//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Brotherhood and Sisterhood // by CartoonNerd12 //------------------------------// “Girls! Just what are you doing standing out here?!” Madam Cinch appeared to them. Twilight spoke for them, “Forgive us, Madam. But we were just checking to see if the rain had stopped so that we may proceed with our chores such as beating the rugs and hanging the laundry.” The housekeeper made a humph sound but stated, “I see. In that case, make sure you do a good job because as you know our mistresses will be home tomorrow so I expect only the best when they arrive.” “Yes, Madam.” they all replied and went back into the house. Throughout the rest of the day, the girls did their maid duties. Twilight was the head housemaid who had to report to Madam Cinch as she observed the others working as well as helping them. Rarity was a parlor maid whose job was to serve Lady Chrysalis and her family and any esteemed guests that came to call. But right now she was tidying the reception rooms and living areas. Applejack was a chamber maid as she had to clean the bedrooms and fireplaces and had to get hot water for baths. Fluttershy was a laundry maid as it was her job to provide the bedding and towels for the rooms as well as washing, drying, and ironing all of the clothes of the household. Pinkie was a kitchen maid as she had to do the cooking for the entire household, though her orders right now involved preparing a banquet that would welcome back Lady Chrysalis and her daughters. And with her was Rainbow Dash who was a scullery maid has she had to wash the cutlery, crockery, and glassware as well as scrubbing the floors. It was like this every single day of their lives. Of course, it wasn’t like this before when they were young girls. They grew up in families that cared for them deeply but were stricken in poverty. It was true they weren’t actual sisters but they might as well have been given their strong sense of friendship. The girls knew how tired their parents were after a long day of manual labor, even Applejack’s and Twilight’s older brothers had to work when they were old enough and they were just exhausted as their parents were. But not all of the families could stay together as tragedy stuck in Applejack’s family with her losing her parents to plague. It was an emotional time for the young girl but at least her friends were right there to help her through it. Knowing that she couldn’t let her brother work extra hard to keep the money coming, she set out to work as a maid in Lady Chrysalis’s manor. The girls didn’t want her to be alone, so they decided for the good of their families and friend, they went on to become maids too for Lady Chrysalis. Twilight was inspecting the upstairs rooms when she caught something outside a window to see a grand carriage making its way to the manor. In that instant she knew who it was and called out, “Madam Cinch! They’re back!” The housekeeper rushed into the room, “That’s impossible! I was told they would be back tomorrow!” Twilight motioned, “So did I but that’s their carriage!” Cinch ordered, “Well don’t just stand there, get down there to greet them!” “Yes, madam.” she ran out of the room and down the stairs. Rarity caught sight of her and asked, “Darling, what is it?” “They’re back!” “What?! But I thought we sent them away why are they coming back?” “Not those boys, its Lady Chrysalis and her daughters!” “But they weren’t supposed to be home until tomorrow!” “That’s what I thought! But they’re coming right now!” “Goodness gracious!” Twilight kept running to reach the doors. With luck she got there just in time as the carriage pulled up to the house. Once it stopped a couple of footmen open the door for an older woman with six younger women as they stepped out. Sonata complained, “Oh, my aching back!” Aria scowled at her, “If you had just kept your feet away from my lap I wouldn’t had to shove you away.” Adagio told them, “Would you two quit your excessive bickering already?!” Sunset nastily said, “It is rather annoying.” Suri added, “Quite so.” Trixie pointed, “Trixie hates it when you two argue!” Sonata countered, “Well it’s just as annoying when you speak in third person like that!” The girls got into a squabble when a loud and commanding voice shouted, “That’s enough!” They went silent as they faced their mother who looked menacing with her looks. “I’ll not have the future wives of the princes behave like spoiled children, is that understood?” Trixie and Sonata muttered, “Yes, Mother…” Chrysalis eyed her other daughters, “And that goes for the rest of you.” They said, “Yes, Mother.” “Good, now I want you head to your rooms to rest because there’s a lot to do before the masquerade ball where you will be introduced to their highnesses.” Sonata slightly squealed, “I can’t wait to meet my future husband!” Suri smiled, “Me too.” Trixie said, “Me three.” They giggled and started to head inside. Chrysalis turned to Twilight and commanded, “Take these packages into the house and then I want