The Princess in the Library

On the way home from Canterlot, Rarity the unicorn had unequivocally told anyone and everyone that the second she got to Ponyville, she would be busy resting with a capital R. Until such time as the secret event they were all scheming happened, she would speak to no one (except for Twilight), help no one (except for Twilight), and do nothing (except for… well…)

However, as things often go in life, her plans did not pan out as neatly as she’d envisioned them. 

Doing nothing eventually morphed into working on some personal dress designs. It felt like ages since she’d last done anything artistically simply because she wanted it, and she felt this would be a nice way of getting reacquainted with her old home. Maybe she could start seriously considering kicking her business back into gear and revitalize what was left of her fashion career. 

Or, maybe, she was going to murder several members of the gang of loud, rowdy princesses and ponies parading in and out of her house as though it were some sort of free-for-all circus. 

“Raaaaarityyyyyy!”

Rarity took a deep breath, turned off her sewing machine for the sixth time that half-hour and looked round to find Sweetie Belle barging in with absolutely no regard for her sister’s sanity.

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said with the patience of a saint, she swore, “for the millionth time, it’s in the pantry! The pantry!”

“I wasn’t going to ask where the flour was again!” Sweetie sputtered, indignantly squeaky.

“Really,” Rarity dead-panned, staring her sister down until said sister blushed and stamped her hoof on the floor.

“… Okay, I was! But it’s really not there, and we need it for the cake.”

Rarity’s cheeks puffed up. “Why are you asking me? Aren’t you all helping Twilight with whatever it is she’s planning? Ask her.”

“But she’s all the way in the library,” Sweetie whined, stomping her little hooves on the floor. “And she doesn’t live here! How would she know? Just tell me where it is!”

“In the pantry, I told you! Did you look?”

“Yes!”

“Actually look?”

“Yes!” At Rarity’s stare, she doubled down. “Yeeeees! I looked a jillion times!”

Rarity got up, her voice ice cold. “Sweetie Belle, you have succeeded in making me stand. I am going to go down there, and if I find it in the pantry, Denza be my witness I’m going to—”

“Wait, wait!” Sweetie exclaimed, rushing to the door. “Uh, you know what? Lemme look again! Just to be sure…”

“Splendid,” Rarity said, turning back to the sewing machine and the dress she was going to finish that night or so help her. The machine whirred to life. “You go do that.”

Crack!

“Ah. Rarity. A word, if you will.”

Why did she even bother turning it on? Why? Maybe she should just finish giving up on her artistic dreams and do nothing with her clearly unimportant, highly interruptable life. 

Repressing a sigh, she turned around to find Princess Luna towering over her.

“Please tell me you’re not here to ask me about flour.”

“I am not. I’m here to ask where you keep the cardboard.”

Rarity frowned, perching her glasses over her horn. “What do you need cardboard for?”

“I can’t tell you. But we require it for Twilight Sparkle’s surprise.” 

“Well, I don’t think I have any.” She put her glasses back on. “Have Sweetie go buy some from the store. She can grab a few bits from my purse downstairs, even though I don’t know why I should be paying for my own surprise, but I digress. Now, if you please—” She gestured to the door. “Off you go!”

Princess Luna did not move, and when almost an entire half-minute passed, Rarity politely cleared her throat.

“…Anything else, Princess?”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a batpony costume, would you?”

Rarity stared at her. The Princess stared back. Rarity imagined a cannon that could shoot her into outer space, where she would finally be free to—

“RARITY!”

The door slammed open, interrupting her imaginings and revealing a distraught Pinkie.

“Rarity!” she whined. “Where’s the—”

“The pantry, for Denza’s sake!”

Pinkie frowned. “The toilet plunger is in the pantry? Okay! Thanks!”

“Wait, the plunger?” Rarity asked, rushing up to the door. “Wait! Aren’t you cooking? Why do you need a plunger?!”

“Rarity,” said the princess sternly, “the pantry is not a very hygienic place to put a toilet plunger.”

Rarity carefully closed the door, walked back towards her machine, and then turned to the princess with a perfectly sane and normal smile. 

“Princess Luna, you are my friend, are you not?” she said, next, her voice composed. Collected. Calm.

“…I believe I am, yes.”

“And you are my confidant. We’ve gone through many things, you and I, and I would say that after the two years you spent being my therapist in all but name, you would want me to be honest and transparent with you, no?”

“…I would hope so, yes.”

“Right! Right. Wonderful.” Smiling, Rarity moved forwards and took Princess Luna’s hoof in hers. Her smile vanished instantly. “Princess Luna, I need you to go outside and tell everypony that the next unfortunate individual to interrupt me will be the target of that pillow over there. Is that clear?”

“Am I allowed to voice my objections?” the princess asked, only to clear her throat at Rarity’s expression. “Very well. I will make your message known.”

“Thank you.”

The princess trotted off, closing the door behind her, and finally giving Rarity the reprieve she needed. With a sigh of relief, the unicorn turned back to her sewing machine, adjusted her glasses and—

Crack!

“Hey, Rari—”

“THE PANTRY, I SAID!” yelled Rarity, smacking the pony right in the face with a pillow.

“The wha—Agh!” yelped poor Twilight Sparkle, the unfortunate victim of Rarity’s wrath, made even more unfortunate by the simple fact Rarity had forgotten that particular throw pillow was as hard as rocks.

“All right, here we go,” Twilight said, she and Rarity now in her library, the latter looking very contrite as the former held a crimson tissue to her muzzle. She gestured to Rarity’s sewing machine and other various necessities, which she’d kindly teleported over. “That’s everything, right?”

“…Yes, thank you, dear.” 

“Good.”

Rarity’s ears flopped down. “Darling, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“Didn’t mean to give me a nosebleed with a pillow? Somehow?” Twilight asked, laughing softly when Rarity whined pitifully. At the unicorn’s beckoning, she walked over and let Rarity inspect her. “It’s okay. Really. It doesn’t hurt.”

“Mmm… Still, I’ll give it another healing touch.” Rarity leaned in to kiss the tip of Twilight’s nose. “There!” she said, pulling back. “All better.”

“All better,” Twilight replied, leaning in for an actual kiss. She then offered her own apologetic look, nuzzling the unicorn. “Thank you for dealing with this. I know you wanted to rest, and I appreciate that you’re tolerating us.”

“I’m certainly trying,” Rarity murmured. “Dearest, I do appreciate your efforts, but I don’t need anything. Really. Can’t this surprise wait until later?”

“It’s just a few more days, I promise,” Twilight insisted. “Maybe even less. Tomorrow, and then on Thursday, it’ll happen.”

“Can you at least tell me what this surprise is?”

“Mmmmm…” Twilight’s eyes narrowed slightly as she rubbed her hoof against her chin. She then leaned in and with a smile, said, “No.”

“Oh, really!” Rarity whined. “But why not?”

“Because it’s a surprise! So, stop asking, because you need to work, and I need to—” Her horn flashed, and suddenly Rarity’s necklace levitated above her. “—take a look at this!”

