The Enchanted Carousel

Chapters

~ Prologue ~ A Change of Plan ~
Act I ~ 01 ~ The Start of a Vacation
Act I ~ 02 ~ The First Date
Act I ~ 04 ~ The Curious Visitor
~ Interlude I ~ A Request
Act I ~ 03 ~ The Meeting Outside Ponyville

~ Prologue ~ A Change of Plan ~

It had been one week since Discord had awoken from his sleep, forty years since he’d gone to said sleep, over six hundred years since the deal had been struck, and a little over a thousand years since…

Well, everypony knew that part, didn’t they?

And it just so happened that today of all days was the day—or night, specifically. The one to remember! To celebrate! Where ponies of all ages played his game.

Princess-Seeking Night.

For this particular Seeking Night, he’d chosen to visit Ponyville, even though he often preferred trying his Seeking Night luck elsewhere. Ponyville was just… acceptable. Harmless. Actually, it was deplorable. He’d visited every single corner of Equestria these past thousand years, and if he were to write a traveling guide, this is what he would write about Ponyville:

Home to dull ponies with dull lives in Equestria’s dullest town. Things to do in Dullyville included leaving and not coming back, or visiting the wonderfully chaotic Everfree Forest, home to Princess Betray My Friends.

The latter was not intended to be mean, by the way. He’d long ago discarded all his ill will towards Twilight Sparkle, but as she’d said herself the night they’d debated the existence of the moon, facts are facts.

“Souvenirs, mister?”

Disguised as a unicorn stallion wearing the most hideous neon green cape he could think of, Discord turned towards the shopkeeper addressing him.

“Who? Me?”

The shopkeeper nodded, beckoning him over. “Yes, you! Come, come!” He proudly presented dozens of little paper maché figures of the princesses. “These are the finest figurines you’ll ever see! The best in Equestria!”

Discord leaned in, feigning intrigue. “Mmm. Are they, now?”

“But of course!” insisted the pony. “And if you buy all four of the princesses, you’ll get a figurine of the Spirit!”

“Oh!” Discord exclaimed, pleased. He examined the figurines of the Spirit, portrayed as… some sort of manticore-like beast? Honestly, it wasn’t the worst he’d seen. Phillydelphia thought he looked like a slug-like snake, and Manehattan decided to compare him to a bitter, old and weathered goat. “I assume he’s your most popular figurine?”

“Oh, no!” The shopkeeper gestured to a light blue alicorn. “That would be Princess Selene.”

Luna? Miss Broody? Really?

“Ah.” He cleared his throat. “Well, surely he’s next!”

“No, no. That would be Princess Sunshine!”

“Princess Sunshine?!” he gasped, only to compose himself quickly. Well! Well, well. Wouldn’t that make her happy. “And then?”

The shopkeeper hummed thoughtfully. “Princess Booky is usually our best-seller after the sisters.”

Of course. Of course! What was he expecting? Good taste?

At least he knew for certain he was left, because between him and Miss Pink-lame, the winner was obvious.

“And finally, after that, Princess Cadance.”

“Cadance?! Cadance? Over The Spirit? The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony?!”

“Yep! The Spirit is always fairly unpopular here in Ponyville, though. Parents like to tell their kids he made the Everfree Forest to scare them into staying away from it,” he said, because he was wrong, and this town was terrible, and Discord hated them all.

“But—! But—!” He cleared his throat, trying to compose himself. Now, now, Discord. He was above these ponies. He wasn’t going to let one of them rile him up, now was he? “I mean. That’s ridiculous. The Spirit bested them all! He defeated them! That’s much more remarkable than anything they did!”

The shopkeeper snorted. “Come on! Everypony knows he’s the loser of the story! If they were real, the princess defeated him, too.”

He licked his lips. “How so?”

“Simple. He allegedly trapped the princesses so he could conquer Equestria, right? Well.” He winked playfully. “I don’t feel very conquered, do you?”

A moment passed.

And Discord smiled. Really smiled. “No,” he said. “I suppose I don’t.”

He moved on after that, maneuvering his way around the ponies enjoying the festivities, having fun. Look at them! Look at them all, laughing and giggling as though they were so good and wonderful. As though they weren’t two-faced and condescending.

“Discord,” Twilight had said, in that tone of voice he’d stupidly believed was sincere, “this takes time. Of course, they’re not going to like you now. Maybe they won’t ever. And you have to accept that.”

“But I’ve been nice! You’ve seen it! And they treat me like a monster, Twilight! Why?! Have you been lying to me when you’ve said I’ve made progress?!”

“No, you have! But you used to be bad. You hurt ponies—a lot of them. So what matters now is what you do next. And I’ll be here to make sure it’s the right thing.”

Stupid ponies.

They thought he was the loser? Hah! He wasn’t. He’d done the unexpected. He had set out to trap the four most powerful beings in the realm, and for better or worse, he’d done so successfully.

“Children!” an older mare called, drawing his attention and that of a few foals next to him. “Hurry up! Or else we’ll miss the start of the event.”

He watched with mild interest as the foals rushed off, little satchels full of colorful beads bouncing from their necks. The Seeking event was starting already, was it? A frown marred his face. How soon! And how tragic, really! It was surely too late for him to do his task now, so why even bother?

Oooooh, if only he hadn’t spent five hours goofing off! Boo hoo! So sad!

Anyway.

“Maybe the pie-throwing event is still going on,” he mused aloud, heading away from the main square and deeper into the marketplace. He wasn’t in any hurry to leave, after all, and watching ponies throw pies at each other was always good fun.

Sometimes, they even got hurt, and it was always hilarious!

Fortunately for him, somepony asked him for directions at the exact right moment. What luck that just after sending the pony along on their merry wrong way, a little voice spoke up.

“It’s not fair! She never believes me!” it squeaked. “I know Princess Booky’s library is in the Everfree Forest! I know it!”

Frozen, he looked around and found a unicorn filly animatedly ranting to a pegasus filly.

“Adults are dumb,” agreed the pegasus. “Maybe we should just go find her ourselves, and then they’ll believe us!”

“Yeah! Maybe we should!”

Heart beating fast, Discord rushed behind a nearby stand, keeping an eye on the scheming fillies as he frantically assessed the situation.

Could this be it? Could these fillies be the answer he’d been looking for?

No. No, no, no. How many times had he been here before? And how many times had they failed, again and again? Like with that ridiculous shopkeeper obsessed with the owls! Discord had put his hopes on him and been rewarded with that idiot getting his leg gnawed off by a timberwolf. Or what about that zebra and the book geezer, always refusing to actually go inside the damned library?

Hnrg.

If he couldn’t trust an adult to do the job, he certainly couldn’t trust two little fillies.

Besides, he was fine. He had won. He was winning, all things considered. Why risk the status quo?

“But… how would we even find her? I don’t know,” said the unicorn, slumping back onto her hind legs. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

And yet...

“...Yeah, I guess not. But it’s okay, Sweetie, we can do other fun stuff,” said the pegasus. “C’mon, we better find Fluttershy before she gets upset.”

And yet, and yet, and yet…

“Okay…”

And yet, the moment the first filly stood up, Discord jumped out into the open, fully transformed as the great Book Geezer himself.

“Why, hello!” he greeted kindly, smiling as warmly as he could. “I’m so very sorry to admit I was listening in on your conversation, but…” He leaned in, his voice falling to a whisper. “Are you looking for Princess Booky?”

The two fillies blinked at him, a hint of concern in their eyes, so he continued to speak before they could. “She’s real, you know.” He straightened himself up. “I’ve seen her with my own two eyes when I was but a young stallion.”

“Really?!” gasped Sweetie, eyes sparkling. “Where?!”

“In her library, of course,” he said. “Right in the middle of the Everfree Forest.”

“I knew it!” she exclaimed, her hooves stamping on the ground. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!”

However, the other filly’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ve tried telling so many ponies, but alas! They never believe the princess is real or that I really know where she is,” he continued sadly, his eyes drifting towards the pegasus. “Just like your little friend here. I was going to tell you how to find her library, but maybe it would be best to go on.”

“No, no! Wait!” begged Sweetie before turning to her friend, irate. “Scootaloo! You’re just like Rarity!”

“N-No, I’m not!” retorted the pegasus, embarrassed, before turning to Discord. “I totally believe you, Mister! Totally!”

“I hope so! Or else you cannot find her. The princess only reveals herself to those she deems worthy, and how can she deem you worthy if you’re just like all those other ponies, chalking her up to be a fairytale.”

“How do we find her?!” pressed Sweetie.

In her excitement, she rushed over to him, reaching out to grab his foreleg with her hoof. Or would have, had he not almost violently retreated.

“Don’t touch me,” he snapped, forcing the two fillies to step back in turn, their ears downcast and their eyes afraid. He cursed himself, quickly clearing his throat and offering an apologetic smile. “A-Ah, I’m sorry! I’m rather ill, you know. Moving these old bones can be quite painful at times.”

“O-Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Wait, but, how will you take us to the princess if you’re all hurt and stuff?” asked Scootaloo.

Discord hummed. She had a point, and even if she didn’t, he couldn’t very well just take them to the library himself. Twilight would sniff him out in a second and it would be more than just bad. But if he couldn’t take them, then who?

Who?

Oh ho ho!

Yes. That would do.

“There might be a way.” He ambled off, gesturing them over. “Quickly! Follow me!”

Careful to avoid other large groups of ponies, he led them near the outskirts of town, specifically to a rather large tree near the ink shopkeeper. To his great relief, a small white owl sat on one of the branches, carefully preening her wings.

“Look, there!” he whispered urgently, pointing to the bird. “That owl belongs to the princess. She can lead you straight to her if you follow it. That’s how I used to get there in my youth. Oh, and look! Next to her on the branch!”

The two fillies squinted their eyes, catching sight of the owl-shaped inkwell carefully balanced on top of the branch.

“An inkwell for the princess!” he continued. “If the owl has it already, she’ll take it to Princess Booky any minute now.”

“Let’s go now!” Scootaloo urged her friend. “Before Fluttershy or your sister come get us!”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Sweetie asked Discord. “If you do, we can prove to everypony together that the princess is real! They’ll believe you, too!”

Discord smiled gratefully. “That is kind of you, child, but my time has passed. I entrust this mission—and my honor—to you and you alone. Promise me, please. Promise me you will find her. This very well may be your destiny. " He glanced at their blank flanks. "I daresay you might be the first fillies to earn a cutiemark in princess saving?"

"...A cutiemark in princess saving?" they whispered in unison, hesitation clear in the fillies’ eyes as their gaze drifted towards their blank flanks.

"Yes." He leaned in. "So? Will you do it?”

A moment passed. A second, really, and then their expression hardened and they both firmly nodded because they were wonderful! Truly wonderful dumb fillies, eager to believe and do anything they’re told!

So Discord smiled. Really smiled. “Thank you.”

“I must go now,” he continued, taking a step back. “But I’ll be watching over you if I can. The owl will lead you to the princess. Find her. Save her. You must. For all our sakes.”

With that, he trotted off towards the marketplace, losing himself amongst the dozen of stands until he was completely out of sight. The moment he was, he quickly shape-shifted into a mouse, scurrying towards the fillies and waiting alongside them for the owl to take flight.

Finally, all was going according to plan.

Author's Note

here we go, folks, the last hurrah for RariTwi,,,,

If you find any typos, please let me know (preferably via PM). Thank you!

Big thanks to my patrons, who help me fund the chapter artwork and paying the artists more! And also helping me pay my rent.

Act I ~ 01 ~ The Start of a Vacation

NOTE: Go here for a quick recap of the entire series so far.

One could say Rarity had faced many trials in her lifetime.

She’d faced dragons, monsters, her own inner demons, and two chaos-possessed alicorns. In truth, after the last alicorn, she’d thought she’d earned a break. A vacation, if you will. The right to sit somewhere and relax, where the hardest choice she’d be confronted with was what flavor of tea she wanted in the morning.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Once again, against all odds, there she was, pitched against the most formidable foe she’d ever faced, both of them engaged in a fierce battle that would determine the single most important thing to be determined:

Who would be the one to get up to go buy food from the train’s dining car.

With a poker face many would envy—and they did!—she carefully analyzed the elegant composition of white tiles before her, the little black dots on them taunting her, beckoning her to continue the design.

She looked at her remaining domino hand: specifically, her double-four and her deuce-zero. Unfortunately, none of those could follow the three-five or the double-six on the table.

She had no choice but to draw. And she did.

“Ah-hah!” she exclaimed victorious, brandishing a polished four-five, which she immediately placed next to the three-five. “Alright, it’s your turn.”

She glanced up at her opponent but was surprised to find nopony in front of her. She looked around, past the Go board set next to their domino tiles, and finally found a cloaked Princess Twilight Sparkle still sitting in front of the chessboard, all the way on the other side of their private car.

“Twilight!” she whined. “I’ve had both my turns at Go and dominoes in the time you’ve been sitting there!”

Twilight waved her off with a hoof. “Shh! I’m thinking!”

“That’s the problem! At this rate, we’ll get to Ponyville before we’ve eaten!”

With a great huff, she scooched her way over to the chessboard and frowned at her partner.

“Move. Now. Or else I’m putting these all away and we’re playing tic-tac-toe.”

“I’m thinking! This is important, Rarity! This is my first game of chess since I left the library! I need to win.” She leaned down, her eyes narrowing as she surveyed her domain. “Okay, fine.”

She made a show out of huffily moving a piece and then scooched towards the Go board, reprising her intense thinking.

“Will this also take forever?”

“Shhhh! I’m thinking!”

“But that’s all you do! I’m hungry, Twiliiiight!”

She gave Twilight one whole minute to make a move, and when she didn’t, she made a choice.

“Right, then. I’m going to go get us food,” she said, loudly, as a last warning.

A warning which went unheeded. When Twilight didn’t reply so much as she continued to stare at the pieces, Rarity got up and left the carriage, making a show out of rolling her eyes. Not that Twilight would see, but still, it was the principle of the matter.

Truthfully, she wasn’t that famished, but a brisk walk would be an efficient way to deal with the excess… anxiety? No. Energy? Energy she had since they left Hollow Shades earlier that day.

As she made her way through the train, she recognized several passengers from Hollow Shades, who recognized her in turn and waved. Almost a week had gone by since Princess Luna’s liberation, and she was grateful Hollow Shades had settled into a new normal.

The princess and Pinkie had left a few days later to go to the castle on vacation, much to the great dismay of the entire town, who’d practically all gone to wave them off at the train station (unlike Rarity and Twilight’s own departure, where only the kids, their parents, and some adults came to wave them off—not that Rarity cared. Really, she didn’t, it wasn’t like they’d saved them all or anything).

At the time, Rarity had encouraged Twilight to go with the princess and Pinkie while she closed up shop and organized things with Ink, but her beloved had insisted on staying. Considering how affectionate and attentive Twilight was, Rarity’d initially feared the alicorn was acting out of guilt towards the unicorn’s gentle meltdown in the dream realm, but if she and Twilight were to get better, she’d have to start trusting Twilight’s intentions.

By the time she’d returned with a salad and a steaming hot plate of fries, Twilight was still staring holes into the Go board, a white piece levitating in her magic.

“How is it going?” Rarity asked innocently, placing the plate of fries on the table, and watching with equal amounts of amusement and disbelief as Twilight levitated a fry to her mouth.

“Mmm… Still thinking.”

“You’re welcome for the fries, by the way,” Rarity noted, watching as Twilight now levitated three fries her way.

“Thank you,” she replied, mindlessly at first, until her brain apparently caught up to the situation and she snapped out of her trance, looking towards the plate of fries. “Wait, what? Rarity!” She looked to her marefriend, pouting guiltily. “We agreed that the loser was supposed to go get the food!”

“No. I agreed to that because I assumed it would take us an hour, not two and a half. Besides, we’re nearly at Ponyville, and I was famished.”

“Alright, then,” Twilight relented, looking back to the board. “I suppose it doesn’t matter, anyway, since based on my calculations, I was still going to wipe you out both at chess and Go.”

“I’m going to be extremely kind and pretend you did not just say that.”

Twilight looked up at her, offering a loving smile. “That’s fine, Rarity. Pretending I didn’t say it doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

Rarity matched the smile. “Is that so?”

