Dreamwalker's Tale: An Anthology

“I’ll be honest… I still don’t get it,” I restarted our conversation, thereby breaking the little lull it had fallen into. “You’ve been with us for the past year or so and we never figured that out? I mean, yeah, sure, you’re not exactly a regular on our patrols, but still… it feels like you should be able to manipulate dreams just like we can.”

The three of us walked along the winding path Luna had manifested for us. A star-strutted road amidst the beautiful night sky that was the dreamscape. She refrained from voicing her own thoughts on the matter for now, instead furrowing her brow and listening intently. Her ears swiveled around in Derpy’s direction.

But Derpy for her part did not quite engage my musings as I had hoped for. She instead just shrugged. “To be honest, I’m just glad you two dispersed the storm quickly enough. It would have felt really nasty, hitting the ground from this high up.”

Both Luna and I grimaced at that. She sounded upbeat. Like the incident did not bother her at all. Even in the moment, when she struggled against gale-force winds and her wings got bent in angles that made her wince… not once did she seem all that concerned.

A fact that bothered both Luna and me. It was a dream, sure. But there were still consequences. Hitting the ground from that altitude would have crippled her, if not outright kill her. Which in turn would have translated into massive exhaustion within the dreamscape and upon waking up.

“We still have a lot to learn about how dream magic works when it manifests in other ponies,” Luna finally spoke up and I suspected she did so partially to steer my darkening thoughts away from such subject matters. “For now, we are grateful to know that, if necessity arises, we can call on you to help us, Derpy. But we shall be vigilant about the limitations of our knowledge, as to not put you in peril again. To be frank, it reminds me of some other occasion wherein a pony with limited knowledge and best intentions meddled in the dreamscape for the good of others, unaware of dangers for himself and those he brought along…”

Her little jab obviously did not pass me unnoticed. I even tried to play along, whistling a little. “No idea what you’re talking about. Must be one of those millions of dusty old stories a mare of your age has in store…”

For a couple of seconds, she puffed her cheeks and her wings rustled, wanting to spread out in show of her indignation. “Why you little—“ she started, still sporting that good-natured smile of hers and she attempted to step closer to be a bit more intimidating.

It would probably have worked better were it not for a giggling Derpy walking between us. “You two are funny.”

We were both flustered for a second before I managed to squeak out a tiny “Thank you.”

“Maybe dream magic has to figure out how dream magic works as well?” Derpy offered her own thoughts. “You said it’s new, sort of. So it’s young. I always liked to think of magic as something alive. Because so many ponies complain about their magic not cooperating or others say their magic had a good day or something like that. Maybe dream magic is still young then? Still learning. And giving out abilities to ponies is like… taking baby steps. Dreams can tell me what ails the dreamer. But I can’t leave my own dream without help, and I can’t manipulate dreams while inside them. And that other guy… heh, sorry, I already forgot his name again. You said he can stabilize dreams that are about to burst. That’s like… you get control of a star. A single one. And another pony gets control of a different star. And then another pony gets control of two stars, because those two before worked out just fine. And at some point, you feel ready and give the entire night sky to a pretty princess.”

I chuckled in amusement. Oh indeed, she was quite pretty and I dared glance up at her. Luna had seemed a little uncomfortable while Derpy so casually talked about other ponies controlling parts of her domain. Probably came with the territory. But that last sentence really broke the unease and she flushed crimson. “Thank you,” she muttered while trying to look regal and prim and proper.

It only made me chuckle harder and earned me a warning glare from her.

Derpy’s theory had its merits. She obviously was no scholar, but her quirky way of seeing things had been right in some regards in the past. Twilight had once told me of an instance where her weird, funny way of describing the flow of time had sparked a deeper understanding of the general concept of time for Doctor Whooves. And he seemed like a pretty smart guy to begin with.

I was about to start a nice little discussion about that theory when I noticed something else. I stopped walking, which in turn made the other two stop shortly after and they looked at me curiously while I tried to sort out what I perceived. A shift in gravity… as if the ground itself had become uneven. A brush of something warm and soft on my belly and legs. With my dawning understanding, a smile spread across my muzzle. “Twilight turned around,” I let them know. “I think she’s waking up.”

Jealousy. For a fraction of a second, it was there, in Luna's eyes. But it vanished as soon as it had appeared. A proud smile graced her lips instead. “You are getting better,” she noted. Perceiving changes in the waking world had been part of my training, but admittedly a part I struggled with to this day. It was supposedly about ‘being ready for anything’. Luna could wake up willingly as soon as she felt the temperature drop because a window or door was opened. She could hear voices, even when they whispered, in her room. Surprising her while she was dreamwalking was nigh impossible. I suspected that it mainly served her to thwart the prank attempts of her older sister. This ability might have served her well in the olden days when attempts at her life had apparently been more common, but such things were unthinkable these days.

Sunny could be surprisingly playful and they constantly found new ways to bother each other. It was adorable.

Luna looked around us, as if taking stock of something, before giving herself a nod and smiling in my direction. “This night is almost over. Whatever little is left to do, I shall be able to manage alone,” she stated.

“I can keep you company,” Derpy intervened before she, as well, could be carted off.

Luna’s smile deepened. “A lovely offer I gladly accept.” She turned her attention to me once more. “You may leave, Dreamwalker. Give Twilight my regards and have a good morning. We shall see each other tomorrow?”

I walked up to her and knowing me, she lowered her head. We deigned to ignore Derpy’s “D'aww” from the sidelines while we kissed. “See you tomorrow, kitten,” I whispered and grinned in satisfaction as I noticed her blush. I walked over to Derpy and hugged her. “Thanks again for helping out today, Derpy.”

