else sleeping on it until you fixed it up."

The older mare bit her lip as her horn glowed, pulling the green object from under the bed.

"I think this time I'll make an exception." Rarity looked down at the exposed cot, dusting it off with a hoof. It had a few holes and looked a bit stretched out. Sweetie Belle slipped off the bed. "Funny, it doesn't look half as bad as I remembered..."

The filly got close and breathed in the dust. She sneezed twice... hard and loud.

"I'll... spruce it up a bit," Rarity said, turning away with a nervous grin.

"Rarity!" the little unicorn whined. "Why do you want me sleeping on this!?"

Hearing her sister's distressed, high-toned voice put Rarity's shoulders all the way by her ears.

"Sweetie Belle," Rarity responded calmly, turning around to face her sister. She got down on her level and sighed. "I think... with what's going on in your body, this is the best course of action. It will only be for a couple days at best, but hopefully not that long... Please understand."

"What do you mean what's going on with my body?" The filly gritted her teeth. "What's everypony not telling me?"

Rarity could see the dark, irritable circles under Sweetie Belle's eyes... she was acting uncharacteristically short-tempered. Rarity screwed up her face, not knowing how to answer (much less wanting to)... even though what Sweetie Belle had just asked was perfectly legitimate.

"Sweetie, what's going on in your body happens in every young mare's body... it's a sign you're maturing. Growing up."

Sweetie Belle's eyes glowed with momentary excitement.

"Does this mean I'll get my Cutie Mark?!"

"A-hem. Not exactly..." Rarity chuckled nervously. "In fact, I was hoping you'd have your Cutie Mark well before this... happens."

Sweetie Belle cocked an eyebrow.

"What exactly is happening, Rarity? All I have is an upset tummy and everypony's making a big deal about it!"

Again, Rarity chuckled nervously.

"Mom and dad haven't told you anything yet, have they?"

"Nope!" Sweetie Belle leaned back and began rolling her hips in a playful motion, her pelvis tilted upwards... towards her sister. Rarity shuttered, recognizing the posture. "What about?"

"Hhmmm..." The unicorn sighed. "Guess I'll be borrowing a book from Twilight later today! But for now," she grabbed the cot, "this will be my emergency project! Just lay in bed and try to relax. When I come back I'll let you have ice cream with lunch!" The filly stared back at her big sister, continuing to rock. "Well, yes, uh... ta-ta for now, Sweetie Belle!"

Putting the small cot on her back, Rarity quickly trotted away... leaving her confused sister in the small bedroom, alone. Sweetie Belle -- achy, irritable, and missing out -- sat back on her bed, forelegs now crossed, waiting for her sister to return. Hopefully the trip wouldn't take too long.

* * *

Rarity diligently worked on the cot downstairs while Sweetie Belle stayed upstairs... confused and uncomfortable. Rarity cleaned it, patched it up, and had it looking almost good as new before bringing it back upstairs and setting it on Sweetie's floor. The entire ordeal took just fifteen minutes and made her feel good -- she had done something nice for her sister, to help keep her bed clean, and now she was going to be the adult and help her by, err... making her more comfortable.

Sweetie Belle lay on the cot, looking up at Rarity. The rough canvass wasn't anywhere near uncomfortable as it looked, almost slick against the filly's rump. Freshly patched up, Sweetie Belle laid back and continued to rock while Rarity brought her lunch "in bed," ... cantering away for another fifteen minutes to get it. As promised, Sweetie Belle was given some vanilla oat swirl for desert. Though she hardly enjoyed it, for some reason it soothed her aching tummy. Rarity excused herself yet again:

"I'm off to Twilight's!" she said in a sing-songy tone. "I'll be back with a book that will explain everything!"

Sweetie Belle just rolled her eyes, hugging her sides tightly as her sister prepared to trot out.

"Um, yes... Be good! I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail!"

Just like that she was alone again.

On the cot, all alone while Rarity was out... Sweetie Belle began to sweat.

