//------------------------------//
// What Feels Right (Part 2) 
// Story: Unfamiliar Patterns 
// by TheVClaw 
//------------------------------//

Hearing the knocks from her front door, Rarity's head shot up from her pillow as she laid on the couch. Looking over to the direction of the knocking, the unicorn couldn't think of the slightest reason why anypony would be answering at this time of night. After their date (which ended differently than she originally expected), Thunderlane looked fine enough to not warrant any more interaction with her tonight. And despite the potential for an emergency, Rarity couldn't possibly think of any occurrence that would be in need of her assistance right now.

However, Rarity's mind was already too cluttered to think that hard about who was at the front door. With the memory of her faltered kiss—or actually, kisses—at the end of her date with Thunderlane, Rarity had no idea of what to think about everything.

Remembering how uneasy she felt when she was about to kiss him the second time, Rarity had no idea why she could've felt that way. Given how pleasant their date was, there couldn't have been any logical reason for her to become so hesitant.

Of course, unless she thought about what happened on the first kiss attempt.

Despite her hardest efforts, the unicorn couldn't exactly deny what happened: she was about to kiss Thunderlane, opened her eyes right before, and accidentally saw Zecora in his place. But why? Why, in that moment in time, would Rarity picture that zebra instead of her date as she was about to kiss him? Was it just stress? Did feeling his Mohawk like that remind her of Zecora's manestyle?

Did… did she actually… want to kiss her?

Rarity quickly shook her head again and walked to the door, not wanting to be this flustered right now. Even with all these questions looming over her head like some blasted raincloud prank from Rainbow Dash, the unicorn didn’t want them to affect her this badly.

As soon as she opened the door, Rarity felt a huge weight in her chest when she saw who it was. Because of all the confusion that occurred in less than an hour, the last thing that Rarity wanted was to be reminded of any instance of her failed kiss.

And yet, that didn't stop Zecora from standing at her door with a concerned look on her face.

"Rarity, are you feeling alright?" said Zecora as she tried to keep a calm tone. "I thought I saw—"

"Ze… Zecora?!" shouted Rarity, who was more aggravated than surprised at seeing the zebra right now. "Wha… what on Earth are you doing here?!"

Zecora tried not to wince as she breathed in through her teeth. Seeing how overstressed Rarity looked right now, Zecora realized that maybe this wasn't a great time to talk with her. "I…"

"Why… why are you here?!" Rarity continued to shout, "Why aren’t you in the Everfree Forest?! How long were you outside like that?! How…"

Realizing how much of a disturbance she may have been making from her yelling, Rarity closed her eyes and stopped talking. While Zecora stood in front of her with a worried look, Rarity attempted to calm herself down by breathing in slowly.

Taking a moment so she wouldn’t she wake up half the neighborhood, Rarity exhaled slowly before reopening her eyes. With her sights on Zecora, Rarity sighed before she spoke faintly. 

"I'm… I'm sorry, I… I just had a stressful night. I didn’t mean to yell at you."

"Oh, it's fine," assured Zecora as she replied, "you don't have to explain." Looking behind her to the street, Zecora looked around before turning back to the unicorn. "I thought I saw you with Thunderlane."

Rarity bit her lip and nodded. "Ye… yeah… I…"

Remembering what happened to cause her to act so oddly towards Thunderlane in the first place, Rarity looked away from Zecora, knowing that even her face was enough to remind her of her building confusion. However, Rarity sighed before she stepped back and held out her hoof, motioning for Zecora to come inside. "Well, since you're here and not at home, I can’t let you sleep outside, now can I?"

Even though she felt guilty for putting Rarity on the spot like this, Zecora still nodded bashfully before walking inside. While she was glad that the unicorn was nice enough to let her in—especially after she saw what happened at the end of her date—Zecora still felt bad about it, knowing that the only reason she was here was because of her impulsive feelings towards the mare. However, the zebra kept her muzzle shut about it as she entered Rarity's living room.