“Oh that’s alright, it was fun. It will be more fun to ruthlessly gossip about you once you are gone,” she teased with a smirk as soon as we separated again. Her ‘threat’ did not do much. I knew her too well at this point. Gossiping was something Rarity excelled at. But Derpy had little to no talent for it.

I still acknowledged the tease, though. “Oh no, how horrible. Maybe I should stay and prevent this disaster from happening, lest my good reputation with Luna shall be tarnished forevermore and I—“

I chose that point to wake up and let them stand there.

As I woke up, I still felt somewhat proud of my timing and wanted to quietly chuckle a little, but the mere thought quickly lodged itself in my throat, unwilling to proceed further up, as I noticed Twilight. She had turned around, just as I had noticed in the dreamscape, but snuggled close to me again so that her back pressed against my belly and I still held her. However, I quickly connected that tingly sensation I felt to my half-erect member. The one she was currently grinding her rump against.

I felt like I was grinning from ear to ear. That was one of the most satisfying ways of waking up. “Hmmm~… Twilight… what are you doing?” I quietly asked, before leaning down and kissing a little trail on her neck.

She sighed a little and stretched, so that I may have a larger playing field for my lips to explore, but she did not stop grinding. “I… am waking you up,” she replied in a whisper, followed by an amused giggle that made my heart flutter. I also noticed her being a little bit short on breath.

“Well,” I started and nibbled at her eartip, “I’m awake. So what are you doing now?” I let my hoof lazily brush alongside her barrel, down to her haunches and then switched sides, cautiously rubbing over her teats.

A sharp intake of breath, a little shudder and her eyes fluttered firmly shut. Her grinding became a little more pronounced, but her smile only grew. “Now I’m trying to make you feel good,” she replied belatedly.

I still grinned. Grinned like an idiot, I chided myself, but I had no intention of stopping. I did not delude myself about where this was heading. Waking up, warm and cozy, holding her tight, kissing her… kissing her…

A quiet whine escaped her mouth as I brought my hoof back up, only to tilt her head so that I could lean down and give her a proper kiss. She shifted a little to make it more comfortable for herself and for a brief moment, that continued contact between our bodies broke. It was enough to notice that my legs had been dampened, enough to realize how aroused she already was.

I pulled back from our increasingly hungry kiss and looked at her with a smirk. “I wonder what you dreamed about last night,” I mused with a grin.

“You don’t know?” she breathed huskily. “Here, let me show you…”

And just as quickly, she pulled me down for another kiss, pouring a surprising amount of desire into it. I wanted her, all of her, and with each passing moment, I wanted her more. A mathematical impossibility. It would have amused her.

“I want to make you feel good too,” I whispered and brought my hoof back down between her legs. It was a bit of a stretch, reaching even deeper, but I managed. And I was rewarded with another sharp breath and a load of oil spilled into that fire in her eyes. I focused on her clit, which quickly made it nigh impossible for her to continue her own ministrations. There was no lack of trying on her part, but she just could not find a steady rhythm again and her body wanted other things than she did, which led to a rather enticing sight: Her squirming beside me.

“Please,” she whispered with such an intense look in her eyes that my own breath hitched for a moment.

Feeling playful, I teased her with the promise of another kiss, but kept just out of reach, drawing a little bit back when she raised her head. “Say ‘pretty please’,” I demanded with a grin, applying a little bit more pressure on her nether regions.

A gasp followed, and a drawn-out moan. “Pretty please,” she finally managed to string together.

As soon as I made an effort, she sprang into motion as well, aligning herself with me. There was almost no resistance to speak of as I plunged into her. I pushed deeper and deeper, but tried to keep it slow. I would have assumed ‘much to her dismay’, but she did not quite look all that displeased. Quite the contrary. She bit down on her lower lip and tried to stifle her moans. And I could have none of that. I kissed her, playfully sucked her lower lip in and teased her with a little bit of tongue play. “Don’t,” I whispered once we parted again.

She gave a shaky nod in agreement and sighed as I reached as far as I could.

We were still lying on our sides. It was a bad position in terms of control and speed. But neither of those mattered at the moment. I held her close to me and I wanted her close to me. I was not about to let her get away any further. I withdrew little, and pushed back in, building up a slow rhythm. I did not mind, and neither did she. It was less of a wild ride, less mindless, pleasurable rutting and more… love-making, as cliché as that sounded even in the privacy of my head.

To be fair, it helped me out somewhat. She had started out on a significantly higher level of arousal than I had, but there was no doubt about it – I came a lot quicker than she did. A normal occurrence, as far as I was aware. But the slow and steady pace allowed me to better hold back. Postpone my own climax, while focusing my attention solely on her. I felt her legs clench around my hoof at times, felt her breath grow heavier, noticed our kiss growing deeper, almost desperate. Until she said what I had concluded mere moments before. “I’m close.”

Sex was less about thinking. For me anyway. It was more about ‘feeling my way around’, about intuition. A stray idea manifested and it felt like a good one. So I shifted a little again, withdrew further than I had before and broke our kiss, raising my head enough to really look at her. Her hair was messy. Damp in places. She had a delirious look in her eyes, a mixture of desire and longing. She was beautiful. And I wanted to see it. “Cum for me, Twilight.” And without waiting for a response, I pushed back in. As fast as the position would allow. I retreated immediately and did it all over again, all the while holding eye contact with her. Seeing what mere words did to her. Seeing how her mind reeled, how a simple demand somehow increased what she felt. “Cum for me!” I asked her again, and only a couple of thrusts later, she cried out.

