A Shining Sparkle of Love

Twilight Sparkle dragged herself toward Carousel Boutique with her head hung down, exhausted, watching the dust on the road dance and swirl under the cold touch of the wind that had a tendency to ramp up drastically at this time of year. It wasn’t the perfect weather to walk around the town by any definition, but it was the perfect weather to shut yourself in the comforts of the castle’s laboratory and simply enjoy the process of unraveling the world’s mysteries. Today Twilight should have focused on studying Dr. Foalreud’s social theory on sibling bonding and friendship. She should have. And yet she had made no progress on the subject at all since morning.

For a moment the thought of turning her back to the boutique and running home flashed across Twilight’s mind. After all, it was Rarity’s fault that she had spent the entire day gathering dust on her coat while dating a colt.

But he is so charming, and you two have so much in common. It would be a crime to not give him a chance, darling. Twilight remembered Rarity’s words as she finally became tired of the taste of tulips in her mouth. She spat the flowers out into a nearby trash can and quickened her pace toward the boutique.

As much as Twilight wanted to continue her study, she could no longer postpone the fitting of her birthday gala dress. Unlike the previous year, this time the most important ponies from all over Equestria was going to rush into her castle, stomping one another on their way to her hooves for a ghost of a chance to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to the Princess of Friendship. She needed that dress badly and only the possibility of failing to meet Princess Celestia’s expectations for her as a representative of Equestrian Nation set her teeth to chattering.

Lost in her thoughts, Twilight hadn’t noticed that she was standing in front of Carousel Boutique, knocking on the door. A mere moment passed and Rarity emerged from the doorway with the speed that would put both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to shame. It was almost as if the fashionista were on the other side of the door the whole time, lying in wait.

“Twilight!” Rarity greeted with a warm smile spreading across her face. “Didn’t expect you to come so early. Come in, darling. I just so happened to have made tea and you’ll oblige me greatly if you accompany me. I’m dying to hear how everything went with Comet Tail.” The fashionista gave Twilight a sly glance. “In detail.”

Twilight let out an annoyed sigh, rolling her eyes. “Rarity, I’m thankful for your hospitality,” she said, her tone saturated with impatience. “But I am really, really behind schedule.”

“Oh no no no, darling. You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me everything.” Rarity wrapped a hoof around Twilight’s shoulder and led the way into the drawing room. The mare poured two cups of tea, loaded a plate full of cookies and set Twilight on a cushion at the table.

“I’m all ears,” Rarity said, taking a diminutive sip from her cup.

Twilight’s face pulled into a creased grimace as if the fashionista asked her to narrate something extremely inappropriate. For example, what kind of dildo she used to get off the last time or how was her personal life progressing for that matter. Rarity certainly didn’t have the right to pry her mouth open given Twilight had clearly stated that it was her own business. She gave up quickly, however. She knew that it would be much faster to indulge Rarity in a bit of gossip than to start an argument that she would most likely lose anyway.

“There’s nothing to tell, really,” Twilight began in an emotionless tone. “We ate some sandwiches at the restaurant, then he took me to the observatory. After that, we walked along the park for about an hour. In the end, he offered to meet up another time. I said no. End of story.”

“You did what?” Rarity gawked, dropping her cup from her telekinetic field and sending it back onto the table with a thump, brown stains spreading quickly across the tablecloth as the splashes of the liquid began to sink in. “I can’t believe it. He was an ideal stallion for you.”

Twilight just shrugged at that, sipping tea from her cup. “I told you it was a bad idea. I would have been better off working on my project today.” And yet, despite her grumpiness, a shred of a smile managed to sneak into Twilight’s features. “Though I must admit I enjoyed the observatory quite a bit.”

“So what went wrong? Was he being rude to you?”

“Rarity, please.” Twilight sighed. “He was really nice to me and I enjoyed his company. He told me a lot about stars that I didn’t know.”

Rarity raised her brow skeptically, struggling to believe that somepony might know about scientific stuff more than Twilight herself. “So what happened?” Rarity’s impatience grew.

“As I said, it wasn’t that bad. Comet Tail is a nice pony. It’s just...” Twilight paused, looking through the window at the blue sky musingly. “I think given enough time, I could make good friends with him.”

“Friends?” Rarity’s back sagged and her face paled as if Twilight’s words were a magic spell that had sucked out her vitality. “I think you take your status of the Princess of Friendship a bit too seriously, Twilight. It took me some effort to convince him to go out with you, to persuade him that your relationships had a chance to progress, that he was something more than just another umpteenth friend of yours. And now you’re telling me that you’re not giving him a chance despite how good your date went? I didn’t want to bring it up but do you know what nickname you earned after your first months in Ponyville? The Princess of Friendzone!” Rarity’s gibberish turned into hysterical laughter by that moment. “Nopony got surprised when Celestia bestowed an actual title upon you. The Princess of Friendship. Quite ironic, isn’t it?”

