Sandcastles

Twilight stirred briskly, from what she assumed must have been a nightmare. She had a pounding headache and threw her hoof in front of even the candle’s soft light. It’s gentle flame just pounding the chisel deeper. She looked around to see Fluttershy napping on her other bed and Rarity quietly reading a book by her bedside.

“Oh darling, I’m so glad you’re awake...” Rarity said, putting the book down.

“Ugh... What are you guys doing in my house? What’s wrong with Fluttershy?”

“Oh, well, Fluttershy is just napping,” Rarity watched the unicorn carefully, “How do you feel?”

Twilight’s eyes were droopy and her ears flopped constantly. “I...I... What happened?”

Do you not remember what happened...?”

“I remember... screaming... lots of screaming...”

Rarity wondered if Twilight had light amnesia. Magical whiplash had unpredictable effects ranging from memory loss to personality reassignment to magical blocks. She understood if Twilight didn’t want to remember what happened. Even Rarity tried not to think about the blood she had to wash out of Twilight’s coat after bringing her home.

“Yes, there was a terrible accident...” Rarity sighed. She struggled for a better way to put it, but, “Time Turner has taken his own life... You tried to save him but couldn’t...”

“I-i did?” Twilight trembled.

“Yes dear, you nearly turned your brain to mush trying to cast as many spells as you could to save him, but he managed to dodge them.”

“Oh my goodness...” Twilight took a moment to digest this new information.

“It was very brave of you. You threw everything you had at him. Even the Princess couldn’t save him...”

It was true, after Twilight’s barrage, Cadance had called upon her most powerful healing magic to mend his body and hopefully save him, but it was a futile effort. Given the state of his body, it was more of a formality and point of respect than an actual attempt at bring him back. Nothing save the unholiest of spells would have brought him back.

“I-i...” Twilight was lost for words. Confusion stole the only sense she had left.

Her heart leapt and she sat up quickly to save an already taken life. It still hadn’t clicked entirely. The blood rush sat her back down as dizziness spun her her head around in circles.

“Sweetheart, take it easy! I’ve been waiting patiently for eight hours now for you to wake up and I don’t want you passing out again. You know how dangerous magical backlash can be!” Rarity scolded caringly.

After taking a second to make the world stop spinning Twilight responded. Her sense were starting to come back and so did her memory.

“So... where is Cadance...?”

“The Princess went back to Canterlot.” Rarity didn’t want to hit Twilight with too much information, so she kept her answers short.

Rarity didn’t know the entire story herself, but she did know that Cadance wasn’t handling her failure very well.

In all of the warmth and love that Cadance represented and radiated, Rarity had never seen a pony so emotionally shaken. Only for a moment did Cadance let anguish fall through before steeling herself and refocusing to the mare he mentioned. Yet in that split-second, Rarity saw the boundless depths of the Princess.

To lose a troubled soul hurt everypony, but Cadance looked like she just lost her own brother, despite not even knowing his name. It would have been pleasant to see a Princess of genuinely caring if not so heartbreaking. Rarity was actually uncomfortable seeing so much of Cadance, like she was intruding on something private.

Twilight just looked blankly at her hooves, turning them over on her stomach.

“I can’t believe it.. What do you think will happen now? I mean... nothing is ever going to be the same, is it?”

Rarity bit her lip. During the whole ordeal, she had been less than selfless. Today was supposed to be the day that Twilight asked Cadance to cast her famous love spell on her. Rarity figured that Twilight would choose either her or Trixie as the soul bound partner and since Trixie was still nowhere to be found, she’d be the lucky one.

But just as she had invaded the lives of so many ponies, her own life had been upset.

“No, I suppose not...”

They sat in a thoughtful silence, unsure of how far to go into the grimmer subject at hand. Neither of them had a great attachment to Time Turner, but it was out of respect to him and their own mortality that they felt compelled to talk about it. It was shocking, horrible and tragic, something that deserves pensive words and deep conversation, but they felt just so distant, so unsure of what to say.

“I wish I could have saved him... I trained my entire life to use magic in a meaningful way... and the one chance I have I blow it... If only I wasn’t so hazy...” Twilight said woefully.

