When Twilight finally found Rarity, she was frowning at her ledgers with a quill held in her magic.
Although Twilight was undoubtedly the mathematical genius in their relationship, Rarity was no slouch herself when it came to more arithmetic matters like business and finance. Which made the frowning all the more odd. Twilight knew she couldn't possibly be struggling with the calculations, yet her brows were furrowed and her eyes narrowed at the numbers on the page as if they held some grand mystery she could not uncover.
Still, she didn't like seeing her fiancée unhappy, so she slid closer and wrapped a foreleg around her. "Does somepony need an angel investor?" she teased, pressing her lips against Rarity's soft mane. It was an old joke, and usually managed to get a chuckle out of her lover and a reply along the lines of "no, just an angel, darling."
Thus, it was even more worrying when Rarity winced at her comment. "Oh, hello, Twilight," she said, her eyes never straying from her records. "Did you need me for something?"
"We were supposed to have dinner an hour ago," Twilight replied as she pulled back, trying to hide the hurt in her voice at being brushed off.
"Were we?" Barely a glance was spared at the clock on the wall before Rarity returned to her ledgers. "My apologies, dear. I'll be sure to make it up to you later."
Okay, this was becoming seriously worrying. "Rarity, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Rarity replied, finally turning away to face Twilight with an impassive gaze. "Just patterns."
"Patterns?" It sucked how good she was at hiding her feelings, Twilight mused. She hated when Rarity shut her out like this.
"Patterns," Rarity repeated, her voice still casual, but with an undercurrent of something Twilight couldn't make out beneath it. "We're both rather good with them, no? You told me once that science was little more than the art of finding patterns in the fabric of reality. And of course, my own profession requires an eye for detail, and what is fashion if not creating the patterns of the future?"
"I... see." Well, at least she was talking to her now. Rarity was a pony who walked her own path, but she always found her way to Twilight eventually.
"No, I don't think you do, yet," Rarity replied. "You love uncovering patterns. Sometimes I think the reason you fell for me is because you wanted to unravel me like one of your research questions. But this is one pattern I don't know I wish to find."
"Whatever you're looking for, whatever you think you might find, we'll get through it together, like we always do," Twilight said, nuzzling Rarity again. In times like this, it was all she could do until Rarity opened up to her.
"I fear that might be the pattern I dread." Rarity gestured for Twilight to come closer. "Tell me, what can you see here?" Her quill tapped against the reams of paper on the desk.
Years of tutelage under Princess Celestia had given Twilight all the tools she needed for this. She scanned the ledgers and began thinking out loud, just like she used to all those years ago with her teacher.
"These are daily gross sales across all your stores for the past three years up until two weeks ago," she began. Context was always important to establish before any analysis. Too easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees otherwise. "The choice of time horizon means that you'll have noisy observations with higher variance compared to weekly aggregates, but you're able to see effects from individual shocks on the market."
Her eyes scanned through the ups and downs, the ever-present pressure of Rarity's gaze locking her head into place. Somehow, she knew it was imperative she figure out this math problem, that it was more important than any test Princess Celestia had ever given her.
"There's a general long-term upward trend of sales across all three stores," she continued, searching for and failing to find any other overall monotonic patterns. "There's some cyclic variations that seem to coincide with the seasons, as would be expected, and some spikes in sales associated with major annual events like Nightmare Night and the Summer Sun Celebration."
"Major annual events, yes. And the others?" For a split second, Twilight felt a flash of irritation at Rarity giving her a hint before she needed one — Princess Celestia would never have done that. Then she remembered that this was much more than a test, and resumed her study with renewed focus.
"Well, eliminating the cycles that occur annually, we get a bunch of sharp increases in sales, some across all three stores. The most recent spike is from a month ago, in Manehattan. I think that's from the Altered Parasprite infestation that happened there. Then there's one across all stores from eight weeks ago, aligning with the interview Fleur de Lis did with Equestria Daily when she promoted wearing a sunhat outside at all times.
"The next one is from three months ago. Hmm..." Twilight squinted at the values. "Looks like it affected every store except for the original Carousel Boutique in Ponyville, with a larger effect than the other two spikes. Weird. I can't think of anything from that time which might explain the sudden increase in sales either."
"Really?" The disappointment in Rarity's tone extended far deeper than Twilight's failure to identify the cause of the anomaly. "That's the weekend of the twenty-third. Don't you remember what happened during that time?"
Twilight wracked her mind as she recalled that weekend. "There was that diplomatic summit with the Saddle Arabians, but I don't really see how — oh!" The memories came rushing back. "I was wearing one of your dresses during the interview with the National Gazette, and the reporter asked me where I got it from." She squinted at the records. "Wow, that's a much larger impact than I was expecting."
