I was infected. I didn't know how, but I was infected. I couldn't stop throwing up. I vomited for… Minutes? Hours? I couldn't be sure. It must've been a while, because Twilight had time to get down to me before I had finished.

"Oh my god! Rarity!" she yelped. I felt her hand press against my shoulder. It wasn't nearly as hot as before.

"What's happening?" I mumbled. I doubt that Twilight understood me; Instead, she grabbed my arm and hooked it over the back of her neck. She guided me upstairs, I assume. I could barely keep my eyes open. My blood became sharp stones, scraping and scratching at my veins.

"Rarity. Rarity!" said somepony. I think it was Twilight. Or maybe it was Sweetie Belle. "How are you feeling? What are you feeling?"

"TIred." is all I could manage to say. Applejack leaned me back onto her bed softly. I felt myself melt into the soft blankets. They smelled like lavender. That was odd. Fluttershy hates lavender.

"It's okay, Rarity. Sleep. Get some rest." Pinkie said softly. "I'll talk to Celestia…" I'm sure she said more, but I couldn't grasp it. I must've blacked out, because I heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing, for the next few hours. It was as if I were dead. Maybe I was.

---

I sat up sharply in bed. There was some sort of jackhammer slamming against the inside of my skull. Other than the splitting headache, I felt fine. Then I realised that I was in Twilight's bed, which couldn't be good.

"Are you alright?" A pained, straining whisper. It took me a moment to discern the speaker, she sounded so off-color.

"Twilight?" I asked frightfully. She took in a deep rattling breath from my right. I was almost too afraid to look. As soon as I did, I wished I hadn't. Her eyes were waxy and yellow, with pus dripping from the corners. Each breath was obviously a battle, one that Twilight won by the skin of her teeth. There was a splattered stain of something acrid and yellow on her shirt, as well as on the corners of her mouth.

"What happened?" asked Twilight. She tried to push herself from her seat, but fell back almost immediately. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"I was talking to Sweetie Belle…" I started, interrupted by the sudden fit of Twilight's coughs.

"Go on! We don't have time to worry about me. Keep going." she urged.

"Right. Sweetie left and then I threw up. That's about all I can remember." I said. Twilight screwed her eyes shut, either in pain or in concentration. I suspected a bit of both.

"This is not good. Quite the opposite, really." she muttered, thinking that I wouldn't hear.

"How long have I been unconscious?" I asked. I couldn't imagine what she was so worried about. Once I pushed past my headache and the stomach ache, I was perfectly healthy.

"I don't know. An hour? Two? At least two. I blacked out, too." she said, just as quietly as before.

"Have you spoken to Princess Celestia?" I asked. She shook her head sullenly.

"I sent her a letter with the blood, but I don't know if she noticed. I don't know if she could even read it. My penmanship is going straight to hell." Twilight seemed to be grumbling more to herself than anypony.

"Relax, dear, I think you're getting yourself worked up." I said. "Come on. Let's get you into bed."

"I don't want to get into bed. I want to figure out why you're all of a sudden being swept with Horn Bane symptoms." said Twilight. "Before my legs gave out, I managed to draw my blood for Celestia. I gave her a pint of yours as well. Be careful when you try to stand. The last thing we need is for you to faint, especially now."

"Twilight, I-"

PING!
PING!
PING!

"Rarity! This is urgent!" Princess Celestia's voice, rife with fear, echoed through the house. "Please see me at once!"

"You heard her. Any questions you could ask me, she could answer better." said Twilight, her eyes fluttering closed. I nervously worked myself to my hooves, trembling slightly. I felt fine, besides the migraine, stomach pain, and inability to walk properly. I hobbled from Twilight's room and down the stairs. I gripped the door with my magic and pulled, but the door seemed to be nailed in place. I pulled the handle with my hands and smiled slightly at Princess Celestia. I tried to smile, at least. It may have come out as more of a grimace.

"Hello, Princess Celestia." I said. I ignored her tears, and how badly she was trembling.

"Rarity… Oh, Rarity…" she said softly. "I'm so sorry. So, so sorry. I was wrong. I told you that you'd be safe… I'm so sorry."

"I honestly don't feel that awful." I half-lied. "Are you sure we should be worrying?"

"The virus has accelerated. You are now just as sick as Twilight." said Celestia. I just noticed the box at her hooves.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I have news." Celestia avoided my question.

