Soul So Vibrant

Mind.

Off.

Things.

Rarity’s creation room was a disaster zone. Hay, her entire boutique was a disaster zone. Stray bolts of fabric strewn all about. Dresses here and there. Marrequins toppled over, some adorned with various garments, others completely bare.

And Rarity herself? Well, she was nothing short of frazzled.

The mare had come home to an empty boutique. Sweetie Belle was at school, of course, but the mare she really needed to see—Twilight Sparkle—was nowhere to be found, and neither were any clues as to her unexplained departure.

Of course, Rarity, with a start, had realized that she could now see her entire boutique in all of its vibrant shades. Which included everything. The wallpaper, the garments she had been making, all of her decor, the furniture, the photos…

The photos. They had been the biggest deal. As soon as she laid eyes on the first one and unintentionally exposed herself to the tiniest hint of lilac that adorned it, she had slammed it face down on its surface with her magic—which was a very attractive shade of blue, she might add—and promptly left her boutique to hunt down Twilight Sparkle herself.

But, for some odd reason, Twilight wasn’t around town at all. She wasn’t at home in her castle, nor anywhere else she typically hung out. She seemed to have made an unexpected excursion out of town, and stars only knew where she had gone to, why she had left, or how long it would be until she returned.

Running out of options, Rarity resigned herself to having to return home.

But not before first stopping at the home of her best friend.

“Please please please, you beautiful butter-yellow creature, you,” she had implored to Fluttershy. “I cannot lay eyes on a single photo of Twilight Sparkle with my color-sight. Not before I can see the real thing myself. You must do this for me, Fluttershy. You must.”

And so, Fluttershy—her day thoroughly interrupted—had nonetheless kindly followed Rarity home so that she could spend a good chunk of her time hunting down any and all traces of the alicorn. Every photo, every personal belonging emblazoned with her cutie mark, every stray mane-hair and leftover feather.

Was Fluttershy annoyed? Perhaps a teensy bit. But it was eclipsed by the sheer unbridled joy—and the teeny hint of concern—that she felt for Rarity on the day of her soulmating.

Making Rarity’s home Twilight-free was a lot of work, too. Even now, several months after the destruction of the beloved Golden Oak Library, Twilight still felt horribly uneasy in her new castle—and for good reason, the thing was a horribly-mismatched crystalline blight upon the landscape of the once-sleepy township—and thus had been spending an inordinate amount of time at Carousel Boutique, such that a great many signs of her near-permanent residence had been scattered about.

But, in good time, Fluttershy had managed to clear out pretty much the entire downstairs, leaving Rarity to freely float about the first floor of her home, examining all of the colors that comprised her household.

Once she had finished cooing and cawing over the pastel hues that decorated her home—”Even with graysight, I had excellent taste in color!” she had exclaimed to a softly-giggling Fluttershy—she had moved onto her own carefully-woven garments, many of which, upon colored examination, now needed a comprehensive redesign.

And so, along with a complete reorganization of her creative room, she began separating her clothing lines—the ones that needed preservation from the ones that needed revision. It was a task that occupied a massive chunk of Rarity’s active brainspace.

Which was good. Because otherwise, they would be utterly consumed by thoughts of Twilight Sparkle.

Rarity had been counting on being able to chat with Twilight, to confront her about the revelation, to work through it with her, so that she could out how best to approach the ultimatum that Tinder had revealed. So much of the weight behind her next decision relied on how well the discovery of Rarity’s soulmate would go over with Twilight, and she needed the mare’s help. She couldn’t make a choice like this on her own.

And yet, the mare was nowhere to be found. Without her, all that consumed Rarity’s mind were the same questions that had so utterly filled her with dread all morning.

Twilight Sparkle. Where had she gone?

The thought plagued Rarity’s mind. And despite everything Tinder had done to soothe her anxieties, the aches, the fear, the terror, Rarity’s unending distress over the staggering unknown that was Twilight Sparkle… it lurked in the depths of her heart.

So Rarity worked. To stave off the darkness in her heart.

New designs. New colors. New… everything.

In anticipation for the day Rarity gained her color-sight, the mare had specifically prepared a beautiful set of professional colored sketching pencils. The smell of new art supplies wafted forth from her canvas as she sketched.