Although she didn't want to think about what happened regarding Zecora just recently, let alone speak with her about it, Rarity knew better than to shun her right now. If she was here instead of the Everfree Forest, it meant that she wouldn’t be able to return back home until morning. Sighing to herself quietly, Rarity waited until Zecora took a seat on the couch before walking up to her.

"I'm sorry if I look a little disheveled right now," said the unicorn, waiting a moment before she sat on the couch beside Zecora. "I've just… I don’t exactly feel so great at the moment."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I don’t mean to dwell." Hearing Zecora's statement, Rarity nodded as she kept her face away from her. Breathing in, Zecora felt like she should say something more, not wanting to seem unappreciative right now. "I honestly hoped that your date would go well."

Saying that, Zecora surprised herself as she realized how truthfully those words came out. Thinking it over, the zebra really didn’t want to see the unicorn's night get sabotaged or dampened for her own sake. She might have a crush on her, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see Rarity look upset like this. Realizing that she really did want the best for her, Zecora sighed softly in slight relief, feeling glad that her affliction over Rarity hasn’t gone too far.

However, Zecora's comment was immediately followed by Rarity voice, as she spoke in a surprised tone, "Actually, the date really did!"

Remembering what she saw earlier, when Rarity basically refused to kiss Thunderlane on the lips, Zecora turned back to Rarity with a surprised look on her face. Not expecting the unicorn to say that sort of thing, Zecora waited as Rarity continued.

"I mean, I really had an amazing time tonight! Thunderlane was… he was a great date! He was funny, energetic, kind, surprisingly shy…" Remembering how flustered the stallion was when he first showed up at her doorstep, Rarity smiled a little as she kept going. "And… I don’t think I ever met anypony who was such a gentlecolt before…"

When she saw the warm smile on Rarity's muzzle, Zecora tried to smile back in understanding. However, the unicorn began to frown once more as she kept her gaze away from Zecora. Biting her lip, Rarity didn’t want to think about how it all went wrong, or even admit it to anypony else; however, she knew she couldn’t just leave it at that without saying anything else to the zebra. Breathing in, Rarity sighed before she continued to explain.

"But… but at the end of the night… I… I just couldn’t kiss him. I… I couldn’t bring myself to do it."

Zecora waited a moment as the living room became engulfed in silence. Clearing her throat, she caught Rarity's attention before she replied, "If you don't mind me asking, do you know the reason why? I mean, why didn’t you kiss him if he's such a nice guy?"

Rarity blinked a few times as she processed Zecora's question. Thinking it over, Rarity took a breath slowly in an attempt to conjure the right words. Not wanting to say something like "Oh, I just pictured kissing you instead of him, want some tea?" the unicorn took a second before she sighed deeply.

"I… honestly don’t know what happened! I… I really liked him, and… and I really thought I felt something…"

Rarity closed her eyes and sighed again, feeling more resentful towards herself for how weak her reasons were.

"But…but when I was actually about to… to kiss him…"

Rarity clenched her eyes even tighter, wanting to keep them shut as she opened her muzzle.

"I… I didn’t feel anything!"

Opening her eyes again, Rarity breathed hard as she said that, realizing how truthful her statement actually was. Even with how nice and courteous he was during their night, Rarity honestly didn't feel much when Thunderlane was about to kiss her.

Remembering how uninterested she felt when she actually tried to kiss him after getting Zecora out of her mind, all that the unicorn could think about was why it didn’t feel the same. What made it so different? Why couldn’t she feel that way about him? Why changed so drastically the second time they tried to kiss?

Blinking a few times in confusion, Rarity's face scrunched in as she tried to avoid Zecora's gaze. With every passing second, Rarity started to feel even worse about not feeling much for Thunderlane, especially after everything he did for her. Feeling both guilt and uncertainty in her conscience about how everything ended up, Rarity lurched forward and threw her head in her hooves, trying her hardest not to sob out loud.

"Urrrrrgh!!!" The mare groaned in frustration. "What the buck is wrong with me?!"

