Most of the rest of Saturday was spent with Rarity on the phone reserving an extra place for her sister. Sunset had spent that time with the rest of her friends as they had decided to take Sweetie Belle to the local zoo for the day. Now that the day was coming to a close, everyone was getting ready for the dinner that Rarity had planned to take her friends to.

Saturday evening came with everyone getting ready for the dinner at Le Cheval D'or. Sunset stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a evening gown provided to her by Rarity. The smooth silk fabric clung to her curves and hugged her body as if the dress had been specifically made for her. Walking downstairs, she saw that all of her friends were ready to go. As she walked into the living room Rarity let out gasp saying, “Oh my, Sunset. You look absolutely stunning.”

“Thank you, Rarity. I really do appreciate the gown you loaned to me.”

The gown in question was made of the finest silk, blue and green with a low-cut back to it. Turning around so everyone could get a better look at her gown, Fluttershy let out a soft gasp when she saw what looked like a brand on Sunset left shoulder.

“Sunset, what happened to your shoulder?” Fluttershy spoke, concerned for her friend, “It looks like there is some sort of mark or brand on your shoulder.”

“Brand?” Sunset turned back around to face her friend. “What're you talking about?”

“Here, hold still,” Fluttershy replied, taking out her phone, “I’ll snap a photo of it to show you what I mean.”

Before Sunset could protest, she heard a click from Fluttershy’s cellphone. Holding up the phone so that Sunset could see the photo of what her friend was talking about, Sunset saw on the photo a mark that read XIV on her shoulder.

Looking at the photo, she said, “Oh, that mark.” Sunset swallowed hard. Not wanting to actually go into detail about the mark on her shoulder, she quickly finished, “It’s nothing, Fluttershy. I've...always had that mark.”

Fluttershy looked to her friend, then to the rest of the girls standing in the living room, all of whom gave Sunset concerned looks. Seeing the looks on her friends' faces, Sunset quickly changed the subject.

“So, uh, Rarity, what time is dinner supposed to be?”

“At seven darling.” Rarity glanced at her watch. “We should get going now if we don’t want to be late. The taxis should be here any minute.”

Each of her friends heard two cars pull up into the driveway and a loud honking from one of them. Walking outside before her friends could get another word in, Sunset headed for the first of the two taxis, got in, and buckled up. Sweetie Belle looked to her sister as she was about to head out to the taxis and said, “Rarity, why is Sunset so secretive about her past? I know she comes from Equestria, but every time the subject comes up, she seems to clam up tight. Do you know why she does that?”

“No, dear, I don’t know why Sunset doesn’t want to talk about her past. But I suspect she has a lot of pain and anger caused by something that must have happened to her in Equestria. I, too, have noticed her 'clamming up'.”

“I think we need to just let it go. It's really uncool of us to pry into her personal life,” Rainbow chimed in, heading for the door.

“You're right, Rainbow dear. We need to just leave this alone. Sunset will talk to us about it when she's ready and not before. Now I want us all to just enjoy this evening together.”

Everyone headed for the taxis. Fluttershy got into the one that Sunset was already sitting in, followed by Rainbow. Applejack and Rarity both got into the one behind Sunset's taxi along with Pinkie. Sweetie Belle got into the taxi that Sunset was sitting in, buckled up, and smiled warmly to Sunset, who returned the smile.

The drivers backed out of the driveway, turned down the street, and headed for the restaurant. Soon, all of Sunset's friends found themselves sitting at a table listening to soft violin music and looking at menus. Menus that Sunset was not really able to make head or tails of. Rarity, seeing the look of confusion on Sunset's face as she tried to make sense of the menu, smiled lightly to herself. “Would you like some help reading the menu, dear?” she said with a smile on her face.

Sunset looked up from her menu, then nodded as she pointed to an item on the menu and said, “What is this one supposed to be? It sounds interesting, but I'm not sure what it means.”

“Ah, yes, that is escargot. It is basically cooked snails,” Rarity replied.

Sunset's face almost turned green as a look of sickness emerged on her face. As she looked back at the menu, she asked, “Uh, is there anything on here that doesn’t have animals in it?”

“Well, you could go with the salad and soup options.”

“Yeah, I think I'd prefer that over snails. Thank you, Rarity.”

“Think nothing of it, dear.”

While the rest of the girls figured out what they wanted to order, Rainbow turned her attention to a dance floor that was located below them. She let out a soft sigh, then returned her attention back to her menu just as Rarity said, “Rainbow, darling, how about you and Sunset go have some fun downstairs? I know you've wanted to show off your new dance moves to Sunset.”

