Sweetie Belle was about to knock on the door but then stopped, looking down at Rarity. She shook her head. “No. This won’t do. I have to handle this like a mare.”

“What do you mean?” asked Discord.

She looked over at him. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure.” Lifting up her hooves she held Rarity out to him. “What are you doing?”

“Take her for me.”

“Why?”

Lowering Rarity a bit she glared at him. “I’m offering to let you hold my sister. Is that not enough of a trust gesture for you? Now just take her already!”

Hesitantly Discord took Rarity from her. He looked very awkward holding her, like she might explode at any moment. “Um… so why am I doing this?”

“I want to talk to Twilight alone. I started getting mad at you before, and I only held back because I was holding Rarity. I want to set good examples for her, but I also need to be able to resolve my problems by myself.”

Looking up at him she said in a firm voice, “I trust you to take good care of my sister. Don’t let any harm come to her.”

“I’ve never taken care of a baby before. What if she soils herself?”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “I thought that’s what your magic was for. Honestly, you look more scared of holding a baby than of getting turned to stone. And you were the one planning to conquer Equestria?” Sweetie Belle got a silly grin on her face. “Sheesh. Who knew? We never needed the Elements of Harmony at all. All we had to do was send a few foals in your direction and you would be powerless.” She began snickering.

Discord gave her a dirty look. “You know I can send your sister to the moon, right?”

Her expression didn’t change. “You could… but I know you won’t. You care too much about keeping friends to do that.”

Sweetie Belle turned around, rapping on the door a few times. After about ten seconds she heard movement coming towards the door before it opened, revealing Spike.

“Hi, Sweetie Belle,” said Spike in a cautious voice.

“Twilight here?” she asked, not wanting to mince words. She just wanted to get it over with.

“Yeah,” he responded, looking up towards the loft. Looking back towards her he asked simply, “Why are you here? Is it to make peace or to yell at her some more?”

Sweetie Belle blinked. “The first one, but I can’t promise the second one won’t happen.” With that, she walked past him, heading up the stairs leading to the loft.

When she got there she saw Twilight sitting on her bed, facing away from her. A flash of rage made her stomach burn with agitation. She felt power channeling into her horn, and she gritted her teeth as she forced herself to take deep breaths until it settled down. She returned back to her magic lessons, picturing Cheerilee and baby Rarity to think of peaceful images.

When she felt calm enough she continued walking. As she neared the bed she heard Twilight say in a quiet voice, “Hello, Sweetie Belle.”

“Hello, Twilight,” she responded in a short voice. Once more she felt her body tensing hard. A part of her was ready to start yelling and attacking Twilight again, but she managed to hold back the urge. She forced her mind to stay on the images of the possible future that Princess Luna had showed her. If she couldn’t reign in her anger to forgive it could spell disaster for Rarity’s future.

After a few more deep breaths she said slowly, “Twilight, I understand you made a mistake. I was extremely furious with you, and to be honest I’m still really angry at you. You don’t know just how strong the urge is to go after you again. The only thing holding me back is Rarity.” She saw Twilight grimace, and set her head on her pillow.

Sweetie Belle’s eyes narrowed. “At least have the guts to look me in the eyes, you coward!” Her horn started glowing, and Twilight let out a little yelp as she flew into the air. Sweetie Belle turned her around and set her back on the bed. “You did something stupid! You understand that. After I kicked you out I went into such a rage that I exhausted myself and fell asleep for a little while. Princess Luna came to visit my dreams and she’s the only reason I’m here right now.”

Twilight knew of Luna’s dream walking ability. She’d heard from Scootaloo about how Luna had helped her with her own issue. “What… what did she say?”

“She showed me a vision of the future. No, that’s not right. A POSSIBLE future. She showed me and Rarity grown up, where I never forgave you, and Rarity fed off of my anger and hostility and constant talking down about you to become bitter and distrusting of other ponies. Worst of all, she got such a twisted delight from the thought of tormenting you. She said she wrote over a bunch of all your books so you’d get a nasty surprise whenever you tried to finish a story.

“That was horrifying to me. I refuse to let Rarity grow up to be that way, even if I am disgusted with what you did.” As the images came back to her once more her fear of that future returned, tempering her anger. As her rage began subsiding she noticed the bruising around Twilight’s eye from where she had thrown the Element at her. She closed her eyes and took a big breath.

Walking forward she got up on the bed, giving Twilight a hug. “I’m sorry for attacking you,” she said in a calm voice. “I’ve been a downright horrible big sister today. Rarity wouldn’t approve of the way I’ve been treating one of her best friends.”

