Moondancer anxiously scanned the crowds of ponies passing by on the sidewalk outside the restaurant and struggled in vain to stop her leg from nervously twitching under the table. Calm down, Dancer, it's just lunch. Even celebrities have to eat, right? She scoffed at her own platitudes. Yes, they ate, but normally they ate with other ponies of their own caste, not doe-eyed swooning fans who couldn't find a damn thing in her closet to wear for Celestia's sake. The unicorn frowned down at her emerald green A-line dress and the muted eggplant blazer she'd finally settled on. She'd regretted the decision immediately upon leaving the house, but she'd already wasted an hour pulling every stitch of clothing she owned out of her closet and her drawers and throwing them all aside in turn. This would have to do, even though she knew it wouldn't.
She glanced out at the street again. She was early, so she wasn't expecting to see Rarity coming just yet, but it wouldn't do to miss her arrival and be thought rude for not greeting her at the door. Or would Rarity prefer to be seated by the hostess? Moondancer felt a thrill of panic as she cast her mind back over the four dozen articles she'd reread the night before, desperately hoping to glean some additional information about her date. Wait, date? Moondancer shook her head. Her...companion. No, her...guest? What even was this? A lunch date. Fine. Her face fell into a frustrated pout. Whatever it was, she was quite positive she was going to blow it.
In truth, she was stunned that it was happening at all. While Moondancer knew Rarity was not the type of pony to make promises--even vague ones--and then break them, she still had left the reception hall the night of the Moda Festicciola with no illusions that the implied lunch meeting would ever happen. She was perfectly willing to content herself with the short, albeit surprisingly personable conversation they'd had at the show. So complete was this expectation that when Shinel had contacted her the next morning to see if she was available that afternoon, she'd had to read the message three times before she believed it was genuine. She'd responded almost immediately in the affirmative, and received a similarly swift confirmation, as well as an address and a time. She'd taken the hour before her lunch break off to go home and re-evaluate her wardrobe.
Now she was alternately glancing at the clock on the wall, scanning the passing faces outside the restaurant, and taking sips of water to slake the nervous dryness in her mouth. She'd already gotten two refills in the twenty minutes she'd been waiting, and somehow every time she thought she might have glanced Rarity striding down the sidewalk, her mouth was instantly a sticky, foul-tasting Sahara again. Like now, her mouth was already going cottony at the sight of some random white-coated pony walking down the opposite side of the street, even though it was impossible that Rarity could go anywhere alone, or in such a simple--albeit admittedly fetching--blue mushroom hat with a narrow silver band and a single white peacock feather stuck in the--
It's her!
Moondancer's breath caught in her throat as she realized the unicorn under the hat was the one she was waiting for. Rarity demurely glanced one direction up the street, then back, and then trotted lightly across the road with a shallow smile on her face. Everypony she passed hesitated and watched her go with expressions of wonder, as though unsure what to make of the stylishly appointed, immaculately made up pony sauntering casually through the city. Moondancer immediately set to panicking. She frantically rearranged the table setting to no meaningful effect, preened her blazer lapels to remove nonexistent wrinkles, and poked at her mane to try and coax some style into it. The hair protested this interference by loosing a few strands to dangle in front of her glasses. Moondancer started to try and wrangle the rogue hairs before she was frozen solid by Rarity's radiant smile as the unicorn entered the restaurant and immediately identified her.
"Moondancer, darling!" Rarity trotted across the room, weaving effortlessly among the crowded tables.
"Rarity!" Moondancer stumbled to her hooves to greet the unicorn, forcing a smile to her face. "I didn't expect you for another ten minutes." She blinked as Rarity casually leaned into a one-hoofed hug before taking her seat.
"Oh, I know, darling, but I simply could not wait another moment. I can't tell you how excited I have been, just waiting to come and do lunch with you!" She beamed.
Moondancer's thoughts slowly ground back into motion from the unexpected embrace. "I...uh...really? Wow," she breathed, settling back into her seat. "I...honestly I kind of expected you to be, well...fashionably late, so to speak."
Rarity laughed, a light, musical sound. "Oh, how gauche! As though I would dare to keep one of my oldest fans waiting. You haven't been here long, I hope?"
Moondancer shrugged. "No, not too long," she lied. "I mean, I did want to be a little early, just so I didn't, you know...disappoint." She grimaced inwardly at how sycophantic she sounded, forcing another smile to her face.