Out of the hundreds of colors that now made up her extensive collection…

…she had chosen mulberry.

Like a foal.

And so sketched the foalish Rarity. And for a good long while, the only sounds were of the near-silent scratching on her canvas, and the ruffling as Fluttershy helped her with the reorganization of her boutique.

Until, all at once, the shuffling sounds from out in the foyer came to a stop, leaving a pregnant aural void in the household.

Perhaps Fluttershy has gone to use the little fillies’ room—?

Her ears picked up something.

Voices.

Whispers.

Oh no.

She clamped her ears shut and continued focusing on her sketch.

Twilight is home.

Her heart began beating like crazy. The beats reverberated in her head. Thump. Thump.

I should go greet her.

Which is exactly what Rarity did not do.

Rarity heard the muffled whispers of Fluttershy and Twilight through her downturned ears, barely registering the words. But she shut it out. She closed her eyes. She closed out the world as best as she could.

But there it was. The sweet, distant windchimes of Twilight’s dainty, girlish voice, fighting for domination over the heavy heartbeat echoing in her head.

And… ultimately, Rarity couldn’t take it anymore.

She opened her eyes. And her ears.

And she let it in.

“…for trying to warn me,” came the siren call of Twilight’s voice, in all its perfect clarity.

Rarity relished the sound. And she hadn’t realized how much she missed it.

It was now or never.

…Well, no, not never. Maybe a few minutes later. But now was better.

“Twi…” Rarity began, her voice hoarse and unsteady. She cleared her throat daintily, and managed to recapture some semblance of her usual manner. “Tw-Twilight, is that you?”

A moment’s pause.

Hoofsteps.

Clip. Clop. Clip. Clop.

…

She was here.

Rarity sketched on. Bold, sweeping lines of mulberry.

She didn’t turn around.

For a time, there was no sound beside the scratching of Rarity’s sketch pencil. Twilight was surely in her room now, but for some odd reason, she didn’t say a word.

Perhaps she couldn’t.

Neither could Rarity.

And Rarity didn’t turn around. Not even when Twilight finally broke the silence.

“How are you feeling?” came her delicate singsong voice, the voice that Rarity so loved. “Fluttershy said you’d been looking for me, but I… I left for Canterlot earlier.”

Rarity was hesitant to answer, at first. How was she feeling? She was feeling so, so many things. And very few of those things were pleasant.

But she focused on Twilight’s beautiful voice, and as much as her heart ached… she could still feel it soar.

“I… I feel very different,” she eventually replied. Setting her pencil down, she began to turn. “Twilight…”

Another pause as she considered exactly what she was about to do.

And even though she steeled her resolve to speak, it wasn’t enough for her to turn around. Not yet.

“Twilight, there’s something I need to tell you—”

“I already know,” declared Twilight.

Rarity froze. Twilight already knew? How? Who?

“Applejack told me earlier today,” she continued, her voice clipped. “She… she said you met a stallion at the marketplace, and…”

Her voice trailed off. And Rarity’s thoughts grew ever louder. So loud, that Rarity couldn’t prevent herself from voicing them.

“Applejack told you?” Rarity asked, a cold edge to her voice. She turned back to her sketch, picked up another pencil, and began sketching more. Orange. “She could have asked me before telling you.”

“I heard some ponies talking about it at the main plaza,” Twilight quickly blurted out, “so I saw Applejack and I made her tell me. And she agreed because… she was worried, I suppose.”

“Worried?” Rarity made a jerking motion, but stopped herself again. Not yet. “Worried why? Did something happen?”

Of course something had happened. What an insipid thought. They both knew exactly what happened.

So why was Rarity treating this like it wasn’t a big deal?

“Applejack thought I’d think you… wouldn’t want to be with me anymore because of this.”

Rarity froze. Again. But this time, she felt the warmth leave her face. She felt it.

The dread.

Twilight’s words hadn’t just hammered in the source of Rarity’s dread with a rusty nail… they had pinned underneath them all of the fear, the uncertainty, the doubt that had plagued Rarity over the last two years.

