//------------------------------// // 11. Sparkling Like Diamonds // Story: Hearts in Harmony // by Iris Heartfang //------------------------------// -TWILIGHT SPARKLE- I was lying awake on my bed with the blanket over my head, clothes from yesterday still on and drowning in a pool of my own sweat and angst. I really tried… I really tried to be better, to work on my problems and fix my relationship with Rainbow, but still… Honestly, while that alone was reason enough for me to be depressed, what made it head-under-blankets bad was how it reminded me of growing up with my family. Trying my hardest to do what I thought was right only to have it blow up in my face. Definitely sounds familiar. My mom would go into hysterics, my brother would go into his room, my dad would be no help, so who ended up having to fix things every time? Thinking about my mom’s mood swings was giving me stomach cramps and I had to go to the bathroom anyway, so I dragged myself out of the bed. On my way to the bathroom I thought about how my life had changed since I moved back to Fillydelphia. I thought getting away from my parents and being on my own, with the support of my friends, would be the best thing for me… but all I’ve done is wither away into nothing. I’m still grappling with the baggage from childhood, still trying to fight the same demons and getting nowhere. Every time I start to feel hungry I still get that sense of nausea and think ‘what’s going to go wrong this time?’ even though I’m on my own now and I always have the food that I need. Whenever somebody starts to raise their voice I cringe, whenever someone says their feelings are hurt, even as a joke, I start feeling sick. I wish I could just throw all this baggage away and start over… or, conversely, go to bed and never get back out. On my way out of the bathroom I heard a knock at the door. “Twilight! It’s your good friend Rarity!” **** -RARITY- ‘I don’t feel well. It’s nothing to worry about, I’ll be fine, but I need a little time to get my head on straight.’ That was the text that Twilight sent Applejack early in the morning after her fateful encounter with Rainbow Dash at the airplane graveyard. No other details but based solely on that it wasn’t hard to guess how it went. “Should I go talk to her?” Applejack asked me, sitting on the edge of our bed looking at her phone. “You don’t have to drop everything to go running to Twilight.” I was still lying in bed but I reached out and grabbed my girlfriend’s hand. “Or anyone else for that matter, not even me.” “I know.” Applejack sighed, lightly squeezing my hand. “It’s just that… I know she’s goin’ through a lot right now…” “And she’s not your responsibility.” I sat up and wrapped my arms around Applejack, giving her caressed a kiss on the head. “Plus, you’re not her only friend. Let me go talk to her. I lived with her for a long time, you’re not the only one who understands her.” When Twilight needed to move out of her parents’ house many years ago, my family graciously took her in. We were like sisters for a few years! “Yeah, I guess.” Applejack whispered fretfully. I dragged her back down into the bed where we lied next to each other and looked into one another’s eyes. “I… I trust you, Rarity.” “Have I ever given you reason to doubt me?” I said with a smile, brushing some of her gorgeous golden hair out of her stunning bronze face and staring deeply into her dazzling emerald eyes. Never had there been a woman more gorgeous than Applejack… except me, of course. Applejack rolled over and looked at the ceiling for a moment in silence, making me fret slightly, but all my worry went away when she looked back at me with a heart-melting smile and said “Nope”, then she planted a tender kiss on my lips. “Besides, you have house hunting today.” I rolled out of bed and perfectly onto my feet. As much as I would have liked to stay in bed with Applejack for an eternity, the two of us both had responsibilities to tend to. Such was life. “Yup.” Applejack lifted herself out of the bed as well. “Gonna see if I can wrangle Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to help out, maybe look for some roommates.” “You should ask Pinkie Pie.” I put on one of Applejack’s big shirts, just so that I could be relatively modest while I went about my morning routine. “I heard she isn’t going to be in her own place much longer.” “Yeah, I was thinkin’ the same thing.” Applejack got dressed, plaid shirt and jeans like always, and of course her trademark hat. At first I couldn’t have imagined a tackier headpiece but the thing had absolutely grown on me in the last few years, go figure. “I’ll see ya tonight?” Applejack walked over to me and pulled me in with her big