The Sphinx's Paw

by Lingo

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Romance, Comedy, Rarity
Length: 4136

It's been a few months since the young sphinx, Twilight Sparkle, moved into the palace and Rarity can't contain her curiosity any longer.

It's been a few months since Twilight Sparkle moved into the palace of her wife-to-be, the lovely Equestrian Princess Rarity.

Things are going well for the young sphinx, she feels that she is finally settling into her new home.

Little does she know that her peace is about to be shattered by the most unusual conversation. Just what about her paws does Rarity find so fascinating?

Takes place in Earthsong and Monochromatic's Raritwi Arranged Marriaged!AU, which can be found HERE!
Cover art by the talented Nonchalant

Edit: It's been featured?? WOO! 11/18/19

Published 2019-11-17 22:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-11-17 22:20:01 UTC

The Princess and the Bean

It was happening again. The princes-

Rarity

-was staring at her again. She looked as if she was trying to figure out some riddle, but Twilight had not given her one in several days.

Perhaps she was trying to come up with her own?

Maybe Twilight did something wrong and she's trying to think of the right way to explain it to her.

Twilight hated it when she needs to have something simple explained to her. She was a sphinx of knowledge.

But.. the way her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed, it didn't seem like other times. She's been subject to the prin-RARITY's attention before. When they first met, when they had that first big talk.

But this look was still different. The fur on the back of her neck involuntarily started to rise. It made her feel uneasy.

They both made to speak at the same time, snapping their jaws shut at the sound of the other's voice.

Twilight bowed her head forward slightly, letting Rarity go first.

"Twilight, dear…"

A piece of ice dropped into the pit of her stomach. Even the tone of her voice was off.

"...may I ask a small… favor of you?"

Is she going to ask her to wear a bag on her head? Or the dreaded cone of shame from the doctor's office??

"O-of course Prarity. What do you need?"
A single eyebrow raised at the name slip, like a guillotine, but the blade never dropped. She moved on as if I she did not hear it, even though she certainly did.

"Can you come over here please? I would like to see something. A little check, that's all."

OH NO DID SHE HAVE FLEAS AND NOT REALIZE IT
WHY DOES HER NECK ITCH NOW ALL OF THE SUDDEN
BY THE GODS

Despite her internal panic, she manages to walk over to the pony princess in a mostly calm manner.

"Sit, please." She did as asked, a fuzzy ear twitches.

Rarity lifts her hoof up between them, so the frog is facing up. "Give me your paw, if you would."

Her tail is next to flick and twitch, betraying her anxiety over the situation. Hesitantly, she raises her paw up and places it on her wife-to-be's outstretched limb. She pays extra mind to keeping her claws sheathed.

Oh no, is Rarity going to trim her claws?? Had she scratched the couch by accident??

Rarity places her other hoof on top of her paw, patting it gently.

Then with agonizing slowness she turns the paw over, exposing the pads underneath to them both.

Rarity gasps. Twilight flinches.

Any moment now. Just like back home. The shouting is going to begin. She had done something wrong, she was sure of it, and was mere moments away from punishment.
She just wished the princess would hurry up! The suspense is more agony than the pain wi-

"BEANS!"

What?

"What?"

The exclamation was enough to jar the young sphinx out of her thoughts, owlishly eyeing the other royal.

"YOU HAVE BEANS!" She nearly shouted in jubilation.

To say Twilight was confused would be a crime. Perplexed. Flabbergasted. Utterly and completely lost.

"I'm not holding any beans.. Food stays in the kitchen, princess."

"NO TWILIGHT. THESE!" She prods at the soft pads of her paw.

"Those are my toes? That's my paw?"

"No Twilight these are beans! I need.. I need to find Fluttershy!"

Rarity shoots to her hooves, racing out of the common room.

"Stay right there I'll be right back! Fluttershy? Fluttershy!"

Rainbow Dash, who had been guarding the door when Rarity burst past, cast Twilight a questioning look. Twilight mirrored it with one of her own and shrugged. The guard gave chase, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts and her soft paws.

She may never understand ponies. Not ever.

It took nearly ten minutes before curiosity got the better of her, forcing her to relocate to the library. Rarity was inevitably going to get sidetracked, as she always did, so the young sphinx had some time to research. The library was also the first place Rarity would look if she could not find her.

