Friendships Are Forever

The rooster at Sweet Apple Acres crowed as the sun was raised over Equestria. The citizens of Ponyville began to file out of their houses like clockwork. After the Industrial Revolution, ponies had less work to do, and could spend more time doing things they enjoyed. Over the years, Ponyville had grown in size but lost some of its character along the way; many of the houses looked the same. All of the pegasi had moved down to earth, with the exception of the always-stubborn Rainbow Dash. It was paradise in a way; everything was safe, from the newly constructed buildings to the brand new editions at the art gallery.

The Carousel Boutique was still as glamorous and excessive as ever. Although a few extra rooms were added to the building as Rarity's business grew, it still had the same basic design.

Inside the guest room upstairs, Sweetie Belle was pulling several pictures out of a cabinet and placing them in a small travel bag. Even though Rarity constantly pesters her about styling her mane, Sweetie Belle lets it naturally curl down the back of her neck. She had actually grown slightly taller than her sister, and taller than all her friends for that matter. While Sweetie Belle could ask any stallion in the town to marry her and they would say yes, she's told everypony at least once that she's not interested in romance.

She reached into a chest against the wall and retrieved a scrapbook.

"Oh, I didn't know I had this."

Sweetie Belle magically paged through the colorful book. It contained pictures of the best times she spent with Rarity. She pointed at various photos and began talking to a non-existent audience.

"That's us at the Grand Galloping Gala! That's me getting my cutie mark at the Grand galloping Gala!" She looked down at her cutie mark, musical notes spiraling around a microphone, and smiled. "That's me, Applebloom, and Scootaloo meeting Princess Luna on Nightmare Night! Well, at least me and Applebloom; Scootaloo fainted 'cause she was so scared." Sweetie Belle closed the book and hugged it against her chest. She brought the book over to the travel bag situated on the bed and tried to place it inside, but it wouldn't fit.

"Dumb backpack!"

After several minutes of dueling with the backpack, Sweetie Belle finally jammed the scrapbook inside and quickly shut it. She looked over at the clock; it read 9:30 A.M. "Guess I better get going." She pulled the travel pack over her back, grabbed a brightly colored strip of paper from the shelf, and made her way downstairs.

"Hello, this is Rarity; how may I help you?" Rarity was talking on a brand new invention that boggled the minds of lesser ponies; it was called a telephone. Extremely expensive and non-portable, it had to be nailed to the wall.

"Why, hello Hoity Toity! It's a pleasure to speak to you this morning!" Sweetie Belle strolled into the kitchen, and quickly quieted her hoovesteps when she saw rarity talking in the telephone. She sat down at the table and started eating her toast. Rarity continued to chatter away on the telephone with Hoity Toity.

"How's my business, you ask? It's absolutely wonderful! How about you?" Sweetie Belle paused every few seconds and occasional tapped her hoof on the tile floor in an attempt to get rarity's attention. When that didn't work, she started talking as if she was having a conversation with her.

"Well, Rarity, the guy at the record company called last night. He said he wants me out in Manehattan tonight! I'm so excited!" Rarity looked over for a brief moment before returning to her conversation.

"It was just Sweetie Belle; now you have my full attention." Sweetie belle swallowed the last of her toast and looked down at the strip of paper next to her plate. It read:

'This ticket entitles the bearer one first class passage to Manehattan. Ticket is void forty-eight hours after purchase.'

She sighed and sulked towards the door. "Well, Rarity, I'm going now." Rarity looked over at Sweetie Belle briefly. "Goodbye, Sweetie Belle!" She said quickly before returning to her conversation. The younger sister paused for a few seconds before she slowly exited the building with her head hanging down.

"Well then, I will talk to you later. Sayonara." Rarity hung up the telephone on its rack and looked around inquisitively. "Hmm; I wonder where Sweetie Belle was going." She began cleaning the table of crumbs and tossing plates in the sink. "No matter; I'm sure she'll tell me about it when she returns." When she finished with the tidying of the kitchen, Rarity made her way upstairs to the sewing room. Upon opening the door, she gasped. Her fabrics were strewn everywhere, a cyan Pegasus was leaning on her sewing machine, and the large window at the back of the room was completely smashed.

"RAINBOW DASH!"

Dash looked from side to side and shrugged. "What? I can get it fixed." Rarity's face became red with anger.

"You and your Wonderbolt salary! Just because you can fix it doesn't make it right." Dash stopped leaning and stood upright.

"Ok, alright, chill out," She took a deep breath. "Sorry for breaking your stuff." A smile materialized on Rarity's face as she held out her hoof.

"Apology accepted." Dash vigorously shook it, leaving Rarity's hoof a little sore. "Why exactly are you here, Rainbow Dash? You don't usually drop in like this." The Pegasus looked banged her hoof against her forehead. "Oh yeah, I remember now! Scootaloo wanted me to say goodbye to Sweetie Belle for her." Rarity started to panic.

"That can't be today!" She rushed towards a calendar and pressed her eyes against it. Dash chuckled

"Uh yeah, it is." After realizing that today was indeed the day, Rarity galloped out into the hallway and went to her own room. Dash followed her cautiously. "Uh…Rarity, whachya doin'?" The unicorn tore into her drawers and pulled out a large, purple sheet of paper.

"I REFUSE to have a repeat of what happened all those years ago!" Dash rubbed the back of her head. "I don't know, Rarity. Nopony can keep up with those steam thingies on hoof." Rarity walked up to the Pegasus and stared deep into her eyes.

"I WILL see her off; I will not allow mere machines to stop me." She galloped out the door and towards the train station.

