Chapter 59: Sisterhooves Social
It had been a couple of days had gone by since Nightmare Night and everything was quiet at Sweet Apple Acres for a change as Apple Bloom was excited for the Sisterhooves Social, which was a serious of competitions and events for sisters, one older sister and one younger sister. Spyro couldn't participate as it was for sisters only, so he was busying himself getting the Mandalorian forge set up that he got from Bo-Katan and clan Kryze so he get started on making some armor out of the Beskar he has in his possession. However, the forge was a little old, so he had to be extremely careful to not break anything while he was setting it up, using the garage's arms to help handle some of the heavier pieces while he handled the more delicate items. A little while later, Applejack walked into the garage to ask Spyro something and saw him setting up the forge in an empty space in the hangar, being extremely careful not to drop anything as he pieced it together and walked over to see if he needed help.
"Hey Spyro." She said.
Those two words spooked him, making him drop a canister that almost hit the ground, but Spyro used the Force and got it before it could hit the ground, breathing a sigh of relief as he brought it up.
"Geez AJ, you startled me." Spyro said, putting the canister in its proper place. "Had that thing hit the floor, the forge would be useless."
"Forge?" Applejack asked. "Is that what ya got on the second day of yer vacation?"
"Yeah, kinda is." Spyro said, connecting a few lines. "It's used to melt down extremely dense metals that can't be melted by regular heat. Uses a special kind of blue flames that melts it down and special tools used to forge what is needed. Thankfully, the Mandalorians who helped me gave me everything I need, but the knowledge on how to use it."
"They didn't give ya a manual for that?" Applejack asked.
"Unfortunately no." Spyro replied. "Only the Mandalorian Armorer has that kind of knowledge. The process of making this armor is a closely guarded secret of the Mandalorians and Armorers guard this secret with their lives."
"So how are ya going to use the forge without this here knowledge?" Applejack asked.
"Simple, look for an Armorer." Spyro replied, turning to face her. "I can send out a communication on what I believe to be old Mandalorian channels and see if I get lucky." A moment later, some mechanical arms brought in what appeared to be the final component, moving carefully with it as it approached. "Ah, the final component. AJ, would you mind waiting outside please? I don't want you to get hurt if something goes wrong."
"Sure thing hun." Applejack said, walking up and the two kissed. "Ya'll be careful now."
"Don't worry AJ, I got this." Spyro replied, watching as Applejack left and attached the device. "Absolutely nothing could GO WRONG!"
A moment later, a loud explosion rang out and caused Applejack to turn around and watch as Spyro flew out, flying across the sky and towards Ponyville. At the Carousel Boutique, Rarity was in bed, peacefully sleeping in bed and mumbling in her sleep as she was talking about different aromas until she smelled smoke, instantly becoming alert to what smelled like something was on fire, so she fell out of bed and ran to the stairs, falling down them while she still had her Sleep Mask on and was sprawled out on the floor.
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle shouted, the fashionista removing her mask to see her sister burning something. "You ruined the surprise! I was going to serve you breakfast in bed."
"Sweetie Belle." Rarity said, walking up to scold her.
"Wow, good morning Rarity!" Came a male voice.
Rarity turned around to see a white stallion with a mustache and wearing a Hawaiian shirt and hat like he was on a vacation with a trio of footballs for his Cutie mark and a brown mane while in front of of him was a pink unicorn mare with a purple mane, but lighter and duller in color wearing a red shirt with a white skirt and a small hat.
"Father, mother!" Rarity said in surprise. "What are-"
They then heard something explode, looking out the window and saw something had crash landed outside of the house, so Rarity went outside to see what it was, finding it was just Spyro as he was crawling out of the hole, covered in soot, but mostly unharmed.
"Ugh, did someone get the license plate of that truck?" Spyro asked, wobbling a bit. "Oh, morning Rarity. Sorry for dropping in like this."
"Oh no, quite alright Spyro dear." Rarity replied. "Your arrival was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Would you like to join us for breakfast?"
"Well, I am feeling a little peckish, so sure." Spyro replied. Spyro and Rarity went into the store and towards the kitchen, only to notice there was a lot of smoke coming from the kitchen and when they rounded the corner and see smoke coming from a pot on the stove, burning what was in it. he then looked at the messy kitchen caused by Sweetie Belle and noticed the two ponies at the table. "Oh, I do apologize, I didn't know you had company."
"Oh don't worry Spyro dear, they're my parents." Rarity replied, walking to them. "Mom, dad, this is Spyro, my herd leader and the Prince of Light and Darkness."
"Well hello there your highness!" Rarity's father said. "I am Hondo Flanks, but I also go by Magnum. And this is my wife, Cookie Crumble."