So she went about gathering a small carload of books, from cooking recipes to the delightfully unfiltered History of Beans collection that the castle library had in its entirety for some reason.

An unknowable amount of time later, the hurried voices of Rarity and Lady Fluttershy flitted through the library doors. Twilight had taken the time to find a secluded spot, to buy herself as much time to figure this out as she could, but Rarity was wise to her tricks nowadays. It would not be long.

Their voices drifted between the stacks.
"See Fluttershy? I told you she was getting better. I asked her to stay there and she did not. She wasn't too scared of me to go against my wishes. It's refreshing to have her get so comfortable about me."

"It is a big change from when she first arrived. She's such a dear when you get to know her a little. So gentle and graceful and polite."

"Hooves to yourself, that's my fiance you are practically drooling over." Rarity chided teasingly.

"Eeep!"

Hearing Rarity refer to her in such away made her chest tighten and flutter at the same time.

"Aha! See? I told you this was where we would find her. In amongst the tombs, reading some dreadfully boring drivel, no doubt. The...Do's and Don'ts of Chili? Oh. Darling, we must get you into something more thrilling. I know of a splendid tale my mother used to read to me, about a princess in a library and a dashing seamstress.."

"Um.. so why did you bring me here again?"

Fluttershy's soft voice somehow manages to snap her friend back on track

"YES. RIGHT. Fluttershy this is the greatest. Possible! THING!"

She grabs Twilight's paw, pulling it forward.

"BEHOLD!"

With a flourish, she turns the paw over and exposes the underside to the world once more.

Twilight watches intently.

Fluttershy gasps a single dreadful word at a volume previously thought impossible for her to reach.

"BEANS!"

Her wife-to-be giggled, nodding her head emphatically.

"I know! Isn't it marvelous?"

Twilight has transcended past confused now, to some other state of mental disarray that does not have an appropriate term in modern language.

All of her research amounted to nothing. No possible explanation for the behavior of her friends. Not in the history of beans, or their use, or even cross-referenced to sphinx.

She had hoped Lady Fluttershy would provide some explanation, but it seems that whatever has afflicted the princess has affected her as well.

"Those… those are my toes…"

Fluttershy looked up from the paw she was nuzzling, as if noticing whom it was attached to for the first time. Hopefully she will explain her actions..

"No Twilight…" her voice was gravely serious.

The ice in Twilight's gut returned, double the size.

"...these are beans."

With both of her front paws being mercilessly nuzzled and squished and no escape in sight, Twilight gave up. When Rainbow Dash finally tracked them down, she found Twilight reading a book propped up on the arm of the couch she was laying on. Both front paws and now one of her back ones were occupied by the other two regal mares, whispering and giggling and having a grand old time.

The guard offered a silent prayer for the sanity of her charges. May it return someday.

Author's Note

I brainwormed myself in the raritwi server and had to write it out. But it did help to meet my NaNoWriMo goals.

Life's Bean a Little Hard on Me

That evening, Twilight made it her goal to get to the bottom of this "bean" conundrum.

So, stealing her nerves, she approached one of the few who would be the wisest to the mind and mannerisms of the princess Rarity.

Her mother. The current Queen of the pony lands. Heir to her family's legacy and name, just as Rarity will be some day when she takes the throne.

Queen Platinum.

It was not always her name, but every heir of the platinum line takes the name once they ascend to the throne.

And so she found herself outside of the banquet hall, padding after the departing queen.

"Your majesty? May I have a moment of your time?"

Even a seasoned veteran of remaining poised and collected in high stress situations can be caught off guard. And that's exactly what happened to the elder mare.

Could you blame her? She had previously spoken only a scant few words to her daughter's partner, even after the several months she had been there. And Twilight NEVER instigated the conversations.

Her gait was interrupted, a bit of carpet wasn't completely flat to the ground. Only Twilight's magic snapping into action stopped the royal face from meeting the royal hallway.

"Are you alright!" Twilight panicked.

"I'm fine, dear, thanks to you." The queen said calmly, affixing a pleasant smile to her face. This was by no means an unwelcome surprise, despite the near-mishap.

Twilight still looked uncomfortable despite her reassurance. Such a shy thing.

"You wanted to speak with me?" She prompted. It was enough to loosen the sphinx's tongue a bit.

