Rarity was preparing two teacups on each side of the table for a very special friend of hers that would be coming in a few moments. Now that her friend was ruling all of Equestria, they didn’t get much time to spend with each other, so Rarity takes this as an opportunity to finally do so since she had contacted Twilight to make room on her busy, overpacked schedule.

The gleaming, radiant Celestia’s sun was shining brightly through the translucent, clear glass window of her boutique which made Rarity’s sapphire blue eyes sparkle brilliantly.

Everyone was enjoying all the beautiful flowers wither in the cool breeze which was swiftly rushing past them all. The flower ponies attempted to water them every day to get them blossomed into a beguiling, mature one. They were, of course, praised for the hard work they had put in with their petalled plants, and they couldn’t be any more pleased for the blissful admiration.

The bell above the door of Carousel Boutique tinkled ever so slightly which got the unicorn mare’s attentiveness to carefully pour brown liquid into both of the teacups she had set on the table for herself and her friend. She slowly put the lid back atop the teapot, and placed it back on the middle of the table, shifted it neatly and steady, and trotted toward the door to retrieve it.

There she was: a tall, violet alicorn with her mane swiftly flowing down and shining brilliantly within the sunshine, looking at her white unicorn friend with bright eyes and a dazzling smile.

‘’Hi, Rarity!’’ Twilight greeted enthusiastically, which sounded like blissful music to Rarity’s ears. ‘’Sorry that I’m late, but as always, I was busy helping out some ponies and creatures with their arguments.’’

‘’That’s all right, darling.’’ Rarity smiled. ‘’I’m just glad you came. Please sit down, I’ve made you some tea.’’

‘’Oh, you really didn’t have to do that,’’ Twilight said modestly, taking a seat at the table. ‘’But thanks anyway.’’

And so Rarity did the same: she pulled out a chair from underneath the table and sat her bottom atop of it. She then eyed the height difference between herself and her friend. ‘’I must say, darling, it suddenly has been a long time since the last time we had met,’’ Rarity pointed out. ‘’You’re almost getting taller than me.’’

Twilight blushed, embarrassed. ‘’Am I?’’ she asked. ‘’Sorry about that. Although, I’ve been doing some research about how this is and I figure it’s because I’m, well, you know.’’

Rarity looked at Twilight’s hoof motioning to one of her wings being spread out grandly.

‘’Yes, I think so too, darling.’’ But then she frowned a bit. ‘’Although, how come I don’t get those giant, beautiful alicorn wings? I’ve been wanting to have them ever since I was a filly! And you never dreamed of having them but to become a simple, rustic old librarian.’’

Twilight smiled weakly, chuckling sheepishly. ‘’Yeah, um, I don’t know why that is either. I mean you and the others made me how I am today, so you all should get credit for that.’’

‘’I suppose so.’’ Rarity sighed, taking a sip from her teacup. ‘’So, how have you been lately? We’ve hardly ever gotten the time to meet up with the others. Now that we all have our roles, like Sugar Belle and Big Macintosh having their first-ever baby, you become an official Equestrian princess, Rainbow Dash...’’

‘’I’ve been good,’’ Twilight interrupted her trailing being longer than necessary. ‘’How have you been, Rares?’’

Rarity’s ears perked up ever so slightly, hearing her alicorn friend say that nickname felt like she really was rare to this world, to her family, to her friends, and to her... She recalled having her friend Rainbow Dash calling her by that nickname multiple times before, but hearing it from Princess Twilight felt like her heart was about to fall out of her chest. She didn’t know where this was coming from, but it sure was satisfying to her.

‘’I have been good too, darling.’’ Rarity finally snapped herself out of it. ‘’However, I am struggling a bit with my new latest fashion line. I mean they all used to be top tier number one in Equestrian History of Fashion but now it had gone down to somepony else instead.’’

‘’Which is...?’’ Twilight leaned inward, intrigued with the latest news she had just been received.

Rarity took a deep breath. ‘’Her name is Flitter Floosh,’’ she answered meekly, spotting the alicorn’s cheeks being puffed up, giving in a chuckle, which she had found it rude behaviour to interrupt, even for a princess nonetheless! ‘’Oh, it’s hideous, I know! I simply cannot understand how it all went down to that name!’’

Then Twilight let out a laugh.

‘’W-What’s so funny?’’ Rarity asked crossly. ‘’Don’t you know how important this is to me? Why, I-’’

‘’Oh, Rarity.’’ Twilight stopped her giggling. ‘’Don’t you know who that is?’’