"It is an honor to meet you your majesty." Cookie Crumble added. "Rarity told us all about you and some of the adventures you've been on."
"And it's good to meet you as well." Spyro said, looking at the food. "I can guess who cooked all this."
"Oh yes, isn't Sweetie Belle talented?" Cookie Crumble asked. "I have been giving her some lessons and wouldn't be surprised if she gets a Cutie mark in Fancy Cooking when we get back from our vacation."
"Vacation?" Rarity asked. "It's this week? As in, this very moment!?" A second later, Sweetie Belle brought over a bowl of bubbling back goop, both Spyro and Rarity looking at it in disgust. "Let me guess, Applesauce?"
"No, toast." Sweetie Belle replied, surprising Spyro.
"Toast?" Spyro asked. "How in the world did you manage to liquify toast?"
"That's what I want to know." Rarity said. "Still, why are you going on vacation now? I have a lot of things to do."
"Oh don't worry, we'll only be gone seven days and six nights." Cookie Crumble said. "Plenty of time for you to spend with your little sister like you did when you went with him on his vacation."
"I don't understand what the issue is Rare." Spyro said. "She's a sweet little girl and when you were corrupted by Marluxia, you fought against his influence to allow her a chance to run away."
"Well, you see, um..." Rarity tried to find a reason.
They then heard what sounded like a horn beeping and looked out, seeing what appeared to be a taxi cab outside.
"Ah, that's our ride." Cookie Crumble said. "See you in a week dearies."
She and her husband went to the door and outside, walking to the cab and left the three of them alone int he kitchen with all the burnt food on the table, looking over everything and scowling at it.
"Geez, did you also burn the juice?" Spyro asked, looking at the glass of burnt liquid. "How in the world did you do that?"
"Well it doesn't matter now." Rarity said. "Let's see about getting this place cleaned up."
"But, we haven't even eaten yet." Sweetie Belle pointed out.
"Well, I'm sure you did your best, but unfortunately we can't eat this food." Spyro said, looking at the smoking food. "It's all burnt."
"It's not that burnt." Sweetie Belle said.
"You know, I'll cook." Spyro said.
"Oh really Spyro, I can't have you do that for us." Rarity said. "After all, you're our guest."
"Oh it's no big deal Rare." Spyro replied. "I want to give you a taste of some of my cooking."
He immediately got to work cleaning some pots and pans while getting some ingredients for some pancakes and eggs, putting down everything he needed, cooking pans on the stove and the ingredients and bowls on the side. While he cracked some eggs open and put a couple in the skillet to let them cook, he poured some pancake batter into a bowl and some water, mixing it together until all the chunks were gone, flipping the eggs over as he put two more into another bowl, some salt and milk in it to add a little more flavor. Once the first batch of eggs were done, he cracked two more into the skillet while in another he got busy making the pancakes, cooking them one at a time while he kept an eye on the eggs, putting the second set into another plate.
"So Spyro, what were you doing that made you come crashing in front of the boutique?" Rarity asked.
"I was working on a special kind of forge for some metal I picked up back during our vacation." Spyro replied. "I think I did something wrong for it to send me flying in the air."
"What does the forge make?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"A special kind of armor made from a near indestructible kind of metal." Spyro replied, putting the pancakes on the plates. "However, the traditional way of heating the metal is useless as the metal I got absorbs all kinds of heat and displaces it, so the forge uses a special kind of cryo-furnace to melt the metal and special tools to forge what I'd need." After putting the last pancake on the plate, he walked over to the fridge and found an open bottle of syrup, grabbing it and some butter, bringing everything over to the table. "However, the technique needed to properly forge what I need is going to be an issue as if done incorrectly, it would compromise the integrity of the armor, making it useless."
They then started to eat their breakfast in peace, enjoying the meal he created, which Rarity found to be good, while Sweetie Belle talked about some of the things she could do to help her sister throughout the week, which Rarity seemed to be a bit unnerved about, but just put on a smile. After they were finished eating, Spyro helped with cleaning up the kitchen, cleaning up some of the dirty pots and pans while Rarity and Sweetie Belle cleaned the floor and the walls of all the splattered food from when the little filly was cooking. After Rarity had finished cleaning, she picked up the dirty towels and put them into a basket, breathing a sigh of relief after they had finished.
"Spyro dear, thank you for helping with the cleaning." Rarity said. "It would have taken me forever to clean this place up."
"It's not a problem Rarity." Spyro said, walking over with another towel to put in the basket. "Besides, I enjoyed spending the morning with you and your sister."
"Oh, you're so sweet." Rarity said. "Sweetie, since you don't have school today, can you go and put these towels in the washer and start cleaning them for me? I'll be by shortly to see if you need help."
"Sure thing big sis." Sweetie Belle replied, dragging the basket out of the room.
