Despite the fact that it was the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday, Carousel Boutique was completely empty when Rainbow Dash walked in. Looking around the lifeless space, Dash saw that the showroom was now in pristine condition. While there wasn't any evidence that anypony was present this day, the Boutique certainly looked better than it did before Rarity went on that date with Thunderlane. While the Pegasus secretly wished her friend had more than one date with him, she was at least glad that Rarity had taken some initiative.
"Rare?" asked Rainbow as she entered the shop. "Are you around here? Spike?"
Looking over at the small desk and office chair by the front door, Rainbow Dash noticed that Spike wasn't sitting by it like usual. For the past few weeks, Spike had started helping out at the Boutique a lot more, usually just for afternoons after getting everything done at the library. Even though it was surprising that Rarity would ask for him to help this much, Dash knew that her friend’s schedule probably needed some extra help every once in a while. And considering how much Spike crushed over her (which was kinda cute and sad at the same time), she was sure that the dragon didn’t mind one bit.
However, since Spike was busy helping out Twilight today, Dash was left alone inside Rarity's showroom. Before she could call out for Rarity again, a loud gurgle came from the mare's stomach. Looking around a little, Rainbow peered over to the kitchen. Looking behind her to make sure Rarity wasn't watching, Rainbow shrugged to herself before walking over to the fridge.
"Oh well," Dash muttered, "I might as well have a snack."
Meanwhile, unnoticed by the mare downstairs, the door to Rarity's bathroom was closed and locked. A light mist of steam could be seen escaping from the gap at the bottom.
Opalescence, who was finally getting used to walking around the house freely again, walked down the hallway as she moved past the door. Pausing her movements, the cat carried an uneasy look on her face as she heard her owner's voice from inside of the running shower.
"Hehehe… Zecora, stop it! I have to leave this shampoo to set in my mane for five—ooh! He he… minutes!"
"Oh, don’t be such a Negative Nancy! You know your mane will always look fancy."
Opal shuddered a little at hearing that zebra's voice. Even with her best efforts to keep that striped figure away from the house (and away from her precious toys), the cat was thwarted at every turn, leaving her to accept that she was going to be around often.
But still, from the way Zecora stared her down, Opal was sure the zebra was trying to curse her sometimes. Nevertheless, the sound of somepony downstairs caught the feline's attention, making her move very cautiously to the stairs to investigate.
Meanwhile, Rarity could still be heard from the shower as she tried to speak sternly through her giggles.
"Zecora, I'm serious! I… hmhmhmhm… I have a certain set of things I need to do while I'm showering, and I can’t have that be… hehehehe… interrupted!"
"Well, Rarity, it seems you're being quite fickle… Perhaps what you need is a well-deserved tickle…"
A gasp could be heard in the bathroom. "Don't you da—AH! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"
With Rarity's uncontrollable laughter combined with the zebra's amused giggles, Rainbow Dash was finally able to hear something from down in the kitchen.
"Hulluh?" Since her muzzle was filled with half a banana, Dash’s voice sounded slightly muffled when she heard her friend upstairs. Realizing that Rarity was, in fact, here, Rainbow Dash swallowed her banana before heading for the steps.
"Rarity?" Dash asked when she reached the bottom of the steps. Opal immediately ran off to the safety of Rarity's bedroom, which went unnoticed by the mare while she walked to the top of the stairs.
"Hey, Rarity! You up here?"
"EEP!" At hearing her friend's voice from outside the bathroom, Rarity quickly tried to move past Zecora and scramble out of the shower. "Don’t come in! I'll be right ou—OOMP!"
Since she was still soaked and covered in soap suds, the unicorn immediately slipped on her hooves as soon as she touched the linoleum floor of the bathroom.
Rainbow Dash's ears perked up when she heard a loud whump! from inside the bathroom, followed by Rarity's voice.
"AAAAAARRRRRRRMMMMMM!!!"
"Rare?!" Rainbow darted to the door of the bathroom. "What happened?!"
"Oooowwww…" Rarity moaned from the other side of the door. "… My legs…"
Knowing that something bad had happened, Rainbow Dash didn't falter for a second and positioned herself in front of the door. "Step back, Rare! I'm coming in!"
Rarity gasped, unable to raise a single word against it before the Pegasus burst into the bathroom. Zecora, who was trying to assist Rarity on the floor, quickly ran into the bathtub again as the door was beaten down.
In a loud crash, Rainbow Dash managed to break the bathroom door open with one well-placed kick. Not caring about the broken door, the mare quickly made her way to her friend's aid, only pausing as she saw Rarity on the floor.
