The train station was completely empty, as was to be expected since it was six thirty in the morning. The cold late October wind had unfettered access to the lone platform that comprised the entirety of the train station, chilling the single drowsy unicorn that impatiently awaited the arrival of her train. I should have brought my warmest coat, Rarity thought to herself, adjusting her scarf and the not-so-warm coat she had brought along. She glanced to the side where her many suitcases lay in a pile, before narrowing her eyes and looking into the distance, to no avail hoping to spot a glimpse of her train to Canterlot.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she trotted over to the ticket booth and addressed the half-asleep stallion inside, her lone companion in what felt like an eternal morning. “Excuse me, sir?” she asked, rousing him from his nap. “Do you happen to know if the train will be on time?”

The stallion blinked once, twice and then three times before slowly — painfully slowly, Rarity thought — glancing at the watch on his wrist. “The train should get here just fine, ma’am,” he said, looking back at her and yawning. “Unless there’s an issue with the weather, in which case I’ll be sure to let you know.”

Rarity thanked him before half-heartedly trotting towards a nearby bench and sitting down. She could be sleeping now, wrapped in her deliciously warm covers, but no. No, because she just had to take on the assignment from Princess Celestia, hadn’t she? She wished she knew what in Equestria had possessed her into accepting.

Well… she would be helping in a major charity event, and helping those who were less fortunate is always a good reason to wake up a bit early in the morning. And she would be Canterlot’s Royal Seamstress for a while. And it was Princess Celestia who had personally asked, and it certainly wouldn’t do at all to deny the princess help. She could practically hear Twilight’s horrified gasp at the idea of not helping Celestia. The mental image cheered her up a bit, as well as the reminder that Twilight would also be spending time in Canterlot by Celestia’s request. Maybe they could sneak in a few lunches together, or a quick shopping trip.

Once more, she turned towards the distance and where is that train, for pony’s sake? She glanced at the clock hanging from the station’s ceiling and was dismayed to see there was still almost a quarter of an hour left before the train’s due arrival time. She stood up from the bench and started pacing around, trying to soothe the nerves that had made her arrive far too early. She almost felt like striking up conversation with the stallion so as to distract herself a bit but realized he might fall asleep halfway through. Some company he’ll make for nearly two months, she thought, rubbing her closed eyes and stifling a yawn. At least I only have to do this five times a week until January.

“Coffee, Rarity?”

Rarity blinked several times before opening her eyes and coming face to face with the greatest — if a bit surprising — sight she could have ever hoped for: Twilight Sparkle and two cups of delicious Sugarcube Corner coffee.

“Twilight!” she exclaimed, gratefully taking the cup of coffee being offered to her. “Good morning and thank you, darling!” The bitter liquid tasted like heaven in her mouth, more so considering that Twilight had apparently remember she loved it when it had a hint of almond. “But...what are you doing here?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I thought you knew I was going to be travelling to Canterlot too,” she remarked, shivering from the cold and taking a sip of her own coffee to try and warm up. “Remember I’m supposed to assist the princesses with all the diplomatic issues of the Hearth Warming Festival? Cadance is coming too.”

“No, Twilight, I know that. I meant, why are you taking the train there? And so early, too! I thought you weren’t supposed to get to Canterlot until around midday,” she elaborated, taking off her scarf and wrapping it around the alicorn’s neck. She had considered that Twilight might still be a bit nervous when it came to her royal duties, but being nervous enough to want to arrive almost three hours early was frankly ridiculous…

Then again, this was Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight awkwardly tugged on the scarf she had been given, the line of questioning apparently having taken her by surprise. “Oh, uhm, yes,” she said, displaying all the eloquence of a well-read princess. She paused for a second, furrowing her brow before widening her eyes and shaking her head. “Wait, I mean, no! I want to be there at around ten thirty, actually,” she corrected, nodding once as if asserting her claim. “I wanted to talk with Princess Celestia about some other things, first.”

“I see!”

