//------------------------------// // Chapter I: The Wrong Side of Bed // Story: Inside Wonders // by Flighter //------------------------------// Ooh.. yes! A unicorn. I love unicorns. Why is it falling? This is a bad dream. Why am I still not awake yet? Seriously, Rarity, probably because you're asking too many questions. I'm a unicorn. Why I love them, I don't know. Maybe because I am one? Rarity woke up after that strange short dream which you couldn't see, but you could imagine. All you could do was wonder if it was true or false and what it looked like in that dream. Was it in a beautiful savanna or mossy swamp? Was it in the clouds where only pegasi could walk or was it in Manehattan, Rarity's favorite place? It probably was in Manehattan or Rarity's home. Rarity found a strange pain on her side and grunted. It didn't hurt but it was annoying. Rarity pulled off her sleeping mask and rolled out of bed like a small filly. She walked to her desk and pulled out her favorite hair brush and she began to brush it because it really was all wonky and curly. She put some lotion on her skin and began to do her daily makeup routine. All she really put on herself was mascara and concealer and the normal stuff. Her beauty was mostly on her own, she was born with it. The white pony sighed and strutted out the door, mane and tail swooshing this way and that. She opened the door to her bedroom and walked into the hall. It was that same pain on her side again. She could tell it would disappear before noon, but it was still extremely annoying. She glanced around the hall and saw that no pony were in it. After confirming this she walked to the bathroom and locked the door. Even though it was normal for a pony to walk around with no clothes, it was embarrassing to see them shower or have somepony else see you shower. The mare hopped into the shower which made the pain in her side hurt a bit more than already. she turned it on and felt the warm water stream down her back and all around her body. She used a bit of magic to grab some body wash off of the shelf and squirted some on each hoof. She scrubbed it around her body and then paused to let it sink in. She used a bit more magic to grab shampoo off the shelf and squirt some in her hair. She rubbed it all around and then, covering her eyes with a face mask, she washed it off. She then washed her face off of any soap that had gotten in with a warm towel and she let the water go down the drain before getting out. Rarity took her fairy pink towel with green leaves around the edges and dried herself off. Fairy pink is a light pink that seems to be glittery. Her mane took forever to dry, but it was worth the while. After she was finished she looked in the mirror and saw her hair sparkling. This was he most beautiful she could ever recall her hair being. This gave her an extra piece of courage she didn't have before. The mare sighed as she admired herself before hanging up her towel and opening the door yet again. She walked out into the hallway and smiled as she trotted towards Sweetie Belle's room. Rarity held her breath before opening the door and gasped when she looked inside. Dirty clothes this way and that, a broken lava lamp on the floor. Books scattered around in corners and a lightbulb Rarity was about to step on. She noticed too late. "AUGH! Ow! Ow! Ow! SWEETIE BELLE!" Rarity was screaming now, her eyes infuriated and red. Rarity was not someone to be messy with. Sweetie Belle had pushed her buttons the last time. It had gone too far. "Rarity, why are you yelling at me? I haven't stolen any food for a whole week! I haven't robbed a bank in 3 days, I haven't even borrowed any of your beauty products since yesterday! So, please tell me, WHY ARE YOU ANNOYED AT ME FOR NOTHING?" Sweetie's voice began to rise, a battle of sisters was coming on. "I came to wake you up just like any other day, but then I stepped on a light bulb that was on the floor! I am fed up with your messiness. You are not allowed to step out of this house until your room is clean to MY STANDARDS! No shortcuts, no clothes lying on the ground, pick up these lightbulb bits, and clean up that broken lava lamp that's been here for a decade," Rarity made sure her message was clear and then turned towards the door. "Rarity, I broke it last year, not when I wa-" Sweetie Belle was cut off. "YOU GET MY POINT, SWEETIE BELLE, NOW GET. TO. WORK!" Rarity slammed the door behind herself. This was not the ideal morning of two loving sisters. Sweetie Belle sighed. Sure, her room was messy, but Rarity was overreacting. It wasn't fair. Sweetie Belle had about 4 by 2 meters in her room and Rarity had about 18 by 16 meters. She had a place to put everything while Sweetie Belle did not. Rarity made it seem so easy, and Rarity thought it was fair. It was super unfair as Sweetie Belle had an 8th of the stuff that Rarity had and had too little space to put them. Sweetie's room was a quarter of an old room before they redid the house. Rarity's was 2 normal rooms and the 3 quarters that should have been in Sweetie's room. No time to dilly dally. There was work to be done and it wasn't going to do itself. Sweetie began to shove bits of the lava lamp and lightbulb into her trash can sadly, hair drooping down. She wetted a towel and tried to get the stain of the lava lamp's remains out of the carpet, but that goo had sunk in. All she could do was make it a bit less bright. Instead of books toppling across the floor, she organized them into neat stacks by first letter, alphabetically. Now it was time for the biggest and most painful task of them all. The dirty clothes that were piled high. Most of them didn't even fit anymore. She didn't wear many dresses or anything very often. When she was done, all but 3 of the 50 or so dresses were still fitting. The ones that didn't fit were stacked in a pile outside to give away. Rarity would probably not permit Sweetie Belle to wear dirty clothes, so she walked to the cleaning room. Some of Rarity's beautiful fashion, dresses, art and accomplishments were hanging there. Sweetie Belle lay the sweater and the 2 dresses down on the floor. The floor was of course sparkling clean, or else Sweetie Belle would not put her clothes on it. Right now she couldn't even tell what color they were or what their designs were. She was going to have to do serious work. Sweetie Belle grabbed a soaked, soapy sponge and wiped it all around the clothes. Now she could see that one of the dresses was a pale blue, but it still needed more work. She pushed harder and then rinsed it off with some water. There it was in all of it's glory. It was a pale blue velvet dress with a black flower printed to the left of her heart, in the center of her chest. Now for the next one. Sweetie could tell it was a different material but it still needed the first round of soapy sponge, as she called it. Scrubbing was easy as there wasn't much that was needed, and she was done the first step in about 10 minutes. After that was the "super soaker". Basically, Sweetie dunked the dress in hot water for 15 minutes. The shirt wasn't as bad as the dresses. She could do that while she waited for the dress to stop soaking. All she really had to do was scrub the layer of grime off of it. She scrubbed hard, but it didn't take long. She had uncovered a beautiful navy blue silk dress with no decorations, but decorations weren't necessary. She pulled the second dress out of the hot water and found it was a bright green silk dress with golden leaves on it. Mission almost accomplished. Sweetie trotted back to her room and arranged the clothes in a neat stack in the last available corner. Now was time for the results. Did she do enough? It would all be in Rarity's mind. "Rarity! I'm ready, come look!" Sweetie Belle gulped and sighed before opening the door and awaiting her sister who soon arrived, much to Sweetie's relief. "Not bad, you're free-" Rarity was cut off by Sweetie's delighted screams "-but it'll take more than that to regain my true love and compassion." Sweetie Belle frowned as Rarity left the room. She would have to do something big... something that would blow Rarity's mind and impress her. She would have to find out what at breakfast. She sighed and opened the door again. Sweetie walked down the what seemed like endless hall and turned to the dinner table to find her meal.