//------------------------------// // An Open Heart. // Story: A Sweetie Lesson Sequel // by Secret_Shadows //------------------------------// A Sweetie Lesson Sequel Part IV 'An Open Heart' Written By: Secret_Shadows (Me) Edited By: avorin “Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.” ― Neil Gaiman Flying closer and closer, faster and faster to Rarity's boutique, Shadow Fire, his stomach had butterflies, his hooves were sweaty, he was shaking, why? He was nervous, he could not understand why he was so nervous, 'It's only Sweetie Belle' He thought to himself. 'It's only, Sweetie.....' His thoughts trailed off, it finally hit him, the little colt was in love, in love with Sweetie Belle, he would have denied it before but now... Now he was sure, it was the only logical explanation, and he had to tell her, he had to tell her how he felt. - There was a knock on the door, Rarity opened it to see nothing, empty space, she closed the door and returned to her work after mumbling to herself, something along the lines of "Honestly those hooligans, when will they stop ding dong dashing..." - Shadow Fire sat in a bush next to the door, he was frightened, he knocked but at the last second, failure, he could not do it, it was just too hard. 'Why is it so hard, it's just Sweetie Belle' He thought 'It's just....just the filly I love.' Filled with a new sense of courage he got out of the bush and knocked on the door again. - "If this is the hooligans again I am calling the guard" Rarity said through the door as she opened it. She looked down to see Shadow Fire, blushing, incredibly nervous. Rarity smiled quickly before hiding that she knew exactly why he was here. - "Oh Shadow darling what can I do for you?" She asked. "Is....is Sweetie Belle here?" He said, he was so nervous he felt like he was going to pass out, but he couldn't stop now, not when he was this close. "Sweetie, can you come down here!" Rarity yelled up the stairs behind her. There was a pitter-patter of hooves before Sweetie came into view, the moment she looked up she saw Shadow Fire, they locked eyes and for a split second it was love, but Shadow instantly snapped out of his streak of courage and his face turned to horror, he then turned and galloped away from the Boutique before spreading his wings and flying up and away. 'D-does he not, he doesn't like me...' Sweetie thought to herself, she was still on the stairs, her eyes started to swell up with tears, Rarity looked at her, instantly understanding what was going through Sweetie's mind. 'Oh Celestia, why did this just happen, this has turned into a mess' Rarity thought to herself. Sweetie ran to her sister, she was so upset and just wanted a caring, warm embrace to take all of her problems away. "H-he H-h-hates m-me!" She said through her tears. Rarity just wrapped her fore hooves around her sister. "Oh Sweetie, it's not you, you can't bla-" Rarity was cut off. "It's always me, don't you understand, the only colt that I have ever loved doesn't want any time of Celestia's day with me." She sobbed more, her world came crashing down just because of one misinterpreted moment. Rarity opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then closed it and just continued hugging her sister. - "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!" Shadow Fire said to himself, he kicked the cloud floor of his room. "Why do I have to be so stupid!?" He yelled as he fell backwards onto his bed, it was in this moment he realized that something was extremely wrong, he was thinking about what happened and didn't pay much attention to one important little detail, Sweetie's feelings, he felt awful. Now, not only did he not have Sweetie, but he potentially ruined his relationship with her forever, the sight of her eyes tearing up. It had not registered in his mind until now, but now, was far, far too late. - After the incident, the few days before the dance passed slowly, but life went about as normally as it could for the colt and filly. They avoided each other as best as they could, neither of them wanted to upset the other. "You can't be upset about it, what happened happened" Shadow Bolt said "But its ruined!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "You can't let your feelings ruin your life." Rarity said. "But its totally my fault!" Shadow Fire said. "You can't blame yourself" Both Rarity and Bolt said at the same time. "But I ruined it with Sweetie!" "But I ruined it with Shadow!" Sweetie was sitting on the bed in Rarity's room with her, at the same time Shadow Fire and Shadow Bolt were up on a cloud high in the sky. Neither of them knew it, but both Sweetie and Fire were having the same conversation with their older siblings. The dance was that night, and only Rarity and Bolt could save the relationship between Sweetie and Fire.