Our Reflection in the Mirror

Twilight walked out of school that day thinking about her best friend.

As she usually did.

Not that one could blame her. Supposedly many students that attended Canterlot High School dedicated a portion of their active brain functions exclusively to thinking about this friend of hers.

Supposedly.

But Twilight wasn’t thinking those kinds of thoughts. At least, not today. Instead, she was desperately considering how to broach a very specific subject to her friend. Something she had been planning for a long time. Something that she still found herself questioning if it would be worth the effort.

Of course, questioning the value of her own actions led Twilight to question why she was subconsciously questioning herself which led to her wondering if she had any moral standing on which to judge herself for the questioning of…

Clapping the sides of her head, Twilight thought about what she had been told time and time again by her mother. In the immortal words of one Twilight Velvet, “Chillax, girl! You think too much!”

For an author, her mother wasn’t very good at giving profound life advice.

…But she had a point. Some things just weren’t worth worrying about. Like creeping out her best friend. They had been there for each other for a long time now. If anything, she would find Twilight’s idea flattering. Hopefully.

Twilight passed by the blue carnations that Ms. Peachbottom populated her garden with, marking the halfway point of Twilight’s walk home. It was now or never. Well, not literally. Twilight could just bring this up tomorrow, or next week, or really any time that she felt comfortable with and that didn’t conflict with any schedule and goddarn it Twilight you’re stalling again.

“Hey, Rarity?”

A moment of silence passed before Twilight felt a slightly posh, but ever-so-gentle voice touch her mind.

Just a moment, darling. Talking about stuff with the girls.

“Oh! Yeah, take your time. Sorry.” Twilight dug into her pocket and retrieved her phone. Apparently it wasn’t now or never. Just… in five minutes or never. At least getting something out made her feel less nervous.

Her friend was popular. Very popular. Unfortunately, this meant the two couldn’t talk during school hours very often. Not that it bothered Twilight. She would probably prioritize talking to people who were physically in front of her as well. Probably. The alternative being talking to Rarity made that a difficult decision. Talking to a person no one else could see wouldn’t be the weirdest thing Twilight had done.

Regardless, the point was that Twilight could entertain herself until Rarity could talk. Easy peasy.

“But I’m more surprised about Rarity not having her eye on someone!”

The use of her name brought Rarity crashing back to Earth, having zoned out of the conversation at hand. School had just barely let out when Twilight decided to check in.

Roseluck spun around in front of her, now walking backwards. “I mean, you do kind of have an MO with this stuff, Rares.”

“Oh, is that right?” It didn’t even take a second for Rarity to jump back into the flow of conversation. “I didn’t realize I was so predictable.”

Amethyst Star spoke up from beside her. “When I mentioned wanting to ask Noteworthy out, you gave me a 7-step plan.”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

She made a face and wobbled her hand in front of her. “You not only found out about Wallflower’s crush on Sunflower, but then worked behind the scenes for 6 months to get them together. You specifically spent time with that Glimmer girl so you could help Sunburst write the ‘most statistically perfect’ love letter to her. It’s… well, it’s kind of weird how much research you put into people’s love lives. So–”

“I sink it is admirable!” Amethyst was cut off by Photo Finish, the final girl in the group. “It shows a dedication! A passion! A true eye for ze art of matchmaking, rivalled only by her eye for design!” Photo gave a grand flourish with her arms as she spoke.

“Yeah, it’s honestly really cool!” Roseluck chirped. “Which is why it’s so surprising that you don’t go to all that effort for yourself! How many students have you helped get dates for prom?”

“Seven!” Rarity responded with a beaming smile. Seven happy couples that she knew would have a great time together. Just thinking about it filled her with pride.

“So you’ve helped 14 other kids find someone using over-the-top research and planning and you still haven’t found some guy that you plan to ask to prom?” Amethyst narrowed her eyes. “I’m with Rose, that sounds pretty unlikely. There are only 3 weeks left.”

“Girls, just because I don’t have a person in mind doesn’t mean I don’t have a plan.” As the four approached the end of the school’s parking lot, Rarity pulled out her keys and unlocked the small hatchback in spot 075. “After all, I will settle for nothing less than perfect!”

“Yeah, of course.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Good luck with that. See you girls later.” The group waved goodbye as it split in half, Amethyst and Photo Finish walking back toward the buses while Roseluck and Rarity hopped into her car.

