//------------------------------//
// A Vision Number One Point Five 
// Story: The Enchanted Library: Amethyst Dreams 
// by makise-homura 
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This chapter's story is meant to follow the events of ~ Interlude VI ~ A Vision I ~ of The Enchanted Library.



Every time Amethyst left Carousel Boutique to gallop right away to her princess, her mentor–Rarity liked to fancy herself so–had been drowning in a vast ocean of regrets.

All the romance in this fairytale, which quietly had become a tragedy for Rarity, now belonged to Amethyst. In this very moment, Amethyst happily galloped to her princess. Yes, even the princess now belonged to her, no more to Rarity. Every bond between the seamstress, once young and bold, and the princess, unsocial and naive, and so endearing because of it, was now broken beyond repair. It was a complete nonsense to maintain a hope for something, so Rarity had to admit: she would give up Twilight to Amethyst, and help the young unicorn in any way she could. Rarity, with all her generosity, gave Amethyst the book from Canterlot Castle, and also she gave her the necklace, the same one she once presented to Twilight long ago. “What appears as mine, ‘tis thine as well”, she only quoted while giving such a gift to the young mare. Rarity desperately hoped Twilight could read what she meant by this, but no. Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Amethyst still continued to visit Rarity, and every single time, she chatted enthusiastically about Twilight as if Rarity didn’t agonize over every word. She was talking a lot about her relationship with Twilight, now it seemed to be much more than just a promise to return missing books. Still Rarity knew: she would not intervene.

Amethyst, enraptured by her adored alicorn, never noticed how heavily Rarity sighed when Twilight’s new marefriend wandered around in her stories.

And, in fact, she had no reason to notice. No matter how much Rarity suffered from the fact, Amethyst was more successful than Rarity. Amethyst was even more successful in finding the books: after less than six months since she started, only two remained unfound. And it was not by mere chance, no. It was because Amethyst took the beaten path. Rarity made many mistakes on her way to save Twilight; but being generous–maybe too generous, she mused sometimes–Rarity helped Amethyst with plenty of advice, and watched how in a few weeks, the young unicorn achieved what Rarity had spent months on.

And today was no different.

That evening, both unicorns were having a peaceful rest together in the upstairs room of the boutique, sipping tea from one of Rarity’s newly purchased tea sets. Rarity had brought it from Canterlot a week or two before, and it was quite an impulsive purchase. Rarity was absolutely unable to resist buying a thing that was advertised as “only fit for a princess.” It would be lying to deny that she, for one fleeting moment, imagined herself drinking tea with Twilight from these cups. With Twilight free of her curse, of course.

“What do you think, Rarity,” Amethyst said then, “the princess told me that, uh…”

She reached into her saddlebag, and took out a pendant from it, not noticing how Rarity flinched. She levitated it to the elder mare. “I mean, she said she can try enchanting this crystal with a spell that kind of connects our minds and lets us communicate at a distance. I said it is a great idea, but Twilight was confused for some reason, and replied that she needed some time to think or whatever.” Amethyst blushed a bit. “Do you know how to convince her?”

That was it.

Before that very moment, Rarity could still hold a little hope, albeit illusory and unrealistic, but now it was all over.

After all, when the pendant broke during Rarity’s adventures in Heart’s Haven, Twilight hadn’t insisted on re-enchanting the crystal. Rarity should have noticed, but she hadn’t. If the princess ever asked for it, Rarity would have repaired the pendant somehow and let Twilight enchant it again, but the princess decided to put it off. Yes, if the pendant, even repaired, would be unusable for the spell, it could explain this, however... Well, Twilight didn’t care about that right now. Amethyst had repaired the pendant herself, no better than Rarity could have, and the princess didn’t say anything about it. She didn’t even call it repairing or repeating the spell, she treated it as a fresh one. Nothing to do with what that pendant carried decades ago, when Twilight for the first time allowed Rarity’s mind to become one with her own.

Rarity found that there was no other explanation: Twilight, apparently even before Denza’s curse fell on Rarity, no longer trusted her enough to meld.

She could not hold back a quiet sob.

Rarity gently caressed the pendant with her magic.

“M-may I…” her voice trembled. “May I-I take a look?”

Rarity was sure Amethyst hadn’t noticed that the feebleness of her voice had nothing to do with her age. After all, Amethyst never noticed. And it was for the best.

She carefully put the necklace back on. It was completely unaffected by time, and as it touched her neck, Rarity felt a fleeting sensation forgotten so many years ago. Something precious that Rarity had carried close to her heart for so long. Close to a heart forever devoted to somepony so dear to her, but now it all was for naught. And soon, this pendant would answer to a call of another heart.

Rarity blinked, trying to hold back tears, but she still had to brush them away with her hoof. She glanced quickly at Amethyst, and was relieved to see she didn’t seem to notice anything, even now: with a silly facial expression, slightly sticking her tongue out, she was looking at the pendant, not Rarity.

And they say time, of all things, heals all wounds.

Rarity took the pendant with her hoof and looked at it closely. It had barely changed: the same transparent crystal, shimmering from lavender to purple in the uncertain light of the fireplace. Even now, this crystal reminded Rarity of Twilight's coat and mane. The pendant was crossed by a faint, dark line, a trace of repair performed with such skill, that it was almost impossible to tell it had been broken in the first place. As it turns out, thanks to the efforts of Amethyst, it became able to hold the enchantment again. A perfect repair for a perfect jewel.

And this pendant did not suit Rarity anymore. Not at her age, not with her graying mane.

However, it would fit Amethyst, and wonderfully so.

Rarity took off the necklace and, after a brief pause, catching the last moments she would feel it in her hooves, illuminated her horn and levitated the necklace in front of her eyes in a cloud of magic. She handed it, finally, to her successor, who would free the princess instead of her.

“Tell her,” Rarity took a dramatic pause, “that you trust her enough for it to work.”



This chapter's story is meant to be followed by the events of ~ Interlude VII ~ A Vision II ~ of The Enchanted Library.