"Life moves fast!" I cried out to no one in particular, lying on the couch by an open window. I watched the drapes flow gracefully in the gentle breeze. They were rising and falling listlessly without a care in the world. The cleaning had been done, and my latest ensemble completed perfectly, to the last detail of course. Everything was copacetic... which left me a peaceful late afternoon to read this romance novel Twilight had lent me. She said it would be something I'd enjoy... and oh my, the first few chapters were simply divine!
I glanced at the clock beside me and groaned. Where had my day gone?
It was almost that time of day. The time of day Sweetie Belle comes home and I have to cover my ears from her boisterous shouts. Oh, the times that door has been slammed, the times she's come through it with a loud "Rarity, I'm home!" and a huge smile on her face, announcing her presence to everypony in a five-mile radius.
I love that filly more than anything, but she can be quite the hoofful at times with her antics. This obsession of hers, obtaining a cutie mark at all costs... it's just silly, really. I remember wanting my cutie mark too—what foal didn’t? But Sweetie really, really wants hers.
Of all the gems I have seen, Sweetie Belle is my most precious, my most cherished. I only wish she'd stop trying to grow up so fast. Sweetie and her friends are going to miss being fillies—or is it I who will miss them being fillies? I certainly miss being her age. Life was such a bliss then.
Any second now Sweetie will come charging through that door to disrupt my peaceful afternoon. No doubt she will ramble on about what she and her friends are up to next. At least they put a stop to some of the more dangerous nonsense, but it still makes my heart flutter hearing what they are going to try next. Still, I don't stop her or do anything to dissuade her. How could I? I don't have the heart to tell her that these half-thought-out ideas will never result in a cutie mark. After all, self-discovery is important. I can only sit back and bite my hooves, hoping she will learn that eventually. She tells me she won't get hurt... but I'm always tending to scraped knees and bruises. What she doesn't realize is some bruises aren't skin deep.
The front door opened and shut quietly. I waited and waited… but I heard nothing.
"Sweetie? Is that you?"
No response, just the sound of tiny hoofsteps on the stairs, creeping slowly. As if the slower she moved the less noise she’d make.
I waited a few more seconds before I heard another door close, and I followed after her, up to her bedroom.
"Sweetie? Is everything alright?" I asked while gently knocking, but she didn't answer.
I knew this routine. Just like last week and several times before. Poor Sweetie Belle was being picked on by her classmates. They tease her for not having a cutie mark; they tease her for... well, being Sweetie Belle. Maybe they don’t like the fact that she’s comfortable being herself? Foals can be so cruel sometimes. Poor dear, can't they just leave her alone? She’s such a sweetheart after all.
I couldn't take it any longer: Sweetie was obviously upset, and I needed to comfort her. I opened the door with my magic and stepped into her room. On her bed, Sweetie lay face-down in a heap, limbs sprawled. I couldn't tell if she was crying or sleeping. It was a terribly awkward position either way.
"Sweetie darling, what's wrong?"
Slowly she turned her head toward me, rolling over on her side. Her heavily lidded eyes, puffy and red, looked in my general direction but avoided making eye-contact. She sniffled a few times, wrinkling her nose.
"No-nothing," Sweetie Belle said in a quiet, distant voice.
Nothing... it was always nothing. "Was it the bullies at school?" I asked. I kept my voice as soft as possible. She was in a delicate state, and I didn’t want to press her too hard. It would only make things worse.
Slowly her eyes traveled across the room to meet with mine. She gave the slightest of nods, and I gazed into those watery, droopy green eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it, dear?" I asked. Her look never changed. "Darling, please... talk to me,” I pleaded. "Sweetie—" It was hopeless. Her face, that sad face, her broken resolve told me she wasn't ready.
"If you need me, I'll be downstairs. Okay?" I kept my eyes on her as I backed out of her room. Fighting back the tears, I quietly shut her door.
I flung myself onto my red-cushioned couch. I couldn’t hold it back any longer; I let the tears flow. When was this going to stop? It was that Diamond Tiara and her bratty friend. They were always harassing the poor girl and her friends.
I'll write her father a nasty letter! Yes, yes, that will set things right.
Oh! Who are you kidding, Rarity? That will only makes things worse. I need to guide Sweetie—make her stronger.
