Wrong and Right

The two women sat there, just staring at one another, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Rarity slowly sipped her complimentary glass of water while taking in Cadance’s… peculiar choice of ensemble; a rather strikingly teal dress with a matching short-cut jacket. Not what she’d expected her to wear when she’d asked her to this… summit. Yes. Summit seemed appropriate. Cadance finished crunching away another fresh breadstick as she apparently appraised Rarity’s much more simple violet sundress with some amusement.

The two eyed one another, stone faced, two gunslingers at high noon.

The waiter, a perky young man barely out of high school, stepped up, his tablet already open and pen at the ready. "Buongiorno, Donne! Welcome to Tigano's. Can I start you with something to drink?"

Rarity smiled easily at the young man. "Water will be fine for now. Thank you."

"Of course." He gave a slight nod and turned to Cadance. "And for you?"

"Chianti, please." Cadance wiped her hands on a napkin daintily and reached into her nearby purse. Out came her ID, and she flashed the same dazzling smile as the one in her photo.

"But of course." The server glanced Rarity's way. "Uh… are we drinking alone?"

Rarity's eyes narrowed at the woman across from her. "Just water. Please." Her eyes flicked at the menu before her. "But I will start with the salad. Caesar. Vinaigrette." She winked at the server. "Prego?"

"Certamente." The server bowed and departed quickly. Even he could feel the ambient tension at the table.

Rarity took another sip of water. "Wine for lunch? How very… tacky."

Cadance laughed airily as she eyed another breadstick. "I'm sorry you can't be tacky with me. What with being underage and all." She snatched the breadstick at last and bit into it with gusto. "This is a charming little place. A nice choice. There’s one just like it at the casino Shining Armor and I go to sometimes on the weekends. He's such a passionate blackjack player. Did you know?" She swallowed and smiled. "A shame that his new little girlfriend can't go out on the floor with him."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Cadance?"

"What do I want? It was you who arranged this meeting."

"Don't be cute with me.” Rarity snapped. “I know you told Twilight about Shining Armor and me. And I can tell from her text that you either fudged the details or outright lied about the nature of our relationship."

"I told Twilight what was important. If some information got lost in translation, then that's no fault of mine."

"You have no room in this situation to be so... so vindictive. What you did was childish and uncalled for."

"Oh, I strongly disagree. Dating Shining Armor behind his sister's back was what was childish and uncalled for."

"I know that, damn it all." Rarity glowered into her water. "And now that you've let that particular cat out of the bag, I may have lost my friend forever. So now, I'll ask once again; what exactly do you want?"

Cadance finished the breadstick and washed it down with a swallow from her own glass of water. "Simple; I want my fiancée back."

Rarity had to laugh at the audacity. "I'm afraid that ship has sailed, darling."

"Has it? I'm not so sure."

"Shining Armor is free to be with whoever he chooses to be with. I'm not going to pretend that what the two of you had was special, but it was you who chose to crumple it up and toss it in the garbage." She took a sip and smirked. "Likely along with the condom you used to cheat on him with."

Cadance's smile faltered for the first time since Rarity had sat down. "That was uncalled for."

"Agree to disagree." She made a show of checking her nails. "The fact remains; you broke his heart. And, unluckily for you, someone else was there to pick up the pieces."

"You have no idea what Shiny and I had... what we have. We're fated to be together. This? This is just a speedbump. All couples face challenges like this. We'll move past it and..."

"How many have there been?"

Cadance froze. "What? Speedbumps?"

"No. Men, darling. How many men have you slept with since you and Shining Armor began your little 'break?'"

Cadance gaped at the young woman. "Excuse me...?"

Her reaction was all the proof Rarity needed. "Because you're meeting one after this, aren't you? Or do you commonly put on such a nice dress and perfume combination to meet with a...?" She considered before snapping her fingers. "Goodness, am I a romantic rival? I always did wonder what it would be like to step into the pages of a romantic novella."