you to be on beck and call should my girls need anything. Which I’m sure they will.” Twilight bowed her head, “Yes, your ladyship.” Cinch greeted her mistress when she entered into the household, “Lady Chrysalis, we weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.” “There was a change in plans. While I was with my girls in the next kingdom, I received an important message from His Majesty, the King. He told me that the time had come for my daughters to wed his sons. Naturally we had to drop everything to come home so we can prepare for the ball that’s to take place in three days.” “My word. That certainly is important.” “The maids will be needed to sew new dresses for my girls.” “But of course. Nothing but the finest for our future princesses.” she then shouted, “Girls! Come here at once!” Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy appeared to her as they curtsied, “Yes, Madam?” Cinch motioned, “You need to make six new dresses for our noble ladies right away. You’ll have two days to make them.” While they didn’t like having such a short deadline they complied with their housekeeper’s orders. Once Cinch and Lady Chrysalis moved on, they exchanged a sigh. The boys made it back to the palace in record time. They were disappointed they couldn’t explore the kingdom more and go into the village but ever since that rain storm they needed to change out of their damp clothes to avoid getting sick. Had illness befall upon them that would have been a huge giveaway that they been outside the castle. Royals were always taken care of so that something terrible didn’t happen to them and ever since the previous king and queen’s deaths, the princes needed to be well no matter what. As the boys changed, their thoughts drifted to the girls they just met and the simple touch of their hands. Discord never thought of himself as romantic and always put on a front when it came to love. But when he touched the rosy-haired girl’s hand something within him was drawn to her. Remembering what she looked like, she was a beauty with her perfect hair and adorable teal eyes, even her face was flawless. But he found himself more drawn to her sweet disposition, how caring she was to him when she heard him sneeze. Soarin thought of the girl with rainbow hair, she was so blunt with her words and actions that he couldn’t help but admire that. With every girl he had met before was always uptight and submissive so it was a refreshing change of pace to see a girl display brash behavior. But when they touched hands, a strange feeling overcame him and it made him want to get closer to the girl. It was the same for Capper when he thought of the blue-eyed beauty and how generous she was acting when she sewed up that tear on his sleeve. Flash couldn’t stop thinking of the violet-eyed girl and when they touched hands he couldn’t forget the feeling. Cheese really liked the pink-haired girl with her upbeat personality and sweet gestures. As for Spike, the blonde girl with freckles wouldn’t leave his head and remembered the touch of her hand was rough but gentle and that she was friendly and considerate to no end. They felt at peace that these girls were their perfect matches and were actually grateful that their father arranged this. Once they were dressed, they met up in the drawing room and voiced how happy they were to meet the girls. Discord said, “Well I’m certainly satisfied.” “Me too.” said Spike. Capper stated, “I think it’s safe to say that Father did something right with us for once.” The other three agreed. Lord Fancy then came into the room and inquired, “Well?” Flash spoke, “We meet them and well, we actually cannot wait to marry them.” The noble uttered in disbelief, “Really?” The other princes concurred with their brother’s statement. Fancy was beside himself and thought, I guess I was worried for no reason after all. If they really do like Chrysalis’s daughters then I guess marrying them won’t be so bad. “Ouch!” Rainbow pricked her finger on the sewing needle and stuck it in her mouth to stop the bleeding. It was late in the evening and the girls were in their shared room of the servant quarters as they were busy sewing dresses. Rarity told her, “I told you not to rush.” being delicate with her own sewing. Rainbow stated, “Well you know I don’t have the patience for this why else would I be a scullery maid?” Applejack commented, “I hear ya, Dash, I’m not exactly the best sewer either.” she winced at the uneven hems on the dress she was working on. Rarity said, “Don’t worry, darling, I’ll fix those.” Fluttershy added, “And I’ll help you Rainbow Dash.” Applejack told them, “You shouldn’t have to.” The seamstress pointed out, “Nonsense, besides we don’t want you two to get in trouble with Cinch and the mistresses.” AJ mentioned, “Good point.” and Rainbow nodded in agreement. Pinkie suddenly asked, “Just out of curiosity but when those boys were here, did anyone of you get a weird tingling sensation in your hand?” The girls gapped at her before Fluttershy slowly started, “Now