"Twiliiiiight!" Rarity whined impatiently, watching as the other mare scrutinized the precious piece of paper with the aid of a magnifying glass. "Will you stop examining it and just read the letter? Please!?"
"I will in a moment Rarity," Twilight assured her friend, never taking her eye off the page. "I doubt it contains anything as straightforward as an admission from Spike," she mused, "Otherwise, we would be having a very different conversation right now, and I can gain a great deal of information from the letter itself, beyond the words upon it," Twilight explained, turning the paper over in her magic. "I want as many details as possible before I risk clouding my analysis with any sort of emotion."
Rarity accepted her friend's explanation with a huff of impatience, her eyes glancing towards the front door of the castle. She felt fortunate that Spike had been dragged along on one of the Crusader's escapades, as it allowed her to continue avoiding a direct confrontation. However, even as her gaze fell back upon Twilight, the unicorn couldn't help but think her friend was taking far too long to form an opinion.
Twilight, apparently oblivious to Rarity's growing unease, continued in her examination of the letter. Every detail could provide a clue, every oddity a piece of information and the young princess seemed determined to pry every secret from it. "Cloth based paper, tight threads, decent quality material," she muttered, catching Rarity's attention. "It's not the most expensive paper out there, mind you, but it is good quality paper," she clarified, "Clean edges, no staining, no watermark," Twilight continued, rattling off each detail as she came across it.
"...alright," Rarity said after a moment, her eyes narrowing. "So aside from the fact that it isn't personalized stationary, we can only tell what? That it likely didn't come from a noble or somepony watching their budget?" she asked, earning a nod from her friend.
"Correct," Twilight confirmed, as she continued her examination. "...however, it is the sort of paper that somepony who works for the nobility, such as as a scribe or aide might use. It's also the right sort of paper to use in books," she added, watching as Rarity rubbed her forehead with her hoof in exasperation.
"Well, that certainly narrows things down, doesn't it?" she asked sarcastically.
"I'm sorry Rarity, but the paper really could be from anywhere. Doubly so as we just have a post office box as a return address," Twilight confirmed sadly, before looking over the letter again and frowning. "Interesting."
"What is it darling?" Rarity asked nervously, her frustration forgotten as she moved in closer to see what her friend was focused on. Twilight, it seemed, was finally examining the writing, but rather than processing the content of the words, she appeared to be dissecting their physical construction.
"Hmm, I will say this much," the unicorn began evenly, careful not to jump to any conclusions. "This writing is similar to Spike's. However, there is one major difference," Twilight quickly clarified when she saw that Rarity was about to interject.
She held out the paper to Rarity and highlighted the script with her magnifying glass. "These words are cleanly written, no smudging, no scuffing on the paper," the alicorn said as she looked to see if her friend was following along. Seeing the raised eyebrow Rarity was giving her, Twilight let out a sigh.
"Spike writes by claw and he tends to drag his wrist as he writes, or at least, when seated at a desk he does. This always leaves faint scuff marks on the paper," she explained. "Additionally, when combined with other distinct features this script has, I have my doubts that he wrote it."
Rarity waited a moment, but it seemed her friend wasn't going to clarify without out a gentle nudge. "...and those other features are?" the unicorn inquired, barely able to contain the frustration in her voice.
Twilight's ears drooped and she looked away from her friend. "Rarity, please understand, I'm not a hoofwriting expert," she began apologetically, glancing back at the unicorn. "However, Spike's been my number one assistant since he learned how to write and, well... I know what his writing looks like."
Rarity shifted on her hooves uneasily. While she had a feeling where Twilight was going with this, she had to be certain, she had to know. "Go on dear," the unicorn said quietly. "Please explain."
"At a desk or not, Spike writes quickly, with his lines close and his letters thin in a manner similar to hornwriting," Twilight explained, causing her friend to nod in understanding.
"Perfect for lists and note taking, I assume?" Rarity offered, her lips forming a small smirk. "I think I can guess where he picked up those habits," she teased, earning a chuckle from the alicorn that seemed to ease the tension in the room.
"I won't deny I helped him learn," Twilight replied, gesturing with her hooves to try and explain. "For most ponies though, mouth writing doesn't lend itself well to that. A stylus held in the mouth tends to move almost in wide, fluid strokes... just like script in this letter does."
Rarity tried to imagine Spike having the patience to write something using his mouth, or at least to fake such a thing with his claws. However, the idea seemed increasingly absurd the more she thought of it. "I suppose that's it then," she said coolly, though Twilight shook her head.
"Lets not jump to conclusions yet Rarity," the alicorn said as she finally started glancing over the actual meaning of the letter. "I don't want to give you a false impression based on something that could be explained as easily as Spike finding somepony else to write for... oh, oh my."
Rarity watched the bookish pony's eyes widen as she read, and the fashionista smiled at the visible war going on between Twilight's inner scientist and the hopeless romantic Rarity was certain lay hidden inside her friend. From the blush that had taken to Twilight's cheeks, it appeared the scientist was losing.
After a few attempts at rereading the letter, Twilight levitated it back to her friend and sat down. "...I have reached my conclusion," she said flatly, glancing upwards apologetically towards Rarity. "Had I listened to you and just read the letter first, I could have saved a great deal of time."