sturdy arms, holding me close to her chest. “Of course, darling.” I smooched my beloved and bid her a fond farewell as she headed out of the bedroom toward the front door, and I prepared for my own set of tasks for the day. Task number one; look cute. Check! Task number two; prayer, and after that, coffee! Once my morning routine was finished, consisting of prayer, coffee, a shower, breakfast and then another quick prayer, it was off to Twilight Sparkle’s house! Twilight’s home was small, maybe even a little quaint, but it was comforting. It was the kind of place where you would want to come home after a long day’s work and lounge in front of a warm fire. It brought back memories too. I used to live here for the last few months before I left Fillydelphia. I still remembered the day my parents bought the place and Twilight and I moved in, it was so empty inside but we were excited to make it our own, even if only briefly because we already knew I only had a few months before moving to Canterlot. I couldn’t help but think… I miss those days, when everything seemed so simple and the future held such promise. Now everything feels uncertain… oh well, no sense dwelling on it now! I knocked on the door and there was no response. I figured it would take more than one knock, that Twilight would either be in bed or in the bathroom or something, so I knocked a second time. “Twilight! It’s your good friend Rarity!” I said in a singsong voice as I knocked a third time. This time it wasn’t long before the door opened, revealing Twilight standing behind it… and she looked atrocious. Clothes on from the previous night, hair bedraggled and a complete mess, not helped by how long her hair had gotten, bags under her eyes which were red from either crying or just staying up too long. The poor girl was a mess. She needed more than just a makeover, what she needed was divine intervention. Thankfully, here I was. “Rarity?” Twilight said drearily. “What are you doing here?” “I’m here to see you, obviously.” I laughed softly, attempting to put my friend’s mind at ease. “How could I let my little sister be alone on a fine day such as this one, when I know how miserable she’s feeling?” “Oh? And where is Sweetie Belle?” Twilight said teasingly. “Haha, you know what I mean.” I took a step forward and grabbed Twilight’s hand. “In all seriousness, Twilight, I came to see if you needed to talk about whatever happened last night.” “I guess…” Twilight grumbled, recoiling her hand. “I mean, not really. I don’t want to talk about it. But I want to talk to you. It’s been two years. I’ve missed you.” “I’ve missed you too, Twilight.” I said. “So very much. May I come in? I miss this place, too.” “Sure.” Twilight said, opening the door and letting me into her home. “Just mind the mess.” “Oh… my…” My jaw dropped as I entered Twilight’s home. Dishes piling in the sink, clothes on the floor and trash on the countertops… everywhere I looked there was junk, junk, junk, JUNK! It was… probably one thousand times as bad as Fluttershy’s house. “Twilight… what happened here? You’ve always been so organized!” “I haven’t been really feeling like myself lately…” Twilight mumbled. “How long has ‘lately’ been?” I asked inquisitively. “Oh, just a couple of…” Twilight looked away and tried to bury her face in her hair as she spoke. “…years. Besides… I was never that good with housework, that was always something that… you always took care of those things.” “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that Twilight was still hurting from my moving away. “It’s not your fault.” Twilight chuckled sardonically. “You needed to go. I know that feeling, and I have never once begrudged you for it, I promise.” “Thank you.” I wanted to believe that was true, but how could Twilight not begrudge me when I so easily begrudged myself? I don’t think anyone was happy for me to move to Canterlot but I was so sure it was the right thing to do… considering how it ended up I was beginning to wonder why I bothered in the first place. “But I must take some responsibility. I knew then that you weren’t doing well, and I left you anyway.” “You needed to go.” Twilight implored. “It’s okay.” “I could have postponed, I could have…” I shook my head, trying and failing to think of anything to say. “I could have done something.” “Rarity… you did the best you could.” Twilight fell limply onto the living room couch, pushing a pile of garbage off of it onto the floor. “And my issues and my baggage are neither your fault nor your responsibility. I don’t think there’s anything else you could have done.” “Perhaps… but I’m here now.” I sat down beside Twilight on the couch, pretending like there wasn’t a huge stack of