It was a beautiful spring day in Ponyville, with the sun shining and the sky clear. Many of the town residence were outside of Twilight's castle, making their way inside. They talked among themselves excitedly about the event. The big day.

The wedding between Spike The Dragon and Sweetie Belle.

Between Spike's adventures and his role as Twilight's assistant, and Sweetie Belle's antics as a crusader and being a sister to Rarity -- as well as other reasons for both of them -- the pair were minor celebrities around town. None of the resident ponies treated either of them any different for it, of course, but between that and the smallness of the town, pretty much everypony knew the two of them. There were even guests from other cities and even kingdoms. Whether it was the largest wedding Ponyville had ever had, or second after Applejack (whose entire family showed up) and Soarin's (who had Wonderbolts retired, active, and freshly recruited), was a point of debate for some.

One thing not up for debate was that it had to be the most meticulously and thoroughly planned out wedding that Ponyville ever had. Not because of the bride or groom either, but because of their older sisters. Between Twilight Sparkle's obsessive planning and checklist making, and Rarity's insistence that Sweetie Belle's wedding be "absolutely everything she wanted since she was a little filly," the two of them left nothing to chance if they could help it. Decorations, flowers, food, music, all of it was something the bride, groom, or both, wanted.

Unfortunately, not everything could be done the same way when it came to matters outside of the wedding set up.

Chewing on her lower lip as she made her way along the halls, Rarity stared at the envelope that she had been given. It was for Sweetie Belle, and addressed to Carousel Boutique. However, the mailmare thought that it was important enough that she brought it to the wedding instead. Given the name on the return address, Rarity understood why Derpy would come to such a conclusion and expressed her appreciation for the consideration. Although it would have been better for all if that had not been the case. As Rarity made her way to deliver the letter to its proper owner, a sense of dread filled her stomach. She wanted everything to be absolutely perfect for her little sister, and she could already tell that the letter was going to prevent that from happening.

Why couldn't have you two thought about her for once? she thought, glaring at the letter. A part of her was tempted to set it on fire. Just burn the whole thing to ashes and pretend it never existed. Or, perhaps make up some story about what it said. Except she did not know what it said. As much as she wanted to, Rarity and Sweetie Belle had both promised to respect each others' privacy after the younger mare had found the older's diary. To that end, she would not open her sister's mail, even if it was to try and protect her from whatever may be written.

As she approached the door to the bride's dressing room, she heard the sound of three familiar voices all talking in very excited -- and rather loud -- tones. Stopping, she listened for a moment. No specific words were noticeable to her, but she could tell there was a lot of enthusiasm. It brought a smile to her face. It also made her feel a little guilty that she was about to interrupt it.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, then reached up and knocked. Not even waiting for an answer, she pushed it open and stepped inside.

There stood Sweetie Belle, dressed in her lacy white dress, her curly pink and purple hair put up and styled, and a ribbon wrapped around her horn. On one side of her was the yellow earth mare Apple Bloom, dressed in a light purple bridesmaid dress. On the other was the orange earth mare Babs Seed, wearing a similar style dress in a pale pink color. Sitting on the vanity was Snowy Night, the albino bat filly that Rarity had adopted, and flower filly for the wedding.

"Oh, look at you," Rarity said as she stepped closer, tearing up. "You look so beautiful. So grown up." She let out a sniff. "I still can't believe my little sister is getting married."

"Rarity," Sweetie Belle huffed, blushing as she looked away. "You've seen me in the dress already. I mean, you designed it for me."

"I know," Rarity replied as she moved closer to hug her sister. "It's just... It's just so hard to believe. It still seems like just yesterday, you were a little filly getting into trouble trying to get her cutie mark. Now you're all grown up, getting married, and about to do all sorts of amazing things." She sniffed again, rubbing the tears away.

As Sweetie Belle stood there, blushing, Rarity turned her attention to Snow. Horn lighting up, the unicorn mare pulled the little filly off the table and toward her.

"And what about you, young lady?" she asked as she adjusted the blue tinted sunglasses "Have you been having fun with your aunt and keeping out of trouble?"

"Yes, Miss Rarity," Snowy Night answered as she was set down.

Miss Rarity. It made Rarity's jaw tense a little.

"She was an angel as always," Babs said. "Even helped me with Sweetie Belle's mane."

"And it came out wonderfully," Rarity said as she stood up. "Now, forgive me, but I need to speak with Sweetie Belle alone. So if you all would give us some privacy, I would appreciate it."

"Sure," Apple Bloom answered. "No problem." She turned to Snow. "C'mon. I bet Greenie would appreciate you saving her from her cousins 'bout now."

"I'll come find you as soon as we're done," Rarity said to the filly as she left.

As they left, Babs made her way out last. Stopping, she turned to look at the unicorns, raising one eyebrow. After several seconds, she left as well, shutting the door behind her.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Sweetie asked as she turned to the mirror and leaned in close. Horn lighting up, she pulled the mascara brush closer, making sure to add some finishing touches.