In an instant, Rainbow Dash's expression turned from worried fear of her friend's safety, to a muffled smile, trying her hardest not to crack up. "Mmmmph… ppph… You… BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Unable to hold back any more, Rainbow fell to the floor, closing her eyes as she started laughing uncontrollably. Despite the state her friend was in, the Pegasus couldn’t control herself when she saw what happened.
Rarity, who still in quite a bit of pain, had her hindlegs split apart on the bathroom floor. With her backside making a perfect split, Rarity's front half was just looking more aggravated with each passing second, while Rainbow Dash kept laughing.
"Rain… Bow…" grunted the unicorn through her teeth in a mix of pain and intense anger. "Stop… laughing…"
"I… I CAN'T! HAHAHAHA!!!" Banging on the floor a couple times with her hoof, Rainbow tried her hardest to subside her laughter, which just made Rarity even angrier.
Zecora, who was huddled in the bathtub with the shower still running, was having a hard time keeping herself from laughing as well. While she was concerned about the unicorn, Rainbow's cackling was certainly contagious.
Eventually, Dash was able to stop laughing long enough to wipe her eyes of any tears, taking a moment before she spoke to Rarity. "Sorry, Rare… I didn’t mean to laugh, but… Wow!"
"Rainbow…" Rarity growled through her clenched teeth. "Please, just… help me up."
"Oh, yeah." Still smiling a bit, Rainbow quickly got back to her hooves before walking over to Rarity. Realizing the shower was still running, she paused for a second before looking over to the bathtub.
With the curtain still closed (hiding the zebra who was still inside), Dash stuck her head inside to turn off the shower. Even though Rarity was fairly terrified of Rainbow Dash catching Zecora inside, she didn’t see or hear any indication that had been the case as Dash turned off the faucet.
Rainbow's head was less than a foot above Zecora, who was hunched as low as possible inside the tub. However, in the time it took her to turn off the faucet and stop the shower, she never noticed the zebra when she stuck her head back out.
Walking back over to the unicorn, Rainbow didn't realize how freaked-out she looked as she laid on the floor. Instead, she just positioned herself behind Rarity and lifted her up.
"Alright, here we go!" In one swift motion, Rainbow Dash lifted Rarity's backside up from the floor, managing to get her legs back to a parallel position. Rarity winced a little as she felt her sore joints get moved so quickly, which Dash noticed while she tried to keep her calm.
"I know, I know," assured Rainbow as she slowly led the still-soaked Rarity out of the bathroom. "I know it hurts. Believe me, you're not the first pony to accidentally do the splits like that."
Rainbow tried not to snicker again, which, luckily, went unnoticed by Rarity as she hobbled into the hallway. Levitating a towel from the bathroom with her magic, Rarity wrapped it around herself to make sure she didn’t soak her carpet too badly. Even with Rainbow making sure she didn’t take any steps big enough to make her pain even worse, the unicorn still grunted a couple times in pain.
"Don't worry," said Rainbow as she walked with her down the hallway, "we'll get you some ice packs and a sports drink, and you'll be alright."
"Th-thanks, Rainbow." Even though she was still a bit upset at how her friend acted in the bathroom, Rarity was quite glad that she was being so helpful right now.
"No problem." By the time they reached the top of the stairs, Rainbow Dash took a moment and scanned the steps, trying to think of the best way to get her friend down to the kitchen.
"Hey Rare," asked Dash, looking over at her curiously, "I was wondering… When you were in the shower, what the hay were you laughing so hard about?"
A heavy blush immediately spread across Rarity's face. Remembering that Zecora was still in the bathroom, the unicorn looked away from her friend and tried to stammer out a believable response. "Oh, I… I was… You see, Rainb—"
SLAM!
The sound of the bathroom window being thrown open was heard. Rainbow Dash noticed immediately. Letting go of her friend, the Pegasus barely noticed Rarity slumping onto the floor as she flew into the bathroom.
Throwing the shower curtain open, Rainbow saw that the window inside was wide-open. She knew it wasn't like that when she left. Sticking her head out the window, Rainbow looked down to the ground just in time to catch a figure run out of sight behind a few houses. With her eyes widening in realization, Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped so quickly that many ponies would've guessed it could've fallen right off.
Rarity, who was still in quite a bit of pain, struggled to get back on her hooves. However, when she looked over to the open door of the bathroom, the unicorn's eyes widened in terror as she saw Rainbow Dash reappear at the doorway. Dash—who was now carrying a huge grin—was wide-eyed as well as she stared at Rarity.
