I sat in front of the scrapbook, my mind reeling at the discovery. When I had started my search I had felt that I was looking for something important, but nothing as big as this. Ponies were disappearing at High Notes concerts. I didn't know if she was the one behind them but I wanted to find out. She was going to perform in Ponyville within the week and if the town was in danger I wanted to be able to warn everypony. But I didn't have a lot to go on, only two newspaper articles, I needed more proof. And unlike the rest of my search that day, I knew exactly who to ask.
"Sweetie Belle, what do you know about these articles?" Sliding the book over to her. Taking it from me she began going over the pages, her face slowly becoming a frown. The seconds slowly dragged on into minutes as I waited. With every moment I found myself growing more impatient and I had to stop myself from tapping my hoof. Finally she sighed and shook her head.
"I’m sorry Twilight. I wish I could help you but I don't know anything about these." My heart sank in my chest. Sweetie Belle was the only pony i knew that had any real information on High Note. If she didn't know anything than my options had become much more limited.
"That’s alright Sweetie Belle. You've been a great help already and I am very grateful for everything." Standing up I stretched my legs, which had become stiff from laying in one place for so long. Taking a quick look at the clock I was surprised to see that I had been talking to Sweetie Belle to over an hour. I had to get headed home, and soon. By then Spike had to be getting worried, and with the storm raging as storm as ever outside he had plenty of reason to be worried. I could imagine him pacing back and forth wringing his claws as he looked at the clock, worrying if I had even made it to Rarity's house or if I had gotten hurt in the downpour.
"Well I should get going. I’m sure I've distracted you from your homework enough. Thank you for all the help."
As I walked down the stairs my mind was racing. The implications of what I had found were terrifying to say the least. What made it worse was I had no clue what was going on. The disappearances could have been because of High Note herself, or a pony targeting the concerts because of the crowds. And the most chilling thought was of the missing ponies themselves. Anything could have happened to them, and my imagination had no problem thinking of the worst things that could have happened to them. For all I knew they could be dead. I shuddered and shook my head, trying to clear the morbid thoughts from my mind. Wild speculation wasn't going to get me anywhere. I needed to remain calm and focused, but as I reached the bottom of the stairs I knew that wouldn't be easy.
The stairs led out into the main room of the entire building, Rarity's workspace. As expected she was hard at work filling out the order that had kept her busy throughout the day. I couldn't help but admire her handiwork. Even though only a few of the dresses had been completed the ones had been finished were beautiful. I had no idea who had placed the order, but they had good taste in clothing.
"Beautiful aren't they?" Rarity said not looking up from the stitch she was finishing. "The mare that ordered them was very specific about what she wanted. Though she refused to tell me what they were for. Can you believe she had the nerve to say it wasn't the place of a lowly dress maker to know? If she had paid double the asking price I never would have accepted." With a sigh she finished the stitch. Putting the needle to the side she began rubbing her temples.
"But enough about that. Tell me Twilight, did you find what you were looking for?" It was the question I had hoped to avoid. Not because I didn't want Rarity to know, it was because of her and Sweetie Belle I had remembered all of this. I just wasn't sure how to answer the question. I could already imagination Rarity pulling her fainting couch over and falling into it. But as she turned to me I knew I couldn't avoid answering it, not with her so worried about her sister. So taking a deep breath I sat down and told her what I had found. The missing pony reports, what my brother had been investigating when we were in the Crystal Empire, all of it.
To my surprise Rarity didn't faint. She just sat there absorbing every word, too shocked for melodrama. I watched as her face slowly fell, becoming more and more concerned as she learned the same news I had just found. When I finished she sat back, shaking her head.
"This is terrible. All Sweetie Belle has been talking about is going to that concert. What if the disappearances are still happening and she goes missing too?" Sighing she looked up at the stairs. "She's not going to like me for this but I can't let her g-"
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle's voice called from the top of the stairs. Her hooves clattered as she ran down the stairs. "Rarity I'm done with my homework! Can I have that ice cream now?" Coming around the corner she stopped in her tracks once she saw the concerned looked on Rarity's face. "Is something wrong?"
