Act One:
"In Your Own Little World"
Chapter Two:
"Unexpected Visitor"
“Miss Sweetie Belle...time to wake up.”
Sweetie Belle slowly opened her eyes and rolled over in bed.
“Not now Miss Feather Duster...can’t this wait?” she mewled, pulling her covers over her head in an effort to block out the bright sunlight streaming in through her window. There was a light purple aura and the covers were pulled back, to reveal a rather elderly looking unicorn maid.
“I’m sorry Miss Sweetie Belle, but your mother asks-” At those words, Sweetie Belle let out a groan of frustration and pulled the covers back over her head.
“No! I’m tired and I wanna sleep,” she protested, making a conscious decision to sound as cute as possible.
Miss Feather Duster simply rolled her eyes and pulled the covers away, revealing the small body of Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle let out an over dramatic sigh and looked Miss Feather Duster in the eye, being sure to make the cutest sad puppy eyes imaginable. Miss Feather Duster simply looked Sweetie Belle dead in the eyes, seemingly unfazed by the normally devastating weapon of mass destruction that was the Sad Puppy Face.
“Miss Sweetie Belle, your mother has specifically requested that you make yourself presentable.”
Sweetie Belle flopped back down on the bed, facing the ceiling. “Ugh! But why?! It’s so early!” she groaned. Miss Feather Duster cast a glance to the clock on the nightstand by the filly’s bed.
“Miss Sweetie Belle, it is 10:30 AM. I assure you that is not an abnormally early hour.” Miss Feather Duster said matter-of-factly. “Now, please Miss Sweetie Belle, lets get you ready.”
Sweetie Belle groaned in response and dragged herself out of bed. She shuffled over towards the bathroom in her room and set about brushing her teeth, combing her hair and all the other parts of her morning routine. Once she was ready, she was lead down the staircase into the palatial dining room. The only words that could properly describe the size of the room was ‘tremendous’. A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling in order to provide light for the room during the various dinner parties that were frequently held in the room (much to Sweetie Belle’s annoyance). However, at this moment, the room was completely empty, save for the familiar forms of her mother and father, seated at the end of the seemingly mile long table, eating their breakfast. Her father sat absorbed in the economic section of the newspaper, and her mother busied herself drawing up some new kind of design for a dress for her fashion line.
“Morning mom,” Sweetie Belle said as she sat down in her respective chair, which was at the opposite end of the table. Her mother simply waved a hoof dismissively as she continued to draw, occasionally crumbling up a piece of paper and tossing it behind her, causing a large pile of sketches to form on the floor. Another maid appeared and proceeded to toss the pile of papers into a wastebasket she held aloft with her magic, before trotting off to take care of something else in the home.
Sweetie Belle awkwardly went about idly stirred her porridge, dividing her attention between her parents, her food and her reflection in the polished wood of the table.
All of a sudden, her mother spoke up, her icy voice echoing slightly in the cavernous dining room. “Sweetie Belle, I assume you’re fully prepared to leave?”
Sweetie Belle looked up from her breakfast and tilted her head slightly. “What do mean ‘leave’ Mom? Where are we going?”
“I’m scheduled to appear at a fashion event in Manehattan, and as such I have decided to leave you with Rarity.” Her mother replied, not looking up from her drawings. Sweetie Belle’s shoulders sagged.
“But Momma, why there? Rarity hates me. All she does is glare at me and make me stay in that stupid guest bedroom all day while I’m there.” Sweetie Belle protested, only to be greeted by her mother glaring at her.
“Just because she’s being an unpleasant and intolerant child is no reason you should be one back. I’d like to believe that I’ve raised you better than that. That’s why we’re having you stay. To see what happens when you don’t listen to my advice. Understood?” Her mother replied, her voice the same icy tone as before, but this time with a hint of irritation, as if the very idea of Sweetie Belle disagreeing with her was repulsive.
Sweetie Belle quickly looked back down at her breakfast, knowing not to press the issue any further, lest she incur the wrath of her mother. “Yes mother...” was her only response.
“Good. Now finish your breakfast. We hope to get you there before noon.” her mother replied, her voice losing some of it’s iciness as she returned to her drawings.
