She had never felt that way before. She had never possibly imagined that feeling so in love would be so… dizzyingly wondrous, breath-catchingly amazing, heartbreakingly beautiful.
Yet, for everyone else, it seemed obvious she’d fall for a princess. She was a princess, wasn’t she? And Rarity always went on about royalty and princes. Perhaps the latter word’s ending was the surprise.
But Rarity hadn’t fallen for a princess, hadn’t fallen in love with royalty and all that followed, to castles and lakes, to palaces and silk woven covers. She had not fallen in love for any of that for whom she fell for was not a princess.
Princesses were not awkward.
Twilight was awkward. She couldn’t act with poise or grace to save her face, couldn’t eat with the manners of someone who lives in castles and manors, she couldn’t be a princess due to her lack of finesse. She could only blush adorably upon realizing after a long study night that boots atop ears like a roof were certainly not near the hoof. She could only laugh with smittenly embarrassed pleasure when Rarity affectionately helped put her boots where they belonged, and then teasingly said, 'Dear lord, we must work on your fashion skills'.
Princesses never flipped out, only smiled with withheld excitement.
Twilight flipped out. Granted, her flipping would be far more on the perhaps a bit overeager side, she scarcely contained her feelings. How she’d stare at her idols with star-studded eyes, barely able to say hello before going off for two hours in tons of ‘oh gosh, can I tell you how much I admire you?’s. Or how she’d nearly tripped herself over in shock and joy and every feeling near when Rarity tearfully agreed to never be freed from her protective wings.
Princesses never spoke their mind unless asked for.
Twilight did, even when she didn’t want to. Her wit as sharp as a whip could hardly be stopped when it was out. Whether it was to dryly point out ‘No, Rarity, it’s way too late to go out for a trot’. Whether it was to sigh in unconvincing anger and loving smile how ‘Okay, okay, but this is the last time we go out late.” Whether it was to quietly ask after a midnight kiss in the park, ‘Can I tell you how much I love you?.” Whether it was for any of those or more, she always spoke her mind, asked for or not.
Princesses never got angry or cried, only frowned with disapproval.
Twilight got angry. She got angry when her friends were in danger, when she failed to see a plan to success, when Rainbow Dash once again fell asleep mid science bash. She cried too. Silent tears as if she’d been told once before crying wasn’t a sight to make others behold. She cried when she thought her beloved mentor thought of Twilight a vile disappointing tormentor; she cried when her home was turned to ashes and cinder, thousands of memories having been used as tinder. But more importantly, she cried in front of Rarity and never hid what she felt.
But there was one thing princesses do that Twilight also did:
Princesses looked out for their kingdom, even at the cost of their own happiness
Twilight had come over to help Rarity with a trivial dress for a trivial pony.
She looked uncomfortable that night, so different from the ones before where the boutique was like her home. She kept glancing around between narrowed eyes, and it felt to Rarity as if the alicorn was trying to remember every last detail of the place. She almost seemed to be avoiding eye-contact with Rarity, but whether out of anger or shame or sadness, Rarity couldn’t tell.
Maybe all three.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Rarity finally asked, turning off her machine and glancing through her glasses at her marefriend. If they’d learned anything from each other, it was that being honest with their feelings was the only working solution for problems between a drama queen and cynical librarian.
Twilight didn’t answer straight away, instead looking down at the fabric of the couch she was sitting on. She pawed at the red leather, breathing in and out just like she did whenever difficult news followed her calming exercise. “I…” She paused, her ears falling down to lie against her head, and silence once more reigned the room.
Rarity trotted over to the alicorn. “Twili—” She stopped when the alicorn raised her hoof. Rarity stepped back, her heart hammering in her chest. For Twilight not to want her near, it meant whatever bothered her was serious, and it involved Rarity. “Twilight…?”
“Fluttershy told me. We were out for lunch, and...” Twilight replied, taking another deep breath. She willed herself to look at Rarity, her eyes brimming with yet unshed tears. She looked down and continued, “You should have taken the job offer.” She looked up again. “Why didn’t you take it?”
