“Parry! Parry! Thrust! Thrust! Good!” Rarity swept Twilight’s blade away, nodded proudly and then promptly slapped Twilight’s flank with the flat of her sword.
“Rarity!” Twilight squealed as she leapt into the air, skidded across the snow and glared at the serene-looking doe. “What was that for?”
“Whatever do you mean, my dear princess?” Rarity said as she flourished her blade into the ready position once more. Twilight eyed her warily, trying to ignore her sleek figure encased in starsilver armor and trying to anticipate any additional attacks at the same time. It wasn’t exactly easy multitasking. “I was simply complimenting you on your fine performance!”
“By whacking my… my flank?” Twilight sputtered. She could feel the heat of her blush melting the drifting snow from above.
It wasn’t proper for the deerkin ambassador to the Diamond City of Canterlot to go around slapping the Astra Princess in any fashion, let alone her flank! Even during sparring practice in the isolated Court of the Paragons. With nopony around but the Astra Guard.
“Well, I happen to be somewhat fond of your flank, so I find myself unable to resist the occasional poke or prod time and again.” Rarity smiled and batted her eyelashes—which, of course, were completely free of ice and snow. “You can’t blame a lady for falling to temptation once in a while.”
“If it wasn’t the fifth time you’d done it this afternoon, I wouldn’t blame you!” Twilight pouted. She shook out the snow from her wings and tried to get into the proper stance, but the stupid snow made everything slippery. “Could you please try to behave yourself?”
On the cold benches ringing the sparring arena, the Astra Guard—Trixie Lulamoon and Starlight Glimmer—giggled like mad. Trixie almost fell from her bench, only to be straightened at the last second by Starlight’s magic. Trixie replied with a kiss on the cheek. Starlight’s cheeks were already red from the cold, but Twilight had a suspicion the kiss had caused a corresponding increase in blush.
“You two aren’t helping!” Twilight snapped. “Don’t you have somepony else to annoy?”
“Our solemn duty, Your Highness,” Starlight said as soon as she managed to get her laughter under control, “is to protect the Astra Princess against any threat that could possibly cause you harm.”
“She just slapped my rear with a sword!” Twilight shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at Rarity. “That could be harmful!”
Rarity held a hoof to her armored chest, the very picture of innocence. Twilight narrowed her eyes at the doe, but as usual, it had precisely zero effect.
“Indeed.” Starlight nodded gravely, somehow keeping a straight face despite her marefriend’s snickering. “However, I clearly recall your order telling us to disregard any yelps, cries or other similar sounds you may make in the Lady Rarity’s presence.”
Twilight’s whole body went crimson. She tried to sputter out a response, but only gibberish managed to emerge from her lips.
“I am quite sorry, my dear princess,” Rarity said, playing with the single strand of her mane that had escaped during their afternoon activities. “I fear I may have inadvertently co-opted your entourage.”
Now that she had something else to focus on, Twilight managed to respond. “I have a hard time believing you’re sorry at all!”
Trixie and Starlight broke into another round of giggles.
Rarity, on the other hoof, just smiled sweetly. “No, truly! It was not my intention to steal them away!”
“You still did it.” Twilight finally got her hooves under her and adjusted the elegant starsilver and crystalline amethyst blade in her magic. “And I don’t see you trying to change it.”
“Well, of course not!” Rarity looked honestly confused. It was quite annoying. “Why ever would I do such a thing? Having your personal guards as my allies offers me a great many advantages in our everlasting dance around one another. One must keep score in such things. To do otherwise is to admit defeat. Or worse… disinterest.”
Rarity shuddered from her crystalline hooves to her wisp of a tail at the word.
“‘Dance.’” Twilight’s eyes narrowed again, trying to figure out just how Rarity was going to throw her off this time. “That’s all this is to you? A dance?”
“But of course! And there is no better way to keep score than by your various shades of red, my dear princess!” Rarity laughed as if it was the most obvious answer in the world and spun her sword in an elegant flourish. “I do have to make sure I keep accurate statistics! Would you be satisfied with anything less?”
“That’s…” Twilight found herself sputtering again. How did she keep managing to do that? “That’s… an abuse of mathematics!”
“It is?” Twin blue diamonds laughed at Twilight in the doe’s obnoxiously gorgeous face. “Well, I shall endeavor to ensure such an abuse is not in vain.”
Rarity winked.
“Oh dear…” Twilight muttered to herself. “Here we go again…”
Rarity rippled out of existence. Twilight leapt back with a flare of her wings and immediately brought her blade forward to block the coming blow. A flicker of virtrung magic later and Rarity was upon her like an elemental fury. Their blades flashed and Twilight parried the first strike through sheer luck. Rarity’s eyes remained cool blue diamonds with every flick of her blade. Her faint smirk never changed as she lashed out again and again, forcing Twilight to constantly retreat in a desperate flurry of parries. Twilight didn’t even consider attempting a counter strike.
Her left hindleg slipped on a patch of ice. It cost Twilight a precious second, but she rolled into her stumble, a move Rarity apparently hadn’t anticipated. The doe’s blade hesitated. That gave Twilight a precious few seconds of breathing space and she used them. With a single heavy flap of her wings, she leapt back to her hooves as snow blasted out in a shockwave around her.
Twilight settled herself into a defensive stance. She tried to breathe and find some calm center within, but it eluded her, like usual.
Her lungs burned as Rarity stalked forward.
Twilight gritted her teeth and thought as fast as she could. She had to win this bout. She was the Astra Princess! She had to be able to fight. Even if the shadowkin were in retreat! Even if she performed adequately during the Battle of Harmony Gate! The Equestrian Realms deserved better.
Rarity deserved better.
It had been six weeks since the shadowkin army had broken against the defenses of the Harmony Gate. Six weeks since the Lady Rarity of the Day Woods had revealed her secret bond to the Astra Princess. Six weeks since Twilight had found herself completely unprepared for the intensely enthusiastic attention of the Lady Rarity.
Five weeks since Lady Rarity had offered to teach Twilight the fabled Dappled Shadow school of deerkin combat. It was the very height of deerkin combat techniques. It had been five hundred years since a non-deerkin had learned Dappled Shadow. It was a wonderful challenge! An unsurpassed opportunity, both tactically and culturally!
Four weeks and six days since Twilight had determined the style to be all but impossible to learn.
Twilight and Rarity circled one another.
It had only taken a single day for Twilight to come to an inescapable conclusion: the reason nopony had learned it in five hundred years was because it was impossible for a non-deerkin to learn the accursed technique! It was so maddeningly frustrating. So maddeningly subtle.
And while Twilight knew this to be her own personal problem, it was also so maddeningly unfair when your teacher—and opponent—was so distracting in her formfitting starsilver armor—
Rarity leapt forward with the inequine grace of her kind. Twilight yelped and ducked the first slash. Her blade swung up to deflect the counter and she spun her blade in a quick twist. It wasn’t a maneuver consistent with the school of the Dappled Shadow. In fact, the only time she had ever seen it used successfully was by a group of griffon swordbearers. Still, the unexpected maneuver should have startled Rarity.
Rarity tsked three times. With each tsk, her blade whipped against Twilight’s with a sharp snap.
Rarity lunged and struck out for Twilight’s forelegs. Twilight reared and avoided the swipe by inches. She backpedaled and grimaced. Rarity continued to maintain that small smile… until she vanished in a ripple of deerkin magic.
“By the Solar Winds…” Twilight swore as she tried to sense her opponent’s magic.
A flash to her right. Then a flash to her left. A flash behind.
Twilight knew better than to react to any of Rarity’s feints. She had at least learned that particular trick. Then she felt something… above her?
Twilight looked up just in time to see Rarity descending from on high. Twilight reacted by instinct and flared her magic. She disappeared in a flash of magenta magic. When the sparkles of her teleport faded, she landed hard ten feet away. She almost went sprawling, but caught herself at the last second. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air and sought her quarry.
Rarity had vanished again.
Her heart raced and her eyes scanned the area.
...until she felt the blade against her armored neck.
She sucked in a breath as she heard Rarity’s silky voice float from her right. She didn’t dare turn her head.
“Whenever shall you learn, darling?” Rarity hummed. “Teleports need not be so flashy. Subtlety is the key to Dappled Shadow.”
“You teleported with me,” Twilight said flatly. “You aren’t supposed to be able to do that.”
“With such a wild application of magic, it is quite hard not to be caught up in things. Come now, you’re better than this!” Rarity let out a low sigh. “It’s almost as if you find my presence distracting. I couldn’t fathom any reason why that might be, of course.”
“Why you would think that?” Twilight replied coolly. The red in her cheeks was simply from exertion and the cold. Nothing more. Unlike all the other times. “Nothing distracting whatsoever. I’m simply not used to fighting in inclement weather.”
There. A perfectly rational and reasonable explanation. Nopony can argue with such sound logic.