I saw those first waves of pleasure roll in. They were powerful. Soon enough, she lost control and closed her eyes, giving herself over to those massive tremors shaking her body. Seeing her like this, but hearing her moan especially, it was more than I could bear myself. My hip bucked involuntarily and I climaxed shortly after her, grabbing her even tighter than I had already while a couple of thrusts I had little to no control over extended her orgasm.

I laid my head on her neck, breathing heavily. We both radiated such heat into the surrounding air that it was almost uncomfortable to be this close to her. Almost. I heard her breathing slow down little by little, while I regained control myself. I felt my erection slowly shrink, felt the mess we had made and weirdly enjoyed it. I raised my head again, allowing her to tilt hers. We looked at each other, still flushed faces, but grinning in satisfaction. “I love you,” we spoke a little offset and giggled.

I did not know why, or how. But I saw her smirk after a brief moment, felt her grind her rump again, just a little bit to test the waters, and felt my member grow again. As if I had never heard of refraction period being a thing. And I was pretty certain that I had not seen her cast anything. Then again, I was in no shape of mind to scrutinize what was happening.

We were both still in our afterglow, but she already resumed teasing me. Another kiss, followed by a happy sigh from her. A happy sigh. She was happy.

I wanted her. I wanted her as close as she was right now. I wanted to have sex with her. Right now, and forevermore. I wanted her to be happy. Like this, and any other kind of happiness as well. I had seen myself make her happy on numerous occasions over the years. That precious smile when we sat down in the living room, reading for hours on end, sharing the occasional passage, discussion some idiotic plan a protagonist had. When I tried to cook for her. Things as little as that smile she gave me when I held the door open for her. Or that happy grin when she did the same for me.

I wanted this. All of it. Now, and tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I had no idea why, now of all times, this appeared as such a profound revelation. But it spurred me into action. “Would you marry me?” I heard myself asking her. She stopped grinding immediately, and her eyes dilated in surprise. To be fair, I had successfully surprised myself as well.

“Are… are you proposing to me?” she asked quietly, almost hesitantly.

I wanted to think this through. I really wanted to. But there was no room for doubt in my mind right now. I saw her. I had seen her. I remembered. And I wanted all of it, forever if I could have that. If she would let me have it. Have her. “Yes,” I answered immediately, before my mind caught up and I could not help myself but add more. “I don’t… I don’t have a ring or necklace or anything yet. This is no fancy restaurant dinner at the end of a romantic stroll, I didn’t plan this out… I just…” It was not perfect. It was not planned.

But it was intimate. It was honest.

There was a sudden, surprising shift as she somehow turned. But not only did she turn herself, oh no. She turned me. On my back. With herself being perched on top like the winner of a wrestling match. My erection gave a little twitch inside her, as if to remind both of us that we were still connected and a little bit of caution might be in order, thank you very much.

But Twilight just giggled. And leaned down until we were muzzle to muzzle. She had that intense expression again. But there was more. I felt like she was searching for something. And whatever it was, I had nothing to hide. Not from her. Never from her.

A brief moment later and she kissed me again. I was not sure what to make of it at first. She had not answered me, had she? But I could not ignore the passion in her gesture, I could not keep myself from kissing her back with equal force, pulling her down even more. I noticed her wings unfurl and grinned. Only after we broke the kiss to get some precious air into our lungs did I dare to ask. “So… is that a ‘yes’?”

“Does it feel like a ‘no’, silly?” she replied with another giggle, “Yes, that is a ‘yes’! Yes… yes, yes, YES!” She squealed like a filly, all that joy bubbling over. It warmed my heart, made those butterflies in my stomach flutter around in chaotic agitation, but most importantly, it filled me with both relief and a sense of… completion.

She still giggled as I pulled her down again. I still wanted her so badly. Now maybe even more than before. But my attempts at reversing our roles were quickly thwarted by her as she pushed me back down onto my back with a smirk. “No,” she whispered resolutely. “I’m in charge now.”

I gulped, and with a spreading grin, nodded.

“You meant it?” she later asked.

I felt drained. Spent. Once more, we were lying on our sides, muzzle to muzzle, observing the other one. I had sunken into a place of contemplation. Trying to understand why most mares looked their best when messed up. I was pretty sure Rarity could explain it to me in a simple, yet profound way. But she was not here and I was not about to bring that up with her. She would only get nosy again.

Twilight had apparently been thinking about… yeah, well, that. Maybe I should have, too?

But I could not find anything worthwhile to think about. In that regard, at least for now, things appeared to be easy. Simple, obvious. “I did,” I answered and tried anyway. The law still was not in our favor. This ‘engagement’ could never exist on paper. It was something between us, and between us only. I did not need proper documentation for a promise to be true. To uphold a dedication that I took up.

Still. It would be nice, though…

“We can’t though,” she voiced as much, her brow furrowed. “Not in any official capacity anyway.”

I smiled and graced her lips with a comparatively chaste kiss. “I know. Does that bother you?”

She gave it some thought before answering, yet her answer remained ambivalent. “I don’t know. Does it bother you?”

I took a deep breath and sighed. “I’m not sure either. I don’t think it’s necessary. But in the same vein, I’m thinking: It would be nice, right? I try to care little about what strangers think. Emphasis on ‘try to’. But somehow… I don’t know… it feels like the difference between fanfiction and a novel. At some point, a writer can write so damn good, with such intriguing characters and plotlines and whatnot, and she could easily print it, right? So… at which point does it become ‘the real thing’? And don’t get me wrong, I mean: In the eyes of others. Because to most ponies, there’s a significant difference when you tell them: I am a writer! Or: I am a writer… of fanfiction! There’s a certain connotation to it. Expectations. Same with this. I want you in my life, for the rest of my life. Pretty please.” I smiled as soon as I saw her blush a little. She apparently remembered that moment from earlier quite well. I decided not to tease her too much, instead continuing on with my little rambling. “In the eyes of others, though, this will always ‘just be a promise’. To a non-descript ‘them’, it does not bear the same weight. And I don’t claim to fully understand why, yet, but it irks me. For some reason, I want them to know and acknowledge how serious I am about this.”