‘’What do you mean by that?’’ Rarity raised an eyebrow. ‘’Of course I do! She’s number one in Equestrian top tier of Fash-’’

‘’No,’’ Twilight interrupted. ‘’I mean don’t you know who’s nickname is that? Do you know how she looks like?’’

Rarity blinked, levitating a magazine from a pile of them from inside the dressing room curtains. She had her eyes glance briefly at the front cover of the magazine, and showed it to her friend with a hoof pointing at it.

‘’That’s her,’’ she said, looking a bit confused at her friend’s usual act she had pulled off.

Twilight leaned forward to look at it. ‘’Yes,’’ she observed. ‘’This is her.’’

‘’Who is her?’’ Rarity asked, eyeing her curiously. ‘’I don’t understand why you’re so-’’

‘’Fluttershy,’’ Twilight interjected, noticing a blink from her friend. ‘’Yellow coat, a pink mane, the gracefulness...’’

Rarity huffed, snatching the magazine away from her. She glanced at the cover again, then looked at her alicorn friend with displeased eyes. ‘’Seriously, Twilight! I can’t believe you would say such a thing! The lack of respect! No one says anything about our coats and since you’re a princess, that’s ten times worse!’’

Twilight rolled her eyes. ‘’Let’s move on.’’ She levitated her teacup toward her lips to take a sip from the sweet liquid and smelling the aroma flowing upward. ‘’I heard that Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich had finally tied the knot together. You know how long we’ve been shipping them for, right?’’

‘’Oh, yes, darling.’’ Rarity nodded. ‘’So I heard.’’

‘’But I mean it’s weird, you know?’’ Twilight thought aloud. ‘’Pinkie isn’t anything of the sort, she’s always giggling childishly. But I totally get why Fluttershy and Discord would end up together.’’

Rarity then found herself zoned out of the conversation, but then she shook her head. ‘’Huh? Oh, yes. Very much indeed so. You know, Spike’d told me about Discord’s obsession with our dear sweet Fluttershy, but it was quite obvious actually.’’

‘’Mhm-hmm.’’ Twilight drank from her teacup. ‘’So how has your love life been going, Rarity?’’

The unicorn blinked a few times. ‘’M-Me?’’ she stammered. ‘’Oh, well, it’s... going great.’’

‘’Really?’’ Twilight smiled gratefully. ‘’Because I remember you mentioning to me in our letters that you were struggling to find a coltfriend.’’

Rarity sighed and stopped fiddling with her teacup, she placed it back down on the table. ‘’The truth is, darling, is that I’ve been going on dates with multiple stallions lately, got to know them, et cetera. But I just don’t feel like they are the right ones for me.’’

Twilight looked thoughtfully, rubbing her chin. ‘’What about Spike?’’

Rarity blinked. ‘’Spike?’’ she said. ‘’Are you serious?’’ she asked, noticing the alicorn’s nod. ‘’But Spike’s only a baby dragon! I’m a pony for Equestria’s sake! So it’s understandable that I can’t return his affections, right?’’

‘’I suppose.’’ Twilight nodded, then pouted a bit. ‘’But you know how Spike is with his feelings. He’s very sensitive about them. So if you do anything that would-’’

‘’I know, I know, darling.’’ Rarity sighed. ‘’I have known you two for years! Ever since you moved here from the city you’re again living at the moment.’’

Twilight frowned. ‘’I’m sorry,’’ she whispered.

‘’It’s all right, darling,’’ Rarity said with an understanding smile. ‘’But I don’t know what to do with Spike’s crush on me, and all the stallions that I fancy are simply taken or have a crush on my friends.’’

Twilight chuckled a bit. ‘’I remember Trenderhoof’s crush on Applejack.’’

‘’It wasn’t really a crush, darling.’’ Rarity deadpanned.

‘’Of course.’’ Twilight giggled.

Rarity rolled her eyes, then she let out a sigh. ‘’I try so hard to get stallions to like me yet not one of them can’t accept those affections back. What am I doing wrong?’’

‘’Maybe you’re only looking at the looks and background, not the personality.’’ Twilight shrugged. ‘’I remember when you fancied Prince Blueblood because you wanted to be a princess and he was ‘charming’ but then you realised that he was a total jerk.’’

Rarity smiled, embarrassed. She grunted at that memory and because of him, her first night at the Grand Galloping Gala was a total mess! ‘’Thanks for making me remember that, darling.’’

‘’Oh, I didn’t mean to-’’ Twilight trailed off.

‘’No, it’s fine, darling.’’ Rarity let out a suspire. ‘’Maybe I’m just destined to be a single old lady forever? Karma, perhaps? Since I was obsessed with finding my prince charming.’’

