//------------------------------// // 25 of 50 // Story: The Seamstress and The Librarian // by Monochromatic //------------------------------// The Seamstress and the Librarian 25 of 50 by Monochromatic #01 - Catch “Rarityyyy, come on, it’s just one quick flight above Ponyville. I’ll be careful,” Twilight insisted, flying a few feet above Rarity and waving her hoof in a beckoning motion. Ever since she’d overheard the unicorn express a certain nostalgia towards that one time she had been given wings, Twilight had become determined to let her somewhat relive that experience. “It’ll be like when you had wings, remember?” “I also remember plummeting to my certain death shortly afterwards,” she dryly remarked, raising an eyebrow as she looked up at the alicorn. “I’d rather not relive that experience, thank you.” “I promise I’ll catch you if you fall.” Rarity observed Twilight for a few seconds, deep in thought, before finally saying: “You know, if you hadn’t just admitted to the possibility that you may indeed accidentally drop me, I might have said yes.” #02 - Hero Even after everything Twilight Sparkle had done for Equestria, the citizens of the kingdom all continued to treat her with the same indifference they had always treated her with; while Twilight herself didn’t particularly mind, it was Rarity who was deeply offended by it. Trotting their way around Canterlot, the unicorn glared at all the insultingly disrespectful ponies around them. What, did Twilight have to wear a banner that said “MY FRIENDS AND I SAVED ALL YOUR LIVES MULTIPLE TIMES” in order to get a shred of recognition? “Honestly,” she began, “after all you’ve done for these ungrateful ponies, they should be worshipping you like the hero you are!” Twilight couldn’t hide her blush as she turned around to look at the unicorn. “Rarity, please, it really doesn’t matter. They’re all starting to stare…” “Well, let them!” “Rarity….” #03 - Breathe Twilight found the entire world to be different following Rarity’s positive reaction to being her very special somepony; stepping out of Carousel Boutique and trotting off, it felt to the alicorn as if even the air was different: maybe it was the smell of cupcakes wafting out of Sugarcube Corner, or maybe it was the flowers, or maybe it was just that everything smelled sweeter now that Rarity liked her back. #04 - Ring “Twilight, sweetheart, you had no way of knowing Opal would eat the cupcake with the ring inside,” Rarity soothed, sitting down and nuzzling the absolutely miserable Twilight. The alicorn — having spent the last hour sitting at the table, face buried in-between her hooves — muttered to herself that she was never going to follow Pinkie Pie’s advice ever again. #05 - Box (cont. of #04) “Oh Rarity, I’m so sorry,” Twilight apologised for the tenth time, a day later, when both mares found themselves reluctantly staring at Opalescence’s freshly used litter box. Rarity replied by putting on plastic gloves and saying, “Darling, it doesn’t matter, c’est la vie — I just hope you understand that I won’t be putting it on until it’s been soaking in disinfectant for at least a week…” #06 - Wings When Twilight had just recently ascended to princesshood, Rainbow would frequently spend time in the library with her to give the alicorn tips on dealing with the new wings. One such time, Rarity had barged into the library without notice, startling Twilight’s wing into splaying apart. Rainbow noticed the instant reaction, and though she knew Twilight had truly and honestly been spooked by the unicorn running in asking for a book, she couldn’t resist teasing: “Woah, Twi, I know you like Rarity, but I didn’t know you like her that much!” “R-RAINBOW DASH!” #7 - Gravity The rays of Luna’s moonlight filtered through the windows and into Rarity’s room inside Carousel Boutique, where Rarity and Twilight already lay snuggled up in in bed. The seamstress was lying on her back, a pink sleeping masked placed neatly over her eyes, and her forelegs crossed on top of her chest. Twilight, on the other hoof, kept fidgeting around. Lying down on her side, she kept twisting her head around and glancing back at the unicorn, biting down on her lower lip in an attempt to stop the sneaky smile on her face. "Twilight, it’s midnight," Rarity said all of a sudden, breaking the silence in the room. "Please, try to go to sleep, won’t you? We need to wake up early." Twilight was quiet for a brief moment before turning around on her side and facing Rarity. