I Can Fix It!
When It Rains...
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity yelled as she finished packing her saddlebags and placing them over her back.
“Yeah, Rarity?!” Sweetie yelled from her room upstairs in Carousal Boutique.
“I have to run a few errands around town, so be good while I’m out!” Rarity yelled back as she did a quick check of her mane in one of her showroom mirrors. She smiled at the sight of her perfectly fashionable mane.
Sweetie practically raced down the stairs. She bounced in place at Rarity’s side. “Oh, can I come with? Can we stop for ice cream?! I promise to be good!” Right now, Sweetie really wanted to spend time with her sister but Rarity was far too busy with upcoming orders to spend time with her while their parents were spending the week in Las Pegasus.
Rarity patted Sweetie on the head before walking over to the front door. “I’m sorry, Sweetie, but after my errands, I’m going to the spa for my weekly meeting with Fluttershy.” Rarity truly wished for Sweetie to come with so they could spend time together, but alas, the universe had other plans for her.
Sweetie stopped bouncing, her ears drooping as she looked to the ground. “Oh, okay. Have fun hanging out with Fluttershy.” Sweetie turned and walked back towards the stairs. The Crusaders didn’t have anything planned today and with her unable to spend time with Rarity, it looked like she was going to have to amuse herself. Maybe she could dig through Rarity’s closet and find some old outfits for her to dress up in. Last time she did that, she pretended to be a magnificent singer who performed for crowds across Equestria.
Rarity frowned and bit her lip, unable to stand seeing her sister like this. She needed to make it up to her somehow. Her eyes opened wide as an idea crossed her mind. She didn’t like it, but the happiness of her sister was more important. “However, there is something you could do for me while I’m out.”
Sweetie spun around, the frown on her face replaced with a smile that could rival Pinkie’s at times and her eyes wide with excitement. “Really?! What is it?!”
Rarity smiled at the joy that her sister got from the simplest things. She remembered when she was like this with her mother. “Well, I’m going to be out late and won’t be able to cook us dinner tonight. How about you cook dinner for us while I’m out?”
“It’ll be the best dinner you’ve ever tasted sis!” Sweetie yelled as she ran into the kitchen. Rarity internally cringed at the thought of her sister’s food. The last time Sweetie cooked… Rarity didn’t want to think about that time. Last she heard from Fluttershy, Opal was recovering remarkably well. But she didn’t want to disappoint Sweetie.
“I’m sure it will be. I’ll even see if Twilight will let us borrow her projector so we can watch a movie tonight. Now, be good while I’m out!” Rarity yelled as she stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. Maybe when she borrows the projector from Twilight, she could also get Twilight to cast some spell to nullify her taste buds or something similar.
Once Rarity left, Sweetie quickly got to work making her and Rarity’s favorite meal, vegetable casserole with a light dusting of bread crumbs on top for added crunch. After all, she wanted this to be the best meal her sister tasted! She had just finished adding the bread crumbs and putting the casserole in the oven when a knock on the front door drew her attention. She walked over to the door and opened it to be greeted by her two best friends in the world.
“Howdy, Sweetie! Ready for some crusading?” Apple Bloom said.
Sweetie cocked her head to the side. “But I thought we didn’t have any plans to go crusading today?”
“Yeah, but I—”
“She means we.” Scootaloo glared at Apple Bloom’s interruption.
“Fine. We came up with the idea to start our own business! You want in?”
Sweetie’s eye lit up with excitement. “We could be business owners! Yeah, I want in!”
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER BUSINESS OWNERS, YAY!” They shouted before running down the street.
As they ran away, Sweetie couldn’t help feeling like she forgot something important… Oh well, it would come to her later. Right now, she had important crusading to do!
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After running her errands and getting the projector from Twilight, Rarity arrived at the spa only for Aloe and Lotus to inform her that Fluttershy cancelled because one of her animal friends had a terrible accident and she needed to be there for his recovery. Rarity was incredibly distraught at this. So distraught, in fact, that she needed the full treatment from the spa to calm her down. After all, it’s what Fluttershy would have wanted Rarity to do in this dreadful situation.