Rarity’s hoof went to her chest, pawing at the now empty space. “What? My necklace? Why do you need it?”

“The chaos magic detection spell,” Twilight said, walking over to a table where she’d set up her own gear, an assortment of old and new machinery Professor Awe had given her. “I’ve been wanting to implement the spell in my own necklace, as well as reinforce it in yours.”

“Oh, but be careful with it. I don’t want it to break further.”

Twilight floated the necklace up in front of her, examining it in detail, paying close attention to the broken section which had, at some point, been lightly sanded down. 

“Actually… I’ve been thinking we should replace this with a new one.” 

“Replace it?” 

Rarity had never really considered that before. Sure, it wasn’t ideal to be walking around with broken jewelry, but just the idea of replacing the necklace felt upsetting. 

Twilight nodded. “Mhm. We can transfer the spell over to a new one just fine. In fact—” Magic thrummed from her horn again, and a whole number of identical clear crystals floated up. “I bought these in Hollow Shades months ago when I first got the idea.” 

“But—But those aren’t the ones I bought,” Rarity protested. 

Twilight arched an eyebrow. “It’s just a necklace, Rarity,” she said, and then caught sight of Rarity’s expression and course-corrected. “I know these are special. But the spell will work better with a more stable conduit, it’ll improve the thaum throughout by an order of magnitude. We don’t want to take risks, especially with Discord being bolder now.” When Rarity said nothing, clearly stewing in her feelings, Twilight softened further. “Rarity. It’s the spell that bonds us together, not the crystals.”

“I know, Twilight. But it matters to me,” Rarity said before looking away from Twilight, trying to keep her emotions in check. “But I bought those. I did. The crystals were special to me, and here’s another thing he’s taking from me.”

“He?”

Rarity spun towards her, ears flat against her head. “Discord! I thought I had found you, and now it turns out Discord set us up, so now it’s not special. Then, his awful magic took advantage of you, and now the library doesn’t feel safe anymore! Everything that was ours, before he came back, before the two years…” She petered off, ashamed when Twilight didn’t say anything and simply looked attentive. “I don’t want to replace it. Can we please find some other solution?”

“…Of course,” Twilight said, gently. “We’ll fix your necklace, not replace it. I promise.” 

“All right…” 

“But,” Twilight continued, not harsh, just firm, “our meeting can still be special. We can take that back from him.” 

“…I know.” Rarity let out a deep sigh and then continued with a huff, “I only wish we could have… I don’t know, a do-over.”

Twilight looked up, head cocking to the side. “A do-over?”

“Mhm! To go back in time to before we met, pretend I had the brilliant idea that you were in the forest, and then I go and find you because it was destiny and not that beast’s plan. And then!” She turned towards Twilight, fluttering her eyelashes. “As soon as you lay eyes on me, you instantly realize I’m the most beautiful mare you’ve ever seen, and it’s now your lifelong mission to entice me to stay with you forever within your secret lair!”

“Secret lair?” Twilight snorted. “I’m not an evil villain!”  

“You say that, dear, but…” Rarity bit her lip. “You did throw me against a bookcase. But no matter!” She waved her hoof dismissively. “We can pretend you did it because you were so dazzled by my presence, you had to make sure I wasn’t a figment of your imagination.”

“Sure.” Twilight giggled. “Anyway, I’ll deal with Princess Luna and the girls so you can focus, okay?”

“All right.” That said, Rarity’s eyes drifted towards her sewing machine and a sigh escaped her lips. “Oh, but, wait!”

“Mm?”

“When do you think we’re going to have some time together?” she asked. 

Twilight blinked. “What do you mean? We just had time together literally now.”

“…No, darling, I meant, together together. Alone together.” She felt her cheeks heat up. “Romantically together. Do you think that could happen at some point?”

“I think I can arrange that, yes,” Twilight replied, sweetly. “Anything in particular you had in mind for us to do?”

“Ah. Well. I suppose I’ve been thinking that…” There was that burning sensation again! Stars, it just felt so… juvenile considering everything going on. But she cleared her throat and pressed on. “I’d really like having a proper first date with you.”

Surprise washed over Twilight. “That’s what you want? A proper first date?” she asked, and though her cheeks reddened as well, it wasn’t so much out of embarrassment but quiet delight. Rarity didn’t look, but she could almost feel Twilight’s tail wagging. The alicorn raised her eyebrow teasingly. “Really? Interesting.”

Rarity almost snorted. Interesting!

Twilight was so silly, grinning at Rarity like she’d uncovered her deepest secrets.

“Yes, really,” Rarity said, a quick eye roll alleviating her embarrassment. “We… Well, we haven’t actually had a proper first date. One where we’re both actually fine, and not trying to be fine, or pretending we don’t have other pressing matters to deal with.”

She felt bad for saying it, and certainly the words left a bad taste in her mouth, but she couldn’t help it.

“A romantic date where we can pretend we’re in a normal relationship having a normal life,” she finished, the words coming out less like wishful thinking and more like a shamed confession.

Normal.

What a seemingly innocuous word that felt like a poison she both feared and wanted.

“Nothing about Us is normal,” Twilight replied, not in any accusing way, but more like a statement of fact. It didn’t mean Rarity didn’t wince when she said it, and didn’t feel any less bad when she continued, “We probably won’t ever be normal, at least not in the way you’re thinking, which I guess is modern society’s kind of normal. And I think I prefer it that way, don’t you?”

“I… Yes. Except for the part where our meet-cute was in fact not a meet-cute.”

Twilight smiled politely. “For now.”

“For now?” Rarity asked. “What do you mean ‘for now’?” 

“Exactly what I said! For now,” Twilight elaborated, or rather, elaborated nothing at all. “Anyway, you get back to work—” Her horn flashed and a startled Rarity suddenly teleported in front of her sewing machine. “And I’ll figure out where I can schedule romantic-alone-together time into our week. Probably Thursday.” 

“You make it sound like it’s an obligation,” Rarity huffed. “Us spending time together shouldn’t be something you have to schedule in.” 

Twilight blinked innocently, furrowing her brow in the way she did when she thought Rarity was being silly. “Rarity. I have to schedule our time together, or else I would just spend time with you. All the time.” 

Rarity giggled. “Now I know that’s a lie,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes, “but I’m charmed regardless. But all right, all right.” The sewing machine whirred to life. Then died again. “Wait. What did you mean ‘for now’?” 

In response, Twilight merely tilted her head to the side, smiling sweetly. “Good luck with work,” 

Then, just like that, with a crack of magic, she was gone.

The days leading up to Thursday were surprisingly uneventful.

Twilight must have spoken with everypony else, as the Carousel and/or Library was quiet whenever Rarity was working. Fluttershy had taken to keeping her company, but everypony else stayed mostly clear of the unicorn except for lunchtime and dinnertime, and occasional chats with Princess Luna about her thoughts on Ponyville and vague updates on when Cadance was allegedly arriving. 

(“Darling, isn’t it dangerous to have Cadance come? What if somepony sees her?” 

Twilight had waved her concerns away. “All figured out.” 

