Sweetie Belle paced back and forth in her room, her mind racing faster than it ever had before. Ever since she woke up that morning, she’d been thinking about what Princess Luna had said to her last night. She knew she had to tell Scootaloo the truth about her recent feelings for her. According to the Alicorn princess, Sweetie Belle was in love with her. Her mind hadn’t fully registered that yet, but the more she thought about it, the more she began to believe it was true. However, there was only one problem that she was facing now: how was she going to break it to Scootaloo?
She thought back to what Luna had said to her, that she should “follow her heart” and do what she felt was right. However, she couldn’t think of a single way to break the news to her friend. It was bad enough that she had been lying to her the whole time about an imaginary pony named “Scott,” but now she had to tell her that she was “Scott” and that she was in love with her the whole time.
“What am I supposed to do?” she asked aloud, as she continued to trot back and forth, “Do I just tell her straight out? Do I hint at it? What would she say? What would I say?”
She stopped pacing and tried to re-enact the scenario to herself. “Hey, Scootaloo, guess what? There’s no such pony named ‘Scott’. I lied to you about it from day one. By the way, I happen to love you!”
Immediately, she face-hoofed and let out a deep groan. “When I say it like that, I sound like a total freak. There’s got to be another way of going about this. There’s just got to be!”
Before she could fathom anymore thoughts on the matter, she heard a small knocking on her door. Startled by the sudden noise, Sweetie Belle turned to the door and opened it. When she did, she saw Rarity standing there, a small smile on her face.
“Hi, Sweetie Belle,” she said, her voice low and soft, “How are you feeling?”
“Hi, sis,” she replied, “Alright, I guess. My nose still hurts a little, but not as much as before.”
“Do you need some pain medicine?”
“No, thanks. It doesn’t hurt that much.”
After that, the two unicorn sisters stood there for a moment in silence, both of them feeling very uncomfortable. It was like one was waiting for the other to say something, but nothing was coming out. They both shifted their weights around, smiling at one another, unsure of who should speak first.
Eventually, Rarity decided to break the silence first. “Listen, Sweetie, there’s something I need to confess. You see, when your friends came over to visit yesterday, I kind of...well...”
Sweetie Belle didn’t need her to finish the sentence to know what she was about to say. A part of her knew that she had overheard what was said, but she couldn’t prove it. As a result, her reaction wasn’t one of shock or surprise, even though her heart began to race again.
“I couldn’t help but listen in,” continued Rarity, “I know it was wrong of me and that I shouldn’t have done it, but I needed to know more about him. It’s not right that you keep me out of these things. I understand that what you’re going through is a new experience, but I am your older sister. I just want you to know that you can trust me and that I can help you with this.”
“I know,” Sweetie said, hanging her head, “I know I should be telling you these things, but I...well...it’s not that I don’t want you to know about...um...this, but I...well...”
Rarity could see that it was very difficult for Sweetie Belle to explain what she was feeling. She saw it in her eyes that she didn’t intend to leave her out and knew that she would have told her in time, like Applejack had said.
“It’s okay, Sweet’ums, I understand,” she said, hugging her sister, “Just know that if you ever need to talk about this, I’m right here for you.”
“Thanks, Rarity,” said the filly, returning the hug. As she did, a small wave of guilt began overcoming her. A part of her needed to tell Rarity the truth about Scootaloo, about how she lied to her about the whole thing. Out of everypony who was involved, Rarity was the one who was buying into her lies the most. However, another part of her just wasn’t ready to tell her yet. She would tell her eventually, but for right now, Scootaloo needed to know about it first.
“There’s also something else I needed to tell you,” said the older unicorn, snapping the filly from her thoughts, “I’ve decided to release you from this silly ‘house arrest.’”
“R-really?” asked the filly, her eyes widened with surprise.
“Yes. Granted, I don’t fully approve of doing this, but I trust you enough to take care of yourself and to make sure you don’t get yourself injured again.”
Just as the words left her mouth, they both heard the distant rumbling of the storm clouds outside. Immediately, Rarity let out a sigh.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, looking out the window, “Bad timing, because this storm will keep you inside anyway. I’m really sorry.”