So, there was my answer, finally. Apparently, it did bother me. Quite a lot, it seemed.

Twilight remained silent for a while, chewed her bottom lip and furrowed her brow in thought. I tried to calm myself down and think about my own solutions to this predicament in the meantime. But sadly, I soon realized that there was a certain bottleneck to this entire situation: The law. That unyielding set of societal guidelines and rules. Somehow, I had never imagined that it would be a thorn in my side one day.

“We should talk to Rarity,” Twilight spoke up again.

Now it was my turn to furrow my brow. “Why her?”

“She is involved with Fancy and Fleur, right?” she asked and after I confirmed that with a nod, she continued. “She might have an interest in this in general. She knows her way around the upper class more than I do. In fact, she travels more than any of us and is more of a metropolitan than the rest of us are. She is well-connected, too. She might know some ponies who could help.” A goofy smile formed on her lips before she finished with, “And asking a friend for advice in a difficult situation should always be a top priority.”

I chuckled. “Sounds awfully like one of your friendship lessons.”

“That would be because it is,” she replied with a giggle. She leaned in, kissed my nose and actually left the bed. That caused a tinge of sadness for a second or two. I could have spent the entire day with her in bed, not getting up besides bathroom walks. I would have at least liked to spend more time with her here for now. At least a couple minutes, or an hour or two… “Come on, get up,” she tried to spur me into action and, seeing as I did nothing of the sort, levitated a pillow up with a grin and smacked me in the head with it.

That at least was enough to coax a reaction out of me, as I quickly picked up my own pillow and retaliated. However, Twilight — leader of the Elements of Harmony and master brain behind most brilliant plans to defend Equestria — fell prey to an embarrassing rookie mistake: She did not take her surroundings into consideration when choosing her battlefield.

She tried to make her way to the bedroom door, probably to get me out of this room. But to do so, she needed to pass by the bed one more time. And she got too close. I immediately tackled her to the ground, quickly switched my pillow behind her to soften her landing. “Gotcha,” I proudly proclaimed with her pinned under me.

“And what, pray tell, do you intend to do, now that you ‘got me’?” she asked with a somewhat sultry smirk.

I was not sure if it was intentional or not. I could nonetheless feel my blood rushing again while I fake-contemplated my answer. She stiffened a little in surprise as she felt a little prod at her right hindleg. “Really?” she asked in disbelief and quietly laughed, “How? I just… I am sore already…”

I chuckled in reply. “Well, I told you not to overdo it,” I retorted and climbed away, giving her free.

She stood up and for just a moment and grinned quite smugly. “Still absolutely worth it.” Twilight eyed my half-flaccid member and chewed her bottom lip again.

“See something you like?” I chuckled and wiggled my rear a little. I was just teasing her, of course. That is, until her horn suddenly sparked to life and I felt a tight grip of her magic stroking along its length. I gasped and my knees wobbled for a moment.

“I'll make this quick,” she promised, nay, challenged with a sly grin. I already panted again, but I was so not backing down. I grinned in reply and cherished seeing that fire dance in her eyes as I stalked towards her.

We made our way to separate bathrooms, followed our respective morning routines and enjoyed a quick, light breakfast thereafter. Spike was already about, chipping away at his daily chores and considering that we intended to visit Rarity, we disregarded the idea of taking White Tip or Owlicious with us. They were sleeping anyway.

The little stroll through Ponyville was a nice way to start the day, even if — by now — we were ‘starting’ at almost midday.

Once we reached Carousel Boutique, I stopped in front of the door and hesitated. “Now, don’t get me wrong,” I addressed Twilight, “I think there’s merit in your idea, it’s just… I’m not sure if we really should do this, like, immediately and not think it through some mo—“

And she rang the bell.

I sighed. “Welp.”

Twilight stepped up to me with a warm smile and hugged me. “You are just getting cold hooves again because things progress faster than you are used to. Don’t worry. It will be fine.”

Talking to a friend. I’ll be fine, I tried to reinforce her encouragement and gave a shaky nod.

“Comiiing,” Rarity’s voice sang from inside. Soon after, the door was opened and she regarded us with mild confusion, quickly checking both the door and the doorbell. “While I do cherish seeing you two, I have to wonder why you did not just enter? The shop is open…”

Twilight and I shared a look of mild confusion. That was actually a good question. Then again, she had only rang the doorbell because I had hesitated to enter. So, one silly decision followed another one. We quickly realized the goof and tried to get rid of the faint tint in our cheeks. “Right, we should have. Sorry to bother you,” I spoke up first before stepping up to Rarity and offering a hug. She took it in stride — the initial weirdness and the hug respectively — before greeting Twilight in the same manner.

And right after that, she shooed us inside and closed the door. “I take it this is more than just a friendly visit, then?” she asked while walking over to one of her ponyquins. A garment was fixed in place with a couple of needles. “It’s not about the Elements or another ruffian, that much I can already tell.”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been here,” I ventured a guess and Rarity confirmed that with a nod while eying the garment critically.

“We would like to talk to you about something, if that is alright with you?” Twilight asked. She looked around and, just like I had before, probably noted several other ponyquins standing at attention, sporting other dresses and accessories. “If you have time, that is.”