"Rare…" Blinking a few times as she kept her eyes locked on the unicorn, Rainbow kept her cheeky grin as she spoke. "… Was somepony in the shower with you?"
Rarity pursed her lips shut and her blush grew even deeper. Looking away from the mare, Rarity hoped to all that was holy that her friend didn’t see who it was. "Of… of course not, Rainbow! I… I don't know what you're talking about!"
Not believing her obvious lie, Dash ran right up to her, keeping her eyes pinned on hers as she tried to pry some more with a Cheshire-sized grin. "Rarity… Tell me who it is. Right. Now."
"NOPONY!" Rarity struggled to get on her hooves again. "I don't know what got into you, Rainbow Dash, but I certainly don’t need this kind of—ow!" Rarity clenched her eyes shut as she felt a new twinge of pain come from the joints in her hindlegs.
Despite wanting to know more about Rarity's secret lovepony, Rainbow was wise enough to know her limits. Seeing that her friend still needed some help with her legs, she sighed a little before deciding to drop the interrogation. "Alright, alright. Let's just get you to the kitchen."
"Thank you," grumbled Rarity under her breath as Rainbow Dash lifted her up again.
"But!" Glancing over at her friend, Rainbow kept an insistent tone in her voice as she added, "I'm going to find out who that was!"
Rarity just groaned before the Pegasus began to help her down the stairs. Knowing how arrogant the mare could be when she put her mind to something, Rarity knew that dealing with Rainbow Dash was going to be a difficult task indeed. However, with the burning pain still throbbing in her joints, all that Rarity could think about right now was where she kept her icepacks.
Meanwhile, at Sugar Cube Corner, Misses Cake was busy tending to the last of her customers from the lunch rush. After getting the last of her patrons taken care of, she was quite pleased with how much she managed to sell today. With a confident smile and a wave of relief, the cheerful mare sighed to herself as she wiped off the front counter with a clean rag.
However, the sound of what appeared to be wet hoofsteps caught Misses Cake's attention. She looked back up from the counter in time to see Zecora enter.
The zebra, who was completely soaked from head to hooves, didn’t seem to notice how wet she was and walked in casually. With a faint (albeit slightly embarrassed) smile on her muzzle, Zecora watched her steps as she walked up the counter, making sure not to get the floor too wet as she spoke to the confused Misses Cake.
"Good afternoon. I hope you don’t mind if I peruse." Dripping a little on the floor, Zecora kept her smile as she finished her rhyme. "But first, do you happen to have a towel I could use?"
"Uhhhhhh…" Looking at the sopping-wet zebra, Misses Cake was momentarily at a loss for words. However, that didn’t stop her from nodding. "S-sure, Zecora, I'll… I'll get you a towel." Walking back to the kitchen, the mare looked back to Zecora for a second before adding, "You know what, I'll get you two."
"That would be nice, thank you," said the zebra before Misses Cake walked into the kitchen. "I'll buy a cookie, too."
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Sighing under her breath, Rarity tried to keep her focus on the book in her hooves as she read. The fact that Rainbow Dash had been hounding her the past few days hadn't helped her complete her dress orders any faster. So, with the worry of the Pegasus bursting into her home at any moment to "catch her in the act", Rarity had resorted to going to the library to do research, just so she could gain more inspiration for a Vanhoover-style dress in peace.
Twilight, who knew that her friend had been under some duress lately, was glad to let her stay to do her work. However, the alicorn was still curious as to why Rarity had been under stress again; she thought that having Spike helping her would fix that. Putting caution to the wind, the Princess cleared her throat before catching Rarity's attention.
"So, Rarity… Would you mind if I asked what happened?"
Closing her eyes, Rarity sighed before putting her book down. "Oh, it's nothing. I just…" Growing more irritated at what had driven her from her very own business and made Spike stay out front, Rarity groaned under her breath before rubbing her temple with a hoof.
"It's just that Rainbow Dash got it into her head that I'm seeing a stallion, which I am not!" Rarity glanced back at her friend, the stern tone on her face showing that she wasn't lying before she continued, "And now she's been berating me every chance she could get over who I'm seeing!"
Twilight's eyebrows rose a bit at hearing Rarity's sudden rant, not expecting her to act this provoked by her question. "Wow. Um… Alright. I wasn't expecting that."
Rarity sighed again before glancing back at her book. Even though Twilight didn’t want to make Rarity talk about anything she wasn't comfortable with, her curiosity was getting the best of her as she asked, "So… is there a certain reason why Rainbow believes you're with somepony?"
