In This World True Love is a Rare Light

Chapter 1

Rarity was as she had been for the last five days, locked in her work room. It had been exactly one week since the marriage of Princess Cadence to the now Prince Shining Armor. One week since Rarity found her heart and her mind tearing each other apart over her one of her best friends, Twilight Sparkle, or more appropriately Lady Twilight Sparkle now that her brother was married to a princess.

Could it be called exile if I were to never leave home? Twilight would know. NO, Rarity, you will not think of Twilight: you will not think about the countless times she has saved you; you will not think about how amazingly intelligent she is; you will not think….about that…cute pink...stripe in her mane. Oh, Rarity, you are simply the worst kind of pony. To fall for Twilight only now after she has joined the ranks of nobility, it is insulting to her…and…and to me. Am I really this shallow? I fell for that brute Blueblood, but now that I know him I couldn’t bear to be in the same room with him for more than five minutes. Oh, but Twilight is everything I could ever hope for! She’s brave, knowledgeable, talented, always wanting to help her friends. HER FRIENDS. *HER.** Oh how could I have not thought of this sooner: she’s a mare. Oh, what will she think of me? What will the others think of me? What will my parents think of me? What is wrong with me?!*

It was at this point that a series of knocks interrupted Rarity from her thoughts.

Who could that be? I’ve kept the sign on closed and I’ve filled every order I had before the wedding.

“One moment!” Rarity called as she made her way down to the front door.

“HELLLLLLLO Rarity!” A massive pink wall slammed into Rarity the moment she opened her front door.

“Hello Pinkie,” She replied in a flat and muffled tone through the mass of pink fur that had taken over her vision.

“Let ‘er go, Sugarcube,” Applejack spoke up, pulling the hyper active pink party mare off of the fashionista.

Once the wall of pink was removed Rarity was greeted with the sight of four mares, and one visage of beauty. Damn it Rarity, keep control for five minutes.

“Hi Rarity, we were hoping you would join us for a picnic…um if that’s ok with you," Fluttershy mumbled, her voice slowly diminishing to a level only the other five assembled friends could hear without difficulty.

“Oh, uh I’m sorry everybody I’ve got a huge order I have to finish and I’m still behind after the wedding,” Rarity smiled hoping that none of her friends could tell she was lying.

“OH, come on you’ve been shut up in that boutique damn near a week you need to get out!” Rainbow Dash nearly yelled.

“Calm down Rainbow,” Twilight finally spoke up “If she’s busy, she’s busy. Let’s go, everypony.”

“Yeah, come on everyone I’m sure we can have the picnic some other time,” Applejack said turning to leave.

“Farewell everypony I’ll see you later,” Rarity waved as her friends started to wander off.

“Rarity you know you can talk to us about anything, right?” Twilight asked, giving Rarity a concerned look.

“Whatever do you mean, Twilight?” Rarity asked raising an eye brow. No no no she can’t know. Can she?

“Well, it’s just you’ve been distant lately, apart from today none of us have seen you since the wedding.”

“I’ve…been busy.”

“Rarity…you’ve kept the boutique closed as well.”

“I have…a lot of orders from before the wedding to catch up on,” Rarity said, her eyes drifting to the ground.

“We’re all worried about you. I’m worried about you, Rarity,” Twilight replied looking at her friend with worry in her eyes.

“I’m…I’m ok, Twilight, I’m sure everything will fine in a few days.” Now you’re lying to her. Could you be any worse of a pony?

“Well, you know the offer stands; if you want to talk just stop by the library.”

“Yes of course, Darling, if anything comes up I’ll be sure to come see you.”

“Ok, Rarity…I’ll let you get back to work,” Twilight finished turning to leave.

“Thank you, Twilight.” Tell her how you feel. No you can’t tell her that she’ll see just how shallow you really are.

“Yeah, any time,” Twilight smiled as she left waving good bye to her friend.

Rarity turned and walked back into her boutique. She made her way back up to her work room.