“Now Twilight, you acted admirably where dozens of other ponies stood like statues. You did you best and that’s all anypony could ask for.” Rarity’s defense was spirited, she did not want to see Twilight fall into a depression over this.

Twilight continued rubbing her head. Rarity decided to change subjects.

“Everything alright dear?”

“Just my head really hurts...”

“Oh well why did you say so? Here let me help.” Rarity’s horn shimmered and a faint blue light showered over her friend. Warmth loosened the driving wedge in her brain, letting it blissfully fall out. “Better?”

Twilight sighed in relief. “Mmmhmmm...”

An awkward silence came over them as the memories and implications of last Wednesday night reentered the mood. Almost instinctively they both blushed lightly and shied away from each other. This was the first time they talked since that morning.

Rarity didn’t know about how Twilight felt and both of them were a unsure of what to say. Rarity had thought all day about her Twilight as she watched her sleep. She thought about what she’d say to her and about her own feelings. Now would be the time to say something but, nothing she thought of sounded right.

Twilight, I know it’s sort of an odd time, but I must profess myself. I love you.

No no no... that’s stupid.

Twilight sweetheart, I was just wondering if had come back yet? I’m still available if she hasn’t!

Also stupid...

“So... You’ve just been sitting here studying me for the last eight hours?” Twilight asked innocently.

Rarity hesitated as she was broken from her inner monologue. “Well certainly wouldn’t use that word. I haven’t been studying, maybe watching. No, guarding. I’ve been here guarding you,” she stuttered.

Twilight giggled, but was interrupted by Fluttershy mumbling something in her sleep. Her voice was strained and whimpered a bit.

“Luna... ple ple...” She squee’d, “neehhoo... Lu...! Lu... cam mmph... mmm....*eep*!”  Her outburst fell straight back to peaceful silence with a light snore.

“Is she alright?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“Yeah, she’s been doing that for awhile now. She told me to wake her up when you woke up, but I think we’ll just let her sleep.”

The two unicorns watched their friend sleep fondly.

“I never will stop envying her for her grace. Even when she sleeps, she the darlingest mare,” Rarity admired.

“I disagree...”

Rarity gasped. “Twilight! Puuhlease, have you seen the pony on your extra bed? She is the living model poise, the essence of grace.”

Fluttershy’s leg twitched in agreement as she began drooling into her own mane. She snorted and let out a silent, odorless fart before returning to her grace.

“I was saying I don’t agree with you envying her. I’ve seen you sleep too and it’s pretty darn cute,” Twilight corrected sweetly.

Rarity blushed wildly. Apparently Twilight had decided to take the mood somewhere else and forgot to tell her.

“O-oh, d-did you now? I can’t seem to recall the occasion. I was almost certain we fell asleep at the same time, I mean we were both so tired...” her voice quivered nervously.

“Oh you mean that night? I was going to talk about our last slumber party. Well since you brought it up...” Twilight grinned.

Drats... Twilight you sneaky girl...

Rarity could feel the heat return to her face. Twilight had beaten her to the punch and was already five steps ahead of her. Rarity wanted to be the one who’d initiate this conversation four long, emotional days in the making.

“I was wondering if maybe you wanted to talk about it... and us...” Twilight said solemnly.

“Ok...” Rarity stared down at her own hooves, trying to think of what to say.

They flitted each other’s eyes. Twilight saw the hesitation in her eyes and talked first.

“So Rarity, I realized something that took me far too long to figure out. When Trixie left me without so much as a goodbye. It hurt... It hurt really bad... I felt heartache like that I never felt before or knew existed. I could eat or sleep or do anything. It confused me actually. I wrote Princess Celestia about it asking about it. After promising to hunt Trixie down and cut her mane off eight times, she told me something, something simple...”

“What was that?” Rarity asked quietly.

“A true friend would never leaves you without saying goodbye. Saying goodbye means that you want to see them again.”

Rarity listened, her nervous heart taking a slow, steady breath as the moment drew nearer.

“That means Trixie doesn’t want to see me again... If she did, she would have said goodbye...”

Twilight felt like crying, but fought the tears.