In just a few words… all of Tinder’s efforts, all of his ministrations… had come undone. And the fear closed in on Rarity’s mind once more, the suffocating fog closing upon her, causing her to nearly choke in pain. Suddenly, she found it harder to breathe. Suddenly, her sight began to blur as the pain stung her eyes. Suddenly, she felt tears bursting at the seams of her lids, tears she could only just barely suppress.

“A-and just seeing how you can’t even turn to look at me,” came Twilight’s voice again—unsteady, trembling, so filled with terror of its own, “or that you turned around every photograph you had of me—” she heard a choking sound, as if Twilight were too fighting back tears “—then I guess she was right to be worried.”

Her final words came with a deafening coldness. And it chilled Rarity to her core, leaving Rarity hurt right down to the very core of her being.

Twilight believed, fully, that Rarity wanted to abandon her.

And something else in Rarity began to build. But this time it wasn’t pain. This time it wasn’t a suffocating fog. This time it wasn’t fear.

This time… it was outrage.

And Rarity’s outrage revealed itself in full force as she leapt out of her chair, throwing it to the ground and nearly startling Twilight out of her horseshoes as it sent scattered art supplies flying.

“No.”

It was done. She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to clear this misconception. Right here. Right now.

“Twilight,” she began as she turned around, determined to no longer face her problems. “We only turned the photos away because I wanted to… to see you… in…”

Rarity’s speech sputtered out pathetically, along with all of her outraged intent… as she finally turned around. Her jaw hung agape. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets. And the glasses carefully perched on her nose nearly slipped off.

With a single hoof, she rose to push them back onto her face.

And the mare before her came into sharp clarity once more.

There she stood. Her beloved, in all of her chromatic glory. Every inch of Twilight’s countenance was exposed to Rarity’s color-graced sight, from the short pale furs of her mulberry coat and wings, to the rich vivid blue of her silky smooth mane, a blue as dark as Luna’s endless night sky, streaked with brilliant comet stripes of pink and purple.

At once, Rarity knew that she was gazing upon the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen.

…Even with that stupid, nonplussed look of utter shock on Twilight’s face.

The mare in question blinked—her brilliant purple irises dilating in all their hued glory—as she processed the several seconds of eternity that passed between the two mares. And her facial expression only became more baffled.

It was enough to elicit a snort from Rarity.

“Snrrkt.”

Instantly she threw a hoof to her mouth, suppressing the noise. But it couldn’t stop. Neither the giggles that were threatening to burst from her muzzle, nor the tears of mirth that cascaded down her face, ruining her mascara.

All of the pain. All of the fear. It had evaporated in an instant. And all that was left was laughter. And as Rarity devolved into a basket of giggles, Twilight simply looked on in perplexed shock, unable to say a word.

It was Rarity who spoke first, in between her fitful laughs.

“Twilight, you… Oh my goodness, I…” Another burst of laughter.

“... Rarity?” Twilight asked, ever so cautiously, like she was about to handle an unpredictable alien creature. “Are you okay…?”

“Oh! Oh, I’m terribly sorry, my darling,” Rarity finally managed as her giggling came to an end. She wiped her eyes with a hoof, smearing makeup all over it. But she didn’t care. “I’m just stunned, is all. I didn’t know it was possible for you to look more beautiful. But oh goodness, I’ve never been happier to have been proven oh so wonderfully wrong.”

Twilight, still utterly dumbstruck by Rarity’s response, could do nothing but stand there, gaping as a pronounced color began to overtake her cheeks.

Rarity had seen this same phenomenon on Tinder just hours earlier, but somehow on Twilight it looked infinitely better. She devolved into another fit of giggles.

“Oh, oh, Fluttershy! Fluttershy!” Rarity called excitedly, causing Fluttershy to poke her head into the room. “Is ‘blushing’ when her cheeks turn all red and adorable?”

Upon that pronouncement, Twilight’s cheeks only reddened even further, her ears flattening against her skull in extreme mortification.

Fluttershy gave her own soft, dainty giggle. “I don’t know, but I think it is, yes.” Rarity squeed, causing Fluttershy to roll her eyes good-naturedly at the excitable mare. “I’m going to go finish organizing the dresses outside.”

