7. Limelight (Part 1)
“Hey, Sweetie, we’re gonna go bowling after class today, you wanna come?” Apple Bloom asked as I nibbled at my lunch.
“I’d really like to, but I have to do some more practice this afternoon,” I said, biting at my lower lip. “You know, I just… It’s only a few more days until Pinkie’s party, and then we can totally hang out after that.” It had been a few weeks since I’d gotten my cutie mark, and I was compelled (that was a really fun word to learn in Miss Octavia’s class) to practice singing as much as possible. Rarity spent years practicing dressmaking, and if I wanted to be as good a singer as she was a dressmaker, I needed to practice. Besides, whenever I tried to do anything with the rest of the girls, Melody just completely shut down and acted like I wasn’t even there.
Did I accidentally upset her? I had tried talking to her about it, but she just said everything was fine. I still really liked her, but spending time with her and the rest of the girls just made me feel bad. On the other hoof, practicing my singing made me feel great because it was going to make other ponies happy, and there was absolutely no weirdness with it, just me doing what I was best at.
“Alright,” Applebloom said, trying to hide her frown. “Well, if you get done practicin’ early, we’ll be happy to have you join us..”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling my stomach get all twisted up. I was telling them the truth, so why did I feel so bad? “We’ll do something Saturday, I promise...”
“Fine,” Scootaloo said, “but you’d better be absolutely awesome at this party with all the time you’ve been spending practicing.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, beaming at her. “I will be. I mean, I don’t know I will be, but I just… I really want this to go well, it’s my first really big show since the time loop, and I want to show the town that I earned my cutie mark.” I took a breath to calm my stomach and turned to look at Melody, who’d barely said anything during the last few weeks. Even if she was upset with me, she was still my friend, and I was going to try and make things up to her. “Melody, are you sure you don’t want to play piano with me at the show? I know you’d be great at it.”
“It’s fine,” she said, staring down at her food. “I have a lot of homework, and I don’t want to drag you down.”
“You won’t be dragging me down,” I said, frowning at her. Why was she being so difficult? A few weeks ago, she would have done pretty much anything I asked, and now she was just… didn’t want to do anything with me. She’d spent more time with Socket than she had with me the last few weeks, and… I mean, if spending time with him was more fun for her than spending time with me, then that was fine, I just wish I knew what I’d done wrong. “Come on, we’re still friends, right?”
Melody finally looked up from her lunch tray and gave me a tiny smile. “Of course we are, Sweetie Belle, I just… we don’t have to do everything together.”
“But I’d like it if we did something together. You know I still really like you, even if I didn’t want to…” I couldn’t quite finish that sentence. “I mean, I’m not even saying I didn’t want to, and besides, you were the one who said we were just friends.”
“Could we not discuss this in front of our friends?” Melody asked, frowning and looking back at the table. “I know you really mean well, but my feelings for you aren’t something I want to discuss in public.”
“So you do have feelings for me,” I said, causing her to groan.
There was a long pause as she looked between me, Diamond Tiara (sitting right next to me, she’d been sitting pretty close to me since she joined our group, and I kind of didn’t mind), and Scootaloo (sitting across from me). “No. We’re just friends. Good friends, like you said. Now could we please talk about something else?”
“Yeah, how about… Socket, how are you doing?” Scootaloo asked, looking at her friend.
“Fine, you know, been working on a secret project lately. Just a… thank you for a friend.”
“Ooh! Is it anypony at the table?” I asked, hoping that he had finally realized Scootaloo was perfect for him. She had been such a good friend to me, I really wanted her to find somepony that made her happy.
“Possibly,” he said, pushing his empty tray away and pulling out one of his engineering books. “Now, I really need to get to work, I still have to get the magic crystals right and–”
“It’s not going to end up with us being stuck in a time loop again, is it?” Life Bloom asked. “Because I would prefer it if it didn’t.”
“Me too,” I said, taking a bite out of my hay burger. “Although… I would like another shot at making the perfect day for everypony. Hey, Socket, do you think you can time loop me again?”
“Well, considering that the exact circumstances that led to you getting stuck in a time loop the first time were one in a million, and that I still don’t know exactly how it happened, I’m going to say no, especially since the whole town could explode if I don’t get everything right.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I said, frowning. “I just hate that I don’t have enough time to spend with you girls. Your still my best friends, but at the same time, I have to practice for Pinkie’s show.”
“It’s fine, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said. “The show is this Friday, and then you can spend the weekend with us, right?”
“Of course!” I squeaked. “Once the show’s over, I promise I’ll make it up to you with the best weekend ever.” Even if Melody was still upset with me for some reason, and I really didn’t want her to be upset with me. Why did she have to be difficult? If she did actually like like me, she would just tell me, right? I shook my head. I could figure that out after Friday; right now, I needed all of my focus on the show. “Thank you girls for being so understanding.”
“We’re friends, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said, smiling at me. “We get that sometimes you just got other stuff you have to deal with. You don’t have to spend all your time with us for us to still be friends.”
I smiled at her. She was right, I wasn’t being a bad friend, I just had some other stuff to take care of. Even Twilight spent time away from her friends, and she was the Princess of Friendship.
***
Somepony applauded as I finished my song. I strained to see who it was and found a soft pink mare near the back stomping her hooves on the ground. My heartbeat sped up when I saw her, and my head got all light and funny feeling. Over the last few weeks, I’d been thinking about our kiss a lot. “Oh hey, Diamond Tiara,” I said as I hopped off the stage. “Why aren’t you out bowling with our friends?”
“Because,” she said, rolling her eyes as she trotted towards me. “I know this might be a surprise to you, but they’re still not my friends. I’m your friend, and they’re your friends, but the only thing we have in common is you. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo still won’t forgive me, Life Bloom and Socket are okay enough, I guess, and Melody is… You’ve seen how odd she’s been lately.”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding my head slowly. “Do you have any idea what that’s about?”
Tiara shook her head. “No, and I don’t really want to. If she wants to be weird, that’s fine with me.”
“Hey,” I squeaked, “she’s still my friend.”
“Is she though?” Tiara asked as we headed out of the auditorium. “She’s been completely ignoring you the last few weeks. Maybe she decided she doesn’t like you. Maybe it’s something else though, just… if I were you, I’d think she was pulling away.”
I frowned at that. “Maybe, but… I still like her as a friend. Did I do something wrong?”
“Of course you didn’t,” Tiara said, shaking her head. “If you’ve done anything wrong, it’s being too nice to ponies.” She turned and smiled at me. “Listen, Sweetie, have you thought anymore about… us?”
No, I hadn’t thought about us dating anymore lately, although… “I like thinking about the kiss,” I said, nodding my head. “And the way your fur felt when I touched it and stuff, but that’s it.”
“That actually sounds like a lot,” Tiara said as we left the school. “You know, it’s okay to admit you like me.”
“I already told you I like you,” I said, frowning. “That’s why we’re friends.”
“You know that’s not what I meant,” Tiara said, playfully tapping me on the back of the head. “Why is it so hard for you to admit you have a crush on me too? All those feelings you described totally sound like a crush.” She paused for a minute. “If you’re worried your friends will get upset with you, I’m fine with keeping things a secret for a while.” She sighed. “I’ll even try to be friendly with them… or friendlier, at least.”
“Really?” I asked, my ears perking up as I smiled at her. “You actually mean that?”
She nodded. “I do, but you have to admit you have a crush on me.”
“Alright,” I said, suddenly feeling a tickle in my stomach as the next few words caught in my throat. It was true, I really did like her, our kiss was fun, and… Well, I knew she liked me, so what was I nervous about? “I have a crush on you.”
“And why is that?” she asked, smiling at me.
“Because…” This wasn’t part of our deal, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell a little more truth, especially since it would make her happy and I really wanted to make her happy. “You’re cute, and I felt really good when you kissed me.”
Before I could say anything else, Tiara’s lips were pressed against mine, and I couldn’t help but think about how nice they tasted. I wrapped my forelegs around her to feel the warmth and softness of her fur. This time, I didn’t push her away. “That was… nice,” I said when the kiss finally ended.
“Just nice?” Tiara asked, giving me a look that told me I had better say our kiss was more than just nice.
