Rarity had overcome all sorts of difficult situations before: she had faced the spirit of chaos, Queen Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and even an overgrown centaur. Anypony would think these would have been the worst trials the unicorn had gone through, but they would be terribly wrong. Sitting at her kitchen table, face buried between her hooves, Rarity resigned herself to the dawning judgment day of the single most harrowing challenge of her life.

Twilight Sparkle’s birthday party in Canterlot was a few days away, and she had yet to find the perfect present.

“Sis, aren’t you overreacting?”

Rarity uncovered her face and threw the filly sitting in front of her an offended glare. How dare Sweetie Belle sit there, looking all innocent eating a chocolate-mint cupcake, and accuse her of such a thing? “Me?! I am most certainly not overreacting!” Rarity protested, which, admittedly, she sometimes said when she overreacted — not that she was doing so right then because she wasn't, thank you very much. "This is a very serious matter, Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie rolled her eyes and took a gulp from the glass of milk on the table. “No, it's not. It’s just a birthday present,” she continued, adding insult to injury.

Sweetie was wrong, of course, for though it may have been just a birthday present, it wasn’t a birthday present for just anypony!

It was for an alicorn princess whose magical abilities gave Starswirl a run for his money! A mare who had been taught by three princesses, and whose kindness and humility made her the embodiment of friendship! It was for a pony whose mind held more knowledge than all of the residents of Ponyville combined (though admittedly that wasn’t saying a whole lot), whose wit was quicker than Daring Do’s whip, and whose beauty surpassed Rarity’s solely because she had the added charm of being heart-meltingly adorable.

Twilight Sparkle was a pony who had everything, which was the entire problem. What in Equestria could Rarity give to a mare who possessed it all? What could she offer that would not only be considered royal and different enough to be worthy of a princess, but would also be special enough for the pony Rarity loved? Because, as it stood, Twilight Sparkle was also the sole owner of Rarity’s heart.

Sweetie took another bite out of her cupcake. “What about the dress you finished yesterday?” she asked with her mouth full of cupcake, gulping it down and then licking off some of the scattered crumbs around her mouth. “I thought that was Twilight’s birthday present.”

In a motherly gesture, Rarity levitated a napkin and forcefully wiped the crumbs off her sister's mouth. “For goodness’ sake, didn’t mother teach you any manners?” she muttered before sighing and resting her chin on her hoof. “It was for her, but I give her dresses every other week! It needs to be something I’ve never given her before! It needs to be something that screams—“

“'I love you'?” Sweetie suggested, smirking at Rarity.

“Don’t be absurd,” Rarity  said, cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink.

Everypony knew Twilight Sparkle's destiny was to marry a handsome prince because Twilight Sparkle deserved nothing less than a handsome prince! One who would sweep her off her hooves, and live with her in the castle, and treat the alicorn to everything she ever wanted. He’d buy her all the books she’d ever want and need, take her to all the culturally rich places she’d ever want to visit, and provide her with intellectually stimulating conversations.

Not to mention how he’d get to hear her laugh ringing through the halls of the castle as he subjected her to a flurry of kisses, get to comfort her when the alicorn would let stress drive her off the edge and get to be on the receiving end of Twilight’s adorably awkward attempts at romance.

Sweet Celestia, she hated him already!

“Nothing will ever happen between us," she finally concluded, crossing her hooves on the table.

“Aw, why not?” Sweetie asked, finishing her glass of milk. “We both know she likes you back! She makes just as many excuses as you do to see you!” She levitated what remained of her cupcake and spoke to it doing her best attempt at imitating Twilight. “Oh, Rarity, could you please fix this dress I ‘accidentally’ ripped for the fifth time this week?” She started waving the cupcake up and down, donning her sister’s accent. “But of course, darling, as long as you don’t mind I spend half the day at the castle, ‘reading’ all your fashion books even though I have most of them stashed away in a drawer, gathering dust because I fibbed about owning them so that I could see you as I read them!”

As much as Rarity wanted to play the part of the oblivious love interest, she couldn't deny she was quite certain Twilight returned her affections. She had always excelled at understanding other’s emotions, and nopony could deny Twilight wasn’t an open book when it came to her feelings.