Trixie and Starlight giggled again. Twilight ignored them both. She was preoccupied with the blade at her throat.
“So, you claim that I don’t distract you, hm?” Rarity sounded fascinated by the idea. “My dear Twilight, I hate to admit it, but I believe you may be fibbing to me.”
“Completely true.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. As Astra Princess, it is my responsibility to be in complete control at all times.”
“Really, now?” Rarity said. “Well, as somedeer who is as dedicated to the wellbeing of the Astra Princess as any member of the Astra Guard, I must assist you in maintaining that control, no matter the cost.”
“I’m glad you agree.” Twilight tried to keep her head steady and get a glimpse of Rarity out of the corner of her eye, but the doe stood just outside of her line of sight.
“Indeed, I do.” Rarity sounded quite satisfied with the concept. “I most certainly agree that the Astra Princess should remain in control at all times. No matter the situation. Or the provocation.”
The blade vanished from her throat. Twilight’s head jerked around, but Rarity had vanished again.
Then, two crystalline hooves grabbed Twilight’s head from the other side. Before Twilight could react, Rarity’s delicate lips were upon hers. Stars flashed in Twilight’s mind. Her knees almost went out from under her. Some distant part of her mind registered her wings flaring. Then she forgot it all and melted into the kiss, wrapping her armored forelegs around the doe. The doe hummed into the kiss and any sense of cold vanished in a flash of heat.
When Rarity’s head darted away, she wore a smirk beneath two glittering eyes.
“Uhh…” Twilight said in a brilliantly witty bit of wordplay. “That… errr…”
“Control, hm?”
“That’s… um… wow.”
Rarity’s eyebrows did a little dance. Then she took her blade and booped Twilight’s nose with the mouthguard. Twilight went crosseyed for a second and landed flat on her rear.
“That’s… that’s cheating!” Twilight tried to protest. It really was more like a whine, though.
“Please, do not make me quote such tired and trite cliches involving the fairness within certain endeavors of the heart, my dear princess,” Rarity clucked. “It is beneath one such as you. Though I admit… I find myself rather fascinated by the new colors I’m discovering upon your cheeks after adding the variable of a chilly environment. I daresay they may need to invent entirely new names for these shades of red to properly convey the sense of them! Don’t fret, I’ll ensure they’re named after you.”
Twilight glowered. Rarity smiled.
“Every.” Rarity’s head darted forward to give Twilight a peck on the muzzle. “Single.” Another peck. “One.” A final peck.
“You’re evil.”
“Why thank you.” Rarity took a little bow. “Considering when you tend to accuse me of such things, I take that as the highest of compliments.”
Twilight glared, but—as usual—there was no heat behind it.
The echoes of the Astra Guard’s laughter drifted through the Court of the Paragons. The snow continued to fall from the soft grey sky. The arcane willows lining the Court chimed as a faint breeze wandered through Canterlot, bringing the scent of construction and baking.
One bout. I want to win one bout before dinner.
Twilight forced her blush away through a supreme effort of will. She straightened herself and folded in her wings. Then she took three measured steps back from Rarity and lifted her sword in the traditional Helmic Bond salute.
Rarity’s eyes went wide. Her delicate mouth formed a tiny little ‘O.’ She even shivered slightly.
“Oh my,” Rarity licked her lips. “Somepony is quite serious this afternoon. I must say… I have seen you only that determined a hooffull of times before. Upon the Diamond Wall, below the master waygate… and, of course, two nights later.”
Twilight refused to let her—the—doe rattle her. She pushed aside the stray thoughts conjured by Rarity’s words—eighty-nine percent of said thoughts being about that rather singular night—and lifted her chin in challenge. She did not say a word.
Rarity didn’t blush. She flushed. She looked almost… well, despite all logic, Rarity appeared hungry.
“Oh, my dear princess… I have a simply wonderful feeling about this.”
“Twenty bits on the princess.”
Twilight glanced to her right. Trixie and Starlight were locked in a heated discussion. She tilted her ears slightly, trying to make out the words.
“No way. Hey, I love Princess Twi, but Lady Rarity’s gonna mop the floor with her,” Trixie hissed back.
“Well, put your bits where your mouth is,” Starlight whispered.
“Deal, but winner gets to choose—”
“You are both aware that any member of the Royal Guard—no matter which Princess they may serve—is not permitted to gamble? Solis Order forty-seven, paragraph sixteen, subsection twelve?” Twilight snapped in her most imperious voice.
Both Starlight and Trixie tried to snap to attention while sitting down. They barely avoided toppling over.
“Uh… yes ma’am?” Starlight—who was the Captain of the Astra Guard—replied with a salute.
Rarity stifled a giggle. Twilight ignored her.
“Good. As long as that’s clear.” Twilight nodded and turned back to face Rarity. “Starlight?”
“Yes, Princess?”
“Put me down for fifty bits.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Rarity’s eyes were dancing. “Somepony’s feeling daring today.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
Rarity licked her lips and shivered once more. “Still the silent treatment, hm? And only fifty bits? I’m not quite sure how to feel about that.”
Twilight twitched her blade—still in the upright position.
“Oh, very well, dear Twilight. You seem rather determined. And I must admit it is rather fetching. You wish a duel without restraint, I gather?”
In response, Twilight turned her blade to point downward.
“Oh my, this will be… most thrilling. If you don’t mind, I believe I shall place a wager of my own upon this bout.” Rarity conjured a scroll and a pre-inked quill, then scribbled something upon it. Her hooves still glowing with blue magic, she floated it over to Twilight. “What say you?”
Twilight didn’t bother reading it. She simply flipped her blade into the upright position.
Rarity shifted slightly in her armor, as if it were slightly too warm—or too tight. Foolishness, of course, as Rarity’s skill as an unparalleled starsilver mage. Still, Twilight contented herself with a small self-satisfied smile, though she kept it entirely on the inside.
“So be it.” Rarity nodded. The scroll vanished. Rarity’s matching blade rose to mirror Twilight’s.
As one, they lifted them up into the air and positioned themselves into defensive stances.
“This should be…,” Rarity hummed, “quite stimulating.”
Only three days ago, Rarity had declared their sparring matches to be free-for-alls. At first, Twilight hadn’t known what that had really meant. After all, her practical experience with warfare came down to a frantic hour or so atop the Diamond Wall and attacking the master waygate. Plus, there had been the whole ‘I’m fighting the most gorgeous doe I’ve ever seen that for some silly reason seems to actually like me’ part.
In every other bout since the new phase of her training, Twilight had hesitated.
She didn’t hesitate this time.
Twilight swept forward with a single powerful lunge. The motion sent a wave of snow crashing around Rarity, but the doe didn’t blink. She parried the blow with casual ease and tried to riposte, but Twilight counter-parried it away. She spun and her great wings created a maelstrom of frost around the two combatants. A brief flurry of blows later and Rarity fell into defensive pose.
Both of the Astra Guard gasped when Rarity began to retreat.
Twilight’s mind calculated geometries, statistics and angles for each strike with blinding speed. Her mind sifted through strategies and techniques she’d read in a blink of an eye. She shifted between multiple combat schools with four separate blows. Rarity deflected or parried every blow.
A bead of sweat trickled down Rarity’s brow as she backed through the snow-filled courtyard. Twilight capitalized on it with a quick diving strike. She used her wing advantage without hesitation, though she discarded the idea of teleporting again.
Instead, she focused on control.
Twilight ignored how swiftly the doe dodged. She ignored her supple motions and graceful parries. She ignored her gorgeous snow-white coat and the intricate, spell-crafted armor that hugged every curve. She ignored the expertly coiffed purple mane.
She ignored it all and focused upon the doe’s blade and the doe’s eyes. That is, until Rarity’s flush became a full-on blush. At that moment, Twilight shifted strategy.
Instead, she fell back. Rarity seemed startled by the sudden shift in the combat, but pressed her advantage. Rarity’s strikes were delicate, fluid and graceful. Every creative shard of the doe’s soul shone in her movements. Rarity’s hooves burned with brilliant blue light as the snow melted around her.
Twilight fell back another half-dozen steps. She watched Rarity’s eyes and her cheeks, keeping only a vague sense of the doe’s blade. And somehow, it was enough. She had no trouble blocking each strike and thrust. She even managed to get in a few counter-attacks, though none landed.
They were in the dead center of the Court of the Paragons when Twilight struck. She dodged a swing aimed at her left forehoof and darted inside Rarity’s reach. As the move was utterly against any tactic Twilight had used before, the doe hesitated for just a split-second. That split-second normally wouldn’t be enough for Twilight to land a blow.
However, when Twilight followed up her move with a sudden hard kiss—that was enough to throw Rarity. The kiss lasted mere seconds. Twilight leapt backward, leaving a furiously blushing—and furiously flushing—Rarity in her wake. Twilight’s own heart hammered in her chest as she focused on her target.
