//------------------------------// // 10. A Conflict of Interests // Story: The Diamond in the Stars // by Distaff Pope //------------------------------//         “Here’s your dress, Viscountess Valley,” I said, pulling a box from behind the counter of my old bedroom and current workroom. Once the castle was sure I’d be spending my nights with Twilight, it had taken the liberty of redesigning the bedroom to resemble the Boutique’s storefront. How it knew what the Boutique’s workroom looked like… was, perhaps, a question best left unasked.         “Oh, thank you, Rarity, and you can just call me Val,” she said, smiling as if we were firm friends as she took the box from me. Things had reached a lovely balance the past few weeks; I spent a couple of hours each morning taking appointments for Twilight, and the rest of my work day designing more dresses for my new clients. “So, did Twilight appreciate my donation to her school foundation?”         “She did, and if you’d like to stop by her court some time tomorrow – around noon, let’s say? – she’d be more than happy to personally commend you.” The nobles were even starting to understand the system. They do a little charitable giving, and Twilight thanks them in court. If they thought buying one of my dresses expedited that process… Well, I wasn’t going to shatter that illusion.         “Ah, that’s wonderful. Really, though, I didn’t do it for the recognition; I did it so everypony who wants to can have an expanded education.” Of course. She just happened to develop an interest in education after Twilight made her own interest clear. Just like how she suddenly realized how chic my dresses were after Twilight complimented them in court. Well, I wasn’t about to complain. Progress was progress, and any step in the right direction was welcome.         Imagine how much better things will be once they know I’m a princess. A smile played on my lips. We– I’d decided not to make that bit of information publicly known until after Sweetie Belle was restored. She didn’t need the extra attention right now. What really mattered was that Twilight knew my title and liked calling me by it while we were... Enjoying our more intimate moments. “I’m quite sure,” I said, nodding my head at the viscountess. “Well, unless there’s anything else, I really should be getting back to my dresses. Deadlines and all that.”         “Of course,” she said before turning to the exit. “Well, I suppose I’ll be seeing you around the castle then; we really should do lunch some time.”         “I’d be delighted,” I said, training my smile on her as she trotted out of the room. As soon as the door closed I let out a sigh and moved over to one of my mannequines. “Oh, Opal, she didn’t even look at my dress after I passed it to her. She doesn’t care, as long as she can tell her friends it was personally designed for her by me.”         “Mrow,” Opal said, rising from her bed and stalking over to rub against my legs. I glanced back at the rather large bag of bits still resting on my counter.         “No, I’m not complaining about the business; I’d just like it if some of my customers would appreciate the artistry that goes into each dress, instead of just buying it for the name.” I closed my eyes for a second. “I would kill for a commission from Hoity, or Sapphire Shores, or anypony who actually appreciates what I do.” I tilted my head. “On the other hoof, the bits and prestige are certainly nice.”         And it’s not as though my work was actually suffering. I was designing beautiful inspired dresses and selling them to ponies who couldn’t care less about that. Commercial success married with – or at least not in conflict with – artistic vision. It was a choice complaint to have. I smiled. Except for one obvious caveat, everything was coming together. Certainly, better than it had been these last few months. What could–         A knock on the door. What was it Octavia said about tempting fate in Ponyville? That it was an open invitation for the sadistic forces in the universe to toy with you? Yes, that sounded like her. “Come in?” I asked, a note of trepidation in my voice that I quickly squashed.         “Hey, Rares,” Rainbow Dash said, trotting into my work space. “Nice digs you got here. Think you’ll ever head back to the Boutique? Or is Twilight’s bed too nice to leave?”         “I’d be hard pressed to find a bed as comfortable,” I said, smiling at her. “Although I’d like to think any bed shared with Twilight would be absolute bliss.”         “Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head. “Spare me the mushy stuff. That’s one of the nice things about Applejack, we can talk about ‘us’ without getting all ‘Oh, sharing a bed with you is absolute bliss, darling.’” I rolled my eyes. I sounded nothing like that. “Still, it works for the two of you, and that’s great. Real happy for you. And, since you’re happy with Twilight, I figure you’d be cool with me popping the question to Applejack, right?”         “Of course,” I said, fighting a frown. It wasn’t that I wanted Applejack back, just… I was surprised. “Isn’t this a little fast, though? You’ve only been dating for little more than two seasons, haven’t you?”         