//------------------------------// // An Unsettling Discovery // Story: How We Got Our Big Sisters Together // by TheNewYorkBrony //------------------------------// I honestly felt bad for Sweetie. I really did. Applejack never embarrassed me a whole lot. Okay maybe that was a lie, but I knew when she did she was only looking out for me. But in Sweetie’s case, I was pretty sure Rarity wasn’t looking out for her at all. Did this have something to do with what went down yesterday? By the groan I heard from Sweetie, I guessed it did. Scootaloo didn’t know exactly what to say. She couldn’t really be supportive friend right now since she was going through a situation with her own sister. I couldn’t blame her for being cautious. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were already on her tail. She was downright paranoid of slipping up and saying the wrong thing. Me, on the other hand, ain’t. “There’s probably a reason why she’s doin’ this,” I said, trying to cheer up Sweetie Belle. “Maybe she’ll tell us. Don’t worry. It’s not like she’s gonna call ya out or nothin’.” “Sweetie Belle! You know better than to sit in class with your head down!” Rarity commanded from behind Ms. Cheerliee’s desk. From the dark glare Sweetie was giving me, I knew I had made a bad call. The whole class turned to face her, Diamond and Silver snickering. “What’chall lookin at?!” I barked. “Ya ain’t never seen a girl sleep in class before?! Turn around, ya varmins! Go on!” I shouted, making a twirling motion with my finger. The rest of the class stiffly followed my orders. Everyone except for those two. “Aw, look at the hick protecting her girlfriend,” Diamond sneered. “Isn’t that cute?” She gave me a grin that made me want to punch the makeup off her face. What’s a seventh grader doing wearing makeup anyway? It’s not like she has anyone to impress! “She ain’t my girlfriend, you dumb bitch.” I growled, cursing myself for developing a blush. Applejack says that when I get mad sometimes my accent gets thicker. She also says it’s a thing that we all get from Daddy. When Mac gets mad, he sounds just like him. When I get mad, Granny says I sound like Applejack when she was young. I just don’t see it. Scootaloo shook her head wildly, her eyes wide. I knew that she didn’t want to start nothing with them, but I was tired of always having to listen to their two bit comments all the time. If I actually had a dollar for every time they have ever said something to us since kindergarten, I could buy that shiny Mercedes from Rarity three times over. “What was that?” Diamond asked, standing up out of her seat. Oh boy. I’d really done it now. I guess this is what everyone was talking about when they said I had no filter. Cursing under her breath Scootaloo stood up. She knew that I could never get into a fight because Applejack would give me a good licking. As hard as she tried to stay quiet, she just couldn’t because she was just as non filtered and hot tempered as me. She glared at Diamond. “She called you a bitch. You hard of hearing?” By now the rest of the class was “oohing” and getting their phones out prepared to capture it when the moment happened. Sweetie took this as an opportunity to slip away and grab her sister, leading her out into the hallway to talk. No one even noticed she left. I guess Scoots created a distraction at her own expense for her. Diamond guffawed. “Oh look, it’s the other dyke. What, your adoptive sister couldn’t come help you fight this one?” She taunted, gazing at her condescendingly. Silver Spoon and a few of the other popular girls laughed to back her up. Scootaloo worked her jaw and balled her fists. She knew that if she hit her, it was all over for her. Her scholarships, her track career, everything would be gone. Diamond was banking on her hitting her so that she could go running to that rich daddy of hers and stretch the truth from here to Manehattan. He could ruin everything for Scootaloo with just one lie from his daughter’s mouth. That conniving little bitch knew exactly what she was doing. I couldn’t take it anymore. I leaped over my desk and reached for the fire alarm by the window. The alarm sounded, and the sprinklers went off, wetting everyone, but mostly Diamond and Silver, who were standing directly under it. Scootaloo shoved her hoodie on her head and fist bumped me. “Holy crap, I owe you one.” She said with a relieved grin. Me, Scoots, and Sweetie reunited under a tree in the front yard of the middle school building. Sweetie looked like she was just about ready to pull her hair out, and Scoots looked like she wanted nothing more but to crawl into a hole. I felt bad since nothing was really wrong with me. Rarity stomped over to us. “Just look at my new dress! It took me hours to finish this! And now it’s ruined!” She stomped her foot. She looked like a fancy wet dog. Her hair was wet and sticking to her face in dark purple clumps and her mascara was starting to run. I didn’t think she would get caught in it too. And then I saw Applejack. And the whole world started slowing. She was mad. Really mad. Her face was all red and her fists were clenched. She kinda looked like Mama when she got mad. That actually didn’t make things better, because when Mama got mad, she was twice as scary. Scootaloo whistled, and I ducked behind her. She quickly moved. “Hey! You’re the one who did it, not me! I’m not standing in between