After her wonderful trip to the spa, Rarity trotted home. As she walked, she closed her eyes and started humming a particularly catchy tune to herself, blissfully unaware of the world around her. That is, until her nose picked up a new smell. Her nose twitched slightly, the smell reminding her of ash and sulfur. She stopped dead in her tracks as the implications of the smell finally hit her. If she smelled ash and sulfur, and she was close to Carousal Boutique… She really didn’t want to open her eyes, but she knew that she needed to. She slowly opened her eyes and nearly fainted at the sight before her. Her once proud home and business now burned to nothing more than a pile of ash on the ground. Bits and pieces of charred fabric still floated in the air. A short distance away, Sweetie Belle is pacing back and forth in front of the remains, muttering under her breath.
Rarity sat down on her haunches, mouth agape at the sight before her. She didn’t have enough bits to rebuild her home, so that left her… No, she did not want to say it. Rarity Belle would never be that! She closed her mouth and took a deep breath. “SWEETIE BELLE!” She yelled to the heavens above.
Sweetie jumped at the sound of her sister’s voice. She rushed over to stand in front of Rarity, glancing back and forth between Rarity and the remains of the Boutique. “Rarity! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean for this to happen, honest! But don’t worry, I’m working on a plan to fix this!”
Rarity’s left eye twitched slightly as she looked at Sweetie. “No, that’s quite alright, Sweetie Belle. I think you did enough for today.” Rarity turned to look at the remains. “More than enough, I think,” she mumbled under her breath.
“No buts, sis. I’m gonna find a way to rebuild our home so we won’t be homeless anymore and we can still have the best sister bonding time!”
Upon hearing homeless, Rarity stood up, placed a hoof to her head, and fainted, falling backwards onto her fainting couch (patent pending). Well, she would have if the couch wasn’t currently a pile of ash. Instead, she fell to the ground with a dull thud, dust kicking up slightly as she hit it.
Sweetie poked Rarity with her hoof. “Rarity? Um, Rarity? Are you alright?” The only response from Rarity was her legs twitching slightly. “Um, I’m gonna go now…” Sweetie ran towards the center of Ponyville.
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Sweetie sat down on a bench outside town hall, a hoof to her chin and her face scrunched up in concentration. Honestly, Sweetie had no idea how she was going to get the money to rebuild Carousal Boutique. Sweetie rubbed her forehead, trying to come up with any idea, when her eyes went wide. Why didn’t she think of going to Twilight sooner?! She was a princess now, so she should have some magic spell to rebuild things, right? Sweetie hopped off the bench and ran towards Twilights, blissfully unaware of the stallion charging out of the alley to her left. The stallion, unable to stop in time, tripped over Sweetie, causing both of them to tumble to the ground.
Sweetie groaned as she sat up, looking over to the stallion, who was green colored with a black ski mask covering his face. His brown, bulging saddlebags covered up his Cutie Mark. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you alright?”
The stallion sat up and frantically looked through his bags, mumbling under his breath. Glancing around, he finally noticed Sweetie Belle. A smile crossed his face at the little filly before him. “I’m alright, kid. Tell ya what. I’m so sorry for tripping over ya that I’m gonna give ya everything in my saddlebags as my way of saying sorry,” he said in a voice that kinda reminded Sweetie of Big Mac, but slightly higher in pitch.
Sweetie’s eye went wide. “Really?!”
The stallion nodded his head, glancing down the alley he came from. He took off his bags and put them on Sweetie, whose legs buckled slightly from the weight. “Sorry about that, kid!” the stallion yelled as he ran away.
Sweetie took a peek inside the bags and gasped. Inside, she saw plenty of bits, possibly more than enough to rebuild Carousal Boutique and still have some left over for whatever she and Rarity wanted! “Oh, this is perfect! Rarity will be so happy!”
