“How much longer are they going to keep us waiting?!”
Rainbow Dash’s complaint made Twilight sigh. “It’s only been twenty minutes,” she replied listlessly, glancing at the grandfather clock on the far wall of the now-familiar parlor. As hopeful as she’d felt when Trotsworth had agreed to let them back inside while C. Shells and her crew had gone to plead their case to Sonata, the waiting was starting to make her nerves fray, knowing that they’d be back to square one if this didn’t work. “I’m sure they just need a little more time.”
“I still think they should have taken whatshisname with them,” grumbled Spike, frowning as he glared at the corner of the parlor that was furthest from the door. Or rather, at where Rarity and Sandbar were seated on the small couch there, lost in what appeared to be a deep conversation, one which involved Sandbar doing most of the talking while Rarity listened. “If he really wanted to impress her, he’d fix the problem we’re having now instead of telling her a bunch of stories,” hmphed the little dragon, crossing his arms over his chest in displeasure. “They’re probably all made up anyway.”
Twilight stifled a giggle at that, glad to see that something had finally snapped Spike out of the funk he’d been in ever since he’d found out about Lex slaying a dragon a few weeks back. “I’m sure she’s just trying to make a good impression.”
“That’s right,” added Soft Mane, wearing a smirk that said she found Spike’s fit of jealousy amusing as well. “And besides, if you keep staring at them so much, you’ll make me feel lonely.”
But Spike wasn’t paying attention, waving away Soft Mane’s attempt to pull him closer to her. “Then go help Pinkie plan Lex’s get-well party,” he huffed dismissively. “I’m keeping my eye on that guy to make sure he doesn’t try anything funny with Rarity.”
The brushoff caused Soft Mane’s good mood to die instantly, but before she had a chance to utter a word, Pinkie was on her. “That’s a great idea!” squealed the earth mare, reaching into her mane and withdrawing a folder that was bulging from the amount of papers it held. “I haven’t met Lex before, so I’m having just a teensy bit of trouble filling out a party folder on him! So if you wouldn’t mind telling me if you know any of the following, that’d be really helpful! Question one: what’s Lex’s favorite kind of laugh? You can choose giggling, snorting, chuckling, chortling, snickering, tittering, guffawing…”
Twilight’s amusement at watching Soft Mane try to get a word in edgewise under Pinkie’s barrage of synonyms was cut off as Applejack moved to sit next her. “Twilight, you think maybe that Spike has a point?” she asked, keeping her voice low. “Not about that Sandbar fella, but, well…I know Rarity can be a bit of a flirt sometimes, but I ain’t never seen her act like that before.” Applejack nodded back toward the couple in the corner, causing Twilight to glance that way as well.
It wasn’t hard to see what she meant.
Rarity was curled up on a small loveseat in a way that put all of her curves on display. Partially reclining, she was leaning forward as though enraptured by every word coming out of Sandbar’s mouth, her eyes fluttering as she looked – no, as she gazed – at him. Even as Twilight watched, she threw her head back and laughed at something he said, holding one hoof in front of her mouth bashfully as she gave her mane a toss.
While Twilight didn’t consider herself an expert in courtship rituals – she’d only read a half-dozen books on the subject, which was barely enough to be considered a dabbler – it was obvious even to her that Rarity was sending out every signal she could that she was interested in the stallion across from her.
Shifting uncomfortably, Twilight shrugged. “Maybe he’s her type? I mean, Sandbar’s been here long enough that he’s clearly been on a few adventures, and we know Rarity likes-”
She caught herself before she finished, not wanting to follow that thought to its conclusion. But Applejack wasn’t about to let the matter drop. “Listen sugarcube, I know that a while back, Rarity asked you-”
“This really isn’t the time-”
“Rarity asked you if there was a way you could find some of that resurrection magic for Long Road.”
Twilight wilted in place at the name. Long Road had been a donkey whom she’d met during her first trip to Everglow. A holy warrior of stoic disposition, he’d been one of the first adventuring companions Twilight had made on that world, offering to accompany her into danger with no thought of a reward. While at first she’d chalked his joining her up to the selflessness that paladins – as pious knights of the benevolent gods were apparently called – were renowned for, it had taken Twilight some time to realize that there had been another reason Long Road had offered to watch over her: he had been interested in her.
