//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Sisterless Again // Story: Ponyville Runaways // by Splash Surfer 216 //------------------------------// Over at Carousel Boutique, Rarity had already woken up, after a nice and thankfully, un-burnt breakfast, and was now gathering new fabric and jewels she had obtained for a brand new dress design that she had been working on for quite some time. By that afternoon, and in no time at all, she had put the finishing touches on the new design and was now eyeing, the grand design with a sense of accomplishment. "Once again Rarity," the white unicorn said to herself. "You've outdone yourself. Won't everypony be surprised when my latest design is worn by Sapphire Shores and put on display at Hoity Toity's boutique in Canterlot!" She then noticed that a small spot on the design was missing some sequins on one side, took a deep breath and began to head upstairs to fetch more from her room. On her way to the stairs, she suddenly tripped and almost fell on something beneath her hooves. Getting back up on her hooves, she levitated the strange object with her magic and looked at it for a moment. It was her personal, private diary full of her own thoughts and secrets, which her little sister, Sweetie Belle had published in their school newspaper not too long ago. When Rarity found out, she was understandably furious. "I still can't believe that Sweetie Belle published my diary in her gossip column..." she said to herself. 'She should know better than this!" Just then, who or what should appear in front of her, but Angel Pony, fluttering around Rarity's head with a look of disappointment on her face. "That's the problem..." the apparition said. "She doesn't know better, she's still just a little filly after all, and I call that cowardly hypocrisy coming out of your mouth." "Nonsense!" came another voice. It was Devil Pony, also poofing up besides the angel. "She lies to you Rarity, whatever she says, you're clearly right and your sister was wrong!" "Wait, who or what are you two creatures?" Rarity asked. The two spiritual ponies looked at each other for a moment and then said, "We are you..." "Well, technically we aren't really you..." said Devil Pony. "We don't even look like you, nor do we even exist. We're just some commonly used, clever, metaphoric visual manifestation of the inner abstract concept of a conscience, and..." "Moving on," the unicorn interrupted, ignoring the monstrous looking pony to focus on the much more bright, and beautiful pony that was buzzing around her. "What was all that about hypocrisy?" "Didn't you snoop through her belongings and read that article in the first place?" asked Angel Pony. Rarity thought back to a few days before, when she noticed a copy of the school paper sticking out of her sister's backpack and unable to resist the temptation, gave it a look and couldn't resist tittering at the sight of Snips and Snails with gum stuck to their flanks, Sweetie Belle on the other hand was upset at first. "Yes, I admit I did snoop through her things but afterwards I did give her a small talking to after she looked at my things..." she said. "Listening back to that entire conversation..." Angel Pony began. "You didn't seem all that sorry for doing that, and might I also say, that even if the column was her and her friends' idea, you gave her the idea to write stories about everypony else?" Rarity then remembered telling Sweetie Belle that everypony would love the stories that the school was printing more than what was currently being printed in Ponyville's mainstream newspaper, "The Ponyville Express". "Yes, but I..." "Might I also add that you didn't seem to mind reading about gossip going on in Ponyville until you were targeted?" "I...I was so upset that I had forgotten all about that..." the unicorn then said, looking down at the floor slightly embarrassed. "So just to recap, you got mad at your little sister for something that you did yourself, and what you didn't mind them doing, writing stories about every pony else, which you gave her the idea to do so, and even what you and every pony else wanted to see more of, but then when the joke was on you, all of a sudden they went too far. Sheesh! What kind of sane, civil pony could be so fickle and hypocritical?" asked Angel Pony. "I'll bet that Sweetie Belle probably spent the entire night upstairs silently crying herself to sleep, haunted by how just about every pony thinks she's nothing but a troublemaker! and she probably still was this morning and still is after coming home! Can you even imagine what your parents might say about this?" "Well, what would they say about such reprehensible actions by Sweetie Belle and her friends?" asked Devil Pony. "Well, knowing her father, he'd probably say, ‘Rarity sweetheart, even if what your sister did was wrong, you're still just as responsible for this mess to begin with!’ and her mother would probably say, ‘What's more important? Your diary or Sweetie Belle's feelings?’" "Who cares about feelings?" laughed Devil Pony. "A pony's personal secrets are more important than that! She'll