Honestly, Rarity was surprised Twilight wasn’t going there by chariot, considering it was much faster. It was how Celestia and Luna traveled around, after all, but she didn’t dwell on it too much considering Twilight’s predicament was her advantage. “Well, darling, though I feel sorry you had to wake up at this ungodly hour, I can’t say I’m not delighted at the prospect that I’ll have you to keep me company now,” she teased, flashing Twilight the best smile her body could muster at said ungodly hour — which, as it turns out, must have been a very nice smile considering Twilight almost immediately reciprocated with one of her own.

The sound of distant engines drew their attention, and Rarity was delighted to see the train approaching the station. It came screeching to a halt in front of them, after which the doors opened and the conductor came wobbling out. The senior stallion certainly looked as if he’d seen better days, his blue coat turned almost gray with age, and his uniform so completely worn out, Rarity had to resist the urge to run back home and make him a new one.

He squinted through his glasses to take a better look at the two mares. “Well, I’ll be! There’s actually somepony here,” he murmured, taking a few shaky steps towards Rarity and Twilight. “Here to take the seven am train to Canterlot, ladies?” he asked, extending his hoof. “May I see your tickets?”

Rarity quickly levitated all of her smaller suitcases before turning to Twilight. "Twilight, darling, would you—" She hadn't even finished her sentence before Twilight playfully rolled her eyes and levitated the remaining — and considerably larger — suitcases into the air.  

After they’d both presented their tickets, the conductor stamped them down and returned them. It wasn’t until then that he finally took a better look at one of the travellers. “P-Princess Twilight!” he sputtered, looking much more spry than before. He bowed down to her, and Rarity giggled at Twilight’s flustered blush. “Please, let me take you to some private seating!"

Stepping inside the train, Rarity couldn't help but flutter her eyelashes at Twilight. "My, my, my, Princess Twilight! I should travel more often with V.I.Ps! Do you think we'll get free beverages and food?" she asked, giggling when Twilight rolled her eyes, her blush much more pronounced.

"Just keep drinking your coffee, Rarity."

"Rarity, do you really need all this stuff?"

"All this stuff? Whatever do you mean?"

Sitting inside the private area, Twilight helplessly gestured with her head towards the pile of luggage that occupied the rest of the carriage, and a little of the walkway outside. “It looks like you’ve packed everything in the boutique! I don’t even own this much stuff!”

“Really now, darling,” Rarity replied, patting a suitcase next to her. An action she swiftly refrained from continuing with after the entire mountain of luggage wobbled dangerously. “This is all very important. The basic necessities for a lady such as myself.”

“Well, at least Perfect Stitch will be happy to see you came prepared. Being the royal seamstress and all, she wasn’t so thrilled at the idea of somepony else taking her place. This is the first time she’s agreed to take a vacation in years,” Twilight said, looking away from the pile of suitcases. “If she’s still anything like I remembered her as filly, I hope you’re prepared to show her what you’re made of.”

“Why, Twilight, are you doubting my ability to impress her?” Rarity asked, putting her hoof on her chest. “I’m offended! And here I thought you truly believed in me!”

Twilight playfully rolled her eyes. “I was just warning you. I once made a comment on a dress she made for me as a filly, and next thing you know, I’ve been sitting there for almost two hours listening to her explanation on why I was so ‘atrociously wrong’,” Twilight explained, grimacing at the memory.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Considering what you said about that lovely blue dress we saw the other day, I doubt you were actually paying attention to what she was saying,” she teased, replying to Twilight’s appalled expression with a grin. “In any case, I’m sure we’ll get along fabulously.”

Twilight laughed, shaking her head. “Well, just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“What exactly do you need to talk with Princess Celestia to warrant getting up so early?” Rarity asked, changing the topic before her nerves got the best of her.  "Is it about the Hearth Warming Event?"

"Yes, but… It’s... well... uh...” Twilight sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “It’s hard to explain.”

Rarity giggled again and shook her head. “Goodness, Twilight, you’re terrible at lying. Even Fluttershy has a better pokerface than that.” She had to endure a deep sigh, and had to dig Twilight out from under her own wings before actually getting any sort of response.

