//------------------------------// // Emotional Corrosion // Story: Least Faithful Student // by Dexter Helix //------------------------------// "Ew!" Rarity turned her nose up at the filthy object she found in her sister's room. "What is this disgusting thing?" "That's my lucky rock! I found it yesterday!" "Well I won't be having it in my house." "Hey, give it back!" Sweetie-Belles asserted, standing on her hind legs and reaching for the rock that Rarity was levitating just out of reach. "Now dear, that's no way for a lady to talk." "You're just prissy because nopony in Canterlot likes your ugly dresses! Give it back!" Rarity was taken aback. "I swear, I don't know what's gotten into you, lately. Mom and Dad would be ashamed to hear the nasty things that have been coming out of your mouth all day!" "We all know you just play with your dumb fabric because you know nopony will ever love you enough to marry you... Because you're ugly!" "Sweetie-Belle!" Rarity shouted, "That is not an appropriate way to speak to your sister. I'm grounding you until our parents get home!" Sweetie-Belle imitated her sister mockingly and made a rude gesture, prompting Rarity to shut and lock the door. "What is wrong with that girl?" Rarity asked herself aloud, as she proceeded to take the 'lucky rock' out to the yard. She caught a glint of gemstone underneath the rugged surface and proceeded to turn the rock over magically, brushing away at the soft stone on the surface that crumbled off fairly easily. The object she revealed was a small sphere... not much bigger than a grape, decorated with finely cut gemstones. "Oh my... This looks like the work of a master artisan! Much more fabulous than I first thought... Oh this would look lovely as a centerpiece in one of my new dresses. Yes, I think I'll keep this." Rarity set to work immediately building a dress around the beautiful object. About thirty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?! What do you want?!" "Uh, it's AppleJack, Darlin'. Everything alright in there?" "Oh! Of course... Fine. Everything's just fine. Come in, come in." With a click, the door was unlatched. Rarity was sitting across the room, surrounded in untidy piles of clothing and other objects. It looked as though she had just gotten done tearing her own house apart looking for something. Her hooves were wrapped tight around a pile of fabric, and though she made occasional eye-contact with AppleJack, she kept looking back at whatever she was holding. "I was just..." AppleJack looked uneasily at the bundle in Rarity's hooves, to which Rarity responded by shooting back an intense glare. "Checkin' to see if you'd finished patchin' up my saddle bag." "Oh, that ugly thing, it's right over there." "Where?" "In that pile there." "Ah don't see it. Can ya show me?" "You ignorant, filthy, mud-pony! It's right in front of you, how could you miss it?!" "I guess I caught you at a bad time... I'll just be back, uh... later—" "How about you don't come back?" Rarity asked, as she levitated the bag into the air, and violently thrusted it at AppleJack. "Don't you even think about coming back here and taking what's rightfully mine!" "I wasn't thinkin' about anything like that, Ah swear!" "Out! Get out!" "Okay Rarity, fine!" Applejack wasn't even off the doorstop before the door slammed behind her. "Jeez, sometimes it seems like I'm the only sane pony in town!" At that moment, Derpy walked by holding something in her mouth. It made a strange ticking noise, that seemed to change in frequency as she swung her head in different directions. She abruptly turned left, for no apparent reason whatsoever, walking straight through someone's yard and trampling their flowers. Applejack tilted her head in disbelief. "Scratch that. I know I'm the only sane pony in town." "Oh, hi Applejack!" "Hey Derpy. Uh... You know you just destroyed somepony's garden, don't ya?" "Whoops! My bad! I didn't even see that there." "Can't you fly to do... uh... whatever it is you're doin'?" "Of course not, silly, that would light up my ticker like crazy!" "... Uh-huh..." "Have you seen anything strange lately? Like somepony doing really impressive magic?" "Nah." The ticker gave a high pitched squeal. "Ooh! Maybe it's you!" "Maybe I'm what now?" Applejack recoiled from the foreign object that Derpy was waving over her. "What're you tryin' to do to me, exactly?" "I'm checking to see if you're more magical than usual. Anything strange happen to you lately?" "Welp, something strange is happenin' right now." "Oh, what