“It was… really nice,” I said slowly. “And... I’d like to do it again.” Kissing was really nice, and I kind of wanted to kiss all my friends, but none of Rarity’s books mentioned that. I could settle for just kissing Diamond Tiara.
“Good enough,” Diamond Tiara said. “As long as you want to do it again, I’m fine.”
“So…” I said, looking around to make sure nopony had seen our kiss. If they had, they weren’t around anymore. “Are we dating now? Because nopony asked the other pony out, but we’re already kissing, and that usually happens at the end of the first date, so…”
“I think we’re dating,” Tiara said slowly. “We both like… We both like like each other, right?”
I nodded. “I think so, I mean, I really liked kissing you, and it felt nice, so I think that means we like like each other. Ooh! Do you think I can kiss the rest of my friends to see if I like like them too?”
“Sweetie Belle,” Diamond Tiara said, turning to glare at me as we started walking back to… somewhere, “we both have a crush on each other. You can’t kiss ponies if you don’t have a crush on them.”
“But I didn’t know I had a crush on you until you kissed me,” I said, frowning. “What if I have a crush on all my friends and I just don’t know it yet?”
“Do you want to date me?” Tiara asked, raising an eyebrow. “Because you can’t kiss other ponies when you’re dating somepony. That’s against the rules.”
“I know,” I said, frowning, “but wouldn’t it be cool if I could date all my friends? Then we could all just be happy and kiss each other and no one would be jealous... That’d just be so great.”
“Are you serious?” Tiara asked. “You just discovered you liked kissing me and now you want to try kissing all your friends? Can’t you just be happy kissing me?”
“Of course I can,” I said as we got close to her house. “But I want to make all my friends happy, and if kissing makes me happy, then it should make them happy, so kissing all my friends would just make everypony even happier.”
She sighed and shook her head. “You aren’t actually going to kiss all your friends, are you? Kissing somepony you have a crush on is great, but if you kiss your friends and they don’t have a crush on you, then… you don’t want to upset them, do you?”
“...No,” I said, slowly shaking my head. I wouldn’t like being kissed by somepony I didn’t like like, so… “No kissing ponies besides you, okay?”
Tiara just smiled and kissed me as we reached her door. Have I mentioned that kissing is really fun? “So,” she said when our kiss ended, “do you want to come inside and hang out? Your friends are probably still bowling, and… I thought it would be nice if we spent some time together.”
I paused and looked between her house door and the path leading to the bowling alley. My friends had invited me to join them when I was done, but… it would be okay if I didn’t join them just this once, right? “That would be… Fun. Really fun. Do you think you can give me a tour? I’ve just never gotten a really good look at your house, and I’m kind of curious.”
“Sure,” she said, opening the door handle and gesturing for me to step inside. “I might as well, since something tells me you’re going to be spending a lot more time here.” She smiled and kissed my cheek and my whole body suddenly got pleasantly warm. Yeah, something told me I’d probably be spending a lot more time here.
***
An hour later, Tiara and I were kissing in her room. Her room was just like her: soft, pink, and filled with expensive things (although I guess Tiara wasn’t filled with expensive things, she just liked them). “Oh my gosh, if I had known how fun kissing was, I totally would’ve started dating sooner, it’s almost the greatest thing ever, and your lips have this nice berry taste, and when I’m that close to you, I can actually smell the shampoo you use. It smells really nice, by the way.”
Tiara smiled and nodded. “Thanks,” she said. “My dad imports a special shampoo from Prance. It’s used by the nobility, so they make sure to use only the finest ingredients. I’d hoped other ponies thought it smelled nice, but some ponies in this town–”
“Be nice!” I said, interrupting her. She really was doing a lot better, but she could occasionally… not be. If I said something though, she always apologized.
“Sorry,” she said, frowning. “I really wasn’t trying to be mean though, it’s just… some ponies here do have a problem appreciating the finer things. Do you really think Apple Bloom would in any way be interested in properly beautifying herself?”
“No,” I said shaking my head. Tiara had a point, Apple Bloom would never go for anything that frilly or scented. Still, I liked that Tiara did.
“You know,” Tiara said, flashing me a smile. “If you’re interested, I could give you some of my perfume and shampoo. You’d look really pretty if you put a bit more effort into your appearance.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding my head at her. “Do you think… Wait, you don’t think I’m pretty now?”
Tiara laughed and rolled her eyes. “Of course I think you’re pretty, Sweetie Belle, I wouldn’t be dating you if you weren’t. I just think… you’re naturally pretty, but imagine how much prettier you could be if you did a little work on your appearance.” She trotted over to sit next to me, and almost without thinking, I leaned against her to feel her warm soft coat against mine. If using her shampoo made my coat as soft as hers, I definitely had to try it.
“Alright,” I said as I rested my head on her neck and took a sniff of her shampoo. “What other stuff do you use? Because whatever it is, it makes you look really pretty. Also, do you have to do anything to get your lips to taste so nice?”
Tiara gave a “hmm” causing her neck to vibrate and tickle me. “I don’t do anything besides put lip gloss on it, and…” She laughed. “I use it so much, I forgot it had a little berry taste to it. Would you like me to give you some of that as well?”
“Yes, please,” I said, nodding my head even though she couldn’t see it. “Do my lips taste okay to you? Because the lip taste is one of my favorite things about kissing, and... Actually, everything about kissing is my favorite thing about kissing. I just feel so happy after we do it.”
“So do I,” she said, pushing her barrel against mine while I pushed back. “And yes, your lips taste fine, Sweetie, although you could still use some gloss to make them shine a bit more. See how they make mine all… well, glossy?” She turned around so I could get a closer look at her lips, although she really didn’t need to. I’d spent enough time staring at them to remember what they looked like. Still, it was nice to look at them again, and they definitely looked glossy.
I nodded at her. “I just thought you had really shiny lips.”
“Really?” she asked as she moved back to leaning against me. “Your sister is the town fashionista. How do you not know about lip gloss? Actually, why don’t you use any beauty products? I thought Rarity would freak out if you tried to leave the house without putting on at least some beauty products.”
“Oh! There’s actually a kind of funny story about that. Do you remember my sixth birthday party?” I asked, trying to remember if she was invited to that.
“I remember your sister giving out party favors, but I don’t actually remember seeing you there,” Diamond Tiara said. “I always wondered why you didn’t show up to your own birthday party.”
“I wanted to look fabulous like my sister for my party,” I said, torn between smiling and cringing at the memory, “so I got into her makeup and tried to make myself look like her, but I wound up looking like a cross between a raccoon and a clown. I’m sure Rarity still has a picture of it. Anyways, after that, Rarity told me a filly had no place wearing that much makeup, so I just didn’t think about it again.”
Tiara sighed and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Kisses on the cheek weren’t as fun as kisses on the lip, but they were still nice. “You know, there’s a difference between wearing makeup and wearing too much makeup. Do you want me to put a little makeup on you to show you how to properly do it?”
“That sounds really fun,” I said, getting up on my hooves and heading over to her vanity, which had tons of makeup and beauty products on it. “What do you need me to do?”
“Just sit down,” Diamond Tiara said as she grabbed one of the bottles from her desk. “Hmm, I think this gloss would go really well with your coloring. What do you think about it?” She held the tiny bottle up so I could look at its color.
“I don’t know,” I said, frowning. “It looks like my lips normally do. Maybe a teensy bit brighter, but that’s it.”
“Of course it does,” Tiara said, rolling her eyes. “It’s supposed to complement your natural colors, not cover them up. Otherwise you get that clown look you were complaining about. Now pucker your lips like you’re about to kiss me.”
I nodded and puckered before leaning in to kiss her. The same warm fuzzy feeling I got from our earlier kisses flooded my body and I gave a happy sigh as the kiss ended. Tiara just giggled. “You weren’t actually supposed to kiss me,” she said as she unscrewed the top of the lipgloss. “I’m not complaining, but this will be better for both of us if you don’t distract me while I’m giving you your makeover, and actually for this part, it would be better if you just left your mouth open.” I opened my mouth for her, and she pulled the top off to reveal a little brush thingy attached to it.