“I’m just going to talk to her, okay?”

“Yes, darling, I gathered that—” Rarity stopped talking when she noticed Twilight shaking her head vigorously.

“You don’t understand. It’s not about politics, or ruling, or even dinner etiquette...”

“But..?” Rarity prompted her when she fell silent.

“Just... talking,” Twilight replied with a shrug. “Aside from the five of you and Spike, the princess was my only real friend for years, and she just wanted to... y’know... catch up? We don't just have to talk business, you know?”

Rarity leaned forward carefully, making sure not to unbalance her pile of precious goods any more than was absolutely necessary to give her friend a one-legged hug. “Completely, darling.” After she pulled back she looked out the window, trying to see how far they were from Canterlot. “Although I don’t understand why you would be embarrassed about such a thing. Fluttershy and I talk almost weekly, barring any animal emergency, and I wouldn’t know what to do without her.”

“Well, you and Fluttershy are very close,” Twilight pointed out, drifting off for a moment and looking towards the pile of luggage. “Besides,” she added, having snapped back into reality, “you don’t need to take a train to actually talk to Fluttershy.”

“True,” Rarity said decisively. “Still, it’s a shame going by train isn’t nearly as fast as going by chariot.” She paused briefly. “Actually, I've been wondering... Why did you take the train? I thought every princess went by chariot. Don't you have access to the Princess exclusive chariot you once told me about?”

“Oh! Uhm, it was a bit too last minute to have one brought to Ponyville,” Twilight replied. “And I knew this was your first day going there, so I thought you’d like some company. That's… kinda why I woke up so early, actually. Help with the nerves a bit? Not that I thought you'd be nervous, but—” She stopped herself, smiling sheepishly. "You know what I mean."

“I do, sweetheart, and I’m glad you’re here. I have to admit I was a little nervous,” Rarity confessed, looking out the window again. “Wouldn’t want to disappoint Princess Celestia, after all.”

“You won’t,” Twilight affirmed almost immediately. “Princess Celestia wouldn’t have asked you to do it if she wasn’t sure you’d do an amazing job. Just…” She smiled sneakily at the unicorn. “make sure Perfect Stitch doesn’t notice you’re nervous.”

“Nervous?” Rarity asked, smiling. “Who’s nervous, darling?”

“Rarity, you can’t just stand there forever, you know?” Twilight said, standing inside the gates leading to Canterlot Castle, Rarity’s luggage scattered around her.

“I…” Standing outside the gate, Rarity opened and closed her mouth several times. “I was simply wondering if I should come back tomorrow. I’m sure Perfect Stitch doesn’t need to be replaced right this instant and—”

“Rarity, I thought you said you weren’t nervous. Come on, you’ll be fine,” Twilight continued, levitating Rarity and her luggage into the air, then continuing her path towards the castle.

“B-But, Twilight!” Rarity protested, trying hard to ignore the odd looks the roaming guards were giving them. “I can trot there myself, I’ll have you know!”

“I might have believed that if I hadn’t been forced to levitate you off the train station, too.” She looked at Rarity over her shoulder. “Listen, I was just kidding about Perfect Stitch. She’s not as bad as I made her out to be.”

Rarity gulped down, a bit reassured by Twilight’s statement. “She’s not?”

“Well...” Even from where she was up in the air, Rarity could see the tips of Twilight’s ears swivel, a telltale sign of her discomfort. “She is. Actually.”

“And how is that supposed to help me calm down?!” she all but shrieked. “She’s going to throw me out! I’ll be laughed out of the city!" Before she could start crying however, she was suddenly brought down to nose level with Twilight. Being upside down didn’t do much to help her complexion, nor see the eyes of her alicorn friend, but it never the less shut her up for a moment.

“This is not the time to get all hysterical, Rarity.” Twilight shook her which only made her feel nauseous to boot.