"Pri-..Rarity said something earlier that I do not understand, and she neglected to explain it to me. Lady Fluttershy was equally unhel-.." she cleared her throat, rethinking her words, "was also too busy to fill me in. May I ask you about it?"

"You can ask me anything, Twilight. If you are to be my daughter-in-law, I aim to treat you as such."

Twilight smiled a little bit, and oh it was an adorable smile.

"What are these?" She asked, presenting the underside of her paw to the queen.

The elder laughed despite herself. "Why Twilight, dear, those are your toes!"

"That's what I said!" Twilight exclaimed. "But they both said I was wrong and insisted that they were called 'beans'."

Queen Platinum scrunched her nose."Beans? That's ridiculous. I'm fairly certain my daughter was playing some little joke on you, my dear. Beans? Why the very…."

Her speech faded, her eyes grew distant. It was as if she was suddenly bewitched just then.

Twilight was confident that was the case once the queen started to laugh. But not the manic laughter of one who had lost their marbles. It was the bell-like tittering and giggling that mares make when they hear something particularly amusing.

"BEANS!"

She sounded just like her daughter, it was almost scary.

Twilight's wings hung limply at her sides. She had lost the queen now too to this affliction.

"Ohoho that little filly! Oh goodness, that is my gem to a tee."

Once the queen got herself down to only the occasional giggle, she spoke again.

"Twilight, I'm afraid that this is between you and my little gemstone. If this is the game she chooses to play, then I have no right to interfere. Your best option is to ask her about it later. I wish I could be more help.."

The fur on Twilight's neck sprang up as the queens smile turned vulpine, predatory, mischievous.

"..but where would be the fun in that?"

Since this was such a rare occurrence, the queen took full advantage of it. As they walked through the halls they made small talk and spoke of pointless things. It was nice for both of them.

As they were preparing to depart from each other's company, the Platinum wrapped Twilight in a warm hug.

"Thank you for taking time to talk with me Twilight. I had a delightful time. We should do this again sometime, don't you think?"

"Of course, your majesty."

"Twilight, I would like for you to call me by my name. We are friends, are we not?"

"Of course, your majes.. Mrs. Platinum." She stuttered.

The queen made a face.

"No that still doesn't sound right. If we are to be family someday, then we should treat each other as such." She smiled. "My name is..."

A door down the corridor shuts very loudly, obscuring her name.

"...but my family calls me Cookie."

Twilight only nodded, not trusting her tongue to ask the queen to repeat herself. Cookie it is then.

They bid each other goodbye and went their separate ways. Though her question remained unanswered, Twilight was not ready to give up yet. Rarity had two parents, after all.

"And Twilight?"

She halted mid-step at the elder royal's call.

"I wouldn't go and ask my husband about this, if I were you. A wise king he may be, but the affairs of mares have always been foreign to him."

"Yes.. Mrs. Cookie."

The queen disappeared around a bend in the hall, leaving the sphinx alone with fewer answers than questions.

Finding no success from either the King or Queen, Twilight has little other options. Adults had failed her. BOOKS HAD FAILED HER, the very thought made her shiver at its reality. Books never let her down before.

Her only allies now were time and thought. So she found a nice balcony and sat herself upon it, staring out across the world while her mind worked. So lost to her musings, she did not notice someone approach until they were also looking out over the vista beside her.

Not wanting to seem like she was startled, Twilight did not turn her head to acknowledge them. At the edge of her vision she could see a bright white coat. Come to pester her about her feet again, no doubt.

Well no more. Until this craze was explained to her, IN DETAIL, there would be no..

"Hehe, that cloud looks kinda like a duck." The figure squeaked.

Twilight snapped her head around, surprised to see the younger sister instead of the elder. Her eyes were cast skyward and her tongue stuck out adorably from her mouth as she glared at the clouds, daring another to resemble something recognizable.

"Does that one look like an inkwell to you?" She asked after a minute, pointing at a seemingly random cloud.

"No.. it looks like a cloud. I'm sorry…"

"Oh don't worry about it, it was a stretch anyways. So what's on your mind?"

Cute distraction, struck while her guard was down. Clever. She'll make a good diplomat one day.

"I'm just.. thinking."

Sweetie leans on the railing, turning her head a full ninety degrees. "Bout what?" A devilish grin. "About my sister?"

