As The Lily Grows

by D4ftP0ny

Part 2a: Suddenly Sweetie

“So not that I mind having a last-minute sleepover in the clubhouse, but I think it might be time to do a little explaining, Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo leaned back against the wall of the Cutie Mark Crusader’s clubhouse and folded her front legs across her chest, her tiny wings splayed out against the smooth wood at her back. “Like why you have a huge checklist sitting next to your sleeping bag.”

“An’ why we’re out here when we could be at your parent’s house makin’ a great first impression with Octavia!” Apple Bloom nudged the small basket of food that the fillies had brought with them a little farther towards the wall before stretching out across her sleeping bag on her stomach, her eyebrow arching in the light of the lantern that illuminated the small room. “That is tonight, ain’t it?”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom fell silent as the third member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders shifted uncomfortably on her sleeping bag before sighing and nodding her head. “Yeah, that’s tonight,” Sweetie Belle said quietly. “I was really really excited to meet Octavia for the first time… but then I started thinking…”

“Oh boy, that’s usually not a good thing,” Scootaloo muttered under her breath. Sweetie’s green eyes flashed in the lantern light as she leveled a glare at the Pegasus.

“Scootaloo, this is important!” she insisted, her voice filled with the despair that only a young filly could have. “I started trying think of things I could talk about with Octavia when she came over, things that would make a good impression like we all wanted to… but the more I thought about it the more I couldn’t think of anything to talk about!” Sweetie’s ears drooped against her pastel mane as she snatched up the large stack of papers and clipboard that sat next to her on the floor, her hoof poking it firmly as she named off each crossed-out topic on the list. “Getting our cutie marks, trying to get our cutie marks, FAILING to get our cutie marks, the cutie marks of our friends, HER cutie mark… do you see the problem, here?!”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared a confused glance before turning their eyes back to Sweetie with a collective shrug. The unicorn filly sighed in vexation and allowed the clipboard to flop onto the sleeping bag as she leveled a glare at her two friends.

“The problem is that Octavia already HAS her cutie mark, and we all know ponies who already have their cutie mark don’t like to talk about that.” Sweetie sighed and flipped to the next page, her tiny brow furrowing in concentration. “So I tried to think of other things to talk about like paper, pencils, dining room tables, wall clocks, window curtains…”

“That’s, um… a lot of random junk, Sweets,” muttered Scootaloo as she sat forward away from the wall. “How were you coming up with your topics?” Sweetie winced and hung her head shamefully.

“I was… naming things in the room when I was writing the list…” she mumbled unhappily. “But I HAVE to keep trying,” she continued as she sat bolt upright, her hoof clenched tightly at her side. “I won’t rest until I have a good idea of what I want to talk to Octavia about tomorrow!”

“Well… t’ be honest, what’s so wrong with the list ya got now?” Apple Bloom pointed to the clipboard, her mane catching the light of the lantern and the full moon outside as its light streamed in the window. “Ah mean, sure it’s a lil’ heavy on cutie mark talk an’ full of random junk, but so are we!” Sweetie Belle arched an eyebrow at Apple Bloom, and from her spot next to the wall Scootaloo made an indignant noise that caused Bloom to raise her hooves before her defensively. “Ah’m just sayin’ that Ah’m sure Octavia’ll be real nice an’ talk to you about anythin’, Sweetie Belle! Ya’ll don’t hafta be so uptight about it!”

Sweetie Belle arched an eyebrow at Apple Bloom, but after a moment she shook her head. “I’m afraid I do have to be uptight about it, Apple Bloom,” she said solemnly. “After all, Octavia isn’t your everyday run-of-the-mill pony: she’s a musician! A musician from Canterlot! A musician from Canterlot who is my sister’s very special somepony!! I can’t just ask her about random junk because…” Sweetie paused, her hoof touching her list as her eyes became distant. “…because she’s somepony that really loves Rarity, and if she loves Rarity then she must love the same kinds of things that Rarity does, right?” Her hoof gave the list one long stroke before her eyes refocused, and when they did she leveled a determined gaze at her two friends. “THAT means that if I want to keep spending time with Rarity I have to make sure that I make a good first impression on Octavia so she knows that I like the same stuff that Rarity does!”