“Will you stop shaking everything so much?!”

“I’m trying!”

“Okay, just—Stop! Stop!”

With a great huff, Twilight did as her marefriend commanded, coming to a complete stop in the middle of a Ponyville street, the three boards she was levitating coming to a stop in front of her.

Pleased, Rarity cleared her throat and directed her attention to the chess board floating in the air.

“Now, let’s see…” She pointed to a piece. “Move that to C5, please.”

“You know,” Twilight said, doing as Rarity instructed and then moving her own piece, “this could have waited until we were at the boutique.”

“So it could have,” Rarity sweetly said, before trotting over to the Go board. “Alas! It didn’t. Now, stop mov—”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Twi—”

“I didn’t move anything!” Twilight protested.

“You did! You absolutely did! Look at this! This piece wasn’t here before!”

“Rarity,” Twilight said in a long-suffering voice. “Rarity. Think.” She took a breath and then smiled lovingly. “Why would I cheat at a game I’m going to win, hm?”

“Twilight, darling.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “You ought to know better than to try and get a rise out of me in an attempt to distract me.”

“Rarity, darling.” Twilight fluttered her eyelashes back. “Why would I want to distract you when you were too distracted yourself to notice I just checkmated you.”

“What?!” Immediately, Rarity turned to look at the pieces and found Twilight’s words to be true. “Well. So you did. Good for you.”

“Thanks!” Twilight replied cheerfully, her tail swishing behind her. “It’s nice to be right.”

“It’s nice to sleep on the couch, too, I imagine.”

“Sleep on the couch?!” a voice asked. “Why’s she sleeping on the couch?!”

Startled, the two mares turned around to find Pinkie Pie standing next to them, a camera hanging from her neck.

“Oh, Pinkie! You’re here!” Rarity exclaimed, momentarily forgetting Twilight’s incredibly rude and unwarranted and undeserved smugness.

“Pinkie?” Twilight frowned. “What are you doing here? Is Princess Luna here, too? I thought you weren’t arriving until tomorrow.”

“We were, originally.” They turned around to find a cloaked Princess Luna had joined them, her horn gently lit with magic. “There was a change of plans.”

“Oh, hello!” Rarity exclaimed, completely forgetting the games. She frowned. “What change of plans?”

It was then that a third pony revealed herself, standing next to Princess Luna in her fabulous, royally displaced glory.

“That would be me!” said Princess Cadance the first and only, an impish smile on her lips. “I’m the change of plans!” She giggled and waved. “Hello!”

“Oh, Princess Cadance! Hello!” Rarity exclaimed, initially pleased right up until her brain caught up with her. “Princess Cadance?!”

Here?! In Ponyville?! With half the town visible through her body?! She remembered that Cadance could go to the castle gardens but didn’t realize it meant she could literally just… leave the castle?

“What are you doing here?!” Twilight gasped next, all three games unceremoniously dropping to the ground and scrambling apart.

“Twilight!” Rarity yelped. “I was winning!”

Twilight looked at her. “No.” And then she looked at Cadance. “Absolutely not.” She then practically threw herself in front of the princess and frantically raised her hooves in some… odd… attempt at hiding her? “Are you crazy?! Everypony’s going to see you!”

Princess Cadance cocked her head to the side, blinking innocently. “See what, Twiley? All they’re going to see is Auntie Luna’s very impressive illusion of Princess Denza.” She turned to Princess Luna. “Isn’t that right, Auntie?”

“I am very impressive, yes.”

Twilight, ever so eloquent, clearly didn’t feel the same. “I—but—you—displaced—um?”

“Don’t worry, Twilight Sparkle. We have it under control,” said Princess Luna, patting Twilight’s head like one might a foal. “Half her changeling guard is staying at a nearby inn posing as a Canterlot tour group.”

Cadance smiled awkwardly. “My guards weren’t very happy with me leaving the castle so unexpectedly for the first time in… a long time.“

“We didn’t think it was very fun for Princess Cadance to stay all alone in her big castle!” Pinkie chimed in. “She hasn’t had a vacation in a bajillion years, so we thought this was as good a reason as any! Plus—” She gestured to her camera. “—ponies are paying us ten bits for pictures!”

“I do hope you two don’t mind,” Princess Cadance said, taking on a more serious tone. “I know it’s last minute, and I really don’t want to impose, but…” Her ears lowered. “I’d really like to be with my family.”

Twilight’s expression softened immediately. “Cadance…”

“Of course you can stay,” Rarity said. “It would be my honor to host you. Though, er… I don’t exactly have a room for you to sleep in. The couch will have to do?”

Cadance giggled. “The couch? What for? I can’t sleep, remember?”

“Ah, right.”

Rarity was, admittedly, a little unsure about the whole thing, but she more than any understood the need for a good and proper vacation, especially with one’s family. “I see… I see! Yes!” She cleared her throat. “Well, I won’t complain! What a better way to start a nice peaceful vacation than with good company, hm?”

Rarity felt she didn’t ask for much in life.

Certainly, years ago, she might have. Years ago, she might have said something along the lines of, “Listen here, everypony, I just finished saving a princess, and went through the most intense session of couples therapy in the history of Equestria, so you’re all taking me to the spa pronto, chop chop, and then no one bother me until I’m done, hm?”

She could have said that.

In fact, one might argue that it wouldn’t have been unwarranted. Really, a full day at a luxurious spa would have been just a teeny-tiny little thing to ask for after everything that happened at Hollow Shades and having to say goodbye to her home of two years.

And yet, she didn’t ask for that teeny tiny thing.

All she wanted was just one small week of rest and relaxation in her home.

But no.

Couldn’t have that, could we?

“Check this out, everypony! I’m sitting inside Princess Denza!” hollered Scootaloo, sitting squarely inside of a giggling Princess Cadance, who herself was surrounded by everypony.

“Scootaloo!” barked Applejack, frowning deeply. “That ain’t polite! Get out of there!”

“Say, Princess Denza,” Apple Bloom asked next, joining Scootaloo inside the princess and ignoring her sister’s aghast gasp. “How come you’re here? I thought you were stuck in the castle!”

“Oh, no. I wasn’t stuck. I just didn’t feel like I could leave because of, well…” She smiled and gestured to the two fillies looking up at her from inside her. “This. And because I was afraid of spreading my curse.”

“Ooooh,” said Sweetie, poking her hoof into Princess Cadance because of course she would.

As all this happened—this being Princess Cadance and the foals, and Princess Luna discussing baking with Pinkie and Fluttershy—Rarity was busy sketching dresses at the table.

“Rarity,” said Twilight, placing a steaming cup of tea next to the unicorn, “I thought you were on vacation.”

“On vacation from princess saving, dear,” Rarity replied, erasing a few lines here and there. “If I want to restore some of my shop’s reputation, I’ll need to work myself to the bone this week.”

Twilight looked around towards the others and the racket they were making.

“...Wouldn’t you prefer to be in your workshop, then? Can you even concentrate?”

Rarity smiled. “Concentrate? Oh, no. I think I’ve tried drawing this line at least twenty times already.”

Twilight frowned, concerned. “Are you sure?”

Rarity could have said no. She could have gone to her empty workroom and stayed there for hours, away from the noise and the distractions.

She could have, but if she had learned something in the past years, it was that things never went as she planned them. Or as she often mistakenly believed they should go.

In fact, the biggest lesson she’d learned was that what she often thought she wanted wasn’t what she needed. And what she needed right now was to be right there.

After all…

“Darling,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes, “however am I supposed to get distracted by your shapely figure and my thoughts regarding said figure if I’m all alone in my workroom?”

Twilight’s face flushed red, and even redder when Rarity bit her lip seductively. “R-Rarity!”

Ahhhh, yes.

Now this was the start of a very nice vacation.

Author's Note

Hi everyone!

I've been ridiculously busy with my other projects, including an original comic I'm working on, but I wanted to get the ball rolling on TEC because, despite what my hiatus might make you think, this story CONSUMES MY EVERY WAKING MOMENT (for better or worse???)

Also, just to reassure you, TEC will have chapter art. It just happens that it's not ready yet, but I wanted to get it rolling so I'll add it when it is.

Oh, also, I should let you all know in advanced that TEC will be absolutely shameless with the raritwi!!!! because god damn it i deserve shameless raritwi and i will HAVE IT!!!!!!!

mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Act I ~ 02 ~ The First Date

Rarity appreciated everypony.

She did. Really. Except for right now. Right now, she really didn’t appreciate the gang of loud, rowdy princesses and ponies parading in and out of her house as though it were some sort of circus.

She had a dress to make. Several dresses, in fact, because she had a business to kick back into gear, so she’d overcommitted herself, but it was fine, because she’d surely get them done in time if she was just allowed a few hours of pea—

“Raaaaarityyyyyy!”

Rarity took a deep breath, turned off her sewing machine for the sixth time that half-hour and looked round to find Sweetie Belle barging in with absolutely no regard for her sister’s work schedule.

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said with the patience of a saint,she swore, “for the millionth time, it’s in the pantry! The pantry!”

“I wasn’t going to ask where the flour was again!” Sweetie sputtered, indignantly squeaky.

“Really,” Rarity said, dryly, staring her sister down until said sister blushed and stamped her hoof on the floor.

“... Okay, I was! But it’s really not there! And we need it for the cake!”

“Did you look?”

“Yes!”

“Actually look?”

“Yes!” At Rarity’s stare, she doubled down. “Yeeeees! I looked a bazillion times!”

Rarity got up, her voice ice cold. “Sweetie Belle, you have succeeded in making me stand up. I am going to go down there, and if I find it in the pantry, Denza be my witness I’m going to—”

“Wait, wait!” Sweetie exclaimed, quickly rushing to the door. “Uh, you know what? Lemme look again! Just to be sure...”

“Splendid,” Rarity said, turning back to the sewing machine and the dress she was supposed to deliver that same night. The machine whirred to life. “You go do that.”

When she was gone, Rarity obviously didn’t get back to work because of course—

Crack!

“Ah. Rarity. A word, if you will.”

Why did she even bother turning it on? Why? Maybe she should just make the dress by hoof, deliver it the next day instead, and sacrifice the rush fee.

Repressing a sigh, she turned around to find Princess Luna towering over her.

“Please tell me you’re not here to ask me about flour.”

“I am here to tell you that I’ll be escorting Cadance to the Apple family estate. She would like to pay her respects to Iron Cobbler and his family’s graves.”

Rarity softened. “Ah.”

If memory served, Iron Cobbler was that guard that worked for Twilight right at the start of the entire Discord affair. Hopefully visiting his grave would bring some solace to the princess.

“Additionally, Spike and Rainbow Dash should be arriving sometime in the next few days,” continued the princess. “I suggest we prepare the inquiries and letters we wish to send my sister.”

“Ah, right. Yes.” Rarity looked over at her dress. “I really do have to finish this, but I’ll let Twilight know in a minute.”

“Rarity.” There was a split-second silence, in which the princess regarded the unicorn with severity. “I understand you need rest, but when will we resume our efforts to free my sister?”

Rarity swallowed. This was not the first time Princess Luna asked that. Something told her it would not be the last.

“Soon, Princess. I don’t know, but… soon. Alright?”

She could almost hear the princess clicking her tongue in distaste.

“All right,” she said.

A silence fell between the two, Princess Luna staring at Rarity, and Rarity staring back. Almost an entire half-minute passed before Rarity politely cleared her throat, eager to get to her dress finally, please.

“...Anything else, Prin—?”

The door slammed open, interrupting her and revealing a distraught Pinkie.

“Rarity!” she whined. “Where’s the—”

“The pantry!”

Pinkie frowned. “The toilet plunger is in the pantry? Okay! Thanks!”

“Wait, the plunger?” Rarity asked, rushing up to the door. “Wait! Aren’t you cooking?! Why do you need a plunger?!”

“Rarity,” said the princess sternly, “the pantry is not a very hygienic place to put a toilet plunger.”

Rarity carefully closed the door.

“Princess Luna, you are my friend, aren’t you?” she said, next, her voice composed. Collected. Calm.

“...I believe I am, yes.”

Rarity turned around to face her, a gentle smile on her lips. “And you are my confidant. We’ve gone through many things, you and I, and I would say that after the two years you spent being my therapist in all but name, you would want me to be honest and transparent with you, no?”

“...I would hope so, yes.”

“Right! Right. Wonderful.” Smiling, Rarity moved forwards and took Princess Luna’s hoof in hers. Her smile vanished instantly. “Princess Luna, I need you to go outside and tell everypony that the next unfortunate individual to interrupt me will be the target of that pillow over there. Is that clear?”

“Am I allowed to voice my objections?” the princess asked, only to clear her throat at Rarity’s expression. “Very well. I will make your message known.”

“Thank you.”

The princess trotted off, closing the door behind her, and finally giving Rarity the reprieve she needed. With a sigh of relief, the unicorn turned back to her sewing machine, adjusted her glasses and—

Crack!

“Hey, Rari—”

“THE PANTRY, I SAID!” yelled Rarity, smacking the pony right in the face with the pillow.

“The wha—Agh!” yelped poor Twilight Sparkle, the unfortunate victim of Rarity’s wrath, made even more unfortunate by the simple fact Rarity had forgotten that particular throw pillow was as hard as rocks.

“All right, here we go,” Twilight said, she and Rarity now in her library, the latter looking very contrite as the former held a crimson tissue to her muzzle. She gestured to Rarity’s sewing machine and other various necessities, which she’d kindly teleported over. “That’s everything, right?”

“...Yes, thank you, dear.”

“Good.”

Rarity’s ears flopped down. “Darling, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“Didn’t mean to almost break my nose with a pillow somehow?” Twilight asked, laughing softly when Rarity whined pitifully. At the unicorn’s beckoning, she walked over and let the unicorn inspect her. “It’s okay. Really. It stopped hurting a while ago.”

“Mmm… Still, I’ll give it another healing touch.” Rarity leaned in to kiss the tip of Twilight’s nose. “There!” she said, pulling back. “All better.”

“All better,” Twilight replied, leaning in for an actual kiss. “Now, you get to work, while I…” Her horn flashed, and suddenly Rarity’s necklace levitated above her. “Look at this.”

Rarity’s hoof went to her chest. “What? My necklace? Why do you need it?”

“The chaos magic detection spell,” Twilight said, walking over to a table where she’d set up her own gear—an assortment of old machinery and new ones Professor Awe had given her. “I want to implement the spell in my own necklace, and then reinforce it in both.”

“Reinforce it? You don’t think Discord will be after us soon, do you? We have you and Luna now. Surely we can defend ourselves, can’t we?”

Twilight took off her own necklace and placed it on the table. She studied it a moment, and then turned to Rarity.

“I don’t know, but I’d rather be prepared. We’re not doing anything right now to help Princess Celestia anyway, so he’ll probably leave us alone for now.”

Something about that hit Rarity the wrong way, but she decided to leave the matter at rest.

“Right.”

Twilight seemingly had nothing else to say and promptly dove into her research, giving Rarity the peace and quiet she needed. Not wanting to waste more time, Rarity followed suit, turning on her sewing machine and…

And….

“...Any plans for later tonight, Twilight?” she asked.

Twilight didn’t even look up. “Figuring the necklaces out. And maybe reading a book.”

“I see!” A moment passed. “...Anything else?”

“None that I can think of. Why?"

"No reason in particular," Rarity said, turning to her machine. "Just curious."

"Mm."

The conversation died pretty much after that, prompting Rarity to do three whole minutes of sewing before turning the machine off and looking at Twilight.

"Will it be very complicated to do? Reinforce the spell, I mean," she asked.

"Not particularly," Twilight replied.

"Oh! Good."

She went back to her sewing, this time working for two whole minutes before turning it off again, turning to Twilight and ‘eep’ing at finding the alicorn staring straight at her.

"Something wrong?" she asked, at once.

Twilight gave her a lopsided smile. "Oh, I was just waiting to see how long it would take before you got distracted again, Miss Twilight-Don't-Interrupt-Me-All-Right."

"I'm not getting distracted!" Rarity protested, cheeks red.

“Oh? Okay.” Twilight turned back to her book. “Let’s bet on it. I bet five bits you’ll only last ten minutes at the rate you’re going.”

