Twilight Is Clever

by Hudibadudi

Rarity Is Fabulous

In a small room, dimly lit by light by the fireplace, two ponies were busy in their separate tasks. It was winter and so, despite the rather small fire in the fireplace, there was a chill in the air that would not go away. Twilight was lying on her bed, surrounded by a fortress of books so that one could only see her head, intently studying a book titled Strategy and Tactics for the Beginner. Rarity stood near the fireplace, polishing a suit of armor. The two had worked in silence for quite some time before Rarity spoke up, “Twilight, put that book down for a moment. I need your full attention.”

Complying, Twilight looked up from her studies and stifled a yawn. “Yes?”

Rarity took a deep breath and said, “First of all, you need to put some more wood on the fire. It's freezing in here. Secondly, you can't just lie there and read all evening. You need to polish your suit of armor as well. We simply can't have you going into battle tomorrow with unpolished armor.” She paused for a moment as she looked hopelessly at her own suit of armor. “And thirdly,” she continued, “there's this spot here that won't come out and I was hoping that maybe you would be able to help me with it.” Rarity looked at the ground, trying to hide her blush at what she was going to say next. “And last, but definitely not least, you haven't said a word to me all evening. I uh, I want to hear your voice. It's calming.”

Twilight closed her book and climbed off the bed, levitating a few more pieces of firewood into the fire, causing it to roar to life. She looked at Rarity, who was doing a pretty bad job of trying to ignore Twilight's approach, and said, “Now, it wasn't that hard to put a few pieces of wood on the fire, was it?”

“Well, no. But I...” Rarity actually felt kind of stupid. She knew how much Twilight loved to read and she had interrupted her just to have her put a few pieces of wood on the fire, something that she easily could have done herself. At any rate, her thoughts were interrupted when Twilight spoke again.

“And, why in Equestria do you think that my armor needs to be polished? We're fighting a battle tomorrow, not going on parade. Battles are dirty and my armor would be covered in mud and dirt afterward. As it is right now,” she said, looking at her armor, which was clean but definitely lacked any shine to it, “I think it looks fine. As for your armor...” She examined the suit, looking for the spot Rarity was talking about. “Uh, where is this spot, exactly? I don't see it.”

Rarity tried her best to hide her embarrassment, but was doing a rather poor job of it. She pointed at the spot and said, almost whispering, “It's uh, right there.”

Twilight looked closely, and sure enough, she saw a tiny speck of mud. Twilight sighed in frustration. “Rarity, there's no way anypony is going to be close enough to you to see that little speck. It's so small I even needed you to show me where it was.”

“But Twilight,” Rarity exclaimed dramatically, “everything must be perfect tomorrow. Perfect!” Rarity began pacing around the room.

Twilight just shook her head. “You're being ridiculous. There is no need for you to be so obsessed with your armor. It's going to get dirty anyways, and then all this effort will have been for nothing.”

Rarity stopped in her pacing and looked at Twilight skeptically. “How do you know that it will get dirty, hmm? Have you ever been in a battle before?”

“No, you're right, I haven't been in a battle before. Keeping your armor clean is important, I know, but you've gone overboard with this.” Twilight paused, taking a breath before continuing. “Also, I was in the middle of studying when you interrupted me just so that you could have me do some pointless tasks that either you could have done yourself,” she said, nodding toward the fire, “or that nopony other than you would ever care about.”

“Well,” Rarity, her ears flattened against her head, asked, “what makes you such an expert, then?”

“I read, Rarity, real books, not those trashy romance novels that you read.” Rarity winced at that, but Twilight continued as she climbed back onto the bed. “Well, just in case you weren't aware, this isn't some stupid fairy tale. It's real life, Rarity. Grow up.” Twilight paused again, looking to where Rarity had been standing in the middle of the room and saw that she was curled up on the floor.

“Twi-light,” Rarity said between sobs.

