Twilight sat in her room up above the library, feverishly reading a large, leather bound book about Equestrian law. Her eyes moved at what seemed like a million miles an hour as she looked through the tome, hoping desperately to find something at all that she could use to refute Filthy Rich's movement of taking over as mayor of Ponyville. Since the previous day, when he'd come into power, she'd been up all through the night, frantically reading and re-reading the texts she'd looked through before Josh's trial so she could represent him in court. It seemed she couldn't go through each text fast enough at this point, and as she moved from one to the next, her hope began to dwindle rapidly, an issue not helped by her extremely sleep deprived state.

Her usually straight mane and tail were heavily dishevelled, and the bags under her extremely bloodshot eyes were gargantuan, truly speaking to just how hard she'd been working through the night. By this point, her resolve was beginning to break, as each and every word yielded no more a favorable result than the last. She closed the book slowly, rubbing her eyes with a lavender hoof before grabbing the next one in the pile and opening it up. As she did so, the door to her room opened, and she heard the sound of tiny, clawed footsteps making their way towards her on her bed. Her concentration never broke, however, despite her almost wishing it would.

"Um... Twilight... Are you gonna come downstairs and eat?" asked the familiar voice of her dragon assistant, Spike, "You need to get some kind of food in you, since you didn't eat dinner last night..."

Twilight didn't respond, keeping her eyes locked on the pages of the book before her. She wasn't reading though, having all but given up on the prospect of being able to do so the moment her friend spoke to her.

"Twi, come on. I know this is important to you, but it's not healthy for you to just sit up here all day and keep reading like this."

Again, Twilight said nothing, though she did shoot a quick glance to the baby dragon. A look of deep concern painted his face as he stood there, staring at his close friend as she continued to peer into the text before her. Upon seeing his expression, Twilight felt a pang of guilt hit her at knowing she was worrying Spike so much with her incessant reading.

"Are you even listening to me?" he asked, frowning at her a little.

A painful silence was all that followed his words, causing him to sigh dejectedly and turn back to the door. Twilight turned her full attention to the dragon as he headed back towards the entryway, his head hung a little as he walked. The guilt she'd felt before now overwhelmed her and she sighed, closing the book and rubbing her eyes once more.

"Spike... wait." she said, causing the dragon to turn back to her with his clawed hand still on the door.

Slowly, somewhat painfully, Twilight slid off her bed and onto the floor, making her way over to Spike as he stood before the door. She smiled down at her friend wearily, staring deep into the draconic, green eyes she'd grown to know and love since she first saw them. Reaching out, she wrapped her forelegs around the baby dragon and held him closely, lightly squeezing his tiny, violet body. Spike returned her embrace in full, petting her mane gently as she held onto him.

"I'm so sorry I caused you to worry, Spike." she said, releasing her friend and taking a step back, "I just... got a little carried away is all."

"It's alright, Twilight." Spike replied, smiling back up at the tired unicorn, "I know you were just doing what you thought needed to be done."

Twilight smiled down at the little dragon once more. In all the years she'd known her assistant, he'd almost never failed to be there for her when she needed him the most, and this time was no exception. Twilight could always take solace in knowing that when life seemed at its worst and she felt overwhelmed beyond all reason, there would always be a little, purple dragon back at home who cared for her and would do anything he possibly could to ensure that she was alright and happy.

"So," Twilight began, letting out a huge yawn and stretching her sore limbs, "what's for breakfast?"

"Tell you what," Spike said, opening the door slightly and stepping out into the stairwell, "why don't you freshen up and I'll have something for you when you're finished. Sound good?"

"If you say so, Spike." Twilight replied, to which the baby dragon nodded and made his way down the stairs, the lavender mare following shortly afterwards and making her way towards the bathroom.

Twilight stood in the shower for some time, trying with all her might to calm her racing mind as the warm water washed over her form. All night searching through texts she practically had memorized by this point, and not a single thing in anything she'd reviewed seemed to be of any use. I can't give up searching, but I'm losing hope that there'll be anything we can do at this point she thought, feeling the water trail off her back and neck as she stood there And Celestia only knows what Filthy intends to do as Mayor... The unicorn's ruminating was interrupted suddenly by a knock at the door, causing her to look up and through the shower curtain to see if anypony was trying to get into the bathroom.

