Chapter Text
Rarity was a good friend.
Like her Element suggested, she was generous. She was also caring, and supportive, and protective. And, maybe she could be a little bit oblivious, and just a smidgen insensitive, and just a tiny deal self-centered. But she wasn't a bad friend.
Pinkie Pie knew this.
She knew it well.
Rarity had helped her on more than one occasion. Sown her dresses for parties, help taste-test punch for parties, design decorations for parties. She'd seen Rarity help dozens of ponies in town, bringing a smile to their face, a glint to their eye, a happy flush to their cheek.
Most of all, Rarity was extremely pretty.
Stallions and mares alike gawked at her, taking in her beauty like one gulps down water, or rays of sun. And she wouldn't settle for anything less than she deserved, so many lined up for her hoof at a chance to hold it in theirs.
Pinkie always thought Rarity lucky, in that regard.
Not! That Pinkie was the type to want that kind of thing; she was perfectly okay being the silly, nonsense party pony that no pony took a second glance at, much less seriously. That was all fine! She was here to make ponies laugh, not stop and stare at her! Honestly if anything she'd be extremely worried if they did.
She didn't envy her friend for that. Rarity could have all the admirers she wanted.
No, Rarity was lucky in that...
. . .
She.
She just was.
Lucky, that is.
Pinkie… Couldn’t exactly know why, just yet. The reason why evaded her; and when she tried to think about it for more than a moment at a time, her thoughts would get all scrambled, and her stomach would feel kind of sick. She wondered if she should check herself into the doctor for that…?
…No, she was too busy! She had her job at Sugarcube Corner to worry about! And besides, that feeling wasn’t really anything new, it just… Kind of… Maybe felt a bit worse and icky and bad compared to before. But it wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t ignore it, just like before, surely!
It was kind of weird why it was happening though!! It always was, but usually her thoughts would only scramble and she’d feel sick to her stomach when she was visiting the library-turned-castle in the center of town. At first, she figured it must have been the architecture or something. Maybe crystal castles weren’t really her thing?
…But then that didn’t make sense because she’d been absolutely fine at the Crystal Empire! Plus, she loved crystals and cool architecture!! No, that was not it.
Then she wondered if it was because the castle was too big, too spacious; which also didn’t make sense, because Pinkie loved big and spacious things where she could gallop around to her heart’s content. That wasn’t it either.
Soon, it hit her that it wasn’t the castle’s fault at all, but…
* * *
One evening, when she was working, as per usual, Twilight Sparkle had come in. And since Twilight was one of her very best friends, Pinkie had wanted to drop everything right then to go hang out, but dropping everything would mean dropping the tray of muffins she’d just pulled out of the oven. Still!!! Once she was free of the muffins Pinkie leaped right over the counter to meet Twilight, and momentarily she forgot all about her duties to her job. (As it so usually happened these days, when it came to Twilight Sparkle.)
In return the lavender alicorn had taken a surprised step back from her, eyes stretching wide and wings fluttering outwards as a small yelp left her. “Pinkie—!” she all but gasped. “You startled me!”
“Oopsie,” the party mare giggled. “Sorry, Twi! I’m just really happy to see you!”
Twilight relaxed just as quickly, her wings settling back. “Likewise,” she replied with a smile. “Anyway, I was just wondering if…”
Somewhere between the settling excitement of seeing her friend and the rush to greet her, Pinkie realized with a start something very random. Random to suddenly realize even for her.
Twilight Sparkle was wearing a sweater.
Pinkie Pie blinked.
“…do you think?”
“What?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, but there was a glint of amusement in their violet depths.
“You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”
Pinkie was honest. Sometimes even more so than the Element of Honesty herself. So she piped happily, “Nope!”
A chuckle broke from Twilight, and Pinkie’s stomach fluttered. For some reason, she’d started feeling sick again even before then, like a minute ago, and the fluttering didn’t really help at all. Had she eaten breakfast this morning? She was sure she had…
“Sorry!” Pinkie squeaked out, before clearing her throat. “I was just looking at your super duper cute sweater! Where’d you get it?”
