Sweetie Belle hummed a tune as she attempted to flip over the fried eggs. But she was barely tall enough to see over the frying pan, and the spatula slipped out of her hooves. She heard a hissing sound as the pan slipped over and egg splattered all over the stove.
“Oops,” she said, cringing. Well, she’d have to do without the eggs. She’d smashed most of them on the ground, and she didn’t feel right asking Fluttershy for any more.
She turned around to check on the toast and found that the toaster was smoking. She hastily unplugged it. At least it wasn’t on fire yet.
“You’re making breakfast?” asked her father, yawning. “Isn’t it a little early?” He was still wearing his pajamas, and his mustache was a little unruly.
“Yeah, but I want Rarity to be surprised! I’m going to take it over to Carousel Boutique for her birthday!” In Sweetie Belle’s excitement, she realized that she had forgotten to take the juice off the stove. It had hardened into a black-and-orange glop. “I’m getting better,” she said sheepishly. “I might be able to get my cutie mark in cooking!”
“Well, that’d be swell,” he said, ruffling her mane. “You’d better get a move on, honey—it’s nearly eight.” He pointed to the clock.
“Yay!” said Sweetie Belle, pleased with the meal she had just made. Her tone grew more unsure as she asked her father a question. “Do you think that Rarity will like it? I want this to be the best birthday ever for her.”
“Sure she’ll like your food,” said her father. “I only wish I could get some! But remember to give Rarity some space, honey. You wouldn’t want her following you around on your birthday, would you? I’m sure that you’d want to spend your day with Scootaloo and Applebloom.”
“I want to spend time with both!” Sweetie Belle explained. “I love Rarity AND my friends!”
Her father hesitated before shrugging and pointing to the clock. “You want to surprise Rarity, don’t you!”
“Yeah!” said Sweetie Belle. She grabbed the food and skipped over to Carousel Boutique.
***
Rarity was in the middle of a pleasant dream. She was at the spa with all of her friends, relaxing in the hot tub and sipping from the sweet drink someone had brought her. But now that she thought about it, it didn’t smell very sweet. It smelled almost like something was burning. Burning? But that was impossible! Unless . . .
Unless Sweetie Belle was over.
Rarity jumped up in a panic and jumped downstairs. She was experiencing the worst déjà vu possible. Sure enough, the kitchen was engulfed in smoke, and Sweetie Belle was standing in the middle of it all happily.
“Happy birthday, Rarity!” crowed Sweetie Belle. “The breakfast I made you got cold, so I thought I’d heat it up again.”
That was right! It was her birthday! The memory came rushing back to Rarity. She was going to have a marvelous day. Surely Pinkie Pie had planned a surprise party, and Applejack had probably baked one of her delicious apple desserts. Inwardly, Rarity groaned. Was Sweetie Belle going to ruin her birthday? Rarity adored her younger sister, and she knew that Sweetie Belle never meant to do any harm, but she was just one of those fillies who disaster seemed to follow. Especially when she tried to bake things.
“Turn the stove off!” screamed Rarity. Of all the worst possible ways to start a morning, this was the WORST. POSSIBLE. WAY! “What is this?” she asked, peering into a pot on the stove.
“Juice!” said Sweetie Belle cheerfully.
“Sweetie, you don’t bake juice with a stove. You don’t bake juice at all.” Rarity way not have been the best cook in Equestria, but at least she knew that.
“Oh,” said Sweetie Belle. “Sorry.”
“That’s quite all right,” said Rarity, although it wasn’t. She tried to remember that Sweetie Belle didn’t mean to cause disasters. But would it kill her to use a little bit of common sense? “How about we start to clean this mess up?”
“But you haven’t eaten anything yet!” said Sweetie Belle, her face falling.
“Er, yes, but that’s because I . . . already . . . ate breakfast,” Rarity stammered. She wasn’t the element of honesty, but she still had trouble lying, especially when Sweetie looked so disappointed.
“Oh.” Sweetie Belle kicked the ground. “Well, I can help you clean up!”
“No!” shouted Rarity. Sweetie Belle would only cause more damage, and that was the last thing that Rarity wanted. In a gentler tone, she said, “I can clean it up myself. How about you go have fun with Applebloom and Scootaloo?”
“Awww,” complained Sweetie Belle. Her ears flopped down. She started walking away and mumbled something that sounded a little like “Happy birthday.”
Rarity felt bad for making her usually bubbly sister sad, but secretly, she felt a little relieved. Now she could get on with her day normally.
***
Sweetie Belle was walking along dejectedly when she perked up. She had just had the most brilliant idea! If she messed up everything on her own, maybe she didn’t have to be on her own! She could get the Crusaders to help her throw a surprise party—or, better yet, she could find Rarity’s friends to help her! It was the perfect plan to let Rarity know that she was a great sister and wasn’t just a silly filly. She skipped along the road, humming a song that she had made up on the spot.
She saw Rainbow Dash floating on a cloud above her. Perfect! “Hey, Rainbow Dash!” she shouted, jumping up and down.
“Huh?” asked Rainbow Dash, clearly jerked out of a peaceful sleep. “Sweetie Belle? Is that you? Didn’t I already tell you how I got my cutie mark?”
“I don’t want help with that.” She motioned for Rainbow Dash to come down from her cloud.
