Rarity sighed as she picked up the plates from the table. She had made Sweetie Belle’s favorite, in celebration of one month clean. While Sweetie was getting a shower, Rarity was cleaning up. Her sister’s voice traveled through the halls, unhindered by the open bathroom door. She still doesn’t trust herself to close the door. At first, Rarity had been worried that Sweetie would just try harder to hide what she was doing, but she was doing everything she could to stay ‘clean’, as she put it.
The bathroom door, by Sweetie Belle’s own decision, was to be open anytime she was in there alone. She heard her sister stop short of swearing as a clatter of bottles fell. “Everything okay, Sweetie Belle?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I still don’t understand why you need so many things. A bottle of mane shampoo and conditioner, and then some for your coat, and you’re good.” The water shut off and she heard Sweetie step out of the tub. “I swear you have like ten times the normal amount.”
A few moments later and Sweetie walked into the kitchen, her wet, unbrushed mane wrapped in a towel. “Need some help?”
Rarity looked down at the plate she was drying. “No, I have this. You go on and spend the last night in that bed of yours. Your new one arrives tomorrow.”
A grin spread across Sweetie’s face. “Yeah. I can’t believe you actually bought me one.” Sweetie turned and went up the stairs. Rarity sighed at the water droplets on the floor, finding the mop and drying them up before she finished cleaning and went to prepare herself for bed.
After she finished the dishes, Rarity walked into her creativity room, her mind on her sisters hard-won one month anniversary. She thought she had always taught Sweetie Belle that she was beautiful, and that as long as she was healthy everything was okay, but then she had looked at the models she used. They were all thin, though none were unhealthily so, but other models were. So now she was putting a more concentrated effort into using a variety of models. The different designs hanging around the room reflected that now.
She walked out of the creativity room and sighed for the third time that evening, staring for a moment at Sweetie Belle’s door. Perhaps I can make a revolution and stop the fashion industry’s part in this. She walked into the bathroom and scrubbed her face clean of makeup as she prepared for bed herself.
Nearly an hour later she was turning down the sheets on her bed when she heard a light knock on her bedroom door. “It’s open,” she said, watching as Sweetie stepped inside. Her eyes were red rimmed and puffy, tears still streaming down her face as she stood by the door.
“What’s wrong?” Rarity asked, walking toward her. She hadn’t taken two steps before Sweetie ran to her, wrapping her hooves around Rarity’s neck. Sweetie shook her head, so Rarity stroked her back, trying to sooth her without knowing what was wrong. Eventually, Sweetie pulled away and looked at her.
Sweetie sniffled and rubbed her eyes before taking a deep breath. In a voice nearly too quiet to hear, she asked, “Can I sleep in here tonight?”
“Of course you can,” Rarity said. “But what’s wrong, Sweetie?”
The younger mare swallowed, putting her hoof on her stomach. “I can feel all the food. I ate a lot at dinner, you know, and I don’t want it anymore, and it’s everything I can do to not throw it all up right now, and I just need to be with you tonight.”
Rarity’s expression softened. “Of course you can stay with me tonight.” She looked directly into Sweetie Belle’s green eyes. “Any night you need me, just come in here, no matter what, okay?”
Sweetie nodded, turning and walking to Rarity’s bed. “Thanks, Rarity.” She snuggled between the blankets. “You really are the best big sister ever.”
Rarity crawled into the bed beside her, wrapping her hoof around Sweetie. “You don’t have to struggle alone. We’ll work through this.” Using her magic, she pulled the blankets over them and turned out the lights. Softly, she began to sing, feeling Sweetie Belle relax at the gentle melody. It wasn’t long before Sweetie’s breaths evened out and she drifted off.
It took Rarity a while longer. She rolled over, staring across the room at a darkened corner. She knew Sweetie was getting better. She could see it, but nights like tonight made her worry. What if Sweetie started again, but got better at hiding it? What if Rarity herself was a weak link that would drag Sweetie down again? All of Sweetie’s friends, all of Rarity’s friends, and their family had rallied around and were working to make things better for her.
Applejack and Hydroflame had been supportive and took precautions whenever Sweetie went to one of her best friend’s houses. Everyone was doing what they could to make recovery easier on Sweetie Belle, but from what Rarity knew, it wasn’t as simple as just eating. The largest part was a mental battle that her little sister would mostly face on her own. If tonight had shown her anything, it was that Sweetie was strong enough to ask for support, and that she was trying to get better.
