Ponyville is usually a quiet town. The occasional mass destruction here and there, but really its nothing major. But on this day, something big was happening just outside of the Boutique. Sweetie Belle and here friends had brought themselves together to a single spot outside of the Carousel Boutique.
"Open to the Equestrian flag, blowing ever so gently in the wind," Sweetie Belle started.
"A flag made of fabric," Scootaloo interjected.
Sweetie Belle's gave a glowering look to her orange pegasus friend, prompting her to button her lip. She had been working on this plan for minutes and she really needed her friends support to commence her plan.
"Enter your hero, the one who will lead the charge against dangerous odds," Sweetie Belle continued. "Yes! Her silhouette fades in from the shadows. General Sweetie Belle!"
Stepping forward, Sweetie Belle revealed her outfit, a full army uniform; rough, beaten, but still durable.
"As you are aware," Sweetie Belle gruffly began, altering her voice to attempt a more serious tone. "The enemy is at our door."
"But I thought they were inside-?" Applebloom began, before she too shut her mouth at the sight of Sweetie Belle's expression of displeasure.
"True," Sweetie Belle coughed. "They can even be in our beloved Equestria. True, they may have double-cross stitching." She puffed her chest out, allowing the medal on her chest to glimmer and shine in the light. "We on the other hoof have our courage! We have our bravery!" She paused in an uncomfortable second as she shifted her eyes in the hopes of finding the words before continuing. "B- Bravery! Our intelligence! But most importantly, our scissors!"
Scootaloo gave a sideways glance to Applebloom; "This isn't exactly the kind of speech to rile soldiers up."
Sweetie Belle stamped the ground, regaining the attention of the distracted soldiers. Making sure they were focused again, she straightened up once more. "These invading fabrics from another existence will never again defile this place!"
Applebloom's eyes fell to her side, her hoof carefully patting her pair of safety scissors.
"This is my weapon!" Sweetie Belle cried out as she whipped her own pair of scissors out and held them high. "There are many like it, but this one is mine!"
Sweetie Belle stood still in her position before she gave a nod to her friends. Scootaloo and Applebloom sighed and repeated the cheer.
Giving a grin, Sweetie Belle knew her soldiers were ready. Honed with only seconds of preparation to their names. "Let's take these enemies to Tartarus and leave it stronger than before!"
The trio rushed into Carousel Boutique, the pride of an entire country on their backs and their fearless leader. Their General of War.
***
Rarity hummed to herself as she reached for her keys to the Boutique. Entrusting the shop to her sister and her friends was a risk, but she had prepared for many of the consequences.
"Surely they've been bored out of their wits," she thought to herself. "It's a good thing I could come back from Canterlot so quickly."
Placing the key in the lock, Rarity twisted it to unlock the door to her home and business.
The sight inside when she had entered made her recoil in aghast horror.
The strings.
The spools of thread.
The smell of scorched clothing.
"Wh- What happened to my shop!?" Rarity screeched, somehow finding her voice again.
Her ears caught the sound of moaning coming from the stairs, a path of destruction leading upwards. She waded through the ruined colors of dyes on fabric, just barely taking in the shock as her heart began to pound in her ears.
Climbing up the stairs, she noticed a lone yellow hoof reaching up from a pile of gloves and she moved some of them to reveal Applebloom. She watched as Applebloom's eyes twitched in a feeble attempt to open.
"The... They're so comfy..." Applebloom coughed out before her body fell limp.
With the only direction still being up the stairs, Rarity's ears became muted, only catching the occasional snip of scissors or tearing of cloth. Her eyes now dulled by the sights as scarves and shirts flew overhead. She soon found Scootaloo, quivering in a corner holding a broken pair of scissors close to her.
"Double-stitched, Double-stitched," Scootaloo repeated again and again, a sign of mental strain in this great battle that Rarity was walking through.
Finally, she reached the end of the path. Her bedroom. Surely her sister had the answers as to why such horrors have been unleashed since her departure. Pushing in with some force, Rarity took in the sight of the purple webs of fabric that now held Sweetie Belle to the ceiling. Seeing a lone pair of scissors, Rarity wrapped her magic around it and brought it to her.
No words were spoken as Rarity snipped and snapped her way to her sister. The trek took precious minutes, each one passing by at an agonizing speed. Finally, Rarity tore her sister away from the clutches of the enemy and held her in her arms. "What happened, Sweetie Belle?" She choked out the words, tears streaming down her face as she looked down at her poor sister.
The tired and defeated Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and pulled Rarity close, just enough so she could whisper in her ear.
"Dumb... Fabric..."
In Rarity's hooves, Sweetie Belle fell from her close hug and became limp. A final cry of sorrow came from Rarity as she cried to the roof, having lost the one thing she cared about the most.
***
Sweetie Belle huffed as she sat in her corner, a victim of every young filly's act of war... Time Out.