Twilight realized that she had definitely over-reacted and immediately regretted it. “Rarity, I-” Twilight jumped down off the bed and stood next to her. “I'm sorry.” She stroked Rarity's mane, cursing herself for being so insensitive. She lay down on the cold stone floor beside her marefriend and gently nuzzled her. “I love you, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to you.” Twilight wiped away a few tears of her own. “You'll forgive me, right?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

Rarity looked up at Twilight and sniffled. She was crying no longer and took a deep, shuddering breath before speaking. “I love you too, Twilight. And of course I forgive you. I should also apologize, I've been-”

“Rarity,” Twilight said sternly, cutting her off, “don't. I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's not your fault.” She gave Rarity a light kiss on her cheek and asked, “Though I am curious, why all the fuss over all this?” She gestured towards Rarity's and her own suits of armor.

“Well, uh, to be honest, darling, I guess I just wanted some attention.” She stopped, unsure if she should continue, but Twilight nodded slowly. “And you've been ignoring me all day. Every time I would say something to you all I would get in reply is 'Yeah, sure, that sounds good to me.' I even asked, 'Should we have boiled potatoes for dinner tonight?' and when you gave the same reply I knew that you were ignoring me.” Rarity shuddered at the thought of eating boiled potatoes. Before Twilight could say anything Rarity continued, “I'm not mad, darling, but a little chatting every now and then is nice to help break the monotony. Plus, like I said earlier, I do like to hear your voice.” Rarity stopped, letting Twilight process everything she had said.

After a moment, Twilight said, “Again, I'm sorry.” She giggled, “I guess it's a good thing we aren't having boiled potatoes for dinner. You are definitely right about that.” She stood and helped Rarity up. “Come on, let's get that spot out, shall we?”

“Oh, thank you Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed. “You have saved the filly in distress!” They both broke into a fit of giggles at Rarity's over-dramatic acting.

Twilight cast a spell to remove the spot and then said, “Alright, now that's over. What do you say we go take a bath. After all, we can't be dirty when we go into battle tomorrow.”

Rarity gave her a playful look. “Oh, my darling you are so right. I would never show myself on the battlefield in such a state. Let it never be known that I, Rarity, never go to battle looking anything less than absolutely marvelous!”

The two broke into another fit of giggles as they left to go take a bath. Afterward, they said goodnight and went to bed, both eagerly awaiting the morning.

Rarity awoke to Opalescence softly meowing. She panicked. 'Oh no, the battle is today,' she thought to herself, still a little groggy. She bolted up and when she saw that she was back in her own room, she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank Celestia, it was just a dream. Opalescence, what are you doing up so early?” She went about her normal morning routine, thinking back on how odd a dream that had been. “Hmm, Twilight and I, marefriends? That's an interesting idea. I've never had a dream where Twilight and I were marefriends,” she said to herself. “Of course, she is so wonderfully cute. I wonder if she likes mares. There is only one way to find out, of course. I'll just have to ask.” After she finished brushing her mane and making herself presentable, she made her way to the kitchen to make breakfast. On her way she passed through the living room and what she saw caught her completely off guard.

Twilight was lying on one of her couches, flipping idly through a fashion magazine. Rarity may not have seriously thought about it before, but there was no doubt in her mind that Twilight was the one for her. The way her mane draped over her neck, the soft glow of her coat in the sunlight. The way she focused on her reading, taking in and analyzing the information as she came across something she didn't know before. Rarity was so captivated that she didn't even realize Twilight acknowledging her.

“Um, Rarity. Good morning, again.”

Rarity finally snapped out of her stupor and said, “Oh, Twilight, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were here. You should have let me know before you came over so that I could have had time to prepare.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. You're right, it is kind of rude of me, isn't it?” She put the magazine down and said, “I can come back later, if now isn't a good time.”

“Well, it's-I, uh...” She blushed, trying desperately to think of what to say. “No, not at all. Now is fine, perfectly...fine.”

Twilight hesitated for a moment before looking into Rarity's eyes. “I have a question that I need to ask, and though this might seem abrupt...” She waited for Rarity to nod before continuing, “Did you happen to have a dream last night about getting ready for a battle the next day?”