"Breakfast is ready when you are, Twi." Spike called from outside.

"I'll be right out." Twilight responded, using her magic to turn off the water.

After drying herself off thoroughly, Twilight made her way into the nearby kitchen, a brush in her magical grip, forcing the bristles through her tangled, tri-color mane and tail. As she entered the room, the smell of pancakes hit her hard, causing her to practically salivate as she stood there. Looking over to the table, she saw it laden with her breakfast, a large stack of fluffy, golden brown pancakes, as well as a fresh batch of homemade syrup in a gravy boat for her.

"This all looks phenomenal, Spike." she said, setting her brush down nearby and taking her place across from the baby dragon at the table, "Thank you so much."

"Anything for you, Twilight." Spike said, watching as the lavender mare grabbed the syrup in her magic and began to pour it on the golden stack before her, "I know that the one thing in Equestria that can help you feel better, no matter what, is a nice, big plate of grain and oat pancakes."

Twilight giggled and nodded to her friend before gripping her fork and taking a large, syrupy chunk off the plate and placing it in her mouth, savoring the sweet flavor as it hit her tongue. Only just then did she realize how truly hungry she had been, having not eaten anything the night before after returning from the mayor's office.

Her eating was slow and delicate at first, but soon became more ravenous, with her practically shoving whole, giant pieces of pancake into her mouth. It wasn't until she had finished half the plate of food that she stopped to take a breather and remembered that Spike was even still in the room at all.

"Enjoying yourself?" the baby dragon asked, smirking as Twilight blushed and smiled bashfully.

"Um... yes." Twilight responded, giggling once more.

Spike chuckled a little himself, standing up and making for the cupboard above the sink. He climbed up and grabbed a glass down, jumping from the counter and heading towards the refrigerator.

"By the way, Sweetie Belle already ate earlier, in case you were wondering." Spike said, grabbing the milk carton and filling up the glass.

Twilight swallowed her current bite of breakfast before setting her fork down on the table and staring straight ahead as her mind drifted to thinking about the little white unicorn filly. Sweetie Belle had been at the library for almost four days now since storming out of Carousel Boutique and running through a torrential downpour. Since she'd arrived, the filly had calmed down considerably and seemed to be feeling much better than she had been at first. However, when Rarity came to the library after hearing that Sweetie was there, the filly ran and hid, refusing to come out and see her sister. This had left Rarity more than heartbroken and Twilight in quite a bind with Sweetie remaining at the library for what seemed like an indeterminate amount of time.

Twilight had no problem with Sweetie staying at the library, knowing that with herself and Spike on the premises almost all hours of the day, they could keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed safe. However, she knew how distraught Rarity was without her sister around, especially considering the circumstances in which she left that night. The last thing she wanted right now was to have to become a relay between the two siblings or, worse yet, have one of her best friends resent her for seemingly becoming the preferred guardian for the tiny unicorn. The lavender mare knew that she couldn't force Sweetie to go back to Rarity if she wasn't ready to, but she also couldn't keep her here forever, even if she was able to keep her safe and sound.

"You alright, Twilight?" Spike asked, sitting back down at the table and passing the glass of milk to the mare, "You've got sort of a 'thousand yard stare' thing going on right now."

"Huh?" Twilight responded, shaking her head lightly as Spike's voice brought her out of her thoughts again, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... thinking again is all."

"Maybe you ought to stop thinking for a little while." Spike suggested, "It's already kept you up all night anyway. That's not healthy."

"I know, Spike." Twilight responded warily, her ears falling flat as she slouched in her seat a little, "I almost wish I could. I just... I don't know what to do now..."

"You didn't find anything in the books last night that can help?"

"No, I didn't. And I even re-read a few of them to double check the passages that mentioned governmental operations!" Twilight said, rather loudly, "Every time it seemed I found something useful, the facts turned out to be pointing in his favor. From what I've been able to find so far, what he managed to do is completely legal. And the worst part is, there's nothing that we can do because he holds a majority of the population on his side!"

