Rarity sipped her wine and suppressed a giggle. She couldn’t help herself; she felt… giddy. And why shouldn’t she? Most of her teenaged life she had spent daydreaming over being a force in the fashion world, a mover and shaker, and she was. Hard work, careful planning, and more than a little bit of creativity had brought her to the very zenith of Equestria’s—nay, the world’s—fashion scene. The other half of her teenaged years, of course, had been a rather misbegotten dream about finding her special somepony, some stallion of high breeding, strong flanks and grace of a mare. After that rather unseemly misadventure with a certain somepony-who-shall-not-be-cursed-because-she-was-a-lady-and-ladies-watched-their-tongues, she had foolishly convinced herself of the value of Trender Hoof as a mate. Other than his obsession with Applejack and her, ah, earthy ways, he really wasn’t for her anyway.
After so much failed attempts at romance, Rarity had decided to set those dreams aside, for awhile at least.
Her giggle, though, was not for that. Rather it was for the irony that love, it would seem, had found her.
The first note had been placed with an extreme amount of care into Rarity’s mail box in a way that suggested that it hadn’t come via the normal post. Indeed, the lack of stamps on the envelope indicated that as well. As for the contents—well, they weren’t too special, really, the author, who remained signed it only with ‘Your Special Admirer’, had praised her hair, her coat, and expressed a certain admiration for her.
It hadn’t made her blush at the time—those sorts of notes came later—but it was still nice to be appreciated. And they kept coming. Letter after letter, note after note, each with a greater amount of flourish and, on occasion, a gentle perfume, a kind, inviting scent that told Rarity rather explicitly that her admirer was a mare.
Well, that had been a bit of a surprise. Yet, Rarity found the idea of a marefriend, rather than a coltfriend, for a special somepony more and more appealing with each additional letter. After all, she had many mares as friends, why not one she could love in that way?
Regardless, she managed to convince the mare to let her send replies back; leaving notes addressed to the admirer in her mailbox overnight, only to find them gone and replaced with a reply in the morning. It was all very cloak and dagger and terribly romantic, and Rarity had never been convinced once to peek and see who it was.
Alas, Rarity’s love of Shadow Spade had led her down a path of deductive reasoning, logic, and curiosity, and in short order she was fairly certain of the identity of her mysterious admirer.
One Princess Twilight Sparkle.
She couldn’t resist dropping hints, little jokes and statements to let the darling mare know that she knew, but to her surprise it turned out Twilight had a much better poker face than she could have ever imagined out of a mare who wore her heart on her flanks. Try though she might, she could get neither a peep nor a squeak out of her.
It was time for this masqurade to end.
Rarity had asked, politely, that her secret admirer sit down with her on a proper first date, and to her surprise, Twilight had replied back not only with an enthusiastic affirmation, but also a suggestion of the restaurant: L'Herbe Coûteuse. L’Herbe was one of the better restaurants in Canterlot, and if that’s where her crush wanted to meet her, Rarity was more than willing to allow herself to be wooed over an expensive hay steak.
Which was where she was now, sitting at her table, sipping her wine and waiting for Twilight to show. Part of her was worried that Twilight would stand her up. In fact, it was rapidly approaching a whole five minutes past their stated wait time—but Rarity wasn’t worried. After all, she was used to divas in the world of fashion, and she was willing to bet her left cutie mark that Twilight was holed up in some closet somewhere, chewing on her mane and panicking as she was prone to do in these sorts of situations.
She was more than willing to indulge the mare.
For a little while at least.
“Oh, Rarity!” The voice interrupted her private musing, all those familiar tones of stress and worry colouring it, and approaching from behind. “I’m so sorry I’m late, there was a snag at the trains and—well, you know.”
Rarity didn’t look, she didn’t have to. Her admirer trotted past her and lowered herself onto the cushion across from her with grace and composure she had come to expect from a mare of Twilight’s upbringing.
Except it wasn’t Twilight Sparkle.
