The sun beams down onto Sweetie Belle’s coat, it warms her. Sweetie trots with a bag around flank, smiling ear to ear. A day with Rarity! Sweetie Belle mentally exclaims. She was running from her house, just at the outskirts of town. Her hooves were clapping against the ground and she was running inconstantly, contently bumping into ponies.
This opportunity doesn’t happen every day. But, it does happen often, but today is different, she gets to spend a week in Manehattan with Rarity, see what she’s really like. Usually, Sweetie Belle only sees the outer rim of her sister, the attitude she has at the beginning of the week, today she can see how her attitude changes through a stressful week.
Sweetie was still a distance from the boutique, it was in the center of town, her house is in the outskirts of Ponyville. The boutique was bright white and pale purple a nice combination really. Sweetie was smiling even wider as she ran, she was thinking of the fun they’d have. The kindness she’d get from her sister. Ever since the Sisterhoof Social she’s been a better sister, sure they still squabble and fight but not nearly as much as they used to.
And ever since the time she almost ruined Rarity’s life in front of Sapphire Shores, by sabotaging that headdress. Sure, she can take a trip to Manehattan whenever she wants but she never get her sister to take her, claiming she’s always busy.
After a while, Sweetie Belle gave up and moved on, not asking again, however, last night she was told she was going to have to pack and get ready to go to Manehattan with Rarity, though it was strange that it was so random and sudden, but she didn’t care, she just packed up and did with her business.
Sweetie finally begins to see the bright colored building and starts to trot faster. When she made it to the front door, not even moments later Rarity stumbles out and smiles, it was out of character for her, but this entire thing was out of character, the sudden desire to bring Sweetie Belle to Manehattan for the week. However, once again, Sweetie didn’t care.
Sweetie Belle smiles and hugs Rarity tightly. “Oh thank you Rarity! I begged you to bring me to Manehattan and now you are!” she hugged tighter until Rarity pushed her off her.
“Well, Sweetie Belle, you know I value your company, but, this is for a fashion show as well. So, I also need a little bit of privacy, and maybe for you to wander the streets of Manehattan once in a while,” Rarity rubs the back of her neck and thinks of what could go wrong in a hotel room filled with dangerous sewing equipment, someone could get hurt. “Of course I’ll use a spell and find you when I want to have some company.”
Sweetie Belle was still ecstatic and hardly holding back her enthusiasm. But still, something in the back of her mind asked why the change in character. “It’s gonna be so much fun!”
Sweetie’s enthusiasm was refreshing to Rarity. Sweetie Belle was still holding the bag happily on her back. “So, shall we be going?” Rarity points to the station.
Sweetie nods happily and runs beside Rarity to the train station in Ponyville. Sure, Equestrian technology has increased, and with the help of A grade unicorn magic it allows earth ponies to fly, even unicorns without getting a migraine every time. Sweetie Belle can’t count the times that’s happened, her or Rarity complaining about a migraine from lifting herself from the ground to wobble around.
But as they get to the station and hand the bits to the conductor, who shouts “all aboard” at top of his lungs as they enter the train car. Truthfully, Sweetie Belle would love to travel in the air without headaches, but that will never happen for she has no bits, the Equestrian money for airfare to travel along the clouds like a Pegasus is over ten thousand bits to Manehattan in Ponyville, and that’s each. From Ponyville to Canterlot it’s less, because it’s closer, five thousand bits usually.
Sweetie Belle has heard that in this time of year Manehattan is beautiful, gorgeous even. And this is the only time she’ll be able to see it, and she wouldn’t have it any other way than with her beloved sister. “So, what’s the plan?” Sweetie asks sitting next to her, Rarity rolls her eyes. She doesn’t really know it’s kind of hard to tell.
“We need to check in to the hotel across town before we do anything, I learned that mistake with the Fashion Week,” Rarity chuckles smiling faintly as she strokes Sweetie Belle’s mane. “But we’ll get some quality sister time too, of course, after the Fashion Festival.”
Sweetie nods slowly. After the Fashion Festival? But I want sister time now. I can’t spend almost a week alone. The Fashion Festival is supposed to be nice. A whole bunch of fashion for seven days in a row from hoof-selected designers from Prim Line, Photo Finish, Trenderhoof, and a new upcoming fashion-forward stallion named Dazzle Trend. And out of the thousands of applicants Rarity was one of the fifty chosen, she was so proud.
