//------------------------------//
// Part 2 
// Story: Spring Fling 
// by MythrilMoth 
//------------------------------//

When the sisters arrived at the boutique, they were surprised to find a small crowd waiting for them: four girls Rarity's age, and a younger girl the same age as Sweetie Belle. There was Applejack, the tall, lean, freckled blond farmgirl, with her careworn brown Stetson, workshirt tied off just above her midriff, jeans, and cowboy boots; her younger sister Apple Bloom, with her light red hair topped with a huge bow, wearing a light green T-shirt and denim skirt with knee socks and maryjanes; Rainbow Dash, the multicolor-haired number one athlete at Canterlot High, wearing a striped blue top under an indigo jacket with green trim, a striped skirt of clashing colors, and red cross-trainers; the timid vegetarian, Fluttershy, with her simple white shirt and green skirt and plain white flats, her long, thick light pink hair tied in a ponytail; and the boisterous, energetic Pinkie Pie, who for some reason was wearing a big green alligator costume with big bright amethyst eyes, her face and much of her poofy bubblegum-pink hair poking out of the mouth.

"Hey, Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom yelled, waving. "Wanna go t' my place an' study? We can talk about th' talent show while we're there! Scootaloo's already on th' way over!"

"Sure!" Sweetie Belle said. "I'll be home later, Rarity!"

"Not too late, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said. She then surveyed her friends. "How did you all beat me here?" she asked.

"Big Macintosh drove us over," Applejack said. "We wanted t' be here when you got home. Y'know, moral support."

Rarity blinked. "Well, that's thoughtful of you all, really. I'm certain this silly Princess thing isn't going to be that traumatic—"

"Not about that," Rainbow Dash said. "About...you know, the you're-about-to-lose-your-shop-and-your-home thing."

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack hissed, forcing a smile.

Rarity blinked. "I assure you, I have no intention of selling out to Mr. Sombra."

"Yeah, the Cakes feel that way too," Pinkie Pie said. "But, well...Sombra's already playing nasty, the big not-nice-pants."

Rarity blinked at Pinkie. "Already? What—and, er, why are you wearing an alligator costume?"

"Oh, this is for something later, I just didn't want to have to get changed on the way there," Pinkie said.

"Yyyyeah, but...uh...that thing looks like it's eating you," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well of course it does, silly!" Pinkie replied. "This is Gummy, the toothless alligator that loves cotton candy, and I'm the cotton candy!"

"Oooooookay then," Applejack said. "Can we rope this conversation an' get it back on th' right trail? We gotta talk serious-like now."

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "But I'm not taking off the alligator. It takes forever to get inside this thing!"

"Suit yourself," Rarity said with a dramatic sigh. She moved to unlock the door, and ushered her friends inside.

Once the five were behind closed and locked doors, Rarity turned to her friends. "Now, what's this about Mr. Sombra?"

Fluttershy rummaged through her bag and pulled out a newspaper. As she did so, Pinkie Pie brought out her laptop and began pulling up browser tabs.

"This was in the paper this morning," Fluttershy said quietly, pointing at a full-page advertisement on page five of the Daily Flugelhorn.



Rarity gasped, eyes wide. "That was in today's paper?!" she cried. "But HOW?!"

"Ah've heard tell him an' that publisher, B.C. Brushcomb, are golfin' buddies," Applejack said sourly.

"But...that doesn't explain the pictures," Rarity said.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I dunno what to tell ya, Rarity," she said. "Big companies have a lot of people that can just make stuff like this happen."

"Yes," Fluttershy added softly. "Anyone who came into your shop and took pictures could've sold them, or given them away, or put them on Facebook or Twitter or anywhere!"

Rarity sighed. "This...doesn't matter." She straightened up, eyes full of determination. "One silly little newspaper ad isn't going to convince everyone to jump on this mall bandwagon, nor is it going to convince me to sell my store!"

