Like Shattered Glass
by Arwhale
There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Celestia's sun had just begun to peek over the horizon, briefly coating the sky in whitish gold before fading away into blue. The crisp, early spring air was shedding the trees of their flowers, blowing petals of various colors around in swirls like a school of fish swimming in the ocean. There was not a stir yet in little Ponyville, as the Saturday morning was still young.
Not a stir, that is, but the faint chatter of a sewing machine.
While Rarity always appreciated the value of beauty sleep, she was no stranger to all-nighters. Her mane was disheveled and messy, matted together with sweat from working all night long. Working with the daintiness and care of a true artist, her eyes never lost focus through the lenses of her working glasses and her hooves never slipped or made a mistake, despite her fatigue. A row of mannequins off to the side were fitted with a series of dresses she had made in a period of only one weekend, her latest fashion line for an exhibition in Canterlot only a day away. She was on her last ensemble now, stitching the intricate design together with intense concentration.
The sun aligned itself with her window as it climbed above the horizon, pouring light right onto her working table as she sewed the last part of her dress together. Rarity flinched as the light blinded her, bringing a hoof up to her eyes to shield them. She carefully used her other hoof to guide the fabric, putting the finishing stiches on her dress and sighing with relief as she finished her work. She looked over to the window, taking note of the sunrise, and sighed again, this time with exhaustion.
Looks like yet another night without sleep. You really need a vacation, Rarity.
The door to the guest room opened down the hall from her workroom. Rarity turned her head to the sound, hearing little hoofsteps coming down the hallway. Sure enough, the head of her little sister poked through the doorway, and she walked in to the room. Rarity regarded her with a puzzled expression, hovering her newly made piece over to an empty mannequin.
"Well, you're certainly up early today." She placed the dress with great care on the mannequin. "Did you sleep well?"
Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Not really…" She yawned. "What about you? You're up even earlier than me."
Rarity shook her head, smiling a bit. "Actually, I've been up all night working…"
"Again?" Sweetie Belle's voice cracked with astonishment. "That must be like, the third time this week!"
Actually, it was the fourth, but Rarity didn't want to correct her sister on that fact. She sighed.
"Yes, yes, I'm aware." She adjusted the dress so it looked perfect on the mannequin, "But this exhibition is the perfect way for me to get myself noticed in Canterlot. All the biggest names in fashion and design will be there to see my work, and it would be a crime not to take advantage of the opportunity to show them my talents!"
Sweetie Belle yawned again, and mumbled under her breath, "Yeah, but not getting any sleep is a crime, too."
Rarity heard her sister's remark and rolled her eyes, smiling. Her sister was right of course, but still…
"I know, I know. I promise, Sweetie, as soon as I get the chance, I'll get some sleep. But I'm simply just too busy at the moment. Surely you can understand."
Rarity looked at Sweetie Belle with pleading eyes. Her sister frowned, but relented, still showing her disapproval by staring at the floor.
"Oh, okay. But I still don't like it," she gave her last two cents with a pout.
Rarity exhaled deeply, wiping her eyes and fighting the urge to close her eyes and fall asleep right there. "Neither do I, Sweetie Belle. Neither do I."
Sweetie Belle went back to the door, calling back, "what do we have to eat for breakfast? I'm so hungry I could eat a..."
Rarity wasn't paying much attention, and so she interrupted her mid-sentence.
"Yes, yes, I have some cereal and milk in the refrigerator downstairs. Sorry, but I'm just not in the mood for making a big breakfast today, Sweetie Belle. You understand, don't you?"
"That's fine with me," she replied, "If I stayed up all night long, I probably wouldn't want to do much of anything, either."
Sweetie Belle's words were well-meaning, but her tone retained a hint of irony and bitterness which her elder sister noticed right away. Rarity shot her a disapproving glance.
"Point taken, Sweetie Belle," she said with an irritated sing-song voice, "I promise I'll get a good night's sleep tonight. Okay?"
"Okay, fine." Sweetie Belle was already on the stairs. Rarity waited until the hoof steps had receded before shaking her head, saying to herself, "That filly is simply impossible!"
But still, she knew her sister was right. It was very unhealthy to do what she was doing for even one night, let alone three… four. She groaned.