We usually would have opened with a little bit of relaxing banter. How was your day? How is business doing? What about Sweetie Belle? What about Opal? But we had been to the spa just yesterday and the shop was still standing, so no further kitchen experiments by Sweetie.

“Time, hm, yes… there’s always the issue of everypony being so busy these days,” Rarity mused while fixing a couple of more needles in place. She huffed a little in frustration before leaving the dress be for now and turned her attention to us, studying us for a moment. I knew that she was quite adept at reading body language and I really did not want to know in detail what she was reading right now. Because even I had noticed Twilight walking a little funny from time to time, and I was nervous and hopeful, and she probably got all that and I had no idea what conclusions that would lead to.

“Well, as you can see,” she started again and gestured to the other ponyquins, “I am somewhat busy at the moment.”

There was an underlying tone that Twilight deciphered a lot quicker than I did. “We could help you out, of course,” Twilight quickly offered. “Whatever time you would lose, we could make up for. If that works for you.”

Rarity sported that multilayered smile that I sometimes dreaded, because it usually meant that she was scheming. “What a generous offer. However, I’m not entirely sure if you could help me. Say, Twilight, would you be willing to fit some dresses for me? I might need to work on the fabric as you model, but I promise that I will be utmost cautious with any dyes.” While Twilight grimaced slightly, probably imagining how hard it could be to get certain textile colors out of her coat, she nevertheless nodded. “Lovely, thank you darling.” Rarity shifted her attention to me. “And Dreamwalker, could you maybe test out if you can lift that roll of fabric over there? I might need you to carry a bunch of these down here from my workroom upstairs, and back up again of course.”

I turned as she gestured towards the fabric with a hoof and gulped a little, but tried to hide it. Fabric was heavy. It would not struggle against my attempts to levitate it, of course, but it was… heavy. However, I gave it a shot anyway. I was certainly not about to let this endeavor fail because of me. I focused, my magic wreathed my horn and the levitation field grabbed the fabric roll. As soon as I thought I had established a firm grip, I tried to lift it.

And it was heavy. Just as expected. However, I did manage to get it off the ground. It was a strain on my magic and I was really not looking forward to doing that over and over again, but it was possible and for right now, that was all that mattered. The rest was future-Dreamwalker’s problem. “I can do that,” I replied, turning back to her.

And she smiled like a cat that had successfully caught a mouse. Maybe Opal and her got along quite well after all and all those scratches were just love-markings or something.

Twilight caught on as well and was once again quicker to reply. “You are not exactly swamped with work right now, are you?” There was no real accusation in her tone. More like the soft chiding one would use on the prankster before the prank could be sprung.

Rarity smiled quite satisfied, utterly unbothered by Twilight's tone. “Not exactly, no,” she admitted and put the lid on that little box of needles. “Don’t get me wrong, it is not like I don’t have work to do. But there is admittedly nothing that cannot wait for a little bit. Now, however, I know that you two are somewhat desperate for my help and I admit, that both worries and intrigues me. Let’s head to the kitchen and sit down and I will make us a nice pot of tea.”

Rarity liked to play. It was just an intrinsic part of her nature. I had come to accept that, even though — at times — it bothered me. Luckily, those times were few and far between. She had her fun, no harm, no foul. We followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the cozy little wooden table. Four chairs were arranged around it — for her parents, her little sister and herself.

Meanwhile, Rarity fetched a pot, filled a little strainer with what looked like lemongrass and put it aside, filling a kettle with water and putting it on the stove before turning towards us. “You two seem to have had a lovely morning so far?” she asked with a knowing smirk.

Twilight blushed and refused to answer, so I took it upon myself to do it. “Sure did. It was lovely to wake up the way I did, and it only got better from there. What about you? Do you miss Canterlot already?” It was a prime opportunity to steer the coming conversation in the right direction. And as Rarity would undoubtedly have agreed: It would have been a waste not to use it.

Rarity sighed with a certain longing. “I do. I really do. But one has to care for and maintain her roots. I do belong here, despite what a lot of ponies might think and, in fact, say.”

“Somepony tried to get you to move to Canterlot again?” I asked amused.

“Not quite,” she replied, shaking her head, “Miss Chanel tried to convince me that Fillydelphia, of all places, would be perfect for me.”

“Of course you refused in a charming and polite manner that she might even have considered a compliment,” Twilight joined the conversation with a guess — and a knowing smile.

“Of course, darling,” Rarity agreed with a smile that bordered on a very unladylike grin. “I will be in Canterlot next week again. This time, I hope for the entire week without any incidents shortening my stay there.”

“Well, good luck with that,” I wished. And I honestly did. I knew perfectly well how aggravating it could be if things didn't work out according to plan. Especially if loved ones were involved and these changes of plans meant less time with them.

The kettle started to whistle and Rarity quickly set it aside, because apparently, this tea was not meant to be brewed with boiling water. She almost made a science out of it, not unlike Celestia. Then again, every time those two actually discussed the matter, it felt like Celestia in her mentor role talking to her student, but about tea instead of magic. Rarity at least claimed that she had learned a lot from The Princess Of Tea(™)).

“I could try to make sure of that,” Twilight offered with a lopsided grin. “I could go around looking for potential threats, and deal with them preemptively. I could cast some overbearing spells that would ensure you would stay unbothered throughout your stay…”

We all had a good laugh about her little self-deprecating jab. “Please don’t,” Rarity replied while pouring the water into the teapot. “I like to believe that we have learned a good deal from the last time you did that.”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Still. I have to say though, that dam could have been a real disaster. So at least some good came from it… aside from the lessons learned.”

