Chapters It's just another day at Rarity's Carousal Boutique when Sweetie Belle returns from school...Or so it seems to everyone outside of the small building. Sweetie Belle knows better, Rarity just hasn't been herself for a while now. On a normal day before the accident that ruined Rarity's dress making career Sweetie Belle would come home to find Rarity making a plan for a new dress while 4 new ones already sat on the racks. Sweetie Belle would never forget that incident. It was all Ms. Cheerilee's fault. Cheerilee hadn't meant any harm when it happened she was just trying to help Rarity out while babysitting Sweetie Belle for the night so Rarity could go out with Applejack and the rest of the girls. Rarity had been working on a dress for Princess Celestia and left it hanging on the wall. Cheerilee saw it half finished and decided to try and make things easier for Rarity by finishing the dress for her, but she made one huge mistake one that Rarity couldn't fix. So, when Princess Celestia came to pick up the dress Rarity had to tell her that it wasn't done and she had to start from scratch and make a new one all over again. Princess Celestia demanded to see the dress though and used her commands as ruler of Equestria to force Rarity to show it to her, and when she saw it she said it was so hideous that she wouldn't allow Rarity to ever make her or anyone another dress ever again, and banned her from getting new dress making supplies and told her to find a new hobby. Rarity hasn't been the same since, she's gone nuts, plotting and planning ways to hurt herself, acting like something was after her, and planning her revenge on Cheerilee who was oblivious to what had occurred due to what she had done to Rarity's dress.
Sweetie Belle no longer felt safe with Rarity and she knew she had to get help, so she went to Rarity's closest friend (though she'd never admit it) Applejack down at Sweet Apple Acres and told her what was going on.
"I'm not joking A.J", Sweetie Belle said, "Every time i walk through the door Rarity seems to be doing something else destructive, yesterday she beat me for saying hi and then she threatened to do something awful to Ms. Cheerilee and..."
"Now you stop right there Sweetie Belle," Applejack commanded, cutting Sweetie Belle off mid-sentence, "Ah wont stand to hear another word of this nonsense out of your mouth. You hear me. Nothing is wrong with Rarity it's all in your head. Now go on home!"
"But Applejack please, you have to..."
"Ah don't have to do nothing Sweetie Belle, now show me some respect and go home."
Upon Applejack's last command Sweetie Belle went home in tears wondering who she would go to for help now. Meanwhile Applejack turns to face the barn and says, "Big Mac, Ah know your behind that corner, it's okay for you to come on out." The big stallion comes out from where he was hiding from sight and looks at Applejack.
"Why you sound so worried A.J, she wouldn't hurt Cheerilee, Rarity adores her. You know the little filly was lying."
"Ah know Big Mac, Ah know. But I can't help but feel that something isn't right at Rarity's. Ah mean no pony besides Sweetie Belle has been in and out of there for days."
"EEYUP! But maybe there's a reason for it. Maybe Rarity just needs a break for a while. You know some fresh ideas for dresses, or a temporary shut down to make a whole new line of dresses, Ah mean shes done that a lot before."
"Your right, well Ah'll go and check in on her tomorrow though and tell her about the lies that Sweetie Belle is starting to spread."
"EEYUP!"
Applejack was standing in the middle of the farthest apple field at Sweet Apple Acres crying when Big Mac finally appeared with Sweetie Belle, unaware to everyone was that Cheerilee was right behind them the whole time hiding in the shadows trying to learn about what was going on. Cheerilee had known for a while now that something was wrong with Rarity as Sweetie Belle has been acting weird for the last few days. So now she was silently listening to the conversation of Applejack, Big Mac, and Sweetie Belle, she just couldn't help herself, she loved Big Mac, they've secretly been dating for months now, and if something is wrong around him she had to know.
"Ah'm so sorry Ah ran away instead of helping you Sweetie Belle. Ah was just so scared of what Rarity was saying she sounded exactly like Nightmare Moon. But Ah knew Big Mac would rescue you, he wouldn't let a poor filly get hurt if it killed him to save them."
"Now Applejack you know Ah don't want to talk about this right now, and it's not on the list of priorities. We all need to know why Rarity is acting the way she is. Sweetie Belle, what's really wrong with Rarity? Tell us right this instant."
