Twilight awoke to the sensation of somepony drilling into her head with a jackhammer.
Groaning in pure misery, she lit her horn on pure instinct, triggering a series of spells she'd set to activate a complex mechanism of weights, pulleys, boilers, and gears in order to deliver a large mug of steaming liquid into her hooves. After a few spills, she managed to down enough of the coffee to clear her mind, allowing her to pierce through the haze of agony and giving her the presence of mind to open her eyes.
The first thing she noticed was the rose petals covering her, splotches of red that dotted her body like giant, beautiful welts. The second thing she noticed was that the sunlight streaming in from the windows was sending lances of fiery pain into her skull, and she quickly closed them again and laid her head back on her warm, soft pillow.
That last thought made her tense. Twilight tilted her head and peeked open her eyes to see a tangle of purple hair against a white coat. Memories of the previous night came crashing down on her like a bucket of cold water, instantly restoring a modicum of her lucidity.
The party. The alcohol. The drunken confession. The spontaneous, shared intimacy.
A yawn interrupted Twilight's reverie, and she quickly scrambled to her hooves despite her pounding headache as her former pillow lifted her head to glance around Twilight's bedroom in confusion.
"What in Celestia's name…?" that soft, elegant voice that Twilight so adored was cut off by a loud yawn. "Where am I?"
"My bedroom," Twilight replied shakily, waiting for Rarity to turn around and face her.
"Twilight?" Cloudy blue eyes met panicked purple ones. Rarity frowned. "It is far too early for me to be dealing with this. You wouldn't happen to have anything restorative in here, would you?"
"Here." Twilight floated over her mug of coffee, which Rarity gulped down with a distinct lack of grace.
"Thank you, darling." Rarity floated the mug back to Twilight before surveying the room, her normal poise returning. "Now, would you care to explain to me why we are covered in rose petals?"
"Err, I might have gone just a teensy bit overboard with the summoning spell." Twilight shot Rarity a nervous grin.
"I see." Rarity's eyes narrowed. "So it seems like we both had a little too much to drink last night." Her expression was unreadable, no matter how much Twilight to divine the mare's feelings.
"A little bit, yeah." A pause. "So, alcohol has the psychological effect of lowering inhibitions."
"I'm aware of that, dear. I highly doubt you would have declared your undying love to me in song otherwise."
Twilight felt her cheeks redden. "Right, yes. Still, it didn't make me do anything I wouldn't have wanted to do while sober." Heart pounding in her chest, Twilight steeled herself for rejection.
Rarity responded by raising an eyebrow. "Even the thing with the weather vane?"
"Especially the thing with the weather vane."
There was a short silence as Rarity continued to study Twilight. Finally, the white mare spoke. "Well, I can't say I didn't do anything last night that I didn't want to do either."
Hope fluttered in Twilight's chest. "So you mean…?" she trailed off, unable to complete her question and speak her desires out loud.
"Yes, Twilight, I have feelings for you as well, and I don't regret what happened last night, even if I wish we had both been sober for our first experience of sharing our bodies."
"Then… you want to try being a couple?" Time stood still as Twilight waited for a response.
"I… I would like that very much." For the first time this morning, Twilight saw Rarity's stoic mask falter, revealing the uncertain mare hidden beneath the cool facade. An instant later the vulnerability was replaced by an easy smirk. "But only if you clean up these rose petals first. While I find the idea of them incredibly romantic, they are quite, err, sticky to deal with in reality."
"Of course." A flash of magic later, and all signs of the red flowers were gone, leaving behind only the smell of strong coffee and shared intimacy.
"And if you could fetch some more of that wonderful coffee?"
"Anything you want, Rarity," with a smile, Twilight plodded over towards the kitchen, the future looking brighter than it ever had before.
Or maybe that was the hangover talking.