However, as the Fashion Festival lays on the days she foalsits her sister she had to bring her, not to say she wouldn’t have brought her if she asked but it would mean to pay more for train tickets. But Rarity had the bits for it, it wasn’t that much. If she was flying then it would’ve been a bit of a snag, but she was taking the train.
Rarity, as usual has her head back against the back of the cushion. “I apologize for this, Sweetie Belle, but I need to get some rest, can you wake me when we get there, here are some bits, if you get hungry the food car is over in the back.” She hands her sister a hoof full of bits and smiles. She then closes her eyes and falls into a deep sleep.
After a while, Sweetie starts to feel hungry and gets up, wandering to the back car to buy some food for herself with the bits Rarity gave her. When she gets to the car there was three ponies ahead of her, a stallion, a mare, and a duo, a stallion and colt. She has her heart set on one thing, a hay burger, she hears good things about the hay burgers in the train stations, and trains across Equestria and since this is the first time she’s been on a train and hungry, she may as well try it.
As the line grew shorter and the stallion and colt got their food she ordered. Quickly, as she grabs it and turns around, a stallion bumps into her causing her to fall onto her back, on something, it hurt, bad. “Oh I‘m . . . I’m . . . I’m sorry!” he extends a hoof, which is odd for a unicorn for most unicorns when they bump into somepony they use their magic to lift them up. “I didn’t mean it!”
He lifts her up as she takes his hoof. “It’s – ow – okay,” she squints in pain, what did she fall on? It was a sharp agonizing pain, but from what? She feels around her back and she out what it was, on the small of her back there was a small piece of glass sticking out and the stallion lowers his head to see it. “I reach it.”
“This may hurt a little,” the stallion uses his magic he uses a numbing spell to dull the pain as he uses his levitation to slowly guide the glass out of small of her back. “There we are, the glass is out, I believe I have something to help.” Sweetie pokes the small of her back, she’s never felt this, the feeling of an ongoing pain, she’s gotten shots before and they sting but not like this. It was more painful than any shot she’s gotten. “Oh, your food,” the stallion looks at the mess on the floor that once was a delicious hay burger. “Sorry, can I get another one?”
Moments later, Sweetie gets her meal and sits by the stallion at the same table. “So, who was that you were with?” she asks, breaking a moment lasting silence. It didn’t take much for him to realize what he was talking about.
“Oh, that was my brother, he must be helping the stallion clean the mess,” he said, glancing over Sweetie’s shoulder, he sees his brother holding a rag. A scarf was tightly wrapped around the colt’s neck. “I’m Nylon Satin by the way, that colt over there is my younger brother, Fox.”
Sweetie looks behind her and eats one of the hay fries that comes with the meal. “Thanks for buying my meal, let me,” she reaches into her saddlebag to fish out as many bits as she could, she has to have something. “I have to have some bits somewhere.”
Nylon Satin uses his magic to glow Sweetie’s hoof bright yellow, and pulls it away from her saddlebag. “It’s alright,” he assures as he beckons for Fox Fur. Fox Fur notices and stumbles to his side. His eyes are a pale yellow his coat is similar to that of a royal night guard to Princess Luna. But it also has a green tint to it too. The scarf seems familiar.
It hits Sweetie Belle why that scarf looks familiar. She has the exact same scarf. “I'm Sweetie Belle, and I don’t want to embarrass you,” she whispers. “But I have the exact same scarf, that’s a mare’s scarf,” she was whispering to him.
Faux Fur opens his mouth to say something but then closes it. “Um . . . he knows it’s a girl’s scarf, Sweetie Belle,” Nylon Satin tells her. “So, Fox Fur, this is Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle, this is my brother Fox Fur.”
Sweetie reaches out to shake his hand, however he doesn’t do the same, he just looks at her with a sad look. “Nice to meet you,” his voice was low, monotone actually, and his accent was almost Canterlotian.
Nylon Satin brushes his hoof through Fox Fur’s pale pink mane. “So, are you traveling alone, Sweetie Belle?” Nylon had to ask, it was a fair question, she’s only a filly and she’s traveling to such a large city.
“No, me and my sister Rarity are heading to Manehattan for the Fashion Festival,” Sweetie smiles, it’s easy to make her smile. “She’s one of the designers chosen to be in the Fashion Festival.”
“Really? What does she make, I’d love to cross check our design strategy, I’m a fashion designer, I make mares clothing; and suits too, I made some Canterlotian suits for the Grand Galloping Gala,” he smiles, and that brought a smile to Sweetie Belle’s face.
