Twilight Sparkle woke up. She looked across at the pony sprawled next to her and carefully slid herself out from under the covers, making sure she didn’t disturb her marefriend. Once she was out of bed, she lit her horn and drew a scroll towards her, unrolling it in mid-air and scanning it over quickly.
It was the same checklist she’d used every morning for the past few months, ever since Rarity had moved in with her. It started pretty simply:
1. Get up and make breakfast.
That one was pretty easy and she absent-mindedly ticked it off as she made her way down the stairs, jumping the creaky step lithely and silently. She started humming a happy tune to herself, lifting various pots and pans within her magic along with a multitude of ingredients. Alright, Spike was an excellent chef, but there were only so many times that Twilight could convince Rarity to eat triple-chocolate-chip cookies for deserts.
Amazingly, the library had provided for such an occasion, offering her such books as ‘Cooking for Beginners’ and ‘So You Want to Cook?’ After trying some of the recipes, she searched again and found some books more suited to her calibre. Namely ‘Cooking Without Fires,’ she was still having trouble convincing Spike to let her near a stove.
But he wasn’t the only one living there anymore and Twilight had vowed to herself that she would provide a breakfast worthy of the Canterlot elite… or something edible at the very least.
It had eventually paid off as her cooking skills improved tenfold and she could finally cook a pancake without turning it into an omelette somehow.
She set today’s breakfast, a selection of pancakes, cereal, tea and coffee, going, her magic pulling the strings inside the kitchen as she withdrew her list once again.
2. Clean up after Opal and Owlicious
This was less easy…
She sighed; it was to be expected, what happens when you bring a cat and an owl into the same house? Inevitable mayhem of course.
She set her face grimly as she rounded the doorway and peered into the darkness. She sent a spark from her horn to light up the library and groaned as the damage revealed itself. It seemed like they’d had another gauntlet run at one point or other. Curtains were shredded, newspapers spread everywhere and a lamp or two knocked down onto the floor. Added to that, there was no sign of the little devils which could only mean that they’d taken their fight down into the basement.
Again, she lit her horn and began the process of putting everything to rights. The curtains wove themselves back together and the lamps all righted themselves before hopping back up onto the desks around the library. Admittedly, it wasn’t really that much of a chore after she’d done it this many times. But it didn’t stop it from being annoying. Rarity had tried speaking to Opal a little while ago to no obvious effect.
Before she could finish cleaning, an icy blue glow surrounded the papers and started sorting them into piles. Twilight turned around to greet Rarity with a smile, “Morning Rarity, sleep well?”
Rarity strolled down the last few stairs and greeted Twilight with a quick kiss before replying, “As much as could be expected with the racket these two were making last night.” She drawled, “You really should soundproof the bedroom dear.”
Twilight chuckled in reply, “I’ll see what I can find, can you go and wake Spike please? Breakfast won’t be long now.”
“Of course, I’ll be back down in a tick.” Rarity replied with a smile, starting up the stairs again as Twilight brought out the list.
She ticked step two and glanced at the next step,
3. Wake up the household
She drew another precise tick inside the box before moving onto step four.
4. Eat breakfast
She almost thought she could hear the sound of Rarity gently shaking Spike awake and withdrew back into the kitchen again, lifting the coffee and tea from the stove and setting them aside before focussing on the actual breakfast.
Thankfully the pancakes had survived Twilight’s trial-by-stove once more and were quickly spread across three plates, one of which she coated in syrup, another which she sprinkled a small amount of malachite dust over, and the final set which she sprinkled a small amount of cocoa powder across.
She lifted the collection of food within her magic and started into the next room just as she heard the thundering of hooves and claws on stairs. She smiled to herself as she laid out their breakfast at the table, just as Spike shot up to his seat, sitting down and staring longingly at the stack of pancakes in front of him. Twilight chuckled, already distributing the rest of the plates and mugs between herself and Rarity, passing Rarity the plate of cocoa pancakes with a mug of tea whilst she kept her coffee and syrup pancakes for herself.
“Good morning to you too Spike,” she said between chuckles as Spike looked over and blushed.
“Morning Twilight,” he started, opening his mouth to continue when is stomach let out an audible grumble.
Twilight smiled and heard Rarity desperately trying to control her giggles behind her, “Go ahead and eat up, I think you need it.”
Spike was more than happy to comply, lifting his fork and immediately digging into his pancakes with gusto.
“So what’s the plan for today dear?” Rarity asked, drawing Twilight’s attention away from her young charge.
“Well I need to drop into Quills and Sofa’s for another refill at some point during the day and there’s also tomorrow’s picnic that we need to cater for...” Twilight listed off, starting on her pancakes, “And you wanted some more aquamarine thread, right?” she asked.
Rarity nodded, “If you wouldn’t mind, I’ve been swamped enough as it is and a supply run would be most helpful.”
Somewhere under the table, Twilight’s list unrolled itself once more and item four scribbled itself out. It was yet another thing she’d started working on, trying to become less and less reliant on checklists and routines. And for the most part, it seemed to be going well. Admittedly, there were still some routines that she was resolutely stuck to, like this one for instance. But this was one routine she wasn’t going to change for hopefully a very long time.
Rarity finished her breakfast first yet again and got to her hooves, already working her magic around her mane and styling it into the same precarious coiffure as normal. “Well as much as I hate to cut our mornings short, the boutique awaits. Will you be stopping by for lunch?”
Twilight smiled, also getting to her hooves, “I’ll do my best.” She stepped forwards and drew Rarity into a hug, pressing a kiss into her cheek before backing away, “And tell Sweetie Belle that I said hi.”
Rarity smiled again, “Of course my dear, I’ll see you later.”
And with that, she was gone, closing the library door quietly behind her and leaving Twilight and Spike alone in the library.
There was a quiet burp from behind her, announcing Spike’s own finished meal, “I hate it when you get all soppy and stuff right in front of me. You know that right?”
Twilight chuckled and shook her head slightly, turning back to the table, “I’m sure you’ll be doing the same too one day Spike.”
He let out a non-committal grunt and got up, taking some of the plates into the kitchen with him.
Twilight got out her list for the final time and checked down the last two items.
5. Give Rarity her morning hug before she leaves
6. Clean up after breakfast
And that was that. It wasn’t a very long list, but each step on it was crucially important for her. She drew a line through step five before focussing on step six. If she wanted to have enough time to go and visit Rarity for lunch, she’d better get started.
Humming a quiet tune to herself, she picked up the rest of the dished within her magic and joined Spike in the kitchen, already planning the day ahead of her.