“I am not getting distracted!”

“Aren’t you?” At Rarity's frustrated whine, Twilight teleported next to the unicorn and frowned. "What's going on? I thought you wanted to work."

"I don't want to work!" Rarity exclaimed. "Or, rather, I do! But not every day, but I have to work every day, especially with how many commissions I took! I just wanted a vacation with a little work, not a lot."

"Rarity," Twilight said, failing not to sound slightly unsympathetic. "I told you not to take so many commissions."

The unicorn planted her face on her table. "I know! I know, I know, I know!"

"Then why did you take so many?"

Her question was answered with whined nonsensical mumbling.

"Use your words."

"I feel bad!" Rarity said, eventually, her face still planted on the table. "I feel awful for wanting to take a vacation from helping everypony, and Luna isn't helping by pointedly asking me every other hour when I intend on resuming our search for Celestia."

Now this made Twilight frown.

"What? Princess’s Luna’s been what?”

“Asking me when we’re resuming our search for Celestia, and when are we freeing Cadance, and when are we moving on from Ponyville, and when this and that and—” She fizzled out into another whine. “It’s endless! She’s asked me thirty times today already, I swear.”

“Why haven't you told me she's been doing this?" Twilight asked, gravely.

Rarity shot her a look. "Because she's right to do so! How can I sit here and demand rest knowing Cadance is still time-displaced and Celestia is goodness-knows-where!"

"No, she isn't right," Twilight replied in no uncertain terms. Not angry, but almost. "She's not, and she shouldn't be hassling you like that."

"But she is right!”

Twilight was silent for a moment. Analyzing Rarity as she so often did, her focused, narrowed eyes betraying the dozens of thoughts crossing her mind. For a moment, Rarity thought Twilight was upset at her. She looked away, ashamed. At what? Who knew. At herself. At everything.

"Rarity.”

Twilight’s voice pierced through the haze of anxiety clouding the unicorn.

“Rarity, look at me." Twilight gently took Rarity's chin in her magic, lifting her face so they were eye to eye, and revealing not anger, but a loving gentleness that completely disarmed the unicorn. "She is not right. Okay? You don't have to be thinking about this all the time."

She meant it. Twilight meant it.

And yet.

"But how can I not?” Rarity asked, pulling away and then looking back. “How can you not?"

"Easy." She let her go and pointed to the library. "Because I spent a thousand years doing exactly that, and it didn't really help me in any way. You're allowed to have a life outside of helping us."

"I know that too," Rarity whined, her face again dropping to the table. "It's just… Stars, sometimes I wish…" She drifted off, burying her face and groaning. "No, nevermind. I don't know what I wish."

"You wish what?"

"Nothing! I can't bear to say it."

Twilight poked at her ribs. "Come on."

"Mmmmmm… I just..." She raised her head, resigned to her terrible thoughts. "Sometimes I wish things were like before. I miss the times when it was just you, and the library, and my only concern was whether or not you'd care that I was five minutes too late when visiting you."

Twilight nodded her head quite seriously. "I see." She looked around, her brow furrowed. "Hm. Well, I'm sure I can find some way of accidentally trapping myself here for a week?"

Rarity giggled, softening. "Don't be daft."

Her giggling intensified when Twilight nuzzled her, a wing wrapping around her.

"Oh, it would be easy, though. And it would make you happy, right?"

"Oh, I suppose it might," Rarity replied, airily. "Those were the days, weren't they? Me, trying and failing miserably to get you to notice I loved you..."

"Me," Twilight added, "being too busy being negative to notice I loved you." Her nose scrunched up. "Actually, not that part. Let's pretend that part never happened."

"Oh? What should we pretend, then?" Rarity asked, still wrapped in her beloved's embrace.

"Something better than that, please."

Rarity hummed thoughtfully, pulling away from the alicorn so as to brush back her bangs. "Mmmmm! Perhaps we can pretend that the first time we met, you instantly realized I was the most beautiful mare you'd ever seen, and it was your lifelong mission to entice me to stay with you forever within your secret lair?"

Twilight laughed. "Secret lair? I know I was cold when we first met, but I wasn't an evil villain."

"You say that, dear, but..." Rarity bit her lip. "You did throw me against a bookcase. But we can pretend you did it because you were so dazzled by my presence, you simply had to confirm I wasn't a figment of your imagination."

"Right."

They stayed that way for a moment, until Twilight's expression hardened.

"I meant it, though. Please don't feel bad about this. Promise me."

"...All right," Rarity relented. "You're right. I'll try not to let it get to me again."

Twilight smiled, leaning in to kiss her on the forehead. "Good. I'll deal with Princess Luna so she doesn't bother you anymore, okay?"

"All right." That said, Rarity's eyes drifted towards her sewing machine and a sigh escaped her lips. "Unfortunately, there's not much to be done about my commissions at this point. I'll just have to buckle down and spend the week finishing them up."

Twilight was quiet for a moment.

“If there was one thing you wished you could really do if you had the time,” she asked, thoughtfully, “what would it be?”

Rarity blinked at her, taking the question in. Truthfully, there were many things she wished she could do. Go to the spa, spend a day reading books, just relax and breathe for a bit. But, if she had to really decide on one thing she’d been really wanting to do, well…

Her cheeks flushed with slight embarrassment, which was silly because she had no reason to be embarrassed, and yet…

“Ah. Well. I suppose I had been excited about having a…” There was that burning sensation again! Stars, it just felt so… juvenile considering everything going on. But she cleared her throat and pressed on. “About having a proper first date with you.”

Surprise washed over Twilight. “That’s what you want to do?” she asked, and though her cheeks reddened as well, it wasn’t so much out of embarrassment but quiet delight. Rarity didn’t look, but she could almost feel Twilight’s tail wagging. The alicorn raised her eyebrow teasingly. “Really? Interesting.”

Rarity almost snorted. Interesting!

Twilight was so silly, grinning at Rarity like she’d uncovered her deepest secrets.

“Yes, really,” Rarity said, a quick eye roll alleviating her embarrassment. “We… Well, we haven’t actually had a proper first date. One where we’re both actually fine, and not trying to be fine, or pretending we don’t have other pressing matters to deal with.”

She felt bad for saying it, and certainly the words left a bad taste in her mouth, but she couldn’t help it.

“A romantic date where we can pretend we’re in a normal relationship having a normal life,” she finished, the words coming out less like wishful thinking and more like a shamed confession.

Normal.

What a seemingly innocuous word that felt like a poison she both feared and wanted.

“Nothing about Us is normal,” Twilight replied, not in any accusing way, but more like a statement of fact. It didn’t mean Rarity didn’t wince when she said it, and didn’t feel any less bad when she continued, “We probably won’t ever be normal, at least not in the way you’re thinking, which I guess is modern society’s kind of normal.”

Ah, how it burned Rarity, the regret of speaking her thoughts aloud. She felt so ungrateful. Hadn’t she chosen this life? She had, and yet there she was, longing for a life that, as Twilight had said, she would never again have, regardless of whether Twilight was there or not.

She’d tried it before, hadn’t she? Two years of trying to go back to being Normal to no avail.

“Well, nevertheless,” she said, turning to her machine and wanting to move on with the conversation, away from these uncomfortable meditations. These thoughts would pass. They always did. Just a bad spell that would soon wash away. “Back to work, shall we?”

But Twilight did not budge. She remained there, not angry or frustrated, just contemplative, her eyes on Rarity.

“When do you think you can take a day off this week? If any.”

Rarity looked back to her. “A day off? Hrm.” She went over her mental schedule and to-do lists. “Thursday, maybe? If I really focus for the next few days. Why?”

Twilight giggled. “You know why,” she said, rolling her eyes. “So we can go on a date!”

“A date, you say?” Rarity asked, grateful that the previously awkward moment was gone and they were back to being Them.

Twilight nodded. “A date.” She smiled. “A normal date.”

Just like that, the aching pain in her chest returned. “Twilight… We don’t have to have a ‘normal’ date. I was just saying things. We don’t have to be what society considers normal.”

Twilight blinked innocently, furrowing her brow in the way she did when she thought Rarity was being silly.

“Rarity. I never said it would be society’s kind of normal.”

Rarity frowned. “...How do you mean?”

In response, Twilight merely leaned forward. “Good luck with that dress,” she said, and then, just like that, with a crack of magic, she was gone.

The days leading up to Thursday were surprisingly uneventful.

Twilight must have spoken with everypony else, as the Carousel was quiet whenever Rarity was working. Fluttershy had taken to keeping her company, but everypony else stayed mostly clear of the place except for lunchtime and dinnertime.

To her great relief, Princess Luna stopped bringing up Celestia, and her short visits were instead devoted to talking about the many interesting things she'd found in Ponyville.

Eventually, when Thursday rolled around, the unicorn was nearly done with her most pressing commissions.

"Mrrrrow."

With a great unceremonious flop, Opalescence plopped herself down next to Rarity's sewing machine. She'd been doing that a lot, having apparently missed her owner during her self-imposed-exile-not-exile from Ponyville.

"I'm almost done, darling," Rarity said, which was a lie, but Opalescence didn't have to know that. She likely wouldn't be done for another day or so, but Twilight had given her strict instructions to be done with work at exactly five in the afternoon.

A little early for dinner, Rarity thought, but she wasn't about to complain about more time with her beloved and whatever 'not society normal' date she'd planned.

Her thoughts of Twilight instinctively led her hoof to reach out for her necklace, only for a tinge of annoyance to flash through her at remembering Twilight hadn’t returned it yet. She felt oddly naked without it, not to mention she was admittedly worried Twilight tampering with it might break it even further.

Ah well.

Three knocks at the door interrupted her.

"Rarity?!" came Pinkie's chirpy voice. "Are you almost done?!"

"Almost!" she replied in sing-song.

"Hurry uuuuup! We're going to be late!"

Rarity blinked. We?

She stopped the machine. "We?" she called out, looking to the door. "What do you mean we?!"

Oh dear.

Incentivized to really hurry it up now, Rarity finished up her current stitch and put her half of a dress away. Surely Twilight knew that romantic dates were supposed to include only the couple, yes? Unless dates in Equestria's past involved everyone they knew?

Oh dear, dear, dear.

Trying not to be too obvious about her alarm, she trotted out of her workshop and into the foyer, glimpsing Pinkie 'eep'ing at her arrival and scurrying into the kitchen.

"She's coming!" she whispered. Loudly.

Clearing her throat, Rarity made her way towards the kitchen and stepped inside to find… the very normal sight of Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Sweetie Belle gathered around the kitchen table, the former sporting a pronounced frown.

Twilight, surprisingly, was nowhere to be found.

"Er…" said the unicorn, eloquently. "...Hello."

Slam!

Sweetie Belle pounded her hooves against the table, utterly ignoring her startled sister.

"I'm telling you! She's real!" she whined, accentuating every word with another pound of her hooves. "She is!"

"I don't knowwwww," Pinkie said, humming with great exaggeration. "That's just a fairy tale, silly!"

"What's a fairytale?" Rarity asked.

Sweetie again promptly ignored her. "It isn't!" She helplessly looked towards Fluttershy. "You believe me, right, Fluttershy?!"

"Oh… I don't know, Sweetie Belle..." Fluttershy said, failing rather miserably to look concerned as opposed to what she looked like, which was amused. "Somepony would have found them by now..."

"Ughhhhh!"

Finally, the filly turned to her elder sister.

"Rarity! You're late! Seeking Night already started!"

"Pardon me? Seeking Night?"

Pinkie giggled. "Yeah, silly! Didn't you know?"

"...No?"

Sweetie gasped. "Rarity! Didn't you see the calendar?!"

She gestured towards a calendar hanging from the wall, which, to her credit, did in fact have Seeking Night scribbled on it in big red letters.

"We're going to go find Princess Booky inside the Everfree Forest!"

It took Rarity one, two, three seconds before it clicked.

Aaaah.

Interesting.

"...Are we now?" she said, at length, joining them at the table. "Terribly sorry, dear. I must have missed the memo! I must say, I had the most fascinating impression I'd already found Princess Booky!"

"Silly Rarity." Pinkie patted her head. "Somepony had too much sleep tonight."

"It would seem so! So, do tell, how exactly are we supposed to find this princess?" She hummed loudly, tapping a hoof against her chin. "Thank goodness we're responsible ponies and wouldn't do something outrageously dangerous like, say, wander into the Everfree forest without telling any adult, no?"

"Oh, goodness no," Fluttershy added, directing her gaze towards a quickly reddening Sweetie Belle. "We would never."

"Wellanywaythatdoesn'tmatter," mumbled the filly before turning toward the door. "Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly. "But how will we start?!"

Rarity waited for something to happen.

Nothing did.

"Oh, I said!" Sweetie squeaked with a mighty pitch. "How will we start?!"

"Oh!" a voice yelped from outside. Moments later, Princess Cadance stepped through the half-closed door. "I'm here!"

"Princess!" Sweetie protested. "The door! The door!"

"Oh! Oh, dear, uhm..." Princess Cadance retreated through the door, only to magically slam it open and step past it instead. She cleared her throat and smiled. Regally. "Hello, my little ponies. It is I, Princess Denza."

"Princess Denza?!" Rarity gasped. "Here?! In my boutique?! My stars! My heavenly stars above!"

“Stop being weird about this!” Sweetie whispered, her pout intensifying when Rarity blew her a kiss.

“What are you doing here?!” Pinkie asked, ignoring the sisters’ shenanigans.

“I am here to ask for your help with…” Princess Cadance gave a dramatic pause that was entirely too long, but Rarity allowed it. “Finding the lost princesses.”

“Finding the lost princesses?” Rarity asked, a wonder in her voice that quickly disappeared with a yawn. “Oh. I really don’t know. I’d like to nap, to be quite honest.” She reveled in Sweetie’s glare for a moment before adding, “But I suppose I could do some looking.”

“Oh, wonderful!” the princess exclaimed, her wings rustling. She opened the door with her magic and gestured them out. “Then, go! You must. The lost princesses are waiting.”

Unfortunately for the lost princesses and Sweetie Belle, they had to wait a dozen minutes more while Rarity put on makeup and perfume. But, once she was done with that, she was sent off on her way.

“Go!” exclaimed Princess Cadance, holding the front door open for Rarity. “Go forth and succeed where so many have failed!” She grinned. “Have fun!”

“That wasn’t part of the script!” whispered Sweetie.

Pinkie frowned. “Should she NOT have fun?”

As a discussion ensued over that very silly topic, Rarity stepped out of her boutique. Honestly, she wanted to head straight to the library to see her beloved, and she wasn’t entirely sure she was in the mood for such a production.

But.

But her tune quickly changed at the sight of the ponies waiting outside her home.

Dressed in an old Princess Selene costume, complete with paper crown and cardboard wings, Applejack certainly looked regal...ish. Apple Bloom was next to her, dressed in an adorable little batpony outfit.

Oh ho ho.

“Princess Selene?!” gasped Rarity, her hoof slamming against her own chest. “Outside my house?! My staaaaars!”

“That’s me,” Applejack said, only to let out a pained yelp when Apple Bloom shoved her elbow into her ribcage. “Errr, I mean… Verily! That’s me… Er, we. Thou princess is—”

“Thy!” whispered her sister. “Thy, not thou!”

“I told you to let me bring my script!” Applejack whispered back, before turning to Rarity with slight annoyance at the situation. “Thy princess is here! You have—”

“Thou hast! Tho—mmph!”

Rarity tried not to laugh at Apple Bloom’s expression when Applejack shoved her hoof against her muzzle.

“I reckon you sure did find me, Rarity. That sure is—S’cuse me a sec.” She turned to her sister. “Licking my hoof won’t make me take it off.” Back to Rarity. “That sure is amazing!”

“Why, thank you, Princess Selene. It was very difficult. Though…” She stepped forward, inspecting her friend. “I must admit you look very different from what I imagined. I always expected you to be taller and more… blue.” She cocked her head to the side. “Not quite this orange.”

“It’s a sunburn. I put on bucket loads of sunscreen, but ya won’t believe what not being under the sun for a thousand years does to your coat.”

“Oh, my!”

"Now tell her where to go!" Apple Bloom whispered, which was really more of a mumble considering Applejack's hoof was still on her mouth.