Twilight sniffed, beginning to cry as she held Sweetie Belle back. “I’m sorry, too! I never meant to hurt you! It’s like I told Spike: Discord’s powers are so beyond what I can comprehend that I honestly thought there was nothing he couldn’t do.”

Sweetie Belle hesitated, the words hanging on her lips. “Rarity…,” she said quietly to herself, then forced the words out. “I forgive you.” As she said those words she felt that same cleansing sensation she’d had when she said them to Discord.

As her anger dispelled it was immediately replaced with guilt. “Hating you won’t bring Rarity back to me. It will only drive her further away.” Tears began coming down her eyes as she began gently sobbing. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Twilight! I keep taking everything out on you, but I know you must be hurting inside just as much as I am over not having Rarity around. I’m so stupid. You spent so much time helping me to master my magic, and I was so ungrateful for it all.”

Twilight let her emotions run free now, squeezing Sweetie Belle closer to her. “I forgive you, Sweetie Belle. I’m sorry, too.”

The two of them both turned into crying wrecks for the next few minutes, apologizing and sobbing and holding each other in equal measure until they burned out their emotions and ended up just holding onto each other.

Sweetie Belle looked up at Twilight. Her eyes were red from crying, but she had a little smile on her face. Gently putting her hoof on Twilight’s eye she said, “I really am sorry about that. If Rarity had been awake and saw what I had done she might have begun thinking it’s okay to hurt others who make you mad.”

Twilight returned her smile with one of her own. “No problem. It will heal up in a few days. I’m just glad we still have the chance to be friends.”

Letting out another sigh she said, “I guess I still have a lot more growing up to do. I really want to show Rarity the best so she’ll grow up to be as amazing as my older sister. Luna scared me so much because I know I adore spending time with Rarity, and so I’m going to have the biggest influence on how she turns out. If it wasn’t for her I don’t think I would have been able to do this.”

“Princess Luna knows full well how painful it can be when your anger gets out of control. She doesn’t want anyone else to turn out like her. She has fully earned her second chance.” Lifting her hoof she wiped away Sweetie Belle’s tears. “I’ll do my best to earn mine as well.”

“Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I can come visit you like once a week so you can teach me more about magic? I want to get even better control of my magic. I need to be faster. If anything attacks Rarity I need to be able to set up a force field as quick as possible.”

“Of course. I would be honored to continue your education. You’re an excellent student and a hard worker.”

Closing her eyes she thought of Rarity. “I still miss her a lot. If it wasn’t for little Rarity I don’t know if I would have made it. She’s so small and tiny and helpless, and I have to do my best to keep her safe from harm and teach her all the right things to do.”

“I miss her too. It’s unfortunate that she can’t come back to us, but we’ll always keep her memories in our hearts. Even as a child I feel all of us can learn from you about how we can better emulate Rarity and be more giving ourselves.”

“I’ll try my best. After all, I-“ Sweetie Belle stopped, both of them covering their ears as a ear-splitting cry erupted over them. The entire library was shaking.

“What in Equestria?” said Twilight.

Discord poofed into the room. “Sweetie Belle,” he said with annoyance. “I have to say that your sister is a big baby.”

“Obviously!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, still covering her ears. “She’s only a few months old. What do you expect?

“What is that awful racket? And why did you leave her alone? STUPID!” Hopping off the bed she ran outside to see where Rarity was.

As she got outside the sound got louder and louder. “What in the…” Right in front of the door was what looked like a gigantic marshmallow. As she heard what sounded like a deeper voice of her sister call out, “Swee-Belle!” she looked up and immediately sat down, a look of disbelief on her face. She could see Rarity’s mane.

Discord appeared next to her, snickering away. “What did I tell you? Your sister is a big baby! I guess SHE’S the big sister now.” He erupted into more laughter.

“Discooooord!”

“Sorry, sorry. Let me fix things.” Flying up towards Rarity’s head he called her name. “Oh, Rarity! You want Sweetie Belle?”

Rarity settled down just a little. “S-Swee-Belle?”

“Yep!” Conjuring up a neon sign of Sweetie Belle pointing down he said, “She’s right down there.”

Rarity saw her sister down below, and a look of delight came to her face. “SWEE-BELLE!” Her voice rumbled, making the earth shake with it.

As Rarity reached for her Sweetie Belle screamed at the top of her lungs, running away. “Discord! Discord! DISCORD!” With each cry her voice squeaked.

Discord only watched with amusement as Rarity began trotting towards the young filly. “Oh, Sweetie Belle! I COULD return her to normal. That is, if you apologize for making fun of me before.”

“Alright!” Sweetie Belle cried out in complete surrender, sweat coming down her face. “Alright! You win! I’m sorry for what I said!” Rarity was only a step or two away from catching her. “Discord! Please!”