Normally she would have fallen for the poke, but right now she's more distracted. "Something like that."

"Something must really be bugging you then." The young princess's demeanor shifts, losing a bit of its playfulness as she straightens up.

"Yes. Well, no. Well…"

Sweetie silently waits for her to collect her thoughts.

"It's nothing, really. Just some silly thing with Rarity, and then Lady Fluttershy, and then both of your parents. I'm no closer to figuring it out even after several hours. It's like no riddle I've ever heard of…"

"So… it's a riddle?" Sweetie tilts her head.

"No, it's not an actual riddle. Just… can I ask you something?"

"Well sure you can. If you're gonna be marrying my sister, I want you to see me like family. Lay it on me."

"Lay… what on you?"

"No it's not.. just ask me the thing."

"Ok.. promise me you won't be all weird about it?"

"Twilight, do I look like I couldn't be not-weird if I wanted to?"

Twilight chose to hold her tongue on that question.

Instead she offered her paw to the young princess, hesitating before turning it palm up.

"What do I have here?"

Sweetie looked between the empty paw and her face several times.

"Uh… some invisible thing?"

"What? No..."

"Are you offering me your paw in friendship?"

"No. Well I mean sure I guess but that's not what I'm doing right at this moment…"

"Are we about to play a game of charades?"

"I hadn't planned to?"

She blows raspberries at the sky. "Then I have no idea."

"Ok let me clarify. What are these?" She used her other paw to prod the soft pads.

"Your toes?"

"That's what I said! But everyone keeps calling them BEANS for some reason!"

"Keep calling them…" Sweetie's confusion melts away into comprehension, understanding dawning across her features.

With the utmost poise and grace, she smacks her forehead just below her horn with her hoof.

"Princess?"

"Twilight, I know what they are. Gosh darnit, Rarity, you're such a weirdo."

"Umm…"

"I guess it falls on me to explain this. Twilight, those are beans."

Twilight recoils in horror. Not Sweetie too!

Sweetie giggles. "But they're also your toes. It's… a weird thing. You know how you're a lot like a cat?"

Memories of teasing and playful little jeans at her sun-ray naps and occasional purring fly to the forefront of her mind. She grumbles in confirmation.

"Well your paws are a lot like a cat's. And cats tend to not like it when people touch under their paws. So it has become like a funny little joke thing. They are the "forbidden fruit", or whatever. Called toe-beans. Even some of my friends have went kinda gaga about seeing them on cats."

Twilight listens in fascination, trying to absorb every detail.

"They're super cute, Twilight, adorable even. That's the thing. Mares freak out about adorable toe beans. You are a big cat. Rarity sees you have cat-like paws. Rarity freaks out. It all makes sense."

"But.. she and Flu-Lady Fluttershy nuzzled and pet them for over an hour! How could something so silly hold their attention for so long?"

"Mares are weird, Twilight. And Rarity is one of the weirdest. Learn that now." She smiles and then gets up to leave.

As she's trotting away, she calls back in idle musing. "If I were you, I'd use those to my advantage."

"Use them?"

"Of course. Like a bribe. Tell Rarity that if she does stuff for you, you'll allow her to have bean time. Or something. Be creative."

"Bean time…" The entire notion is ridiculous. This whole beans thing is ridiculous. But.. if she can't fight it or stop it, it's only logical that she use it.

By the time she thought of another question, the young princess had departed. Again she was left alone with her thoughts. Her thoughts, and her beans.

Author's Note

This was such a blast to write, an absolute pleasure.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Bean Holder

Late that night, Twilight had an idea. Or well, part of an idea. But it was good enough.

She stopped by Sweetie's room before breakfast the following morning, to thank her and ask for a favor.

When the royal family arrived for their morning meal, Twilight joined them as she usually does. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Nothing except for the large wool socks she wore on each foot, extending part way up her leg.

She gained some curious looks but most of those in attendance brushed it off as her feeling chilly. All except for the two sisters, the younger who barely contained her giddy excitement and the elder who squinted in suspicion.

Rarity knew that Twilight did not and never had owned a pair of socks. And those look terribly like an oversized pair her little sister received from their grandmother for Hearth's Warming a few years prior.

She restrained herself for the meal, intent on extracting the information from them both once they were finished.

But when the meal came to a close, her sister ran off sputtering something about meeting with her friends. And Twilight disappeared from the table as she usually does.