Carefully holding the top of the bottle in her hooves, Tiara rested the top of the brush on my lips and I had to struggle not to giggle as she used it to trace my lips. “Alright,” she said as she screwed the top on. “Now, blow me a kiss, okay?” I did and got a taste of my own lip gloss. Ooh, this one tasted kind of vanilla-ey. Not a lot, but there was definitely a little vanilla taste to it.
“I like it,” I said, nodding my head at her. “It tastes good.”
“That’s not the main reason you wear lip gloss,” she said. “You use it to give your lips a nice lustre. See,” she said pointing a hoof at the mirror. My lips definitely looked a little glossy now, but they didn’t stand out or look like somepony else’s lips. It was like me, but a little prettier. “Now, next we’re going to put on a little bit of eyeliner and eyeshadow. Again, we don’t want it to stand out, we just want to make your lashes look fuller and accent your eyes.”
“Alright,” I said as she put the bottle to the side and grabbed what looked like a tube of chapstick. This one also had a little brush on it, but whatever it had on it was powdery. She softly brushed my eyelashes a couple of times before putting the eyeliner next to the lip gloss.
“Now close your eyes,” she said as she rummaged through one of the drawers of her vanity. “I know I have the perfect eyeshadow in here for you somewhere.” She really had a lot of makeup stuff, maybe even as much as Rarity, which was… impressive. I saw her pull out a case of something as I closed my eyes. A few seconds later, I felt a brush tickle at my eyelids and let out a tiny giggle as she applied the eyeshadow. “Stop it,” she said, “if you move too much, I might mess up.”
“Sorry,” I whispered, doing my best not to move my head as she brushed my second eyelid.
“There,” she said as I heard her putting something down on the vanity. “You can open your eyes now.”
“Okay,” I said, following her directions. Tiara had moved out of the way, giving me a good look at myself in the mirror. I looked… not just pretty, I looked beautiful. I never imagined I could look this good. There was a faint touch of green on my eyelids, and my eyelashes had never looked fuller. It all worked to draw attention to my eyes and really bring out their green. “Thank you,” I squealed as I turned around to wrap my forelegs around my… Oh my gosh, I had a marefriend now. I pressed my lips against hers, spending a second enjoying the warmth as the berry and vanilla mixed to make the greatest taste ever. I didn’t think it was possible, but my makeover made kissing even better.
Tiara smiled and gave me another kiss. “I’m glad you like it. Let me go see if we have some more of that shampoo I was telling you about, and… oh, I should probably get you some of my perfume as well. Remember not to spray yourself directly with that, spray the air around you and then walk through it, that way the smell isn’t too strong.”
“Got it,” I said, smiling as she walked out of the room, leaving me alone. I let out a happy sigh while I waited for her to come back. Today was pretty much the best – not counting the day I got my cutie mark, which technically never happened – day ever. I made Diamond Tiara happy, I discovered that I really liked doing kissing stuff with a special somepony, and Tiara had given me a makeover. I couldn’t wait to tell my friends about– Right, we’d agreed to keep things secret for now. That was… Well, we’d tell them eventually, and then I could tell them all about how great it was.
***
After Tiara got back with a bottle of her shampoo, we spent another hour kissing and talking before I finally headed back to Rarity’s. As I walked back home, my saddlebags filled with books and beauty products, I couldn’t help but sing to myself.
“Well, you certainly seem to be in a good mood today,” Rarity said as I walked past her work room. She was working on one of her dresses, and didn’t bother to turn around and look at me. “Did you have fun with your friends?”
“Actually, I was spending time with Diamond Tiara,” I said, walking into her room. Just because I couldn’t tell my friends we were dating didn’t mean I couldn’t tell my sister about it, and I had to tell somepony, I felt like I was about to explode with happiness. “We’re kind of dating now.”
Rarity spun around to look at me, her eyes wide with surprise. “Whahuhahuh?!” she said, sputtering. “Sweetie, are you wearing makeup?”
“Yep,” I said, smiling at her. “Diamond Tiara let me use some of hers, and she taught me how to use it too.”
My sister’s face spasmed as she went through every expression she could think of in less than a second. Finally, she took a deep breath and smiled at me. “While I’m happy she helped you, I would have been more than glad to teach you the basics of applying makeup. I was actually rather looking forward to that particular lesson.”
“Really?” I asked. “I thought you said a filly had no business wearing makeup. I figured you’d be upset with me.”
“Now, Sweetie Belle, I told you that when you were six, and had applied an entire year’s worth of makeup in one sitting. Frankly, dear, nopony should wear that much makeup,” Rarity said, shaking her head. “I would’ve been happy to teach you, but I just assumed you were no longer interested in such things.”
“So… you aren’t upset then,” I said, looking at her. I kind of expected her to freak out more.
“Not about that, no. The issue of you ‘dating’ Diamond Tiara, is another thing entirely,” she said. Oh right, she probably would want to talk about that. Actually, I wanted to talk with her about it too, I just… thought the makeup thing would be a bigger deal than the dating thing.
Rarity took another breath to calm herself before continuing. “Now, I’m not upset with you, exactly, just very concerned. Navigating the affairs of the heart is something nopony can truly master, but I feel it is my duty as your big sister to advise you in whatever way I can. First, are you sure you’re doing this because you really want to and not just because you feel pressured into it?”
“Of course,” I said, trotting into the room as Rarity magicked the door closed behind me. “I really like her, and I’ve been thinking about her a lot since she kissed me.”
Rarity’s eye twitched. “And when was that, Sweetie?”
Oh right, I totally didn’t tell her about that.when it happened… Wow, the time loop happened almost a month ago. “Do you remember when I went to go talk to her about Mr. Marelon?”
She nodded.
“Then.”
“Ahh, I see,” Rarity said, taking a seat at the tea table in her inspiration room (the only rooms in the house that didn’t have a tea table were my bedroom and the bathroom). “Well, I wish you would’ve told me about this sooner, but I suppose a filly– a mare, excuse me, can’t be blamed for wishing to keep some things private. Certainly, I haven’t told you everything about myself.”
“Really?” I asked, my ears perking up. “What haven’t you told me… Ooh! Is it juicy?”
“That’s… a story for another day. Right now, we need to talk about you and Miss Tiara. Now, Sweetie, I know you wish to make your friends happy, but it’s very important that you don’t start dating ponies because you believe it will please them.”
“I know,” I said, sitting across from her. “You already told me that stuff. We both really like each other, though.”
“Alright,” Rarity said, “but let’s suppose another one of your friends wished to date you. What would you do?”
“That’s…” I groaned and rested my head on the table. “Really tough. I mean, I really like most of my friends, and if another one of them asked me out… I’d want to say yes, but I can’t because I’m dating Tiara, and if I did say yes that would really hurt her feelings.”
Rarity made a “tsk’ noise. “Sweetie, I can’t help but notice you aren’t talking about what you’d like to do, and in a relationship, that’s a rather important factor. Certainly, you should be willing to compromise with your special somepony, but it’s also important that you at least make your wants clear.”
I sighed. “I can’t have what I want. If another one of my friends liked me, then I’d really want to date them and Tiara, but Tiara doesn’t want that. Luckily none of my friends like me like me.”
“Oh? So that Melody girl doesn’t have romantic feelings for you? I was positive she did.”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “I was just her first friend, and she had a hard time figuring out how to show it. Lately, she’s actually been pretty distant. Like, she spends more time talking with Apple Bloom and Socket than me.”
“I see,” Rarity said, slowly nodding. “Well, the real question is, are you willing to exclusively date Diamond Tiara?”
Well, she was pretty, she’d been a lot nicer lately, and I really liked kissing her, but most importantly, I just liked spending time with her. That was the big thing, wasn’t it? That I liked being with her and wanted us to do things together. “Yes,” I said, lifting my head up and looking at my sister. “I really like her.”
“That’s all I needed to hear, then,” Rarity said, smiling down at me. “I suppose I should be grateful that you’re… actually, I don’t mean to pry too much, but is your interest exclusively in other mares?”
“Maybe,” I said, frowning at her question. “I mean, the only pony in our group of friends I don’t want to date is Socket, but that could just be because he got me stuck in a time loop for a year.”
Rarity gave one of her demure laughs. “That’s something of a relief, I suppose. At least now I don’t have to worry about you getting pregnant at fourteen too much.”