Discord giggled, snapping his hoof. Rarity shrunk back down to normal, falling towards the ground. “Going down! Better catch her.”

Sweetie Belle spun around, seeing Rarity plummeting to the earth. Her eyes narrowed, and a green glow went around her baby sister, halting her momentum and leaving her hovering a few feet off the ground. Focusing, she pulled Rarity to her, hugging her sister.

“Swee-Belle!” Rarity said happily, nuzzling her.

Sweetie Belle sighed, nuzzling her back. “Oh, Rarity. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Awwwww, that’s so sweet,” said Discord in an overly sappy voice. “Makes tears come to my eyes.”

Sweetie Belle looked up at him, glaring. Her expression quickly changed to shock as she saw a gigantic teardrop come from Discord’s eyes, heading right toward them. She grunted, her horn glowing brightly as a shield appeared around both of them. The water passed harmlessly around them.

Discord appeared in front of her, clapping. “Very, very good, Sweetie Belle.”

“Discord, I-” She started to yell, but could only let out unintelligible noises as her mouth suddenly disappeared.

“Come on. Why so upset, Sweetie Belle?” Using one of his claws he poked a hole in her shield spell, turning into a snake and slithering inside. “You want to protect your sister, right? What’s wrong with giving you some extra practice? You reacted quickly and instantly both times. It only shows that your reflexes and powers are getting sharper. I mean, after all, what’s the point of learning all this stuff about magic if you’re unable to do anything when it counts, hmm?”

Her mouth returned, and Sweetie Belle gave him a death glare. She couldn’t tell if he was being serious or if he was just messing with her. She had seen with his testing of her when they unsealed him that he only seemed to offer help in the most obnoxious way possible.

Letting out a tense breath she rolled her eyes and said, “Thanks… I guess.”

“Of course.” He turned back to normal as Sweetie Belle undid the barrier. “Oh, come on. Stop glaring at me. Here, why don’t I do something special for you?”

“NO!” Sweetie Belle immediately said. “Anything you try to give me is going to be ridiculous.”

“Oh, come on. You said we’re friends. Can’t you trust me just a little bit?” He turned into a dog, giving her pleading eyes as his lower lip stuck out.

She rolled her eyes again and said flatly, “No.”

“Fine, then.” Discord said, turning back to normal. “I guess I’ll just force you to take it.” He snapped his claw.

Sweetie Belle flinched, waiting for whatever wackiness would happen, but it looked like nothing did. In her hooves she heard Rarity say, “Nummy!” She looked down and saw Rarity had an ice cream cone.

“See? I told you I can be nice. Would you like one too, or do you still not trust me?”

She gave Discord a dirty look, her lower lip going to one side of her mouth, torn between the desire for ice cream and the thought of actually apologizing to him. With a huff she lowered her reluctance enough to say, “I’m sorry.”

“Great.” Discord snapped his claw again.

Sweetie Belle let out a squeal at a sudden cold sensation on her head before a cone fell to the ground.

“Whoops. You had your hooves full. Where else was I to put your ice cream?” Sweetie Belle growled, her face going beet red. “Easy now. Your sister is within earshot. Don’t want to teach your sister anything inappropriate now, do you?”

Her face puffed up like she was about to explode. She forced herself to breathe, her breaths coming in short and shallow. She felt so close to losing it.

Discord put up his paw, saying, “Alright. That’s enough fun for me. The last test is over. One of the other things you said is you want to make sure you teach your sister the right things. Being able to keep your cool when someone annoys you is definitely on that list, isn’t it? After all, you don’t want to teach Rarity that yelling and violence is the first thing to resort to when someone gets on your nerves, right?” He snapped his claw, and the ice cream on her head vanished. A bowl of ice cream as big as her appeared with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry flavors, as well as various toppings and a big spoon.

Sweetie Belle let out a long, slow breath. Once again she wasn’t sure if he was actually testing her, or just testing her patience and using “testing” as an excuse to be unbearable.

Sweetie Belle looked over at the ice cream. It did look delicious, but, this being Discord…

Discord saw her suspicion and said in a sincere voice, “I’m really done this time. Enjoy your treat for putting up with me for so long. It’s nice to have friends. I guess I’ll do one last little thing for you.” He snapped his claw and disappeared.

Sweetie Belle saw a blanket had appeared on the ground. She set Rarity down on it. Rarity just continued eating her ice cream as Sweetie Belle began to dig into hers. It was the most delicious ice cream she had ever tasted.