“But—” 

“It’s all figured out,” Princess Luna repeated. 

“But—” 

“All figured out!” three fillies, two princesses, and one enthusiastic baker exclaimed.

“All right, all right!”)

Regardless, when Thursday finally rolled around, the unicorn was nearly done with her current project. 

“Mrrrrow.”

With a great unceremonious flop, Opalescence plopped herself down next to Rarity’s sewing machine. She’d been doing that a lot, having apparently missed her owner during her self-imposed-exile-not-exile from Ponyville.

“I’m almost done,” Rarity said, which was a lie, but Opalescence didn’t have to know that. She likely wouldn’t be done for another day or so, but Twilight had given her strict instructions to be done with work at exactly five in the afternoon.

A little early for dinner, Rarity thought, but she wasn’t about to complain about her time with Twilight, even if she wasn’t sure where Twilight expected to have the time for her ‘surprise’ and for their alone time. 

Unless alone time was supposed to stretch out long into the night? Hm. 

Her thoughts of Twilight instinctively led her hoof to reach out for her necklace, only for a tinge of annoyance to flash through her at remembering Twilight hadn’t returned it yet. She felt strangely naked without it, not to mention she was still worried Twilight was going to break it further. 

Ah well.

Three knocks at the door interrupted her.

“Rarity?!” came Pinkie’s chirpy voice. “Are you almost done?!”

“Almost!” she replied in sing-song.

“Hurry uuuuup! We’re going to be late!”

“Yes, yes.” She paused. “Run the plan by me again one last time, dear?” 

“Okay! First, we need to get Rarity to—Heeeeeeey. Stop that, silly! It’s a surprise! Emphasis on the prise!” 

“…I’m sure that’s not proper usage of the word ‘prise’,” Rarity muttered, frowning, before she cleared her throat. “I had to give it a try! I’ll be out in a minute.” 

Incentivized into getting the show on the road (whatever the show even was), Rarity finished up her current stitch and put her half of a dress away. 

Princesses, she hoped it wasn’t a picnic. 

She couldn’t think of any other reason everypony was involved, but she really didn’t want a picnic. She wanted to stay home, preferably cuddled in Twilight’s arms, and then have Twilight read her a romance novel. Or dissect it and point out plot holes in her case. 

Finally, she trotted out of her workshop and into the foyer, glimpsing Pinkie ‘eep’ing at her arrival and scurrying into the kitchen.

“She’s coming!” Pinkie whispered. Loudly.

Clearing her throat, Rarity made her way towards the kitchen and stepped inside to find… the very normal sight of Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Sweetie Belle gathered around the kitchen table, the former sporting a pronounced frown.

Twilight, surprisingly, was nowhere to be found.

“Er…” said the unicorn, eloquently. “…Hello.”

Slam!

Sweetie Belle pounded her hooves against the table, completely ignoring her startled sister.

“I’m telling you! She’s real!” she whined, accentuating every word with another pound of her hooves. “She is!”

“I don’t knowwwww,” Pinkie said, humming with great exaggeration. “That’s just a fairy tale, silly!”

“What’s a fairytale?” Rarity asked.

Sweetie again promptly ignored her. “It isn’t!” She helplessly looked towards Fluttershy. “You believe me, right, Fluttershy?!”

“Oh… I don’t know, Sweetie Belle…” Fluttershy said, failing miserably to look concerned as opposed to what she looked like, which was amused. “Somepony would have found them by now…”

“Ughhhhh!”

Finally, the filly turned to her elder sister.

“Rarity! You’re late!” she squeaked. “Seeking Night already started!”

Rarity blinked once. Then twice. Then thrice. “Pardon?” she blurted out. “Seeking Night?”

Pinkie giggled. “Yeah, silly! Didn’t you know?”

Sweetie gasped next, “Rarity! Didn’t you see the calendar?!” She gestured towards a calendar hanging from the wall, which, to her credit, did in fact have Seeking Night scribbled on it in big red letters. “We’re going to go find Princess Booky inside the Everfree Forest!”

It took Rarity one, two, three seconds before it clicked.

Aaaah.

Interesting.

“…Are we now?” she said, at length, joining them at the table. “Terribly sorry, dear. I must have missed the memo! I must say, I was under the impression I’d already found Princess Booky!”

“Silly Rarity.” Pinkie patted her head. “Somepony had too much sleep tonight.”

“It would seem so! So, do tell, how exactly are we supposed to find this princess?” She hummed loudly, tapping a hoof against her chin. “Thank goodness we’re responsible ponies and wouldn’t do something outrageously dangerous like, say, wander into the Everfree forest without telling any adult, no?”

“Oh, goodness no,” Fluttershy added, directing her gaze towards a quickly reddening Sweetie Belle. “We would never.”

“Wellanywaythatdoesn’tmatter,” mumbled the filly before turning toward the door. “Oh!” she exclaimed suddenly. “But how will we start?!”

Rarity waited for something to happen.

Nothing did.

“Oh, I said!” Sweetie yelled with a mighty pitch. “How will we start?!”

“Oh!” a voice yelped from outside. Moments later, Princess Cadance stepped through the half-closed door. “I’m here!”

“Princess!” Sweetie protested. “The door! The door!“

“Oh! Oh, dear, uhm…” Princess Cadance retreated through the door, only to magically slam it open and step past it instead. She cleared her throat and smiled. Regally. “Hello, my little ponies. It is I, Princess Denza.” She then offered Rarity a little excited wave. “Hi, Rarity!” 

“Princess Cadance! I hope getting here wasn’t diffi—?” 

“Cadance? Who’s THAT?!” Sweetie said, completely annoyed. “That looks like Princess Denza!” 

Rarity blinked. “Oh. Yes. Right, ahem.” She stood up and slammed both hooves on the table. “Princess Denza?! Here?! In my boutique?! My stars! My heavenly stars above!” 

“Stop being weird about this!” Sweetie whispered, her pout intensifying when Rarity blew her a kiss.

“What are you doing here?!” Pinkie asked, ignoring the sisters’ shenanigans.

“I am here to ask for your help with…” Princess Cadance gave a dramatic pause that was entirely too long, but Rarity allowed it. “Finding the lost princesses.” She looked away, a single tear drop falling down her eye. 

Impressive!

“Finding the lost princesses?” Rarity asked, a wonder in her voice that quickly disappeared with a yawn. “Oh. I really don’t know. I’d like to nap, to be quite honest.” She reveled in Sweetie’s glare for a moment before adding, “But I suppose I could do some looking.”

“Oh, wonderful!” the princess exclaimed, her wings rustling. She opened the door with her magic and gestured them out. “Then, go! You must. The lost princesses are waiting.”

Unfortunately for the lost princesses and Sweetie Belle, they had to wait a dozen minutes more while Rarity put on makeup and perfume. But, once she was done with that, she was sent off on her way.

“Go!” exclaimed Princess Cadance, holding the front door open for Rarity. “Go forth and succeed where so many have failed!” She grinned. “Have fun!”

“That wasn’t part of the script!” whispered Sweetie.