No matter, Rarity knew just what spots to look.

She found her soon-wife in one of the palace reading rooms, lounging on a couch with her face in a book. And she was still wearing those socks.

Ears tilted and a tail swished as Rarity entered. "Cold, Twilight?" We can commission you a fetching scarf and a jacket if you'd like."

"No thank you, Rarity. I'm fine."

No stutter. No trip on the name. Just even, articulate speaking.

Very much too nonchalant to be normal.

"Are you sure? The palace can become so chilly as the seasons change."

"I'm warm enough already."

Ohoho no that won't do.

"But Twilight, dear, we could even have your own socks made so you do not have to borrow my sister's. The floors must be so rough on your soft little…"

She couldn't see the beans, concealed as they were under the thick material. Was that the game she was playing? Or..

Or could she have made Twilight that uncomfortable? She may have gone a little overboard with Fluttershy before, but she didn't think it was enough for Twilight to erect this new wall between them. She could have inadvertently taken a step backwards in their relationship, after how far they'd come!

Her chest was squeezed in a vice.

"Twilight.. I.. im sorry if I made you uncomfortable with my antics yesterday. If there's anything I can do to.."

"Books."

"Pardon?"

"I'd like some new books. Preferably about magic"

A lifeline.

"Y-yes! Of course! Your own library's wor.."

"And a set of combs and brushes."

Interrupted twice in one conversation? By the normally so shy sphinx? What had gotten into her?

"I.. absolutely. I'll have one purchased right awa.."

For the first time since Rarity approached, Twilight looked up from her book.

"And I want you to brush me once a day."

Rarity was struck speechless, surprised.

"Do that…" Twilight swallowed, a blush creeping into her cheeks. "..do that.. and I'll let you have some bean time this Friday."

The young princess's face contorted in the most brilliant mix of confusion and surprise and a little bit of excitement. It's the kind of face that creates diplomatic incidents and inspires tabloid trash. The kind of face Rarity does her best to never make, ever.

She ended up holding it for a full fifteen seconds. Twilight counted.

"You…"

Her fiance rasped, her face turning to a nearly a scowl. Her eyes narrowed at the sphinx.

"..you… you dirty little cheat!"

Twilight effortlessly smiled at her.

"This should be illegal! I should have you arrested! Blackmail! That's what this is! You're blackmailing me!"

She points an accusing hoof at Twilight.

"I am a princess and I shall not be denied what is rightfully-"

"You have hoof-butts."

Rarity's tirade sputtered to a sudden halt. She blinked owlishly at Twilight.

"What?"

"I said that you have hoof-butts."

"I don't.. where do..?" Rarity stammered, completely befuddled. Had Twilight gone mad?

Twilight rose from the couch and padded over to the princess on soft, sock-clad paws.

She leaned down to Rarity's still outstretched hoof, gently turning it over so the frog was up. She lightly kissed the soft pad on the bottom of Rarity's hoof, sending shivers racing up the princess's spine.

Then Twilight passed by to leave the room, pausing for a moment to whisper in the mare's ear.

"Hoof. Butts."

And swiftly made her exit.

Rarity stared at the couch, then at her hoof, and back again. She did this silently for some time, realization slowly blossoming inside her.

A giggle sounded from the doorway behind her. She whipped her head around, catching sight of the end of her sister's tail as she dashed away, still giggling.

It all made sense now.

"Twilight! TWILIGHT! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"

And off she galloped through the palace, starting a chase that would last until sundown, with short breaks for lunch and dinner.

They fell asleep mere inches from each other in a random study. At some point, someone came by to light the fireplace and drape a blanket over the pair.

The young princess would most certainly complain about her sleeping place the following morning, but it would pale in comparison to the berating she would give to anyone who dared to wake either of them up right then.

Because even though it may not seem like it, this was an important step. She vowed to make it work with Twilight. This was a sign that it was working.

Author's Note

I seriously recommend reading the other fic in this AU, since it is actually good and written by a real author. You can find it HERE

Hungry for more Raritwi? Why not go check out the fruits of the Raritwi Bomb. You can find lots of good stuff there including a fic that I wrote(that isn't this one)

And with that, it's done. I can finally rest, free from this burden of beans and fluff.

Wait no that's another idEA STAY AWAY FROM ME