With a yawn, Rarity closed her eyes. Everything was getting better, and the morning would bring a bright new day.
Rarity levitated the teapot to the table, looking at the three ponies situated around it. Her father sat in his straw hat, letting everyone know he planned to go fishing later. Her mother, as always, had a casual but fashionable blouse and shirt on. Sweetie Belle was munching on a cookie while looking between her parents and Rarity. Finally, Rarity sat, taking the empty seat next to Sweetie Belle.
“Thank you for coming over.” Picking up the teapot, Rarity focused on pouring just the right amount of tea in everyone’s cup.
Hondo smiled. “Anything for our little girls.” A wink at Sweetie Belle later and she was giggling. “After all, you’re both big important business mares now. It’s nice of you to remember us lowly ponies.”
“Oh, father, please,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes. “Their clubhouse isn’t even opened yet.”
“Hey,” Sweetie said, glaring at Rarity. “We already have a bunch of applicants, you know. Besides, just you wait; we’ll have more shops than you someday.”
“Is that so?” Rarity asked, raising her eyebrows.
Sweetie nodded with a grin. “Yep. “
After a few moments, where everypony focused on their tea and Sweetie’s became at least half sugar and milk, Hondo cleared his throat. “So, Rarity. I’m guessing you wanted to talk about something, since this is the first time you’ve invited us back to your house.”
The relaxed atmosphere the gentle teasing had created vanished almost instantly. Rarity sat her cup down and looked up at her parents. “I might have overreacted that morning. I’m not certain that I did, but it is possible.” She looked over to Sweetie, who waved her hoof for Rarity to continue. “Sweetie has asked me to sit and talk about my frustrations with the two of you. Since she feels so much better after talking things out with her therapist, she thought we might benefit from a talk as well.”
She looked at her parents. The same two ponies who had cared for her and loved her as she was growing. The same two faces that always lit up with pride when she talked of nearly anything she had accomplished. The same two faces that she loved and wanted to please. Then her eyes fell on Sweetie Belle, who kept her steady gaze on Rarity. Swallowing, Rarity stirred the tea in her cup.
“These things are rather difficult to say. I was-I am angry with you.” She took a breath to gather her thoughts. “I remember you being at all of my school functions, at the opening of my shop here in Ponyville. I remember us doing things together as a family. Then I moved out, and somehow, Sweetie lived with me nearly half the time. The two of you were never around.”
“We—“ Cookie started, but Rarity cut her off.
“No, please, let me finish. It started off simple at first. You would even ask me to watch her. Then it was just natural that she would be at my house while the two of you went wherever you wanted to go.” She met her parents eyes, ensuring they were listening. “You missed her first play production. You missed her excitement over carrying the Ponyville flag in the Equestrian Games. You missed her cutecenera, and when you returned, you had nothing more than a little bobble for her.”
Rarity clenched her teeth. She would not let her emotions get the best of her. She breathed in deeply thorough her nose and looked at her tea, and her parents took the chance to respond.
Cookie looked between Rarity and Sweetie Belle. “We realize we haven’t been the parents we probably should have been. We’ve been to the therapy sessions we were invited to. Sweetie Belle let us know what kind of parents we had been to her, and the three of us worked through that.”
Rarity released a breath, nodding. “I know. That’s why Sweetie wanted us to talk. Why I’m even giving this a chance. I have so many conflicting feelings for the two of you. Right now, there is a lot of resentment, but I’m trying to work through that.” She looked up at her parents, the hurt her words caused apparent in their eyes. “I do love you. I just wish I understood why you changed. I can’t understand why you became so selfish as to leave your youngest daughter so much, just to go site seeing.”
Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumble were silent. Rarity stirred her tea. Sweetie munched on a cookie.
After a few moments, Sweetie Belle stood. “I’m going to go out, okay? See what AB and Scoots are doing, you know?”
With a small nod, Rarity watched her sister walk out the door. Once the click of the latch reached her ears, she looked back at her parents. “It might not be fair of me, and I understand that. I think I just need some time. Maybe…maybe we could meet again next week. For a family dinner?”
Cookie looked at her husband with a small smile. “I think that’s long overdue, sweetheart.”
