Chapter First and Last
Sweetie Belle sat in her room at the Carousel Boutique. Once again her parents had dropped her off so that they could go on another vacation. Rarity had put up a small fight about it being so sudden since their last but gave in after a few minutes of pointlessly arguing with her parents. Sweetie shifted on her bed so that she could get more comfortable while she looked at the flyer that had her interest for well over an hour now. It was a flyer for the school dance that was going to happen on the upcoming Saturday.
"Who should I ask?"
She asked the question for what felt like the thousandth time in that hour. As she sat there frustrated at the lack of progress she was getting with that question, two faces flashed into her mind: one of a bright orange, the other a light yellow. She had known both of them for years and had grown close to them both. I've known Scootaloo the longest... but Apple Bloom was there when I earned my Cutie Mark.
She let out a small groan as she looked at the poster. The image showed three happy couples dancing in fancy clothes and laughing as they had a great time. I want to be like that but how can I possibly choose between them? She rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling. Her mind wandered to all the good times the three of them have had over the years, how they had grown, how they had become notorious in the town with all of their attempts to earn their cutie marks, and how she had started to feel about them both.
"If I ask Apple Bloom then Scootaloo will feel like I don't like her, but if I ask her then Apple Bloom will feel left out. Worse is that if one of them says yes then the other might think I don't like them as much."
She groaned and flipped over to stare up at the ceiling. I can't choose. I like both of them but I don't want to hurt either of their feelings. Why does this have to be so difficult?! She groaned in frustration and slipped off the bed. She hoped that what she was doing next would help her out. She walked down the stairs and into Rarity's work room. Rarity was busy at the sewing machine with what looked like several yards of deep blue cloth. Hesitantly she made her presence known to Rarity.
"Rarity?"
Rarity jumped ever so slightly and stopped the machine. She glanced over to Sweetie Belle. "Oh, Sweetie it’s just you. You startled me for a second. What can I help you with dear?"
Sweetie shuffled on her hooves for a second before speaking. "I was wondering if I could ask you something, if that's okay with you..."
Rarity removed the glasses perched at the end of her nose and with a gentle smile she rose from her seat. "You can ask me anything Sweetie. What are big sisters for?"
Sweetie shuffled more where she stood. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to look at Rarity. She took a deep breath to steady herself.
"I need to ask you something about..."
She trailed off mumbling the final part of the sentence. Rarity placed the fabric down and moved closer to Sweetie.
"I'm sorry I didn't catch that. Could you please repeat it?"
Sweetie finally looked at Rarity, "I need help choosing who to ask to the dance!"
Sweetie didn't mean to shout but she was growing more frustrated by the second. Rarity however raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You need help of the romantic sort and you came to me? Sweetie I'm flattered and as your sister I shall do everything I can to help you."
Sweetie's eyes drifted down to the floor and she nodded. Rarity let out a small a small squee as her mind filled with ideas of outfits she could make for Sweetie and her crush. Oh, this will be perfect. My little sister's first crush. She's really starting to turn into a real little mare now. She glanced at Sweetie only to notice that her eyes were cast to the floor and a look of deep worry plaguing her face. Rarity's new enthusiasm was forced aside as she moved closer to Sweetie and wrapped a hoof around her to comfort her.
"Tell me what's going on and I'll do my best to help."
Sweetie looked up into her sister's face and gave her a weak smile. "Well there's these two..." She hesitated; she didn't know if she should tell Rarity their names. Rarity didn't miss the hesitation and gave Sweetie the sweetest smile she could.
"Sweetie if you could tell me as much as you can I'll be able to help you out much better, but if you don't want to tell me their names I won't get mad or upset."
Sweetie took a steadying breath. "I really want to go to the dance with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo but I don't want to hurt either of their feelings by choosing one over the other."
The moment Sweetie finished she felt dual emotions, both very much the opposite of each other. The first was relief that she was able to tell another pony the very thing that was bothering her. The second was fear. She just confessed that she liked fillies instead of colts and she told this to her sister. Rarity stayed silent for a moment then hugged Sweetie even tighter.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle. You have your first crush, well crushes I should say, but I can see the problem that you are facing here. You don't want either of them to think that you like one more than the other right?"