"Rarity, there is nothing wrong!" assured the zebra as she tried to put a hoof to her shoulder. "Sometimes things just don—"

"THEN WHY COULDN’T I FEEL ANYTHING WITH HIM?!!"

With that, Rarity finally began to break down. She buried her head in her hooves and began to cry. Looking at the sobbing mare beside her, Zecora's heart ached as she saw how distraught Rarity looked about this.

"I-I mean…" began the unicorn between her sobs, "I… I liked being with him… he… he was great… But I… I couldn’t even appreciate it!!!"

Another groan escaped the mare between several sobs, leaving Zecora to just sit next to her in silence. Not sure of how to alleviate the unicorn's woes, Zecora could only keep a hoof on Rarity's shoulder, hoping that even something as small as that could help a little bit.

"Am… am I really that unattached now?!" Rarity lowered her hooves, but still kept her head hung low as she spoke in a devastated tone. "Am I really… really so distant nowadays, that I can’t even like a decent stallion when he comes along?! Are my expectations just too bucking high now, that I can't even accept the standards I wanted before?!?!"

Zecora held the unicorn in closer, putting her foreleg around Rarity's shoulder as she pulled her head in. With her head resting against Zecora's chest, Rarity's tears still kept coming out as she clenched her eyes shut. Feeling the zebra's gentle warmth from her chest as she rested against it, Rarity tried to breathe in deeply to settle her hiccupping sobs. After a moment of trying to calm herself down a little, Rarity finally tried to speak again, resting her head against Zecora as her voice came out close to a faint whisper.

"I… I feel like I'm just destined to be alone…like I'm too broken to love anypony but myself."

Hearing that, Zecora couldn't stay silent anymore. Grabbing Rarity's shoulders by the hooves, Zecora quickly pulled the unicorn from her chest before making her stare her dead in the eyes.

"Rarity, don't you say that you're broken! I never heard less truth from words spoken! Just because you didn't feel love, doesn't mean it's not there! And I don't believe for a second you're a broken mare!"

Surprised from the sudden burst of insistent anger from the zebra, Rarity almost felt like she was going to start crying again out of fear. However, Zecora kept her strong glare on the unicorn as she kept going. After everything she'd been feeling the past week because of this mare, the last thing Zecora wanted was to see Rarity act this low about herself.

"Rarity, you… you're the best pony I know…I've never known a friend with so much to show…"

Even though she wanted to sound stern in order to get this to Rarity's head, Zecora's voice began to come out more feebly as she continued.

"Just because you didn't kiss him, doesn't mean it's love you lack…"

Zecora then placed a hoof on Rarity's cheek and wiped a tear from the unicorn's face. Looking at Rarity's glistening face, which still looked stunning despite the dim lights and matted fur from her tears, Zecora knew what she wanted to say. Holding her in her grasp, Zecora gave a warm smile before finishing her rhyme.

"With all the love you give, I know that someone will love you back."

For the first time, Rarity began to smile again. Looking into the warm shade of blue that made up the zebra's eyes, Rarity's tears stopped flowing as she began to feel better. Keeping a weak smile on her muzzle, which was just as warm and genuine as the one on Zecora's, Rarity slowly lifted a hoof and placed it on Zecora's cheek.

"Th-thank you…" muttered the mare in a faint tone.

For almost a full minute, neither one said a single word, or made a single sound to break the silence between them. Looking into each other's eyes, Rarity and Zecora didn't move an inch as they stared, neither wanting to break this moment of pure serenity. Keeping her focus on the unique shade of blue in Zecora's eyes, Rarity didn't realize how much either of them were blushing.

She also didn't realize how her head was slowly moving forward toward the zebra's.

As the unicorn slowly inched her head in, Zecora realized what was going to occur. However, unlike the last time, when she was caught off-guard, she didn't falter for a moment; instead, Zecora slowly began to move forward as well, and her eyes began to close.

