~ A Starting Idea ~

Tailor of the Crown
By Monochromatic

Shall I offer
A Starting Idea
of a seamstress and a royal sister talking of a wounded heart they both hold dear

"You are very silly, Celestia."

A beautiful pegasus princess of snow white coat, vibrant lavender hair, and amethyst eyes giggled softly, a teacup raising to her lips as her eyes set on the delighted young alicorn sitting on the opposite side of the table.

"Am I?" the young mare asked, attempting and failing to seem serious. "Should I apologize for it?"

"No. I like it," the princess said, a blush decorating her cheeks. "But you know that already, don't you?"

Celestia giggled. "I do, my dear princess. I do."

There were many things in life that Rarity had never predicted.

She'd never predicted she'd find such wonderful friends, never predicted she'd be one of Equestria's heroes, never…

Well, actually, that was somewhat of a lie. She always knew greatness and fabulosity attracted the very same thing, and frankly she was saving Equestria just by offering them dazzling designs to wear—now, if only ponies actually wore clothes more frequently.

However, there was one thing she never saw coming: envy. Envy of the romantic kind, though, but not the act in itself but more who she was envious of. It… Well, in her romance novels, those she read in her bed under Canterlot's night light, envy and jealousy were always thrilling plot devices. Drama all around, and she loved it! She revelled in it, and she would live it if… if there wasn't something wrong about being envious of the long dead.

The constant whirring of her sewing machine filled the room; the typewriter responsible for weaving the story she was now in. Her eyes went over the fabric under her hooves, streaks of green and white, a fitting dress for the surprising object of her affections.

"Rarity? How long has it been since Sister employed you?"

Her ears twitched, and even if her concentration wavered, her sewing did not. Her eyes flickered up towards the alicorn sitting by the window, her gaze lost in the night she owned. Princess Luna often visited the Castle's royal fitting room, and the royal—and temporary—tailor could hardly complain. 'Twas a different life indeed, to go from simple townfolks asking for dresses to dukes, duchesses and two beautiful princesses asking for gowns and all sorts of attires.

She hummed, a hint of magic adjusting the red glasses perched atop her nose. "Well, I believe it's been seven months since the Manehattan Fashion Show, so I'd venture a guess at…six months?"

Six months, she'd ventured, and seventeen days, she privately thought.

Princess Luna fell silent for a moment.

"She enjoys your company greatly," she said, eventually, like a careful thought released into the wild. "As do I."

A pleased smiled swept across Rarity's face. "Oh? I'm delighted to hear that, Your Highness! I am endlessly grateful for the opportunity Princess Celestia has given me, and—" Her eyes again flittered towards the Princess, and a wink quickly followed. "I do aim to please, you know!"

Princess Luna turned to her, a raised eyebrow and soft smile. "You do, Rarity," she said, and an impish edge twisted her smile, "'Tis the first time I've seen Tia so fascinated by dresses."

A heated red streak rushed past the unicorn's cheeks, and she cursed her body for so rudely betraying her. Nevertheless, the sewing machine stopped, and a dazzling smile decorated her face. "Why, Princess!" she exclaimed, a hoof flying to her chest. "You sound surprised! Did you honestly expect anything less of moi?"

Princess Luna's smirk grew. "Some humility?"

Rarity's smile did not falter. "I'm only overly confident in the hopes that some of it will rub off on you, Your Highness," she said innocently, and what a winning sensation when Luna's nose crinkled in embarrassed displeasure.

The Princess looked back to the window, and so did Rarity turn her machine back on and return to her dress. Or, she did until Princess Luna spoke up.

"Curious."

Rarity turned off her machine and smiled. "Curious?"

"Your overflowing confidence falters when in presence of my sister," she noted, turning to Rarity. "You seem to hang on her every word."

The cursed blush returned, and Rarity's smile fractured slightly. "Do I now?"