Ok now where was I. Oh yeah, I had just realized that in addition to falling for one of my best friends because she is now part of the nobility, she is a she. How could I not have realized this sooner? Now not only will she hate me, but she will probably think I’m a freak.

It was thoughts like this these that swirled around Rarity’s mind slowly and surely bringing her self-worth to an all-time low.

Twilight Sparkle returned to the library with a heavy heart. She had hoped to get Rarity to admit that something was wrong instead it seemed all she had done was confirm the fact that Rarity was avoiding them.

“AGH, I can’t help Rarity unless she talks to me, but she won’t talk to me unless she stops avoiding us. I’m caught in a loop of uselessness!” Twilight screamed, rubbing her temples hoping to alleviate the headache that was slowly building from the frustration of being unable to help one of her best friends.

“Maybe I should have just admitted how I feel about her. No, how can I tell her about my feelings if I don’t even understand them myself. She’ll probably think I’m some kind of freak if I tell her that I think she’s the most beautiful mare I’ve ever seen; that it still amazes me how much braver she is than anypony gives her credit for; how she’s the only pony I know daring and skilled enough to be a Canterlot fashion trend setter from Ponyvile; how every time I see her my chest feels tight and my heart feels like it’s going to break out of my chest. Maybe some study will help me decide what to do about Rarity and all these thoughts I’ve been having for her.”

Twilight retreated to her kitchen to prepare a small dinner before a long night of studying and worrying.

The sun had set. The animals of Ponyvile had settled in for the night. All the necessary chores of sweet apple acres had been done. The day shift of the Ponyvile weather team had given way to the night shift. And four friends sat around a table at a closed sugar cube corner.

“Ok, so this is about how Twilight and Rarity have both been completely fruity loops recently, right?” Rainbow Dash started opening the meeting.

“Now Rainbow, that’s no way to talk about our friends, even if they ain’t been actin’ quite like themselves recently,” Applejack berated the speedster.

“Well, what would you call it then? Rarity has been locked up in her house since we got back from the wedding, and the past three times I’ve been to the library she’s just been staring out the window at Rarity’s place,” Rainbow rebutted.

“Well that just sounds like Twilight worried about Rarity,” Fluttershy spoke up.

“Yeah, except that two of those times were before the wedding.”

“Oh, that sounds a little odd,” Fluttershy apologized.

“OH, I’VE GOT IT!” Pinkie exclaimed bouncing nearly a foot into the air.

“Got what?” Applejack asked as Pinkie continued to bounce.

“I know what’s up with Twilight and Rarity,” Pinkie answered, stopping her bouncing.

“And?” the other three mares prompted.

“Oh, they totally have the hots for each other!”

Three shocked stares were all the response this statement received.

After several minutes of shocked silence Applejack finally managed a response, “Now Sugarcube, what gives ya that idea?”

“Well I’ve noticed Twilight and Rarity staring at each other when the other wasn’t looking and Rarity always walks Spike back to the library rather than letting him go on his own even thou we all know he would be fine on his own and I bet why Rarity has been all mopey recently is because she didn’t realize her feelings until now and now she thinks that she only loves Twilight because Twi’s royalty now and Twi’s probably freaking out because Rarity’s avoiding her,” Pinky managed to explain in a single breath.

“That… That actually makes sense,” Dash Replied.

“Now while Ah’ve got to agree that that makes sense, we can’t just assume. We’ve gotta be sure,” Applejack cut in.

“But how can we be any more sure than we already are?” Pinkie asked looking thoughtful.

“We would need somepony that Rarity can trust with anything,” Rainbow Dash responded almost mirroring Pinkie’s thoughtful appearance.

“Somepony that’s already got a reason ta talk to Rarity,” Applejack finished joining her two friends in thought.

Three pairs of eyes turned to Fluttershy as the three mares in thought realized that they had the perfect pony to discover the truth of Rarity’s feelings. Fluttershy looked back at the three mares feeling a sense of apprehension at what she knew was coming.

“I can try to get Rarity to go to the spa with me tomorrow.”