disgusting garbage on it seconds ago. “I can do something now. Get a broom, Twilight. We’ll have this place sparkling like diamonds by midafternoon!” Twilight stared blankly at me and blinked a few times in lieu of saying anything. It had been so long perhaps she forgot that having a clean house was a possibility. But then she smiled and I saw the lights flashing on in her eyes as she cheerfully said “Okay… but do I get to sing my sweeping song?” “I wouldn’t have it any other way, darling.” I laughed softly, cupping Twilight’s beautiful face in my hands. **** In only a few hours the cleaning was finished and Twilight’s home was the majestic castle it once was and needed to be! By the end of it though we were both famished, and neither of us were particularly stellar cooks so I had some pizzas delivered to the home. While we waited on them however, I had a very important question that I needed to ask Twilight. “Twilight, darling…” I said, lightly putting my hands on Twilight’s shoulders while she sat in one of the kitchen chairs. “Would you mind it terribly if I asked you… to allow me to cut your hair?” “You wanna cut my hair?” Twilight asked confusedly. “Why? What’s wrong with it?” Twilight grabbed a handful of her hair, which seemed to stretch on for miles. “Twilight, stand up for a moment.” With a slight groan Twilight did as I asked and I got a better look at the whole situation she was dealing with. “Darling, your hair reaches down past your butt.” “Oh yeah, I guess it does.” Twilight said, turning her head awkwardly to look behind her. “So? You have long hair too.” “Yes but my hair is exceptionally voluminous.” I said, puffing up my hair and turning around so Twilight could see the back of my luxurious mane. “And it only reaches down barely past my neck. Twilight, you don’t have to let me do it if you don’t want to, I’m certainly not going to go chasing after you with a pair of garden shears or anything like that.” “That would be pretty funny.” Twilight giggled, which encouraged me to do the same. She looked into the distance for a second, and I briefly turned around to see if there was something behind me that she was looking at but there was not, and then she said “Ok. Go ahead.” “Chase you around with garden shears?” I said confusedly but then slapped my forehead when I realized what she was obviously talking about. “Are you sure?” “Yeah.” Twilight nodded, turning her back to me and sitting back down in the chair. “We can just do it here. I’ll sweep again afterward… and Rarity?” “Yes, Twilight?” I asked as I procured some scissors. “Don’t keep it long.” Twilight said. “Cut it all off. Not like, all all of it, but most of it… down to like… just past my ears, I guess?” “That is… very short.” I said, worried slightly that she would be horrified if she actually let me go through with that. “I know…” Twilight sighed, pulling lightly on her hair. “But… with this house, everything that I’m working through right now, seeing you again… it’s like I’m being reborn in a way. I haven’t cut my hair in more than two years, heck I’ve barely even brushed it in the longest time!” “That’s going to make cutting it slightly difficult.” I said drolly. “But it might make cutting it short a little easier, so I guess it cancels out.” “My point is,” Twilight continued “I want this haircut to be drastic. I don’t want to even recognize myself… at least, not as who I was.” “Then Twilight?” I said with a gleam in my eye. “Yeah?” She said, looking back at me. “You’re going to have to let me pick you out a new wardrobe!” I said gleefully. “I’d like that.” Twilight said with a smile. I went to work cutting Twilight’s hair, slicing out long strands and large clumps alike. It was a real rat’s nest in there, and it was both amazing and horrifying that she managed to survive with it like that for so long. As I was working, Twilight and I were of course making small talk but then Twilight asked me something that struck a chord with me and made me flinch. “So how are you and Applejack doing?” An innocuous enough question from her perspective but one that I had been wondering myself for the past few weeks… maybe even months? “Um, it’s great.” I said cheerfully. “Well that sounded convincing.” Twilight said mockingly and I’m sure she rolled her eyes. “What? It is great.” I said, doing my best to sound relaxed and carefree. Breezy, if you will. “I love Applejack and she loves me. What could be bad about that?” I may have laid it on a teensy bit thick, the nervous laughter that followed my statement not helping in the slightest. “Rarity.” Twilight said sternly. “I know you have a lot invested in appearances, but you can be honest with me.” I thought for a moment and