What a story it would make, though! Twilight would go off and marry a handsome stallion, only for her to realize a few years later that her heart had always belonged to her secret love: Rarity! Rarity would by then be a fashion designer known throughout all of Equestria! Not that it was relevant to the story, but it was still important to aim high. In any case, where was she?

Ah yes!

Twilight, upon realizing her heart's grievous mistake, would canter — no, gallop! — over to Carousel Boutique — in the rain, too! —, and confess to Rarity that she had made a big mistake, taking the unicorn's hooves and begging to be given entrance into her heart. Rarity would turn away, of course. Afraid of taking a risk that might result in heartache for the both of them!

'Twilight,' she'd say, placing her hoof against her chest and looking off into the horizon, her beautiful mane flowing in the wind. 'You want me to risk my reputation by becoming the lover of a runaway princess and involving myself in the single most scandalously juicy affair of the century?"

Twilight, of course, would turn the unicorn's head, locking their eyes in a passionate gaze. She'd then lean in and whisper, "Yes. Will you, Rarity? Be my… princess?" A question which could only be answered with:

"YES!!" Rarity replied out-loud, slamming her hoof against the table, forgetting her fantasy was, well, a fantasy.

"Yes what?" Sweetie asked, raising an eyebrow and giving her sister an odd look.

A blush spread across Rarity's face. Oops. She cleared her throat and observed her hoof. “In any case, the matter at hoof isn’t that Twilight likes me, but what I’m going to get her.”

“Maybe you can find something for her in Canterlot?” Sweetie suggested, reaching over to grab another cupcake. “Twilight’s birthday is on Saturday. You’ll have all of tomorrow to look for something over there.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes, considering Sweetie’s suggestion. It was true that they were all leaving for Canterlot a few days in advanced, mostly so Pinkie could help Princess Celestia organize everything for the party. Perhaps she could sneak off during the preparations for a quick shopping trip?

All of a sudden, somepony knocking at the front door interrupted her train of thought. “Ah, finally!” she exclaimed, getting up and trotting off towards the entrance hall, leaving Sweetie alone to eat another cupcake.  

Moments later, Rarity reached the foyer, which happened to be littered with multicolored suitcases and bags. Even if they would only be in Canterlot for four days and three nights, Rarity had made sure to pack everything she could need, just in case. Sweetie had told her ten suitcases was “way too much”, but what did she know? Her sister only packed one suitcase, and Rarity could already picture the filly asking to borrow all her stuff.

Maneuvering her way across the suitcases, she finally reached the front door and opened it to, as expected, find Twilight standing on the other side.

Rarity grinned at the alicorn. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique! Where..."

"...Where every garment is chic, unique and magnifique!" Twilight completed, doing her best to imitate Rarity's accent. "Or something like that?" she added with an embarrassed giggle, coaxing an almost imperceptible delighted sigh from Rarity.

While some ponies might think Rarity pretentious for it, the reason she intertwined French words with her English was strictly because so many terms used in the fashion industry were in this language. She had always been aware of the common idea that French was the 'language of love', and though she understood where the appeal came from, she had never been one to swoon over somepony who knew how to say ‘bonjour’... but then Twilight would trot in and say ‘magnifique’ in her adorable voice, and it was like Rarity could melt into a puddle of smitten bliss, content with hearing Twilight read off a French dictionary for hours on end.

“Hello, darling,” Rarity greeted, stepping away so as to allow Twilight entry into the room. “Did you finish packing?”

“Yes, Spike and I finished packing earlier today. He should be at the train station with everypony else by now,” she replied, looking around the disaster zone. “It looks like you’re ready, too?”

“I barely just finished packing an hour ago, but yes, Sweetie and I are all set to go.” She turned towards the general direction of the kitchen. “Sweetie Belle! It’s almost time to leave! Hurry up, please!”

“Coming!”

A minute later, Sweetie  trotted — or rather zoomed — into the room, coming to a screeching halt in front of Twilight, and bombarding the alicorn with greetings and questions before Twilight could even react.

“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight!” she said at a thousand miles per hour, jumping up and down in place. “Are you going to do the super awesome teleportation spell you promised to do last week?”

Twilight chuckled, nodding at the overly-excited filly. “I’ll definitely try, Sweetie.”