Somehow, against all odds, Rarity managed to keep the 'I told you so' buried deep inside herself. After all, this was no time to put undue pressure on her friend. "It's alright darling," she said, trying to keep the strain from her voice. "However, if it's not too much trouble... Would you tell me what that conclusion is!?" The unicorn practically shouted the last words before shrinking back and offering an apologetic smile as her voice took on a much sweeter tone. "Pretty, please?"
Twilight looked away and a shameful blush crept into her features. "This letter is highly unlikely to have come from Spike. The verbiage is wrong, the tone is wrong..."
"How can you be so certain of that?" Rarity cut in, looking curiously at her friend's change in demeanor.
Twilight let out a sigh of defeat. "Spike will never forgive me for this if he finds out..." the princess said hesitantly, her magic flaring as the door to the map room slammed shut. "However, I've seen the sort of letters he's tried to write to you before."
Rarity raised an eyebrow at her friend, a knowing smirk on her face. "Snooping? Why Twilight, I would never have suspected you of all ponies."
"Well, it wasn't like I went looking," Twilight said sheepishly. "There were a number of crumpled up drafts near a wastebasket in his room and I just happened to look at them before throwing them out," she explained, rising to her hooves and regaining a measure of composure. "They were... well, really badly written and most of them were attempts at poetry."
"Most of them were rather juvenile declarations of what he saw as your best qualities, while a lot of others were fanciful boasting of how he intended to woo you," the mare went on, seating herself on her throne. "That tonal difference, combined with the other observations I made leads me to conclude that it is highly, highly unlikely that Spike wrote this letter."
Rarity nodded, taking in a deep breath as she digested this truth, though she clung on to a single spark of uncertainty. "...could you conceive of how it may have been him?" she asked her friend with a faint, if weary smile on her face.
Twilight shook her head. "He would need an accomplice... to both coach him as well as do the actual writing for him," she said, though the mare frowned as she saw her friend's expression. "Rarity," the alicorn said somewhat sternly. "This Fire Heart has reached out to you," she said, her expression softening. "In friendship if nothing else, he deserves a reply."
Rarity nodded as she reread the letter again. "Yes, but what reply should I give him?" she wondered to herself as she felt a mixture of fear, hope, warmth and guilt well up inside of her.
"Spike will be heartbroken if this goes further..." she said quietly as Twilight nodded in agreement, even as a look of determination crept into Rarity's eyes. "However, It would be beyond crass to leave this young stallion heartbroken as well," she said, trotting towards the door of the castle.
"Oh? What do you intend to do?" Twilight asked as he friend trotted out.
"Why darling, isn't it obvious?" Rarity asked with a turn and flourish of her tail. "I have a letter of my own to write~" she sang as she took her leave of her friend and headed for home, her uncertain feelings on the matter subsumed by a strange excitement.
It was an unusual sensation for the mare, a shifting set of feelings that lay somewhere between the drive and energy of one of her moments of inspiration, and the swooning flush of her romantic instincts. What kept it off balance, however, and what kept Rarity's pace at at brisk trot, rather than an unladylike gallop, was the unshakable uncertainty of it all.
Even as she drew near the boutique, the unicorn could not help but glance at the letter again, running through Twilight's observations of it and trying to reconcile her conclusions. The fashionista's own instincts continued to keep the seed of doubt and suspicion well lodged in her mind, but she had no choice but to seriously consider that Fire Heart was... exactly the charming young stallion she had met and not what she suspected him of being.
She didn't bother turning the sign of her shop back to 'OPEN' as she entered and headed straight for her room. Until she acted on the thought in her head, she wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. Scissors, thread, fabric and designs were swept away in a cerulean glow as stationary, an inkwell and the precious letter took their place.
Rarity's eyes fell upon the script and, for a moment the seed of doubt was silenced as a strange, halting laugh bubbled up from within her. Within a moment, the normally poised and practiced mare was giggling like a schoolfilly over a crush. It passed as quickly as it had come, but it left a warmth inside of her that had been missing for a long time.
Azure magic flared to life and a single feather began to dance across the ivory and sapphire stationary, though like a rehearsing ballet dancer, it was halting, forever starting and stopping as draft upon draft was consigned to the wastebasket.
Finally, after many attempts, Rarity took a deep breath and looked down at her writing with a pleased expression.
My dear Fire Heart,
Do not be so concerned by the long delay in writing. I can quite sympathize with your feelings. Woe be the heart when the mind cannot bring its feelings to life.
I confess, the delay may have been fortunate, as I have been so wrapped up in my work these last weeks that I have had little time to dwell on anything approaching personal.
Yet now, with distractions gone and a clearer mind than I might have had, I can easily give you my reply.
You are not delusional my dear, at least no more than I.
I too felt something special that night. Just what it may be, or may lead to, I cannot be certain and, like you, I fear to give voice to it.
As for my words, forgive me if I act against my element, but if I am to share then I need your words in exchange. It is only fair.
This letter bears my home address in Ponyville, write to me soon.
The unicorn paused as she reached the end of the letter, gently tapping the end of her quill against her chin.
"Hmm, now how to close it out?" She murmured before a smile graced her lips as her eyes fell upon a bottle on her desk. With more than a little pride, Rarity simply put her name to the document with with every elaborate flourish she could think of.
Returning the quill to it's holder, the mare's cerulean magic wrapped around the bottle that had caught her attention. As it floated above the letter, the bulb on the back of it compressed and a fine cloud of perfume spread across the page. It was an enchanting, enticing scent that Rarity hoped would keep the magic of that first meeting alive as they both pursued this uncertain ground. After all, it was the scent she had worn on that fateful night.