At least her lineup looked fabulous. She stepped back and admired her handiwork. She had two dresses for each season, making a total of eight. For each pair, one was a more conventional style of dress, and the other, a more extravagant, or, as Applejack would say, "Frou-frouey,"outfit. For the grand finale, she had even made the dress she had initially intended for Twilight's birthday in Canterlot, and it stood prominently at the front of the row. With this display, she was sure to be noticed at the exhibition. She smiled proudly.
"Hey Rarity, which cupboard is the cereal in?" Sweetie Belle called upstairs from the kitchen. She hadn't realized it, but she'd been standing there for almost five minutes. She shook her head, as if waking up from a trance.
"Hold on, I'm coming, Sweetie Belle." Rarity took one last look at her creations, and closed the door to her workroom.
…
"Wait, I don't understand… what's the problem?"
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes at Scootaloo, who was walking beside her with Applebloom down Center Street.
"The problem is that my sister never has any time to relax! She's always working, no matter what. She never sleeps!" Sweetie Belle's voice cracked again with a frustrated shout, startling her friends on either side of her. She imitated Rarity's voice now, "'Oh, Sweetie Belle, I'd love to, but I have to make this dress for an extremely important designer in Canterlot! I'm so sorry, little sister, but I have to make a new line for an exhibition next week that I simply cannot afford to miss! I've got this thing and that thing and I can't just sleep! You understaaaand, don't you?'"
Sweetie Belle's impression was pretty spot on, and it elicited a smirk from Scootaloo. Applebloom, on the other hand, was not smiling at all.
"Ah'm sure she knows what she's doin', Sweetie Belle…" the farm filly began. Sweetie Belle, however, cut her off before she could say anything further.
"And that's the worst part! She knows what she's doing, and she's still doing it anyway! And now I can't sleep because I'm worried about her not sleeping, and…"
Sweetie Belle groaned, kicking the dirt with her hoof with frustration. Her two friends walked silently, unsure of what to say. Finally, Applebloom spoke up.
"Rarity runs her own store… ponies get busy sometimes when they run their own places. She's probably just goin' through a busy time, that's all. Me an' Applejack are up till Celestia knows when making cider during Cider Season. She's probably just going through a busy time, that's all," she said, smiling nervously.
"Well, yeah, but she… but…" Sweetie Belle stuttered, taking Applebloom's words into consideration.
"Applebloom's got a point, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo added, "I mean, it's cool that you care about her and all, but you worrying about her isn't gonna do much. You just gotta let her do her thing."
"But… but I…" Sweetie Belle tried to protest, but in vain. She knew her friends were probably right. She sighed. "Oh, okay. I guess. But I still don't like it."
With this said, none of the fillies spoke to one another for quite some time. Scootaloo, being the one most easily bored, was the first to pop the question, "So… what are we going to do today for our cutie marks?"
Both of the other fillies shrugged. Neither of them seemed especially eager to start planning their next excursion, their spirits still a bit dampened by the sad nature of their last conversation. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
"Come on, guys. You comin' up with anything?"
More shrugs. Scootaloo sighed.
"Gee. You guys sure are no fun today," she said with a groan. Sweetie Belle sighed.
"I dunno. I'm just not in the mood for doing any crusading today, Scoots." She sulked, idly kicking a pebble with her hoof, watching it bounce down the dirt road, knocking up little puffs of dust and dirt with each bounce. Scootaloo bumped Sweetie Belle playfully with her side.
"Aw, come on, cheer up, Sweetie Belle! I know you're still worked up about your sister and all, but you're starting to get me a little worried. You sure nothing else is going on?"
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, looking up from the ground at Scootaloo with an annoyed glare. "Yes, I'm sure. Like I said before, I haven't been sleeping much lately. I'm just tired."
"Well, you know what'll cheer you up?" Asked Scootaloo, trying, and failing, to liven Sweetie Belle's spirits. "Some good ol' fashioned Cutie Mark Crusading! I'm sure you'll forget all about being tired once you start doing something."
Sweetie Belle didn't reply. Scootaloo frowned. Applebloom, who had been silent for a long time, finally piped up from Sweetie Belle's other side.
"We could try doing something nice an' easy… something that wouldn't be too hard to do. You know, cuz Sweetie Belle isn't feeling so good."
"Watcha got in mind?" said Scootaloo, happy that at least one of her friends wasn't down in the dumps today. Applebloom thought for a second, tapping her chin with her hoof.
