Rarity bit her thumbnail. She was frantic. Desperate to think of some way she could explain the situation in Bitsburgh to Queen Celestia.
She had played off her interaction with Tempest Shadow rather coolly, if she did say so herself, but the truth was she hadn't taken the time to think of what she could possibly say to Celestia. If she was being perfectly frank, she had been rather hoping that the topic never came up between them.
It wasn’t just Bitsburgh though, of course. It was… all of it. Everything with the dragons. Rarity hadn't given herself time to think about it because she knew panic would set in instantly, but now that she was absolutely certain that she had been fed nothing but lies about dragons, where did that leave Celestia? And on a more selfish note, where did that leave Rarity’s relationship with her cherished mentor?
It was too much for Rarity’s fragile mind to deal with now, so as always she pushed it aside to deal with it later, or never. But it kept nagging at her, kept clawing at the doors of her mind, keeping her thoroughly distracted.
So distracted in fact, that she didn’t even realize how distracted she was until she bumped into the side of a cliff; or at least that’s what Rarity thought it was at first for how rough and firm it was, but no it turned out to be a pony instead.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Rarity said in a daze. “I wasn’t watching where I was—”
And it was only then that Rarity looked up at the pony she bumped into, and locked eyes with Princess Luna.
“Rarity,” Luna said pleasantly, Rarity laughing awkwardly and brushing a curl of hair out of her face, “are we a tad lost in thought today?”
“A tad,” Rarity said.
As Rarity looked up at the mountainous alicorn before her, a sense of relief washed over her. Rarity’s relationship with Luna wasn’t nearly as deep as her relationship with Celestia, her and Luna being casual friend at best, but she still trusted Luna just as much as she did Celestia, and it was always a delight to see her.
Rarity just hoped that it would stay that way.
“Well it’s good to see you, Rarity,” Luna smiled softly and cocked her head a wee bit. “I’m sorry to tell you though that my sister is out of town. She has been for a while now, actually. Left me with quite a bit of her workload too.”
“That’s right, I hear you’re in charge of running the Gala this year,” Rarity said, feeling awash with sympathy for poor Luna, who was in no way qualified or capable to run the biggest social event in Equestria.
“I am indeed,” Luna grumbled. “I have good help, thankfully, but it’s still… well, I’d rather be out fighting monsters, let’s put it that way.”
“I feel that,” Rarity nodded, though it was an utter lie. She had spent much of her life chomping at the bit to fight monsters, as was her duty as a Slayer, and it was surreal to think that now she’d rather do anything else. “Be that as it may, if you have some time, I actually came to the city to talk to you. Not Celestia.”
“Oh!” Luna puffed up her chest and smiled. Rarity was sure that Luna didn’t mean to let Rarity see how chuffed she was that Rarity wanted to talk to her instead of her sister, so Rarity simply offered a polite smile. “In that case, shall we go someplace that’s a little bit more-” Luna looked around at the bustling streets of Canterlot, ponies coming and going for their afternoon routines and the commotion of the crowd impossible to ignore “-discreet?”
“That sounds marvelous, darling.”
The Mare in the Moon.
It was a small tavern a mere stone’s throw away from Hunter’s Haven. Dingy and cramped, and yet somehow had a fairly welcoming atmosphere. It wasn’t terribly popular, but the family who ran it were always pleasant, and it was Luna’s absolute favorite watering hole in Canterlot, perhaps in all of Equestria.
“So what is it you wanted to talk to me about, Rarity?” Luna asked, sitting on a wooden chair with her hooves resting on the table, popping open a beer can with a satisfied sigh as the foam spilled out of the can and all over her hand and stomach.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Rarity bit her lip and tapped her nail against her wine glass, “about Twilight Sparkle.”
Luna’s eyes flickered with recognition and they cut Rarity like a frigid knife, but only for a fraction of a second before Luna’s smile tried to hide the Princess’ instinctive reaction.
“Who?” Luna asked, and Rarity would be insulted if she believed that Luna actually expected her to buy that display of ignorance.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Rarity said shortly, absolutely zero patience to be playing games with Luna. “You met her at the Moon District station barely a month ago, don’t you recall?”
“Mm, yes okay,” Luna nodded and took a sip of her beer, putting it down onto the table and her hooves onto the ground so she could give her full attention to Rarity. “Vaguely.”
“Vaguely,” Rarity repeated.
“That’s right,” Luna said. “I do vaguely remember meeting her at the train station. I went to the library shortly afterward, and we had a pleasant conversation.”
“You did?” Rarity asked, ears perking up. This was news to her. “You went to the library? She never told me about that.”
Rarity only realized after she said it that why would Twilight have told her? If Luna had visited the library, the only time she could have done that without Rarity knowing would have been while Rarity was in Baltimare. And of course she and Twilight had barely spoken since.
“Is that right?” Luna hummed, swishing her beer can back and forth. “So why do you ask then? If all you had to go on was that I met her at a train station once, why ask me about her?”
Rarity’s face went pale. A cold sweat dripped down her brow.
This was it. Her moment of truth. She could either be honest now and risk damn near everything, or live with uncertainty forever, never knowing when the sword of Damocles was going to fall on top of her head.
She took a deep breath and a small sip of wine.
“Don’t play games with me, Princess,” Rarity said sharply. “You know why.”
“I don’t,” Luna grinned ear to ear, resting her chin on top of intertwined fingers. “Please enlighten me.”
“You can’t tell me that you didn’t see her,” Rarity said, her patience thinning, “that you didn’t touch her skin.”
“And what of it?” Luna asked. “Is there something so special about her that I should have recognized? Something that I could have simply seen with my eyes? Do you ask everybody who has had a cursory interaction with Twilight Sparkle for their thoughts on her? Or is there something special about me that makes you want to come all the way to Canterlot to ask my opinion?”
Luna took a sip of beer, and Rarity dug her nails into the aging oak of the table she sat at; she couldn’t help but wonder if Luna merely enjoyed watching her suffer.
Either way, Luna wasn’t giving an inch. Rarity would have to be the one to say it.
“You know why, Luna,” Rarity said, her breath heavy as her words struggled to make themselves heard past the beat of Rarity’s pounding heart. “I know that you know.”
“Know what?”
Rarity took a deep breath, and wondered if it was the last one she would ever take.
“That Twilight Sparkle is a dragon.”