It was still somewhat early in the morning when Rarity stepped onto the rooftop plaza of the Neighagra Falls Inn; clouds hung over a clear white sky, and the winter chill bit at Rarity’s skin like a pack of nipping dogs.
It wasn’t comfortable, but she needed to be alone, and the roof seemed like an excellent place to do that.
But nothing could ever be that simple, could it? It couldn’t just be a matter of Rarity retreating to the rooftop to be alone, there had to be exactly one woman already standing on the roof, and it just had to be Twilight Sparkle.
Rarity’s first instinct was to turn around and march right back down the stairs; Twilight was staring out across the plains of Equestria and she hadn't noticed Rarity yet, so avoiding her now should have been very easy.
And yet, Rarity paused. She was struck for just a moment by how beautiful Twilight still was to her, Twilight’s gentle smile and her shimmering eyes that contained such a deep and ferocious curiosity still brought a flush of affection to Rarity’s heart, and she tried to bite down a smile, but she decided to just let herself be in her feelings.
She still loved Twilight, despite everything that had happened. She would have to be fooling herself to think otherwise.
And yet, all the warmth and affection in Rarity’s heart vanished once Twilight turned to her and the two locked eyes, and Rarity was once again met not by the woman who she had grown to love over these last few months, but the dragon who had been hiding underneath her nose and lying to her since they met.
“Rarity.”
Rarity’s name on Twilight’s lips felt colder to Rarity than the bitter winter winds, and yet Rarity found herself walking toward Twilight despite herself.
But she stopped dead in her tracks when Twilight took a step back.
“Twilight,” Rarity said calmly, “are you afraid of me?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight replied immediately. “But I know that I’m—I’m afraid of what would happen if we fought again. No matter how it ended, I don’t think anyone would come out okay from it. I dunno. Maybe that’s just me.”
“I promised you that I would travel with you to the Crystal Empire,” Rarity said. “You don’t have to worry about me breaking my promise.”
“Sure,” Twilight said, looking down at the ground.
Rarity took another step toward Twilight, and when Twilight didn’t recoil, Rarity took several more slow, measured steps toward her, until the two were standing face-to-face, mere inches apart from each other.
Rarity could feel the heat coming from Twilight’s body, and if they had still been in the innocent times inside the library, Rarity would have loved to put her hand on Twilight’s chest, maybe make some flirtatious remark and giggle at Twilight getting flustered by it.
Rarity looked up into Twilight’s eyes, and while Twilight’s face betrayed no emotion, the tears falling slowly down her cheeks told another story. Rarity didn’t even think before reaching up to wipe them away, and she let out a small gasp as Twilight leaned her head into Rarity’s hand and purred.
Rarity knew she should have torn her hand away. She should have recoiled at Twilight’s touch, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to. Feeling Twilight’s soft fur against her hand brought her right back to those days in the library that Rarity spent falling in love with her, and she never wanted to forget that feeling again.
Twilight opened her eyes and smiled at Rarity, a delicate, tender smile. She knew that Rarity didn’t intend for Twilight to lean into her hand, but she was determined to make the most of the situation regardless.
After all this time, even after their nearly fatal battle, Twilight still held affection for Rarity, just as Rarity did for Twilight.
And that was the realization that forced Rarity to snatch her hand back, holding it close to her chest and away from Twilight.
What would Celestia think, if she saw Rarity sharing longing, romantic stares with a dragon? Holding a dragon’s hand, wiping the tears from her eyes, placing her hand softly on a dragon’s chest and biting her lip as the sensual feeling of that shared intimacy ran through Rarity’s body like a jolt of electricity—
What would Celestia think about Rarity, if she knew how madly in love she was with a dragon?
So Rarity turned around, and marched right back down the stairs, leaving the roof— and Twilight Sparkle— behind.