"You do. I always notice when ponies devote all their attention to Celestia," the alicorn said, and in her voice Rarity detected bitterness. Princess Luna looked back towards the night sky. "I notice too much." A brief silence, and she continued before Rarity could offer comforting words. "My Sister and you spoke at length during last week's Gala."

Rarity hummed, offered a hasty reply because dear, dear, last week's gala had been quite the event, indeed. Too much wine, too many loose tongues, and an entire night where nothing had existed save for her, a far too tipsy alicorn, and the heated banter that flew between them.

And then… the day after…

"Tell me, Rarity," Princess Luna continued, and her tone grew soft. "Has Celestia told you of Princess Amethyst Snow?"

Rarity, again, did not reply. Her words caught in her throat, and her heart hammered against her chest. Yes, she'd heard of Princess Amethyst Snow, the beautiful Saddle Arabian princess who'd lived centuries ago. She'd seen her, even, in a simple diplomatic portrait that hung in the main library, overseeing a castle that could have—would have—been hers.

"She has, yes," Rarity said, a great care in her words. She remembered that night in her fitting room, an altogether different alicorn sitting in the same spot where Luna sat, and telling Rarity of a pegasus princess that once lived in the castle and to whom Celestia was set to marry.

Was being the key word.

She cleared her throat and turned on the sewing machine, the rhythmic sound keeping her thoughts grounded. "The Princess mentioned her once when we were discussing a romance novel. I didn't even know arranged marriages were something that, well, could even be arranged in Equestria."

"Nay. It was anything but arranged," Princess Luna replied. "Princess Amethyst was to stay for a few months and act as a diplomatic representative between our two nations, but months turned to years. She was kind. She made my sister smile, and would sculpt ice and snow statues that could not melt under Sister's sun." She smiled, briefly. "And Sister tried."

Again, Rarity felt a tug at her heart. It was an admittedly endearing thought, to imagine a beautiful princess sculpting a pristine ice sculpture, and an alicorn furiously trying to melt it away with well-placed rays of sun. It was adorable, truthfully, and Rarity wished she were in a time and place where such a carefree Celestia wasn't hidden under thousands of years of pretenses and masks.

"It must have been very hard for Princess Celestia," Rarity continued, because she was not envious of a long-dead princess, she was not. It was a tragedy that Princess Amethyst had died, and her heart wept for Celestia and the now obvious reason for why the Princess so adamantly rejected her many suitors. "Losing a loved one to illness can't be easy."

"Her illness did not take her away as quickly and painlessly as she deserved," Princess Luna continued. "I did try my best to give her comfort in her dreams. She did not have a single nightmare during her illness, but… But though she did not dream after her passing…" She faltered, paused, as though she'd said too much, but then continued somberly, "Celestia did, and those were very long, very terrible nights."

The sewing machine stopped. In the back of her mind, she wondered why Luna was telling her these things. In the back of her mind, she wondered many things, not all positive. In the back of her mind, the expression "second best" whispered.

"I'm sorry, Princess Luna," she said, because what else could she say? "I wish there was something I could do."

Princess Luna hummed. "Sister loved snow. It was all that interested her," she murmured, as though she hadn't heard what Rarity said. "But as I said... " She swayed her head lightly, her eyes flickering towards the unicorn. "Tis the first time I've seen Tia so fascinated by dresses."

~ A Moonlit Conversation ~

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Shall I wake you for
A Moonlit Conversation
Of a princess kept awake by thoughts of her heart’s desire

"That unicorn..."

Princess Celestia blinked at her sister. "That unicorn? Oh, you mean Twilight's friend! Rarity! Isn't she a card?" She giggled. "The poor dear, the first time I met her, she looked as though she was about to faint."

"And did you not feel the same way?" Princess Luna asked, her tone measured, and though Celestia caught the veiled implication, she chose to ignore it.

"What do you mean, dear Sister?"

Princess Luna frowned. "The resemblance. Surely you of all ponies sees it. They're not identical but..."

