“No.”
“You can’t just say ‘no’, Rarity!”
Rarity pushed the door harder, trying to get it shut and go back to her busy night of ice cream and the kind of novels that she had to take home in a plain paper bag to avoid questions.
“Ow! You’re crushing my hoof!”
“I wouldn’t be crushing your hoof if you didn’t put it through the door!”
“Rarity, just open the door! This is an emergency!”
Rarity tried one last time to close it, but her visitor stubbornly refused to move. She groaned and relented, walking away from the door even more annoyed than she had been.
“I think it’s already bruising,” Twilight said, rubbing her hoof.
“It’s your own fault,” Rarity sighed, collapsing back on her lounge. She grabbed for the ice cream and groaned when she found it had melted while she’d fought with the door, levitating the container to the trash and dropping it in.
Twilight shut the door quietly. “I’m in a delicate situation.”
“Yes, you’re trapped in a boutique with a mare who keeps inexplicably doing insane things. No, I’m sorry, that’s the delicate situation I find myself in. I imagine your issue is actually to do with--” Rarity sighed dramatically. “Ali ibn Arabia.”
“Yeah,” Twilight admitted. “We, um. We had a date.”
“And it went so well you had to return here from Canterlot, again, to tell me how he swept you off your feet and offered to buy you from Celestia for three carts of prunes and an attractive young camel wrapped in silks.”
“You know, Rarity, I have a funny feeling you really don’t like him.”
“That is an astounding deduction. I applaud your skill at deciphering subtle social cues like when I told you directly that I didn’t like him. You could do so much better, darling! There are stallions and mares who are practically throwing themselves at you!”
“Now you’re being crazy, Rarity. I’d notice if ponies were interested in me!”
“Would you? I apologize.”
“If you really don’t want to help, I’ll go. I can ask Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash--”
“You’ll do what?! They couldn’t be romantic if their lives depended on it!”
“But at least they’ll try to help. I can bounce ideas off of them.” Twilight shrugged. “Sorry for wasting your time.”
She pulled at the door and Rarity’s aura slammed it shut.
“Don’t you dare!” Rarity got up. “If you’re going to go through with this farce you could at least avoid embarrassing yourself!”
Twilight smiled. “So you’ll help?”
“Congratulations, Darling, you’ve badgered me into helping you. But this is the last time! You understand? The last time!”
“Thank you.” Twilight bowed.
“Don’t-” Rarity sighed. “So what is it now? Since it’s too much to hope that you want my advice on how to break up with the stallion, perhaps it’s about what perfume to use? How to get along with his other wives?”
“It’s… wait, what was that about other wives?”
“His father already has a rather large harem, from what I understand.”
Twilight frowned. “A harem?”
“You must be familiar with the concept. There are all those rumors about Princess Celestia and why she keeps the Royal Guard around.”
“My brother was in the Royal Guard!”
“Oh good, you can ask him how it all works.”
“I’m not going to ask him about harems! It’s not true anyway! Princess Celestia would never do anything like that. She’s perfect and pure.”
“Of course, Darling. I’m certain you know best.”
“Good.”
“After all, you were her personal student.”
“Right.”
“And there’s no way your views of her are warped or distorted by your relationship.”
“Now you’re being sarcastic again!”
“I didn’t notice. But we’ve already gone over how inappropriate it is to talk about other mares when you’re with somepony.” Rarity sighed. “So do you need advice on a second date? Perhaps I can recommend a hat? I don’t think I’ll be able to manage a dress, but perhaps if you really want his attention it’s best to do without.”
“He asked me to accompany him to the Gala.”
“Ah. Yes.” Rarity frowned. “Rather short notice, isn’t it? I’ve been trying to get a few last-minute commissions done. I desperately need to raise my rush order fee. Even without your interruptions I’m suspecting I’ll only be able to finish one dress out of the lot.” She gestured to a half-finished dress of gold silk edged in lace and pearls hanging on a poniquin.
