Bad to the Belle

Rarity felt like she'd been hit by a truck as she opened her damp eyes. Feeling around, she found herself on the floor of the main room of the boutique, an empty bottle of alcohol in her hoof. Her face was stained with tears and her coat reeking of drinks and sweat. Drawing herself up into a fetal position, Rarity felt fear and confusion flood into her mind. She shivered as she wondered how she ended up on the floor in the first place.

The panicking unicorn soon recalled the disappearance of Sweetie Belle, which didn't help the current situation at all. All desire to work her shop today had left her. If things weren't broken before, they were now.

A quiet knock rapped on the front door, catching Rarity's attention. There wasn't a single urge to answer it. What was the point of working if her emotional wounds would never heal. Apathetic, Rarity remained on the floor, soaking in last nights trauma.

“Rarity, are you home? It's me Twilight,” a voice spoke, muffled behind the door. Rarity, still didn't budge. As far as she was concerned, the number one thing she wanted to do today was rot.

“Rarity!” Twilight shouted after bashing a bit harder, “I'm coming in!” Twilight exclaimed as Rarity remained unfazed. A purple glow surrounded the door as lock clicked as it unlatched. Rarity hid her eyes behind her hoof as the light poured in. Twilight's silhouette crept forward, inch by inch.

“Rarity!” Twilight gasped, spotting the unicorn on the floor, “What happened, you're a mess!” Or at least more of a mess than usual, Twilight rushed to Rarity's side.

The scarred unicorn refused to speak, but she didn't fight when Twilight helped her up.

“Did somepony break in earlier?” Twilight asked, leading Rarity to a nearby couch for her to sit on.

“...No,” A weak murmur came from Rarity's lips as she kept her gaze to the floor.

“If it wasn't a burglar, then what was it?” Twilight delved deeper.

“...Nothing,” Rarity uttered back.

“Well... That's a relief, I guess,” Twilight decided to stop prodding, “anyways, Applejack stopped by and told me what happened with Sweetie Belle,” she turned to dig through her satchel, pulling out a stack of papers. “So I took the time to print of some fliers! They're all ready to be posted over Ponyville!” Twilight smiled at her achievement.

“Don't bother...” Rarity hiccuped, feeling the hangover of yesterday settle in.

“Huh?” Twilight's jaw dropped, “w-what do you mean 'don't bother'?”

“Sweetie Belle wouldn't even stay even if you brought her back to me...” The broken unicorn snorted, snot welled up in her nostrils.

“Applejack told me she would take Sweetie Belle in for awhile, saying something along the lines of 'teachin' her good manners',” She recited with a lousy Applejack impersonation.

“What good will that do? She's already lost,” Rarity was convinced Sweetie Belle hated her guts and nothing could restore their relationship.

“Don't say that, I'm sure the princess would gladly help out with our search! There's still a chance to make amends with your sister!” Twilight continued to push hope onto Rarity.

“Not even Princess Celestia could change Sweetie Belle's mind,” the white unicorn teared up.

“Well what do you want Rarity?” Twilight got a tad frustrated. Rarity sighed before turning silent for a few moments, knowing exactly what she wanted...

“...Sweetie Belle,” her face fell into her hooves as she began to sob.

“It's okay,” Twilight rubbed her back some with a few pats, “I'm sure we can find Sweetie Belle, did you want to be the one to write a letter to the Princess?” Twilight asked as a quill and paper materialized in mid air, floating next to Rarity.

There wasn't any reply from the mourning unicorn. Retracting the pen and paper, Twilight began to feel a little awkward from Rarity's drama. But lately it hasn't been over the typical petty things since Sweetie Belle came to live with Rarity permanently. Reasons why were usually classified as an accident that Rarity wouldn't speak of whether in public or private. Twilight was curious to know what this accident was... Almost enough to prod into Rarity's mind with magic, but that turned into another lesson to write to the princess.

With questions unanswered, Twilight couldn't help but feel out of place. If only she knew, she could have some kind of lead to help out Rarity. But Twilight still had to battle with the morals of it all. Is it really worth it, the purple unicorn waged reasons back and forth throughout her mind. Both sides of morality nagged at her, convincing that their side was right. Each thought fueling her curiosity until she couldn't take it anymore.