"But this thread of conversation will be better served if it ends here," Celestia replied with a tone much more casual than one would expect to be used for a warning.

Princess Luna's frown remained. "Even now you hold on?"

And to that, Princess Celestia did not reply.

Two beautiful princesses, their eyes lost in each other as they so often were.

The surroundings did not matter, much like every other time Celestia spent time with her foreign princess; she who'd so quickly captivated her attention, who'd so easily stolen her heart. Luna mocked her for it, but Celestia didn't care. She was young, wasn't she? She was young and allowed to be as much, to be a carefree fool in love with Princess Amethyst Snow.

She closed her eyes, and relished in the sensation of Amethyst caressing her cheeks, whispering her name, leaning close and…

"My darling..."

Celestia's eyes flew open, the dream coming to an abrupt stop. Her heart was beating quickly in her chest, those two words resonating in her mind over and over, as they'd done ever since they infiltrated all her dreams. That voice, that expression were not things that had ever belonged to her dear Amethyst. Closing her eyes, she tried to again avoid the internal discussion at knowing very well who had been taking over her dreams ever since the ball where they'd drunkenly flirted like adolescents.

Moonlight filtered the room, and Celestia knew by the moon's position that dawn was not to come for another few hours. She could go back to sleep, dream her dreams of she who was long gone, but now… now with a hint of guilt she felt a tug towards a very living and breathing being.

No, Celestia.

She forcefully closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep again. She had early meetings planned, and it wouldn't do to fall asleep halfway through them. The nobles would be offended, like they were about most everything, and she quite honestly did not feel inclined to deal with that.

And yet, try as she might though, she could not sleep, and the more her thoughts consumed her, the more the minutes trickled away into the night, the more she flirted with the desire to… perhaps…

With a resigned sigh, she got up, took off the covers and then promptly made her bed. She wasn't sure she'd be going back to it, and there was no sense in making the maids work harder than they already did.

She debated whether to put on her crown and collar or not. Most of the castle staff were long asleep, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't occasionally feel like the regalia weighed on her. She wished she were young again, when such things never bothered her, but time had made of her a mare of habits and pretenses, so when she stepped out of her room moments later, she was in formal attire.

Two guards were posted outside, both surprised to see their monarch awake at such hours. Immediately they jumped to the conclusion of danger being around the corner, but she quickly did away with their worries. She was simply suffering from a bout of insomnia, she lied, and would like to take a walk to ease her thoughts.

"This has been happening a lot, Your Highness," one of them said, concern flashing his face. "Are you ill?"

Celestia smiled, trotting off and listening to their quick steps behind her. "I am perfectly fine, Iron Shield. A bit of insomnia is hardly something to worry about! I’ll visit my sister and consult with her. Perhaps she has some solutions?"

Truth be told, she dearly wanted to be left alone at the moment, but dismissing her guards would only deepen their worried beliefs. She appreciated their concern, truly she did, but she could fend for herself. In fact, she could think of other ponies who she wished were kept under constant supervision so no harm could ever befall them.

After a brisk trot, they finally reached a fork in the road. Luna's wing lay on the path to the right, but Celestia's real destination was along the left path. She cleared her throat and turned to her guards, asking them to please return to their stations. Yes, she would be quick, she assured, and yes, if she was not back by seven, they had permission to come back with reinforcements, and yes, she remembered she had a meeting with Duke Saddle Silk at seven o'clock.

She waited patiently until they were out of the way before smiling mischievously and cantering towards the left. She dearly hoped her tailor, gossip-hub and… friend was having another one of her all-nighters. Last time had been more fun than she had had in what seemed a lifetime since Twilight left the castle.

"Sister."

Celestia's brisk walk came to a stop, and for this particular pony, she did not hide her frustrated sigh. Honestly, what was it with Luna and interrupting whenever Celestia was sneaking away to meet with her… The word love-interest hung on her mind, but she forced herself to push it away, despite knowing very well that denial did little more than prolong the inevitable.