///////////////////////
The limo ride over to Rarity’s house was a typically boring affair, with Sweetie Belle tucked in the back seat of the limo, idly watching the city fly by outside the window. The buildings were mostly the houses of the ultra rich that lived in this neighborhood. The neighborhood was the prestigious Cliff Side Estates, in which every home was built so that it was perched on the sides of Mount Canterlot, overlooking the city itself and the land below. Each home was spaced apart rather generously, so that one could see the other homes, but not what went on inside said home.
The home that they were heading towards was perched at the highest point in the neighborhood, overlooking the rest of the neighborhood below. The limo pulled up the driveway and Sweetie Belle’s father, Magnum, gave her a quick hug.
“Okay my little bell. Daddy loves you. Stay safe and be nice to your sister.” he said. Sweetie Belle nodded.
I’ll be nice if she is, Sweetie Bell thought gloomily. “Okay daddy.” she replied as she stepped out of the limo.
“Sweetie Belle! Come now.” Her mother called for her, beckoning her towards the large front door. Sweetie Belle nodded and walked towards her mother, dragging her large suitcase behind her. Her mother was now distracted by ringing the doorbell over and over again.
“Damned rebellious child, open the door.” her mother muttered under her breath, pushing the button for the doorbell over and over again. After a couple more rings, Pearl started to hammer her hoof into the oakwood door as well, interspersing it with a ring.
All of a sudden, the door knob started to jiggle, and Pearl’s hoof left the doorbell alone. The door opened to reveal the familiar form of Rarity. She was in a white t-shirt and black slacks, and her expression made it evident that she had hoped it was someone else knocking at the door, and she glared at Pearl and Sweetie Belle.
“Hello Rarity,” Pearl Belle spoke with the characteristically disinterested tone Sweetie Belle knew she used whenever speaking with Rarity. “How are you?”
Rarity visibly bristled at those words, shooting Sweetie Belle a death glare. “Why is she here?” she asked, sounding as if she were going to explode.
Sweetie Belle shied away slightly, as her mother simply rolled her eyes. “She’s staying here because I deem it fit. Or am I interrupting something?” her mother asked, eyebrow raised.
“Yes you’re interrupting something!” Rarity responded, waving a hoof in the air. “You are interrupting my ‘Me Time’! Can’t you harass me some other time?”
“If your precious ‘Me Time’ entails sleeping around with every stallion you see and playing around like a foal in your so-called laboratory, staining your coat with grease or some other horrible chemical, then I don’t think I’m interrupting anything world shattering.” Pearl replied very matter of factly as she pushed her way past Rarity.
Rarity, meanwhile stood by in shock as her mother pushed past her, with Sweetie Belle following close behind. Sweetie Bell gave her sister an apologetic look, but Rarity simply glared at her.
“After all, it’s not like Equestria needs another kind of toaster.” her mother chided, looking around the house with an expression of that of immense indifference.
“Is that all you think I do?!” Rarity spat back, quick to regain her lost venom. “I’ll have you know, Mother, that my supposedly ‘useless’ tinkering is working towards the advancement of ponykind! You yourself are using something MY company developed!” she pointed towards the phone held aloft in her mother’s hoof.
Her mother glanced at the phone dismissively. “Oh this old thing? I don’t even like it. The service is terrible and I hate the color. It simply doesn’t get the job done.”
Rarity grit her teeth. “Then get a different one...” she practically growled, desperately fighting the urge to explode in a tirade at the insufferable mare.
Her mother’s dismissive gaze turned back to her. “And waste seven hundred bits? Most certainly not.” Before Rarity could make a comeback, her mother had diverted her attention to the large widescreen television, which was still on, left hanging on a sports channel. “Oh this is new. I suppose another one of your toys broke your TV...again.” she turned back to Rarity, taking notice of the now limp cigarette in Rarity’s mouth. “And why must you insist on smoking all the time. Don’t you know it causes cancer.” she said bluntly.
Rarity bristled. She was growing tired of her mother’s constant belittling. “Because, Mother, I feel like it. Can’t I just do something I feel like doing without you constantly finding something wrong with it?!” she complained, growing sick of her mother’s criticisms.
Her mother simply shrugged and turned towards one of the various paintings hanging on the wall. “Alright then. Just don’t come crying to me when your lungs start to rot.”
Rarity held back a biting response and instead focused on the task at hoof. “Why in Equestria are you even here right now?” She asked, rubbing her forehead slightly.
Her mother didn’t even bother to shift her focus away from the painting on the wall she was studying. “Oh don’t be dense Rarity. Your sister’s here isn’t she? Connect the dots.”