She shrugged. “Sure, but we’ve known each other for five years. It’s not like she has some big world-destroying secret in her closet. I know pretty much everything about her, and that’s the mare I want by my side as I do all my awesome stuff. If I know all that, why wait?” She laughed. “Besides, my middle name is Fast.” And here I thought it was Danger.         “Yes, I suppose I can see your logic,” I said, nodding my head. “So, I assume you’re here to make sure I won’t ‘freak out’ when I hear you proposed to Applejack?”         “Basically,” Rainbow Dash said. “I figure since you and Twilight are so–” She literally nudged and winked at me. Even when she was trying, she was still as subtle as a brick. “It wouldn’t be that big a deal, but I wanted to check first. I’m going to do it anyways, but I can at least check.”         “And your consideration is always appreciated,” I said, smiling. She was at least trying to be courteous.         “Yeah, so, when should we be expecting the next royal wedding?” Dash asked, and I thanked my stars I wasn’t drinking something.         I took a breath to calm my nerves. “Well, we just started dating less than a season ago, so probably not any time soon.”         “Yeah, but you were already living together when you started dating, and you’ve been best friends for years. You know everything about each other. What’s left?” Rainbow Dash asked, narrowing her eyes at me. Well, technically, Twilight didn’t know everything about me. Ninety-eight percent, maybe even ninety-nine percent, but that last percentage point… I shook my head. How had Dash made this about me?         “We can’t all be as bold and daring as you, Dash. For us to get properly married, Twilight has to formally announce her courting of me, then there will be at least a two-season courtship period, and then she has to propose marriage in front of the nobility. They’ll be given the option to object, and only then can we get married. After suitable arrangements are made, of course,” I said, reciting the list from memory.         “Wait, the nobles can keep you two from getting married?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “How does that work?”         I sighed. Yes, that was the over-plump elephant in the room, wasn’t it? “It’s an almost archaic rule the nobility made up to prevent noble blood from being polluted by common stock. Twilight doesn’t think the nobles will officially object because doing so would be to court a princess’s displeasure, but she is expecting some pushback.” Pushback that would evaporate once a few key details about my ancestry were verified. One year, one season, and fifty-eight days.         “Right, so why not just get it out of the way if it’s such a big deal?” Dash asked. “Better to get it all done so you can get married when you want than have to wait half a year. At least do the intention to court stuff.” Yes, although… Would that affect Sweetie? She’d been rather reclusive since she got herself set up in Manehattan. Would she hear the news in her current state? Would she care?         “Yes, I suppose I can bring it up with Twilight tonight,” I said, stitching one of my dresses in the background while focusing on Rainbow Dash. “Is there anything else you want to discuss?”         “Nope,” she said, running a hoof through her mane. “I’ll leave you to all your dressmaking stuff before you try to convince me to model one of them for you.”         “As much as I’d love to, I’m afraid I don’t have any dresses that are designed for a pegasus. The drawback to courting the nobility, I suppose. Anyways, yes, I promise, you’ll hear no objection from me when you propose to Applejack. I wish the both of you all the best.”         “Thanks,” Rainbow Dash said, wearing a genuine smile instead of her usual cocky brash thing. “I’m sure it would mean a lot to Applejack to hear you say that. Maybe we should double-date some time.” No. No, we wouldn’t. As dear a friend as Applejack was, the idea of two exes double dating just seemed like an invitation for catastrophe.         “We’ll see,” I said, smiling at her as she trotted out of my room. “And do feel free to come over any time, Rainbow Dash. I’m sure if you insist, I can find something for you to wear.” I’d never seen somepony vanish so quickly. That went as well as could be expected. Octavia was wrong; noticing how idyllic my life was didn’t mean some terrible calamity was headed my way. Something to talk about at our next lunch. Ooh! I could double-date with her and Vinyl, that would be fun. I turned back to my dresses and hummed to myself and turned my mind to what the seasonal lineup for Tiara’s store would look like. Maybe I’d write her a letter soon, just to see how she was doing. She really was a sweet mare in the end. Just a bit too happy to help Sweetie. ♦♦♦         Twilight nuzzled into me as we both looked at the night sky out above her balcony, the both of us radiating heat. “Twilight, love,” I said after catching my breath, “I had a very interesting conversation with Rainbow Dash today, and she said something that’s been bouncing around my head ever since.” Two things, actually, but I wouldn’t be very good at keeping a secret if Twilight knew I was keeping a secret from her.         “Oh, what?” Twilight asked, looking up at me, the stars reflected in her eyes. “Was she… She wasn’t mad at you about something, was she?”         I shook my head. “Of course not, Twilight. What reason could Rainbow Dash possibly have for being upset with me?”         “Well, she was kind of belligerent when you told her you knew she and Applejack were dating,” Twilight said. “I’ve always worried that would come back up later and cause a friendship problem.”         “No, we’re fine, we smoothed things over weeks ago. We were both talking today about our respective relationships, and she suggested you declare your intention to court me,” I said, brushing the tangle out of her mane with one hoof and a fair bit of magic.         “Wait, she knew about that?”         “I had to tell her first, dear. She asked when we planned to tie the knot, I pointed out that we’d only been dating for a less than a season, and she argued that didn’t matter as much since we were already living together and had been best friends for years,” I said. “Then, when I explained all the hoops we had to jump through to get married, she suggested you declare your courtship intentions now. I admit, the idea has some merit.”         “Alright.” Twilight nodded. “I’ll do it tomorrow morning. Oh! Wait, you’re usually working in the mornings, and you need to be there to hear and accept. Does after lunch work for you?”         “That’s utterly fine,” I said, kissing her just above the base of her horn. “But you’re okay? I was expecting… slightly more pushback from you.”         “Why?” she asked, stroking my cheek. “She’s right. We love each other, we live together, and my parents have been bugging me about when I’ll find somepony to settle down with. I don’t really see any reason not to declare my intentions, I just didn’t know how to bring it up with you. I thought you’d think we were moving too fast.”         “Twilight, our relationship is already antithetical to anything resembling proper pacing, and I couldn’t love it more for that. Besides, it’s not as if we’ve taken any pains to hide our relationship; you just haven’t made it official. Do you want to spend tonight looking through your script for tomorrow?”         She shook her head, and I felt the weight on my chest shift back and forth. “I memorized that the day we got back from Canterlot. I was… I was pretty excited.” I didn’t have to see her to know she was blushing.         “In that case, I think everything’s taken care of,” I said, a laugh bubbling up from my throat. “How should we celebrate?”         She crawled up to me and placed a lingering kiss upon my lips, allowing it to seep deep down into my soul. “I can think of a few ways,” she said as she magically closed the doors to the balcony. ♦♦♦         I stood a few hooves away from Twilight Sparkle as we both stared down at the assembled nobility. My heart thudded in my throat. Keep it together, they can’t object now, it’s just a declaration of intention. You only have to say five words. I glanced to Twilight. She was resplendent as usual, and I was clad in my best dress. A few nobles shuffled in the court, unsure of why the docket had been changed. The rest stood firm in their balcony as the common ponies whispered amongst themselves. Twilight flared her wings and snapped her head to stare at the nobles. “On this, the 44th day of Autumn, I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and overseer of all lands between the Smoky and Foal Mountains, announce my intentions to court Lady Rarity Bell–” Oh, why did tradition dictate that she use my full name? Now some clever noble was going to be differential and call me Lady Bell, and I’d have to yell at him. Sometimes, tradition could be more irritant than comfort. “Bearer of the Element of Generosity, twice-savior of Equestria. Lady Rarity Bell, what say you?”         “I hear, and I accept,” I said, bowing my head to her as a brief murmur came from the crowd.         “And do the nobility in assemblage here today hear and accept?” she asked.         “We hear, and we accept,” the crowd answered back, some nobles more enthusiastic than others. Something told me I was about to have another spike in dress orders.         “Then it’s decided. May the light of the sun shine eternally on all assembled today,” Twilight said. Hmm, that wasn’t very fair to Princess Luna, was it? We’d have to change that later and style it for Twilight.         “May the light of the sun shine eternally on Princess Twilight Sparkle and Lady Rarity Bell,” the crowd echoed back. The guard moved to bring in the next petitioner as I made my way out using Twilight’s private entrance. ♦♦♦         The next morning, I was front-page news in the Canterlot Times, the Ponyville Gazette, and the Manehattan Globe. Everypony in Equestria was reading about Rarity Bell, and I repressed the urge to scream at every mention of Miss Bell or Lady Bell. Really, what was so difficult about just using the mononym ‘Rarity’? I wasn’t exactly a private figure before the announcement. Her sister, famed Bridleway actress Sweetie Belle, could not be reached for comment.         