Yes it is, Twilight thought. Over the years that she had spent her life in Ponyville many a stallion tried to win her heart, and even quite a few mares. Needless to say, every one of them had been forced out of Twilight’s personal space and straight into her friend zone, offhandedly and without any explanation. One of those ponies, Rainbow Dash, dug her hooves into Twilight’s friend zone deeper than anypony else could ever risk of. But even such a determined and stubborn a pony like Rainbow Dash eventually gave up after a month of fruitless attempts. The pegasus more than once brought up a theory that Twilight was simply asexual. Rarity, however, refused to believe it and convinced herself that Twilight was just waiting for her knight in shining armor to sweep her off of her hooves.

Now, while observing Rarity’s stiff demeanor, it was hard for Twilight not to think that Rarity’s illusions had finally shuttered and that the fashionista had given up on her just like the rest of her friends. It will make things so much easier for me. Twilight’s joy was short-lived, however.

It didn’t take long for Rarity to gather herself up and, judging by the determined expression on the fashionista’s face, she was desperate enough to resort to her trump card before at last having to acknowledge her defeat and admit that Twilight’s case was completely lost.

“You can’t be married to your job, Twilight,” Rarity began slowly. “Even I, despite all the stress that’s pressing down on my back while managing three boutiques at once, find time to relax and enjoy my life. Time flies fast and before you know it, you’ll find yourself an old maid remembering old days and sorrowing for opportunities gone by. Do you really want to waste the best years of your life on books, Twilight?”

“Not the worst fate if you ask me.” Twilight shrugged. She turned her head to the window again and continued to stare at the sky, her mind floating among fluffy clouds. Books help a lot to distract my mind from him. And that’s more than enough.

“You know what? Forget it. It’s your life and if you’ve decided to die alone, who am I to stop you? Just your best friend who you refuse to open your heart to.” Rarity let out a puff of air.

Twilight inclined forward and gave Rarity a big hug to the fashionista’s great surprise. “I know that you’re just trying to help me, but this aspect of my life… I can figure it out on my own, I promise. Besides, I’m never going to be alone. I have you and the girls I can always rely on.”

“Well, of course you have us but...” Rarity shook her head. “I can feel that something’s bothering you even though you pretend that everything is just fine.”

“I guess I’m just a bookworm.” Twilight smiled. You won’t be able to help me anyway.

“Fine. I’ll leave you alone to your nerdy stuff.” Rarity got up from the table and walked over to the sink to wash her cup. “For a while,” she added.

“Fair deal then,” Twilight mumbled through a mouthful of cookies. She gulped it down with a swig of tea and got up from the table as well. “My admirers can wait until the gala. Right now I need a dress, and a good one.”

“Of course, darling. I can assure you, you’re going to outshine everyone there. Quite literally. I’ve prepared special gleaming gems for just this occasion. All I need is to take your measurements and I can start working on my greatest creation yet.”

The two mares walked up onto the second floor and made their way into Rarity’s workshop. Luckily for Twilight, the fashionista was much faster at doing her job than receiving her guests and before long Twilight’s list of things that needed to be done before the gala sported another red check mark.

“You’ve grown up quite a bit since your last measurement,” Rarity mused, putting the measuring tape back in its place. She gave Twilight a sly smirk. “Especially in your flanks. Somepony has been eating too many cakes of late.”

“I know, I know,” Twilight said, blushing. “This ‘princess growth spurt’ needs a lot of calories to maintain. I guess I’ve overdone it a little.”

“You know, Comet Tail likes them plump. Maybe you’ll change your mind and give him another chance?”

“Rarity!”

“Just joking. But seriously, you better stop with so many sweets. I know you would like to emulate Princess Celestia in every detail but I have only so many special gems to afford to make you a new dress each month.”

“I got it already!” Twilight’s face was one big blushing spot at the moment. “I’ll let Spike know to revise my diet. Do you need anything else from me or can I go home already?”

“You are free like a bird, darling. I won’t keep you any longer.” Rarity took a step closer and hugged Twilight goodbye. “Say hello to the girls for me. With all this work here it’ll take a while before I can hope to see them.”

“I will,” Twilight said as she made for the exit. “And thank you, Rarity. For everything.”

Luna had raised the moon high in the sky by the time Twilight returned to her castle. And though she hadn’t done anything productive the whole day, the date and everything that had followed it had left Twilight in such an exhausted state of mind that it felt as if she had just finished writing an encyclopedia on every single plant that could be found in Equestria. No, Twilight amended herself. The encyclopedia wasn’t that fatiguing.

Walking by the kitchen, the scent of stewed carrots stopped Twilight in her tracks. She made to step in but thought better of it. She stood there for a short while, breathing the savory taste in, then decided to skip her dinner and instead proceed to the study room. Not that she was feeling hungry anyway.

She made her way onto the second floor as an amorphous mass of ribbons, cushions, curtains, and Celestia knows what else emerged from the corner and hurried up to glide in her direction. She barely made it in time to pin herself against the wall, avoiding a collision and allowing the pile to fly by. A quick glance back revealed the purple butt of a pony who stood behind the floating abomination.

“Hi, Starlight,” Twilight said as she detached herself from the wall. “Where are you going with all this stuff? I thought we had everything we needed.”

