"You're going to Canterlot? Can I come? Can the Crusaders come? Pleeeeeeease? We'll be good, I promise!" Sweetie Belle was bouncing excitedly around her older sister upon discovering that Rarity was going to Canterlot to work on the plans for her upcoming boutique.

Rarity hummed for a moment and then easily came to a decision. "You all can come if you like, I can't promise that the nobles in Canterlot will like your crusading, but the chance to earn your cutie mark is probably far more important than a little dislike from the nobles. Do you plan to do anything in particular tomorrow?"

Sweetie paused her bouncing for a moment, "Nope, just crusading. We'll decide what we want to do when we get there." She resumed her bouncing, lightly jingling the windows with the force of her jumping.

"Fair enough," Rarity laughed, "Now make sure to get your things ready and tell your friends so we can leave first up tomorrow."

"Yes!" Sweetie bolted out to get prepared and tell her friends the good news.

It was morning in the Carousel Boutique. Rarity was quietly sipping her tea at the dining table as she waited for her sister Sweetie Belle to round up her little friends. Rarity's thoughts drifted back to the early morning. She had woken up to recall the request of her younger sister, who had wanted to invite the Cutie Mark Crusaders to come with them so they could crusade in the streets of Canterlot. Rarity imagined that the crusading probably wouldn't be viewed well by the nobles, but the nobles probably deserved that and Rarity wasn't going to discourage the Crusaders from trying.

The sound of several sets of hooves running across the kitchen lino reached Rarity's ears. She put finished her tea and set the cup down on the table, expectantly standing up so she could dodge whatever possible chaos that followed the fillies' entry.

"We're ready!" Scootaloo gasped.

Apple Bloom jumped a little with anticipation, "Ah can't believe that we get to go crusading in Canterlot! There's so many new opportunities!"

"I know, right? This is gonna be so much fun!" Scootaloo grinned, and then looked back to check on Sweetie Belle, who was just arriving.

Sweetie Belle huffed for a moment after stopping, having run in with her friends. Why she couldn't have waited for her friends to arrive instead of running to get them was beyond Rarity. "Can we go yet, Rarity?"

A slight smile began to form on Rarity's face as she realized that the CMCs had been on her property for a few minutes, and so far nothing had been damaged. "Yes dear, we can go. Have you got all your things?"

"Way ahead of you," Sweetie Belle turned slightly to show off her saddlebags packed, "I have my notepad and snacks for everyone, we can spend all day crusading if we need to."

She turned and made for the door, stopping once the other CMCs had caught up to her. "To the train station!"

"Cutie Mark Crusaders mission in Canterlot!" Apple Bloom reared up to high hoof her friends.

"Yeah!"

Rarity herded the three fillies out of the train, and they began to run off into the crisp Canterlot morning. As they rounded the corner, Scootaloo spied a bored looking Royal Guard hanging a banner on a nearby wall. The banner read:

Royal Tea Day Contest!
Make your own tea blend and present it to the princess! The winner has their tea blend served by the castle kitchen!

Scootaloo waved her friends over and pointed at the banner. "Look everypony, I've found today's mission!"

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Tea makin'? Ah'm not sure if Ah would be any good at that."

"Come on!" Sweetie Belle protested. "It would be just like making potions with Zecora! Besides, we'd get to present our tea to the Princess! How bad could it be? You might get your cutie mark in tea making!"

"Okay, Ah'm in," Apple Bloom replied, "But how do we make tea?"

Scootaloo looked thoughtful. "Have you seen tea bags before? They have little bits in them, like dry leaf things. We just need to put some cool little bits in a tiny bag and then tie a string on, it'll be the best tea ever! And we can put things that taste good in it instead of little brown smashed leaves."

"I actually expected Sweetie to know more about tea than you," Apple Bloom said, shooting an odd look at Scootaloo before turning to Sweetie, "What do you think makes tea?"

"It's dried tea leaves, I think. The leaves grow on a special plant, but I'm not sure where they grow," Sweetie shook her head for a moment, "We could probably just buy some in a store and then add things to make the tea taste better. Scootaloo is right about the smashed bit."

Scootaloo puffed up with pride. "I knew that tea tasted bad! Luckily, I already have some ideas on how to make it taste way cooler!"

"I have a plan," Apple Bloom spoke up, "What if we come up with ideas and go and get the things we need? Sweetie can get the tea leaves, and I can find a mortar and pestle to smash everything with. Scootaloo, you can... uh.. find a sieve! Because Princess Celestia will probably want to drink the tea water stuff and not the actual tea blend. If everypony brings one thing that they think will make this tea taste awesome, then once we put it all together our tea will be three times as awesome."

"I can get behind that," Scootaloo glanced up at the poster one more time before putting her hoof in for the second hoof bump of the day, "Soon the Princess will have the best tea ever!"

Sweetie Belle eagerly slapped her hoof onto Scootaloo's. "For the Princess and our future cutie marks! Are we meeting here, or at the competition grounds in the castle?"

"Let's meet at the castle, that way we can get right to crushing and making," Scootaloo put in, before focusing on the action at hoof.

Scootaloo and Sweetie looked to Apple Bloom just as she stepped up and put her hoof on the top of the other two. "Cutie Mark Crusader Tea Makers!"

"Yeah!"

Author's Note

I did a bit of research about tea and it's actually a lot more complicated than I originally thought.