Her first love had completely abandoned her, shamelessly casting her aside. Twilight didn’t know what a breakup was supposed to be like, but she’d rather never love again than be left out in the rain like she was. It was agonizing and nothing would take the razor edge off it. Her heart felt like it was literally being cut open. The knife that Trixie sunk into her had cut deeply.

But in loss, she also found something else, a beautiful heart that loved her purely. It was a discovery that only came from loss. She wasn’t sure which one brought her to tears. Maybe it was one, both or neither.

Twilight threw expecting eyes at Rarity. “I want to know what’s on your mind...”

Rarity swallowed hard before speaking. “Of course, well... You are an absolutely darling mare. Beautiful, sweet, intelligent...” she paused awkwardly breaking flow as she racked her mind for more things to say.

“You’re also exceptionally friendly and I would very much appreciate the chance to prove myself to you.  Also it was a wonderful night... You’re quite the superstar in the hay.” Rarity laughed nervously. Twilight gave her a look that she read as disapproving. “Umm I... Oh I’m so terrible with words right now. I’m blowing it, aren’t I?” Rarity trembled..

Twilight held up a hoof to her friend, cutting her off.

She looked deep into her friend’s eyes compassionately. “Why are you so nervous? It’s just me.”

Twilight’s hurt look stole Rarity’s remaining composure.

“I-i don’t know...”

“Just tell me how you really feel Rarity, anything and everything. You’re my best friend and nothing will ever change that...”

Rarity choked. She couldn’t find the words she wanted. Now was the moment where she would tell Twilight how she really felt and there wasn’t a single word left in her. She had spent hours rehearsing dramatic monologues in preparation, but they all escaped her.

Then suddenly she found her voice. It was the same voice that gave life to these feelings, the voice she told Twilight she loved her in. What followed was her heart.

“To be completely honest, I don’t know why I’m so nervous, I guess I’m just afraid. I’m afraid of letting us down. You changed that night. You’re not the Twilight Sparkle I used to know, you’re the Twilight Sparkle I’ve fallen in love with. Now I dream of something more for us.“

“I imagine going to the beach and building ourselves a perfect sandcastle. We’ll build it just like the one we’ll live and grown old in. I dream of us having something beautiful together and realizing all the hopes we have for each other. I want so badly for all of this and even though I have doubts, I’ll sit their and build with you, even if it only get’s torn down.”

“It’s so early, too early to be having feelings like this. Maybe the waves will wash away my dream, maybe it was never meant to be and maybe that is all these feelings are, a sandcastle ready to be knocked over, but I still want to try..”

“I love you, and even if it doesn’t turn out how we wanted it, even if all this falls apart, at least we’ll have our castle...”

A tear fell from Twilight’s eye.

“That’s beautiful Rarity...”

Rarity just smiled and watched Twilight gently sob. Number four of the six monologues had worked pretty well, but she  sat there afterwards, unsure of how to follow it up. Twilight just cried as Rarity chewed her lip.

“Hey Rarity...?”

“Yes Twilight...?”

“Would you stop looking so clueless and get over and cuddle me already...?"

Before Rarity could protest or even respond at all, Twilight had already grown impatient, levitating her love into her bed, immediately latching onto her. Twilight cried like a little filly into Rarity's chest. Rarity could only smile as her heart finally had it's answer.

“I don’t want to wait for Trixie...” Twilight said, before embracing the pony who’d keep her warm for days to come. “I want to build our castle...”

*

Fluttershy woke up with a slimy coat of drool hugging the side of her face. She clumsily wiped it off and sat up. It was too dark too see much beyond the her immediate bubble. What could see was moon shining brightly through the window to her left. It’s silver light painted the room in a black and white abstract, that only illuminated the floating dust. She got up and stirred her way through it, opening the window and exiting silently. Her smile glimmered in the light.

She had somepony to meet.

*

Rarity sighed. “I’m not surprised in the slightest. I mean it’s such a juvenile reaction, but he is a baby dragon afterall.”

“He didn’t give us a chance to explain ourselves!”

“Oh yes darling, I’m sure, ‘Yes I am in fact in a romantic relationship with the pony you’ve had a crush on since you first saw her, I hope you don’t mind.’ would have worked fantastically.” Rarity read the note over again.

Dear Twilight.

I saw you and Rarity.

And then I heard you and Rarity.