As Sweetie walked away, a smile on her face and stumbling every so often, she failed to notice two guards run out from the alley and after the stallion that gave her the money.
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As Sweetie walked up to the Boutique, she saw that Rarity finally woke up from her fainting spell and was pacing back and forth in front of the remains. “Rarity! Rarity! Look what I got! It’ll solve all our problems!” Sweetie yelled as she ran towards Rarity. Right before she reached her, Sweetie tripped and faceplanted the ground, the saddlebags falling off her and onto the ground in front of Rarity. “I’m okay!” Sweetie’s muffled voice called out from the ground.
Rarity rolled her eyes. She found it hard to believe that Sweetie found the answer to their problems inside these filthy saddlebags. She sighed and said in the nicest voice possible, “Sweetie Belle, what exactly did you find?”
Sweetie peeled her face off the ground and stood up. She then started bouncing in circles around Rarity. “Open it and see! I know you’ll love it, it’s the answer to all our problems!”
Rarity figured that she may as well amuse her sister. She opened the bags and gasped, a slight twinkle appearing in her eyes. “Sweetie Belle! I-I-I can’t believe it, you truly do have the answer to all our problems! There’s enough money in here to rebuild our home and still have some leftover! Wherever did you get this kind of money?!”
“Oh, this nice stallion gave it to me after he tripped over me!”
“Freeze!” a voice yelled out from behind Rarity and Sweetie, causing them both to freeze. “Now turn around slowly, hooves where I can see them!”
Rarity and Sweetie slowly turned around to see a royal guard pointing a spear at them. “Thought you could get away with robbing a bank, eh?! You should know that the law always wins!” he then glanced at the remains of Carousal Boutique, “Burning down a building too, eh?! This isn’t looking too good for you, criminal scum!”
“Did I do something bad?” Sweetie asked as her and Rarity were forced towards a chariot where three more guards stood waiting.
“Sweetie Belle, I’m going to have a long talk with you when this is all over.”
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Rarity drummed a hoof on the bars to her cell window as she waited for Sweetie to come back from her one scroll. She couldn’t believe that her, the Element of Generosity, is sitting in a jail cell for a crime she didn’t commit! She turned around as she heard the sound of hoofsteps coming down her way. A guard stopped in front of her cell and unlocked the door, letting Sweetie in before shutting it behind her with a loud clang.
“Don’t worry, Rarity! I used my one scroll to call for some help!” Sweetie smiled up at Rarity.
“Please tell me you used it to get Twilight.” Rarity hoped Twilight would be able to get them out of this by using her princess status.
“Nope! I got two ponies better than Twilight!”
Rarity placed a hoof on Sweetie’s shoulder. “Sweetie Belle, who did you message?”
“Don’t worry! We can fix this! They should be here soon!”
Rarity’s eyes went wide. “Sweetie, did you…”
“Yup!”
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Two hours Later…
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“Well, that didn’t work,” Scootaloo said, flopping back down onto the cot in the cell currently being shared by three fillies.
“Ah told ya we should have baked a cake and hid ah file in it!” Apple Bloom said.
“Don’t worry, girls. You tried your best,” Sweetie offered, placing a hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder. Apple Bloom took a deep breath and calmed down, smiling at Sweetie and Scootaloo.
Scootaloo sat back up. “Hey, is your sis gonna be alright?” All three glanced over to Rarity, who is standing by the cell window.
“Nopony knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nopony knows but Celestia,” Rarity sang to herself.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine once we fix everything. Rarity will be so proud of me!”
“Ya know, we still haven’t tried getting our Cutie Marks in prison escapes…” Apple Bloom glanced at Sweetie and Scootaloo, who both looked back at her.
As one, they put their hooves together and shouted, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PRISON ESCAPEES, YAY!”
Rarity sighed, knowing that her troubles were far from over.