Chapter 1

It had been a rough month for Twilight Sparkle.

Lots of princess duties to take care of, lots of assignments from Princess Celestia to finish, and lots of duties in general. Tasks that piled up and took over her time, and it was easy, in those kind of situations, to neglect one’s beloved.

It didn’t help, either, that Rarity was quite literally like a smitten kitten, loving nothing more than to interrupt Twilight, always purring and demanding constant attention.

Days passed, hours of intense work, and only then did Twilight realize it’d been a few days since Rarity last barged in for a nuzzle despite all the work, or a kiss despite Twilight’s complains, or the insistence of dragging the alicorn off to a comfy couch for much needed affection.

In the back of her mind, she supposed she ought to be grateful for it, but curiously, she found that now that her constant distraction was gone, she was even more distracted. It was as if Rarity’s routine of distracting her had always been a part of Twilight’s own working routine, so much so that she’d usually actually squeeze in a few extra hours in her schedule just for that.

With that in mind, she put her papers and purple notebook aside, and then got up to look for the unicorn. Though they hadn’t reached the “moving in” stage of their relationship, Rarity often spent most of her days in the castle, or as she liked to call it, “the more spacious Carousel Boutique”.

And so, she looked, and looked, and looked, and where is she? Not in her makeshift working room, not in the kitchen, not in the throne room, not in the library. Twilight had seen her a few hours ago when she’d brought the alicorn tea, but maybe she’d gone to her own home by then?

However, finally, peeking into one of the many living rooms, she found Rarity sitting by the window, idly looking out the window as she finished sewing what looked like a chemise.

Nighttime had begun to fall, and the last rays of sunlight shone over Rarity in such a way her beauty was somehow intensified. Twilight couldn’t help but lean against the frame of the door, wondering how lucky she had to be that now, almost two years into the relationship, Rarity still stole her breath.

She made her way towards Rarity, who was still very much distracted by the outside view to notice Twilight creeping up behind her. Finally, looking past Rarity’s shoulder, she noticed Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie having an extended afternoon picnic on the castle garden, the two mares acting surprisingly shy. Neither was talking, they only glanced at each other and then looked away.

“Oh, for goodness sake,” Rarity whispered, her sewing long forgotten, “Would you just get over yourselves and confess? I don’t have all day.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, suppressing a giggle.

Ah yes.

Only Rarity of all ponies would feel as if her friends taking their time with their in-denial romance was done for the sole purpose of keeping her on edge. Funny, for Rarity to be preoccupied with the love life of others, especially when she should be occupied with her own love life.

And it was actually a bit frightening to see and feel all the many ways in which Rarity had affected Twilight, opened her up and made her bolder than the alicorn thought she could be when it came to romance.

Years ago, Twilight would have politely coughed to catch Rarity’s attention, but now she felt comfortable in taking bolder steps.

“Rarity,” she whispered, brushing her muzzle against Rarity’s neck, slowly enough to leave a teasing kiss, “it’s not polite to spy on others, you know?”

The reaction was immediate, Rarity quickly turning to look at the alicorn with a blush on her cheeks. “Tw-Twilight! How long have you been standing there?” she blurted out, clutching the fabric against her chest as if innocent of any wrongdoing. “I wasn’t spying on them!”

“Sure you weren’t, Miss Matchmaker,” Twilight teased, giggling at Rarity’s mortified expression. She then silenced the unicorn’s oncoming protest with a nice, long-needed kiss.

“I believe you were supposed to be ‘very busy’,” Rarity said when the kiss ended, their lips still brushing.

Twilight didn’t reply initially, only moving in for another kiss. “I missed you.”

Rarity fluttered her eyelashes. “Awwww! Silly filly, you saw me three hours ago,” Rarity reminded, making no effort to hide her delighted smile. Rarity reveled in Twilight’s attentions, and as such Twilight made an effort to give them.

“I know,” Twilight replied, the smitten smile returning. “I missed you anyway.”

This set Rarity off into a fit of endeared giggles, and in turn Twilight felt a warmth spread all over her chest. Honestly speaking, between papers and reading, she hadn’t really missed Rarity before, but… now that she was reminded of how cute her marefriend was, she realized how uneventful the day had been without her interruptions.

“Goodness, Twilight, what’s gotten into you?” Rarity asked, brushing Twilight’s mane back with her hoof. “You don’t seem to have a fever. Was your paperwork really that dull?”

“No,” Twilight replied with a roll of her eyes. She then smiled and nuzzled into Rarity. “You’re just more interesting, I guess.”

“You ‘guess’?” Rarity asked, indignation ringing in her voice. “Well, in that case, I guess I’m flattered by your work-in-progress seducing skills,” she scolded, her annoyance fading away as Twilight’s nervous giggles filled the air.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she defended, leaning back to frown at the unicorn.

Rarity fluttered her eyes. “Of course you didn’t, but if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t be my utterly helpless and adorable social disaster, now would you?”

Telling herself that trying to win that battle would only end in defeat, Twilight leaned in to kiss Rarity one last time before moving back. “I better get back to my work.”

She expected Rarity to protest, as she always did, but instead the unicorn merely observed her for a moment before picking up her sewing materials and adding, “Well… All right, then, darling.”

And now that… that was something Twilight did not like.

All the other times, Rarity’s insistence for cuddles and more were constant reinforcements for Twilight that Rarity did indeed love and desire her. But now, to have Rarity so easily relent, it made several insecurities claw their way up Twilight’s back.

“Oh, okay,” she said lamely. She stepped up to give Rarity one last nuzzle, both to build up her own confidence and reassert her love, before turning around to trot away.

“Twilight, where are you going?”

Twilight turned back, blinking. “Uhm… back to work?”

Rarity fluttered her eyelashes innocently. “Darling,” she drawled, biting down on her lip, “I thought you were going to work on me~”

In the back of her mind, Twilight knew Rarity had honestly intended on letting her go back to her real work.

And yet, she was lucky enough that Rarity knew her well enough to catch onto any of her insecurities, and though she’d play along as if it wasn’t the case, she was immensely grateful and somehow even more smitten for the unicorn.

“I am,” Twilight replied matter-of-factly, when a spark of her horn suddenly teleported the unicorn from the window to the nearby couch with a surprised “eep!”.

“My, my my! Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity exclaimed when Twilight reached the couch, admiring her victim with a devilish smirk. “How bold of you. Shouldn’t you at least treat me to dinner first?”

It had taken Twilight four years to be as confident as she wanted, but even despite her now crimson face, she leaned down to kiss Rarity before whispering, “I thought this was going to be my dinner, though?”

To her immense shame, Rarity only bursts into a fit of giggles. “Oh darling, dearest, that would work so much better if only you weren’t as pink as your cutie mark.”

“Oh, shut up…”

Before Twilight could stalk away and sulk about her failed attempt at seducing anypony, Rarity pulled her into a hug, moving so they both fit comfortably on the couch. Once settled, Rarity buried herself in Twilight’s chest, leaving a trail of kisses on her chin, her jawline, wherever she could reach.

“You are far too adorable,” she whispered, love overflowing from every syllable that left her mouth. “I love you.”

Twilight wrapped her forelegs and wings around the unicorn, smiling a very content smile. Princesses, she was lucky. Lucky to have Rarity in her forelegs, to still love her as fervently as if were the first day, and to know without a doubt that Rarity adored her too.

She left a curiously timid kiss on the tip of Rarity’s horn, biting down a smile at the giggle it drew from the unicorn, before sighing and holding Rarity close. “I love you too…”

And she knew for a fact that would never change, no matter how much paperwork, how many duties, or how awkward she still was.

– Fin –