It was Twilight Velvet.
The older, grey mare smiled sheepishly across the table at her, apparently sensing her befuddlement, and spread her hooves wide. “Um, hello!”
Then it clicked for her.
“Oh, goodness,” Rarity said with a laugh. “I was a bit confused there, for a moment, Mrs Sparkle… I thought you were—let me guess, Twilight’s all cooped up in her room, terrified?”
Twilight Velvet frowned, tapping her chin. “Not that I know of. Why would—Oh! Of course!” she barked a laugh. “Let’s see here; ‘Your tail spirals like a graceful comet’s fire, twirling and tugging at my imagination. I try to banish you from my thoughts, but again, again! You prance back into them, all glass and beauty, fire and grace. I—’”
Rarity squeaked something that she would later insist was a plea for the mare to stop, but in fact was barely intelligible, or even audible, save for dogs, bats and Fluttershy. Miraculously, Twilight Velvet understood her anyway, and the grey coat didn’t hide the blush on her cheeks any better than Rarity’s white coat was at hiding the one on her’s.
“Y-you wrote them?” Rarity asked, plainly. She had hidden those letters with care, and despite all her teasing, she hadn’t shared any of them with anypony. Especially not after they became more… salacious.
“I can quote the others, if you wish,” Twilight Velvet said.
“Oh. Oh! N-no, that won’t be necessary,” Rarity laughed nervously. This was all very odd. Twilight’s mother had sent the letters?
“Ah, well, I think we ought to order, don’t you?” Twilight—no, no, Mrs. Sparkle!—Mrs. Sparkle waved down the waiter and placed an order for something or other. In her bewilderment, she had the rather rash decision to order the same, without even knowing what Coquillages de la Mer was.
It proved to be a clam dish, of all things.
There was little small talk. Twilight’s mother, obviously was shy, nervous, and perhaps a bit apprehensive, and Rarity could say the same of herself. Of course, one did not talk with food in one’s mouth, and despite the oddness of it all, it wasn’t until the very end of the meal that Rarity had to let go of the fantasy that she was just having a nice dinner with her friend’s mother, and had the face the reality of it. She was having a nice dinner with friend’s mother… as part of a date with said mother.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t attractive, the mare was clearly well looked after for her age, but, well.
She had given birth to her best friend for Celestia’s sake!
“You’ve been quiet,” Mrs Sparkle said, sipping her wine. The alcohol in it was clearly relaxing the mare, and doing wonders for Rarity’s own tension, even if she wondered if that was the best idea she could have, all things considered. Getting drunk, that was. “Have I… I’ve upset you, haven’t I? You were expecting Twily?”
“It’s, well I suppose, Mrs. Sparkle,” Rarity started, only to stumble as the mare in question winced.
“Please, call me Twilight—or Velvet, if you want,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “That just makes me feel old.”
“Well, you see, uh, Twilight,” Rarity said, pausing to let the word sink in. “It’s just, well, to be blunt—” you pushed my best friend out of your lady parts “—you’re married!”
“Oh, I know,” Twilight Velvet said nonchalantly, taking a sip of wine and then nodding over Rarity’s shoulder. “My Hubby’s over there.”
Rarity turned and looked, and sure enough here was Twilight’s father, sitting at another table elsewhere in the restaurant, sharing a fruit salad with… Applejack’s brother. As she watched, the Nightlight broke a banana in half and passed the other half to Macintosh, who slowly slid it into his mouth, apparently enjoying the flavour with relish. He probably doesn’t get much of that at home Rarity thought suddenly—only to break off her stare as Nightlight caught sight of her and his wife and waved happily to them.
Rarity turned back quickly. This was rapidly approaching Discord levels of weird.
“I…” Rarity gulped and avoided Twilight’s mother’s eyes. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Oh dear,” Twilight said, frowning in a way that was so maddeningly Twilight—her Twilight!—that it actually made Rarity feel a bit more at home. “It was the clams, wasn’t it? I thought they tasted off, but it's nearly impossible to get good shellfish in Canterlot and I just so love clams, you know?” She reached across the table and patted Rarity on her fetlock. “Don’t worry, dear. You’ll be fine.”