I avoided looking into the vanity mirror as I pulled myself off the couch. I didn't want to see the mascara running down my face like ink spilling from a broken pen. I knew I was a wreck, but that wasn’t important just now. There were no customers to impress today, just one hurt Sweetie Belle to cheer up.
She just needs time alone. She'll be fine around dinner. I'll make her favorite, hay burgers. That will cheer her up, and she can tell me what happened.
But what if she doesn't? I've never seen her this down, this defeated. She used to come running to me to make things better, but now she hides in her room! What if she can never tell me anything again?
How can I comfort her when I'm such a wreck? How can I teach her to be stronger when I’m sobbing on the floor? How?
Now come on Rarity, pull it together. You’re better than this! You are Rarity, the Element Of Generosity, who would do anything to protect her beloved sister.
Sweetie Belle, my Sweetie Belle. I must go to her!
I jumped to my feet, straightened my mane, and wiped the running mascara. With newfound strength I held my head high, and walked back upstairs to her room.
It was dark inside. The windows were shut and the drapes were closed. Atop the four poster bed lay Sweetie Belle, sound asleep under the fuzzy quilt she loved so much: the one with pink hearts that matched the pillow cases.
Running my hoof across her soft cheek, I sat down on the side of her bed. Her pillow was still wet from the tears she had shed, and her eyes and nose were still puffy and red. I laid down next to her so I'd be there for her when she wakes.
But laying there simply wasn’t enough. I gently wrapped my forelegs around her; rolling over on my back, I pulled her to my chest. Her head rested in the crook of my neck, as I held her in a tight embrace.
"Ugh, goodness, Sweetie. You are getting too big for this," I whispered. I planted a soft kiss on her forehead, just below her horn, and she wrapped her forelegs around me, cooing in her sleep.
There we go. I'll just hold you as you sleep. Everything will be okay.
As I lay there, I noticed how tightly she gripped me with her legs. It was a fearful grip, like she was facing some unknown horror. Her body twitched slightly as I moved my head. My face brushed against hers, and then I felt an abrupt surge of energy. My body chilled as if someone dumped a bucket of cold water over me. There was a jolt behind me as the light faded from the room. The decor of Sweetie's bedroom melted away like water on a wet painting. The floor opened to nothingness, and my stomach jumped into my throat. I plummeted into a vast expanse.
Blackness.
I flailed about, attempting to grab something, anything. I was falling. The blackness was endless. I couldn’t see anything, not even my alabaster-colored fur. There was nothing, no light, not even a distant glint. There was no up, down, left or right. Only the feeling of my body gave certainty it was still there.
I felt invisible walls closing in, confining me—crushing me. The movement of my flailing limbs were restricted. I could barely bend my knees and fetlocks. My shoulders and chest were hurting, my lungs were compacting, begging for air.
No light, no air, no space in this seemingly endless expanse of nothing. My head was spinning. My body trembled, and the hairs on my back stood on end. I was alone… and I was going to die. I could already see the light approaching quickly from beneath me. I tried to get away, but movement was impossible. My magic was useless, and the light was getting closer… and closer.
Suddenly, a great weight was lifted off me. I gasped desperately, filling my lungs with the newfound air. My limbs could move about, but there was nothing to grab ahold of to avoid the inevitable. I was still moving toward the light. I shielded my face with my hooves just before the light source touched my hind legs.
“Ummff.” I collided with something very solid. I groaned in pain and relief. It was a pain I was happy to feel. I was still alive, still breathing and, “I can talk! Hello? Um, I seemed to have fallen through a terrible rift and arrived here by mistake. Is anyone out there?”
I picked myself up off the cold ground, surveying my surroundings. I was in a very familiar room, but I couldn’t place it. Surely I have never been in such an unusual place. I was in a small room, surrounded by thick black fabric hanging from the ceiling. It blocked me from seeing anything else in the room, like a curtain to a stage. I tried to move beyond it, but I felt an invisible wall hold me back, keeping the fabric just beyond my reach.
"Hello?" Did Sweetie Belle somehow teleport me to some random place? I've heard young unicorns can have magical outbursts when they are upset. However, Sweetie Belle wasn’t the type to do that. Her friend Apple Bloom would more likely be the type if she were a unicorn; that girl has a temper.