"Good news? Or bad news?" The question sprung to my lips before I could even think about what the answers could mean.

"It is news." said Celestia. "The box in front of me contains the cure. One dose will cure and immunize one pony of Horn Bane. The trouble is, there is only one dose."

"What do you mean? Surely there's more…"

"No. There is one dose of the cure, and there will never be another in time. One component in particular only blooms every three decades. If you are not cured soon, you will be dead by tonight."

"What do I do?" I asked, terrified of the answer. Celestia bowed her head, in shame. She was ashamed of herself. She blamed herself for Twilight and myself, which wasn't fair. I wanted to tell her, but how? That seemed to be a recurring issue in my life.

"I do not know. I truly don't. There's one cure, two who need it. You need the full dose…" said Celestia. "The only thing you can do is choose. There's no point in you both dying, is there?"

"I'm going to give it to her." I said immediately. I didn't have to think. It was a simple solution. I would die so she could live.

"I am truly ashamed to admit that some part of me was hoping you'd choose Twilight, over yourself." said Celestia, bowing her head even more. "Without Twilight, I have nopony. It'll be just Luna and I, and we can't get along forever. I-"

"Do not defend yourself, Princess Celestia. I understand. Besides, I couldn't live with myself if it came at the cost of Twilight's well-being." I said. There were tears dripping from my eyes, but I hardly noticed.

"Thank you, Rarity." Celestia slid the box through the barrier. "I will wait here for Twilight. Do not worry about Sweetie Belle. I will make sure she is looked after."

"Thank you." I opened the box. Sitting on a bed of packing peanuts was a small syringe, filled with glowing, pulsating red liquid. It looked like cherries, glowing cherry liquid, like something that Pinkie would drizzle over a bowl of ice cream. I wished I had ice cream. Just one last bowl.

"Goodbye." I said finally. There was something ominous about that very word.

"I cannot put into words how much I appreciate this." said Celestia. "I will remember you. As hard as it may be to believe, I will not forget what you are doing here. For thousands of years to come, I promise, I will remember you."

I couldn't work up a response. I think my calmness made Celestia feel worse about the whole thing. I should've been fighting my hardest, yelling, shouting, blaming Celestia, but I couldn't. Not without crying. All I could do is slowly saunter back upstairs with the syringe in my hand.

Twilight had moved back onto her bed. She looked rather peaceful on her back, blanket brought up to her nose. She cracked her eyes opened slightly, just wide enough to see who had entered.

"What did she want? Princess Celestia? What did she want to tell you?" she croaked. Twilight let out a cough, then grimaced in pain.

"She brought you something." I said, trying my best to smile. I raised the syringe. "The cure. Come on, I have to give it to you immediately."

"The cure? That's a rather small amount for the both of us to share." coughed Twilight.

"This is all for you, darling."

"Then where's yours?" asked Twilight, sitting up in her bed.

"It's… It's coming." I lied. "You have to take yours first. You've been sick for longer." Twilight looked me up and down, reading me like a book.

"There's… only one dose, for whatever reason. She can only cure one of us." said Twilight. It wasn't a question, she was explaining it to me. "And you want it to be me. I want it to be you. There's obviously a problem here."

"Twilight, don't argue. Just take the cure." I urged. I couldn't believe how easily she saw through my lies.

"We're going to talk about this a little. More than not at all." said Twilight. Again, not a question. This was a demand. "What are the pros of you dying to save me? I can think of none."

"You have Spike to live for." I said.

"And you have Sweetie Belle."

"The girls would be devastated if you were to die." I argued.

"And you think they won't be if you died? Don't be ridiculous." scoffed Twilight. "Face it, Rarity. There's no reason for you to die, just so I can live."

"Twilight, you're a princess. You've studied concepts I can't even fathom." I said, holding back the tears. "Meanwhile, I make dresses. Dresses that truthfully aren't all that amazing."

"You actually give something worthwhile. Me? I'm a librarian. Princess of dusty books, maybe, but easily replaced. You actually have a worthwhile talent." said Twilight. She coughed violently, gripping her neck in pain. "You're capable of reaching your goals, achieving your dreams. I'm not."

"All the more reason you should live. What about your doctorates?" I asked.

"I'm not living if you have to die, and that's that." said Twilight stubbornly. I wanted to scream. It couldn't be happening! I was offering her life, and she was refusing!

"Fine. If you won't take it, I won't either." I said. "We'll both die."

