//------------------------------// // Whole Life // Story: i know The End // by The Red Parade //------------------------------// Rarity knew that it was raining. She sat in the cramped cafe booth, a cup of tea pressed in between her hooves as she stared outside at the flooded streets. The lights flickered in the unforgiving atmosphere outside, dancing in tiny glows beyond the tempered glass. Raindrops dotted the panes as the wind shifted their direction, like a conductor guiding a symphony. With every second that passed the torrent grew louder and worse, accentuated with flashes of lightning and the rolling crack of thunder. Rarity knew that it bothered her.  She gazed down into her cup of tea, watching as the steam danced upwards in a spiraling and hypnotic column. If she squinted she could pretend the steam was something else, and that it wasn’t raining and that she wasn’t somewhere in Germaney.  The steam could be from a Prance train, and the thunder could be the engines roaring as it prepared to thunder out of the station, burying the voices of Rarity’s friends as they discussed the Wonderbolts show they had just watched. Or the steam was smoke from the ruined Golden Oak Library, hanging heavy in the silence as the building sang a quiet song of destruction. Or it was an early morning fog rolling into Ponyville, as Rarity and a faceless friend stumbled home from a night of drinking. Rarity knew that none of these were true because it was raining, and it bothered her. “What’s wrong, Rarity?” Rarity’s ear twitched as she looked up, through the curtain of steam. Twilight sat on the other side of her, levitating a cup of her own. The young unicorn’s eyes were glowing, much like the gentle streetlight outside, surrounded by a crashing ocean of rain that threatened to collapse and swallow it whole. “Nothing, darling,” Rarity said. Rarity knew that her words were empty and hollow, even if she didn’t want to believe it. She squeezed her eyes shut and imagined for a second that she was home.  With little difficulty, she pictured her bedroom. She imagined her four-poster bed with its lush sheets and soft pillows, its familiar comforters and warm fuzzy blankets. All around it, the rest of her things flickered: her ideas board, her purple heavyset curtains, the framed photos on the wall… all of it danced around the bed in a swirling, circular dance. And she could almost hear the song as well. “Do you ever think of having a quiet life, Twilight?” Rarity asked. Twilight looked up, tilting her head to the side. “Hm?” “Perhaps I’m a romantic, darling, but do you ever think of those quiet moments? Back home, maybe, when we were together. When we were happy.”  “Sometimes, I suppose,” Twilight answered. “But we’ll be heading back soon. Gosh, I can’t even think of the first thing I’ll do when we get back…” Rarity pictured herself walking back into her foyer. She imagined herself entering her living room and collapsing on the couch. Rarity lay there for a few seconds, or maybe a few hours, before she got up again, wrought with the desire to do something. But a glance outside told her it was raining. A glance outside told her that it bothered her. So she lay back down, defeated. Rarity knew she was not at home. But that didn’t stop her from making a list of everything she’d do as soon as she got there. “I guess that didn’t answer your question,” Twilight said again, her voice like a beam of light through a sea of ice. Rarity looked up to bask in the glow of her eyes again, pressing her hooves tighter against her tea cup. “Please do.” Twilight tapped her chin in thought, letting out a low hum that reminded Rarity of the rumble of thunder outside. “Hm. I guess I do think that things have been moving a little bit fast, but I guess that’s just how our lives are nowadays.” “I know, I know, I know,” Rarity mumbled. “You have your business as princess just as much as I have my stores. But I do wish I could spend more time with the girls… with you.” Twilight reached out and touched Rarity’s hoof. The movement made the hairs on the back of her mane stand up. “I do too, Rarity, but things change. Sometimes we lose things and can never get them back.” Her voice broke upon Rarity like a wave against the shore, before she pulled her hoof away like the ocean did the water, and Rarity was almost ready for it to surge forwards and drench her again. She looked around the cafe. It was late, or perhaps it was early. There were no other ponies in the cafe, and no conversations or clinking silverware to fill the void. Rarity pressed her hooves against the cup tighter, feeling it tremble in her grasp. “Twilight,” she said again, almost desperately.  “I had to go,” Twilight replied evenly. “I know,” Rarity said, her heart pounding in her chest. A roaring crack of thunder filled the air as rainwater flooded the streets. It seemed to surge higher and higher against the cafe doors, dousing out any light from outside. “Twilight,” she said again. She pushed her hooves together harder and the porcelain shattered. Rarity didn’t notice. She looked out the window to see there was nothing there. The doors burst open and the water surged into the room. It rose and rose, filling the room to the ceiling.  Rarity gasped for air, her chest rising and falling and rising again. She reached out across the table as the pieces of her cup floated past her face. But Twilight was so far away. Through the murky water she saw the glowing of Twilight’s eyes. She said something, but it was muffled and garbled. Rarity opened her mouth and bubbles escaped, clawing their way up and to the surface. Nothing came out, and Twilight’s eyes slowly began to fade away. Rarity didn’t know if it was raining.