Cadance glared. "...it's not what you think. It's just sex."

"It's not ‘just sex’ to Shining Armor."

"He just has to get used to the fact that I have new needs now. He loves me. He'll understand."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong." Rarity pointed a finger. "If you'd done the very thing you're chastising me for not doing, if you'd been honest with him from the very start, then maybe, just maybe, he would have understood. You know the man just as well as I do, if not better. There's a very good chance that he would have found some way to... accommodate this new hunger of yours. That's what he does. He'd bend over backwards for the ones he loves." She smiled wistfully. "It's just one of the things that makes him so wonderful."

"He is wonderful. And that's why I want him back." Cadance leaned forward, pushing the breadstick basket to the side. "I'm not going to pretend that you haven't fallen for him. I mean, how could you not? He's the best. Dedicated, passionate, empathetic... and he's always been that way. We've loved each other for over a decade. The day he got down on one knee was the happiest day of my entire life."

Rarity looked at her evenly. "And yet you still cheated on him."

Cadance sighed. "You want to know the really fucked up part? I don't actually regret doing it. I just regret going behind his back about it."

Rarity flushed with anger. "That's horrible."

"Is it?" Cadance shrugged. "I don't expect you to understand. Or maybe you do." She smirked. "Shiny wasn't your first, was he?"

"That's none of your business."

"That's a no, then. He was my first, though, and I was his. We went through our entire adolescence as a couple. He was my first kiss, the first to see me, to touch me... It's all very romantic. But there was always this part of me that wondered if I was missing out." She leaned back and arched slightly, emphasizing her robust and well-developed form. "From the moment I blossomed, I started getting noticed. But I couldn’t really take advantage of it. I was a taken woman, wasn't I? It was improper to even consider straying from the bed of the one I loved. Still… those thoughts lingered. And then it happened; the perfect storm of circumstance; a good distance away from Shiny, a cute co-worker, and enough drinks to use as an excuse later." She shrugged. "So I gave in. I'm only human, after all."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Rarity shook her head. "You're so... cavalier about the whole thing."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Cadance’s eyes glazed over as she looked away. "Sex is wonderful. You know that. I thought I knew, but after that first time with Sunburst? It was like a whole new world had opened up. I had been missing so much. Shiny's no slouch in bed, don’t get me wrong, but after all these years? I know all of his tricks. All of his moves.” She held up a hand to stop Rarity’s next comment. “I wouldn't call him boring. Just… predictable. And variety's the spice of life, isn't it?" She stopped speaking when the server arrived with her wine and a fresh glass of water for Rarity. She watched him leave and openly leered at his retreating form. "Take that one for example. He's cute. Don't you wonder if he's submissive in the sack? Or maybe he has a hidden dominant streak. Does being a waiter give you amazing stamina? Or maybe he would be more receptive to a five minute quickie in the kitchen before anyone notices he’s gone?"

Rarity couldn't believe she was hearing any of this. "You're shameless."

"I'm liberated. I've discovered the secret to true love, Rarity. Your heart? That can belong to one and one alone. But your body? It's not in our nature to share it with only one. My one mistake in all of this was in not telling Shining Armor sooner. But this break we've been on? It's really shown me how lost I truly was. I know he'll understand. It's what he does. And he'll be happy. After all, I imagine he'll be quite receptive to the fact that he can also sleep with whoever he wants now. Just so long as he comes home to me at the end of the day." She sipped her wine and fanned herself. "Goodness. Is it hot in here?" She shed her coat, revealing the thin straps of her dress... and a strange dark splotch on her shoulder.

Rarity's eyes widened at the sight of it. "Is that… have you always had a tattoo?"