"Oh." Applejack turned to Rarity. "The Everfree Forest."

"Alone!" exclaimed Apple Bloom, pushing her sister's hoof away and narrowing her eyes.. "You hafta go all alone."

"All alone? My, how terrifying! When am I supposed to go?”

“Now…” Apple Bloom said, somberly. Right up until Rarity eagerly took several steps forward. "Wait, wait!" she blurted out. “Don’t go yet!”

Rarity blinked. “But you said to leave now.” She glanced at Applejack. “Didn’t she?”

Applejack turned to her sister. “That’s what you said.”

“I know that’s what I said!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, stamping her hoof on the ground. “Because she does have to go now! Just… don't go too fast, all right?!"

"Oh? Why not?"

"Because!" the filly explained, pushing her sister towards the boutique.

"Because why?"

"Just because!" Apple Bloom insisted, oblivious to her sister rolling her eyes. "Okay, bye!"

Rarity waved them, stifling a laugh. "Ta-ta!"

Despite her earlier annoyance at having all her friends be included in whatever-date-this-was, she couldn't help but admit she was charmed by the effort everypony was putting into the entire thing.

It was… nice. Nice was the word. Nice to do silly things without worries or concerns or with any ulterior motives like having to rescue somepony.

Stars, it was just nice to be and have somepony else take charge for once. She didn't know what was going on! For the first time in what felt like ages, she had no clue what was going on, and it was wonderful.

The only thing expected of her was to have fun.

If the others had planned anything for the forest, Rarity sure wasn’t seeing it. Her trek through the woods went by slowly, as Apple Bloom requested, but quietly as well. Themis had been waiting for her near the edge of the woods, guiding her through their usual path and not some… secret path?

“Hoot!” he exclaimed, flying next to Rarity and animatedly hooting about… something exciting, Rarity was sure. She couldn’t understand Owl, but by God, he really did not care, apparently immensely satisfied with her occasional nods.

She’d never heard him so talkative, which admittedly led her to theorize this was some sort of distraction method—particularly so when she heard some noises in the distance, and she noticed he immediately started hooting even more profusely. It happened again later on, and she tried to look this time which resulted in him practically slapping his body on her face so fully she almost tripped on an unseen branch.

This was a tad too much, but… well, she couldn’t fault him for taking the assignment to heart.

When they eventually reached the great oak tree, Rarity was yet again surprised to find the entire area, well, empty. Tentatively, she walked towards the edge of the sinkhole, looking around for the others. She’d half-expected Princess Luna to finally make her grand appearance, but it seemed not.

“Where is everypony?” she asked Themis, which she later realized was silly because he couldn’t exactly answer her, though he tried anyway, which led them nowhere but she appreciated his efforts.

After a moment’s hesitation, she jumped down into the sinkhole and landed with a thud. Well, she thought, maybe that really was it?

“Hooooowl!”

Now, that made her stop.

But, it is exceedingly important to note that what made her stop wasn’t a howl, but somepony loudly yelling the word howl.

Thus, she reacted accordingly.

“Gasp!” she gasped, a hoof clutched against her chest as she dramatically turned around to find not one, not two, but three adorable little timberwolves standing at the edge of the sinkhole. “Awwww! Darlings, those costumes are precious!”

“Thanks!” chirped the slightly whiter timberwolf proudly, until the slightly oranger one shoved her. “Er! I mean! Awooo!”

“Aw man! You suck at this!” exclaimed the orange one.

The third little timberwolf frowned. “We suck? You yelled ‘howl’!”

“S-So?!”

“Giiiiirls!” the first wolf whined, “stop argui—”

A loud thundercrack startled all present, ending the argument between the three. Before Rarity could ask what the hell was that, the three fillies stepped to the side, revealing a tall, cloaked pony emerging from the forest.

The pony trotted all the way up to the edge of the sinkhole, right up until they were looking down at Rarity. It was weirdly nostalgic, which was probably the point.

“And who are you?” she asked.

The ‘stranger’, who happened to look like Princess Luna, snorted. “Who am I? You ask who am I? Hah! I am the book bringer! I am the one who guards all the knowledge in our land, little pony! The one who knows the answer to everything and anything!”

“Oh!” Rarity perked up. “A librarian, then. How wonderful! Rather far from your library, aren’t you? Are you lost?”

“Fool!” boomed the stranger, stamping her hoof on the ground. “A librarian?! You think me as ordinary as a mere librarian?”

Rarity made a show out of wincing. “Oh, dear. I’m going to tell Twilight you said that, Princess.”

“You dare threaten me!” She turned to her furry subordinates. “Tell her! Tell her what happens to those who dare spread our ill-words!”

“Princess! I can’t say to that Rarity!” Sweetie Belle whispered urgently.

Scootaloo, on her side, had no such reservation.

“Snitches get britches!”

“Stitches!” whispered Apple Bloom. “Stitches, not britches!”

“My stars.” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “We’ve exchanged only a scant few words, and I’m being threatened with assault already. I should have come prepared.”

“Silence!” the princess boomed. “Rarity the unicorn! Heed my words, lest I show you the true meaning of hitting the books!” She gestured to the great oak tree. “Beyond you is the lost library of Princess Booky! Trapped for centuries, she has awaited your arrival for one reason and one alone!”

Rarity giggled. “To rescue her, I take it?”

“No,” said the princess.

“...No?”

“No,” repeated the princess. “You must romance her.”

“Ooooooh! Rooooomance her!” squealed Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom with childish delight, drowning out Scootaloo’s audible gag.

Rarity didn’t bother hiding her snort. “Pardon me? I have to what now?”

The princess again stamped her hoof against the ground, thunder crackling in the distance. “You heard me!” she demanded, her voice growing louder and louder. “Only by romancing her can you liberate her from her shackles of loveless repression!”

Rarity tapped a hoof against her chin. “How unorthodox! Are you certain that’s the right thing to do?”

“It is! I decree it as your princess!”

“Strange! I thought you were a librarian? I could have sworn—eep!”

“I am annoyed by your stalling, is what I am!” Princess Luna said, her magic enveloping Rarity and pushing her towards the tree. “Now, go forth and seduce! Kiss her until your lips are cracked!”

“Ewwwww!” Scootaloo whined. “That’s gross!”

“I shall go all in!” Rarity enthusiastically called back. “I shall leave no lips unkissed!”

“Ewwwwwwwwww!”

Darkness greeted Rarity once she stepped past the trapdoor, down the stairs and into the tunnel. It kept her company all the way up to the library, and it was only once she crossed the tunnel and her hooves felt solid floor that she finally lit up her hornlight, looking around.

The library seemed empty.

She knew, of course, that it wasn’t. Just like years before, an alicorn lurked somewhere in the depths, beyond the reach of her light, waiting to be found.

This time, however, Rarity wasn’t afraid. Wasn’t afraid as she had been that very first time, or the time they came back after Twilight had been freed.

This time… she just really wanted to see her marefriend.

“Twilight?” she called out, stepping further into the library.

No answer.

It seemed like the game was still afoot.

Alright then.

Weaving into the aisles of bookcases, Rarity gasped theatrically. “Oh, my! What a large, frightening place! I do hope nopony comes out and gives me a ghastly fright!”

No sooner had she finished her sentence, she whipped around,

“Ah-ha!” she exclaimed, only to find nopony waiting to spook her with a monotone mention of her name. Her ears lowered and she stepped back. “Oh. Hm.”

After a moment and a last look, she went on her way, heading down another bookcase aisle.

“If you really want this to be a re-enactment of when we met, you’re going to need a lot more towers of bookcases scattered around, dear,” she called out. A moment passed. “No comment? Really?”

“A thousand years.”

Twilight’s voice came from nowhere and everywhere all at once, enveloping the startled unicorn who’d definitely not screamed in fright. She just exclaimed in surprise that’s all.

As soon as she composed herself, Rarity whirled in place, trying and failing to find sight of the alicorn.

“For a thousand years…”

There it was again. Her voice, everywhere at once, its origin hard to pinpoint, seemingly following Rarity as she rushed through every corner, every aisle, every spot.

“I’ve been trapped in this library.”

A dim light came alive in the corner of Rarity’s eyes, and when she turned around, she saw it was coming from above. A very faint magical light, barely just revealing the shape of an alicorn sitting atop a bookcase, her every feature hidden in the shadows.

It was mesmerizing.

So much so Rarity forgot she was playing pretend.

“I’ve been alone here for so long.” Twilight drifted off, her voice no longer dispersed but clear. “Or I used to be.

From within the darkness, a pair of purple eyes glowed to life and turned to Rarity, ensnaring the unicorn in her gaze.

“You.”

There was a crackle of magic, and Rarity gasped in surprise at Star coming to life right in front of her, its candles alighting with purple magic.

“Why did you find me?”

“Why?” Rarity stammered, struggling somewhat to fall into a role. “I… Er! Well! You see, I was walking through the Everfree forest and—”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Twilight’s light blew out, and appeared again seconds later, but atop a completely different bookcase.

“I’m not interested in how you found me. I’m asking why you came here.”

“Why I’m here? Oh, it’s quite simple! I’m here to, how shall I say…” She stifled a giggle. “Seduce you, as it were.”

Twilight giggled, as well, which she very quickly tried to mask with a condescending laugh. Her light disappeared again, and did not return.

“You?” she asked, her voice echoing throughout. “You’re here to seduce me? You think that I, a spirit trapped here for thousands of years, would fall for the first mare to step into my lair?”

Rarity gasped. “Ah! So you do admit you have an evil lair?”

“No,” replied Twilight, the slightest annoyance in her voice delighting Rarity. “It’s a secret lair.”

Rarity shrugged. “Same thing, I’d say. It’s just that, rather than, I don’t know, kidnapping ponies and throwing them off cliffs, you force them to memorize an entire book on teleportation. Now, that’s evil.”

Now Twilight snorted. “Teleportation is incredibly useful, which you’d know if you practiced it more, which you don’t.”

“I’m not trying to be rude, oh spirit, but how exactly would you know that when we just met, hm?”

There was a pause.

“If this is your attempt at seducing me, you’re off to a bad start.”

Rarity fluttered her eyelashes at some random spot in the dark. Not that Twilight could see, probably, but still.

“Darling. You’re the one who’d be missing out, not moi.”

And then, it happened.

“Oh?” whispered Twilight, right behind Rarity, her breath tickling the back of the unicorn’s neck. Except, when Rarity turned around, she was gone, and her voice again permeated the entire room, sending chills down Rarity’s spine. “We’ll see about that.

Rarity laughed, as charmed as she was flustered. “Will we now?”

Star’s candles flickered in response and the candelabra floated away, Rarity following close behind. She was led all the way back to the library’s entrance where she was greeted by dozens of multicolored candles floating about, as well as a small platform right in the middle of the lobby, illuminated by several more floating candelabras.

My stars, Rarity thought. It was like she’d stepped straight into a fairytale.

“Step into the light,” Twilight’s voice commanded.

“Am I to be judged?” Rarity asked playfully, doing as instructed and daintily jumping on the platform. Once there, she struck a pose. “Try not to be too dazzled, darling. You know what they say about staring straight at the sun.”

"Hmm..."

"Well?" Rarity prompted, twirling around on the spot to make sure Twilight could see every side of her entire, splendid physique. "What's the verdict, princess?"

"I don't know..." she answered from within the darkness.

Rarity ran a hoof through her mane. "Perhaps you ought to take a closer look?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt..."

A few of the candelabras floated away from Rarity and towards the bookcases, bathing the alicorn in their light as she finally left the shadows.

A gasp followed.

A gasp that, it should be mentioned, did not come from Twilight, but from Rarity.

It should be noted that, for as long as Rarity knew her, Twilight Sparkle was not particularly interested in her own appearance. The only time she'd ever dressed up, if it could be called that, was when she occasionally wore her regalia, but that was the extent of it.

Which was fine, obviously. Rarity always found her to be stunning, and though the unicorn prided herself in maintaining a fabulous personal appearance, she did not expect Twilight to do the same.

In fact, it was in fact a blessing that Twilight wasn't all too keen in primping herself up because, at that exact moment, Rarity realized that if she were, the poor unicorn would be reduced to a flustered babbling mess at all times.

"Tuh… Twilight?"

There stood the princess, a sneaky smile on her lips, looking quite literally transformed.

Her long mane, usually let down, now fell over the side of her shoulder, glowing as it had when she was displaced, and loosely tied together near the bottom with a beautiful silver bow. Her eyes, twinkling with delight, were accentuated by a modest amount of makeup—not too much, not too little, just enough. Her lovely coat was protected by her royal regalia, the golden collar and horseshoes bearing her insignia gleaming under the candlelight.

And finally, atop her head, complimenting this wonderful ensemble, was her crown.

She was gorgeous.

She was absolutely radiantly beautiful, and Rarity was too mesmerized to realize her rather unseemly blush.

See, It was sometimes easy to forget, but one had to understand she had never been so vividly reminded as right then and there that Twilight Sparkle was quite literally a fairytale princess.

Whom she was dating.

"Something wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Wrong?" Rarity did not stammer.

"Mhm?" Twilight continued, with a smile that was perfect, damn her. "Is there something wrong with how I look?"

Alright! Enough of this! Rarity thought, trying to compose herself. Which she did, thank you very much. She was not about to be out-charmed by Twilight Sparkle!

After clearing her throat, Rarity grinned back.

“Wrong with how you look?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes. “Darling, dearest, you look…” Almost immediately she looked away, a really quite unwanted blush spreading over her cheeks. “Mmmm.”

“What did you say?” Twilight said innocently, probably trying not to sound as smug as she certainly looked, damn her, damn her, damn her! “I look what, Rarity?”

“...Very pretty,” Rarity squeaked, ashamed by her complete transformation into a flustered school-filly faced with her crush.

“Oh! Is that why you can’t even look at me?” asked Twilight, and her laughter was beautiful, and wonderful, and totally unfair.

"I most certainly can look at you!" Rarity shot back, doing just that and backtracking at finding Twilight had stepped much, much closer. "I-In fact!" Rarity jumped off the other side of the platform. "Why don't you step onto the platform? Shouldn't I be allowed to judge you, too?"

"Oh!" Twilight exclaimed, caught off guard. "Oh, uh, I guess I could do that."

Rarity smiled. Ha-ha! Now it was she who'd have the upper-hoof, as it should be.

"Or," Twilight continued, "I could always just do..."

A crack filled the air, followed by a spark of magic, and suddenly Twilight went from being several feet away to right in front of Rarity, her smirking muzzle inches away from the muzzle of her flustered marefriend.

"This?"

Startled, Rarity backtracked yet again. "Well! Well, I… Well!"

"Rarity," Twilight said with a playful frown, again stepping forward, "what's wrong? This isn't like you at all!"

And Twilight was right! It wasn't! That wasn't who she was! She was Rarity, unicorn extraordinaire! She'd gone head to head with chaos spirits, dragons, and all manner of creatures! She was the one who was supposed to be charming! Not the other way around!

“A-Ah, well, you see, I—” She backtracked into a bookcase, which gave her a wonderful idea. Sure, it was a joke that had been used to death already, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Except.

Except, to her increased flush, Twilight got there first.

“Huh,” said the unicorn, Rarity trapped between the bookcase and the alicorn’s body, inches away. Twilight cocked her head to the side ever so slightly. “This seems familiar, doesn’t it?”

“D…Does it?” Rarity asked, determined beyond all measure to regain the upper-hoof somehow. She managed a smirk. Somehow. “Yes, I suppose it does! I do like this version better, I must admit. Less pained screaming and all.”

There was a split second pause.

A split second that felt eternal as Twilight took Rarity in and her lips curved into a sinfully delighted smile that might have killed the unicorn then and there.

“Oh, there’ll be screaming, Rarity,” she said. “It just won’t be from pain.”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity gasped, scandalized by Twilight, sure, but more by the fact that she liked this. “What in Denza’s name has gotten into you?!” Immediately, she slammed her hoof on Twilight’s mouth. “Don’t you dare answer that!”

A stupid, futile question, as Twilight’s raised eyebrow was doing a good job of conveying the answer.

“I’m going to take my hoof away now,” Rarity said. “And you better be good. Am I understood?”