Apple Bloom blinked before a frown creased her forehead. “An’ she needs to know that… why again?”

“So she’ll LIKE ME, Bloom! So she’ll see that I’m a very interesting pony just like Rarity, and that way she’ll always think of me as somepony she’d like to have around!” Sweetie flipped to the next page on the clipboard, where words that were not crossed out lined the whole sheet of paper. “Anyway, I’ll just have to work on the conversation topics later. Right now, I want to hear your opinions on my plans for tomorrow!” The unicorn smiled up at her friends, her eyes bright. “Ready?”

Scootaloo sighed heavily and slumped to the floor, her head propping up at an odd angle away from the wall as she settled. “I can see we don’t have a choice,” she muttered, her chin lifting her head up off her chest with every word.

“You don’t,” Sweetie confirmed with a nod. “All right- basically, the first objective of the plan is to do everything that Rarity likes to do. Like, everything she likes to do.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shared another glance, and as one they turned their gazes back to Sweetie Belle and muttered two words: “The spa?”

Sweetie’s ears perked into a defensive posture as she glared at her friends. “Rarity likes to do more than that!” she snipped. “She likes to get her hooves done, and have her mane brushed, and…” The young unicorn’s mouth flapped open and closed for a few moments, but her ears quickly flattened themselves against her mane as her shoulders slumped. “…yeah, the spa. We’re going to go to the spa and do everything that she likes there.”

“So the whole day’s gonna be spent wrapped in a towel, letting other ponies trim your hooves and… what, cover you with seaweed?” Scootaloo sat up and scrunched up her muzzle. “That sounds awful… and booooooring.”

“An’ awful borin’,” Apple Bloom agreed with a nod.

“Maybe to us, but if it’s what high-society ponies like then we’re gonna do it!” Sweetie nodded her head firmly. “I do have a few other things listed on here that sound like they might be good things to do to impress a pony like Octavia.” She pointed to an item halfway down on the list. “Like visit the Ponyville Museum! Visiting a museum is a very intelligent and high-society way to pass the time.”

“The Ponyville Museum?” Scootaloo scoffed. “Oh man, that’s a one-way trip to snores-ville.”

“We went there on our class field trip,” Apple Bloom said with a scowl at Scootaloo. “An’ they had a bunch o’ neat stuff from Ponyville’s early days! An’ they even had a wax statue of Granny Smith when she was a young’un! How’s that borin’?!” To her chagrin, however, Scootaloo had begun pretending to be asleep halfway through Bloom’s rebuttal and pretended to jerk away and look confused when she finished.

“Huh?! Whuzzat?!” she sputtered, flailing her front hooves about before turning a cocked grin at Apple Bloom. “Yeah, it totally wasn’t boring at ALL… Sorry A.B., but I guess I don’t think it’s as interesting as you do.”

Apple Bloom’s ears drooped and she scowled at Scootaloo. “Ah bet if they’d had some stuff about Cloudsdale y’all woulda been all ears.” she muttered before turning her gaze back to Sweetie Belle. “Actually, Ah think the Ponyville Museum is a great idea- gives her a chance to see what kinda ponies live here an’ what we’re like!”

“Oooh, that’s GOOD!” Sweetie Belle scooped up her pencil and jotted down some more notes on the page with her mouth before dropping it back to her lap. “All right, and after that I think I’d like to take them to lunch.”

Apple Bloom arched an eyebrow at her. “Yer even schedulin’ in a lunch break? Wow, you are plannin’ this out.”

“No… well, yes I am planning lunch, but it’s not just for the food!” Sweetie Belle turned the clipboard in her hooves so that the earth pony could see the paper attached to it, a paper that was filled to its edges with not only the neatly composed, perfectly spaced schedule that Sweetie was working on but also rough, squiggly notes that had been scribbled onto every inch of blank space on the paper. The unicorn raised a hoof and pointed to one of the notes, one that Bloom couldn’t read thanks to the distance, the lantern light and the scribbled nature of Sweetie’s writing. “When I started making this schedule, I tried to write down everything I could remember about what Rarity had said about Octavia and what she was like. She was talking kind of fast at the time so it was kind of hard for me to remember, but I think I got most of it.” She squinted at her notes. “Um… she said that in Neighpon, where Octavia is from, it’s considered polite to take a pony out to eat someplace when you first meet them.”