Then she lunged forward and rammed her blade into Rarity’s breastplate, directly through the center of Twilight’s engraved soul mark.
Rarity froze. Her magic faded. Her blade clattered to the ground. She glanced down at the blade in her chest—the very same blade Rarity had crafted for her six weeks ago during the Battle of Harmony Gate. The runes continued to glow gently as the interwoven metal and crystal collected a few flakes of snow.
Her eyes lifted up to Twilight. The flushed cheeks remained, but now her expression was one of utter shock. She lifted a single crystal hoof to the blade. Upon touching it and finding it to be no illusion, Rarity fell backward in a slow, sweeping collapse, snowflakes fluttering around her fallen form.
“Oh… what cruel fate!” Rarity cried as she raised a hoof to her forehoof. “For the student to surpass the master… only to strike her down!”
“Rarity.”
“To be brought low by the very pony who bonded to me half a world away!”
“Rarity.”
“To leave that poor, beautiful alicorn alone forevermore.”
“Rarity!”
“I… I can almost see her pining eternally for the love she destroyed with a single stroke of the blade crafted for her and her alone by a doe of exquisite talent and refinement!”
“Rarity!”
“My heart! Pierced by adoration and death in equal measure!”
“Rarity!”
“What a cruel world… a cruel world… to survive the shadowkin… only to die from the blade of passion—”
“Rarity!”
“Excuse me!” Rarity’s head snapped up and she glared at Twilight with undisguised annoyance. She blew a few snowflakes out of her face. “Do I interrupt you when you’re dying horribly?”
This time, both Trixie and Starlight fell off the bench. They rolled around in the snow, completely overcome by fits of giggles. Twilight pointedly ignored them.
“Yes, actually,” Twilight replied, completely nonplussed. “You’ve interrupted my imminent death at least twice and interrupted my actual death once.”
“Pish tosh,” Rarity huffed. “Details, details. I must take you to the theater more often. Now, where was I?”
“‘Blade of passion.’”
“Ah yes, thank you, my dear princess.” Rarity returned her hoof to her forehead once more and gasped in agony. “At least I shall perish, young and beautiful. I only pray the statues erected in my honor will do me justice… and… and… capture my… essence…” Rarity’s left hindleg twitched pathetically. “But I… I fear… that is… a… a… vain… hope…”
“Ugh.” Twilight facehoofed.
“Come closer Twilight…” Rarity rasped. “Please… before it is too dark to see anything…”
Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes, but came closer until she could feel the doe’s warm breath against her cheek.
“Whenever… whenever you blush… think of me…” Rarity rasped.
Rarity lifted one trembling hoof as if to caress Twilight’s face… then promptly booped her in the nose. Twilight went crosseyed for a split second.
Then the Lady Rarity’s hoof fell to the snowy stone. Her eyes slid closed like two heavy seals over the gaping entrance to a snowy tomb.
“And… deathhhhh…”
Rarity stuck out her tongue, crossed her eyes and made some strange gargling noise.
Twilight couldn’t help but groan. “Sun and Stars, Rarity…”
Rarity peeked from under her eyelids and promptly began to pout. “Not a single tear shed for your dead lover?”
Twilight thought about it for a few long moments. “Not when you’re milking it that hard.”
“You never let me have any fun, darling.” Rarity’s pout intensified. “I thought you deserved a reward for finally landing a blow upon me. And using such… unorthodox tactics. I do hope you do not plan to kiss any shadowkin in such a fashion though.”
Twilight shuddered. “Uh… no. No, no, no… no.”
“I’m delighted to hear it. Now, would you be a dear and pull this sword from my chest? Having weapons of war sticking out of you may be all the rage amongst the shadowlords, but even the Diamond Court frowns upon such avante garde fashion.”
Twilight rolled her eyes again and gently pulled the blade away from Rarity’s breastplate. As she did so, the enchanted armor restored the blade inch by inch until it came free. When Twilight raised it to the sky, the magic sword was whole once more. Rarity’s chestplate shimmered as the training spell reasserted itself. The blade hadn’t even left a scratch.
“I do hope you plan on teaching High Armorer Striker that technique,” Twilight said as Rarity adjusted her armor. “It would be extremely useful for training maneuvers.”
She reached out and helped Rarity to her hooves.
Rarity smiled serenely and stroked the chestplate delicately, as if it were a beloved pet. “As I told your dear brother, the training techniques afforded by starsilver are nigh-impossible to replicate on more traditional metals. Anyway, why are you thinking of such things? Should you not be celebrating? You did win the bout.”
“I suppose I did.” Twilight smiled a little. “I have been trying for hit you for nearly five weeks now.”
“And all you had to do was do something that comes oh-so-naturally in any other circumstance.” Rarity stepped up to the taller alicorn and smiled coquettishly. “Whyever did it take you so long?”
“I… I…” Twilight cursed herself. How did Rarity manage to get her tongue-tied so often? It wasn’t fair! “I don’t know…”
“Well, no matter, I have to say….” Rarity licked her lips once again. “Seeing that… rather impressive display? I think I’d be happy to see more of that in the future, my dear princess. Anytime. And I do mean anytime.”
She didn’t mean anytime. She means a very specific time.
Twilight couldn’t help herself. The blush exploded on her cheeks, though she managed to keep her wings down.
Rarity’s eyes glittered again. They both knew who tended to come out the victor in these sorts of battles. Twilight didn’t stand a chance. And she knew it. They both did. Though, she had to admit, she didn’t really mind losing. Especially to somedeer like Rarity. She tended to make losing rather… fun.
Rarity gave her a soft peck on the cheek. “Well done, Twilight. We’ll make a warrior of you yet.”
“But… the technique I used can likely only be used once!” Twilight protested. “It… wasn’t really fair. And it’s not going to help against shadowkin.”
Rarity picked up her blade in a flare of blue magic and flourished it twice before returning it to the scabbard on her right side. Twilight did the same—though she didn’t flourish the weapon. Twilight didn’t have nearly enough confidence in her swordsmareship to do anything like that. At least not when Rarity was right next to her.
“It’s true,” Rarity admitted with a delicate shrug. “That particular technique would definitely not work on a shadowkin…” She paused and tapped her chin in thought. “At least, I certainly hope it wouldn’t. However, the key to any true combat is improvisation, my dear. That’s why, though I endeavored to teach you the Dappled Shadow techniques, I never once protested when you used something else. Indeed, I had to all but beg you to think outside the box!”
Twilight nodded thoughtfully and glanced at the benches. She pretended to ignore the snow in Trixie and Starlight’s manes and tails. They had obviously done a bit more than fall into the snow. Though considering the display Twilight and Rarity had put on, she couldn’t really blame them. Much.
“Trixie?” Twilight said, once again using her imperious voice. “I would remind you of your wager.”
Trixie’s blush doubled in intensity and she bowed low. “I will settle all accounts, Your Majesty.”
Rarity tittered beside Twilight as the bells of the Amethyst Hall began to chime.
“It looks like our sparring is at an end for the day,” Twilight said, glancing at Rarity. “We’ll be expected at… well, you know.”
Rarity nodded serenely. “On a similar subject, how should I accompany you tomorrow at the Feast of the North Star?”
Twilight swallowed hard. Rarity’s voice sounded casual, but Twilight knew it was anything but.
According to protocol, Rarity was a only foreign ambassador. The ambassadors of the griffons, buffalo, dragons, diamond dogs and zebras all had their own compounds within the Diamond Wall. However, they had staffed those facilities for centuries. The deerkin consulate had been the only one outside the Diamond Wall. It had not survived the shadowkin rampage through the outer city during the siege.
While it was no secret the deerkin ambassador to the Equestrian Realms had taken up residence within the Tower of the Heavenly Sisters, most of Canterlot still believed it to be only a reward for her heroics in the Battle of Harmony Gate. They did not know she had taken to spending her evenings—as well as nights, mornings and several other times—in the chambers of the Astra Princess. Nor did they know she had done so since her arrival.
Nonetheless, the rumors had begun to spread. A few questioning eyebrows had been raised as they had attended state functions together. Some saw it as unseemly for one of the Royal Five to be spending so much time with any ambassador. Some saw Rarity as a sign for the disregard the deerkin had for the rest of the Equestrian Realms.
And the Feast of the Northern Star was the greatest of Canterlot traditions. It was the celebration of the founding of their city and the salvation of their kind.
Yet, as Astra Princess, she would be required to attend the High Table with the rest of the Royal Five before a vast host of citizens of the Equestrian Realms.
Tradition stated that all attendees—even the Royal Five—were to be accompanied by those closest to their hearts. Which left Twilight in a rather awkward situation.
Rarity had never onced asked Twilight to make any grand declaration of their status. After all, it was difficult to describe exactly what they were to one another. Bound to each other through the stars for ten years while half a world apart? It defied any simple explanation.
And yet… Twilight knew the lack of definition bothered the doe. It had to, at least a little!
