Rarity's mother pulled into their driveway, shut off the car, then got out, waving a pleasant hello to Pinkie, who continued to wave back to her and her three friends. Turning to Sunset, Rarity said, “Sunset, dear, if you would like to call this evening off, I...I would understand. After all, darling, you have been through enough for one night.”

“No, Rarity, I'd like to stay. Besides, I wouldn’t be all that good a friend if I took off when we're all supposed to be having a good time. Just give me a minute to collect my thoughts, and I'll join you both inside in a few minutes.”

Rarity nodded to Sunset, who smiled back warmly. As Rarity opened the car door, Applejack said, “Take all the time ya need, Sunset. Like Ah said, Ah won’t leave ya. Yer family, and that means Ah need ta stick by ya no matter what.”

Rarity got out of the car first, followed by Applejack. Sunset took a few minutes to collect her thoughts, wondering if it was a good idea to tell her friends about her origins. Deciding to put it off for a bit, she got out of the car, smiled to both of her friends, and headed for the house. Sunset looked to Applejack and nodded to her as she got up to the front door of Rarity's house. Applejack smiled back and headed inside of the house, saying as she walked through the door, “Are y’all ready for the sleepover, Pinkie?” Pinkie beamed a great smile back to her three friends as she walked through the door followed by Sunset.

“Yep. I got us a box of cupcakes right here,” Pinkie held up the pink cardboard box for Rarity, Applejack and Sunset to see, “and I think I have everything I need for this party”

“Sweetie Belle, dear,” Rarity called out, “we’re home. Did you get your homework done?”

“Almost. I'm having trouble with my math homework. I can’t figure out problem four,” Sweetie Belle called back.

Rarity's mother headed upstairs to Sweetie Belle's room. Standing in the doorway, she said, “Sweetie Belle, I'll be leaving for my trip in a few minutes. I'll be back in a week. Until then, your sister is in charge. I want you to be on your best behavior for her.”

Sweetie Belle looked up from her homework while Fluttershy stood next to her. She replied, “Alright. Have a good trip, and tell Grandpa that I said hi.”

Rarity's mother went back downstairs and entered the kitchen just as Sunset said, “Rarity, would you mind if I went upstairs and helped Sweetie Belle with her homework?”

“No, of course not, dear. While you do that, I’ll get dinner ready. Just be sure not to do the work for her.”
Sunset chuckled. "Of course, Rarity."

“Oh, and would you mind also letting Rainbow and Fluttershy know that dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes?”

“Sure,” Sunset replied, turning to leave the kitchen. “I’ll go ahead and tell them before helping Sweetie Belle.”

Nodding gratefully, Rarity began to putz around in the kitchen, getting pots and pans out of the cupboards and setting each of them on the countertop. She took out a box of noodles, filled a large pot halfway with water, and set the pot on the stove to boil. She opened up the refrigerator, took out several bags of fresh vegetable, and set them on the countertop as well. Pinkie, wanting to help, took the vegetables and began to cut them up for the noodles. Soon enough, the food was in the pot and cooking.

Meanwhile, Sunset stopped by Rarity's room and said to Rainbow, who was still watching TV, “Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes, Rainbow.”

“Okay, cool. Thanks, Sunset,” Rainbow called back, not taking her eyes off the screen.

Sunset shook her head, smiled, and headed into Sweetie Belle's room, saying as she got into the room, “Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes, girls.”

“Thank you, Sunset,” Fluttershy replied kindly.

Sunset headed over to Sweetie Belle's desk and looked down at her homework, saying gently, “If you move over, I can go over your homework for you.”

“Sure thing, Sunset. I’ll sit next to Fluttershy while you check my homework. I'm having trouble with problem four.”

“Well, let me see what I can do to help.”

While Sunset sat down at Sweetie Belle's desk to look over the homework, Pinkie started to help out around the kitchen, while Applejack took a seat at the kitchen table. As Pinkie checked the boiling food, she said, “So which one of you two taught Sunny the Pinkie Promise?”

Both Rarity and Applejack looked back blankly at Pinkie. Eventually, Rarity said, “It wasn’t either of us, dear. Perhaps Rainbow or Fluttershy taught her. Are you...mad at us, Pinkie?”