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something,” she apologized, observing the unicorn. “It’s just that—” Her sneaky smile returned. “I was reading this really interesting book about anti-gravity.” Rarity lifted her hoof to stifle a yawn. “That’s nice, darling,” she murmured, putting her forelegs back on top of her chest. "Yeah," Twilight said before giggling and adding: "It was impossible to put down.” Rarity was very still for an entire minute before slowly reaching over to take off her sleeping mask and turning to stare at Twilight. “You woke me up for this?” Twilight started giggling again, biting down on her lip and reaching over to take one of Rarity’s forelegs. “Oh, come on, it’s really funny!” she said, shaking Rarity’s foreleg slightly. Rarity raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes, awfully funny with an emphasis on the awful." "Okay, maybe not that funny,” Twilight admitted, a little smile still painted on her face. “Sorry I kept you up with my ‘awful’ jokes." Rarity rolled her eyes playfully before embracing Twilight and planting a kiss on her forehead. “You know," she murmured, idly brushing Twilight's mane with her hoof, "life without you would be like a broken pencil.” "A broken pencil?" asked Twilight, looking up. "Yes," Rarity grinned. "Pointless." "Oh my gosh, and you say my jokes are awful!” #8 - Hurricane When Rarity realised just how deeply she had fallen for Twilight and what it meant for their relationship, it felt as if she had inadvertently stepped inside a hurricane — but yet, despite the entire spectrum of emotions whirling inside her, Rarity wanted nothing more than to be at the center of the storm. #9 - Critique (*) The entrance lobby of Canterlot's theatre house was bustling with excited ponies, all ready to see the grand premiere of "The Phantom of the Stable". "Rarity, I will walk out if you do it again," Twilight warned, standing in front of the entrance to the theatre room. "Last time I was barely able to hear what they were saying." Rarity rolled her eyes, groaning. "Twilight, it was only three times! Honestly, you're acting as if I had made a remark about every single costume!" "You did! I felt like I was watching a live version of Fashion Police!" Twilight exclaimed, stomping her hoof on the floor. "I'm not going through that again!" "But, Twilight, some of those thi—" "Rarity, I swear I'll start very loudly singing along to the songs!" Twilight threatened, only for Rarity to look confused by her threat. "Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" she asked, blinking at the alicorn. "You have a very lovely voice, darling. In fact, you should sing! Perhaps they'll ask you to audition, and I can sneak along as your manager and have a stern talk with whoever is behind those disastrous costumes!" "Rarity, that's not what I— oh gosh, just forget it..." #10 - View Sitting on one of the highest balconies of Twilight’s castle, Rarity and Twilight admired the magnificent view they had of Ponyville. The sun was beginning to set in the horizon, and it was these moments that made Twilight miss her old home a little less. “You know, Twilight,” Rarity suddenly said. “ I think this may be my all-time favorite view.” #11 - Line (cont. of #10) Twilight turned to Rarity, intent on agreeing with the statement, but found the unicorn looking right at her; realizing that she herself was Rarity’s “favorite view”, Twilight turned her head back towards the horizon, blushing slightly and rolling her eyes. “Geez, Rarity, from which one of your cheesy novels did you steal that line from?” #12 - Lies As long as Spike held feelings for Rarity, no matter what their intensity, Twilight Sparkle would never dare try anything with the unicorn; as such, everything she did was deceitful: loving gazes were passed off as casual curious glances, lingering hugs were just “trying to figure out what scent shampoo Rarity wore”, frequent visits to Carousel Boutique were just a “growing interest in fashion design”. She had thought she was alone in that respect, until the day Rainbow Dash jokingly asked Rarity if there was “somepony special” in her life, to which the unicorn replied by very subtly glancing at Twilight before laughing and shaking her head. Twilight didn’t know if it was comforting or depressing to know that she wasn’t the only one living in lies. #13 - Fire (cont. of #12) Spike wanted to hate them both. They thought he hadn’t noticed, but of course he had, and he wanted to hate them for it. He wanted to hate Rarity for gripping his heart and wanted to hate her for letting her own heart be taken by somepony else. He wanted to hate Twilight for being said somepony else and wanted to hate her for letting herself fall for Rarity — but he couldn’t. How could he hate them when it was them who loved him so much they’d rather deny themselves of each other than hurt him? It almost felt like it would hurt less if they were just honest with him and let the fire inside him burn out, instead of unknowingly trying to put it out with alcohol instead of water. #14 - Cover When a friendly picnic between the six best friends was interrupted by an unexpected downpour, Rarity — not wanting her new dress to get wet — scrambled to cover herself from the rain. “H-Hey, Rarity, my wing isn’t an umbrella!” Twilight exclaimed, watching as the unicorn sheltered herself under her feathery appendage. “But Twiliiiiiight…” #15 - Dream After Rarity made the choice to go live in Manehattan for a few years, everypony supported her; after all, it was her lifelong dream to make it big in such a bustling city, and though they were all sad, they sent her off with a smile — yet, despite this, some part of Twilight couldn’t help but feel that Rarity going away for so long wasn’t so much a dream as it was a nightmare. #16 -Silence Twilight was always able to handle fights with Rarity: she