Rarity was about to explode from a combination of happiness and curiosity. The fashionista had said various goodbyes to her friends who had been sad to see her go, but supportive, mostly thanks to the cover story Luna had created for her. She was going to be "accompanying Sapphire Shores on tour as the official on hand fashion advisor and stylist.” She was surprised to hear it, but the pop star pony was a close friend of the royalty and had agreed to corroborate the story if needed.

Despite numerous subtle proddings for information, Luna had remained steadfast that Celestia be the one to fill her in on her “task.” It was all a bit much to believe; She had a significant amount of creative skill, yes, but what could she do for a Princess other than tailoring and designs? Her magic was fairly weak, and she doubted the Princess needed her gem finding abilities considering the much fabled wonders of the treasury.

She couldn’t help but think of her first one on one encounter with the princess, and how she had acted much the way that Lady Darfunkle had treated Luna. She face-hoofed, not particularly enjoying the embarrassing memory now playing on loop in her head. ‘What in Equestria could she be thinking, hiring me after that outlandish display? I’ll have to take the chance for granted and make up for lost time. No prostrating, no bowing, no flank kissing. Be cool, calm, and professional Rarity.’

The chariot landed with a thud. Trotting alongside Luna, she felt her heart give way: even though she had seen it before the castle was breathtaking, the architecture truly unmatched. It continued to dazzle her every time she saw it. They entered through a heavy wooden side door and continued down the hallway, following several turns and passing a few guard checkpoints. Over time, she began to notice that something was different. There was a different air, a foreboding atmosphere to the place. The various servants and workers all looked rather ill at ease, and where there was friendly chatter and smiles previously, now there was stony silence. Everypony looked inexplicably worried, or uncomfortable. The farther in they walked, the more the strangely oppressive atmosphere began to solidify.

After a brief hesitation, Luna pulled her aside. “Hold on a moment. There’s something I should mention...” she paused, struggling for the proper words. “-Celly is going to be quite a bit different than what you’re expecting. She’s quite a bit different in private when her star pupil isn’t around. Be prepared for her to try and sidetrack you, and watch her carefully. If she pokes fun at you, feel free to poke back. She’s looking for an aide who can keep pace with her, not a servant. Pay attention to the little details about her that seem off. Any small physical flaws you’ll need to take into account, because they’ll look a hundred times worse on camera, and the last thing we need right now is a media scandal. That’s a big part of the job, handling public relations and appearances.“

“I See.” She didn’t, not really. Rarity was still so busy trying to absorb the implication that Celestia was in some sort of weakened state, nearly missing the rest of the sentence which only served to further confuse her. It had become glaringly obvious from Luna’s vagueness that the only full answers she was going to get would have to come straight from the source. Moments later, a light pink mare, no more than a few years older than herself, exited the princess’ chambers. The mare practically bolted past them, embarrassment written all over her face, her servant’s outfit and mane askew.

‘Well, that doesn’t bode well...’

There must have been a perfectly rational explanation. Remembering the advice to focus on the fine details, she placed her reddish-orange glasses on the bridge of her snout. Time to get serious. Princess Celestia’s chambers were dark, the curtains drawn shut. Water was running in the washroom. Rarity could vaguely make out the outline of the over sized bed, illuminated by a single lamp near the door. Calm began to cave into anxiety.

“Celly, our guest is here.” Luna called out.

Celestia reentered her chambers from the adjoining washroom, telekinetically combing her mane. “Welcome back to the castle, my little pony.” She smiled at the alabaster mare, but just as Rarity was about to rush forward to greet her, something held her back. Years of learning the ins and outs of the upper class had made Rarity an excellent judge of body language. The most basic rule of thumb was that in the beleaguering false niceties so common in high society, words were rarely the sum of their syllables. Seeing through the underlying motivations behind them was key to avoiding being blindsided. What she saw then in Celestia was the last thing she had expected. Her welcoming words became completely different in the context; The princess’ tone, body language, and eye-contact were unmistakably predatory. Rarity’s heart skipped a beat, and she emotionally distanced herself, appreciative of Luna’s warning.

“Thank you so much for having me Princess. I will do my best to assist you in whatever capacity you require.” The reply seemed a bit cold, but she was merely trying to establish herself as a professional.

“Rarity, dear, and here I was half expecting you to kiss my feet for the entirety of the first meeting. Seems like you’ve matured quite a bit since we last met.” Her voice was both dry and just a hint sensual. Rarity’s cheeks flushed red at the memory. The Princess was playing dirty.