"Well, I better get back to the garage, make sure nothing is completely destroyed." Spyro said. "Think you can handle her on your own?"
"I believe so." Rarity replied. "As you said, I love my sister, but she's a hoof full. Think you can hep babysit her while I finish making something for a customer?"
"Sure, not a problem." Spyro replied. "If you need a break from her, just tell her she can hang out with me in the garage. I'm sure she'd love to play with her friends."
"i think I'll keep that in mind." Rarity said, leaning up against him. "Thanks again darling."
"No problem, my little diamond." Spyro replied.
He planted a kiss on her head and left the the boutique, walking along the dirt path on his way back to the farm, finding Applejack and Big Mac were already working on the fields when they spotted him, rushing over to see him.
"Thank goodness ya'll are ok sugarcube." Applejack said. "What happened? Why'd that furnace thingie explode?"
"Beats me." Spyro replied. "What I know is that I'm going to figure it out and make sure it doesn't happen again. Sent me clear to Rarity's boutique and almost gave me a killer headache."
"Ah should say ya'll gonna have a headache after that." Applejack said. "Meanwhile, Big Mac and Ah will finish up collecting some apples."
The three of them then went about doing their own thing, the siblings heading back to the trees in order to finish getting the apples they needed for the day, carrying them to the barn while Spyro went back into the garage, finding that the furnace as in pieces all over the floor, which he groaned as he would be spending all day trying to fix the thing. Throughout the day, he put his focus on examining each and every piece of the furnace to figure out what went wrong the first time so as to avoid making the same mistake again, examining each piece as thoroughly as possible before putting it back together again. While he was working on putting the finishing touches on the furnace for a second time, he heard hoof steps coming in, looking up to see Sweetie Belle was walking up to the garage and looked very upset.
"Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here?" Spyro asked. "Did something happen?"
"It's Rarity that's what's happening!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, angry with her sister. "I was trying to do some nice things for Rarity and she just kept on complaining about some of the things I did to make her happy."
"Really?" Spyro asked, setting down a wrench. "Well, I need a break anyway, why don't you come and sit with me outside, tell me all about what happened."
Outside, they sat down and Sweetie Belle told him about all the things she did for her, cleaning some clothes for her, but accidentally cleaning a wool sweater and drying it out in the sun, doing some arts and crafts, drawing a picture of her and Rarity where she used some gems she found, but was told they were very rare Baby Blue Sapphires to make a heart around the two of them. But when she was told to clean up her mess and then saw how her room was, she cleaned it up, but when she came back, she was scolded again for cleaning her room, saying it was organized chaos. Spyro could see how she really loved her sister and wanted to help, about to suggest the Sisterhooves Social to help mend the bond, but she told him she already suhhested it and Rarity refused to participate.
"She said the Sisterhooves Social is, 'uncouth' or whatever she called it." Sweetie Belle said. "She thinks playing games and getting dirty is beneath her. I should participate in the Sisterhooves Social without her! Maybe it would be better if I didn't have a sister in the first place!"
"Sweetie Belle, you don't mean that." Spyro said, trying to calm her down.
"Yes I do!" Sweetie Belle replied. "In fact, we both agreed we'd be better off without a sister! So, she's no longer my sister!"
He could sense how angry she was at Rarity, but also knew that tempers were running high and they probably didn't mean what they said, but before he could talk some sense into her, he heard something going off in the garage; an incoming communication coming from an unknown source.
"Look, Sweetie Belle, I need to get that, but we'll talk about this later, alright?" Spyro asked.
"What's there to talk about!?" She asked in anger. "My minds already made up!"
"Sweetie belle, you allowed your temper to get the best of you." Spyro replied. "We all have quarrels with our siblings and say hurtful things when we loose our temper. But in the end, you still love your sister as she loves you. How about you go help AJ and her siblings set up for the social, then we'll talk a bit more about it, ok?"
"Ok." Sweetie Belle said.
She got up and went to the open area Applejack and Big Mac were setting up for the social tomorrow, watching as the unhappy filly walked away with a sad look on her face. He wished he could go back and prevent this fight from happening, but he remembered the last time he changed something with time travel and didn't want to have a repeat. he then got up and went over to the main terminal, where he pressed a green button and the screen behind him went up, revealing it to be another Mandalorian, but with a golden helmet and brown leather and durasteel armor.
"I am the Armorer, leader of The Children of the Watch." The Mandalorian said. "Identify yourself."
"My name is Spyro, Spyro VanVickle." Spyro replied. "It's an honor to finally meet an Armorer."
"You answered the call, but you hide your face from me." The Armorer said. "Are you a follower of the Watch?"
"Not exactly, no." Spyro replied. "I have to cut the feed of this communication to make sure no one sees who or what I am."
