As time went on, Rarity kept her eyes glued on the door entering into the spa's lobby. She had already went through four magazines and none of the other magazines were much to her interest. So within minutes she went through boredom, and discovered she didn't know that feeling well.
But it didn't last long as she thought over what she would be discussing with Twilight. She couldn't help it, whenever she learned that somepony close to her was involved in a romance, she had to know every little detail. There was no doubt in her mind, with the way Nightmare Night had went, that it would be Princess Luna that Twilight was thinking about. That was so juicy she was foaming at the mouth to know everything.
Oh, she couldn't wait for Twilight to arrive. Hopefully she wouldn't mind too much with all those questions. Eager to begin, she went ahead and walked to the door, so she could keep an eye out for Twilight outside.
Much to her delight, the student pushed the door open before Rarity could get there, and her expression was unchanged from last night: Nervous, distracted, unsure of herself.
"Just in time!" Rarity proclaimed. "I was beginning to worry you had forgotten about the spa date, silly old me. Did you enjoy your beauty sleep?"
"I...I don't really know," said Twilight. "I got a few hours of sleep, but I was really tired when I woke up. I had the strangest dream about what happened."
"Darling, this must be all new to you. Don't worry, I'm here for you. But first," she said, and motioned to the two mares at the counter, "the usual!"
The two perked up as their favorite customer ordered her favorite order, and escorted the two unicorns into the next room. There, Rarity and Twilight dressed into robes as they laid flat on their bellies for some back massages.
"Where do I begin? What am I saying, I know just where. How was he like?" Rarity asked, intentionally trying to hide her knowledge about this as long as possible.
"It's a mare," Twilight sighed. "Are you fine with mares dating mares? I never asked you about it."
"I see no problem with it. That's just one part of the puzzle of a pony's personality. How was she like?"
"Well, she was very nice and kind during the first date. She was really considerate the whole time, but there were times where it felt like she was trying too hard to make me feel comfortable."
"Twilight, that's a great thing to find in a pony!" Rarity said as a mud mask was applied to her face, with kiwi planted straight into her eyes.
"How is that great?" Twilight asked as a towel was wrapped around her mane. "I brought it up and we both agreed she didn't have to."
"That might be true," said the designer as her mane was placed inside a towel, "but that shows how much she wants to make you happy. Do you know what it's like to have a stallion that knows the opposite of that? A no good, snobby, royal pain in the hoof stallion--"
"Rarity, is this about Blueblood again?"
"Of course not," Rarity snorted as they were brought into a sauna room. "Alright, maybe a little. It was hard not to forget that night of my life.
"So we have very considerate on the list. What else?"
Twilight breathed in and out, agitated a tiny bit as she rested on the bench. "She's royalty."
Rarity's eyes widened, seeing her opportunity to confess about it. Aloe trotted inside the room, only for Rarity to wave her away, mouthing "give us a few minutes alone". The spa pony obliged and shut the door.
"Twilight, I consider you to be one of the best friends I ever had. And one thing friends shouldn't do is keeping secrets to each other. And so with that in mind, I must confess I know which pony it is."
Twilight gasped, with the sweat on her face coming more from her stress than the steam coming from the rocks. "How did you know?"
"She told me how she felt about you on Nightmare Night. There was no mistaking that look in her eye. She's in love with you, and given how you came home in a dress with what was clearly her lipstick on your cheek, I'm assuming you're starting to feel the same."
The student panted in stress, adjusting the robes to feel more comfortable. She looked around the room to make sure nopony was close enough to hear, before coming within inches of Rarity's face.
"I think I might," she confessed. "But I don't know what to do. Do you have any idea how much stress this is placing on me? It's hard enough that I'm dating a pony that's above all of Equestria, but this was the first time I had ever been kissed!"
"Wait just a moment, she kissed you on the cheek."
"Yes, your point?"
"Most kisses are on the lips."
"And?"
"Twilight, was that the first time you've been kissed on the cheek by somepony not in your family?"
The purple unicorn's cheeks went red with the realization, and hid her face with her hooves. "Yes..."
Rarity laughed a little, but stopped when Twilight tried to bury her face in her robe. "I'm sorry, I knew you hadn't gotten out a lot in your fillyhood, but I had no idea. There's nothing wrong with that, you did end up better with magic than most."
"It's so embarrassing," Twilight admitted. "I might have been alright that one night, but I'm afraid I'll mess everything up. I'm still not sure what I'm doing."
"Twilight Sparkle, I want you to look at me."
Twilight peeked her eyes out of her robe, and looked right into Rarity's eyes.