She turned around, intent on quickly and efficiently listening to whatever her sister needed to say, but was surprised to find the younger alicorn smiling at her.

"Luna!" she said, smiling brightly. "What a lovely night you've brought us, dearest sister. I was just planning on meeting you to say as much."

Luna tilted her head. "It seems you are still asleep, dear sister. My wing is in the complete opposite direction," she noted, before her smile widened and she added, "Perhaps you were intending on appreciating other things? A particular pony, even?"

Celestia did not flinch. "Now, Luna, unlike yourself, watching ponies as they sleep isn't something that fascinates me terribly."

"She's not asleep," Luna replied. "I was just with her an hour ago, in fact. She is intent on finishing your dress for the upcoming gala. I, personally, thought she should be spending more time perfecting my own, but it seems she will settle for nothing less than perfection when it comes to you."

Celestia was grateful dim lights hid the blush creeping up her cheeks. She remembered still, centuries later, how blinding love had driven her to make everything perfect for the object of her affections, and though she did not want to mistakenly assume this was the case, she couldn't deny it was certainly an exciting thought.

"Oh? If so, I appreciate her efforts immensely," she replied at length.

"Yes," Luna replied with a smile. "She reminds me of somepony else long ago."

With that she walked past her sister and disappeared in the corridors to her wing of the castle. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been taken by somepony as she had Rarity, as though she was no longer a wise and ancient monarch, but a young and foolish mare coming to terms with new and exciting feelings.

Invigorated, she doubled her speed and made her way down the hall, her heart skipping a beat at noticing light filtering from under a distant closed door. Despite her desire to nearly gallop over there, she kept herself to a light trot.

When she finally reached the door, she carefully knocked three times and waited.

She heard somepony shuffling inside the room, and moments later, the door opened, revealing a unicorn looking beautiful with her messy hair and red glasses.

"Princess Luna, I rea—" The moment Rarity's eyes landed on Celestia, her cheeks flushed red and she immediately jumped back, quickly running a hoof through her unkempt mane and moving away so the Princess could come in. "Princess Celestia! Goodness, what are you doing here? It's nearly three in the morning!"

Celestia smiled, raising an eyebrow. "The same could be said of you, Rarity," she noted, stepping in and looking around.

The room was, as usual, quite an organized mess, as Rarity would often call it. It was very much different from the rest of the castle, where everything was as impeccable as Celestia's reputation, and as such, she found certain devious pleasure being in a place so unrestrained in its lack of care for messes and disasters.

Her eyes eventually landed on the beautiful clothing in the middle of the room, but before she could approach it, Rarity shrieked and quite literally covered Celestia's head with a stray fabric.

"You're not supposed to see that yet!" she scolded, unable to see Celestia's delighted grin under the fabric. "It's a surpri— don't you dare take that off! That is an order!"

Celestia laughed at this, returning the fabric to its spot atop her head. How bold! How many of her maids and guards would rather die than bark an order at her, and yet Rarity did it effortlessly. Did that mean that finally they'd overcome the wall that eternally separated Celestia from every other being that interacted with her?

Oh dear, I might have a thing for being ordered around.

"Now you may take it off," Rarity's voice finally came, and Celestia did as ordered, a little saddened to see her dress was gone. “I apologize,” the seamstress quickly said, realizing her outburst. She cleared her throat and smiled. “It’s meant to be a surprise, after all.”

"What will you do now, then, if I'm not allowed to see my dress?" Celestia asked, and she purposefully lowered her ears, mimicking the effective method Twilight had so often used to get her way. "I don't want to interrupt your work, of course, so I suppose I will retire and leave you to it."

"What? No!" Rarity blurted out almost immediately, belatedly realizing her outburst, clearing her throat and speaking at a much more dignified volume. "Er, I mean, I was planning on finishing tomorrow morning, Princess, so I'm all yours now."

