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Chapter 1: Prologue1,019 words
Chapter 2: The Journey Home1,052 words
Chapter 3: Apples To The Core1,192 words
Chapter 4: A Distracted Designer1,785 words
Chapter 5: Sisters For Life1,663 words

Chapter 5: Sisters For Life

Rarity looked so much more peaceful during her fainting spell than her default stressed-out expression, it almost seemed a shame to wake her.

But this situation had to be resolved before Twilight left the boutique, so an action plan was quickly devised to revive the dozing unicorn.

First, Applejack put her in the recovery position (the earth pony had long since been taught it, in case there were any major accidents at the farm).

Then, Twilight and Fluttershy waited patiently while the Crusaders went over to a nearby sink and fetched the only item proven to rouse an unconscious fashionista if everything else failed…

A big jug of freezing cold water.

“Brrr! That tingles!” Were Rarity’s first words upon shivering to attention, and she glanced up at Twilight to her right to ask a very pertinent question.

“I-I fainted again didn’t I, dear?”

“Yep.”

“I-I don’t suppose what I heard and saw before collapsing was just part of an unfortunate dream?”

“Nope.”

“Y-You shouldn’t talk like Big Mac, darling... it really doesn’t suit you.”

“Rarity, if there’s anything we can do for you or Sweetie Belle, anything at all…”

“Well you can start by telling me what the hay went on in Appleloosa for my little sister to return as my twin! That could be kind of nice, dontcha think?!” Rarity was prone to outbreaks of melodrama, but at least in this case she felt her usual histrionics were well-justified.

“E-Erm, okay.” Twilight had been expecting this, but it would arguably be much harder to explain events to a clearly rattled Rarity than a calmly rational Applejack. “If you feel up to it, I’ll begin…”

“Hold on there, dear... let me just go and put the kettle on.” Rarity unexpectedly lifted herself off the plush couch upon which she’d been deposited, and shuffled off in the direction of the kitchen. “If my shattered nerves are going to remain intact throughout this whole ordeal, I have a feeling I’ll need something strong to endure it. Camomile? Earl Grey? No, I have a feeling that ginseng tea is just what the doctor ordered. With just a squeeze of lemon, for that extra bitter flavour. Can I get anypony else anything?”

“N-No, I think we’re good.” A flustered Twilight looked around at a chorus of shaking heads, with one exception… who now felt she was old enough to speak for herself.

“C-Could I have a hot cocoa, please? With mini-marshmallows and cinnamon sprinkles, if that’s okay.” Sweetie Belle might be adult-size now, but her taste palette was clearly still that of a filly.

“Y-Yes, I suppose I can do that for you.” Rarity awkwardly stated, as she rummaged around hesitantly in her uppermost cabinet. “I suppose you’ll be wanting one of my bigger mugs now, rather than the small beakers you used before.”

“That sounds… n-nice.” Sweetie Belle audibly gulped at this point, the strains of pretending everything was normal clear by the muted reactions of both ponies.

I hoped that visiting here personally might make things easier when it came to delivering the news, but I might just have made things worse. Twilight wasn’t exactly encouraged by the initial way this whole scenario was panning out. Well, however bad it might get, I’m not one for abandoning my friends. I won’t rest until relations improve between Rarity and her sister, before I even think about looking for a cure. As the Princess of Friendship, it shouldn’t be outside my power. I-I hope so, anyway…

……………………….

“You mean to tell me, she could be stuck like this forever?!”

If nothing else, Rarity’s hastily-prepared beveridge seemed to soothe her troubled mind, as she listened raptly without interruption to Twilight’s long explanation about how Sweetie aged so many years in just one day.

That is, until the final moments. Twilight had intentionally saved the bleakest part until last, regarding the lack of an instant panacea for her sister’s affliction. Judging by the designer’s immediate meltdown upon being informed, the alicorn's fears were well and truly legitimised.

“I don’t care if that flower is endangered, I’ll track down every last one and turn them into compost! I know I said I always wanted Sweetie to ‘grow up’, but this is ridiculous! W-What am I going to tell our parents? They trusted me to look after her while they were away! H-How am I going to look them in the eye and tell them I-I... failed?”