Sweetie Belle trotted into the train station with the look of depression on her face. The station had been renovated several times over the years to accommodate the increase in traffic. It used to be just one platform; now it was the largest, and sturdiest, building in Ponyville. As she walked through the massive arches hanging over the exit to the platform she looked back towards Ponyville one last time. "Goodbye, Ponyville; I'll be back to visit." As she sat on a bench waiting for the train to arrive, a familiar Earth Pony casually walked towards her.

"Applejack!" The plainly dressed pony raised her hoof.

"Hey there, Sweetie Belle. I knew you'd be leavin' today, so I thought I'd come to say goodbye."

Sweetie Belle looked down at the floor and pouted. "Well, at least you came to say goodbye."

Applejack sat down on the bench next to Sweetie Belle and put her hoof around her. "What's eatin' ya, sugar cube?" The younger pony looked up at Applejack. "Well, this morning, I was leaving and Rarity didn't say goodbye to me; too busy talking to Hoity Toity." She said the fashion designer's last name with a hint of venom. "Well, you know how Rarity gets with her work. I'm sure she'll be here soon." Sweetie Belle angrily shook her head.

"It wasn't work! She and Hoity have been talking for a while, and—".

WHOO WHOO! WHOO WHOO![

The train pulled into the station and the conductor stepped out and began calling for ponies to get aboard. "I gotta' go…" Sweetie Belle muttered. Applejack hugged her and shed a tear.

"Go on; you'll be fine. I'll talk to Rarity, and you'll hear from her." The unicorn looked back as she was walking into the passenger cab.

"Promise?"

"I'm the element of honesty, aren't I?"

Applejack waved as the train started to gain steam and head down the tracks to Manehattan.

Rarity rushed to the train station in time to see the train begin to move. She sighed and started to turn back. "I guess I'll just send her a telegram."

She stopped briefly and pulled out the purple sheet of paper in her pack. It was a picture that Sweetie Belle had drawn of the two of them several years before. The figures were surrounded by brilliant sapphires. It was by no means a work of art, but it shared one thing in common with great paintings; it was a labor of love.

Tears welled in rarity's eyes as she whirled around and galloped off towards the train.

"I'm coming Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie Belle made her way through the narrow passage in the cab. It wasn't the most lavish cart on the train, but it was comfortable enough. Most of the ponies on board were big business types from Canterlot on their way to Manehattan. The musically gifted pony stopped in front of a pony sitting next to an unoccupied seat. The Pegasus pony was wearing expensive sunglasses and reading The Great Trixie. "Excuse me, but, could I sit in that seat next to you?" The other pony lowered his book and rolled his eyes. "Ugh, fine; make it quick." She slid by him and sat down next to the window. The train began to pick up speed when Sweetie Belle jolted up.

"Sweetie Belle!"

She turned to the pony next to her. "Did you hear that?" The stallion threw his hands in the air.

"Unbelievable! Can I not just read in peace?"

"Sweetie Belle!"

She looked out the window to see Rarity running alongside the train.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle crashed into her neighbor and knocked the two of them to the ground. "I was just about to reach the climax!" The unicorn quickly got to her hooves and ran to the back door. She bashed it open and found herself at the couplets of the two cars. The train continued to increase in speed, which brought Rarity and Sweetie Belle back into contact with one another. The elder sister was running out of energy, but she was still able to keep up with the train. Sweetie Belle climbed down the entrance stairs until her hooves were barely above the ground.

"Rarity, what are you doing?" The elder sister moved closer to the train. "I wanted to see you off, but things didn't go according to plan!" She almost tripped over her own hooves as she tried to keep up with the train. "I was being terribly rude this morning so I wanted to make it up to you!" Sweetie Belle could see that her sister would be unable to keep up with the train much longer, and she was straying dangerously close to the wheels of the car.

"Rarity, come close to me! I can pull you aboard!"

Rarity looked down at her hooves and closed her eyes. "I can't do it!"

Sweetie Belle looked around for some long object rarity could grab hold of, but none were in sight. Then, she decided to try something different.

"You can do it, Rarity! I believe in you!"

Rarity, galvanized by her sister's encouragement, steered towards the set of stairs. The passengers in the rear of the car watched this scene unfold with awe. When Rarity was close enough, Sweetie Belle held out her hooves. "Jump towards me!" Although a bit hesitant, Rarity took the leap of faith into her sister's hooves. They went tumbling up the ramp and against the frame of the door. Both ponies took a deep breath before they faced each other.

"Oh thank you Sweetie Belle!" Rarity said as she hugged her sister. She pulled the drawing out of her pack and gasped in horror. "Oh no!"

"What is it?" Sweetie Belle said as she turned the paper around. Many of the gems had fallen off the ancient glue and there was a large tear in the middle of the paper. "I was going to give this to you, but now look at it!" Sweetie Belle took the paper and threw it into the air. The wind blew the paper away, taking it beyond the point of no return. Rarity's mouth was agape as Sweetie Belle put her hoof around her sister.

"I…but…what…wh—"

"That's just a piece of paper," She said as she turned towards her sister. "Our friendship is much more than a piece of paper."

Rarity stared blankly for several seconds before giving Sweetie Belle a strong hug.

"I love you…so much."

Sweetie Belle started crying and returned the hug.

"I love you too, sis."

After several minutes of hugging, Sweetie Belle and Rarity made their way back inside the passenger car. They were greeted with applause from all the passengers, even the snobbish one.

"Your dedication to one another is worthy of a great novel" he said with a sincere smile.

The two sisters found themselves a set of empty seats and collapsed on top of one another as they sat down. Within thirty seconds, the younger sister was fast asleep. "Oh Sweetie Belle, would you like to—" Rarity stopped herself when she saw her companion was already snoring.

"Sweet dreams" She said as she kissed Sweetie Belle's forehead. Rarity gazed out the window at the beautiful countryside before she fell asleep in her sister's hooves.