A calm silence filled the air of Rarity’s room. Light softly glowed from behind the curtains that shaded her humble abode from the morning rays of the sun. Her bed squeaked slightly; she turned onto her right side, a faint smile on her muzzle a hint to the pleasantness that this slumber held. Her upper body was exposed to the cold air, yet she did not seem to notice.

As the door cracked open, the hinges squeaked while Opal’s tiny paws carried her across the floor. Each step gave off a tiny echo in her owner’s room. She let out a quiet mew, stepping up into her round-bed, and circled only once, kneading the soft fabric below her claws. Kneeling down, she laid her tail’s tip in front of her muzzle and closed her eyes with a silent purr.

But she opened them at the sound of a quiet yawn. Rarity raised her right foreleg up a little; she closed her mouth and sat upright, bringing her hooves up to her eyes underneath her sleep mask and rubbed them. The fabric hiding her eyes lifted up in a light-blue aura and onto her lap. Rarity opened her bright blue eyes and stared at the wall, but did not turn away, as if it was the most important object to her at the time.

She raised her forelegs into the air and stretched out. She turned her gaze to the covers above her legs and pushed them aside with her magic, then stood up and walked up to her bathroom door. Rarity closed it behind her and walked over to her shower and turned the bath’s head on. Water poured down in a small waterfall.

Just before her hoof reached for the small lever, Rarity blinked with a smile. ‘Why not skip on the shower for once? A bath actually sounds quite nice.’ With that, she lowered her hoof down to the bottom of the tub and pushed the plug in. The water cascaded onto itself with its tiny endless supply. Steam billowed out from the floor of the bathtub, which Rarity stood back up out of and went over to the mirror, taking a moment to wait for the right amount of water to fill up the bathtub. ‘Oh last night… that was just simply divine.’

When she had gotten on the train, she thought that within moments of seeing Twilight, she could only blame herself if she were to pass out. But after she saw her friend adorned with the dress she had made for her birthday, plus the sapphire blue eyeshadow, it was like staring at some heavenly figure. Rarity brought a hoof to her chest, sighing with a smile, and felt a small thump against her resting hoof. ‘My, Rarity, you must calm down. No need to work yourself up already.’

Although it was a nuisance for her body to act up in this way, she at least had gotten used to it. And it wasn’t as bad as she had experienced, one that Rarity shook her head at. “Honestly, I still cannot believe it drove me to a point of self… well, a term that a lady like me should never utter.” With a short giggle, her smile deepened at the memory, one she could still slightly feel even though it had been five days from now. ‘But a moment like that is hard to forget, especially since it was so sensual.’

She turned her attention to the bathtub, the water slowly rose up and was about halfway done; the steam continued to float upwards to the ceiling of her bathroom. Rarity returned her gaze to the mirror, raising an eyebrow at the mist that spread across the glass surface. ‘Oh don’t fret, Rarity. It will be fine. Besides you won’t really need it for the moment.’ With a small hum, she walked over to the edge of the tub and turned the faucet off. She took a moment to survey the amount of water, and with a faint smile, she nodded to herself. ‘Seems about right.’

Rarity gently prodded the water with a hoof. A shiver ran its way over her body, and a satisfied sigh followed soon after. “Perfect.” With this seal of approval, Rarity slowly stepped over the bathtub’s wall and stood in the warm water. She situated herself, kneeling down and turning herself onto her back. She slowly lowered the upper part of her body into the water. And with a gentle ease, she gently brought the lower half of her body down and gave out a tiny coo.

“My… that feeling is rather... decadent,” Rarity murmured at the sensation the warm water brought to her lower region. “But let us just ignore it. I don’t plan on playing with myself again. I mean… I could, but it’s only been five days since the last time.” That, and she didn’t need to exhaust herself. She brought a wet-soaked hoof to her chin and hummed again. With a smile, she closed her eyes and let the warmth lull her to a subconscious state.

“Besides… I promised Twilight I would visit her soon. Maybe today might work the best for that.” But she opened her eyes moments later and murmured, “And to add to that, I’ve been slacking off quite a bit with my dress designs.”

She blinked once before chuckling a little. “I guess that type of laziness only takes place when I don’t have any orders to fill. I mean, besides the dress I made yesterday night for my date with Twilight Sparkle.” And what a lovely time it was. Sure, it wasn’t some fancy place she had always dreamed of, but it certainly worked well enough to ensure a night she would remember for a long time. “But how can I forget? After all, it was the date that truly signified our love for each other.” Her blush returned at the thought of what she had done, even though it had been a minor kiss on her new marefriend’s cheek.

