Whisper's Protection Spell

Sweetie Belle awoke with a start. Something or somepony was shaking her at the end of her bed.
Her eyes were glazed over, she could just make out the sun shining through the gap in her curtains, her neatly decorated room had moons and stars dotted around the blue wallpaper, and somepony had turned her light on.
She hoped desperately that it was a weekend, so she could go crusading with her two best friends, the cool, amazing athletic filly called Scootaloo, and the calm and dandy Apple Bloom.
While Sweetie was thinking about all the fun adventures she'd had with her friends, while they were searching for there special talents so they could gain their cutie marks, something began to shake her again, "Sweetie Belle? Wake up, you don't want to be late for Miss. Cheerilee, do you?" A white mare with dark glossy purple hair became visible at the end of her bed, it was her sister, Rarity.
"Oh um, no, I don't want to be late for..." suddenly Sweetie Belle sighed, if her sister was mentioning being late for Miss. Cheerilee, it could only mean one thing, "...school." she finished.
"Well, Sweetie Belle, I'm rather impressed, you're actually looking forward to school?" Rarity chuckled and using her levitation spell took Sweetie's duvet off and folded it neatly at the opposite end of the bed, Sweetie Belle gasped as the swirling blue magic poured from her sisters horn and swept around the duvet.
How can she do it so neatly? Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow.
Rarity smiled anxiously at her sister, "...Yes?"
"Oh, um... what?" Sweetie Belle looked confused.
"Well, you were staring at me, it's not very lady like you know,"
"Well, I'm not a 'lady'!"
Rarity just shook her head, "Breakfast is ready downstairs when you've finished getting changed." And then she left.
"I was staring!" Sweetie Belle banged her forehead deliberately with a hoof, "Sweetie Belle keep your head on!"

When Sweetie Belle walked into the kitchen she saw the room was filled up with clothes, ponikins and all sorts of other things like thread and material. However there was a nicely made breakfast on the table at the other side of the room.
Sweetie sighed, if I can get to the other side of the room!
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle called.
"Yes?" said a voice peering around the corner which separated the place where you eat, from the main kitchen where the food was prepared.
"Why are all your materials and stuff lying on the floor?" asked Sweetie Belle, rolling her eyes.
"Well, I was very busy on an ensemble before mum and dad dropped you round here for the week, and I haven't had time to clear up. Now hurry up and eat your breakfast or you'll be late for Miss. Cheerilee." Rarity gave Sweetie Belle a stern look and turned round and continued to make her own breakfast.
Sweetie Belle made her way across the room when she found a purple book with flowers on, Sweetie immediately recognised it as her sisters diary, mixed in with all the other piles of clothes and half-finished ensembles. Sweetie Belle giggled when she remembered how she, and her friends had taken Rarity's diary when they were doing sneaky newspaper articles for their school newspaper, led by the evil and sneaky princess herself, Diamond Tiara. Sweetie Belle flushed when she remembered how her sister had absolutely loved their articles until she found the one with printed pictures of her precious diary in. In an attempt not to cause any more trouble than she normally managed she left the diary where it was.