you and your sister!” She said defensively with her hands up. I sighed in defeat. Might as well get it over with. She dragged me by my ear. I mean, I was used to it. I used to get into trouble a lot when I was little so this was nothing new, but when Applejack did it, it really hurt. She pulled me all the way to her truck and didn’t let go until we were in front of it. “What’s this Ah hear about you settin’ off fire alarms?! Y’know Mama and Daddy taught ya better than that!” She must have been hopping mad because her accent was thicker than mines. “But sis, if Ah hadn’t done it, a fight would’ve broken out between Scootaloo an’ Diamond Tiara! An’ she wanted Scootaloo to hit her because then she could ruin Scoots’ runnin’ career!” I explained in one breath. She folded her arms and sighed, her anger sort of dissipating. “Ah should’ve known it had something to do with at least one of your friends.” She nodded towards me. “You alright?” I nodded. “Yea, we all just got a little wet, that’s all.” “Good. Ya needed a shower anyway.” She teased, ruffling my hair. “Sis!” I whined with a laugh. I was about to get in the truck with her when I remembered something. “We should go back for Sweetie. Rarity is probably bein’ really hard on her since she’s still angry about yesterday.” Applejack hesitated, but sighed and turned the car off. “Yer right. This whole thing is my fault anyway.” She slid out her seat and shut the car door with a loud slam. (It got stuck sometimes, it was a really old truck.) I heard the locks click in place and then watched her step in front of me. Sighing, I followed after her back to the tree where me and the girls were standing at. Scootaloo was talking to Dash, and Sweetie was looking bored as Rarity ranted off to her about something. I heard a snippet of it as we got closer. “Honestly! Now I’m going to have to go home and change before the party! This is horrendous!” She whined, stopping her foot again. Wow. Rarity was more of a teenager than Sweetie was. I mean, sure, getting your clothes all wet is uncomfortable and not the best feeling, but she was so busy going on and on about her clothes that she didn’t even ask Sweetie Belle if she was okay. “Ah think it’s a nice look on ya.” Applejack teased with a smirk. Rarity jumped. “Good heavens, Applejack!” She shrieked. “You scared me!” She folded her arms and pouted, which looked really funny considering she still looked like a wet dog. “You’re not supposed to sneak up on a lady!” “My apologies then.” Applejack’s grin grew. “Ah was just wonderin’ if ya’ll wanted to come on down to the farm to get cleaned up. You can shower and everythin’ and as punishment, the girls can help set up.” She laid a tight grip on the back of my neck for emphasis. “But my outfit is at the boutique! And if I go to get it, I might as well powder up there!” Rarity responded, looking a bit worried and possibly taken aback by my sister’s sudden change of heart. You and me both, Rarity. You and me both. “Ah’ll call Twilight and see if she can get Spike to bring it over. You know that boy’ll do anythin’ for ya.” Applejack said, wiggling her eyebrows. Me and Sweetie made eye contact. We had completely forgotten that Spike had a crush on Rarity. (Not that he could even act on it, he was sixteen.) But if he found out what we were doing, he’d jump at the chance to tell Twilight and the others and we wouldn’t hear the end of it. “As much as I’d hate to use Spikey Wikey, I am in need of a shower as soon as possible. May I borrow some of your clothes, Applejack?” Rarity asked with a polite smile. “Sure.” Applejack responded with a tip of her Stetson. “Hey Dash! You commin’ later?!” she called to Rainbow. She had Scootaloo in a headlock and was giving her a nuggie when she heard. She laughed. “You betcha! You better have some of that awesome cider for me!” She shouted back, before resuming her play fight with Scoots. Me and my sister used to play like that until we broke the urn that Grandpa was in. Winona walked right through the pile of ashes and trailed it all over the house. Granny freaked, and that was the end of that. We reached the farm about an hour later. Sweetie and Rarity took their showers first. (A southern hospitality thing, I guess.)Rarity in the master bathroom, Sweetie in mines. Me and AJ sat in the kitchen playing cards until the both of them were done. Applejack kept winning so I decided to go get my stuff ready so that when Sweetie got out, I could get in. Without thinking to knock, I opened the door to my room to find Sweetie in my floor length mirror singing and looking at herself. She saw me in the reflection, and startled, turned around to face me, in nothing but her bra and underwear. “Oh, hey Bloom.” She smiled. “You kinda scared me there.” A minute passed, and a worried look crossed her face. “You okay? You’re kinda just staring into space.” I blinked. What was I even staring at? “Wha-Huh?” I asked, as if I just woke up from a long sleep. I looked her in the face, and then my eyes trailed to her body. Oh. That’s why I zoned out. I started blushing as red as an apple. “Uh, Ah just came to get my towel and shampoo an’ stuff. Don’t mind me.” Ah said with a nervous laugh, grabbing my towel off my dresser and practically running out of my room, slamming the door behind me. I squeezed my eyes shut. Oh please, please don’t tell me I’m developing a crush on one of my best friends.