" Yes Big Mac," Sweetie Belle said her voice trembling. "It all started when Cheerilee came to watch me so that Rarity could go out with Applejack for a while. Cheerilee tried to help Rarity while I was sleeping by finishing the dress Rarity was making for Celestia, but instead of helping she unknowingly ruined the dress beyond repair. It looked awful. Celestia came the next day around noon time to get the dress, but Rarity was trying to plan out the new one. Celestia had brought Luna with her to see the dress, but something was wrong with Luna, she kept turning into Nightmare Moon, she couldn't control it. Nightmare Moon began to affect Celestia every time she came out of Luna. When Celestia asked if she could see the dress Rarity said it wasn't done something had happened to it and she was making the new one which would be done in 3 days. But, Celestia was so badly affected by Nightmare Moon repeatedly popping out of Luna that she forced Rarity to show her the ruined dress and when she saw it she flipped out and shut down Rarity's business and left completely leaving Luna behind. Rarity was extremely mad and upset and wanted the power to take her life back and make others miserable and enact her revenge and Cheerilee for ruining the dress. So, she made a deal with Nightmare Moon for that power and in doing so allowed Nightmare Moon to become a part of her magic, with Luna completely oblivious to what happened, and when the deal was made she sent Luna home to Celestia. Rarity hasn't been the same ever since. I'm terrified to go back, please don't send me back."
"Ah won't sugar cube don't worry. How would you like to become a part of the Apple family?"
"Ah'd love it, Applejack thank you so much!"
"Ok then", Big Mac said,"We'll take you to get custody of you tomorrow morning first thing."
" And we will rename you Apple Belle. How'd that sound?"
"Ah love that name it's much better than Sweetie Belle."
"Ok then Apple Belle why don't you go to bed in Apple Bloom's room, she won't mind it one bit."
"Thanks Big Mac. Thanks Applejack. Ah'll see you tomorrow, Ah cant wait to be a part of this family."
Upon hearing this Cheerilee silently left Sweet Apple Acres and made her way back to her home. She waited there for the next 2 hours until Big Mac arrived for their nightly secret dinner and talk.
It was two weeks after Sweetie Belles visit to see Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres when she woke up to banging coming from the kitchen and she could hear Rarity screaming at the top of her lungs for Sweetie Belle to come and save her. Applejack was on her way to the Boutique when she heard the commotion form down the road and began to run to see what was wrong. Sweetie Belle ran down the stairs as fast as she could to reach the kitchen and found Rarity hitting a pan with a spoon as hard as she could with her horn aimed in the direction of which Sweetie Belle was coming from. Before Sweetie Belle even had a chance to move out of the way Rarity hit her hard with a beam of painful magic, which Applejack could see the light of from across the street. Sweetie Belle fell to the floor with a scream of pure agony and Rarity began to chant as her eyes changed from green to grey, Applejack's blood went cold with fear, she knew those words all to well from her nightmare with Nightmare Moon. Sweetie Belle yelled for help as the pain began to get worse, while Applejack turned to run away but ran straight into Big Macintosh who had heard the noise from all the way at the school where he had been talking with Cheerilee.
"A.J you have to do something to help that filly you can't leave her there."
"Ah can't B..B..Big Mac. Ah'm to scared."
"Fine Applejack head home Ah'll save her." And with his final words spoken to her Applejack fled.
Rarity heard the sound of the hoof beats coming from Big Macintosh to late for her to move, he smashed into her and stopped the flow of magic just in time for Sweetie Belle to leave, little did he know was that he injured her horn and the magic backfired into her. Big Mac heard Rarity begin to scream in agony as he grabbed Sweetie Belle to bring her to the safety of Sweet Apple Acres to recover and tell them exactly what happened to her. And the full story of what was really going on with Rarity.
As Rarity saw Big Macintosh take away Sweetie Belle she realized how badly she just messed up everything in her life. With this realization she collapsed and her magic stopped flowing out of her, and she realized how much damage she had just done to not only Sweetie Belle, but to herself when her magic backfired from her injured horn. With this now realized Rarity did a spell to fix herself that she never should have been able to do and yet she could, Cheerilee saw all this through the window where she had been spying ever since Big Mac had arrived on the seen.