Scootaloo sat up and grinned. “Restaurants in Neighpon must make loads of bits if they take somepony out to eat every time they first meet each other!”

“Well I don’t think that’s what she meant, but that’s what I remember,” Sweetie admitted with a sigh. “Anyway, I know that she was talking about taking somepony out to a restaurant to show them that you value them… so that’s probably what I’d be doing.”

“So how do they judge that, anyhow?” Apple Bloom raised her right hoof and waved it back and forth. “Do they judge it on how much y’all spend on the food? Or how much food y’all get?”

Now Sweetie Belle’s forehead crinkled and the unicorn cast her eyes back to the list. “Um… a-actually I don’t know… Rarity didn’t say.”

“Well, how much you spend on food would make sense,” Scootaloo offered as she scooted closer to Sweetie. “So you could go and just buy the most expensive thing on the menu and call it a day- mission accomplished.”

“One thing? That’s how y’all show you value somepony- buy ‘em one speck of expensive food an’ call it a day?” Apple Bloom shook her head and moved towards Sweetie as well, her brow furrowed as she frowned as Scootaloo. “Seriously? Cuz I think it’d make a better impression if ya bought a TON o’ food for Octavia. That’d cost enough bits to show her ya value her, an’ y’all would have TONS of food to eat!” She nodded emphatically, her red mane bobbing around her as she did so. “Problem solved!”

“Well, I don’t know…” Sweetie began, but before she could continue Scootaloo shook her head.

“Naaah, you don’t wanna do that! So what, you buy her two hundred million orders of hay fries- big whoop! That’s not saying you value someone, that’s saying value meal someone.”

“I don’t think I can afford two hundred million orders of hay fries…” Sweetie fretted.

“Well what do YOU know ‘bout Neighpon, Scoots?” Apple Bloom arched an eyebrow at the Pegasus. “Maybe in Neighpon they like quantity over quality, how ‘bout that?!”

“That doesn’t sound like Rarity at all,” interjected Sweetie Belle, her muzzle scrunching as her mind raced. “That sounds like the opposite of Rarity…”

“See?” Scootaloo sat up straight and gave Bloom a superior smirk. “I’m totally right and you know it.” The earth pony squinted at the Pegasus and pointed a hoof at her sharply.

“But MAYBE they put value on a full stomach instead o’ puttin’ the value on how special the food tastes!” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Maybe they don’t see things quite the same way as Rarity, Sweetie Belle- ya can’t forget that.”

Sweetie’s muzzle scrunched up even more than before, and her forehead quickly crinkled along with it as she frowned deeply. “Maybe you’re right.” She tapped her chin with a hoof, her mind whirring as it processed this new information. “But maybe…” Her frown slowly eased, and after a moment of silence she dropped her hoof back to the clipboard. “…maybe you’re both right!”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both blinked in surprise. “What?” they asked in unison.

“Never mind – I’ll fill you in after I get done with Rarity and Octavia tomorrow,” Sweetie assured them, her eyes sparkling with new ideas. “I’ll have to make sure that I go to the Bistro tomorrow before I go see Rarity…”

“Wait, we’re not going to be with you tomorrow?” asked Scootaloo. “I thought we were going to get to meet Octavia too!”

“You are,” Sweetie assured her with a wave of her hoof. “But that’s for after we have lunch- before lunch I really want a chance to show Octavia how interesting of a little sister I can be!”

“Wait a second…” Apple Bloom pointed at Sweetie with her hoof, her eyes squinted suspiciously. “So yer doin’ this to show off to Octavia how interestin’ you can be, right?”

“Right- so she’ll know that I’m the kind of pony they can hang out with!”

“Well… what’re ya gonna do when she comes back to visit? Do this whole song-and-dance every single time she shows back up here in Ponyville?” Bloom shook her head. “Don’t sound like a very good plan to me, Sweetie Belle.”

“Oh that’s not a big deal,” dismissed Sweetie with a wave of her hoof. “Only the first impressions matter- that’s what Rarity told me. This time through, if I put on a big enough show and do enough really interesting things, Octavia will always think of me as a very interesting and loveable little sister no matter what else I do in the future!” She nodded firmly. “That’s the power of first impressions!”