The more I thought about it, the less certain I was that I had been teleported. That jolt and the way the room faded and melted was unlike any type of teleportation I’ve experienced—not that I’m an expert or anything. No, there was something else about this situation. It almost felt… unreal. I couldn't figure out why, but this room was so familiar. If only I could just see beyond that stupid, annoying piece of fabric.
I tried to kick at the invisible barrier, but it was to no effect, except chipping my hoof. I tried bucking it with my hind legs and slamming my shoulder into it: all in vain. I couldn’t even channel my magic, or feel my magic flowing through me for that matter. I was completely alone, helpless and trapped. There was no way out.
"Hello? If anyone can hear me, I'm stuck behind the black curtain!" Even as I shouted, I couldn't be certain that sound would travel beyond the boundary. It was blocking everything else I tried to do. My only plan now was to wait, and maybe someone will find me here. Wherever here was.
"Okay, don't panic—" I paced the small space rapidly. How did Sweetie Belle send me here? How and why? What was that jolt? It felt like I was being sucked into something… a vortex perhaps? Oh, don’t be silly. Sweetie can’t open a vortex. This has to be a dream... a very strange and real feeling dream.
As I continued to pace, I noticed the black fabric move. It rippled and swayed slightly as if trailing in the wake of someone, or something moving just beyond it. The curtain started to ripple more. It swayed faster; its motions becoming more fluid. Then it detached from the ceiling and fell to the floor.
Beyond the curtain was yet another curtain hanging from the ceiling, except this one was dark-blue. It hung maybe ten-feet back from where the black one was moments ago.
“Another curtain? Another?” I tore my eyes away from the dark blue curtain. I dragged my hoof hopelessly over the invisible barrier, letting out a whine in defeat. “Will someone please come along a let me out of this cage?”
A light flickered on, and I saw another pony in the room, just beyond the point where the black curtain used to be. A white pony with a dark purple mane and tail. It was... me.
Oh but that’s just silly. How could it be me, if I’m right here?
I caught sight of the blue diamonds on her flank, and the blood drained from my face. My heart hammered from within, and I let out a loud gasp. There was no mistaking it, that other pony was me. Never before have I been in a situation like this. Nothing was more unusual than watching myself from some kind of alternate dimension.
She turned her head, and I saw her wearing horn-rimmed glasses—my horn-rimmed glasses. A workbench with a sewing machine and several bolts of fabric appeared out of thin air. The other Rarity went to work as if nothing unusual just happened. She levitated the fabric and scissors to eye-level, carefully cutting the fabric. She hummed the same little tune I always do while working.
I tried to call out to her even though I knew it was futile. I was clearly in some sort of bubble or alternate dimension; nothing I could say or do would get me noticed. If only Twilight were here, she’d know what to do: instead of sitting here, hopelessly watching myself work.
Perhaps is was the paint on the wall, or seeing myself at the workbench, but it suddenly dawned on me. I knew where I was. It all made sense... I was in my inspiration room.
Sweetie Belle entered the room and she sat next to me—dream Rarity. I noticed she didn’t give the slightest sign of recognition that someone had just walked in. I knew that look on my face, I was in the zone, on a whole other plane of existence.
“Rarity, I’m bored.”
“Why don’t you go play with your friends, Sweetie?” she said, not even looking up from the workbench.
“They’re all busy. I want to spend time with you, Rarity.”
“Sweetie, I’m awfully busy today. I have this ensemble that I absolutely must complete by tomorrow.”
“You’re always busy,” Sweetie pouted. Her sad expression melted my heart. I felt bad, I really did, but I had to finish my work. It was a dreadfully difficult pattern to sew, and I was behind as it was.
“I’m sorry, Sweetie. I can spend time with you after this is finished.”
“Ooh, can I help you? Then it will get done faster.”
“Of course darling. Why don’t you… hmm. Why don’t you fetch me that bolt of cyan fabric?” Rarity said as she mindlessly levitated it across the room. Sweetie Belle stretched out her limbs, reaching for it as it floated right over her head. “Perfect.”
Seeing everything trapped behind this barrier gave me new perspective. I watched Sweetie Belle try and entertain herself with a spool of thread. She'd roll it around on the floor and chased after it.