“Sweetie Belle?!” shouts Rarity look around for the little filly. “Sweetie Belle where are you?!” it was then that Rarity saw Sweetie Belle with a random stallion she hasn’t seen before. “Sweetie Belle? Who is that?” she had an angry tone, annoyance is more the word.
“Sister!” her voice cracked she isn’t quite sure why she said “sister” instead of Rarity but she continues. “This is . . .” she was cut off by Rarity who just now notices the small of her back wrapped in bandages.
“Oh my stars, darling, whatever did happen?” Rarity approaches Sweetie Belle and strokes her mane, as if she was a small foal again. When she was hurt whether or not it was a small cut or a stubbed hoof, Rarity would always stroke Sweetie Belle’s mane gingerly and that always calmed her down.
“It was nothing, Rarity is it?” Nylon Satin cut in. “I’m Nylon Satin, I was the only one who helped her up when she fell,” he smiles faintly and extends his hoof to shake hers.
“Oh, well, thanks, who’s this young colt?” Rarity looks at Fox Fur and smiles. Not paying much mind to the mare’s scarf that the colt was wearing.
“That’s my brother, Fox Fur.” Nylon said rustling his brother’s mane.
“Well nice to meet you but we should get back to our car.” With that, the duo make their way back to the near-front of the train back to their seats. Thanks to the whole flight scene it wasn’t as crowded on the train. Usually ponies – unless you pay for a private car – will bump into you if you move. But there is far fewer ponies on the train.
Hours later, and a few naps as well, they reach their destination. “We’re here, Rarity,” she pushes her sleeping sister gently as she speaks in her ear. Soon enough Rarity comes back to reality. “Finally, you’re awake.”
Rarity rubs sleep out of her eyes and rustles Sweetie Belle’s mane, smiling all the while. “Let’s start walking,” Rarity opens the train car door, they moved to the bedded cars so she can sleep better. As she moves out of the car she runs into a stallion. “Hey watch where you’re . . .” she stops while realizing who she ran into.
“Oh my, Rarity I wasn’t aware you were going to be here,” the stallion snickers. “I thought only professionals were allowed to participate.” From that mane to his coat everything about him Rarity hates, it’s surprising that she used to date him.
“T-Trendance,” Rarity says, shockingly. “Y-You are participating?” In truth, Rarity should’ve expected that, Trendance shown her the world of fashion while he foalsat her years back. She had the idea in her mind, but never had she been so motivated as the day Trendance told her she can be a fashion designer if she wanted.
“Yes dear Rarity; and you the same I take it?” Rarity realizes the comment he made seconds ago. To be honest, Rarity still has a thing for him, though she moved on since he was forced to move to Trottingham for all these lost years and she wished not to burden herself with such a commitment of a long distance relationship.
Rarity is at a loss of words so, like what Sweetie Belle does when she doesn’t know what to say, she nods.
“Oh this is wonderful, I get the chance to out-fashion the filly who I mentored for a year,” Trendance sounds like he’s happy to see Rarity after all these years, but his attitude says differently. Trendance being the colt he was when Rarity met him, trained her at the art sewing, though he made it as a fashion designer before Rarity. While she was sewing costumes for school plays, he was selling dresses and suits for Ponyvillian pleasures. “It’s going to be a nice competition.”
Sweetie stumbles out of the train car and picks Rarity up. Rarity’s mind was filled with different thoughts, angry, compulsive, dangerous thoughts but she would never act on them, not with Sweetie Belle present anyway.
“Who was that?” Sweetie asks, but notices her eyes watching Trendance walk away, it doesn’t take a upper-class unicorn to see she still loves Trendance. Sweetie doesn’t ask again, mainly because she’s too distracted by all the amazing things she sees. Buildings from Manehattan were differently built. Sweetie Belle always knew that though, Ms. Cherilee had the class compare buildings with pictures of the different building styles.
Sweetie’s watching the ponies walk by, they seem unhappy but, it’s Manehattan, most of the ponies feel like Manehattan is growing so big, they should be their own county. All that would explain their dislike towards the Princess of Magic. They just feel threatened by the sight of one of the four princesses.
“So, we’ll get checked in, and then I’ll start my fashion line, you can explore Manehattan if you like,” she smiles, and walks towards the hotel they’ll be staying at. The clock ticks slowly, Equestrian time is odd, it varies in speed, in summer or fall, it’s fast and frantic but in winter or spring it’s slow and hardly moves at all.
Getting to the hotel, Rarity smiles and points to the couch. Sweetie Belle sits down. This is going to be the best week of her life! She knows it!