Sweetie grinned at Rarity from behind the counter. When she had walked into Sugarcube Corner later that day to meet up with her friends, Rarity had expected to see Cup Cake or Carrot Cake, or even Pinkie Pie working a late shift, but not Sweetie Belle taking orders. “What do you mean you work here now?”
Rarity glanced behind her. Pinkie and Twilight sat in their usual booth sipping on their drinks and watching the exchange with unhidden interest. She turned back to Sweetie, who was still smiling. “I’m still trying to save bits, you know, and so instead of doing odd jobs and having you pay me for helping around your shop, I thought I would get a proper job. The Cakes hired me on the spot when I asked.”
“What are you going to do once CMC Inc. opens, pray tell?”
“Oh, I can do both. It isn’t like we’ll be all that busy at first, and I’m really just giving them more time to help Pumpkin and Pound with their flight and magic homework. I don’t remember Cheerilee giving me nearly that much stuff about magic in first grade.” Sweetie smiled at her sister, tilted her head slightly, and shrugged. “So, what do you want, Rarity?”
With a small, playful huff, Rarity gave her order and Sweetie Belle retrieved the treats. Rarity sat beside Twilight in the booth, looking between her and a grinning Pinkie. “So, were the two of you in on this?”
“I was!” Pinkie said. “So was Thunderlane. Although Sweetie was a little wrong. Thundy is helping Pound with his flying and the Cakes are still looking for a unicorn who can help Pumpkin with her magic.”
“I’m helping Pumpkin right now,” Twilight explained, “but with the Princesses giving me more and more responsibilities in the government, I haven’t got the amount of time that I used to have. I’m trying to have them send her to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but they don’t really want her to go.”
Rarity chuckled. “I would say not. Can you imagine separating those two? Why, I dare say it would break both of their hearts.” She poked her milkshake with a hoof for a moment, before looking back up at her friends. “I know I’ve said it before, but I really want to thank you girls for everything you’ve done.”
Twilight put her hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “We’re your friends, Rarity. It’s what we’re here for.” She smiled. “That, and guilt tripping your parents, apparently. Did you ever tell them Shiny and Cadance were just here for a ‘diplomatic visit’?”
Rarity giggled. “No, I haven’t. I may at our dinner next week.”
“Good.” Looking at the clock on the wall, Twilight scowled. “Now, where are the others?”
As if on cue, Applejack and Fluttershy walked in, pulling Rainbow Dash by her tail. “Guys, seriously, that twerp just insulted—“
“Let it go, Dash,” Fluttershy said. She slipped into the booth next to Pinkie, leaving Dash and Applejack. “She’s long gone by now.”
With a groan, Dash flopped into the seat next to Fluttershy while Applejack took the last empty spot next to Rarity. “’Sides, RD, it isn’t like what she said was wrong. There hasn’t even been a new Daring Do book out in a few years.”
“She didn’t have to say they were just kids’ books like it was some sort of trash, though.”
Twilight snorted. “Welcome to the world of the book elitist. Some people think books have to fit into very specific holes to be good.”
Rarity sat back and listened as Rainbow explained why Daring Do should be considered a classic, a smile on her face.
Hydroflame is Scootaloo's father.
6926174 I was confused by that.
6926379 Yeah, I couldn't find an organic way of putting that into the story, so I thought I would clear it up.
Quick! You're in the feature box!
Either that's supposed to be flight, or else I just stepped into a very bizarre story about a jrpg.
Anyway, this is a nice story. My only question at this point is: what comes next? Things seem to be going well so far.
6926533 I saw it! Thank you.
6926535 Oh, thank you, I'll go back and fix that. Next is chapter 5, which is also the last chapter. This was never meant to be a long story. It's more of something personal I wrote that just happened to get people's attention, for whatever reason.
you should add it to more groups before it goes off the box
wha? Wha? A dislike? Who could dislike such a piece of art?
6926660 There aren't a lot of groups I can think to add this to. You're free to add it to the appropriate groups that you belong to, if you'd like. That isn't going to keep it featured, though. The last three slots on the box are for stories that have been updated, and the top ones are for new stories. Try not to take the downvotes to hard, either. This is far from a masterpiece and I know it has issues and not everyone is going to like it. There are several stories on this site that are much better written and have better plots than this story. (Check out the Best of Others box on my page and you'll see).
6926657 Sorry. I know I could have expanded it, but I just wanted it to be a short tale mostly between Rarity and her sister.