Rarity’s rant for the ages covered the entire spectrum from anger to sadness, and Twilight wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She glanced nervously back at her companions, hoping against hope they’d have something meaningful to say which would stop the expected flood of fashionista tears which were sure to cascade upon them like a tidal wave any second now.

Instead, she was greeted once more with blank stares and sheepish gazes off into the distance. Thanks a lot, girls. Some pillars of moral support you turned out to be.

There was one familiar face missing from the line-up, though. This inexperienced mare knew Rarity far better than anypony else present, and she’d already trotted forward to lightly place her hoof on the sniffling unicorn’s back.

“Come on sis, it’ll be okay.” A smiling Sweetie Belle gently reassured her sister, massaging her shoulders whilst doing so. “I’ll tell mom and dad this was nothing to do with you, it was all on me. I’m the one who disobeyed you. If only I’d listened, this never would’ve happened.”

“Yes, but I‘m supposed to be the big sister! A-At least, I was.” Rarity quickly corrected herself, dabbing a few stray tears away with a levitating tissue. “If I hadn’t been so busy with that stupid order, I never would’ve turned my back on you, you wouldn’t have had the chance to run off and…”

“We can argue about who’s to blame forever, but it won’t change anything, will it?” Sweetie Belle suddenly sounded wise beyond her years: or maybe not, considering her new age. “Mom, dad and us will deal with this problem together, and as long as we have each other I know we can get through anything. As somepony close once told me: ‘family is the most important thing in the world’.”

“W-Was that Twilight, perchance?”

“No it wasn’t, for once. It was Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle nodded gratefully at her bashful friend, before turning back to her sister. “I mean, at first I was just as upset as you are by what happened to me. But the more I think about it, the luckier I feel to have such great friends and family around to help me at times like this. It won’t be easy I know, but if we stick together and never give up…”

“S-Sweetie!!” The expected torrents of water had appeared from Rarity’s ducts, but these were tears of happiness, and were much less dense in volume. Thankfully. “I love you so much! Don’t you ever forget that, and I’ll prove it to you right now. Come here!”

There then followed a poignant embrace between the pair of equally-sized siblings, which almost felt like a reunion. At first, those watching were rather moved by the extended snuggle, but as time wore on, there was a growing realisation that they had to get moving.

“R-Rarity? S-Sweetie Belle?” Twilight dared to intrude on this sentimental moment.

“You have a little chocolate moustache, Sweetie! No matter how old you get, some things never change!”

“W-Well, you have a bit of wool dangling from your ear, Not-So-Big-Sister! And I hope you know, things are gonna be different around here from now on!”

“Oh really, dear? How so? This ought to be good.”

“Well, for a start I request… no, demand a new bedtime. Eight o’clock for a pony of my age is just obscene!”

“You know what, darling? I couldn’t agree more!”

“Y-You do?”

“Yes, six o’clock is a much more reasonable time for you to go to sleep, considering you’ll have to get a proper job now. Just think: our parents might even be able to retire early now, with both of us here to provide for them! Great idea, Sweetie!”

“Wait. T-That’s not what I…”

This was the juncture when a subtly grinning Twilight stepped away from the playfully arguing pair, and began making her way outdoors.

“Wait, where are you goin’?” Apple Bloom ran after her, a look of surprise on the farm pony’s face.

“Yeah, isn’t Sweetie going to come with us to my aunties’ place?” Scootaloo was equally confused at the sudden departure.

“I reckon Twilight’s reached the same conclusion I have, that those two are jus’ fine by themselves for now.” Applejack told the pair of fillies-turned-mares of the alicorn’s probable thinking behind her motive. “They have a lot to discuss, and it’d be better if we weren’t hangin’ around like loose fruit to hear it.”

Fluttershy was about to agree, but then saw something that made her rear back in shock. “Hey. Did anypony else see that strange shape at the window just now?”

All those present stopped talking (apart from Rarity and Sweetie, still caught up in their private sisterly world) to check, but there was nothing visible save for a badly neglected potted plant.