Twilight tried to be discreet as possible as she poked into Rarity's brain, the white unicorn oblivious to what was happening, consumed in her sadness. Feeling a recoil of Rarity emotions, Twilight moved about carefully as she explored the unicorn's mind. However, she couldn't stay there long as Rarity's emotions began to seep into Twilight's own.

Pain welled up in Twilight's chest and stomach, feelings of sadness, bitterness, conflict and uncertainty were identified immediately. If she spent another minute longer in Rarity's thoughts she would turn into a bawling foal as well. That memory had to be there somewhere... Just somewhere.

Suddenly, it just clicked. Twilight retrieved a glimpse of what she was looking for a backed off. Relief overtook the unicorn as she leaned back on the couch, taking a few deep breaths in and out. Luckily Rarity was still too busy with her own problems to notice what Twilight was up to. The key memory almost eluded Twilight's mind as she tried to keep hold of it and keep herself calm at the same time. She picked up the pen and paper again, but instead of writing a letter to Princess Celestia, she wrote down her findings.

Rarity's parents had passed away and Sweetie Belle moved permanently. She was finally able to let the memory go as she rolled up the scroll, placing it in her satchel. Twilight didn't want to elaborate on her discovery just yet, those things were better left back at the library.

“Umm... Well just think about it Rarity, if you don't want to write the letter, I will, I'm sure the princess can do all that she can to get Sweetie Belle back,” Twilight stroked the grieving unicorn a few times before showing herself out.

Back at the library, Twilight sat in bed, thankful she was able to pull off her little stunt without Rarity, knowing. She could regret going against her word later, if there was a time to read someone's mind, it was then. Pulling the scroll back out, Twilight read it over to refresh what she was after for in the first place.

“So their parents died a few years ago...” Twilight mumbled to herself. However Spike, her young dragon assistant had overheard her.

“Who's parents died years ago?” He walked into the room, revealing himself, he was about the size of Twilight now, his scales noticeably lengthier from years of growth.

“Spike!” Twilight jumped, in fear of her secret being found out, “don't sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry Twilight, it's been boring around here, you seemed pretty worked up after coming back from Rarity's, I couldn't help but wonder why...” Spike scratched his head with a claw.

“Well... If you can keep a secret, I'll tell you,” Twilight was a little hesitant about revealing the news to Spike.

“Of course Twilight!” Spike jumped in bed, trying to peek at what Twilight was reading. She pulled it away and glared at the dragon.

“I'm serious Spike, if any of this gets out, I'm sure Rarity wouldn't come out of the house again,” Twilight hid the scroll in her satchel.

“So it's about Rarity?” The excitement had double, his eyes and ears were greedy for the information.

“Yes Spike, but could you put your obsessions aside for one measly minute? This is really important!” Twilight talked down to the young dragon.

“Okay, okay!” Spike groaned, growing tired of Twilight's nagging.

“...Anyways, call me oblivious, but did you know Rarity's parents died a few years ago?” Twilight asked, doubting if it was the right memory that she collected.

“No, nobody told me anything like that,” Spike was instantly lost. Throughout all these years crushing on Rarity, Spike had never had the chance to meet her parents.

“Then this is the secret that Rarity didn't want to tell anypony!” Twilight concluded.

“Why would she keep it a secret?” Spike raised an eyebrow.

“Beats me... Maybe she just wanted to run away from the truth, who knows. But I do know now why Sweetie Belle lived with her all these years,” Twilight put the pieces together. Sweetie Belle indeed lived with her parents before they passed away. Rarity, being the only immediate, and closest, family member, Sweetie Belle had chosen to stay with her.

“Hmm... So did you hang all those fliers yet?” Spike derailed the topic, causing Twilight's hoof to fly into her face as she realized her failure.

“Not yet Spike,” She dug out the stack of papers from her satchel with her magic, “would you be willing to take half and help out?”

“...Fiiine,” Spike groaned as he already had his day planned out.