Sweetie nodded into her sister's coat. Rarity brushed her sister's mane to help comfort her. "Well... while this may sound odd to you, you could always—"
There came the sound of the front bells ringing. Rarity and Sweetie jumped a little at the sound. Rarity called out in a sing song voice.
"I'll be right out!"
She looked down at Sweetie Belle. "Sweetie I'm so sorry but I need to go help the customers. Can we please finish this conversation when I'm done?"
Sweetie nodded. Rarity gave her another quick hug and went to talk to her customers. Sweetie sat there on the floor of the workroom for a minute or two then finally rose to her hooves. She figured that Rarity would be busy for an hour or two so maybe she could wait in Rarity's room and read a book or something while she waited. She made her way upstairs stopping only for a second to see that the customers were Lily and Roseluck. She opened Rarity's door and jumped onto the bed. After settling into the bed she could see why Rarity hated being woken up before her usual time. The bed was the softest thing she had ever laid down on. She sat there for a few minutes before she remembered the read part of her plan.
"I wonder if she has any Daring Do novels."
She made her way over to the small shelf and was quickly disappointed by the titles she saw. No Daring Do. Oooo but this one looks interesting. She picked up a book with a title that she didn't know the meaning of but had a cover picture of a stallion and two mares sitting together laughing with each other. Sweetie thought that the three of them looked very happy together. Wonder what the title means though. She went to her room with the book in mouth and dragged out the dictionary she used for school work.
After a few minutes of searching she didn't find the phrase in the dictionary. "Maybe it's French..."
She dug around until she found an old French translation book that Rarity had given her for her birth day a few years back. A lady should have some culture, Rarity had said. She found the phrase quickly and was struck by inspiration.
Sweetie was waiting outside the clubhouse. She gave it a fond look as she remembered all the times they spent planning how to get their cutie marks. In only five short hours she had come up with a plan that she was sure was fool proof. She had invited both of her friends to the clubhouse and was now waiting for them to arrive. Everything was going to be perfect.
She went inside and started to make the final preparations, which largely amounted to sitting on her beanbag seat munching on the snacks she brought while she waited. After waiting a few more minutes Scootaloo and Apple Bloom arrived and they started with the usual routine they had on their sleepovers. They would start with talking about this and that, move onto the gossip they had heard, about new couples that had formed, and finally them playing random games. After the first two games had finished Sweetie Belle was ready to unleash the first phase of her plan.
"How about we spin the bottle?"
"How do you play?"
Sweetie Belle grabbed the bottle she had brought for the game and turned to look at Apple Bloom. "It's simple. All you have to do is spin this bottle and ask whoever the top points at 'Truth or Dare'. Then they have to choose. If they choose truth then you get to ask them one question and they have to tell the truth. If they choose dare then they have to do whatever you tell them."
Apple Bloom nodded along. "That sounds like fun. Who gets to spin the bottle first?"
Scootaloo rushed over and grabbed the bottle from Sweetie. "Let's do this."
The three of them sat down on the floor and Scootaloo placed the bottle in the middle of them. She gave it a mighty spin and the game began. It started with some rather tame and innocent dares, such as doing a hoof stand for a minute and trying to put an entire bag of popcorn into their mouth. They spent close to half an hour giggling and having a great time. Sweetie finished her dare (she had to turn her coat bright pink. This resulted in a small explosion and much laughter from all three.
"My turn!"
She spun the bottle and readied herself for the dare she had been waiting on all night to start her plan. All three of them watched with baited breath as the bottle started to slow down bit by bit. Round and round it went until it only went merely an inch by agonizing inch until it finally stopped pointing at Scootaloo.
"Alright! Give me your best shot!"
Sweetie Belle smiled. Here goes nothing.
"Okay. Truth or dare?"
Scootaloo puffed her chest out trying to look brave. "Dare, duh!"
The moment of truth, so to speak. "I dare you to kiss Apple Bloom and me on the mouth."