“Oh.” The lavender pony’s cheeks flushed a shade brighter, turning her fur more of a royal pink. (Pffft!) “I, um… It’s, actually pretty old,” she laughed sheepishly, “I’ve had it longer than I’ve been in Ponyville. But I really do quite like it, and it’s lasted me a while!” She spared a glance behind her at her own flank, and the worn piece of clothing. She winced. “…Well, clearly…”
Pinkie snorted brightly, “Clearly, you’ve taken reeeeally good care of it! Is it really warm?”
Twilight looked back at her, raising an incredulous brow. “Was Starswirl the Bearded the greatest spellcaster who ever lived?”
“Uh…” Pinkie tapped her chin, pretending to think about it even though she knew the correct answer. “Yes?” she lied with a tilt of her head, if only to see her friend smile.
Sure enough, Twilight’s lips upturned into a wide grin as she nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, most certainly! And the sweater’s pretty warm too!” She gave a light giggle, seemingly amused by her own joke, and this time Pinkie Pie’s stomach did an entire flip. Huh. “Anyway, now that that’s out of the way, can I repeat my question? Since you didn’t hear it the first time, I mean.”
“Sure!” Pinkie mirrored Twilight’s nod from a few moments ago—anything to ignore the weird and wacky doings of her belly. “I’m definitely indefinitely listening now!”
“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a walk through Ponyville,” Twilight went on, circling her hoof on the floor. “Um, because— Well, since you’ll be off work soon and we haven’t hung out one-on-one in a while. If you wanted to, of course. No pressure. I was just…”
Pinkie Pie laughed. “You silly filly, of course I’d love to hang out with you tonight!” If anything it sounded like the perfect way to spend the rest of her evening. Just her and Twilight and the winter stars and…
Instantly Twilight perked up, her face brightening. “Really? Great! Let’s—” She stopped herself, ears drooping a bit in embarrassment, “Oh, uh, you’re not off just yet, are you.”
Pinkie laughed again, booping her friend in the muzzle. “Soon!” she reminded brightly. “Then we can have all the fun in the world! Okay maybe not all the fun in the world, we couldn’t do that just in one single night but…” She gasped. “OH! I know what we could do!”
The alicorn smiled back. “What?”
“You’ll see!” Pinkie booped her again, hoping her friend got the hint—and she did, Twilight Sparkle’s smile only growing as the party pony once again jumped back over the counter.
It would be a surprise, of course.
The two continuously chatted with each other up until Pinkie Pie clocked out, and Pinkie briefly disappeared to wish the Cakes a goodnight (and grab a coat). But, after that, she re-joined Twilight, and she bounced as she led the way from Sugarcube Corner all the way to the edge of Ponyville. Thankfully it wasn’t too long of a walk in the winter chill, but Pinkie did worry a bit about Twilight wearing only a sweater and nothing else. Did alicorns have a higher sensitivity to weather? The cold didn’t bother Pinkie very much herself—she just brought her coat because she knew Twilight would worry—but was that because she was an earth pony or because she was Pinkie? Why was this question occurring to her only now?
She should probably ask, either way.
“Hey Twi!”
“Hm?”
“Are you cold?”
“What?” Twilight Sparkle blinked, as though blinking from a daze. “…Oh. Um, no, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“Weeeell, I was just wondering since I’ve got a coat on but you’ve only got a sweater on, which might not make you as warm!” Pinkie Pie explained. “If not, I could give you my coat!”
“H-huh?” The other mare’s eyes widened a bit, seemingly taken off-guard as she came to a sudden halt. “O-oh, no, that’s… It’s fine,” she laughed after a moment, shaking her head quickly. “I’d hate for you to freeze in return.”
Just as quickly, Pinkie shook her head with a smile. “I won’t!”
“Are you sure?”
“Abso-posi-tiv-lutely!”
Twilight huffed an amused snort, and her own smile returned a bit. “Well, maybe we could swap?” she suggested. “That way you’re at least a little covered.”
Pinkie opened her mouth to explain that she didn’t really need to be covered and that she was just fine, but, then the words died on her tongue.
Was…
Was Twilight suggesting giving Pinkie her sweater?