Pinkie frowned. “Should she NOT have fun?”

As a discussion ensued over that very silly topic, Rarity stepped out of her boutique. Truthfully, she had a desire to head straight to the library to see Twilight, and she wasn’t entirely sure she was in the mood for such a production, but…

But her tune quickly changed at the sight of the ponies waiting outside her home.

Dressed in an old Princess Selene costume, complete with paper crown and cardboard wings, Applejack certainly looked regal…ish. Apple Bloom was next to her, dressed in an adorable little batpony outfit.

Oh ho ho.

“Princess Selene?!” gasped Rarity, her hoof slamming against her own chest. “Outside my house?! My staaaaars!”

“Yup, that’s me,” Applejack said, only to let out a pained yelp when Apple Bloom shoved her elbow into her ribcage. “Errr, I mean… Verily! That’s me… Er, we. Thou princess is—”

“Thy!” whispered her sister. “Thy, not thou!”

“I told you to let me bring my script!” Applejack whispered back, before turning to Rarity with slight annoyance at the situation. “Thy princess is here! You have—”

“Thou hast! Tho—mmph!”

An orange hoof now covered Apple Bloom’s muzzle. 

“I reckon you sure did find me, Rarity. That sure is—S’cuse me a sec.” She turned to her sister. “Licking my hoof won’t make me take it off.” Back to Rarity. “That sure is amazing!”

“Why, thank you, Princess Selene. It was very difficult. Though…” She stepped forward, inspecting her friend. “I must admit you look very different from what I imagined. I always expected you to be taller and more… blue.” She cocked her head to the side. “Not quite this orange.”

“It’s a sunburn. I put on bucket loads of sunscreen, but ya won’t believe what not being under the sun for a thousand years does to your coat.”

“Oh, my!”

“Now tell her where to go!” Apple Bloom whispered, which was really more of a mumble considering Applejack’s hoof was still on her mouth.

“Oh.” Applejack turned to Rarity. “The Everfree Forest.”

“Alone!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, pushing her sister’s hoof away and narrowing her eyes.. “You hafta go all alone.”

“All alone? My, how terrifying! When am I supposed to go?”

“Now…” Apple Bloom said, somberly. Right up until Rarity eagerly took several steps forward. “Wait, wait!” she blurted out. “Don’t go yet!”

Rarity blinked. “But you said to leave now.” She glanced at Applejack. “Didn’t she?”

Applejack turned to her sister. “That’s what you said.”

“I know that’s what I said!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, stamping her hoof on the ground. “Because she does have to go now! Just… don’t go too fast, all right?!”

“Oh? Why not?” Rarity asked.

“Because!” the filly explained, pushing her sister towards the boutique.

“Because why?” Applejack asked next. 

“Just because!” Apple Bloom insisted, oblivious to her sister rolling her eyes. “Okay, bye!”

Rarity waved them, stifling a laugh. “Ta-ta!”

Despite her earlier annoyance at having all her friends be included in whatever-date-this-was, she couldn’t help admit she was charmed by the effort everypony was putting into it all.

It was… nice. Nice was the word. Nice to do silly things without worries or concerns or with any ulterior motives like having to rescue somepony.

Stars, it was just nice to be and have somepony else take charge for once. She didn’t know what was going on! For the first time in what felt like ages, she had no clue what was going on, and it was wonderful.

The only thing expected of her was to have fun.

If the others had planned anything for the forest, Rarity sure wasn’t seeing it. Her trek through the woods went by slowly, as Apple Bloom requested, but quietly as well. Themis had been waiting for her near the edge of the woods, guiding her through their usual path and not some… secret path?

“Hoot!” he exclaimed, flying next to Rarity and animatedly hooting about… something exciting, Rarity was sure. She couldn’t understand Owl, but by God, he really did not care, apparently immensely satisfied with her occasional nods.

She’d never heard him so talkative, which admittedly led her to theorize this was some sort of distraction method—particularly so when she heard some noises in the distance, and she noticed he immediately started hooting even more profusely. It happened again later on, and she tried to look this time which resulted in him practically slapping his body on her face so fully she almost tripped on an unseen branch.

This was a tad too much, but… well, she couldn’t fault him for taking the assignment to heart.

When they eventually reached the great oak tree, Rarity was yet again surprised to find the entire area, well, empty. Tentatively, she walked towards the edge of the sinkhole, looking around for the others. She’d half-expected Princess Luna to finally make her grand appearance, but it seemed not.

“Where is everypony?” she asked Themis, which she later realized was silly because he couldn’t exactly answer her, though he tried anyway, which led them nowhere but she appreciated his efforts.

After a moment’s hesitation, she jumped down into the sinkhole and landed with a thud. Well, she thought, maybe that really was it?

“Hooooowl!”

Now, that made her stop.

It is exceedingly important to note that what made her stop wasn’t a howl, but somepony loudly yelling the word howl.

Thus, she reacted accordingly.

“Gasp!” she gasped, a hoof clutched against her chest as she dramatically turned around to find not one, not two, but three adorable little timberwolves standing at the edge of the sinkhole. 

“Awwww! Girls, those costumes are precious!”

“Thanks!” chirped the slightly whiter timberwolf proudly, until the slightly oranger one shoved her. “Er! I mean! Awooo!”

“Aw man. You suck at this!” exclaimed the orange one.

The third little timberwolf frowned. “We suck? You yelled the word ‘howl’!”

“S-So?!”

“Giiiiirls!” the first wolf whined, “stop argui—”

A loud thundercrack startled all present, ending the argument between the three. Before Rarity could ask what the hell was that, the three fillies stepped to the side, revealing a tall, cloaked pony emerging from the forest.

The pony trotted all the way up to the edge of the sinkhole, right up until they were looking down at Rarity. It was weirdly nostalgic, which was probably the point.

“And who are you?” she asked.

The ‘stranger’, who happened to look like Princess Luna, snorted. “Who am I? You ask who am I? Hah! I am the good book bringer!” 

Rarity giggled, charmed. “The good book bringer?” 

“Yep,” exclaimed one of the timberwolves. “She’s completely good and not a secret bad spirit trying to trick you, ok?!” 

Rarity frowned. “That sounds like you’re trying to trick me.” 

“No,” squeaked another wolf. “She’s the good book bringer. It’s not a trick!” 

Rarity hummed. “Well, technically speaking—” 

“Forget the book bringer title, I am the Night Eternal now,” the stranger interrupted, her booming voice amplifying her exasperation. “Since time immemorial I have watched over the land, and ‘tis I who guards all the knowledge in it, little pony! The one who knows the answer to everything and anything!”

“Oh!” Rarity perked up. “A librarian, then. How wonderful! Rather far from your library, aren’t you? Are you lost?”

“Fool!” boomed the stranger, stamping her hoof on the ground. “A librarian?! You think me as ordinary as a mere librarian?”

Rarity winced. “Oh, dear. I’m going to tell Twilight you said that, Princess.”

“You dare threaten me!” She turned to her furry subordinates. “Tell her! Tell her what happens to those who dare spread our ill-words!”

