8 December 1008
Click-clack.
I’m not supposed to be here.
Even after almost six months, it still felt a little surreal to Rarity to walk down the hallways of the Crystal Palace. The beautiful walls and roofs were still as entrancing as ever; Rarity had even bumped into someone once, too busy with looking at the intricate carvings and details of the light in them to notice where she was going.
Though that stallion does have such a nice flank…
She steeled her mask a little. There was no one else in the hallway, and people probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway, but Rarity prided herself on always being prim and proper, and that had only become more important in the last months.
Governess of the Crystal Empire… technically, it was the Lunar Crystal Governate now, but most people, Rarity included, still called it the Crystal Empire. And she ruled it all with absolute authority. Only Empress Nightmare Moon herself stood above her.
Well, her and Flurry Heart. But Rarity stood above Flurry Heart as well, even though she was ‘just’ a governess, while Flurry Heart was of course a princess.
‘’Miss Rarity!’’
Well, would you look at that.
‘’Good evening, Flurry,’’ Rarity greeted the little filly with a smile, before tipping her head at the thestral mare escorting the young princess. ‘’Ready for dinner?’’
‘’Yeah!’’ Flurry excitedly said. ‘’I’m hungry! What are we eating?’’
‘’I haven’t decided yet,’’ Rarity answered truthfully. ‘’Is there something you’d like to eat?’’ The kitchens could whip up anything she asked for, but Rarity had tried to keep her impulses restrained by making a list of things she wasn’t allowed to be served more than once a week.
Flurry’s face scrunched up in thought. Rarity couldn’t help but smile at the adorable sight, and she caught the corners of the usually-stoic thestral’s lips quirking upwards as well, though the mare quickly suppressed it again.
‘’I want a hayburger with fries,’’ Flurry finally said.
Well, she hasn’t had one this week yet, Rarity reasoned to herself. ‘’Okay,’’ she agreed, ‘’but with vegetables as well. Do you want carrots or broccoli?’’
‘’Fries are made from potatoes, and potatoes are vegetables,’’ Flurry argued with the most charming smile she could manage. ‘’So I don’t need to eat carrots or broccoli.’’
Rarity was impressed she knew that. Then again, Flurry spent a lot of time reading.
Just like her aunt…
‘’So, I don’t have eat any vegetables?’’
‘’Oh, you do,’’ Rarity answered, shaking her thoughts away. ‘’And since you don’t want to choose, I’ll pick instead.’’ She looked away from Flurry to the guard. ‘’Please inform the kitchens they are to make two hayburgers, with fries and carrots.’’
‘’No!’’ Flurry said. ‘’Fine, fine! I’ll eat the broccoli! But not carrots!’’
Rarity blinked, and looked back down. ‘’Why not?’’
‘’I don’t like carrots,’’ Flurry said with a sulky look on her face.
Six months and I never knew that. ‘’Well you heard her,’’ Rarity looked back up at the thestral and flicked her hoof in a dismissive gesture, ‘’now please tell the kitchens our orders.’’
Was she too lax? Maybe. Maybe not having to cook herself anymore had made her less strict in regards to food. Or maybe it hadn’t. She wasn’t sure.
The thestral snapped off a salute. ‘’Yes ma’am!’’ With a nod of her head, she turned around and left down the hallway.
‘’Come on,’’ Rarity said to Flurry, ‘’let’s go to the dining room, and then you can tell me all about how your day was.’’
‘’Alright!’’
The entrance to the dining room was, like all rooms Flurry or Rarity frequented, guarded by two thestrals of the Lunar Imperial Guard. They both saluted as Flurry and Rarity approached, before one of them opened the door for them. ‘’Good evening, princess, governess,’’ the one that opened the door said.
‘’Good evening, sirs.’’
‘’Hi Mr’s!’’
She would have to teach Flurry the proper way to greet guards and other servants. But that could wait for now. For her age, it was an appropriate greeting, so it wasn’t really important.
The dining room was far too large for just the two of them, and this was just the private one meant for the royal family, not the stately one. The Crystal Palace was many things, but it wasn’t really homely. Rarity had tried to work on that by adding little details, but it hadn’t really had the desired effect.
She pulled out two chairs with her magic, sitting down in one while Flurry flew up and sat down in the other. Rarity made sure to place the two chairs a little closer to each other than they’d been just before, as a way to keep the size and emptiness from showing.
‘’So,’’ she said, turning her head sideways to look at Flurry, ‘’what did you do today?’’