"A wise tactic, worthy of my clan." The Armorer said. "What is the purpose of this transmission? It was sent out using an old Mandalorian channel."
"Armorer, I know that you are the one who forges Beskar armor in the traditional way." Spyro said. "I have come across some Beskar, taking it from my enemy before they could use it, and a forge from Clan Kryze, but do not know how to use it. I wish to learn how to use the forge and the way your people forge Beskar armor."
The Armorer grew silent, staring at Spyro for a few moments as she remained silent as if she was contemplating how to answer him before another Mandalorian walked in and whispered in her ear, reporting something to her before leaving.
"Such knowledge is sacred to my people." The Armorer said. "Even if I were to give you this knowledge, what will happen then? You have Beskar and a forge, but need knowledge on how to handle and forge it. What reason would you need to create Beskar armor and why you would take such a risk as to send out such a transmission that can easily be intercepted?"
"To protect my friends." Spyro replied, the Armorers head tilting. "They risked everything to help me, one of them nearly dying to save my life. I wish to make sure they are kept safe and nothing happens to them. They are... they are my clan, in a way. And all I wish is for the knowledge to craft what is needed to keep them safe."
The Armorer was silent for a little while, listening to his words and judging what she believed she could make out from his speech, looking out to her right before returning her attention to him.
"You have a noble heart and a strong spirit." The Armorer said. "You also have a desire to protect your friends from what may harm them. You are loyal to them and hold honor in you, this I can tell from your words. Very well, I shall teach you what you need to know and provide the means for you to forge your own armor. But I will not teach you over communications or transfer the information so easily."
"What do you mean?" Spyro asked.
"You are not Mandalorian." The Armorer replied. "Yet you are honorable, so I must meet you before I make my final decision to teach you."
"So, where should we meet?" Spyro asked.
"We will meet on neutral ground, in the outer rim." The Armorer replied. "The world in question will be Tatooine. It is a lawless world, but the Empire does not hold much influence on that world. It's an ideal world to meet."
"If this is the world of your choice, so be it." Spyro said. "We shall each bring two people with us for security, no more."
"Agreed." The Armorer replied. "We shall meet two weeks from today. My warriors will bring you to where we shall meet. Do not be late."
With that, the communication ended, leaving Spyro alone in the garage as he turned to leave, walking out the front entrance to see if he could help out with setting up for the Sisterhooves social. As he approached, he could see that Applejack and Big Mac were finishing up getting the hay bales put into place while Apple Bloom seemed to be eating some apples, burping loudly, but Sweetie Belle was on a hay bale, depressed and sad as she lied on her stomach.
"Hey Sweetie Belle, feeling better?" Spyro asked.
"Not really." She replied. "I'm still upset with Rarity. She believed this event was uncouth."
"What does uncouth mean?" Apple Bloom asked.
"It means somepony has bad manners, or aren't civil." Applejack replied. To prove a point, Apple Bloom then burped loudly again. "Exactly like that." She then looked to Sweetie Belle, who was still unhappy. "Sweetie Belle, just give Rarity some time, she'll come around. All sisters do."
"Not sisters like Rarity." Sweetie Belle replied.
Applejack and Spyro could tell she was still upset with her sister, looking at each other to come up with a way to help her reforge her bond with her sister.
"Ya know, Apple Bloom and I have some chores to finish up on." Applejack said. "Maybe you'd like to help us out."
"You sure you want me to help you?" Sweetie belle asked. "All I do is mess everything up."
"Aw, that's just stinkin' thinkin'." Applejack replied. "Watch us."
Applejack then went over to some fallen apples and watched as the farm mare picked up a bruised apple by the stem while Apple Bloom balanced a basket on her head. Then Applejack tossed the apple into the air, which Apple Bloom moved to catch it in the bucket,m then they started to make it into a game, the orange farm mare using her hind leg to kick the apple up into the air and used her tail to hit the apple towards the little filly, which she caught the second bruised apple and both started to giggle and laugh as they turned it into a game.
"This is a chore?" Sweetie belle asked. "Seems more like a game."
"That's the idea." Spyro replied. "You see, when we're collecting apples, we get some that are bruised or are bad, so we collect them for the pigs to eat."
"It's a lot of work, so we make a game out of it." Apple Bloom added. "That way, it goes by faster and it's more fun. Wanna give it a go?"
"Um, ok?" Sweetie Belle replied.
Before she had a chance to get the bucket, Applejack kicked a bruised apple to her, but instead of getting it in the bucket, the apple was pierced by her horn and splattered all over her head, covering it in an orange mushy liquid.
"Ow." She replied. "You're right, it is hard work."
"That's why we do it, together." Applejack said, hugging Apple Bloom.
"Rarity never wants to do chores together with me." Sweetie Belle said.