“Wait, that can happen?” I squeaked. “I thought you had to be trying to make a foal for that. It’s… So are there ponies who got pregnant without wanting too? That must be the worst thing ever, I mean, what if I got pregnant… oh my gosh, can I get pregnant from dating Diamond Tiara?”
“You told me our parents spoke with you about these things. You assured me that there was no need to get into the specifics,” Rarity said, narrowing her eyes at me. “You didn’t lie to me, did you?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head, “they told me that when a mare and a stallion love each other very much, they go to bed together and make a foal.”
“So then how did you think it was possible for Tiara to make you pregnant?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow. “There’s not something I need to know about her is there?”
“What?” I asked, wrinkling up my forehead in confusion. “No… I mean, there are probably some things you should know about her since we’re dating now, and I really want you to meet her, but… I just thought that since I didn’t know two mares could date when they told me about that, so I thought maybe two mares could make a foal too.”
“Oh dear,” Rarity said, frowning. “I suppose we have a lot to cover then.” She floated my notebook and pencil out of my saddlebags. “You might want to take some notes for this.”
***
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, my eyes going wide in terror. “So a mare gets pregnant when the stallion does… in her… ewww. Oh my gosh, why would anypony want to do that?”
“For the same reason you enjoy kissing, Sweetie: it feels good. Remarkably so, in fact. When I discovered stallions at that age, well I was quite taken with spending time with them and wasn’t aware of the possible risks, and I don’t want to see you repeat that mistake. Now, if you do find yourself fancying a stallion, be sure to…
***
“Now then,” Rarity said as I put my pencil down on the notebook, “those are the basics of mare-stallion intercourse, but I don’t believe that is of particular interest to you. If you wish, I can go into more details about mare-mare relations, but I also understand if you want to take some time to process things.”
“Y-yeah,” I said, staring down at my notebook and struggling to put words together. “Time is… time is good. I think I’ll just stick with kissing for now.”
“Very well,” Rarity said, “I just hope that before you do anything, you talk to me first. Sex can be one of the most enjoyable acts in the world, but it’s very important you know the risks before you do anything.”
“I just… You made me take five pages of notes, I think I know the risks,” I said, closing my notebook.
“Then I suppose I’ve done my job,” Rarity said, nodding at me. “If you have any more questions, please come to me. I’d much rather us have a few awkward conversations now than see you do something regrettable because a lack of information that I could’ve easily provided.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled as I got to my hooves and placed my notebook back in my saddlebags. “I think I’m just going to play in my room for the rest of the day, or…” Oh right, I had Equestrian and math homework. I might want to do that before tomorrow; Miss Octavia was already pretty upset with me for missing my last couple of journals, and if I didn’t improve my grades in my last three classes, Rarity might kill me or at the very least ground me. Either way, it wouldn’t be fun.
I sat down at the desk in my room and pulled out my math book, opening it to the page with our homework problems on it. “Okay,” I said to myself, “I just have to solve for x a few times, how hard could that be?”
An hour later, and no x’s were any closer to being solved. Whenever I tried to think about the problem, my brain kept going back to my afternoon Diamond Tiara and the way I felt when her lips were pressed against mine. It was definitely way better than thinking about math stuff, but I don’t think Miss Pi would be that interested in reading a paper on how fun kissing is. On the other hoof, Miss Octavia might. I mean, I was supposed to write about my week, and kissing was something I did this week. I put my math book away and pulled out my Equestrian journal. At least I could do this pretty well.
***
I stared at myself in the mirror the next morning. I looked super pretty. Not just pretty, but… I almost looked as beautiful as Rarity. To add to yesterday’s makeover, Tiara’s shampoo brightened my coat and mane, and I’d even added an extra little curl to my mane and tail. A tiny shiver ran up my back when I thought of what Tiara would think when she saw me. I don’t know how it worked, but spending time on my appearance even managed to make me feel better. I really had to thank Tiara again. Possibly with more kisses. Definitely with more kisses.
Staring at myself, I found myself thinking of how much I’d grown in the past few months. Now, I was almost the size of Rarity, and I actually looked like a mare. Not just that, I was wearing makeup, had a very special somepony, and I finally had my cutie mark. Rarity was right, I wasn’t a filly anymore… But were my friends?
They’d only grown a little bit, still didn’t have a cutie mark, and the only other pony in the group who maybe wore makeup was Melody, and she didn’t like me anymore for some reason. Still, they were my friends, and I wasn’t going to abandon them just because I was a bit more mature than them. We’d still do lots of fun stuff together, I just had to do more adult stuff too.
Giving my reflection one last smile, I trotted out of the bathroom to pick up my saddlebags and head to the Academy. Putting on makeup was definitely worth waking up an hour earlier. Making myself look pretty just made me feel better, even if it meant some of the colts in my classes might be looking at me and thinking about… things I didn’t want to think about. On the other hoof, Tiara would definitely be looking at me, and that made it worth it.
***
“Whoa, Sweetie, what happened to you?” Scootaloo asked as I sat down at our table. “Did Rarity make you put on makeup today?”
I glanced at Tiara, sitting next to me, if I told them she had given me the makeover last night, they’d know I spent time with her instead of spending time with them, and then they might figure out we were dating, which would be really not good. “Uhmm… yep,” I said, giving my friends a tiny smile. “She said since I was going to be singing on stage, I should work on my appearance more. That makes sense, right?”
“I guess,” Scootaloo said, shrugging. “Still, don’t overdo it or I might have a hard time telling you and Diamond Tiara apart.”
“That’s dumb,” Tiara said, scoffing. “Just because Sweetie is actually concerned with her appearance doesn’t mean she’s going to start looking like me. If you haven’t noticed, lots of ponies wear makeup, it’s not limited to just me.”
“Hey!” I squeaked, turning to look at her. “You said you’d try to be nicer to my friends.” That was one of the reasons I started dating her. Well, it wasn’t a big reason, but she promised if we started dating she’d try to be friendlier.
Tiara sighed and pinched her nose. “I am trying, Sweetie Belle, but you heard what Scootaloo said. She made it seem like a bad thing that anypony would want to be even a little bit like me.”
“I did not,” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. “But I like Sweetie Belle how she is, she doesn’t need to start acting like somepony else.”
“Wearing makeup doesn’t mean she’s ‘being somepony else,’ it just means she wants to wear makeup. Yeah, she didn’t do it yesterday, but… maybe she wanted to change things after her sister taught her how to apply it. Ponies change, Scootaloo. I’m trying to be nicer, and maybe Sweetie Belle wants to pay more attention to her appearance,” Tiara said, frowning. At least she wasn’t glaring at Scootaloo anymore, that was definitely something.
Scootaloo snorted at that. “Gee, thanks for telling me something I already know, Tiara. I know ponies change. We’ve all changed, I just… don’t want Sweetie to change too much.”
“But what about what I want?” I squeaked, finally entering into the conversation. “I finally got my cutie mark, I need to spend a lot of my free time practicing so I can get better at singing, and… I feel like I need to change other things in my life too. Besides, I like how I feel when I wear makeup.”
“Alright,” Scootaloo said, looking down at her meal. To her left, Life Bloom gave me a look I couldn’t quite figure out the meaning of. “Whatever, if you want to go off and start being super-girly, that’s your deal, I guess.”
“I’m a girl, what’s so bad about me being girly?” I asked, frowning. I’d always been the most sensitive pony in our group of friends, so how was me wearing makeup suddenly so much worse than what I’d been? I was still the same Sweetie Belle.
“Girly’s boring,” Scootaloo said like it was the most obvious answer ever. “I can deal with a little bit girly, I get it, we’re all girls here–”
“Except Socket,” I said before the brown pegasus could say something. Back in the time loop, I started making a game of trying to make that correction before he could, and I’d gotten pretty good at it by the time it ended.
“Thanks, Sweetie,” he said, briefly nodding at me before going back to whatever he was working on.
I returned the nod and smiled at him. He’d been pretty nice since the mana engine exploded, and I should probably try to spend more time with him, but what would we even do? He was into engineering and robots, and I… wasn’t.
“Right,” Scootaloo said slowly. “Except Socket, we’re all girls here, so I get being a little girly, but if you start going full diva like your sister, I don’t think I can stand it. You’d constantly be complaining about how uncouth something is whenever we tried to do anything cool.”