Rarity looked her over with a puzzled expression. "Is everything alright, dear? You seem very nervous."
"Nervous?" Moondancer laughed nervously. "Of course not. Why in Equestria should I be nervous?"
Rarity raised an eyebrow at her. "Why indeed," she mused. An awkward silence stretched between them for several seconds before Moondancer finally exhaled forcefully in defeat.
"Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I'm nervous!" She flailed her hooves in Rarity's direction. "I mean, you're Rarity the Unicorn, and you're sitting across the table from me like it's no big deal, but it is a big deal! It's a huge deal! I've been your biggest fan for years, even before you did the costumes for Zigfilly Follies and premiered in Hoity Toity's boutique for the first time, and now you're here, and you're talking to me personally and asking if everything's alright!" She huffed and slumped back into her chair, discouraged. "And I was really trying not to be nervous, because I wanted this to be just, like...I don't know, like friends chatting over lunch." She frowned. "And I blew it."
To Moondancer's surprise, Rarity suddenly burst into a grin. "Thank goodness!" she said. Moondancer raised an eyebrow at her. "I was hoping you'd be able to actually say something, instead of just pretending it was nothing and spending the whole time tap dancing around trying to 'act normal'."
"You...you were?" Moondancer asked.
Rarity nodded. "Of course. Darling, I'm a celebrity. I know how ponies get around me. I mean, did you not see how the crowd parted as I walked up here today?" She pursed her lips and shook her head. "One might expect me to get used to such treatment, but it does get lonely sometimes. " She smiled at Moondancer. "And I was rather hoping, after our conversation last night, that you might be able to overcome the inclination to treat me with kid gloves, as 'twere."
"Oh," Moondancer said, caught off-guard. "You did?"
"Yes, you see, I'm quite used to fans coming up and gushing, fawning, even fainting or, from time to time, proposing," she grinned and winked at Moondancer, who managed a genuine smile at the gesture. "But I'm somewhat less experienced in having ponies so...dedicated and yet so comfortable around me, like you were." The grin faded a bit. "And I had hoped you would maintain that comfort tête-à-tête." Now it disappeared entirely. "A foolish hope, I suppose, for the famed."
"No, it...it's not foolish," Moondancer said, shaking her head and reaching across the table to touch Rarity's hoof. "It just...well, I guess I just got myself worked up, is all. I mean..." She smiled as Rarity gave her a curious look. "It would be silly to pretend this isn't a big deal for me, right? I couldn't really call myself your biggest fan if I didn't get just a little flustered by the idea of having lunch with you, could I?" The smile widened into a sheepish grin.
Rarity chuckled softly. "I suppose not. Still, you did say you were imagining something along the lines of friends chatting over lunch, weren't you?" Moondancer nodded. "Well, as it happens I was imagining rather the same thing."
"Really?"
Rarity nodded and smiled. "Absolutely. It isn't often I get to simply go out alone and meet with a friend to share a meal and talk, especially not when I'm on a business trip, as I am this week."
"Right," Moondancer said, "because you still live in Ponyville, don't you?" Rarity nodded. "So your Ponyville friends don't come to your shows in Canterlot?"
Rarity laughed. "Oh, dear, could you imagine? No, no, I have so many shows and conventions and conferences and openings and showings these days that it would exceptionally rude of me to expect them to come to even one in twenty, especially considering how busy they all are with their own lives."
"That's too bad," Moondancer said. "Do they at least get to see your designs?"
Rarity pursed her lips. "Well, they certainly could, but..." She shrugged. "Not everypony appreciates fashion. They support me as best they can, but I understand they don't necessarily...care."
"I'm sure they care!" Moondancer scoffed. "Just because it's not their favorite hobby, they have to know how much it means to you."
"Oh, they do," Rarity agreed. "But unlike, say, Rainbow Dash's accomplishments with the Wonderbolts or Twilight's litany of advances in friendship magic, my...well, let's call them moderate successes in the world of fashion pale in comparison. To them, anyway," she amended, her face falling slightly.
Moondancer frowned. "That's not fair. If they were truly your friends, they'd at least make an effort to understand why what you do is so...amazing."
Rarity chuckled softly. "Oh, I couldn't expect that. And they are truly my friends, darling, they simply don't share my interests. It's alright," she said, waving a hoof. "We still have plenty in common, and we still have great fun together doing thing we all appreciate. Fashion is simply not one of those things."