I suppose that’s about what could be expected, although my intuition told me Bright Lights would trot her out to say something generically pleasant and then squirrel her back away in that penthouse to do... whatever they did. The few things I’d seen in the paper or heard from Scootaloo were hardly reassuring. One year, one season, and fifty-six days. I shook my head. We were close. Over halfway there, Rarity. Soon, your Sweetie will be restored.         Twilight trotted up behind me as I sat at my breakfast cereal and wrapped a foreleg around me. “How does it feel to be front-page news?” she asked, leaning over to rest partly against my back, head poking over my shoulder.         “It would feel better if the papers didn’t all insist on referring to me as ‘Rarity Bell’,” I said, flipping away from my current page. “And it doesn’t feel anywhere as good as going to bed next to you every night.”         She laughed and swatted at me. “You’re just saying that to get on my good side,” she said, pushing herself off me and trotting to pour a bowl of oats.         “Mhmm, perhaps, but if I did want to get on your good side, would I really have to try that hard?” I asked, folding away the newspapers and taking a sip of my orange juice. Applejack and I once got into a fight because I didn’t stock any apple juice in the fridge. Such a frivolous thing, but it sparked a fight lasting four hours. The only fights I had with Twilight were the ones we had in the ring. We’d had disagreements, of course, but no raised voices or throwing things.         “You’d have to try harder to get off it,” she said, pushing off me and pouring her milk. We had our own chef now, but most mornings we chose to break our fast in the small personal kitchen we had for Twilight’s late night snacking. Oh, that mare could snack, but at least she didn’t bring any of it to bed.         “So, what do you want to do today?” Twilight asked, sitting next to me with her bowl of cereal and glass of milk. Behind her, I floated the carton and the cereal box back to their respective locations.         “Hmm, I thought we could see the girls,” I said, leaning into her. “I’m sure Pinkie’s already planning our surprise party. Maybe do something with Spike, first.”         “Board game?” Twilight asked, stroking my side. “That could be fun. We haven’t had a good board game night in ages.”         “Do you think we can have the board game night tomorrow?” I asked, looking up at her. “Not to be rude, but the board games you enjoy tend to take all day, and I’m sure Pinkie will be knocking on our door any minute now with our party invitations.”         “Fine,” Twilight groused. “But we are playing Settlers of Cat-an at some point this weekend, and you’d better not try to get out of it.”         “Pass up the chance to be soundly trumped by you?” I said, kissing her cheek. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” ♦♦♦         Our Pinkie party was as marvelous as could be expected, and Spike and I were trumped by Twilight the next day. And then we were trumped again. And again. Then we mutinied and forced her to play Mareopoly, where I managed to squeak out the narrowest of victories.         I lifted my head up from the delirious haze of dresses that had consumed my life and took a deep breath. Everypony wanted one of my dresses. Every day, there were more and more requests, a mountain of designs that could crush me at any moment – but when I peeked into Twilight’s court and saw a sea of nobles wearing my designs, it sent a thrill up my spine.         I glanced at the clock. Almost time for Twilight’s court to be over. I needed to wrap things up so I could meet her at the study. A knock on the door. I winced. I really couldn’t take on another commission. Well, I suppose I could if I wanted to start eschewing petty things like sleep and spending time with Twilight. “Come in,” I sing-songed.         The door opened, and a grey stallion wearing purple sunglasses trotted in. “Hoity, how good to see you again. What brings you here?”         He smiled and sat down as a dull-grey mare followed him into the room, a scroll on her flank. “Rarity, I’d like you to meet my lawyer Iron Clad, and…” He looked around. “Is Princess Twilight with you?”         “Not yet,” I said, frowning. Why did he bring his lawyer? “She’s still in court for a few more minutes. Why do you ask?”         “To pay my respects to the happy couple,” he said, smiling. “And also discuss a few tiny legal matters. Nothing of major importance, I assure you.” Why would he want to talk with me about legal matters? Was he wanting an exclusivity contract? Something like what I had with Tiara’s, but for a different fashion line? “We’ve cleared our schedule and are more than happy to wait, though.” I glanced out the window, clouds were building on the horizon. Were we really having another storm? I could wring Rainbow Dash’s neck, sometimes.         “Of course,” I said, nodding my head. “Is it okay if I work on one of my commissions while we wait?”         “You might want to hold off on that,” he said, looking around at all my mannequines. “How many nobles would you say have come requesting a dress from you in the past few weeks? Over a hundred?”         I laughed. “It feels like I can get a hundred a day, sometimes. The last few days have been absolutely mad; I’ve gotten so many orders, I don’t know how I’ll finish them all on time.”         “Mhmm, yes,” Iron Clad said, entering the conversation and staring at me. “Have you noticed a similar uptick in sales from Tiara’s? Are you aware that your dresses are now being sold at all Barnyard Bargains and Rich’s Clubs as well?”         “N-no,” I said, frowning. This… this didn’t sound like a conversation I wanted to be having.         “Calm down, Iron,” Hoity said. “No need to frighten the poor mare.”         “You’re right,” she said, nodding her head. “Please, make yourself comfortable, Miss Bell, we’ll speak with you more when the Princess is here.”         “Please, call me Rarity,” I said, doing my best to keep my smile up. “And I’ll just go wait outside Twilight’s chambers so I can fetch her as soon as she gets out. Will the two of you be fine waiting here while I’m gone?”         Iron Clad nodded and pulled a few documents out of her saddlebags. “Your proposition is acceptable. I hope to see you shortly.” ♦♦♦         “What’s wrong?” Twilight asked as I caught her outside the private entrance to her court.         “Is it that obvious something’s wrong?” I asked, looking around the tiny hallway for any  potential eavesdroppers.         “Well, I think I kind of know my marefriend’s moods, and you always get that smile on your face when something’s wrong, but you can’t show it,” she said.         My smile broke. Yes, I didn’t need to keep up a false smile for her. “You’re right,” I said, peeking my head into Twilight’s court and seeing how it was emptying out. There were still a few stragglers hanging on, but most made their exit the instant her court was done for the day. “Hoity Toity is here, and he brought his lawyer. He didn’t say what it was about, but I don’t think it’s for anything good.”         “Oh,” Twilight said, frowning. “I think I might know what they’re here for, and… you’re right, it’s not good, but… maybe it’s not what I think it is. Maybe he just wants to buy some of your dresses.”         “Don’t patronize me, Twilight,” I said, trotting back into her throne and heading for the mane exit. This route was substantially shorter, but carried the downside of letting ponies gawk at their princess. “Nopony comes to visit and just happens to bring their lawyer with them, especially not if she has a name like Iron Clad.”         “You’re right,” she said, trotting next to me as a few ponies glanced in our direction. “But maybe it’s not as bad as I think it is. What are the odds they’re here about a seven-hundred-year-old rule?”         “I suppose that depends on how important the rule is,” I said. From the throne room, it was just a few hooves to my work room. Much better than running up to her living room and taking the hidden path down to the private entrance to her court. “For instance, murder’s been illegal for a very long time, but most ponies are familiar with that little rule.”         “Well, it’s not ‘murder’ bad,” Twilight said as I threw the door to my workshop open. She shot a glance at Hoity. “Is it?”         “Not at all,” Hoity Toity said. “Before we get to the messy order of business, though, I’d like to congratulate the two of you and wish you a long prosperous relationship.”         “Thank you,” Twilight said, nodding her head at him. “And I assume you’re here about the Consort Edict?”         Iron Clad nodded. “I’m here representing the Dressmaker’s Union against Rarity Bell, regarding violations of the Public Servant Act and the Consort Edict.”         “Wait, I’m sorry, since when has there been a Dressmaker’s Union?” I asked, frowning. “I certainly never heard of it.”         “That’s because it arose as a direct result of you and Filthy Rich’s monopolistic and exploitative practices,” Iron Clad said. “Or do you deny rewarding clients who purchased your dresses by granting them an audience with Princess Twilight Sparkle?”         “No! No, of course not,” I said, looking at Twilight. “I rewarded ponies who gave charitably by letting them meet with Twilight, but the two of us discussed that in advance. Twilight, I swear I never denied ponies an audience with you because they refused to buy one of my dresses.”         “I believe you,” Twilight said, nodding her head. “But pretty much every noble who’s met with me the last few weeks has been wearing one of your dresses.” She smiled at me. “I’d recognize your designs anywhere.”         Well, I appreciate the sentiment, Twilight, but you’re not helping my case at the moment. “Exactly,” Iron Clad said. “Whether or not you meant to engage in monopolistic and exploitative practices is irrelevant. Because of your connection to the princess, everypony’s clamoring for your dresses. Dressmakers and sellers who don’t have access to your designs are struggling. Therefore, we deliver this ultimatum: Either sever your connection to Princess Twilight, or cease and desist all dress designing and manufacturing.”         