"Well…" Even though she wasn't exactly in the best mood to continue this conversation, actually speaking about it out loud was helping Rarity a bit. Looking over to Twilight, Rarity made sure she wasn't interrupting any of the mare's book organizing before going on.
"You see, a few days ago I was taking a shower. While I was cleansing myself, I was thinking of a funny joke I heard from Pinkie Pie, which caused me to start laughing."
Rarity bit her lip for a second and looked away, hating that she was basically lying to Twilight. However, since she was giving the same story to her that she did to Rainbow Dash, Rarity knew she had to be consistent, even if that meant being slightly dishonest for the time being.
"Anyway, Rainbow was downstairs and heard me, which caused her to come upstairs and ask what was going on. I didn’t expect her to be at my place at that time, so I was a bit startled. I ran out of the shower, but I slipped on the floor and… hurt myself a bit."
Twilight blushed and looked away from Rarity, hoping to hide any laughter that struggled to escape her muzzle. "Yeah, I… I heard about that. The split thing?"
"Yes," Rarity said in a more exhausted tone, "but back to the point. When Rainbow Dash helped me up and took me downstairs, I guess the wind opened my bathroom window. She heard it open, ran over to the bathroom, and assumed that somepony was in the shower with me! So now, she's been trying to figure out which nonexistent stallion I may or may not be dating, which has been keeping me from doing any actual work in my shop!"
Glad to get that last bit out, Rarity exhaled heavily and slumped beside her book. Twilight, who didn’t know that much about Rarity's building stress, aside from what Spike had mentioned to her, wasn't expecting a story like that. Nevertheless, the Princess could tell that what Rainbow Dash was doing was certainly affecting her friend negatively.
Keeping a warm smile on her muzzle, Twilight placed a hoof on Rarity's shoulder as she said calmly, "Rarity, it's okay. If you want, I can talk about this with Rainbow Dash, so she can stop messing with you about it."
Looking back up to her friend, Rarity replied with slight surprise, "R-really?"
"Of course I would. That's what friends do. Besides, she has a book due back tomorrow, so I can probably speak with her about it then."
Noting the sincerity in her friend's assurance, Rarity smiled warmly before closing her book. "Well, thank you very much, Twilight."
"No proble—"
Before Twilight could finish her statement, the front door to the library slammed open. Applejack, who had the Cutie Mark Crusaders in tow with worried looks on their faces, was looking rather irate herself as she looked around.
"But, Sis!" Apple Bloom shouted with confusion, "We didn’t do nuthin' wrong! We were just tryin' ta get our cutie marks in zebra wrasslin’!"
Rarity's eyes widened in shock when she heard that. Remembering what her little sister wanted to try after walking in on her and Zecora, the unicorn instantly realized what could've arisen to cause the Applejack to look this angry.
"Zebra or not," replied Applejack as she looked down at her sister, "that didn’t look like any wrasslin' Ah've ever seen!"
Looking over to see Twilight and Rarity standing nearby, Applejack's eyes narrowed on them before she spoke up. "Twi, do you happen to have books on zebra wrasslin?"
While Twilight put a hoof to her chin and pondered Applejack's question, Rarity slowly tried to distance herself and looked away from them.
"Actually," began Twilight as she walked over to one of her bookshelves, "I believe we have a couple books on Zebra combat techniques." Lifting two different books from the shelf with her magic, Twilight brought them down before looking back at her friend. "Why do you ask?"
"Ah was wantin' ta check somethin!" Applejack walked over to Twilight and snatched one of the books from her hooves. Quickly skimming through the pages with her hooves, the mare spoke back to the three fillies while she tried to look for any good illustrations.
"Now, Ah want y’all to tell me exactly what kind of fancy 'zebra' moves you girls were tryin’!"
Apple Bloom groaned in frustration. "Ah told you! We didn't look in no books!"
"Yeah!" Scootaloo pointed a hoof over at Sweetie Belle. "Sweetie Belle was the one who told us about it!"
Knowing what was going to happen, Rarity tried her hardest to sneak out of the library without being noticed by anypony. However, she wasn't able to get out of sight before Applejack spoke to Sweetie Belle.
"Alright Sweetie, where'd ya learn that kinda hootenanny from?"
"I was just trying to do what I saw Rarity doing with Zecora!"
Standing just a few feet from the library door, Rarity paused and slumped her head down. Knowing she couldn’t get away, Rarity could only breathe in before looking back at everypony. While the Cutie Mark Crusaders were waiting with a mix of curiosity and annoyance, Twilight just looked at her with confusion and Applejack stared at her, wide-eyed and slightly worried.