"Don't be ridiculous, Rarity. What's the point in us both dying?"

"Absolutely none. But I refuse to take this cure. Either you can take it and save one of us, or the girls will have to pay for two caskets. Your choice."

Twilight clenched her fists in anger, then bit her lip in thought. I stared her in the eye and she returned my glare. I could tell by her look that she understood. I wasn't bluffing.

"If you refuse the cure, I will smash the vial against the wall." I said firmly. "Now come here so that I can give it to you."

Twilight let out a deep puff of breath, barely managing not to cough. Her hands trembled violently as she reached forward, her outstretched palm shaking despite her best efforts to still it. It was obvious that she was in massive amounts of physical pain, but I'm not sure if it was worse than her emotional trauma.

"Give it to me." she said quietly. "I'll do it myself. Please."

I nodded my agreement and pressed the syringe into Twilight's grasp. She tilted it over in her hand, inspecting it.

"My cure. Also a murder weapon." said Twilight. She curled up a fist in her left hand and bent the arm. The needle danced at her thin arm, struggling to stay in one place.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, regretting it as soon as I did. Of course it wasn't okay. Foolish of me to even ask.

"Will you… Can you please hold my hand?" asked Twilight. I intertwined the fingers on my right hand with the fingers on Twilight's left and gripped. For the first time since she fell ill, she didn't feel hot. Quite the contrary, her skin felt as cold as clay.

"3." counted Twilight, closing her eyes. I did the same. "2. 1."

Something sharp pierced my arm. By the time I opened my eyes, the entire vial had been emptied into my vein. I opened my mouth but no words came out, which seemed to bring a pained smile to Twilight's face.

"It had to be you." she whispered. "It had to be… Rarity, I don't have much time. We both know that. Now… Spike. I want somepony to look after him. You, or Fluttershy, and if all else fails, bring him to Shining Armor."

I could barely process her words. She had tricked me. Ripped the life from her own hands and shoved it into me.

"Now as for what to do with my body." she coughed. "I'd always wanted my body to be donated to science, but that can't happen as it is right now, since I never actually signed the necessary paperwork. My alternative is cremation."

"You tricked me." I said quietly.

"Rarity, I need you to listen to me. I don't have a will written, so it is imperative that you listen closely." said Twilight firmly. "My worldly possessions. Split them six ways. You, the other girls, and Spike. I know it's not much, but I have to be fair."

I stared at her blankly as she continued, shocked that she managed to be so calm with one hoof in the grave.

"Make sure that my parents are alerted of my passing, please." rasped Twilight. She was struggling for breath. "Shining Armor may not tell them. When he gets under pressure, he tends to argue with Daddy, and he may choose to eliminate that situation altogether. It is very important to me that they are informed."

"Twilight…" My mind stopped. I couldn't move, couldn't think. I could do nothing but repeat her name.

"Rarity, I don't want this to be all for naught." she said. "I need you to promise me that you'll take care of yourself. Please."

"I can't believe you… Why?" I asked. "Why me? Why save me?!"

"The same reason you'd save me. I hope you won't be upset for too long." coughed Twilight. "Take care of yourself, Rarity. You remember what I asked you, right? What to do with my body and my possessions?"

"Twilight, stop…"

"Stop what? Stop dying? If I could, I would, darling." Twilight smirked slightly. "Heh. Never thought I'd call you that to your face. I tease you a bit with the girls. I hope you're not mad."

"You've killed yourself. And for what?" My voice was getting louder, sharper. I was scolding her, halfway into her coffin. I had no time to be angry with myself.

"For you…" Twilight smiled before turning to her side. I stared at her back, with my heart dropping into an abyss. Slowly, Twilight stopped moving. I couldn't see any trembling, I heard no breathing. My love… Twilight Sparkle simply stopped.

"Twilight! Twilight Sparkle!" I yelled. "Twilight! Look at me! Wake up!"

Nothing. Twilight was limp, nonmoving.

"Wake up! Get up right now!" Tears were rolling down my face. "Read me a book! Give me a lecture! Something!"

I swallowed a shaky sob. She had to get up. She had to! But she didn't. Didn't move, didn't speak. Didn't breathe.

"Damn you, Twilight Sparkle! Damn you!" I shrieked. I yelled loudly at nothing, saying nothing. "Don't you understand? You can't die! I-I need you!" My face burned. My fingers curled up into a fist, but I wasn't sure who I was upset with. I couldn't possibly be mad at her, could I? She refused to wake up. She had to be pulling a prank on me, some sick joke. But, no… She wouldn't do that to me. Would she?