Twilight nodded, fluttering her eyelashes. As soon as she took it off, Twilight licked her lips. “Mm. Tasty.”

Rarity scrunched her nose up, laughing playfully. “You don’t even know where my hoof has been.”

Twilight shrugged. “No.” She smiled. “But I know where it will b—Mmph!”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Rarity said, her hoof against finding its place on Twilight’s mouth. “What did I say?”

Twilight broke into a fit of giggling, moving Rarity’s hoof away with her magic. “Okay, okay, I’m done,” she conceded, leaning in to give Rarity an innocent kiss. “I do actually have other things planned for us to do.”

Rarity laughed, charmed. “Did you? And here I thought the plan was to kill me with your shamelessness.”

“Come on. The girls helped me make dinner for you downstairs.” Twilight gestured her on. She allowed herself a proud smile. “I spent all morning perfecting a spell to keep the food warm for as long as we want.”

Rarity followed after her. “Anything planned for after dinner?”

“No, not really. Spike and Rainbow Dash should be getting here tomorrow morning, so we can’t stay up too late.”

Rarity’s ears perked up. “Oh!”

And then, they lowered.

“Oh… That’s rather sooner than I expected.”

Twilight stopped, turning back to her. “Is it?” she asked, her eyes betraying concern. “Is there something wrong with that?”

Rarity smiled painfully. “No. No, of course not. It’s just… I suppose that means they’ll want to talk about our progress regarding Princess Celestia, and well… we haven’t progressed, have we?”

Immediately, Twilight frowned.

“...Rarity. Stop thinking about that. Nopony expected us to have anything.”

“But shouldn’t we have something regardless?” She fell down onto her haunches. “Darling, I… Please, don’t take this the wrong way.” She gestured to the library. “This was lovely. It was. But we could have used this time to prepare something for them. To try and contact Celestia.”

She felt awful for saying it.

Everypony had put so much effort into this silly little thing, but that was it, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it silly? A distraction?

In that moment, Rarity felt like quite the horrid, ungrateful pony, but she had to say it, regardless. They’d promised to be honest, hadn’t they?

“Wasn’t this a bit of a waste of time?”

Twilight stared at her. She didn’t say anything for what felt like the longest time, just staring at Rarity with an excruciatingly blank expression.

Doubtless because she was angry, which she had every right to be, Rarity thought, every passing millisecond an eternity of shame.

“I’m sorry I said that,” Rarity said suddenly, trying to backpedal. “I’m sorry. I’m wrong, I’m being si—”

Twilight cut her off. “Wait here.”

And just like that, with a crackle of magic, she was gone, because of course she would. The telltale sign that Rarity had truly messed up now, wasn’t it?

Idiot, she thought to herself, wanting to smack her own face. Idiot, idiot, idio—

Another crackle of magic interrupted her, and when Twilight materialized before her, it wasn’t the alicorn that Rarity fixed her eyes on, but the two glowing necklaces floating in between them.

“Twilight?” Rarity asked, wary as Twilight floated the necklaces over the head of their respective owners. “What are you doing? Are you upset?”

Twilight snorted, smiling slightly. “No, I’m not upset, Rarity. You would know if I’m upset.” Once the necklaces hung from their necks, the familiar ping rang out in the air, Twilight’s horn glowing along with it. “Come on,” she urged. “Pick up.”

Rarity recoiled. “Twilight… Is this necessary?”

“Yes, actually, it is,” the princess replied, still maintaining the spell. “I told you that you were allowed to not have to think about rescuing anypony all the time, and evidently you didn’t believe a word I said, so I need to do this in order to make sure you have no way of not believing me this time.” She smiled. “Come on. Close your eyes and pick up.”

“But—”

“Do it.”

“All right, fine,” Rarity murmured with a huff.

She closed her eyes, cast the spell, and before she could even think, she felt Twilight’s forehead pressed on hers.

“Did you have a good time today? And I know you did, because you’re thinking you did, and I know that now you’re thinking answering my question is ridiculous, because I already know, but do it anyway.”

“Yes,” Rarity replied lamely.

“Then it wasn’t a waste of time,” Twilight said, firmly. And she meant it. She knew it, Twilight knew it, and…

And yet.

Rarity stamped her hoof on the ground. “But—”

“Princess Luna was incredibly sorry when I told her what she was doing to you. She understands completely. She does. I’m sorry to say, but these are just excuses.”

“Excuses?!” Rarity protested. “These aren’t excuses, they’re—Stop smiling!”

“I’m not!” Twilight laughed.

“You literally are! I can feel it!”

“Come on,” Twilight said, her tone gentle. “What else are you worried about?”

“Well, what about—!” Immediately, Rarity was engulfed by a very clear memory of Cadance expressing to Twilight how delighted she was over her little trip to Ponyville.

“This isn’t fair!”

“What?” Twilight asked, and Rarity felt her smirk. “That I’m fixing everything?”

“Yes, actually,” Rarity exclaimed, but her anger had faded, replaced instead with a playful whine. “You’re cheating. And stop trying to get me to think about what I would say to you if you were in my position, because you already know what I’d say.”

“Which iiiis?”

Rarity stopped the spell, and when she opened her eyes, her gaze met Twilight’s.

“That things that make you happy,” she said, “are never a waste of time. And that I’m allowed to have a life beyond being a dazzling princess rescuer.”

She laughed when Twilight kissed her nose, her reward for having reached the right answer.

“Good,” she said, nuzzling the unicorn. When she leaned back, she gestured towards the stairs leading to the floor below. “Now, would you like to have dinner and then spend the rest of the evening doing nothing?”

“I would,” Rarity said, a great weight lifted off her shoulders. “I would like that very much.”

Author's Note

Hi everyone!

I have moved on from Fimfiction but The Enchanted Carousel is still actively being written and published over on my personal website TALES FROM HOLLOW SHADES!

I hope to see you there! mwa

Act I ~ 04 ~ The Curious Visitor

“Now breathe in… and hold for five. One… Two… Three…”

Sitting in the middle of the Boutique’s living room, Princess Twilight Sparkle did as Fluttershy instructed, breathing in and holding for five seconds, one of the many meditation techniques they’d been practicing for the past few days.

When she breathed out, she opened her eyes to find the pegasus smiling proudly at her.

“Very good, Princess! How do you feel?”

“Good!” Twilight replied.

Fluttershy nodded, pleased. “Oh, wonderful.” Her smile turned to a smirk. “And you didn’t even try to sneak a peek at your boo—Nevermind.”

With a fwoosh of magic, Twilight took the geography book she’d been studying obsessively for the past few days and opened it again. She’d narrowed down Celestia’s location to six historically prominent and promising waterfalls, but it didn’t hurt to narrow it down again.

Before Fluttershy could remind Twilight of meditation, a door opened in the distance, and Rarity stepped into the living room, carrying with her what looked like a finished blue ballroom gown.

“Oh, Rarity!” Fluttershy exclaimed, clapping her hooves together. “That looks wonderful. Who’s that for?”

Rarity grinned, showcasing the dress with her magic. “Thank you, dear. And for Cheerilee! She has some sort of teacher’s event in Canterlot next week and wanted something dazzling.” She glanced at Twilight, nose still stuck in her book. “I thought you were meditating?”

Fluttershy giggled. “We are, but…you know…”

“Twilight, really,” Rarity reprimanded. “Fluttershy has more important things to do than try and help you if you’re just going to ignore her like this.”

“Mmmm?” Twilight looked up and her ears tilted up at the sight of Rarity. “Oh, Rarity! When did you get here?” She frowned when Rarity rolled her eyes. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nevermind, darling,” replied the unicorn, folding up the dress. “Nevermind. I was just showing Fluttershy the finished dress I’ve been working on.”

Twilight perked up. “Ooooh! What will you work on next?”

Rarity blinked. “Ah! Well. Nothing.”

“Nothing?” asked Fluttershy and Twilight in unison.

“Indeed! This was actually my last pending commission, so I’m out of work for now.”

“What will you do then?” Fluttershy asked and then gestured to the floor. “When is your vacation over?”

“Oh, in a few days,” Rarity replied, which was wrong because it was technically two days, six hours, and twenty-two minutes, but Twilight wasn’t going to say it. Just think it.

“Truthfully, I’ve done everything I wanted to do in Ponyville,”she said, “so I believe the only thing left to do is lie on my couch for four days straight, open a bottle of wine, and finally listen to all the records gathering dust in my room.”

“Ooooh! That sounds lovely,” Fluttershy replied.

“Or,” Twilight said, levitating her book and opening it up to a page she’d marked up, “we could be productive and go to Neighagra Fall—”

“Twilight Sparkle, was it not you who practically forced me to relax during my vacation? Because I remember it being you.”

Twilight coughed awkwardly. “…I’m sorry. You’re right.”

Rarity shook her head. “Honestly, dearest, If you’re that desperate, why don’t you just go yourself? You don’t have to stay here, you know? Be like a library book and check yourself out.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Though I suppose you wouldn’t need to when I do that endlessly.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, only just a little amused. “I could, but I don’t want to go if it’s not with you,” she said matter-of-factly. Not just because she enjoyed being with Rarity, but also because Rarity was the one who carried the bits and knew how to navigate modern Equestria.

“Darliiing,” Rarity giggled, her hoof pressed against her chest. “That’s very sweet of you.”

Twilight smiled mischievously, her hoof finding its place over her own chest. “It is.”

“In any case,” Rarity said, turning around and exiting the room, “I’m off to find my nice wine glasses! White Winds’ Ninth Symphony deserves nothing but my finest!”

“Since you’re done with work, can you please bring down my necklace?” Twilight called out.

“No, no!” Rarity called back. “Necklaces are not to be used when working, you know that! Too distracting!”

“But I’m not working!”

“Yes, you are! Working on not being impatient!”

“What?! I am not impatient!” Twilight yelled, breathing in a huff.

“And now we hold for five!” Fluttershy chimed in with a smile bright enough that Twilight’s frustration mellowed out. “One, two—”

“Heeeeellooooooooo?”

“—Three —”

Twilight blinked. Did somepony just—

“HellooooOOOOOoooooOOOO?”

“Hold on, Fluttershy,” Twilight interrupted, turning towards the lobby. “Did you hear something?”

Fluttershy frowned. “Hear something? Like wha—”

“YODELEHIIIIIIHOOOOOOOOOOO!” a masculine voice yodeled out from the room next door, startling the two mares.

“What in the heavens is that?!” Rarity’s voice followed next, coming from upstairs.

Before Fluttershy had even caught her breath, Twilight rushed to the room next door to find… nopony? The lobby was completely empty.

“What the…”

“Twilight!” Rarity trotted down the stairs just as Fluttershy joined them. “Was that you?”

“What?! That sounded nothing like me!”

“Hello?! Anypony home?” the voice said again, muffled now, and clearly coming from outside the boutique.

After sharing a glance with Twilight, the unicorn made her way to the front door and opened it to reveal an eccentric-looking brown unicorn stallion wearing a tophat and bowtie.

“Hello!” he greeted, bowing his head.

“…Hello,” Rarity replied.

“You must be Rarity, the owner! I do say, are you open for business?”

Rarity blinked and then smiled brightly. “We are, yes! We have an open sign, in fact!” She gestured to it. “Right next to the doorbell.”

The stallion looked at it. “Oh! So you do.” He turned back to her. “You see, I was hoping to rush-commission a suit from you. I have an important meeting next week, and I need to look my best.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Rarity exclaimed, moving back so as to let him step into the boutique. “Everything I create is chic, unique, and magnifique, Mister… ah…”

“Thin!” he exclaimed brightly. “Paper Thin!”

“Well then, Mister Thin, if you will.” She gestured to her workroom. “Please, after you.”

“Righty-o!”

Once he was gone, Rarity turned to her friends.

“Ladies, it looks like I won’t be lounging for four days straight after all.” She fluttered her eyelashes at Twilight. “Happy now? Is this productive enough for you, princess?”

Twilight playfully rolled her eyes. “I guess.”

After Rarity disappeared into the workroom and closed the door, Twilight and Fluttershy returned to the living room and their meditation exercises.

“Why don’t we do a few more breathing exercises and then we can do stretching?” Fluttershy suggested.

Twilight closed her eyes. “Alright. But first.” Her horn sparked, and her necklace appeared over chest. “It won’t be distracting if only one of us is wearing it.”

Fluttershy giggled. “If you say so, Princess…”

Following along to Fluttershy’s voice, the princess took in a deep, deeeep breath, held it for five, and then released it for six beats. She did it again, taking another deep breath, and holding it for five right up until she heard Fluttershy not so much counting, but breathing as well.

Very fast.

She opened her eyes to find Fluttershy doing nothing short of hyperventilating, her eyes fixed on the alicorn.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

The pegasus could barely speak, her expression turned pale. “Puh—Puh—Puh—”

Twilight stood up. “Fluttershy, what’s wrong?”

Though she did not reply with words, she did reply with actions, lifting her hoof and pointing it straight at Twilight’s chest. Confused, Twilight looked down and felt her heart drop at the sight of her necklace.

It was not pink, but green.

This was good in the sense that it meant Twilight had successfully replicated the chaos magic-slash-Discord detecting spell, and bad in the sense that, well, if it was green, well…

Well…

Twilight’s eyes shot to the lobby door just as Fluttershy yelped:

“Rarity!”

They rushed out the living room, past the lobby, and Twilight Sparkle flung the workshop room open to find… a startled Rarity and the stallion blinking at her, their apparently pleasant conversation interrupted. Both looked fine, Rarity holding some fabric and the stallion-maybe-Discord sitting on the floor a few feet away.

“Errrr… Twilight? Can I help you?” Rarity asked with a polite if pained smile, which was much nicer than what her eyes were saying which was: what in sun’s name are you doing?

Twilight faltered, her eyes jumping from the stallion to Rarity. “Errr… I… Uh…” Fluttershy peered in seconds later, giving Twilight some sort of a jumping point. “We—! Uh… Finished meditating, and we… er… wanted to watch you work?” she said as she quickly disappeared the green necklace from her chest.

“Darling,” Rarity said, fully turning to Twilight, her annoyance evident. She put down her fabric and walked to the mares, ushering them out. “That is sweet of you, really, but client sessions are private and—”

“I don’t mind!” said the stallion also known as Paper Thin which in retrospect was so obviously an on-the-nose made-up name. “The more the merrier, I do say!”

Rarity balked. “I… But… Are you certain? I—”

“You heard him!” Twilight exclaimed, trying to sound delighted. She politely levitated Rarity back inside the room and followed in, closing the door behind Fluttershy. “The more the merrier, like he said.”

The stallion grinned. “Indeed!”

Fluttershy smiled awkwardly. “Oh yes,” she said, her smile turning pained when Rarity narrowed her eyes at her.

“…Very well, then.”

Rarity looked at Twilight one last time, her still narrowed, before finally turning to the stallion-cord and continuing with her routine. The stallion, too, glanced at Twilight one final time, but rather than smirk or do something evil and chaotic, he just smiled politely and returned his attention to Rarity.

“Princess,” Fluttershy whispered, pained. “What do we do?”

“Let me think, let me think,” Twilight whispered back, her mind running at a thousand miles per hour.

Why was Discord there? What was he doing? Why—

“Really,” the stallion said, forcefully enough that it drew Twilight out of her thoughts, “that won’t be necessary.”

Coming to, Twilight found Rarity and the stallion engaged in what could only be described as a stand-off. The stallion—still polite—had stepped away from the unicorn, who in turn was floating a measuring tape.

“I’m terribly sorry to insist,” Rarity was saying, a customer service smile affixed to her face, and every word coming out slowly and carefully, like she were talking to a child, “but, I need your measurements if you want me to make a custom suit.”

“I understand,” the stallion said, still smiling, “but I am afraid I don’t do well with… touching.” He gestured to her. “I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you! I’m sure a mare of your talents can accurately estimate sizes just by looking at me.”

By this point, Rarity’s patience had started to wane. “But, sir, I insist—”

Her sentence trailed off in Twilight’s mind, the alicorn hung up on that detail. Why would he be touch-averse? That made no sense. That literally brought nothing to the table, why would he insist on—

And then it hit her.

Wait. He hadn’t knocked on the door; he’d yelled to be let in. Of course he couldn’t be touched. Why would it when he wasn’t even there?

