Will I ever look at you in the same way as before?
“Are you sure you can take care of it? I can do it later,” Rarity’s voice echoed from downstairs.
“Don’t worry, sis! I wanna help you!” answered Sweetie Belle, who was rummaging through the drawers on her sister’s working room.
A concerned mumble came from the first floor, but Sweetie Belle didn’t pay any attention to it. Her sister had a large order of dresses, and she still had several left to finish; which is why Sweetie Belle had offered to help. She just had to get a roll of silk and a box of thread spools.
After a quick search, she had found the box underneath a discarded dress, but the roll of burgundy silk was nowhere to be found. She had gone through every chest and every drawer, but there was no sign of it anywhere.
“Come on, Sweetie. You can do this,” she then started opening closets and chests that she had already searched through, “you promised Rarity.”
Panic started to settle in, and she began throwing everything around, looking for the roll of silk. She couldn’t believe she’d fail with such a simple task. “Where could that silk…” She threw herself and landed on her back, staring at the ceiling “...be.” And then she saw it.
Over the shelf, behind a roll of golden lace and a ball of light blue yarn, was a brand new, still packaged, roll of burgundy silk. The one Sweetie Belle had been looking for.
“Yes! Now I just have to get it down,” the little filly said as she trotted towards the shelf, which towered high above her. “It shouldn’t be that hard.” She stretched, jumped, and even tried to climb the shelf, but nothing she did got her closer to the roll of silk atop the shelf.
“Sweetie~! Is everything alright?” Sweetie Belle panicked, she didn’t want to disappoint her sister. She had to think of something fast.
“Y-yeah! I just found the silk, I’m coming down in a minute!” She started to fidget in place, jumping on the tip of her hooves, and looking everywhere for something she could use.
“Remember, burgundy is not the same as maroon,” her sister lectured her, “I need a more bright tone to compliment…” Rarity kept going, but Sweetie Belle had already tuned her out. She searched for something long she could use to nudge the roll of silk off the shelf, but nothing was long enough to reach it.
“Think, Sweetie Belle, think!” She sat on her haunches and started rubbing her forehead, trying to force the ideas out of her brain. “A ha!” A determined look appeared on her face as she focused on the roll of silk.
“Miss Twilight said that my magic has been improving greatly,” the little unicorn said as she started to gather energy on her horn. “I bet I can pull that silk right off the shelf.”
A green aura started to form around her horn, and it grew as the seconds passed, alongside the strain that Sweetie Belle felt. “Just… A bit… More!”
Through squinting eyes she could see how the roll of silk was enveloped in her magic. She kept pushing it as she heard the plastic wrapping of the silk rubbing against the wood of the shelf. A smile crept on her face, knowing that she had managed to help her sister and not make a mess for once.
She opened her eyes when she heard the soft thump that indicated that the roll of silk had impacted with the carpet. Her happiness was short lived, though, and her irises shrank and her heart skipped a beat as she saw the shelf tumbling slightly, threatening to come crashing down.
“Gah!” Sweetie Belle shot towards the shelf and propped herself against it, trying to get the shelf to stop moving.
“Sweetie Belle, is everything alright?” Rarity’s unease did little to appease her own.
“S-sure, sis. I already have the silk,” She pressed herself against the shelf, silently praying to Celestia that the the shelf or its contents didn’t fall on top of her. “It -uh- It’s as burgundy as it can be!”
“Oh, that’s good to know,” Sweetie Belle’s heart calmed down as the shelf stopped moving. “Bring it down, would you? And don’t forget the threads.” She released a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding and collapsed on the floor.
“I’ll do so, sis!” She then grabbed the roll of silk and pulled it towards the door, before coming back for the box of threads. “I’m coming down right…” And then she saw it. “...now.”
It was unmistakable. And had she not moved the shelf in her attempt of getting down the silk, she probably would have stayed without knowing it was there her whole life.
The edge of a doorframe peeked from behind the shelf. It was surprisingly clean and polished for a hidden door. What could possibly be behind it? Sweetie didn’t know, but her curiosity had already been piqued.
Ever so slowly and carefully, she pushed the shelf away from the door. She didn’t want to risk it falling over again. Once there was enough room to open the door, Sweetie Belle walked towards it. Her first impression was correct, the door was quite clean; which meant that it must have been constantly used.
Rarity had never mentioned an annex to her work room, but considering the shape of Carousel Boutique, whatever was behind that door couldn’t be too big.
Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder. Rarity was expecting her to come down with the materials soon, so she couldn’t linger for too long. Still, a quick glance couldn’t hurt.
Her eyes twinkled with mischief and, drawing a breath, she pulled the door open.
“Hmmh…” Rarity mused over the half-done dress in front of her. The fuchsia tones would certainly be accentuated by the burgundy details she was going to add, but there was still something missing.
She adjusted her glasses as she dug through her gem chest searching for the right precious stones to use. Emeralds wouldn’t do, and rubies would just saturate it, maybe some sapphires could—
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaie~!”