“B-but even her name... she’s perfect, at least when it comes to designing clothes. She must have been doing it for decades! And for royalty no less! And then here I come, just a small-town unicorn with barely six years experience under her horn. I... I can’t!”

Twilight frowned, stopping in her tracks and looking down so as to make eye contact with Rarity. “Rarity,” she said sternly. “You’re the personal designer of Sapphire Shores. You’re the favorite designer of Fancy Pants, and subsequently half of Canterlot. You’ll be fine.” She then resumed her trot, levitating Rarity further up again.

Less than ten minutes later, much to the horror of Twilight’s precious cargo, they had reached the castle doors. Despite the fact that Rarity had crossed those doors several times already, they had never seemed more daunting. Two guards were posted on either side, and after offering Twilight a bow and Rarity a perplexed look, they let the mares in. Rarity found herself grateful that the screeching of the door opening was louder than her own nervous whimpers.

“Right! Here we are,” Twilight exclaimed, placing Rarity on the floor. She looked at the luggage and at her friend. “It’ll be better if you take them now. Perfect Stitch will appreciate the effort, and you’ll know where to put everything in the workshop.” She pointed a hoof towards one of the many hallways leading out of the main hall. “You just have to go straight ahead, then take the first left and… I think it’s the fifth door on the right, if I remember correctly.”

“What about you?” Rarity asked, levitating her luggage. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to go find Celestia,” Twilight replied, nodding towards the large staircase that led to the upper floors. “I wrote to her yesterday night, so she’s expecting me by now. Anyway, I should be done by around three o’clock, so we can meet up by the castle gates at that time and have lunch?” she asked, smiling hopefully. "Or have lunch with what's left of you," she added, grinning at Rarity's scowl.

"Unfortunately, Twilight, my remains won't be able to grace you with their presence since I'll only have a fifteen minute break today. It is my first day, after all."

"Oh, right," Twilight said, looking disappointed. "I kinda wanted to take you to a restaurant near here…"

“There's always next time, darling." Rarity smiled amiably. "In any case, I’ll stop by the library at around eleven tonight, and if you're still awake, I'll be sure to tell you all about how very impressed Perfect Stitch was with me.”

"Wait, what do you mean eleven tonight?"

“I’ll be taking the half past nine train, darling,” Rarity explained. “My working schedule will apparently be from nine thirty in the morning to eight in the evening, with a one hour lunch break."

Twilight grimaced. “That means you’ll have to take the train at seven in the morning every time? Celestia help you, that’s way too early for me,” Twilight admitted. “At least you like trains, don’t you?”

“I do." She winked at her friend and continued, “But sadly, I won’t have such lovely company from now on.” She giggled upon noticing a slight blush on Twilight’s cheeks.  "I assume you'll be taking a chariot home long before I finish, won't you?"

"Yes..." Twilight said slowly, furrowing her brow. After a minute, she looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you get going already?"

“Oh, yes, I better be off!” She then stood there for five minutes, smiling brightly in contrast to Twilight’s slowly fading smile. It wasn’t until the alicorn’s expression had gone completely serious and a hoof was forcibly pointed towards the hallway that Rarity stopped stalling for time. “Alright, I’m going, I’m going!” she said, turning around and ambling off with her luggage.

Once she was inside the hallway and out of Twilight’s sight, she stopped to admire the decor out of genuine interest, and definitely not another attempt to put off her dreaded examination courtesy of a senior mare with decades more experience than herself, and certainly very much set in her possibly old-fashioned ways.

What lovely tapestries, Rarity thought as she let her gaze wander around the hall. The tapestries, depicting the history of Equestria, looked very well preserved, and she wondered if perhaps Celestia had cast a spell on them to keep them that way. Several unlit torches were placed at varying intervals, the generous amount of sunlight filtering through the windows proving to be enough light for the moment.

In fact, the only thing that didn’t blend well was the Twilight bust poking out the end of the hallway, but the same could be said for one of the torches which obviously hadn’t been cleaned in a very long ti— Wait, Twilight bust? The bust frowned at her and stepped into the hallway, revealing her very living properties.