But she frowned moments later and turned her gaze to the left side of the bathtub’s wall. “And it could have gone so horribly wrong. I just have no clue how Twilight and I would have felt afterwards if we had not resolved the issue of our almost dissolved relationship.” A moment that she had tried to forget--their awful first date, if she could even call it that. In all romance novels, she had seen when the first dates went wrong, but even then they were able to get past it. ‘I’m just so glad that it was resolved.’

She smiled, although it was a little faint, and she nodded moments after. “I really do love Twilight Sparkle. And being able to regain our friendship... now a relationship is truly remarkable.” That smile disappeared, only for her to chuckle a little. “The scarier thought is how to introduce my parents to my marefriend.” She levitated a bar of soap to her, and rubbed it against her forelegs and chest while her light blue aura glowed brightly underneath the water.

She did worry about what her parents would say, or rather, how they would say it. She remembered how her parents were there the day before Rarity went with Sweetie Belle to the Sisterhooves Social (although she’d had a falling out with her sister and the plan required Applejack’s help to pull it off). Sometimes she felt embarrassed by them, an odd and rather unnecessary view, but she did worry what Twilight would think of them.

“But what about her own parents? Are Twilight’s as accepting as my own?” That was another thing that she did not know, since she had never actually met Twilight’s parents before. ‘Another thing that Twilight accidentally left out.’ Rarity frowned at that thought. She returned the soap to its former place and lifted a small container over to her mane, pouring its contents over her mane. She brought her hooves up to the shampoo and scrubbed it over her head.

But as she did this, she returned to that nerve-wracking thought: in romance novels, most introductions of the love interest’s parents were met with some or major disapproval, a thought that Rarity was rather nervous about. ‘Don’t be so nervous, Rarity. I’m sure you’ll get along swimmingly with her parents.’ A hopeful thought, one that helped her to at least calm down.

She dunked her mane deeper into the water, a sigh of content escaped Rarity’s lips as the water washed up and down her head. It was quite a soothing feeling. She imagined herself at Aloe and Lotus’ spa, the perfect getaway place, and chuckled a little at the thought. If she could, a relaxation area like that would be her permanent home. Another chuckle emanated from Rarity. “Too bad they don’t allow guests to stay overnight.”

Although if she could stay there, then her ensembles would never be finished. A sad reality, but nonetheless necessary for her to keep working on her inspirationally-driven designs. In fact, it felt just like this warm water floating all around her -- a place of ever-endless warmth that felt strangely like a small piece of utopia -- but, granted, if they ever ran out of any beauty products, it’d feel more like a nightmare. “I guess I’d pay for my hubris then. If I could ever believe something like that would ever happen.”

She ran a hoof through her mane and smiled when she brought it back to her gaze. “No bubbles or soap. Looks like I’m done here.” Rarity stood up and levitated the plug upwards. A rumbling echo resonated from the water rushing into the dark depths of the drain. She then focused on the towel and lifted it over to her. The blue aura disappeared, and she grabbed it with her right hoof and began drying off her forelegs and chest. Slowly she worked her way down and reached her back legs, gently going about it to insure that she didn’t excite herself.

‘Honestly. With the amount of effort that it takes for it to become excited--which is quite exaggerated since even we mares can get so antsy-_ I’m surprised I haven’t jumped all over it yet.’ But she knew that she had a rein on that desire, one she prided herself on being quite stable. ‘But enough talk about my… well, rear end. I should make Sweetie Belle and me some breakfast and then prepare myself to go see Twilight.’