Once she dropped Roseluck off, then she could check in on Twilight.

Apologies, Twilight dear. I can talk now.

“Oh!” Twilight fumbled to pocket her phone as she stepped through the front door of her house. “Perfect, I just got home! Let me get my school stuff set down. How was your day?”

It was fantastic! Mr. Le Grand – my French teacher, I’m sure I’ve mentioned him before – complimented my accent today. I sound “just like a real frenchwoman,” he said.

“That was enough to make your day fantastic?”

It’s the small things, darling.

Twilight was glad that Rarity didn’t hear her snort of laughter.

As Twilight entered her room and began to remove and organize the notebooks from her backpack, she continued the pair’s small talk.

“How’s dad doing?”

He’s doing quite well. Still in some hot water because of that trouble student of his, but it shouldn’t last long.

“That’s good. And how about your mom?”

Up in Vanhoover for a photo shoot of hers. She should be back two days from now. How’s yours, dear?

“Almost finished with the manuscript for her next book. She’s been on a bit of a writing binge this last week, so Dad and I have been trading off who makes dinner.”

That does sound very much like your mother. She writes mystery, correct?

“Yeah.” Twilight placed the last of her school notebooks onto her desk and moved over to her bed, backpack still in hand. “Hey, so what I wanted to talk about earlier.”

I’m all ears, Twilight.

“Well… we’ve known each other for like twelve years now, right?”

Since I was five… so thirteen years, darling.

“Close enough. And in all that time, we’ve never actually been able to see each other.” Twilight began to pull a select few items out of her school bag. “And we’ve talked about how much that sucked.”

It is truly the greatest shame of our generation. Imagine the kinds of fashions I could design for you! Imagine your infatuation if you could lay your eyes on me!

Rarity’s statement inadvertently caused Twilight to blush. Or maybe advertently. Twilight was never quite sure. “Well, I actually took some elective courses during this past year that, uh– I thought it would be cool if I could see you. But that took some creativity to figure out and I’m really not good with creative things. So I thought if I could get some help, then maybe I could do something about it. Then I looked–”

Take a deep breath, dear.

Ugh, why did she always do this? Twilight sucked in a lungful of air and held it, massaging her face. Rarity wasn’t even here. Why was she getting flustered? Twilight exhaled and started over again.

“I took an art class. Two, actually. And looked up some of those helpful tutorial videos online. And made some fri– well, maybe not friends, but acquaintances that could give me feedback on my work. And– uh, yeah. I did a lot of stuff. I thought maybe you could describe yourself –” Twilight flipped the sketchbook in her hand to a new page and placed a tin of colored pencils next to herself “– and I could draw you.”

To say Twilight was worried by the lack of response from Rarity would be a gross understatement.

“Sorry, that’s weird. I’m being weird. Ignore me, I shouldn’t have –”

No, no, don’t apologize, dear. That’s my fault. I didn’t mean to scare you. Your proposal simply surprised me, it’s quite a fantastic idea. I’m not the best at drawing people, but perhaps I could attempt something on my end.

“Oh, you don’t have to.”

Nonsense, darling. It’s only fair.

“If… you’re sure.” Twilight eyed her pencils. “I guess if you could describe yourself, then I’ll…” She trailed off awkwardly, knowing Rarity would still understand.

Of course, darling. First things first, I have pristine white skin, sapphire eyes, and rich purple hair.

Twilight hurriedly gathered the pencils she would need.

Right now, I am wearing a blue blouse with an adorable little bit of frilling and –

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about clothing, Rares. I was just going to do a headshot. After all, that’s uh– that’s what’s important.”

Do you mean to imply my fashion sense isn’t important?

“Wha– No! Not at all! I just meant that… your clothing might change from day to day, but the way you look doesn’t. And if I‘m going to have a picture of you, I want it to be something I can look at every day and know that it’s still accurate.”

…Very smooth, Twilight Sparkle. How long did you practice that for?

“Come on, give me some credit.” Even though Rarity couldn’t see her face, Twilight gave a theatrical pout.

I’ve known you for over a decade. How long, dear?

“A week.”

Shorter than usual. You’re getting better.

“Hush.”

Rarity had to admit, Twilight’s idea was incredibly flattering. Borderline romantic. Rarity would say as much if she knew Twilight could handle the idea without becoming a stuttering mess. Spending a year of your life just to be able to have an idea of what a person looked like? Now that’s dedication.