Fluttershy’s departure only cued Rarity to even greater lengths of excitement. Without a moment’s hesitation, she had snatched one of her brand new color palettes off the wall, and was holding them up to Twilight to compare. She needed to know everything about the mare, every color, every shade. And so enraptured by this process of discovery she was, so oblivious to Twilight’s protestations, that she hadn’t even deigned to stop until she was forcefully brought to a halt by Twilight’s magic.

“Rarity, will you please calm down?!” Twilight shouted.

Rarity blinked. She found herself staring into Twilight’s face. Twilight’s dumbfounded, flustered little face.

She always looked so adorable when she was angry.

“Hi,” Rarity said sweetly to Twilight.

Twilight groaned, releasing her magical grip on Rarity, who landed with a clippity-clop, no worse for wear. “Hi.”

Rarity tilted her head at Twilight, about to ask her if anything was amiss, until Twilight beat her to it.

“Are you alright?” she asked, her eyes tilted in concern, and Rarity was nearly struck breathless at Twilight’s continued worry. “It… didn’t hurt you or anything, did it?”

Rarity had to restrain herself from giggling again.  “I’m perfectly healthy, Twilight,” she assured her, reaching up with a hoof to brush back Twilight’s bangs. “It happened so quic—”

Her eyes.

Oh my goodness.

Her eyes.

She hadn’t seen them this close yet, and it was like she was gazing into an endless abyss of beauty.

Rarity could not stop herself from squealing at the sight.

“Oh my goodness, look at the color of your eyes! They’re BEAU—”

”Rarity, please!” Twilight interrupted, breaking eyesight.

“Oh, Twiiiliiiight,” groaned Rarity, “let me have this moment, will you? Don’t you know how long I’ve wanted to be able to see you like this? And now that it’s happened, how can you expect me not to fawn over how beautiful you are?”

It was true. So many times throughout the last two years, Rarity had teased Twilight about how drop-dead gorgeous she might be with color-sight. And now that she had it…

It was like she was falling in love with Twilight Sparkle all over again.

“Rarity, please, this is serious,” Twilight insisted in that frustrated whine of hers.

“Oh, but I agree completely,” Rarity chided her. “You truly are seriously beautiful,”

Another blush graced her cheeks, and she rolled her eyes at Rarity’s smart attitude.

But she finally smiled. The tiniest smile. And Rarity felt her heart soar once more.

But just as quickly as that smile had formed… it faded away.

”Rarity, I just…” Her voice petered off.

Rarity tilted her head, staring in concern. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong? You’re not happy?”

“How can I be happy, Rarity?” said Twilight, her voice cracking, her hooves shakily taking her several cautious steps back from Rarity, pawing at the ground with an unsteady hoof. “You met your soulmate.”

The pang of pain beat at her heart again.

“How am I supposed to compete with the pony that ‘destiny’ says you’re supposed to be with?”

And again. It grew stronger.

But this time…

Rarity was ready.

She glared at Twilight, glared at the pain in both her own heart and the heart of the mare before her. She glared it away.

She would not let it consume her again.

“Twilight, we talked about this,” Rarity said, quickly working out in her head a means to reassure Twilight. “I thought you didn’t believe in soulmates and things like that.”

“But you do…” she replied, her voice quavering even more than before.

And suddenly it made sense. Why Twilight hadn’t been home. Why she had disappeared without leaving.

She had run away. To seek solace. Kinship. Perhaps from her mentor, Princess Celestia? Perhaps from her sister-in-law, Cadance?

“Oh, my darling…” She went in to sweep her into a hug. “This is why you’ve been gone all day, isn’t it?”

Twilight silently nodded, sniffling lightly. And at that moment, Rarity realized she had been wrong in thinking that Twilight had made it through the morning unscathed. Rarity hadn’t been the only one who had been suffering all this time.

And it moved her heart.

Of course. “This is why I should have told you first, not those gossiping devils. You poor thing. You must have been so horribly upset all day.”

Just like me.

A moment’s silence passed as Rarity soaked in the sensation of Twilight’s coat against her own. She was reminded of how much she loved nestling into the other mare’s embrace, the soft, naturally-dainty bristles of her furs.

Twilight seemed hesitant at first to reciprocate Rarity’s affections… but eventually, she gave in to the same sensation.

And for just a moment… they snuggled in silence.