"Um, this might," Fluttershy said, looking over Pinkie Pie's shoulder. The girls gathered around and watched, in varying states of shock, disbelief, and grim faces as an entire playlist of videos extolling the virtues of the Crystal Mall project and deriding the existing Ponyville Shopping District played on EweTube, one right after the other.

After the tenth video, Applejack winced. "Ouch. He's sure gettin' th' noose ready, ain't he?"

Rarity just stared, slack-jawed, eye twitching. "HOW?! How could this Sombra manage all this in just. One. DAY?!"

"Money," Rainbow Dash said simply. "Money, and lots of it."

Rarity drifted over to the divan and collapsed on it, pressing a hand to her forehead. "What was I thinking? There's simply no chance of my winning a silly popularity contest at school having any real effect against...against this!"

"Oh, please, Rarity! Don't give up!" Fluttershy implored.

"Yeah! You gotta stay on this here bull, girl!" Applejack added.

"We've got your back!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"The Cakes are pretty upset too, but they're not backing down and you shouldn't either!" Pinkie chimed in.

Rarity looked around at her friends and smiled. "You're right, girls. I must persevere! Regardless of what challenges face me, regardless of how desperate the odds...my dreams will not die!"

Rarity's friends cheered and yelled and gathered around her for a huge group hug. After they separated, they stood around, looking at one another awkwardly.

"So, uh..." Rainbow Dash said, rubbing one forearm with the opposite hand. "I guess...if we're gonna support you all the way, the first thing we gotta do is..."

"What we all shoulda done ages ago," Applejack said. "So, whuddya got in a good solid shitkicker?"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Come along, girls, I've already got custom boots just for you in the back..."


* * * * *


Sweetie Belle and her friends sat in Apple Bloom's room, working on their homework. "Ugh, these essays are so stupid," Scootaloo complained.

Apple Bloom frowned, tapping a pencil against her lip. "How do you spell 'relief'?" she asked.

"F-A-R-T," Scootaloo replied.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Scootaloo, you spell everything F-A-R-T," she said. "Are you even a girl?"

"Only in my pants," Scootaloo replied.

Sweetie Belle groaned. "And I thought Rarity's friends were weird," she muttered.

"HEY!" Apple Bloom cried. "Mah big sis ain't weird!"

"Speaking of Rarity," Scootaloo said, "I heard she's running against Sunset Shimmer for Princess of the Spring Fling."

"She sure is!" Sweetie Belle said.

Apple Bloom frowned. "Well, Rarity's sure as heck prettier'n ol' Shimmy, but Ah don't think she can play dirty enough t' win. They say stuff about that girl, y'know."

"Yeah. Until she finds out 'they' were talking about her. Then 'they' wind up hiding in their lockers every time she walks by," Scootaloo put in.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease. Sunset Shimmer is just a mean girl with a bad attitude. She's not some demon or some, like, wicked witch or something. She's just a bully who wears tacky clothes and has a loser boyfriend."

"And a gang," Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom laughed. "Snips an' Snails? That ain't a gang, that's a comedy act!" She paused. "Oh, an' Flash Sentry ain't a loser."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Whoa. You got a crush on Shimmy's boy-toy?"

Apple Bloom blushed. "No! Ah most certainly do not! It's just...he ain't mean like she is, an' Ah like when he plays guitar in th' lunchroom."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I guess he's not a bad musician. So anyway, why's Rarity so fired up to run against Shimmy? She's never run for any of the other dances, has she?"

Sweetie Belle sighed. "She's doing it to try to make those boots of hers popular."

"Oh," Scootaloo said. She snorted. "That's crazy."

"Well...I think so too," Sweetie Belle said. "But she has a good reason." She paused, then hesitantly added, "the shopping district is kind of in trouble."

The others blinked at her. "Huh?" Scootaloo asked.

"This big company wants to buy up all the shops and build a mall there," Sweetie Belle explained. "A lot of the shopowners are pretty scared. Rarity's trying to help the best she can. She figures if kids from school want to shop at her boutique, the whole shopping district will get more business."

