The sun was beginning to make it's slow descent, signifying the start of evening. The last bell had rung at Canterlot High, the last student had long since departed. On the steps outside the main entrance, two young women sat in contemplative silence. Both were seniors, and thus had taken the option of missing school that day, especially since each had other matters to attend to. It was the younger of the two that, having finished her conversation with her brother, had sent the text that had led the pair here, to this mutually agreed-upon neutral ground.

They had another text to discuss. Amongst other things.

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she adjusted her skirt. "I guess one of us has to apologize first, right?"

Rarity let out a small laugh before shaking her head. "You've got nothing to apologize for. This is all my doing, after all."

"That doesn't excuse what I said. I should've..." She removed her glasses and fiddled with them. "I shouldn't have taken Cadance at her word. I should've come to you first before just... just exploding like that."

"It was quite surprising, I will admit. I had no idea you knew so many different variations of the word 'whore.'"

Twilight blushed. "Uh... I used my Thesaurus."

"Of course you did." Rarity shook her head. "Twilight, I... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

"It’s alright.” She paused. “I mean, it’s not alright, but I probably should've read the signs a long time ago." She smiled humorlessly at her glasses. "Even with these, I was blind to the whole thing. That's part of the reason I flew off the handle like I did. I don't like feeling stupid."

"You aren't stupid. You're the smartest woman I know. It's just that sometimes we can't see the truth of things even when they're right in front of our nose."

"Like Cadance?"

Rarity winced. "Yes. Like Cadance." Rarity was already wondering if telling Twilight everything Cadance had told her had been the right course of action. She'd gone to Shining Armor first, of course, and it had been him who had left the decision in her hands. It was her who had decided that she’d kept enough from Twilight for quite some time. "You believe me?"

"I have to admit it, I... I don't want to." Twilight hugged her knees to her chest. "Cadance has been there my entire life. She was my first friend, my mentor. The things you said she told you, what she threatened to do to Shining Armor, that's so utterly divorced from the woman I know that it doesn’t seem real. I want to believe that you're lying, trying to make yourself look better." She sighed. "But..."

"…But?"

"But… I've already made one emotionally driven mistake recently. I'm cold to all this now. Distant. I'm able to look at this whole situation logically. And after seeing those texts on Shining Armor's phone, after seeing the look in his eyes when he mentions you, and after you telling me that Cadance mentioned our talks about Equestria? As much as I hate to admit it, it all comes together and makes perfect sense."

Rarity let out the breath she'd been holding. "I'm glad. That you believe me, I mean."

"You're not off the hook. You know that, right?"

"I know." Rarity looked at her friend for the first time. "I really am sorry for keeping everything from you. We should've just told you after that first night."

Twilight blanched. "Uh, maybe not then? I'm less upset about the screwing each other silly in the cabin than I am about the two of you secretly dating these last few months." She shrugged. "It just would've been nice to know that my best friend was dating my brother."

"You wouldn't have reacted well."

"No, I wouldn't have. But I still had a right to know."

Rarity dipped her head. "You're right, of course. And I know I've done terrible damage to our friendship by keeping it from you. I just... I don't want you to hate me."

Twilight reached out and put her hand on Rarity's shoulder. "I don't hate you. And I know you weren't lying to hurt me. That... kind of softens the blow, I guess?"

Rarity sniffled as she reached up and put her hand on Twilight's. "I was so afraid I'd lost you forever when you sent that message."

"I'm sorry I sent it." Twilight said with a squeeze. "Let's just... If you and my brother are going to keep being a thing...?"

"I believe that's our intention, yes." Rarity smiled as she quickly wiped her eyes before her eyeliner could start running.

"Then it's going to take some getting used to. I can't promise that I'm going to feel normal about it, at least not for a long while. But ultimately... it's none of my business. You're adults, and you clearly have it bad for each other." She smiled and gave the pale shoulder another squeeze. "Just keep me in the loop from now on.” She eyed her levelly. “And keep the PDA around me to a minimum."

The two laughed and hugged, their friendship repaired for the most part (as most deep friendships are usually able to do without that much effort) and they enjoyed the fading sunshine and frolicking fauna around them for a brief while longer.

"Where's Shining Armor now?" Twilight asked as she checked her watch.

Rarity could feel her good mood beginning to deflate. "He... he said he had to talk to Cadance. Alone."