Pinkie slumped down into a chair as Rarity took the pot off the stove once it was done cooking and began serving the food. Pinkie said, “No, I'm not mad. I'm a just tiny bit disappointed because I wanted to be the one to teach her the words. But she already knows them and even taught it to the Cakes.”

“Rarity, dear,” Rarity's mother interrupted, “I'll be leaving for my trip to Las Pegasus in just a few minutes. I'll be back in about a week. Until then, you're in charge, understand?”

Rarity looked up from carrying the last two plates to the table as she replied, “What? Oh, yes, Mother, I fully understand. I'll make sure that my sister gets her homework done and that she stays out of trouble. Is there anything you want me to do to help you on your trip?”

“No, I don’t think so, dear.”

Rarity's mother kissed her daughter on the forehead and headed for the door.

“Have a good trip, mother,” Rarity called.

Rarity watched her mother leave, then headed upstairs to her sister's room. Entering the room, she found Sunset looking over Sweetie Belle's homework. Fluttershy was sitting next to Sweetie Belle on her bed, reading Sweetie Belle's science book. Sweetie Belle was reading her history book.

Sunset could be heard mumbling to herself as she corrected Sweetie Belle's homework. “Carry the two, add the one, take the three, carry the four,” Sunset mumbled, not noticing Rarity standing behind her. Rarity reached out and taped Sunset on her shoulder, causing the redhead to jump.

“SWEET CELESTIA’S HOOVES!” Sunset exclaimed, jolting in her chair and knocking over Sweetie Belle's homework, “Don’t do that, Sweet--”

“Relax, dear, it is only me,” Rarity said soothingly. “I didn’t mean to cause you to jump like that, darling. I am terribly sorry.”

“No, it's alright.” Sunset began to clean up the mess that she had made. “I was almost done with Sweetie Belle's homework. I got lost in thought is all. You sure have one smart sister, Rarity. She only missed one problem out of forty.”

“Really? Well, that's good. I will double-check her homework later on tonight, but for now, we have a party to get on with, and I am sure Pinkie wants us to try her cupcakes. So, Sunset, will you be a dear and join us downstairs for some fun and games?”

Sunset smiled happily and nodded, handing over the homework she had been looking over, both she and Fluttershy headed downstairs for the party, leaving Rarity alone with her sister. Rarity looked at Sweetie Belle, who beamed a happy smile back to her.

“Now, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity began, causing her sister's smile to instantly drop, “I am a little apprehensive about bringing you to our dinner tomorrow night because of your age. Where we are going it is for grown-ups, and I am not sure you are able to handle it. However, I want you to experience true fine dining. So, if you are on your best behavior tonight, I will take you with us tomorrow. But any out-of-line behavior, and you’ll have to stay here. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you for allowing me to go with you. So uh, where are we going?”

“I got us a table at Le Cheval D'or. I will call them tonight and make arrangements for you to join us if you are on your best behavior.”

Sweetie Belle smiled greatly to her sister, then headed down stairs to join Fluttershy, Sunset and Pinkie, while Rarity headed into her bedroom. Rainbow was still watching TV when she looked up and saw Rarity standing next to her. Rarity said, “Darling, we are all downstairs. Would like you to join us for the par--”

Before Rarity could finish, Rainbow shut off the TV and raced downstairs to join her friends, taking a spot next to Sunset, who sat on the couch in Rarity's living room. Sweetie Belle sat on the floor in front of them, while Fluttershy took a recliner next to the couch. Rarity shook her head, mumbling to herself as she headed out of her room and downstairs to join her friends. “Should have known all I had to do was mention a party and Rainbow would be off like a rocket.”

Once Rarity joined her friends and her sister in the living room, Pinkie began to pass out the cupcakes to everyone. Making sure that all of her friends had a cupcake, she smiled, saying to everyone, “Let's get this party started!” Cheers erupted all around.

Rarity gestured everyone to the kitchen for their meal, and everyone got up and took a seat at the kitchen table. Sunset and Rainbow sat next to each other, with Applejack sitting across from them. Sweetie Belle sat next to her sister, and Fluttershy and Pinkie sat at the far ends of the table. The rest of the evening was spent with the group laughing and enjoying their time together.

Next Chapter: Saturday Morning (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 20 Hours, 39 Minutes