pout about it for a little while, but then over time she'll come crawling back and'll forget the whole thing. Rarity is the young adult, and Sweetie Belle is just a foolish little filly. And further more..." "And further more, I've heard about enough out of you..." Rarity said, indignantly, levitating the devilish figure with her magic and tossing him into a nearby wastebasket. "Well played..." Devil Pony said from inside the dark basket. "You win this time..." "Nicely done, Rarity." said Angel Pony, proud of the unicorn's actions. "Now, as if you didn't know what to do..." she then said before disappearing. Rarity was then left alone to ponder what to do next. Sweetie Belle seemed very upset, after what I said to her before... she thought to herself. I'd better go talk to her and sort things out.... Rarity then noticed a small tray with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk she had set aside for when Sweetie Belle would come home from school and levitated the tray up with her to the second floor where Sweetie Belle's guest room was next door to her's. She then knocked on the door, hoping her little sister would wake up and answer it. "Sweetie Belle, darling..." she called at the door. "Are you alright in there?" No answer. "Sweetie Belle, I've brought you your favorite, milk and cookies after school!" Rarity knew that Sweetie Belle couldn't resist the mention of an after school snack from time to time and would be attracted instantly. But Sweetie Belle still did not open the door. Rarity knocked again. "Sweetie Belle, we need to talk about what happened before today..." Still no answer, by this time, the older sister was starting to grow impatient. "Now see here, little sister..." Rarity then said rather offended. "It is not very polite to ignore requests to come in without answering yes or no, now I order you to open this door at once!" Still no answer. Rarity then turned the door knob with her magic, finding that it was unlocked and stepped inside and headed for the light switch. "Now Sweetie Belle, I've had enough of this silent treatment...." As she turned on the light, she found that the room was empty and the young unicorn filly was nowhere to be seen. "Sweetie Belle? Hello? Sweetie Belle, where are you?" The bed was left neat as before, and the rest of the room looked almost untouched, but Rarity also noticed that Sweetie Belle's backpack and her favorite toy, which she affectionately called "Little Sweetie" was missing. This puzzled her older sister. "Maybe she's still outside.." Rarity said to herself. She then went downstairs and opened the front door. "Sweetie Belle! It's time to come in, dear..." she called out. Rarity knew that Sweetie Belle often would respond with "Coming!" and come galloping back home. But surprisingly, there was no answer to that either. Where could that little filly be? she wondered. "Wait, wait I know, she must be still at that little clubhouse of her and her friends'." Rarity then left Carousel Boutique and set off to the Crusaders' treehouse. Once arriving there, she was surprised to find that the treehouse was empty, Now Rarity was starting to grow concerned. There was still one last place that hadn't been checked yet. The Ponyville Schoolhouse... But when she arrived there, class had already been dismissed, and a school of foals was already stampeding out of the schoolhouse. Rarity dodged the sea of schoolponies and headed inside to find Miss Cheerliee packing up her things, about ready to head home after a long class period. The teacher then noticed Rarity entering the doorway, and smiled. "Oh, why hello, Rarity!" Cheerliee said. "What can I do for you?" "Cheerliee," Rarity began to ask. "Have you seen Sweetie Belle at all today, did you need her to stay after for some reason?" "I'm afraid not, sorry." the teacher said. "As a matter of fact, she and her friends hadn't shown up today at all, I assumed they were out sick." "And I thought for sure that Sweetie Belle already left for school early this morning..." said Rarity, starting to get an uneasy feeling. "That's very strange," Cheerliee replied. "It's not like them to go off and play hooky like that.." Before Cheerliee could say anything else, Rarity had already trotted farther away from the schoolhouse, back where she came before. As Rarity headed back into town, she froze at the sight of a certain orange earth pony galloping by, in a blubbering panic. "She's gone! She's gone!" sobbed Applejack as she passed by. Immediately, the unicorn knew that her friend was talking about her own sister, Apple Bloom, and then it hit Rarity.... If Apple Bloom was missing, and the Crusaders hadn't had gone to school at any possible time... Her little sister had gone missing as well... And she was also to blame.... She then too began to panic and burst into tears realizing that she had repeated some of the same mistakes she made during the time of the Sisterhooves Social. "What did I do? I'm sisterless again!" she wailed. "Woe is me! Of all the worst possible things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" And indeed, it was....