"Well, do you have any close friends who do like fashion that much?"
Rarity tilted her head. "Well, my foster daughter does. But of course, she has her own friends, and her own interests, so we cross paths very rarely, and when we do, we typically talk about things she likes, and the things she's up to." The unicorn smiled broadly. "And I wouldn't want it any other way." She shook her head. "No, darling, I'm afraid I simply must content myself with my legions of fans and massive critical acclaim." She grinned slyly.
Moondancer smirked in response, but shook her head. "Fans and critics are one thing, but somepony like you deserves to have a close friend you can talk to about the stuff you like to do." There was a short pause while Moondancer momentarily considered the wisdom of what she was about to say before she threw caution to the wind and blurted, "I could be that friend."
Rarity blinked. "Oh! Well, that's certainly kind of you to offer," she said, blushing lightly, "but surely you have your own friends and interests that you already spend time on."
Moondancer shrugged, her confidence feeding itself. "Sure, but they don't really get fashion, so we don't really talk about it much." She smiled. "It would be nice to have somepony to talk to who actually understands me when I say your Fall Collection IV was an amazing success of multi-centennial retro-chic that recalled and glorified four different decades from four different centuries without losing the identity of the era you introduced it in."
Rarity's face lit up as though Moondancer had flipped a switch. "Oh, my! You must really be a fan if you remember Fall IV!"
"Remember it?" Moondancer scoffed. "Who could forget it? It was legendary. An upset of fashion norms that shook the whole industry. Mock Dandy even tried to get you banned from the Canterlot Couture show that year for it."
Rarity grinned. "Yes, well, Dandy always was something of a sensitive sort. Well, what do you say we place our orders before we get lost in conversation and forget to eat, shall we?" She cast a gentle gaze over Moondancer's shoulder and gave a ghost of a wink to an unseen waiter.
Moondancer blinked and looked down at the empty table in front of her. In truth, she'd managed somehow to forget that this was a lunch meeting at all. Her stomach growled, begrudgingly glad to be remembered. "Oh yeah, I guess we should."
A pleasant young stallion with a burnt orange coat and a genuine smile appeared at her side. "And what can I get you lovely mares?"
Rarity didn't break eye contact with the colt. "I would love a salad of the chef's delight, please, and a bottle of '23 Chateau Cristal, please."
The waiter blinked. "Uh...I'm not sure we have any Chateau Cristal in stock, ma'am."
Rarity nodded. "You do, darling. I called ahead to be certain."
"Oh, well alright then." The smile was back. "Chef's delight and '23 Cristal. Um..." He hesitated for a moment. "I'm afraid you will have to pay for the bottle once I open it, regardless of--"
Rarity nodded again, waving a hoof to cut him off. "I know, darling. It's fine." She smiled and batted her eyelashes at him. "And do make sure the check for both of us makes its way into my hoof, won't you?"
Moondancer's ears pricked and she looked up from scanning the menu. "What? No, no way! Rarity, you don't have to do that; I can pay for myself."
Rarity smiled. "I'm sure you can, my dear, but I did rather lasso you into this, and I did ask you to meet me at a...well, not inexpensive restaurant. It would be quite rude of me to expect you to pay your own way."
Moondancer frowned at the menu. The prices were listed in whole numbers, typical of a high-cost establishment. They were also well out of the range she would normally have paid for any but the most exceptional of occasions. She scanned the price list, hunting for the smallest number. "I guess I'll have..."
Before she could finish, Rarity spoke up. "And please don't order cheaply on my account, darling. Order what you want, and hang the cost. This is my treat."
Moondancer smiled sheepishly at her date. "That's very kind of you, Rarity, but--"
"No buts, darling. I insist."
The unicorn sighed. "Oh, alright. I'll have the çoban salatası, then. Light on the onions, please."
The waiter nodded. "Very good, ma'am." The menus floated up off the table and into his possession, and he disappeared from their tableside.
Rarity put her hooves together and rested her chin on them. "Now, I know we were just discussing my frankly ancient accomplishments, but I must confess I'm rather more interested in learning more about you." She suddenly assumed an expression of utter disappointment. "Specifically your shocking failure to come to any of my shows."
Moondancer swallowed dryly. "Oh, well...I would, but..."