Apple Bloom thought about that. "Ah...guess that makes sense," she said.

"So, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo asked, "aren't you gonna help your big sis? Maybe actually wear those boots she wants you to wear?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I will if you girls will." Shaking her head, she decided to change the subject. "But what we really need to worry about right now is our act for the talent show! It's THIS WEEKEND, you guys!"

With that, the girls abandoned their homework and began studying the books on magic they had borrowed from the school library.


* * * * *


The next day, Rarity's friends all wore boots designed by Rarity herself. While they received quite a few compliments, they also received patently false sympathy from their less friendly peers, who thought it was "just awful" that they had to buy anything from "THAT place." "Won't you just be like, SO relieved when that new mall is like, here? Then you can like, throw those aWAY and like, buy something cool to wear."

"Ignore them, Rarity," Rainbow Dash said on the way to lunch. "Just keep it together, stay focused."

Sunset Shimmer wasn't making things easier. Somehow, a rumor had spread that she bought her signature black and purple boots from Rarity. "I've been wearing these since I came to Canterlot High in the first place!" Sunset Shimmer seethed. "How DARE they associate me with that LOSER!"

"Uhhhh don't worry, Sunset Shimmer," Snails said. "We'll make it so nobody even knows who Rarity is once you win, eh?"

"And then that mall opens, and then she's gone, and then you can open your own store!" Snips said.

Sunset Shimmer snorted and tossed her hair. "Like I want people copying my style," she said. "So, what've you got for me?"

Snips and Snails showed Sunset Shimmer the photos and footage they'd collected of Rarity and her sister so far. Sunset Shimmer frowned. "Hmm. Good start, but...it's not enough yet. I don't just want to disgrace her, I want to break her. And her dippy sister, too."

"What about her friends?" Snails asked. "How you want we should deal with them, eh?"

Sunset Shimmer shook her head. "Just ignore them unless they do something that'll embarrass Rarity by association. Rainbow Dash is too popular and too important, humiliating her might accidentally give Rarity the jock vote. The others aren't even worth my time, and..." She paused, frowning. "If we do anything nasty to that hick Applejack, her brother might not be too happy about it."

Snips and Snails paled. "Uhhh, yeah, we don't wanna get beat up by Big Mac."

"Right, so. Go after Rarity, go after Sweetie Belle, the others are nothing. Get to work!" At her command, the younger boys dispersed. Sunset Shimmer flipped her hair and sighed theatrically. "Ruining people is such hard work. But so, so worth it."


* * * * *


Sweetie Belle and her friends had asked for permission to use the auditorium after school to practice for the talent show. They had a decent assortment of props: the classic vanishing cabinet, top hats, magic wands, handkerchiefs, coins, cards, and even a few animals reluctantly provided by Fluttershy, on the promise of severe being Fluttershyed at if they harmed the animals in any way, shape, or form.

However, the practice...was not going well.

"Why does this stupid CHICKEN keep ending up ON MY HEAD?!" Sweetie Belle complained. She brushed the offending hen off her head; the bird departed with an irate cluck.

Scootaloo snickered. "Um...you've got...something on your head..."

Sweetie's eyes widened. "Oh no. Is it...is it poo? EWWW, IT POOPED IN MY HAIR!"

Apple Bloom laughed. "Not exactly," she said, reaching up and snatching the egg off Sweetie Belle's head before the other girl accidentally knocked it off and smashed it.

"We should TOTALLY work that egg thing into the act!" Scootaloo cried, laughing so hard tears were streaming from her eyes.

"Ah doubt we could get that pullet t' lay on cue," Apple Bloom said. "Now, what we REALLY need is t' get th' vanishin' cabinet trick workin'..."

"I still say that's lame," Scootaloo said. "Now, sawing one of you in half, that'd be awesome."

"Uh, yeah...no," Apple Bloom said, shooting Scootaloo a half-lidded glare.