"There's just gotta be something..." Spike trailed off for a second, "I mean, he can't be mayor! If he decides to turn his power against us and the others, then there'll be nothing we can do."

"Believe me, Spike. You're not the only one worried about that." Twilight stated dejectedly, "I guess we'll just have to hope that it never comes to that."

A heavy silence filled the air as the two friends sat and ruminated on the situation at hoof. The one bit of solace that Twilight could take in all this was that it seemed like Filthy wasn't interested in taking down her or her friends at the moment. However, should he decide to turn the town against them like he had with Josh...

"Why don't you try and contact the princess on this, Twi?" Spike asked, "I mean... She did kind of give in to the pressure at the trial before... But, there'd be no way she'd stand for something like this!"

"I've been trying, Spike." Twilight retorted, sinking even lower in her seat, "She just won't respond. I've sent her a letter every day since the trial hoping that she'd at least attempt to get back to me on this. The only one who's even attempted to try and talk to me at all in Canterlot has been Luna, and even she's not saying much. I'm afraid it looks like we won't have the luxury of going to Celestia this time..."

Spike opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly attempting to find something, anything to say that could be of some help. However, he soon gave up on the prospect and lay his head on the table in defeat. Twilight pressed her ears flat as she saw this, knowing exactly how he felt at the moment. It just didn't make sense to her that her teacher, the most powerful and benevolent pony in all of Equestria, would seemingly just give up so easily like that. If her duty was to protect and watch over her subjects, and she'd done so for thousands of years, then how was it she could be so comfortable with just throwing in the towel and calling it a day?

"Please tell me you have some sort of plan for this." Spike said suddenly, slowly lifting his head up from the table and staring into Twilight's eyes.

The lavender mare just gazed back at him, unable to say anything at all that could help reassure the baby dragon. Beyond her insatiable thirst for knowledge and perfectionist mentality, Twilight had always been the one to concoct some sort of idea that could alleviate even the harshest situations she and her friends had to deal with. Whether it was battling Discord with the Elements of Harmony or trying to help the ponies of Ponyville to accept Princess Luna after she was cleansed of Nightmare Moon, her intuitive nature always allowed her to take on anything head on and eventually come out on top. However, saving the whole of Equestria and taking on a political tyrant like Filthy Rich were two totally different things, and her usual approach of facing the problem head on was all but useless here. Every avenue she ventured down that seemed to hold any sort of hope for what could be done always hit a dead end, forcing Twilight to have to accept that there may be nothing that could be done here whatsoever.

"I..." she paused, trying to think of something, anything, that she could say that would encourage Spike as well as herself that everything would be alright.

However, as she was about to say something, Sweetie Belle passed by in her peripheral vision, walking past the doorway with a sullen expression on her little white face. Twilight watched as the filly made her way past, heading off to a different section of the library. The lavender mare found herself unable to take her eyes off the door Sweetie had just passed by, her inner vision still fixated on the sad sight of the downcast filly making her way by.

"Twi?" Spike said, his voice seeming to come from a great distance as Twilight heard it, "What're you staring at over there?"

Twilight shook her head to bring herself back to the conscious world. An idea had struck her suddenly, one that she'd thought about before, but that she'd placed in the back of her mind as something to try and accomplish later on.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she responded, standing up from her seat without looking back to Spike and making her way out the entryway and into the main part of the library.

"Hey, where're you going?" Spike asked.

Twilight didn't respond, instead walking slowly out into the lobby just in time to turn to the left and see a curly pink and purple tail make its way past another door. The mare followed it as it disappeared, carefully glancing past the entrance and into the room to see Sweetie pull a book of the shelf and lay it down in front of herself, curling up into a little white ball and beginning to stare at the first page. Slowly, gently, Twilight made her way into the room, walking right up behind Sweetie, who didn't even turn to acknowledge the other pony behind her.

Twilight peered down at Sweetie as she sat there, intently watching as she scanned the text in front of her. This has to work Twilight thought as she stared at the filly before her If not, then I don't know how we'll be able to do anything.