“...When I got here you were eating ice cream and reading something.”
“You can’t rush art, darling.”
“Rush order fee.”
“Very well, you can rush art, but it’s expensive and sometimes you don’t make the deadline because you’re having a bad day!” Rarity huffed. “Now I’m afraid I can’t help you with couture on this occasion. Even if I approved of the pairing there simply isn’t enough time for anything that would be appropriate for royalty.”
“I didn’t come here to ask for a dress, Rarity. I mean it would be nice but, um…” Twilight blushed. “I already have one.”
“You got a dress for the Gala and didn’t even think to offer the work to me?!” Rarity gasped.
“You just said you wouldn’t have time anyway!”
“That’s entirely beside the point! I would at least like to have been asked!”
“Ali already gave me a dress as part of his invitation.”
Rarity scoffed. “No doubt poorly made, entirely unfitted, and borrowed from one of his fathers many neglected wives.”
“Actually he had it made for me by his personal stylist.”
“What? The gall of that stallion!”
“I had a fitting this morning.”
“Well I’m certain he won’t do a very good job. You should call off the whole thing.”
“You want me to call it off because he gave me a thoughtful gift?”
“No, no. That would be silly. There are so many other better reasons!”
“Rarity, I just need your help with one thing, and it’s not a dress, and I’m not going to tell him no when I already said I’d go with him!”
“As I recall you already claimed to have things well in hoof. What could you possibly want from me?”
“I need you to teach me how to dance.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Dancing. The main event for couples at the Gala is the dance and if I can’t manage it, I’ll look like an idiot in front of everypony in Canterlot! It would be the biggest disaster since the Smooze!”
“Normally I’d think you were exaggerating but I have seen you dance.”
“So you’ll help?”
Rarity sighed. “I suppose there’s no other option.”
“Great!” Twilight smiled. “I need to know how to waltz, tango, and slow dance. If we spend a few hours on each, I can be ready in time for the Gala!”
“Or, instead, you can learn one dance well enough to avoid making a scene, hm?”
“But--”
“One dance, Twilight.”
Twilight sighed. “Fine.”
“You’ll thank me later.” Rarity stepped over to her gramophone and started flipping through her records. “Since I assume Pinkie won’t be coming, we’ll skip the Pony Pokey, hm?”
“So what will we do?” Twilight asked. “A tango?”
Rarity smiled, placing a record on the turntable. “It would be considered extremely improper in his culture. Perhaps I’ll teach you a few steps later, but I think something more formal is appropriate.”
She lowered the needle, and the room filled with a classic waltz.
“A waltz will almost certainly be played, and the steps are easy to learn,” Rarity said. “He will lead, so you only need to worry about following him.”
“So what do I--” Twilight shut up when Rarity took her hooves, pulling her up so they were leaning on each other.
“Dancing with a partner is a matter of trust. You only have two hooves on the ground, and so do they.” Rarity took a slow step, pulling Twilight to move with her. “If they fall, so do you.”
“That’s a lot of pressure.”
“It’s why dancing is romantic and intimate,” Rarity corrected. “You’re relying entirely on another, you read their body with your own, your weight and theirs shifting as one, trying to be more graceful than either of you could manage alone.”
Rarity gently walked back and forth with Twilight, keeping a firm grip on her and steadying them both when they stumbled.
Twilight smiled a little. “A-am I doing okay?”
“Just fine, Darling. Watch me, not my hooves. Feel through my shoulders how my hips are going to move.”
Twilight nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on Rarity’s.
“The basic step is called the box-step. Once you master that, the rest is just reading your partner and moving to the music.” Rarity smiled encouragement. “Right hoof back, then left hoof. Then bring your hooves together and repeat. Use the music to anticipate your partner’s motions.”
Twilight nodded. “This isn’t too bad.”
