//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Sisterly Reassurance 
// Story: New Discoveries 
// by Phantom Shadow 
//------------------------------//

	"Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle!" a distant voice called out to her. It sounded very distant, yet so close. However, all she could see at the moment was black. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see the white unicorn standing over her.

Sweetie Belle's eyes fluttered as she slowly began to take in where she was at the moment. Her vision was still blurry and her head was aching like nothing she'd ever felt before. As she sat up, she looked around to see that she was in her own bed.

"What...what happened?" she asked, as she rubbed a hoof on her head where her small horn was protruding.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle! Thank Celestia you're alright!" exclaimed Rarity as she wrapped her hooves around her sister, "You fainted before and I was worried that you wouldn't wake up! I was just about to call Twilight Sparkle for help, but then you started stirring around so I knew you were alright."

Sweetie Belle continued to rub her aching head. "How did I get here? What happened?"

"I brought you here, of course. You fell to the floor after you told me about what had happened to you yesterday."

The realization hit her like a slap in the face as the memories came rushing back to her. Unsure of what to say, she gazed out the window to see Luna's moon hovering overhead.

"How long was I out for?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the moon.

"For a while," said Rarity, "I was really worried about you so I didn't leave your side until I was certain you were alright."

Sweetie Belle rested her head back on the pillow, hoping it'd ease the tension in her head. She started to feel her heart beginning to speed up as the worry she had felt earlier began coming back.

"Thanks for helping me, sis," said Sweetie Belle as she closed her eyes softly.

"It's quite alright, dear," she replied, "Are you hungry? How about I make you something to eat?"

Sweetie Belle only nodded, as Rarity turned and began walking of the room. Before she left, she smiled and said, "I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied, as she turned to her side, "I'll be right down."

"No, no," Rarity said, "I'll bring it to you. I need you to get some rest."

With that, she closed the door over and began making her way to the kitchen. When Sweetie Belle was certain her sister was out of earshot, she let out a loud groan.

"What am I going to do?" she asked, loudly enough for only her to hear, "It just can't be possible, can it? I mean, I've never felt this way about Scootaloo before. Why now, why all of a sudden? There's got to be a reasonable explanation for all this."

Unsure of what else to do, she lied on her back and stared at the ceiling. She began to think back to the events that happened yesterday. She recalled all the times before that, when her and her fellow Crusaders hung out, trying desperately to fit all the pieces of this strange puzzle together. Try as she might, she couldn't think of a single thing to justify her feelings for Scootaloo.

"Maybe Rarity's wrong," she said after a seemingly long moment, "Maybe this isn't love. Maybe it's just our friendship getting stronger or something. I mean, come on! Scootaloo is a filly, I'm a filly! It's just not logical for me to fall in love with-"

Before she could finish her thought, the door slowly crept open and Rarity walked in. Using her magic, she held a tray that consisted of a daffodil and daisy sandwich, a small glass of milk and a shiny red apple. She walked over to her and placed the tray on a bedside table.

"Here you go, Sweet'ums" she said with a smile on her face.

"Thanks," said Sweetie Belle as she picked up the sandwich and took a bite. As she ate, Rarity sat on her haunches, waiting for her to finish. It was apparent that she was really worried about her; either that or she was waiting for her to finish so she could begin some sort of interrogation session. She decided not to worry about the latter of the two; she had had a rough day already and dwelling on negative thoughts wasn't going to help.

When she finished eating, she placed all of her trash on the tray and rested her head on the pillow. She felt a little better now that she ate something, but she knew the brief relief wasn't going to last, even though she hoped it would.

"Alright, Sweetie," said Rarity, "Now I want you to get some rest. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow and I want you to be all rested up."

A lump began forming in her stomach. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I want to know more about this 'new friend' of yours, so we're going to talk about it tomorrow. Maybe you could introduce me to him."

"NO!" shouted Sweetie Belle, feeling the food she just ate ready to return into her mouth.

Rarity was taken aback by her sudden outburst. Quickly, Sweetie Belle decided to try and recover from it.

"I mean, don't you have a dress order you need to work on or something?" asked the nervous filly, "Surely you wouldn't have the time to talk to me and get it done, right?"

"Actually, it's funny that you brought that up," said Rarity, with a smile, "Because I was so worried about you when you fainted, I called the client and postponed the order until a later time."

"WHAT?" her small voice cracked.

"You see, Sweetie," she explained, lowering her head, "Ever since the ‘Sisterhooves Social’ we attended, I've been doing a lot of thinking and I came to a simple conclusion."

Sweetie Belle felt her stomach rumble in a very uncomfortable way.

"I swore to myself that I would never put my work before my family or friends again! You mean more to me than some dress that I can make in no time. Besides, there will always be more clientele at a later time. I mean, it's not like I cancelled the order or anything."

"You're too kind," Sweetie mumbled in a near sarcastic tone. She remembered when she made a big deal about the two of them spending more quality time together. Although she did enjoy spending time with her sister since then, it was only now that she began to regret it.

"I was going to ask you about it now, but given your circumstance, I had a feeling you wouldn't be too apt to talk about it," Rarity said, as she used her magic to levitate the tray, "So, we will talk about it tomorrow. Maybe you can introduce me to your new friend! Of course, if you do go see him, you'll need something presentable to wear, but we'll worry about that tomorrow!"

As she opened the door to the bedroom, she smiled and said, "I'm just so happy that you've fallen in love with somepony. You don't need to worry, dear. I'll do everything in my power to help you through this! Now, get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."

With that, she closed the door behind her, leaving her sister to get some rest. Sweetie Belle looked at the door, her heart racing and a feeling of sickness rushing over her.

"What am I going to do now?" she asked aloud, as she rested her head in her forehooves, "I can't tell her the truth but I can't avoid her either! There's got to be some way I can get out of this!"

Still feeling a bit dizzy from what happened earlier, she rested her head on her pillow and lay on her side. She didn't know what to do to avoid Rarity.

"Maybe she'll forget the whole thing by tomorrow," she said as she let out a soft yawn, "Maybe she'll be too wrapped up in some sort of project to remember."

With nothing else to do, she closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep, praying that she would be able to avoid whatever Rarity had planned for tomorrow.