Rarity was a little taken aback by Twilight's seemingly psychic abilities, and by the weirdness of the question itself. She hesitantly answered, “Uh, well... Yes, I did. How did you know?”

Twilight didn't answer immediately. She thought for a moment, the impact of her actions, her decision to carry out what she had done. Finally she said, “Rarity, sit down. I have a lot to tell you and you should make yourself comfortable.”

“Is something wrong, is everything okay?” she asked worriedly as she lay down on the couch across from Twilight.

Content that Rarity was comfortable, Twilight decided to begin her explanation of what was going on. “I am going to be honest with you, Rarity. And I want the same from you. I also request that you wait until I finish telling you what I have to say before you draw any conclusions”. She waited for an affirmative nod from Rarity before continuing. “The reason I knew about your dream, is that I was in it.”

“But how did you-”

“Let me explain Rarity, please. I asked Princess Luna for advice a few days ago about...something. I already had a plan, and I needed her help in order for me to carry it out. In essence, I wanted to uh, be a part of your dream.”

Rarity slowly nodded, trying to wrap her mind around the implications of what Twilight was saying. She let her continue without interruption.

“I needed Luna's help to not only get me into the dream, but to also control the dream, in a way.” She paused, thinking. “Well, more like setting the stage for the dream, rather than controlling it. I couldn't just enter any of your dreams. It had to be one where I could plan ahead of time for what to expect in it. The dream's theme, I guess you could say, was my idea. And Luna brought it into reality. As real as dreams can be, anyways.”

Rarity quickly took advantage of Twilight's pause. “One quick question, if I might. Did the dream go as you had hoped?”

“Uh, well, not entirely. I mean, I obviously didn't intend for us to have a fight, if that's what you were asking about.”

Rarity simply nodded and motioned for Twilight to continue.

Twilight shifted nervously and said, “Like I said, controlling the dream was impossible. I was asleep during the dream as well, and I couldn't control my actions any more than you could. It was a shared dream.” She took and deep breath and said, “I have a question or two for you now, if you don't mind. Then you can ask whatever questions you have. I guess my first one is, was there anything from the dream that stood out to you, anything at all?”

Rarity thoughtfully tapped her hoof on her chin, thinking back to the dream. She suddenly blushed and looked down at the cushion that she was lying on. “Uh, to be honest,” she said, with a nervous laugh, “we were, uh, you know.” She looked around to make sure nopony was listening. “Together.”

Twilight cleared her throat, trying to stifle a blush of her own. “Oh, imagine that. How interesting.” Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt a little light-headed. “Does that bother you any? The two of us together in the dream?”

Rarity eyed Twilight suspiciously, wondering what could be going on. “What are you trying to get at Twilight? If this was an experiment I would greatly appreciate it if you would tell me what you were trying to find out.” Rarity froze. Suddenly it made sense. Rarity got up from the couch and walked over to where Twilight was. “I think I'm beginning to see what is happening here. You wanted us to be marefriends in that dream, didn't you?” Rarity didn't want to overwhelm Twilight with questions, but she just had to know. “Admit it, that's what you wanted, am I correct?”

Twilight couldn't look at Rarity. Instead she looked away, praying that Rarity wouldn't see her blushing so furiously. She felt the cushion shift as Rarity lay down beside her.

“My, my. Twilight Sparkle, you clever, unbelievably cute pony. I know I'm right, otherwise you'd be fighting my hypothesis with everything you have.” She gave Twilight a gentle kiss on the neck. “Come now, there's no need to be so embarrassed.”

Twilight let out the breath she had been holding and quietly said, “I-I just wanted to plant the idea in your head, that's all. I thought that would be easier than just telling you outright, that maybe the dream would, uh, kind of make the awkward part go better.” She briefly glanced at Rarity before looking away again, blushing. “Obviously that didn't work. But I guess you know the awful truth now. I should go and let you think this over.” Twilight tried to get up, but Rarity pulled her back down.

“I'll admit,” Rarity said calmly, “entering somepony's dream is a weird way of telling her that you like her. But your plan quite obviously worked, otherwise I wouldn't be thinking about smothering you to death with kisses right now.”

