Sweetie Belle groaned as her necklace string snapped. The jade shards bounced away from the mare and her friends as they all hopped off Sweetie’s bed. Using her horn’s magic to gather up the glittering remains of her best jewelry, Sweetie humphed to herself in adorable frustration. “Aww, nertz!”
Scootaloo patted her friend on the shoulder. “Tough break, Sweetie.”
Applebloom nodded. “Yep. It’s a shame, really. Are you sure you don’t have any other necklaces layin’ around?”
Dropping the remnants in a horseshoe box, Sweetie Belle replied, “No! This would have to happen right before the First Annual Friendship School Dance.” She brushed a stray mane hair off of her dark blue dress. “Rarity put a lot of work into this dress. It just won’t look complete without some kind of jewelry.”
Scootaloo pulled off her rainbow-colored foreleg band. “Here. Use this.”
Sweetie smiled and waved off the offer. “I appreciate that, really. But I need something that compliments my outfit.”
Slipping the band back on, Scootaloo smirked. “You sound more like your sister every day.” Her ears pricked up. “Hey, why can’t we use one of Rarity’s necklaces?”
“No. We can’t.”
Applebloom tilted her head. “How come?”
“Well, Rarity doesn’t like it when I take her stuff without asking. She went bananas when I cleaned up her inspiration room, after all. She’d probably sell me to an organ bank if she found out I was borrowing her jewels without permission.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “There’s no time for that. The dance starts in ten minutes! That new pony student Ghost Pepper is waiting for you.”
“Yeah, you don’t want a hot colt like that to slip away,” Applebloom said with a knowing smile, although she had no clear idea what ‘hot’ meant as far as males were concerned. A lack of hormones made one oblivious to the world’s seamier inner workings.
Sweetie Belle could hear those precious minutes tick away louder and louder with each passing moment. “Okay!” She relented, throwing up her hooves in surrender. “Let’s see if my sister has anything in her bedroom.”
Flicking on the lights in Rarity’s boudoir, the fillies walked past the numerous costumes Sweetie and Rarity made together. Masked Matterhorn cosplay, waterproof sea-horse swimwear, matching taco costumes . . .
“Why do we still have those silly things?” Sweetie muttered to herself.
Applebloom swiveled her ears towards her. “Say what?”
“Never mind. Let’s start digging.”
Pulling out drawers, which made the mounds of diamonds and rubies clatter like so much chipped glass, Scootaloo shook her head. “She makes a bazillion dresses, you’d think she’d have a bazillion bits of jewelry.”
Sweetie Belle used her magic to pull open Rarity’s nightstand drawer. A small white box with cursive writing on it slid to the front with a heavy thunk.
Encouraged by the heavy sound, Sweetie pulled open the box in anticipation of finding heavy, hopefully noteworthy, jewelry. The ivory globes were much larger than ordinary pearls. Peering at the fourteen inch length, she wondered where the connecting hooks were. “How am I supposed to wear this?”
Scootaloo looked over Sweetie’s shoulder at the strange find. “I guess we can use a piece of string from your busted necklace.”
The imaginary clock-ticking was getting louder. Sweetie snorted impatiently. “Okay, let’s go with your idea and get to that dance.”
As the fillies trotted out of Rarity’s room, Sweetie Belle thought of the box’s logo and wondered what kind of jewelry store called themselves ‘Wicked Griffon’.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle spared no expense in making sure the school dance was a night to remember. The high ceilings in the school lobby were filled with balloons. The buffet table offered foods from all over Equestria. Meats for the Griffons, fish for the sea-ponies, grubs for the changelings, and hay-burgers by the barrel load for everyone else.
Sweetie Belle adjusted the heavy necklace as she poured herself a glass from the punch bowl. Pinkie Pie bounced up to her and chirped, “Heya, Sweetie! Ooh, whatcha wearing?”
“Oh, this? I . . . borrowed this little thing from Rarity.”
Peering intently at the pearls as if they might explode, Pinkie remarked, “From Rares? Hmm, they look a lot like what I have in my . . .” Her blue eyes shrunk to pin-points. Catching herself a second later, she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. “Ohhhh, ha ha. No, I’m obviously mistaken.” Pinkie then disappeared in a Pinkie-shaped cloud of dust.