Rarity glanced in the direction of Sweetie Belle, who had been left standing awkwardly in the foyer, next to her suitcase. The young filly simply shied away slightly and tried to smile, to which Rarity greeted with a vague sound of disgust. She turned back to her mother, who was now looking at another painting on the wall.
“But Mother...why is she here? You must have some better reason in your supposedly oh-so efficient mind then just to see me angry.”
Her mother looked back at her briefly before returning to the painting. “Obviously. I’m due to speak at a fashion conference in Manehattan-”
“Why not just get a baby sitter?” Rarity cut her off.
Pearl looked back at her again. “Too expensive.” she stated as if it were the simplest thing in the universe.
Rarity stood agog for a few seconds not sure how to continue. There was the sound of knocking at the door again, and the three unicorns looked towards the door.
“Well,” her mother asked, looking at her. “Aren’t you going to answer it? Or is that interrupting your so-called 'Me Time'?” she asked, her voice laced with sarcasm.
Rarity narrowed her eyes and walked towards the door, fiddling with the door knob for a second, opening it to reveal the somewhat stocky body of her father.
“Hello Rarity!” he beamed, spreading his arms wide and pulling her into an unexpected bear hug.
“Ugh...oh hello father...” Rarity choked out around his incredibly tight hug. Magnum released her from the hug and stepped inside the house. “Why are you here?” Rarity asked as she closed the door behind them as she followed him back inside.
“Oh I’ll be accompanying your mother to Manehattan,” he replied over his shoulder as he gave his youngest daughter and wife hugs, whispering something to Pearl about being left back in the limo.
“Father,” Rarity asked, walking up to him. “Why is Sweetie Belle here? I thought we discussed this...”
Her father looked at her quizzically. “Rarity didn’t your mother tell you?”
“She said it was ‘too expensive’” Rarity replied, eyeing her mother angrily. Her father’s response was rather unexpected.
“Well, yeah it was too expensive. I mean seriously, 40 bits an hour? Who would spend that kind of money on something that can be done for free! Why when I was a colt, my parents didn’t even pay half that!” Magnum replied, seemingly outraged by what he considered an outrageous price.
Rarity simply stared at him in shock for a few seconds before looking at her mother. Her mother had the same unimpressed look on her face as before.
“But I...” was all Rarity could manage in response. Magnum shook his head and walked up to her.
“Oh don’t be such a stick in the mud Rarity. Think of it this way: You’re alone too much,”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “I go to parties constantly and I have a live-in assistant, how does that qualify as ‘alone’?”
Magnum’s eyebrows lowered. “You know what I mean. Just try to have some quality bonding time with your little sis here, and she can maybe learn some of your mad skills with machines.” he said, smiling.
Rarity let out a long sigh. “Ugh...fine. How soon will you two be back?” she asked, looking back at her father. Her father pondered for a moment.
“Oh I don’t know....two days? Maybe a little longer. No more than a week, that’s a fact.” he finally replied. By this point, Pearl had made her way for the door and was now giving Sweetie Belle a quick peck on the cheek.
“Two days?! I can barely stand her for two minutes!” Rarity responded. Mangum simply smiled at her.
“Oh come my little diamond, don’t be like that. Just think of it as some quality bonding time, like I said, and everything will be fine. Trust me.” he said softly, giving her another quick hug. Rarity returned the hug as best she could, and Magnum then walked towards Sweetie Belle, giving her a tight hug as well.
“Bye my little bell. Be nice to your sister, okay?” he whispered in her ear.
“Daddy you already told me that,” she giggled. Magnum raised an eyebrow.
“I did? Well it must have slipped my mind. But just because I forgot doesn't mean you should. So be nice, okay?” he chuckled, opening the door for Pearl, who had already given Sweetie Belle a hug and a kiss. Once the door opened, Pearl stepped outside, followed closely by Magnum. Rarity and Sweetie Belle both smiled and waved, Rarity’s smile noticeably smaller then her younger sister’s. The two older unicorns stepped inside the limo and Magnum could be seen waving as the limo started off down the driveway.
Once the limo was out of sight, Rarity looked down at Sweetie Belle, the smile gone from her face, instead replaced by a cold look eerily similar to Pearl’s.
“Alright then it seems that I’m stuck with you for the next two days...” she turned around and beckoned for Sweetie Belle to go in the house. Sweetie Belle nodded meekly and followed Rarity inside. Rarity closed and locked the door behind them and walked over to the couch and flopped down on it, picking up the remote and flicking through the channels again.