"Just give her time and she'll cool off." Spyro said, removing the apple. "She'll see that all you were trying to do was help or show how much you love her. Just be patient."
He could still sense that she was still unhappy with her sister and followed Applejack and Apple Bloom away from the orchard and into another section of the farm where another bucket was waiting for them. The siblings and Spyro then got bust picking bundles of grapes from the nearby bushes and began placing them into the bucket, which after they had enough of them, Apple Bloom then hopped in and started to crush the grapes and turned it into juice, which Applejack pulled a leaver and the juice poured out into a jar that was prepared.
"You're making... grape juice?" She said excitedly, a slight squeak in her voice. "Rarity would have a fit if I got any near her precious outfits."
"Well that's silly." Apple Bloom said.
She then slammed down on the mashed grapes and suddenly, a waved of juice and paste splashed out of the bucket and onto both Applejack and Spyro, covering them both in the purple liquid, both leering at the filly.
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack said.
"Oh a wise guy?" Spyro asked.
"Spyro, Applejack, please don't loose your temper!" Sweetie Belle said. "She didn't mean it!"
The two of them rushed over and leapt into the bucket, both landing on top of Apple Bloom and they started to cover the little filly in grapes while Spyro also gave the filly a noogie, the three of them laughing as they were having fun messing around, even after being covered in grape juice, which surprised the white filly at how they were laughing and having fun. All of a sudden, they heard what sounded like something crashing and looked out of the bucket, finding that the sheep had gotten out of their pen and were running away and down the dirt road.
"Again!?" Applejack asked, wiping off the juice. "I thought I told Big Mac to fix that confounded lock yesterday?"
"Seems it slipped his mind." Spyro said, hopping out. "Looks like we got some rounding up to do."
"You said it sugarcube." Applejack said. "You get them turned around and we'll get them rounded up."
Spyro then took off into the air and flew ahead while she and Apple Bloom rushed to the group of sheep to make sure none break off from the group while herding them together. Spyro got ahead and flew down towards the stampede, circling around and using his earth powers to create a wall that made the sheep turn to their right, forcing them to turn back towards the pen while Applejack and Apple Bloom ran on either side of the stampede and pushing any strays back into the group, preventing them from escaping. After a little while, they managed to get the sheep back into the pen while Sweetie Belle watched, amazed at how well they worked together.
"Wow, you guys act like you're a single pony." Sweetie Belle said.
"Well, we do work together most of the day everyday." Spyro replied. "But that's what siblings do, they cooperate and work together, despite what kind of feud you have."
"Ya'll said it sugarcube." Applejack said, closing the gate. "And Ah'm gonna have a word with Big Mac, figure out why he didn't fix the lock."
"And in the mean time, I got some news for you AJ." Spyro said, getting her attention. "Tomorrow after the Sisterhooves Social, we're going to start training."
"Training?" She asked.
"On how to wield a Keyblade and its power." Spyro replied. "I've put your guys training off long enough and I might need you at your best in a couple of weeks."
"Why's that?" Applejack asked.
"I was contacted by someone who can help me learn how to use the forge I have in the garage." Spyro answered. "And how to shape the metal needed for."
"Well, I guess I can put training down in mah schedule." Applejack replied. "When do we start?"
"Tomorrow at 7 o'clock in the afternoon." Spyro replied. "When everyone has finished doing whatever they are doing for the day, we shall begin. In the mean time, I think I'll go and visit Rarity, see how she's doing."
Spyro then left and walked along the dirt road, walking towards town as he thought about what he planned on doing for the first training exercise, thinking about doing something similar to the sandlot or maybe something similar to what Nick Fury does with Spider-man on his first day at Shield Academy, hit them with a volley of non-lethal stun beams, to give them a taste of what they'd probably be expecting in the future. On his way, he ran into Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, telling them what he told Applejack before arriving at the boutique, where he walked in to see she was working on something, making a dress with what appeared to be the Baby Blue sapphires that Sweetie Belle was talking about. Rarity turned to see who it was and saw it was Spyro, putting the gem she was holding on the dress before walking over.
"Oh, Spyro, what are you doing here?" Rarity asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Well, not exactly." Spyro replied. "Sweetie Belle came to the farm extremely upset and very angry with you."
"Well, I'm upset and angry with her." Rarity replied, trotting back to the dress she was working on. "She has been nothing but a nuisance all day today. While I was away to get some gems needed for my dress, Sweetie Belle cleaned my room, organizing everything."
"And how's that a bad thing?" Spyro asked.
"It was organized chaos!" Rarity exclaimed, getting in his face. "I had everything laid out as it should, but she cleaned it up, messing everything up!" She then walked back to the dress, taking a deep breath as she kept working on the dress. "Although, I guess it did turn out ok alright as it didn't inspire me to make something new, so that's some good that came out of it. But then she went and cleaned my favorite, very expensive, one of a kind sweater, crochet knitted sweater, which was made out of wool."