"Your work," Rarity interrupted her. "I recall. What is it, if you don't mind my asking, that you do that would keep you so busy?"
"I'm a professor at Canterlot University," Moondancer said. "I teach Sociological Magic, with a focus in Subconscious Psychosociological Theory and Friendship Magic, notably the impact of group dynamics on the--" She suddenly stopped, her cheeks coloring. "I'm sorry, you don't care about all those details."
"Au contraire," Rarity said, "I very much do care. It never ceases to amaze me the myriad walks of life my fans hail from. What in Equestria drew you to fashion?"
Moondancer shrugged. "It's just always been something I found fascinating. Not really something I could do, exactly, but...I like nice clothes, and I like the history and the patterns and...I don't really know," she concluded. "Looking at beautiful clothing has always just...made me happy, you know?"
Rarity smiled and nodded. "I do."
Moondancer blushed. "Well, that is, of course you do. Why else would you be such a great designer if you didn't...not that you couldn't be otherwise, but--"
"Darling, relax," Rarity soothed. "Remember, we're just having lunch. This isn't an interview, it isn't a meeting, it's just two ponies sharing an hour of their time with one another." She smiled. "Nothing to be nervous about."
"Right, sorry," Moondancer said. Then after moment's silence, she blurted, "It's just, it's easy enough for you to relax and just sit and eat with me. Who am I? Just one of your thousands and thousands of fans. If I somehow got upset or offended, you could just let me go on my way and have Spinel--"
"Shinel," Rarity corrected gently.
"Yeah, him. You could just have him contact the next pony in line and forget all about me." Moondancer frowned. "But if I offended you...if I made you angry at me, or upset you somehow..." She shook her head. "I've been such a huge fan of yours for so long. I don't want to blow a chance like this."
Rarity studied her for a long moment. "Moondancer," she finally said, "why do you think I had Shinel invite you out to lunch today?"
Moondancer shrugged. "I guess...because I spent all those bits just to see you after the show without seeing the show?"
Rarity shook her head. "No, if I intended to reward--forgive my turn of phrase--'fanatical dedication', as it were, then the list of ponies who have spent more, waited longer, done things more extreme to catch my attention is long, and your name is very, very low on it."
"Oh," Moondancer said softly. "I'm sorry."
"No, darling, don't be sorry," Rarity said, a hint of frustration in her voice. "I only meant...please understand, being famous, being wealthy, such things come with certain side effects unrelated to what exactly it is that made you rich or famous. I have sycophants and solicitors because of where I am, but I got there because of ponies like you. Ponies who have always been there, before I was famous, before my name appeared first or second on any VIP list in Canterlot or Manehattan." She smiled broadly. "I owe all of my fans for my success, but none moreso than those who believed in me from the very beginning."
Moondancer's face burned as Rarity's flattery rolled over her. "But...but why me, then? Surely there are other fans...other ponies who've followed you the whole way, been to every show. I've never been to one," she repeated softly.
Rarity smirked. "Indeed. So why would you be such a dedicated fan, if you have never even had opportunity to see the designs in pony?"
The unicorn blinked. "Why?"
"Yes, why. What is it about 'Rarity the Unicorn' that so enthralls you?"
Moondancer just stared at her for a long moment. "What doesn't?" she finally blurted. "I mean, okay, first of all, you grew up in a rustic backwater--sorry, I mean Ponyville," she said, wincing.
Rarity giggled. "Yes, I know, Ponyville is hardly Manehattan. Continue."
"Right..." Moondancer said. "Anyway, you grew up basically in the middle of nowhere, your parents were middle class, uh...well, not-famous ponies," she stumbled as she avoided using the word 'noponies', "you had no formal training or design education, and yet you managed to start your own business, and after just a few tourists from Canterlot came home from Ponyville wearing your designs, Clotheshorse sent somepony to check you out." Moondancer started to wave a hoof in the air, getting lost in the rant. "They wrote one tiny little article about you, part of a long set, but it was the only one anypony could talk about for weeks afterwards. Then Sapphire Shores wore one of your designs in Zigfilly Follies, and then Hoity Toity made your Gala Collection his premiere lineup, and...and..." She ran out of words and breath at the same time. She collected herself just long enough to say, "Nopony has ever taken the fashion world by storm like you. You might be the greatest designer Equestria has ever seen."
