Prequel to the Sequel
It was around lunch time on the day of the Sisterhooves Social, the day upon which big sisters and their little siblings worked together in a competition for fun, laughs, and even a blue ribbon prize for the winning team. The whole event was centered on the idea that siblings should love one another and see the good in each other.
Sweetie Belle had heard about the event from Apple Bloom, and was very eager to please her big sister Rarity, so that she would agree to go with her to the event.
But everything she did in an attempt to make her sister happy seemed to backfire. She attempted to cook breakfast for her big sis, only to have the resulting fire nearly burn the boutique down. Then she washed Rarity’s laundry in an attempt to appease her angered sister, only to destroy her most valued sweater. Rarity was furious at her incredibly inept little sister, but loved her, so politely asked for her to do something that wouldn’t cost her hundreds of bits to repair or replace.
“Sweetie Belle, how about you go draw me a picture or something while I go back to working on my dresses? I have a very important client who will be visiting tomorrow.”
“Sure thing Rarity, I’ll make the bestest picture ever!”
And with that, Rarity left her little sister unattended…..Until she realized that her box of diamonds was missing
“Drats, I think I left my diamonds in the other room. Oh well, I’ll just go ahead and get them”
Walking into the other room where she left her little sister, she trotted over to the chest, only to realize that it was suddenly empty.
“Erm…..Sweetie? You wouldn’t happen to know where my priceless, irreplaceable gems have gone, would you?” She dreaded to hear the response, but turned around slowly to see that her little sister had glued them to a piece of paper in the shape of a heart.
“Ta-Da!” Said Sweetie Belle…..But her big sister was far from excited to see her work.
“You….You mean to tell me that you used my entire stock of priceless, irreplaceable, non- warranted gems in an art project, thus completely ruining their value?”
The smile on Sweetie Belle’s face had completely disappeared as she gazed up at her big sister. If Pinkie Pie were as furious as Rarity was at that very moment, steam would have been coming out of her ears and making the cartoonish whistle sound. (Luckily for the both of them, Pinkie was completely unable to reach such levels of furiousness, however.)
“Well, I-I think so, but I didn’t mean to!”
“That is the final straw, all you do is ruin everything I own. Without those gems, I will never be able to complete the new dress for my client!” Rarity yelled at her sister, putting the fear of Celestia in the little filly. “How you could even be related to me, I will never understand! What do I even need a little sister for?!”
“I don’t know, but if you don’t think you need a little sister……Then I don’t think I need a big sister either! I’m going to my clubhouse!” And with that, the little unicorn ran out of the room, crying. Rarity huffed and walked over to the picture, looking down at it for a moment, but feeling no remorse for her actions due to the argument being so recent. She then pried the valuable gems from the paper and did her best to complete the dress.
The next day, Photo Finish visited her house to check on the dress she had ordered. “Rarity, I am here for mein dress. Have you made ze magics?“ Photo had always been difficult to understand, thanks to her German accent, but Rarity had been working with her long enough to not have a problem with it.
“Oh, yes darling, I have the dress right here. Please overlook some of the gems, my foolish ex-sister ruined them with glue.” Photo looked at the dress and smiled happily with her large, goofy glasses on.
“Ah, you indeed worked ze magics on zis dress! Yet another vunderful dress from mein star designer. Rarity, how would you like to be mein go-to gal, for when I need ze magics?”
“Oh my, of course! I would love to, it would be an honor!” Rarity said as she smiled and put her little sister out of her memory.
“Good, zen you will be making mein most fabulous dresses. Keep an eye on your mailbox, I’ll be sending mein first order soon!”
With that, Photo Finish left with her dress, leaving Rarity alone in her boutique.
From then on, she spent most of her time constructing dresses for Photo. Over time, her little sister became a distant memory, and the only item she had to remember her by was a single picture on her dresser.
*A few days later*
“You know, Rarity. They say that all work and no play makes for a dull pony” said her friend Twilight, who would pay her a visit every so often to check up on the recently introverted designer.