Book elitists. The bane of bibliophiles everywhere. So, Shining Armor and Cadence were just there for a diplomatic visit huh? Way to hide that one.
Man, this is deep, like Marianas Trench deep.
Can't wait for the next chapter.
I'm glad that things are looking up, and that Rarity is communicating with her parents. Now I just wait for things to go south.
6926781 Yeah, honestly, just let people read, geez. That mostly came from a discussion on fanfiction in my 19th century class today. People saying it 'wasn't actually literature' and stuff. Also, yeah. I mean, Rarity and co are important to the princesses, and like quadruplely so for Twilight, but honestly, Shining Armor and Cadance aren't coming all the way from the Crystal Empire to see Sweetie Belle. They were visiting Twi and stopped by when they heard. Luna did bu that's because I imagine Luna takes a special interest in the CMC.
6926852 I had to look up what that was. So, thank you very much! Although I've been trying to be very transparent with it.
6926895 6927312 Thanks guys! I'm really glad you're both enjoying the tale, although I feel the need to tell you the story is basically over. The next chapter is the one that ties up all the loose ends and ties the pretty bow on the package. There isn't much more I could really do with this plot from an outside perspective. I had at one point had a few more plot points laid out, but they just made the story cluttered so I threw them out. Unless I switched to Sweetie's perspective, though, I can't really continue it. Or I could throw on a romance tag, but no one wants some two bit tacked on romance. So yeah, thanks for reading and I look forward to what you think about the next chapter.
Que up some...heated words with a librarian, because all the Discworld books were inexplicably in the children's section. Which in hindsignt...is inadvertently a great place for them, in a mould-breaking sort of way. Children need good books, strong books. Plenty of authors have said as much.
I sympathised with Rarity's flash of anger - four days? Four?!.
Sweetie is very brave in this.
6927386
Paradise Lost? Fanfiction.
Divine Comedy? Ascended fanon
Virgil's MOFO-sized Anthemic Epic of Rome, the Aeneid? Fanfiction based on a single throwaway moment from the Illiad.
That's just off the top of my head. The stories don't care if their fanfiction or not.
6927386 Hey, I only say good things about good stories. Although to be honest, when I first read the title and description, I thought Sweetie would have Diabetes, this is better.
6928043 A lot of people thought that to be honest, and it really surprised me. I guess I just don't think of diabetics not being able to eat sweets and stuff, because my older brother has had diabetes since he was a toddler, and with his pump he can eat anything he wants. I do thank you, again, for the kind comment. I'm glad you enjoy this story and hope you like the last update just as much.
6927765 (As a response to all of your comments) The blood pressure drop that Twilight mentions was actually originally blood sugar because she hadn't been eating anything, but especially not carbs, and I thought that was good since it is a side effect of eating disorders. Then everyone started guessing that it was diabetes instead, and I thought leaving that would be purposely misleading, which was never my intention with this. And yay! someone likes Duke. I actually have his character really fleshed out, even though he doesn't really get much screen time or development in this story. I ended up really loving his character and I was so close to throwing him and Rarity together when I realized a relationship between a travelling rodeo star and an up-can-coming business mare and fashion designer just wouldn't work. I expect I'll have a use for him in the future, though. (Sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know, but I'm just really glad someone liked him). Also, yes, Twily is a dear, isn't she.
The bit at the end of chapter three was just supposed to show that Rarity and Sweetie were adjusting and finding normalcy again, being able to act like sisters are supposed to act. It isn't really a major plot point, since this is all about Rarity and Sweetie. And yeah, Sweetie will need an eye on her for a while.
Yes! Even without Twi's help, Rarity would have been in Ponyville the next day. As for the books you mentioned, other than the fact that they were written by Terry Pratchett I don't actually know anything about them. Also, called me biased, but fanfiction is a legitimate writing 'genre'. Most of the professors at my tiny little liberal arts school agrees, but I have a good friend who I constantly argue about that with, because she says it's like 'intellectual theft' or whatever. But yeah, I've brought up lot's of things, including stuff she likes, that is nothing but pure fanfiction. Like Wicked.
Anyway! Thank you for all the comments and support, I do appreciate it. Hopefully you'll enjoy the last chapter that i'll hopefully have up at some point today. I've really loved reading what you have to say about this.
6927386 Ah, I can respect that. This has been a really good read and I can't wait for the next chapter either way.
6928186 I said it before, and I'll say it again, I only say good stuff, about good stories.