Curls

by aquilerafroot


2: Checkmate the Queen

Twilight spent the night studying. She hoped she could get to the end of the matter by tomorrow, before she went to Rarity’s in the afternoon. ‘The Art of Persuasion’, ‘A Pony’s Courting Manual’, and other such titles were spread around her. And if she was wrong and Rarity didn’t like her that way, the designer was still acting somewhat strangely recently; and as her friend, Twilight still had to make sure that there was nothing worrying the sophisticated unicorn.

She thought back to a conversation she had had with her mother when she was a filly.

“Mommy, how did you know that daddy was the stallion for you?”

“Well, Twilight dearie, most mares have a sixth sense when stallions like them. I knew your daddy loved me, but I could chose whether or not if he was the one I would spend the rest of my life with.”

“I don’t understand, mom.”

“You will, soon, when you grow up. But just remember, if you feel somepony likes you, most of the time you will be correct. But the most important thing is to consider long and hard if you like them back.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Bah, but Rarity’s a mare, a mare, a mare! I must be wrong! But I just keep on having this annoying feeling that tells me she likes me! And the last part of mom’s advice… do I like her back? I guess so? Blah blah blah, I really am so confused again! I need a plan!

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The light of the sun shone through the windows of the Carousel Boutique. Rarity spread herself on her fainting couch, or ‘chaise longue’, as she preferred to call it, drawing a hoof over the crimson velvet lovingly.

Submerged in her thoughts of a certain purple coated mare, she gazed dreamily at nothing in particular. Twilight would be visiting in the afternoon, and this made Rarity not want to do anything for the entire day except get ready for the mare of her dreams.

She still felt a bit apprehensive, though. Twilight had seemed more distant than usual when Rarity approached her yesterday… I mustn't think too much, I know this. I must act naturally, it is most essential! She threw a hoof up dramatically with a sigh. What if Twilight could not accept her feelings? It would most possibly ruin their friendship. I shall try, I must! She is the most beautiful, most understanding pony anypony could ever hope to meet.

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Twilight trotted up to Rarity’s boutique. As the magnificent structure came into view, she slowed her hoofsteps slightly. I’ll just act normally today… I think I was a bit too unkind to Rarity yesterday; that was bad of me, since she never did anything to deserve it. But, I’ll still try to get to the end of this matter, and I think I can do it.

Arriving at the door, Twilight knocked. Rarity answered it almost immediately with a beatific smile on her face.

“Hi Rarity, I hope I’m not late…”

“Of course you aren’t, Twilight, oh please do come in.”

Twilight entered the boutique and noticed that it was tidier than usual. Even Rarity looked more stunning than she ever had before, which was already virtually impossible. A fragrance lingered in the air, catching Twilight’s interest.

“Rarity, is that a new perfume?”

Rarity flushed slightly, but quickly controlled her facial temperature. Aha! So she has noticed it! she thought triumphantly. “Why yes, it’s the new parfum that I ordered from Canterlot.”

“It suits you, I think it’s lovely!”

“I’m truly flattered darling, but why don’t we start with your mane? We can chat as I… tend to you.” Rarity’s sweet expressive voice wavered a bit at the last three words.

In truth, Twilight seldom noticed what Rarity did with her mane – it was mostly just a blur of beauty products with Rarity’s magic. But she enjoyed it immensely nonetheless, because of Rarity’s skilled but tender touch, and they kept a steady conversation amidst the whir of bottles, brushes, and various lotions.

Rarity, on the other hoof, had a hard time controlling her hooves… it could be said that she touched Twilight’s neck and back more often than necessary. No, I mustn’t let her see my expression; a lady should always control her grin… Why, I must look grotesque!

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“There you go darling, now take a look at your mane!” cooed Rarity, wheeling Twilight over to the mirror.

“Rarity, it looks great!” Twilight ran a hoof over her mane, which was now sleek and soft, flowing like a waterfall. Rarity had also trimmed off some of the mane that had grown over the months so it was back to its original length.

“I’m glad you like it.” Peeking out the window in an attempt to hide the furious blush that had crept up her cheeks because of Twilight’s compliment, Rarity noticed that the sun had already set, and she realized that time really did fly fast when she was with the studious mare.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” said Twilight, also noticing the time. “Why don’t I treat you to dinner later for what you’ve done for me?”

Rarity gazed at Twilight, who was smiling a truly sincere smile of gratitude. Oooooh my oh my oh my. She wants to take me to dinner. Triumph! A dream come true! But truth be told, I shouldn’t be so happy unless it’s a date.

“I’d love to join you for dinner, Twilight,” she said. “But really, you don’t have to. It was no trouble at all.”

“We’ll see about that.” Twilight laughed. “But since it’s not really suppertime yet, why don’t we wait here for a while? We could chat more, or something.”

“Of course,” said Rarity, levitating two cushions over. “Here, we can rest on these.”

She set the cushions as close as possible beside each other, and instantly settled herself on one, so that Twilight would have no choice but to hunker down very close to her.

Again with the close proximity, though it seems I have no choice. Rarity must have done that on purpose, that smart mare, thought Twilight, as she also lay down, very close to Rarity.

Rarity stared at a small spot on the ground, trying to appear nonchalant, but she was enjoying that Twilight’s body was pressed against hers tightly very much indeed. Suddenly she felt a hoof over her shoulder, and glanced up to see Twilight looking at her.

