The End of the World! (Or "It's Another Day Ending in 'Y'")
Yup, Definitely a Wednesday
Twilight knew something was amiss the moment she stepped hoof inside Carousel Boutique.
Her eyes flitted about, taking in the sites of fabrics strewn about the carpet, hanging from mannequins, racks, and one lovely roll of satin rather impressively wound from the full-body mirror, around the lighting fixtures over the stage, and then draped across Rarity’s sewing machine.
A rueful sigh and half-smile were her response. Twilight Sparkle shook her head, lighting her horn to clean up the mess which marred the fitting room with ease.
I wonder what it could be this time, she mused.
Such moments weren’t so frequent she could say anything mocking like “I could set my clock by it” or some phrase along similar lines. But Twilight would be a terrible liar to say she didn’t sometimes expect to come home to such a scene.
A familiar melody and sweet, soothing voice floated through the air. Coloratura’s “Light of My Life,” if she wasn’t mistaken. Her soft, mulberry ears twitched and swiveled toward the source. The kitchen.
Twilight gave a little wince. “Oh, dear.” This might actually be serious. She hurried forth, calling gently, “Rarity? Is that you in the kitchen?”
A low, piteous whine mixed with Coloratura’s voice. Not quite the reply she’d hoped for, but enough.
Readying herself for any number of the usual scenarios, Twilight stepped through the doorway and found the love and light of her life, her beautiful diamond of Ponyville standing at the far end of the kitchen by the stove, her back toward Twilight and head hanging low. Before her, the metal kettle rested upon one of the burners, a faint sound of water bubbling could be heard as Coloratura’s voice warbled to an end. An end which spurred a heavy sigh and splaying of alabaster ears.
Twilight took a quick glance around, the lack of wine bottles served as a small relief. No wine yet. Okay, looking at about a five or a six. Manageable.
Her smile returning, Twilight trotted over to her loving girlfriend, her tail swishing and feathers fluffing. There was really only one way to really combat Rarity’s moods. One, above all others, even several cartons of ice cream or one of Pinkie’s mouth-watering cakes, which never failed. No matter how dour or sulky she was.
Rarity didn’t look up, even as she drew nearer. A bit disappointing, she did so love to see her gorgeous eyes when she came home from the castle, but all the better to enact her plan.
With a low hum, Twilight walked right up behind her and kept walking forward, the underside of her belly teasing against her love’s tail and back as she stood over her lovely, shorter girlfriend, and leaned down to nuzzle between her ears. Another low, crooning hum drew a gasp.
The game begun in earnest.
“T-Twilight, please!” Rarity protested, her voice spoke of tiredness, but with a hint of excitement. “I’ve had a terrible day! The absolute worst in my life!”
Of course it was. It was always the worst day ever. But, privately, Twilight loved those moments just as much as she so adored the way Rarity’s face lit up when her muse struck, or when she recited sappy romance poetry, or surprised her with dinner date plans and a trip to a play. Even just a day at the spa or a bottle of wine together!
These moments, too. When she was so vulnerable, so wrapped up in worry and want to wallow, hiding a rather obvious plea for one to reach out and hold her close.
And hold her close, Twilight did, and ever would. She planted a kiss just beneath Rarity’s left ear, her smile still in place. “I know it is, love,” she said with just a faint hint of idle amusement. “Tell me about it?”
Another whine. Rarity huffed and hung her head low. “Oh, very well!” she cried. “I was working on that order I’d been telling you about yesterday, the one for Songbird Serenade and Coloratura’s joint concert in Canterlot.”
“The one for Madame Foster’s Hooves Across Equestria charity, right?”
“Yes! That’s the one! A dozen dresses for backup dancers, and a unique design for each lead singer—they refused my offer of free dresses, might I add, so now I’m frantically trying to make sure they’re more fabulous than before! Any less simply won’t do!” She punctuated her statement with a little stomp of her hoof.
Twilight hummed in agreement. “Certainly not,” she replied, her smile blossomed into a full grin. Oh, was there any doubt this was her girlfriend? “I saw the designs myself when I left this morning. You’ve outdone yourself again, love.”
The little mare beneath her gave an uncertain keening groan. “Thank you, darling,” she whispered after a moment. “It’s important to me they receive the best, so the foals and donors enjoy their show—but THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM!” she cried, stomping her hooves in time and unwittingly bouncing against Twilight’s belly and chest. “The dresses—well, I did outdo myself, I always do—were challenge enough, taxing my muse and talent to the very limit! But then! Oooooooooh!!”