Rarity sat down the teapot on the table, followed by three mugs, before she took a chair. “Fair point. The negligence on display in the aftermath of that discovery was quite frankly astonishing.” She filled our mugs and levitated them before us. We thanked her and she took a first sip, before addressing us anew. “Now. You came here with a matter on your minds, and I appreciate the patience you displayed. Talk to me – what bothers you so much?”

“He proposed,” Twilight immediately blurted out as if it had been the only thing on her mind the entire time…

Props to Rarity for keeping her countenance. Just like the prim and proper lady, she—

“Eeeeeeee-!”

I sighed.

Rarity squealed like a filly. Something I had already heard today and at least a part of me was not quite as surprised to hear it again. She did not tackle Twilight to the ground — small mercies! —, but she did stand up again, walk around the table and hug Twilight fiercely until she gasped for air. “I am so happy for you!” she stated with a satisfaction in her voice that could probably only be properly understood by another gossip. I meant, another socialite.

Rarity squeezed Twilight for a second round before she returned to her chair and fixed me with a warning stare. I half-expected her entire ‘don’t you dare to hurt her’-spiel again, but she instead let the stare talk and went with “Well, it was about time.”

I quietly snorted and shook my head. “Next you tell me you had bets running.” There was suddenly a very loud silence in the room that I did not want to poke. At all. So I quickly switched topics instead. “Rrright. Anyway. With my engagement with Celestia already being an official thing, this obviously brings up some… issues.”

Rarity nodded and took another sip. I silently chuckled as I noted that both Twilight and I felt compelled to follow her example and took sips of our own tea. Something Rarity was probably keenly aware of. “Yes, I know of that particular predicament. I had honestly expected Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to make some changes by now.” Twilight, maybe feeling left out of that list, cleared her throat, but Rarity only smiled apologetically in her direction. “I am truly sorry, darling, but you still don’t quite bear the same influence over legislation as these two do.”

I could see that she wanted to object, but her mind found nothing to do so. Her shoulders slumped a little. “You’re right,” she admitted.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. This takes time. It will come eventually.” And with a little bit of heartfelt encouragement, Twilight perked up again. It was heartwarming to see.

“We talked about this maybe a year ago,” I refocused on the discussion. “When I first dared to approach the whole ‘polyamory’-thing. I think Twilight was the one bringing it up?”

“Luna,” Twilight corrected. “They were talking about the laws. I had helped her research those, so we were both aware at that point.”

“Right, thank you.” I turned my attention back to Rarity. “Thing is, Celestia had apparently tried to change this. Multiple times throughout the centuries. So this isn’t exactly a thing specific to us, now. I’m not sure why she tried it before. She had never been in a relationship of this kind, so my best guess is that she was attempting to make it possible for somepony close and dear to her.”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “That does sound a lot like her, yes.”

“That being said, she failed,” I continued with a sigh. “Each and every time, her attempts were thwarted. Usually by too much push-back from the higher social echelons. They swayed the court, the court did not approve of her proposal, and that was that. The court, being situated in Canterlot, mostly consists of Canterlot ‘elite’. You know your way around those folks best. Back then, we were thinking that we could maybe try to sway the public opinion. Spearhead a campaign to push the topic into public perception. Make it a ‘known issue’, instead of something barely anypony ever talks about. And if that campaign would gather enough steam, we could try to apply pressure where it matters. Many nobles think themselves higher than the ‘common pony’, but notable exceptions aside, few of them are actually stupid. Shallow and superficial, maybe – but not stupid. They ‘need’ the support of ‘lower classes’, and with the right course and the right amount of pressure, we could maybe make it seem like they might be about to lose that if they don’t change their tune.”

“There is obviously more to it,” Twilight added, “but that is about the gist of it.”

Rarity was staring into her tea cup. A tea cup she cradled between her hooves. “And what exactly do you two expect from me? That I might tell you who to pressure?”

Twilight and I shared a look before I answered. “It’s actually even worse than it already sounds. Neither of us — and that includes all the Princesses and me — can be linked directly to this campaign. There would probably be a public outcry. Those defying these changes would have an easy time twisting this as some sort of self-serving act. Which, to be fair, it totally is. But that’s beside the point. We would not be the only ponies profiting from this. Many have just… resorted to deal with it. Adapt as best as they can. Many don’t hope for more, because attacking this issue seems like a monumental task. Something I can really relate to. You don’t just willy-nilly think about ‘changing the law’, because, well… it’s the law. This push needs to come from somewhere else. I had thought about, uh… how did Sunny phrase it? ‘Inspiring others to take up this fight’, so that we could support them in more subtle ways once the ball got rolling. But that’s just the issue. Nopony is willing to start this fight. At least nopony we know of in the last year or so. Honestly, with how Equestria is right now… I’m not even sure how much support this would get. And I don’t mean that in any bad way. Equestria is in a good spot. It has never been better, even. But that makes many ponies complacent. ‘Good is good enough’, so to speak. But it could be better. Maybe not for them, specifically. But for their neighbors. Or that distant cousin they rarely see and talk to. Or for a couple of strangers. Despite the good place Equestria is in, many still don’t tend to think much about strangers at all. Of course. It would be exhausting otherwise. But if somepony could… push this into public perception, make it known… maybe ‘better’ would be… well, better.”

I was surprised to see her eyes glazed over as Rarity lifted her head again. She denied these tears to spill and that worked out well enough, seeing as they were not that numerous. But they were there in the first place, and that confused me. “If it were not for your stage fright, maybe you would have made a fine public speaker one day, dear. Please excuse me for a moment, I need to fetch something.”

She left without waiting for a response and soon enough we heard her climbing the stairs to the upper story and rummaging around in her room. Meanwhile, I looked over to Twilight, who seemed as surprised as I was, much to my relief. “Did I say something wrong?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. You were about to start rambling again and I contemplated interrupting you, but I don’t think you said anything to upset her. I have a suspicion what this might be about, but I think we will know soon enough.”