"Is it?" Rarity's tone wasn't exactly accusing, but the way she stiffened when Twilight turned to face her spoke volumes. "Look at the other instances where the sales numbers soared."
With growing dread, Twilight read on. "Okay, there's a small spike from when that flood hit Manehattan in March, and then a really big one in Canterlot from when... that's our anniversary date, isn't it? When that mare approached you and starting talking fashion during dinner?"
"Quite right, Twilight," Rarity replied. "That mare was Upper Crust, one of the biggest gossips among the Canterlot Elite. I daresay half the city knew whose dress you were wearing before our dessert arrived."
"I... see." Desperately hoping she was wrong, Twilight kept going down the list. Two more minor increases associated with major weather events, and then another large spike in both Manehattan and Canterlot when Twilight had taken Rarity to that hospital opening while wearing one of her dresses. Three more significant increases associated with other times they'd been together at public events.
Twilight's eyes widened as she saw sales at the two non-Ponyville stores increase after the Grand Galloping Gala, surpassing any effect from ponies buying dresses before the event.
"I noticed it for the first time after you let me design your coronation dress," Rarity said idly, breaking Twilight's focus. She turned to find her fiancée staring off into the distance, memories of simpler times dancing in her eyes. "I filled out all my commission slots for the rest of the year by the end of the week." She paused for a moment before continuing.
"Did you know that the rent in Canterlot is positively murderous on one's finances?" Those distant eyes glanced sharply at Twilight, who could barely get out an answer.
"It has the highest average housing price in Equestria, although if you break it down by district only one part of the city is in the top ten," she recited from memory.
A fond smile finally broke through Rarity's expression, even as her eyes were still tinged with sadness. "I wasn't quite sure if I'd be able to break even when I first started Canterlot Carousel. Even with the bonus from Sapphire Shores' commission, I'd needed a loan to secure the location before anypony else got to it, and it would have been very embarrassing if I'd had to default on that debt. Très gauche, such behaviour.
"So I leveraged my greatest asset to ensure my opening was a success."
Twilight winced. "Me. You're talking about me."
"I felt guilty about it afterwards, but you modelling the Princess Dress ensured the future of Canterlot Carousel," Rarity explained. "I swore after that day that I'd never use you like that again, but then we started dating."
Twilight glanced back at the damning numbers. Like with most patterns, now that she knew what to look for, it was so obvious, her mind picking out relevant values without even trying. "And every time we went to an event together, or I wore one of your dresses at a public spectacle, you got a boost in sales in Canterlot and Manehattan."
"Bless Ponyville and their complete lack of respect for your title." Rarity rolled her eyes as she spoke, but there was genuine fondness in her tone. "That said, now that we're engaged... well, Sassy and Coco haven't sent last week's numbers to me yet, but from the number of commission requests I've had to turn down, I'm reasonably certain that I'm going to be able to purchase a dozen more stores across Equestria by the end of the year."
"That's... good?" Now Twilight was confused. It was pretty obvious Rarity wasn't just using her for her fame — and Twilight hadn't given any indication that she doubted her fiancée's love, because she didn't, not one bit.
"Oh, it's positively wonderful, according to my clientele and associates." A hysterical lilt crept into Rarity's voice as she spoke, her words coming out more and more rushed. "Why, they're ecstatic that we're to be wed. After all, that means that in the grand scheme of all the games the nobility like to play, I've won, and they hope to be able to capitalize on my victory while they can."
"You know it's not like that for us." Twilight tried to reach out to Rarity, but her lover backed away, leaving a chasm between them that Twilight couldn't cross. "I've never for a minute even considered the possibility you might be dating me for my status."
"I know." And yet, Rarity didn't move. "But that doesn't change the fact that our wedding will be the single largest factor driving the success of the Carousel brand for the rest of my life."
Rarity walked over towards the window, gazing outwards without sparing a single glance for Twilight. "When I was a filly, I learned that, in the fashion business, skill was but a trifle compared to the power of having the right connections. I thought myself so wise for understanding that."
A faint chuckle escaped from her lips, a pretty, fond little sound. "But though I knew that I would have to network to be noticed, I swore to myself that getting noticed was all I would aim for. When I succeeded, it was going to be because I was the most fabulous designer in all of Equestria, who could create such dazzling, stupendous ensembles which would be the talk of the town for entire seasons with how bold and beautiful they were, and not because I knew the right ponies. I would do what I had to in order to get ponies to notice my work, but they would purchase my dresses because they loved them, not because I told them to."
Rarity turned to face Twilight. "You must think me horribly naïve for thinking I could separate one from the other, even now."
