Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

The second word of the title of the first chapter of Book II is 'Crusher'

Rarity looked at her barely distinguishable reflection in her cup of tea. The smell was strong enough to hit her nose, and the cup would have been too hot hadn't the temperature dropped a few degrees that day. As it was, it was pleasantly warm in her hands, soothing her otherwise pained fingers. Drawing and sewing was a bother when her hands got cold, and the fact that she was out of practise didn't help there, she'd stabbed herself with a needle a couple of times. "Do you really have no one?" she asked aloud.

Rarity, the other Rarity, leaned back enough for her face to be visible through the kitchen's doorframe. The rhythmic chopping of her knife against the wooden board stopped. "Not really, no," she said. "I've had my romantic fantasies, of course, and a few crushes here and there, but never anything serious and long lasting. I think I'm the married to the job kind of mare, at this point. Of course I'm not against a relationship, but I'm not actively looking, so I'd have to run into one by chance."

Rarity sipped on her tea. It burned a little and on the way down, but she didn't care. "So you've never been in love?"

The pony turned human thought about it for a moment. "I suppose not. Nothing past infatuation, no." She looked at the other with a thin, knowing smirk. "Don't you dare make this an excuse for your theatrics."

Rarity smiled, and had the first half of a chuckle. "Who, me? Why, I'd never."

"I can already hear it." The other Rarity disappeared past the doorframe again, and the chopping resumed. She said in an exaggerated, melodramatic voice, "Oh, how could you ever claim to understand me when your heart has never known true love? How could you know the blistering wounds that mar my soul when never you have burned with such intensity as I have?"

Rarity had the second half of her chuckle, and then another one whole. "And where is the lie in that?" she asked in a tone only slightly less mockingly pretentious.

"Nowhere," the unicorn acknowledged, "but the point is that one does not need to know trauma personally to recognise unhealthy ways of coping with it. Especially when other examples exist of others taking it better." The chopping stopped again and there was a scraping sound, Rarity using the knife to push the ingredients into a bowl. "That liquor you slipped into your tea better be all you drink today, lady."

Rarity smirked. She looked down and to the side, and indeed the way the long and intricately decorated tablecloth the small table she sat at was decorated with rode up lifted by her legs had left the corner of the bottle she'd placed there, evidently not far in enough, exposed for the other to notice. With a sigh not particularly bothered she took it out from under there, admired it, then brought it over to the kitchen.

Comments

[Speckle]

Haven't seen these two interact in a while, but it's good that Human!Rarity is doing a little better.

A hint to how Book 1 will end and Book 2 will begin, exciting!