Life should be so simple if it were. She planted a kiss to the top of Rarity’s head, snaking her left hoof around her girlfriend’s chest in a snug, yet loose hug. “You’ve had a tiring week, not just a day, love,” she crooned in her ear.
“A week that just won’t end!”
“How so?” Her curiosity piqued, Twilight deftly maneuvered herself to press their cheeks together, gently kissing the corner of Rarity’s mouth. The little twitch and pleasant shiver drew another fluff of her feathers. “What else happened?”
Rarity made as though to move, but Twilight kept her embrace, holding her tight against her chest. The annoyed little sigh only served to force her to suck in her lips and will her shoulders not to shake. So adorable.
“Just—could you—let—ugh, fine!” Her horn lit, wreathed by a shimmering, bubbling sapphire light. A tendril of magic snaked out to pluck a letter off the kitchen table and float toward, hovering just over her shoulder so Twilight could turn and see the elegant, flowing cursive written across its face.
Miss Rarity,
I write to you today to request a place on your schedule for a fitting and time to discuss a commission design for my wife to wear at the upcoming Winter Solstice Gala hosted by Princess Luna. Money, of course, is of no object. As this is the first event of its kind, and will serve as a precedent to all which follow if it goes well, I would ask that you put the full force of your creative mind behind this project so both of us might make an impression. Myself as the foremost fashion promoter in Canterlot, and yourself as the budding designer from a small town who’s taken both Manehattan and my own fair city by storm.
I look forward to your reply and the opportunity to commission you at last.
Respectfully,
Hoity Toity
Ahhhh, that explains it. Her girlfriend’s history with Hoity Toity was hardly a secret to any of their friends. The memory of the incident at the ill-fated fashion show was quite vivid in their minds, not to mention Rarity’s.
Rarity, above all others, knew just how much sway Hoity Toity had over Canterlot’s fashion scene—perhaps the only one with the prestige and cultural weight to match the sheer size of Manehattan’s. And Equestria’s largest cities did so love to compete for the crown.
A second chance to get Hoity Toity’s nod would be ideal for her business. That he would want to commission a dress for his wife spoke volumes—perhaps, after a couple years, things had cooled. Certainly enough that he’d think of her, up and coming fashion designer taking the industry by storm or not.
But with it came those memories and worries.
Oh, it’s a day ending in “y,” Twilight thought, a light croon sounding from the back of her throat as she planted a kiss on Rarity’s cheek. So of course it’s time to panic. Panic before realizing what opportunity is standing before her. “I see,” she drawled. “This is an incredible opportunity to make your mark—clearly, a terrible thing.”
“Not a terrible thing!” Rarity corrected her without turning, and thus missing the way Twilight had to fight off a renewed grin. “It’s the terrible thing among all terrible things! It’s the worst! The worst possible thing! And this is the worst possible day!”
“Of course, of course, my mistake.” Her embrace tightening, Twilight shifted to lay her chin atop her girlfriend’s head again. She feigned a sigh and shrugged. “Perhaps you’re right. This could very well be the worst thing that’s ever happened to your career.”
She didn’t even have to count down to Rarity’s response. The little mare let out a keening whine and leaned up, nuzzling against her chin. “It is! And I don’t know what to do about it all!”
Twilight feigned a pout. “Nothing, clearly,” she crooned piteously. “This is probably best. Cuddling beneath me, waiting for the kettle, and hiding. Forever.”
“Y—” her girlfriend stiffened. For a moment, Twilight dared to think it’d worked, dared to crane her ears for that lovely, adorable realization.
Instead, she got a small sigh. “It—it might be better,” Rarity mumbled.
Her pout faltered as her smile threatened to return in full. Oh, this was a strong six indeed. “So, retirement it is,” she announced, feigned resignation tinging her tone. “It was a good run, but unfortunately, we never saw such a thing coming as a high-end fashion promoter giving you a chance—we certainly haven’t seen you overcome greater odds, ignoring the times we’ve saved the world. And you definitely aren’t the toast of the fashion industry these days.”
Beneath her, she felt Rarity squirm. A pleasant little tingle ran down her spine at the little brush of silken purple tail against her thighs. “I—It’s worse than that, dear.” Another squirm, her ears began to slowly droop and splay back against her scalp. “I—that fashion show years ago was enough of a struggle. I had to climb uphill, essentially. All because of that stupid show.”
There it was. The root of the problem, at last.
“I understand. Then, I suppose we’ll just do the only thing left to do …” she trailed off, wrapping her other hoof tight around Rarity’s chest. Grinning, she pressed her nose into her love’s mane and drank in the sweet scent of roses. Rarity’s favorite.