“What the hay?” asked Scootaloo. “Is she binging on coffee bean cupcakes again?”
Rainbow hovered over her biggest fan and remarked, “Yeah, she had to eat a ton of them in order to get a party this big up and running on time.” Landing between the fillies, Dash asked, “What was she getting bug-eyed about?”
Sweetie Belle held up a length of the necklace proudly. “Isn’t this thing great? I’ve been getting all kinds of attention because of it.”
Rainbow studied the necklace. A moment later, her lips began to curl upwards. “Ah-heh. Yeah. I bet you have. That’s not actually yours, is it?”
“Uh, no.” She looked away. “I borrowed it without telling Rarity. Please don’t say anything to her.”
She snickered. “Don’t worry, Sweets. Just knowing that the marshmallow owns something like that is enough for me.”
As the chortling Pegasus flew off, Sweetie shook her head. Maybe Rainbow needs to lay off Pinkie’s cupcakes before they mess her up bad.
A tan hoof tapped Sweetie on the shoulder. “It looks like everyone’s having a good time tonight,” said Ghost Pepper.
Sweetie’s eyes widened at the tan colt. His black mane and tail drifted in slow-motion, for young love/infatuation/stalking makes time dilate. Ghost’s eyes were as blue as the finest sapphires. His cutie mark was a red ball of flame, one that could keep Sweetie warm for a long, long . . .
“Sweetie Belle!” barked Applebloom. “Stop droolin’ and say hi before you spook ‘im!”
“Oh, right! Say, Ghost? Can we . . .”
“Those are the biggest pearls I’ve ever seen,” said the bedazzled colt. “They’re beautiful.”
Sweetie blushed. “Thanks. Heh. I was hoping you’d notice.”
Ghost Pepper flashed the pearliest whites Sweetie had ever seen. “Oh, you were hoping to get my attention tonight with them?”
“Is my plan working?” she asked, her inner fan-filly thinking, “Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.”
He nuzzled her cheek and waved a hoof towards the dance floor. “Perfectly. Let’s cut a rug, shall we?”
They danced every move they knew and invented a few more as the hours passed by like minutes. Infatuation, Sweetie noticed, never makes the good times last long enough. She only wished she could thank her big sister for the jewelry that got her noticed by her latest crush.
By the end of the night, however, the sheer weight of the jewelry was making the mare’s neck ache. She was, however, very grateful that it got her so much attention. Before she slipped it back into Rarity’s necklace box, she removed the connecting thread and gave the middle pearl a big kiss.
* * *
Two days later, Sweetie Belle was eating lunch at the kitchen table. Rarity sat down across from her and cleared her throat. Very loudly.
Sweetie looked up at a very testy older sister. Rarity asked, in a tightly controlled voice, “Sweetie, my dear, did you rummage through my things while I was gone?”
Feeling as if a block of ice whumped to the bottom of her guts, she confessed, “Y-yes. I’m sorry. They looked so pretty and I had to borrow them.”
“Are you fully aware of what that particular item . . . borrow them for what, exactly?”
“For the school dance. My own necklace snapped at the last minute and I had to borrow your pearls because they looked great with that dress you made me.”
Rarity blinked. “Pearls?” Her eyes wavered for a few seconds. “Oh. Yes. Of course. I hope they were a success.”
“Rainbow and Pinkie thought they were amusing.”
Rarity’s left eye twitched as she hissed in a deep breath. “Yes, we all shop at the same . . . venue. If you want to borrow my jewelry and I’m not around to ask, just grab something from my closet next time, all right?”
“Okay!” replied Sweetie, happy that she was going to live another day. “I’m going to visit Applebloom. See you later, sis!”
Rarity waved at her sister as she merrily trotted away. Breathing a sigh of relief about her little sister’s youthful obliviousness, she made a mental note to put a padlock on her nightstand drawer.
It would be few years before Rarity was ready to tell her little sister that Sweetie had unknowingly adorned her neck with Rarity’s anal beads.
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