"Rare… Ya mind clarifyin' what the hay is goin' on?"
Gritting her teeth as she tried to breathe in, Rarity mustered up a nervous smile and turned to face everypony. Knowing that every second wasted could potentially expose what was really going on between her and Zecora, Rarity attempted to clarify what her younger sister may have told Applejack.
"Well… You see, Applejack, I… I wanted to learn some new forms of self-defense, so… I asked Zecora to teach me some… wrestling moves."
Rarity kept her smile in an attempt to make her excuse seem more valid. Applejack, who just kept her confused stare on the unicorn, blinked a couple times while she tried to come up with a reply.
"So… You and Zecora were… wrasslin’?"
Rarity looked between Applejack and Twilight, who was staring at her with skewed eyebrows while they waited for an answer. Breathing in, Rarity nodded to Applejack before she continued to speak.
"Y-yes…. Yes I was. You see, after that Timberwolf incident, I… realized that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to gain more hoof-to-hoof fighting skills. And… since I saw that Zecora was so skilled with her staff, I asked her for a lesson or two. She agreed to teach me some wrestling moves she learned from her homeland, and…"
Rarity then looked over to her little sister for a second before finishing, "Sweetie Belle walked in on what was going on, and decided to try it herself."
Applejack glanced back at Sweetie Belle as well, who nodded at Rarity's answer. Pondering the unicorn's explanation for a moment, the mare looked back to her and tried to clarify something. "Really? Because when Ah walked in on the three in their clubhouse, Sweetie Belle's head was—"
Applejack quickly pursed her lips shut, unable to really go into details regarding what she saw. She shook her head before continuing, "Anyway, what Ah saw definitely didn’t look like no wrasslin’!"
Rarity tried not to cringe too hard, not needing to hear the rest of Applejack's unspoken comment to know what the scene may have looked like. While the idea of her younger sister doing something like that was beyond repulsive, she knew that Sweetie was just trying to wrestle in that position—at least, she seriously hoped so—which made her swallow her discomfort and try to explain.
"Well... Sweetie… may have walked in when Zecora was in the middle of an… odd re-positioning. So, they may have just been trying to learn it from what she saw, and not from any actual texts."
Applejack began to pout a little and stared at her, obviously pondering Rarity's words as seriously as she could. "Hmmm…" Thinking it over, Applejack looked down to the floor for a moment, keeping herself silent before looking back up to the unicorn. "Ah… Ah guess that makes a bit of sense."
"That's right," assured Rarity as she spoke to both her and Twilight, "and you can ask Zecora about it as well. She'll verify everything I told you."
Applejack looked back over to Twilight, who shrugged a little before adding, "You know, that actually makes a lot of sense."
"Hmmm… Ah suppose…" Glancing back at the three fillies, Applejack sighed before speaking to them. "Alright, girls. Y'all can run off now. But first…"
Applejack took the second zebra book that Twilight had, waiting for the approving nod from the alicorn before she turned back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "If y'all are gonna try somethin' like that, you should learn it proper, ya hear?"
Passing the two books to her sister, Applejack grinned when she saw how happy Apple Bloom was about how this turned out. "Thanks!" said all three fillies in unison, before they trotted out of the library with their books.
Looking away from Rarity, Applejack chuckled a little to herself before turning back to her. "Ya know, Ah'm really glad ya told me that, Rare! Ah mean, Ah didn’t want to say anythin’ to trouble ya or nuthin', but when Ah walked in on them, Ah thought the three were doin' the hanky-panky!"
Applejack laughed to herself, which prompted Rarity to pretend to laugh a little as well. While she was glad that the three fillies didn’t try anything other than "wrestling,” she was at least glad that they now had a credible source.
"Yes, that… that must have been an odd thing to see…"
Before Applejack could agree, Sweetie Belle ran back into the library to her sister. "Hey, Rarity!"
Rarity turned her attention to Sweetie Belle, noticing that the filly had a slightly nervous look on her face. "Umm… I almost forgot to tell you… Cheerilee wanted to talk with you around four today."
Rarity's eyebrows skewed a bit in confusion. "Cheerilee? You mean your teacher?" Sweetie Belle simply nodded, which just made Rarity look even more puzzled. "But… why would she want to talk with me about?"
Sweetie shrugged. "I dunno, but she said she wanted to ask you about something."