“I’m not above such acts of loyalty of course, princess, but I assumed the servant pony who escaped the pleasure of your company only moments ago would have already satisfied your appetite for more physical boon.” The retort practically came out on it’s own, but out of the corner of her eye, she realized Luna was staring at her absolutely dumbfounded. When it registered what she had just implied, she wanted to melt into the marble floor below in horror. Never in her life had she been so rude to royalty, or even nobility.

‘I just called the Princess of Equestria a filly-fooler!’

…But recanting the statement now would just make it worse. So she waited for the reaction. To her surprise, there was just a long, gentle laugh. For a moment, Celestia actually looked like herself. But only for that moment. Whatever bizarre game they were playing resumed. she circled the Fashionista in what could only be described as a saunter.

“Well yes, it might be true that I’ve acquired a mild attraction to certain pastel shades of pony, but it’s only the refraction of white light that allows those colors to exist, is it not? So if anything, it’s impossible to appreciate them without appreciating that luminous white light given form” Something about the voice was hypnotic. Rarity felt the alicorn’s magic rustle her mane, sending a chill up her spine. “especially when it's form is such a pleasant one.”

The complement hit its mark: Rarity felt woozy, her thoughts conflicted.
‘Oh wow... thats really nice- NO! NO RARITY YOU PROMISED NOT TO MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF THIS TIME, CONCENTRATE!!!’

She was halfway through stuttering a lame retort that the Princess was just singing her own praises, due to the similarities of their coats when she trailed off.

The fine details Luna had told her to look for were suddenly all too apparent. The darkness of the room, in addition to the alicorn’s near endless diplomatic experience had almost blinded her to it completely, but now it was plain as day. The tell-tale sign of ribs pressing against skin, jutting joints, baggy eyes, and unsteady breathing. A slight wince that accompanied small, barely noticeable hesitations in her otherwise normal gait. The regal alicorn’s usual level of perfection made the blemishes stand out even more. She was most certainly not as well as she was putting on, and Rarity felt something akin to sorrow. Her emotions must have slipped through, because Celestia’s sly smile thinned a bit, as she searched the designer mare’s eyes for her thoughts.

Rarity dropped the mask of unflappability, abandoning the playful banter. “Why?” she pleaded, the single word saturated with an anxiety she could no longer ignore.

Celestia's smile disappeared. “What exactly are you asking, Rarity?”

“Well, I suppose the question main question would be why me and not Twilight? Better yet, why not both me and Twilight? I can help in hiding the problem Princess, but I am not a doctor, nor am I particularly adept at magic. If-”

“I am well aware of your abilities.” The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees with the icy reply. It was all Rarity could do not to shrink back. She wanted to push, ask again, but the sudden shift in mood was such a departure from the previous tone of conversation made it feel like she had already committed an egregious faux pas in the mere act of voicing the question.

The seamstress took a deep breath. “Princess Celestia, I’m very unsettled seeing you in your current state, and I’ve only known you for close to three years-”

“Exactly.” There was fire in Celestia’s eyes now, the single word stopping Rarity’s train of thought. She spoke quickly, but emphatically, “You’ve known me for only three years Rarity Belle, but still your heart saddens. Tell me, element of generosity, with your newfound expertise in ethics; If you knew you were sick, but had no clue what it was, would you tell your dear sister Sweetie about it? So she could worry herself endlessly, without even knowing if the nature of ailment was serious?

Rarity was taken aback by the outburst. “Well, no, I suppose I wouldn’t-”

But Celestia wasn’t done yet. “If the only medical book you had pertained exclusively to dragons, would you lend it to her? Let her obsess over it on the impossible notion that you might have somehow acquired something not even native to your species? To ensure she would spend every waking moment for the duration of your illness, combing it over, on the infinitesimal chance that she might actually find something? Would you actually be so cruel as to subject her to that?”

“...no...” The reply was a whisper.

Luna stepped forward and nuzzled her sister gently. “...She gets it Celly.”

Princess Celestia sighed, and suddenly looked very tired. Retreating to a set of lounge chairs in the middle of the room, she indicated for Rarity to sit across from her. She touched her hoof to her forehead, as if to ward off an incoming headache. Rarity obliged and took a seat, staring at the floor as if trying to count the number of fibers in the plush red carpet.

“I’m sorry, my little pony. I’ve been unable to interact with the public for a while now, and I’ve grown restless. Being confined to my own weaknesses is not something I particularly enjoy. You were not the intended recipient of my ire.” The voice was softer now, more familiar, and the unicorn looked up, nodding in understanding; Unpleasant as it may have been, Celestia using Sweetie Belle as an example had put things in perspective for her.