The shriek of horror that came from the upper floor made Rarity let out a very un-ladylike yelp, not to mention making her gem chest topple over and fall, scattering most of its contents on the floor.
“Sweetie Belle!” She yelled angrily. “What are you doing up the—” the words got caught in her throat as memories came rushing to her mind.
“No…” she whispered. “She couldn’t have…” Fear spread through her as she slowly made her way to the stairs.
“She mustn’t...” Panic overtook her as she bolted upstairs. “She mustn’t!”
Sweetie Belle may be a very young pony, and there may be a lot of things she doesn’t know about the “real world” as the adults call it, but it didn’t take an adult’s experience to understand what was in front of her.
It was hard for Sweetie Belle. She had spent her whole life looking up to her sister, and in doing so she had idealised her, she thought her flawless, perfect. Everything she wanted to be once she grew up.
To have that image shattered in such a blunt way had left Sweetie Belle in shock. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know how to react, she could only stand there, eyes wide open and her jaw hanging. Her mind reacted and pulled her back to reality once she heard the sounds of hooves against the floor of the corridor outside of the work room.
“Sweetie Belle!” said Rarity between gasps “Please tell me you haven’t…” Her words died in her throat as her eyes fell upon the trembling figure of her little sister “Oh…”
Silence fell upon them, neither wanted to be the first one to speak. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Sweetie Belle spoke.
“How long?” Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, but it was firm.
“Sweetie, you have—”
“How long, Rarity!?” The little filly turned around abruptly.
Rarity felt her heart break when she saw the look on her sister’s face. The sense of betrayal, the pain, the anger, it was too much to take. But she knew that she had to be honest with her. At least with her.
“It’s been…” She looked down, she couldn’t face her sister, “It’s been several years now.”
“Years!?” Sweetie Belle shrieked, her voice even broke down a little when she spoke. “This has been going on for years?”
Rarity stayed silent, she had to accept her outburst. It had been a long time coming, deep down she knew she couldn’t keep it hidden, but she still dreaded the day it would happen.
The day her sister would discover her secret.
“All this time?” Sweetie Belle’s voice was lower this time, which made Rarity look at her sister, and she immediately wished she hadn’t. The look of sheer disappointment in her sister’s face made Rarity lose her composure.
“All the time you’ve been here you have kept this…” Sweetie Belle’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she finally spoke again, “I don’t even know what to call it, Rarity.”
Tears streamed down Rarity’s face, her makeup would be ruined, but she couldn’t care less about that right now.
“I’m…” Rarity stifled a sob before continuing. “I’m sorry that you had to find out this way, Sweetie Belle,” she gave a tentative step towards her sister, “I was going to tell you, I swear I was, you have to believe me.” She stopped in front of her Sweetie Belle, who hadn’t moved since she had started speaking.
“I just wanted to wait until I knew you could understand, until I thought you were ready to... to understand.” Rarity sat on her haunches and looked straight at Sweetie Belle, “Could you find it in your heart to forgive a stupid, stupid mare?”
Sweetie Belle stared at her sister with an indiscernible stare. Rarity prepared herself for the worst. If word of this came out, the consequences would be devastating. Nopony should know and still, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything to her sister.
“Rarity…” She steeled herself, for she knew that whatever happened, she had it coming. Still, the sensation of little legs throwing themselves around her neck was not what she expected. “I’m sorry”
“Sweetie Belle?” asked Rarity, dumbfounded.
“I… I didn’t mean to yell at you.” Sweetie’s voice was muffled by Rarity’s mane, but she could still make out the words that brought peace to her mind.
Rarity returned the hug and nuzzled her sister before speaking again. “Oh, Sweetie Belle, you don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that.” She broke the embrace, but still held her sister in her hooves. “You don’t have to apologise, you have every right to be mad at me. I shouldn’t have kept that secret from you, or anybody.”
Sweetie Belle gave a soft chuckle and hugged her sister once again. Rarity gently stroked her sister’s mane as they both sat there, in the workroom. Silently, Rarity used her magic to close the door behind the shelf; she had already opened herself to her sister, but it would take some time before she could do the same with others.
But, Rarity thought, Sweetie Belle had taken the news in a far better way than she had expected; maybe everyone else would too.
Rarity kept mulling these thoughts when her sister spoke again.
“Still, a bright yellow plaid shirt with a green and purple polka dot short skirt?” Sweetie belle asked.
“Sweetie Belle, please let us never speak of this again, shall we?” Rarity answered. “I still maintain that I could have revolutionised Equestrian Fashion if it weren’t for those snobs at Fillydelphia’s Fashion School.”
“Ok, Rarity.”
Silence hung between them, and Rarity thought back to her final presentation in her freshman year back at Fillydelphia, the laughter of some of her fellow students, the smug look of others, the flabbergasted expression in her teachers...
Still, she managed to control her anger and kept on stroking her sister's mane, knowing that it was all in the past.
“Were those… Gladiator sandals?”
“I said ‘let us never speak of this again’, Sweetie Belle.”
“Sorry, Rarity…”