As she ate she started to wonder if every time she saw Discord was going to be like this. It was hard to stay mad while chowing down on a bowl full of ice cream. He was okay, deep down. Although she wouldn’t admit it to him she was actually grateful for him putting her through her paces. As he said, she needed to be able to react quickly to keep Rarity safe, so his testing was actually beneficial to her.

She ate until her belly was bulging, keeping an eye on Rarity all the while.

She got out of the bowl and sat down on the blanket next to her sister, using the edges of it clean her hooves off.

Rarity turned over, hugging her. “Wuv yew, Swee-Belle!”

Sweetie Belle hugged her back. “I love you too, Rarity. No one will ever hurt you as long as I’m around."

She set Rarity on her stomach as she turned so she was on her back, just watching the clouds roll by.

“Fwy! Fwy!” Rarity called out.

Sweetie Belle laughed. “Okay, Rarity.” Moving her hooves around she picked Rarity up with her back legs. “Fly! Fly up high in the sky!”

Rarity laughed and laughed. “Fwy! I fwying!”

Sweetie Belle laughed too at her sister’s exuberance.

She ran around with Rarity for a little while, playing tag and hide-and-seek. She had a blast. Sweetie Belle’s heart felt so light having given up her anger, and she knew that she would be able to handle her sisterhood to make sure Rarity grew up right.

After a few hours she returned home, a serene feeling about her. She went to visit her mom, telling her about her day. Her mother was proud of her for trying to be more mature.

She had dinner, then they went to the living room for story time.

Rarity fell asleep a little while later. Sweetie Belle began to feel sleepy as well, so she bid her parents good night and headed to her room. She debated putting Rarity in her crib, but decided against it. She knew she might be spoiling Rarity a bit, but she knew if Rarity woke up in the middle of the night she would start crying until she took her in her bed anyway.

She was still recovering from the loss of her sister as well. Rarity took comfort from sleeping with someone at night so she wouldn’t be afraid, but Sweetie Belle took comfort too. Her older sister had gone far away, so it made her feel more relaxed holding her little sister close.

As she drifted off she gave Rarity a kiss. “Goodnight, Rarity. I love you.” She gave a loving squeeze, feeling content.

“Good evening, Sweetie Belle,” said a voice she recognized. Princess Luna appeared in front of her.

“Hello, Princess Luna,” Sweetie Belle replied.

“As you have requested I have set up your dream tonight. I hope you enjoy it. However, as I said before, do not become too wrapped up in what is no longer a possibility.”

“I understand.” She nodded.

“Very well.” Her horn began glowing, and a bright light came into the space.

Sweetie Belle found herself in her room in the middle of the day, Rarity on her lap. Her mother came in the door, saying, “Sweetie Belle. Your sister is here. Hurry down.”

“Rarity?” Walking downstairs holding her little sister she saw Rarity standing there in the entranceway.

“Sweetie Belle!” said Rarity. “There you are. Oh, let me see. Let me see!” Sweetie Belle lifted her hooves, holding out her little sister. “Oh, she is just adorable! So pretty! So what’s her name?”

“I named her Rarity. After you. Because you’re the greatest and sweetest sister I could ever have, and I want her to grow up just like you.”

Rarity began tearing up. “Oh! Thank you, Sweetie Belle!” She grabbed Sweetie Belle, the three of them now in a group hug.

Sweetie Belle felt herself crying now. “You’re welcome, Rarity.” Pulling away she pointed to her flank. “Look! I got my cutie mark.”

“I see!” she said proudly. “What’s it for?”

“It’s for generosity. I’m being just like you now."

“Wonderful! Well, the day is young. Let’s go play.”

With a teary smile she said, “Okay.”

The three of them, along with their parents, went on a picnic together, playing in a meadow. After eating the five of them all chased each other around, making baby Rarity giggle like crazy.

Once they had tuckered themselves out a bit the five of them all sat up against a tree. She sat on her father’s lap with baby Rarity on her own lap. Rarity had a hoof around her, nuzzling her face. It was a dream come true.

It hurt just a little knowing that it was only a dream, but for a short time she got to experience what life could have been like if Rarity had survived. She knew she’d wake up eventually, but for now she was content.

She rested her head on Rarity’s shoulder, a warm smile on her face. “I love you, Rarity.”

“I love you too, Sweetie Belle.”

Of COURSE can't end the story without some good old trolling from Discord. >=)

I just want to give shout outs to Conred NerfStranger SilentBelle lazyreader19 MadMaudlin, and alarajrogers for helping to shape this story into what it is. As I've said before this story was a lot different and shorter when I first wrote it, but the comments from my readers have helped to flesh it out and make it more intense and meaningful. Thanks for all your help and reading until the end. You guys rock!