Goodness, Twilight could be so adorable sometimes.

On her end, Rarity was idly scribbling a sketch of her own, though she chose not to bother with color. A rough pencil figure of a teen girl with straight, shoulder-length hair and glasses stood on her notepad. Ominously, it still had no facial features. A side effect of only studying clothing design, unfortunately.

“Twilight?”

Yeah.

“I’ve had something on my mind.”

What’s that?

It was obvious from her tone that Twilight was focusing wholeheartedly on her art. Rarity considered dropping the topic, but a voice in the back of her mind told her that now was the right time.

Oops, uh… don’t worry. I didn’t mess up.

A different voice in the back of her mind.

“Prom is only a few weeks away.”

Yeah, I think I remember you mentioning that.

“I told you about the students I helped find dates. It’s a shame I don’t have the time to help every student in the school. Everybody deserves someone.”

Yep.

Not exactly the response she was looking for, but Twilight was occupied. A shame Rarity couldn’t reach over and take the pencils out of her hand.

“My friends were prodding me today over why I haven’t found myself a date yet. I’ve been making excuses about how I’ve been too busy or haven’t found somebody I want to spend a night with, but that isn’t quite true. And honestly, I’ve been wanting to ask you what I should do.”

You’re the love expert, I’m sure whichever guy you go with will be great. I hope you have fun at prom with him. Uh, unless you already set him up with somebody, then I guess that’s bad.

“Well you see, darling, that’s not the problem I’m having. I’ve found that the person I wish to spend that night dancing with can’t be there.”

Oh, that sucks. Which color did you say your shirt was? Is he going to be out of town or something?

“Ocean blue, dear. And it does suck. It sucks because they aren’t going out of town, or having their own party, or anything. They’ll be staying exactly where they are and where they have been, but they are entirely incapable of making it.”

That sounds a bit strange.

Goodness, the girl could be quite dense when she wanted to be. Rarity knew men were oblivious, but this was almost a whole new level.

“I wonder what it would be like to kiss you.”

Guh?!

Nothing Rarity couldn’t handle, she told herself with a laugh.

“What’s wrong, Twilight?”

I… you get me every time with that. Jeez, Rares. You are… something. I’m not sure what, but it’s what you are.

“What does that mean?”

It means you distracted me and I’m going back to work.

“Nooooo– ” Rarity whined as she flopped onto her side and rolled across her bed. “Don’t ignore me, I want to taaaalk.”

Okay, about what?

“What I’ve beeeeen talking about. The prom.”

There’s a dude you want to go with who can’t show up. I’ve been listening.

“It’s you, Twilight. I’m talking about you.”

O-oh, gotcha. Like a ‘going with friends’ kind of deal where you can still say you had a date. I’ve heard about those.

“Oh my – Twilight, no.”

What?

“No, Twilight. Not a ‘going with friends’ thing. An ‘asking you to prom’ thing.”

Alright, I’m confused.

“Evidently. I, Rarity Belle, wish to ask you, Twilight Sparkle, to go to prom with me. However, to do so would be entirely pointless because you quite literally do not exist in a place where you can go to my school’s prom. Much less accompany me. And here I am, unsure of what to do or to whom I should give my heart.” A hand flew to Rarity’s forehead in a dramatic gesture.

I… thought you were straight.

“Darling, I’ve been flirting with you for months now.”

That was flirting?!

Although the volume of their conversation was always equalized to perfection – however that worked – Rarity had a suspicion that Twilight’s exclamation wasn’t as moderate as it sounded to her.

Sorry, Mom! I’m uh, gossiping with someone from my chemistry class! Okay. What? I’ve been dismissing all those weird little things you’ve been saying because I thought you were straight.

“I didn’t realize my flirting was ‘weird.’”

Sorry, it’s not. You know what I mean.

“Quite alright, darling. I’m just teasing you. And to be honest, I thought I was straight too. I’ve really only been attracted to the boys at school, but there was this transfer student who came here two years ago and she was just… whew.”

Misty?

“Oh, she was over there as well?”

Yeah. And yeah, I get what you’re saying.

“Ah, perfect! Well, ever since then I’ve been wondering about what that might mean and I think I might like girls as well? So I tried to think about other girls at school like that and then I thought of what we have and how we –”

Are the same person.