“We can use magic for the measuring tape,” she suggested. “Only that would touch you! Would that help?”

He smiled thinly. “No. Really. I really don’t like things touching me, I’m afraid.” He laughed. “I’m cursed with severe germaphobia!”

Ha HA!

He was using chaos magic to project himself, wasn’t he? No different than a ghost.

Which meant that… If they weren’t really in any danger, then why shouldn’t she see through his… whatever he was doing?

“Well,” Twilight said, trying her best to look thoughtful and not at all suspicious. “If you really don’t want your measurements taken and are okay with estimates, would you be willing to sign a paper waiving return rights?”

“Absolutely!” he replied. “I’m sure it will fit delightfully!”

Twilight turned to Rarity. “Does that work for you?”

“I suppose.”

“Great!” Twilight gestured Rarity on, ignoring the scandalized look the unicorn gave her. “Come on, then! Do your thing.”

As Rarity proceeded to ‘do her thing’, Twilight felt Fluttershy gently poke her in the ribs. However, rather than addressing her, she turned to Discord instead.

“So!” she exclaimed. “What brings you here, Mister Thin?”

“A suit,” he replied, and for a split second, he smirked. “Thought that would have been obvious!”

“Oh, yes! It is,” Twilight replied, laughing. “Silly me!”

“Silly, indeed!” he replied, and his smile broadened.

“Indeed,” Twilight replied, her eyes narrowing.

“I do say!” he replied, somehow smiling even more.

“Indeed you—”

“Mister Thin!” Rarity exclaimed, her smiling very forced. She gestured with her hoof. “Do me a favor and turn around, will you? Face the wall?”

“Of course.” He turned around and faced away from them, his tail joyfully swinging from side to side. “Is this acceptable?”

“Oh, just fabulous!” Rarity cheerfully replied before turning to Twilight with a bewildered frown and clearly mouthing: “What are you doing?”

“So, Mister Thin!” Twilight said, ignoring her marefriend’s absolutely indignant stare. “Where exactly is your meeting? Here in Ponyville? At what time, specifically?” That wasn’t weird to ask, right?

“Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity gasped. She turned to him, mortified. “I’m so sorry, please forgive her, she’s just very curious.”

“Oh, I don’t mind! In fact, that brings up another itsy-bitsy little detail.” He offered a sheepish, innocent smile. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to deliver it to me personally at my home in Nature’s Heart.”

“Nature’s Heart?” Fluttershy chimed in. “Near to Las Pegasus?”

“What?! Las Pegasus?” Rarity looked at him, flabbergasted. “You want me to deliver it personally to Las Pegasus?”

“No, I said to Nature’s Heart. And yes, I do! Personally!” He gestured to Fluttershy and Twilight. “Why, bring your friends along! Like friendcation! It’s settled!”

Rarity stamped her hoof on the floor. “Mister Thin! I don’t know what you think this is, but—”

“We would love to!” Twilight cut off, standing up. It was fine if Rarity tried to kill her; she’d gone through worse. “It would be our pleasure, Mister Thin.”

“Twilight!”

“Rarity.” Twilight turned to her, full of love and patience and love. “Trust me. I think it’s a good idea!”

Every emotion seemed to pass through Rarity’s eyes. Or, well, that wasn’t true. Every negative emotion was more accurate. She stared at Twilight for what felt like hours, and then spoke without breaking eye-contact.

“Mister Thin, will you excuse me for a moment? I’ll have to discuss your proposal with my partner privately.” Her horn crackled with magic and the workshop door swung open. “Twilight, darling, dearest, shall we step out?”

Twilight smiled pleasantly, trotting out towards the hall. “Of course, Rarity.”

“Thank you.” Rarity nodded politely to him and followed Twilight out, intending on closing the door behind her.

“Wait!” gasped Fluttershy, stopping her from doing so and running outside. “Don’t leave me alone with him!”

“Fluttershy!” poor mortified Rarity yelped before peering inside the workshop. “I’m so sorry, sir. So sorry. Just—One moment.”

She politely closed the door before whirling on the two mares, the fury of a thousand suns burning in her eyes.

“What is wrong with the both of you?!” she hissed. “Have you gone completely insan—”

Her sentence strangled out when her own necklace suddenly floated before her, her wide eyes fixed on the green pendant.

“Everything is fine,” Twilight quickly said. “He’s not actually here, he’s just projecting himself.”

A moment passed, and then Rarity spoke:

“Oh for FUCK’S sake.”

Fluttershy gasped. “Rarity!”

Rarity ignored her. “Twilight, you are positive we’re safe?” she asked, her voice trembling with anger. When Twilight nodded, she continued, “do you remember what you did the other night when a client asked me to change the color of her dress at the last minute?”

Twilight frowned. “When you…? Oh! Yes.”

“Do it. Now.”

“…Now?”

“Twilight.”

Magic burst from Twilight’s horn, and moments later Rarity was completely encased in a translucent magic bubble. After nodding her head in an approving motion, she watched as Rarity took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then opened her mouth wide.

Fluttershy blinked when nothing happened. “…What is she doing?”

“Screaming,” Twilight replied helpfully. She gestured to the bubble. “That’s a sound-proof bubble. Oh, and now she’s ranting.”

Indeed, Rarity was now walking around in quick circles, rambling on and on. Twilight was by no means proficient in lip reading, but she knew enough to make out some sentences such as: “just one week, one bloody week” and what was either a food recipe or a very graphic detailing of what Rarity wanted to do to Discord’s body.

Once she was done, Rarity nodded to Twilight, who promptly eliminated the sound bubble.

“All right, we need to figure out what to do next,” Twilight said. “If Discord is—Rarity?!” Rarity was marching straight towards the door, her horn burning up with magic. “Rarity, wait!”

She did no such thing, however, slamming the door open and disappearing into the room.

“Fluttershy, get help!” Twilight instructed the pegasus before rushing into the workshop to find Rarity snarling not at a stallion, no, but at the Spirit of Discord and Disharmony himself, casually floating above the table as he inspected his claws.

Discord smiled. “Well, well, we—”

A vase flew right through him, landing on the wall with a shattering crash. He blinked at the remains and then turned to Rarity.

“What a way to treat clients!” he exclaimed. “And to waste a nice vase. I’m not even here, you buffoon.” He turned to Twilight and smiled. “Sparklewings! Long time no see. Loved your acting.”

Twilight’s wings bristled, her horn alighting with magic. “Discord.”

“Get out,” Rarity barked next, her demand accentuated with another hurled object—a jar, now. “Now!”

“But why? I haven’t even done anything this time!” he complained, pressing his paw against his chest. “I come in peace! I just want to talk.”

“To talk?!” Rarity shrieked, her horn flaring. “You don’t have any right to talk, let alone breathe, you vile, slithering slim—”

Twilight raised her hoof to Rarity. “Wait, Rarity.” She turned to him “Talk about what, exactly?”

He shrugged. “Oh, nothing important. Or nopony, should I say. Just Miss Princess of Cooties and Bugs.”

“Cadance?” Twilight stamped her hoof on the floor. “What about her?! What did you do to her?!”

He rolled his eyes, exasperated. “I’ve done nothing! Honestly, you need to learn to relax. What could I even do to her at this point?” He snapped his fingers and a little puppet of Cadance materialized before him, dancing around in circles. “Don’t you want to know how to help her break my curse? Because if you do, I highly suggest you visit Nature’s Heart.”

“Who do you take us for?!” Rarity snarled. “You think we’ll just do anything you say, you vermin?!”

“Why should we believe you?” Twilight demanded, trying to keep her tone more leveled than Rarity. They needed information, and throwing jars and insults around wasn’t going to get it.

Discord mulled that for a moment, watching his little puppet dance before disappearing it.

“The Infernal Swamps,” he eventually said.

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat. She knew that name. It was hard to forget a place she’d nearly died in.

Rarity frowned. “The what?”

He ignored her, his attention wholly directed at Twilight. “You remember that, don’t you? What you did. What I did. You trusted me, Twilight, and I trusted you.”

“That was different,” she said, every word accentuated. “You weren’t a monster then.”

“Monster?!” he snapped back, his cool evaporating for a moment. He floated right up to her, defiant, his eyes burning hers. “You made me into a monster! I trusted you, Twilight Sparkle!”

Every word pierced her soul, drawing out guilty blood still coursing through her.

“Trusted you and those stupid, tartarusforsaken prince—” He stopped his rant short, taking a deep breath between gritted teeth. “You know what? That doesn’t matter.” He floated back and forced a smile. “You know why? Because I’m a changed draconequus!”

“Are you now?” Rarity spat.

“Yes. I. Am,” he hissed back.

“Break their curse then! Do it!”

He groaned, his eyes rolling out his sockets and spinning in circles. “Lordy! Are you really that stupid? Haven’t you learned by now that only they can break the curse? Really, Rarity, keep up!”

“Get to the point, Discord,” Twilight hissed, trying to hold her ground despite her pulsing chest.

I trusted you, Twilight Sparkle.

“The point?” he asked, blinking. “The point, my dears, is that it doesn’t matter to me whether you believe me or not, because I’m not losing any sleep over Princess Heartsalot being freed or not. I am just here to relay information, as I did a thousand years ago when I told Cadance where all of you were, which, as you have all confirmed so far, were not lies. SO!”

He cleared his throat.

“Cadance. Nature’s Heart. Hop to it, la-dies.”

And then with a poof he was gone. Just like that.

A moment passed, Twilight staring at the spot where Discord had been. Her thoughts running at a thousand miles per hour, she managed to gather them just long enough to look at Rarity.

She hadn’t even opened her mouth before Rarity interrupted her.

“No,” she said. “Absolutely not. No.”

Twilight’s ears fell. “Rarity…”

“No!” Rarity stamped her hoof on the floor, completely flabbergasted. “We are not going! It’s a trap, Twilight! Can’t you see?!”

Twilight fell onto her hindlegs, shoulders slumped. “I know.” She bit her lip. “But what if it isn’t?”

“Twilight.” Rarity marched in front of her, eyes wide. “Twilight Sparkle, you are supposed to be the smartest pony I know. I would love for you to go back to being that pony.”

“Rarity, we don’t have any other leads. Even if this is a trap, which now would have a reduced effectiveness rate since we know it’s a trap, it’s still a lead. It’s something, and right now we need something.”

“Why would he want to help us? Why? It doesn’t make sense! Why now?” Rarity protested. “You really expect me to believe that beast woke up this morning and thought to himself, ‘oh, ho-hum, maybe I ought to help these ponies I’ve tortured for centuries, wouldn’t that be fun’?”

Groaning, Twilight collapsed on the floor and buried her face in her hooves. “Uuughh, I don’t know anymore. Nothing makes sense, but I don’t know what else to do!”

So distraught was she, she didn’t even react when Rainbow Dash barged through the door, completely out of breath.

“I’m here, I’m here!” she huffed, the tip of her wings somehow balled up into fists as she spun around in place. “Where is he?! Let me at him!”

“He’s already gone,” Rarity replied.

“What?! No! I was going to knock him into next Tuesday! Why do I keep missing everything?!” She finally noticed Twilight on the floor and unceremoniously poked her. “What happened to the princess?! Did he knock her out?”

“No,” Rarity replied over Twilight’s groan, teleporting a broom over and cleaning vase and jar fragments, “she’s just upset that divine intervention hasn’t told us what the correct path is.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open. “That’s it! Princess Celestia will know what to do!”

She scrambled up to her hooves, levitated over some spare papers and pen Rarity had lying around, and got to work writing a letter for the Princess. Surely she would know what to do, wouldn’t she? She always knew what to do.

“Wait, but what happened?” Rainbow Dash asked. She turned to Rarity helplessly. “Where’d he go?! What did he want?!”

Rarity frowned, still sweeping shards from the floor. “Don’t look at me. I don’t want to talk about it right now.” No sooner had she finished her sentence, she turned to Rainbow, animatedly waving the dustpan around. “Actually, I do. Let me tell you, the audacity of that beast! He just—”

As she proceeded to, in fact, talk all about it, Twilight finished up her letter for the Princess. Rarity was too close to be objective, so she wouldn’t know what to do, but Princess Celestia would be objective, right? Sure, her current mental condition was… questionable, but—!

But still!

Leaving her two friends to their conversation, the princess rushed out the room, out the front door and flew straight for the large dragon stomping up in the distance, Fluttershy sitting atop his head.

“Spike!”

“Twilight!” he exclaimed, evidently relieved to see she was unharmed. “What happened? Where’s Dis—Huh?”

The letter smushed against his face.

“Quick, Spike! I need you to send this to Princess Celestia!”

He blinked, thrown off. “I—What?”

Twilight waved it in front of him. “Spike, come on! Hurry!”

Confused but obedient, he did as instructed and set the letter ablaze with green fire. Once sent, he looked back at Twilight, who in turn looked back expectantly.

“Uhhh, Twilight?” he prompted.

“What?”

“Uhm…Discord?” Fluttershy asked next.

“Oh! He’s gone.”

“He is?!” Fluttershy clapped her hooves together. “Thank goodness!”

“But—What did he want?” Spike asked.

“He…” Twilight hesitated. “He says he wants to help us and told us the location of where we might be able to find something to help free Cadance. A place called Nature’s Heart.”

“I’ve been to Nature’s Heart before,” Fluttershy said. “It’s just a little mountain town full of friendly ponies and animals. I… I don’t think there’s anything about Princess Cadance there. At least, not that I’ve seen…”

“It’s a trap,” Spike concluded, frustrating the alicorn.

“That’s what Rarity thinks too, but… what if it’s not? What if he’s not lying?”

Spike guffawed incredulously. “What?! Not a trap?! Come on, Twi, you’re not serious, are you?”

“I don’t know what I am anymore!” she replied, falling onto her haunches with a thud. “I think we should go. It makes sense! Doesn’t it?”

“No! Twi, we’re not going to risk you like that!” he insisted. “ I already had to lose you once, and then I had to lose all of you when you got trapped in that barrier thing in Hollow Shades while I could do nothing, and now you just want to go to where Discord says?” He slammed his claw against the ground. “What if he traps you again?!”

“He can’t, Spike!”

“Can’t he?”

Twilight faltered. “I… Well, I don’t know, but—”

“See?!” he exclaimed.

“Spike!” She rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to compose herself. “Look. I told Princess Celestia what he says and I asked if she thinks we should go. We’ll do what she says.”

His eyebrow arched. “You do know she’s going to say not to go, right? Right?”

“Yes, I know,” Twilight replied between gritted teeth.

“If she replies at all,” he added, unfazed by the glare his remark earned him.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash joined them a few minutes later and a more frustrating discussion ensued over what to do about Discord’s message. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike were all firmly against going, of course, and only Rainbow Dash was on Twilight’s side.

Though, truth be told, she also thought it was a trap, but she wanted to ‘sock him anyway’, which didn’t really make Twilight feel much better.

Maybe they’re right, she thought to herself, lost in her own world as the others conversed. Maybe it is a trap. Maybe he hasn’t changed.

But…

The Infernal Swamps.

He’d brought them up. The one time she had to put her trust in him, and he’d not broken it. If ever there was a moment that once cemented him as a friend, it was that.

Was he just manipulating her again? Like always? Another trap that she was freely falling into? But what if he had changed? For some reason? Didn’t everypony deserve a second chance, even monsters? Monsters, she thought, that I created? Because she had, hadn’t she? She—

“Princess.”

Twilight hadn’t even realized Fluttershy flew down next to her until the very moment the pegasus put a hoof on her shoulder, nor that she’d started hyperventilating until Fluttershy took a deep breath.

“Breathe in,” said the pegasus, “and hold for five.”

Twilight did as instructed, her eyes flittering towards the others and feeling relieved nopony had noticed her momentarily lapse.

Sadly, the calm she felt lasted very little since Spike let out a loud belch almost immediately after and a single piece of parchment floated through the air.

“Oh my gosh,” Twilight squeaked.

She snatched the parchment in her magic and quickly read it over, her anxiety increasing as she did so.

“Huh,” she eventually said.

“What?!” asked Rainbow Dash. “What did she say?”