She opened the door but stood still while she wrapped another towel around her mane. With a nod, she walked out of her bathroom and began her daily ritual of cooking and cleaning. Soon she would be ready to meet up with her love, Twilight Sparkle.

~~~

A train’s whistle bellowed outside the glass window. Rarity sat still and smiled a little as she tightened a pink and white-striped scarf around her neck, giggling a little at the sight. ‘Well, at least that is one thing that will help me keep warm.’ Even if it was a simple scarf, it actually kept her nice and cozy even in the worst of any windy blizzard. She jumped a little when the train hit a bump and rolled her eyes at the tiny nuisance. ‘Still. I do kind of wish this train wasn’t so bumpy. It doesn’t feel particularly nice on the rear when it hits those bumps.’

But she sighed and shook her head. ‘No need to complain, I guess.’ She looked out the side of the window. Her smile brightened at the sight of Canterlot and how close it had gotten. Rarity quietly squealed, shifting in her seat with an excitement. “I’m almost there. Oh, this is so exciting!” she said to herself, eyes glimmering with joy. Even if it had only been a day since she had last seen Twilight, she was still glad to spend more time with the pony she loved.

With how close she was, she brought a hoof to her mane and fixed it a little. Of course she was still nowhere close to Twilight’s residence, but she took it upon herself to at least look good once she got out from the train. She lurched to the left side a little as the train whistled one last time to signal its stop. She stood up and followed behind a couple other ponies, shivering a little at the cold wind that gently breezed by.

“My, it is rather cold today. But thankfully I brought my scarf along.” She rolled her eyes and could only imagine what one of her friends would have said about her unnecessary time in packing clothes for a trip. ‘Although there are times when they are right. But a lady must be prepared for any situation.’ And if the situation called for some nice afternoon wear, or some beautiful evening gown for a special occasion, then she was going to wear whatever the event called for.

While in this thought, she followed the same sidewalk up to her marefriend’s house. Certainly with the amount of times she had followed this path, it was rather an easy game of memory. Plus, as she walked up the street to Twilight’s house, she contemplated with a raised hoof to her chin, ‘Hmm… I do wonder what we could do together this afternoon? Maybe a nice stroll across one of the courtyards? Or we could certainly go shopping. Oh, what inspiration I could find if we could go dress shopping!’

Any idea would have been alright, so long as she could spend some time with Twilight. ‘Well… except for ruining my mane or adding any bit of dirt to my coat. Then I might have to agree to disagree.’ But if she would have to sacrifice looks for quality time, Rarity thought she might as well get used to it. She turned her gaze to the left and smiled at the same dirt path from before. But when she took a step, an audible ‘crunch’ echoed underneath. She lifted her hoof and chuckled a little at the sight of snow. It fell apart when she lifted her hoof, but she shook off the rest of it before she continued.

Each step she took crunched underneath, a tune that felt rather soothing while Rarity smiled. She stopped for a moment when she saw a flash of light quickly flare up from one of the front window’s, which raised an eyebrow. “Huh… that is rather bright.” But she shrugged it off. “Must be a new spell Twilight could be practicing.” And with some of the times she had visited Twilight before, her friend was always reading some new book, ready to try out a new spell if she could manage it. ‘Which is usually most of them.’ Rarity did feel glad that she did not have as much magic strength or stamina as Twilight. She felt that was rather unnecessary for sewing together dresses.

But shelving the topic for the moment, Rarity walked up the stairs and made her way to the door. She brought her hoof to the door and knocked on it twice. “Twilight, darling, it’s Rarity. I was hoping we could spend the afternoon doing something together.” She waited for a response. Yet a few seconds passed and still she stood there, waiting for the door to open . “Twilight? Are you in there?” She raised her muzzle up into the air, turning her attention to the window she had looked through earlier. But that flash of light she had seen earlier was still there, except now it had a green and dark tone to it.

‘Twilight?’ Something was wrong. She didn’t know what, but the energy quickly shifted. ‘She would have answered the door by now. And Spike hasn’t even shown up at the door either.’ Rarity knocked on the door again; however, her smile was gone. “Twilight I know you are in there. Please, open the door.” She raised her voice and waited, but still no answer. She looked up to the window again, but the green and purple light began to brighten more and more.

Eyes wide, Rarity’s frown deepened at the sight she saw. She knocked on the door again. A frantic tone overshadowed her earlier bright voice. “Twilight Sparkle, you open this door this instant!” The door was the one thing separating her and her marefriend. And still there was no response. She took the handle in her hoof and tried to turn it, but it was locked. ‘No! This can’t be happening!’

Rarity pulled and pulled against the door, but still nothing. “You open your door right now, Twilight! I’m serious!” After her futile attempt, she stood back and rammed into the door. Yet her short distance didn’t open it. She yelped and she rubbed her right shoulder. ‘This isn’t working! I need to get inside now!’ She stepped back a much longer distance and forced the door open, rushing into her marefriend’s house.

She ran up the stairs. As the green and purple mixed light grew ever brighter, she was forced to shield her eyes slightly with a hoof. Once Rarity reached the top, she turned to the source and almost screamed at the sight. “Twilight!” She watched as Twilight kneeled on the floor; her pained moans echoed out. The source of this pain glowed from her marefriend’s horn, a sight that sent shockwaves down Rarity’s spine.

Twilight opened her eyes at the sound of Rarity’s voice and turned her gaze to the white unicorn. “R-Rarity! You need to g-get out of here, now!” She then brought her attention elsewhere. Rarity followed where she turned to look and saw Spike huddling underneath Twilight’s bed, shaking while he watched the mare he knew as both sister and mother struggling to contain the spell. “G-get Spike and go! Please…!”

“I’m not leaving you here, Twilight! Let me help you--”

“N-no! You need to g--” Twilight screamed, the shriek of pain froze Rarity where she stood. The light on her horn grew and grew, and sparks flickered from the light show, which Rarity took as a sign that it was slowly growing unstable.

Rarity brought a hoof to her eyes, shielding her sight from the light while she inched closer. The wind blew past her mane, but she slowly made her way to her marefriend. “I… I’m not leaving you!” She watched as Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was another scream. Rarity turned her gaze to the light and gasped at the sight of the magic turned completely white before it consumed her marefriend.

“Twili--” She tried to scream but felt an immense pressure push against her chest. All went quiet as she felt her back slam into a wall. The light overwhelmed her eyes, and the only thing she could hear was a quiet ping that ringed through her ears. She flattened them against her head, and the world spun around her until she felt all movement cease. Rarity tried to open her eyes, but the weight that she pushed against was just too much.. Her eyes felt heavy, and she couldn’t move any part of her body. Her back and front legs, her ears and tail felt like they were slabs of concrete. ‘T-Twilight…’ And moments after she lost consciousness, a silent last breath escaped her lips with the last movement she could make.