It shouldn’t have been surprising, considering the fact Pinkie had just offered to give her her coat. And it wasn’t surprising, Pinkie thought. Yet it felt like something in the same category. The kind of feeling you get when you get a really nice surprise, like a surprise party, or a surprise gift. The surprise mixed with the something else. It was that something else, but Pinkie couldn’t figure out the right name for it.
It made her feel fluttery and happy and warm all over.
“You don’t have to,” she attempted, anyhow, because as warm as the idea alone made her, Twilight deserved to be warm more than her. “I’m snug as a bug already!”
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes, in a good-natured manner, as usual when it came to Pinkie. “Yeah, uh-huh. Just give me your coat.”
Flicking one of her ears, Pinkie Pie obliged, shrugging the fluffy material off her shoulders. She draped it over the other mare, expecting her to start slipping her hooves through the sleeves and putting it on around herself, but instead Twilight started to power up her horn, building up into a small flash of light that gently, briefly brightened the trees around them. A moment later, the light faded, sending the world back into almost-darkness.
In its place, Pinkie felt something soft and warm over her hooves and flank; not unlike her own coat, but fuzzier. Scratchy, but in a pleasant way.
Most of all it was warm. Likely made even more so by the lingering body heat Twilight had given it.
At the idea, Pinkie’s face warmed, too.
She stole a glance at her companion, finding Twilight to have put on her coat fully. The bubblegum pink of the coat atop the alicorn’s actual lavender-tinted coat complimented each other nicely, in Pinkie’s eyes—she was no fashionista (and the scarce moonlight didn’t give her much to work with), but it looked…
“It looks better on you,” Twilight spoke up suddenly, a small grin to her muzzle as she gazed at the party mare in her sweater.
That was a lie. Most certainly the boldest of lies.
Pinkie beamed back. “My coat looks better on you!”
That, however, was most certainly not a lie.
The two carried on up the path on that note, a comfortable silence falling between them.
“…On second thought, maybe I should give you your coat back,” Twilight murmured into the quiet after a time, a slight grimace in her voice. “The wing holes can’t be too comfortable for you…”
Pinkie Pie laughed, full and warm. “It’s okay! I’ve worn things with holes before!”
“That’s not what I…”
“We’re here!”
Sure enough, the pond was right where it had last been last left, though of course more frozen in nature. The ice glinted in the shallow moonlight like glittering sand on a chilled beach, appearing almost supernatural in its dreamlike glow. And since it wasn’t a cloudy night, the stars shone down from above to match, making up at least partially for the partial moon in the blue-black sky.
When Pinkie looked, the stars reflected were in Twilight’s eyes.
The lavender mare took in the sights like she’d never see them again, breathing in a deep breath, exhaling slowly in a cloud of white. It wasn’t snowing, not yet, but something could be said about there seeming to be white, shimmering flecks on her eyelashes.
Pinkie watched her with her own baited breath.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to breathe, in fear of this indeed being a dream, somehow.
“You come here often, don’t you?” Twilight asked, suddenly. Not really a question. It was just to clarify.
Pinkie hadn’t actually put much thought into the destination, come to think of it—after all, if she had, she would have come prepared with her ice skates! She just figured it was as best a spot as any to head for, especially since it was a spot she really enjoyed going to. She nodded. “Not as much in the winter. …Well, unless I have my skates. But sometimes I forget to bring them, so instead I build snow castles!”
“Snow castles?” repeated the alicorn with a raised brow.
Again, Pinkie nodded, more fervently this time.
“They’re a lot easier than sand castles! And a lot prettier!”
“Hm. I guess that’s true.” Twilight frowned in thought. “Can’t say I’ve ever tried my hoof at anything more than a snowpony, really.”
…
“Would you want to?”
“What?”
“Build a snow castle.”
Twilight’s wings fluttered briefly from beneath Pinkie’s coat.
“I… I can barely build a snowpony to begin with…” she managed, nearly sheepishly.
“I can show you how!” Pinkie chimed.
Her coat ruffled again on Twilight’s flank.
“But…”
Ah.
Pinkie Pie took a step closer to her, brushing her muzzle to her friend’s cheek. Twilight’s startled, stilted breath felt hot on her neck.