“Rarity…”

Rarity let out a small screech and cantered off before Twilight got too close. “Honestly, what are you?! My nanny?” she exclaimed, reaching the end of the hallway and turning left.

“No, but at this rate, I might as well be!” Twilight called out after her.

Rarity rolled her eyes and counted the doors on her right. When she reached the fifth and found two doors tightly shut, she tried knocking but her forehooves were resolutely stuck on the floor. “Come now, Rarity. Rejection simply means she can’t recognize talent when she sees it,” Rarity whispered to herself. Taking a deep breath and imitating her alicorn friend’s relaxing exercises, she buried all her uncertainty in the deepest part of her psyche, lifted her hoof and knocked three times.

Not even a second later, the doors opened and behind them stood an elderly blue unicorn, her black mane tied in a bun, and a roll of measuring tape hanging from her horn: the dreaded Perfect Stitch. A pair of thin, black glasses perched on the bridge of her nose did little to hide the completely judgemental glint in her narrowed eyes. “Yes, how may I help you?” she asked dryly, and Rarity wondered if this was how she always treated whomever knocked, or if her sour mood was reserved solely for her lucky temporary replacement.

Rarity offered her the single most dazzling smile she could possibly muster. “Ah, hello! You must be Perfect Stitch! My name is Rarity, and I’m…” She faltered, suddenly not sure of how wise it would be to announce herself as ‘your replacement’.

“My temporary replacement,” Perfect Stitch completed, her brow somehow going lower. “I wondered what was taking you so long.” She glanced at the luggages floating behind Rarity and raised an eyebrow. “And those are…?”

Rarity glanced at her suitcases and cleared her throat. “A-Ah, those are just a few things I brought from my workshop back home. I thought I would work faster using the tools I’m already accustomed to rather than using time getting the hang of new ones."

Perfect Stitch regarded her in silence, and Rarity could feel a panic attack coming on. Had it been the right thing to say all that? What if she gave off the impression that she wasn’t skilled enough to adapt to new tools right away? Had she ruined everything before she had even start—

“Very well. It’s nice to see you came prepared, at least,” Perfect Stitch said, looking down from the suitcases and interrupting Rarity’s increasingly catastrophic thoughts. She whirled around and trotted back into her workshop. “I suppose we should get this over with.”

A little reassured by the positive comment on her luggage, Rarity stepped inside and carefully placed her things at the entrance of the room. Similarly to her own workroom in Carousel Boutique, it looked as if though a tornado of creativity had passed through the place. Sketches, fabrics, and ponyquinns were scattered everywhere, Rarity maneuvering around them as she followed Perfect Stitch around.

“While you’ll be here, you’ll have to attend to the tailoring needs of the Princesses and other extremely important ponies.” She turned around, the measuring tape falling off her horn, and pointed a threatening hoof at Rarity. “Everything that is said in this workshop stays in this workshop.” She turned back again and trotted towards her sewing machine. “You’d almost think this is a beauty salon with how much ponies gossip in here.”

Rarity nodded, wondering how bad was it that the idea of being Canterlot’s castle gossip hub for two months thrilled her so much.

“Princess Celestia should have also informed you that you’d be in charge of the costumes for the yearly Hearth's Warming Eve play,” she continued, stopping next to a table and pushing away all the fabrics on it, creating an empty space on the table. “I assume you already started on the designs,” she said, tapping her hoof impatiently on the table. “Let’s have a look, hm?”

“Oh, right, yes!” Rarity stammered, levitating one of the smaller bags and trotting over to the table, coming to a halt at the side opposite of Perfect Stitch. She opened the bag and took out a signed sketchpad Sapphire had once given her, which quite predictably had the pony of pop herself on the cover.

“Ah. Sapphire Shores,” Perfect Stitch commented, watching as Rarity opened the sketchpad and started turning around the pages in search of the costume designs. “My granddaughter loves her music.”

“Does she?” Rarity asked absentmindedly, too distracted trying to find the right page.