She lay there for what felt like hours, but reality it was just under seventy minutes. Her temperature seemed to rise and fall every few minutes, and worst of all... the cramping was getting worse and worse, going further south than just her tummy. She doubled over, clutching her lower gut and groaning. Everything felt so tight and now almost itchy in that one spot. She hugged the blankets... it made sense to hug something warm. She rubbed them against her face... that felt nice.

Little did Sweetie Belle know, she had an unusually bad case of the bloats... something Rarity could put into context for her if she was up to describing what was going on. Applejack had an opportunity earlier and would have been better, but she knew it wasn't her place... and just thinking about it made her feel all kinds of wrong. Their mom would have been best, but the reason Sweetie Belle was on this side of town to begin with was because her parents were on vacation. Even without adult intervention, the problem would reach its apex soon enough, so perhaps for the time being... Sweetie Belle could ride it out. After all it was only this bad because of all the running the fillies had done earlier in the morning. Surely it would get better before it got any worse?

Sweetie Belle tossed and turned, turned and tossed, gripping herself and the blankets, squeezing the extra-large pillow. She found herself biting her pillow... pretending it was Button's ear. She didn't know why, but she really wanted to snuggle with him right now. She felt like he could make it all go away... or at least make her feel better. So close, cuddling, even kissing (something told her he wouldn't shout "cooties!" this time). Sweetie Belle wanted him to climb up the side of the Boutique... and break in. There was something neat about picturing Button breaking the glass and forcing the window just for her.

Not far off, Button Mash had Sweetie on the brain. Even several blocks away, he knew where she was, though he couldn't see her. He looked up at the boutique and sighed, his tail between his legs... The colt didn't want to play his Joy Boy, he didn't want to hangout with his friends... all he could think about was Sweetie Belle and how he knew, for some reason, she was in distress... and he couldn't stand it. He wanted to make it better -- inject his humor into her and make her smile. Many colts which had been around during the chase felt the same way... the only ones truly distracted were Snips and Snails, who shortly thereafter heard somepony mention The Great and Powerful Trixie, and that was enough to completely derail their focus.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside; the piercing jingle of what Sweetie Belle could only assume was the pipe attached to the rain gutter. It was followed by a thud... like a fat blue jay hitting the roof by her window. She got up, scarcely able to believe what her imagination was telling her it had to be. The sound grew louder, scraping along the shingles towards her window.

"Button?" she asked, peering out.

Whatever it was made itself known before Sweetie Belle could blink. The face of the curly-maned colt appeared right by her window, almost blocking out the sunlight. His eyes were happy and wide, his smile large and distorted. He breathed steamy breath on the glass:

"Sweetie Belle..." she heard him hiss as he struggled to keep balance. "Let me in."

Seeing him there made Sweetie Belle smile. He was not the pony she was hoping to see, but he'd do.

"Please... open your window."

"Okay!" Sweetie Belle replied, placing both hooves on her window pane and opening it wide.

There wasn't much room for balance, opening the window was just enough to cause him to stumble. He slipped backwards and though Sweetie Belle would have helped him, it happened much too fast. Down he went, nearly twenty feet through the air, taking a number of loose tiles with him. When his body disappeared, Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her mouth. There was a long period of silence after he vanished.

"Are you okay?" the filly called out into the warm air. "Um... Hello?"

She saw the colt's curly mane peeking out as he got up by the Boutique and shook off the debris. Dazed and wobbling, he looked up as thin streaks of crimson began to form on his rump and flanks. Suddenly he felt very sore; he glanced down at his new injury, eyes wide... then padded off in the other direction fast. That nasty spill -- which he had barely survived by falling into Rarity's rose bushes -- was enough to deter him.

Sweetie Belle frowned seeing this, and she began to feel angry with him... so much for his determination. The colt glanced back, under her judgmental glare, as he disappeared over the cobblestone hilltop above Sugarcube Corner. Normally Sweetie would have felt sorry for him, but not today.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Sweetie Belle lay back down on her cot. Even after opening her window, the room felt like it was shrinking. She had a tiny bedroom to begin with... so small, yet the ceiling seemed to sink lower and lower. The unicorn buried her head in her pillow and let out a small groan. It did no good. All she could think about was Big Mac, Button Mash, Shining Armor... Noteworthy, Carmel, Thunderlane... mostly large, fully-grown stallions (some younger and awkward). She liked the way they all looked most of all, yet... there was something nice about the lingering smell of that colt, too... as it gradually dissipated.

