Another Speedwriting Anthology

by Decaf

A Bit for Your Thoughts [Romance]

Author's Note:

Tags: [Twilight] [Rarity] [Romance]

Twilight wished she'd never pointed it out to Rarity. They could have kept on walking right past the mechanical fortune teller and kept having a nice day at the pier. Instead, Twilight couldn't resist making fun of it. Who would ever take stock in some mechanical simulacrum of a pony in telling them the future?

Rarity had insisted on getting one. It was only one bit, after all. Twilight didn't stop her. If she wanted to waste her money, it was fine by her.

The deformed robot moved one of its hooves around and opened its mouth. It was probably supposed to say something, but it made a piercing hissing noise instead. A bunch of gears crunched together and, with great effort, deposited a little piece of paper into a receptacle.

Rarity read it out loud.

"You have already met the love of your life."

It was a little more specific than Twilight expected, but still ultimately nonsense. The kind of thing teenagers would giggle about and get them talking about their crushes. If she squinted, she could maybe see some value in it as a conversation starter. So she tried to start a conversation.

"That thing looks like nopony has used it in years. I wonder if anyone even bothers to collect the money anymore."

"Hm. I wonder," said Rarity. The look on her face made Twilight think she was wondering about something else.

"Don't tell me you're taking this seriously," said Twilight.

"You never know."

Twilight snatched the fortune from Rarity and quickly scanned it with a spell of magic detection. "There's nothing magical about this, and even if there was, fortune telling isn't something you can program a machine to do. There have been some prophecies that have come to pass, but they were predicted by the most skilled wizards of their time, and even then were incredibly vague to the point where their usefulness is dubious at best."

"Well, it might not be true, but it's interesting to think about, at least. Do you think I'm compatible with anyone we've met so far?"

Twilight thought for a moment. This was a question she really didn't want to answer.

"Um… does anyone come to mind for you?"

"I'm not sure," said Rarity. "I used to crush on ponies all the time in my younger days, but the last one I can remember clearly is Blueblood. After that, I guess I'd been disillusioned one too many times. Things got busy, anyway. I didn't really have time to seriously consider a relationship with anyone. But maybe… maybe that was a mistake."

A group of fillies ran past the two of them, laughing. It was a nice day. The sun shone down like Celestia personally wanted to make the temperature uncomfortable, but the wind compensated for the rays perfectly. A pleasant breeze wafted through Rarity's mane. Twilight gazed out to the sea.

Twilight found herself yet again in the most loathsome of situations. A friend of hers needed some help and she couldn't think of a way to give it to her. She thought long and hard before responding.

"If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

Rarity gave Twilight a quizzical look. "Help? You? In what way?"

"I just, uh… how do you meet new ponies nowadays? Aside from saving the world together, of course."

"But the fortune said it's someone I've already met."

Twilight tried not to groan. "Seriously? You're still hung up on that?"

"I don't know if it's true."

"It's not."

"But it could be."

"It could also be bunk! It's not falsifiable!"

"I just think it's interesting."

There they went again. At least when dealing with someone like Pinkie, Twilight knew where she stood. That pony believed in strange, unexplainable things. She could work with that.

Rarity, on the other hoof, stood in this hazy middle ground. She never said she believed in all this spirituality nonsense, but she would always stop and consider it. She'd read her horoscope, get tarot readings, consult star charts. To her credit, she never went out of her way to do those things, but when the opportunity came up she always took it. And whenever Twilight was there, she'd ask why Rarity would bother, and she would always give the same response.

She thought it was interesting.

Not true, not false. Just interesting.

It bothered Twilight more than if she had said she believed in it. How was she supposed to argue against that?

Now, thanks to Twilight's big mouth, they were going to dredge up this argument again. Rarity should know by now that it got on her nerves. Why couldn't she take Twilight's feelings into consideration?

Twilight had spent considerable time mulling over exactly how to approach this with Rarity, and decided now was as good a time as any to see if she could make any progress.

"This kind of mindset is limiting you. There are probably thousands of ponies, or maybe even creatures, that you'd be romantically compatible with. I mean, when you think about how many of us exist on the planet, it would be strange if there weren't a bunch of hypothetical prospects out there for you. So, yeah, sure, maybe you've met someone already, but that doesn't mean that meeting a new pony is off the table."

"That's hardly romantic," said Rarity. "What about soul mates?"

"They don't exist."

"How do you know that?"

"Because my sister-in-law is the Princess of Love."

"And she said soul mates don't exist?"

"Well, no, but she implied it.”

Rarity shook her head. "Those are two very different things."

Twilight didn't say anything.

"I think," said Rarity, "That we might both be right."

"How? We hold mutually exclusive views!"

"From one perspective. See, you're assuming that, out of every potential partner for me, I would be equally happy with all of them."

"Is there any reason why you wouldn't?"

"No. But, if I already know someone who I could love, then it's only fair that I consider them first. I'm not the only one in this equation, you know. I don't want to leave some poor soul I'd be perfectly happy with out to dry. Why, I should take their feelings into consideration, at least."

Twilight grumbled. Rarity had a point.

"So, if such a pony, or creature, as you put it, already knows me, and already loves me, then they should get dibs, right?"

"Uh… what?"

"If there are thousands out there for me, then love is arbitrary. So I'll make an arbitrary rule and say whoever I meet first that fits the criteria gets my heart forever."

"Huh."

It was still ridiculous, don't get her wrong, but Rarity did have a way of making Twilight see things from a different perspective. Even if the perspective was stupid and wrong, it was still worthwhile to consider it, at least.

The two of them had reached the end of the pier. The waves crashed against the supports like bulls into a forest.

"So, Twilight," said Rarity. "Do you know anyone who might want to call dibs?"

"No one comes to mind."

"Really? Are you sure you thought of everyone?"

"Well, I don't know all the details of your life. Is there anyone you've met who I don't know?"

"Of course. But those aren't the ponies I'm thinking of."

"So you think that someone we both know is romantically compatible with you?"

"It's something I've been considering. I would like your input."

"Sure."

Rarity sighed. "You can be really dense sometimes, you know that?"

Twilight blinked. "Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let me walk you through the logic here. There is only one way you could possibly know if someone was romantically compatible with me."

"There is?"

"Think about it for a second."

She did.

Twilight blushed.

"So, I'll ask again. Do you want to call dibs?"

Twilight hesitated. "There's one problem."

"What?"

"I can't stand making the fortune right. It doesn't deserve to be true. If you're doing this just because you spent a bit on some piece of paper, then you can forget it."

"It just got me thinking. I told you, I haven't really had time to mull it over. But I have had a few stray thoughts that I decided to put in order."

"But we shouldn't have it influence us."

"We are our own mares, Twilight. We do what we do because we want to. So, I'll ask you one more time. Do you want dibs?"

Rarity was still holding the fortune. Twilight grabbed it from her and threw it into the ocean.

"Just remember, this is not because of that robot charlatan."

Twilight kissed Rarity under the setting sun.