"I dunno… kickball?" She suggested. Sweetie Belle was not responding, but Scootaloo looked over at Applebloom with a skeptical expression.
"We've already tried kickball… haven't we? I mean, we have, right?" Scootaloo asked, unsure. Applebloom shook her head.
"Nope. Never tried it before," she replied with confidence. Scootaloo was surprised.
"Huh. Wow. You would think that after doing stuff like hang-gliding, skydiving, and water-skiing, we would have tried out kickball…"She reflected, laughing sheepishly. She nudged Sweetie Belle with her hoof. "What do you think, Sweetie Belle?"
The little unicorn gave yet another shrug, kicking a second pebble down the road. "I don't care. Fine by me."
Scootaloo needed no more encouragement to get started. She clapped her hooves, rubbing them together with anticipation.
"Right, now where can we get a good ball?"
…
There was an open expanse of field behind Rarity's Carousel Boutique that the girls found suitable to their needs, and so they set up there. They had managed to acquire a nice ball from Lickety Split, but had to resort to improvising bases out of sticks, reserving a large, flat stone for home plate. Scootaloo drew a line in the ground with her hoof right in the center point between all of the bases, marking the pitcher's mound, and placed the ball right in front of the line. She called out to Sweetie Belle, who was standing at the home plate, "Are you ready?"
The unicorn filly shook her head. "Nah. I don't really want to play."
Scootaloo groaned. "Come on, Sweetie Belle! I'm sure you'll have fun if you just try!"
Applebloom agreed. "Yeah! Who knows, maybe this'll actually be the day you get your cutie mark!"
Sweetie Belle, however, was not exactly optimistic. She shook her head. "Yeah, right. That's what we said the last 30 kazillion times."
Applebloom was not ready to give up on her friend just yet. She knew it was probably a lost cause, but she was going to try her best to make her friend feel better. She walked over to the big rock that served as home plate. "Here, I'll go first."
Applebloom stepped up to the plate… or rock… and readied herself for the pitch. "Let 'er rip, Scoot!"
Scootaloo nodded. "Okay, here it comes!"
The little pegasus went back a few steps, buzzing her wings to give her a little extra speed, and ran forward, hitting the ball with the top of her head and sending it rolling over the grass. Applebloom waited until the ball was almost at home plate, charged forward, and kicked out with her front hoof as hard as she could.
She completely missed the ball. It rolled and bounced past her hoof, and the momentum of her body caused by the poorly-aimed kick sent her stumbling forward, face-planting into the dirt with a startled yell.
Scootaloo bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, looking down to keep Applebloom from seeing her smile at her expense.
The yellow filly looked up, wiping the grass and dirt from her face. Despite Scootaloo's best efforts, it was obvious to Applebloom that she was trying not to laugh. She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh," said Applebloom, cracking a smile.
"Laugh? I'm not, I'm not laughing, I'm…" Scootaloo cracked up, no longer able to hold it in, tears trickling down her face. "Hahahaha! Oh man, you should've seen yourself! Hahaha!"
Scootaloo fell over onto her side, kicking out with her back legs and clutching her abdomen with her forehooves, laughing hysterically. Applebloom joined in the merriment, laughing at herself with Scootaloo, and pretty soon both fillies' sides were hurting as they rolled around on the grass.
Sweetie Belle couldn't help but smile. She was still not in the best of moods, but watching her friends having fun seemed to rub off on her a little bit. Still, her usual optimism hadn't yet returned, and when Scootaloo and Applebloom stopped laughing, a frown had returned to her face. Scootaloo walked over to the pitcher's mound, pushing the ball over to the spot with her head.
"Okay, Sweetie Belle. You're up." The pegasus filly pointed at the rock marking home plate with her hoof. The other filly, to Scootaloo's chagrin, shook her head.
"Nah. I'll probably just do what Applebloom did anyway…" She held her head low, drawing a circle in the grass with her hoof. Scootaloo groaned.
"Aww, come one, Sweetie Belle! At least try to have a little fun!" She stamped the ground with her hoof, exasperated but worried for her friend. Applebloom tried to make light of the situation, walking over to Sweetie and punching her playfully on the shoulder.
"Yeah, Sweetie Belle. I mean, it's not like you can possibly do any worse than me. Seriously." She giggled, using her head to push Sweetie Belle over to the plate. "You've got nothin' to worry about."