Though she knew very well it was just an expression, Celestia couldn't help but bite down on her lip. Wouldn't that be wonderful if it were true? To have Rarity be all for herself to love and adore and revere? And to have the same in return?

What scandalous thoughts! And yet, there she was having them, and frankly, she loved it as much as she loved reading trivial gossip magazines where ponies scandalized themselves over absolutely ridiculous affairs.

"If that's the case," Celestia said, moving out into the hallway, "would you walk with me? I'm sure my sister would appreciate it if we admired her night, and I must confess sleep is hard to find."

"I am sorry, Sister."

Two alicorns in a foreign land gazed at a the white marble tomb that now protected the wilting body of a beautiful princess. An inscription in a foreign language adorned the sides of the object, and yet Princess Celestia did not know what it said, and more likely, she would never know.

Knowing would make it real.

Inescapable.

The reality that her world entire lay dead before her.

"I was foolish," a bitter princess whispered, tears stinging at her eyes.

"You were in love," her sister murmured, though she knew they were one and the same.

"I was," Princess Celestia whispered, and upon noticing a mourning king and queen approach her, a warm but insincere smile permanently affixed itself on her lips. "I will not be foolish again."

"Princess, this has been happening quite often, hasn't it?"

A beautiful artificial lake lay before Princess Celestia, the night sky mirrored in its calm surface. She had always loved lakes, ever since she was a filly, and she particularly liked to watch the reflections held within the clear water. They were never quite exact, always rippling and distorting, and it felt to her like only in water did she ever see her truly accurate reflection. Not a perfect pony, but an imperfect one.

"Princess?"

Make no mistake, Celestia had heard Rarity the first time. She'd heard it, and she failed to reply not out of desire to be rude, but simply because she enjoyed it when Rarity sought her out. It was a foreign sensation to her. Countless ponies sought her out day in and day out; it was rare for her to want the attention of somepony anymore.

Before Rarity asked a third time, she turned to the unicorn. "What has?"

Though she probably wanted to, Rarity did not roll her eyes. She smiled deviously and raised an eyebrow instead. "These outings," Rarity replied. "It's the seventh time this month, and I beg your pardon for assuming, but... Is something amiss, your Highness?”

Sneaky pony.

She knew exactly what was going on, or so Celestia hoped.

“Rarity, how long have you been working at the castle?” she asked.

Rarity tilted her head. “Curious you say that. Princess Luna asked me the very same thing.” She hummed, and the sound reminded Celestia of Amethyst. Very many things reminded her of Amethyst. She tried to push them away as usual.

“I do believe,” Rarity continued, pulling Celestia away from terrible thoughts, “that I’ve been under your employ for…six months? Six months, and a few days, if I’m not mistaken.”

Six months and seventeen days.

“Yes, that’s right!” The princess smiled. “And have you been enjoying your tasks?”

“Very much so, Your Highness. I recently told Twilight in a letter that I’ve never felt more challenged.”

This pleased the princess. “Yes, she mentioned as much in her recent letter. She was always confident you’d find a place here,” she said, even if she knew Twilight probably had not expected her friend’s place would be in Celestia’s affections.

Rarity snorted most unladylike. “Really? Well, I’m surprised. Considering she sends me a fifty-foot long scrolls every other week to make sure I haven’t offended you or Princess Luna in any way…” She shook her head. “I’m happy to see Twilight does have some faith in me.”

Celestia smiled fondly. “She’s always been quite the teacher’s pet.”

There was a pause.

“I can hardly blame her,” Rarity eventually replied, and though she did not smile, her tail swished towards Celestia ever so slightly. It sent shivers down the alicorn’s back, and she wished the night’s temperature would lower so she might have an excuse to sit nearer to Rarity. Finally, the mare offered a teasing grin. “With a teacher like you, who wouldn’t spend their time devoted to pleasing you?”

