An Apology
Rarity was already pouring her second cup of coffee as the sun began to shine on Ponyville. While she was decidedly not an early riser, she knew that the tangle of negative emotions she was experiencing would not allow her to go back to sleep—not until she had had a chance to vent her frustrations at the pony still blissfully dozing in her bed upstairs.
Snuggling deeper into her fluffy pink bathrobe, Rarity slumped back into her chair and took a sip of her coffee. She knew she shouldn't really be upset with Twilight Sparkle over what had happened. But that didn't change the fact that she was upset. If their relationship was to be successful, the two of them needed to be honest with each other, even when doing so was guaranteed to be uncomfortable for them, as it certainly would be this time.
Rarity didn't have to wait much longer for her chance to have things out with her fillyfriend. After a few more minutes of unhappy solitude, the disheveled unicorn looked up to see Twilight blearily staggering into the kitchen.
“Rarity,” Twilight mumbled, "is everything ok? I woke up and rolled over to cuddle with you, and you weren't there."
“Yes," Rarity replied, not yet able to look Twilight in the eye, "I've been down here for an hour or so. I'm afraid I was rather...rudely awakened."
Twilight sat down at the table across from Rarity, now clearly awake. Rarity glanced at her, but quickly went right back to gazing sullenly into her coffee mug.
"What happened?" Twilight asked, her voice filled with concern. "Was I thrashing around in my sleep or something? I'm sorry if I kicked you out of bed, or—"
"It was nothing like that, Twilight," Rarity interrupted. "It was—look, this is going to be more than a little awkward, but I know if I try not to talk about it, I'll just end up getting more upset than I already am."
"Ok," Twilight said, sounding genuinely confused. That annoyed Rarity even more. Surely a pony as smart as Twilight could put two and two together and figure out what she had done to so offend her lover. Or, worse yet, she knew exactly what she had done and was trying to cover her flank by feigning ignorance.
"Well, then. There I was, sleeping peacefully, when I was awoken by some rather, shall we say, interesting sounds coming from your side of the bed. At first, I actually thought you were having a nightmare, but once I was fully awake, I realized that it was really quite the opposite."
A long groan from Twilight cut Rarity's explanation short. "Oh, Celestia..."
"Don't be embarrassed," Rarity reassured her. "I didn't wake you right away because I actually found it rather cute."
"But I don't understand," Twilight said, staring ferociously at the table. "I thought you were mad about something."
"It did get less cute," Rarity continued, "when you started mentioning names."
Twilight appeared to be getting over her embarrassment and moving right along to anger of her own. "Well, who was it then? Since I don't remember anything about it, you're going to have to tell me."
Rarity watched Twilight for a moment, taking in the extent of her discomfort. "You really don't remember, do you?"
"No, but go on. I might as well be completely humiliated."
"I'm not trying to humiliate you, Twilight,” Rarity said with a sigh. “I'm just trying to be open about what I'm feeling. Which, right now, is completely inadequate."
"Because I had a...a dream about another pony? Which, by the way, is something I have no control over."
"No, Twilight, I told you, I thought it was cute at first, and I didn't care if you were dreaming about me or not. Or at least I thought I didn't care, until you started saying Trixie's name."
At last, Twilight looked up at Rarity. When she spoke, there was a manic edge to her voice, and one of her eyes was starting to twitch a little. "Trixie? But I—she—I wouldn't—"
"You did, Twilight. And I know it makes me a bad pony, but it made me so angry I had to get out of bed right then. Because...there was a passion there I've never heard from you before."
For a long time, the two ponies were completely silent. Finally, Twilight took a deep breath and spoke up.
"If we're being honest, then I guess I'll say a few awkward things, too." There was an vicious note to Twilight's voice that stung Rarity as much as the confession that followed. "I really don't remember anything about what I dreamed last night, and Trixie is somepony I would never want that sort of relationship with in real life. But the truth is, I've always been a little attracted to her.”
Rarity looked like she was about to interrupt again, but Twilight held up a hoof to stop her. “No, don’t worry, I’m angry enough with myself for feeling that way, after everything she’s put us through. But it’s true. And when she showed up in Ponyville with the Alicorn Amulet, casting all those incredibly powerful spells, well, it didn't exactly make her less attractive to me. So, I’m not entirely surprised I’d have a dream like that.”
Under normal circumstances, Rarity would have tried to hide her pain behind upper-crust affectations, but in her present state, feeling exhausted, betrayed, and deficient in just about every way, she couldn't be bothered. “Well, thank you for being honest, I suppose.”
“That’s not all, though, Rarity!” Twilight quickly interjected. “Yes, I’m a little attracted to Trixie. But you know what? I’m also dating the prettiest mare in Ponyville—hay, in all of Equestria! And your beauty’s not all on the surface, like Trixie’s. You’re a wonderful pony, inside and out.”
Despite Twilight’s best efforts, Rarity still wasn't feeling much better. She looked across the table at her fillyfriend. Even with her sleep-tangled mane and puffy eyes, Twilight was gorgeous to her. But even at her best, she couldn't believe anypony could find her so pretty. There was always something out of place, whether it was a false eyelash or the lust for the finer things that constantly threatened to encroach on her generosity. Now she knew what Twilight found lacking in her.
“But if magical power is what you really want...I’ll never be able to give you that. My magic's not good for much besides sewing and finding gems."
“And without the Alicorn Amulet, the most impressive thing Trixie can do is change the color of a pony's mane! Rarity, I am attracted to magical power. But it’s not the most important thing to me. If it was, I could go back to Canterlot and find a hundred ponies who could give me that. But they wouldn't make me as happy as you do, because you were my best friend before I fell in love with you."
Once more a hush fell over the kitchen, but this time there was a crackling energy to it. Twilight's eyes widened as she realized what she had said. She and Rarity had only been dating for a couple of months. Twilight's confession broached serious emotional territory—perhaps more serious than they were ready for.
“You...love me?” Rarity asked.
Twilight looked almost as perplexed as her partner. “I-I’m sorry to just blurt it out like that...but I do. I really do.”
"You wouldn't just say that to avoid a fight, would you?"
"Never," Twilight said. "Surely you know me better than that."
At last, Rarity felt the anger starting to drain away. She knew when she first agreed to go on a date with Twilight that the bookish unicorn would never be able to give her the sweeping romance she had dreamed of finding with Prince Blueblood. But at the time, she had realized that maybe that wasn't the most important thing after all. The stallions with whom she had hoped to find fairy tale love usually turned out to be self-obsessed twits. Twilight wasn't going to sweep her off her hooves, but Rarity had never doubted the honesty of the unicorn's feelings for her. There was no reason to let that doubt creep in now, just because Twilight had had a saucy dream about another self-obsessed twit.
"This means a lot to me, Twilight, and I believe you feel just like you say you do. But as much as I want to return the sentiment, I think it would be best to wait until we're both a little less emotional. Would you accept 'I'm sorry' instead?"
"Oh, Rarity," Twilight said, putting her hoof on hers, "you don't have anything to be sorry for. I should apologize for even thinking about other unicorns when I'm already dating the best one there is."
Rarity smiled a weak little smile. She chastised herself for her silliness again, but it was hard to feel too bad when Twilight was there to reassure her.
"So, it sounds like I owe you some cuddling," Rarity finally said. "Shall we go back to bed for a bit?"
"I'd lo-er, really like that. A lot," Twilight said. The two mares giggled happily as they got up from the table and trotted off for the bedroom.