“Rarity, is there something, anything that you want to tell me?” Twilight paused, as if thinking of what to say next. “It kind of seems you have been acting a bit strange recently… is everything okay?”

“Um, there is n-nothing, nothing at all that is bothering me at the moment,” stammered the fair unicorn. But she felt Twilight’s hoof add a bit of pressure on her shoulder, pulling her closer, then the hoof released her.

“Ok, I won’t press you for it,” said Twilight earnestly. “But now I know for sure that there is something.”

“All right, very well then,” replied Rarity after taking a deep breath. “There is something on my mind, and I am quite willing to tell you, once I’ve had a few minutes to compose myself.”

“I can wait for all the time you need, as long as it makes you feel better. I’m your friend after all, and I’m sure whatever you tell me won’t change that.” Twilight emphasized the last part in her sentence, and rested her head on her hooves as if to further prove her point that Rarity could take all the time she required. If my assumptions are correct, this is probably it… I hope I’ve encouraged her enough, oh no, what if I did it wrong? What if she doesn’t say a word? She’ll probably keep that bottled up forever, and I really don’t want that. I’ve also thought this over long and thorough, and I hope my mom’s right when she told me mares have this sixth sense when it comes to this kind of stuff…

Beside Twilight, Rarity was thinking as hard as her brainy friend. How shall I break it to her? That I have these… feelings for her? I have planned for this for a long time, but now all plans seemed to have failed me! Woe is me! If I don’t do it now, I might never get this chance again! It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t want me, at least I tried. No, it does matter, but I shall deal with that later. And she did say we’d stay friends… although I doubt she anticipated a situation of this kind. Take a deep breath. Just. Say. It. Now.

Rarity inhaled deeply to calm herself, prompting Twilight to lift her head up and look at her. “Very well then, there is something that I want very much to tell you.” Checking to see if she had Twilight’s full attention, she continued. “I-” But then she hesitated, her courage failing a little, it was as if her tongue had suddenly dried out. “I-”

Twilight put a hoof around Rarity’s shoulders again. “It’s okay, it’s okay, just calm down,” she reassured the other unicorn. “But can I take a guess?”

Rarity nodded her agreement, not trusting her dry throat to make a coherent sentence.

In response, Twilight hugged her friend close, and then nuzzled her intimately. “Is it something along the lines of this?” Letting go of Rarity, her demeanor turned uncertain as she waited for an answer.

Rarity was dumbfounded. Slowly she said, “Yes, it is something like that…” Her sentence trailed off as she felt her heart chasing her mind around, muddling her thoughts. It had felt good, Twilight’s embrace, and if Twilight had meant what Rarity assumed she had meant, then… then what? So she brought herself to finish her sentence. “Twilight Sparkle, I like you very much, and I want to be with you.”

Twilight laid her front hooves in front of her and plunked her head down between them, letting out a sign of relief. “Whew, thank Celestia I guessed right!” But then she turned serious. “So, I guess…”

“How could you have known?”

“Well, I guessed. My mom told me that most mares have this sixth sense when other ponies like them. But I suppose I never thought it also worked on… other mares. To tell you the truth, this is the first time that this has happened to me. That somepony likes me.”

Twilight continued, “I know it sounds really silly to say that I’ve also given this a lot of thought, and research, but I have, not even sure if you had these feelings or not. And I realized it doesn’t matter. So… I guess we’re together now or something?”

Rarity threw her hooves around the other pony, rolling her onto her back on the cushions. “I thought that I had kept my feelings subtle,” she prodded Twilight playfully from up top. “But I don’t want to do that now.” Twilight lay helplessly sprawled on her back while Rarity nuzzled her neck, then her face.

Oh, nononononono, thought Twilight as she felt her face heat up. She shut her eyes. I’ve never been in this situation, what do I do? What if I don’t do it right and Rarity thinks I’m some clumsy fool? It’s too late to learn or research or whatever, I was so focused on getting Rarity to admit her feelings that I totally forgot to prepare for this! Arrrgh! She gathered the nerve to look at Rarity again, and found that Rarity was already gazing at her though her stunningly mascaraed lashes, their noses almost touching. “Um, Rarity, I have to remind you that, I’m not experienced at all…”

“Never worry darling, you soon will be.” Rarity’s eyelids fluttered shut, and she pressed their mouths together.

Twilight felt as if her brain had seized up, and Rarity’s sweet scent was everywhere. She could feel Rarity’s body close against hers, moving to their breathing; her hooves on both sides of her face, and lastly, the soft touch and movement of Rarity’s mouth on hers. After a few seconds she emerged from her stupor and decided it might be good if she kissed back.

They broke their kiss after what seemed like a long time to Twilight. She still felt light-headed and almost could not find the words to speak. “Wha- what about… we go get… some dinner… oof.”

Rarity looked at her tenderly. “Of course, Twilight darling. It’s… a date.”

Still weak, Twilight rolled to a more comfortable position on the cushions, with Rarity in her forehooves.

“I’ll treat you, like I said?” The ‘Pony’s Courting Manual’ had said stallions should treat mares on the first date, and Twilight had decided since Rarity was more ladylike than her, she would have to treat Rarity.

“Oh Twilight, you are so adorable.” Rarity smiled. “You are not a stallion; it is not necessary, although it is our first date.”

“Ha, but you did my hair. It’s only right.” Twilight knew she had Rarity on that one.