I blanched. I could actually feel all the blood leaving my face. “Could I…” No. No no no. I couldn’t choose between them. Dressmaking was my passion, and Twilight was my love. Without either of them, I was a shade of myself. You’ve recovered from worse. You lost Sweetie, and now you’re almost fine. Yes, well, let’s not go through that again. I narrowed my eyes at Iron Clad and my betrayer. “And if I fight?”         “You’ll merely delay the inevitable. The law’s very clear in this instance: any princess-consort who practices a trade must relinquish her trade, and if you take this to court, we’ll be forced to pursue legal action against Princess Twilight for giving you unfair advantage,” Iron Clad said. Oh no. No, I couldn’t do that to her, she was… It wasn’t fair she suffer because of my ambition.         “Could I have time to think?” I asked, braving a smile for Twilight’s sake.         “That’s agreeable. We’ll give you one business week to think things over, as long as you refrain from selling dresses for the duration,” Iron Clad said, getting to her hooves. “A pleasure to meet you, Princess.”         “I’m sorry things came to this, Rarity. If there were any other solution…” Hoity said as he followed Iron Clad to the door. “You must understand, I hold you in the highest regard, and I wish you and the Princess all the best – but I have to think about my own interests, too.”         I gave him a curt nod as he exited. Of course he did. That’s why he immediately involved a lawyer and tried to– To even think of bringing Twilight into this. They knew that’d keep me from fighting back, and it worked perfectly.         “I’ll send your things to the boutique,” Twilight said, dispelling the silence that sat fat and oppressive in the room, her whole body slumped. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you about the Consort Edict – but it was made so long ago, I thought maybe nopony but me would remember it, and I knew if I told you, you’d break up with me, and… I’m sorry.”         “Don’t be,” I said, trotting over to nuzzle her neck. “If I’m forced to choose, if the week elapses and I’ve failed to think of a solution to this little dilemma, I know exactly what I’ll choose – and it won’t be dressmaking.”         “But being a famous dressmaker is your dream. I can’t ask you to give that up for me,” Twilight said, her ears still flat against her skull. “At least this way, maybe we can still be friends and you won’t completely hate and resent me.”         I pulled away and glared at her. “Twilight Sparkle. We are not breaking up, do you understand that? I can find outlets for my creative energies without selling dresses. I can start redecorating your court. I can design our dresses for all the formal events we’ll almost certainly be invited to. There are options. What I cannot give up is you. Call it a selfishness on my part, but I can’t go back to how things were before. Being with you these past few months has been… Well, it might be a touch hyperbolic, but it’s been a restorative for my soul. This is true love, Twilight – You think this happens every day?” Her ears lifted up and a spark of hope entered her eyes. I threw my forelegs around her and leaned close. “As long as you’re next to me, I think I can bear almost anything.”         A small laugh bubbled up from somewhere inside her. “Another Princess Bride quote? You know, there are other movies.”         “Heresy,” I said, pressing my lips against hers. “How could you even say something so absurd?”         “So… we’re really not going to break up?”         “Really.” I nodded my head. “I’m not happy about having to give up dressmaking, but I can endure it. Although I do wish you hadn’t hidden the Consort Edict from me.”         “Sorry,” she said, ears immediately going flat. “I just thought if I told you the truth, you’d break up with me or we wouldn’t even start dating, and I really wanted to date you. Sorry.”         “It’s… fine,” I said, a slight frown creasing my lips. Would I have gone out with Twilight if I’d known about the Consort Edict in advance? I thought of the giddy delirium that filled me as I trotted to Twilight’s room in Canterlot. The way Twilight leaned into me. How absolutely ecstatically happy I’d been when I learned she liked me. How long had it been since I felt that way? Yes. Yes, without a doubt. “I understand why you didn’t tell me, but I think… I think I would’ve gone out with you regardless.”         She blushed, and an instant later, I felt her lips on my cheek. “Okay, from now on, no more secrets, alright?” There was a laugh. “I can’t think of anything that could even begin to compare to this.”         I smiled at her and lied, my mind going to the safety deposit box that could smash my life to tinders. There were some things that just couldn’t be thought of, let alone said aloud. “Alright, Twilight, no more secrets.”