Sweetie Belle put up a struggle against Applebloom's push, but the other filly was stronger from her days working at the farm, and pretty soon Sweetie Belle was standing on home plate. The unicorn gave Applebloom a dirty look, but stayed in place.
"Alright, you ready?" called Scootaloo from the middle of the field. Sweetie Belle groaned.
"Oh, okay, fine. I'll play." She finally caved. Scootaloo took a few steps back, and prepared to hit the ball.
"Okay!" Scootaloo hit the ball with the top of her head, sending it bouncing toward home plate.
To Sweetie Belle, the ball seemed to be moving one frame at a time as all of her irritation and frustration was rapidly coming to a boiling point. She didn't know why she was feeling so angry, but all she knew was that the little, bouncing red ball was about to feel her wrath.
The unicorn filly ran forward, and with a loud shout, jumped up, turned around, and pushed off of the ground with her forelegs, kicking out with her back hooves as hard as she could.
Both hooves connected, and the ball sailed through the air, well over Scootaloo's head and far out into the outfield. Scootaloo and Applebloom's jaws dropped open, their eyes riveted to the ball that was high up in the sky, watching it move in a massive arc, zooming off into the distance…
And straight into the top window of the Carousel Boutique.
All three fillies heard the unmistakable sound of shattering glass. In an instant, all of Sweetie Belle's pent up anger left her, and she turned around, cringing, to see the broken window of her sister's shop from far away. Her heart skipped a beat.
"Oh no…" Sweetie Belle stood there on the field, momentarily shocked. Her other two friends couldn't do or say anything either, their eyes fixed on the morbid sight.
Sweetie Belle broke out into a run, galloping toward the Boutique. Fear began to tie her stomach in knots as she neared the entrance. Surely it couldn't have gone through that window…
"Oh no," she said again, tears springing to her eyes. She burst through the front door, the little silver bell on the door ringing out in mockery of her plight. Sweetie Belle ran up the stairs, making a beeline for her sister's workroom.
The door to the room was already open. Sweetie Belle ran in, skidding to a halt, short of breath from her running. Her heart stopped.
Lying on the floor was the entire lineup of dresses Rarity had made for the exhibition. The ball had stricken the first one in the lineup, and they had all fallen over in a domino effect, some of them ripped and frayed at the seams as the fabric caught onto other things in the fall. A few of them looked totally ruined.
And there, standing next to it all with eyes that burned hotter than embers, was Rarity.
Sweetie Belle could sense her sister's rage which was almost tangible in the air. There was all of her hard work and sleepless nights, lying in tatters on the floor of the workroom. And it was all her fault.
"Rarity… I'm… I, I'm sorry…"
"Get out."
Rarity's voice was cold. Unmoving. Uncaring.
Sweetie Belle's tears flowed down her cheeks in rivulets, her whole body shivering in fear and sorrow. "Please, sis, I didn't mean… we were just playing, and I—"
Rarity whirled around, her tired, bloodshot eyes burning with more vehemence and anger than Sweetie Belle had ever seen. Rarity marched slowly toward her whimpering sister, who was taking a step back with every step Rarity took toward her.
"Oh, shut up," she hissed. Sweetie Belle silenced herself, shrinking back.
"Why is it that whenever I try to do something, you've always got to be there to ruin it? You destroy all of my work, my entire line, with your stupid, childish games, and you honestly think I care that you're sorry? After everything I worked on, you expect your little 'sorry' to cut it?" She raised her voice, stomping on the floor with her front hoof and causing her sister to jump back.
Sweetie Belle fought back sobs, her whole body shaking. Never, not even during their argument during the Sisterhooves Social, had she ever seen Rarity like this. The poor filly was terrified.
"Please, Rarity, I-I-I can help—"
"I don't want to hear anything," she growled, silencing Sweetie Belle immediately. "I don't care about your excuses. I don't care how sorry you are, I don't care what you do! I don't care if you leave here and never come back! I don't care!"
Sweetie Belle was now standing right in the doorway, her nose and Rarity's almost touching. The little filly was frozen to the spot. Rarity's scream could be heard up and down the street.
"GET OUT!"
And on this last command, Sweetie Belle turned around and ran away, bawling her eyes out.