"I know you might be inexperienced in romance, most ponies are. And there will be times where you might wonder if you really understand these feelings you're undergoing. But in the end, there is no one way to a good relationship other than the basics, loyalty, honesty, all the Elements of Harmony.
"The only other thing you need to do is go with your heart, and ask yourself, 'Do I really want to be with Luna? Is this a pony I want to spend the rest of my life with?' And once you're honest with what your heart is telling you, then you'll be able to live with yourself."
Those were the words Twilight needed to hear, as she steadily straightened up during the speech. At the end she was nodding ceaselessly and her robe was back to fitting on her.
Once Rarity was done, she was pleased at how comfortable Twilight had become. Another problem solved.
Aloe opened the door and had the unicorns come out, with the time coming for them to enter their mud bath. After a few pieces of kelp on, they were in their little areas. Twilight had calmed down, looking at peace as she let the bath do its job on the body.
"In the end, did you feel you loved her when it was all said and done?" said the white unicorn.
"Yes, I felt I did," Twilight answered. "I felt something weird, like a connection to her in the end. I thought she was a very nice pony at the core, and when I agreed to date her, I said I would only agree to one date and see where it went. I think I want another date."
"That's wonderful!" Rarity was so excited she almost hopped in the sink, sending mud out of the container. "I mean, that you thought that you fell in love. It's a wonderful sensation, isn't it?"
"I want to be sure, though."
"What do you mean? It sounds like you had a wonderful time with her, and that you thought there was a connection? I can see that you wish to find out if it will last, but it appears you want to love her."
"I know. But I'm still nervous about...her status."
"Do you mean..." Rarity stopped herself from finishing the original sentence, as Lotus was within earshot. "Her role in society gave you the jitter bugs?"
Twilight nodded, emerging out as the mud dripped down into a series of towels set on the floor. "Yes. It felt like something momentous when I agreed to become Celestia's student, but as much as I can't believe I'm saying it, that was nothing compared to falling in love with her. I don't know what will happen when it comes out. Nopony, good or bad, would look at me the same way again."
Rarity said nothing for some time as she came out and the kept was taken off. "This shouldn't be, but I have to concur. I only hope it will be in a good way..."
They went into the next part of the routine, more back massaging followed by a little scrubbing of the unicorn horn. Again, Twilight's composure had faded away and she looked almost as timid as Fluttershy.
There wasn't a sound for sometime, and it stuck out to Aloe and Lotus. To them, seeing two unicorn yap their heads off without restraint and follow it up with silence caused them to worry.
"Would another trip to the sauna on the house help things?" Aloe asked.
Rarity nodded, and once the horn scrubbing was over they were back in the sauna. Twilight pulled the robe off and sat on the bench, looking down aimlessly.
"I'm sorry about that," Rarity finally spoke. "That is a harsh situation to be put through."
"But I know deep down I'm falling in love with her," Twilight responded back with.
"Then what do you think you should do about it?"
"I don't really know. I haven't thought about it. There's a point where I shouldn't care what others think about what I do, but in this case it could change my entire life. I need to really ask myself what I want to do."
"Then again, this is one of the two rulers of Equestria. She could offer to move you into the castle, with protection--"
"That's not what I want. Even if this is a pony that has my fate in her hooves, I don't want special treatment all because she's my marefriend. I'm not going to leech off her authority like that. I don't want to move away from Ponyville for that kind of reason."
Rarity nodded, and sighed with the thought. She couldn't think of another thought in how to handle it, with her mind unable to think of any way out.
Aloe entered the room, and neither one tried to get her to leave. She poured a cup of water into the rock bed, filling the sauna with more steam.
Seeing the stressed out looks on the two customers, Aloe walked out of the room, and decided to just let them out on their own time.
"Have you mentioned this at all to her during the date? This sounds an awful lot like something she needs to know about," said Rarity.
"I have, but not an awful lot," Twilight answered. "She said she would take care of it, but...I need to say to her how this is affecting me in the end."
"Then that's what you should do before anything else. It's clearly going to get in the way in the future, and sooner or later you have to do deal with it. Better that you do it as soon as you can than later."
The student nodded with a smile, and picked up the robe with her magic. "Thanks, Rarity. Given who this is about, I'm glad you were understanding through all this."
"Darling, being there for times like these are one of the duties of friendship." Even if I was a little guilty of listening for the romance part. I need to work on that. "Be sure to let me know how it goes when you have the talk with her."
"Of course." Twilight draped the robe over her back as she exited the sauna room, her skin almost dried up after so much time inside the area. Rarity came out shortly after, and bumped into Aloe, who was waiting just outside.