Rarity's smile spread from ear to ear, somehow managing to stay distinguished and ladylike despite its comical size. "Well, I daresay you have summed up my genesis quite well," she said, a hint of a quaver in her voice. "I'm genuinely surprised. Most of my fans know how I got my first break, that is, when Hoity Toity picked up the Gala Collection, but I have never before met somepony who could recite my early career so completely." She suddenly sat back in her chair and blinked in confusion before tittering quietly. "And somehow we have gotten back onto me and my accomplishments, rather than you and yours."
Moondancer smiled wanly. "Yes, well...you and yours are substantially more interesting, I'm sure."
Rarity shrugged. "To you, perhaps, but it would be so very rude to limit ourselves to a topic which only interests one of us, don't you think?" She gave Moondancer a small smile and a wink to show she was only teasing.
The cream-colored unicorn giggled softly. "I guess so. Well, what do you want to know, then?"
"Oh, everything," Rarity gushed enthusiastically. "You said you teach and study friendship magic, right?" Moondancer nodded. "Then let us start there. My friend Twilight is herself something of a student of the discipline, although I think her focus is on the larger scope of magic in general, rather than that specific school."
"Really?" Moondancer tilted her head. "Last time I talked to her, she had just finished the first draft of a paper on the effects of physical distance on the manifestation of subconscious sociomagical energy."
"Oh, you know Twilight?"
Moondancer nodded. "We were...well, not friends, exactly, but acquaintances several years ago, before she left Canterlot for Ponyville. We reconnected a few years back and have been staying in touch ever since." She smiled. "Imagine my surprise when I found out you and she were both element bearers."
Rarity tittered. "I'm surprised you never thought to ask Twilight to arrange a meeting with me."
"Well, the thought did cross my mind a few times," Moondancer admitted. "But it just seemed rude to impose like that. In the end, I never even mentioned that I knew of you outside of your exploits with the other elements."
Rarity nodded sagely. "A very proper course of action, one I applaud." Her eye twinkled. "Especially as there was never any doubt you and I would cross paths eventually anyway."
The smile on Rarity's face sent a tiny flutter through Moondancer's heart. It was genuine and warm while carrying the barest hint of coquetry, as though Rarity had always known this date would occur and had been eagerly anticipating it. It made her feel special in a way she'd never really experienced before. She relaxed into her chair and returned the smile. "I don't know about that," she deflected. "But now that it has, I prefer this way."
"As do I. Now," Rarity leaned forward and placed her chin back on her adjoined hooves. "You said you specialize in..." she paused and let her gaze drift above Moondancer's head for a moment. "Subconscious Psychosociological Theory, correct?" She met Moondancer's eyes again.
The custard-colored unicorn blinked, stunned. "I...yeah, I do. How could you possibly remember that mouthful, though?"
Rarity smirked. "It's all in the details, darling. Remembering details is crucial in my field, as you might imagine. The better to memorize color palettes and measurement ratios after only a fleeting glance, to be replicated later. I can recall most of the outfits on the ponies I passed on my way over, despite most of them being utterly forgettable," she added, deadpan. "But we're straying back into talking about me. What, pray tell, is 'Subconscious Psychosociological Theory'?"
Moondancer spent the rest of the hour telling her. She had only enough time to cover the most rudimentary framework of the discipline, starting with the subconscious effect of having friends of varying intimacy in varying numbers, and the similarity of those effects to other subconscious magical effects, and finishing with her own fledgling research into the existence of dormant friendship magic and the capacity to tap into it upon rekindling the relationship that had initially sourced the magic.
"Like your own friendship with Twilight," Rarity said, demurely receiving the check from the waiter without interrupting the flow of Moondancer's enthusiastic lecturing. She gave the paper the briefest of glances before nodding at the waiter and levitating a chit out of her primly minute saddlebag. Chits, Moondancer knew, were typically used in lieu of sums of bits too large to be easily carried, and were nothing more than a promise to have the agreed-upon amount of bits delivered to the holder in a timely fashion. Normally, this represented amounts numbering in the thousands, but in this case, Rarity's bag was too small to hold more than a few coins, rendering the marker necessary for a much smaller amount.
Moondancer nodded. "Right. That exact friendship is what sparked my interest in the topic to begin with. I noticed that after we rekindled our relationship, it was much easier to send one another messages, as the connection between us seemed to be re-energized with no meaningful effort on our part to make it so. I found the same effect was true for all my other friends that I'd neglected for years, but also that those connections could be maintained by only one of the participants, so long as they didn't let it atrophy, but that it couldn't be rekindled unless both partners made a specific effort to do so."
