Ponyville was dark at night. It sounded dumb and self-evident, but compared to Canterlot, the little town was nearly invisible after dusk.
Twilight stood on a ridge between the Whitetail Woods and the Canterlot River and gazed over her home. Spots of lantern light flickered in the darkness, streets apart. Isolated sparks in the blanket of night. Every once in a while a horn burst to life on the paths between homes, a solitary unicorn on her way home.
“I never think about how truly massive Sweet Apple Acres is when I'm in town,” Rarity said, in a hush. Neither of them could ever bring themselves to raise their voices out there, alone in the country after dark. It was a time and place for quiet.
Twilight raised her eyes from the spots of firelight to the expansive blackness beyond, where the indistinct pinpricks of treetops broke the drab horizon. “Do you ever think it's lonely, being so far from town? They're almost in the Everfree Forest,” said Twilight.
“They have each other, don't they? I suspect their home is warmer and more comfortable than many Canterlot dwellings.”
Just the word 'warm' seemed to raise the temperature. Twilight shifted closer to her friend's side. They were inches apart, and the world seemed very comfortable, regardless of the dirt beneath their hooves or the sky over their heads.
A little house—massive, by some standards—but full of family. Full of life. Twilight let out a breath. “I wish more ponies would live in the castle. Your decorations helped so much, but it still feels dead when Spike or Starlight aren't around.”
“You're a princess, dear. You could arrange for guards, or a personal staff. Oh, if you had only grown wings a few years earlier, I would have left everything behind to be your personal hoofmaid.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and grinned. “But you wouldn't now?”
“Of course not. I have a successful and fulfilling business to run, and we're set to open up in Cloudsdale any month now. I barely have time for these little get-togethers.” She shifted sideways, and the hairs on their shoulders and hips brushed ever so slightly.
A flash of pink light rose into the air across town. It was set apart from the buildings by a good distance.
“Trixie,” said Twilight.
“Why does she always practice at night? Her magic is even more visible than it is during the day.”
“She used to practice in the day, but ever since Starlight started helping out with her act, she stopped.”
“How sweet.”
“Sweet?”
A flash of white teeth as she grinned. “Oh, poor Twilight. You'll figure it out in time.”
A short gust of wind rose and whispered through their coats. Twilight breathed in deep. “I don't know if I will.”
They started walking again, headed downhill, the path of least resistance. Their walks were always so thoughtful, so ponderous. They were the highlight of Twilight's week, and a source of constant anxiety.
Her hoof clipped the ground and sent a pebble clattering across the path, and the tension was shattered for a moment.
“Why are our get-togethers always so intimate?” Twilight asked, the words coming easier than she could ever have dreamed.
“Intimate? How do you mean?” Rarity's sapphire eyes were lidded. No, they were uneven. One eyebrow raised.
Twilight shook her head and worked her jaw. Words and phrases crashed like waves on the shores of her mind, and not a single complete sentence formed. Her moment of inspiration had passed. “You and me, but none of the others. Always so… nice?”
“If you're asking why I never take you to dive bars or Maud's stand up sets, the answer is that 'nice' is simply my style.”
“But you and Fluttershy go to the spa.”
“Indeed. She's a mare of simple wants but fine needs. If I didn't treat her, she would never go herself.”
“We never go to the spa,” Twilight shot back, as if she'd proven something.
Rarity raised a hoof to her cheek and pondered. “True. Would you like to go to the spa together? I usually go alone on Sunday mornings, but you are welcome to join me.”
“Um, actually no. Massages don't do much for me.”
She smiled. “I know. But you like watching the sunset from just outside Ponyville. All the tension drips off you and your feathers positively shudder.”
Twilight ruffled her wings self-consciously. Feathers couldn't shudder. Could they? She mentally flipped through her vast knowledge of pony biology and frowned. That was something she should know.
“Really, I suspect you were more relaxed a minute ago than I am after a full-body massage, steambath, and hooficure.” Rarity frowned. “But you're all tense again. I can feel it.”
“Sorry.”
She sighed sadly. “Oh, please don't apologize. One should never blame oneself for feeling badly.”
Twilight didn't feel bad. Tense, true, but it was the kind of tension that she used to feel after a test, when she'd handed in the paper and was waiting for the results. Mostly dread, but tinged with a glimmer of excitement.
“Even if it's my, er, one's fault?” Twilight asked.
“When has being blamed for something made you feel any better?”
They trotted past the schoolhouse. The wind rose again, and the seesaw tapped gently against the earth. Houses dotted the sides of the road ahead.
“Would you like to stop at the Boutique? I opened a lovely red last night, and I suspect it has only improved since then.”
Twilight licked her lips. She never drank wine with anypony but Rarity. Twilight usually preferred a short glass of cider, or a sweet, sharp cocktail. But she had always enjoyed whatever Rarity picked out for them.
“I find that a glass or two can sweeten an already pleasant night,” she added.
Twilight smiled. “Okay, you convinced me.”
Rarity led the way, naturally. It was her home after all.
Twilight waited on the porch, and Rarity disappeared inside. Looking up at the building, Twilight wondered if it was lonely at night too, just like her castle. It was both taller and emptier than most residences in Ponyville. Most of it wasn't even livable space, just a showroom floor filled with impeccably suited ponyquins and racks of out-of-season attire.