And then I felt the thumping from you and Rarity.

No, I’m not going to forgive you.

I’m going off to work on a rock farm.

Tell Owlicious that I left the recipe for your favourite oatmeal cookies on the kitchen countertop.

Love,

Spike

P.S. Tell Rarity we’re over. Do not let her down easy.

It was only their first day together and they were already handling the fallout. They didn’t want to go chase after Spike. They needed to time to cuddle, play and do whatever their hearts desired, but, life had swept them back up momentarily. Instead of a truly blissful, tender day together in the comfort of a private home they’d be off to go fetch Spike before something awful happened to him.

The heavy open-hearted mood soon turned to light exasperation.

Rarity read the note over for the sixth time. “Sweetheart, do you think he meant Pinkie’s rock farm?”

“I can’t think of any other nearby rock farm. If he’s not there I’m sure the Pies would be willing to help us find him.”

Rarity thought for a second. “We should probably tell the rest of our friends and go as soon as possible, shouldn’t we?”

Twilight smiled. “Well... we do have the library all to ourselves,” she said innocently. “I’d be such a shame to let all this privacy go to waste... It has been almost twelve hours...”

Rarity giggled girlishly. “Oh my Twilight Sparkle never in all my days!” Rarity feigned a gasp.  “Are you suggesting that we not divert all our time and effort to bringing back our Spikey Wikey and instead indulge in our own pleasure?!” she accused gingerly.

“Oh shut up Rarity, you talk way too much.” Twilight levitated Rarity, utilizing her forceful magic in ways she just recently devised, much to her love’s ecstasy.

“Oh my stars...! Twilight!” She moaned. “What... oh sweetheart... please... please...!” Rarity huffed and blushed as blood started coursing through her. “Darling...I.. I...!”

Twilight’s magic had taken her by storm and quickly worked her to an edge.

Rarity had been taken by the promise of another Wednesday night. Her moans just fell into the lavender unicorn’s suddenly present mouth. Those warm, soft lips had been the epitome of her dreams ever since that long night. She was immediately intoxicated by them but as soon as they were there, they vanished.

Twilight set her back down in front of her, only to watch her collapse, panting shallowly. Rarity struggled to release, but Twilight magically blocked her, teasing her relentlessly.

“Twilight Sparkle!” she called from the ground, breathless. “You... are a terrible unicorn!”

Twilight laughed maniacally. “Oh shut up Rarity.” she chided, climbing on top of Rarity stealing her mouth away again. She relished in toying around with her fabulous little mare.

Twilight quickly got off her and quickly made her way to the door, her ears drooping with a played sad looked on her face.

“I guess we don’t have time for this though Rwawity,” she pouted childishly, “Unless you want to give him a chance to come back and not leave your poor Twiley all lonely and unsatisfied...”

Twilight’s pout tore away any will or counter-opinion on the matter. It was the same face that convinced Rarity to go through with it last Wednesday.

“Oh no! I don’t think so! No one leaves Rarity a bumbling mess on the floor!”

Twilight smirked. “I thought so. Come, I want to show you something love.”

Twilight walked up to a bookshelf and pulled a fake book lever. The entire bookcase swung open, revealing a steep staircase that spiraled deep underneath the library. Twilight made sure to strut a little slower as she made her way down it, leaving Rarity a lovely sight to follow.

What Rarity found underneath all the books was something beautiful and passionate. Something she’d never expect from the unicorn.

*

The two unicorns arrived at the desolate and functionally questionable farm alone. None of their other friends had been able to come. Rainbow Dash was recovering from her injury after trying to save Time Turner and was staying with Applejack while it healed. Despite having good ties with her parents, Pinkie opted to stay away from the farm for reasons she wouldn’t explain and Fluttershy had left them a note telling them that she was off with Luna.

It was sort of welcomed by the lovers. It gave them the time together to explore the other in more personable ways. The distance and dispersion of the wilderness gave them a vague level of privacy whose setting actually intensified their later activities. Even though they would have rather had their friends with them on this sort of task, they looked forward to the trip.

The forms of a few ponies graced the rocky field with life. What they were doing out in a field of rocks was any pony’s guess. Twilight picked the closest one and walked up to her. She was an attractive grey mare with a darker grey mane and amethyst eyes. Her lean form betrayed the implicit strength within.