But a terribly short moment it was, as Twilight distanced herself slightly from Rarity. The now vacant furs on her coat felt cold, and already Rarity yearned to feel Twilight’s soft touch again, only mere seconds after they had left.

Rarity almost pined for Twilight to attend to her again, but was stopped cold as Twilight whispered something.

“What about… him?”

Him? She must have meant… Tinder Hooves.

“I mean, what if he wants to be with you?”

The fresh memories of their conversation came rushing back to Rarity, brought once again to the forefront of her mind.

Dearest Tinder Hooves. He had been so patient, so ready to help her through her internal conflict, so earnest in his efforts to help reconcile Rarity with her feelings for Twilight.

Despite the fact that he, himself, wanted her.

And deep down, there was a small piece of her heart that wanted him too. It was an old piece, left over from her childhood, a seed that had tumbled through the depths of her mind for decades, hoping to at last take root in her heart so that it could grow into the beautiful flower she knew it would become.

But she had to make a choice.

Right here.

Right now.

She dug deep into her heart and found her pain. It was still there, aching in the back of her heart, festering with uncertainty and doubt. She brought it to the forefront of her mind. It pounded against her psyche with incredible force, and Rarity mentally writhed under the agony of it all once again.

She grasped at the strength that she had drawn from Tinder Hooves of Tall Tale. His friendship, his support, pulsed with overwhelming vitality. It filled her soul with fortitude, filled her spirit with power, filled her heart with the conviction.

And with that conviction, she was finally able to reach out and force her way through her pain, to reach further and deeper than she ever had before, to finally find what she had been seeking all through the two longest, most chaotic, most incredible years of her life.

And when she did… she found warmth.

There was an old warmth, faded but not forgotten—the warmth of a confession on that cold winter night, the warmth of those constant assurances that Rarity was more beautiful than anything else in the world, the warmth of those early months filled with the novel wonders of a passionate romance still in its infancy.

There was a steady warmth, thrumming under the surface, steadfast after two years of constant cultivation—the warmth of Twilight’s endless earnesty, the warmth of her coat against hers, the warmth that flooded her heart every time she spoke, the warmth that set alight every nerve in her body during their most intimate moments.

And there was a new warmth, bright and powerful—the warmth of the kaleidoscope of violet hues that sprung into Rarity’s sight whenever she gazed upon the mare she loved, the warmth of her burning faith that destiny’s plans meant nothing in the face of their bond, the warmth of Rarity’s own conviction that she had the power to choose, to decide her own fate, to declare her own romantic allegiance to the one pony in the world that deserved it most.

Twilight Sparkle.

If the universe refused to make her her soulmate…

…then Rarity would have to do it herself.

So she did.

And it was done.

There was no ceremony. No flood of relief. No flash of light. No rousing brass fanfare. No leap of jubilation. No sign that anything significant had changed at all. There was nothing to declare the certainty of Rarity’s decision.

But she didn’t need any of that. She needed no pomp and circumstance. She needed nothing, save her own conviction, to declare her certainty.

For she had never been more certain of anything else in her life.

And that certainty was enough.

Twilight Sparkle was the love of her life. And that was a truth as immutable as destiny itself.

Rarity stepped back. She gazed into the shimmering, effervescent eyes of the mare she dared to love against fate. Those beautiful, terrified eyes. The most beautiful eyes in the world.

And she moved forward, until their lips met.

It was a chaste kiss. A pure kiss. Nothing but the smoothness of their lips made contact. Over the years, they had done far more, far greater, far more affectionate things with their lips, in hopes that in doing so they could convey even a fraction of the passion and the love they had for each other.

But here, right now, that one pure kiss communicated everything Rarity needed to say.

And Twilight stepped back. Her eyes glimmered with recognition. With understanding. With that same conviction that drove Rarity to certainty.

And she smiled.

“Twilight,” Rarity began, but stopped cold. What words did they even need at this point? Everything was going to be okay.

No. There was still a loose thread, that she needed to resolve for herself.

Her dear friend.

“Twilight… I am immensely grateful to Tinder Hooves for helping me gain my new sight. But… as of now, I have absolutely no interest in pursuing a relationship with him, and I can assure you he will feel the same way.”

As she said the words, she knew them to be true. She knew he would know them to be true as well.