"You wanted to know that you were good at what you did," Twilight said simply. "There's nothing wrong or naïve about that."
"Perhaps." Rarity glared at those papers on her desk once again. "But now we'll never know, will we? I'll never be able to tell if ponies are buying my dresses because they love them, or because they were made by a Princess-Consort." Her horn lit up, and one of the sheets flew towards Twilight, nearly hitting her in the face. "Your interview with Equestria Daily where you announced our relationship earned me more sales than winning Fashion Week did, for pony's sake!"
"I'm sorry." Twilight set down the paper and walked over to Rarity, wrapping her in a hug even when she tried to pull away. She was soft and warm and Twilight could feel the love emanating from her even as her anger melted into melancholy.
"I always knew I'd have to give up something for love," Rarity whispered into Twilight's chest. "That's how it always works in the stories. I just never expected to have to give up this particular dream."
"If it makes you feel better, I understand what you're going through," Twilight said as she stroked Rarity's mane.
"Really?" Blue eyes filled with doubt stared up at her. "You earned your place as Princess Celestia's student, and Harmony itself made you an Alicorn. Not to mention, magic is quite a bit easier to measure one's skill in, I would assume."
"You'd think so, but I became Princess Celestia's student because of an accident." Twilight's smile was filled with resignation. "I was born with more magic than anypony else in our time. I didn't do anything to earn that, I just got lucky that I happened to be born with the right destiny. It's why I worked so hard to try to make her happy — I knew I didn't really deserve to be her student, not when the only thing I managed was to win the genetic lottery.
"And even then, part of me always knew that the reason I could pick up new spells so quickly and cast them so easily was because of all the magical potential I was born with. There could easily be a hundred ponies smarter than me who performed worse on those magic tests just because they weren't me."
"How did you ever make peace with that?" A flash of hope crossed Rarity's expression.
Twilight shrugged. "I don't know if I ever did? I still have nights where I can't sleep because I can't stop thinking about how maybe another pony might've made a better student, a better princess than me. That doesn't ever go away, I think." She saw Rarity's face fall, and quickly added: "But there's other ways to cope."
"Your castle did come with a very fine selection of wine," Rarity commented. "Perhaps I shall follow in the time-honoured tradition of artists and simply drown my sorrows away."
As Twilight rolled her eyes in response, she also stole a quick kiss against her lover's lips. "Maybe you should try other things before turning to substance abuse. I'm not sure if it's the best coping mechanism, but I think it's good to find ponies you can trust to be honest with you and to give you a fair evaluation of your skills." Her smile turned wry. "I did go a bit overboard and get obsessed with getting Celestia's approval, but I think the theory is sound."
"Hmm..." A thoughtful expression crossed Rarity's face. "Well, I do trust you, dearest."
Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, but do you trust me to give you an accurate assessment of your fashion skills?" She felt Rarity wince against her coat.
"I do so love you, Twilight, but you have a point." Rarity pouted. "I suppose Applejack is out for the same reason."
"I'm sure there's somepony out there who can help you," Twilight said. "Spike actually has a decent sense of fashion, probably from all the time he spent hanging out with you. And I think he's matured enough that you can trust him to be honest with you."
Rarity's brows furrowed. "That's an option, certainly." She smiled. "And might I say, you really are coming into your own as the Princess of Friendship. Thank you for your advice. I have a few other ponies in the business that I might be able to trust, and I suppose in the end, it's our friends who matter more than the public, and I can actually pry an answer from them."
"Exactly." Twilight nuzzled Rarity again, just because she could. "Though, if you really want, I could perform a regression analysis on your sales numbers compared to the industry average with independent variables to filter out effects from our relationship, then run the relevant statistical tests to determine how you compare with others in your field on an objective level with respect to a heuristic proxy for notoriety."
There was a pause as Rarity gazed blankly at Twilight. Then she smiled, and the whole world brightened. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"
"All the time." Twilight leaned down and kissed Rarity on the tip of her nose, eliciting a delightful squeak from the other mare. "And I trust you to tell me the truth about that too." Rarity squirmed in Twilight's embrace, and Twilight's heart melted a little at the sight.
"The truth, Twilight Sparkle, is that I am very much in love with you, and that my heart is yours, now and forever." Rarity's poignant declaration was marred somewhat by the sudden rumbling around her barrel. "Oh, goodness, I really did forget about our dinner plans, didn't I?"
"You did, yeah." Twilight regretfully disentangled herself from her fiancée, but kept one wing wrapped around her barrel so that she didn't have to stop holding her.
"Shall we head out to Sugarcube Corner, then?" Rarity asked as they began moving in sync towards the door, their bodies in harmony just as their hearts were. "I'll pay. It's the least I can do after all you've done for me."