“You’re doing fine, darling. Of course that’s because I happen to be an expert. If you dance with somepony who knows what they’re doing, they’ll correct some of your mistakes.”
“You really are good at this,” Twilight admitted.
“Now we’ll start turning. Just make it part of the steps you’re already doing.” They worked their way around a circle a few times, Twilight growing more confident as they moved.
“I think I got it,” Twilight said.
“The trick is doing this with a different song, and a different partner. A much poorer one, by my estimate.”
Twilight frowned. “You really don’t like him.”
“Of course not! You want to marry him!”
“Why does that matter?!”
The record scratched as the music came to an end, and Twilight stumbled at the sudden noise. Rarity couldn’t catch her. They fell in a tangle of limbs, Rarity on top of Twilight, their lips almost touching.
“Rarity--”
Before Twilight could say whatever it was she was going to say, Rarity pushed through the last bit of distance between them.
It was a long few seconds before their lips parted.
“You…” Twilight whispered.
“Me,” Rarity agreed. “I told you there were much better ponies ready to throw themselves at you, but you weren’t listening.”
“I didn’t think you meant you were…”
“You’re not very observant, Twilight.” Rarity’s horn lit up, a spark appearing in the air and touching Twilight’s leg.
“That tingles!” Twilight gasped.
“It feels different when it’s somepony else’s magic, hm?” Rarity asked, the mote of light moving along Twilight’s thigh. “It’s a lot different from rubbing up against a lonely-looking dictionary.”
“I only did that once!”
“Did you stop because you were afraid of papercuts?” Rarity moved the mote closer, feeling Twilight’s breath catch as it swirled in small circles.
Twilight nodded quickly, ready to agree with anything. “Stop teasing me!”
“As you wish.”
Rarity stopped teasing her.
The boutique filled with the small sounds of love and whispered encouragement. Neither pony noticed time passing, too wrapped up both metaphorically and literally with hooves and wings. Their bodies pressed hard against each other, their flesh straining to turn two into one.
They moved faster and harder against each other until bursts and twists of pleasure turned into a long, drawn-out conclusion that hit Twilight so hard she almost crushed Rarity with the strength of her need.
Twilight just lay there for a moment in the afterglow, breathing. Rarity smelled like sweat and strawberries. She felt herself drifting, the excitement and release leaving her exhausted and ready to collapse into sleep in the unicorn’s arms.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Twilight mumbled.
“We did that. You were quite enthusiastic as well.”
“Where did you even learn how to do that?”
“You’re not the only one who can learn from a book. Though my study material was far more exciting than some dry textbook.”
“Did you…?”
“Finish? No. But this was about you. That said, I wouldn’t mind if you decided to stay and return the favor...”
“You know I’m in the middle of dating somepony.”
Rarity pouted and nuzzled Twilight, moving her chin so the alicorn could look her in the eyes. “Even worse, you’re in the middle of dating two ponies. You have to make a choice, Twilight.”
“This would have been a lot easier a few weeks ago.”
“A few weeks ago I wasn’t afraid I was going to lose you to a prince from a far-off land. Really, Darling, that’s the kind of thing I’m supposed to do, not you!”
“Well, if he has a harem maybe we could both--”
“Don’t even start with that.” Rarity huffed. “I’m not going to share you, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight was quiet for a few moments. She looked to the window, seeing the grey light before dawn, the horizon starting to glow. Then she wiped at her eyes, sniffling.
“What’s wrong?” Rarity asked.
“I have to go,” Twilight said. She didn’t move to get up.
“No, you don’t.” Rarity squeezed closer to her chest. “You can stay.”
“I could,” Twilight agreed. “That’s why I have to go now, while I still can.”
She pulled away, finally.
Rarity watched Twilight stumble toward the door, past the half-forgotten half-finished dress pushed into the corner.
Twilight hesitated with the door half open. She turned like she wanted to say something, then she fled into the early morning.
Rarity got up and closed the door, leaning against the cold wood.