“Princess! I can’t say that to Rarity!” Sweetie Belle whispered urgently.

Scootaloo, for her part, had no such reservation.

“Snitches get britches!”

“Stitches!” whispered Apple Bloom. “Stitches, not britches!”

“My stars. We’ve exchanged only a scant few words, and I’m being threatened with assault already. I should have come prepared.”

“Silence!” the Night-Eternal-Librarian-Princess boomed. “Rarity the unicorn! Heed my words, lest I show you the true meaning of hitting the books!” She gestured to the great oak tree. “Beyond you is the lost library of Princess Booky! Trapped for centuries, she has awaited your arrival for one reason and one alone!”

Rarity giggled. “To rescue her, I take it?”

“No,” said the princess.

“…No?”

“No. You must woo her.”

Rarity didn’t bother masking her snort. “Pardon me? I have to what now?”

The princess stamped her hoof against the ground, thunder crackling in the distance. “You heard me!” she demanded, her voice growing louder and louder. “Only by woo-ing her can you liberate her from her shackles!”

Rarity tapped a hoof against her chin. “How strange! Are you certain that’s the right thing to do?”

“It is! I decree it as your princess!”

“Strange! I thought you were a librarian? I could have sworn—eep!”

“Cease your annoying stalling!” Princess Luna said, her magic enveloping Rarity and pushing her towards the tree. “Now, go forth and seduce!”

“Ewwwww!” Scootaloo whined. “Don’t say it like that!”

“I shall go all in!” Rarity enthusiastically called back. “I shall leave no lips unkissed!”

“Ewwwwwwwwww!”

Darkness greeted Rarity once she stepped past the trapdoor, down the stairs and into the tunnel. It kept her company all the way up to the library, and it was only once she crossed the tunnel and her hooves felt solid floor that she finally lit up her hornlight, looking around.

The library seemed empty.

She knew, of course, that it wasn’t. Just like years before, an alicorn lurked somewhere in the depths, beyond the reach of her light, waiting to be found.

This time, however, Rarity wasn’t afraid. Wasn’t afraid as she had been that very first time, or the time they came back after Twilight had been freed.

This time… she just really wanted to see her marefriend.

“Twilight?” she called out, stepping further into the library.

No answer.

Alright then.

Weaving into the aisles of bookcases, Rarity gasped theatrically. “Oh, my! What a large, frightening place! I do hope nopony comes out and gives me a ghastly fright!” No sooner had she finished her sentence, she whipped around. “Ah-ha!” she exclaimed, only to find nopony waiting to spook her with a monotone mention of her name. Her ears lowered and she stepped back. “Oh. Hm.”

After a moment and a last look, she went on her way, heading down another bookcase aisle.

“If you really want this to be a re-enactment of when we met, you’re going to need a lot more towers of bookcases scattered around, dear,” she called out. A moment passed. “No comment? Really?”

“A thousand years.”

Twilight’s voice came from nowhere and everywhere all at once, enveloping the startled unicorn who’d definitely not screamed in fright. She’d just exclaimed in surprise, that’s all.

As soon as she composed herself, Rarity whirled in place, trying and failing to find sight of the alicorn.

“A thousand years is how long I’ve been trapped here.”

There it was again. Her voice, everywhere at once, its origin hard to pinpoint, seemingly following Rarity as she rushed through every corner, every aisle, every spot.

A dim light came alive in the corner of Rarity’s eyes, and when she turned around, she saw it was coming from above. A very faint magical light, barely just revealing the shape of an alicorn sitting atop a bookcase, her every feature hidden in the shadows.

“I’ve been alone here for so long.” Twilight drifted off, her voice no longer dispersed but clear. “Or I used to be.”

From within the darkness, a pair of violet eyes glowed to life and turned to Rarity, ensnaring the unicorn in her gaze.

“You.”

There was a crackle of magic, and Star started Rarity by coming to life right in front of her, its candles alighting with purple magic.

“Why did you find me?”

“Why?” Rarity stammered, struggling somewhat to fall into a role. “I… Er! Well! You see, I was walking through the Everfree forest and—”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Twilight’s light blew out, and appeared again seconds later, but atop a completely different bookcase.

“I’m not interested in how you found me. I’m asking why you came here.”

“Why I’m here? Oh, it’s quite simple! I’m here to, how shall I say…” She stifled a giggle. “Seduce you, as it were.”

For a brief moment, the enchanting creature giggled, which she very quickly tried to mask with a condescending laugh. Her light disappeared again, and did not return.

“You?” she asked, her voice echoing throughout. “You’re here to seduce me? You think that I, a spirit trapped here for thousands of years, would fall for the first mare to step into my lair?”

“Ah! So you admit you do have an evil lair?”

“No,” replied Twilight, the slightest annoyance in her voice delighting Rarity. “It’s a secret lair.”

Rarity shrugged. “Same thing, I’d say. It’s just that, rather than, I don’t know, kidnapping ponies and throwing them off cliffs, you force them to memorize an entire book on teleportation. Now, that’s evil.”

Twilight snorted. “Teleportation is incredibly useful, which you’d know if you practiced it more, which you don’t.”

“I’m not trying to be rude, oh lost princess, but how exactly would you know that when we just met, hm?”

There was a pause.

“If this is your attempt at seducing me, you’re off to a bad start.”

Rarity fluttered her eyelashes at some random spot in the dark. Not that Twilight could see, probably, but still.

“Darling. You’re the one who’d be missing out, not moi.”

And then, it happened.

“Oh?” whispered Twilight, right behind Rarity, her breath tickling the back of the unicorn’s neck. Except, when Rarity turned around, she was gone, and her voice again permeated the entire room, sending chills down Rarity’s spine. “We’ll see about that.

Rarity laughed, as charmed as she was flustered. “Will we now?”

Star’s candles flickered in response and the candelabra floated away, Rarity following close behind. She was led all the way back to the library’s entrance where she was greeted by dozens of multicolored candles floating about, as well as a small platform right in the middle of the lobby, illuminated by several more floating candelabras.

My stars, Rarity thought. It was like she’d stepped straight into a fairytale.

“Step into the light,” Twilight’s voice commanded.

“Am I to be judged?” Rarity did as instructed and daintily jumped onto the platform. Once there, she struck a pose. “Try not to be too dazzled, your highness. You know what they say about staring straight at the sun.”

“Hmm…”

“Well?” Rarity prompted, twirling around on the spot to make sure Twilight could see every side of her entire, splendid physique. “What’s the verdict, princess?”

“I don’t know…” she answered from within the darkness.

“Perhaps you ought to take a closer look?”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt…”

A few of the candelabras floated away from Rarity and towards the bookcases, bathing the alicorn in their light as she finally left the shadows.

A gasp followed.

A gasp that did not come from Twilight, but from Rarity.

It should be noted that, for as long as Rarity knew her, Twilight Sparkle was not particularly interested in her own appearance. The only time she’d ever dressed up, if it could be called that, was when she occasionally wore her regalia, and for some of the more important events that took place in Hollow Shades, but beyond that. Nada. 