The air seemed to both hold still and drop ten degrees in temperature. Apple Bloom's and Scootaloo's jaws dropped like rocks in a pond. Sweetie’s cheeks felt very warm and she was sure that they had just turned the brightest shade of red possible.
Scootaloo's voice broke the silence. "What?"
Sweetie tried to think of something smart or clever. "You gotta it's the rules."
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exchanged a glance. Scootaloo spoke slowly, her voice filled with hesitation. "Well... okay, but only because it's the rule."
Sweetie looked up barely believing what she had heard. Scootaloo walked over to Apple Bloom, leaned forward, and pressed her lips to Apple Bloom's. Sweetie felt her jaw drop as she watched. The kiss was short and simple, just them pressing their lips together and then quickly pulling apart. Scootaloo then walked over to Sweetie Belle and closed her mouth so that she could kiss her as well.
The moment their lips touched sent waves of electricity through Sweetie's body. Her mind went blissfully blank for a small eternity and she didn't want it to end; however after what were only a few short moments Scootaloo pulled away leaving Sweetie disappointed. Scootaloo sat back down in her spot and shuffled her hooves around. An awkward silence filled the clubhouse as the three fillies tried to think of something to say.
"Uhh... well I guess it's my turn now."
Scootaloo grabbed the bottle and gave it a spin. This time around the bottle seemed to want to stop much more quickly and stopped when it pointed at Apple Bloom.
"Truth or dare?"
Apple Bloom was staring at Sweetie Belle her look unreadable to either of the other fillies in the room. Sweetie noticed it and her mind went into full panic mode. SHE KNOWS! She thinks I'm a freak or something! I screwed this up. What was I thinking?
Scootaloo on the other hoof moved closer to Apple Bloom and gave her a light tap. "Hey come on, we're still playing the game. Truth or dare?"
"Wuh... Oh right, umm... dare."
A playful grin made its way onto Scootaloo's face. "Okay I dare you to kiss Sweetie Belle."
This time when the dare was said it wasn't followed by silence. This time there was some noise to go along with it.
"Why? Ain't you kissin' me and her enough for you?"
Scootaloo looked somewhat hurt by the comment. "Hey I'm the only one that had to kiss you both. I'm just evening out the score."
With a sigh and a slight groan Apple Bloom got up, walked over to Sweetie Belle, and planted her lips for the second kiss Sweetie had received that night. Sweetie was stunned; she hadn't expected Scootaloo to make that dare. It threw off her entire plan. To make matters worse Apple Bloom had already sat back down and gave the bottle a spin. The next few turns they tried to act like nothing had happened, only Sweetie kept blushing every time she looked at either of her friends.
"All right one last spin then we can play another game."
The last spin of the night went to Apple Bloom and she gave it a powerful spin. They watched it spin for a while more impressed with how fast she had spun it rather than the expectation of it pointing at any of them. The bottle began its slow down to a standstill pointing right at
"Sweetie Belle, truth or dare?"
Sweetie swallowed hard as she looked at Apple Bloom. She felt her cheeks reddening more as the only thing she could think of was the kiss they had shared. She did however feel tired and not really up to doing another dare.
"Truth."
Apple Bloom's face set to a look of determination. "Why did you make Scootaloo kiss me and you?"
Sweetie's face went so red that it would make the apples from Sweet Apple Acres jealous. Her ears pinned to her skull as she tried to think of something. She started to shuffle backwards hoping that somehow if she got far enough away she could escape answering the question. However her movement only made Apple Bloom move one step closer for every step she took. Scootaloo didn't move but she did voice her interest.
"Come on Sweetie answer the question. It's the rule after all; you have to tell the truth."
Sweetie felt her back touch the wall. "Well... I-I, that is I mean—"
"Out with it!"
Sweetie was on the verge of tears. She had never seen Apple Bloom this determined and this stern with her. Sure they had gotten rather zealous during their crusading but never like this with each other. Defeated, with nowhere to run, she was forced to tell the truth.
"It's because I love you both. I wanted to go to the dance with one of you but I didn't want to hurt the others feelings by not asking them. The kissing was to try and see which of you I would like more..."