Never comfortable with the prospect of dating, Twilight had done her best to avoid thinking about Long Road’s being attracted to her, instead focusing on exploring the new world that she’d been thrust into. To his credit, the donkey hadn’t pressed her to return his feelings, instead asking only to remain at her side until she figured out how she felt about him. It had been a relief, letting Twilight push the issue aside without another thought even when Long Road had accompanied her back to Equestria, choosing her over the world he’d spent his entire life helping to protect.
Then Twilight had died.
Losing her life while fighting a particularly vicious manifestation of the Elemental Bleeds in Manehattan had been a shock to everyone, and Long Road had been no exception. Fortunately, resurrection magic was a known quantity on Everglow, and her friends had hurried back to that world in order to restore her to life. But although they accomplished that goal in short order, things between Twilight and Long Road hadn’t been the same after that…because of Rarity.
Brought together by grief, Rarity and Long Road had found comfort with each other in the wake of Twilight’s passing, and their relationship had persisted even after she was resurrected. For Long Road, Twilight’s death had highlighted the futility of pining for someone who wasn’t interested in him, especially when there was someone else who was. For Rarity, Long Road’s selfless spirit was a perfect match for her own generous nature, and she’d found him to be every inch the prince she’d always dreamed of despite his having no titles or riches or connections. Everyone had been able to see how happy the two of them had made each other.
Everyone except Twilight, who had felt confused and betrayed by what had happened.
She’d eventually let those feelings go, of course, but it had taken time. Never having been in a relationship, she’d had no idea how to react to one of her closest friends starting a romance with the guy who’d pledged his love to her as soon as she’d been…out of the picture. Especially since it had driven home how she’d never figured out how she'd felt about Long Road in the first place.
That had been one of the main reasons why, when Lex Legis had insisted that she go on what had ultimately turned out to be a sterile and unexciting date with him, she had agreed, not wanting to make the same mistake that she had with the donkey paladin. Thankfully, Lex had apparently been just as unsatisfied with the experience as she had, since he’d turned his attention firmly to Sonata after that, leaving Twilight resolved to put romance completely out of her life for the foreseeable future.
But even so, it had still hurt when Long Road had passed away.
He’d died, Twilight had learned after the fact, the same way he’d lived: protecting people. When the newspaper had reported strange things happening in Hoofington, he’d recognized the danger, identifying the work of beasts brought over by a lingering Elemental Bleed. He’d left to close it alone, not wanting to risk anyone else dying the way Twilight had, and in that he’d been only partially successful. He’d defeated the monsters and collapsed the elemental gateway, all without any loss of life…save his own.
Rarity had been surprisingly composed about Long Road’s death, telling everyone that they’d already been on the verge of breaking up when it had happened. She’d hosted a tastefully-decorated wake, worn all-black fashions for a month, and cut her social schedule down to the bare minimum. It had been a textbook example of refined, elegant mourning.
It had also been a complete lie. In fact, Rarity had been shattered by losing her first real love, hiding her broken heart out of a misplaced sense that it wouldn’t be generous of her to burden everyone else with her anguish. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle had known her sister better than that, and had helped her open up about her real feelings. That had been when Twilight had finally, really talked to Rarity about her own unresolved feelings about Long Road, allowing the two of them to make up at last.
But that hadn’t precluded Rarity from asking Twilight if they could bring Long Road back the way they had her.
That had been a touchy subject. Unlike when Twilight had been killed, Long Road’s body had never been recovered (although eyewitnesses had sworn that he hadn’t survived), which meant that Princess Cadance’s magic hadn’t been able to help. Even for Everglow, bringing back someone who hadn’t left any physical remains required the strongest type of life-restoring magic: a “true resurrection” spell.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t a spell that just anyone could cast. Being divine magic of the highest order, only a cleric or oracle or other religious spellcaster of unparalleled ability could even hope to use it, and even in Viljatown – the capital of Everglow’s Pony Empire – such individuals were few and far between at best. And for those few who could cast that spell, they still needed the proper material component: a diamond of such size and perfection that finding one was practically a quest unto itself. Since the diamond was always consumed with the casting of the spell, that meant that “true resurrection” spells were exceptionally difficult to come by, and were typically reserved for high-ranking nobility or senior members of the spellcaster’s own clergy should they die without leaving a body behind.