Celestia continued, “Twilight is Twilight. If left to her own devices then she can generally take care of herself. But if she gets stuck, she takes it personally, and lets it consume her. Try as she might, she won’t find anything regarding the Alicorn as a species, because there is nothing. At most she’d be spending years, maybe even decades chasing legends and theological hearsay, wasting her life on a lost cause.”

She waved off Rarity’s alarmed look, “Not because this illness is necessarily serious, but because almost everything prior to three thousand years ago was destroyed. It’s too long ago for Luna or I to remember any specifics, but we remember a great fire that scoured the earth. If there were any other alicorns, or information about alicorns, it was almost certainly destroyed then. I’ve never been sick before, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything to a being with an unlimited lifespan.” She chucked, “or unlimited as far as we can tell. Relatively speaking, I could simply be on the verge of my first century-long cold.”

“And even if you told her all that, it wouldn’t keep her from trying.” Rarity finished, thoughtfully.
She may have felt like Celestia was still holding something back, but she couldn’t object to the underlying logic. Limited as her ability might have been, she was familiar to the rules of magic. Moderation in all things. If she didn’t limit herself, blindly trying to use magic to do something far outside of her ability, there was a good chance of it backfiring, harming her, and potentially anyone around her. For a unicorn of Twilight’s magic potential... she shuddered, thinking of the repercussions.

“I understand Princess. It was improper for me to doubt your judgement.”

She wrinkled her nose at the title, “It’s ‘Celestia’ in private Rarity, and I was upset, but not at you. You’re to be both a seamstress and my only aide; In a way, it will be your responsibility to question both my appearance and my judgement in order to either cover physical problems or personal slips. You’ll never have to apologize for that.”

Rarity leaned forward, her smile slightly strained, “And I am endlessly grateful for the opportunity, Princes- sorry, Celestia. Could I see the tools and resources I’ll be working with? I’m extremely excited, and want to get started as soon as possible.” Rarity’s claim was a bit of a falsehood. Okay it was a big falsehood. Maybe even a ‘I’m composed in the outside, but on the inside I’m trotting around in a circle screaming in terror’ kind of falsehood.

“Right to business, I like it! Luna would you mind giving her the rest of the tour? I’m feeling a bit nauseous.”

The blue Alicorn grunted unhappily. Rarity turned to follow her. It seemed like Celestia was going to depend on her so much more directly than she had expected. She needed to get her hooves into her work, yes, but more so needed to get some space to herself, in order to absorb everything. It was a ton of information to just take into stride. Hopefully the somewhat ‘different’ version of Celestia that she’d seen initially was a complete fabrication...

“Oh, and Rarity? Your room is a bit far away from the heater, so it could get rather cold at night. If it does, we can always share.” The princess had laid on the bed and propped herself up on one foreleg, the other patting the mattress next to her suggestively.

‘Noooope. I spoke too soon’ Rarity flushed bright red, muttered her thanks and turned to leave with the Night Princess, almost literally pushing a very sleepy and lethargic Luna towards the door. Outside, as they passed a window, the unicorn and alicorn groaned in tandem. They had apparently talked for hours, as the sun had almost set. The closed curtains in the room had made it impossible to estimate the time. Rarity tried to think about everything but Celestia’s suggestion, while beside her, Luna frowned at the thought of having to put up the stars soon, then deal with her responsibilities at court the following morning; She wondered glumly if she would ever actually be able to sleep again

Author’s note: Just in case anyone’s panicking at the possible appearance of ‘molestia’: Firstly, she’s not, I promise. She’s under the weather, has always played the PERFECT role model in public for a couple thousand years, so it makes sense that she’d let her hair down a bit behind closed doors. I actually had to rewrite this entire chapter, because in the first version where she was all philosophical and world-weary, I was 90% finished, only to realize that the ‘boo-hoo I’m depressed and immortal’ is a bit overdone. There will be echoes of that, I think, but in moderation.
Also, I think I’ve decided this won’t be clop. I don’t mind it being suggested, implied, or talked about, and might even consider writing a oneshot “deleted scene” later on, but it’s become a bit too personal of a story for me to do that to. Like tearing up while writing the outline level of personal T-T. Alcohol + Writing = emotional train wreck. Anyway, speaking of the outline, about 5 of 40-ish plot points hit so far. Constructive criticism is always welcome.