Closing her eyes in exhaustion, Rarity sighed before looking over at a clock on the wall. Seeing that it was about half an hour until four, Rarity almost wanted to say something to her sister about telling her about it so suddenly. However, since she didn’t have anything happening in her schedule at four, she simply grunted a little before looking back to her sister.
"Oh, alright," said Rarity in a slightly annoyed tone, "I'll go talk with her."
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Cheerilee was just about finished grading the last of her papers when she heard the door to her classroom open. Looking up from her work, the mare was happy to see Rarity enter the room, noting that she came in five minutes early.
"Why hello, Rarity," said Cheerilee as she put away her papers.
"Hello, Cheerilee." Looking around the large classroom, Rarity noticed just how small all the desks were as she walked past them. Aside from the large oak desk that Cheerilee was sitting behind, everything else in the classroom looked like miniatures to the unicorn. Thinking it over, Rarity smiled as she noted herself in comparison to the furniture, almost feeling like a giant within the space.
However, Rarity regained focus as she approached Cheerilee's desk. Seeing a normal-sized chair brought out for her, the unicorn felt fairly grateful, not wanting to imagine herself sitting in one of the tiny chairs placed around the room.
Sitting in the chair after being motioned to do so by the teacher, Rarity waited patiently while Cheerilee opened a drawer in her desk. Making sure she had everything ready, Cheerilee took a moment before looking back up to Rarity with a light smile.
"Well," began the mare as she readjusted herself in her seat, "I guess you're probably wondering why I asked you to come by today."
"Umm… yes. I actually am." Glancing around the room once more, Rarity was starting to feel rather isolated in the space after realizing that she and Cheerilee were the only ponies in the large room. Looking back to the teacher, Rarity asked in a puzzled tone, "Is this about Sweetie Belle? Because if it is, maybe her parents would be a better adult to talk to than myself."
"Well…" Cheerilee's smile dropped slightly as a light shade of unease came up in her expression. "You see, Rarity, I sort of feel like, in regards to this, that I should talk to you instead of your parents."
"Well, what do you mean?" By now, Rarity was even more concerned as she heard the insistence in Cheerilee's words. "Did… did Sweetie Belle do something bad?"
"Not… exactly…" At that moment, Cheerilee went back to the open drawer in her desk. She took out a large bundle of construction paper, which was bound together on one end with yarn, and placed it on the desk between them.
"You see," Cheerilee began, "Sweetie Belle and her classmates recently did a project in class, during which they made their own picture books. All of the students did great jobs on their books, including your sister, who decided to make one about her family."
"Awww." Feeling a bit touched and honored to find out something like that, Rarity smiled. "That's really sweet."
"It is," said Cheerilee in an equally happy voice, although she looked a little uncomfortable when she passed the book over to Rarity. "But… I just wanted you to see a few pages she made…"
Picking up the book in her aura, Rarity smiled and looked at the front cover of her sister's picture book.
"Awww." Grinning in delight, Rarity giggled a little as she glanced at the front of the book. "This is really sweet thing for her to do! I must say, I'm rather happy to see—"
Noticing what was in the back of the drawing, Rarity's smile quickly changed, turning into a focused stare as she peered in closer. Seeing that Rarity was beginning to catch on, Cheerilee took a breath before catching the unicorn's attention.
"Ummm… She starts talking about you on page four."
Even though she didn’t want to think anything was ominous in that statement, Rarity started to look a little worried when she looked back up at Cheerilee. Seeing the look of discomfort on her face, Rarity became more fearful when she looked back to the book. Noting the inclusion of Zecora in the background once more, Rarity bit her lip in unease, taking a moment before she opened the book to page four.
"Well…" After making sure that nothing was off with this picture, Rarity began to smile again as she looked at her sister's work. "I have to hand it to Sweetie Belle. She really knows how to get all the little details in. I mean, she really seems quite observant of my shop."
Rarity then turned the page, her eyes immediately widening when she saw what was drawn.
Blinking a few times , Rarity's smile became much more skewed as she saw what her sister wrote.
"Oh… Well…" Keeping her smile—which was just making her look slightly creepy—Rarity looked back up at Cheerilee and tried to explain.
"Well, you see… Zecora makes a lot of different ailments, and she just so happens to make a fantastic conditioner, which is far better than anything I've ever used!" Knowing that this was in fact true, Rarity started to feel slightly less flustered as she explained further. "And since she comes by my shop at around the same time Sweetie Belle visits after school, I'm guessing that she guessed there was a bit of a connection, and…"
Noticing how Cheerilee was biting her lip, Rarity slowly stopped her explanation. Waiting until she was silent again, Cheerilee breathed out slowly before reopening her muzzle.