sighed sadly as I realized Twilight was right. No matter how much I wanted to hide it and ignore it and pretend there was no problem, I wasn’t even fooling myself let alone anybody else. “Then to be honest, Twilight…” I said. “I don’t know. Things were going swimmingly for us for a long time but somewhere, somehow, we started to get distant with one another. I don’t even know when it started happening but I remember, only about a month ago, the first time I realized I had some big news and I just didn’t want to tell her about it.” “You tell each other everything?” Twilight asked. “More or less.” I put the scissors on the kitchen counter and walked over to the window to look outside. Twilight had a dining area in the kitchen with a window almost as big as the wall, and it was a beautiful sunny day outside. “We don’t need to nose around in every single second of each other’s personal lives but for the most part we don’t keep secrets from each other.” “For the most part?” Twilight asked. “Like I said, I didn’t want to tell her what happened…” I placed my hands inside my pants pockets, I don’t know why. “I don’t want to tell you either, no offense. I don’t want to tell anybody, I just want to keep this a secret and bring it with me to my grave.” “That’s dramatic.” Twilight said concernedly. “Hi, I’m Rarity. Have we met?” I said teasingly, giving Twilight a preening look, and giggling as she laughed in response. “Did somebody hurt you?” Twilight asked seriously. “No, no, nothing so dire.” I batted a dainty hand at Twilight. “If it had been something like that… something I thought Applejack or anybody else could understand, I would tell her in a heartbeat. But this is… never mind, it’s not important. I left it behind in Canterlot and it can stay there.” “Is whatever this thing is, is it why you left?” Twilight asked. “It is.” I said sadly, placing my head against the window. “When I told Applejack that we needed to leave, and that I couldn’t tell her why, I remember the look she gave me. She looked so… offended. So attacked. Like she believed I wasn’t allowed to have secrets of my own.” “So any idea why you two were getting distant with each other?” Twilight said, ever the little detective. “On second thought, distant isn’t the right term.” I shook my head and began pacing around the island in the center of the kitchen. “There’s no loss of communication or affection between us, far from it. Whenever I see her my heart still pitter-patters away and I feel that warmth inside my bones… I don’t know how else to describe it.” I laughed. Even now just describing my feelings for Applejack was giving me the warm fuzzies. “So what’s the problem?” Twilight asked. “I love Applejack.” I said sadly and placed a hand softly on the island but I couldn’t help clenching my hands into fists. “I love her unlike I’ve loved anyone else before her and I care about her and want to be with her… but I worry that being together will be stifling for me. Applejack is very… old-fashioned, and I am a bit more free with who I choose to share my affections with, as I’m sure you’re aware.” No one other than Applejack saw my affectionate side quite as much as Twilight did. “I am.” She said with a blushing chuckle. “Applejack is more rigid.” I began tapping my fingernails agitatedly against Twilight’s granite island, which was going to be absolutely horrid for my manicure, but I was so stressed recounting all of this that I didn’t even care! Imagine that. “She sees all these rules about being in relationships and I try to concede to her most of the time, I want her to be happy and comfortable, but I’m beginning to worry if I’m conceding too much. I keep waiting for her to change her mind but she’s Applejack, darn woman is as stubborn as a mule!” “She is that.” Twilight nodded. “So you guys are hitting a rough patch because you want to date other people?” “I don’t want to ‘date’ other people, necessarily.” I said. “Although I certainly wouldn’t mind it. But what I want is to be able to express my affections freely, without having to worry if Applejack might be concerned or put off, or give the evil eye to whoever I’m speaking with. But if I keep waiting and hoping that Applejack will change her mind I’m eventually going to become miserable. I don’t want to lose her but I can’t seem to get what I need being with her either… and I believe when I realized that, and realized that what I have with Applejack will not and cannot last… that’s when things began to slowly go downhill. Because I know that Applejack and I can’t stay together forever, at least not as we are now, and that is terrifying and deeply saddening to me, so I prefer to not think about it… but it still comes across