“I can’t say the same for myself. Too loud for me,” Perfect Stitch continued. “I do love her outfits, however. Whoever puts them together has quite the taste in fashion.”

Rarity stopped looking through the sketchbook and looked up, smiling. “Really? You think so?” she asked innocently before resuming her search. “You know, it’s interesting you mention that because…”

It was nearly nine o’clock at night by the time Rarity reached the train station. The large station was predictably much busier than the Ponyville one, but one pony caught Rarity's attention amongst the crowd.  She was surprised to find Twilight waiting near the entrance gates. Seeing as the alicorn was worriedly trotting back and forth in a straight line, Rarity couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps the mare’s talk with Celestia hadn’t gone well. This wouldn’t be the first time Twilight lost track of time pacing after a particularly unpleasant experience.

She was about to call out to the alicorn, but remembering their meeting at the beginning of the day, she headed towards the nearby coffee stand instead, careful not to be noticed by Twilight. Once there, she bought two large teas, asking for Twilight's favorite, and then made her way towards the alicorn.

"Tea, Twilight?" she asked, standing a few feet away from her friend.

Twilight stopped her pacing and looked towards her, ears perking up. “Oh, Rarity!” she exclaimed. "Thanks," she added, gratefully accepting the warm cup of tea.

Rarity smiled and took a sip of her tea before asking, “Darling, whatever are you doing here? I thought you’d be home by now!”

Twilight faltered, rubbing the back of her neck. “Oh, um, the talk with Celestia took longer than I thought it would.”

Rarity frowned at this. “Nothing bad, I hope?”

Twilight quickly shook her head. “Oh no, nothing bad! We finished a few hours ago, but since I knew you’d be coming out soon, I thought maybe I should wait for you so we could take the train together,” she explained, smiling brightly. Shortly after, however, the bright smile was replaced with a worried expression. “How did it go with Perfect Stitch, by the way?”

Rarity pawed at the floor, her tail in between her hind legs. “Well…” She drifted off, sighing softly and looking away.

Twilight’s ears dropped. “Oh, Rarity…” she said, putting a supportive hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “You... didn’t get the job?”

“The job?” Rarity whispered, still intently looking away. After a moment, she put a hoof on her chest and turned to Twilight. “Oh Twilight…" she murmured. "Of course I got the job!” she exclaimed, stomping her forehooves excitedly against the floor. “Was there ever any doubt?”

“That’s great, Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed, giggling at Rarity’s contagious glee. “I’m guessing that means Perfect Stitch liked your designs?”

Rarity scoffed. “Liked them? Darling, she loved them! Honestly, who doesn’t love my designs?” she asked, tossing her mane back and letting out a haughty laugh. She then playfully tapped the tip of Twilight’s nose with her hoof. “Tsk, tsk, and you were so worried, you silly filly,” she teased, practically giggling out her words from excitement.

“Me?” Twilight asked, pointing towards herself. “I knew you’d be fine. You were the one who was worried!”

Rarity laughed at the accusation, though her laugh faded after a moment. “Me nervous…”  She looked down at the ground and furrowed her brow, biting down on her lip. "Imagine that."  She had gotten the job, hadn’t she? Why then did she still feel like a filly before her first day of kindergarten?

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, her hoof finding its place on Rarity’s shoulder again.

"I… I suppose I'm still nervous," Rarity confessed, bowing her head. "Even though she loved the designs, she said that this will still be a very demanding job, and my working hours are much longer than I thought they'd be. I suppose it means Celestia has a lot of faith in my abilities, but admittedly that makes this entire affair seems even more daunting than it already is." When she noticed Twilight looking very concerned, Rarity shook her head and smiled. The least she wanted to do was worry the alicorn. "Not that that will stop me, of course!"

Twilight nodded, smiling widely.

She gestured towards the ticket booth. "Come on, let's buy our ticket before we miss the train."

A little while later, the two mares were seated in the only empty private carriage they'd found. Sitting on opposite sides of each other, they silently stared out the windows and into the night sky, each lost to her thoughts. Rarity glanced over at Twilight, a smile finding its way onto her lips.