I would have liked to know. But she did not want to tell me right now, and I tried hard to respect that and not ask for more. So I took another gulp instead, emptied my cup, and refilled both Twilight’s and Rarity’s. It was very good tea. But there was so little left in the pot.

Rarity soon returned to the kitchen, carrying with her a small, ornate wooden box. It looked like a jewelry casket. She sat it down in front of her, eyed her refilled cup and levitated the pot, refilling my empty cup despite my protest. “Six cups, dear. I know how much my tea pot contains.”

I sighed. “Thank you.” And happily took another sip. Really good tea. Funny how these things worked. A couple years ago, I cared little for tea in general. It was just another variation of drinking water. Maybe that was Sunny’s influence.

“Correct me if I err at some point,” Rarity restarted the conversation, “but neither of you has any concrete idea of how to go about this ‘campaign’ you refer to. You don’t know how to start, or even where to start. And you do want to start this, even if it means manipulating somepony else to do it for you and leading that pony along from there. Am I correct so far?”

Said like that, it really did sound awful, did it not? “Correct,” Twilight answered anyway, although I could see that even she felt a smidge uncomfortable with the phrasing.

“Well,” Rarity continued with a sigh. “I have several shops to keep track of, the occasional custom order, and with every seasonal change, there is a flood of new designs I have to get ready. Plus a little sister, a pet and a life full of friends and acquaintances. But being the incredibly lucky mare that I may call myself, I have a wonderful circle of friends to fall back on if need be. I shall be fine.”

Twilight and I traded glances of mild confusion again, until we understood what she was implying. And Twilight was quicker to answer. “No. Rarity, no. You said it yourself, you have more than enough to do as it is. We could never ask that of you!”

But the seamstress just smiled serenely. “You don’t have to, darling. You said it yourself: All you need is somepony willing to take up the fight. Somepony to get this ball rolling, so that you may, from that point forth, guide and support this endeavor. At this point, to be frank, you could not stop me anymore either. Now that I know that I would have the full support of at least three Princesses behind me. Four, I suspect, as soon as the fourth one hears about this.”

“You might be too close to us,” I voiced my initial concern. “We did consider asking you, but at the time, it seemed… unwise. It could easily provoke the same ‘self-serving’-accusations, with an additional layer of us ‘clearly’ off-loading the responsibilities to a close friend.”

“But,” Twilight interrupted and fixed me with her gaze, “we also came to the conclusion that it would probably not matter at all, as any support could — and probably will — be labeled as such. And our more subtle support could be traced back to us as well. There are certain risks with this. If we want it to succeed, and if we want it to progress quicker, we need to accept these. That obviously does not mean that we must run into every hurdle head first or that we should shoulder every risk. But we need to be aware of their existence, their likely inevitability and their potential consequences.”

“If we accept these risks as a given, then there’s barely any need for us to beat around the bush in the first place, is there?” I shot right back. I was not quite sure why, for Celestia’s sake, we were suddenly arguing. Especially since Twilight had tried to dissuade Rarity from taking up this fight in the first place and now she seemed to defend her right to do so.

“Because there is a difference. It’s not a switch, Dream,” Twilight retorted. “It’s not ‘either you have consequences or you don’t’. If we do this directly, the fallout will be more severe.”

At this point, we both stopped as we heard a metallic click from the side, which drew our attention. Rarity had opened the casket, and with careful motion, turned it around for us to see its contents. The inside of the box was lined with velvet. There was an indentation on both sides. On the left side was a horn ring, a fine silvery band sporting a cutie mark of three golden crowns. On the left side was a silver necklace sporting Fleur de Lis’ cutie mark.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that we both looked up at Rarity with the same stumped expression. The seamstress however smiled with a loving warmth and touched her hoof to both pieces before closing the casket again. “They gave them to me on the same night. ‘I may tell them my decision whenever I see fit’, they said. I don’t think they expect me to make a choice. Ever. Quite honestly, I like to think that they rather prefer that I not choose at all. I considered wearing them both, but…” A sad smile tugged at her lips as she avoided looking at us. “I hate to admit: I was not quite brave enough for that. And it does feel wrong wearing only one.”

“I… I-I had not… I did not know,” I stumbled about my own words.

She looked up at me with a smirk. “Obviously. A lady never tells.”

“When?” Twilight managed to get past her own issues.

Seeing as the cat was out of the bag anyway, Rarity regaled us with the tale of a surprisingly romantic day. A day where Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis both switched a couple of times, making it the best and most memorable day of Rarity’s life — according to her own retelling anyway. I could not help but think back to this morning, where I had told Twilight about a stroll and a restaurant being proper manners for a proposal. This… this was an entirely different league.

“So to answer your question… roughly three years ago?” Rarity concluded.

We sat in silence for a while. Rarity cradled the casket and occasionally lifted her mug to her lips to take another sip. And every time she did, we did as well. Until the tea was gone.

“This isn’t your redemption story,” I concluded, breaking the long silence.