When Pinkie pulled away, she just smiled.
It was gentle.
“It’ll be fun! That’s all it’s meant to be, right?”
Twilight nodded. It was hesitant. She lifted a hoof tentatively. She pawed at her cheek where Pinkie had nuzzled her, almost nervously. After a heartbeat she let her hoof fall back to the ground.
Then, she nodded again.
It was firmer.
“Right. Right,” she said, setting her brows. “No…” She paused herself, from whatever she had been about to say. And a determined smile set in place across her muzzle. “Let’s do it!”
As they rolled snow into constructional piles, Pinkie began regaling tales of her other times by this particular pond to the mare who joined her, stories of pranks and sunny days and even more fun. How one time Rainbow Dash was going to squirt Fluttershy with a fake duck, but Pinkie talked her out of it, only for Rainbow to find out Pinkie had pranked her instead. Another time, how Pinkie Pie dumped a bucket of water on Rainbow while she was trying to sunbathe, so Rainbow retaliated by dumping a bucket of sunscreen on Pinkie before she could go swimming in the pond. And yet another time when the two had simply decided to start something they called “The Great Splashing,” seeing who could create the biggest splash between them by jumping into the water. They both lost when Applejack decided to participate—which, of course, inevitably evolved into the three of them splashing each other just for the hay of it.
All the while, Twilight Sparkle laughed and snorted while listening, as though she hadn’t heard all the stories before. As though she hadn’t witnessed a few herself.
In some distant part of herself, Pinkie wondered about it, as she slapped two chunks of snow together. And she wondered if her friend ever got tired of listening to all the re-tellings of memories.
…But then, if Twilight Sparkle had to get tired of that, she would have had to get tired of books, right? And Twilight never tired of books. Ever!
…
So it was a silly thought, Pinkie decided, as she formed arrow slits for her tower, and as she looked over at Twilight, who crafted an uneven wall, and who looked back with eyes that sparkled just like her namesake.
When they finally had finished the castle—in not a very timely fashion at all, but, neither of them seemed to mind that anyway—it stood before them in all its lumped, imperfect glory, about as tall as a filly or colt. They both took in the sight of their work unassumingly, though Twilight more so, nervously sneaking a glance when Pinkie stared at it a bit too long.
When Pinkie did look at her once more, the lavender mare was digging a dip in the snow at her hooves.
“It’s…” she began. “…It’s certainly—”
“Perfect.”
At first, Twilight looked back at her like she had darn near lost her mind—but Pinkie was clapping her hooves together giddily, and beaming, and squealing, “I LOVE IT!”
And Twilight Sparkle had no choice but to burst into a fit of giggles in return.
Immediately,
Pinkie Pie knew it was the best sound she had ever, ever heard.
While her belly twisted and her heart threatened to soar out of her chest into the sky, she didn’t think it could have gotten any better, past that. She figured she would have to wait for the day she saw a sight almost as good as what her ears had witnessed, but, then…
Then again.
She was with the pony who had made that first one possible.
And when Twilight’s wonderful giggles had faded, in its place was a smile.
A genuine, happy upturned beam, with none of the usual sarcasm, or dryness, or teasing it might have ever had.
In all that it was, it was simply, and only a smile.
Pinkie Pie had seen a lot of smiles. A lot of them. That was a given when your talent was to make exactly that happen.
…
But Pinkie Pie had never wanted to kiss a smile.
It was fair to say she’d seen many great smiles, from many great ponies. To Pinkie, all smiles were great smiles. By that logic, all smiles should be kissable. Yet they weren't
She had never wanted to kiss a smile.
. . .
There was a first time for everything.
Just like there was a first time for building snow castles, and wearing sweaters with wing holes.
And,
in that moment,
for the very first time…
Pinkie wanted to kiss a smile.
A smile so modest, so perfect, so simple that it would have not looked better on any pony else. She wanted to kiss it, to kiss Twilight Sparkle, because she was modest and perfect and not at all simple.
She wanted to kiss Twilight Sparkle.
She wanted to!
She wanted to.
She wanted to…
But she didn’t.