is it?" "Somepony's invading mah personal space." "Oh, do tell, who is it?" Derpy ran the ticker under Applejack's belly. Applejack just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Is this gonna be over soon?" "Yeah, you sound about normal. Maybe a little higher, but not what I'm looking for." "Ah have no idea what you're talkin' about, but it's makin' me uncomfortable." "Don't worry about it! Oh, I think your sister is a friend of my daughter!" "Oh yeah, your daughter is Dinky, right?" "Yeah, she and her friends came over to my house yesterday. I was going to show them one of my projects, but it wasn't working. It's working today, if they wanna come over and—" Derpy gasped, as her eyes crossed severely. "Oh my gosh!" "You okay sugarcube?" "Better than okay! Do you know where Apple Bloom is right now?" "I think she's back at home right now, why?" "I think she may be one of the most powerful ponies ever to have lived." "You are a strange mare, Derpy." "Thank you!" "Well right now, she's busy doin' her chores. Maybe you can come by and see her in a few hours." Derpy picked up the ticker and began swinging her head around again. The ticker was changing its frequency dramatically as she turned her head. After about twenty seconds, it went dead-quiet again. "It's the darndest thing..." "Well, anyway, I got mah saddlebag back from Rarity, and I really need to be getting home. Good seein' ya and all." "Oh, Rarity, isn't she Sweetie-Belle's big sister?" Derpy asked, as she moved abruptly towards the door. "Uhh... I don't think Rarity's in any mood to talk right now. She seems kinda stressed out. Must be doing work for some kinda important client or somethin'." "I'm sure she won't mind, I don't need to bother her anyway, just her sister." Derpy began heading towards the door. "Ah really don't think you ought to go in there!" "But my ticker is lit up like Manehatten at night! I'm sure this is the place!" "Don't say I didn't warn yah." "I won't!" Applejack gave one look back as she walked away. She'd never had a conversation with Derpy that lasted that long. In fact, they'd never exchanged much more than a hello. That was definitely not what she expected, to say the least. And what the hay was a ticker? "Rarity? Are you in?" Derpy rapped on the door with her hoof. Rarity answered without opening the door, "Really?! Must the entire town interrupt my work?" "I just want to see your sister." "Are you one of the Crusaders? I'm sorry to say that Sweetie-Belle is grounded at the moment for being an arrogant little brat." Derpy was distracted by the ticker making higher and higher-pitched noises. "I'm actually Dinky's mother... Your sister came over to my house yesterday and I wanted to see her." "Did that little hooligan break something?! Sweetie Belle!" "Oh, no, it's fine, I just need to ask her about something that happened yesterday. I'll only be a second." Rarity groaned. "Alright, I'll let you in." Once again, the lock clicked open. Derpy opened the door, shocked to see Rarity across the room, possessively guarding a pile of fabric. Rarity was equally surprised to see the unusual object Derpy held in her mouth, clicking and whistling for no discernible reason whatsoever. "What is that, exactly?" "It's my ticker! It helps me find magic." Rarity's expression faded from one of shock to one of worried confusion. "... Right. So, Sweetie-Belle's room is there on the left, and don't touch anything that isn't yours." "Oh-kay!" Sweetie-Belle's door unlocked magically and swung open as Derpy approached it, revealing Sweetie-Belle lying on her bed with her face buried in her forelegs, crying softly. She glanced up to see Derpy in the doorway. "Hi," she paused to sniff, "Miss Hooves." "What's the matter, Sweetie-Belle?" "I said really mean things to Rarity. I don't know why! I was just so angry..." "Aw, well, I'm sure she'll forgive you if you say you're sorry." "No she won't! Now she's being really mean to me. But I deserve it because I'm a bad sister!" "It's okay, muffin, you're not a bad sister, you just made a mistake. That's all. Everypony makes mistakes sometimes." "But I got angry over something so stupid! It was just a dumb rock!" Sweetie-Belle pressed her face into the bed." "I bet you'll feel better if you say you're sorry." Sweetie-Belle mumbled through the mattress, "Maybe." Derpy nudged Sweetie-Belle off the bed and directed her into Rarity's living room. "Rarity, your sister has something she'd like to say to you." A terrified Rarity looked up from what