in my actions with her…” “Do you want to duel?” Twilight said, apropos of nothing. “Excuse me?” I asked confusedly. “Do you want to play a game of Duel Monsters with me?” Twilight said. “It sounds like you’re dealing with some really heavy stuff, and so am I. Usually a game of Duel Monsters helps me clear my mind and figure out my stuff so I was thinking it might be the same for you.” “I suppose… it’s worth a try.” I said with a smile. “But first… what do you think of your new hair?” **** -TWILIGHT SPARKLE- “Wow.” That’s all I could think to say as I looked at the new me in the hand mirror Rarity lent me. My hair was now really short, down just past my ears just like I asked for. I’d never seen it this short in my life… and I kinda loved it. “How does it look?” Rarity asked nervously. “I… I really love it.” I said, Rarity breathing a sigh of relief. “I think I’m going to like the new me.” I said with a smile, playing around with the edges of my hair. “I think I already do.” Rarity said kindly, giving me a kiss on the head. “Now then, I believe you had been talking about a duel, darling?” “Yes! Just let me grab my Duel Disk…” I sprung up out of the chair and looked around my house for the thing. The place was practically spotless now and I got to be honest, that was a tad bit disorienting for me. “Actually, I was thinking we could just play the old-fashioned way this time.” Rarity pulled her deck out from the powder blue deck box hanging at her belt and placed it on the kitchen island. “No holograms, just a table and some cards.” “That’s… going to be a little bit weird, but I’m down for it!” I said enthusiastically. I was super hyped to fight Rarity for the first time in two years. We used to play together all the time, but then again so did all of us. But Rarity and I… I dunno, I just missed her. Rarity and I sat at the kitchen island, cards all neatly set up in front of us on the granite. No holograms, just cards. It really was strange to be playing this way after being used to the other way for so long, but it was cool. “I’ll go first.” Rarity said. “It’s not polite to keep a woman of refinement and class such as myself waiting after all, is it?” “Sure.” I rolled my eyes. “And after you’re done boring me to death with your tired speeches, I’ll take my turn and absolutely decimate you.” I said teasingly, giving Rarity a cocky smile. “Harhar.” Rarity said. “I’ll start by placing this Gem-Armadillo on the field.” Rarity put the card on the table in front of her and even without holograms I could still imagine the creature coming to life, an armored armadillo with rockets attached to his back and sparkly orange gemstones peeking out from his hardened shell. “When this monster is normal summoned, I can add a Gem-Knight monster from my deck to my hand. And I choose…” Rarity searched through her deck and delicately took one card from it, placing it in front of her. “This one! Gem-Knight Obsidian.” Obsidian was a towering man made of shiny black stone, a huge strand of black prayer beads wrapped around his body. “Wow, how edgy.” I said drolly. “Well Twilight, make jokes now because in a moment you will be too overwhelmed by my radiant and stunning power to even think straight!” Rarity said melodramatically, breaking out into a haughty evil laugh immediately after. “I activate Gem-Knight Fusion, which allows me to discard Obsidian along with my Gem-Knight Sapphire from my hand, to Fusion Summon one Gem-Knight Aquamarine from my Extra Deck, in defense mode.” Aquamarine was definitely a defensive Monster, with 2600 DEF and only 1400 ATK. But not only that, he was encased in full blue plate armor that covered him entirely. It was hard to tell where the armor stopped and the Monster started. Plus he had a big shield with a dazzling blue gemstone in the center. “Rarity, I think I know how Fusion Summoning works.” I teased. “I see. Well then do you know my Gem-Knight Obsidian’s special ability?” Rarity placed her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand, looking at me and batting her eyelashes while smiling adorably. I sighed and nodded sadly. When Obsidian went to the graveyard from the hand, Rarity was allowed to Special Summon a Normal Monster, aka a Monster that had no Effect, from her graveyard, such as her Gem-Knight Sapphire. Rarity placed Sapphire, a skinny blue lizard-looking man made of icy stone, next to Aquamarine in defense mode. “But wait, there’s more!” Rarity said dramatically “Now watch, and be amazed, as I banish Obsidian from the graveyard to return Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand! And by playing it again, and fusing my Sapphire and my Gem-Armadillo, I can summon my Gem-Knight Zirconia!” Zirconia