‘’I went out into the gardens and played with the other foals,’’ Flurry answered, ‘’and we built snowponies and had snowball fights and played tag and so many other games! It was lots of fun!’’
A warm feeling crept into Rarity’s chest. ‘’That sounds very nice. Did you make any friends with the foals?’’
‘’Yeah, I did! But, well…’’ Flurry trailed off, suddenly looking sad.
‘’What’s wrong, darling? Are they being mean to you?’’ Rarity couldn’t imagine even a foal would be stupid enough to do something like that, but one never knew.
Flurry rapidly shook her head. ‘’No, no! They’re great! But they’re all crystal ponies. They can’t fly, or use magic.’’
Ah. Yes, that would be a problem.
‘’Well,’’ Rarity offered after a moment of thought, ‘’I’m sure the guards don’t mind flying with you, and if you want, I can practice some magic with you.’’
Flurry’s eyes lit up. ‘’Really?’’
Rarity nodded. ‘’Really. I don’t always have time, of course, but we can plan something.’’
Note to self: ask the Empress about the new immigration programs and see if we can get some unicorns up here. Maybe open a magic academy somewhere?
‘’Thanks, Miss Rarity! You’re the best!’’ Flurry said excitedly.
‘’It’s no problem at all, darling,’’ Rarity gracefully demurred. ‘’I’m always happy to help.’’
The door opened, and two servants walked in, each carrying a single plate. ‘’Princess, governess,’’ they greeted in unison, ‘’your food.’’
‘’Would you like something to drink as well?’’ one of them continued.
‘’I’ll have one of the wines from Prance,’’ Rarity decided after a moment. It was late enough to start with a bottle, and she could always finish off the bottle after dinner.
‘’I want a strawberry lemonade, please,’’ Flurry said a moment later. Her favourite. Predictable.
The waiter bowed his head. ‘’Coming right up.’’ They turned around and left again.
‘’Well, dig in,’’ Rarity said once the door was closed behind the two stallions. ‘’Enjoy your food, Flurry.’’
‘’You too, Miss!’’
The food was good. Hayburgers weren’t culinary masterpieces, of course, and the rest of the meal wasn’t either, but it was still expertly made and tasted quite excellent.
Flurry ate with all the cleanliness Rarity had come to expect from her; that was to say, none. ‘’Really, Flurry,’’ she chided as she used her telekinesis to grab a wipe from the box she conveniently kept on-hoof. ‘’Can you try to eat a little more cleanly?’’
‘’I’m not doing it on purpose!’’ Flurry replied.
‘’I know,’’ Rarity tried to soothe, ‘’but still. Now sit still for a moment, please.’’ And she used the wipe to clean off Flurry’s face.
‘’Thanks, Miss Rarity,’’ Flurry chirped when Rarity was done. ‘’I’m sorry for making a mess.’’
‘’It’s alright, darling’’ Rarity sighed. ‘’I know you try your best. Eat a little slower, and it’ll be much easier.’’
‘’Okay, I’ll try that,’’ Flurry promised, before lifting up her food again. Rarity noted with some satisfaction that Flurry did try to eat slower, and as a result her face remained pretty clean.
‘’Princess, governess, your drinks,’’ the waiter announced as he and his colleague stepped into the room again, carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses, one empty and one filled with lemonade.
‘’Thank you, sirs.’’ Rarity took all three items from them with her magic, then placed them on the table and poured herself a glass of the wine.
That was when she noticed Flurry watching her. ‘’Miss Rarity,’’ she asked, ‘’can you teach me how to lift more than one thing at the same time?’’
Can I?
‘’I can try, darling,’’ Rarity replied, ‘’but I’m not a teacher, or a mage.’’ But she had basically taught herself how to use her telekinesis so effectively. That probably counted for something.
‘’But we can try?’’ Flurry asked for confirmation, eyes shining with hope.
Rarity nodded. ‘’Yes, we can.’’
Maybe tomorrow. I’ve got a free half hour then at three.
Wait-
Flurry was pressed against her chest, forelegs wrapped around her back in a hug. ‘’Thanks, Miss Rarity. Thanks for everything.’’
Flurry hadn’t hugged her before. Rarity might be her guardian, but they almost never had physical contact. She wasn’t the right mare for that job.
But that didn’t matter. Flurry was hugging her, and Rarity couldn’t help but return the favour. ‘’Anytime, darling,’’ she said softly.