Which was fine, obviously. Rarity always found her to be stunning, and though the unicorn prided herself in maintaining a fabulous personal appearance, she did not expect Twilight to do the same.

In fact, it was a blessing that Twilight wasn’t all too keen in primping herself up because, at that exact moment, Rarity realized that if she were, the poor unicorn would be reduced to a flustered babbling mess at all times.

“Tuh… Twilight?”

There stood the princess, a sneaky smile on her lips, looking quite literally transformed.

Her long mane, usually let down, now fell over the side of her shoulder, glowing as it had when she was displaced, and loosely tied together near the bottom with a beautiful silver bow. Her eyes, twinkling with delight, were accentuated by a modest amount of makeup—not too much, not too little, just enough. Her lovely coat was protected by her royal regalia, the golden collar and horseshoes bearing her insignia gleaming under the candlelight.

And finally, atop her head, completing this wonderful ensemble, was her crown.

She was gorgeous.

She was absolutely radiantly beautiful, and Rarity was too mesmerized to realize her rather unseemly blush.

See, It was sometimes easy to forget, but one had to understand she had never been so vividly reminded as right then and there that Twilight Sparkle was quite li-te-ra-lly a fairytale princess.

Whom she was dating.

“Something wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Wrong?” Rarity did not stammer.

“Mhm?” Twilight continued, charming as all heavens, damn her. “Is there something wrong with how I look?”

Alright! Enough of this! Rarity thought, trying to compose herself. Which she did, thank you very much. She was not about to be out-charmed by Princess Booky!

Clearing her throat, Rarity grinned back.

“Wrong with how you look?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes. “Darling, dearest, you look…” Almost immediately she looked away, a really quite unwanted blush spreading over her cheeks. “Mmmm.”

“What did you say?” Twilight said innocently, probably trying not to sound as smug as she certainly looked, damn her, damn her, damn her! “I look what, Rarity?”

“…Very pretty,” Rarity squeaked, ashamed by her complete transformation into a flustered school-filly faced with her crush.

“Oh! Is that why you can’t even look at me?” Twilight’s laughter was beautiful, and wonderful, and completely unfair.

“I most certainly can look at you!” Rarity shot back, doing just that and backtracking at finding Twilight had stepped much, much closer. “I-In fact!” Rarity jumped off the other side of the platform. “Why don’t you step onto the platform? Shouldn’t I be allowed to judge you, too?”

“Oh!” Twilight exclaimed, caught off guard. “Oh, uh, I guess I could do that.”

Rarity smiled. Ha-ha! Now it was she who’d have the upper-hoof, as it should be.

“Or,” Twilight continued, “I could always just do…”

A crack filled the air, followed by a spark of magic, and suddenly Twilight went from being several feet away to right in front of Rarity, her smirking muzzle inches away from the muzzle of her flustered marefriend.

“This?”

Startled, Rarity backtracked yet again. “Well! Well, I… Well!”

“Rarity,” Twilight said with a playful frown, another step forward, “what’s wrong? This isn’t like you at all!”

And Twilight was right! It wasn’t! That wasn’t who she was! She was Rarity, unicorn extraordinaire! She’d gone head to head with chaos spirits, dragons, and all manner of creatures! She was the one who was supposed to be charming! Not the other way around!

“A-Ah, well, you see, I—” She backtracked into a bookcase, which gave her a wonderful idea. Sure, it was a joke that had been used to death already, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Except.

Except, doing her increased flush no favours, Twilight got there first.

“Huh,” said the alicorn, Rarity trapped between the bookcase and body, inches away. Twilight cocked her head to the side ever so slightly. “This seems familiar, doesn’t it?”

“D…Does it?” Rarity asked, determined beyond all measure to regain the upper-hoof somehow. She managed a smirk. “Yes, I suppose it does. I do like this version better, I must admit. Less pained screaming and all.”

There was a split second pause.

A split second that felt eternal as Twilight took Rarity in and her lips curved into a sinfully delighted smile that might have killed the unicorn then and there.

“Oh, I’m sure screaming will be happening,” she said. “Just not from pain.”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity gasped, scandalized by Twilight, sure, but more by the fact that she liked this. “What in Denza’s name has gotten into you?!” Immediately, she slammed her hoof on Twilight’s mouth. “Don’t you dare answer that!”

A stupid, futile question, as Twilight’s raised eyebrow was doing a good job of conveying the answer.

“I’m going to take my hoof away now,” Rarity said. “And you better be good. Am I understood?”

Twilight nodded, fluttering her eyelashes. “Mm. Tasty,” she said when the hoof left her mouth. 

Rarity scrunched her nose up. “Darling, no. You don’t even know where my hoof has been!”

Twilight shrugged. “No, you’re right.” She smiled. “But I know where it will b—Mmph!”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Rarity said, her hoof against finding its place on Twilight’s mouth. “What did I say?”

Twilight broke into a fit of giggling, moving Rarity’s hoof away with her magic. “Oh, so this kind of talk is something only you get to do to me, huh? I see. But, fine, if that’s what you want, I’ll stop—”

“I didn’t say that either,” Rarity said, humiliatingly quick. 

Twilight playfully raised an eyebrow. “You literally told me not a minute ago to be a good girl,” she said.

“I did not call you that!” 

Her poor dignity went completely out the trapdoor and into the forest when Twilight immediately moved forward, faces inches apart as she purred, “Oh, so you want me to be a bad girl?”

When Rarity said absolutely nothing, Twilight leaned back. 

“Are you not saying anything because that’s just more material for me?” She giggled upon receiving the smallest of indignantly guilty glares as an answer, prompting her to lean in to kiss Rarity, who was already having a hard time maintaining her righteous indignation. “Okay, I’m done. I do actually have other things planned for us to do.”

“Oh, wonderful,” Rarity said, playfully nuzzling the alicorn, “And here I was starting to think the plan was to kill me with your shamelessness.”

“No,” Twilight replied, returning the affectionate gesture. “The plan was to have a nicer memory to associate with how we met.” Her tone softened, and she pulled away, searching gaze meeting Rarity’s. “Did it work?”

Rarity brushed back Twilight’s bangs. “It did, I think.” She batted her eyelashes, looking Twilight up and down. “Let me assure you I will be thinking about how you look tonight for a very long time.”

A light blush spread over Twilight’s cheeks, perfectly accentuating her silly smile. “Good. Now, come on. The girls helped me make dinner for our ‘first date’.” She allowed herself a proud smile. “I spent all morning perfecting a spell to keep the food warm for as long as we want.”

“And your plans after dinner?”

“Well… There’s a big mattress downstairs with several blankets and pillows that I had three little ‘mattress cuddling comfyness testers’ look over. They did say they rated it a ten out of five, but—” She looked over her shoulder, smiling warmly. “I thought maybe we could spend the rest of the night verifying their results? And maybe I can tell you a solution I think you’ll like for your necklace while we’re at it. How does that sound?”