"Hey there, Sweetie Belle." Twilight said sweetly, walking over to stand next to the filly. "What's that you're reading?"

"Hey Twilight." Sweetie responded flatly, gripping the page in her magical green grip and flipping it, "It's just a Daring Do book."

"Which one?"

"Daring Do and the Kingdom of the Dark Alicorn."

"That's a really great one to read." Twilight said, smiling a little at Sweetie, "It's probably one of my favorites."

Sweetie said nothing to that, instead continuing to scan the book. Twilight bit her lip nervously, unsure really of what to do next. However, as she watched Sweetie use her magic to flip the page once more, another idea came to her.

"You're really starting to get good at using your magic now." she noted happily, "So good in fact that I think you deserve a treat for it."

"A treat?" Sweetie inquired, looking up from the tome since she'd begun to read it, "Just for using my magic?"

"It's always a big deal when a unicorn begins to really use their magic in a practical manner for the first time." Twilight responded, continuing to smile at the filly, "I just thought you ought to get a little something for it."

"Like what?" Sweetie asked, closing her book and standing up.

"Well, just sit tight here, and I'll head out to get you something." Twilight said, laying a hoof on Sweetie Belle's tiny shoulder, "Sound good to you?"

"Yeah, it does." Sweetie said, nodding somewhat excitedly.

"Alright then." Twilight said, turning and making her way out the door, "I'll leave Spike here so you're not all alone, and I'll be back before too long with something nice for you."

Sweetie nodded in acknowledgement and Twilight made her way through the door, walking past Spike, who was leaning on the nearby wall, staring at the mare with an eyebrow raised.

"A treat for her?" he asked incredulously, following after her as she continued towards the front entrance of the library, "Is this part of your plan or something?"

"Yeah, it is." she replied, placing her saddlebags on her back and opening up the door with her magic, stepping through before turning back around to face her dragon assistant, "Just stay here and try to keep her entertained till I get back. I shouldn't be too long."

"You wanna clue me in as to what exactly you're doing here?"

"All I can tell you is that this is a pretty long shot idea, and if it fails or works, I don't think it'll really fix anything with Filthy Rich."

"Then what's the point of it?" Spike asked incredulously.

"Because, if it works, then it'll at least be one step in the right direction." Twilight responded, "At this point, I think that's all we can really hope for."

Spike didn't say anything to that. He just locked his eyes on Twilight's again for a moment, taking in her serious expression as she stood before him. Then, he merely nodded and moved forward, hugging Twilight tightly.

"Good luck, Twi." he said, "I'll be waiting here with Sweetie for you to get back."

Twilight returned his embrace briefly before pulling away and turning around, hearing the front door close as she trotted away into town. After a short time of walking, she saw Sugarcube Corner in the distance, its usual tantalizing facade forcing it to stand out amongst the other buildings around it. Keeping the store in mind for later,she turned down a side street and proceeded to the other side of town. She'd have to come back to it before she returned home, but at the moment, her target destination was set, and she could only hope beyond hope that her idea would work.

Sweetie Belle and Spike sat in the library, the latter quietly reading a book while Sweetie found herself unable to stay still in anticipation for what sort of treat she'd be getting from Twilight once she returned from town. In her four days at the library, Sweetie had been falling even deeper beyond her initial bout of depression. The anger she'd felt upon leaving Carousel Boutique that night had long since subsided, leaving the tiny unicorn feeling somewhat empty and unsure of what to do now. However, a nice treat might be just the thing she'd need to take her mind off the situation at hoof and finally allow her to relax for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"I wonder what she'll get." Sweetie mused, now standing up and beginning to pace back and forth in anticipation for the arrival of the lavender unicorn.

"Hard to say." Spike said, lazily turning the page of the book and beginning to scan the next one, "But, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be great."

Sweetie found little satisfaction in that answer, but pressed the issue no further, instead continuing her silent contemplation. As she turned one last time and began to pace in the opposite direction, she heard hoofsteps near the front door and immediately looked back over her shoulder towards it, waiting for it to open. Sure enough, it swung forward, revealing Twilight standing there, a pink box on her back and a smile forming on her lips as she noticed the eager filly waiting for her.