“Try?” asked Rarity, raising an eyebrow. “Oh dear. Twilight, If this doesn’t work, we will miss the train.”

"Rarity! Twilight's a princess! She can do anything!" Sweetie said, scowling at the older unicorn. "Ugh, you're so embarrassing."

Rarity rolled her eyes and turned to her friend, offering her a mocking bow. "I beg you forgive me, Your Highness," she declared, looking up at Twilight with sad, puppy-dog eyes.

Twilight blushed slightly before raising an eyebrow and smirking slightly. "I suppose I can look past this offense, Miss Rarity," she declared in her single most regal voice.

"Excellent!" Rarity exclaimed, straightening herself up. "Now, please, can we get going, darling? I'd rather not have to wait five hours for the next train."

Twilight's blush increased. "Right." She cleared her throat and looked to Sweetie Belle, her horn starting to glow magenta. "Okay, pay very close attention, Sweetie. This will be your, uh, first lesson in long-distance teleportation."

Completely ignoring Rarity's protests, Sweetie Belle proceeded to climb on top of her older sister. Once she was standing on her sister's back, she lifted her forelegs and placed them on Rarity's head so she'd have an eye-level view of Twilight's glowing horn — a little more and she'd be practically lying on top of the older unicorn's head.

"What a nice hat you have there, Rarity," Twilight remarked, giggling a little. “Is that the cutting edge in fashion?”

"Isn't it simply gorgeous?" Rarity asked, placing a hoof on her chest. "It is actually one of my mother's designs! I believe she calls it Chapeau de Swee—"

"Rarity, shh!" Sweetie interrupted, before urging a giggling Twilight to continue with the spell.

A little offended, Rarity quieted down and allowed Twilight to briefly explain the history of teleportation spells. Though she was paying full attention to the explanation, her mind was much more focused on Twilight’s voice rather than the alicorn’s probably fascinating ramble. She had to admit she was quite thrilled by the sister-like bond that had formed between Twilight and Sweetie Belle, especially since they were two of the most important ponies in her life.

“And so, in the celestial year before the Great Unicorn Magical Alliance, Starswirl The Bearded made his final addition to the eighth volume of 'Unicorn Magic: A History'. Further studies, however, have demonstrated that he had enough material for a ninth volume, but nopony knows why he never wrote it. I have my own extensive theories about this, but I digress,” she finished, noticing Sweetie starting to doze off on Rarity’s head.

“I’d wish you luck, darling, but I know you don’t need it,” Rarity teased, winking at the alicorn and feeling as if though she could melt when the alicorn’s reply was to smile with embarrassed pleasure. Celestia, it should be illegal to be that cute, she thought, watching as Twilight began casting the teleportation spell.

Rarity watched as Twilight's magic started covering the suitcases littered all around them, and she couldn't help but laugh when Sweetie let out an "ooooh neat!" as the suitcases started levitating around them.  

“And… now!” Twilight exclaimed, before a burst of magic shot out from her horn, changing the scenery around them from Carousel Boutique to Ponyville’s train station, appearing right in front of the rest of their friends.

The train station was quite busy for a Thursday afternoon, ponies rushing around with suitcases dragging — or floating — behind them. There was such a commotion, in fact, that only a few of them even noticed that three ponies and several suitcases had appeared out of thin air. It made for a funny scenario, Rarity thought, how their friends hadn’t even batted an eyelid at their apparition, while some other ponies were now staring at them with wide-eyes and half-opened mouths.

Spike clapped his hands victoriously. “Hah! I told you she could do it!” he said to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who had already run over to Twilight so as to bombard her with enthusiastic praises.

Rarity glanced at the street clock a few feet away, and noticed it was already three o’clock. “Hello, everypony! We’ve arrived without a moment to spare! It’s like magic!”

“And about time y’all finally came! We were thinkin’ we might have to take the night train at this rate!” Applejack said, shaking her head, clearly not amused by Rarity’s flippant attitude towards almost missing the train. She turned to the crusaders and nodded towards the train. “Come on, you three get inside while Rarity gets her entire livelihood on board.”

The three fillies obeyed and ran off into the train, leaving Spike and the five mares to stay with Rarity as she began levitating the suitcases towards the luggage carrier. A few minutes later, they finally started boarding the train.