“I made it very clear to him that I’m already in a wonderful, loving relationship with a very silly pony.”

Even as she said those words, even if they rang with truth… her heart still ached for him. The apology she gave at the cafe as they parted ways would forever remain the penultimate display of romantic affection that she would ever give him.

But she knew, by the resoluteness in his voice, by the support he so readily provided to Rarity as she festered in her uncertainty… she knew that this is what he wanted for her. Even more than what he would have wanted for himself.

Rarity closed her eyes.

Thank you, Tinder Hooves. For everything.

“…not a silly pony,” came the voice of Twilight’s protestations, bringing Rarity back to reality.

And Rarity laughed. It was a soft laugh. But it was a weightless laugh. Free of restraint, unburdened by doubt. A genuine, loving laugh. “Oh yes you are, Twilight Sparkle. Only a very silly pony would think I’d give her up over something as silly as this, when I had realized long ago that she was my soulmate.”

Twilight gaped at that declaration. “You mean that?”

Rarity smiled at Twilight. Somehow, she was still left in disbelief. Somehow, she still doubted herself.

Twilight had spent years trying to settle Rarity’s doubts.

It was only fair that Rarity would spend some time settling Twilight’s.

“Twilight, how could I not?” Rarity said, her voice filled with awe. “Not when I love you to pieces, and when you’re so smart, and beautiful.” She giggled, fluttering her eyelashes. “And not to mention adorable, when you blush just like you’re doing now?”

The declaration made Twilight blush even more. Distantly, Rarity wondered whether she could make it even redder. She reached out with a hoof and tapped Twilight gently on the nose.

Her face practically exploded with color.

Ah. There we go. What a gorgeous shade of red.

“Frankly,” Rarity said with finality, “you are too adorable, Twilight Sparkle.”

With that, something changed in Twilight’s expression. A glint in her eye.

And she smiled again.

But this time… she moved forward. And she embraced Rarity with all the gentle love that Rarity could ever remember.

Rarity wrapped a hoof around Twilight. “Are we feeling better now?”

“Much better… So much better,” Twilight said. "I love you..."

"I love you too, darling," Rarity replied.

Rarity knew that, with the revelation of her soulmate, those old doubts would come to plague Twilight again. Rarity knew that Twilight would be faced with times of trial, and would need Rarity’s help to overcome them. Tinder had said himself that this relationship would not be without risk.

But it was a risk that Rarity was willing to take.

"I can't wait until you can see in colors too,” she whispered.

Rarity idly wondered: when that happened, would Twilight face this same crucible in the future, the same crisis of faith that Rarity had? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But Rarity knew that she would do everything in her power to be there for Twilight when that day came.

For she could think of no greater gift than to let Twilight gaze upon her with color-sight for the first time.

After all, it was such an incredible experience for Rarity herself.

“And sweet Celestia,” she said, stepping back to gaze into Twilight’s luscious twin orbs again, “have I told you I simply cannot get over your eyes? Is this what they mean by getting lost in somepony's eyes?"

"Pfffft." Twilight laughed. She kissed Rarity on the muzzle again.

Rarity giggled at the contact. Though…

Out of the side of her eye, she noticed there were several strange objects floating in a magenta field of magic.

This… is Twilight’s magic, isn’t it?

“T-Twilight? Twilight, dear, what’s all this?

“Ummm, soooo…” Twilight said sheepishly.  “Are you busy for the next six hours? And have you taken any liquids or eaten anything for the past twelve? That might… alter the results, but I can work with it.”

Alter the results?

Ah.

Experiments.

“Ooooh dear…” Rarity grinned.

But another idea came to her.

“You know, Twilight,” she said, blinking mischievously. “Now that I have color-sight… I have an experiment I’d like to perform of my own.”

Twilight looked up from one of her clipboards, raising an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yes.” Rarity approached Twilight with a sultry look. “Perhaps, with the proper application of… equine motor skills…”

The door suddenly shut, with only a moment’s flash of baby blue to indicate the cause.

“I’ll be able to make you see colors too.”

Twilight blinked. And it dawned on her exactly what this experiment would entail.

“…Oh.” Twilight blushed again. “…Sure?”

With one last flash of her periwinkle magic, Rarity closed the blinds.

And the world became their kaleidoscope.