Sunset gulped, not sure as to what to say to Rainbow. Before she could say anything Rainbow beamed and stood up from the table, taking Sunset by her hand. As she gently led Sunset away from the table and towards the dance floor, she said, “This is going to be so awesome. Come on, Sunset. I got some really cool, new moves to show you.”

“But...But I--”

“Sunset, be sure to have a good time down there,” Rarity called out as she watched her friends head off to the dance floor.

Sweetie Belle looked at her sister, then down towards the dance floor, watching as Rainbow led a very nervous-looking Sunset Shimmer out to the middle of the floor. Rarity snapped her fingers, and two violinists came to their table. After a few minutes of directing them, Rarity pointed to the dance floor and nodded to the two men. Each of them headed downstairs and began to play soft music, which Rainbow and Sunset slowly began to dance too.

Sunset remembered her lessons of how to lead and be led by Applejack and Rarity from when she practiced in the park. While the two of them danced with all eyes on them, no one noticed a certain girl with a tiara in her hair walking up to the table that Sweetie Belle and her friends were at.

Feeling very confident, Diamond Tiara called out to Sweetie Belle, “Well, I see this establishment will let just about any mutt through the front doors nowadays.”

All eyes turned in shock towards Diamond Tiara, who stood smirking to herself while Sweetie Belle sat still, trying to ignore the rude comment. Diamond Tiara, not getting the response she wanted, said, “Oh, I see Sunset and the jock are downstairs enjoying themselves. I wonder how she would feel if I were to mention that a certain blue-haired guitar player is in the hospital.”

“You leave Sunset alone, Diamond Tiara!” Sweetie Belle shot back. “Why do you always have to be such a--”

“Sweetie Belle, don’t say anything that you will come to regret later. A lady must always keep a civil tongue, regardless of who it is that she's upset with.” Rarity chimed in trying to calm her sister down.

Looking to her sister, Sweetie Belle clenched her right hand into a tight fist. Her jaw quivered slightly as she almost snarled out, “You're right, Rarity. I need to calm down.” Sweetie Belle looked down at her plate. “May I be excused, Rarity? I lost my appetite. I think I need to get a breath of fresh air.”

“Of course, darling.” Rarity looked at Applejack and Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, go with her, will you, please? Make sure she stays out of trouble.”

“Of course, Rarity.” Fluttershy stood up and held out her hand to Sweetie Belle. “Come on. I think a breath of fresh air will do us both some good. Besides, I'm getting a bit freaked out by all the people staring at us.”

Sweetie Belle looked around and saw that all the other guests were indeed looking right at their table as Diamond Tiara stood, seething with anger. As Sweetie Belle walked around the table, taking Fluttershy by her hand, Diamond Tiara cooed wickedly to her, “That's it, run away like you always do, you little coward. No one wants you here.”

Again, Sweetie Belle tried to ignore the insults that Diamond Tiara spewed at her. While Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy walked away, Diamond Tiara ran after them. She called out as she got up behind Sweetie Belle, “You know, Sweetie Belle, with how your sister always wants all eyes on her, I have to wonder if the way she acts is for something...other than simply being 'ladylike'.”

Having caught the implication immediately, Sweetie Belle finally had enough. Quickly spinning around on the heel of her right foot, she swung and sucker-punched Diamond in the jaw, sending the upstart bully flat on her butt. Before Diamond could pick herself up, she suddenly found herself tumbling towards another table, crashing into it and spilling its contents all over her dress. Sweetie Belle stood over her glaring at her.

“Don’t you ever talk about my sister that way again, Diamond!”

“SWEETIE BELLE!” Rarity exclaimed in shock at what her sister had just done, “What is wrong with you!?”

Realizing only too late as to what she had just done, Sweetie Belle turned to face her sister, just as Diamond Tiara got up and screamed out. “My...My dress! It’s...It's ruined, you little brat. You’ll pay for this!”

“THAT IS ENOUGH, DIAMOND DAZZLE TIARA!” a loud thunderous voice boomed out from behind Sweetie Belle.

All eyes suddenly fell to a man dressed in a well-made, three-piece suit and a woman dressed in a pink, silk dress with a white fur coat on. Both of the two looked very angrily at Diamond, who whined out, “But Daddy, she hit me and wrecked my dress. I demand that you make her pay for--”

“Go to the car now!” the man shouted, seething with anger, “You, young lady, are grounded for a month!”

Diamond lowered her head and stormed off out of the restaurant, leaving Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and the rest of Sweetie Belle's friends standing with their mouths hanging open. The man approached Sweetie Belle, sighed, held out his hand to her, and led her back to her sister. Sitting her down at the table, the man took a chair, while the woman stood behind him, glaring at Sweetie Belle.