For the next hour, the girls continued to practice their magic act; nearly every trick they attempted ended in failure, if not an outright disaster. None of them were aware that they, in fact, had an audience; the stage lights directly in front of them made it impossible to see the camera flashes from the third row.


* * * * *


The following day was Friday. Rarity noticed a much more tense mood in the air. There was more talk than ever of the new mall, she was getting unpleasant looks from everyone around her except her friends...and among the boys, some of those looks were unpleasant in an extremely upsetting way.

"I don't think I can take much more of this," she said to Fluttershy at lunch. "Sombra's plastering propaganda everywhere he possibly can, I've caught those two little snotlings that trail after Sunset Shimmer following me twice today, more people are being nasty today than yesterday...it hasn't even been three days yet and it feels like I'm completely losing control of everything!"

There was suddenly a loud explosion of laughter from the group of tables where the younger students sat. Rarity's head whipped around; after a moment, she heard a familiar anguished cry and saw her sister bolt from the cafeteria. "Sweetie Belle?" she wondered. "Where could she be...?" Abandoning her half-eaten lunch, Rarity searched the school for her younger sister until the bell for afternoon classes, but couldn't find her. For the rest of the day, she was unable to concentrate, wondering what had happened to her sister...and she was terrified to find out.


* * * * *


Upon returning to the boutique, Rarity found Sweetie Belle upstairs, in her room, in tears. "Sweetie Belle? What's wrong?"

A trembling hand pointed at the younger girl's laptop.

Rarity walked over and crouched down, peering at the screen. A EweTube video was open. She clicked the replay button on the video.

//Rarity wants to be the Princess of the Spring Fling this year,// Sunset Shimmer's voice said over a picture of Rarity in her Wondercolts sweater and pony ears. //Most of you only know her through those ridiculous boots she's constantly trying to get everyone to wear, or those silly ears and tails she keeps trying to sell.//

A montage of pictures of Rarity waving Wondercolt spirit tails and ears around, and wearing several different pairs of trendy boots.

//But this failed fashionista with royal aspirations has an even more embarrassing secret, besides her utter lack of fashion sense.//

Now, the video showed Sweetie Belle's unfortunate shoelace-induced collision with Rarity in the main hall, ending with the two of them sprawled on the front steps. The video closed in on Sweetie Belle's face, freezeframing as the colors inverted to an ominous chord.

//Sweetie Belle, Rarity's ridiculous younger sister.//

A parade of clips followed: Sweetie Belle having various minor but embarrassing accidents, Sweetie Belle's skirt riding up, Sweetie Belle with a chicken on her head during practice for the girls' magic show, Sweetie Belle with a broken egg on her head, Sweetie Belle with chicken droppings on her head...it just went on and on.

//Do you really want a girl with no fashion sense and a little sister THIS embarrassing as Canterlot High School's Princess of the Spring Fling? Vote smart. Vote Sunset Shimmer.//

Rarity's eyelid twitched. Sweetie Belle cried harder. "It gets worse," Sweetie Belle moaned.

"Worse? How...how much worse could it possibly get?"

Sweetie choked back a sob and opened another page on the laptop. There, for the world to see, were dozens of upskirt photos of both Sweetie Belle and Rarity.

Rarity clenched her fists so hard she felt her nails bite into her palms.

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity said quietly.

Sweetie sniffled. "Y-yes?"

"I'm going to DESTROY HER."


* * * * *


After that, Rarity had rallied the troops. For the most part, all the girls save Rarity, Fluttershy, and Apple Bloom were planning ways to counter Sunset Shimmer's despicable tactics. The latter three spent most of the night convincing Sweetie Belle to go ahead and participate in the talent show despite the humiliating video.

"If you let her force you out of the show, she wins," Rarity said gently. "Do you really want to give her the satisfaction?"

"I know it's scary, and you feel like you want to hide...I feel like that all the time," Fluttershy said. "Um, but...don't. You're braver than that."

"Yeah! Come on, we wouldn't be the CMC without you!" Apple Bloom said.