~~~

Rarity lay still, but everything was dark. She could feel her heart begin beating once more. The warmth returned while she let out a quiet groan. ‘W-wha… where… whe--’ Her eyes opened wide. Memory kicked in when she saw wood debris from the house stationed around her. “Twilight…” Rarity murmured weakly. She tried to lift herself up but gasped in pain at the pinned sensation of her right backleg. It didn’t help either as she tried to push herself up with her front forelegs. Bits of dust trickled past down her, the creak of other broken beams and floors. ‘I… I have to find Twilight.’

“Rarity!” She froze at the sound of her name being yelled. The voice she heard, it was like a prayer being answered for her.

“Spike! I’m down here!” Rarity yelled. She blinked once before she thought about the sound of her voice. “O-oh… please let him hear me.” She didn’t enjoy the fact that she had a dry and weak tone. With a grunt, she struggled against the debris that toppled over her but couldn’t even move an inch. Another strained voice echoed behind her. Rarity glanced over her shoulder and saw Spike. Although he had a small frame, he managed to lift up some of the debris on top of her.

Rarity slowly stood up once he took off the last bit of debris. She turned around and hugged Spike. “Thank you, darling.” Yet she pulled away and looked him over. With a silent sigh, she felt glad that he seemed to not be hurt in the slightest. ‘Thank goodness for his thick scales, I suppose.’ But she dismissed the concern and asked, “Where’s Twilight?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but instead he pointed at her. “Rarity… are you going to be alright?”

“Spike this isn’t the ti--” Rarity began to say, but a warm presence spread across her shoulder, which she dabbed at it daintily with a shaky hoof. She gasped at the sight of her own blood. She shook her head for a moment. ‘Now’s not the time to worry about how I look! I need to find Twilight!’ “Don’t worry about me, Spike. Tell me, where’s Twilight?”

Spike’s eyes lowered slightly, and he slowed his breathing. “She’s upstairs. I didn’t know what to do, so I came looking for you.”

Rarity nodded her thanks and quickly ran up the stairs, pushing any sort of rubble out of her way. Once she made it to the top, she spotted Twilight and let out a sharp cry at the sight. “Twilight!” she yelled. She ran over to her marefriend’s side and looked her over. A small pool of blood had formed around the front of Twilight’s body, and the source of this came from two large gashes: one that spread a few inches across the left side of her barrel, and one located on her chest.

Quickly she wrapped a hoof around the unmoving mare, tears threatened to break through the dam she forced upon her eyes. ‘No… I can’t cry. I must save Twilight.’ She heard a small groan emanate from her marefriend, and gently as she could she lifted her up over her back.

“Rarity…” She turned around to see Spike while she finally secured Twilight onto her back. “Is… T-Twilight going to be okay?”

“Y-yes, darling. But we need to get moving.” Rarity assured him and walked past him, glancing back and nodding for him to follow. She heard another small groan from Twilight. The tears she held back finally trickled down her muzzle. Rarity could only hope that she would make it to a hospital, or someplace close enough to her marefriend’s house. If she didn’t, then everything she and Twilight had worked for--from a fissure between them that almost ended their friendship to her friend returning to fix what was broken and giving them a relationship closer than being friends-- would be lost if she couldn’t save Twilight in time. ‘Don’t you dare, Twilight… don’t you dare die on me…’

Author's Note

Oh you thought it was going to be that easy? Guess again!