“Yeah?” said Rainbow Dash, stretching. “I really don’t have much time to talk, shrimp. I still have to wrap Rarity’s present.”
“I want help with Rarity!” explained Sweetie Belle. “I want to plan a special surprise party for my sister so she has the best birthday ever. Could you help me set up decorations?”
Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. “Sorry, I can’t. Pinkie Pie is already planning a surprise party for Rarity. I Pinkie Promised that I’d help her with it, and you know how she is about those Pinkie Promises . . .”
Pinkie Pie stepped out of Sugarcube Corner and waved to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow zoomed over to Pinkie Pie, leaving Sweetie Belle all alone.
“Maybe . . . maybe I can plan my own surprise party,” sighed Sweetie Belle.
“Why the long face, sugar cube?” asked a familiar voice. Sweetie Belle looked up and saw Applejack smiling down at her.
“Hi, Applejack,” said Sweetie Belle. “I want to surprise Rarity with a super-special surprise party. Could you help make food?”
Applejack’s expectant face turned to one of disappointment. “Ah’m sorry, sugar cube, but ah’ve gotta go t’ Rarity’s other surprise party. Wouldn’t want to let her down, ya know! Besides, ah’m already tired from bakin’ all the sweets for this party. Ah don’t think ah’ll be able to bake anything else for a week!”
Sweetie Belle sighed. “All right. Have fun,” she said softly, her ears hanging low. She shuffled off in the direction of Twilight Sparkle’s library. Was anypony going to be able to come to her surprise party?
“Sorry,” said Twilight, shaking her head when Sweetie Belle asked her. “I’ve got to—”
“—Go to Rarity’s OTHER surprise party,” muttered Sweetie Belle. “I know, I know.” She turned to Spike without much hope. He shook his head.
“I’ve been making Rarity’s present for a week!” he said, holding up a lump wrapped in paper. “It’s a picture frame! I glued rubies all around the edges!”
“He ate more than half of them,” said Twilight, rolling her eyes.
That left only Fluttershy. Maybe . . . maybe she would be able to come? Maybe Fluttershy hadn’t been invited to the party? Sweetie Belle doubted it. Rarity and Fluttershy were very close friends, due to their weekly spa time.
“Fluttershy!” called Sweetie Belle, waving to the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy looked up, startled.
“Hello, Sweetie,” said Fluttershy in her reserved, quiet voice. Out of all of Rarity’s friends, Fluttershy was Sweetie Belle’s favorite. She was nice and patient, and although other ponies might not think it, strong. Maybe Fluttershy would be able to come?
“I’m planning a surprise party for Rarity,” muttered Sweetie Belle, tired of telling everyone her pathetic plans. “You can’t come, can’t you?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Sweetie,” said Fluttershy, looking extremely upset. “But Angel and I already promised to come to this party.” Angel was sitting on Fluttershy’s back, wearing a pink party hat. “It’s very important to my friends that I come to this party. Besides, I Pinkie Promised that I’d come. I don’t want to make Pinkie Pie sad . . . or worse, angry.” Both ponies shuddered at the thought.
Sweetie Belle sighed and began to head back to her house. Then she froze. Rarity was coming! Thinking fast, she ducked into the nearest place she could find—which just happened to be Sugarcube Corner. In the dark, she felt Pinkie Pie place a party hat on her head. Despite the fact that Pinkie Pie had planned the party that made her own party fail, she still couldn’t help smiling. Pinkie had just let her in, no complaints.
“Pinkie Pie? Are you here? Why is it so dark?” Rarity’s voice rang out in the darkness.
There was silence for a few moments. Then, “SURPRISE!” Four ponies jumped up. Pinkie Pie jumped up a second later with a belated, “SURPRISE! Shoot, missed it again.”
Rarity’s friends crowded around her. Sweetie Belle panicked. She didn’t want Rarity to know how she had failed. She ducked behind one of the many balloons. Her heart was thudding violently. Ugh, she wished Applebloom or Scootaloo were here! They would know what to say. Sometimes, it seemed that all she could do right was make up silly songs.
She started humming a tune that had been running through her mind all day, adding words to it in her mind.
She sang of ruining everything, always being a little too messy. She sang about apologies that she said all the time but that never meant anything, about how she wished that she could do something right. About how she hoped Rarity had a happy birthday, even with her messy kitchen and stupid little sister.
Sweetie Belle sighed and headed for the exit. It was only then that Sweetie Belle realized that everyone was staring at her. She shrank back. Uh-oh. Had she sang that aloud?
“Oh, Sweetie,” said Rarity, swooping down to hug her. “You’re not a disappointment. You’re the best sister a pony could have. Don’t you know that already?”
“But I always mess everything up!” said Sweetie Belle, startled.
“Certainly not,” said Rarity, surprised. “My friends tell me that you went around town looking for people to plan a surprise party for me! Nopony has that dedication but you!”
“But I ruined your kitchen,” Sweetie Belle said, mystified.
“You just made it a little messy,” said Rarity calmly. Her eye twitched a little at the thought of the mess, though she tried to hide it. “Besides, you wrote a whole birthday song for me! That makes up for it!”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened. This was too good to be true! Rarity was pleased with her, AND it turned out she hadn’t ruined everything? She beamed and nuzzled against Rarity’s legs. “Happy birthday, Rarity,” she whispered. “I hope you had the best birthday ever.”