She trailed off and put her head into her hooves, sobbing on the floor of the clubhouse. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked from one to another then back to Sweetie Belle.
They hate me now for tricking them and now they think I'm a freak. Now they'll never love me or want to stay friends with me. I should have thought this through. I should have—
She felt a gentle hoof on her shoulder. It lifted her off the floor and brought her into a warm embrace. She returned the embrace and started sobbing into the coat of her friend.
"So... which of us was the better kiss?"
"Scootaloo! Now ain't the time for that."
Sweetie muttered into Apple Bloom's coat. The farm pony gently pulled away from the crying so that she could look into her eyes.
"Beg yer pardon?"
Sweetie wiped her eyes. "You were both equal. That's why I kept blushing the whole time. I kept thinking about how nice it was. Course that didn't help me at all seeing that you both think I'm weird or something now."
She dropped her head looking at the floor. Apple Bloom gently lifted her head back up. "Now don't you go sayin' that. Neither one of us think that. Truth be told I think Scoots and I have a confession we should share."
Scootaloo walked over and placed her hoof on Sweetie's shoulder. "I think I can safely say we feel the same way."
Sweetie's eyes went wide. "What? You mean you... and you... both of you like me like that?"
They both nodded. Scootaloo gave her own hug to Sweetie. "That's why it took us slightly longer to get here than normal. We both asked each other to the dance at the same time, but when we started thinking about it we both thought about you and we didn't want you to feel left out. We were even gonna tell you later tonight."
Apple Bloom grabbed them both for a group hug. "And then you went and made that dare and I couldn't tell if you were just being silly or you were trying to be sneaky. The blushing was kinda an obvious sign."
Sweetie wiped her eyes again. "So you two aren't mad at me? You don't hate me?"
Her friends looked at each other than simultaneously kissed Sweetie on her cheeks. Sweetie was certain her cheeks were now glowing softly.
"Ah don't think we could stay mad at you."
The trio walked into the Carousel Boutique wearing smiles and giggling nervously. The bell ringing to announce their presence better than they ever could in their current, rather overly 'girly' (as Scootaloo put it) state of mind. The trio kept giggling every time they looked at one another. They heard Rarity's voice coming from the work room in the sing song voice she always used for customers.
"Coming! Oh hello girls. It's so wonderful to see you all so happy. Sweetie can I talk to you for a moment?"
Sweetie nodded and walked into the workroom with Rarity. Rarity pointed to the small stool, offering Sweetie a seat.
"I'm so sorry that I didn't get to finish our talk. I got so wrapped up in work that when you told me you were going to a sleepover that I almost didn't remember until nearly ten. I did notice that you and the girls seem to be having a rather good day. Did something happen at the sleepover?"
Sweetie nodded barely able to keep herself from bouncing in her seat. "Yep. The three of us are going to the dance together. As a date."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "The three of you? As a date?"
Sweetie suddenly felt on the spot. "Y-Yeah. Is that okay?"
Rarity looked at her with her eyes narrowed. Sweetie's mind went into panic mode thinking that what she had just said was somehow the worst thing in the history of Equestria. After a few minutes of Rarity studying her she cracked a small smile that made Sweetie Belle let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"You got into my books again didn't you?"
Sweetie smiled sheepishly. Rarity sighed. "Ménage à trois?"
Sweetie nodded. Rarity trotted over and wrapped Sweetie up in a loving hug. "I'm glad you could find a way to make sure the three of you could be happy."
"Thanks Rarity. I also know a way to make you really happy as well."
Rarity looked down at her sister. "How so?"
Sweetie smiled widely. "The three of us need dresses and we agreed to model for you in payment."
Rarity called out for the other two fillies to join them. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo entered and were immediately bombarded with measuring tapes and a bespectacled Rarity walking around them. As the hour wore on Rarity would continually go from taking measurements to working at her machine. During the small breaks that the three fillies had, they would all sit side by side as they watched Rarity work. None of them could think of anywhere they'd rather be than right there, tails entwined in each others.