Something inside me snapped. Why was my best friend getting so upset with me for putting on a little makeup? “Like going ziplining? Or camping? Or scuba diving? Or all the other things you want to do?”
“Hey,” she said, a look of shock on her face. “You… I didn’t force you to do any of that, you wanted to do that stuff.”
“Yeah, I did,” I said, clenching my jaw. “Because I wanted to make my friends happy, but when I wanted you to help me with my play, I had to beg you for a month before you agreed to do it. We’re friends, but it feels like it’s always about what you want. All I wanted to do was put on a bit of makeup, but you’re acting like it’s some big...” I let out a growl before thunking my head on the table. Why did she have to be so difficult?
“You’re right,” Scootaloo said, sighing. “If you want to go and wear makeup, start looking at dresses, and be just like your sister, then go ahead, I just thought you were cooler than that.”
“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom said, staring at my “friend” in shock. “How could you say that, Sweetie’s your–”
“Take that back!” I shouted, causing the entire cafeteria to go quiet. Nopony made fun of my sister, not even my best friend… or former best friend, maybe. “Rarity’s the best sister ever, and if I want to be like her, there’s nothing wrong with that. She helps everypony in need, and she can still be friends with Rainbow Dash without getting all judgmental. If you can’t accept me for who I am, then maybe we should just… I…” Instead of saying what I wanted, I gave a little dramatic huff and stormed out of the cafeteria. I couldn’t look back to see how they reacted, if I did, I’d break and feel terrible for being so mean to Scootaloo, and I’d forgive her again, and right now, I didn’t feel like forgiving anypony, even if they were supposed to be my best friend.
***
“Hey,” Apple Bloom said, sitting next to my desk in our Equestrian language class. I’d been sitting in the empty class for the last ten minutes; sitting here trying not to cry was definitely better than staying with Scootaloo. At least here, she couldn’t keep making fun of me. “Look, I’m real sorry about Scootaloo, I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately.”
“I do,” I said, frowning. “She doesn’t like it that I’m spending time with Diamond Tiara. She’s made it pretty clear the last few weeks that the only reason she’s even tolerating her is because I’m forcing her to.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, pulling out her notebook as more students walked into the classroom. “I kind of get where she’s coming from–” I turned to glare at her. Why couldn’t my friends just get along with each other? Was it really that hard? “But,” she continued, “I also can see that Tiara really is tryin’ to be better, and she actually ain’t that bad unless ya provoke her, which Scootaloo seems dead set on doing.”
“Can’t we all just get along?” I asked, resting my head on the desk. “I know I shouldn’t have lost my temper with her, but she’s just been so difficult lately.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, “I totally get it, and I think you’re right, if you wanna wear makeup, that’s none of my business. ‘Sides, if Applejack and Rarity can… be friends, then we can definitely get along. You girls are my best friends, and that ain’t gonna change just cause ya want to put on a bit of makeup. Now, if Scootaloo wants ta keep bein’ bullheaded, that might… well, I’m sure she’ll come around, she just needs some time to think things over.”
“Thanks,” I said, lifting my head off the desk. Class would start soon, and Miss Octavia really didn’t like it when ponies slouched in their desk, she said proper posture was as important as proper grammar.
“So…” Apple Bloom said slowly, “you and Tiara…”
“What about us?” I asked, trying not to raise my voice and freak out. We hadn’t done anything obvious at lunch, had we? We definitely didn’t kiss, and I don’t even think we touched at all. The two of us were completely normal during lunch.
“You’re datin’. At least, I’m pretty sure you are,” she said, nodding her head. “When Scootaloo first started complaining about you gettin’ a makeover, Tiara got upset because she thought Scootaloo was implyin’ it would be bad if you were like her. I thought that was odd ‘cause you said Rarity gave you the makeover, so it would be weird for Tiara to get that out of what Scootaloo was saying, unless she was actually the one who gave you your makeover. I figured there weren’t many reasons you two would lie about it, ‘cept if you were datin’. Then you might try to hide it to keep us from gettin’ upset.”
“Yeah,” I said. Apple Bloom had already figured pretty much everything out, and I really didn’t want to lie to her. I might’ve already lost one friend today, I didn’t want to lose another. “We… I didn’t want you all to get upset with me, but I really like her, and since nopony else in the group has a crush on me, I thought it would be okay.”
Apple Bloom flattened her ears. “I’m sorry, but if you really like her, then why would it matter if you another friend has a crush on you?”
“Oh,” I said, “I really like all of my friends, and I don’t know… if I found two of you wanted to date me, I’d want to date you both, but Tiara thinks the best thing about dating is the exclusivity, and she really likes me a lot… and I’m okay with dating only Tiara, but I’d still hate to disappoint one of my friends, you know?”
“Kind of,” Apple Bloom said. “So you two really like each other?”
I nodded at her. “We do, and kissing is just so fun, you should really try it… just… not with me.”
Apple Bloom laughed and smiled at me. “Sweetie, you’re a great friend, but I just don’t feel that for ya, you know? However, unlike Scootaloo, I’m okay with you and Tiara datin’ if that’s what you want.”
“You won’t tell Scootaloo though, right?” I asked. It was great that at least one of my friends was okay with us dating, but something told me Scootaloo would be less than happy with the news, and if she forced me to choose… I still wanted to make up with Scootaloo.
“Nope,” Apple Bloom said. “I don’t think it’s any of my business, and besides, if she got upset with you wearin’ makeup, then I really don’t know how she’d take you datin’ Tiara well.”
I was about to say something else, but the bell rang and Miss Octavia walked into the class. She always got there right at the last second, but I guess I could kind of understand that since she had to go between running the school and teaching class. “We’ll talk more later,” Apple Bloom said as Miss Octavia walked up to her desk in front of the class.
“Alright, students,” Octavia said, grabbing a piece of chalk with her hooves. “Today we’re going to be talking about tenses. Would you all please bring out the worksheets I assigned you last night?” I froze, suddenly remembering the worksheets. Last night, I’d been so excited about finishing my journal that I completely forgot she gave us other homework.
“Sweetie Belle,” she said as she got to me. “Do you have your homework?”
“Sorry,” I said, frowning at her. “I kind of forgot about it. I did my journaling though.”
Miss Octavia sighed and shook her head. “That’s the third time in two weeks you’ve forgotten your homework, and while I applaud the fact that you are attempting your journaling, I feel I should remind you that you completely neglected it two of the four Fridays I collected it. Can you stay after class?” she whispered, trying not to draw attention to us.
I nodded at her. It wasn’t fair, I knew what my special talent was, so why did I have to spend so much time doing other stuff? It’s not like I could get a second cutie mark. Still, at least Miss Octavia didn’t make fun of me in front of the whole class when I messed up. “Good,” she said, moving to the pony behind me who had his papers out and ready for her. “I promise to write you a note so you aren’t penalized for being tardy to your next class.”
***
The classroom emptied out while I sat at my desk. “This class is empty next period, so we don’t have to worry about students overhearing our conversation,” Octavia said as the last student left the classroom.
“I’m really sorry about forgetting my homework, I didn’t mean to,” I said, frowning. “It’s just–”
“Sweetie Belle, I’m more than capable of understanding what’s going on. Last weekend, after you forgot your journal again, I checked your grades in your other classes, and they paint a rather telling picture, In your acting class, you have an ‘A’ – not that surprising, as almost everypony in that class has an ‘A’. Miss Heartstrings has proven to be a rather liberal grader in that class, possibly because she knows as much about acting as you do,” Octavia said. I nodded at that. Miss Heartstrings was definitely way nicer than Mr. Marelon, but she let Bright Lights do most of the actual teaching.
“Yeah, why did you have her teach the class anyways? Couldn’t you find a better replacement?” I asked, hoping I could change the subject.
“Not on such short notice,” Octavia said, pulling a folder out of her saddlebags. “I’m in talks with Miss Cheerilee about merging our schools together at the end of the semester, but...” She shook her head. “I apologize, we should be discussing your class performance, not the logistics of the Academy.”