was another stone man in full platemail but he was much thicker and beefier. Also both her Fusion Monsters had stylish capes and it made me wonder if I would look good in a cape. Food for thought. “I’ll banish Sapphire from the graveyard to return Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand once again, and that will be the end of my turn. See if you can top that, Twilight Sparkle.” Rarity said with a polite yet haughty smile. I looked forward to wiping it off her face! “I think I can.” I said with a grin. Looking at my hand, it wasn’t great. Prophecy Destroyer and High Priestess, but with two Spellbooks that I couldn’t use, specifically Eternity and Wisdom, not to mention Temperance, who was super bad since all of my high-Level Spellcasters were already in my hand. That said, the last card in my hand was the one that was really interesting. “I summon Aleister the Invoker!” I said proudly, placing my summoner on the field. “And when he’s Normal Summoned, I can add one Invocation to my hand. And now I’ll activate it! Hey Rarity, do you know how Fusion Summoning works?” “I’ve never heard of it, darling.” Rarity said drolly. “Why don’t you explain it to me?” “I will!” I said, sticking my tongue out. “By banishing my Aleister and your Gem-Armadillo in the graveyard, I can Fusion Summon Invoked Magellanica!” To be honest, Magellanica was one of my favorite cards, a giant mountain animated by magic? Super cool! Plus, you couldn’t go wrong with 3000 ATK! “I’ll have him attack your…” I looked at Rarity’s two monsters and pondered. Zirconia had no Effect but 2900 ATK, it wouldn’t take much additional power for him to run over Magellanica, not to mention that Aquamarine was in defense mode so Rarity wouldn’t take any damage if he died. That, and he had an ability that activated when he was killed, so it stood to reason that hitting Zirconia was the right call. “I’ll attack Zirconia.” I said confidently, tapping on Rarity’s card. Now normally, it’s considered super rude to just touch your opponent’s cards without asking, but Rarity was one of my best friends so it was fine in this instance. Rarity nodded and took Zirconia, dropping him off into the graveyard, her Life being reduced to 3900. Not seeing the whole ‘kaboom! Kablowie!’ thing when Monsters did battle was still something I needed to adjust to. “I’ll use Invocation’s ability to return itself to the deck and my banished Aleister to my hand, and then it’s your turn, Rarity.” “I see you didn’t go for my Aquamarine.” Rarity chuckled as she drew her card. “Which makes sense, but unfortunately for you his effect doesn’t specify how he needs to go to the graveyard to activate it.” Rarity began to smile devilishly. “You’re going to fuse it.” I said dreadfully. “Why of course, darling.” Rarity said, placing a card face-down. “What else would I do? But first, I’m going to activate my Pot of Desires. By banishing the top ten cards of my deck, face-down, I can draw two cards.” “That’s a little extreme.” I said in surprise. “Sometimes you just need a little shot in the arm.” Rarity shrugged. “I’ll place the two cards I drew face-down, and now I’ll flip up my Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse my Aquamarine with the Tourmaline in my hand, allowing me to play Gem-Knight Topaz!” Topaz, a thin stone man in golden armor with lightning-bolt-shaped blades held in either arm. “He’s weak.” I laughed. “With only 1800 ATK he’s no match for Magellanica… which should matter, but it doesn’t.” My smile evaporated as the realization dawned on me. “Not with the effect of my Aquamarine it doesn’t, no.” Rarity said with a bold smile. Aquamarine’s ability activated when it went to the graveyard, and it returned one card I controlled back to my hand, or in Magellanica’s case the Extra Deck. Either way, it left me with a completely empty field. “It’s also worth noting that while Topaz may have only 1800 ATK,” Rarity raised a pinky finger to her lips… “he can attack twice.” …and started laughing haughtily. “Aw, crud.” I grumbled. Topaz laid two attacks into me, reducing my Life to a measly 400. “I’m still gonna make a comeback, you know.” “I’m looking forward to it.” Rarity nodded approvingly. “And it begins now, for my turn is now over.” “Then I’ll start by summoning Aleister the Invoker.” I said, placing him on the field yet again. “And I’ll play Invocation, which lets me-” “Yes I know, you’re going to steal one of my monsters.” Rarity flipped over one of her face-down cards. “Unfortunately for you, I have this trap card. Fragment Fusion. It allows me to banish all three Gem-Knight monsters in my graveyard in order to Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond, who