“Oh, hello Twilight. Didn’t notice you.” Starlight stopped in her track, casting the mass down onto the floor and turning to face her mentor, a weary look on her face. “The Sheik of Saddle Arabia eventually decided to attend your birthday gala.” Starlight let out a heavy sigh. “With all of his retinue.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. “How many?”

“Fifty ponies.” Starlight moved a hoof up to scratch the back of her ear, smiling weakly. “Minimum. I’m so sorry, Twilight. I know I promised that I’ll have everything prepared in time but I guess I messed up this time too.” Starlight winced as if preparing for Twilight’s outburst of panic and incoherent mumble at the ruined gala, but opened her eyes wide after a few seconds, observing Twilight’s serene demeanor.

Starlight put on a quizzical look, scratching her neck. “What? No running around in circles, crying out that you disappointed Celestia’s expectations and your life as a princess is over? You seem quite, well, I don’t know... Composed?”

Twilight gave her student a somewhat guilty smile. “I in no way mean to diminish your help but I’ve prepared a backup plan just in case if anything goes wrong. And I guess it happens to be just that. I have ponies that worked on Celestia’s gala waiting for my command. They’ll make sure that everything stays as close to the standards of a royal gala as possible. And I’ve already prepared the spell that will allow two halls to merge into a big one. Everypony would have plenty of space, food and other things, whatever they might be. I hope you’re not mad at me, Starlight?”

“Of course not.” Starlight giggled nervously. “Truth be told I’m glad to hear that somepony will get some weight off my back. Arranging a princess birthday turned out to be more exhausting than I could ever think of. Scrolling through countless guest letters has already earned me quite a headache. Not to mention learning all those titles, ranks and whose ass is more important as to be sitting in the front row and not in the second one. I don’t even know how you find the strength to finish everything in time. Especially considering you’re a princess and all that.”

Twilight grinned wide, showing a row of her white teeth. “Nothing special, really. Just countless years of practice of organization, scheduling, and scientific risk assessment.” She leaned in closer to Starlight. “But if you want a bit of wisdom, my faithful student, the main rule here is to change your activity from time to time when you get stuck. Let your brain have a little rest while you’re working on another task. Then, when you return your attention to the task at hoof, your vision of what’s needed to be done next will be more clear and thus your whole day will be more productive.”

Starlight’s face split with a mischievous smirk as she looked up at Twilight. “So that’s how you locals call a roll in the hay with a colt here in Ponyville. Change of activity you say.” Starlight’s naughty smile only grew more so. “What was his name again? Comet Trail?”

“Comet Tail,” Twilight amended, then fell silent, her cheeks a big spot of red. “I didn’t mean that kind of activity.” She leaned back from Starlight and turned aside to face the wall, a plain flat piece of crystal block and much more pleasant conversational partner at that. “How... How do you even know about him?”

“You know how.”

Twilight’s brow twitched, her gaze almost drilling a hole through the wall. “I swear, one day I’m going to kill Rarity. Whatever she told you, there was nothing between us. Nothing.”

“That’s good.” Starlight sounded pleased.

“Mm? That’s it? No lectures on how I have a heart of ice?” Twilight turned back to examine her student.

“Nope.” Starlight shook her head rapidly. “Don’t want my favorite mentor to be stolen away by some freaky colt. I love the nerdy Twilight, and this way you’re all mine, with more than enough time to help me to fit in Ponyville society and teach me a lot about friendship.”

“You know that selfishness is a bad characteristic for a friend, right?” Twilight jabbed Starlight’s side playfully.

“Is it? I guess we haven’t covered this topic yet.” Starlight let out a snicker.

Twilight supported her student with a chuckle of her own. “Remind me to add this subject to your curriculum.” She stretched a hoof out, yawning. “All right, I got to go. Have a lot of nerdy stuff to do.” Twilight looked down at the pile of miscellaneous things by Starlight’s hooves, then gave her student a supportive look. “Good luck to sort out this mess here.”

“Yeah. I’ll do my best. Good luck with your studies too. Hope to get a chance to help you when I get free here.”

Twilight nodded, then turned around and cantered off to her study room. By the time she reached her destination, her steady gait had turned into a gallop and she almost smashed the door off its hinges as she rammed herself into it.

The clock clanged midnight, shaking Twilight from her mindless staring at the pages of the book before her. She had made a lot of progress in the last few hours of her rigorous studying and almost caught up with the schedule she had planned out a week earlier. But by now her thoughts strayed away from the subject matter completely and even though she was trying to concentrate her mind on the book, it was as if she were staring at a transparent glass surface. Instead of seeing the words, she was looking past them.

Enough for today. Twilight got up from the table, ignoring a puddle of viscous liquid left on the chair. She would take care of it tomorrow. Right now she had much more important things to attend to. The deep research on sibling bonding she had just performed left her with the pressure pent up deep inside her that threatened to burst free any moment, and she’d been already struggling enough to hold it in place during the day. After all, she was not in the least indifferent to ponies, or more precisely, one white stallion, despite what Rainbow Dash might assume about her.