could deal with the screams, the whining, the complaining and the shrieking. What Twilight could not stand, however, was the rare times where Rarity expressed her anger with complete and utter silence, mindlessly agreeing with everything Twilight said just to avoid talking. Yelling meant that Rarity was just being her dramatic self, but silence meant she had really upset the unicorn. She turned to look at Rarity, sitting on the couch with her nose buried in a fashion magazine she was probably only pretending to read. It was with difficulty that Twilight swallowed her pride and said: “Rarity? I’m sorry.” Rarity was quiet for a second before answering: “All right, Twilight.” With that, once more did silence find its way into the room and making Twilight painfully aware of the implications of its presence. Who knew that silence could be so loud? #17 - Dense Rarity had known for a while that the day was coming. All those flustered smiles Twilight would give her, all those hugs that were five seconds longer than the ones the alicorn gave the others, all those little signs that meant so much more than Twilight probably cared to show. Rarity always tried to make it obvious that she knew what Twilight felt; she tried giving off signs of her own, but Twilight was as adorably dense as ever. Goodness, it sometimes felt like a lost cause until that moment when it would look as if Twilight had caught on, only to completely misinterpret what Rarity had done or said. #18 - Liquor (cont. of #17) It happened on a particularly beautiful night, right as they were walking back from one of Pinkie’s more intense parties. Since Twilight wasn’t all that good at holding her liquor, Rarity had tasked herself with making sure the alicorn would get home safely, lest Ponyville finds their princess snoring away in a bush the next morning. Rarity had been watching the starry sky as they walked, listening to the sobering Twilight’s ramble on how she was “never having five glasses of Pinkie’s Special Brew again”. Her speech was interrupted when a shooting star flashed across the sky, prompting Rarity to excitedly stomp her hooves against the floor. “Oh! Make a wish!” she interrupted, closing her eyes and making a wish of her own. Twilight, on the other hoof, simply stared at the spot where the shooting star had appeared and stated: “That doesn’t work,”— she clutched her head —” and don’t scream so loud.” Once they arrived to the castle, Rarity opened the door before turning to Twilight and asking: “So, what was your wish? Did you wish for somepony to fall madly in love with you?” she teased, grinning slightly. “I didn’t make one,” Twilight replied, the blush on her cheeks giving her away. “Besides, that sounds more like your kind of wish.” Rarity was quiet for a minute, considering her reply before finally saying: “Darling, I don’t need to make such a wish! I already know the pony I like happens to like me back?” Another brief pause before taking the plunge and adding: “Don’t you, Twilight?” Rarity had never seen someone sober up faster. #19 - Forever (cont. of #18) Forever was the promise Rarity made to Twilight that night under the twinkling stars; forever was the lie Rarity had to face when Twilight broke up with her under the scorching July sun; forever was the amount of time that blood would drip down Rarity’s cracked heart as she heard a teary, blissfully happy Twilight whisper ‘I do’ to somepony else. #20 - Mask (cont. of #19) Rarity had become quite adept at wearing a mask to hide her true feelings. A veil was necessary, after all, in her industry where everything was sewn together by the thread of secrets and false appearances. A princess’s wedding was no different than a fashion show: everypony parading around in designer gowns and suits, some simply wanting to celebrate and others with hidden intentions — like Blueblood, talking to Twilight over there in the distance. He had been going on and on about what a wonderful friendship he had with Twilight, and how he had always been there for her. Disgusting. I ought to throw my tiara in his face. "Excuse-me, miss?" Rarity turned around to find a handsome unicorn stallion smiling at her, his cheeks tinted pink. Grinning, he bowed down as if though she were Princess Celestia herself. "May I have this dance?" She glanced back up towards Blueblood, and though he had moved on to conquer the good favours of Twilight's partner, the alicorn princess herself was looking back at Rarity with a rather undecipherable expression. For the first time, Rarity wasn't able to look past Twilight's own mask, and for the first time, she was glad she couldn't. #21 - Smile (cont. of #20) And then, Twilight offered her that damnably adorable smile; and then, her carefully constructed mask started to crack. Why was Twilight smiling? Was she encouraging Rarity to accept the stallion's invitation? It wouldn't be surprising if the alicorn thought that was the best way to encourage Rarity to get over her, but the action only filled Rarity with indignation. How dare she try and "help" her move on? Or… Or maybe that smile was just that: a gesture of kindness. Maybe there was no underlying meaning, no hidden message, only