“Well… I s’pose if you say so, Sweetie Belle…”

“I do say so. And now, you girls get to help me with the one OTHER thing I need help with.”

Scootaloo sat forward eagerly. “And what’s that?!”

The unicorn’s horn sparked with magic, and from the back of the clubhouse came a loud click. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared a confused glance before looking past Sweetie Belle to where a large chest slowly opened to reveal a myriad of clothes, dresses and accessories that all but glowed in the soft light of the clubhouse.

“You get to help me decide what to wear tomorrow!!” Sweetie chirped. “Won’t that be fun?!”

Scootaloo’s shoulders slumped and she winced. “Aw horse apples…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I do hope my parents weren’t too overbearing yesterday, Octavia… I-I truly did attempt to get them to tone it down, but I’m afraid that may simply be a skill that my parents do not possess.” Rarity offered her marefriend an apologetic smile across the neatly sliced cheese, cream, ripe fruit and freshly baked bread that made up their breakfast. “I especially had hoped that my father would keep his college stories to himself, but it was not to be…” She sighed deeply, but across the table Octavia smiled warmly and gave her hoof a dismissive wave.

“You need not apologize for their behavior,” she said as she set her tea cup back to the table with her right hoof. “It was a wonderful dinner, and to be truthful with you it went better than I could have hoped.” Her eyes sparkled in the morning sunlight streaming into Rarity’s kitchen as her smile grew. “Your parents are exciting and unique, and I would enjoy visiting them again soon.”

Rarity’s eyes widened in surprise, but after a moment her lips curved into a smile and she chuckled softly. “Exciting and unique, is it?” she muttered. “Well, I suppose they are that, at least…” Octavia nodded and took a bite of a piece of cheese, chewing leisurely before turning her gaze back to the unicorn.

“And speaking of exciting and unique, aren’t we meeting with your sister today?”

“Indeed we are – the indomitable Sweetie Belle, who decided at the last possible moment to skip the wonderful dinner mother made for us last night in favor of meeting with us separately this morning.” Rarity shook her head gently before taking a sip of her coffee. “I can’t help but think that she spent the entire night scheming with her friends… and that often does not bode well.”

“Is this a pattern I should be aware of?” asked Octavia with a wry half-smile. “Do ponies in your family often stay up the entire night scheming?”

Rarity squinted at her and scrunched her muzzle up playfully before giving her head a brisk shake. “No, we do not. I get my best scheming done right after dinner, as a matter of fact.”

Octavia smirked. “Aaah… I’ll have to remember that.”

The unicorn offered the earth pony a sly smile and reached for another piece of bread when a rapid, almost frantic knocking at the door of the Boutique drew her attention.

“Well now who could that be?” she wondered aloud as she withdrew her hoof, her brow furrowing slightly. “I know I don’t have any appointments scheduled, and I’m certain that I told everypony that I’m not open today…” She shrugged at Octavia. “Oh well. I’ll be back in a moment, darling.” Rarity hopped down from her chair and hurried across the kitchen to the swinging door that separated the living area of the building from the business area. A simple push brought the unicorn from the well-lit kitchen into the dim front end of the building, the section that had been partitioned off as Rarity’s business front. It was usually well-lit via the large windows at the far end of the space but today the drapes were drawn and the room was dark, indicating that the business was closed for the day. As another round of even more frantic knocking resounded in the room, however, Rarity was forced to admit that it must not have worked very well on everypony.

Honestly though, who comes to a darkened building and starts knocking on the door? the unicorn pondered as she hurried across the main floor of her building, her hoofsteps echoing loudly in the quiet space. I could understand something like this happening in Canterlot, but I would think that someplace like Ponyville would be a bit more considerate! She didn’t get even halfway across the room before the knocking happened yet again, and this time it raised Rarity’s ire as well as her ears. Oh for Celestia’s sake, I’m coming! She thought as her jaw clenched, the unicorn doing her level best to keep her irritation off of her face. I swear, if this is not INCREDIBLY important, the pony assailing my door is going to get a stern talking to!