‘’Aww, don’t think like that, Rarity.’’ Twilight frowned, laying a hoof on her shoulder. ‘’I know you’ll find the right stallion for you one day. You just need patience.’’

Again, that was the third time that Rarity’s heart started beating out of nowhere. She didn’t know why this was, but every time she was near to this friend of hers, she felt like her heart was about to pump out of her chest.

Rarity’s eyes got dragged into her friend’s sparkling purple ones. She felt like she was lost in those enchanting, captivating eyes of her friend’s. Her heart was beating fast as Twilight meekly got her hoof from underneath the table and picked up a cookie that was still sat atop of all the uneaten cookies on a plate.

Twilight then placed it in her mouth, munched on it, and gulped it down her throat. She then levitated her teacup to take a sip from it to swallow her sweet product down to digest. ‘’That was delicious.’’

Rarity smiled. ‘’You think so? Fluttershy helped me pick them out for me at the supermarket just for you. It’s strange, though. She was acting quite weird like she kept giggling every time we-’’

Twilight blinked, staring at Rarity as to why she had abruptly stopped. ‘’Ever time you two what?’’

‘’I... I...’’ Rarity stammered.

The alicorn looked confused. She scratched the back of her head. ‘’Okay...’’ she allowed. ‘’Anyway, what were we just talking about? Was it about Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s confessions, right?’’ She smacked her forehead. ‘’Ugh, why can’t I think straight right now? This is so unlikely for me!’’

Rarity found herself chuckling at that statement. ‘’Yes, darling. We all know how smart you are in all things there is to talk or learn about.’’ And that is what makes her even more noteworthy...

Twilight blushed. ‘’Thanks.’’

Rarity gave her most glimmering smile. She had liked it every time this friend of hers was in an embarrassing state. She thought it was charmingly cute when she was laughing awkwardly, blushing out of embarrassment... but why her? ‘Why Twilight?’ is the question.

‘’Um...’’ The alicorn attempted to slide away from her seat awkwardly, finally getting rid of the niggling silence lingering between them. ‘’I... should best be going to Canterlot again, back to my royal duties. It was nice to have this talk with you. I hope it continues often.’’

Rarity’s ears perked. ‘’That soon?’’ She frowned a bit. She had enjoyed having her company. As Twilight drew herself closer toward the door, Rarity felt the urge to panic, trying to come up with a way to get her to stay. ‘’B-But we still haven’t finished our cookies!’’

Twilight glanced at the sweet chocolate-chipped baked products still laying on a plate on the table in front of the unicorn, still sitting in her seat. ‘’I’ve drunk all my tea already that would go with that.’’

Rarity stood up from her seat, biting onto her hoof. ‘’I can always make more, darling.’’

The alicorn shook her head. ‘’There should be no need for you to waste your time,’’ she said politely. ‘’I’m sorry to cut our meeting short but I really got to-’’

’’Wait!’’ Twilight heard a loud voice behind her so turned herself toward her friend. ‘’I- I mean... please don’t go, darling.’’

Twilight raised an eyebrow, stepping forth. ‘’Why not?’’ she asked. There was no response. ‘’Oh, come on, Rarity. This whole meeting had you being quiet all of a sudden which was very unlikely for you, and it made me feel a bit awkward having to, you know...’’

‘’I... I’m so sorry, darling, it’s just that-’’ Rarity took a deep breath. ‘’What do you... think of me?’’

Twilight blinked. ‘’What do you mean?’’

‘’What I mean is that, well, d-do you like me more than a friend?’’ Rarity tried to get the words through.

The alicorn looked even more confused, but gave a smile. ‘’Of course I do, Rarity. You’re my best friend.’’

That hurts, Rarity thought to herself. ‘’Not in a platonic way, but...’’ She turned herself away with a blush marked on her cheek. She bit her lip nervously. This is so stupid. Absurd!

Then Twilight finally got it, and let out a small knowing gasp.

Rarity looked ashamed...

...but Twilight just stepped closer...

...and closer.

Rarity stepped a few hooves back, unsure of what was happening. But then it happened. Twilight placed her hooves onto Rarity’s waist, pulled her in, puckered up her own lips, slowly slid her eyes closed, waiting for the moment to...

...place her lips onto the unicorn’s.

Rarity’s eyes were widening with shock, noticing the other pair of eyes were shut. She also did the same by sliding them down, and peacefully dived into bliss to enjoy their first-ever kiss.

At last, after months - or perhaps, years - of complaining about her non-existent love life, she finally noticed that she had one in front of her this whole time. If only she had her eyes and ears opened metaphorically. It wasn’t quite what she was expecting it to be because of today’s society meeting up with the expectations. She dreamed of having a prince, but instead, she got herself a Princess Charming.