Dysphoria, Arc 1: Introductions

by thedarkprep


7. The Sister

7. The Sister

The excitement was almost palpable as Rose finished curling her mane. The process, which normally took her 30 minutes, had been expanded to take up a whole hour.

“Today I have to look perfect,” she thought to herself, stretching and releasing her curls to test their bounce. All in all, it had been a rather exhausting week, but the good points far outweighed the bad. After meeting Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, Rose had been filled with enthusiasm and anticipation of the likes she hadn’t felt in quite a while. She had not only been accepted, making three new friends, but she was now going to hang out with them. True, with every good thing there is something bad, and along with her new giddiness came a sense of apprehension. She had scoped out the restaurant they were going to be going to the night before and found it to be a quaint little place on the far corner of Ponyville. This calmed her nerves a bit; after all, the more one knows, the safer one is. Still, all the nerves in the world could not compete with the glee and delight that now enveloped her.

“Time for the dress,” she thought to herself. She had laid the dress out on her bed, but had ignored it while setting her curls. She now turned to it and examined it. The flowy green dress was the definition of elegance in Rose’s eyes, and was by far the most expensive thing she owned. She still couldn’t believe that Rarity had just given it to her. She placed a hoof on it, feeling the soft and strangely sturdy fabric of the dress.

“It’s real,” she thought to herself. Rose put it on, immediately feeling like a more regal mare than she could realistically hope to be. This dress was perfect. At first she had been concerned that it would look odd without any accessories or jewelry, neither of which she owned, since such an elegant dress seemed to demand them. However, now that it was on… it just felt right. She went through her closet to see if there was anything else she might need, like a scarf. After a moment she decided against it, simply grabbing her bag and walking downstairs.

She attempted to look over herself once again, hoping that she looked fine, but she could not really check, since the mirrors that came with the place had been broken not long after she moved in. She carefully stepped around the broken glass and readied to exit the apartment. She left through the backdoor to avoid the general traffic of ponies heading home, and ran to her rendezvous with a smile on her face.


“So I was ready to tell her I had been messing with her, so I decided to do something that made it obvious that I was trying to get on her nerves on purpose. I grabbed this giant wig that I had laying around the shop from a comical old style costume and I put it on her. Fighting the giggles was near impossible, but I managed, and wouldn’t you believe it, she actually kept it on and asked me what was next!” The table erupted in laughter at the end of Rarity’s story, with everyone involved being in hysterics, with the exception of the cyan pegasus.

“Oh ha ha, I figured it out after you put the pink bow on me,” replied Rainbow Dash.

Rarity fought to regain some breath. “Only because I started laughing once I had put it on you!” Another round of laughter erupted.

Eventually even Rainbow joined in. “It was pretty funny.”

They had all arrived on time at the restaurant and had immediately received a table, thanks in no small part to Rarity and the influence she had around town. Each of the girls was wearing elegant dresses of Rarity’s own design, which she had made for when they attended the Grand Galloping Gala. They once again complimented how Rose looked in her dress, causing her to blush. After making small talk, each of them went in turn talking about their day. The conversation dwindled down as their dinner arrived, an exquisite assortment of cooked salads and carrot stew. After dinner the conversation started up again, eventually leading to Rarity’s anecdote.

“So, darling, how do you like Ponyville?” Rarity asked, changing the topic before she could be overtaken by another fit of giggles.

Rose had to think on this question for a while.

“It’s nice. Everything about it is nice. The weather, the scenery, the ponies... It’s very nice and welcoming,” Rose responded.

“Well we’re glad you think so. I must say hanging around you has been such a blast.”

The conversation shifted towards their plans for the rest of the week, among other things, until the waiter arrived with the dessert menu.

“Are any of you fine fillies ordering dessert today?” asked the waiter.

Rose began to scan the menu when she heard Rarity speak, “No no, just the checks please.” Rose looked at her inquiringly. Rarity showed that she noticed but waited until the waiter had collected the plates before explaining.

“We have somewhere else to take you, and trust us: you’ll want to save room for dessert.”

This raised a couple of questions, but the checks arrived before Rose had a chance to voice them. She looked over the check finding the total amount of her meal, cringing on the inside. She opened her bag, locating a smaller bag inside which she kept her bits. She pulled out the proper amount, which was more bits than she had ever spent on a meal.

“I did not expect to spend as much as I did,” she thought to herself. However, as she looked at the table and listened in to Rainbow Dash’s conversation with Fluttershy, her worries faded away. “Obviously I can’t do this too often, but it was certainly worth it.”

Having paid, the ponies exited the restaurant under the cover of moonlight. A slight breeze brushed their manes as they walked towards the town.

“Um… So where are we going?” asked Rose.

“Oh, we’re going to the most delightful little pastry shop called Sugarcube Corner. It’s that place I asked if you had been to last time we talked. I know you will absolutely love it!”

Rose tensed up a bit.

“Isn’t that near the Market Square in the middle of Ponyville?”

“Yes, is that a problem?” asked Rarity. Rose stared into the distance, taking a deep breath before answering.

“Kind of… You see, remember how I said it’d be a bad idea if I run into my brother. Well, he and his friends…”

“You worry too much, Rose,” interjected Rainbow Dash.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Rainbow responded with a smile. “We sent somepony ahead to check to see if Script was home or anywhere near here. Had he been, somepony would’ve stopped us along the way. That means that everything is safe.”

“Wait, you what?”

“Darling, you specifically told us you did not want your brother knowing you were in town, so all we did was make sure that him finding out would not happen,” said Rarity.

“You made sure without wondering what the problem was underneath.”

“We figured if you wanted to tell us you will, and if not then it’s none of our business. Still, that’s no excuse to not enjoy a delicious cupcake.”

Rainbow Dash said, “Besides; it’s a little late to back out now. We’re here.”

Rainbow pointed at the building they were standing in front of. Because of the conversation, Rose had not noticed that they had traveled deep into the center of Ponyville. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash entered the store with Rose not far behind, lost in her thoughts.

She analyzed what had just happened. Rose had made wonderful friends who had gone out of their way to make sure she felt welcomed. She had trusted them with a piece of information and they had not only kept their curiosity at bay, but had used that information to plan accordingly to ensure that no unexpected mishaps messed up her day. She was so lost in these happy thoughts that nothing could drag her down to reality.

“Script?”

Almost nothing.

Her heartbeat tripled and a cold sweat ran down her neck as soon as she heard that voice, euphoria crashing around her. Anxiety turned to fear as she saw Applejack standing there, eyes wide in shock. That fear turned into panic when she noticed the pony to Applejack’s right.

“Slant?” Twilight asked, “Is that you?”