“Lovely,” Rarity breathed, a weight lifting off her shoulders as she followed after Twilight, “that sounds just lovely, thank you very much.”

Twilight Sparkle spent her whole life submerged in what-ifs. 

These what-ifs, these worlds—these possibilities, rather—stretched out before her like a sea, each and every one a wave that could either gently carry her adrift to shore, pull her drowning into the depths, or let her float in spot, pushing her this way and that. 

There exists a world where she never found the Element of Magic. A world where she never agreed to trick Discord. One where she never agreed to become a princess, and another where she came clean with him before he could trap her. There exists as well a world where she didn’t get trapped. One where she didn’t live millenia past her natural expiration date, a world where she and Rarity never met, and…

And there exists, probably, certainly, somewhere out there, a world where she didn’t free herself in two years, but decades, centuries, millennia, stumbling out into a world where she was truly all alone. 

But this is not that world, she thinks to herself, not relieved but… amazed. 

So many things had gone wrong. So many things could go wrong. And yet, somehow, she was still there, alive and breathing, and more crucially, in that moment, lying on that mattress, comforted by blankets, cuddled up to a very pretty and very sleepy unicorn while reading a new book, Princess Twilight Sparkle was happy. 

She was content. At peace in a way that was startling not because it was rare, but precisely the opposite. Startling because being content was somehow starting to be the norm. 

Her idle thoughts came to a stop when Rarity, wrapped under Twilight’s wing rather than a blanket, gently nuzzled her, leaving a single kiss on the bottom of the alicorn’s jaw. 

“You still have thirty minutes left of your nap, honey,” Twilight pointed out, turning the page of her book.

“…Honey?” Rarity lifted her head. “That’s new.”

“The main character in this book calls her marefriend that,” Twilight said bashfully. “I thought since you call me ‘darling’, maybe I should have something for you.” She laughed, trying to mask her slight embarrassment. “Is it too weird? I can stop.”

“No, no, not at all! It’s just new. Such a big step, too! Pet names. What’s next? You’re going to say you love me?” She cherished it when Twilight dignified her response with a roll of her eyes. “‘Ohhh, Rarity, aren’t you so cute and charming?’”

“Mmmmhm.” Twilight’s book disappeared with a touch of magic, and when she looked at Rarity, her cheeks turned pink at finding herself the attentive subject of beaming sapphire eyes. “What is it?”

“You looked very nice today.”

“I know. You keep saying it. And you’ll say it again.”

“And I’ll say it again! Oh. Yes. Exactly!” Rarity propped her head up with her hooves. “See? This is precisely why we work so well together, don’t you know? A singular mind.”

“Synchronized.”

“Attuned! If only I had something back that would make our mental alignment literal.”

“Oh! Right.” With another flash of magic, Twilight teleported over Rarity’s broken necklace, a silly little smile spreading on her lips at the delighted noise Rarity made as she took it in her hooves. “There. Exactly like you gave it to me, but with a stronger chaos magic detection spell.” 

After a brief inspection, Rarity put it back on. “You mentioned earlier you had a solution for fixing it?”

“Right. With Kirintsugi!” 

“Kirintsugi…” Rarity muttered, tapping her chin. “Why does that sound—Oh! Hold on, I know what that is. That’s that repairing method where a broken object is glued back together with gold?”

“Yes!” Twilight beamed, pleased that Rarity knew of it. “Though it’s not just gold, it’s more a lacquer mixed in with powdered gold. But the point is that the broken object — a pot, for example — isn’t just fixed, but now is a completely new art piece in itself. It wears its history openly. Its scars are made beautiful.” Her voice became soft as she brushed a wingtip over Rarity’s scarred cutiemark. “Just like their owner.”

Rarity blinked.

“Well,” she said. “That’s… Goodness. Talk of, talk of a fitting, ah…”

Twilight continued, delighted. “I remembered reading about it in a —”

“One moment, dear,” Rarity said, “I’m still mentally c-composing a suitably appreciative reply.”

“Take your time, I can talk about the history of the practice while you … Rarity?” It certainly wasn’t very polite of her, but catching sight of her marefriend’s eyes, a terrible sort of delighted warmth overtook her as she laughed affectionately. “Rarity, are you crying?”

“Stop laughing at me, Twilight,” Rarity whined, the alicorn stopping no such thing as she nuzzled Rarity, the unicorn wiping her eyes. “You can’t just do things like that! All of this. Re-enacting our meeting, figuring out how to fix my necklace, saying all the right things.” She sighed deeply, Twilight kissing her forehead, just at the base of her neck, before resting her head against hers. “How did it come to this that Princess Seriousness is just about equal with my charm?”

Twilight giggled. “What can I say? I learned from the best. Aaaand.” Twilight coughed. “I’m also just trying to make sure your good mood is high when I tell you who does Kirintsugi.”

Rarity froze. “…Why would I need to be in a good mood for that? Who does it?”

“Well!” Twilight began. “As, uh, the name suggests…”

“As the name sugg—” She immediately jerked up, audibly drawing her breath. “The kirin? Of course it would be the kirin. It all makes sense now. What I thought was charm was actually you trying to soften me up to the idea of waltzing straight into their village and Discord’s trap.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Twilight protested. “It was just a happy coincidence. It was!” she insisted when Rarity gave her a Look. “I would have suggested this method even if we weren’t going to see the kirins.”

“I don’t believe you, but it’s not as though I have a choice about going or not, now do I?” Rarity huffed. “When are we supposed to go, anyway? In four days?”

Twilight winced. “…Two.” When Rarity almost immediately started stomping her hooves on the mattress and unleashed a very convincing despairing whine, Twilight reached out with her hoof to comfort her. “It’s not that bad. It isn’t! It’ll be fine.” When this did not alleviate anything, she unleashed her newest weapon. “Honey…”

“Don’t you honey me!” Rarity said immediately, the weapon having an effect even if it wasn’t perhaps the intended one. “Pet names only work for emotional manipulation when there’s years of consistent use and meaning behind them, darling.” 

Twilight snorted. “Right.”

“Roll your eyes all you want, but I am right, thank you very much.” An arrogant smile complemented her fluttering eyelashes. “If you’re going for psychological warfare, you’re going to have to try a different approach.”

Twilight blinked. Then smiled politely, sitting up as well. “All right. I can do that,” she said, and rather than elaborate with words, her horn lit up with magic and twin necklaces started to glow. She tilted her head, her mane falling to the side. “Is this a consistent and meaningful enough approach?” 

“Ah,” Rarity said. “Touché.”

“Come on,” Twilight teased. “Answer it.”

“But, that’s not fair, that’s cheat—!”

“Do it.”

“All right, fine,” Rarity murmured with a theatric huff not fast enough to hide the teensiest of smiles.

Twilight watched as she closed her eyes, and when Rarity still did not cast the spell, she leaned in to press their foreheads together. 

“Ra-ri-ty,” she said in sing-song, and when Rarity lifted a hoof and brushed it against her cheek, a soft but clear ‘ping!’ followed moments after. 