Twilight sighed heavily and lay back on the step. "Cadance. God, what happened to her? It's like a switch flipped. The things she said to you..." She poked her head back up. "Wait. You said she has a tattoo now?"

"You haven't seen it?"

"No. Admittedly I haven't seen her much since the break started, but whenever I did she was wearing sleeves. What did it look like again?"

"It was a horrid little black thing, surrounded by green wings, or light, or something-or-other." Rarity's nose wrinkled in disgust as she recalled the image. "She called it something. A cocoon? No, that wasn't it..."

Twilight dove for her bag and pulled out a number of notebooks. She scanned the covers until she found the one she was looking for and started flipping through the pages. "Was it a chrysalis?"

Rarity snapped her fingers. "That's it. A chrysalis." She noticed Twilight staring hard at something on the page she'd stopped on. "What's that?"

"These are all the notes I took on Equestria. During my last trip there, I mean."

Rarity's eyes widened at the number and thickness of the books. "All of those are notes?"

"I was very thorough." She said like it was the most natural thing in the world to have a practical dissertation about another dimension in her bag. She pointed at the page. "This particular notebook concerns the lives of my alternate self's family. According to Princess Twilight, the monster that enslaved my brother's doppelganger’s mind? The shapeshifter that almost took over the nation while disguised as Princess Cadance?" She turned the notebook so Rarity could read. "Her name was Queen Chrysalis."

Rarity read the beast's description and nodded. "The color scheme mentioned does seem to match the image on Cadance's tattoo. But I don't see..."

"This is it! This is the key!" Twilight tapped the page with her finger rapidly. "Certain events in our two worlds have always coincided. The deaths of Applejack's parents, Rainbow Dash winning a big race as a child... but certain events can't happen here specifically because they relate to Equestrian magic."

"I'm not following." Rarity again gave a concerned look at the notebooks. "Twilight, why did you write down so much about Princess Twilight's family?"

"Because..." Twilight faltered. "Because I needed to know. I needed to know how everything turned out. Time works differently between our worlds. Here, you're about to graduate high school. In Equestria? You're the head of a burgeoning fashion empire."

"I still don't see what this has to do with..."

"I told Cadance about the wedding."

Rarity froze as Cadance's words echoed in her mind; “We're fated. Twilight told me...”

"I told her how it was her and Shining Armor's love for each other that defeated the changelings. That no matter what, in any universe apparently, they were fated to be together. She was over the moon when I told her."

“I’m sure she was.” Rarity's gaze hardened. "Twilight, please. Speak plainly."

"Isn't it obvious?!" Twilight's eyes held a familiarly manic glint. "Some latent Equestrian magic must have infected Cadance and now the events from over there are actually happening over here! Queen Chrysalis doesn't exist in our world, so the magic turned Cadance into her. That's why she's changed so much." She stood and grabbed Rarity's hand, trying to pull her to her feet. "C'mon! We have to get the girls and... and..."

But Rarity hadn't budged. She stared at Twilight, an unreadable expression in her eyes. "Twilight..."

"What's the matter?" Twilight pulled harder. "It makes perfect sense! Remember Juniper? And Gloriosa?"

"All too well." Rarity winced as she recalled their encounters with the magically over-powered young women. "And that's exactly why I don't think that's the case here."

"What?"

"Twilight, I know you're grasping for something, anything, to rationalize this, even if means using the irrational to do so, but you just told me that you'd managed to believe me by using your logic, not your emotions. With all those we've previously dealt with, the magic altered their physical appearance in some way. Made them taller or created new parts of their bodies... all much more apparent than the simple cosmetic change of a little tattoo."

"But..." Twilight gave another tug, weaker this time.

"Furthermore, their corruption became stronger over a period of hours, days at the most. Cadance first cheated on Shining Armor months ago."

"It could be a new version, something we haven't encountered before!" Tears were beginning to gather behind Twilight's glasses. "Why else would she do the things she's done? Threaten you and Shining Armor like she did?"

"Perhaps she's always been this way, deep down I mean. Remember, she told me that she harbored these desires for years before acting. The people we love can change, darling, and not always for the better."

"But the tattoo!" Twilight almost screamed in desperation. "It can't be a coincidence!"