Rarity’s magic lit up the length of her horn and wrapped its sparkling aura around the knob of the Boutique’s front door as she approached and, with a deft flick of her chin, her magic darted upwards to slide the door’s deadbolt back which allowed the next twitch of her horn to open the door with a dramatic whoosh.

The unicorn opened her mouth to inform whoever was on the other side that she was closed and to come back another day, but before she could so much as utter a single word, she was stopped in her tracks by a short, white unicorn in a flowing pastel lavender sundress and broad, floppy white hat, who stood posed with one front hoof delicately in the air and her eyes closed so that she presented a picture-perfect profile to the door.

“Good morning, Octavia! How completely divine it is to be here today!” the smaller unicorn said, her voice absolutely dripping with her best manners. “I am Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s younger sister, and I-,”

“I’m quite well aware of who you are, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity interrupted as she arched an eyebrow at the filly. “But what in Equestria are you doing out here? I told you to come in the kitchen door when you arrived, not stand out front knocking like an irritated customer!”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes shot open and, with a vexed squeak, the filly stomped her right front hoof to the ground before rounding on Rarity, her muzzle scrunched indignantly. “Rarity..? Hey, why did YOU answer the door?!”

The older unicorn blinked. “This is my shop, Sweetie Belle, and you knocked on the door to my business.” She frowned. “Why in Equestria would I send a guest to open the door that my customers come through?” Sweetie Belle’s face relaxed and her frown evaporated from beneath the wobbling brim of her broad hat as realization dawned across her features.

“Oh yeah… I suppose that makes sense.”

“Yes it does.” Rarity’s gaze darted from Sweetie’s horn to her hooves and after a moment she smiled. “Why Sweetie Belle… is that the dress that I made for you last summer?” she asked. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you wear it!” And it looks better than I could have hoped for, she thought with a surge of sisterly pride.

Sweetie nodded emphatically, a smile bursting across her face. “Yeah it is! I found it in my trunk with all of the other clothes you made for me and I thought it would be a great day to wear it!” Rarity watched as the younger pony’s cheeks colored happily, and she couldn’t help but feel a renewal of affection for her sister. You know, if she would just wear the things I make for her a little more often she’d no doubt be more popular in this town. She looks wonderful! Before Rarity could say as much, however, Sweetie Belle’s smile morphed into a determined frown. “But we can talk about my outfit later- right now, you need to go get Octavia and have her answer the door.”

“…what?” Rarity’s own smile shrank and inverted, her eyes narrowing at her sibling. “And… why would I do that when I’ve already answered the door… especially when you can just come in and see her in the kitchen?”

Sweetie Belle made a vexed sound in her throat that made every inch of upstanding adult in Rarity stiffen in indignation. “Because I need her to see me out here, Rarity! I need to make a good first impression!”

“A good first…” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Sweetie, you can do that anywhere – it doesn’t have to be at the front door!” Sweetie Belle gave her head a brisk shake that caused her hat to wiggle comically atop her head.

“I have this whole day planned out, Rarity, and the whole plan starts with her meeting me at the front door of the Boutique so I can make my introduction! I worked on it all night and the whole day will be totally wrong if I don’t start this right!!” Rarity’s ears drooped towards her mane as the realization that Sweetie Belle had planned every moment of the day caused an uncomfortable knot to form in her stomach. Oh Sweetie, what in Equestria is going on in that brain of yours? she thought. The designer felt her jaw tighten as another round of denials and counter-arguments rose up in her throat, but before she could position any one of them on her tongue, she heard the sound of hoofsteps behind her. The unicorn clamped her teeth down onto the unpleasant comments in her mouth as she turned sharply towards Octavia, who gave her a concerned smile as she stepped up to the open door.

“Forgive me if I am intruding, but I heard raised voices and I thought that I-,”

Without missing a beat, Sweetie Belle twisted on her hooves and assumed the position that she had been in when Rarity had opened the door, her one hoof raised elegantly and her chin tilted high into the air.