There was a loud crash as Sweetie Belle dove under a nearby desk to retrieve a runaway spool of thread. The desk slammed against the curtain, and the vase atop rocked back and forth; slowly it began to wobble, picking up momentum before falling on its side and rolling off the desk. It shattered on the floor into thousands of tiny pieces and dust. Sweetie Belle emerged from under the desk, her head low, ears flat, and drooping eyes.
Rarity slammed her scissors on the workbench. “Sweetie Belle! Ugh! Get out!”
“Bu-but Rarity, it was an accident.”
“Get out!”
Sweetie Belle dashed across the room, low to the ground like a fox. She ran into the blue curtain making it fall to the ground. The workbench and the angry Rarity vanished into a puff of smoke.
I was still in the same spot, in the inspiration room, but the school in front of me. There were some trees and dirt, but where there should have been the rest of Ponyville in the background, was only a grey backdrop.
School had just let out, and several colts and fillies came rushing out like stampeding buffalo. After the dust cloud had settled, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom walked out side by side, lagging behind from the rest of their peers.
“I sure hope Scootaloo ain’t sick tomorrow,” Apple Bloom said as she and Sweetie Belle slowly walked down the front stairs of the schoolhouse.
“Me too. It isn’t as fun without her,” Sweetie Belle agreed. “Er, no offense,” she added hastily.
“None taken’. I know what ya mean. Without her, it ain’t the same.”
“Sucks there’s no crusading today but oh well. Me and Rarity are making cookies today,” Sweetie Belle said in a chipper voice as they came to a stop at a crossroad.
Cookies? Why, this happened today. I promised to bake cookies with her today.
“Mm that sounds good. I'll see ya tomorrow, Sweetie!” Apple Bloom shouted as they parted ways, heading home.
The school vanished out of view, and the scenery moved along like a moving set on a stage. Sweetie Belle had a little bounce in her gait as she trotted through Ponyville.
Two fillies sprung out of a nearby shrub like two lionesses pouncing on their prey. They stood side by side, blocking Sweetie Belle’s path. The color drained out of her eyes, and her smile faded as her trot slowed to a stop.
My heart plummeted. This looked like trouble. I recognized those two. They were the reason Sweetie had came home upset so many times. Such low, disgusting tactics! The pink one had a snarl on her face that clashed horribly with that lovely tiara on her head.
“Hey, blank flank!” the silver-colored one yelled. What’s her name? Silver Spoon? Filthy Rich’s daughter is the pink one, Diamond Tiara… I will be having a word with him.
“Oh hi,” Sweetie Belle responded flatly. She tried to go around them, but they sidestepped in her path.
“Why are you in such a hurry? Blank flank!”
“Yes my flank is blank,” Sweetie Belle sighed. “Now will you please move?” Sweetie Belle asked through her gritted teeth.
“Yes, you’re a blank flank loser. You’re such a loser that when you like finally get your cutie mark, you’ll be old like Granny Smith,” Diamond Tiara said with venom.
“Pathetic,” Silver Spoon sneered.
“Whatever, I don’t have time for this,” Sweetie Belle said. She tried to go around them again, but they yet again blocked her. “You two are the ones who are pathetic—hiding in the bushes waiting for me to walk by. And get out of my way!” Sweetie Belle shouted.
Yes, go Sweetie. Take those brats down a notch. Although, I knew it didn’t end there or Sweetie would have come home in a more cheerful mood.
“Are you going to cry?” Silver Spoon taunted.
“Aw is wittle baby Sweetie Belle going to run home crying to her mommy?” Diamond Tiara’s upper lip curled as she narrowed her eyes, going in for the kill. “Except Sweetie’s mommy doesn’t want her, does she? She was too ashamed that you turned out nothing like your big sister. She gave you away. Lucky big sister Rarity was generous to take you in. Because nobody would want a loser like you. I’m surprised she did toss you down the nearest well!”
Sweetie Belle’s ears drooped as she lowered her head, staring intently at the ground. She didn’t cry, but she looked so empty, so defeated.
Diamond Tiara moved past Sweetie Belle in a victorious strut, her head held high. Silver Spoon remained in the same spot with her mouth opened. Her eyes darted from Sweetie Belle to Diamond Tiara, then back to Sweetie Belle. Then she swiftly walked past Sweetie Belle, without saying a word, leaving Sweetie Belle alone in silence.