“It was probably Opal, or something.” Scootaloo shrugged off the pegasus’s concerns. “Don’t be like me, and get all paranoid. Let’s go, and show my aunts what I look like now. Hope they’ve saved up enough bits for all the birthdays they’ve missed(!)”

And as Twilight silently concurred by leading her reduced entourage away from Carousel Boutique, a dishevelled but dogged journalist emerged from a nearby hedge to reflect on the fact he’d just had a very narrow escape indeed.

Still, time spent in the tub scrubbing off the muck later was surely worth the exclusive to be printed tomorrow, when the Foal Free Press might just break it’s all-time sales figures under his editorship!

So that’ll be around fifty copies then.

Author's Note:

I love writing this story hopefully as much as you enjoy reading it. I'm especially looking forward to the next chapter... see you there!

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Eroraf86

Eroraf86 #1 · Jul 25th, 2020 · 1 · ·

No, not the paparazzi!

Yoshifan30

Yoshifan30 #2 · Jul 25th, 2020 · 1 · ·

Featherweight I swear don't you dare Send those newspapers again they already had enough problems here already Anyway rartiy took it pretty well I guess and such a sweet moment between those 2 sisters and now its Scootaloo turn to Talk to her aunt's and More importantly rainbow dash I wonder how they're gonna take the news i guess we will found out next time

SuperPinkBrony12

SuperPinkBrony12 #3 · Jul 25th, 2020 · · ·

Featherweight, I beg of you, have some decency! Don't you remember what happened to The Foal Free Press the last time it started printing tabloid news?

As for Scootaloo: Don't worry about her aunts, they'll come around in due time. It's Rainbow Dash who's gonna be in for a shock.

Foxhelm

Foxhelm #4 · Jul 25th, 2020 · 1 · ·

Still, time spent in the tub scrubbing off the muck later was surely worth the exclusive to be printed tomorrow, when the Foal Free Press might just break it’s all-time sales figures under his editorship!
So that’ll be around fifty copies then.

there can't be that few ponies in PONYville?

DefiantPosition

DefiantPosition #5 · Jul 25th, 2020 · 1 · ·

I loved to the interaction between Sweetie Belle and Rarity. Also I am really beginning to hate Featherweight.

deadpansnarker

deadpansnarker #6 · Jul 25th, 2020 · 2 · ·

10350607

https://m.

I actually think it’s a pretty good song

10350706
Yep. That’s the next chapter in a nutshell.

10350777
Oh I’m sure RD will feature at some point. Hence the main 6 tag.

10350840
Obviously not. But how many read the Foal Free Press? Not many, apart from when DT was editor.

10351073
You may get an exclusive FW, but at what cost to your soul?

NovemberDragon

NovemberDragon #7 · Jul 25th, 2020 · · ·

Nice story, waiting continue!

DefiantPosition

DefiantPosition #8 · Jul 25th, 2020 · 2 · ·

10351080
Maybe that is why Featherweight is as light as a feather, he has no soul weighting him down

StarzGecko

StarzGecko #9 · Jul 25th, 2020 · · ·

Idea... Blueblood falls in love with Sweetie Bell

deadpansnarker

deadpansnarker #10 · Jul 25th, 2020 · 2 · ·

10351088

10351324
You never know....

10351353
Wow, great idea! And then I can introduce a bit of Flashlight, that'll really win over the readers! To other stories, that is.

StarzGecko

StarzGecko #11 · Jul 25th, 2020 · · ·

10351359
It is! Rarity would definitely be mad and very concerned about Sweetie dating a prince which in the show her dream is to marry a Prince so it would be a interesting story to read to see her get very jealous that her sister might be taking her dreams.

Actually it does remind me of me and my brother where I had a dream to want to get into programming but I had difficulties and couldn’t do it while he was able to do it. I’m the older brother so this idea does remind me of me

deadpansnarker

deadpansnarker #12 · Jul 25th, 2020 · 1 · ·

10351363
It might be an interesting story idea, but it could be for another person to write. I want this fic to concentrate on the CMC coping with their new bodies and the way they're treated by others now, instead of focusing on any potential romantic drama. Considering their actual ages, it might be somewhat inappropriate anyway. We'll see what lies ahead though...