“Good morning, Octavia! How completely divine it is to be here today!” Sweetie’s words precisely matched her tone from earlier, leading Rarity to believe that she had, indeed, practiced this all night, and that revelation made her stomach cramp even more. “I am Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s younger sister, and I am absolutely enchanté to meet you!” Rarity winced at Sweetie’s awkward attempt at inserting Prench into her speech. Oh Sweetie… no no no, never again. You and I will have to talk about that later. Octavia stopped short of the door and met Rarity’s gaze in silence for a moment, her eyes full of confusion, but true to Octavia’s polite nature, the awkward pause lasted only the barest of heartbeats before the earth pony stepped up to stand next to Rarity, a gentle smile upon her lips.

“Sweetie Belle, how wonderful it is to finally meet you.” Octavia placed her front hooves together and bowed deeply, causing the amethyst around her neck to dangle in midair as she did so. “Hajimemashite, Sweetie Belle.” The earth pony held her bow for a second more before raising her neck smoothly upright once more, her eyes bright and her smile broad. Rarity felt her heart skip a beat at the sparkling excitement in Octavia’s face, but sadly it was a moment that passed all too quickly as Sweetie’s eyes shot open.

“Wow, was that Neighponese?!” she squeaked as she twisted back towards the door, her dress swirling around her as she did so. Sweetie’s green eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she took a step towards Octavia and when she spoke the excitement in her voice filled every word to the brim. “That’s so cool! I’ve never heard anypony talk like that! Can you-,” the filly’s mouth suddenly clamped tightly shut, stemming the tide of words that Rarity had expected to continue for the foreseeable future and causing the older unicorn to frown as Sweetie stood up straighter, cleared her throat and gave her head a shake. “I-I mean, it is a pleasure to meet you, Octavia,” she continued in voice so carefully measured that Rarity could have hemmed a dress with it. “I’m dreadfully sorry that I could not make it to dinner last night, but I’m afraid I had a prior engagement to attend to.”

Rarity frowned. “Mother told us that you had just planned this sleepover the day before, Sweetie. That is hardly a ‘prior engagement’.” To her surprise Sweetie leveled a withering glare at her before coughing lightly and turning back to Octavia with an angelically sweet smile upon her face.

“But now I’ve finally met you, and I am enchanté!” She waved a hoof dramatically, and as she did so Octavia caught Rarity’s gaze with her own. The earth pony arched an eyebrow and tilted her head quizzically to one side, and after a moment Rarity sighed.

“Enchanté,” she murmured through gritted teeth, emphasizing the correct pronunciation of the word, “is Prench for enchanted. It’s meant to be used as an expression of delight at meeting somepony and is typically used only once.” Her eyes narrowed at Sweetie. “And at the beginning of the sentence…” Octavia’s mouth opened slightly as she smiled and nodded.

“Ah, I see. Well, I am enchanted to meet you as well, Sweetie Belle.” The smaller unicorn blushed gently, but before Rarity could so much as get a word in edgewise, Sweetie turned and gestured towards the rest of Ponyville with her left hoof, her hat flopping freely around her curls.

“All right! Now that the first impressions are done, it’s time to get on with the rest of our day! I have a lot of stuff planned for us to do, so I hope that you had a big breakfast!”

Octavia’s brow furrowed and she turned her eyes towards Rarity. “The first impressions?” she whispered. “I… think I must be confused.”

“Oh you’re not the only one who’s confused, darling,” Rarity muttered in reply. “I haven’t the slightest clue what she’s up to.” I swear to Celestia if she tries to take us anywhere near Sweet Apple Acres I’m going to call this whole thing off! Rarity let out a silent breath before clearing her throat. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle,” she said in a normal tone, “but Octavia and I haven’t quite finished our breakfast yet, so if you would like to come in we can-,”

“No time for that, Rarity!” Sweetie turned back towards the two older mares with an almost frighteningly bright smile. “I have a schedule and the schedule must be kept at all costs! Isn’t that what you always say?”

Rarity blinked in surprise, her ears twitching against her mane. “Well, I have said that in the past, yes, but I would hardly say that I always say that.” She shifted from hoof to hoof as the knot in her stomach clenched and inverted itself into a pit that threatened to swallow the remaining pieces of her earlier good mood.

“Well, said is said, as I always say!” the filly chirped, her eyes seeming to grow ever wider and brighter with each passing moment until Rarity felt a sweeping wave of concern fill the void inside her. “Now, if the two of you would be so kind as to follow me I will lead us to our first destination of the day!” Sweetie Belle gave one last firm nod of her head before turning and sashaying away towards Ponyville’s downtown, the flowing drape of her dress swaying elegantly behind her.