Twilight glanced up at her friends and then back to the parchment, clearing her throat. “Ah… She says that ‘despite the danger he poses, we must take a risk and see this through. Cadance must be freed. Stay vigilant, and go to where he says’.”

Spike’s jaw fell open. “What?”

Rarity took the letter and read it over. “Despite the danger… we must… Well.” She licked her lips, at a loss. “It would seem Princess Celestia agrees with Twilight.”

“Apparently,” Twilight said, because truth be told, she was having a hard time believing it herself. This was what she wanted Princess Celestia to say, but…

She hadn’t expected her to so readily agree.

“What?! No!” Spike protested, fear and outrage lacing his voice. “Twilight is not going there! This is a trap!” He gestured to the letter. “Didn’t we literally say a few nights ago that we don’t even know if Princess Celestia can think straight?!”

“Spike,” Twilight said, trying to be understanding. “I know you’re worried, but it’s our only lead!”

“Worried? I’m terrified! He trapped you for a thousand years, Twilight? I don’t care if its our only lead! I am not letting you walk right into his claws again!” he exclaimed. “We just have to find another stupid lead! End of discussion!”

“Spike,” Twilight insisted, losing her patience. “What if this is the only chance to save Cadance? And then we don’t ever investigate and she’s never freed? I’m telling—”

“No! There has to be some—!”

“If I may,” Rarity interrupted, loud and clear, “as much as I hate this, I think we have no choice but to follow this through.”

“Rarity?” Spike protested.

“Sweetheart, I know how you feel, and I don’t like this any better than you do! But… Twilight’s right. Suppose this is the only way to help Cadance? Would you be able to live with yourself if we didn’t even at least investigate knowing that’s a possibility? Because I wouldn’t.”

“And we’d be going in together!” Rainbow added. “He can’t take all of us on, especially if we already know it’s maybe a trap! We can take him!”

“Spike…” Twilight pleaded, her frustration fading because she couldn’t blame him for being afraid.

“Sweetest,” Rarity added, every word measured, “so long as Discord is around, losing Twilight or any of us will always be a fear. Such a thing is best confronted rather than hiding from it and letting it control you.” She smiled affectionately. “I would know.”

Spike gritted his teeth, his claws digging into the earth.

“Fine. Okay? Fine,” he eventually conceded, every word seeped in embittered resignation. “Whatever! We’ll leave tomorrow morning, check out this stupid town, and Twilight doesn’t do anything without me. Got it?” Without even waiting for replies, he turned around and stomped off. “I’m going to bed.”

“What?! Wait!” Rainbow Dash said, flying off after him. “Dude, it’s like six in the afternoon!”

“Whatever!”

“That’s that, then,” Rarity said with a long-suffering sigh. “Time to go home and pack.”

Twilight’s ears flattened against her head. “That could have gone better…”

“It is what it is, dearest.” She turned to Fluttershy. “I suppose we’ll see you when we come back, whenever that is.”

“O-Oh! Uhm, actually…” Fluttershy bit her lip. “I think I should come too. Like Rainbow said, the more of us, the better, right?”

“That would be great, Fluttershy!” Twilight exclaimed, eager to have something to be cheerful about. “You said you’ve been there before too, right? That’ll be useful.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Mhm.” She looked back and then to the mares. “I suppose I should go pack, too.”

She left after they settled on a time to meet, leaving Rarity and Twilight alone once again to prepare for the next step in their journey.

“Hey.” When Rarity turned to her, she smiled painfully. “I’m sorry about your vacation.”

Rarity blinked and then broke off into laughter. “Well, what is there to do, hm? Such are the expectations of being a couple. Through thick and thin, no?” She brushed Twilight’s bangs back and offered a charming smile. “I suppose at this rate I’ll just have to rest when I’m dead.”

Author's Note

I am no longer active on Fimfiction -- meaning I don't check comments or notifications here -- and am just updating my main incomplete stories in sporadic batches for archiving purposes! If you’d like to read updates faster, as well as read all my new MLP content and other content, feel free to visit me at my personal website or support me on Ko-Fi!

Thank you for reading!

~ Interlude I ~ A Request

Princess Luna still found immense comfort in the dream realm. As much as it excited her to be able to actually discover and move around New Equestria, her home—beyond wherever Pinkie was—was the dream realm and all its wonders—the one place she truly felt belonged to her.

But on that night, as she entered her realm, surrounded by thousands of multi-colored doors, she knew something was different.

Namely, that she was not alone.

With a spark of magic, the scenery around her changed. The doors faded away, the expanse disappeared, and instead, she found herself in a vast, sunlit meadow with a great, blue lake in the middle.

Twilight Sparkle was there too, standing in the middle of the lake and looking down into the water.

Her demeanor was…not concerning, but different. Even from afar, Princess Luna could tell her young friend was troubled. Her ears were lowered, and her tail was all but stuck between her legs.

Taking her time, Princess Luna made her way to Twilight Sparkle, stepping onto the water’s surface and only vaguely listening to the splish splash of her steps.

It wasn’t until Twilight acknowledged her by lifting her ears that the princess spoke.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she said, a hint of a tease in her words. “I’m surprised to see you here. I was not under the impression you loved dream-walking so much.”

Twilight laughed, turning to the princess. “Honestly, after everything that happened at Hollow Shades, I think I’ve done enough dream-walking for a while.”

And yet, Princess Luna wanted to say, here you are.

But before she could do so, Twilight continued the conversation.

“How is it going for you? Dream-walking, I mean. Now that you have access to all of Equestria?”

Princess Luna didn’t know quite how to reply. It was a lot, certainly, but she wasn’t one to admit that.

“It’s complicated,” she settled on instead.

“I bet,” Twilight replied, looking back down at her reflection. “I saw all the doors when I got here earlier. I counted six-hundred-thirty-four just in one area.”

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow. “You counted?”

“You were taking a long time!” Twilight protested, her defensiveness melting away when Princess Luna laughed.

“Be that as it may, you are right. There are thousands of doors now, which is certainly not the same amount as the couple dozen I was used to.”

Twilight hummed, mulling that over.

“How are they taking to you?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“How’re they reacting to you, I mean. What do you present yourself as?”

“Ah.” Like Twilight, the princess turned her eyes towards the water and stared back at herself. “I present myself as who I am. Our myth is so commonplace, I’ve found the majority of ponies trust the ‘Lost Princess of Dreams’.” Her reflection smirked back at her. “I admit it’s been pleasant to see just how many of our ponies have stopped their own nightmares to briefly express I’m their favorite.”

She expected Twilight to laugh at that, or even make a snide comment, but the younger alicorn simply continued to look at the water, her brows creased with thought.

“That’s good, actually.”

“How so?”

Twilight cocked her head to the side, clearly trying to form her ideas. “Well… When we eventually have to come clean to Equestria about… well, us? There’ll be some precedent. Evidence that we’ve always existed, even if it was in their dreams.”

“Interesting.”

“What about Hollow Shades?” Twilight asked next. “How is everything over there?”

“Hollow Shades is doing well. I’m grateful the majority of the town is willing and eager to keep our secret until the time is right to come out with it.”

A pause hung in the air.

“Should…” Twilight’s voice was quiet now, her eyes piercing her own in the water. “Should we even come out with it?”

“…Explain,” Princess Luna requested, intrigued as much as she was perplexed.

Twilight faltered. “It’s been so long,” she said, eventually, every word walking over a delicate thread. “It’s not as if you or Princess Celestia will have power or influence anymore, and I know ‘Denza’ intends to name a successor the moment we’re done with all of this.”

“That could be you,” Princess Luna ventured. “I am aware you are convinced Celestia only ascended you for show but—”

“‘Was’ convinced,” Twilight interrupted, rather forcefully.

The princess smiled affectionately. “My apologies, you’re correct. Though you were once convinced your ascension was merely for show, the truth is my sister did intend for you to rule at one point.”

Twilight snorted. “Me? Rule? I wasn’t ready back then when I knew Equestria, and I’m definitely even less ready now with this Equestria I barely know.” She hesitated. “We don’t have to rule? Why should we? We’re so out of touch and have been through so much that coming out with the truth would make everything complicated. Why can’t we just… not come out with it? And live normal lives?”

Princess Luna grinned. “Normal as in living in Ponyville inside Carousel Boutique and having to do nothing but gaze into Rarity’s eyes?”

“No,” Twilight immediately said, before allowing herself a giggle. “Well. Maybe.”

As much as teasing Twilight Sparkle was a righteous endeavor, the Princess knew her friend was seeking wisdom, not amusement. So, she sobered up and spoke:

“Unfortunately, we cannot hide our wings under cloaks for the rest of our lives. Furthermore, just because we are indeed not a myth and the whole of Equestria learns as much doesn’t mean we have to do anything. Frankly, I don’t want to do anything aside from my dream-walking duties.” She extended her wings. “A normal life as myself sounds ideal.”

“Do you know what you want to do once this is all over?” Twilight asked.

Princess Luna shrugged. “Not entirely. I’ve not given it much thought beyond knowing I will follow Pinkie wherever she goes.”

Twilight laughed. “Oh? For your entire life?”

“Not mine, but hers,” Princess Luna replied, casually. “I don’t think I can follow Pinkie for the rest of my life unless I want to sit by a gravestone for millennia.”

Immediately, Twilight’s delight died.

“Oh,” she said, contrite. “I… Uhm…”

“It is one of the drawbacks of being a natural-born alicorn.” She observed her hoof which remained the same as it had for the majority of her life. “Agelessness is both a blessing and a curse.”

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

The princess glanced at her, unperturbed. “Why are you sorry, Twilight Sparkle? I am not sad about what awaits me.”

Twilight composed herself. “I guess I would be. Or I know I would be. When I was in the library and thought I’d never be freed, the idea of having to live through Rarity getting old and dying was…” She smiled wryly. “I didn’t take that well when I realized. The fact that she was just a second in my life, and she’d be gone just as fast…”

Princess Luna hummed. “That is certainly a way to look at it. A very pessimistic one, but a way indeed. I’m quite grateful for the fact that I will have a second with Pinkie Pie, and then with her children, and with their children, and so on until I run out of seconds to live.”

Twilight snorted, levity returning to her. “The Shadow of the Pie family.”

“You jest, but if it were up to Pinkie, that would be my title.” She allowed herself a smirk. “She had a date with a stallion yesterday, and she insisted I attend as well.”

“She what?”

“We are… What did she say? A package deal, and since first dates are supposedly to get to know one another, she insists her beau must know and like me, as well.”

Twilight laughed, clearly unsure how to even react. “And you went? Princess, that’s—I’m sorry, but that’s kind of… weird.”

“Oh, make no mistake, I agree. Even though we ended up having a pleasant time with him after a very uncomfortable first hour, I wouldn’t do it again. In fact, I knew I shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I was hungry, they were going to a neighboring town, and I was quite done with foals insisting I take them on flights all day.”

Twilight grinned. “I guess that’s fair.”

“It is,” Princess Luna said pleasantly until she gave Twilight A Look. “But though we’ve talked about many things, I gather we haven’t yet touched on the reason why you’re actually here, have we, Twilight Sparkle?”

Caught, Twilight looked back down at the water. “No, we haven’t.”

“What is it?”

Twilight took a breath, steadying herself. “Princess, you told me once that you can… extract memories from ponies. Things that were even suppressed. Is that true? Can you really do that?”

This took the princess by surprise. Why was Twilight asking about that?

“I can,” she said, carefully. “It is a type of very advanced dream-walking magic and a very dangerous one at that. To extract memories from somepony is, in many ways, the highest violation of their privacy. I’ve only done it very few times when I saw no way to move forward with a troubled pony.”

She paused.

“Why do you ask?”

Twilight was hesitant to answer, still staring at her reflection. Eventually, she swallowed her fears and said, “I need you to do that.”

“…On who?”

“On me.” At Princess Luna’s surprised expression, she continued, nerves fraying her words, “I need a memory from when I was younger. Much younger. From when—” She paused, unable to look the princess in the eyes. “From when I was friends with Discord.”

The Princess bristled at that.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she said, gravely. “There is danger in revisiting memories such as those. Some things are faded memories not just because of time passing, but because our mind has forgotten them for a reason.”

“I know that, Princess Luna, but the memory isn’t for me.” Finally, she looked at the older alicorn. “I’m not the one who needs to see it, which is why even if I knew how to extract them, I’m afraid I might subconsciously tamper it if I’m the one extracting it”

Princess Luna frowned. “Who needs to see it, then?”

Twilight shook her head. “Rarity.” She faltered again, unsure. “Or, I don’t know if she needs to see it. Maybe she shouldn’t. But I want her to see it. I think it would help her understand.”

“Help her understand? Understand what?” Princess Luna questioned, disconcerted by Twilight’s gravity. “What memory? Where is this coming from?”

A silence hung between them, one that felt eternal and grew Princess Luna’s worries with every passing second until Twilight finally spoke.

“Discord visited us in Ponyville with information on how to free Cadance.”

Another silence fell.

“I see,” Princess Luna eventually replied. She adjusted her wings and cleared her throat. “You know, Twilight Sparkle, you really should have led with that.”

Author's Note

Thank you for reading!

Act I ~ 03 ~ The Meeting Outside Ponyville

A crisp wind chilled Twilight Sparkle, her wings rustling at her side. Truthfully, she would have liked this meeting to happen inside Carousel Boutique, where she would be warm, but fitting a dragon inside there was, well, impossible.

So, there they all were instead—they being herself, Princess Luna and Cadance, Pinkie, Applejack, as well as Spike and Rainbow—all gathered in a prairie on the outskirts of Ponyville. Rarity had stayed back in the boutique to work, under the promise Twilight would fill her in on important parts of the discussion.

“All right,” said the youngest Princess, not wanting to beat around the bush, “we need to figure out what to do about Princess Celestia because she’s not answered any of the letters we’ve sent her.” She turned to Spike. “Right?”

Spike, lazily lying on his stomach, sighed. “Right.”

“Which is concerning,” Twilight continued, “because we’ve sent her at least twenty in three days.”

“Twenty?!” Pinkie yelped. “Why wouldn’t she reply?! I wish somepony sent me twenty letters in three days.”

Rainbow snorted, lying on Spike’s back. “If someone sent me so many letters in a week, I wouldn’t reply either.” At Twilight’s pointed look, she attempted to be useful. “Isn’t there any way of knowing she’s read them?”

Spike blinked. “No?”

“‘Kay, cool. Just askin’.”

“We know she is reading them,” Cadance pointed out. “Spike, she answered your letter about Auntie Luna being freed, didn’t she?”

“Yeah. I mean, she basically said, ‘Ok, great, thanks’, but she did, yeah.”

Twilight repressed a sigh. That had been the case with Princess Celestia every single time, hadn’t it? The few times she’d replied had been short and concise, nothing like the literal essays she used to send Twilight back when she was still a unicorn student.

It was relieving that she replied at all, but… was she safe? Or all right? Clearly not entirely if she couldn’t bring herself to reply more than a few words.

Ugh.

“We do not know her situation,” Princess Luna said, her tone slightly defensive. “You all recall the painting there exists of her, don’t you? We do not know what Discord did to her, and it is likely she needs to store her energy. Besides, most of the news we’ve given her has been good, so she may not see the need to expend energy replying.”

Twilight frowned. “That may be so, Princess, but that’s not really helpful for us.”

“Maybe not, but we should be grateful she is able to reply at all, even occasionally.”

Twilight wasn’t quite happy with that answer, but there wasn’t really a point in getting into a discussion about it.

“I guess this means we shouldn’t focus on Princess Celestia right now, then. Let’s figure out Cadance’s situation first. If we free her first, we can—”

“No,” Cadance interrupted. Immediately. “We need to save Auntie Celestia first.”

Everyone turned to her, surprised.

“Uhhh, now, Princess,” Applejack said, politely. “Don’t mean be to rude or nothing, but we need to save you, too, and you’re right here, so focusing on somepony we don’t know anything about doesn’t seem smart.”

Cadance winced. “Yes, I understand that, but look.” She pressed a hoof against her chest, her brow furrowing. “I’m fine. Really! We need to prioritize Auntie Celestia. I am perfectly capable of dealing being in this state for a bit longer, but we don’t know how Auntie Tia is managing, so she comes first.”

“She has a point,” Twilight said. “Cadance isn’t at risk right now. Princess Celestia might be.”