There was another pause.

The Princess’s wings ruffled besides her, and with what little shame an ancient monarch had left, she swished her tail to the side and politely elected to ignore Rarity’s flustered intake of breath when their tails collided. If she were anything less but a paragon of discretion, she would turn around to bask in the unicorn’s expression.

Thankfully, she couldn’t give a flying feather.

With a smirk that rivaled Luna’s when she thought she was being especially clever, Celestia turned around to gaze at her heart’s desire. “Why, Rarity. Spend their time devoted to pleasing me? You say that as if you aren’t familiar with the concept!”

The flush on Rarity’s face practically illuminated the gardens.

“Pardon?!” she blurted, and Celestia’s smile only grew when Rarity stood up and whipped her tail against the ground. “I have never!”

Celestia breathed. What a wonderful, wonderful night.

“The sundress incident,” she said in singsong, only for the most awful snort to leave her lips at Rarity’s scandalized gasp.

“I was trying to impress the fillies, not you!” she defended.

“The Hearth Warming play!” Celestia continued. “I don’t think Luna has quite forgiven you for the much larger and much more obvious effort you put into my costume.”

Rarity flipped her mane, looking away so as to unsuccessfully try to hide her face. “I’ll have you know I was going for a minimalistic approach!” After Celestia laughed, so did she too loosen up, sighing theatrically. “Honestly, why do you tease me so?”

Celestia weighed her reply, measured it as she did every action and decision she took every second of every hour of every day.

“That is what friends do, isn’t it?” she asked. It is what lovers do as well, she added in her thoughts.

Her words, though not the same effect as if she’d said what she’d really felt, did have some degree of impact on the unicorn. It was, after all, the first time she’d put a name to their relationship, one beyond employer and employee, Princess and subject—for once, and as she wanted it to be, they were both on equal ground.

“What friends do,” Rarity repeated in a hushed whisper, savouring every word. From the corner of her eye, Celestia saw a tender smile on her unicorn’s lips, and her heart swelled in reply, and so did it shrink when a frown marred Rarity’s visage. “Friends,” she continued, slowly, carefully, as measured as Celestia did everything, “also allow friends to help them when something is keeping them up at night more often than not.”

For a moment, Celestia decided to throw caution to the wind. For a moment, the words ‘you are’ waited in her lips, wanting to take off, but Rarity spoke first, a faint rosy hue blooming on her cheeks.

“I worry about you, Your Highness,” she said, and there was no insincerity in her voice. “And I think your sister is worried as well.”

“You are avoiding her. And she has noticed it. I tire of weaving excuses for you, Sister. How did you not expect this? Were you so truly blinded by denial?"
"I was a fool. I thought it wouldn't matter. I thought it wouldn’t affect me."
"Tia… Perhaps it would hurt you less if you spoke to her. I presume you didn't hire her solely because of ghosts haunting your every waking and sleeping moment. Speak to her, Sister. It might do both of you most good."

“Rarity, have I…” An ancient pain echoed in her heart, as though it were fresh and new and bleeding. “Have I told you about Amethyst Snow?”

Celestia knew very well Rarity had heard of Amethyst Snow. She remembered having mentioned her once before in passing, trying to relate her experience to one of Rarity’s romance novels, and finding her nerves running out soon after.

“You have,” Rarity said, “Once, I believe. I... “ She faltered, and when her ears lowered, as if a pain rose in her chest, Celestia wondered how much had Luna told the unicorn of Celestia’s tragic romance. But Rarity was braver than alicorns, and regardless of whether she felt pain or not, she finished her sentence, “I would like to hear about her,” she said tenderly, “if you’ll indulge my curiosity.”

“She came to Equestria for a diplomatic summit,” Celestia began, and it felt as though the knife in her heart was gone, the pain held within finally seeping out as she talked, and talked, and Rarity quietly listened, their tails softly intertwining.