Twilight, still looking away, stammered, “B-but, you're not mad? A-at all?”

“Twilight Sparkle, what kind of friend would I be if I were mad at you for saying that you liked me? Of course, you probably shouldn't make a habit of entering ponies' dreams without their permission, but I am actually quite glad you did.” She paused and gave Twilight's neck another kiss. “Because it helped me to realize feelings for you that I didn't know I had.”

Twilight finally looked at Rarity. “Really?” she asked, almost unable to believe what Rarity was saying. “I mean, you really feel that way about me?”

Rarity smiled and said, “Of course darling, we agreed to be honest with each other. And I still want to smother you with kisses, if we're done talking about this.”

Twilight giggled, her embarrassment subsiding. “I have a secret to tell you. If you promise not to kiss me to death.”

“Oh, Twilight. Please, do tell.” Rarity leaned forward, eager to learn this secret.

Twilight leaned over so her mouth was close to Rarity's ear and whispered, “It may have been my plan and Luna may have helped, but in the end you, Rarity are the one who made it work.” She giggled and said, “This may sound cheesy, but Rarity, you are my pony in shining armor.” She moved back to try to gauge Rarity's reaction, and she was not disappointed.

A single tear ran down Rarity's cheek. She wiped the tear away and gave Twilight one of the most genuine smiles that she had ever given. “Twilight, you are so sweet. The dream, your explanation, all of it. It's just so romantic.”

Twilight smiled back and asked, “So you want to give a relationship a chance?”

Rarity pretended to be surprised that Twilight even needed to ask, “Oh, darling, I wouldn't have it any other way. How could I possibly pass on the cutest mare ever?”

They both started giggling and when those had subsided, they shared in their very first real kiss.

The End

Comments

[Voidwalker]

Okay, where to start...

The setting definitely was a nice idea. I always love some exploration of dreams, the dreamscape and all it's possibilities. Bonus points for starting the scene within the dream and not outright telling your readers. References to Rarities cheesy romance novels and her hope to get swept away - or, swapping sides - sweep away her own princess, were a nice touch, too.

As for the problems I see here.
I... don't think Rarity would be that straightforward once she understands Twilights intentions. She always strikes me as the more playful type, dancing around subjects if possible - and entertaining. I could've seen her teasing Twilight until she spills, coaxing her - but outright stating facts? Nah.
But that's just a minor issue. The major one I have is about Twilights decision to enter someponys dream without consent and forcing said dream to be in a specific shape. That easily could've gone oh so very, very wrong. It could've thrown Rarity into quite a fit, doubting herself, maybe even letting her self-esteem come crushing down. So many possibilities for things to go awry. And Twilight would've known about them, about all of them, because she overthinks things before getting into action.
So, yeah. Sweet? Maybe. But most definitely also creepy as heck. Not only because Twilight decided that this was a good idea, but more so because Luna rolled with it. What the heck happened there? It's the night princess' sacred duty to guard the dreamrealm, to help ponies - not to intrude on their privacy or help others to do so. Makes me wonder if somehow Twilight took advantage of her friendship to Luna to get her to agree to something like that. Which, as a chain of thought, is even more horrible.
Love makes you blind - and probably makes you do a lot of stupid stuff -, so I could get behind Twilight actually thinking this to be a good idea. But in no way could I see Luna just go along with this.

All in all, it was a nice little piece that could be entertaining - as long as you don't drill your thoughts into Lunas motivations...

[Hudibadudi]

7239484 First off, thanks for the feedback (and the fave). I really like to know what people think of stuff I write, and it's really hard to know without them telling me.

Honestly, yeah that is creepy. When I was writing it, I thought 'yeah, that works'. When I was editing it, however, I realized how creepy it was and I made it less creepy (yes, at one point it was even creepier)... That was the only thing that I wasn't completely satisfied with when I posted it.