“How can you possible be here, on—on a date with me!” Rarity exploded. “You wrote notes to me, hundreds and, and—I don’t understand, are you a swinger or something?”
“Well, my husband is a bit of one,” Twilight said with a frown. “Myself, I’ve had flings with a few ponies, but I’d rather have a steady relationship with one.”
“You’re seriously asking me to, to—!” Rarity sputtered, only to instantly feel terrible as Twilight’s whole face fell.
“I… I should have known,” Twilight said, her voice crippled with sorrow. “It’s my age, isn’t it? I know I’m not as good looking as I used to be, but I do try, and, well…. I suppose every mare has to face a time in her life where she just admits she’s old and ugly.”
Rarity couldn’t stand the idea of somepony beating herself up over such a thing. “Oh darling, not at all, not at all. You’re lovely, I assure you! It’s just… well, I don’t wish to be rude, dear, but you’re my best friend’s mother.”
“I know,” Twilight Velvet admitted. “Twily’s always talking about you, actually. She really likes you.” A small, sly smile appeared on her lips. “Like, likes you, I mean.”
“I knew it.” Rarity’s discomfort was momentarily washed away in a tide of preening. She should’ve been a detective! “But, wait. If Twilight has a… certain romantic fondness for Moi… why?”
Twilight Velvet smiled somewhat sheepishly. “At first, I only wanted to see you up close, to see what was getting my daughter so excited—I am her mother, you know—but, well.” she plucked at the table cloth, avoiding Rarity’s eyes and blushing. “I’m afraid my daughter and I, we’re… similar, you might have noticed. I suppose my children and I have the same tastes in mares.”
Rarity’s eyebrows creased. “But what about your daughter? Won’t she be… jealous? I’m afraid I really must draw the line at some sort of intergenerational relationship, Twilight, I’m not about to enter into some sort of ménage à trois with you and… Twilight, darling.”
It was only after she had said so that she realized her was considering the older mare at all.
She made an adorable face that recalled so much of Twilight Sparkle’s better features. “Oh goodness! Celestia above, Rarity, I wouldn’t dream of such a thing! I… I like you, I really do; if I was thirty years younger and not, you know, where I am today, I wouldn’t hesitate dating you… but I think realistically we wouldn’t last, as it is.”
“No, I suppose not,” Rarity mused over a sip of wine as she considered the mare across the table. A quirky idea came to mind. “So… same taste in mares?” That came out without prior consultation with her brain over whether the question was a good idea, so Rarity stilled her tongue and hoped Twilight Velvet wouldn’t puzzle it out.
Twilight Velvet blushed, and coughed into her hoof, looking all the while a picture of embarrassment and demur behaviour. Until: “As soon as she turned eighteen. Thank goodness he was away at basic that summer.”
Rarity stared at the mare, feeling somewhat shocked, somewhat horrified, somewhat impressed.
“Well,” she said at last, her feelings melding and mushing together into something that was more akin to the sort of Discord-may-care attitude she attributed to adventuresses of all sorts. “Well! I suppose a mother does only want the very best for her children.”
“It’s only natural,” Twilight agreed, smiling back. Oh, yes, Rarity could see Twilight in her… with a certain mature seasoning that she found surprisingly attractive. “And, teach them all she knows…”
“Well then,” Rarity said, dabbing her lips with a napkin. “I suppose we’d better see what there is to see, mhmm? Perhaps we should take a stroll…”
“I hear the sky is lovely, this time of the night,” Twilight agreed, grinning and quoting one of her letters. “Although, of course, it pales in comparison to you, darling.”
“Oh darling,” Rarity laughed. “I suppose flattery with get you everywhere!”
Author's Note
What a great mom, looking out for her kids!
Happy Valentines Day, everyone.