"Yikes, that stuff shrinks if exposed to heat while we at, right?" Spyro asked.
"Exactly so." Rarity replied, still putting the sapphires on the dress. "It is now too small for me to wear. The only one who can wear it now is Opal, which doesn't seem too bad as she's just adorable with it on." Spyro looked over to her pet cat, who was glaring daggers at Rarity and could see she wasn't happy. "But what I was really angry about was that she used my supply of extremely rare Baby Blue Sapphires, which are needed for this order for a very important client, so I had to leave to get more just to finish this order." She then looked in to see if she had any more of them, but saw she had ran out again, her anger boiling again. "SWEETIE BELLE!"
"What's wrong?" Spyro asked.
"I need one more sapphire to the dress and I'm fresh out, again!" Rarity said, looking around. "Where's her silly little arts and crafts project?"
While she looked, Spyro spotted it on the stage with all the mirrors near it, so he approached it, noticing that Rarity also saw it and walked with him, but when he saw what the little filly made, both of their hearts just melted. The art project was a drawing of both Rarity and Sweetie Belle, facing each other and smiling, but what really melted their hearts was the sapphires as they were outlines in the shape of a heart. Spyro could feel how much time and effort went into making this piece of art, Spyro turned to talk to Rarity, but he could see how large her pupils had grown as tears were welling up in her eyes, her heart absolutely melting from the picture she saw.
"Oh, what have I done?" Rarity asked, putting her hoof on the piece of art. "Sweetie Belle, my one and only sister, all she was trying to do was help me around the house, but I ended up yelling at her and called her uncouth. Wasting all the time I had when I could have spent it with her instead of complaining and yelling at her." She then started to cry, Spyro moving the art piece that Sweetie Belle made so it didn't get ruined. "I need to go and apologize to her right away. I need to get her back. As Celestia as my witness, I shall never be sisterless again!"
As she said that, a baby blue light appeared behind her as she stood up, a serious look on her face while Spyro set the drawing down somewhere where it wouldn't be ruined.
"Are you always this dramatic?" Spyro asked, Rarity giving him a confused look. "If you want to know where she is, she's at Sweet Apple Acres right now. She's helping out with preparations for the Sisterhooves Social tomorrow."
"Well let's go then." Rarity said. "I need to say how sorry I am right away."
The two left the boutique and traveled towards the orchard just as night was approaching, going along the dirt road until they saw what appeared t be a fire, so the two walked towards it and found Applejack and Apple Bloom roasting marshmallows with Sweetie Belle. As they approached, Sweetie Belle looked over and saw Spyro with Rarity, not happy to see her sister.
"Oh Sweetie Belle." Rarity said. "Thank goodness you're alright. I wanted to-"
Sweetie Belle turned her head away, shocking her while everyone else just watched.
"Well hello, unsister." Sweetie Belle said. "What are you doing here? Better be careful or you might end up with some dirt on you."
"Sweetie Belle, I want to apologize for what I said to you today," Rarity replied. "I'm not better off without a sister. In fact, after thinking about it, I missed you."
"I also realized I'm not better off without a sister." Sweetie Belle replied. "I noticed this when I watched Applejack and Apple Bloom working together."
"Aw, Sweetie." Rarity said, putting her hoof under her sister's chin. "You have no idea how-"
Before Rarity could finish talking, Sweetie Belle knocked Rarity's hoof away from her, surprising her.
"That's why I'm adopting Applejack as MY big sister!" Sweetie Belle said, hugging Applejacks foreleg.
"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted in unison.
"She showed me a sister love's and takes care of their younger sibling." Sweetie Belle replied. "Applejack is a real sister."
Rarity looked between her sister and Applejack, who was equally as shocked as Rarity and Spyro, pushing her off her foreleg.
"Now hang on there little lady." Applejack said, giving a nervous smile. "Don't get ahead of yer self."
"Yeah, besides..." Apple Bloom said, rushing over and grabbing Applejack's hind leg. "She's MY big sister!"
The two fillies started to pull on Applejack, which she looked very uncomfortable being the center of the conflict until they stopped and Sweetie belle leered at Rarity.
"Or, maybe she should be YOUR sister!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "That way she can teach you what it means to be a good sister!"
"Sweetie, please, I don't need lessons on how to be a good sister." Rarity said, pleading to her younger sister. "I-I'll show you how to cut my favorite quiche. Or, maybe I can teach you how to properly beautify your mane. Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Oh really?" She asked, clearly annoyed. "You want to take me home so 'WE' can do the things 'YOU' like to do?"