Upon closer examination, it wasn't a splotch. It was a round, layered black object topped with jagged edges and points. An abstract shape surrounded it in vibrant, very nearly neon green, and the wavy lines suggesting both dancing flames and a spread pair of wings all at once. Cadance smiled at it. "It's new. It’s a chrysalis. You know, the stage between caterpillar and butterfly? It's supposed to stand for metamorphosis. I don't know. I thought it was appropriate." She smiled as she brought the glass to her lips again. "And the guy offered to do it for free after I fucked him right there in the tattoo parlor."

Rarity slammed her palms down on the table and stood, fire in her eyes. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to another word of this. What I did was wrong. But this? This is monstrous. You're not just a fool, Cadance. You're a beast. You don't deserve someone like him."

Cadance didn't even flinch, didn't bother to look up, "Sit back down, Rarity."

"I will not. This was a mistake. I should've gone straight to Twilight and..."

Cadance giggled. "Oh, Rarity. Rarity, Rarity, Rarity." She looked up, a cat-like grin on her face. "Do you really think talking to Twilight is the worst thing I can do in this situation?"

Rarity froze. "What?"

"There's not a doubt in my mind that she'll forgive Shining Armor. Hell, she'll even forgive me, even after he tells her what I didn't. In time, I imagine the two of you will be bosom pals again. I've known that girl longer than you, since she was a toddler. I can read her like one of those books she loves so much. I know exactly what buttons to push. Turning her on you was easy because it was small. Think of it as a… warning shot. I needed you to understand what I was capable of." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Now sit down."

Despite every instinct telling her to do the opposite, Rarity sat. The server arrived with her salad, waited a moment for them to order, and then finally left with haste once neither woman bothered to even acknowledge him. "You said you want him back."

"I do." Cadance placed her glass on the table and leaned forward, resting her chin on interlaced fingers. "But I'm not unfair. I can't stop you from loving him, I know that. But I can use his love for you to get him back."

"I don't follow."

"I'll share him with you, Rarity. It's as simple as that. Every inch of that muscly mass of his will be just as available to you then as it is now. The one difference is that at the end of the day, he comes home with me. His ring goes back on my finger, we sign the documents proclaiming us man and wife, and down the road? We even start a family. You don't get any of that. But, fair trade, you get to have him whenever you like. And who knows? Maybe we can arrange a threesome for his birthday." She cocked her head. "Doesn't that sound like a good deal?"

"No. Not at all." Rarity chewed her lip nervously. "But I imagine you knew I'd say that and have some way of convincing me otherwise."

"Now you're catching on." She sat back and fingered the rim of her wine glass. "Like I said before; telling Twilight was just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine what would happen if someone said something similar to someone just a smidge more important. Someone in his department, for example." She flicked the glass, making it ring in the silence of the still empty restaurant. "I don't imagine his fellow officers would look kindly on their co-worker dallying with a high schooler."

"An empty threat." Rarity sniffed. "I was eighteen that first night. He never even glanced my way before then."

"Oh, I know that. And you know that. And Shiny knows that. But just think about it for a moment. You saw Twilight's reaction when I... changed the story, just a little bit. What do you think the department's reaction would be if I did the same with them?" Her smile widened at the dawning realization in Rarity's eyes. "Maybe he was willingly seduced by a willowy seventeen year old that night at the cabin. That would be bad, but not unrecoverable. Not quite the same if accusations came forward alleging that there was something more insidious going on. After all, you've known Shiny since you were... what? Fifteen?"

"You can't be implying..."

"That he groomed you? No, I'm not implying it." She winked. "Yet."

"The... the charges would never stand." Rarity stammered, shaken at the implications. "He would..."

"Charges? Oh no, I wouldn't let it get that far. But the court of public opinion would judge him swiftly and permanently."

"How could you even threaten such a thing and still claim that you love him?" Rarity had to struggle not to scream. "You'd shatter his reputation, ruin his career!"

"Yes, I would. I'd destroy him... because I love him. I would tear down every pillar that supports him... until only I remain. Then, finally, he'd understand how much we need each other." She sighed dreamily. "We would probably even have to move as far away as possible. Somewhere no one could possibly know about his... transgressions. Far away from the judgmental stares, the broken public trust..." She picked up the glass and tilted it in Rarity's direction. "Far away from you."

