Chapter 3: Rarity's Breakfast

Sweetie Belle was up early. 5:30 a.m., to be exact. Usually Rarity let her sleep until 7. Today, however, was special. Sweetie had woken herself up for a mission: this morning, Sweetie Belle would bring her sister breakfast in bed. The RIGHT way this time. She tiptoed to the kitchen, carefully shutting the door to Rarity's room. She VERY CAREFULLY got the toaster down from its shelf, got a pan out of the cabinet, and retrieved a bowl. She started the oatmeal, reading the instructions carefully. As she started to boil the milk, she spilled too much in, soaking the stovetop.
"Darn it. Now I have to clean this mess up." Sweetie Belle whispered angrily. As she mopped up the mess with a towel, she flipped the pot by its handle and spilled warm milk on her head.
After taking the pot off of her head, drying up the mess, and re-measuring the milk, Sweetie Belle left the milk to boil while she put on the bacon.
Bacon proved to be a whole battle itself, leaving her pure-white skin with angry red grease burns. This could be the hardest part. Sweetie couldn't take the moisture out of the bacon, but it still had to be slightly crispy. Rarity liked her bacon just so, and it was a difficult task.
By this time, the milk was hot, so Sweetie added the oatmeal and sugar. She also put the bread in the toaster and the eggs in the pan with the bacon grease. Rarity made eggs strangely. First, she poured a bowl of cereal; then she cut up a carrot, and after mixing the two together she somehow had fried eggs. Sweetie Belle preferred to make her eggs the old-fashioned way. She carefully prepared two sunny-side-up eggs, and slid them on to the plate. As she was adding the garnish, she smelled something funny. She looked up to see her toast burning.
"Could anything else possibly go wrong?" Sweetie asked no one in particular.
She re-made the toast, buttered it, but it on the plate with the bacon and eggs, and chopped strawberries and peaches to put in the oatmeal, badly cutting her hoof in the process. Everything went on the tray with a glass of orange juice, and was set on the table.
Sweetie turned around and looked at the mess she had created, and sighed. This was going to take a lot of work.

At exactly 7:15, Rarity awoke. She stretched and yawned daintily, opening one eye at a time. Suddenly, she heard a noise from the hallway.
"Get out of the way, Opalescence!" Sweetie's voice whispered, followed by some rattling.
'What in the world could that filly be up to?' Rarity thought to herself.
Sweetie Bell entered the room with the tray, cautiously setting it down in Rarity's lap. Rarity looked at her little sister. Her mane was tangled, she was covered in burns and bandages, she smelled of Aloe Vera, and she was out of breath and sweaty. Her leg bore a fresh cat scratch. Rarity looked into her eyes, full of admiration and a longing for pride.
"Sweetie Belle, this is extremely kind of you! I'm touched. You went to a lot of trouble just for me." Rarity said, truly moved by her sister's actions.
"You're worth it, big sis. I love you some much, I just wanted to show you somehow." the burnt-out foal replied, still a touch of energy in her voice.
"Would you like to sit on the bed with me?" Rarity offered.
"You have no idea." Sweetie said, climbing up next to her sister. "Would you like me to sing to you while you eat?"
"That would be wonderful." her sister replied.
As her sister sang, she slowed down, stopped and started, and decreased in pitch and volume.
Rarity smile down at her battered marshmallow sister. "I take it the kitchen is a mess?" she asked.
"Spot-Spotless." her sister yawned, snuggling up against her sister's flank.
As Rarity finished her breakfast, she looked at her previously flawless Sweetie, who was sound asleep. She sighed, and scooted down in the bed to snuggle her sister. It looked like a late start for Carousel Boutique.

Chapter 3.5: Impact

Chapter 3.5: Impact

Celestia's week had been so chaotic; you would have thought that Discord had gotten a hold on her day planner.
In Fillydelphia, an earthquake had awoken a sleeping Earth dragon. Manehattan had seen a small changeling task force. Canterlot itself was in high distress, as the subjects were on edge with their princess's comings and goings.
However, Celestia had rectified all of her problems, and was about to read Rarity's letter. It was Thursday, and the letter was dated last Friday. It HAD been a long time since she had a free moment.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I've written to you before about the bond of sisters and the importance of compromise, but today I learned another lesson. Nothing, NOTHING is more important than a sister. They are built-in BFFs, and are irreplaceable. If anything happened to Sweetie Belle, I have no idea what I would do. I realized today that I love her more than any other pony, and would do anything for her. A sister is a special gift that is bestowed only upon the luckiest ponies, and should be treated as such.
Sincerely,
Rarity

Celestia finished the letter, rolled it tight, and looked over at Luna, who had fallen asleep on the bed. Her eyes watered, and a tear or two trickled down her cheek. She carefully moved into the bed and and drew her sister close.
"Sister, what troubles you?" Luna asked, half-opening an eye.
"Sometimes I forget how blessed I am to have you." the sun goddess replied, bringing her sister even closer to her.
"Tessa..." Luna's eyes also began to fog up with emotion.
"I missed you so much these thousand years." the white alicorn said, crying into her sister's neck.
"Tia, I'm so sorry! I never meant to hurt anyone!" her purple counterpart sobbed, burying her head in her sister's chest.
"Hush, little one." Celestia stroked the starry mane of her sister.
"You're the best sister I could ever have asked for." the purple mare said, looking up at her sister. "I love you." She kissed her sister's cheek, snuggling against the white alicorn.
The two princesses fell asleep in a tight embrace.