On to characterization. I've always had issues with it, and have more trouble writing Twilight than Rarity, and I think this one was no different. You're right, that would not have been Twilight's normal course of action. I really don't know how Twilight, based on the character from the show (not from any fanfics), would handle having a crush on any of her friends. And perhaps this is my failing.

Lastly, a question, if you will. What did you think about the pacing? I've have issues with that in the past as well.

[Voidwalker]

7240041

First off, thanks for the feedback (and the fave). I really like to know what people think of stuff I write, and it's really hard to know without them telling me.

Well, with kind and patient reactions like this one, I'm happy to share my thoughts. Usually I'd just upvote fitting comments, but seeing as there were none, well...

I really don't know how Twilight, based on the character from the show (not from any fanfics), would handle having a crush on any of her friends.

You could try to ask other authors for advice. Or ask in some shipping-groups. They usually don't bite.
As for my own thoughts on this... hm. Twilight cherishes reason. And easily gets freaked out by stuff she doesn't understand. And emotions aren't exactly reasonable or logical. Pre-alicorn-Twilight probably would've tried to read up on the subject and follow advice she found in her books. But: since emotions are different for each and every pony, the advice would ultimately fail. So she'd try something different. And that would fail, too. And with each and every failure, she gets more nervous, more freaked-out - until her final, infamous meltdown(s). At which point she breaks down and spills it, just to discover that things could've been sooo much easier.
Princess Twilight would do something pre-alicorn-Twilight might've considered but in the end, decided against it because of a false sense of shame: Ask for advice from those she trusts most. (No, I actually don't necessarily mean her friends. Well... not only them, anyway.) She'd probably ask her parents and Celestia first, maybe her brother - certainly Cadence, since she's the freakin' princess of love!
Most writers somehow tend to forget that Twilight, as the princess of friendship - or student of friendship - actually has friends. Friends to ask for advice, friends to ask for help and friends which'd give her help even without her asking because they know the signs of a Twilight-meltdown by now.

Lastly, a question, if you will. What did you think about the pacing? I've have issues with that in the past as well.

I love long(er) stories. Always did, always will. You could expand on sooo much. Easiest example for any ship involving Rarity: What about Spike? With adding just one character - who shouldn't be left out of any consideration anyway - you got sooo much more potential for conflict.
With a shorter piece: I feel like it's... harder for such a tale to get it right. So much to set up in a short span. What's at the core of the story? It's about shipping. Okay - is it about dreams come true? Sure is. She loves her and will be loved back. That's the core of your tale. The stage, the setting, is this elaborated scheme about the dream and telling her that way how she feels.
Stating they're marefriends was a good way of setting this stage. It's a thing, it's real, roll with it or leave - good shot. Even after we learn that it wasn't, in fact, 'real', it's still the stage and has set the mood for the story. From that moment on, they talk things out and reach the conclusion of 'yeah, let's try it'.
You could, again, easily expand on their feelings. How did they fall in love with one another? When did this happen? Why do they love each other anyway? (Please please PLEASE never let anypony tell his/her beloved he/she's "perfect". Twilight is about facts and logic. Even Rarity, as a seemingly hopeless romantic, can be quite... I'd call it bitter for now, about romance at the same time. They both never ever would consider anything or anypony "perfect", because there are always little nitpicks, little mistakes, little somethings. There's no such thing as "perfection".)
But once more: You don't have to expand. As a cute, fluffy little tale... it was enough.
Though I would've preferred if they don't just state "yeah, let's go ahead and try getting into a relationship". Instead, maybe something like... Twilight asks what they'll do now, with both their feelings for one another in the open and Rarity, instead of answering, just sits down beside Twilight - closely - and asks if she'd like to have some tea. It implies that they're going to talk things through, at length, and that they won't shy away from one another. Something like that might've worked.

Ugh, it's late. I'm sorry for any mistakes in this mess. I'm going to stop rambling on now and march off to bed...

[Hudibadudi]

7241019 Again, thanks for the feedback, and thanks for replying to my reply to your comment. I really do appreciate it. I'll definitely take your suggestions to heart the next time I write something. (Oh yeah, and I prefer longer stories as well)