a way to say "I'm glad you're here" — that was worse than the other option. How dare she be oblivious to the pain she had caused? What, did she expect Rarity to smile back? Well, she didn't want to smile back. She wanted to ignore Twilight and show how angry she was — but she didn't. So she mended the crack in her mask and grinned back because, as much as she hated the alicorn, she loved her a million times more. #22 - Run (cont. of #21) Several knocks at Rarity's door in the middle of the night woke her up. She knew who it was before she had even come down to open the door. Another fight between Ponyville's princess and the love of her life, no doubt. Minutes later, and after taking a deep breath, Rarity opened the door and lo and behold, her prediction had been correct: there was Twilight, looking down at the floor with reddened eyes and a most pitiful expression. Rarity wished the sight still didn't break her heart. "Sorry," Twilight sniffed, hoofing at the ground and rubbing away her tears. "It's just that I knew you'd be up," she lied, because she knew perfectly well Rarity always went to bed early. She also knew, however, that Rarity would always open the door for her. "It's alright, darling. I was finishing up a dress, but I was nearly done with it, anyway," Rarity played along, extending her arm and wrapping it around the alicorn who gratefully accepted the gesture. "Why don't you tell me what happened over a warm cup of tea, hm?" she continued, feeling the alicorn nod against her. Another night of consoling Twilight; another night of watching the alicorn fall back in love with the one who'd hurt her; and another night of sleeping in the spare room, knowing morning would come, and Twilight would run off to somepony else. She wasn't able to hold back a soft sigh. "I'm sorry, Rarity." Sorry? Sorry for what? For always coming to Carousel Boutique when the lights of Pinkie's room in Sugarcube Corner were always lit until early morning? Sorry for hurting her by knowingly seeking her comfort, knowing the unicorn would never turn her away? After all, when Rarity had said 'forever' that night long ago, Twilight knew it hadn't been a lie. #23 - Cold Despite being inside Sugarcube Corner, the cold winter air still made its way into the establishment and surrounded the seven friends gathered there. Twilight was grateful she and Spike had decided to wear warm scarves and boots, but she was concerned to see Rarity wasn’t wearing any sort of winter clothing. She was only sitting there, the tip of her now blue nose shaking slightly along with the rest of her body. Twilight used to believe the unicorn would rather be caught dead than out and about on a winter’s day without her fluffiest boots, warmest scarf and cutest earmuffs, but it turned out she might have been wrong. Once the unicorn had let out a little sneeze, Twilight finally took measures. “Rarity.” When the unicorn turned towards her, she extended her wing and invited her to take shelter — invitation which Rarity gladly accepted, cuddling up to the alicorn as Twilight enveloped her wing around her. "Geez, Rarity, you should just start calling Twilight your portable blanket,” Rainbow Dash teased, playfully rolling her eyes and adjusting her own scarf. Still tightly wrapped in a warm winged hug, Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash with an air of indignation. “Well, wouldn’t you keep your marefriend warm if you noticed she’s cold?” she asked receiving another eyeroll from Dash, who then went on to finish her previous conversation. Twilight, meanwhile, turned down to look at Rarity, frowning slightly. “Rarity, you’re going to catch a cold at this rate. I don’t mind keeping you warm, but this is the sixth day in a row you’ve forgotten your scarf! It’s almost like you’re doing it on purpose.” Fluttering her eyelashes, Rarity innocently replied: “Me? Never.” #24 - Gratitude The morning after a ghastly day in Canterlot, in which a rather renowned designer had completely destroyed Rarity’s newest spring line, the unicorn was absolutely inconsolable. Hugging the pillow of her hotel bed as if her life depended on it, she couldn't stop thinking about how the review must have already been printed in all the up and coming fashion magazines for all of Equestria to see. Exile was the only solution. Her grim thoughts were interrupted by three knocks on the door. She miserably dragged herself off the bed, and upon opening the door, she was both surprised and relieved to see Twilight on the other side. "I… I read what that jerk said," Twilight confessed, a copy of a fashion magazine sticking from out of the bag she was carrying. "I thought you shouldn't be alone right now. The others are coming by train, but I flew over because it's faster. I hope that's oka--" Rarity didn't let Twilight finish her sentence, silently thanking the alicorn by rushing over and hugging her with all her strength. #25 - Fall (cont. of #24) Tears stinging at her eyes, Rarity buried herself in Twilight’s chest and thanked her over and over for coming, to which Twilight replied by holding her closer and whispering, “Hey, I promised I’d always catch you if you fell, didn’t I?”