Rarity's watched as her sister continued to prepare for her big day. For a moment, she did not see the beautiful young mare that was there, but the adorable -- if sometimes irritating -- little filly that wanted to be just like her big sister, getting into the make up to do so, and making quite a little mess of the table and her face. It was then that Rarity felt like her mouth had gotten frozen. As much as her sister had frustrated her at times growing up, Rarity loved Sweetie Belle, and hated to see her upset. Add in that it was Sweetie's special day, and that Rarity was going to be the one to break the news, and it made Rarity feel a little sick.

No, she thought to herself. Sweetie deserves to know. Besides, she's going to find out anyways once she makes her way to the altar and sees those empty seats. At least if she found out now, it would allow her to collect herself and be calm during the actual wedding.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at Sweetie's reflection and said, "You got a letter. From Mother and Father."

Sweetie Belle froze, her green eyes going wide. Shifting, she looked at Rarity in the mirror, then returned to her make-up.

"Can you read it for me?"

"...Are you certain?" Rarity asked, looking at the envelope in her magic.

"Yeah," Sweetie answered. "The wedding is about to start, and I need to finish getting ready." She smiled. "Don't want to keep my handsome dragon waiting, now do I?"

With a slight giggle, Rarity shook her head.

"No. I suppose not."

Turning her attention to the envelope, she tore it open and pulled out the letter. Once unfolded, she began to read.

"Dear Sweetie Belle," it said. "We are having a wonderful time in Manehattan. You would not believe all the shows that they have on Bridleway. So far we have seen Hinny of The Hills, a musical based on your sister and her friends called The Longest Night, and something called The Feather Monologues which just seemed to be a pegasus talking on stage about stuff. Neither of us were really listening.

"Anywho," -- and with that, Rarity knew her father had done the writing -- " we are absolutely enjoying ourselves up here. Unfortunately, it means we won't be able to make it back to Ponyville in time for your big day. Don't you worry none though. Soon as we get back, we'll go out to celebrate and make it up to you.

"Happy..." Rarity stopped, staring at the next part.

"It's okay," Sweetie Belle said. "Go ahead."

"...Happy sixteenth birthday," Rarity read aloud. "Love, Mom and Dad."

She then folded the letter up, sticking back in the envelope. As she did, she heard a bitter laugh from Sweetie Belle.

"'Happy sixteenth birthday,'" she said with a huff. "Don't even realize my eighteenth birthday was months ago, and it's my wedding day. Guess that explains why I didn't even get a card for graduation -- which they also missed."

"Sweetie Belle," Rarity said softly as she moved closer, "I'm so sorry."

"Why?" Sweetie asked, staring at the mirror. "I don't care that they aren't here."

"You don't me--"

The magical aura around Sweetie's horn flared out, and there was an massive crash as the mirror in front of her shattered. Sweetie turned around, glaring.

"Why should I care?" she yelled. "Because their my mother and father? So what?!" She turned toward the -- now shattered -- mirror again. "It's not like they care about me! It's not like the raised me or loved me!"

"Sweetie," Rarity started.

"No," Sweetie snapped, stomping a hoof. "It's true." Tears started to fill her eyes. "Soon as you were old enough, what happened? They left me with you and went off on a vacation who even knows where! They missed birthdays and Hearth's Warmings, even my Cute-cenera and graduation! They weren't there for ANY OF THEM!"

She huffed and panted, tears now running down her cheeks and taking the eyeliner with it.

"Well if they don't care about me," she declared, "I don't care about them. And I don't need them. I have Spike, and Twilight, and their parents. I have the girls." She turned to Rarity again. "And I have you. You've been there for me a lot more than our 'parents.' You were there for me when I needed somepony. You were there when I got my cutie mark. You even got muddy at The Sisterhoove's Social to show how much you cared. You were more a parent to me than they ever were. That's why I told you would be a great mother when you asked about adopting Snow. Because you pretty much adopted me.

"So I don't care if mom and dad aren't here. I don't need them, and I don't want them. I have a family, and it's one that actually loves me and wants to be around me. I don't need them!"

Moving closer, Rarity reached out and placed a hoof against her sister's chin, pulling gently to look at her. She then pulled out a handkerchief and wiped and her sister's face, removing the smeared make-up. As she did, Rarity tried to give a reassuring smile to Sweetie Belle. There was no problem with it that Rarity could not fix. Now that Sweetie Belle had it all out, she would be able to make it through the rest of the wedding without issue.

"Thanks," Sweetie Belle said with a sniffle. "And... could we... keep this between us?"

"Of course," Rarity answered with a smile.

Damn you, Mom and Dad, she thought. Why couldn't you just have been there for her?

It did not matter how much a pony said something or wanted it to be true, that did not make it so. Rarity knew that all too well.