Crystallized

     Sweetie Belle adjusted her eyes to the stream of light glaring on her face. She sat up, taking a deep breath, and listened to the chirping blue birds on the trees outside of her window. The unicorn slid out of the sheets and shivered in the crisp morning air. She slumped over to her door, opened it, and felt a whoosh of air.

     Sweetie Belle took another deep breath, and the aroma of fresh pancakes and maple syrup swarmed around her. Her eyes widened slowly and a big smile spread across her face.

     "PANCAKES!" The unicorn squeaked. She raced down the hall and slid down the stairs excitedly.

     Sweetie Belle expected to see her sister, Rarity, standing near by the hot stove flipping warm pancakes. She trotted in with a gleaming smile, and Rarity was instead pacing back and forth with a phone levitating near her ears.

     "Whatcha up to, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked excitedly, not noticing her sister running around nervously.

     "SHHHHHH!" Rarity shushed, "I've gotten a crucial order due in two days!" The older unicorn continued blabbing into her phone, tugging on the spiraling wire.

     Sweetie Belle shrugged, and trotted past her anxious sister. The filly glanced at the fresh pancakes sizzling on the stove. She tip-toed over the long wire Rarity continued to tug on and looked up to the cabinets, unable to reach them without jumping on the countertop. Sweetie Belle smiled and lifted her two front hooves into the air, placing them onto the edge of the counter. Lifting herself up onto the top, using her front hooves, she dragged her hind legs up, and extended to her full height.

     "Ow!" Sweetie Belle winced as she hit her head against the bottom of the cabinet.

     The filly glanced over at her sister, who was finally hanging the phone up. Rarity, just noticing her little sister standing on the counter, gasped and made an angered face at Sweetie Belle.

     "What in EQUESTRIA are you doing up there?! You're going to get the countertop filthy!" Rarity yelled.

     "I'm just getting a plate. Calm down, I just couldn't reach it!" Sweetie Belle explained with a small smile.

     "Well, why can't you just use your magic!" Rarity exclaimed frustratedly.

     Sweetie Belle lost her smile and looked over at Rarity with a sigh.

     "Oh... Um..." Rarity remembered, Sweetie Belle hadn't learned how to use her magic yet unlike the other fillies. "I forgot, darling. I'm truly sorry." The mare flattened her ears.

     Sweetie Belle looked down disappointedly. "I really wanna pancake."

     Rarity perked up, "Well then I can get you one!" The older mare trotted over to her sister, levitated the filly to the ground, and swung open the cabinet reaching for a plate. Rarity zoomed over to the stove, turned off the burner and lifted a fluffy pancake onto the plate while Sweetie Belle dragged herself up to the table.

     The older mare quickly organized the syrup, butter, and plate in front of the filly. "Hm... Ok... Is that all you need, darling?"

     Sweetie Belle nodded with a large smile spread across her face as maple syrup dripped down her muzzle. Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes cheerfully, then turned around and trotted upstairs to her work room. After her usual start to the morning, Sweetie Belle trotted up to her sister's sewing room and peeked her head through the doorway. The mare was wearing her red glasses while levitating and dropping multiple rolls of fabric around, thread, and needles. Rarity slumped back into her chair, sighing and closes her eyes, exhausted.

     "Hey sis!" Sweetie Belle squeaked quietly.

     Rarity jumped slightly then turned around, "Yes? What do you want?"

     "Um... I was just wondering... Could... You help me with... Um... My magic?" The filly asked, she flattened her ears and blushed.

     "Oh!" The mare sat up, "Well... I REALLY REALLY would right now. But you see." The older unicorn pointed to her mess of work she needed to attend to.

     "Um," Sweetie Belle said disappointedly, "That's alright, I mean... I can ask Twilight or somepony like that." the filly stated.

     Rarity sat up straight. "Oh no, darling! I can show you, I Pinkie Pie Promise! I just need a little spare time."

     "Oh, okay!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, "Maybe I could help you?" She suggested.

     Rarity grew nervous, "No! No! It's ok! I don't need help, maybe just a day or so, and I can help you with your magic!"

     "Well, alright!" The filly answered, "Call me if you need me!" She said trotting away.

     And as Rarity had promised to help, she escorted Sweetie Belle to Twilight's library. The filly reached the doorbell and excitedly jumped up and slammed her hoof against the small button. After a loud crash and a familiar voice yelling for Spike, the door creaked open, revealing a small dragon.

     "Oh..." Spike blushed, "Hi, Rarity! Haven't seen you in a while..."

     "Hey Spike!!" Sweetie Belle squealed.

     The dragon jumped back, just realizing the filly. Twilight trotted up to the door gently pushing the dragon away. "Sorry about that," She laughed. "Anyways, hi Rarity! Oh, hey there, Sweetie Belle! What brings you here?" She asked cheerfully.

     "Oh, right!" Rarity said, "Well, Sweetie Belle here-"

     "I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to learn how to use my MAGIC!" Sweetie Belle interrupted loudly, she said with a large, bright smile.

     Rarity winced slightly then looked back over to Twilight, "Precisely." She added.

     Twilight stood quietly for a moment, obviously thinking. "Well, alright! But I'm going to warn you, handling your magic for the first time is a bit difficult." she explained.

     "Oh, that's okay!" The filly answered excitedly.

     "Well somepony seems a bit hyper..." Rarity muttered, "might have been the maple syrup. I'll have to get the sugar-free next time."

     Twilight giggled and invited the two inside. She brought them upstairs to her room and brought a few books along the way. After several minutes of thinking and calculating, and planning out how to teach a filly using simpler terms, she opened a book and pushed it in front of Sweetie Belle's muzzle.

     "Okay! I'll just need you to read through these two pages," The alicorn said, using her magic while pointing and flipping between the pages carefully, "then we'll begin!"

     Sweetie Belle looked through each page thoroughly and, unlike Twilight, flipped the page using her hoof disappointedly. The filly tried her hardest to understand what everything said, though almost all of the words were too complicated to comprehend.

     "Uh, ok I'm done!" Sweetie Belle said with a pinch of uncertainty in her voice.

     "Ok! Now we can start!" Twilight said excitedly, "To begin, I'm going to ask you some basic questions from those two pages you read. Question 1, 'How old does the average unicorn learn to use their magic?"

     Sweetie Belle hesitated, "Uh... Oh! Um, four?" She guessed carefully.

     "Close, it was three!" Twilight corrected. Sweetie Belle blushed, "Second! How many steps are there in the process of using your magic?" The alicorn asked.

     The filly immediately flattened her ears, "Oh... three?"

     "Again, very close! It was four," Twilight corrected again, "Last question! It's a tricky one," Sweetie Belle tensed up, "List all four of the steps in using your magic!"

    "AWW COME ON!" Sweetie Belle yelled, and flopped on her back helplessly, "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER!?"

     Rarity looked at the filly disappointedly, "Now, now, there is NO reason to give up! We all come across struggles and uncertainties sometimes, we just need to push through that problem!" The mare said confidently.