Realities of Personal Space
Grinning from ear to ear, Sweetie Belle charged home from a long day of magic practice with Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's only been a couple years, but even the princess finds her to be impressive.
As she neared home, her gallop slowed to a quick pranse. She came to a stop at her front door, squeezed her eyes shut and teleported into the middle of her sisters’ shop.
“Surprise!” she called out to the many mannequins occupying the darkness. “Augh, come on! I finally learned it! Rarity? Rarity! WHERE ARE YOU!”
She grumbled as she let her bags hover to the nearest corner of the shop and made her way up the stairs. Halfway up, noises could be heard, a rythmic thumping and squeaking. Ears pricked and listening, sweetie could hear her sister call out as clear as day, “Oh~! Yes! Yes! Yes!”
The excitement in her voice only matched what Sweetie Belle felt and against everything her sister had ever said, Sweetie Belle teleported into the room. “Twilight taught me how… to…”
The sight left her jaw half open and one eyelid vigerously twitching as she tried to process it. Sweetie Belle had appeared just beyond the end of the bed, almost nose to nose with a shallow breathing Rarity who had just screamed into the pillow she clutched tightly under her chest.
From just beyond Rarity’s bewildered expression stood Filthy Rich, hunched over her sister wearing a very dumbfounded red expression.
Rarity’s horn went a lit as several layers of blankets hastily covered the stallion and all else but Rarity’s face and hooves. “Sweetie… Belle…” she started extremely quiet, but very high pitch.
Sweetie Belle looked straight at the floor, focusing on a crack between boards as her horn lit up and she teleported once again. Reappearing, Sweetie Belle found herself falling into a very dark room.
“What in the hay!” came Apple Bloom’s voice from the darkness. “Who’s on me!?” she shouted, trying to wiggle out from under her assailant.
Eventually crawling up into a sitting position, Apple Bloom flipped on her bedside light. “Oh, it’s you, Sweetie Belle. What time is it?” She asked, rubbing her eyes with the back of a hoof.
Sweetie Belle just laid there next to her friend, eyes wide and a sickened grimace on her face. Her ear twitched as she blinked, “I… I… I…”
Apple Bloom yawned, “Uh… You okay there, Sweetie Belle?”
With a little twitch of her head, and a flick of the ear, Sweetie Belle hid her face in her friend's blanket and let loose a scream that woke up the whole house.
Apple Bloom covered her ears with a pillow and almost fell off the bed. “Wah-aah woah now, that was close…” she said with a deep breath. “Sweetie Belle, what’s wrong with you? And now that I think about it, how’d you get in here anyhow?”
Sweetie Belle finally sat up and rolled back onto her haunches. “Twilight taught me how to teleport. She says I have great magical potential!” she chirped, her voice cracking only slightly.
Apple Bloom groaned, “So why ya here now then? Y’know I gotta be awake early tomorrow, righ’?”
“Right…” Sweetie Belle’s colors seemed to drain. “Well… okay, so I got too excited and teleported into my sisters’ room and…”
Apple Blooms expression said enough. Her smile was verging on laughter and her cheeks reddened. “Don’t tell me Rarity was gettin” plowed! By Who?”
Sweetie Belle’s deep blush drained as a sudden realization hit her. “Filthy Rich.”
Apple Bloom leaned forward on her hooves.“Wait a minute, Diamond Tiara’s dad? Ain’t he married?”
Stopping to think on it, Sweetie Belle gave a slow nod. “But then… that’d mean my sister is…” She gave a gasp, not wanting to speak it out loud.
From the hall outside Apple Bloom’s room came Applejack’s holler. “Apple Bloom! You alone up there? Rarity’s here lookin’ for her lil’ sister.”
Sweetie Belle yelped quietly, “Say no!”
Apple Bloom shook her head, “Go, teleport or somethin’, quick!”
Sweetie Belle nodded and tried to teleport again, only for her magic to flicker out. “Oh no!” she tried again, with no new result. “It’s not working!” she squealed.
Hooves in the hall gave way to the door opening. Both Rarity and Applejack stepped in, “Come on Apple Bloom, y’know we’ve got a long journey in the mornin’. Why’s Sweetie Belle here?”
Apple Bloom gave a small sighed. “She learned how to teleport and wanted to show me.”
Applejack came to the bedside and gave her sister a hug before messing with her mane.“Well you’d better be gettin some sleep now, you hear?”
Rarity stayed near the door with her gaze fixated on the floor with strawberry cheeks.
Sweetie Belle jumped off the bed and stomped over to her elder sister. “How’d you find me so fast?”
She gave a shallow laugh and waved a hoof, “Come now, Sweetie Belle. I’m your big sister, I know you well enough to make an educated guess.” Rarity paused as Applejack flipped off the bedside light. “Alright. We should head home.”
Sweetie Belle walked passed her, headed down the stairs, and out the front door. Keeping a brisk trot heading back to town, the winds made the orchards howl quietly in the darkness.
Rarity hot on her tail. “Hm… So… you’ve learned how to teleport.”
An abrupt stop brought both sisters to a sudden stare-off as Sweetie Belle spun around to confront her sister. “Don’t you feel anythings wrong here, or is it just me?”