“I… I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. She stared at her armored hooves. “There’s… there’s no precedent for this, Rarity. I told you… the deerkin… well…”
“We aren’t the most popular of peoples, I know.” Rarity’s ears twitched as she brushed the snow off a stone bench and settled herself down. She sighed. “And I have no desire to create a scandal… or worse, a rift between your citizens and the Royal Five.”
Rarity closed her eyes and her brow furrowed. Her beautiful crystalline hooves began to pulse with magic. Trixie and Starlight stood a respectful distance away, both of them wearing the starsilver armor Rarity had crafted for them before their fateful journey to the top of the Diamond Wall. Twilight’s eyes were drawn—as always—to her own soul mark upon the two breastplates. The mark of a master starsilver mage. It never ceased to amaze her. Twilight’s own soul mark was Rarity’s personal signature.
Twilight swallowed and looked back in time to see the sphere of silver-white liquid fountain from the depths of the earth. The starsilver sphere rotated gently in Rarity’s magic as she took a slow, languid breath. Then, she concentrated once more and her delicate deerkin armor transformed from solid into liquid in a blink of an eye. It slipped from her elegant frame and pooled around her glowing hooves, before rushing across the snow and up into the sphere of mystic metal.
Only her blade remained, cinched to her side by a narrow strap of loose chainmail. Then, with a smile—though she didn’t open her eyes—Rarity’s magic washed over Twilight. Twilight’s armor did not rejoin the sphere. Instead, it rippled away in a pulse of virtrung magic, teleported back to Twilight’s chambers. The sensation always left a strange warm tickle along Twilight’s coat.
Her blade remained at her side, just as Rarity’s had. Simply because the shadowkin army had broken didn’t mean the threat had vanished.
Rarity let out a long, slow breath and rose to her hooves. She smiled demurely at the Astra Princess. Twilight forced herself to breathe and took in the pristine white coat, the arctic blue belly and matching spots upon her flank, the curling purple mane, the shining azure hooves and, of course, the three blue gemstones. As her magic faded, the delicate patterns of swirling light upon each of her legs shifted back into their natural lavender hues.
For the thousandth time, Twilight studied the three gemstones and marveled at the ancient magic that had bound them together, even from half a world away.
“Much better,” Rarity said as she shook herself a little—her tiny tail bobbing up and down hypnotically. “While I do pride myself on crafting only the most comfortable of battle attire, even my starsilver can chafe after a time.”
“Rarity…” Twilight began, trying to figure out what to say
“Hush.” Rarity stepped forward and put a hoof on her lips. “Forgive my words, Twilight. I did not mean to sour the moment. You know my feelings. And despite all that has transpired between us, I would not force you into a declaration you are unprepared for.”
“I should be,” Twilight said, her ears going flat. She found herself unable to look Rarity in the eye. “I should be ready for this, Rarity. Exactly for that reason! But… I’ve… I….”
“You are a creature of science and magic, Twilight Sparkle,” Rarity replied, her voice infinitely kinder than Twilight deserved. “You need definition and structure in your life. I know I am far from easily defined. I also know you happen to cherish me for it, my dear princess.”
Twilight blushed a little bit—but only a bit.
“Come, we only have to worry about dinner with your wonderful family this evening. Tomorrow, we will sit together as friends and comrades. None shall deny us that right.”
“But…” Twilight whined. “You deserve better!”
Rarity kissed Twilight on the cheek once more and Twilight’s blush deepened further.
“What I deserve does not matter to me,” Rarity corrected gently. “What I want is what concerns me. And believe me, darling, I am getting precisely what I want.” Her smile became just a bit wicked. “After all, did I not tell you upon our first meeting that I tended to get exactly what I want?”
Twilight giggled. She couldn’t help herself. Then she looked up and smiled at the doe.
“There’s the Twilight I know,” Rarity said with a hum of approval. “The brave Astra Princess who charged the master waygate of the shadowkin with naught but the Astra Guard and the stunningly gorgeous deerkin ambassador at her side.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled a bit wider.
“Come, now.” Rarity began walking toward the great arch that connected the Court of Paragons to the rest of the Diamond Palace. “One should always be fashionably late… but if we are any later, I fear that sister of yours will once again put her mind to further mischief.”
“You rarely seem to mind,” Twilight pointed out as Trixie and Starlight fell into step behind them.
“That’s true,” Rarity replied. She winked at Twilight. “But, I simply cannot abide her getting more hues of red than I. It would be a shame for her to take the lead in such things.”
Twilight shook her head and pointedly ignored the blush that definitely wasn’t on her cheeks.
Author's Note
Just remember, if you ever shove a sword through your deerkin "friend" during fencing and they're milking the death scene, just roll with it. This has been another Amber Life Tip! 
If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!
While the evening’s meal had been pleasant, Twilight had been glad to escape the High Table. She found it rather ironic. For years, she had been frustrated by her status as ‘the leftover princess.’ She’d been regarded as a curiosity at best and a mistake at worst. All too often, she’d been ignored during royal processions, diplomatic summits and high-level meetings.
That wasn’t to say that her new family hadn’t welcomed her. Cadance had been a personal friend from the days before the Amoris Princess’s ascension. Lord Shining Armor had married her, after all. Aunt Luna had been wonderful, spending countless nights with her teaching her about her new abilities as the Astra Princess. Mother… well, she had been Mother. The eternally wise, eternally kind and eternally loving Solis Princess. Sunset? Well, the Aurorae Princess had just been thrilled to have a little sister.
Yet, during their walk through the Diamond Court, the look on the faces of the various functionaries, nobles and attendants...
“You’re doing it again, my dear princess,” Rarity chided.
“Wha? Huh?” Twilight escaped the confines of her own head and blinked a few times. “What was that?”
Beside Twilight, Rarity rolled her eyes and let out an amused sigh. “You were once again pondering the mysteries of the universe. Either that, or brooding about your status in the Diamond Court.”
“I do not brood!” Twilight said. “I just… contemplate a lot.”
Rarity tittered in laughter. “When a face as wondrous as yours is marred by a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes, all while ignoring the beauty that surrounds us, I do believe that is considered brooding.”
Twilight sighed and hung her head in defeat. Rarity was right. As usual.
The sound of their hooves crunching on the freshly fallen snow echoed strangely among the mystical apple trees and the arcane willows of the Golden Boughs Park. For the first time today, only their hooffalls echoed around them. Twilight had ordered her Astra Guard to retire for the evening. Starlight had not taken the request well—despite her ribbing of Twilight, she took her responsibility of Captain of the Astra Guard very seriously—yet, her two friends and bodyguards had given in.
It probably had something to do with Rarity’s smirk.
And so, now they walked alone amidst the softly chimes of the arcane willows.
A spotty blanket of white covered each of the magic trees, leaving small spots of bare earth at the base of their trunks. Twilight looked up and—not for the first time—marveled at the sheer wonder of the eternally-blooming plant life. Apparently, it had started as a hobby of Mother’s, only to be taken over by Countess Amore and her daughter, Radiant Hope. Now, despite the devastation that still lay beyond the Diamond Gate, this remained a tiny sliver of paradise, even in the depths of winter.
“I never tire of these trees,” Rarity mused as she ran a hoof through the strands of an arcane willow. The jewel-like leaves tinkled against her crystal hoof. “A rather beautiful example of nature and magic, bound as one, are they not?”
Twilight swallowed and nodded, trying not to stare at the doe as a few shafts of moonlight broke through the clouds and illuminated her in a halo of falling snow. Rarity had decided to stop by their chambers on the way from dinner to remove her evening’s attire, leaving nothing between Twilight’s eyes and the doe’s pristine white coat.
“You’re staring again, my dear princess,” Rarity said, without turning to look at her.
“Oh!” Twilight flushed and turned away. “Um… s-sorry.”
“I never said I was complaining,” Rarity said wryly. “I simply wanted to be sure. After all, a lady does enjoy validation from time to time.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and snorted. As usual, Rarity had played her like a master harpist, plucking every single string with an almost nonchalant expertise.
She hated to admit it to anyone… well, she’d hate to admit it to anyone else again, but she’d be annoyed if she didn’t enjoy it so much. It was rather vexing to be so easily embarrassed… and then instantly be further embarrassed at how much delight she found from said embarrassment.
“I thought I’d be used to this by now,” Twilight mused as she plucked a pair of the snow-frosted golden apples from the mystical trees along the path.
“And which ‘this’ is that, my dear Twilight?” Rarity asked. She turned to face Twilight. Her blue eyes glittered like stars in the night.
“The teasing,” Twilight replied as she floated an apple to Rarity. “You always find new ways to embarrass me.”
“I wonder….” Rarity studied the apple with a critical eye for a few moments before she returned her attention to Twilight. “Is it me that truly embarrasses you? Or is it in fact, your own mind conjuring up wild fancies whenever I speak?”