She returned in moments, levitating two glasses and a bottle. Wine sloshed inside, around two-thirds full.
Twilight smirked at the bottle. “Cutting back?”
A glare in response. “A lady never overindulges. I merely had an early night and only had time for a single glass.” She set both glasses down and began to fill one up, all the way to the widest part of the bowl. She levitated it up to her face and swirled it languidly. “Just for that, perhaps I shall enjoy this all myself.”
Twilight waited patiently.
Rarity made a show of tilting the glass back and sipping a tiny mouthful, swishing it around her mouth and tilting her head from side to side.
“Does it taste like wine?”
She rolled her eyes, set the glass down, and poured the other one. “See for yourself, Your Majesty."
Twilight accepted the drink and sipped. It was flavourful, not too dry, and seemed to expand across every taste bud in her mouth. She swallowed and felt the subtle warmth spread through her chest. “Yup, wine.”
“Ugh. I suppose I will settle for that.”
“Does it really bother you? That I don't… you know.”
She swallowed and licked her lips. “That you aren't a sommelier? No, not really. At least you don't turn up your nose at it.”
“Do any of the others know more about it? I know Rainbow Dash likes—”
“Rainbow Dash wouldn't know a sixty bit Chateauhoof du Pinto from a four bit, bottom shelf bottle of 'Wine Drink.'” She sighed. “Applejack refuses to touch anything but cider and whiskey, Pinkie Pie is apparently immune to alcohol and refers to wine as 'stinky juice', and Fluttershy doesn't drink, of course.”
“So you've been out to dinner with them all before?”
She gave Twilight a curious look. “Of course. We all went to Grass Bowl last month, and Stonecrops before that. Oh, and the Gala. Mustn't forget the Gala.”
“But alone? Like when you and I went to that Prench place last week?”
Rarity finished her glass and poured another. She offered the bottle to Twilight.
Twilight shook her head. She was still working on her first.
“No, I suppose not. None of them are really restaurant-goers,” she replied.
“Not even Fluttershy?”
“The poor thing feels trapped by those kind of formalities. It took a while before she would accept much more than a mane wash and a steambath at the spa. I'm very glad she's gotten more comfortable there, since that is rather the point.”
That checked out. And Twiilght couldn't reasonably picture any of the others enjoying an expensive meal at a small table, alone with Rarity, lit by candles and surrounded by the faint din of hushed voices and distant music. It was more of a metropolitan night out, she supposed.
She finished her glass and stared down at the purple stain at the bottom.
The wine bottle levitated in front of her, wrapped in ethereal blue.
“Thanks,” Twilight said, and offered her glass.
Rarity set the bottle down and sighed. “I hear what you're trying to say,” she said.
Twilight froze, the rim of the wine glass caught between her lips.
“I really should make more of an effort to socialize with Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie. We don't have quite as much in common, but that's no reason to drift apart.”
Twilight nearly laughed. She bit it back at the last minute and covered it with a deep quaff of wine. She swallowed hard and took a few short breaths.
“Are you all right?”
“Fine, fine. Just… surprised,” Twilight said. They were talking about friendship—hadn't they already been talking about friendship—and she was in her element. “I used to worry that I was sort of a keystone for the six of us, but we've been through so much together.”
“We have, and I don't think you are. But not all friendships are alike.”
“Because you have less in common.”
“Something like that.”
Twilight finished her glass again and sighed. Her head rocked back against the chair's backrest, and she stared up at the sky. The last embers of the setting sun had given way to a blanket of stars. Only the brightest were visible this early, but out here, away from the city, it was still a dazzling display.
“Maybe all four of you should do something, and Fluttershy and I can go to the spa,” Twilight said.
Rarity frowned. “And what would we do? Go to some kind of carnival?” Her nose wrinkled in distaste.
“Maybe. How about a Reneighsance Fair? Rainbow would enjoy the athleticism, Applejack would enjoy the history, Pinkie Pie would enjoy… well, it's kind of a party.”
“And there are always fascinating attempts at period fashion on display,” Rarity said ponderously. “Perhaps.”
Twilight took a breath and stood. The ground tilted a little under her hooves, but a few blinks and another breath steadied her. “I should head home. Early morning tomorrow, as always.”
“Of course. The kingdom waits for nopony.” She magically retrieved Twilight's glass and stood up as well. “Shall I catch you for coffee tomorrow?”
“As always.” Twilight turned and started away from the building, where the road into town and back to her big empty castle waited.
Twilight paused. Turned. “Hey, Rarity? Do you ever get morning coffee with any of the others?”
Rarity was halfway inside her boutique. She looked over her shoulder. “Not often. Applejack is the only other one who likes coffee, and she is rarely in town that early.”
Twilight nodded, eyes on the ground. “Right, right. Thanks, Rarity. This was a really nice evening.” She trotted off into town.
Rarity leaned against the door frame. She glanced down at the wine bottle grasped in her magic, then lifted it to her mouth and took a deep swig. The night glowed with warmth.
“It was, wasn't it?”