She recognized her from Pinkie’s stories.

“Hey there, you must be Inkie.”

“I might be, who’s askin’?” Her voice sounded soft, but behind it sat a rigidity that fit her nature.. She crushed a rock under hoof like it was a glass ornament.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my friend Rarity. We’re friends of Pinkie and we think another one of our friends may have passed through here,” she asked with a smile.

Inkie just gave them slow calculated looks.

“I’ll tell you what, we ain’t seen another soul ‘round here for a few good weeks,” she replied flatly, “So I don’t how much of a chance you’ll have to find em’.

Both their faces fell.

Rarity spoke next. “Well to be perfectly honest, all he left was a note telling us he aspired to work on a rock farm. Since the only rock farm any of us knew of was this one, we thought we’d come here first. We’d appreciate any leads on where he might be.”

“Welp, you need to talk to my Pa then. Let me see if he’s busy.”

Inkie looked around, her attention drawn to a figure a few hundred feet away. She lifted her back hoof and stomped the ground at an angle in his direction. her hoof hit the ground with a soft, but deep thud, eleasing a seismic shockwave that rippled towards him. Moments later a shockwave returned, sending shivers up all their legs.

“Alrigh’ follow me over to the house.” Inkie left trotting onward to the distant house.

The two unicorns were left dumbfounded.

“Rarity... Did she just stomp to release seismic vibrations to communicate?”

“And Pinkie can throw parties... Yes Twilight, sometimes life isn’t fair...”

*

They sat in a cozy old-fashion wooden dining room. Homemade trinkets and memories littered the walls, the yearly family portraits showing a clear distinction before and after Pinkie’s cutie mark.. Across the table from both of them was Clyde Pie, the patriarch of the household.

He sat forward, his hooves connected in front of his face meditatively. His charcoal black hat shadowed his face, with only a glint in his eyes showing through. A powerful jaw was flanked by a pair of sharp grey sideburns. He was a bit older now, but he still had a commanding, no- nonsense, presence. A thread of wheat hung out the corner of his mouth.

It amazed them that this was somehow Pinkie’s father. Their suspicion of adoption had become fact in both their minds.

Inkie leaned against the hallway, silently watching.

He spoke with a straint in his tone, that both forceful and practical. “So what brings you to my farm?”

“Our friend Spike ran away and told us he was going to work on a rock farm. Inkie told us he isn’t here, so we were wondering if maybe you could tell us about any other rock farms we could check out,” Twilight explained.

“You’re talking about the young dragon?”

They both smiled.

“So you’ve seen him!” Rarity was overjoyed.

“I have... You two are welcome to stay here for the night. Get some rest because you’re gonna need it if you want to find your friend. Now if you’ll pardon me, I need to get back to work. Inkie, see that our guests are taken care of.”

“Yes Pa.” A smile cracked on her face.

*

Trixie had been banging on the door for what must have been at least fifteen minutes before giving up. Twilight was either not home or completely unwilling to talk to her or worse. The entire trip back to Ponyville had been one existential crisis after another.

Thoughts of fatality and the the guilt that follows in the assistance of a suicide haunted and plagued her mind. The thoughts were like venom, she couldn’t even let it cross her mind, let alone explore them, without making herself sick. She had been sick five times in two days, spending extended periods of time around the porcelain bowl, removing the nutrition she probably didn’t deserve anyways.

Now that there was no answer and she was starting to get sick again. Thankfully nothing would have came out as she had skipped breakfast in favour of more time in the restroom. She could barely walk as her heart raced and raced, trying to keep up with her endless demand for borrowed energy.

Fortunately a pony she recognized passed by. It was the orange, country mare with the cheap rope tricks.

“You there! Apple pony!” she said as casually as possible, her voice coming sounding more like that of a senior pony.

“Oh howdy there Trixie! Lookin’ fer Twilight?”

“Why y-yes...Do you know where she is?”

“Ya mean ya don’t know?”

Initially she suppressed a gag reflex, but Trixie had hope as Applejack didn’t seem all that upset. Either Twilight was still alive or the Apple pony had questionable ideas on proper grieving.