Twilight winced as Rarity scored yet another point and received her just reward: another blush on Twilight’s cheeks.
Rarity laughed in delight and took a bite from the apple. She looked confused for a moment as she stared down at the fruit floating in a field of blue magic, one that matched the aura coming from her hooves and the beautiful swirling patterns on her forelegs. “How… strange.”
“Is there something wrong?” Twilight asked. She hadn’t had a chance to take a bite from her apple yet. “It should be ripe. These trees are tended to by Countess Amore, as well as several members of the Apple family, the best farmers in all of the Equestrian Realms. They’re always in season.”
“No, of course there’s nothing wrong,” Rarity said with a somewhat bemused smile. “I just remember sneaking a taste of one upon my arrival. It was shortly before meeting you at the lakeside just down that hill. That apple tasted quite different.”
“What did it taste like?” Twilight stepped closer. The snow crunched with every hoofstep.
Rarity seemed to ponder this, as if considering how best to frame it into words. It was a familiar sensation. If Twilight didn’t pay attention to her emotional state upon entering the Golden Boughs, she couldn’t describe such sensations either. Not without a great deal of thought, at least. And far too much introspection into her own personal state of mind than she normally preferred.
“It tasted—this may sound rather silly,” Rarity said hesitantly, “but it tasted… distant.”
Twilight nodded. She wasn’t too surprised. “Walk with me?”
“Always, my dear princess.”
They fell into step beside one another. Neither were in a particular hurry. The night had a crisp chill to it, but Twilight found it rather invigorating. It helped keep her mind clear. More importantly, it kept her from focusing on any of the less pleasant aspects of events of the last few months.
Rarity didn’t seem to mind the cold either, which Twilight found odd. The Day Woods were supposed to be quite temperate. Snowfall in the Day Woods was a rare occurrence, usually conjured for specific ceremonies during seasonal holidays, nothing more. After all, the Day Woods were inhabited mostly by the virtrung and the fordeer—the deerkin analogue to earth ponies. Why would they need snow?
“You’re doing it again,” Rarity said, amusement in her voice. “Lost once again in your thoughts?”
“I’m sorry!” Twilight protested. “It’s just… I haven’t really had a lot of time to think since the shadowkin army broke.”
“Well, if your thinking is usually done during the evening, I suppose I am at least partially to blame for diverting your attention. Hopefully, our mutual pursuits are still worthwhile, if not academically.”
Well, that’s simply not true. I have learned more about both alicorns and virtrung in the last six weeks than I think even Sunset knows.
Twilight went scarlet once more, much to Rarity’s delight.
And I’m definitely not sharing those insights!
“However, I am curious why you seemed to accept my rather odd description of a taste as if it were the most natural thing in the world,” Rarity said as she slipped a little closer to Twilight. “While all of my kind know the ways of leaf and branch, I have never had much talent for such things. You’ll have to enlighten me.”
“I would be surprised if even your best fordeer farmers knew of these apples,” Twilight replied, lifting up her still-uneaten apple in her magic. “I know of no other grove that possess anything like them.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Rarity bumped her hips against Twilight’s. Twilight had to fight to keep her wings from flaring in response. “Actually having knowledge beyond my own?”
“Perhaps,” Twilight replied nonchalantly. “You have to admit, it’s rather fun to have something to hold over you.”
“Well, I can think of many things that are far more fun to hold over me, my dear princess.” Rarity let out a great heated sigh. “A great many things, in fact.”
Twilight coughed, feeling the blush trying to fight past the boundaries of her face to overtake her entire body at the images that particular sentence conjured.
“You’re cheating,” Twilight whined. “You’re just trying to distract me with your… your… deerkin wiles!”
“Is it working?” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes in one of the most obvious signs of ‘seduction’ Twilight had ever seen from the doe. And considering how strong Rarity had come on to her upon their first meeting, that was saying something.
“Yes,” Twilight replied flatly.
It’s still not quite the same level as what she did to me back in that dream…
“Delightful.” Rarity sighed once more. “Now, if you’ll stop enjoying hoarding your knowledge, I’ll stop enjoying teasing you until you melt the snow under your hooves.”
“No, you won’t.”
“No, I won’t,” Rarity agreed. “But I’ll at least allow you to impart your wonderful knowledge to me.”
“How gracious of you.”
“Why thank you.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “The apples change flavor depending on the shades of the Harmonic Spirit of whoever is eating them.”
Rarity came to a sudden stop, her eyes wide as she turned to face Twilight. She blinked a few times and tried to process the new data.
“How can an apple sense my spirit?” Rarity demanded. She looked rather incredulous at the concept.
Twilight couldn’t really blame her. She’d scoffed at the idea too when Countess Amore had given her a tour of the Golden Boughs a week after Twilight’s ascension. Still, she played it off as the most obvious thing in the world. It would be more fun this way. She stepped off the path and into slightly deeper snow.
Rarity followed her, obviously curious.
They now trotted through a small clearing. Arcane willows lined the open space with hoof-crafted benches nestled between each trunk. A few more clouds had broken up, allowing moonlight and starlight to stream down upon them, though the gentle snow continued unabated. Each of the arcane willows began to absorb the magic of the moon and stars. The familiar leylines infused into the bark of the trees softly came to life with the same silvery-white light. It was a familiar color. Twilight’s own magic turned that color when she worked with the stars.
“It’s not really the apple,” Twilight replied with a smile as she spun the golden fruit in the moonlight. A few stray snowflakes drifted away from the whirling sphere. “Every plant that grows with the Diamond City of Canterlot is connected to the people of the city. It’s why—no matter what happens—we can never abandon this place. It’s why we would fight to the bitter end to protect it. Why we have to.”
“I’m afraid you’ve lost me.” Rarity adjusted her hooves and cast a minor spell. A few seconds later, she no longer walked through on compacted snow, but on the living grass that had been resting beneath the frozen powder. Each new hoofstep made a small hole in the blanket of white coating the earth. “I admit, I can sense something powerful and strange within the plantlife of this place… but…”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile. When Rarity had first arrived, Twilight had learned something quite intimate about the virtrung deerkin: their unique bond-magic. It continued to be a minor obsession to Twilight. After all, it was the only reason why Rarity had a pony soul mark upon her flank in the form of three blue gemstones. It was also the reason Twilight’s own soul mark appeared on every piece of armor and every weapon Rarity had ever crafted.
Ten years ago, on the final night of Twilight’s ascension, she claimed dominion over the stars—though it might be more accurate to say that the stars claimed dominion over her. And on that night, Rarity had been half a world away… and they had both felt something that neither would fully understand until Rarity’s arrival in Canterlot.
It was nice to have a special kind of magic of which Rarity had no knowledge. In fact, it was a somewhat heady sensation.
“You are familiar with the Goddess Harmony?” Twilight asked as she wandered toward one of the benches.
“Of course,” Rarity replied as she followed Twilight. “Not many of my kind put much stock in her, but upon setting hoof in the Equestrian Realms, I had this strange sense about her. She became… I don’t know, real to me?”
Twilight nodded. “She’s not just a concept. She lives in the very land itself. In a very real way, she is the Equestrian Realms. However, in Canterlot, we have a more physical representation of her presence.”
Twilight settled onto one of the benches beneath an arcane willow. Her apple still floated in her magic, while the willow itself had absorbed enough moonlight for the leaves to glow, creating a canopy of living moonlight pouring down upon them as Rarity settled beside her.
Rarity shivered as she studied her apple and Twilight wrapped one large wing around her. Rarity let out a little sigh of contentment and snuggled against her. Twilight had to focus to keep her mind on the topic at hoof.
Then Twilight’s horn lit up. A small illusion rippled into existence before them: a crystalline tree with five enormous branches that twisted around themselves out like fractal diagrams. There were spots of color in the center of each of the large branches, as well as a star-like symbol in the very center. Twilight had always thought it odd that the symbol looked so much like the central star of her own soul mark.
“I’ve… I think I’ve seen this before,” Rarity whispered. “In… in my dreams…”
“Anypony who serves Harmony’s cause eventually experiences the Harmonic Dreaming.” Twilight nodded. “Each member of the Royal Five are required to commune with the Tree of Harmony once a month to maintain our connection to the heart of our people. In a way, what you are seeing is the temple of Goddess Harmony. She resides within the Tree, empowered by the spirits of all those within our lands who work toward her purpose.”
“Where is it?” Rarity asked as she peered at the facets of the crystal-like plant. “This… Tree of Harmony?”
“Once, it grew in a cavern in ponykind’s first home.” Twilight swallowed. “Until the shadowkin first discovered it. They tried to take it, corrupt the Tree of Harmony, and through the Tree, corrupt us. The resulting war devastated the land, unleashing destructive chaos magic until the land was no longer fit for ponykind. The Sisters Divine led the exodus away from what is now called the Everfree and in a last desperate act, moved the Tree beneath Canterlot. It… it barely survived the journey.”