Octavia flipped through what I was guessing was my folder. “You have top marks in your music class, and Vin– Miss Scratch has nothing bad to say about your performance. However, you are struggling to hold onto a ‘C’ in my class, have a ‘D’ in mathematics, and and are managing a ‘B’ in life sciences, probably because you are working with your friends to buffer your grade. It seems the only class you are particularly concerning yourself with is your music class.”
“And?” I asked. “My special talent is singing, none of this other stuff really matters, does it? It’s not like I’m supposed to be good at math or science or stuff. In fact, I’m pretty bad at everything that isn’t singing, so… why not just focus on the one thing I’m good at?”
“That’s…” Octavia sighed and shook her head. “Many ponies feel the same way when they first find their special talent. I was one of them. However, there is more to life than just your special talent. You will still need to communicate with other ponies, you will still need to pay bills and manage your accounts, and I believe everypony should have a basic knowledge the workings of the world around them. It is this academy’s goal to make sure you leave as not just a master of your craft, but a well-rounded knowledgeable citizen of Equestria. Most importantly, whenever you do decide to do some work for this class, it’s better than average, so I don’t want to hear you describe yourself as ‘bad at everything’ again, is than understood?”
I nodded at her. “Fine…” I said, “You aren’t going to tell my sister are you?”
She shook her head and smiled. “If you turn this negative behavior around, I will have no reason to inform her. However, if you continue to give me or any of your teachers less than your absolute best, I will have no choice in the matter. Is this understood?”
“Yes, Miss Octavia,” I said, putting on my saddlebags and getting to my hooves. “I’ll do better.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, getting up on her own hooves. “However, I will still have to inform your other teachers to keep an eye on you and make sure you’re working to improve.”
“Okay,” I said as I grabbed the doorknob with my magic. “But… uhmm, I’m really not that good at math stuff. Like… I barely understand any of it.”
“I’d recommend speaking with Miss Pi about that,” Miss Octavia said as I opened the door for her. “I’m certain she can recommend a tutor. Have a good day, Sweetie Belle, and I promise I won’t bring up our little conversation when I have dinner with your sister tonight.”
“Thanks,” I said, following her out into the hallway as she handed me a slip of paper excusing my tardiness. There were still a few students in the halls, and if I hurried, I could make it to my math class on time. My math class with Scootaloo. Where I didn’t do the homework. “Hey, Miss Octavia,” I said stopping and coughing. “I’m really not feeling well, do you think I can go to the nurse’s office?”
“Are you really?” Octavia asked, turning around to look at me with narrowed eyes. “Rarity told me about your rather unconvincing attempt to convince her you were ill, and I feel I should remind you that you’re not a particularly talented actress. Care to tell me why you actually don’t want to go to your class?”
“Fine,” I said as I followed her towards my class, “I had a fight with Scootaloo, and I really don’t want to see her right now.”
“Then don’t sit next to her,” Octavia said. “A fight with a friend is no reason to neglect your education. Besides, I’m sure the two of you will have forgiven each other by the end of the day.”
“I hope so,” I said, thinking back to our fight in the cafeteria. “But I don’t think we’ve ever been this upset with each other. She… I don’t know, she got really upset at me for putting on makeup.”
“Well, I wish I could advise you more, Sweetie Belle,” Octavia said as I stopped in front of my next classroom. “Unfortunately, when I was your age, I was an antisocial misanthrope who spent all her time in her apartment practicing the cello, and so my experience on teenage relations is rather limited. Still, since coming to this town, I’ve found that there are few problems open and honest communication can’t fix.”
That wasn’t going to happen. First of all, I wasn’t going to tell Scootaloo about me and Diamond Tiara, and second, we’d been communicating pretty openly in the cafeteria, and that didn’t go well. I gave Octavia a nod and trotted into the class, making sure to sit as far from Scootaloo as I could. It wouldn’t help me for too long since I’d see her next class as well, but it gave me a little bit more time until we started fighting again. I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out my textbook, hoping Miss Pi wouldn’t get too mad at me for not doing my homework.
***
“Sweetie Belle, I need you to stay behind for a few minutes,” Miss Pi said as the bell rang. Oh come on, I had to stay behind twice in one day? That was almost completely unfair.
“Look, I already talked with Miss Octavia about it, and I promised her I’d try to do my best in all my classes,” I said as I walked over to her desk, “and I really meant it, too, I just… I’m going to need some help with math. I don’t get it at all, like… why am I supposed to be trying to figure out what number a letter is?”
Miss Pi’s eye twitched. “Are… are you serious, Sweetie Belle? We’ve been discussing algebra for a month, if you didn’t understand one of the basic… I suppose that explains why your work has been so abysmal. Actually, this raises several questions about how you’ve been able to complete any of our assignments.”
“Oh,” I said, nodding my head, “I kind of have a friend help me.”
“Scootaloo?” Miss Pi asked, letting out a sigh. “That does explain why your homework assignments are so… hit and miss. Perhaps you should ask her to actually explain the concepts to you as opposed to just doing the problems for you.”
“I tried at first, but I was still so bad at it that she just got upset and did them for me. She really did try to actually teach me, though. I’m just too dumb to understand it,” I said, frowning. I really did try to understand the stuff at first, but no matter what I did, I still couldn’t figure out why I was doing what I was doing. Why was I supposed to isolate x? It seemed mean to leave it all alone, but they kept wanting me to do it, so I just moved all the numbers to the other side of the equation, but then that was apparently wrong too because I didn’t isolate x properly.
“If you really wish to improve yourself, I would be more than happy to recommend a few tutors,” Miss Pi said, making a few notes on a sheet of paper before passing it to me. “You should be aware though that the longer you go without intervention, the closer your probability of passing my class gets to zero. Actually, considering current trends, I could possibly make it into an equation, or at the very least an asymptomatic graph.”
I stared at her in confusion and she shook her head. “I apologize, Sweetie Belle, I shouldn’t reduce your probability of passing my class into a math problem. The important thing is that you contact one of those names on that list and get the assistance you need. If you do that, then all data gathered so far becomes irrelevant.”
“Uhmm… alright,” I said, still trying to figure out just what she was talking about. “So… get a tutor then?”
She nodded at me and smiled. “That is my main point, yes,” she said as I walked out to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sweetie Belle.” At least staying with her after class meant I could get to my next class without having to talk to–
“Hey,” Scootaloo said, calling from behind me. She’d waited outside the class just to get a chance to talk to me. “Look, why are you so upset with me? I just didn’t want to see you get all lame and not you.”
My jaw clenched. “How would I not be upset?” I asked. “You made fun of me for wanting to be myself. Then you made fun of my sister for not wanting to go wallow in dirt like you do.”
“I don’t want to wallow in dirt, I just don’t mind getting dirty,” Scootaloo said, flicking her wings. “And I didn’t make fun of you, I just didn’t like what you were doing.”
“You mean being myself,” I said, glaring at her. Why was me wanting to wear makeup such a big thing?
“This isn’t you,” Scootaloo said. “The real Sweetie Belle would never leave her friends behind to practice singing. It’s just… Diamond Tiara’s been influencing you, how can you not see that?”
“Diamond Tiara’s at least supported me the last few weeks, which is more than I can say for you,” I said, a fire suddenly burning in my stomach. “In fact, right now, I’d say she’s being a better friend than you are.”
Scootaloo’s face went pale, and I felt like I was about to vomit on the floor. She was my best friend, and I’d made her feel probably as bad as I could make her feel. Still, if she couldn’t even support me, maybe I shouldn’t have her as a–
I ran off sobbing, unable to complete the thought.
***
I ran through the streets of Ponyville, crying and trying to think of where I could go. Scootaloo would probably find me at most of my usual crying places, and I really didn’t want to see her right now, so that meant I had to find other really good places to cry at. Really, there was only one place I could go and not have to worry about Scootaloo finding me, but I didn’t want to show up at her door sobbing when she wasn’t home.
Instead, I waited outside the gates of her mansion while our last class finished, and tried not to cry too much. Why couldn’t Scootaloo just forgive Diamond Tiara, or at least stop hating her? Even Apple Bloom was kind of okay with her, and Diamond Tiara picked on her before she picked on the rest of us. This whole thing was just so… Why did Scootaloo have to be so dumb about this?