“N-n-no...”

“Hmm, ah thought she’d tell you of all ponies, well she went out ta the Pie’s rock farm lookin’ fer Spike. Rascal high-tailed outta here fer some reason.”

Twilight was alive.

Trixie vomited all over the ground in front of Applejack, soaking the ground with bile. Her body went into an emotional shock as it tried to rebound itself from the spiralling hyper-depression.

Applejack stood back startled and unsure how to react. To say Trixie was behaving strangely was a massive understatement. “What in tarnation?! Trixie ya feelin’ alright there?”

Trixie’s legs trembled as she struggled to even stand up. Her body was completely draining itself. She wiped some spittle, dripping from lips.

“Tr-tr-trixie... would like a-a g-glass of water...”

Trixie collapsed.

*

Trixie fluttered her eyes to see the face of familiar pegasus whom had called herself “Rainbow and Dash” less than two feet away from her. She was hovering above her just staring at her blankly. It wasn’t clear what Rainbow Dash was doing hovering above her while she slept, but Trixie seemed to have caught her off guard by waking up. So they both stared at each other stupidly. The long silence was broken by Rainbow.

“Yo what’s up Trix?” she said with a monotone.

“You are.”

Rainbow nodded her head as if Twilight was trying to explain one of her egghead things again.

“Yeah... ok. So how are you?”

“Uhh... ‘Trix’ is fine.”

“That’s cool... uhh here’s that water you asked for.” She handed Trixie a glass of water.

“Thank you...”

“No problem...” Rainbow just slid out from over her slowly and drifted out the door.

Trixie waited for her to leave before chugging the glass of water greedily. She still had an unquenched thirst, but the cold liquid was almost euphoric against her dry throat. She barely realized she was sitting in somepony else’s bed after letting the last drop hit her tongue.

She hesitantly looked around the room before the Apple pony came in, with the pegasus gliding in behind her.

“How ya feelin’ Trixie? Ya had me more scared than a sheep in a pack of wolves after ya took that spill.”

“Trixie is feeling much better, thank you for saving her...”

“Ah couldn’t just leave Twilight’s special friend layin’ ‘round in the dirt,” she winked.

Trixie fought to suppress another gag reflex.

“I was wondering if I could maybe have another glass of water...” she asked quietly.

“Well, course you can. Rainbow stay here and keep Trix company while ah go grab ‘er a pitcher.”

Applejack left, leaving a room full of awkward.

“So uh... what were you doing puking in front of Twilight’s house?”   Rainbow said bluntly. “It’s kind of weird you know.”

She bit her lip. “Trixie was uh...” Rainbow listened intently.

Trixie couldn’t think of a better excuse than the truth. Maybe she could butter it up, but nothing really explained throwing up after knocking on someone’s door for fifteen minutes.

“Trixie and Twilight got into a fight and Trixie left for a few days. Then she heard about the suicide and came back to make sure it wasn’t... you know...”

“Yeah no, Twilight’s fine. Why? Was she really upset when you left.”

The silence confirmed it. Rainbow just nodded her head knowingly, silently judging the mare.

“Did you make her cry?”

More guilty silence.

“You should probably go say you’re sorry before I make you.” Rainbow’s harsh words were calm and deceptively gentle but immediately imposing. Trixie swallowed hard, she shouldn’t be nervous as that was exactly what she planned on doing, but the pegasus added weight to the room.

“Believe Trixie, she has been sick with worry over Twilight Sparkle. Trixie wants nothing more than to make everything right with her...”

Rainbow Dash cracked a small smile.

*

Trixie left the farm on a journey to another one. A final journey to redeem herself, where she would find Twilight and more. A fitting finale to the mare of shows.

The Pie’s rock farm had been something of a redeeming experience for Trixie. There she had learned the value of honest, work hard work, doing whatever it was that rock farmers do. She also found something she didn’t expect, a reason to try again and keep going no matter how far she’d fallen. She had made somepony there a promise and only a few short months later, she walk back there with her promise kept. Fate had set things in motion to bring her to forefront of life.

Twilight being there complicated the matter, but nothing would stop the Great and Powerful Trixie. Next Chapter: More "An intermission about Trixie" Estimated time remaining: 52 Minutes