“Ughhhh…” Rarity slumped into the kitchen, the picture of grace if grace had just woken up from a very strange dream. Her mane was tousled in that not-quite-bedhead, not-quite windblown look that was surely all the rage in her household. She reached out with her magic for an empty mug, checked if it was clean, and fumbled for the coffee pot.
“Good morning, dearest,” purred Octavia from the kitchen table, nibbling on a scone as she pored over the second page of the daily newspaper. Unlike Rarity, she looked the picture of elegance, so naturally put-together that most ponies would assume she woke up like that. Rarity, of course, knew that her dear ‘Tavi had simply woken up an hour earlier, but a part of her was still slightly jealous.
Across from Octavia sat Twilight Sparkle, who looked to be half reading a book, and half listening to whatever Vinyl Scratch was animatedly chattering about. Rarity watched with caffeine-deprived amusement as Twilight tried to split her limited focus between the two pressing concerns.
“So then I said - oh hey, Rare, nice mane style! - so then I said to her, how much for this bauble? And SHE said, ‘bauble? This is a family heirloom! My mother embroidered it by hoof!’ And I said ‘why’s it in the thrift store then?’ and filly, you’d never seen a middle-aged mare so wound up!” Vinyl waved her hoof, almost knocking over Twilight’s glass of juice.
“What are you reading, Twilight?” said Rarity, fishing around the fridge for cream and sugar.
The alicorn in question levitated a forkful of leftover waffles to her mouth. “It’s a novel called Love and Loss at Sea. I’m sure you’d love it, but I’m only halfway through, so it’ll be a bit before you can read it.”
“Of course,” chimed in Octavia, flipping over her paper. “Your version of ‘a while’ is more akin to the rest of the afternoon, instead of the week or so most ponies would take to finish the book.”
Rarity chuckled, taking a sip from her coffee. That hit the spot. She set the mug down on her placemat and wandered over to the fridge. “Apologies for hijacking the conversation. You were saying, Vinyl?”
“What?” Vinyl blinked owlishly at her for a moment before a grin spread across her cheeks. “Oh yeah! So! I didn’t end up buying it, because I wasn’t sure where we’d put it, but I thought you’d love it, Twi, it had a little lemon on it, and guess what it said? It was real clever. It said ‘you’re the zest.’ Zest, like in lemons! I thought you’d appreciate it.”
Twilight took a sip of her juice and set her bookmark down to mark her page. “That is pretty funny. And she said that was an heirloom?”
“Eh, I’d make it an heirloom too, if I were her. That’s the good stuff that future generations would enjoy, ya know?” Vinyl shrugged, stealing a glance at Rarity as she rummaged through the partially-labeled tupperware. “The waffles are on the counter, Rare. We saved you one.”
Rarity extracted herself from the fridge. “Oh, thank you! Is the syrup out, too?”
“Of course, though most of it was, shall we say, donated to Twilight’s cause.” Octavia gave her a conspiratal smile and dunked the rest of her scone into her own coffee mug.
“Ah, yes,” Rarity said, sitting down at the table with her marefriends. “The Can-Waffles-Be-Soup Research Fund, I’d quite forgotten. It’s fortunate that I don’t need very much to begin with.” She set the tupperware with the lone remaining waffle at her place and poured the remains of the syrup over it.
Twilight gave her a mock-indignant pout before returning to her book, and Vinyl cackled, tilting her chair back. “Oh, filly, it’s good that you’re awake, I missed you.”
“I sleep right next to your room, you know.” Rarity eyed her over her coffee.
Octavia nudged her gently, and it was all Rarity could do to keep from sloshing her hot coffee onto her lap. “You know very well that’s not what she meant-”
“-and the morning just isn’t the same without you!” Twilight finished, flipping a page. “Everyday chaos and all, it’s always better when you’re in the mix.”