“It’s… it’s here?” Rarity asked, her eyes flying from the Tree to Twilight. “I had heard rumors and theories, but nodeer ever believed the Tree of Harmony… well… in truth, most didn’t even believe it was real.”
“I don’t think you’ll be able to see it just yet,” Twilight said with a small laugh. “Very few ponies ever do.”
“I…” Rarity blinked a few times and swallowed. “Not that I don’t delight in hearing you pontificate on the origins of the Equestrian Realms, my dear princess, but I believe we had strayed rather far from the original topic.”
“No, we haven’t.” Twilight smiled a little and left the illusion of the Tree of Harmony standing there beneath the canopy of glowing leaves. “I’ve just taken the scenic route to come back to it.”
“Is that so?” Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “Very well, darling. Please continue in your tour that eventually ends with the taste of an apple.”
“How did you feel upon arriving in Canterlot?” Twilight asked.
“I… well, I was most excited to see—”
“Rarity.” It was Twilight’s turn to chide her. “The truth, please.”
Rarity huffed. Her ears drooped and she frowned. Then, to Twilight’s surprise, she spoke. “Alone. Scared. Far from my own kind and unwanted among those who I had been sent to. I must admit, that gate guard, a… Lieutenant Flash Sentry, I believe? He was rather brusque. And extremely suspicious. I didn’t care for him at all. A rather sour note to start with for the rekindling deerkin and pony relations.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that,” Twilight said with a hesitant shrug. “As you’ve seen in my brother, there are plenty of ponies who aren’t overly fond of the deerkin.”
“If it helps, his companion, a… Forgive me, but I cannot recall his rank, but I believe his name was Rift Shield? He was at least polite, even if his eyes tended to wander a bit.” Rarity giggled. “However, one cannot blame the poor stallion for looking.”
Twilight squashed the sudden unexpected jealousy directed at one ‘Rift Shield,’ knowing full well that there was nothing to be jealous about. Anyway, it would be improper to send the officer to the Yakyakistan Border for just looking… right?
“So…” Twilight forced herself to refocus. “You were feeling alone? Distant from both the deerkin and the ponies who you had come to help?”
“That… that would be an excellent description.” Rarity nodded, though she looked a bit uncomfortable.
“That’s why the apple tasted as it did. You were lost until—forgive me if this sounds egotistical—you found me.” Twilight smiled and once again found herself blushing. “I suspect if you had eaten another after meeting me, it would have been a wholly different experience.”
“More akin to the experience I just had with it?” Rarity said with a flutter of eyelashes.
She snuggled in a little closer to Twilight. Rarity’s coat was always so soft. Barely thinking about it, Twilight drew her even closer with her wing.
“Mind telling me what that experience was?” Twilight asked, her voice almost as quiet as the falling snow.
“It was…” Rarity licked her lips, searching for words. “Oh my, it’s rather hard to put into words. In truth? It reminded a great deal of the apples I once enjoyed as a fawn. During the Festival of the Autumn Sun, my mother and father would always acquire a small bushel of apples, flown in by peryton courier at great expense. This was before the Three Long Nights, of course, before I had… become a bit of an outcast. Back when I had been just another fawn.”
Rarity sighed wistfully.
“Sounds like better times,” Twilight commented, a trickle of ice running through her heart at the sound of the nostalgia in Rarity’s voice.
“They were better times,” Rarity mused. “But, even then… they were still incomplete. While I had the love of my family—even the adoration of my new baby sister—I had not yet found my true calling. I hadn’t discovered my magic yet.”
Twilight blinked for a moment before she remembered. It usually took some sort of spark to ignite a virtrung’s ability to use magic. They weren’t like unicorns who could start using telekinesis in their first months.
I really need to actually take the time to study that book Sunset gave me…
Rarity apparently hadn’t noticed her lapse in attention. The doe glanced up at Twilight and gave her a winning smile. “What I mean to say, of course, is that while I do miss those times, they were far from perfect.”
“And that’s what the apple reminded you of?” Twilight stared at her own apple. It continued to spin gently, though Twilight slowed it to catch a few snowflakes that had managed to infiltrate the glowing canopy.
“The apples we had during that feast were always simply divine.” Rarity sighed. “They were crisp and tangy, sweet and delectable. I daresay I may have had a few too many every festival. More than once my father had to carry me up the stairs to my bed with quite the tummyache..”
Though Twilight had never met Rarity’s father, she could still see his face. A strange, somewhat silly buck whose tendency for odd straw hats belied in his natural talents as a stalwart protector of the Day Woods.
“He’s a good buck, isn’t he?” Twilight mused.
“Why, of course he is!” Rarity cried, indignant. “But… however would you know…? Ah, yes. The Nightmare Pox cure.”
“You did panic a bit.”
“A lady never panics.” Rarity sniffed. “I was simply… concerned.”
Twilight looked down at the doe and raised an eyebrow. Rarity managed to keep up her haughty-yet-innocent expression for almost half a minute before it cracked and she blushed furiously.
“Okay fine, I completely and totally panicked.” Rarity looked positively petulant. “After all, you were being consumed by that awful stuff and I had far more quips to use on you! Honestly, Twilight. It was most inconsiderate of you to allow yourself to be infected by such a terrible affliction!”
“Next time, I’ll make sure the shadowlisk doesn’t try to bite my leg off,” Twilight said dryly.
“That would be most appreciated.” Rarity tapped a crystal hoof on her chin. “Then again, that whole incident did result in me being able to enter your oh-so-wonderful dreams, which was quite the experience… so it wasn’t a total loss.”
Twilight managed to suppress her blush this time. “Thanks… I think?”
“So, my dear princess, would you care to tell me why I felt such a strong sensation when I enjoyed the first bite of this apple this evening?” Rarity lifted the golden fruit. A fairly large chunk had been taken out if it, but the rest remained untouched. She almost seemed hesitant to try again.
“Why do you think?” Twilight nudged her gently.
Rarity giggled. “You are enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Twilight informed her archly. “I see this as nothing more than an academic discussion on the principles of enchanted horticulture when applied to the fundamental theories of Harmony in an urban setting.”
“Is that so?” Rarity’s ears flicked back and forth as she fought to keep a smile off her face. “Well, far be it from me to disagree with the all-knowing and all-seeing Astra Princess on matters of enchanted horticulture.”
Rarity proceeded to boop Twilight on the nose with her apple. It was only then when her eyes drifted to Twilight’s apple.
“You… you haven’t taken a bite of yours?” Rarity now sounded legitimately confused.
“Nope!” Twilight said. “You aren’t getting away that easy. Why do you think you tasted something different tonight?”
Rarity smiled, mischief dancing in her eyes.
Twilight was suddenly concerned she may have overplayed her hoof, though she couldn’t very well escape since her wing was wrapped around Rarity. Well, she could, but she wasn’t really sure if she wanted to.
On further consideration, she was sure she didn’t want to.
Rarity tilted her head up so she could whisper into Twilight’s ear. “I suspect it may have something to do with you, my dear princess.”
Normally, those words by themselves wouldn’t have caused much more reaction than a faint blush. However, when the words were spoken in a husky whisper against a delicate ear with warm breath on a chilly night…
Well, honestly, what did Rarity expect to happen?
Twilight’s wings flared. Unfortunately, as one of them was wrapped around Rarity at the time, the motion ended up causing the doe to spin off the bench and land in the snow with a most undignified squeak. Her apple fell as Twilight whirled to stare at the doe.
Rarity had landed flat on her back. All four hooves were sticking in the air as she blinked, obviously startled by the sudden shift in position. Thankfully, the snow between the trees had been quite thick, so there was no danger of an injury, save perhaps some minor damage to Rarity’s pride.
“Well… um…” Twilight tried to come up with something Rarity would say in this sort of situation. “That’s… that’s what you get for… um…”
“Being me?” Rarity offered, still staring at the glowing canopy.
“Um… yes?”
Rarity unleashed a sigh so world-weary it should have belonged to the soul of the very earth itself. “Twilight Sparkle, after six weeks of instruction in the fine art of flirting by a veritable master—if I do say so myself—I expected far better from you!”
One of Rarity’s hoofs ignited with blue fire. A second later, blue magic poked and prodded in the chest and legs a dozen times from a dozen different directions.
Twilight didn’t stand a chance.
She let out a squeal as she toppled backwards to crash into the snow beside Rarity.
Twilight landed on her side, managing to fold her wings under her at the last second. She blinked a few times as the world spun around her.
When her vision had cleared, Rarity lay on her side, peering at Twilight with a hoof under her chin, as if studying her in bed in the dawn’s light. Twilight blushed furiously and tried to scoot away a little, but Rarity had apparently anticipated this, as there was a suddenly small snowbank behind Twilight she couldn’t break through.
“Um…” Twilight said. It was strange just how not cold the snow was at this moment. She strongly suspected that had nothing to do with external temperatures, but everything to do with internal ones. “Hi.”
