Sweetie Belle felt the tears roll down her face the moment she got home. She slumped down, feeling the door’s grooves against her back. She buried her head in her hands. Her cheeks, round and red, burned with emotions she could hardly process.
“Sweetie Belle?”
She looked up and found her sister at the top of the stairs.
“Are you alright?” Rarity descended the steps and kneeled at her sister’s side. She brushed the tear away with her thumb.
Sweetie tore her face away. “Leave me alone.”
The older sister sighed but kept at her sibling’s side. “You know I can’t.”
“I said leave me alone!” Sweetie cried, pushing herself off and rushing up the stairs. Rarity followed only to run into a slamming door.
She tugged at the doorknob, finding it unlocked. However, she didn’t enter, knowing the situation needed some tact.
Returning a bit later, she cracked open the door. “Sweetie Belle? I drew a bath for you.”
The younger sister threw a pillow in her direction. It landed at her feet.
“The bath bomb’s already dissolving.” She leaned against the wall. “It’s the one with the pretty stars.”
Sweetie Belle stirred.
Rarity gave her younger sister privacy, retreating back to her room. However, she did listen for her sister’s soft steps on the carpet. She waited a few more minutes before knocking at the bathroom door.
“You can come in.”
Feeling her chest relax, Rarity entered the bathroom, carrying a few items in a little bag. She found her sister in the tub, her head and shoulders sticking out from the starry night sky.
“You look content,” the elder sister noted.
“I am,” Sweetie Belle said, sinking slightly deeper into the stars. “Thanks.”
“We’re sisters,” Rarity reasoned, pulling a few candles from the bag. “Think nothing of it. Now, swirl the water around a little.”
Sweetie Belle did as instructed, swinging her arms as if she were swimming in a finger painting. The galaxies bent to her will. Solar systems swirled at her fingertips.
Rarity lit the candles and set them on the window sill. She then put her focus on connecting her phone to a spotty bluetooth speaker she bought at the mall with her first dress commission. It held on for dear life but still sung love ballads powerfully. Now, it comforted her baby sister.
“I used to give you baths, you know,” Rarity mentioned.
“You did?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“Yeah.” Rarity laughed.
“What?”
“You were three. I had just turned eight,” Rarity said with a faint but forming smile. “I thought I could show my parents that I could be responsible.”
“And then what happened?”
“I used a whole bottle of bubble bath and flooded the tub,” Rarity admitted. “I couldn’t help it. You loved playing with the bubbles.”
The two sisters laughed together.
“Am I pretty?”
Rarity’s heart tore in half. “You’re beautiful,” she said without hesitating. “Any boy would be lucky to have you.”
Sweetie Belle sunk beneath the surface.