And while Long Road had been a holy warrior of local renown in Viljatown, he hadn’t earned anywhere near that kind of consideration among his brethren, Twilight had been bitter to learn.
That was why it hurt so much to see Rarity flirting with Sandbar – a stallion who clearly played into the stereotype about sailors telling fish stories – now. Although Twilight had told Rarity why she couldn’t bring Long Road back a while ago, she knew that her friend had picked up on what that filly had said in this very room just recently, that Lex had “brought a bunch of ponies back to life with the Night Mare’s magic just this morning, even though they were lost in the city weeks ago!”
Twilight had been sure that the kid had been exaggerating, wanting to talk up a pony who was quite clearly a hero to her. After all, Twilight had seen Lex in action, and while he had some impressive arcane spellcasting, he wasn’t a divine spellcaster, even if he had apparently found religion in the Night Mare. So either Lex had somehow managed to pull off a lesser grade of resurrection somehow – which was dubious – or, more likely, that filly had simply been mistaken and Sandbar was stretching the truth (probably quite a bit). And yet Rarity was apparently still desperate enough to chase after even the possibility that Long Road could be brought back…
“I thought she was over it by now,” sighed Twilight at last. “I thought she was over losing him.”
Applejack shook her head sadly. “The thing about losin’ someone is that you never really get over it. You just kinda learn how to keep goin’ anyway. That don’t mean it ever stops hurtin’, or that you ever stop wishin’ you could see them again…”
Twilight’s ears folded down, knowing that Applejack wasn’t talking about Long Road. “I’m sorry.”
Visibly picking herself up, Applejack gave Twilight a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Don’t be feelin’ sorry for me, sugarcube. I-”
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
Soft Mane’s abrupt announcement was loud enough that everyone turned to look at her as she stood up, her jaw set in a way that made it very clear that she wasn’t happy as she glowered at Spike. “And when I come back, I hope that someone will be ready to act more like a grownup.”
“Hey!” sputtered Spike.
But he didn’t have a chance to finish before Fluttershy spoke up from where she’d been curled up on a chair near the back of the parlor. “Is it okay if I come with you? There isn’t one here and I really don’t want to have to go looking for one by myself…”
Fluttershy’s statement made everyone glance around, belatedly realizing that the parlor’s only door led back out into the hallway. “Really, how rude,” huffed Rarity, her attention off of Sandbar at last. “Putting us in a room with no facilities.”
“It’s fine,” snapped Soft Mane. “A place built for this many people must have bathrooms everywhere. C’mon Fluttershy.”
She didn’t wait for a response as she turned and stalked toward the door, Fluttershy hurrying after her. They were already crossing the threshold when Twilight realized the full implication of what was happening. “Wait, wandering around here alone isn’t a good idea!”
“We’re just going to the bathroom, Twilight,” called back Soft Mane, her voice exasperated in a way that only a teenage girl’s could be. “How dangerous could that be?”
“Did she actually just say that?” snorted Rainbow Dash as soon as the door closed.
Applejack grimaced, clearly not happy about what had just happened. “Think we should go after them?”
Twilight paused, then shook her head. “If we all leave now, it’ll look like we’re sneaking off. We’ll just have to trust that not every little thing will turn into a disaster.”
“Did you actually just say that?” scoffed Rainbow.
“I'm open to suggestions,” admitted Twilight with a groan, looking around the room before noticing that Pinkie was staring at a sheet of paper with an uncharacteristic look of concentration on her face. “Pinkie? Is everything okay?”
“Mm-hmm,” nodded the party pony, reaching up to scratch the side of her head idly. “I'm just trying to figure out what the best kind of party is for someone whose favorite laugh is ‘sardonic.’”