“Hello, my dear princess,” Rarity smiled wolfishly. One of her hooves glowed and Rarity’s apple floated over to her. She brushed off a few flecks of snow, never breaking eye contact with Twilight. “Enjoying the view?”
“Um… yes?”
“Lovely.” Rarity took a slow bite out of the apple. As the fruit slipped between Rarity’s lips, a few droplets of juice fell off her muzzle and landed in the snow between the mare and the doe. With delicate, soft motions, she thoroughly enjoyed the apple. What’s more, she made sure that Twilight knew it.
Twilight swallowed and tried desperately to rally. “How’s… how’s it taste now?”
Rarity’s lips curled, though Twilight wasn’t sure if it was because of the question or the way Twilight’s voice broke on the last word.
“Sweet and strong,” Rarity said simply.
Twilight swallowed again. She knew she was doomed. There was no hope for her whatsoever. It would be best to accept her fate with grace and humility. After all, Rarity could not possibly know about the snowball Twilight tried to drop on the doe’s head.
Rarity’s ears didn’t even twitch as she caught the snowball in her magic a mere inch before impact. She did, however, smirk.
“Is that the best you can do?” Rarity tsked and shook her head in abject disappointment. “I seem to remember teaching you to be more unex—oh!”
Twilight flung herself at Rarity and captured her in her wings. Rarity squealed in surprise as Twilight put a bit more force into it than she intended and send the two of them tumbling through the white powder. When they finally came to a stop a few yards away from their original position, Twilight was on top, though both of her wings were pinned beneath Rarity. Snow matted their coats and manes.
Both of them found themselves prisoners to one another. Twilight didn’t mind. Rarity didn’t appear to mind either.
“That’s more like it.” Rarity nodded in approval and Twilight caught the glitter of diamond in the doe’s gorgeous blue eyes.
Then Rarity leaned up and kissed her. Twilight melted into the kiss, her wings creating a blanket of softness around the two of them as they settled into the snowdrifts of the Golden Boughs Park.
Twilight wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted. She also couldn’t care less. For a second and an eternity, the entire world vanished. All of Twilight’s concerns and troubles vaporized in the heat of that kiss. There was only the intense presence of Rarity beneath her, the taste of apples upon the doe’s lips and the caress of Rarity’s hooves around Twilight’s neck. Twilight drifted in a sea of sensation that escaped the mere reality of the physical world. The two of them seemed to float up through the sky and into the stars that had served as their messengers for over a decade. The stars swirled around them in that strange place between dream and reality.
Twilight’s mind rarely allowed her peace. It tended to be always moving, always planning, always preparing. But in moments like this, such compulsions vanished. Within the moment, she needed nothing beyond the moment itself.
Reluctantly, Twilight broke the kiss, but only when the need for oxygen eventually became a bit too great to ignore. For once positive that they were both as red as they could be, Twilight managed to wiggle one of her wings out from under Rarity, rolled off her and flopped down to the snow. The crisp chill of winter felt wonderful after such an… impassioned kiss.
Rarity slid over and nestled against her. Almost on reflex, Twilight once again wrapped her wing around the doe and Rarity let out a little coo of happiness.
Then, a pair of apples floated over to them in a field of blue magic. The whole one went to Twilight and the half-eaten one hovered over Rarity. Twilight took the apple in her magic and studied it. She could even see Rarity’s reflection in the golden skin of the fruit. The light of the arcane willow shone down and around her like a mythical angel of Harmony.
“Why do you hesitate so, my dear princess?” Rarity asked beside her.
“I…” Twilight swallowed. She could still taste Rarity’s apple on her lips. “When you came to me… you said you had come on so strong because you were afraid, since you’d been so alone.”
“Yes,” Rarity wiggled a little, trying to get a bit more comfortable. Somehow, she always knew how to lie upon Twilight’s wing without causing Twilight the slightest twinge of pain. “That… well, and I did tell you I found myself completely addicted to the sight of you blushing. I’m afraid that ailment befell me rather quickly.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, but she kept her focus on the apple. “Despite ten years as the Astra Princess… in my heart, I’m just an astronomer. A student of both the science of magic and the magic of science. All I ever wanted to do was study.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow, Twilight.”
Twilight shifted a little in place, though she made an effort not to disturb Rarity. “When I ascended, the stars swirled around me for three days and nights. I was terrified. I was terrified because I didn’t understand. I didn’t know what was happening. And that… inability to comprehend, to identify and to explain…”
Twilight shivered. It had nothing to do with the chill air.
“Is that what you fear, my darling? What we spoke of this afternoon?”
Twilight nodded in a tiny jerky motion, fighting back something that obviously couldn’t be tears. She let out a cough that wasn’t a sob. The chilly weather must have finally gotten to her.
“You cannot define us… and so, it is ‘us’ that frightens you?”
Twilight tilted her head, bit her lip and looked into Rarity’s diamond-like blue eyes. “We only met six weeks ago, Rarity. And… you know I’ve never been with another, pony or otherwise! I’m young and naive… I’m… I don’t…”
“Shush.” Rarity smiled and pressed her hoof against Twilight’s lips, then shifted just enough to kiss Twilight on the nose. “Twilight, tell me… what’s the truth behind this? Why are you really afraid?”
Twilight went back to staring at the golden fruit, blinking away a few stray tears. “I’ve… I’ve been wrong about so many things in my life. I don’t want to be wrong about this.”
“Ah, I think I understand now.” Rarity hummed to herself. “You’re afraid what will happen if you choose a name for what we have. After all, names have power. Not simply the power of magic, but the power of expectation. You fear to discover the name won’t end up fitting our situation.”
Twilight nodded, not daring to say a word.
Rarity sighed and leaned up to rest her forehooves on Twilight’s chest. She settled her head down to stare at Twilight. Her eyes twinkled. With a hoof, Twilight traced the gentle lines of blue magic running from Rarity’s crystal hooves to the swirling patterns on her graceful forelegs.
“Twilight, I do understand this is rather important to you. I respect that. But it’s not nearly as important to me.”
“Why?” Twilight asked. With her magic, she adjusted some of the snow to form a crude pillow so she could better see Rarity. “How can that not bother you?”
Rarity smiled winsomely. “Because even if the whole of the Diamond City of Canterlot decide they don’t trust the deerkin or if all of the Equestrian Realms turn against me… I know I shall always have the pony who’s been whispering to me across the stars for ten years.”
Twilight swallowed, but found her throat dry. Words seemed to have failed her.
“You are the very reason for me being here, Twilight Sparkle. Even half a world away, I was shaped by that moment. You seem fixated upon our physical meeting—and please don’t think our physical meeting is something I didn’t enjoy immensely—but you discount our dances among the stars. Among your stars.”
“But it’s… it’s not that simple….” Twilight protested.
Rarity leaned down and kissed Twilight lightly on the lips. “It is if you want it to be.”
“There’s no precedent!”
“And was there one when you took up the power of the stars? For thousands of years, the Selene Princess had control over them, yet now her charge is solely the moon.” A few wandering snowflakes drifted between Twilight and Rarity, flitting about in the gentle breeze of the doe’s words. “For thousands of years, the Solis Princess raised the sun, until the Aurorae Princess took up the charge of the dawn. Since time began, all creatures have known love, but your dear sister-in-law can now focus that power into healing the sick and the infirm.”
Twilight couldn’t think of a response to that.
“Precedent must start somewhere, my dear princess.” Rarity’s eyes glittered like diamonds in the night sky. Twilight could see her own fearful reflection in them. “And, believe it or not, I doubt we are the first to find ourselves besotted with a member of another race. I have found peace in you. I have found comfort in you. I have found all I wanted and more in you.”
“Even with… with my doubts? My confusion?”
Rarity’s smile outshone even the brightest crystal in all of the Diamond City of Canterlot. “They are part of you, so I find myself fond of even them.”
“But… you… I…” Twilight tried to shake her head, but found herself unable to move.
“I will tell you something now, my dear princess.” Twilight had never seen Rarity look so tender. “It is not something I say lightly. Nor have I ever said it to anyone before. Yet, since the moment I first saw you, I knew it to be true. Not because of just how stunningly gorgeous you are without even trying… but because I’ve felt your heart for ten years amidst the stars.”
“W-What?” Part of Twilight desperately wanted to teleport away. She wasn’t ready for this. They weren’t ready for this. At least, if it was what she thought it was. And if it was, what would she have to do—
“I am quite in love with you, Astra Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Rarity said in a quiet, casual voice, as if she had discovered that water was indeed wet.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but a delicate band of blue magic wrapped around her muzzle. Twilight stared at the doe. Rarity’s eyes hadn’t changed. They were still gentle and filled with kindness and compassion.
“I do not want your next words to reflect mine out of obligation. I will not have you say them out of pressure or duty or because it seems like the thing someone should do.” Rarity’s ears dipped as she stroked Twilight’s cheek. “I can define what you are to me. And I will wait as long as I must for you to to define what I am to you. In your own time.”
