Chapter 1 - The only 1 we need!
It was just another day for Rarity. The latest designs she was working on for Smarty Pants were coming along nicely, pity the same couldn’t be said for the ones she’d designed for Princess Luna.
Honestly, how much black, and dark blue, could one pony ask for? And if that wasn’t bad enough, how many shades of black and blue was there, for ponies sake?
Still, it was worth it, if only for the recognition she’d get.
That, would be worth ALL the hassle, and having to go to Las Pegasus to get the fabric.
The door bell jingled, which meant that she’d be delayed for another age. Sigh!
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique!”, she called out, to the customer, “How can I help you?”
Standing before her, was a mare, greyish gold coat, and light blue mane.
“Miss Rarity, I presume?”, she said.
“Yes, that’s me. And you are?”
“I’m afraid, if I told you, there’d be, um, problems. But, I have something to ask you.”, came her reply, “If that would be okay with you.”
Rarity was intrigued with this, and also a little bit, worried, “Um, yes. If can help in anyway, I shall do my best.”
The customer was delighted with this, “Thank you, Miss Rarity.”
“Now, now, please, just call me Rarity.”
“Thank you, well, the question, may seem a little personal, but, believe me, it isn’t. What I’d like to ask, does Hondo Flanks still live here, in Ponyville?”
This made Rarity’s ears prick up. Having an unknown, though, slightly familiar looking mare, ask her if her father still lived in Ponyville, ‘I must be careful here.’
“Yes, MY FATHER does still live here, and MY MOTHER lives here too. If I may be so bold, why, I ask, are you looking for him?”
The customer, was, only slightly take aback at the reply, “I’m sorry Rarity, I meant no disrespect. I have something to speak with your father about, and your mother. Please, don’t worry, I have
NO wish to cause any harm, or alarm.”
Well, this was certainly intriguing. And, I’m not going to get anymore work done today, whilst this is on my mind.
“Why, I’ll take you there, myself. I’m certainly not going to be able to get any work done now.”, she replied, “No disrespect.”
“None taken.”, she offered her hoof, which, Rarity shook.
“Well, let us be on our way then…”, Rarity stopped herself, “I’m sorry, but, what IS your name? If I have to trust, that there is no ill will between yourself, and father, then, I think it would be better if I knew.”
The pony in front of her, stood pondering for sometime, “Very well, you may remember my name, but, not what I looked like.”, the white unicorn looked confused, “I’m sorry, but, my name is Turquoise Belle.”
A look of shocked recognition crossed Rarity’s face, “My..my..my sister?”
“Yes, I’m very sorry for just, dropping in on you, but, I would be grateful to see father.”, Turquoise replied, “It has been many years since I’ve seen him, or mother, or you, my little sister.”
Minutes later, the two ponies were heading over to their parents house, Rarity decided to take the long route round.
----
“Thank you for taking on a tour of Ponyville, Rarity.”, Turquoise said, as they passed Sugarcube Corner, “It has been sometime since I had the pleasure of visiting.”
“The pleasure is all mine, I assure you!”, replied the fashionista, “And, it is just up ahead. I am sure that mother will be in, at least, I hope she is.”, she said, with a hint of doubt.
Up ahead, as mentioned by Rarity, stood their parent’s house, 3 stories high, with a fishing platform outside the back of the property. From where they were walking, the two ponies could see Hondo fishing, “Should we disturb father?”, Rarity spoke, in hushed tones, “Or, would it better to see mother first?”
“I think, mother would be better.”, came the reply
Knocking, daintily, on the front, Rarity let herself, and her sister, into the house, “Mother! Mother! I have a visitor!”
“Rarity, what a surprise!”, came a voice from the kitchen, “You two go sit in the front room, and I’ll be there as soon as I’ve cleaned up here!”, the two of them made their way through to the front room.
“Well then, Rarity, who’s this important visi…”, Cookie stopped dead in her tracks, “Rarity, go and get your father!”
Rarity looked with shock at her mother, “I...I..very well.”, she stood up, and trotted towards the back door, looking back, she could only see her mother standing, looking at Turquoise.
----
Sitting on his fishing dock, Hondo was enjoying himself doing what he loved best, after his daughters, and wife, in other words, fishing!
“Father!”, Rarity called out, “Father! Mother wants you inside, straight away!”
“Rarity? What’re you doing here?”, Hondo replied, “And why in Equestria does your mother want me?”, standing up, he turned to Rarity, “Be an angel, and collect my fishing rod, and bring it in.”, and trotted off before Rarity could say anything else.
Making his way into the house, Hondo called out, “Cookie, honey, where are ya?”
“In the front room, dear, we have, a visitor.”, she replied.
“Shoot, I know that! Rarity is bringing in my fishing rod. She said you wanted me, it sounded important!”, Hondo said, “So, if’n it’s not Rarity, then who…”, he stopped as he entered the front room, “You!?”
“Father. Mother. I’m...I’m sorry to drop in on you both, unannounced.”, replied Turquoise, “I was in the area, and asked Rarity if you still lived in Ponyville.”
