//------------------------------// // 251. The Pristine Army // Story: Azure Edge // by Leaf Blade //------------------------------// Day three of Rarity’s stay in the Crystal Empire and she was awoken by a knock at her hotel door. She stirred vaguely awake with an exhausted moan, and then she heard the knock again. “Who is it,” Rarity barely croaked out, wrapping her arms around the still soundly snoozing Twilight Sparkle. “It’s Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow said from behind the door, and something in her tone sounded off but sleepy as she was, Rarity couldn’t place what. “I got a letter for you. From Celestia.” Oh. Well. Rarity supposed that couldn’t really wait, now could it? There was a pit in Rarity’s stomach— no, calling it a ‘pit’ was too stingy; it was more like a chasm that swallowed even light that passed over it— as she got out of bed and opened the door. She greeted Rainbow Dash with a ghoulish look of messy hair and caked on makeup from the previous night that hadn't quite washed off, and Rainbow responded with that smile she gives when she’s trying to be polite about how hideous Rarity’s appearance was. “Gimme,” Rarity held out her hand and Rainbow put the letter in it, and Rarity’s eyes widened as she looked it over, the shock knocking the sleepiness straight out of her. It wasn’t addressed simply to Rarity, but to Rainbow Dash as well. Rarity had a bad feeling about this, but she considered that perhaps she was simply overthinking things. “Rarity?” Twilight said woozily, sitting up and looked at Rarity with half-open eyes; and even half-awake and with a horrendous case of bedhead, she still managed to be utterly enchanting. “Somethin’ wrong?” Rarity weighed her options for a second; she didn’t want Twilight to lose out on her much needed beauty sleep on Rarity’s account, but she knew if she tried to tell Twilight it was nothing, Twilight might only worry more and try to pry, which would simply give both women unneeded stress. She didn’t have anything to hide from Twilight anyway. “Celestia sent me and Rainbow Dash a letter,” Rarity said, lifting the note for Twilight to see. “I haven’t read it yet.” “Do you want to read it together?” Twilight asked, and that brought a smile to Rarity’s lips. She looked over at Rainbow, who nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, darling. I’d like that very much.” The three women read the letter together, sitting on the bed with Twilight’s hands holding both of theirs. As for the actual contents of the letter, it was… something. Troubling, worrisome, but not as bad as Rarity had feared. It was simply an invitation, for both Rarity and Rainbow Dash, to join Celestia as she worked together with a close advisor to create something that would defend Equestria much more thoroughly than the Slayers were doing, inspired by the recent attacks on Baltmare, on Bitsburgh, and even on Canterlot. An evolution of the Slayers. The Pristine Army. The details of what this army was were not enclosed, as those would be delivered by Celestia in person. The Queen stressed that the invitation was just that, an invitation, and not a command, and that there would be no bad blood between the Queen and Rarity if she refused. The same applied to Rainbow Dash, though a tad more ominously, as the Queen stressed that she wanted to show Rainbow the error of her ways with regards to her defense of dragons. Rarity presumed Celestia thought she was being generous, offering Rainbow a second chance, though Rarity personally felt anything but thankful. “So,” Rarity said, “what do we want to do?” “Well that’s sort of the question isn’t it?” Twilight replied, putting her arms around Rarity’s waist and kissing her neck. She was an absolute charmer, and Rarity appreciated that about her a lot. “What do you want to do?” “I want to accept her invitation,” Rarity said firmly. She already knew in her heart that’s what she would say as soon as she understood the contents of the letter. “Yeah, same,” Rainbow nodded. “If nothing else, I wanna know what she’s planning, so we can prepare for it if we have to.” “That’s smart,” Twilight said. “Yes, I am,” Rainbow nodded confidently, making Rarity and Twilight both laugh. “Yes, you are,” Twilight put her hands on Rainbow’s stomach and rested her chin on Rainbow’s shoulder, “and cute too.” Twilight bit Rainbow’s ear and Rarity could see the shudder going through the pegasus’ body. It was too cute. “S-so anyway,” Rainbow cleared her throat and tried to back away from Twilight, but Twilight refused to budge and Rainbow’s movements just made it easier for Twilight to push her down onto the bed and kiss her on the lips. “Need some help, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity smiled. She couldn’t just stand by and let these two ladies have all the fun. “Okay, but seriously though!” Rainbow sat up like a jolt, her cheeks burning red and her voice cracking. Poor little flustered mare, she was just… too… cute. “We should focus, right?” “Ah, I suppose we should,” Rarity sighed. There was a time and a place for smooching one’s girlfriends— or whatever Rarity and Rainbow were at this point; truth be told, the lines between platonic and romantic love were blurring to the point of nonexistence in Rarity’s mind. All she knew was that she was constantly surrounded by beautiful women who she loved desperately, and she was GAY for all of them. Regardless of the terminology, the point was there was a time and place for it, and Rarity supposed it would have to wait. “The letter says we have some time to think this over,” Rarity said, “but I’d prefer to head out sooner rather than later.” “Same,” Rainbow nodded. “We can probably catch a train this afternoon, yeah?” “Yes,” Rarity sighed. “Yes we can, and probably should.” Rarity turned to see Twilight, still lying on her back looking pleased with herself, and her heart was overcome by affection. Seeing her beautiful face never got old. “But Twilight, are you going to be alright?” “I am,” Twilight hummed and sat up, kissing Rarity’s lips and stars what a sensation it was, Rarity’s lips still quivering even after Twilight had separated from them. “Thank you, Rarity. But I don’t want you to worry about me. “I’ve got Applejack still, and Pinkie and Fluttershy too. Plus Spike, and to a much lesser degree Trixie. I’ve got wonderful friends supporting me, so you don’t need to worry about me. Just focus on yourself, and on Celestia for right now.” “Okay,” Rarity crushed the letter very dramatically in her fist as she stood up, and then straightened it out again in her magic because she felt bad ruining such fine calligraphy. “Rainbow Dash? Are you ready?” “Born ready!” Rainbow stood up and pumped her fists. “Good! Then we’ll depart immediately! There’s just one more thing I need to do!” “What’s that?” Rainbow asked, as Rarity headed over to the nightstand. “Obviously,” Rarity scoffed at Rainbow’s ignorance, “I need to pick out the perfect outfit!”