Rarity cradled her entranced wife gently, rocking her as she would a sleepy foal. “Come back to me, Twilight,” she cooed, stroking the alicorn’s ethereal mane. It had been quite awhile since she could adequately play the role of big spoon and she made a mental note to bring it up with Twilight another time. For now, she needed to focus.

“Come back to me,” she said again, stroking and cradling. “Come back to reality. Let the fantasy fade into memory, and come back to me. Allow yourself to rise back into waking. Take as much time as you need. You have all the time in the world.”

After a minute or so, the alicorn began to stir. She screwed her eyes shut and stretched with a groan before blearily opening her eyes. She blinked owlishly, taking a moment to focus. “Rarity?” She blinked a second time when her eyes shot open and she scrambled to get her hooves. “Rarity?!”

“Twilight, Twilight,” Rarity piped, trying to calm her squirming mare down, “listen to me; it wasn’t real. None of that was real, except for the pleasure. I’m still me, and you’re still you. It was only a fantasy.”

It took a moment for Twilight to recognize the word. “Fantasy?” she panted.

“Fantasy,” affirmed the unicorn. Reluctantly, she moved away from Twilight, and lowered herself from the bed. “I understand that what just happened felt very real, Twilight, and if there’s anything you feel you need to do in order to feel safe, I won’t interfere.” She sat and looked away. “If I can reassure you in any way, please tell me.”

Twilight stared at her wife for a long moment before taking a deep breath and looking around the room. She grew more and more confused until she turned her gaze onto herself. “Why am I so small?” she asked. “The room hasn’t felt this big since my coronation.”

“I had you do that when the fantasy started,” Rarity explained neutrally. “I tried to minimize the spellwork you had to do to make it seem real, but some things simply couldn’t be done when you were twice my size.”

“Okay. . .” she murmured uncertainly. “What about the room shifting into a purple void?

“That was a bit of both,” Rarity stated, lighting her horn and floating a very large bundle of gem-studded midnight cloth from behind a dresser. “I hung it around the bed after a certain point, and the fantasy made it look far more arcane than it actually was.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but seemed to think better of it mid way and instead lit her horn. She spent the next few minutes casting spells, each scanning or diagramming the room in some way. Looking uncertain, the princess then turned her attention to Rarity, who simply gave her a nod.

Another five minutes passed of scanning, scrying, and examining the unicorn, which she took with uncharacteristic silence. Seemingly satisfied at last, Twilight sat hard. Rarity gave her a concerned look, but waited for her to speak first.

“So. . . that was all in my head?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, Twilight. All in your head. All part of a fantasy.”

She looked at Rarity incredulously. “You did all that with hypnosis?”

The unicorn giggled and shook her head. “You did all that with hypnosis. All I did was help guide you.” She giggled again. “It’s a good thing I married you, Twilight. I’m not sure any other pony’s mind could have made it happen.”

“Huh.” Twilight nodded, looking troubled.

Rarity’s smile quickly faded. “How are you feeling, Twilight?”

The princess shook her head. “I’m not really sure. You were right, that was definitely scary, and far from what I was expecting, but. . . when it felt good, it felt incredible, and if I think about it, I can kind of see a few places where you broke character a bit when things were going too far. I guess. . . I don’t know.” She looked up at her wife. “I’ve just got to think about it.”

“Of course, darling.” Rarity moved at last, stepping over to hug her lover. “I completely understand. If I can help, please tell me how.”

Twilight returned the hug, and the warmth between them lifted her spirits somewhat, shielding her against the worst of her uncertainty. The two remained in each other’s embrace for several moments of comfortable silence.

Eventually, Rarity said, “I do have one idea for ending tonight on a more positive note, though you may not be interested now.”

Twilight hummed. “What’s that, honey?”

Rarity hesitated for a moment before saying, “I really did have two fantasies prepared, Twilight. You happened to get the Trick, which I tailored for myself; elaborate, grand, and gratifying to me. The Treat was tailored for you. No conspiracies or dangers, just a simple, warm experience meant to fulfill a fantasy of your own. I wasn’t planning on doing them both in one night, but having such a grand experience all for myself doesn’t sit right with me. You deserve at least as much.”

“Okay,” murmured Twilight, unconvinced but interested. “Can you tell me what kind of fantasy it fulfills?”

Rarity bit her lip. “I could, and if you really want me to, I will. It would, however, ruin the surprise, darling, and I promise it’s a much more pleasant surprise than anything in mine.”

Twilight looked on pensively for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “You promise it’s nothing like what just happened?”

Rarity smiled gently and nodded. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Twilight’s eyebrows slowly reached for her mane. “Really?” She managed to keep a straight face for almost three seconds before a snort broke the facade, and both mares burst into laughter.

It was a while before Twilight had calmed down enough to chortle, “Weren’t we trying to keep Pinkie out of our hypnosis play?”

Rarity, who’d managed to rein herself in to a snicker, replied, “We were, which means I’d better be telling the truth, yes?”

The pair carried on for another moment before finally calming all the way down. Twilight let out a final, amused hum before nodding. “Thank you, Rarity. I think we both needed that.”

“You’re most welcome, darling. I think we did too.” She leaned over to quickly kiss her wife’s cheek. “Now, have you chosen? Would you like to have your treat, or would you rather we retired for the night. I’m happy either way, as long as you are too.”

“Well, I am curious. I can only imagine the kind of planning that must have gone into turning yourself into a Nightmare and making it all seem both real and surreal. I’d love to see what that same planning did just to make me feel good.”

Rarity smiled. “Very well, Twilight. First, however. . .” she lit her horn, and the second chocolate from the long forgotten tray floated between them.

Twilight stared at it. “Is this related to the fantasy?”

“Somewhat,” Rarity answered. “It certainly helps.”

“And you had two of them.” The princess grinned as she raised an eyebrow. “Were you planning on doing both fantasies the whole time?”

Her wife smiled mischievously. “Let us say I wanted to keep our options as open as I could.” She the alicorn a wink. “It’s also possible that I just wanted another of those marvelous kisses.” With that, she took the chocolate in her teeth and raised an eyebrow of her own.

Twilight lunged forward, pressing into the unicorn so hard that she was backed into the bed with a moan. Her lips captured the unprepared mares, and their mouths quickly became a rich, lightly sweet battleground. Though Rarity put up a good defense, her tongue ultimately conceded, allowing Twilight’s to delve and explore at its leisure. It lasted no more than thirty seconds, but both mares pulled away panting and freshly aroused.

“Well played, darling,” Rarity managed between breaths. “Well played indeed.” She inhaled deeply, trying to regain her composure. “Are you ready?”

Twilight nodded.

Rarity lifted the second card over and let it hang in front of her for a moment. Her smile widened slowly until it looked like the one she’d worn on their wedding day. “You’re the most wonderful pony I’ve ever known, Twilight Sparkle. I hope you enjoy your Treat.”

As the card flipped, the word echoed in Twilight’s head. A familiar sensation of falling overtook her, and Twilight felt her eyes roll back as she collapsed into sleep.

Author's Note

We've seen what Rarity's Trick entails, but what about her Treat? I'm sure the character tags didn't already give that away, right?

As always, thanks in advance for anyone pointing out spelling/grammar issue, and thank you for reading!