“Sweetie Belle?” Diamond Tiara asked as she trotted up to the gate. “What are you… Are you crying?” She stopped and looked between me and the gate before moving to the gate. “Come on, we can talk inside.”
I sniffled and nodded. “Scootaloo and I… she’s still really mad at me, and I got upset with her, and then I thought…” I gave another massive sob. “I’m a bad friend.”
“No you’re not,” Tiara said as she opened the gate and stepped aside so I could walk in. “It’s not your fault for getting mad at her. She shouldn’t have gotten upset with you for putting on makeup. It’s like, what’s wrong with wanting to take care of yourself?”
“Nothing,” I said, trotting to through her front yard, “but… she’s my friend, and I… I thought maybe it would be better if maybe she wasn’t my friend.”
“And?” Tiara asked while I grabbed the doorknob with my magic. “Maybe it is. If she’s going to freak out like this every time you go and change something, maybe she shouldn’t be your friend. Friends are supposed to make you happy and support you, right? I think a very pretty unicorn has spent the last few weeks teaching me that.”
Before I could do anything, she pressed her lips against mine, and the familiar tingle of giddy happiness flooded my body while I tried to suck a bit of the berry gloss off her lips. I let out a happy sigh as her berry mixed with vanilla and created a taste way sweeter than any of Pinkie’s shakes. I gave a giggle as our kiss ended and my problems with Scootaloo seemed a lot less urgent. If she didn’t want to be my friend anymore… I wouldn’t like it. Actually, just thinking about not being friends with her anymore made me want to cry again, but…
Diamond Tiara hugged me as we stood on her doorstep and patted me on the back. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I just don’t like seeing you hurt. If you want to stay friends with a pony who hates you, then do what you want.”
“Scootaloo doesn’t hate me,” I said pulling away from her warm inviting hug… Why was I doing that? Hugging was way more fun than arguing. “She’s just… I don’t know, she’s upset with me about something.”
Tiara rolled her eyes. “She’s upset with you because you’re not doing what she wants. Trust me, I know how it works. She yells at you and gets super upset, and then makes you feel bad so you do what she wants.”
“Really?” I asked, taking a step closer to her. I wanted to tell her that she was wrong and that Scootaloo would never do that to me. That Scootaloo had supported me for years – but for some reason, I couldn’t.
“I know about manipulating ponies. If you don’t believe me, just ask Silver Spoon – or don’t, actually; I’d prefer it if you didn’t know about all that.”
“What’d you do?” I asked, tilting my head at her as we stepped into her house. She never really talked about stuff from before we made up. Not that she needed to, I knew plenty, but I’d always figured she was at least nice to Silver Spoon.
“You have to understand, she was my best friend, but I also… I kind of hated her,” Tiara said. I almost tripped on the stairs when she said that; how could you hate your friend? Friends are one of the best things ever. “Like I told you earlier, she was only my ‘friend’ because her dad worked for my dad, and her dad forced her to play with me. I kind of just thought of her as another one of the things Daddy’d gotten for me, and treated her like that. I made her crave my approval so she’d do anything I’d say, told her that if she upset me, my dad would find out about it, and let her figure out the rest.”
“What’s the rest?” I asked as we reached the top of the stairs, frowning. Tiara spun around and smiled before kissing me again.
“Sweetie Belle, you’re the sweetest mare I know, and I love how innocent you are, but you can also be incredibly, incredibly dumb sometimes. Think for a minute, Silver Spoon was only friends with me because her dad forced her to be, right?” I nodded. “Alright, so if my dad found out she’d upset me, what do you think he’d do to her dad?”
“Probably not something nice,” I said, frowning. “So… she did what you wanted because she thought you’d get her dad in trouble if she didn’t?”
“At first,” Tiara said, shrugging, “after a while, she just started doing it ‘cause that’s how our relationship worked, like how your relationship with Scootaloo works with you doing what she says while she occasionally throws you a bone now and then.”
“It does not!” I squeaked as we walked into Tiara’s room.
“Really?” Tiara asked, closing the door after me and raising an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just tell her that at lunch? Something about you doing everything she wants while you had to beg and plead for her to show up in your dumb little play?”
“Y- yeah…” I said slowly, sitting on the ground next to her bed. “But that doesn’t mean she was manipulating me, does it?”
“Maybe not,” Tiara said, sitting next to me and pressing her barrel against mine. “But does it matter? You’re an amazing pony, and if she doesn’t like you for being you… You deserve a better friend than that.”
“You don’t want me to be friends with Scootaloo anymore?” I asked, frowning. Even the feeling of her soft coat against mine couldn’t cheer me up, and that was one of the nicest feelings out there (like a touch feeling, not a feeling feeling).
“No,” Tiara said, shaking her head and kissing my cheek. I giggled at the feeling of her lips against my coat. She could always figure out a way to cheer me up. “What I’m saying is that a pony as sweet as you deserves to be happy, and if something doesn’t make you happy, then maybe you should think about getting rid of it. You didn’t want to deal with me when I made your life miserable, did you?”
I shook my head at that. “Right,” she said, continuing. “You wanted to spend time with ponies you liked, who made you happy. Back then, that was Scootaloo, but if that changed… don’t you deserve to be happy?”
There was a long pause as I figured out the implications to either of my possible answers. If I said no… I couldn’t say no, because I thought everypony deserved to be happy, and I was a part of everypony, but if I said yes…
I might lose a friend.
Slowly, I nodded my head, feeling like I’d suddenly turned to stone. I did deserve to be happy though, and right now, Scootaloo seemed intent on making me the opposite of happy. Hopefully, she’d stop being so stubborn, but until then…
Tiara gave me a small sad smile. “I know that wasn’t easy for you. I know you’ll probably still care about her even as she keeps on hurting you. However, I promise I’ll make you so happy that it will stop hurting, that you won’t be sad anymore.”
Her forelegs wrapped around me and her lips pressed tight against mine, the heat of it forming a wave strong enough to crash down on me and wash away my worries about Scootaloo.
***
I giggled and looked into Diamond Tiara’s eyes. The last few hours of kissing had been super fun, and whatever sadness I was feeling earlier was… Well, if I didn’t think about it, I felt better. Instead, I thought about kissing Diamond Tiara again.
“You know,” she said, “you’ve done so much for me, I’d really like to make it up to you. To show you how much I care.” She smiled and kissed me for maybe the two-hundredth time that hour. “Kissing is fun and all, but you deserve more. Luckily, my daddy is super rich and will do anything I say. Name what you want, and you’ll have it.” She gave me a smile. “I might as well use my wealth to make somepony who deserves it happy.”
“Really?” I asked, thinking of all the ice cream I could get. That would be… well, it would be fun, but I should probably ask for something useful first. “Well, I kind of need a tutor for my math class, I usually have… Uhmm…” Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. “If I don’t get my grades up in that class, Rarity is going to be super mad at me, and then I’ll probably get grounded until my grades go up.”
“Can I ask you something?” Tiara asked. “How come you spend so much time with your sister? Don’t your parents live in town?”
“Kind of,” I said, “but they retired a few years ago, and always wanted to do some travelling, and Rarity offered to watch me so they could do all their travelling. It’s not that bad, I mean, my sister is pretty much the best ever. She saved Equestria like… five times. How cool is that?”
“Still, don’t you miss your parents? If I didn’t have my dad, I don’t know what I’d have.”
I smiled and kissed her. If it cheered her up as much as it cheered me up, then… well, neither of us would have to worry about being sad again. “You’d have me.” I giggled at that. “And I’m sure I could convince Rarity to help you out, I mean, she’s the Element of Generosity.”
She returned my smile. “I’m glad to hear that, but lucky for you, I do have my dad, and that means I can get you all the things you deserve. So… you want a tutor?”
“Yeah, but I’m sure Rarity can get me a tutor if I ask for it. We aren’t exactly poor, we just don’t own a chain of megastores. Actually, Rarity’s recently had a boutique open up in Manehattan.”
“I know,” Tiara said, flopping down onto her bed with a sigh. “Daddy won’t stop talking about her store. Apparently, she stopped him from buying some spa out in the middle of nowhere, and she refuses to partner with him.”
“Why would she do that?” I asked, leaning back against her bed and resting my head on her stomach. “She’s always talking about how she wants to get more recognition, so wouldn’t getting her clothes in one of the biggest stores in Equestria be a good thing?”