has a grand total of 3400 ATK. Plus, you can’t steal my monsters if they aren’t in the graveyard.” Lady Diamond… a really good card for Rarity right now. She was a dazzling and slender knight made out of diamond, with a daring red cape and a thin white blade. “Pretty smart, Rarity.” I said. “But I have my own Monster I can use.” I revealed the Earth-Attribute Temperance of Prophecy in my hand and sent it to the graveyard, banishing Aleister alongside it, to re-summon Invoked Magellanica, placing him proudly on the field! “Your monster’s tough, Twilight.” Rarity fanned herself with the one remaining card in her hand. “But mine’s tougher.” “Not for long.” I said. “But first, let’s deal with that pesky face-down card. I activate the effect of my High Priestess of Prophecy! By revealing three Spellbook cards in my hand, Eternity, Wisdom and Star Hall, I can summon it to the field! Now with High Priestess’ effect, I’ll banish Spellbook of Wisdom to destroy your face-down card!” I was very pleased to see Rarity’s face-down card was a Mirror Force, which would have destroyed both my monsters as soon as I tried to attack hers. “Now I’ll activate Spellbook Star Hall.” I explained. “Every time I use a Spellbook from now on, all my Spellcasters gain 100 ATK.” “But Magellanica is not a Spellcaster, correct?” Rarity asked. “He’s not.” I shook my head. “Then how are you going to overcome my monster’s ATK?” Rarity scoffed. “You would have to play no less than nine Spellbook cards to raise the ATK of your High Priestess from 2500 to 3400, and I know you don’t have that many, you just showed them to me.” “But you’re forgetting one other ability I haven’t used this turn.” I said confidently, Rarity arching an eyebrow. “Invocation! By returning it to the deck I can return Aleister to my hand, and his second ability allows me to discard him to buff one Fusion Monster that I control by 1000 ATK!” “Ah.” Rarity said with a pang of dismay in her voice. “That’s how you’re going to do it then.” “Yep, but that’s not all.” I said, placing my Spellbook of Eternity on the field. “With this card I can return my Spellbook of Wisdom to my hand, and then I’ll activate it as well, giving my High Priestess an extra 200 ATK thanks to Star Hall.” “I’m shaking in my boots, Twilight.” Rarity said flatly, a coy smile on her face. “You should be, because I’m about to leave you with an empty field and one card in your hand!” I said excitedly, pounding a soft fist on the table and really just hurting myself. “Magellanica attacks Lady Brilliant Diamond, and High Priestess will attack your Topaz!” Both of Rarity’s monsters were sent to the graveyard, sure enough leaving Rarity with an empty field and reducing her Life to 2400. “Your turn, I guess. I’d love to see you come back from this.” I said, acting a little bit pompous. “Oh, Twilight.” Rarity laughed softly. “You don’t understand that I already won.” “Say what?” I said flatly. “I’ve been holding on to my ace card this entire duel.” Rarity explained, revealing the last card in her hand to be Brilliant Fusion. “With this card I can send Gem-Knight Lapis and Gem-Knight Lazuli to the graveyard, and in exchange I can Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli!” Lapis-Lazuli was an angel-eyed woman made of white stone in blue flowing robes… also made of stone somehow. “And that does what exactly?” I’d never seen that card in Rarity’s deck before. She must’ve added some new tricks since we last played. “By sending Gem-Knight Garnet from the deck to the graveyard,” Rarity said “I can deal 500 damage to you for every Special Summoned monster on the field. There are three, that equals 1500, since your Life is only 400 Lapis Lazuli could be the only monster on the field and I would still win.” “Well then.” I said as Rarity put the card in the graveyard, activating the effect that reduced my Life to 0. “Good game, Rarity.” I picked up my cards, smiling like a doofus the whole time. Even though I lost, it was just really fun to play with Rarity again after so long. “Good game, Twilight Sparkle.” Rarity stood up and walked over to me, kissing me on the top of the head and making me blush. **** I was blushing pretty intensely as I looked at myself in the new outfit that Rarity picked out for me, still hiding in the dressing room at the store. A loose, midriff-baring lavender dress shirt, purple miniskirt and dark-purple-almost-black thigh-high socks. Very feminine, not what I was used to at all. “Are you sure about this?” I said nervously to Rarity who was sitting on the ledge behind me inside the dressing room. “Do you like the way that you look in it?” Rarity asked. “I don’t especially like the way that I look in general.” I