"Twilight! Stop it immediately!" I sobbed. I dropped to me knees, trembling and shaking. "I love you! There! Is that what you wanted to hear? I love you, Twilight Sparkle! Not just as your friend. I am in love with you! Do you understand? I need you! I need you in my life, Twilight Sparkle, I don't know what to do without you! Please! Please, wake up!"

I yelled and I yelled before dropping onto the floor to yell some more. I heard Celestia's knocking, her calls, but I ignored them. Nothing mattered. Celestia? She could march down to hell for all I cared. Soon, I heard the voices of my friends, Pinkie's yells, Rainbow's sneers, even Fluttershy's soft whispers. And I hated every single sound they made. Even if I wanted to stand up, to leave her side, I couldn't. My legs had given out with no sign of return. I sat by her side for a while. I wasn't sure how long, but it was definitely several minutes.

"Twilight?" called Celestia. "Rarity? One of you, please tell me that all is well."

All is well?

I found some hidden strength and rose to my hooves, almost robotically. The suggestion that anything was well, that anything could be well... I stomped my way downstairs, part of me staying with her. I pulled the door open.

"What happened?" asked Celestia. "I heard shouting. Did… Did you give it to her?"

"She tricked me." I whispered. I couldn't see the girls, but I heard their gasps. "I tried to give it to her. You have to believe me. I tried to give it to her, I promise. She tricked me."

"She is… gone." said Celestia quietly. She turned away, showing me her wings. They were even more bare now.

"I tried to give it to her!" I shouted. "She injected me when I wasn't looking! I never wanted this! I wanted it to be her!"

"I believe you." lied Celestia.

"She wouldn't let me! I tried!" I insisted. "I tried."

"I'm sure you did." She managed to refrain from adding "But not hard enough". As if I needed a reminder that I had failed.

"You still don't believe me." I said quietly. "I don't care. Just get me out of this damned bubble."

"I cannot. Only Twilight would be able to pull down the quarantine." said Celestia quietly. "How long has it been?"

"I don't know. Does it matter?" I sighed, wiping my tears. "She was gone before I heard you knocking." Celestia perked up, then turned to face me. Something painted her face, something that looked like a smile.

"I got here about ten minutes ago." said Celestia.

"So?"

"I said that the longest recorded time for a spell holding form after a caster's death is two minutes. Twilight could probably hold it for five." She gave in to a full smile. "It's been ten."

"So, she's still-"

"Rarity, we need to talk." Her voice. My eyes grew wide, as soon as I heard her voice.

"Good-bye." I said before running away. I ran up the stairs, scaling three at a time. This was the joke. It had to be. I saw her die.

Yet, sitting upright in bed and looking perfectly healthy, was Twilight Sparkle. She had cleaned herself up and was hovering books from her lap with her horn, a look of concern scrawled across her face.

"Oh my god!" I jumped onto her and squeezed her in a tight hug. She was okay, getting better even! She smiled and hugged me back, when I caught what sounded like a sniff. Like she was crying.

"You probably want to know what happened." said Twilight. I nodded. "I guess I owe you at least that much. It was you who saved me."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"It's just a theory at this point, but I'm pretty confident." she said. I could see her bite down slightly on her tongue. "It has to do with your… Your confession, for want of a better term."

My heart stopped beating. My skin seemed to bunch up, pulling off of my body. Even with the cure, I felt like I would die. To think I'd rather have Horn Bane.

"I… So, you heard that?" I asked sheepishly. "I-"

"We'll talk about that in a second." said Twilight. "It'll give you time to get your story together. So, I gave you the cure, which you're probably upset about. We'll work through that, but it's for the best that you took it."

"I still don't get it." My tongue managed to untie itself.

"The cure mutated when it was bombarded with your hormones." explained Twilight. "The straw that broke the camel's back was your confession. You admitting your feelings released so many hormones, your body was a chemical battleground. That mutated the cure and Horn Bane, until they were one in the same. You fused the cure with Horn Bane, and then I was infected with the new virus, which killed the previous virus. In other words, your confession of love cured me."

"What now?" I asked.

"Well, we take some of your blood and send it to Celestia. She can hold onto it and synthesize a new version of the cure. We'll have to remain quarantined until we are positive that we're all better, and then I can remove the bubble."