While the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike decided to give the buffet car a visit, the older mares settled down in one the larger train cars. Fluttershy, Pinkie and Twilight were already sitting down by the time Rarity arrived. Pinkie had taken the free seat next to Fluttershy, leaving Twilight to sit alone in front of the two mares.

Perfect.

“I wonder,” Rarity thought aloud, moving out of the way when Applejack passed her by and sat on the adjacent row of seats to Twilight and the others. "Where shall I sit?"

"Oh!" Twilight scooted the side, leaving more space next to her. “You can sit here if you want, Rarity,” she offered, smiling at the unicorn.

“I’d love to! Thank you, darling,” Rarity exclaimed in her most genuine voice. Rarity went over to Twilight and, with the added grace and finesse a noble pony would show, settled down next to her. “You know, you’ve been so wonderful, Twilight, what with tutoring my sister and helping her magic skills improve.”

An idea suddenly struck her; a test of sorts to give Twilight. Swallowing down a flustered blush, she reached over and took the mare's hoof. She then looked deeply into Twilight’s eyes, squeezed the alicorn’s hoof and said: “It means the world to me, truly.”

Twilight absolutely beamed at the compliment, sitting up a little straighter and her ears perking up. “Don’t worry about it, Rarity. I’d gladly do it for anypony.”

Rarity stared at Twilight for a few more seconds before chuckling under her breath. Perhaps I ought to consider getting her ‘Flirting 101: A Guide´ for her birthday. Then again, Twilight probably already had a copy of it somewhere in her library.

“Besides,” Twilight continued, “I love our friendly get-togethers.”

Though she assumed the mare’s odd specification was simply Twilight being, well, Twilight, it still stood out in Rarity’s mind. Friendly get-togethers. That’s all they had always been, and as much as she wished it were different, she knew that’s what they always would be: friendly reunions because there were so many things against them having anything more than that.

They both had demanding jobs, to begin with, what with Rarity’s growing fashion career and Twilight’s increasing royal duties. Rarity had no doubt that they’d both have more and more workload as the years passed, not to mention that their own ambitions would drive them further apart. Of course, even if they did somehow find a way to manage their careers and still work at having a relationship, somepony was preventing them from even trying to start a relationship and potentially fail or succeed at it.

If Rarity knew him as well as she thought she did, he was no doubt stuffing himself in the gourmet car.

As long as Spike held feelings for Rarity, neither Twilight or Rarity would ever make a move. She knew they both cared far too much about him for them to just start going out and ravage his heart. How painfully ironic it was that Rarity had finally found herself in a love triangle like the ones in her novels.

And yet, for now, she was alright with their situation.

Perhaps she had just given in to their fate of endless flirtations that would never come to fruition, never advance to the next level. Though it could feel like a blade twisting itself in her heart, she knew Twilight would eventually find that damnably lucky prince she was destined to marry.

Rarity herself would find somepony else, too, in the future. She’d be swept off her hooves and let her love for Twilight die out, becoming a wistful memory of a time where there was no other feeling in the world like making the alicorn smile.

In that moment, though, Rarity was perfectly content with the endless waltz of smiles, blushes and untold desires that she and Twilight were tangled in. The day might come that she or Twilight may want more, but until then, or until either one found somepony else, Rarity could get by with the strange and secret relationship they had.

She looked over at Twilight, who was now engrossed in a conversation with Fluttershy and Pinkie. She realized they were still holding hooves, prompting her to give a soft squeeze.

“Twilight?”

At first, Twilight didn’t react, continuing to pay attention to Fluttershy. It wasn’t until a few sentences later that Twilight finally glanced at Rarity. “Yes?”

“I might go into town tomorrow for a bit,” she explained, idly toying with the other mare’s hoof. “I was wondering, since you are a Canterlot pony and know your way around, would you like to accompany me?”

Without hesitation, Twilight took her hoof away and put it on top of Rarity’s, gently pressing on it. “Sure, Rarity! I'd really like that,” she said, once more smiling that damnably adorable smile that turned Rarity into a love-struck filly for the rest of the trip.

She’s going to kill me, and that smile of hers will be the murder weapon.

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