“Um, what do I do with my bag?” Sweetie Belle asked, taking a moment to take in the rather spacious living room. The general decor was more modern looking than her mother’s house, with lots of glass windows, letting in tons of natural lights. Out one of the window stretched a view of Canterlot City below, and in the distance could be seen the rest of Equestria, stretching out for what seemed like an eternity. Sweetie Belle turned away from the window and looked back towards Rarity again expectantly, waiting for an answer for her question.
"Um, Rarity..." She asked again, this time trotting up next to her. Rarity eyed her disdainfully.
"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" Rarity grumbled as she flicked through the channels. Sweetie Belle continued to stare at her with the Sad Puppy Look. Rarity glanced at her.
“Stop making that face. You sleep in the guest bedroom. Just like every other time you’re here, understand?”
Sweetie Belle felt herself deflate slightly. “But I hate the guest bedroom. It’s tiny and doesn't have a television.”
Rarity gave her a frustrated look. “Then you can use this one. Just leave me alone okay. And no going in my workshop okay. Or my room. Got that?”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “Can I watch TV now? My show’s on. And Momma always lets me watch it.”
Rarity shifted in the seat, trying to keep herself from screaming. “Can’t it wait?”
Sweetie Belle switched to the Sad Puppy Face again. “Please....” she begged, seemingly trying to look like the most pitiful being in the universe. Rarity looked Sweetie Belle dead in the eye, determined not to let her will surrender to the invading forces of the Sad Puppy Face. She could feel the strength of her will slowly start to erode, as the attacking forces of cute grew in strength until her will finally crumbled under the withering assault.
“Ugh...fine. Watch your stupid show. What do I care...” Rarity muttered as she got up off the couch and tossed the remote to Sweetie Belle rather brusquely.
“Thank you!” Sweetie Belle beamed, hopping onto the couch and making her way to whichever channel her show was on.
Rarity simply grunted in response and trotted out of the living room.
Got to get back to work. She thought. Maybe if I just leave her she’ll leave me alone.
She walked towards the workshop, her mind returning to the failed experiment from earlier. As she wracked her brain for a solution to the problem, she entered the workshop, scanning her hoof print and stepping inside. She picked up her soldering gun again and pulled out the remains of the gem that had once powered the automaton. She chucked it asides, making sure it landed in the wastebasket (no use being dirty about it).
“Stupid crystal...” she grumbled, looking over the scattered blueprints and schematics for a possible solution. Her eyes landed on the design for the gem itself. The idea had been that she would cast a spell over the gem, which would cause a large amount of magic to be stored inside. Once that was done, the gem was (on paper at least) supposed to take the stored magic and convert it into energy to power the droid. However, whenever she tried to do so, the gem would be unable to handle the stored energy, and would, just as it had today, spontaneously combust in a shower of sparks.
As she brooded, her eyes wandered up to the calendar on the wall. The gears in her head started turning. Hadn’t Fancy Pants just called? And wasn’t she due to talk somewhere? A conference right?
She quickly trotted over to the intercom. “Script...what was that about South Griffinhiem?”
"Gimme a sec, gotta find my note pad..." He replied.
She could hear the sound of Written Script shuffling through papers, obviously trying to find the schedule in the “controlled chaos” of his office.
“Stupid notepad I just used you where’d ya go...” he muttered under his breath, not knowing that Rarity could still hear everything that was going on. “Ah-ha! Bingo! There you are!” More rustling papers.
“Okay found it! Yeah Fancy Pants wanted to know if you're still up for it, that’s why he called.” Written Script informed.
Rarity nodded, although she knew he couldn't see her. As much as she didn't like going to those stuffy conferences, maybe this time some time spent amongst ponies of a similar intellect as hers might be able to wake the muses for her and help solve her gem problem. Not to mention put some much needed distance between her and Sweetie Belle.
"You can tell Fancy that I will, in fact, be attending the conference."
“Okay then," Written Script replied, "I'll call him then."
"Thank you very much Script." Rarity chimed, happy to have a way of escape from the little imp that had decided to come and visit. “Well that’s one problem solved,” she muttered to herself, glaring at the waste bin the ruined crystal was in.
Letting out a sigh, Rarity's horn glowed, pulling out another cigarette, and, setting it alight, returned to work, being sure to turn up the music.