said grimly. “Side effect of being transgender, I guess.” “You’ve spent a long time hiding from your femininity, Twilight Sparkle.” Rarity stood up and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m simply suggesting that you embrace it instead.” “And you don’t think, like… everyone will immediately know that I’m trans?” I said worriedly. “I don't think so.” Rarity said with a breathy sigh. “Take it from another trans lady, I know that looking beautiful can help you to feel beautiful, and that’s what I want for you. If anyone tries to start something with you, to tell you that you’re less than you are, I will protect you. I won’t let you be hurt for being true to yourself, darling.” “Thank you, Rarity.” I said as Rarity sat back down. I did a little spin and was slightly hypnotized by the swaying of my skirt. I really did look good, and I liked how it felt to be dressing so girly. “I really do want this… I want to feel like myself again.” “And that’s why I’m here.” Rarity said proudly. “To help guide you back to where you need to be, and to help shoulder the burden of life while you get there… in fact, if you’d like… I could stay with you full time.” Rarity gave a coy smile. “What do you mean?” I asked tentatively. “Applejack is going house hunting today with Pinkie and Fluttershy.” Rarity explained. “She’s hoping to find a place for herself and is thinking of asking one or both of those girls to be her housemates.” “But not you.” I said. “Correct.” Rarity nodded her head. “We both agreed that the ‘living together’ portion of a relationship was a step too fast for us right now. Sharing a bed every so often? That’s fine. Even spending a couple of nights in the same hotel room and such, totally fine. But living together is a whole new… thing.” “And since you’re having doubts…” I said. “I’m not the only one.” Rarity sighed. She shook her head and redressed her smile. “My point is, I’m in need of a living space also. Naturally, considering my funds, I have no shortage of options, but I would very much like to begin again where we left off two years ago and move back in with you.” “We’d be like sisters again.” I said, trying to hold back my excitement and also tears. “Yes.” Rarity nodded with a serene smile on her face. “Cute sisters who flirt with each other and occasionally have sexy pajama parties.” I added with a cheeky smile. “Of course.” Rarity laughed into her hand. “I would love for you to move back in with me, Rarity.” And with that the tears started flowing and I grabbed onto Rarity, holding her for dear life. She returned the affection. “You have a long road ahead of you, Twilight Sparkle.” Rarity said as I nuzzled my head against her shoulder. “We all do. And I would very much like to travel it together from here on out.” “Nothing would make me happier…” I said serenely. “Except…” “What’s that?” Rarity tilted her head. “Rainbow Dash.” I growled, standing back up and tapping my foot on the ground. There wasn’t enough room to pace inside this dressing room which was making me even more agitated than I already was! “You can’t let her go, can you?” Rarity said. “Everything in me is telling me I need to keep fighting for her.” I said irritably, half a mind to punch the mirror and shatter the glass all over my fist. “My gut just keeps shouting at me that I need to dig my heels in until she sees how bad Whiplash is for her, how bad her life is for her, and how she can escape from it! I… the six of us need to come back together again, I can feel it…” “So can I.” Rarity said, and to be honest nothing could have been more relieving than to hear her say that, to finally have someone agree with me about Rainbow. “I… I need to talk to her one last time.” I said pensively. “Is that the stupidest thing in the world?” I laughed nervously. “She’s already told me, more than once, that we need to stop seeing each other… and yet, here I am, ready to track her down at her house if that’s what it takes… am I just the dumbest person on earth?” “No, although this is a fairly terrible choice.” Rarity said. This time her words were not quite as comforting. “But it is the same choice I would make in your position. And if it helps, I can go with you to make sure you don’t do anything too stupid.” “I would like that.” I said. “And if it doesn’t work out this time, if Rainbow still refuses to listen to me, not that I could blame her at this point… then that’s it. That’s the end and it needs to be finished. This is the last time I will be going to try and convince Rainbow Dash to come back to us.” “Then what are we waiting for?” Rarity smiled. “Let’s go get Rainbow Dash.” I said, hesitant but strangely confident. This time would be different… I hoped.