"That's not what I meant." I said.

"I know. You have to make the first move." she said. "It'll be better for you to initiate whatever you want to happen next."

"Come on, now. You already know. It would be easier for you to just tell me what you think." I complained.

"But what kind of doctor would I be if I let my patient take the easy way out?" Twilight said, unbearably smugly. "Go ahead. Tell me how you feel."

"You are the worst." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Am I? Do you really think that?"

"Fine. You want to hear me say it while you are awake?" I asked. "Very well. I'm in love with you, Twilight. I have been ever since we met. You want to know why? You're pretty, you're smart, you make me laugh, you have this… This energy that… I can't put it into words. This je ne sais quois, and it drives me mad because I can't explain it, but I can't stop feeling it either. Was that supposed to make me feel better? It didn't. I feel more confused and foolish than before."

"Good. That means your feelings are genuine." said Twilight with a smile. I tilted my head slightly.

"I'm afraid I don't understand. You want me to feel like a fool?" Twilight laughed.

"Well, yes, I suppose. If suddenly saying it made you feel like you had a weight lifted off of you, I don't think that would be true love."

"I guess that makes sense." I muttered. My face must've been glowing. "So? What do you have to say?"

"Not many people would be willing to surrender their lives for me." said Twilight. "Even still, life isn't a fairy tail. You can't just kiss the sleeping beauty and live happily ever after."

I didn't respond at first. Somehow, back before when I imagined being rejected, it was better. Being yelled at, insulted, disrespected, I vastly prefered the hateful bigotry over Twilight's calm, clean, factual statements. This was far worse.

"I suppose that's true." I said quietly.

"It's a bit more complex than that. It's not a single cause to a single effect. It takes years of close relations to build a foundation for a romantic relationship." said Twilight. "We've known each other for a while, haven't we?" Now I was confused.

"What are you saying?" I asked. Twilight shook her head, smiling slightly. Her eyes twinkled with this teasing superiority that was out of character for her. If I didn't know any better, I'd say…

"I'm saying maybe we can build off of that." she said, batting her eyelashes. Ah. Exactly as I thought. She was flirting with me.

"I… I don't understand…" I said stupidly. I had rehearsed this exact scenario for years, and I thought I knew exactly what I would say. Now that the situation was upon me, my mind went blank.

"I know I sometimes start talking too fast about some complicated topics, but I thought this would be rather simple." teased Twilight. "You've read the books, haven't you? At least you've seen the movies. This is the part where you come in close and do your thing."

"And my thing is… What, exactly?" My brain refused to function properly. She's right there! Asking you to kiss her! What are you doing, Rarity?!

"You're so shy." laughed Twilight. "Is that you, Fluttershy?"

"Haha…" I laughed shakily. Twilight rolled her eyes and jumped to her hooves. She stood in front of me, a few inches shorter than myself. She took my hand in hers and led it to her cheek. Her face was warm, but not like before. She was radiating health.

"I'm not going to walk you through the entire process." said Twilight. "Come on. You did all that work, fought so hard. Collect your prize."

"Did you always…" I started before losing my train of thought. Why was I still just sitting there?!

"Part of me, yes. I never really understood how I felt until… I think when this whole thing started." she mused. "You're so tender, loving. You truly have my best interests at heart. If nothing else, we could at least give it a shot. I mean, since you're going to be living here for another week or so… Let's give this a little test run?"

I pressed my lips against hers, a thousand times better than I could ever imagine. Electricity shot between us, and soon we had to break to catch our breath.

"What are we going to tell the girls?" she asked with a smile.

"We'll figure it out when we raise the quarantine next week." I said.

"Two weeks." Twilight said, shaking her head.

"Two?"

"Three, realistically. I still think there may be some contagion in the air." Twilight leaned against me softly. "It would be irresponsible to go out into the open before a month's time, honestly. Until then, I guess we're stuck enjoying each other's company."

I smiled and kissed my darling Twilight again. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I thought I might actually be healthy.

---

Author's Note: The end of another journey. As I said before, this is my first attempt at making a "romance" story. Not sure how I did, considering how little of this is actually centered around Rarity's feelings for Twilight. I think I learned a bit from this, though, which was the point. Maybe next time I'll be able to just write something about love without shoving in a dramatic sub-plot which actually became the main storyline. Anyway, shoot me a review and help me out with future projects like this. I'd appreciate it. See you next time. Farewell!