Rarity, whose body was now in pure control apart from her brain, began to close her eyes as well. Slowly, the mare's hoof moved up to the top of Zecora's head as she gently brushed against the zebra's soft mane. Once again, the mare felt light breeze of warm breath press against her muzzle; unlike the musky scent she noticed with Thunderlane, Rarity instead detected a sweeter aroma, which reminded her of the zebra's bedding when she slept over that night.

Before her lips could feel anything more than Zecora's breath, Rarity slowly reopened her eyes. Much like her attempted first kiss with Thunderlane, Rarity's eyes envisioned the face of Zecora in front of her, just inches from her face as she began to close in.

However, Rarity realized that this was real.

In a panic, Rarity gasped before she shot back from the zebra. Clutching her muzzle with her hooves, Rarity quickly jumped to the other side of the couch, her eyes wide-open in shock as she realized what was going to happen.

As the unicorn's breathing came out rapidly and heavily, Zecora was frozen in her spot as she looked at the shaking mare. Unable to move, the zebra could only sit in frozen fear as she heard Rarity begin to babble out some words.

"Wha—um… bu—bu… hng, what wa… what was… what was I…"

Keeping her hooves over her lips as she kept whimpering like a panicked puppy, Rarity's shaking became more vibrant as she tried to say something, anything.

"I… wha… what… WHAT WAS I—"

Not wanting to see Rarity break down again, Zecora broke free from her self-constraints and quickly moved toward the unicorn. "Rarity, it's alri—"

"NO!!!!" Rarity yelled as she tried to jump off the couch. However, the unicorn's footing didn’t necessarily agree with her. She instead slumped to the floor like a fish out of water. Before she could get back on her hooves and run away, Rarity felt Zecora's hoof on her shoulder as she tried to keep her still.

"Rarity, listen! I'm no—"

"I CAN'T!!!"

Rarity quickly broke free from Zecora's grasp and lunged forward. However, because of the direction she was heading, Rarity only ended up at one of the corners of the living room. Feeling trapped, Rarity turned around before seeing Zecora with a panicked look on her face, making her quickly dart backwards against the corner.

With her back against the wall and Zecora in front of her, Rarity's breathing came out more rapidly as she sat on the floor in shock. Realizing what just happened, Rarity's breathing came out shakily, knowing that this situation couldn’t be forgotten like last time.

Clenching her eyes shut, Rarity tried to avoid looking at the zebra, who was now standing in front of her with a worried look. With her heavy breathing coming out close to gasps, the unicorn knew this couldn't be blamed on anything else. Neither of them were drunk. Rarity wasn't too inebriated to say she didn’t intend what was going to happen. She did it on her own. She was about to kiss Zecora.

She… wanted to kiss her.

Rarity began to cower and lowered her head to her hooves again, her voice coming out in a whimpered creak as she struggled not to cry.

Though she didn’t want to risk getting attacked, Zecora took caution to the wind as she came forward, taking a deep breath before she lifted a hoof to Rarity's shoulder. Rarity jolted at the sudden touch, making her sit upright again as she tried to keep some distance between her and the zebra. Looking into Rarity's welling eyes, Zecora bit her lip in worry, not wanting everything to go wrong so soon.

"Rarity…" said Zecora in a hushed tone, waiting a moment to make sure that Rarity wouldn’t try to run away again. Seeing that the unicorn was going to stay still—at least for now—Zecora took a deep breath before she continued.

"Please… please don't be afraid…There are no mistakes that have been made…"

"But—" Rarity sputtered as she sat with a fearful look on her face, "But… but I…"

Even though she wanted to say something at that moment, Zecora kept her muzzle shut as she sat down, lowering herself at eye-level with Rarity. Waiting to see what the unicorn would say, Zecora sat patiently and kept a warm look on her face.

"I…" muttered the mare as her breathing started to become less shaky, "I… I think… I…"

Taking a deep (and fairly shaky) breath, Rarity closed her eyes, keeping them clenched shut as she tried to collect herself. Realizing what she was about to do, the unicorn could barely keep herself upright as she thought about everything.

