Sweetie Belle slammed the door behind her in a huff. She sat back on her rump and crossed her forelegs with a loud humph. The little filly glared across the room at no real target in particular, but she glared none the less.
Rarity poked her head into the showroom after she heard the door slam. “What in Equestria has gotten into you, Sweetie Belle?” she asked, walking up to her sister with a mixture of anger and confusion. It was rare for her usually excitable and generally good mannered sister to be so upset.
“It’s nothing,” Sweetie said, her voice cracking as she did. “I just had a bad day is all…”
“A bad day, hm?” Rarity tilted her head to the side as she gave her little sister a small, visual inspection. “No cuts or bruises, your mane is still styled, and you’re not even that dirty.” She smirked and placed her hoof to her chin, feigning deep thought. “What was so bad about today, Sweetie?”
“My so called friend!” Sweetie Belle tightened her crossed forelegs and furrowed her brow even more and puffed out her cheeks.
“Scootaloo?”
“Apple Bloom…” Sweetie muttered. She took a deep breath and sighed. “She wanted to open a store to get our cutie marks. I suggested we do a lemonade stand, and she said we should do an apple juice stand.”
Rarity nodded as she listened.
“So, she said that since she’s a part of the Apple family and apples will be easier to get, we have to do her idea. I told her that wasn’t fair, but she wouldn’t listen!” She groaned and hit her hoof against the floor.
Rarity found herself chuckling at her sister’s plight. Not because it was comical, but because it felt all too familiar.
Sweetie Belle shifted her glare up to her sister. “What’s so funny?”
Rarity covered her mouth, but her laughing didn’t stop. The sight of her sister glaring at her with puffed cheeks only made the sight more precious. “Oh, Sweetie, it seems you’re learning first hoof how hard it can be to have stubborn friends.” Rarity took a seat next to Sweetie Belle and placed a foreleg around her.
“What do you mean?”
“Sweetie, did I ever tell you how Applejack and I became friends?” Rarity smiled at her sister, softening her glare.
“No…”
“Well, it started when I was about your age. Applejack and I went to the same school, like you and Apple Bloom do. One day, the teacher assigned us to work together for a science project.”
“What did you do?” Sweetie Belle asked, tilting her head.
“Well, I suggested we study gems and make some darling little outfits to show in class, but Applejack insisted we do a journal on some chickens that had just hatched at her house.” Rarity rolled her eyes and laughed to herself.
Sweetie Belle furrowed her brow. “You did the chickens, didn’t you.”
“Well, yes, it was the better project after all. But that’s not the point of the story.” Rarity shook her head. “Applejack was very insistent on more than just the project we chose. I had to be the one to take notes, and it had to be done entirely her way.”
“What do you mean?” Sweetie Belle looked up at her with big, curious eyes.
Rarity shifted her gaze from Sweetie to across the room. “Well, for instance, we decided to track what the chicks were fed. She insisted on one group being fed apples since they lived on an apple orchard.” Rarity chuckled and shook her head as she stared off into space. “Chickens can’t eat apple seeds, Sweetie, it’s not good for them, but Applejack wouldn’t budge off the issue.”
“So, what did you do?” Sweetie tilted her head. “I mean, if you can’t feed it to them, why would Applejack want to?”
“She didn’t know, Sweetie.” Rarity rubbed her hoof gently along Sweetie Belle’s back. “So, we asked Granny Smith who told her she couldn’t, because it will make them sick.”
Rarity looked back at her sister, the nostalgia still showing in her gaze as she did. “It took somepony she looked up to in order to change her mind. But that seems to be a running theme I’ve noticed with the Apples. They’re all pretty stubborn.”
“So, do I need to ask Granny Smith to tell Apple Bloom to make lemonade instead?”
Rarity shook her head. “No, Sweetie.” She chuckled. “It’s not about forcing Apple Bloom to change, it’s about seeing something from a different point of view.” She pulled Sweetie Belle in close for a hug. “She might trust you as her friend and when she needs help, but like her sister, she’ll want somepony she views as an authority.”
Sweetie Belle placed her hoof to her chin in thought once Rarity let her go. “So…” Her hoof stroked back and forth as she made sense of her sister’s advice. “Since Apple Bloom would listen to somepony in charge over me, then…”
Rarity nodded, coaxing her sister closer to a decision.
“Maybe I should tell Applejack to get her to listen to me instead!” Sweetie Belle gave a wide smile.
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Sweetie Belle, do you think your friend would appreciate you telling her sister on her?”
Sweetie Belle’s smile vanished, replaced by a worried frown. She found herself looking at the floor. “No…She might even get more mad at me…”
“Right. Because if you were in her horseshoes, you wouldn’t appreciate it if she did that to you, would you?”
“No…” Sweetie’s voice noticeably deflated.
Rarity could feel a proud smile come across her face. “So, what do you think might change Apple Bloom’s mind without tattling?”
Sweetie Belle stared at the ground for a moment longer. Her frown slowly shifted to a look of contemplation as the small wheels in her filly brain turned. If Rarity was asking her, that mean it was not just important for her to know, it also meant she could figure it out. Sweetie focused hard on what could change Apple Bloom’s mind without forcing it on her.
Suddenly the little filly perked up. “Wait, if I bring up that we can’t just take her family’s apples without an okay from her sister, then—”
Rarity nodded. “Then she would have to ask her sister before taking them. But the real question is, Sweetie, if Applejack says she can, can you accept that?”
Sweetie Belle looked at a loss for words for a moment. “I mean, I don’t know…Lemonade wasn’t that big of a deal, but apple juice just seemed…”
“Kind of plain?”
“Yeah.” Sweetie Belle nodded, as if it had been the most obvious thing in the world.
“I see Apple Bloom isn’t the only one who takes after her sister…“ Rarity said to herself. “Anyway, if it’s not a big deal, perhaps you shouldn’t have gotten so wrapped up in it in the first place.”
“I guess…”
“So, there you are.” Rarity stood up. “Now, why don’t you go back to playing and try to remember what’s important, enjoying your time with your friends—even if it’s not your idea you’re doing.”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “Thanks, Rarity.” She reached to open the door to the boutique before stopping short of the handle. “Wait, you never said how! You two became friends after that, right?”
Rarity was a bit taken back by the remark, but laughed once it settled. “Oh, heavens, no. It took us ages to actually become friends. We still bicker to this day, but that was the start of it all.”
The End
Author's Note
Inspired by the fact that Sweetie Belle and Rarity are both friends with Apples. 