that you mention it… I did feel strange after I touched that boy’s hand…” Rarity uttered, “So did I… Just after I sewed up his sleeve…” Applejack said, “It was the darnest thing… like I couldn’t get enough of his touch…” she looked at her hand. Dash motioned, “Yeah! Me too! And I don’t like it when men are near me!” Twilight was shaking her head in disbelief, “It’s uncanny but I felt the same way too when I reached out for his cup and when we touched… I just don’t understand it…” Before they could ponder on it further, a bell rang followed by more bell ringing. They sighed, duty called. The girls went into the separate rooms of their mistresses. Fluttershy said, “Yes, Miss Adagio?” The eldest of Chrysalis’s daughters faced her and replied with a sneer, “It’s about time you showed up,” she held up a worn out dress, “This needs to be mended.” throwing it at her which Fluttershy caught. The meek girl uttered, “Yes, Miss Adagio…” and left the room. Rainbow faced Aria as the woman said in a bored tone, “About time you got here, I’ve been waiting forever.” Dash wanted to roll her eyes but merely replied, “Sorry, my lady, what is it you need?” “My shoes need polishing, think you can handle that without making it worse?” Rainbow grinded her teeth from retorting, and muttered, “Yes, my lady…” she picked up the shoes and went out at a fast pace. Rarity faced Suri while curtsying and inquired, “What does the young miss require of me?” “Madam Cinch told me you and the other maids were making our dresses. I want you to put on extra ribbon and sequin on my dress, I want to look my best for when I am presented to my future husband at the ball.” “Of course, miss…” Rarity curtsied again and once she out of the room she let out a sad sigh. Twilight saw Sunset pacing around the room grumbling under her breath, she didn’t see her until Twilight cleared her throat to get her attention. Sunset stopped and scowled at her, “Now you finally get here! Where were you when I needed your help five minutes ago!” Twilight tried to calmly reply without her anger getting the better of her, “I came as quickly as I could…” She humphed, “Well be faster next time! Now I need you to find my hair ribbons so I have them the night of the ball!” Twilight sighed, “Yes, Miss Sunset…” she started looking around the room. Pinkie entered Sonata’s room, “Did you need something, your ladyship?” “Yes, I want you to shine up my jewelry. I need to wear them for the ball.” she handed Pinkie a diamond necklace and ring. “Ooh! Pretty!” Sonata smiled, “It is, isn’t it? They were gifts from Mother on my sixteenth birthday. Too bad you won’t have anything like this in your life.” Pinkie’s hair slightly drooped, “Yeah… too bad…” Applejack was greeted by a smug Trixie as she said, “Oh, chamber maid, I need more wood for my fireplace, it’s too cold.” AJ wanted to retort that the room was plenty warm compared to the servants quarters that was hardly warm on cold nights, but she grinned and bear it as she stated, “Yes, Miss Trixie, right away…” and left. Once the girls were back in their room, Rainbow grunted, “I can’t wait until they move out of the house!” The others agreed with her. Rarity added, “At least when they marry the princes we’ll only have to deal with their mother and Madam Cinch.” Applejack said, “You said it. When I came back with more firewood for Trixie she complained that it was too hot and gave me a whole bunch of other demands.” Twilight nodded, “Sunset gave me more orders too after I found her hair ribbons to make up for my tardiness.” They sighed. Life certainly wasn’t easy with Chrysalis’s daughters bossing them around a lot and would sometimes undo all their hard work. Then Lady Chrysalis and Cinch puts the blame on them for not doing their jobs. Pinkie then said, “Look at it this way, at least we’ll get the night off when they leave for the ball.” Rarity sighed dreamily, “The ball… I wonder what it would be like… The dancing, the music, the dresses… Oh, if only we could go…” Fluttershy pointed, “It would be rather interesting to see…” Rainbow scoffed, “It’ll just be a bunch of boring people talking about boring stuff.” Rarity countered, “Oh, how would you know? Have you ever been to a ball?” “Well… no… but I’m sure that it won’t be any fun!” Applejack said, “Now you’re only sayin’ that because you want to go as much as the rest of us do.” Dash’s eyes widen, “You too?!” “Hey, I may not get excited about these things but it sure would be nice to get away from all of this for one night.” The others agreed with her. Twilight mentioned, “It would be great to have a chance of experiencing something new like a royal ball especially if it’s a masquerade ball.” Pinkie gestured, “Plus, those boys will probably be there since they’re noblemen and all.” For the second time that night, they gawked at Pinkie’s words. It was a compelling argument since they all felt a special moment with each of those strange men that showed up at their door that morning. Now more than ever, the girls wanted to go to that ball.