I felt my blood boil and my jaw clench tightly. I kicked at the barrier as hard as I could. How dare they! If I ever see those two horrible brats again, I will teach them a lesson! Poor Sweetie. They totally demolished the her.
The scene faded and the curtain fell. Now I was staring at almost half of my inspiration room, and the next curtain was deep-red, hanging near the center of the room. A younger Sweetie Belle appeared with our parents in her old bedroom.
“Sweetie Belle, your father and I are going to be traveling a lot. We think it’s best you live with your big sister Rarity,” Mom said, sitting on the bed next to Sweetie Belle.
“But-but Rarity is always too busy for me. She has a lot of very important ponies to make dresses for.”
“Yes, yes she does, but she has agreed to let you stay with her. Your father is retired, and we want to travel. We can’t take you with us. You’d miss too much school, and wouldn’t you rather stay in Ponyville with your friends?”
“But I don’t want to live with Rarity, Mom. All she does is work and go to the spa. Yuck.”
“Your sister can be pretty busy, but she always makes time for you, Sweetie.”
“But I want to go with you.” Sweetie Belle looked up with pleading eyes.
“We are traveling across Equestria and will be gone a long time."
“Bu-but—” Sweetie Belle deflated, lost for words. She bowed her head to hide her tears.
“When we come back we will visit you and Rarity. Then next summer we can all go somewhere as a family. How does that sound?”
“Okay... I guess," Sweetie Belle said in that same flat tone. Our parents left the room, and Sweetie Belle fell to the floor. “Why don’t they want me anymore? Is it because I broke that display cabinet?”
Oh my, I had no idea. She seemed so happy when she moved in... I know it’s been hard for her these past few years. Mom and Dad never seemed to stay in town very long. They were always traveling to different parts of the world and leaving Sweetie Belle in my care.
When they first returned from their travels, Sweetie Belle packed all her things and rushed home to greet our parents. She came back later that night with all of her things, bawling. She fell asleep in me hooves that night. Oh, I was so furious with them! They told her that they were only staying for a few weeks, and Sweetie shouldn’t unpack.
The room went dark, filling with fog. It swirled, twisted, and surrounded Sweetie Belle. It formed into a cloud above her head, growing in size and density; it resembled a dark storm cloud ready to burst into a midsummer’s monsoon.
“Nobody wants you!” Diamonds Tiara’s voice boomed, thundering and echoing like the royal Canterlot voice.
“Pathetic!” Silver Spoon’s voice echoed.
“Loser!”
“Get out!” My own voice shouted.
“Freak!”
“Nobody wants you!”
“We think it’s best you live with your big sister!”
“Get out!”
“Why don’t you want me?” Sweetie Belle’s voice asked.
“Nobody would want a loser like you!”
“But why?” she asked again.
“Are you going to cry?”
“She gave you away!”
“Get out!”
The cloud rose into the air emitting bolts of lightning that illuminated the entire room, and deafening thunder that rattled after. One of the bolts struck Sweetie Belle, causing her to scream in pain.
“Sweetie!” I screamed, smashing my hooves against the barrier. “Sweetie!” I kicked my back legs against it with everything I had. I didn’t care how long it took, I was going to get through to her. I had to get to her no matter what. My legs were aching, begging me to stop, but I pushed on. I couldn’t stand to see her in such pain any longer.
“Sweetie! I’m coming for you!” I lunged forward, giving it everything I had left. Colliding with the barrier, I screamed in agony as it broke with an exploding sound of shattering glass. I fell face down on the hard floor.
I lifted my head and saw what appeared to be a cross section of the clubhouse. One half open to me, revealing Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo laying on the floor, doing their homework. The back wall had been replaced with a pleasing yellow curtain. It shone brightly, and was quite pleasant and comforting to look at. Warmth resonated within me, but for some reason a feeling of sadness was also present. There was something beautiful about it, something peaceful almost.
“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon make me so mad. Sometimes I wish I could just—” Scootaloo said, breaking the silence while smacked her hooves together several times, gritting her teeth.
“I know what ya mean. But Applejack says to be better than that. Fightin’ solves nothin,” Apple Bloom replied with a comforting smile. She looked up from her homework to see Scootaloo violently smacking her pencil against the paper.
“I actually feel sorry for her,” Sweetie Belle said thoughtfully.