“You’d think so,” Tiara said. “He actually offered to make her clothes the centerpiece of his new high-end clothing stores, but she told him no. We were both pretty upset, he was going to name it after me and it would cater to only the richest ponies in Equestria.”
“Huh,” I said, enjoying the soft squish of her stomach as my head rested on it. “Maybe I can ask her about it. You know, if you’d like.”
I felt Tiara shake her head. “I really wouldn’t. You’re… you’re like this beautiful free thing, and I don’t want to just use you like my dad does. You’re too good for that.”
My cheeks burned at her compliment. “Thanks,” I said, “but I want to help you too, seeing you happy is just as important to me as seeing me happy is to you. If maybe talking with my sister will make you happy, then I’ll totally do it.”
Tiara idly stroked my mane with one hoof. “Like I said, it wouldn’t make me happy.” She sat up to kiss my forehead. “But thank you for offering, you’re way too nice for me.”
“Am not,” I said, shaking my head. “You just offered to use all your money to make me happy, that’s super nice.”
“Yeah, and all you want is a tutor. You know, you could let me spoil you a little bit. Wouldn’t that make you happy?” Tiara asked. “You could have anything you want, just name it.”
“But all I want is for my friends to be happy. And I mean, you make me really happy anyways, so I can’t really think of anything I want.”
There was a long pause in the conversation as I stared at the ceiling and thought about how great the last two days had been. Great except for… that thing I wasn’t going to think about. Tiara was right, I deserved to be with ponies that made me happy, and right now… I wasn’t thinking about that. I just needed to remember that I deserved to be happy, just like anypony else. “What about a trip to Manehattan?” Tiara finally asked. “We could see all the shows on Bridleway, do the touristy thing, and stay in one of the best hotels in Equestria. That sounds at least a little fun, right?”
I gave a squeal of happiness. “Are you kidding? That sounds amazing! Oh my gosh, that’s way too much, I’d feel bad if I accepted that.”
“It’s not too much,” Tiara said. “I just want to be as nice to you as you’ve been to me. You’re the first pony besides Daddy who really cared about me, and I want to be the best special somepony I can be. That means giving you the things you deserve.” She squirmed on the bed so her stomach made a better pillow for me. “You deserve all the nice things in Equestria. Let me get them for you.”
I closed my eyes and pictures of all the things I’d ever wanted filled my head. A nice dress, diamonds, fancy jewelry like my sister had, nice gifts for all my friends, maybe she could even help me get my shows, and if it made her happy, it would be mean of me to say no. “Do you think we can get gifts for my friends too?” I asked.
“Sure, Sweetie Belle,” Diamond Tiara said. “If you want it, you’ll get it. You deserve it.”
“Thanks,” I said, looking up at the ceiling as she continued to brush my mane, and I told myself that I’d never been happier.
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The feels... killing... me...
Amazing work.
Nice, and Sweetie is just confused as all heck. Damn pesky emotions always ruining everything.
I'm still
ing at this choice. Ah well. TiaraBelle is cute, though I can't help but feel something's gonna blow at some point...
Wow, lots of long chapters in this one.
The 'talk' between her and rarity was a bit awkward for me. There were things she brought up that rarity didn't mention, or seem to even hint at.
Tiara did something to scootaloo!
5164218 Okay, I reread the scene with Rarity and couldn't find what you were referring to, could you be more specific?
5164408
Yyyyaaaaa.... just ignore that comment... apparently i need to work on taking in all the words i read. That mixed with the knowlegde of sweetie's naivety can apparently point out non-existant reasons for confusion.
Insert some relevant face/emote thing here.
5164493 No worries, I think we've all been there. I was kind of freaking out that I accidentally spoiled something that might be coming up, and that would've been awful. Also, I think the emote you want is:
Sweetie Bell x Diamond Tiara?
I support this ship
I thought this earlier but wasn't sure if it was correct. Seeing more of Sweetie's actions though, I'm starting to wonder... Is there possibly Pie (and not Pi) genes in Sweetie? Because these mood swings, my gosh, they are worthy of the Pie gene. And she breaks the fourth wall with cooking. And is very similar to Pinkie as it is...
Or are you suggesting that perhaps being a potential element of Happiness makes these kinds of swings? Because that would make sense as well, especially if one's focus is partially to make others happy.
5263559 I would argue that in this instance, having an affinity for the Element of Laughter drives her mood-swings. A future chapter should deal with that more in detail. Maybe next chapter, I'm not sure yet.
The further I read into these last few chapters, the more I want to know what happened between Melody and Tiara in the club house.. Seems like Tiara is trying to get Belle all by herself
Awe man, the dark tag is at work in my head.
Diamond slowly gets Sweets to leave the CMC and her friends. Then sweetie spirals downward into her already hefty negativity and becomes a emotional wreck. Diamonds father disapproves of their relationship after a couple months of diamond splurging for Sweetie Belle.
5466642 I would wait until reading Mare in the Mirror before passing judgment on DT.
Apparently they'll be spending their time in tiara's house ' hanging out'
Okay i forgot the others, but this made me laugh. I don't like sweetie belle smooching already even though she's a mare now, she's still fourteen. My fatherly instincts are disapproving! Sweetie belle is my most favorite filly in the show, she's below nyx in the whole fanbase. She's one of my top 'best ponies'
Sweetie Belle, I like you, but...I'm going to have to stab you.
With a rusty implement.
Possibly a spoon.
Because that is NOT what you base a relationship off of.
6039237 Haha, yeah. Keep reading, things totally get better for Sweetie.
So before I get into my rant, I just want to say that I like this story quite a bit, but holy shit what the hell is this story doing?
At first it starts out as a coming of age story about a young girl with horrible self esteem issues that gets thrown into a massive new school that she was nowhere near ready for and had to put up with all sorts of drama. Fine, that's normal, it's all good. Then it turned into a time loop story. So now it's turned into a coming of age time loop story about a young girl with horrible self esteem issues that just wants to make everyone happy without a single care for her own. Now, once all that nonsense has been stopped, you'd think the story would be wrapping up, but we're not even halfway done and the romance subplots have taken center stage. The structure of this story is awful and utter nonsense, AND YOU MAKE IT WORK!!! Holy shit, this story should be awful, but it's just so interesting!
6235613 Thanks? I think? Anyways, to answer your question about this story's non-traditional narrative, it was intentional. The story was envisioned like a season of a TV show, with each episode (chapter) having its own little narrative, while still being a part of a larger whole. The Unbearable Lightness is the story of a year in Sweetie Belle's life and how it changes her.
One of the commonalities I tried to include across all chapters is that they all include at least a brief change in the status quo of Sweetie's friendships. I don't want to get in on the other one, because it's a bit of a spoiler, but you seem to be picking up on it already.
I Don't Know... I hate this, bet it's too good to hate. It will kill me to see it go down this road, i was cheering for Melody! And Sweetie is just too ignorant for this, the relationship is wrong! It's terrible! But it works! Im so confused, it's terrible and fantastic, it will keep going and i can tell 'shit gonna go down' but my stomach won't stop churning! You damn Magnificent Bastard!!! There was so much i wanted to say but the size of this chapter killed another 5 paragraphs!!!(damn you!!!)
6526528
Something just feels off. I don't think this is going to end well. Especially after she didn't follow the directions she gave herself. The journals haven't been mentioned in a while. Something serious (and I have a feeling it will be horrific) is going to happen. Especially, after reading his other fics. This is the calm before the storm. And I suspect it will be an absolutely terrifying one at that.
This seems suspiciously like how an abusive relationship starts
6609074 If you want an abusive relationship, keep reading.
Oh no. This is my second time reading, and because I know how it ends and what happens to Sweetie; I'm just getting really frustrated with her because I can see it happening to her already.
but I really hope there's a conclusionas opposed to how it ended with Scootaloo getting the letter last time
I dunno whether there's a sequel yet
or if there'll ever be oneBut anyways this is still probably in my top 5 favourite fics and I'll still enjoying it on my second reading
7649622 There absolutely is a sequel. It's actually been finished for a little over a month, so there's nothing stopping you from reading it. It also has a nice interlude story if you dig Rarilight.