Rarity blinked. "CMC?"

"Canterlot Magical Cuties!"

"...right. Moving on," Rarity said, gently stroking her sister's hair. "Please, Sweetie Belle. Just go to the talent show. Maybe...maybe you'll surprise everyone, and they'll forget all about all that nasty stuff..."

Sweetie Belle sniffled. "I...I don't know..."

Meanwhile, downstairs...

"A flash mob?!" Rainbow Dash cried. "That's...that's just a ridiculous idea!"

"Aww, but flash mobs are FUN!" Pinkie Pie said.

"You should totally fight dirty," Scootaloo said. "Do to her what she did to Sweetie Belle."

"Now, Scootaloo," Applejack chided. "Two wrongs don't make a right."

"Yeah! If we're gonna show everybody how much better Rarity is, we've gotta do it in a way that makes people happy!" Pinkie Pie said brightly.

Unfortunately, by the time everyone had to go home, no decent, feasible plans had come up.


* * * * *


Sunset Shimmer found Flash Sentry in his basement, strumming one of the many new songs he was constantly working on. She'd long since wormed a key to his house out of him, and as she descended the stairs, he looked up. There was no smile on his face tonight; he turned back to his guitar, pensive.

Sunset Shimmer tilted her head. "What's wrong?"

Flash frowned. "What your little goons did to that girl...it wasn't very nice."

Sunset Shimmer shrugged. "The peasants need to be reminded of their place," she said.

Flash set his guitar aside and folded his arms. "I mean it, Sunset. You really went too far this time. Why do you do these things?"

"Because," Sunset Shimmer said, trailing a finger in circles along Flash's chest, "if people are afraid of you, they won't get in your way. Would your little band even be half as cool if you weren't dating me? Be honest now."

Flash looked away, scowling. "I've just been asking myself if staying with you is worth it. Worth all the guilt, worth standing by and do nothing while you hurt people for your own amusement. I just..."

"You just need some convincing," Sunset said breathily. She let her hand play down his shirt, toward his jeans. With a chuckle, she unzipped his fly, then lowered her head into his lap...


* * * * *


"Right, so here's the plan, guys," Flash said to his bandmates. "Rarity's sister and her friends probably won't have the guts to show up for the talent show. If they do, though, I want you guys to help Snips and Snails backstage and in the rafters. Don't let anyone see you. We can't be connected to whatever happens here today."

His drummer frowned. "Why are we helping your girlfriend humiliate some poor girl again?"

"Because...we just are," Flash said, face red. "Besides, it's best to stay on her good side, you all know that. Now move."

"And what'll you be doing?" the keyboardist asked, eyebrow raised.

"Warming up to rock the show after the disaster."

Most of the students and at least a third of the town filled the Canterlot High auditorium. Rarity and her friends had seats close to the front. "So, she decided to do the show after all?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, we just barely convinced her," Rarity said.

The lights dimmed. A spot lit the stage; Zile trotted out to stand in front of the lowered curtain. There was a hearty cheer from the boys; she was dressed in a purple Playboy Bunny outfit with fishnets and black pumps. "Al-RIGHT!" she cheered. "Welcome to the Canterlot High Talent Show! I'm Zile, and I'll be your emcee for today's festivities!"

Applejack blinked. "Now why th' heck is she wearin' that?"

Rarity shrugged. "She said something about wanting to show off her own talents today too. I have no idea what she meant."

"I think I do," Pinkie said with a snicker.

For the next hour, a parade of interesting, bizarre, and just plain indescribable "talents" were put on display by various Canterlot High students. As one would expect from an amateur talent pageant, there were acts which were well-received, acts which were jeered and booed off stage, and still more which met with a near-total lack of audience reaction. One of the most popular acts was Twist, a girl with curly red hair and large glasses who was notorious for her terrible lisp, doing an elaborate tap dance number dressed up as Whinny Wonka and twirling a large prop candy cane. Button Mash, a runty boy who always wore a propeller beanie, showed off his mad Tetris skills, which only the techies seemed to appreciate to any degree. One student tried his hand at insult comedy, and was booed off stage.