Remembering her drunken kiss, and her broken moment with Thunderlane, and everything else that had happened over the past couple weeks, Rarity knew that she couldn't keep ignoring everything. With all the facts in front of her, staring at her just as clearly as Zecora was right now, Rarity slowly exhaled before she made her faint admission.

"I... think… I wanted to… kiss you…"

Hearing that, Zecora's heart skipped a beat for a moment, almost making her break her stern gaze on the unicorn in front of her. However, the zebra kept her composure as she took a deep breath, taking a moment before she spoke calmly.

"You should not worry… this is not bad…There's no reason for you to feel sad."

"But!" Rarity said in a quick burst, looking back at Zecora again before she tried to add, "but I… I never… I never even thought of doing that kind of thing befo—"

Zecora quickly silenced Rarity's ramblings with a hoof against her lips. As she gently held her hoof up to quiet the mare, Zecora kept a faint smile on her face as she spoke.

"Sometimes, we do things we never have thought. While some are done badly, others are not…"

Zecora slowly removed her hoof from Rarity's muzzle, instead placing it on her cheek before she continued in a slow and soothing tone.

"Remember what I said, earlier tonight?"

Keeping herself silent, Rarity only nodded a little as she stared at the zebra, wide-eyed.

"What I said, is that you should do what feels right…"

Hearing that, Rarity closed her mouth and swallowed some excess saliva. Closing her eyes, Rarity tried to clear her mind as she breathed in, not wanting anything to distract her right now. 

As Zecora sat in front of her in silence, waiting to see how she would react, Rarity clenched her eyes shut as she breathed deeply. Thinking about Zecora's words, the unicorn didn't say anything as she focused on her thoughts, barely giving the zebra any evidence of what she was thinking about besides some faint twitches from her muzzle.

After almost a minute of reflection, Rarity reopened her mouth slightly, letting herself breathe in deeper than before. Slowly, the mare reopened her eyes, letting herself look straight at the face of the zebra in front of her.

Looking into her deep blue eyes, full of more wisdom and mystery than she ever thought was possible, Rarity's mind felt a lot clearer as she slowly exhaled. Unlike earlier, Rarity's breath came out smoothly, with no shaking or evidence of any hesitation whatsoever.

After a second of silence, Rarity quickly moved her head forward, catching Zecora off-guard as the unicorn lunged in and kissed her on the lips. Clenching her eyes shut, Rarity only focused on what she was feeling as she pressed her lips against the zebra's, taking this moment to its advantage as she felt that familiar warmth once more.

Feeling the unicorn's soft lips against her, Zecora didn't budge one inch from her spot. Instead, the zebra's eyes began to falter as her wide-eyed stance slowly turned to a half-closed gaze. As her lips tasted Rarity again, Zecora savored this moment and closed her eyes, her heart fluttering as she realized this was really happening.

After all the countless times she spent recalling the first time they kissed, Zecora couldn't be happier about it happening again, which made her push her muzzle in as she kissed back.

Feeling the zebra's kiss on her lips, Rarity's mind became clear for the first time. With all the past confusion and tensions brushed aside, all that the unicorn felt now was an amazing warmth flowing through her body, tingling every sense in ways she’d never imagined before. Tasting the zebra's lips as her hot breath brushed against her muzzle, Rarity knew that she never felt this kind of euphoric pleasure in her entire life; the warmth, the scent, the taste, all of it came together in a beautiful combination, leaving only a single moment that the unicorn could say felt perfect.

After a moment of pure bliss, Rarity slowly pulled back, letting her lips escape Zecora's before she slowly opened her eyes. Looking at the blushing zebra before her, the unicorn knew that Zecora was right: she was able to feel that sort of way for another.

Much like their first kiss, Rarity felt no regrets. No hesitation. No form of displeasure or remorse at all. Instead, all that the unicorn could feel was pure, unbridled joy. A warm joy in her heart, which was growing through the rest of her body. And the best part was, not a single drop of alcohol was involved this time.

After several seconds of heavy breathing between the two as they stared at each other's eyes, Rarity didn’t need to say anything as she began to smile. And in less than an instant, their lips came together once more.