Cadance’s smile reappeared. “Thank you, Twilight.”

“Again,” Applejack said, “not to be rude, Princess, but Princess Celestia ain’t exactly helping us find her.” She turned to Twilight. “How many letters have you sent her asking about where she is, and how many has she replied to?”

“…None.”

“Exactly.”

“Where is she supposed to be again?” Rainbow asked. “In a fountain or something?”

Twilight grabbed a notebook lying next to her, re-reading her notes. “According to what Discord told Cadance centuries ago, she’s supposed to be behind a waterfall, not a fountain.”

“Yeah, same thing.”

“How is that the same thing?” Pinkie asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Anyway,” Twilight interrupted, privately laughing at Pinkie voicing her exact question. She grabbed a map lying next to her, spread it out before everypony, and gestured to some spots she’d circled. “This is the most updated map of Equestria I could find. According to my research, if Discord trapped her behind a prominent waterfall—at least, one notable enough to show on a map—she could be either in Neighara Falls, Rainbow Falls, or Canterlot Falls.”

Rainbow flew down to look at the map and then whistled. “Man, wouldn’t it be messed up if it turned out she was under Canterlot this entire time?”

“She isn’t,” Cadance replied, a hint of aggravation in her voice. “That was one of the first places I had searched after Discord’s visit. In fact, I’ve had all those three places searched for centuries, and we’ve found nothing.”

Twilight deflated. “Ok. Well. Great. Now what?”

Rainbow stared at her. “Uhhh, duh? We have to look again. Cadance’s searches were useless. Her guards are useless.”

Cadance spoke before Twilight could politely ask Rainbow Dash to maybe stop commenting for a minute. “Rainbow Dash,” she said, no longer hiding her aggravation, “I understand you have never liked my guards, but I don’t appreciate your snide comments.”

Rainbow frowned. “What? This has nothing to do with that. Hello?” She looked at everypony, tapping her hoof against her forehead. “Have you all forgotten about the literal curse every single guard in Equestria has that makes it so they can’t find them? Of course they haven’t found squat in centuries! They can’t. We have to go and look again now that we’re not cursed.”

Twilight blinked. “Oh. Wow! You’re right, Rainbow Dash!”

“Of course I’m right,” Rainbow replied, flying back up to Spike. “Don’t know why you’re so surprised.”

Cadance softened, her ears lowering. “…I apologize, Rainbow. I shouldn’t have accused you like that.”

Rainbow shrugged. “S’okay.”

“But those places are still huge,” Twilight remarked, looking back at her map. “Looking through all of them will take months.”

“We should just ask Princess Celestia for help again,” Applejack replied. “Let’s tell her we’re coming, and we need information so to please tell us something. It doesn’t have to be long or nothing. Just something we can go on.”

Twilight sighed, grabbing a parchment and pen. What’s the worst that could happen, she thought to herself as she wrote yet another letter. That she didn’t reply?

“Here, Spike,” she said a few minutes later, levitating the parchment towards the dragon. “Can you send this, please?”

He did as instructed, and the entire group fell into a momentary awkward silence which was eventually broken by Princess Luna addressing Pinkie.

“Little one, have you decided already what we’re to have for dinn—”

A loud gag interrupted her, and Twilight turned to Spike just in time to see him burp out a parchment.

Again, a silence fell over the group, though now it was more stunned than awkward in any way.

“Holy crap,” Rainbow said. “That was fast.”

Pinkie jumped up, thrilled. “Ooh! I wanna read it, I wanna read it!” she squeaked, snatching the parchment and opening it up. She opened her mouth to read, except instead she closed it immediately after, a great frown appearing on her face. “Oh…”

Twilight felt her stomach drop. “Oh?”

Pinkie’s nervous eyes shifted towards everyone. “Oh, uhm…” She looked back towards the letter, cleared her throat, and read aloud: “No. Do not rescue me now. Cadance must be your priority.”

In the back of her head, Twilight wished Rarity hadn’t decided to stay back and work at the boutique. She really felt like she needed moral support right now.

“Right,” she said, instead, because what else could she say?

“No,” Cadance replied immediately, further making Twilight wish Rarity were here. “Absolutely not. Twilight, write her back and tell her we’re coming for her first.”

“But Cadanc—”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Cadance cut-off, “do as I say right now.”

Twilight, bless her, tried to stay diplomatic. “Cadance, I understand you’re—”

“Fine, I’ll do it, then.” She levitated the parchment and pen past a very frustrated Twilight and wrote aloud: “Auntie Tia, I am fine. We need to rescue you first. Where are you? Love, Cadance.” She then rolled it up and floated it to Spike. “Send it.”

Spike hesitated, his eyes darting back and forth between Cadance and Twilight. “Uh…”

Unfortunately for him, Twilight wasn’t helpful. She didn’t know what to say, or do.

Princess Luna intervened, her tone gentle but firm. “Cadance, you are here now. Celestia isn’t. It is smarter to try and help you first rather than—”

“I said no!” Cadance snapped back. “Look at you two! Look at what that demon PUT you through! Aunt Celestia could be just as bad or in worse of a position! I’m fine.We are helping Aunt Celestia and that’s that.” She shoved the parchment against Spike’s chest. “Send it, Spike!”

When Spike turned to her, Twilight sighed. “Send it, Spike.”

Reluctantly, he did as told, and not even five minutes later, he burped out a parchment in reply.

“Geez,” said Rainbow, “wish she’d been this eager to reply the dozen other times we’ve messaged her.”

Cadance snatched the parchment in her magic and opened it up to read. Twilight watched, and took a steadying breath at Cadance’s sudden infuriated expression. The alicorn threw the parchment against the ground and stood up, besides herself.

“Why is she being like this?!” she demanded.

Twilight floated the parchment over and read aloud: “I cannot be saved until Cadance is. There is no other way. This will be my last statement on the matter.”

“Concerning,” said Princess Luna, darkening.

“That’s it?” Rainbow blurted out. “That’s all she said?”

Twilight passed the letter to AJ, who nodded after reading.

“Eeyup.”

Cadance stamped her hoof on the ground. “What does that even mean?! How is that supposed to help?! Why can’t she be freed first?!”

Twilight stood up, trying to calm her sister-in-law. “Cadance… Princess Celestia wouldn’t say this if she didn’t believe it or had a reason to. She has to know something we don’t.”

“Then why the heck isn’t she telling us?!” Rainbow shot back, surprisingly incensed. “This is dumb!”

“Exactly!” Cadance replied.

Twilight was taken aback, suddenly feeling ganged up on. “I… I don’t know! But I trust her.”

Applejack grimaced. “Trust her? Ain’t trusting her judgment about what to do with Discord a thousand years ago the reason we’re in this pickle right now, though?”

Now that got Twilight to shut up, if only because she felt she’d just been hit by a train. Because Applejack was right, of course.

“Applejack is right,” Princess Luna said, driving the point further. She sounded remorseful. “There is no other way around it. We are all in this predicament right now because my sister and I gave you well-meaning but ill-planned advice. If anyone’s decisions should be scrutinized, it should be my sister and I’s.

“Furthermore,” she continued, Twilight sitting down on the ground, terribly upset, “if my sister is indeed in a situation as taxing as the ones we were in, we cannot count on her being in control of all her faculties. She cannot be trusted to make decisions.”

“But… But it’s Princess Celestia,” Twilight insisted, defensive. “She knows she made the wrong decision a thousand years ago! She told me that herself back then! Do you really think she wouldn’t think through anything she tells us?!”

Princess Luna did not falter. “I, too, knew I’d done wrong a thousand years ago. I knew I’d done wrong a month ago, and yet that did not stop me from trapping a entire town in nightmares because I thought it was what I had to do, now did it?”

“That was different!”

“It really wasn’t, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna replied coolly. “Regardless—”

“No, not regardless! We need to save Cadance first! She’s here now!” Twilight insisted. She turned to Cadance, defiant against her friend’s upset glare. “You have to know something about how to free you! Or what to do about you!”

“I don’t, Twilight,” Cadance replied icily.

“But how can you not? Haven’t you and your changelings been looking into this for centuries?” Twilight questioned, standing up again. “Surely you have a clue or—”

“I don’t,”Cadance interrupted, just as intense. “I never looked into how to free myself! I focused on you three because you were trapped in a library alone and—” She pointed to Princess Luna. “—she was trapped in a sunforsaken mountain all alone, and Celestia was in a waterfall while I lived in a castle with friends and family and a life of luxury! All right?!”

Twilight stepped back, feeling like she’d been gut-punched, everything falling into crystal clarity. She stared at Cadance, bewildered. Flabbergasted. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

“What? Are you— Are you serious? Cadance, that doesn’t matter! Just because we had it worse doesn’t make your situation any less important! None of that matters!”

In turn, something inside Cadance snapped.

“It matters to me, Twilight!”she boomed, emotional to the point of tears. “Shining Armor wanted to rescue me first, and I told him we shouldn’t focus on me until all three of you were found. I made him promise. I told him that he and I could never have the life we wanted as long as you were all trapped. So I made him swear to me he would put you all first. And then he did, and then he died!“

Every word poured out of her like a rushing cascade, seeping out without control and direction, directed only by the intensity of the pain.

“He died thinking he failed, Twilight! He worked himself to the bone not just for you three, but because he wanted to respect my wishes, and he died thinking he’d done nothing to help his wife. He died and I wasn’t able to hold him when he did because I told him you three came first!” She gestured to herself, barely able to speak. “I took that away from him! So we’re going to free all three of you first. Okay?”

No one said anything. Least of all Twilight, who struggled to keep tears at bay.

“Please,” Cadance continued, softly now, apologetic almost. “It matters to me.”

Twilight sat back down, remorseful. “…Okay.”

“Thank you,” Cadance replied, sitting down as well. Another moment of silence, and she continued, softly, “Where do we go from here?”

Twilight remained silent, wrapped in her grief-striken thoughts. Trying and trying not to think of her brother and… and…

She lifted her hoof, reaching for her necklace and squeezing it tight. She wished Rarity were here so, so badly.

Princess Luna stepped in, taking charge. “It seems our next course of action is to find information on my sister, then. Cadance, perhaps you, Pinkie and I can get a head start and head back to Canterlot soon. There might be useful information in the libraries there.”

Twilight felt the urge to point out it was unlikely there was any information there that Cadance wouldn’t have found already, but… she didn’t.

“All right,” Cadance replied, her ears lowered. Twilight couldn’t bring herself to look at her, looking at her own hooves instead, but Cadance definitely sounded just as upset as she felt. “Can we leave tomorrow afternoon?”

Now Twilight looked up at her, contrite. “Tomorrow afternoon?” she asked, helplessly. “I thought you’d be staying a few more days?”

Sure, they’d just had a ‘fight’ and all, but Twilight enjoyed their company still. She didn’t want them to leave.

“I’m sorry,” Cadance said. “It’s… It’s not safe for me to be outside the castle for so long. I’ve already stretched it out enough as it is.” She paused. “And… I want to go home.”

“…Okay,” Twilight replied.

“We’ll head off tomorrow, in that case,” said Princess Luna.” I’ll have one of the guards staying here send word to Lieutenant Shield so they can prepare for our arrival.” When nopony said anything, she stood up. “I believe we’re done here, then?”

Twilight nodded, half-heartedly. “I guess we are.”

The sound of the sewing machine filled the air, rhythmically drowning the sounds of Twilight’s troubled mind as she buried her face in a pillow on Rarity’s couch for the umpteeth time.

“So, survivor’s guilt it is, then,” Rarity said, her eyes focused on the dress she was finishing. She laughed dryly. “Discord certainly did play his cards well with all of you, didn’t he?”

“Mmm!”

“I really can’t understand you when you’re talking against a pillow, darling.”

“Ugh!” Twilight lifted her head. “It’s just—! It’s STUPID!She knows she has no reason to feel guilty! Or to think she deserves to be freed last!”

Rarity turned her gaze towards the alicorn currently pouting on the couch. “Twilight, dearest, I hate to point this out but—”

“I was stupid too when I did it!” Twilight interjected. “And so was Luna! So she should know beyond the shadow of a doubt that what she’s doing isn’t right!”

“But that’s exactly it.” The unicorn turned back to her machine and continued with her task. “My point here is that her knowing won’t help, and out of all three of you, she’s the one who is least likely to just have a come-to-Denza moment. If we are to rescue Cadance, we have no choice but to rescue Celestia first.”

“Rarity. Did you not read the letter I showed you? Princess Celestia said she can’t be rescued until Cadance was. Why would she say that if there wasn’t a good reason for it?”

“We can’t trust Celestia’s decisions, remember?”

“We can’t trust Cadance’s either!”

Rarity turned her sewing machine off, perching her glasses atop her head before looking at Twilight. “Twilight… I don’t know why Celestia said that. But she didn’t tell us, so for now all we can do is do what makes sense, and finding her first is what is. If survivor’s guilt is what’s really trapping Cadance, then freeing Celestia will free her too. Honestly, that sounds like a dream come true! And think of how fast we’ve figured out Cadance’s issues! Why, I’m practically earning a degree in psychology!”

“You’re killing me, Rarity,” Twilight said. “That’s what you’re doing.”

Rarity fluttered her eyelashes. “Good thing you’ve got experience with dying, then?”

Twilight buried her face in the pillow before she gave Rarity the satisfaction of seeing her smile at that. “Mmm mm mm!”

“I can’t understand youuu~”

“But we have no leads on Princess Celestia!” Twilight protested, removing herself from the pillow. “Except for a waterfall!” She sat up. “Let’s say we look in Neighara Falls, and Rainbow Falls, and Canterlot Falls again. That could take months. And then let’s say she’s not in any of them! Then what? Are we supposed to check every waterfall in Equestria? It would take years to do that! Yet Cadance is right here!”

“Twili—”

“What if she’s not even in Equestria? Discord never said she was in Equestria!”

“First of all, she must be in Equestria because of that painting near Granite’s Rest. Which, incidentally, is where we should go first. There has to be some clue to Celestia’s whereabouts there. There’s your lead, Princess.”

Twilight wanted to protest, but… that was a lead, yes. It was something.

“Fine… We should go as soon as possible then. Maybe the day after tomorrow?”

“Ah ah ah!” Rarity frowned at her. “Absolutely not. We’ll be going there in a week when my vacation is over.”

The pillow once again found use.

“Mmmmmm!”

Rarity went back to her machine, completely unperturbed. “Whine all you want, my love, but you said I’d have my vacation and I will. Besides, that should give you a week to collect yourself, mm? You can prepare research or something of the sort, I don’t know. Also, please give my pillow a rest before you damage it.”

“Fine,”Twilight muttered, defeated. “I just… I wish we had an actual lead. Something realbeyond a painting! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I almost wish Discord was here so I could question him.”

Rarity frowned. “Darling. Don’t tempt fate.” She paused. “On the other hoof, I’d love a chance to sock him in the face with my sewing machine, so maybe do tempt fate.”

Despite herself, Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at that mental image. She allowed herself to forget about her frustrations for a minute and appreciated her partner, who seemed very pleased she’d made the alicorn laugh.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Rarity said in sing-song. “You always do know how to make me feel better when I’m winding myself up! Whatever would I do without you? Have anxiety attacks every five seconds, no doubt!”

Again, Twilight giggled, completely charmed. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“Yes, you would,” Rarity said, turning to Twilight and shutting her machine off as she gasped theatrically. “Dear stars, you’re having one now! Twilight, my goodness! I simply must come over there and ease your worries! Hold on, I’m coming, beloved!”

And just like that, Twilight’s giggling turned into full blown smitten laughs as Rarity joined her on the couch, giving her exaggerated hugs and kisses.

“There, there! Shh, shh!”

“Stoooop!”

“Shhh! Shh! No anxieties shall be allowed in this boutique!”

Rarity relented, allowing her intense cuddling to become a gentle one which Twilight relished right up until she thought about the entire situation for five seconds too long and…

“Ugh…” she murmured, burying her face in Rarity’s chest. “Why is everything so complicated?”

“Darling… Chin up,” Rarity murmured, lovingly rubbing circles on Twilight’s back. “We’ll find a real lead very soon. We always do.”

Author's Note

Thank you for reading!