“Turquoise, my baby girl!”, Hondo called out, “You know that you’re more than welcome at home, anytime you want!”
Cookie seated herself next to their daughter, and placed her foreleg around her withers, “Hun, I know it’s difficult for you to visit your old folks, ‘specially with you being busy all the time.”, Cookie looked at her, with love in her eyes, “Is...is everything going alright?”
Hondo sat down beside Turquoise, who looked nervous, “Mother, yes, everything is, okay. I suppose, it’s just that, well, I’m at a bit of a low point. You know how fickle my work is. I’m about to…”, just then, Rarity clattered into the house.
“Now, you listen here, Father!”, she called out, “Next time you want somepony to carry your smelly fishing gear, GET.SOMEPONY.ELSE!”, she dumped his fishing rod down on the floor with very little ceremony.
“Now, now hun.”, he replied, “Just, well, leave that stuff there, and join us all in the front room.”
Rarity walked into the front room, as asked, and stopped dead, when she saw her parents sitting either side of her estranged sister, “...”
“Now, you were saying, dear?”, Cookie said.
“Well… are you sure?”, Turquoise nodded towards Rarity, “She doesn’t know what I do, or why I left.”
“Oh, now, don’t you worry yourself about little ol’ Rarity!”, Cookie replied, “She was too young to remember when you left.”
Rarity was getting somewhat annoyed by this time, “Will somepony please explain!”, stomping her hoof.
“Rarity!”, Turquoise called out, “Please come over here, and sit next to me, mother? Would you please get the photo album out? I think there are somethings that I need to explain.”
Cookie got up, and went to retrieve the album, handing it to Turquoise, “Now, my little sister, here’s some news for you.”
Looking at the album, Rarity turned to her mother, “I have never seen this one before.”
“That’s because, we’ve hidden it away from you, and Sweetie Belle.”, she replied, “This one, well, we both thought that it’d be better, until, well, until we were both, departed.”
“Well, Rarity.”, Turquoise said, “What do you remember about me?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.”, she replied, “I was only 2 at the time.”
Turquoise flipped a way into the album, “Well, sis, this one, might answer a very, important question for you.”
The photograph in question, showed a mare, with matching colours to Turquoise, standing next to a plaque, which had embedded in it, a silver coloured disc. Above the disc were the words:
For the sale of 1 million copies of
‘How real is the love’
Rarity just looked at the photo in shock, then, while the cogs were turning in her head, “But...but...that’s the biggest selling record by…”
“Yes, sis, it is!”, Turquoise replied, with a smile on her face, “Then, you should know what I do.”
“My sister, my sister is…”, she clamped her hooves to her mouth, “my sister is, Sapphire Shores, the pony of pop!”, she squealed.
Cookie and Hondo looked over at their two eldest daughters, “Well, I think it’d be better to leave these two alone.”, Hondo drawled, as the two left for the kitchen, “Honeypie, what delicious food do you have for me?”
----
Meanwhile, Rarity was still trying to get her thoughts into some sort of coherent order, ‘Sapphire Shores? My sister? Oh, my celestia, what am I going to tell Sweetie Belle? Why didn’t mother and father tell me?’
These thoughts, and many, many more, raced through the head of our favourite fashionista, Turquoise Belle, just sat there, looking at her younger sister, with a smile on her muzzle, “I know what you are thinking, little sis. You are wondering why father and mother never told you much about me? Are you not?”
This brought Rarity out of her thoughts, “Well, um, yes, actually it was, and many more.”, she looked at her sister, “Although, to be honest, I always noticed that you were at all of my fashion shows. Even if you had stayed in the shadows.”
“Well, the first part is the hardest to answer, and, if you cannot work out the second part for yourself, I’ll explain later!”, she giggled.
“Oh! That’s easy.”, the white unicorn exclaimed, “You were there, now that I know, some, of the truth. You turned up to see what had become of me.”
“That is correct! I’ve ALWAYS kept an eye on you, once I discovered that you were a fashionw designer, I wanted to see how you were doing.”, she replied, “And, as I discovered, you are a wonderful, and talented, designer. Which, brings me on to an apology I need to make!”
“Whatever do you mean?”, Rarity exclaimed.
“When I came into your shop that time, I’m assuming that you remember that day?”
“Oh, my, yes! That was the day you asked me to make the costumes for your tour Sapphire Shores Zigfilly Follies, well, THAT was a day to remember, for many reasons!”, the fashion pony said, with a smile on her face.
“Please, enlighten me. I know that you fainted, and I said, something along the lines of ‘I have that effect on ponies!’, but what happened after that? I had left your shop by then.”, came her reply.
“Well, I had used ALL my diamonds on the one dress, the dress that you had seen. And, it was magnifique!”, Turquoise nodded at that, “So, after I had recovered, Spike, and myself, went gem hunting.”
“Spike?”, replied Turquoise, “Who is that?”
“Oh, him. He’s a baby dragon, he lives in the library, with Twilight Sparkle. I’m sure you have heard of her? She is one of my best friends.”