"Hey there, Sweetie." Twilight greeted, making her way inside and shutting the door behind her, "Sorry it took me so long. It took awhile for Mrs. Cake and Pinkie to put this together for me since I didn't have an order called ahead or anything like that."

"Hey, Twi." Spike said, standing up and walking towards the mare, "You need any help there?"

"Yes, I do." she stated, gripping the box on her back with her magic and levitating it over to Spike, "Take this and Sweetie into the kitchen. I've gotta say goodbye to Pinkie real quick."

"Pinkie came with you?" Spike asked confusedly, cocking his head slightly as Twilight removed her saddlebags from her back and set them nearby, "That's the last pony I'd expect you to have brought back."

Sweetie noticed Twilight's eyes grow slightly wider as Spike finished his sentence before she looked towards the filly, putting on another smile, this one much more forced.

"She thought that we ought to catch up a little, since we didn't really have much time to talk to one another last night." Twilight said through half gritted teeth,

"Now, she's got a lot of work to do today, so I'll just go say goodbye to her while you take Sweetie into the kitchen, understood?"

"I still don't... Oh! Right." Spike said, his own eyes widening as an apparent realization came over him and he turned around, "Come on, Sweetie. Let's go into the kitchen to wait for Twilight."

Sweetie found the sudden change in tone for Spike and Twilight rather odd, but decided not to question it any further than she had to. She turned and followed the baby dragon into the kitchen, looking back over her shoulder in time to see the door close quickly as Twilight made her way back outside. Spike sat the large pink box on the kitchen table and took his seat, Sweetie following suit. Together, the two conjectured about what it could possible be inside the box. Both agreed that it was a confection of some kind, but neither knew exactly what kind it could be.

Right as Sweetie was expressing her thought that it might be some sort of candy coated cake, the front door opened and closed, quickly followed by hoofsteps across the floor. In only a matter of seconds, Twilight appeared around the corner, walking right up to the table and having a seat.

"This was made especially for you, Sweetie." Twilight said, undoing the box with her magic and pulling down the sides to reveal the object inside.

Before them all sat a round, medium sized cake covered in white frosting with swirled pink and purple borders on the top and bottom. Sweetie's jaw dropped a little upon seeing the treat before her, causing Twilight to giggle a little at the sight of the awed filly.

"I'll get some plates really quickly and we can have a piece or two." Twilight said, opening the nearby cupboard with her magic and bringing down three plates, "Spike, could you get us forks and a knife to cut this up?"

The baby dragon nodded and jumped up to grab the utensils while Twilight sat the plates in front of herself, Sweetie Belle, and Spike's place at the table. Upon Spike returning with the flatware, Twilight cut off a sizable piece of cake and placed it on the plate in front of Sweetie before serving herself and her dragon assistant. Together, the three all dug into their respective pieces, idly chatting as they ate. Sweetie said very little as they all bantered back and forth, savoring her piece of cake and the freedom of mind that came with it. Even though she'd eaten a Sugarcube Corner cake many a time in her life, this one seemed to be more than just a sweet for her to indulge in. If only for the moment, it gave her weary mind a break from all that had transpired in the last week and a half.

"So, Sweetie," Twilight said, quickly swallowing her bite of cake before continuing, "Are you... feeling any better since you came here?"

Sweetie paused for a second to chew before swallowing and looking Twilight in the eyes. The lavender mare stared back at her, a small smile etched on her face, once again looking forced, though not as much as last time.

"I..." Sweetie began, trying hard to find the words she needed to say, "I'm not sure. I mean, I'm not angry anymore, I know that. But... I don't think I'm really that much better."

"You were angry?" Twilight asked in a soft tone, "I didn't know that. Was it... were you angry at Rarity or something like that?"

Sweetie pinned her ears back against her head, not wanting to think about how she'd acted towards her one and only sister that night.