Then, Rarity released her magic grip on Twilight’s muzzle.
In that space between them, filled only with the occasional speck of falling snow, Twilight tried to find words. They eluded her.
Rarity had apparently expected her silence. There was not a single iota of disappointment in her eyes. Instead, she looked proud, pleased that Twilight hadn’t said something just to fill that void.
Then, Rarity offered her the untouched apple. The gold in the apple seemed to twinkle in Rarity’s eyes.
“We need not be what others think us to be,” Rarity whispered. “We need only be who we define ourselves to be.”
Twilight took the apple in her magic. She blew out a single breath that ruffled Rarity’s mane. Then, the Astra Princess bit into the fruit.
The taste… it wasn’t even a taste. It was more of a thought or a feeling. Rarity had described it in terms of memories of her being a fawn. Twilight, on the other hoof, she could only describe it in the way she’d felt the stars.
Twilight closed her eyes and let the sensation wash over her. And in an instant, she was in two places at once. Her physical body remained nestled in the snow with Rarity settled atop her. Her heart and mind once again soared amidst her beloved stars, the beautiful specks of diamond dust she had the honor to guide every night. They spun around her like a great vortex of prismatic light. The vortex transformed into a tunnel of stardust and snow. She rushed forward, heading for a bright blue light at the terminus.
Then, everything went still. She floated among her glowing friends. Among the thousand feelings and thoughts that reflected the doe she’d grown to adore. A brilliant pulse of light exploded before her. Twilight had to lift her hoof to shield her eyes.
When she could see once more, she saw her soul mark, but in a wholly different light. She’d always had five white stars surrounding the central star. But now, as she floated closer to the image, she realized she’d been seeing it wrong for years. For each of the smaller stars were, in fact, three stars in a tight pattern.
Three blue stars. Three blue gemstones to be precise. All glowing with the brilliant white light of the heavens.
The stars swirled around her once again, until she could see nothing but dazzling white.
And then, she could see nothing but the brilliant blue of Rarity’s eyes.
For the second time that night, Twilight lunged for Rarity and swept her into a kiss. Rarity let out a squeak of surprise as Twilight’s magic shifted the doe until they were breast to breast. As before, Twilight encircled Rarity in her wings, though this time she did it with the tightness of a cocoon. Rarity gasped into the kiss, but she didn’t break away. Their forehooves encircled one another as Twilight lost her breath, but she didn’t dare stop. She didn’t dare break this moment.
Because in this moment, the need to define, analyze and study had vanished. For one of the first times in her life, Twilight Sparkle didn’t need to define anything. She finally understood.
Rarity had been defined by Twilight. And without even knowing it, Twilight had been defined by Rarity.
That was all the definition Twilight needed.
She knew she didn’t have the words to convey the depth of it to Rarity.
So, Twilight poured her entire being into this one single kiss, trying to communicate that revelation through sheer passion alone.
When they broke apart at long last, Rarity’s eyes swam. She was bright pink from both a fierce blush and a deep flush—two similar but different states. Rarity stared at Twilight, as if trying to process all the data Twilight had tried to shove into that single kiss.
“We are…” Twilight said, gasping for breath. “We are… we’re us.”
Rarity’s eyes softened and she smiled. Twilight had never seen anything more beautiful in all her life.
“That we are, my dear princess,” Rarity whispered. “That we are.”
Eventually, the midnight hour came upon them and a cold wind began to stream through the Golden Boughs. Even Twilight’s protective blanket of wings could not keep the chill away forever. As such, the doe and the mare finally got to their hooves, brushed off the snow and began trotting back toward the Diamond Palace and their chambers.
Twilight smiled to herself at that thought.
“Bit for your thoughts?” Rarity asked, still snuggled against Twilight’s side under the protection of her great silver-tipped wing.
“Oh, just realizing that if any of your people ever come here, they won’t actually have an embassy to stay at.”
Rarity snorted. “And why should we concern ourselves with that?”
“Just a passing thought,” Twilight said casually. “After all, I certainly don’t plan to allow them to stay in our rooms.”
“‘Our’ rooms,” Rarity echoed with a tiny raised eyebrow. “My dear princess, are you propositioning me?”
Twilight smiled to herself and looked up. The winds had created further breaks in the cloud cover. For just a moment, she could see the soul marks of the Astra Princess and the deerkin ambassador set into the night sky. Rarity followed her gaze and smiled.
“Well, that first night, you did say they burned brightest depending on the intensity of our... ahem... activities.” Twilight hummed. She kept her wings tightly to her side, even if Rarity was wrapped in one. “I know my wonderful adopted sister Sunset was the one who told you about the correlation. I’m curious… did she tell you if they burned as one?”
Rarity blinked, seeming a little lost by Twilight’s train of thought. “No, my dear. In fact, she mentioned they seemed to burn brighter separately throughout the evening.”
“I wonder…” Twilight speculated idly. “Just how bright I could make yours.”
Rarity’s head snapped around to stare at Twilight. She looked completely astonished. “Twilight, I believe you are propositioning me.”
Twilight smiled. Her hooves tingled with the sheer audacity of her own words, but she refused to hold herself back. “I think of it more as a challenge.”
“Despite our bout earlier, I’ll have you know I’m hardly the most competitive of does.”
Twilight shrugged. “If you’re willing to concede to me now, I’ll do my best to be gracious in victory.”
“Now, wait just a minute,” Rarity said. “I never said I was just going to let you win.”
“That sounds almost… competitive.”
“Are you sure you want to do this, my dear princess?” Rarity quirked an eyebrow at her. “After all, if memory serves, I usually win such battles.”
“Perhaps,” Twilight allowed. “But I also happen to be a very good student, my dear ambassador.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Rarity’s eyes were glittering as if every star in the sky had come down to rest within them.
“I believe you are correct.”
They continued to walk like that for maybe another dozen steps. Then, Twilight teleported ahead a few feet and broke into a gallop. Rarity let out a cry of protest and teleported a few steps beyond Twilight. Twilight returned the favor by teleporting a short distance again, though this time she had a contingency plan in place.
The moment Rarity ripped into existence beside Twilight, a snowball hit her square in the face.
Twilight smirked at the doe. Rarity smirked back—after taking the time to wipe off the snow, of course.
“Oh, it is so on,” Rarity said with a grin.
“Catch me if you can,” Twilight taunted.
Twilight turned tail and ran.
Rarity galloped after her.
And their laughter echoed through flakes of snow drifting down from the star-strewn sky.
Sadly, neither of them ended up paying enough attention to which one burned brighter that night. Despite this minor detail, they hadn’t been surprised to find out that Sunset hadkept track. After three days of careful deliberation, Sunset revealed her judgement on the contest.
Neither really minded a tie.
Author's Note
Theme for Diamonds Amidst the Snow
Merry Christmas and Happy Hearth's Warming everyone!
You know, it's funny. For the longest time, I wanted to come back to the Diamondverse. While I have a sprawling epic that explores the politics, cultures, races and lands of the rest of this incredibly fun universe, I knew my first story should be a small slice-of-life fic. Thankfully, that lined up with the idea of doing another holiday fic, an idea inspired by Deathscar with a passing comment in the Nook.
It also lined up with my twentieth story on FimFiction! 
And so, we get to have a little fun of fun with Rarity and Twi as they banter with both words and blades in their ongoing dance... a dance Twilight is still learning the steps to. Thankfully, Rarity is a patient teacher.
A quick note! If you see a few changes between this and the original Diamonds, it's because I made some minor adjustments, such as Cadance's title, the nation's name becoming "The Equestrian Realms" and giving Trixie and Starlight an official subsection of the Royal Guard in the Astra Guard.
I do apologize if this is a bit rougher around the edges than my usual work, but my poor editors didn't get very much time to help me refine this story. Still, they deserve immense credit, especially with a massive time crunch with the final chapter of Prerogative going live last week.
Beltorn, for not only doing a great high-level pass but also getting in there at the last second and finding a ton of little mistakes. Little mistakes drive me nuts. Beltorn also inspired the refinement of Twi and Rarity's conversation at the end. Cursori for helping me break down the main concepts of the story to make sure I did them justice, fine-tuning just about everything.
Of course, Monochromatic, one of the most wonderful people around, who found time in her insane schedule to help me with this story twice. Any excessive use of "my dear princess" is entirely my fault.
It's been a crazy year (and a seriously crazy last few months). For me, I desperately need some quiet moments offered by this story, even if I did sneak a bit of world-building in there with the history of the Tree of Harmony and Rarity's youth in the Day Woods.
But in the end, it's all about Rarity and Twilight. I just love these two together and I suspect I always will.
Have a great holiday folks and I'll see you at the beginning of next year for the start of SunLight Sliders II!
-Amber Spark
If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!