She apparently immediately understood what I meant, but did not quite agree with me. Rarity tsked and shook her head. “And why not? And don’t you dare say ‘because you did nothing wrong’. We all have our weak spots. Weak days, weak moments. To falter and fall is only natural. We get back up, dust ourselves off and try again. Or at least, continue on. I kept this box hidden in my room, thinking about it almost every day at least once. I love them dearly. I love what they mean to me, what they do to me, and what we give each other, what we share. I know they don’t expect this to ever come up again. You said it yourself: Many, many ponies adapt to how things are and just… learn to deal with it. They settle. And I, dear, am an artiste. I am not meant to settle. I am meant to strive for more! Art is the expression of the self, of creativity and imagination, and those virtues don’t accept restriction and limitation. I should have never given up on that dream. I should have never settled for anything less than my hopes and visions. And do believe me when I say: I had visions of those dresses, of that wedding ceremony. It inspired an entire collection that I never dared to make public. Because I did not want to taint it with the banality of being a purchasable product. This is, and has been for quite some time now, my fight as much as yours. I am deeply grateful you came to me today. Grateful for that reminder. Grateful for you telling me that I do not have to fight this battle alone.”

At this point, Twilight could not stand the increasingly emotional tone any longer, could not stand seeing Rarity tear up again. She stood, walked over and hugged her friend tightly. “You are never alone. You never were,” she told her.

And Rarity smiled. “I know, darling. I might have known at all times, on some level. I just needed a reminder.”

“We all do, from time to time,” I interjected.

It took a moment for us to calm down. A moment for Twilight to take her seat again, and for us to sort out our jumbled thoughts. “How do we proceed from here?” I dared to ask.

Rarity smiled like the savvy businessmare that she was. Like someone with a plan. “We start with finding allies. You were right with your assumption that I am well-connected, but I must stress that most deeper connections I cherish are with ponies within our lovely community here. I know for a fact that Daisy, Lily and… tch, I always forget the third one’s name. Junebug! Ha! I know that the flower trio is, let’s call it ‘quite close’. I know that our lovely Derpy, Roseluck and the doctor are rather close as well. I obviously still have to make sure that I don’t work based on false assumptions. And even if they turn out to be true, I still have to get their approval. But gathering more examples will be vital. More voices for the choir. And Derpy especially would be a valuable asset in this campaign, as she has such a heartwarming attitude. She wins over ponies left, right and center without even trying much.”

I grinned widely as I could not deny that fact. “Maybe you should ask Pinkie as well,” I suggested.

Which immediately gave both Twilight and Rarity pause. “Wait… Fluttershy and her are…?”

“What? No! No. I just… I was just thinking, well… because you were talking about ‘winning ponies over’. Come to think of it, Fluttershy could be a great addition because of that as well, but I don’t think she would feel comfortable with that. But Pinkie certainly would. And she has great organizational expertise that you could use in an all official capacity. It’s like having your own mini-Twilight.”

“With less Twilinanas,” Rarity mused.

“But more Pinkieness,” I replied.

“Hey!” Twilight complained with a huff and both Rarity and I laughed for a moment.

“Don’t worry, we love you, darling,” Rarity tried to mollify her and squeezed her hoof. It worked a little bit. “You might have a decent point though. It could be a good idea to rope Pinkie into this as well. At some point, we will need support from those outside this specific constellation as well and starting out with such might be even better. However, I am well aware that this still confines us to Ponyville. If we want to apply pressure on a national scale, we need to extend our influence beyond a singular rural farming town. Getting a hoofhold in the bigger cities will be most important, and quite challenging, I believe. But… I am well-connected, and I am an artiste. There are certain expectations for the latter. So me leading this charge will likely surprise nopony in particular. A stupid and overdone stereotype I can work with. I know that both Chanel and Photo Finish are rather open-minded, but neither am I sure of their exact relationship status, nor am I sure that these are the kinds of ponies we want to drag into this from the get-go. They might be a little bit too eccentric for our course to be taken seriously. Initially, anyway. We might add them later on, if they are willing.”

“Your fiancés,” I interrupted her musing. “First of all: Don’t forget that you can’t, or at least shouldn’t, decide this on your own. And secondly, if they agree… as far as I’m aware, Fleur is still one of the highest paid, most sought-after models, is she not? And Fancy is in good standing with most of the influential Canterlot elite. Our biggest two ‘assets’ might actually already be at your side, so to speak.”

“My,” Rarity corrected with a smile.

“Hm?”

“They are ‘my’ biggest assets, if anything. Try to remember that you came here to—…” She furrowed her brow and looked me over once more, then did the same thing for Twilight. “You both came here to get a new gown done for the next Grand Galloping Gala, and a nice, fancy tuxedo, of course. A little early, but with a highly sought-after seamstress like me, a wise decision nonetheless.”

“I… uh… right. Tux. Sure.” I blinked and looked over to Twilight. She grinned while she watched Rarity with the same fascination she watched a rare natural occurrence with. Something to be studied and learned from.

“Twilight does have a good point,” Rarity continued. “There is no need to jeopardize this endeavor preemptively. Your early involvement might do just that.”

“Well, we still want to help, though,” I protested.

“And so you shall. In time,” Rarity insisted with a smile. “There will be pet play dates, spa dates, time for a nice afternoon tea. We are still close friends, are we not? And whatever might come up in our regular conversations may give hints to whatever problem came up and I will make sure nopony is all that upset if said problems might somehow turn out not to be all that considerable after all.”

The tone of her voice alone told me that she was playing again. And that she had fun doing so. Her phrasing already made my gears spin and I turned to Twilight. “You, uh… you get that, right? Hints and stuff?”

Twilight, who had fallen silent throughout a considerable portion of our conversation, grinned at me in a way as if we had already won the battle. “Oh yes, I am well-versed in ‘getting stuff’.”

I pouted. “Now you’re both just trolling me.”

But Twilight reached over the table, grabbed my hoof with hers and shot me the most loving, upbeat look I had seen on her all day – and that included this morning. “Maybe a little bit.”

She had hope. We had hope. We both turned to Rarity. “Thank you so, so much!” Twilight offered our friend.

Rarity smirked a little. “Well, I am the Element of Generosity, am I not…?”