"I was... angry at everything." Sweetie said hesitantly, "It just... It isn't fair. Joshie didn't do anything wrong, but they still made him leave. I know that he's still out there, and maybe he'll be able to come home one day, but..."

Sweetie swallowed hard and closed her eyes, trying to fend off the tears that were threatening to flow from them. The filly felt a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to open her watery eyes and look in the direction of Twilight, who stared at her, a small smile gracing her face once more.

"It's alright." Twilight said, gently running her hoof through Sweetie's mane, "I know it's hard for you to talk about it. It is for me too."

Sweetie wiped her eyes quickly, catching a stray tear as she did so before looking back up into Twilight's violet eyes. The lavender mare lay her hoof on Sweetie's, not once glancing away from the filly.

"Sweetie Belle," Twilight began, gently caressing the filly's hoof, "there's somepony here who really wants to talk to you. I don't know if you'd be willing to do that, but I just ask that you at least listen to them. Can you do that for me?"

Sweetie Belle nodded, causing Twilight to jump down from her seat and make for the entryway.

"Come with me real quick, alright Sweetie?" Twilight said softly.

The filly jumped down from her own seat and followed Twilight through the door and into the main lobby of the library. Spike plodded along after the two ponies, stopping near the stallion bust in the center of the room. Sweetie and Twilight stepped towards the front door, the unicorn mare stopping and turning around to face Sweetie Belle once more.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

Sweetie nodded and Twilight returned the gesture before turning back around to face the door. Using her magic, she opened it up and stepped back, revealing a pure white unicorn pony with a mildly disheveled, curly purple mane and tail and three powder blue diamonds on her flank. Sweetie Belle's jaw nearly hit the floor as she stood before her big sister, Rarity, who stared down at her with watery eyes.

"R-Rarity?" Sweetie said quietly, not once taking her jade eyes off her sister's sapphire ones.

"Hello, Sweetie Belle." Rarity responded softly.

Together, the two siblings stared at one another, neither one able to find anything more to say or do, forcing an uneasy silence to fall and increasing the tension in the air. For both ponies, the world seemed to melt away all around them, leaving just the two of them to stand before one another in a silent existence. It wasn't until Twilight spoke up that either one of them shifted their gaze away from their respective sibling.

"Rarity, would you like to come inside?"

"Huh?" Rarity said, shaking her head and looking to Twilight, "Oh. Yes. Thank you, Twilight."

Rarity stepped into the library, walking past Sweetie Belle and standing near Spike in the center of the room. Twilight closed the door behind the alabaster mare before turning to look back at her.

"Sweetie, I invited Rarity here because she has something she needs to say to you." Twilight said, causing Sweetie's attention to turn to her, "I know that I don't really have much of a right to tell you what to do, but I just ask that you listen to what she has to say."

Sweetie Belle said nothing to that, not being able to find anything even remotely sufficient that could or needed to be said. Her eyes lingered on Twilight for some time before the lavender mare looked back over to Rarity.

"Go ahead, Rarity." she said.

Sweetie turned back around in time to see her normally regal and affluent sister nervously paw at the ground with her ears pinned back against her head. Clearly, she had worked up the courage to talk to Sweetie Belle, but either hadn't given much thought as to what exactly she'd say upon standing before her, or was so nervous and unsure that any sort of rehearsed speech had all but left her head. However, the little unicorn filly didn't say anything as she watched Rarity begin to open and close her mouth in a vain attempt to speak to her.

"Sweetie... I..." she began, her voice beginning to shake as she spoke, "I'm so sorry. I should have been there for you more. I was... so caught up in my own feelings that I neglected to think about how you feel in all this. I knew you were sad and that Josh’s leaving left you feeling broken like myself, but I just left you by yourself while I wallowed in my own sorrow."

Tears began to flow from Rarity's eyes as she spoke, tiny droplets rolling off her cheeks and falling to the floor beneath her. The alabaster mare's body trembled heavily as well and it seemed that she was about to collapse at any second. Twilight walked over to Rarity and placed a hoof on her withers, gently nuzzling her cheek in an attempt to console the white unicorn. Rarity sniffled several times and swallowed hard before continuing with her speech to Sweetie Belle.