Rarity's mind raced at the depth and danger of the threat. "Please... I can't..."

"Can't share him?" Cadance swirled the wine and brought it to her nose. "That's fine, too. All you have to do then is break his heart. Honestly, that might make it even easier for me to..."

"Goodness, do you ever shut up?"

Cadance looked at her sharply. "What?"

Rarity cleared her throat. "I asked you to kindly shut the fuck up for five minutes. When I asked you to come here, I didn't expect you to start ranting like a supervillain and not let me get a word in edgewise."

Cadance frowned. "Haven't you ever heard of respecting your elders?"

"Respect is earned, not given." Rarity reached out and pushed the salad away. Her appetite was long gone. "And I can honestly say that I have never met someone so undeserving of respect." She took a deep, calming breath. "You speak of being liberated, but it's just the opposite. You've become a slave to your own flesh. And please don't let me be misunderstood; I'm not judging you for who you choose to sleep with. I'm a modern woman, and if you get your rocks off by spreading your legs for any man with a strong jaw and a moderately sized cock, then more power to you, sister.” She briefly held up her glass in mock salute. “My issue, my very personal issue, is this idea you have about having Shining Armor as well. You don't just want to have your cake and eat it too. You want the whole fucking bakery." She glared at the pink woman who was darkening with anger. "And the saddest part of all this is that you can't see just how badly you've messed up. Like I said, if you'd gone to Shining Armor first, he likely would have found some way of working it out. But now? You've known him for so long, for so much longer than I have, then surely you must know that the man wears his heart on his sleeve. And that once you've injured it, you never get another chance with it."

"He'll forgive me." Cadance put down the glass. "We're fated. Meant to be. Twilight told me..."

"You keep saying that you're fated to be together in one breath, then talk of destroying him in the next." Rarity continued as though her enemy hadn't even said anything. "You don't love him. I won't say you never did, but now? Ridiculous. You want to control him, put chains on his heart so that it beats for you and you alone. But that's not love. Shining Armor loves me because he chooses to love me, and I love him for that. You talk about tearing down the pillars that support him until only one remains. Well, I'm telling you that even if you did that there would still be at least one standing there." She brought a hand to her chest. "And that's this piece of marble right here."

"The naive ravings of a child." Cadance sneered. "You have no idea..."

"No. I don't. But that's alright. I've got all the time in the world to figure it out. And, heaven willing, I'll have my love by my side to help me along the way. You want to threaten me? Go ahead. Do your worst. I admit that my happiness is borne from sin and I will happily pay the penance. But threaten Shining Armor again? Or actually go forward with that depraved little plan of yours?" She stood and leaned forward, satisfied when Cadance reflexively leaned back. She reached for the glass in front of her. "I will fight you with every ounce of my being. And I've gone toe to toe with interdimensional sirens and magical demons. Who are you compared to that?" And before Cadance could brace herself, she flung her arm forward and emptied her water glass all over the woman in front of her, dousing her hair and dress.

Cadance stared up at her younger rival, water dripping down her face. "You little bi..."

Rarity snatched the wine glass away and drained it in three long swallows. She exhaled in satisfaction. "Lovely vintage. I would've preferred to savor it, but oh well. Enjoy the rest of your lunch. I recommend the lasagna."

She turned to leave, but the server blocked her path. "Ma'am..." He started.

"My apologies for the mess. Dean Cadance of Crystal Prep will be paying." She glanced back before leaning in conspiratorially. "I really shouldn't be saying this, but that wine she ordered? I'm afraid that was for me. I don't know what your policy is for providing those underage with alcohol, but I simply must be honest." She looked back at the still dripping woman and winked. "It’s the best policy after all. Ciao, darling."

Head held high, a smile on her face, Rarity walked out of Tigano's and into the afternoon sunshine.