“Goodbye, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom waved her hoof at her unicorn filly friend. Sweetie Belle returned the farewell gesture with a wave of her own hoof, then set off down the road to the Carousel Boutique, her current residence. The white foal lived there with with her elder sister Rarity, a fashionista and clothes designer of some renown. Sweetie Belle admired her sister more than anything in all of Equestria, relishing in every moment at home with her.
“I’m ho-ome!” Sweetie announced as she entered the shop. Rarity looked up from a large selection of various colored scarfs she was pouring over, she herself sporting a green and blue striped one around her neck. The white mare smiled at the site of her younger sister.
“Oh, hello, Sweetie!” Rarity trotted to the younger one and gave her sister a quick hug. “I’m a bit busy right now with these scarves, there’s some food in the kitchen. Try not to destroy the place while you’re in there.”
Sweetie Belle smiled an innocent smile and skipped into the kitchen, humming to herself. A bowl with several fruits sat on the table. Using her magic, Sweetie levitated an apple from the rest of the fruits. She sunk her teeth into the skin of the apple, taking a bite of the sweet fruit.
“So, how was your day at school?” Rarity spread a red scarf out next to a yellow and orange flame patterned one. She made a mental note to add another color to the solid red, maybe in little dots of purple...
Sweetie swallowed a chunk of fruit and walked back into the main room where Rarity was. “They got Ms. Cheerilee today.”
Rarity looked up from her scarves with a troubled look on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, darling. I know you liked Ms. Cheerilee. Did they-” Rarity slowly trailed off.
The filly shook her head. “No, they took her to the town center to do it. They made us stay behind.”
“Was she a...”
Sweetie shook her head again. “I don’t know! She didn’t really go out in the sun, but she never did anything else that would have made her one, and she didn’t want to hurt us.” Sweetie’s face fell into a forlorn state. “I know that much.”
Rarity gave her sister a sympathetic look. “Well, if there was anything I could do to help, I’d do so.” Rarity heaved a heavy sigh. “All of this has been very harsh on our business. Less ponies to buy wares, and everyone being scared to leave their homes...”
“I want Ms. Cheerilee back.”
“I know you do, Sweetie, but...” Rarity chose her next words very carefully. “We have to be very careful now. Even if they aren’t... particularly discriminatory with who they choose, they do it for the safety of us.”
Sweetie Belle sat down on Rarity’s couch with an angry huff. “This isn’t fair at all! They had no proof it was Ms. Cheerilee, none! Why do they think they can do this to her?”
Rarity glanced at her sister, before levitating a green and blue scarf to her. “Scarves are all the rage this season, Sweetie, wear this one. Besides, I don’t want you to catch a cold, winter is coming.”
Sweetie Belle looked at the scarf with some disdain, then reluctantly put it on. She wrapped it twice around her neck, rubbing slightly at the wool. Looking wistfully at the window as the dusk began to fall.
“They scare me.”
Rarity looked back up at Sweetie Belle. “Hm?”
“The vamponies. They scare me.”
Rarity opened her mouth slightly, before closing again. “Well, Sweetie Belle, darling, I realize they are a very scary thing, but don’t worry. They won’t hurt you.”
Sweetie Belle’s large green eyes looked over at her sister, hope sparkling in them. “They won’t?”
Rarity smiled a nervous smile at the filly. “Not if you take the proper precautions against them, you won’t! If you’re really that worried about them, then you can go and see Twilight tomorrow for some books on other ways beside the more obvious ones to repel the vamponies.”
Sweetie Belle reflected upon this. She did have some time after school tomorrow to spare for Twilight... but it was the end of the autumn. Celestia’s sun set very soon after school let out...
“But the sun goes down almost right after school!” Sweetie said, agitated at this new development.
“Well, if you want, I can arrange Twilight to accommodate you and your friends for the night.” Rarity paused for a moment. “I am, of course, assuming you will be doing this with your friends, correct?”
Sweetie Belle nodded vigorously. Rarity’s face lit up with sudden clarity, and annouced to her sister. “Oh, Sweetie, I have just the thing for you!”
Rarity trotted to a chest on the far end of the room, and after a few moments returned to Sweetie Belle, something clutched in her magical grasp.
It was a brooch, a golden Celestial sun symbol. It looked old, but kept in good condition. In the dying evening light, a small ray seemed to shine off it. An aura of warmth seemed to radiate from within it, making Sweetie Belle feel safe.
“It was our grandfather’s,” Rarity explained, clipping the brooch to Sweetie’s scarf. “He always used it to keep him and our grandmother safe from them.”
Sweetie Belle felt a small swell of energy flood her as the brooch was attached. The safe feeling from the artifact being in front of her was nothing compared to the feeling of it being adorned on her. She knew that vamponies could never hurt her, at least, not with the symbol on her. Still... the fear was there. in the back of her mind, there was the paralyzing fear of their pale coats, their evil cackles, and their fangs...
Sweetie Belle shook her head as if to shake the thoughts from her mind. Rarity smiled down at her sister.
“Now head on upstairs. I’ve got to get this scarf order done by the day after tomorrow, and I still have-” Rarity check a form next to her. “SEVENTEEN LEFT?” The white unicorn’s eyes rolled up in her head, and she began to swoon. Sweetie Belle quickly jumped up, and shoved the couch under her dramatic sister. Rarity crashed down on it couch, her hoof pressed dramatically over her forehead. Sweetie Belle giggling uncontrollably, before falling back into the floor, rolling around in laughter.
Rarity hopped back up, and started rushing through her papers to find out which pony wanted what color scarf. Sweetie pulled herself up off the floor, and trotted peppily to the kitchen.
“I’ll make us dinner!” This time, Rarity did faint.
After dinner was made, and the kitchen mess was cleaned up, Sweetie Belle headed on upstairs. She was practically buzzing with excitement for tomorrow, and the energetic properties of the brooch wasn’t really helping. The terrible fear of the undead still lurked in the back of her mind like a poisonous slug, but her excelsior for the next day drowned it out.
Jumping into her bed, the mattress creaked and launched her up a few feet. She came crashing back down, and after a few more twists, was under the sheets. She wasn’t very sleepy, but Rarity reasoned that the sooner she got to sleep, the quicker tomorrow would come.
After a few minutes, it got too hot under her sheets to keep wearing the scarf. The filly removed the garment, and immediately felt all of her energy drain from her. The cold of the night sunk in, permeating the room. Everything became darker, and Sweetie Belle could swear she heard the cackle of a deadened voice from outside.
The unicorn foal quickly grabbed the scarf, and wrapped herself in it. The warm glow returned, but with less energy. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep, but not without a refreshed fear of vamponies in her mind.