“Who hasn’t? But, what do you mean, ‘lives with her’?”, was her reply.
“It’s not THAT way! Twilight is more like Spike’s mother, or carer”, Rarity smiled at that, “So, anyway, we went gem hunting, that’s where my cutie mark came from.”, she pointed to the cutie mark of three blue diamonds on her side, “And, well, we had been hunting gems for absolutely ages, and well, there was quite a collection in Spike’s little trolley. When I discovered one in a tree, well, I couldn’t let THAT one pass me by. So, we discovered that it was attached to a Diamond Dog!”
“Never!”, exclaimed Turquoise, “Those mongrels?”
“Yes, so, after Spike had valiantly tried to protect me, they got him stuck in the tree, and ponynapped me!”, Rarity said, “He ran back to Ponyville to get the rest of our friends. And they did, to a degree. That is after I had managed to turn things my way.”, giggling, she continued, “I whined my way out. They just could not stand my whining!”
Turquoise, giggled at this thought, of her little sister, whining at those ruffian dogs, she’d read about them, “I guess, you got those gems back?”
“And more! They gave me 5 trolley loads of gems, I had more than enough to make ALL your costumes, and, thank you for the tickets. Sweetie Belle and I had a wonderful evening.”
“Yes, I enjoyed meeting you again, and Sweetie, well, she has grown up into a beautiful filly! But, do you now understand, why I have to make that apology?”, she said, with a questioning tone in her voice.
“Yes, you said that you had gotten my name from ‘Clothes Horse’ magazine.”, Rarity commented, “But, now I know, you came to me, because of familial ties?”
Turquoise smiled, “Yes. I am sorry I lied.”
“No need, now I know the truth, I would not have believed you if you had said, there and then in my boutique.”, the fashionista replied.
“So, the reason that mother and father never mentioned me.”, she said, with her hoof under her chin, “That is the most troubling one. They had decided, that if you knew, then you would run off and try to join me, when, or if, I had become successful.”
“Surely not! If I had, I do not think I would have gotten my cutie mark, and, well, what would I do? Fashion designing is all I know, and all I have wanted to do.”, Rarity exclaimed, “I cannot sing a note, unlike our baby sister.”
“Really? She can sing?”, came the, rather, surprised reply.
“Oh, like a songbird. You should hear her, perhaps, if you are still here, when she returns from school, I’m sure she would be more than happy to do a little recital for you.”
“I...I’m sorry, Rarity.”, she replied, with a hint of sadness in her voice, “Sweetie Belle, cannot know of this...just yet!”
A look of shock on her face, Rarity replied, “Why ever not?”
“Because, well, if any, and I mean, any of this news was broadcast beyond this house, it would make your life, and that of our parents, a misery.”, she had the beginnings of a tear in her eye, “And believe me, you do not what that sort of attention. Even if you thought that it would help your boutique, you would not be able to enjoy your designing anymore. You would have lots of work, yes, but eventually, you would be sick and tired of all the attention.”
“My word! I had not thought of that.”, Rarity said.
“Now, something that you had not thought of. Have you never wondered why mother, nor father, have ever worked? Or, how they are able to afford those long holidays they enjoy?”
“Now you mention it, no, I never wondered at all.”, scratching her chin, Rarity continued, “I just assumed that they had money.”
“Oh, sister! They do, I make sure that half of my earnings are sent to them.”, she continued, with a smile on her muzzle, “It is something I have done since I became successful. They, you, and Sweetie Belle have never wanted for anything.”
----
Turquoise, or should we say, Sapphire, stood up, and gave Rarity a hug, and long, sisterly hug, “My little sister, how I would love to spend the rest of the day talking, but, I am sorry, I must make tracks.”, trotting to the kitchen, with Rarity following behind, she spoke to her parents, “Father, mother, I must be going now.”
“Turquoise, darling!”, exclaimed Cookie, “We understand. You are a busy pony now.”, she trotted over to her eldest daughter, and hugged her, Hondo joined his wife.
“You know, you’re always welcome here, hun. Would you like me to walk you to the train station?”, Hondo said.
“Father, thank you, no. I have a taxi waiting me at Rarity’s boutique.”, turning to her sister, she said, “Sister, if you need anything, absolutely anything, please do not hesitate to call on me.”
The fashionista, just hugged her sister, and said in a whisper, “Thank you!”, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
Sapphire trotted towards the front door, and turning, waved a goodbye to her family, “Thank you, thank you all!”, and departed towards the boutique.
“Mother, father, I understand why you have never told Sweetie, nor I, I do not hate you for that. And, I shall abide by her choice not to tell Sweetie about her.”, Rarity replied, “I must return home now.”
“Rarity, you know you’re always welcome here too.”, Cookie said, “We’ll keep your room ready, if you ever need it!”
“Mother!”, exclaimed Rarity.
Giving both of them a peck on the cheek, she departed back to her boutique. Lighter in her heart.
And, ready to continue her designs. In fact, she had a few more designs in mind.