I can’t be strong! I simply cannot take it anymore! There is no hope for my strength and dignity! Out of all the things that could happen, this is the wors— okay, you get the idea.
I swallowed my pride and trotted to the front of the Castle of Friendship. I eyed its familiar grandeur, its crystalline structure, almost foreign in that moment, expending all my effort keeping my mind off the Princess who lives inside. “I’m doing it. I’m really doing it,” I muttered to myself, eyeing the door with disdain.
Inhale for four seconds, hold it, release for four seconds… Even now remembering the story, I’m tensing up inside.
I rapped at the door with a wisp of my magic aura. I bit my lip at the silence, until I heard Spike shout out, “Just a minute!” I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realised I had been holding, faced with the opportunity of delaying the inevitable a minute longer.
Spike opened the door, declaring as it swung out, “Spike the Dragon at Your Service. How may I– Oh.” He cut off his words when he noticed it was my presence, rather than that of a stranger. Brightly, he asked, “What’s up, Rarity?”
I observed the crevices of the ground outside her castle. Were those magnolias? I made a mental note to ask Twi– well, you know who – about the flower collection at a nebulous future time. Blushing, I mumbled, “I need to – er, I would rather like to talk to Twilight, love.”
He raised his eyebrow at me. “‘Love?’ Don’t you usually go around calling ponies ‘darling’?”
I frowned, my eyes still blurred by a mixture of fantasy and anxiety looping inside my head. “I, well… You know what ponies say, variety is the spice of life?”
“Name one pony who has ever said that.” He laughed.
I tapped my hoof for a few seconds until lighting up. “Granny Smith!”
“Granny Smith?”
“But of course, darling!”
He chuckled to himself, more at me than anything. I suppose I was making a fool of myself. “Twilight’s in the library… as usual. Come right in.”
I entered. “Thank you, dear”
The Castle of Friendship was as beautiful as ever. But it was not the beautiful I sought.
I found her in the library, curled up with a book leaning against the stacks, a blissful grin plastered on her mouth. I don’t think she realised I entered, despite my making no attempt to mask my hoof steps. I coughed. “Twilight, darling, do you have a moment?”
Silence.
I repeated a bit louder. “Twilight?”
She shook, startled and perhaps a bit scared, until she looked up, saw me, and calmed. “Oh! Rarity! When’d you arrive?”
“A moment ago.”
She smiled, apparently in relief that my answer wasn’t “10 minutes” instead. “Come, sit.” She gestured me to a spot adjacent hers against the fiction, Ma-Me section."
I took my place, ensuring to respect the gap between the two of us, our bodies are touching indirectly via a Starswirl the Bearded legend written by “Maylight”.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
She looked over at me earnestly. “What did you want to talk about?”
I inhaled and said, “Well… you know how we talk a lot about friendship and romance?”
“Yeah?”
“Well… I’ve been wondering for your advice as the Princess of Friendship, dear.”
Twilight grinned. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Hmm, if one were to be interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with one’s close platonic friend – and if one were confident that one’s friend, ahem, swung their way – how would one make sure that their friendship would not be harmed if one’s friend were not interested in romance, with one?”
Twilight stared off pensively, finally saying, “Well, one” – she giggled – “would have to trust their friend enough to know that something so silly like unreciprocated romantic feelings wouldn’t break a friendship, and that one should talk to one’s friend about her – err, their – feelings.” A beat. “Would you happen to be one and would I happen to be one’s friend?” She smirked.
My eyes shot open. “No! …Maybe.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, prompting me to sigh. “Yes, darling.” I smiled. “I mean, would you be interested in such a relationship?”
She blushed. “I’m flattered, Rarity. But–” I bit my lip and cussed under my breath– “I… guess I’m not really ready for the dating scene.”
“Even with a close friend?”
She smiled sympathetically. “Even with a friend. Don’t take this the wrong way. I love you, Rarity – but platonically, that’s all.” She paused. “Are you disappointed?”
I hesitated, my eyebrows scrunched up tighter than when Twilight challenged me to a vector calculus exam. Finally, I relented. “No. No, I’m not. I’m just glad I didn’t mess everything up, like that time with Rai–”
“Don’t even mention it,” Twilight laughed.
“Oops,” and I joined in the giggle fit. “I love you, Twilight.”
“I love you too, Rarity.”