Giving me a quick look that practically screamed wish me luck Rarity walked over to her little sister. "Sweetie Belle, I've been talking to Twilight and she just told me some terrible news." Sweetie Belle shot me a look full of venom, no doubt connecting the dots between her talk with me and the tone in Rarity's voice. "She told me that ponies have been going missing. And that they've gone missing while at High Note's concerts. I'm sorry Sweetie Belle but I can't risk you disappearing, I'm afraid I cannot allow you to go to the concert this weekend."
"But you said if I got good grades and did all my chores I could go!" Sweetie Belle looked hurt, tears welling up in her eyes. "I've gotten nothing but straight A's and I haven't missed a chore in weeks!"
"I know Sweetie Belle, I'm very proud of you and I promise I'll find a way to make it up to yo-"
"NO!" She shouted, the tears in eyes gone. In their place was an anger I could never have imagined in the once sweet filly. "You promised me I could go! You said if I was a good filly and behaved I would get to go!"
"That was before I heard about this. What kind of sister would I be if I just let you go? What if you went missing just like those other ponies? You think I would he all to forgive myself? And what about mother and father? They would be devastated if something happened to you. Please listen to me. I'm doing this because I care about you."
"I don't care! I was going to bring Scootaloo and Applebloom to the concert! Maybe even Twist or Silver Spoon! But you're ruining all of that! I have to go!" Something changed in Sweetie Belle. The anger in her eyes exploded, morphing into a rage I had never seen in a pony before. Just looking at her scared me. She looked unstable, her breathing quick and hard as she literally shook in her anger. "I hate you!" Sweetie Belle launched herself at her sister screaming in a feral, almost animal way. Rarity was still reeling from Sweetie Belle's words and didn't move, just watching as Sweetie Belle slammed her hoof into her sister's face.
The sound of the punch echoed throughout the room, everything else silent. I was horrified by what I had seen. Though I didn’t know Sweetie Belle very well she had never struck me as a pony to hit any pony. Whenever I had seen her she had been sweet and one of the most innocent ponies I had ever seen. To see her react so against everything I knew of her was scary to say the least.
Raising her hoof to hit Rarity again Sweetie Belle swung. At first I thought I would have to step in and stop the little filly before she went even further, but Rarity had snapped out of her shock. A bruise forming around her eye she gave her little sister an almost indifferent look, as though she was bored with what was going on. Her horn flared to life and stopped Sweetie's hoof an inch from her face. When Sweetie Belle swung with her other hoof Rarity caught it with the same calm efficiency. Lifting Sweetie Belle up by her hooves Rarity carried her to the stairs and gently lowered her until she was sitting on her rump.
"Sweetie Belle, you are going to listen to me very carefully." Rarity's voice was calm and controlled, not a hint of anger or sadness. But there was an authority behind that voice that somehow made it scarier than if she had been yelling. "From this point on you are grounded. You are not allowed to play with your friends. You are not allowed to play any games or watch any movies. And if you are willing to attack me over this singer then I will not allow her in my home,"
It was only then that Sweetie Belle began to loom afraid of her punishment. When it had been her friends she had been Indifferent, when Rarity had taken away her entertainment she couldn't have cared less. But when she even mentioned that she might take away anything about High Note Sweetie looked like her entire world was being taken away.
"I want you to go to your room and take everything even remotely related to her and pack it up. It is yours so I will not throw it away, but neither will I allow it in my home. You can may ask one of your friends to hold onto it for you until mother and father return."
"But that's not until next mon-"
"Furthermore," Rarity said not giving the filly the chance to speak. "You will be on your best behavior, one outburst, one angry word, one piece of trash on your floor and I will personally drag you by your mane to mother and father and let them know why they have to cut their vacation short to look after you." Rarity's self-control was disappearing, her true emotions about what Sweetie Belle had done breaking through the careful mask she had been maintaining. Slowly her voice was rising, anger and hurt beginning to find their way into her words until she was screaming. "Now you are going to turn around, march up to your room, and not make a sound until the morning. NOW GO!"
Sweetie Belle turned and began climbing the stairs. Halfway up she looked over her shoulder, and in a low, angry tone gave her sister one last remark. "I’m going to that concert. And nothing you do will stop me."