After Sweetie Belle had finished eating her daisy sandwich, she set off for school. "Have a good time!" Rarity waved her off, but then suddenly signalled for Sweetie Belle to come back.
"Have I forgotten something?" Sweetie asked.
"No, just," Rarity inhaled deeply before carrying on, "just make sure you walk back home with your friends, okay?"
"Why?"
"Because there could be some strange ponies around."
"I always walk home with my friends, Rarity!" Sweetie turned her back on her sister, and galloped off.
You must tell her soon, Rarity sighed, she's still so young, will she understand? Rarity shook her head and realised that she still had one curler in her finely styled mane, "Oh for Celestia's sake!" she mumbled as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Sweetie Belle turned back and looked at Carousel Boutique, her sister was no longer in the doorway. "I wonder if she noticed the curler?" Sweetie mused.
As she continued to walk through Ponyville to the outskirts where her school was, she realised that there was barely anypony around. "Where is everypony?" Sweetie Belle looked round frantically for anypony she could recognise, she noticed Lyra Heartstrings peering out of her window, she seemed to be looking for somepony, Sweetie Belle wanting to know why no pony was on the streets went up to Lyra's window and asked politely, "Lyra? Where is everypony, why is there no pony on the streets?"
"Sweetie Belle!" Lyra turned round, obviously shocked, "You must hurry to school!"
"No!" Sweetie Belle glared at Lyra. I tried to ask her nicely! "I want to know why everypony's locked themselves in doors!" Sweetie Belle kept staring at the mint coloured pony, searching for clues in her eyes.
"Okay, okay," Lyra looked around before saying, "I'll unlock the door, you can come inside for a couple of minutes."
"And you'll tell me?" Sweetie glared at her again, she could have sworn that Lyra had gulped.
"As long as you carry on your way to school afterwards, then yes, fine."
"Deal." Sweetie Belle beamed, glad she'd got the answer she'd been hoping for. Lyra left the window and Sweetie Belle could hear her scuttling towards her door, Sweetie Belle went round to the front of the cute cream coloured house with it's bright pink shutters and roof tiles.
Lyra was at the door when Sweetie Belle came round the corner of the house. Lyra was looking in the opposite direction to where Sweetie Belle was standing, she seemed to be searching the streets and looking closely at the alleyways, almost making sure no pony was watching them. Finally she turned round to where Sweetie was standing, she didn't looked shocked at all, almost as if she'd got a little map in her head and had Sweetie Belle coordinates written down on it, and she changed the coordinates every time she moved. Sweetie shuddered, she'd only just realised that a little breeze had picked up, she looked around at the tree's and saw that their branches were waving frantically, almost warning her that danger was lurking. "Hurry, Sweetie Belle, come in, or you'll catch a cold!" Lyra beckoned Sweetie into the warmth of her little house. Sweetie Belle sat down on the pink fluffy rug that lay in the living room of the house. As Sweetie Belle's gaze drifted to different parts of the room Lyra trotted down the hallway and went into the living room and settled down on the sofa, looking out the windows nervously.
She keeps looking out the windows as if she expects some pony's watching, Sweetie Belle wondered why, and she wasted no time in starting the conversation. "So," she began, trying to sound older than she was, "why is no pony on the streets? Is it annual stay inside day or something?"
"No, thats not it."
Sweetie Belle couldn't help but think that Lyra's thoughts were somewhere else completely, but she continued despite this, "So, what is the reason?"
Lyra looked at Sweetie Belle for a moment, almost forgetting who she was, but then she reached into her bag and pulled out a poster and showed it to the filly, "Here, look at this."
Sweetie Belle gave a confused glance up at Lyra and then started examining the poster. There was a picture on it of a pony of about Rarity's and Lyra's age, she was a white mare with hair which looked very much like Sweetie Belle's, and underneath was a reward price. Suddenly reality hit her clean across the face, "It's a reward poster for bringing a criminal to justice..."
"Exactly. This "criminal" has been sighted around the centre of town, in the alleyways to be exact." Lyra looked down at the shivering Sweetie Belle, "Urm, Sweetie Belle?"
"Y-yes?" said the shivering filly, looking up at Lyra with water dripping from her eyes.
"How would you like it if I walk you to school?" Lyra tried to smile.
"It's not the poster thats upsetting me Lyra!" Sweetie Belle bellowed, tears streaming down her face.
"It's not?"
"No!"
"Then why are you upset?" Lyra looked concerned more than anything, what could scare her more than this? She wanted me to tell her! thought Lyra.
"I've seen millions of those posters before!" Sweetie Belle exaggerated, "It's just that-" Sweetie Belle cut off and started crying some more.
"Yes? Carry on, "it's just that" what?" Lyra felt bad now, she really had no idea what to do when a filly started crying in her house, probably because she didn't have any siblings of Sweetie Belle's age who ever came round, so she just managed to pull herself to put a hoof on the fillys' shoulder.
"It's just that my sister told me to walk home with my friends," Sweetie gulped and tried to wipe the tears off her face, "but she didn't care enough for me to bother to come along while I was walking to school and there was a dangerous criminal about!"
"Maybe she didn't know?" Lyra suggested.
"NO!" Sweetie bellowed again and went into another fit of crying, "If she didn't know she wouldn't of warned me to walk home with other fillies!"
Lyra bit her lip, how could she argue with that?
"Well, she probably thought that you were old enough not to get so upset about it?" Lyra desperately tried not to sound as if she was accusing Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle's tears were starting to dry and she looked up and Lyra and sighed, "You're right, I shouldn't get so upset about it, I was just scared because no pony was outside."
"Well, the mare has been sighted recently so ponies are still rather scared of what might happen if they go outside, including me." Lyra smiled sheepishly, Sweetie Belle's probably a lot braver than me, she thought.
"Well, thank you for telling me, it's better than what my sister told me, which was...nothing." Sweetie Belle tried to smile, "I'm just going to head to school quickly now, I'm probably very late!"
"Just go carefully, you're very brave, but I'm sure you'll be fine," Lyra got up and led Sweetie Belle to the doorway, "Do you still want me to come with you?"
"Nope, I'm fine now," suddenly Sweetie realised that she'd probably slightly dropped the polite act and in her desperation to cover it up added, "but thank you for offering anyway."
"Thats fine, I'm sure everypony will soon see that there's nothing to worry about and come out of their houses and fill the streets again!"
Lyra and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other for a couple of moments. Although after a while it got a bit awkward so Lyra said, "You don't want to be late for your friends, right?"
"Oh yeah, of course not, bye Lyra!"
"Bye Sweetie, go carefully!"
And Lyra waved Sweetie Belle off.