"Madame, is there anything else you would like today?" the spa pony asked.
"No, we're finished for the day. Let me get my purse...it's here somewhere..." She levitated her purse from the lobby across the spa, and poured the bits needed to Aloe. "I hope there's enough for a tip in there. I needed your services more than usual today."
Aloe agreed and took the bits into the cashier at the desk, and opened the door for the two unicorns to exit. They did so, with Twilight adding five more bits for tips.
That day in Ponyville was alright, but not great. It was unseasonably cold that early afternoon, even for autumn, and it gave the hint that this was going to be a brutal winter when it did arrive.
On top of that, the leaves had fallen more than expected, and with the wind today, they were swept all over the street endlessly.
"Hmm, maybe I should be working on coats after my current project," Rarity thought aloud. "So when do you think you should tell Luna about this? I understand you've been busy with your astronomy studies recently."
"Right now," Twilight responded not a breath after. "The sooner the better, right? I'm sending her a letter once I get home."
"It doesn't have to be this soon. You could wait until you're done with your studies for today--"
Twilight didn't get the memo, she had already started to gallop to the treehouse at full speed. The only thing she wanted to see was a quill and paper, just to get it off her mind.
She kicked the door open wide to see Spike dusting the shelves of the library, and immediately went looking for the writing materials she needed, but freaked out when she didn't find anything after searching through the desks and a few of the shelves.
"Twilight? What's the matter?" Spike asked.
"Sorry Spike, I need something right now. Why can't I find the parchment and quills when I need it?"
"Oh, that's it? No problem, let me get that for you." The dragon calmly opened an adajecent shelf and pulled out the writing materials. "Do you have a friendship report for Celestia or something?"
"Not exactly, I want this to be private," she said. She levitated all the materials over to a desk and laid it all out to get started, dipping the quill into the ink.
"OK, I'll be here if you need me," Spike mentioned as he continued to dust.
"What? Oh, yeah, that. Thanks for that."
The quill was wet with ink, and she took a few quick breaths before she got started. She knew deep down this would probably change everything about her eventually, she just wanted to be sure it would be a positive switch.
Her nerves were settled, and she started to write her letter.
Dear Princess Luna,
Ever since last night, all I've been thinking about is that date. It was a wonderful time, and to answer your question, I will agree to a second date after all. I do want to spend more time with you when it's possible.
But I'm still worried about how this is all going to work out. I know you said you would take care of it, and yet the more I go over all of it, the more concerns and potential problems I find. I don't know any of the answers, and I need your help.
Could we discuss this in person soon? I don't want anypony knowing about this, at least not now. That sounds selfish, but I'm a little terrified about the thought of this getting out.
See you soon,
Twilight Sparkle
Once the quill was set on the desk, the pony rolled the letter up and sealed it with Celestia's mark.
"Spike, I know this might sound weird, but could you send this to Princess Luna for me? It's really important this gets to the right hooves."
"Sure, I think I can handle this," Spike replied. "Celestia taught me all about this at the wedding. It just needs a blue flame."
He took the letter in his right hand, took a deep breath, and released a blue flame into the letter. It disappeared as a blue wisp before their eyes, leaving through an open window upstairs.
"Say, you've never given Luna a letter before. And most of the time you write to Celestia, it's just for a friendship report. What did you write to Luna?"
"It's something really important, business stuff," Twilight said, lying through a grin. "Yep. That's what it is. Business."
Not even a second after she was finished, Spike belched out a letter in a blue flame, but the letter had a moon crescent for a seal symbol than the horseshoe that Celestia's letters always had. Twilight knew immediately it was Luna's letter that had arrived.
Therefore, she did something uncharacteristic for unicorns in general, and rushed to grab the letter in her mouth before Spike could read it, and ran upstairs to read it by herself, using the blanket as cover.
To Twilight Sparkle,
There is a forest outside of Ponyville, three miles west to be precise. It is a remote area, and only the most curious of ponies will find anypony there.
Meet me there at 9 PM tonight. We will discuss this problem of yours there. And don't tell anypony why you're coming.
With love,
Luna
No wonder it came so soon, Twilight thought. It was straight to the point and very short. She rolled the letter back up and hid it underneath the bed, only for Spike to pull the blanket away.
"Ahhhh!" she screamed, falling off the bed with shock. She waved her hooves around aimlessly as she landed on her back, rolling over to be right side up.
"I'm so sorry," Spike responded, helping Twilight up. "So what did Luna say?"
"Nothing, but I have to be gone for an hour tonight. There's a little bit of business she wants me to take care of, before the day's over."