“Twilight, I hardly see you as one who should criticize me for taking some alone time. You spend all your time studying. At least I am making the front page of all the latest fashion magazines by making these dresses!”
“What magazines?” asked Twilight.
“Well…..Erm….I haven’t seen them myself, but Photo says my dresses are all the rage in Canterlot.”
Twilight shook her head and politely left her friend alone to work on her recently all-consuming job. Rarity’s friends had become concerned about her recent change in mindset, but they all thought that giving her some space would be the best idea.
*3 weeks later*
While she kept herself busy with her work, alone in the quiet, solemn shop of hers, Rarity started to lose that magical feeling of pride that came with creating wonderful dresses over time. Eventually it had come to the point where she would sigh and glace over to the picture of her family that she had once known and loved.
“What is this odd feeling that I keep getting? It’s…..as if I feel like something is missing around here…..But what?” Rarity said as she turned off her machine and walked over to the mirror to see that she looked the same as always: immaculate. “Well….it can’t be my looks. I look as dashing as ever!”
Looking around the shop, things were the same as they always were. Nice and quiet, just like she had grown accustomed to. “Hmm…. Perhaps all I need is a little sunlight?” she said as she walked over to a window and pulled the curtains aside, only to pull back and squint her eyes, having not seen the sun for a few days.
“Oh my, I had forgotten that the sun was so….bright!” she said, closing the curtains to stop the wretched beams of light from coming into her home. “Perhaps I’m better off in the darkness. I mean, Applejack and her family practically live in the sun, and look how they turned out.”
Later on that day, she went into the kitchen to check on her cat, but couldn’t find the little feline anywhere. “Opal! Come out, come out wherever you are!” She said as she shook a can of cat food, which would normally cause her cat to come rushing into the kitchen to eat. But this time, the cat was just…..gone.
“Where could that ungrateful cat have gone?”
She searched high and low throughout the house, but to no avail. It seemed as if Opal had simply vanished into thin air…. Of course, that was not really the case, but for Rarity, it might as well have been.
She gave up the search for her cat after 3 days, assuming that it would come around when it was ready to be fed.
Time continued to crawl by, nothing seeming to change except for Rarity’s growing feeling of superiority alongside her encroaching loneliness.
*5 months later*
Completely and utterly isolated from the outside world, she started to feel the need for companionship, like most normal ponies would. However, due to her lack of interaction with others for such a long time, she wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. All the stallions in Ponyville just seemed to be so inferior to her grandeur, as they were so unsophisticated and could never seem to appreciate the importance of her high-quality outfits.
The whole situation seemed so hopeless, and after a few weeks of searching, Rarity finally gave up on the prospect of finding a stallion as classy as herself. Giving in to the loneliness, she started to sink into depression that continued to grab a firmer hold on her as time passed, until her friend Pinkie showed up one day with an invitation.
“Hey Rarity, long time no see! I don’t know if anypony told you, but the Gala is coming up next week, and we would all be so super-duper excited if you would come with us!”
“Hmm…The…The Gala is coming?” Rarity asked inquisitively, having let time slip by her recently.
“Of course, it’s gonna be fun, and there’s gonna be lots of cake, and dancing, and ballons, and-“ Pinkie continued to list nearly every single detail of the event while Rarity got the idea that perhaps it would be a good idea to go, since it would take place in Canterlot. Who knows? She may be able to find her a refined stallion there.
“-and even a giant gorilla!” Pinkie paused to take a deep breath, but Rarity put a hoof gently against her mouth
“No need to go on, Pinkie. It sounds like quite a fun event, and I would be happy to attend. Let the girls know that I shall be accompanying you.”
Pinkie jumped for joy and confetti appeared magically because that was just how this pink filly rolled. She gave Rarity a tight hug and then bounced off on her way, leaving her reclusive friend to prepare for what may be a turning point in her life.