"Thank you for helping me pack, Twilight. I really appreciate it." Rarity called to her friend from the other room.
"Oh, my pleasure, Rarity. What else are friends good for?" Twilight managed a smile followed by a light chuckle.
Rarity walked in to finish up sorting through her monstrous amount of garments, "Well you're certainly good for more than just packing, I'll say that for certain."
Twilight looked around to the four, maybe five, bags already filled to the brim. "Um, Rarity?" She began, "How long do you plan on being gone?"
She knew this was typical behavior for Rarity, over packing for every situation that required her to leave the house for more than a few hours, but still. She mentioned only leaving for the weekend and this seemed a bit much by even her standards, not to mention the assortment of royal gowns and illustrious evening wear that almost screamed their hints of suspicion at Twilight. Never-the-less, she gave Rarity the benefit of the doubt and refrained from asking too many questions.
"Like I said, darling, just for the weekend, maybe to Tuesday if things go even more smashing than intended." She beamed a smile to Twilight.
Rarity held a cheerful demeanor but was riddled with anxiety on the inside. The expression "butterflies in the stomach" just didn't seem to do her nervousness justice. Thoughts of Fleur swam in her head like a sea of ecstasy, never wanting to completely wash out of her mind.
She flushed brightly but turned the conversation away from the matter at hand, "Let me make sure I have my train ticke-"
"I put it in your travel case." Twilight interjected.
Rarity blinked for a moment, a bit surprised, "Err, thank you, Twilight. At least there I know it won't get lost."
Twilight managed a slight smile before pursing her lips, looking off to the side, encapsulated by her thoughts. Rarity raised a brow in confusion, "Is something the matter, dear?" she asked in concern for her friend.
Twilight returned her gaze to her friend, shaking her head, "No, I'm alright, Rares; just trying to remember what I could have done with a few books that I misplaced the other day." She chuckled softly, diminishing Rarity's concerns a bit.
"Oh, alright." Rarity breathed, glancing to her mount of luggage.
Twilight surveyed Rarity a bit, "So I noticed you were riding first-class, right?"
Rarity shot a glance to her, "What? Oh, right! Yes, that was Fleur's doing," she beamed, "She certainly doesn't go anywhere out of style, that's for certain." She laughed, waving it off as no big deal.
Twilight returned the laugh and huffed a deep sigh, "You really have some extravagant friends, don't you?"
Rarity glanced to the side for a quick moment before making her way over to Twilight, wrapping her hooves around her, "There's no amount of extravagance that could ever force me away from you and the girls, Twi," she pulled away and smiled cheerfully, "It's just one of the perks of the job."
Twilight's tension between her and Rarity was thick enough to cut with a knife, and Rarity could sense it rather obviously. Without a word, she let go of her friend and steps over to the window, leering outside at the front, checking to see if the carriage had arrived yet.
No such luck. Rarity felt like she couldn't get out of there soon enough. She hated the uncomfortable feeling in the room. The silence pierced the stressing situation with each tick of the second. Rarity wracked her brain, trying to figure out what was on Twilight's mind. It must have been something so extremely important that she couldn't bare to tell her outright.
What in the world is the matter with that Unicorn? Rarity thought to herself silently, still staring out the window.
Seconds felt like minutes and then hours before Twilight finally managed to breath a question, breaking the anxiety, if for only a moment.
"Are you feeling alright, Rarity?"
What an ironic question to be asked from Twilight after how she's acted so far. Rarity turned a glance at her friend for several moments before responding.
"Of course, Twilight," Rarity breathed and smiled, "I'm just excited about going away for a few days. With how busy I've been the last few weeks, a break like this is much welcomed."
Twilight's demeanor seemed to lighten up and returned an affectionate smile to Rarity. Another moment of silence passed but was shortly interrupted by the sound of a carriage being pulled in front of the Carousel Boutique. Rarity glanced out the window and a flash of anxiety struck her.
"It's here!" she exclaimed a little too eagerly.
Twilight and Rarity both grabbed a couple bags each with their magic and began downstairs.
Packing the bags into the small cart was much easier said than done. It took several minutes, including Twilight trying to calculate the luggage volume before the driver finally just crammed everything in there as tightly as possible.
Rarity turned to Twilight and embraced in her in a deep hug, "Take care, darling. I'll be back in a few days." she smiled.
Twilight nodded softly and replied, "I'll be counting the seconds, Rarity." She released her friend as Rarity climbed into the carriage.
The door of the cart closed shut as the driver began pulling toward the train station. Rarity wanted to think about why Twilight has been acting so weird lately, but the thought was quickly shoved from her mind by thoughts of Fleur. Her butterflies started up again and she felt the slight pang of anxiety and excitement from spending an entire weekend with somepony as lovely as her.
Ideas swam through her head non-stop. What are we going to do? Is she going to try to seduce me? No, no, Rarity! She's a lady and wouldn't bring herself to commit such shallow acts as that... err... would she? Rarity mulled over to herself.
She held the train ticket in her hooves, just staring at it, wanting the answers to her questions so terribly bad. It was first-class curiosity at it's worst.