Twilight once again awoke with a pounding headache. She groaned as she accidentally tapped her cracked horn, sending another wave of agony through her veins.

“Oh, no,” she whispered as the events of last night rippled through her mind. Her mind swam from residual pain and exhaustion, and she almost passed out there. “I hope… well, at least I won’t get pregnant,” she reasoned. For some reason or another, she found herself buying birth control every time she went shopping. She even began taking them after a while, just to rid herself of her monthly discharge. She never thought it would actually be useful until now.

Instead of dwelling on the subject, her troubled mind shifted closer and closer to sleep, and she began to dream of a much more peaceful time.

It was three months ago when she and Rarity got together. Twilight had recently come back from Canterlot after a long week of tests with her mentor. As she glanced down at her papers victoriously, she accidentally bumped into Rarity’s door, impaling her horn through the thin wood. She feebly knocked on the door, trying not to blush. A few moments later, the door was pulled in, carrying Twilight with it.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is sleek…” she froze as she saw Twilight placed awkwardly in the doorway. Her mouth twitched as a smile graced her beautified features. “Oh, Twilight. How… nice to see you again.” Her smile fluctuated several times before becoming a full laugh. “Twilight, darling, I love what you did with your horn!”

Twilight turned bright red.

“Har-de-har, Rarity,” Twilight laughed sarcastically. “If you’ll be so kind?”

“Why, of course, darling,” the white unicorn said, a giggle still pouring from her muzzle every now and then. With a burst of aquamarine magic, Twilight was free, and the door hovered several feet away.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Twilight said dispassionately. The mare in question turned back to a glimmering black dress, thread and needle set in their usual positions.

“Oh, it was no problem, dear,” Rarity replied, not looking back at the still-disgruntled Twilight. She returned every ounce of focus to the dress she was standing in front of, her thread a blur of black, shining wires. Twilight leaned over her shoulder as Rarity glared at the apparently offending fashion statement with the ferocity of a panther.

“What’s that dress for?” Twilight asked. Rarity stopped and smirked.

“Why, it’s for you, darling,” she said with the pomp of a true noble. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about the party you promised to go to?”

Twilight clapped her hoof to her mouth in horror. “Oh no, I completely forgot about the party! Oh, what am I going to do?!” Twilight raced around the room in a panic. Rarity sighed, turning her gaze away from the gown to Twilight’s shivering form, and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

“Twilight,” she began, “You’re doing it again. Give me a few minutes to finish your dress, and then we can depart in style!”

Twilight finally calmed enough when Rarity forced her into her dress. As the pair trotted out of the door, they got several wolf-whistles from the stallions nearby. With a blush on her face, Twilight ducked her head and sneaked to the edges of Ponyville in near-silence.

It took four hours to get to the hotel where the party was being hosted. “This is amazing,” the two said simultaneously. The place was packed like hell in a hand basket. As her gaze shifted, Twilight noticed several of the more famous type there as well: The Wonderbolts, Vinyl Scratch, and even Octavia Philharmonica were present.

“Ah, there are the stars of the night,” a refined voice said from behind him. The pair whirled to see the unicorn Fancypants and his wife, Fleur De Lis, cantering towards them with the grace of an athlete. “Rarity,” Fleur started, “It’s lovely to see you again. And you as well, Ms. Sparkle.” The mare in question blushed and nervously murmured a hello. “Oh, come now, Twilight. There’s no need to be nervous around us; we are friends, after all.” Twilight’s nerves gradually faded. She glanced around once again, and noticed Princess Luna standing uncertainly in a corner, attempting not to be noticed. Twilight trotted over.

“Hello, Princess,” she said mildly. Luna’s head snapped up, and her wings bunched together. Once she noticed Twilight, she relaxed slightly, though the tense expression didn’t drop.

“It is a pleasure to see thee, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said lightly. Twilight saw through the omfortable façade instantly, but decided not to mention it. “Hast the party been treating thee well?”

“Yes, very much so,” Twilight replied. “I assume you’re the one that hosted this?”

“Well,” Luna said uncertainly, “It wasn’t entirely us. We were the host, but only because Tia thought it would be good for us to mingle at a party. So far, it has not gone as well as we had hoped. All the ponies do is bow to us, even though we’ve tried time and time again to get them to stop. It is a relief that they are not shaking in their horseshoes any more, but thy could be slightly more friendly.” Twilight chuckled at Luna’s predicament.

“Luna, you need to calm down,” Twilight said, ironically hypocritically. Go up there and deliver a speech that even a Princess would be proud of!” Luna smiled at her and spread her wings, taking flight and landing in front of the conveniently placed podium about ten feet away.

After the speech, Twilight and Rarity were sitting at a small table. The purple unicorn was just about to take a bite of her meal when a snarky voice interrupted her.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle,” the feminine voice sneered. Twilight turned to find an old enemy (and one time marefriend) of hers: Trixie Lulamoon.

“What are you doing here, Trixie?” Twilight snarled. Rarity raised her head, her horn sparking, ready to protect her friend. “I thought I told you I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“Trixie knows what you said,” Trixie smirked pompously, “but Trixie quite frankly doesn’t care. And who’s this?” she pointed to Rarity. “Your new marefriend? Such a rebounding whore.”

“What did you call me?” The voice resounded through the hall, even though it was only a whisper. Rarity’s eyes blazed with restrained fury as she slowly stood up. “I said, what did you call me?!”

“Oh, so your new marefriend is deaf as well as dumb?” Trixie sneered.

Rarity snapped. She jumped on Trixie with blinding speed, tackling her to the ground. It was a short fight, but it left both unicorns passed out on the floor. Trixie was covered in blood, while Rarity miraculously managed to keep herself clean. Twilight shook her to get her awake. Rarity groaned, before sitting up.

“Twilight, did I just kill Trixie?” she asked, some apprehension in her voice. Twilight checked her ex, then shook her head.

“No, but you did give her a severe concussion.”

“Darn.” Twilight and Rarity laughed as they left the party, drawing confused looks from other ponies. Little did Twilight know that the show of protection would blossom into a spark far stronger than friendship.

Author's Note

sorry for the late chapter as always have fun