“My name is Filthy Rich. What is yours?”

“I'm Sweetie Belle. I am so sorry I hit your daughter, Mr. Rich, but she--”

“I know. I saw the whole thing. I brought her here in the hopes of teaching her how to be respectable around those that she doesn’t like. You see, my dear, it is no coincidence that you and your sister were able to get into this place. I own it. And thus, I thought that if you and your sister were here tonight, it would teach my daughter how to be polite around those that she doesn’t like. I can see now that I must discipline my daughter and school her on proper etiquette.”

“Please, go easy on her. I don’t think she meant to act like that. When I stood over her, I thought I saw something in her. Something that I never thought I would see from her.”

“And what, pray tell, was that, my dear?”

“Fear.”

“I see. Be that as it may, though, I think it is time for you and your group to leave.” Filthy snapped his fingers, and three men dressed in black suits approached the table. “These men will ensure you all get home safely. However, due to your actions, Sweetie Belle, I am afraid you and your group of friends are hereby…banned from coming back here again. Do you understand?”

Looking down and sniffing hard, Sweetie Belle nodded, then got up. Rainbow and Sunset both had since come up from the dance floor. They both looked at their friends then over to Sweetie Belle, who was wiping away her tears. Filthy got up and nodded to his employees. Sunset said as she took a step towards Sweetie Belle, “What happened? We heard a loud crash from downstairs and came up to see what happened.”

“Well, Sunset, Sweetie Belle, here knocked Diamond Tiara clean on her rump, then tossed her like a bale of hay into a nearby table.”

“Now, we've been banned from this restaurant,” Fluttershy said, looking down at her feet. “I hope Diamond Tiara will be alright.”

“Oh, not to worry, Miss Shy. My daughter will be alright. She won’t be happy about the punishment, but she'll be fine. Now, as I said, I want you all to leave my restaurant,” Filthy Rich said.

“Mr. Rich, none of us can drive home. I--” Rarity began but was cut off by Filthy Rich as he said, “I will provide you all a means of getting home, Miss Belle. Not to worry.”

“Thank you, Mr. Rich, and I am very terribly sorry for my sister's behavior towards your daughter. Rest assured, she will be dealt with when we get home.”

Looking to her sister, Sweetie Belle was about to say something, when Rarity cut her off. “Not one word out of you, young lady. You are in very big trouble. You're going right to your room when we get home. Do you fully understand me?”

“Yes, Rarity. I...I understand.”

Sweetie Belle, followed by her friends, left the restaurant, leaving Filthy to clean up the mess that she had made from her altercation with Diamond Tiara. Spoiled Rich snarled out to her husband, “How the hell could you just let them go like that, Filthy?”

“Look, if I were to sue them over a slight altercation like this one, it would ruin my reputation and plans. Now be quiet and go to our table.”

“Well, I nev--”

“Not another word. Otherwise, you might find yourself walking home. Now do as you're told.”

---

Twenty minutes later, the group of friends found themselves back at Rarity's. Rarity spent a good deal of time scolding her sister. Sunset wanted to butt in, but Rainbow stopped her before she could say anything. Eventually, Sweetie Belle ran up to her room, yelling back to her sister, “I hate you, Rarity! You're not my sister. You're just a bully like Diamond Tiara is.” Sweetie Belle slammed the door to her room and threw herself onto her bed, crying hard.

Sunset looked to Rarity, who simply said, “I am sorry you all had to see that. I don’t know what has come over her.”

“Perhaps I should go see if I can help her, Rarity. I do know what it's like to be a bully, and I might be able to help her through this,” Sunset said softly, looking down at the ground.

“While I do appreciate your offer, darling, I am afraid I must decline. My sister must learn from her mistakes and learn when it is a good time to do what she did and when it is not. Though, if you ask me, a lady should never resort to violence. Now, I suggest we all try to let this go and move on with our evening. Because of how things turned out at the restaurant, I will go ahead and make us some dinner.”

Everyone nodded in agreement to this, and all headed into the kitchen to help Rarity cook their meal. A half-hour later, everyone except Sweetie Belle was sitting at the kitchen table, eating the dinner that Rarity had cooked up for them. Sunset sat next to Rainbow, Fluttershy sat next to Applejack, and Pinkie across from Rarity.

When everyone had nearly finished, all eyes fell to Rarity, who barely touched her meal. As a look of sadness filled Rarity's face, Pinkie piped up, trying to break the uneasy tension that had filled the kitchen.

Grinning broadly, she squealed out, “I know! Why don’t we all go into the living room and play Spin the Bottle?”

Next Chapter: Taking Pictures (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 20 Hours, 17 Minutes