Rarity stood silently on the Boutique’s doorstep, her expression of confusion and disbelief mirrored by Octavia as the two mares watched Sweetie pointedly glance behind her to see if she was being followed yet.

“I… I don’t even know what to say,” muttered Rarity incredulously. “That is certainly not the Sweetie Belle I was expecting to show up here today... though that in itself sounds absolutely ridiculous.” She sighed and turned her gaze to Octavia as a small frown tugged at the corners of her lips. “I’m so sorry. I truly didn’t expect her to behave like this.” The other mare waved her hoof dismissively at the apology and, after giving Octavia a thankful nod, Rarity glanced back to Sweetie Belle, who had slowed her pace to almost a crawl as she waited for the two mares to finish their conversation. “Though what we should do now is a mystery to me,” she admitted quietly. “This is absolutely unusual behavior from Sweetie and I’m worried about what she might do if we just go back inside to our breakfast.”

“I suppose we should follow her then,” said Octavia after a moment. “I wouldn’t want her to be disappointed during my first visit with her.” She gave Rarity a nod and a comforting smile. “I had enough breakfast to endure whatever she might throw at us, koishī, so don’t worry about me.”

Rarity chuckled dryly. “Don’t say that just yet, Octavia. My sister has had some unusual ideas of fun in the past and I daren’t guess what she might have cooked up for us this time.” Octavia’s smile grew gently as she stepped out of the Boutique and onto the path outside, her coat shimmering softly in the morning sunlight.

“Then let’s face it together,” she said with a sparkle in her eye. “I’m certain there’s nothing the two of us can’t face.”

“Oh… well when you put it like that, certainly it sounds lovely,” the unicorn said with a good-natured roll of her eyes. “All right, let’s follow her and see where she leads us. Perhaps her ideas for today’s activities won’t be so outlandish after all.” She favored Octavia with a loving smile before stepping out of the Boutique and closing the door behind her. The sun was warm and bright against her coat, promising that it would be a beautiful, clear day in Ponyville; however, as Rarity fell into step with Octavia and the pair started after Sweetie Belle, she felt the discomfort in her stomach clench and grow and, as the three ponies made their way towards the rest of the town, only one thought filled the unicorn’s mind:

Sweetie Belle… what are you getting us in to?

Comments

[HeartfireFirebrand]

“I have this whole day planned out, Rarity, and the whole plan starts with her meeting me at the front door of the Boutique so I can make my introduction! I worked on it all night and the whole day will be totally wrong if I don’t start this right!!” Rarity’s ears drooped towards her mane as the realization that Sweetie Belle had planned every moment of the day caused an uncomfortable knot to form in her stomach. Oh Sweetie, what in Equestria is going on in that brain of yours? she thought. The designer felt her jaw tighten as another round of denials and counter-arguments rose up in her throat, but before she could position any one of them on her tongue, she heard the sound of hoofsteps behind her. The unicorn clamped her teeth down onto the unpleasant comments in her mouth as she turned sharply towards Octavia, who gave her a concerned smile as she stepped up to the open door.

Oh no she's turning into Twilight run for you lives.

[Texus]

I like this more than the first one, maybe it is because Sweetiebelle tries so hard. In a way it could be that I was kind of tired of these unfazed and to calm parents. "calm as in not suprised and everything".

[Amos Anon]

“Well… t’ be honest, what’s so wrong with the list ya got now?” Apple Bloom pointed to the clipboard, her mane catching the light of the lantern and the full moon outside as its light streamed in the window. “Ah mean, sure it’s a lil’ heavy on cutie mark talk an’ full of random junk, but so are we!” Sweetie Belle arched an eyebrow at Apple Bloom, and from her spot next to the wall Scootaloo made an indignant noise that caused Bloom to raise her hooves before her defensively. “Ah’m just sayin’ that Ah’m sure Octavia’ll be real nice an’ talk to you about anythin’, Sweetie Belle! Ya’ll don’t hafta be so uptight about it!”

"Full of random junk", eh?

What in the hay have the crusaders been up to? I didn't think they'd stoop that low to get their cutie marks!