Rarity frowned for a moment. She hadn’t asked Fluttershy to please keep quiet about her rejection of a work offer in Manehattan a week ago, and she now wished she had asked for the pegasus’ discretion. “Twilight! You had me worried, I thought something serious had happened!” she said in a lighter tone of voice, laughing softly so as to hopefully ease the mood. “Don’t worry about that, my darling. Besides, the entire job seemed terribly uninteresting!”
“Working full-time in Equestria’s top fashion magazine doesn’t sound like something you’d find terribly uninteresting,” Twilight remarked dryly, pawing at the couch again. “Sounds more like something you’d give up because…” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “... Because of the friendship missions.”
Rarity took a step towards the mare, tilting her head to one side. “You… think I declined the job offer because of that?” she asked, blinking at Twilight. “Don’t be ridi—”
“I’m not being ridiculous, Rarity! You rejecting that offer is… is like me rejecting a guided tour into Starswirl’s Lost Library! It’s the only explanation,” Twilight protested. “You should have taken that job, Rarity.”
A princess never spoke her mind; but since Twilight did, Rarity had no choice but to react accordingly.
“Aww, Twilight,” Rarity cooed, trotting up to her friend and playfully lifting her chin. “Have you yet to consider that maybe the reason I don’t want to move away is because of you?”
Twilight’s ear lifted, her tail slamming against the couch. “Of course I have! That’s what I’m saying!” she retorted, obviously upset at Rarity apparently having missed her point. “You feel obligated to stay because I’m a princess, and we both know The Equestrian Rumors Review is looking for any excuse to write a bad article on us! They’ll say all kinds of awful petty rumors about you, and I know how important public image is in the fashion industry…”
Rarity laughed haughtily, going back to her machine. “Twilight Sparkle, I couldn’t care less what petty tabloids think or say of me,” she replied with confidence. Honestly, she’d saved Equestria so many times already, her image was likely bulletproof by now.
“But I care!” Twilight replied with distress, folding her ears back again. “If I weren’t a princess, this wouldn’t be a problem…” she muttered, adjusting her wings and glaring at them as if they were the root of their supposed problem.
Rarity found it endearing how Twilight fretted over her and the others, even if they were all capable of finding a workaround to any problem they faced. “Twilight, you being a princess is hardly a problem,” Rarity reassured, taking the fabric under the needle of the machine and folding it. “Especially when you’re not a princess.”
Twilight blinked at her, furrowing her brow. “What do you mean?”
Rarity giggled slightly. “Well, as far as I recall, Princesses have impeccable table manners and…” She put the clothes down and rubbed her mouth. “How do I put this delicately?” She turned to Twilight and fluttered her eyelashes. “You eat like an adorable little piglet.”
Twilight looked indignant at that, her entire face flushing crimson. “I do not!” she stammered. “I’m serious, Rarity!”
“Oh, but so am I, my darling. You are not a Princess. You are Twilight Sparkle,” Rarity replied, trotting over to Twilight and sitting next to her, their tails intertwining behind them. She leaned in against her marefriend and continued, “And you know what? As much as I go on about them, I would not sacrifice much for royalty. But for you? I’d go to the ends of the world for you.” She left a quick peck on Twilight’s cheek before hopping down the couch and returning to her machine. “I found the job terribly boring because you wouldn’t be there with me.”
Unlike other princesses like Celestia herself, Twilight had yet to master her poker face. Her relief and pleased embarrassment by Rarity’s declaration were barely veiled by the serious expression she tried and failed to put on. “All right…”
“Besides,” Rarity said, clearing her throat and grinning, “I agreed to take the position, on the condition that I could work from here in Ponyville and make monthly trips to Manehattan.”
Twilight was quiet for a minute before saying: “... You could have told me that earlier, you know?”
Rarity laughed haughtily before winking at Twilight. “Yes I could have, but where’s the fun in that, darling?”
FIN