After a while, Sweetie Belle heard the door to the shop open up, followed by the sound of light hooves stepping inside.

* * *

"Thankfully she's not entirely aroused, Twilight," Rarity repeated, shutting the door to her shop and sighing. She scowled. "Just in the very end stages of heat. You do have something to help... right?"

"Of course, Rarity!" Rarity imitated her Alicorn friend almost to a tee. "I have books on all sorts of fillyhood conditions. Follow me!" She sighed. "Twilight, you are, at times, much too enthusiastic."

That had been the most awkward conversation she'd had with anypony all year.

Fortunately, it was just Twilight there. She got the book just fine and came back to her shop without stopping to so much as smell the roses along the way. A young, frantic-looking colt with a curly mane and rosy rump passed her headed in the opposite direction of her boutique... she was fine with that. The further away from Sweetie Belle the better. She was too focused on the book, anyway:

It was a small pink book, labeled "Your Body and You! (fillies)". Pretty generic title, but it would suffice. Rarity had briefly hoofed through it... it was full of tasteful prose about young bodies getting ready to carry foals, developing breasts, voices getting deeper, more mare-like... and special feelings. The narrative would make this easier, or so she thought... and she had even learned a few things which could prove helpful. She brought it upstairs, along with an ice pack from her freezer.

"Sweetie, I'm here!" she said, opening the filly's door.

"I know," Sweetie Belle grunted from the cot.

Rarity gave her the ice pack, and set the book by her head.

"This... reading material should help you understand what's going on with your body."

The filly picked up the book, pressing her belly against the cool ice.

"'Your Body and You?'" She opened it up and looked inside.

She saw the book to be full of diagrams and scientific words... Rarity had seen different, but because of how Sweetie Belle felt, that's all she saw. The filly was hardly in the mood for anything remotely school-like; she closed the book and set it by the cot. Buried in there were words which could actually help her, but the young filly couldn't focus enough to find them.

"Thanks," she said, insincerely.

"Sweetie, you didn't even attempt to read it!" Rarity exclaimed. "I got it to help you... why, we can go through it together!"

Sweetie Belle just sat there, forelegs now crossed.

"Oh, dear..." Rarity sat right beside her.

The filly looked up at her:

"Why can't you just tell me what's going on?"

Rarity sighed... she could always try:

"Sweetie, do you remember before Opal had that operation how she would roll on the floor and carry on every once and a while? How... unusual it was?"

"Yes. It was annoying!"

"Yes, well... a similar thing is happening inside your body, and-"

Sweetie Belle's eyes went wide. The older unicorn bit her lip, dreading what she knew was coming:

"Does this mean I'm going to have to get an operation!? I-I don't want to!"

"No, of course not, dear!" Rarity tenderly rubbed her sister's mane. "But it does mean once a month you'll have to put up with this for a few days."

"Every month!" Sweetie Belle clutched her gut. "Rarity, I hate this already!"

"It is much... less awful after the first time. Yours seems it might even be a bit accelerated, which means you'll probably be over it sooner! That happen sometimes to fillies your age... it is rare, but it happens." Rarity winked. "Trust me, Sweetie Belle -- it will all be over shortly, and what's important is I'm here for you... and I always will be."

"Then why do you keep leaving me?"

The filly looked up at her sister, scowling. Rarity tried to keep a positive expression, but knew this time would not be fun.

The sooner we get over this the better, she thought.

Rarity gently smoothed out Sweetie's frazzled mane again as she sat back... rocking on the cot, inviting Rarity to alleviate her symptoms physically. Rarity did not bite, but rather recoiled... causing her sister to frown.

"Why do you hate me, Rarity?"

"Sweetie Belle! I-I don't hate you," she sighed, feeling guilty. "If anything, I love you more than I can possibly show."