A small light in Sweetie Belle’s mind flickered the moment she heard the rumbling. If the storm was going to keep her indoors, she needed to tell Scootaloo the truth now. She knew that if she waited for the storm would pass to tell her, the anxiety and worry would practically kill her on the inside, maybe even drive her insane. In short, the more she postponed telling her friend the truth, the worse it was going to be to tell her.
“Actually, it’s not bad timing at all,” she said, looking up at her sister, “I needed to go into town anyway.”
“Really?” asked Rarity, raising an eyebrow, “May I ask why?”
“I need to...well...talk to somepony. I won’t be gone long, just for a little while...I hope.” She had whispered the last part of the sentence to herself, hoping that Rarity hadn’t heard it. Fortunately, the older unicorn didn’t call her out on her statement.
However, Rarity’s face lit up like a light bulb. “Are you going to see Scott? If you are, then you simply must where the dress that I made for you. Actually, it’s not quite finished yet, but if you don’t mind waiting a little while, I can...”
“Actually,” she said, interrupting her, “I’m not going to see...him. Thank you for making that dress for me, though. It really looks nice, but it’s not like that. I’ll be back soon. Thanks again, sis!”
With that, Rarity watched as her sister gave her a small hug and began galloping out the door and down the stairs. A suspicious feeling began overcoming the unicorn, as she trotted over to the window to see her sister racing into town. She felt the need to know where she was going and who she was seeing beginning to rise inside of her; a natural sisterly instinct, she assumed.
“Where are you going off to?” she asked herself aloud, as Sweetie Belle’s gallop slowly turned into a trot, “And why won’t you tell me where you’re going?”
Almost instantly, she turned her back on the window and said, “No, no, Rarity. You made a promise not to get involved in her private affairs and you’re going to keep that promise.”
She got ready to leave the bedroom, when she couldn’t help but look out the window once more. She saw that Sweetie was heading in the direction of the schoolhouse. Was Scott in her class? Did he live near the school? She said she wasn’t going to see him, but did Sweetie Belle say that just so she wouldn’t have to introduce him to her?
Rarity began biting down on her arm; the urge to find out the answers to her questions becoming more powerful by the second. Unfortunately for her, the power had the upper hoof and, as much as she didn’t want, she gave into it.
“It’s just too important,” she said aloud, as she began galloping down the stairs and toward the main entrance to the Boutique, “I really hate to break a promise, Applejack, but I just need to know.”
With that, she exited the Boutique, put a “closed” sign on the door and began galloping in the direction that Sweetie Belle was heading.
“Are ya sure ya don’t know where she is?” asked an annoyed Applejack.
“Of course not,” said the pink party pony, a smile on her face, “Why would I know where Rainbow Dash is?”
“Seriously, if this is another one of your pranks...”
“Oh Applejack, don’t be a silly filly,” she said, hardly able to keep a straight face, “I don’t know where Rainbow Dash is, but I’ll let her know that you’re looking for her if I see her!”
“Alright, then,” said the earth pony, as she began leaving the bakery, “Thanks, Pinkie.”
As she left, the last thing she heard was the sound of Pinkie Pie’s laughter. She had a feeling she knew where Rainbow was, but was purposely not telling.
“Probably just another prank of theirs,” she said, as she shook her head, “Sometimes, I wonder why Pinkie’s always so giggly and-”
Applejack’s train of thought was immediately interrupted when she saw Sweetie Belle trotting past her. As she did, a smile came across the earth pony’s face.
“Well bust my buttons! Looks like Rarity actually listened to me,” she said, as she crossed her forelegs, “Glad to see she’s come to her senses about-”
Again, her train of thoughts was interrupted when she saw Rarity, slowly trotting some distance away from her sister. By the look on her face and the stance she had, it appeared she was trying her best not to be seen by the small filly.
“Now, what in tarnation are you up to now, Rarity?” she whispered to herself. She didn’t need to think about it long before the answer became obvious. “Ah should’ve known that you’d be sneakin’ ‘round in yer sister’s business, even though you promised not to. Time for me to nip this one in the bud.”
With that, the angered southern pony began following Rarity, keen on stopping her from interfering with whatever it was Sweetie Belle was up to.