"Um, yes?" Rarity replied, nervous about her answer.
"Ugh, forget it!" Sweetie Belle replied, walking away.
Apple Bloom then walked away after confirming that she and Applejack were still sisters, leaving the three of them alone near the camp fire.
"Well, that apology went swimmingly." Rarity said. "Applejack, why do you have to make me look so bad and yourself so good?"
"You mean it went downhill the moment you wanted to do the things you wanted to do." Spyro pointed out.
"He's right Rarity." Applejack replied. "Once again, ya'll were just thinking about yerself. Being a sister is a give and take. You've been doing a lot of taking, but not a whole lot of giving."
"But of course I give." Rarity replied. "I give lessons and reasonable demands."
"Yeah, but you never give in." Applejack said, confusing her. "Being sister is... is like Apple Pie. you can have amazing apples, and a wonderfully crispy crust, but only together can you make a perfect pie."
"But apart, we're nothing but a pile of mush and crumbly dry mess." Rarity replied. "I know what I need to do now. I just hope I'm not too late."
"What are you planning?" Spyro asked.
The three of them huddled around, talking about what the two of them had in store to try and restore the relationship between Sweetie Belle and Rarity. The next morning, everyone had arrived early for the social, many pairs of sisters coming to compete in all sorts of different competitions from pie eating to bobbing apples, even getting to hang out with some of the pigs. While Applejack and Apple Bloom kept Sweetie Belle busy, Spyro and Rarity snuck to the obstacle course where a race was planned for all the sister teams who were competing, moving to the first obstacle where they would leap in the air over a mud pit, Spyro carrying a snorkel to help her breath, making it look like it was a small rock.
"Alright, this will help you to breathe while you're under the mud." Spyro said. "Once you feel Applejack tap you on the shoulder, give her the snorkel and take the hat, but keep the mud on yourself so Sweetie Belle will think you're Applejack."
"Are you sure this will work?" Rarity asked, getting into the mud, but looking very uncomfortable about it.
"I'm positive, it'll work." Spyro replied. "And don't worry about the mud, think of it like a mud bath. Now get in, the race is about to start."
Rarity took the snorkel and dove in, covering herself in mud while the racers were approaching the starting line, so he went over to wish Sweetie Belle and 'Applejack' good luck.
"Hey you two." Spyro said, walking up. "What happened to you and Apple Bloom racing?"
"Well, Applejack and Ah raced with each other every year, so Ah wanted to let Sweetie Belle have a go at it." Apple Bloom said.
"Speaking of sisters, where's Scootaloo?" Applejack asked. "Ah thought she'd be here to watch the race?"
"Oh, she ask if she could visit her aunts this weekend." Spyro replied. "I dropped her off at their place so she could spend some time with them."
"Aw, yer so sweet." Applejack said, kissing him. "That's one of the things Ah love about ya."
"Aw shucks." Spyro said, his face turning red.
"Racers, to your places!" Granny Smith announced.
"Good luck little cowgirl." Spyro said, hugging Applejack.
He and Apple Bloom then went to the rest of the crowd to watch the race, smiling as they listened for when Granny Smith would tell them to go. When she did, the racers bolted out of the starting line, everyone leaping over the starting line while Sweetie Belle just bounced along the mud, happily enjoying herself when Applejack 'accidentally' fell into the mud, making a sound that got the fillies attention and was about to help her when she came back up, covered in mud, but ready to continue, but Spyro smiled to himself as he saw the eyes weren't emerald green anymore, but blue, knowing it was Rarity. At the next obstacle, everyone was running through some buckets, one hoof in each one as they went along while Sweetie Belle bounced through them with a little boing at each one. They then reached a pile of boxes, Rarity leaping up to the top of the box, but Sweetie Belle had some trouble and called out to her, which Rarity reached her hoof down to her and pulled her up, continuing the race all the way to the pie eating section, which Rarity slammed her hoof onto the table and made both the pies fly into the air, each of them devouring the pies whole in one bite.
After which, they then rushed to the next one, which was pushing a hay blade from where it was to the goal, both the sisters managed to push theirs to the goal the quickest, which impressed Spyro as Rarity didn't usually do physical exercises all that often. Then they went to the grape crushing portion of the race, which Spyro warned Rarity to not be too close to buckets if she didn't want the juice to wash away the mud, so she tossed all the grapes up in the bucket and tossed Sweetie Belle into it, the little filly quickly crushing the grapes and filling the glass jar up before the two rushed over to a set of stools, putting the glass jar on the stool before rushing over to some benches where the little sisters were holding onto the buckets while the big sisters would toss the apples into them, kind of like what Applejack and Apple Bloom did and considered it 'chores.' Sweetie Belle ran ahead while Rarity slammed down on the other end of the bench, sending the apples flying towards the bucket, which the little filly managed to catch easily, bumping a stray apple into the bucket before continuing the race. They moved to a chicken coop where a team of sisters tried to balance a couple of eggs on their noses, but ended up dropping them and breaking them while Rarity and Sweetie Belle carried one egg together, placing it gently into the basket of eggs.