she was working on and shoved it behind the table to her right. She took on a rather threatening posture as she faced Derpy and Sweetie-Belle. "What? What now? Are you going to insult our mother too?" Sweetie-Belle was upset by Rarity's reply, but Derpy gave her a reassuring tap on the shoulder. "Well... I... I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean it." Rarity turned her nose up. "Why should I accept your apology?" "Because... because I love you!" Rarity blinked several times in rapid succession. Her posture relaxed a little bit before she shook her head. "No. I don't believe you." "But... but..." Sweetie-Belle's legs gave out underneath her as she began to cry again. Derpy bent down to reach her, but the filly had already picked herself up and started walking towards Rarity. Rarity recoiled at first, but a quick glance to her right encouraged her to move forward and stand her ground. A strong bolt of magic charged up on the end of Rarity's horn. The ticker, which Derpy had left in the next room, was screaming an awful high-pitched whine. Had Rarity let go, the beam of magical energy might have killed her sister right then and there, but she didn't. She just looked into Sweetie-Belle's eyes, her glare softening with her sister's every approaching step. Finally, Sweetie-belle rested her head against her big sister's side. The energy fizzled off of Rarity's horn as she tucked her head down to nuzzle her little sister. "I love you too." The two sisters stood there for a moment, embracing one another softly. "I'm sorry for what I said to you, too. I was out of line. That was no way for a proper lady to speak to her little sister." Rarity continued, with some difficulty, "And I suppose... you may have your rock back." Sweetie Belle looked up at her sister, "Thank you but... I don't think I want it any more. It's silly to think that some dumb rock could make me better at magic." "Well, that's fine. I was actually starting to--" Rarity gasped as she pulled the pile of cloth from behind the table. "Oh my, that's not nearly the same as I remember it... It's... nothing but a tacky little bauble! What was I thinking?" Derpy stared in awe at the object Rarity was pushing away from herself. That was exactly what she was after. "I'll get rid of that for you!" "Oh, I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble, you've already had to deal with our little falling out" Rarity said, levitating the object into a trash pail. "Now, didn't you have some question you needed to ask Sweetie-belle? Oh dear, I was so rude to you when you first arrived! Can I get you anything?" "No, I think I figured it out, actually. I just need--" Rarity interrupted, "No, I insist! you must be thirsty, let me get you something. Oh dear, I was so rude to Applejack earlier too. I have been having such a bad day today!" With Rarity and Sweetie-Belle distracted in the kitchen, Derpy grabbed the strange object from the trash can and tucked it into her saddlebag, with only a fraction of a second to spare before Rarity came back out with two glasses of fine cider. "Please, sit, get comfortable! I don't think we've ever sat down and had a chat, you and I..." "Oh, I'm just so busy, with my work, and taking care of Dinky." "Your daughter is just such a lovely filly! She's always a joy to have over. If you ever need me to look after her, don't hesitate to ask." "Thank you, she's my world, you know." Derpy replied, sipping the cider. "Oh I understand completely. Now... If you don't mind me asking... What's all this ticker business?" "Just a little side project... It's complicated." Sweetie-Belle chimed in, "Is it for your magic princess suit?" "Yes, it does have something to do with that." Rarity, with one eyebrow raised, looked at Derpy, then to Sweetie-Belle, and then back to Derpy. "What's all this about a suit? I didn't know you were into fashion." "No, not fashion..." "Well... What then?" "I'll just show you when it's done. It is going to turn some heads at Canterlot, though, that's for sure!" Derpy answered with a giggle, "Oh gosh. I'm supposed to go on my Noon mail-run in an hour, and I need to feed Dinky before then." "Well it was a pleasure having you over, you simply must come back some time. Or maybe we could have a spa day?" "You know, I've never been to the spa." "Well then, it's not even a question. I'll simply have to take you!" "Sounds wonderful. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow when I come through here with the mail." "Fabulous!" "Bye-bye!" "Tah!"