"That night you left," she began, managing to regain control of her voice for the time being, "I tried so hard to find you. I looked all over Ponyville, hoping that I could convince you to return home with me where you'd be safe and... and so that I could be there for you finally. When I didn't find you, I went back home and unleashed my full fury against mother and father. I told them that they were no better than Filthy Rich with how insensitive they were being, and that it's because of ponies like them that you and I and the rest of Josh's friends are experiencing such heartache. I told them that they'll never be able to understand what he meant to us, and that... I'd stand by you even if they refused to."

Rarity stomped her hoof in emphasis of her last sentence, though her lip quivered once more as several tears made their way down her cheeks again. Sweetie Belle merely continued to stare at her sister, the mare she'd spent so much of her time idolizing and hoping to be like when she was an adult, with a type of disbelieving sympathy. Before her stood a very broken pony, one who had dealt with more pain and anguish in only a few weeks that some don't experience in a lifetime.

"Sweetie... I don't care what they may think about you or I when it comes to Josh and what happened with him." Rarity continued, her voice losing its steady tone again, "But, I do care for you, more than you'll ever know. I already lost one of my best friends... I d-don't want to lose my sister too..."

With that, Rarity finally lost her composure completely and collapsed to the ground, sobbing gently as Twilight began to rub her back.

"Sweetie," Twilight began, forcing the filly's attention away from her distraught sister, "with Filthy Rich in place as mayor, there's not a lot of hope for us. And with Vinyl pregnant now, we're in even more danger, because we have to make sure she stays hidden and safe from harm. If we're going to have any chance here, we can't allow ourselves to be split apart by petty squabbles. We have to stand together, united and strong."

Sweetie's gaze lingered on Twilight for a moment before focusing on Rarity, who was still lying on the floor, crying with her hooves over her eyes. The filly stared at her sibling for some time, taking in everything she had said, how she'd tried to find her and return her to the safety of her loving embrace, how she'd told off their parents for their insensitive actions and words against herself and Sweetie Belle. A wave of guilt washed over her mind as she thought about all the worry she must have put on Rarity over the last few days and how lonely she must have felt at not having anypony there to help her feel any better... much like Sweetie had felt...

"Rarity..." she said, causing her sister to uncover her eyes and look up at her.

Sweetie walked over to Rarity and knelt down, inching closer to her and continuing to stare into her eyes. The filly felt her own eyes begin to water and blinked away a small teardrop, causing it to slowly roll down her cheek. She leaned in close to Rarity and gently nuzzled her cheek, her little body beginning to tremble as she continued to cry.

"I forgive you." she said, her voice shaking as she spoke into Rarity's matted coat, "I'm sorry I ran away. I just... It hurt s-so much... and I felt so alone..."

"I know, Sweetie." Rarity replied, wrapping her forelegs around her little sister and pulling her into a tight embrace, "I was too, and I should have handled myself better than I did."

"I... I..." Sweetie stammered, now almost completely shaking as her emotions overwhelmed her, "I w-want Joshie to c-come home. W-why'd he have t-to go?"

Rarity pulled Sweetie into her loving embrace even closer, crying with her and lightly stroking her mane. Together, the two sisters sat there, both relishing the feeling of being reunited after what seemed like such a long and lonely time. Twilight looked on, a smile gracing her face once again as she watched Sweetie Belle and Rarity cling to one another. Slowly, she backed out of the room and into the nearby kitchen, Spike following close behind her with a smirk on his face.

“Looks like your long shot paid off.” he said, watching as Twilight used her magic to return the cake to its box and levitate the plates off the table and into the sink.

“Well, it’s at least a step in the right direction.” she replied, turning around to glance through the door and back at Rarity and Sweetie, both of whom were now affectionately nuzzling one another and chatting idly, “Even if this doesn’t solve the larger problems at hoof, at least we won’t be separated.”

“Who knows,” Spike said, placing the forks in the sink before jumping down and looking back to Twilight, “maybe seeing how you guys are all remaining so close like this... It could change some minds around here.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”