Flurry mumbled something that Rarity couldn’t understand. ‘’I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear what you said. Can you repeat that?’’
Flurry lifted her head from Rarity’s chest and looked up with those big, turquoise eyes of hers. ‘’Mommy used to put her wings around me,’’ she said very, very softly. ‘’It always made me feel so safe.’’
Rarity’s heart ached, and she tightened her hug a little. ‘’I’m afraid I can’t do that, darling.’’
‘’I know. It’s alright.’’
But it wasn’t. ‘’I…’’
I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not a mother. I can’t replace Flurry’s parents. I can’t teach her how to fly, how to use spells, how to rule. I’m just a fashionista who got lucky.
And I didn’t even get lucky, in the end. Instead of being with my family and friends in Ponyville, I’m up here, ruling a country that didn’t exist a decade ago in the name of a goddess that was nothing more than a myth when I was a foal, while caring for a foal I have no familial relation to.
Twilight’s isolated herself, Applejack is busy with the farm, Rainbow is drinking herself into a coma, and Fluttershy constantly has to deal with people asking about bats. Only Pinkie has retained her life somewhat, from what I hear.
And Sweetie-
‘’Miss Rarity?’’
Rarity sniffed. ‘’Yes?’’
Flurry looked very concerned. ‘’You look like you’re about to cry. Is everything alright?’’
For a moment, Rarity considered lying to Flurry. But instead, she shook her head. ‘’No. No it’s not, but there’s nothing you or I can do about it.’’
Flurry frowned. ‘’That’s bad,’’ she said. ‘’But can’t Auntie Luna do something about it?’’
She could, but she won’t.
Rarity attempted to smile. ‘’The Empress is busy with a lot of things, Flurry. She doesn’t have time for me.’’ Not anymore.
‘’But she’s coming here in a few days, right? You can talk to her then. I’ll talk to her if you don’t want to talk to her.’’
‘’Really?’’ Rarity asked despite herself.
‘’Yes.’’ Flurry nodded resolutely. ‘’Tell me what you wanna talk with her about, and I’ll ask her.’’
Rarity didn’t for a moment doubt that Flurry wouldn’t do it, if she still remembered it by the time Nightmare Moon got here. But she didn’t want to talk about it.
‘’I want to see my friends again.’’ she said anyway. ‘’Your aunt, Twilight, and Applejack and Rainbow and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and… and my sister.’’
‘’You have a sister?’’ Flurry didn’t know?
‘’I do,’’ Rarity confirmed with a nod. ‘’But she… she doesn’t like me anymore.’’
‘’Why not!?’’
‘’She thinks I betrayed her because I sided with your aunt in the civil war,’’ Rarity explained. ‘’I tried to explain it to her, but she refused to listen. The next morning, I found out from her friends that she'd taken a train to our parents’ home. I sent a letter, but I never got a reply.’’
Even now, months later, it still stung. Rarity had carried on, but on the inside she had been broken.
Flurry pressed even tighter into Rarity’s chest, her wings touching Rarity’s sides. ‘’I’m sorry for you,’’ she said softly.
Rarity smiled - a real smile, this time. ‘’Thank you, darling.’’ Then, in a move of impulse and before she fully realized what she was doing, she bent her head and pressed her muzzle against Flurry’s forehead.
Flurry went very still for a moment, then tilted her head upwards and pushed back with her own muzzle. For a minute they stayed like this, then Flurry brought her head down again and placed it sideways against Rarity’s chest.
‘’Miss Rarity?’’ she asked in a very soft voice. ‘’Can I call you something else instead of Miss?’’
‘’Of course, darling. What would you like to call me?’’
‘’Can I call you auntie?’’
Rarity was silent for a long, long moment. Any other time, she would have considered the consequences of something like this. How the world would react, how the dynamic between them would change forever, how Nightmare Moon would react, and so on.
But in that moment, in the far too large dining room, seated at a near-empty table with food that was already cold, with an alicorn filly pressed against her chest, Rarity could only reply with one thing, as she felt tears sting in her eyes again.
‘’Of course you can, darling. Of course you can.’’
Author's Note
This was just a fun little thing I wrote in one evening. It took me about five hours, but I took a lot of breaks and pauses, so all in all I wrote maybe 45 minutes of those five hours?
Doesn't matter. I hope you enjoyed the story, and I might do more of these little one-shots in the future, as an aside from my main project, the Crystal Story.
Cheers!