“Wh-what! What?” Scootaloo shifted her upper body away from Sweetie Belle as if she were suddenly diseased. Apple Bloom simply deadpanned, unsure how to respond.
“She doesn’t hate the fact that we don’t have cutie marks. She hates us because we are so much alike. She has a rich daddy that buys her whatever she wants—”
“Oh yeah, so much like us,” Scootaloo interrupted sarcastically.
“No, I mean he buys her whatever she wants so he doesn’t have to put up with her. Didn’t you see her at family appreciation day? She held on to his every word. It’s probably the most time she has gotten with him in a long time. She has nobody in her life except Silver Spoon; who is either just like Diamond or just feels sorry for her, and goes along with whatever she does. All Diamond wants is-is h-her daddy—”
Apple Bloom put a foreleg around Sweetie Belle, and wiped some of her tears away. Sweetie Belle sniffled, leaning her head against Apple Bloom’s.
After a few moments Sweetie Belle lifted her head, dried her eyes, and took a deep rattling breath before continuing. “She’s only so mean because getting detention, nasty notes from Miss Cheerilee, and angry parents at the door are the only ways she gets his attention.”
“That is sad, but how are we like her?" Scootaloo asked. "We aren’t mean to anyone.”
“Because, m-my parents don’t want me.” she paused, taking another breath. “They’d rather travel than spend time with me. Apple Bloom never knew her parents, and neither do you.
“But what we have that they don’t are loving families. Our sisters love us, and take care of us. Diamond and Silver are all alone, fending for themselves, and they are jealous of what we have. So much alike, yet they are miserable. That’s why I feel sorry for them.”
Aw, Sweetie. My beautiful sister. I couldn’t stand, or control myself, I was on the floor bawling. I was beyond proud of her, and ashamed of myself for pushing her away, not giving her the attention she deserved. I wanted to rush over there and hug her so tightly. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, how proud of her I was.
Out of all the curtains that fell, the last one was the brightest and most beautiful. It was love and understanding, it was empathy. After all the torment, all the pain she was put through, she bared no ill will. She didn’t hate the bullies at school, she pitied them. She didn’t hate our parents for abandoning her. Nor did she hate me for shouting at her. All she ever wanted to do was please and be accepted. And when she’s pushed away, she comes right back with a smile. My beautiful sister has the most rare and precious gift, a big heart.
I had truly seen my sister for the first time. Like a gem, rough around the edges, but what was in the center was beautiful. If I’m not careful, that beauty inside her will be lost to the turmoil that surrounds her. Our parents don’t deserve such a gem. It’s I who has been there for her, it’s I who’s taken care of her, it’s I who’s made sure she gets to school and checks her homework. It’s I who’s held her when she was scared or upset. What have they done? I’ve been with her every step of the way. I only wish that I could’ve been there for her more, that I could’ve been a better sister. She’s the best thing anyone has even given to me.
I picked my head up from my soaked forelegs to see the scene has yet again changed. There were no more memories to see or curtains to fall. It was just me and Sweetie Belle in the inspiration room. She pranced to me with a big smile on her face as I lay there sniffling. In my mind I had planned a million apologies and vows to be a better sister, but she just smiled at me and I knew, I needn’t say anything. She understood.
With each step she took toward me the more pressure I felt on my stomach. It was strange because I was laying on it, yet it felt like something was laying on me. Sweetie Belle was nose to nose with me, and I could feel a warmth on me, a very comforting warmth. Sweetie Belle’s horn emitted green sparks as she lowered her head and touched it to mine. I felt a familiar jolt as the room spun upside down and dissolved.
Sweetie Belle’s bedroom slowly came into focus. The sheets were wet from the cold sweat I was covered in. Sweetie Belle was sound asleep on top of me. I could feel my horn touching hers, and I quickly pulled my head back into the pillow making some green sparks fly as I did.
Sweetie Belle stirred. With a soft groan she opened her eyes. She looked at me with a confused expression. “Rarity?”
“You were having a nightmare, Sweetie.”
“It was really scary. There was this big storm and… I don’t really remember anything else.”
“Everything is better now, I’m here and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I love you, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle hugged me while nuzzling her face into my shoulder. “You’re the best sister ever.” She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep again.
Holding her tight, I kissed her forehead. “I love you too.”
