//------------------------------// // 79. Because I Love You // Story: Azure Edge // by Leaf Blade //------------------------------// Rarity sat at the Golden Oaks reception desk, resting her chin on intertwined fingers as she watched Twilight reorganizing books in the library. It was banal and ordinary, but Rarity was enchanted. Just watching Twilight go about her day, doing something she cared about— even something as monotonous as picking up books and putting them on shelves— was enthralling to Rarity, because this was the pony she loved, in her natural element. Granted, it would have been much more enchanting had Twilight not stopped every five minutes or less to clutch her chest and wince in pain. “Twilight, are you alright?” Rarity asked for what must have been the seven thousandth time. “I’m fine,” Twilight said sheepishly. “It’s just magic exhaustion, it’s basically just like continuous heartburn.” “That still sounds very uncomfortable,” Rarity said, biting her thumbnail and wishing there was some way she could relieve Twilight’s stress or discomfort. “It is!” Twilight laughed, and while her crush being in pain was not a chipper topic to Rarity, she laughed too. “But I’ll be fine. Tonight, I’ll be, uh, resting. As it were.” “I presume it takes more than just rest to recover from magical exhaustion,” Rarity said, “otherwise you should have done that already.” “It is a little bit more complicated, yeah,” Twilight said, taking a deep breath and returning to her reorganization. Rarity was familiar with the concept of magic exhaustion, all the prospective Slayers who were trained in the academy learned about it, and of course Celestia gave vigorous lectures about its dangers and how to prevent it, and those lectures were nothing compared to the ones Luna gave. But Rarity’s magic wasn’t very powerful, and magic exhaustion generally only came after prolonged use of magic, like casting a continuous powerful spell, or casting a great many spells in a short period without resting. She wasn’t sure how or why Twilight was coming down with it now, but she didn’t concern herself with the why at the moment; what mattered to her now was making Twilight as comfortable as possible. “Do you ever take time to relax, darling?” Rarity asked idly. Twilight chuckled. “Do you?” “Point taken, I suppose,” Rarity sighed and glanced over her hands, fixating on her fingers for a moment. “Dearest? Would you mind taking a short break?” “Hmm? How come?” Twilight asked, looking curiously at Rarity from behind a bookcase. “I simply don’t want you to overexert yourself any more than you already have,” Rarity said. “I’m not—” “You’re using magic to reorganize those books, dear,” Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes, “don’t tell me that you’re not overexerting yourself.” Twilight grumbled, and Rarity giggled. Twilight could be so immature sometimes, yet it was always so adorable even when it should have been frustrating. “Come over here, darling,” Rarity patted the cushion on the chair beside her. “Just sit with me for one moment, okay? Then you can go back to your precious books, which we all know are far more important to you than silly lovestruck unicorns.” “Right,” Twilight said flatly, rolling her eyes, and Rarity found herself relieved that Twilight hadn’t picked up on the ‘lovestruck’ thing that slipped into Rarity’s sentence. Twilight pulled up a chair and sat beside Rarity behind the reception desk, letting out a bereaved sigh. Rarity wasn’t sure if it was because of the exhaustion or because she was being pulled away from her task. “I hope you aren’t too perturbed with me,” Rarity said, gently taking Twilight’s hand and running her thumb across her crush’s fingers. “No, it’s fine,” Twilight said closing her eyes and resting her head on the desk, leaving her hand in Rarity’s. “You’re right, I don’t relax as much as I should. I don’t take very good care of myself.” “How can you,” Rarity hummed, squeezing Twilight’s palm with one hand and playing idly with Twilight’s fingers with the other, “when you’re so busy taking care of everyone else?” “Like you don’t do the same thing,” Twilight huffed defensively, but it only made Rarity laugh. “That is sort of the point that I’m getting at,” Rarity said, taking Twilight’s fingers up to her lips and giving her a soft kiss on her knuckles. “Perhaps, we could take care of each other, and maybe even learn from one another how to take better care of ourselves.” “I wouldn’t—” Twilight raised her head, meeting Rarity’s eyes. “I wouldn’t mind that.” “Then perhaps,” Rarity bit her lip, then gave Twilight another soft kiss on her fingertips, “since I know how much you love labels and organization, we should make what we have… something more official?” “M-marefriends?” Twilight squeaked nervously, her cheeks turning bright red. “That was,” Rarity leaned her muzzle closer to Twilight’s, “what I was thinking.” Rarity’s lips gently grazed against Twilight’s before pulling back, Twilight biting on her lip and then leaning into Rarity’s, but not close enough to touch. Rarity gently placed her nose against Twilight’s, breathing in Twilight’s curious yet delightful scent, and moved in to kiss her. And she would have too, had the library door not suddenly been slammed open with the force of a damned battering ram! “Rarity!” Rainbow shouted, and Rarity was about to scream some choice words about privacy and interruption before looking at Rainbow and seeing the ghostly pallor on her face. “What’s wrong?” was all Rarity thought to say as Rainbow barged into the library, slamming her hands on the reception desk. “We’ve been summoned,” Rainbow said grimly, Rarity holding tightly to Twilight’s hands because while Rarity had a hunch where this was going, she knew poor Twilight was completely in the dark, “to Haven’s Hold. There’s a dragon in Equestria.” “Shit,” Rarity hissed, her hunch right on the money. She wasted no time and stood to her hooves immediately, Twilight’s hands grasping hers desperately. “Rarity,” Twilight uttered anxiously. “Darling,” Rarity brushed her hand across Twilight’s cheek, delighted to see that Twilight’s exhaustion didn’t get in the way of her habitually leaning her cheek into Rarity’s touch, “I have to go.” “I know,” Twilight said bleakly. “I wish you didn’t.” “So do I,” Rarity said, “but I must.” Rarity gave Twilight one last kiss on the hand before following Rainbow to the door, and Twilight followed behind them. “Rarity, wait!” Twilight said urgently, and Rarity stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Twilight. Twilight kissed Rarity lightly on the cheek. “For luck, just like always.” “Because I love you,” Rarity gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek. They stared at each other for a brief moment, and Twilight leaned in to kiss Rarity’s lips, only to be stopped by Rarity’s finger. “When I return. I’ll have something to look forward to that way.” “Okay by me,” Twilight said fondly. “I know you’ll come back safely.” “I promise I will,” Rarity said confidently. “I love you,” Twilight said. “I love you too,” Rarity kissed Twilight on the cheek once more for good measure, and she wished she had more time to properly appreciate the first time Twilight admitted that she loved her, but such was life. “And Rainbow,” Twilight said, and Rarity turned to see the pegasus, after almost forgetting that she was present, “I love you too, but in a different way, so you be sure to come back home safely too, alright?” “Please, Twilight,” Rainbow scoffed. “There’s no way I’d abandon you, Spike, or the library. I’ll be back for sure.” “Okay,” Twilight bowed, “then have a safe journey, you two.” Rarity smiled fondly, before turning her back on the pony and the place that she loved so much, certain in her heart that she would return with her head held high.