“We are not the same person, Twilight. You are intelligent and cute and a joy to talk to, while I am gorgeous and fashionable and incredibly street smart.”

You are not street smart.

Rarity wasn’t sure if Twilight could hear a gasp, but she tried anyway. “How could you say such a thing?”

We live in a city with one of the lowest crime rates in the actual entire world. If you have street smarts from living here, then I’m basically Phryne.

“Who?”

Don’t worry about it.

This was the kind of banter that Rarity cherished. It was also the kind of interaction that set the butterflies in her stomach aflutter.

Um…

“Yes, darling?”

How could you have a crush on me? You don’t even know what I look like.

“I don’t have to see you to know you have a beautiful heart.” The silence told Rarity that her flirt worked exactly as intended. “Just think on it, darling. I’ll stop trying to make you blush yourself to death so you can finish that drawing of yours. We wouldn’t want to prevent you from witnessing my radiance, would we?”

Heh, yeah. T-thanks.

Twilight leaned back as she inspected her work.

“Rarity.”

Yes, Twilight?

“You’re… beautiful.”

It was, of course, entirely possible that she had made a mistake or taken come creative liberties and made Rarity look prettier than she actually was. Twilight decided to ignore that possibility.

Why yes, I am. With how much effort I put in every morning, I darn well better be.

Twilight hopped off her bed to take a quick journey to her desk. She kept page protectors in the third drawer down. Perhaps it was overkill, but Twilight didn’t want to take any chances.

But thank you, darling. Hearing it from you means more than… well, it means a lot.

“I need to go to bed. I’ve got a test tomorrow in math class,” Twilight said as she slid the sketch into the plastic of a protector. “It was great talking to you. It always is, but tonight was…”

Enlightening?

“That works,” she chuckled. As Twilight placed the drawing into her desk’s top drawer, another set of pages wrapped in plastic caught her eye. She lifted the two papers delicately, eyes quickly scanning the words written across them.

Dear diary,
I don’t know what people usually put in diaries, so I’m just going to tell you about my best friend, Rarity. I met her four years ago. My parents keep calling her imaginary, but I know she’s not. I know because I tried really hard to ignore her because that’s how you get rid of imaginary friends, but she’s still here! She wasn’t happy about me ignoring her, though.
That was a long time ago and I’m eight now! That means Rarity is nine! It’s easy to remember because our birthdays are really close and there are only four days of the year when we’re the same age. I think it’s really cool to have a best friend that’s older than me. I used to think she wouldn’t want to hang out with me because I’m younger, but she says she doesn’t care about silly stuff like age.
Oh yeah! The coolest thing about my best friend is that we have the same dad and live in the same house! I don’t know how it works but it means we have even more in common! Isn’t that cool! One of our favorite things to do is find things around our house that are different for us!
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the kids in my class at school. There’s this one really cute girl named Moondancer. Good night, diary!

Dear ~~Diary~~ Journal,
This is an official autobiographical account of the phenomenon affecting one Twilight Sparkle (f, 13y).
I am, for unknown reasons, able to telepathically communicate with another human, one Rarity Belle (f, 14y). ~~As if telepathy wasn’t confusing enough~~ The most interesting part of this phenomenon is that the two affected persons live in separate timelines. This can be confirmed by considering the circumstances of both girls. They both were born of the same father, but do not share the mother that their father is legally married to. Records will confirm that in both ~~timelines~~ situations, the father has only married once and has never divorced. Additionally, both girls can testify to living in the house located at 1312 Starswirl Ct. Observation in both situations will confirm that only one family of a mother, father, and single child, resides at the location.
The phenomenon began in mid-June of the year 2008. It has persisted ever since, with no changes or signs of change in that duration.
I am aware that no one else may read this, but I wanted to record the details just in case. With the confirmation that alternate timelines exist, effort should be made to crack the secret of travel between them. ~~I would like to meet~~ I will study this prospect myself and research possible methods of interdimensional(?) travel. With any luck, the walls between worlds will be cracked within my lifetime.

“Hey, one last thing. I, uh– just want to say that… we’ll see each other someday. For real. I promise.”

The pounding of Twilight’s heart and the rushing of mental noise drowned the world out. In the middle of this cacophony, the words that Twilight Sparkle would carry for the rest of her life were spoken.

I believe you, dear. And I’ll be waiting.