Then, she lurched to her right, still holding Rarity tight against her chest, and jerked her to the floor in a tangle of flailing limbs and squealing girlfriend. Quick as a flash, she slid her hooves to pin Rarity’s legs and rolled so they were laying on their sides.
“Is hold this poor, pitiful, lovely, brilliant, beautiful mare tight,” Twilight whispered in her ear. Slowly, she trailed her soft feathers up her love’s side and wrapped it around her barrel, engulfing her in a warm downy embrace. “Kiss her soundly—” she pressed her lips against Rarity’s cheek, a toothy grin split her face at how she did whine despite the little smile fighting to be seen “—and bemoan the loss of a wonderful career. One that saw her overcome cheating opportunists, a community who looked down on her home, and enraptured Equestria’s greatest bastions of fashion with her vision and ingenuity. Oh!” Twilight threw a dramatic hoof across her brow. “Oh, woe are we!”
At last, Rarity turned to fix her with a glare, her eyes narrowed and snout scrunched. “You’re teasing me!” she accused. She struggled a moment, trying to free herself enough from Twilight’s hold to point, but only earned a playful squeeze and another kiss for her troubles. Her cheeks flushing rosy pink, she forced a pout. “I’m here, listening to my favorite sad album with a kettle boiling, and bare my heart and soul to you, and you’re! Teasing! Me!”
Twilight allowed her grin to show, unabashed. “Only a little,” she admitted, nuzzling her nose gently. “I needed to let you talk so I could know what was wrong and let you have your moment. Now, I’m going to hold you.” She planted a sweet, lingering kiss on those soft lips, a happy croon sounded in the back of her throat. “And kiss you,” she whispered as they parted. “And tell you that you’re a wonderful, brilliant mare, and Hoity Toity and his wife recognize that enough to want to commission you personally.”
“But—”
Another kiss silenced her. “No buts. I’m talking now. It’s Twilight talking time.” Her eyes met Rarity’s, Twilight allowed herself a little hum as the pink filling those white cheeks spread and turned red. “You’re amazing. Your designs are unique, chic, and—”
“Oh, no, darling! Nooooooo!” Rarity buried her face in Twilight’s chest. He shoulders shook with poorly hidden mirth. “Have mercy!”
Mercy?
Twilight kissed the top of her head. Love, as Cadence and Rarity so loved to claim, was a battlefield.
There was no mercy.
Even Celestia agreed.
Gently, she cupped Rarity’s chin and guided her head up so their eyes met again. “Mag! Ni! Fique!” Twilight chirped in deliberate, poor imitation of Rarity’s flawless Prench, punctuating it with another kiss.
“Nooooooooooooo! You did the thing! You did the thing again!” Rarity whined, playfully batting her lone free hoof against Twilight’s chest. A smile tugged at her lips, slowly spreading across that perfect face. “You wicked, wicked mare! You know I can’t resist it!”
“Magnifique,” Twilight repeated. She drew Rarity in close. “Just like the dress you’ll make for Hoity Toity’s wife. Just like I’ll hear Celestia, Luna, and even Cadence say when I brag to them about your work. And just like all those big fashion names will think when he tells them he came with his wife to Ponyville, to the original Carousel Boutique, to see you personally rather than ask you to make the trip to your Canterlot location. Mag. Ni. Fique.” She dotted her with a kiss between each syllable, then fluttered her lashes. “And just like you, my beautiful diamond.”
Tears of joy pooled in those beautiful sapphire eyes. Rarity’s bottom lip quivered, she leaned in slowly and tilted her head, capturing Twilight’s lips in a lingering kiss.
They parted all too soon for her taste. A small note of disappointment was dashed at the glimmer in Rarity’s eyes.
“I hate you,” she whispered, her voice warm and full of affection. “My perfect, day-long mopes ruined by a wicked, teasing princess.”
Above them, a shrill whistling sounded. Twilight smiled and lit her horn, her magic wreathing it in a bubbling raspberry glow. She levitated the kettle off the burner and floated it over to the opposite counter where Rarity’s favorite teapot waited. With practiced ease, she set about preparing their tea.
All the while, she nuzzled her nose softly, then leaned up to whisper in her ear, “I love you too, Rarity.”
Author's Note
Inspired by a conversation with a bunch of friends in a server. Because we need canon purple girlfriends to go along with all the AUs. And fluff. Fluff is required. Mono agrees, so clearly I am objectively right.