"It very well could be." Rarity offered as soothingly as she could. "Or maybe your belief that certain events in our two worlds coincide could be factual, and this is how our world managed to reconcile the events of that one without the involvement of magic or monsters."

"But then... if Cadance only acted on her desires because I told her that she and Shining Armor were fated, then that would mean..." Twilight fell to her knees and looked to Rarity with tear-filled eyes. "That would mean that this is all my fault."

"Twilight!" Rarity gasped. "No!"

"Yes!" Twilight dropped the notebook and hugged herself. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't told Cadance what I did! I ruined them! I ruined her! I ruined everything!"

Rarity grabbed her friend and hugged her close as she began to weep in earnest into her shoulder. She let her cry out the worst of the fit, rubbing her back and soothing her as best as she was able. When the sobs finally began to subside, she pulled her away from and examined her face. "Goodness. You're a fright, darling."

Twilight sniffled. "Napkin?"

"Of course." She reached into her purse and produced a tissue with all the flourish of a magician. Twilight took it gratefully and set to work cleaning herself up. "Let me make one thing as clear as I can; the apparent destruction of your brother and Cadance's relationship is no one's fault but their own."

"But..."

"Let me finish." Rarity held up a finger. "I love your brother, but he's just as guilty. From what he's told me, there were always some underlying issues between them that they never faced, never worked out. He had some, and so did she. It was their failure to communicate that led to their downfall. Not you, not me, and not some notebook full of predictions from a land of magical ponies."

Twilight sniffled again as she placed her glasses back on her face. "...I guess that makes sense."

"I know this must be agony for you. Cadance has always been there for you. She settled into the role of sister long before Shining Armor popped the question. Seeing her like this must be horrible, and all of this coming to light so quickly must be exhausting."

"It is." Twilight agreed, standing and brushing the dirt from her knees. "I always thought I was lucky that my parents never divorced like so many do. I guess this is what it must feel like." She snorted and gave Rarity a side-eye. "Except in this case, you're the wicked step-mother."

"Say what you will, but the old girl always had tremendous taste in fashion." They shared a laugh as Twilight sat back down beside her dearest friend. "As far as Cadance goes, who knows what the future holds? I suspect that, in time, she'll settle down. She may even go back to being some version of the woman she used to be."

"She might." Twilight agreed. "But her and Shining Armor won't." She took a deep breath. "Because he's in love with you."

"Yes."

"And you're in love with him."

"Deeply."

"And that... that's not going to change?"

Rarity considered before giving a little shrug. "I can't pretend to know the future, Twilight. We love each other now, and in this moment I can't see that changing. But I imagine that's how he and Cadance felt up until a short time ago. But I can promise you this." She took Twilight's hands in hers and looked her full in the eyes. "I promise you that while we are together, I will take care of him and love him with all of me. That you are still my best friend. I promise that I will never abuse your trust ever again. And should anything happen down the road, I promise that I will still be your friend, no matter what."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you. I'm... I'm happy that you found someone you love so much."

"As am I, darling. As am I."

"Now, with all that being said..." Twilight's grip on Rarity's hand tightened as she closed her eyes.

Rarity shrank under this new look. "What now?"

"I appreciate that you and Shining Armor want to make yourselves public. However, I don't think now's the best time."

Rarity caught on quickly. "You want us to wait until after graduation."

"It's just a few months."

"That’s true, I suppose. But what about the girls? I mean, Rainbow Dash knows about what happened at the cabin, but the others... Surely you can’t expect me to…?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Of course we're going to tell the girls. No big secrets between friends. It's just the rest of the world we need to watch out for."

Rarity thought about for a moment, then nodded. "Agreed. Alright. No public dates until I graduate."

"Or private ones." Twilight muttered.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?" She narrowed her eyes at the suggestive look in her friend’s eyes. "Twilight Sparkle, you are pushing the limits of our newly reconfirmed friendship if you think you can try and intrude on my..."

Twilight started laughing and waved off the incoming assault. “Okay, okay. It was just a suggestion.” Something Rarity had said finally made it to her brain.

Rarity tried to remain stern, but it was a fruitless effort. A small grin split her lips, and then she was laughing, too.

It felt good to be laughing with her friend again.

"Wait. What was that about Rainbow Dash?"

"Oh. Ah, well, you see... It's a bit of a funny story..."

Author's Note

A funny story you can read right here!