“Ah-ahh ha uhaha… right… I suppose you’ve discovered my little secret.”
“Little…? Little!? You had Diamond Tiara’s dad on you! It makes me sick just thinking about!” Sweetie Belle said before she abruptly turned away and began trotting once more.
“That’s not fair! Hey!” Rarity’s protests fell on deaf ears, at least until she teleported directly in her sibling's path. “Do you want the full story or not?”
“Can’t hear you!” she taunted as she trotted right around Rarity.
Rarity rolled her eyes and cloaked Sweetie in magic. Only picking her up a foot off the ground, they met nose to nose. “Well, I’m going to tell you all about it once we get home, Darling.” Rarity gave a smile and pressed her nose against her sisters cheek as she struggled.
“Let! Me! Out!” Sweetie Belle whined almost the entire time her sister carried her home, but she gave up the struggle by the time home came into view.
“I’ll think about it, but first you have got to sit down and listen.” she told her little sister over her shoulder as she pushed the front door open.
Rarity carried her sister through to the kitchen and sat her down at the table, “I need some coffee,” she murmured, turning to the counter. When she came to the cabinet with mugs, she cocked her head back, “Would you like a cup too, dear?”
Sweetie’s head tilted a little, “Uhh… Rarity? You know it’s one in the morning, right?”
“Yes! Yes, I mean…” she gave a soft cough before sampling her coffee before returning to the table with two cups in tow, “Careful, it’s hot.”
“Rarity?” Sweetie asked slowly, as she tried to gauge her sisters odd behavior. “You’re being weird again.”
“Me? Weird?” she gave a nervous chuckled as she took a seat opposite to her little sister. With a defeated sigh, Rarity’s ears drooped. “Look, I’ll be direct sweetie, what you saw was-”
“Probably exactly what I should have expected to see, I mean it’s not like you and him haven’t been spending a whole lot of time together. It was only a matter of time before…” Sweetie Belle hid her sudden smile behind the rim of her coffee cup.
Rarity just hid behind her mane, looking out the nearby window with her coffee floating just beyond her nose. She took a drink along with a deep breath before looking back at her little sister. “So you can teleport now. How’s that feel?”
Sweetie Belle flushed red and looked away for a moment. “To be honest, it’s really tiring. I managed to teleport four times today and my horn kind of really started to hurt after the third time.”
“Well Darling, I can tell that you’re going to be a phenomenal magician one day.” Rarity said with a warmness to her voice, and a smile to match. “You really did surprise me, by the way. I hadn’t expected you to simply appear right as I-”
Sweetie Belle had bolted upright and hastily put a hoof to her sisters lips. “Just because I know what was happening doesn’t mean I need details. Got it, sis’?”
Rarity gave a slow nod and pushed her hoof away. “Hmm, alright. Well I know we never had any ‘talk’ so perhaps you could fill me in on who’s been educating you on such topics.”
Sweetie Belle got comfy in her chair and levitated her coffee to her lips, “Scootaloo had a talk with Rainbow Dash about stuff and things.” taking a drink and giving a delighted little sigh.
“Hey Rarity?” Sweetie asked before her sister could speak.
“Yes?” she answered with tad delay.
“Are Diamond Tiara and I gonna be sisters at some point or is this just some hormonal crisis?”
Rarity matched Sweetie’s perfect poker face with one of her own. Moments passed and Sweetie belle began to shift about her seat before tossing her coffee cup a lustful glance but carried on her stare off.
Rarity smiled and opened her mouth as if to speak, but instead gave a dramatic yawn, complete with a hoof up to her mouth.
Sweetie took the opportunity to take a drink, only to catch Rarity grinning at her with her hooves around her drink, as if to shield it.
Rarity gave a chuckle, “Well, I do just love having him around, Spoiled Rich has quite the grip on him.”
Sweetie managed to catch her coffee and swallowed it first before she spat it across the table. “Are you kidding me?!”
Rarity sighed, “Not at all, Spoiled Rich spends most all her time in Canterlot, leaving Filthy alone much of the time. According to him, she never comes here for him, only business.”
Sweetie Belle sighed, “Well, that's messed up.”
“Yeah… Apparently he saw her with Photo Finish, in a less than appropriate position.”
Sweetie Belle fell back into her chair. “Well don’t marry him, I don’t want Tiara as a sister.”
Rarity’s ears perked, “Wait, what’s wrong with Tiara? Her and her little gray friend picking on you again?”
Sweetie turned hot pink from head to hoof. “Well, if we're being honest tonight,” she met her sister's deep blue eyes and immediately looked away again, taking a deep breath. Finally with a deep breath, she quickly blurted out, “Diamond and I have been dating ever since scootaloo’s birthday sleepover. We had some adventure and we ended up… well… together…”
“Sweetie Belle! I don’t believe it! You’re only barely old enough!”
“Not. What. I. MEANT! We kissed and slept next to each other that night. Nothing else has happ…ened…” Sweetie Belle stood abruptly, “How about this. Your broken, I’m broken, were both broken. Let’s not talk like this for like another twenty years. Please?”
Rarity just laughed as her sister took her coffee and headed for the stairs. “Well, in that case, I’ll let Filthy know our wedding plans are on hold!”