"Ummm… There's… there's more…"
Even with her forced smile, Rarity's eyes gave off nothing but pure fear as she heard that statement. "R… really?
Cheerilee could only nod, leaving Rarity to look even more disheveled when she looked back to the book. Worried about what was on the next page, Rarity bit her lip and turned the page. At seeing what was on the next page, Rarity gasped and put a hoof up to her mouth.
"Ummmm… Ahhhhh…"
Now breathing heavily, Rarity looked back up at Cheerilee, seeing that she was looking a lot more uneasy as she sat across from her.
Hoping to alleviate the situation, Rarity forced a nervous laugh. "Ummm… well… That's actually kind of a funny story! I… I was needing to… get my sheets fixed, and… well… Zecora was… she was…"
Rarity's growing dread was becoming more apparent when she saw how Cheerilee was looking. Biting her lip again, Cheerilee just looked down to the book in Rarity's hooves with worry in her eyes. Even though she knew what Cheerilee was trying to tell her, Rarity was utterly afraid of it being true.
"Please don't tell me there's more."
"Just one more," said Cheerilee in an embarrassed tone.
Rarity whimpered a little and looked down at her sister's creation. Although she didn’t want to think of what else Sweetie Belle drew of them, Rarity already figured that it wasn't anything good. Holding her breath, Rarity closed her eyes and quickly turned it to the next page. After exhaling deeply, Rarity looked away for a moment before slowly reopening her eyes.
It was at that moment that Rarity screamed.
"Noooooooo!" Rarity moaned as she hunched down in her chair, burying her face in her hooves while she attempted to hide her shame. Knowing that there was no way she could talk her way out of that drawing, Rarity just shook her head and kept muttering to herself. "No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOO!!!"
Though she knew that this discussion was going to be awkward for both of them, Cheerilee still wanted to keep Rarity from having a nervous breakdown in her classroom. "Ummm… Rarity? It… it's alright. I'm not goi—"
"Who else knows?!" Rarity shot back up and stared at the teacher. "Who else saw this?!"
"No one!" Cheerilee insisted, keeping her hooves out to separate herself from Rarity. "Seriously, nopony else has seen this! And that's not why I brought you here!"
"Is it about money?!" By now, Rarity's stare on Cheerilee was even more severe. "Is that it?! Do you really think you can get away with that sort of thing?! Because if this is some sort of sick blackmail, I swear to Celestia—"
"NO!" Cheerilee threw her hooves up and tried to calm Rarity down. "Rarity, I am not going to do anything, so please calm down THIS INSTANT!"
Due to her many years of experience in controlling fillies, Cheerilee's tone was enough to shut Rarity up in an instant. Sitting back in her chair properly, Rarity sat silently while Cheerilee stared her down.
Waiting until she was sure that Rarity wouldn’t act out like that again, Cheerilee took a deep breath before sitting back in her chair. Closing her eyes, Cheerilee sighed before reopening them and speaking in a calmer manner.
"Now, I know that this is an uncomfortable moment for both of us, and I apologize for bringing you here like this. However, considering what it is your sister drew, I'm guessing that what may or may not be going on isn’t exactly… common knowledge."
Biting her lip in guilt, Rarity was barely able to maintain eye contact with Cheerilee. She nodded slowly. "Y-yes, I… I'm not exactly willing to let this come out…"
"Alright then." Putting her hoof out for the book, Cheerilee waited until Rarity passed it back before she placed it back on the desk.
Keeping the book between them, Cheerilee kept a more understanding smile on her face while she continued, "Now, I'm not going to ask what’s going on. It's none of my business, and I'm not going to judge you. In fact, considering how long I've been doing this job, the drawings that Sweetie made don't even make my top ten most shocking discoveries!"
Rarity's eyebrows rose in surprise at hearing that. "Really?"
"Oh, yeah," said Cheerilee with a more cheeky smile. "Seriously, I've looked at enough drawings from fillies and colts to gather quite a bit of surprising info about ponies in town. I've seen enough drawings of parents 'wrestling,’ Mommies’ 'toy rocket ships,’ and special bags of 'oregano' to fill a rather large book! So believe me, Rarity, whatever you may or may not be doing probably wouldn’t shock me that much."
Taking this new information in, Rarity blinked a few times in stunned silence. "W-wow." Surprised to be hearing something like this from a schoolteacher, Rarity was honestly unsure of how to respond. "I… really don’t know what to say right now."
"It's alright," assured Cheerilee as her smile became more natural. "I just figured that, because of this, it might be a good idea to talk with your sister."