Twilight was lost in the rushing scenery, a rather adorable smile on her lips. "It's nice to go back home," she whispered, a funny thought considering Canterlot had been her home for so many years, but now home was a small ordinary town. Rarity was immensely glad of this. She'd lived in Ponyville all her life, but Ponyville would no longer be home if Twilight — or any of her friends — wasn't in it, would it? "I missed it."

"You say that as if we've been gone for weeks!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Well, you will be, almost," Twilight replied, turning towards Rarity. She stifled a yawn and stretched her wings out before returning her gaze to the window. "You'll be away most of the week, won't you? It's weird. I'm so used to seeing you everyday — well, you and the girls, I mean — that it feels weird that you'll be out of Ponyville so much now."

Rarity giggled. "Aww, Twilight! I'll miss you too, darling," she teased, earning an eyeroll from the alicorn.

"Well, I mean, you know," Twilight said, her lips curling into a smirk, "Ponyville just isn't Ponyville without you barging into the library every day in dramatic hysterics over something. Then again, considering I’ll be going three times a week too, I suppose it means I won’t miss them that much.”

Rarity’s indignant reply was overshadowed by her curiosity. “Three times a week? Isn’t that a bit excessive considering the Hearth’s Warming Event isn’t for almost two months?” Again, she wasn’t in a position to complain since she delighted in her friend’s company, but were dignitaries really planning on arriving months in advanced?

Twilight shook her head. “I’m going to be doing other stuff. I still have a lot to learn about royalty and my position as princess, so Princess Celestia wants me to come to the castle often so I can get the hang of my new duties. She wants me to take care of the court for one day, too.”

Rarity giggled. “I’ll be sure to ask for the day off whenever that happens. I don’t think that you trying to deal with the petty problems of Canterlot nobility is something I’d want to miss.” She yawned and took a sip of her tea. "By the way… I wanted to thank you for this morning. It helped a lot to have you there with me and help my nerves. I shall miss you now that you'll be taking the princess exclusive chariot," she sighed theatrically, then grinning at the alicorn. “Fortunately for you, that means you won’t have to deal with my constant stress-induced theatrics twice a day.”

“W-Well, actually, that’s not true,” Twilight quickly blurted out, her cheeks reddening ever so slightly. She went silent, almost as if surprised by her own outburst, before fiddling with her cup and continuing, “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna need the carriages a lot with all the dignitaries coming in and out of the city, so I’ll be taking the train with you for a while.” When she finished, she looked up for a moment before nodding her head. “Yep. No carriages for me.”

"Really?" Rarity asked, unable to suppress her delighted grin. The prospect of having Twilight travel with her every day was certainly a nice one, even if she did feel bad for her friend. "Are you sure? Didn't you say you hate waking up early?"

Twilight waved her off. "It's alright. Besides, if it helps you be less nervous in the mornings, I don't mind waking up early. It might do Spike good to start waking up early, too."

Well then, if Twilight was okay with it…

"Perfect! Then you'll be in charge of the coffee, and I'll buy the tea!"

"Huh?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll buy the coffee in the mornings, and I—" She gestured to the teas on the table. "—will buy the tea! We're going to need sustenance if we're to wake up at such ungodly hours, don't you think? And then, at night, we'll have a tea time to relax. It'll be like our own little tea times, discussing our day and all the silly gossip we've gathered from the elite ponies I'll have to work with!"

Twilight snorted. "I thought that whatever is said in that room, stays in that room."

Rarity hummed, taking a sip of her tea. "Well, yes, buuuut..." She fluttered her eyelashes at Twilight and smiled deviously. "Why can't whatever's said in our private carriage, stay in our private carriage as well, hmmm?"

Twilight laughed, looking out the window. "It seems these train rides will be quite interesting, won't they?"

"Oh, darling, I should hope so." Next Chapter: ~ Chapter Two ~ Estimated time remaining: 16 Minutes