"Fascinating," Rarity said without pretense. "So when you and Twilight parted ways initially, the magic your friendship generated went dormant, but was still easily available once you made amends?"
Moondancer nodded again. "Right, and even though she didn't keep in touch with her other Canterlot friends, the fact that they all still considered her to be their friend meant that they could still tap into that magic, even though she no longer could. Also, Twilight couldn't awaken the magic between us on her own; she needed my reciprocation to energize it again."
"Remarkable!" Rarity's eyes were wide and shining with enthusiasm. Moondancer's heart skipped a beat and she blushed. If only a tenth of her students were half as excited about the subject as Rarity seemed to be, her job would be infinitely more satisfying. She resisted the urge to giggle at the absurdity of a lowly MgD holding a fabulously wealthy superstar enthralled with an undergraduate-level lecture on friendship magic.
"Well," Moondancer said, at once hoping Rarity wouldn't notice her flushing cheeks and knowing perfectly well that the unicorn's razorlike awareness would have identified the shift in color palette immediately. "I certainly think so. I mean, it was interesting enough for me to do my thesis on it."
"A thesis I shall have to read sometime," Rarity purred, her eyes sparkling with genuine interest.
The blush intensified, and Moondancer giggled in spite of herself. "Oh, well...I mean, it's...it's not that special. It's actually really dry and boring if you're not interested in friendship magic."
"But I am, darling," Rarity said. "I am, after all, one of the element bearers, am I not?"
"Right. Right, of course." Moondancer flailed. "I just mean..." She ran out of words and simply sat in her chair and panicked silently.
Rarity tittered. "Once again, my dear, you needn't be so nervous. I promise I'm just like anypony else. Well," she gave Moondancer a mischievous smirk, "perhaps not just like anypony else."
I'll say. Moondancer's brain regained its composure just long enough to stop her mouth from saying the words out loud. What was wrong with her? Even taking Rarity's fame and wealth into account, there was no reason she should be acting like this, fawning and giggling like a school filly in a swoon over a favorite actor. She paused to give herself a mental shakedown and take a deep breath. "I know, I'm sorry. I said I was going to treat you like just another pony, and I keep letting myself get flustered."
Rarity smiled. "Well, it's something you'll have to work on for next time, then." She winked.
Moondancer balked. "Next time?"
Rarity nodded as she stood up from the table, floating her small bag back across her withers. "Of course, next time. I daresay this afternoon has been deeply satisfying, and I am simply devastated that it must end so soon."
Moondancer blinked and glanced out at the clock standing in the middle of the square outside the window. Her lunch break had ended ten minutes ago. She felt a brief jolt of panic at realizing her tardiness, but it was immediately overwhelmed by a wave of sadness as she realized the date--there was that word again--was over. The wave passed as she parsed what Rarity had said again. "There's a next time?"
Rarity smiled. "There's no possible way I could have gotten to know you as well as I'd like in one brief rendezvous. We simply must do it again sometime." She paused, then added, "That is, if you would like--"
"Yes!" Moondancer almost squeaked, but she managed to speak in a normal voice, even though she couldn't help but interrupt the fashionista's invitation. Then she coughed, embarrassed, and said, "That is, I'd love to."
Rarity blinked in surprise and laughed. "Well, then! I shall have Shinel contact you with potential dates and times." The smile turned apologetic. "I'm afraid it may be some time. My schedule is, as you might imagine, quite busy these days."
Moondancer nodded and waved a dismissive hoof. "Of course. Just let me know when you'll be available, and I'll make time for you."
"Oh, my!" Rarity feigned modesty and grinned. "How very...enthusiastic of you." The phrase could have been accusatory or even concerned, but Rarity's eyelids fell almost imperceptibly and her lips pulled down into a smirk that fairly screamed coquetry. An odd heat flashed through Moondancer's chest, but before she could pause to consider it, Rarity stepped forward and gave her a light kiss on each cheek. "I can't wait," she said as she stepped back and started towards the door. "Au revoir, darling!"
Moondancer couldn't respond. She simply stood next to the table, eyes watching the ivory haunches of the savagely beautiful mare trotting away and marveled at the odd turn her life was about to take. Can't wait...neither can I...