After a heavyset boy who thought it would be a good idea to juggle cats made a less-than-graceful exit, Zile walked onto the stage and clapped. "Okay! That was...interesting. Up next we have...the 'Canterlot Magical Cuties'...? Ah, right! It's Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo with their long-anticipated magic show!"

Laughs and cheers went up from the crowd, along with loud, obnoxious chants of "CHI-CKEN! CHI-CKEN! CHI-CKEN!" The curtain rose, and the three girls stood there. There were no magic props in sight, and the girls were dressed as they normally would, with the exception that all three now wore boots from Carousel Boutique. There was a microphone in front of Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stood next to a karaoke machine that was hooked to two large amps.

Sweetie Belle coughed. "Um. We did plan to do a magic show, but...it really wasn't working out, and—"

"CHI-CKEN! CHI-CKEN! CHI-CKEN!"

"So we thought...well, I thought...it'd be better if we did something simple." Sweetie Belle paused. There were catcalls from the crowd, and more cries of "CHI-CKEN! CHI-CKEN!" Annoyed, she pressed on, "We're just going to do a little song and dance. I think everybody knows this song. So um, yeah, I'm singing, my friends are backing me up, and...if you're wearing boots, especially if you got them from my sister...come on up here and dance with us." She turned and nodded to Scootaloo, who hit a few buttons on the karaoke machine. 

A very familiar sliding bass riff clued everybody in to what was coming, and the catcalls and chanting changed to laughter and applause as Sweetie Belle began belting out the pop classic. Rarity and her friends wasted no time in rushing the stage to dance with the younger girls. At the end of the song, everyone was clapping and cheering. Sweetie Belle and her friends bowed, and the curtain closed.

Zile rushed back out on stage. "Okay! That was a lot of fun, wasn't it? I sure thought so. I might actually have to buy a pair of boots after that! So, our last act should be getting ready to take the stage any minute now..."

Backstage, the five older girls and three younger girls gathered in a circle, jumping happily up and down. "You were so right, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo said. "That was totally awesome!"

"Yeah, that was way better than that corny magic act!" Apple Bloom said. "Hey! Maybe we should start making our own music videos and putting them on EweTube!"

"Yeah, except I get to sing lead next time!" Scootaloo said.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity gushed. "That was magnificent!"

Sweetie Belle blushed, ducking her head. "Yeah, well...I know I haven't always been the best sister, but...we have to work together if we want to save everything we love. Not to mention our reputations!"

In the wings on the opposite end of the stage, a fuming Sunset Shimmer approached her two lackies and Flash's bandmates. "What. HAPPENED?" she hissed through clenched teeth. "You had specific instructions to RUIN that girl and her friends up on stage! What didn't you understand?"

"I-it wasn't our fault, honest!" Snips cried, cowering.

"Oh? So whose fault was it?" Sunset Shimmer snarled.

"Mine," a deep voice drawled from behind her. She turned and reflexively took a step backward.

Big Macintosh stood there, frowning. "Now y'all done made your point," he said. "It's high time y'all stopped doin' dirty deeds t' folks that ain't never done you a speck o' harm."

Sunset Shimmer blew upwards on her bangs and rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said. As the farmer walked away, she gathered her cohorts. "Alright, we'll just need to plan another attack. This time, we don't go after Sweetie Belle. That's a lost cause now. Our next target is Rarity herself."

Snails frowned. "But...Sunset Shimmer, Big Macintosh is onto us now, and...I mean, how can we do anything to Rarity with that hick hanging around?"

Sunset Shimmer looked thoughtful. "It'll have to be fast, sudden, and brutal," she said. "And it'll have to be at the Spring Fling. That way nobody will have time to interfere, and Rarity and her friends can't find a way to undo the damage in time." She grinned maliciously. "That crown will be mine, and that's all that really matters."