They then continued the race, hopping along in glee as they continued the race, but then the team they passed rushed past them, knocking them down as they ran for the finish line, but the two unicorn sisters got up and rushed forward, catching up with them, running neck and neck and to a point, they leapt forward, creating a cloud of dirt and dust that blocked everyone's view. After a little bit, the dust settled and revealed that Rarity and Sweetie Belle didn't win, the other team of sisters had won and were being carried away.
"Oh, so close." Apple Bloom said, she and Spyro walking up. "You almost won."
"That's ok, I don't even care we didn't win." Sweetie Belle replied, leaping up and hugging Rarity, knocking the hat off. "Thank you Applejack! That was so much fun!" But when she looked up at the muddy pony, her eyes widened in surprise, seeing that the pony she was hugging had a white horn. guessing who it was, she reached over and wiped the mud off the unicorns flank, revealing Rarity's Cutie Mark, surprise the filly. "Rarity? Wait, if you ran the race with me, where's Applejack?"
"She's in the mud." Spyro replied.
They all looked over to where the mud pit was, watching as Applejack got out of the mud and walked over, both her and Rarity shaking the mud off.
"We switched places at the very first mud hole." Applejack said, picking her hat up. "It was a genius idea."
"Wait, we did the whole race together?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking up to Rarity.
"Well, most of it." Rarity replied. "You and Applejack started it, but we did the race together."
"And ya finished together." Apple Bloom said.
"Wait, you all were in on it?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking to Spyro. "Even you?"
"You betcha Sweetie." Spyro replied. "While AJ and Apple Bloom kept you busy, I helped hide Rarity in the mud hole."
"You... you did this... for me?" Sweetie Belle asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
"For us Sweetie Belle." Rarity answered. "I did it for us."
Sweetie Belle couldn't help but let the tears roll down her cheek, running up to her big sister and hugging her, their bond as sisters restored.
"And we deserve to celebrate for what we have accomplished." Rarity said.
"Oh boy, where we going?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"The Spa." Rarity replied.
Everyone but Rarity ended up falling to the floor laughing, believing it to be a joke.
"No, I'm being serious." Rarity said. "I want to celebrate at the Spa."
"Don;t go getting your hooves done yet little diamond." Spyro said, getting up. "We put off training long enough. The first session is tonight at seven at the garage."
"Wait, so soon?" Rarity asked. "But, but we-"
"Rare, I said we put it off long enough." Spyro repeated. "Meet me at the garage at the given time. I'll let Twilight and Fluttershy know as I want everypony there."
He then took off to the sky, heading towards Fluttershy's cottage first to let her know first before heading to Twilight, informing her as well of the first training session, returning to the garage to finish setting up the room he had saved for their first training session. As the day went by, Twilight and Rarity were walking up the dirt road and arrived at the Gummi garage, finding that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were already there with Applejack, waiting for everyone else to arrive. Just as they approached the garage, Fluttershy came over the horizon and ran towards them, breathing heavily as she was out of breath.
"S-sorry... I'm... late." Fluttershy said. "Lost track... of time."
"Oh, don't worry Fluttershy dear." Rarity said. "We just got here ourselves. We're waiting on Spyro."
"Hope I didn't make you ladies wait too long." Spyro said, getting their attention. "I needed to finish setting up the training room with a Simulator to help with the training. If you'll stand with me please."
The girls walked into the garage's main hangar, standing next to the prince when the platform started to move on it's own, shaking them up a little as it descended below the garage and pass the place where his ships were being stored, seeing the three large vessels when they came into a room filled with blue lights and different kinds of machinery, walking off the platform to look around. While they were looking at everything, wondering all about the technology and what it does, Spyro was backing away to the other side of the room and behind a red line, which indicated he was in the safe area.
"Wow, this is amazing." Twilight said, looking to Spyro. "So, what's the first lesson?"
"The lesson comes later." Spyro replied, making the girls look at him. "This is a sort of entrance exam, meant to test you and see how you can handle yourself in a fight."
"Ah man, a test!?" Rainbow Dash replied, complaining as she fell over comically. "I hate tests."
"Trust me Rainbow, this is no ordinary test." Spyro said, the cyan mare looking up at him. "Welcome to Keyblade Academy." A moment later, multiple turrets popped out of the walls, the roof, and the ground, pointing their barrels at the Mane 6 as they starred in pure horror at the massive weapons, causing Fluttershy to fall over like a goat. "Hope you survive the experience."