There were many things in Twilight’s life that weren’t easy, things that felt difficult to achieve and hard to maintain, but if there was something that was always easy, as effortless as breathing, especially now that they’d worked their way to hell and back to get it,  it was this. 

It was them. 

It was the fact that this dance they danced was so fluid and harmonized that Twilight lay down to catch Rarity in her forelegs just as the latter let herself fall into the embrace. The fact that both sighed at the same time, in the same tone, with the same bliss in the same voice, already one with or without the spell, because now more than ever, that is what they were. 

One and the same, so much so that technically, artistically, scientifically, and fabulously, their unyielding truth was now this: the necklace, the spell, this melding of minds, well… 

They felt no different under its influence than they did without it. The only real difference was that, if anything, they were just saving themselves the need of talking out loud.

Fortunately, there are voices in this world one can drink in, and for Twilight Sparkle, Rarity’s voice was just that.

So together they thought of the future, they thought of the kirin, they thought of all the challenges that awaited and could await them, and when Rarity’s fears poked their head, they were so quickly dispelled. How could they not, when these concerns she had were so small, a flame on a match compared to the burning, blazing sun that had been Twilight’s thousand years of pain. 

And if she’d survived that, and together they’d survived the two years after that, and then the time that followed in Hollow Shades, then it was an objective true fact they could and would survive whatever came next.

“Do you feel better?” came Twilight’s voice, hoof idly tracing circles on Rarity’s back, both their eyes still closed. “And I know you do, because you’re thinking you do, and I know that now you’re thinking this is ridiculous and answering my question is ridiculous, because I already know the answer, but do it anyway.”

“Yes,” Rarity replied, head nestled under Twilight’s chin, “I suppose.” She let out a sigh made purposefully more theatrical only because Twilight found it funny. “Is this the life that awaits me? A slave to your every whim every time you bat your eyes at me and cast the spell?”

Inconceivable, thought Twilight, grinning.  

“Unfathomable!”

Incomprehensible!

“Ununderstandable!”

…Okay, now that’s a stretch. That doesn’t sound right. That’s definitely not a proper word. 

“How dare you! Yes, it is,” Rarity insisted, affronted. “It’s in my dictionary.” 

Twilight grimaced. “I see,” she said, and then thoughtlessly thought, maybe I should get her a real dictionary for her wedding gif—

She’d not even finished her thought before she was startled right out of it by Rarity’s loud gasp, the unicorn lifting herself up, supporting herself on top of Twilight’s chest, the spell still intact on both sides.  

“For our wedding?” she all but screeched, stars in her eyes. 

“Ye-Yes?” Twilight stammered, a rosy hue tinging her cheeks. “For when we get marr—Why are you surprised? We’ve talked about this before! Haven’t we? I thought we’ve talked about getting married. I mean, we’ve talked about what if we have kids, so obviously we must have—” In a second flat, her cheeks went from pink to flaming red as very flustering images filled her mind. “Stop that. Stop. Stop thinking—no, no, that’s not true, I did not say making kids, I said hav—Rarity.”

Twilight thought about weddings. She thought oh so very hard about weddings, if anything to wipe the smugness of Rarity’s silent little face and get her to focus on the subject at hoof. She willed their minds into it, but it was as she was ten seconds into thinking of the proposal that again she was startled not just by Rarity gasping but by the connection breaking. 

“Twilight, you—!” Rarity cut herself off, face shifting quickfire between surprise and delight and contemplation, mouth opening and closing but words failing to come out, until finally she found what she was looking for just as she leaned down so close, Twilight could nearly taste her strawberry chapstick. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, you want me to propose?”

Rarity’s fiery gaze held the princess paralyzed in place, the embarrassment she felt not even a minute ago now paling in comparison to the one she was feeling now.

“What? No. I mean. No. I-I’m fine—I know you want me to be the one to propose, and—I mean. Well. I guess. I’ve thought about it? I’ve thought about it. I don’t really care. But. If I had to pick. I don’t know. I-I definitely don’t care.” One glance at Rarity’s teasing look, and the words started coming out faster. “Why are you looking at me like that?” A raised eyebrow now joined the rest of the teasing look, and Twilight decided then and there that the ceiling was where her gaze belonged. 

“Okay! Yes! Yes,” she confessed. “I want you to propose. I want that. It would mean a lot to me. My entire life has been me saying yes to important choices where no wasn’t really an option—like tricking Discord, and then becoming an alicorn, and and and—and you’ve never really done that to me, and I really like that you love me, and I want you to ask me to marry you because for once I’d be able to say yes to someone I love and mean it. Okay? Okay! Great.”

“O-kay,” Rarity said and nothing else.

Twilight forced herself to look at her partner, still propped up over her, and all she found was an expression so intensely smitten, she suddenly remembered who was the actual charmer in the relationship. 

“Does that make sense?” she valiantly managed. “Is it clear?”

“Crystal.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay.” She forced herself to look at Rarity again, damned to hear her own voice sounding small and nervous, “…What do you think?”

Rarity slid off her and sat down on her haunches, humming thoughtfully. “What do I think? Hm! It’s definitely unorthodox. Not in my plans at all, I admit, but then again falling head over heels in love with Princess Booky herself was not in my plans either, and let me tell you I am very satisfied with that turn of events.” She regaled Twilight with her most dazzling grin. “I see the vision, honey, and I’m not opposed at all.” 

“Really?” Twilight beamed, hugging a pillow in excitement. “You would?”

“I would. Any ideas on how you’d want it to happen, your highness?”

“What? I don’t know,” Twilight said, giddy. “That’s up to you, silly.”

“Oooooh? Should it be? Are you quite certain you want that? Because I will go all out. I will take you to the grandest restaurant, befitting of a legend like you, and I’ll dress us both up in the most ravishing of dresses, and I will have NO choice but to shower you in love and affection. I will become the single most deliriously in love pony on the PLANET and—”

“Uhm,” Twilight interrupted, severely, “that’s not possible, Rarity.”

Rarity blinked in mock-confusion. “Oh no?” Then came back that dazzling grin. “Because I already should be the most in love pony on the planet?”

Twilight shook her head. “No.” And then came a giggling grin of her own. “Because that’s my title, actually.”

“Oh? Ooooh?” Without hesitation, Rarity immediately went back to Twilight, practically toppling herself over the alicorn as she drowned her in a sea of kisses and exclamations. “Oh, is it? Are you sure? Are you certain? Are you? Are you, Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed, choking with laughter and sheer, unrestrained delight, squirming under Rarity’s relentlessly tickling lips. “It’s my title. You can’t have it! It’s against the law!”

“Against the law? Really now? What laws, pray tell? Modern laws or your ancient pre-historic ones everypony has already forgotten? Hmmmmm?”

“Both!”

“Both! Oh my. Oh no. Oh dear! Well, I suppose it’s time to abandon my princess rescue era and shamelessly enter my criminal one with reckless abandon!” she declared, detailing her grand plans as her beloved princess felt loved and loved in return like she never imagined she could. 

Thus what was said before remained true once more: 

And there they were. 

As effortless as breathing. 

Like a single soul split into two.