"Ohhhh, yeah," Rarity began in a more aggravated tone as she looked down at the book, “believe me, I'm definitely going to talk with her about this!"
"Rarity," said Cheerilee more sternly as she held out a hoof and tried to catch her attention, "listen to me. I haven't punished Sweetie Belle for this, and I'm not planning to, either. She didn’t do anything wrong, and judging from her drawings, I really don’t think she intended to do anything wrong. So, if you're going to speak with her, I don’t think it would be best to make her feel like she did."
Staring at the book for another moment, Rarity thought it over before slumping back in her chair. Knowing that Cheerilee had a point, Rarity sighed in defeat. Even though she certainly didn’t like what her sister did, she knew that Sweetie was just drawing what she had seen. Keeping her gaze away from Cheerilee, Rarity looked back at the book on the desk.
"Well… I guess you have a point, Miss Cheerilee. I mean… I guess this isn’t nearly as bad as some of the other things she's done lately."
Cheerilee tried not to snicker. "You mean like when she glued your cat to the ceiling?"
"Yeah, like tha—how do you know about that?" Rarity asked, looking back up at her.
Cheerilee pointed at the book in front of them before giggling a little. "It's on page twelve."
Hearing that, Rarity chuckled a little under her breath. Glad to have the unicorn smiling again, Cheerilee gave a kind smile back before saying, "It you want my advice, I'd just talk with her privately about it. If you're not comfortable with telling her anything right now, you could still try to talk with her about the book. Maybe you could convince her to draw something else in place of those pages. But please, don't make her feel like she did anything wrong, okay?"
Looking down at the floor, Rarity slowly nodded as she thought it over. While she certainly wasn't ready to tell the whole truth to her sister about this, she knew she could at least come up with something in regards to that book. Hopeful that she could solve this issue before her parents could find out, Rarity looked back up to Cheerilee and gave her a grateful smile.
"Th… thank you, Cheerilee. Really, this… this was very helpful."
"You're welcome," Cheerilee said, "and I'm glad you were able to handle this so well."
"Well…" Now feeling slightly embarrassed about how she first acted, Rarity blushed a little and looked away from her. "To be fair, I wish I handled it better."
"It's alright. At least you're comfortable now." Looking around the classroom, Cheerilee made sure they were alone before moving in closer to her. "Although," asked the teacher with a more cheeky smile, "just between you and me, I'm sort of curious… Are you and Zecora…"
Wincing a little in embarrassment, Rarity kept her eyes away from the mare as her blush grew even deeper. "Well… I can’t really convince you that we were just wrestling, could I?"
A sassy grin on her muzzle, Cheerilee just giggled a little before looking away from her. "Wow… I'm not judging or anything, but… Wow!"
Rarity, who was still getting used to Spike knowing about her relationship, was certainly not used to talking with Cheerilee like this, prompting her to want to leave as soon as possible.
However, Cheerilee, who was now blushing a little, looked back at her as she spoke more inquisitively. "So, Rarity… what's it like?"
"Goodbye!" Rarity quickly grabbed Sweetie Belle's book and left the classroom, leaving Cheerilee to at her desk, slightly dumbfounded.
"Yeesh! I was just asking…"
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Spike, who was nearly asleep at his desk in the Boutique, bolted out of his seat when he heard the door open.
"Ah! We-welcome to Rarity's Carousel Bou—oh, hey, Rare." Realizing it was just Rarity entering the shop, the dragon slumped back in his seat.
"Hello, Spike," said Rarity in a more defeated tone. "Anything I should know?"
Spike picked up a notepad, browsing it as he spoke. "Ummm… not really… Rainbow Dash came by again, but that's about it. It's been pretty slow this afternoon."
"Well, good!" Rarity slumped down on the couch and rested her eyes. "Quite honestly, I think I needed a break after what I dealt with."
"What do you mean?" asked Spike as he walked up to her. "What happened?"
Not wanting to go into details, Rarity simply lifted up Sweetie Belle's book in her hoof and handed it to Spike.
"Page seven."
Keeping her eyes shut, Rarity could hear Spike flip through the pages. When he reached the section she was talking about, there was a brief moment of silence before she heard him again.
"BWAAAAA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Spike ran up the stairs with the book and called out, "Hey, Zecora! You gotta see this!"
When she heard the sounds of both Spike and Zecora cracking up from upstairs, Rarity simply groaned before reopening her eyes.
"I swear," Rarity muttered as she looked at the ceiling, "a secret relationship is NOT how romance novels make it out to be."