//------------------------------// // Dirty little secret // Story: The Next in Line. // by gmoneywalker //------------------------------// “Oh, my, that was...splendid.” Your ear gives a twitch in response to the groggy and out of breath voice, looking down to see Rarity still leaning back on you, her hooves laying over yours as she snuggles into your chest, you feel your throat tighten and your heart rate quicken as she does so. “Thanks Rarity.” You force out of your uncooperative mouth. “Do you…need help getting out of the bath?” You can see Rarity’s lips curve into a smile as she presses back farther into you. “I would rather stay here for a moment. Wouldn’t you?” For a moment? You wouldn’t mind staying like this for an eternity. You can feel the warmth between your bodies as you hold the unicorn close in a delicate show of intimacy. You half consider telling Rarity how you feel, right then and there, but can’t seem to force the words out of your throat. You can’t seem to tell her how much you care about her, but you can show her. So, as a way to respond to her question, you pull her just a little tighter, ever so gently nestling your muzzle into her neck, your heart thumping wildly against your chest as you feel her wet fur caress your face and you breathe in the scent of her sweet shampoo. She gives a quiet yelp in response to the touches, but makes no move to pull away. This…was the best day…of your life. Or well that was what you would have been thinking, if this wasn’t about to happen… “YO Rarity! What’s goin’ oOHGOSH!” The cracking voice immediately snaps you to your senses, your eyes flinging open as you yank your muzzle away from its new favorite spot, locking them onto the source of the sound. “R-RAINBOW! HAVEN’T YOU EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING!?” Rarity squeaks, quickly attempting to pull away from your tender embrace, she struggles a little at first as you find your limbs locked in place out of shame and fright, but after another brief second you force them down like they had been magnetized to your thighs. You hear a brief snickering, looking over you see a cyan Pegasus standing in the open doorway leading into the bathroom, her hair and mane lined in rainbow streaks, no doubt why her name was Rainbow Dash. You’d seen her once or twice flying over town, kicking clouds and all around showing off. She had been entertaining to watch for the first couple of days, but after a while her aerial act had grown rather routine and you’d stopped paying her much mind. Rainbow’s muffled snickering turns into an all-out ‘BWAHAHA!’ as Rarity attempts to get out of the bathtub and slips due to her shaky and unstable hooves. You blush when you realize her inability to stand was no doubt the byproduct of your massage, it wasn’t exactly uncommon for the sudden lack of tension and stress to throw off a ponies’ balance when you had finished, you mentally chastise yourself for not being cautious and letting her scramble out on her own. You quickly make your own way out of the bathtub, gingerly wrapping your hooves around the dripping wet fashionista and helping her up. She casts a wary gaze to Rainbow, and silently pleads for you to stop to save her the embarrassment of having to deal with more of Dash’s chastising later on. You ignore her however, knowing full well that she’ll be unable to keep her balance without your help. Your insistence only increases the color of crimson tainting her cheeks. You allow Rarity to use you as a sort of counterweight to keep herself balanced, you notice a distinct shaking of her hind legs and begin to wonder if the unicorn had gotten a little more out of your massage than you had intended, the dirty thought causes you to feel both a sense of shame and of pride… You look over to see Rainbow now rolling on the floor, pounding a light blue hoof against the ground and cackling at the same time, struggling for breath. “Ohohoho, a he he, ah I can’t-I can’t breathe, ah ha ha!” You and Rarity both bear Rainbow’s laughter in silence. Your gaze solidly glued to the floor as you feel upset with yourself for having put Rarity into this unbearably awkward situation. After a few moments Rainbow begins to slow down, huffing and puffing as she gets to her hooves, wiping stray tears out of her eyes and still snickering at the sight of both of the sopping wet ponies standing in front of her. You can feel Rarity bristle in anger, looking over to see a fire in her eyes as she grinds her teeth, biting back a curse. “Rainbow…” The venom and rage behind the unicorn’s deceptively calm voice was frightening. “Why, on Equestria, are you here here forty minutes early?” Rainbow seems unfazed. “Because I’m Rainbow Dash duh, I’m always the first to arrive.” Rarity shakes her head. “But Rainbow, we’re not getting together at my boutique tonight. Remember? Twilight clearly stated that the next party would be at her place.” Rainbow waves a dismissive hoof. “Pff, details details, I’m sure you understand that when Twilight starts talking I kinda just, zone out.” You flinch as the pegasus’ sharp purple eyes land on you with an amused glint, fully expecting a harsh quip or joke at your expense. “Hmm, I guess you aint bad looking, always figured that Rarity would go for a pretty boy though.” Was, that an insult? You aren’t given a chance to ask, as Rarity quickly moves to give her Pegasus friend another verbal thrashing. “Rainbow do yourself a favor and get out of this bathroom before I make you.” Rainbow feigns fear, shrinking away and holding up her hooves, pleading comically for Rarity to show mercy. “Oh Rarity please don’t! Oh miss prissy pants is so strong! What have I gotten myself intACK!” You flinch as Rarity’s hind leg connects with the pegasus’ lower jaw with a smack, throwing Rainbow out of the bathroom and into the hallway, you can see her eyes still wobbling from the impact. “And stay out!” She orders the Pegasus, before slamming the door shut. You can see Rarity huff and visibly shake with rage, her special moment with you having been forever ruined by her brash ‘friend’. “Imbecile…” She mumbles. Before starting to stumble, she was still too light headed to go around kicking ponies like that. You trot over and help hold her up, using your left side to prop up the unicorn. She smiles at you gratefully, before looking away in shame. “I’m…sorry about Rainbow, she’s always been…less than subtle.” You think she’s apologizing for Rainbow’s comment about your looks. “Aw, I’m not pretty?” You ask with a childish voice, making a silly upset face in an attempt to lighten the unicorn’s mood. Rainbow may have spoiled your little bathtub foray, but she wasn’t going to upset your Rarity, not if you had anything to say about it. Rarity laughs and smiles, lightly running a hoof over your face affectionately. “No, you’re not pretty.” She moves in a little closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “You’re handsome.” You smile at the compliment, gently reaching up and caressing the hoof she held on your face, a wordless thank you. “Oh come on! Are you two done in there yet? Sheesh!” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… “Okay, I’ll be home late tonight so feel free to treat yourself to anything in the refrigerator, there’s a few books in my room if you get bored, and if you leave remember that the key is underneath the potted plant outside.” You roll your eyes as Rarity’s lecture finally comes to a brief halt, it seemed like she hadn’t so much as paused for breath since you’d both left the bathroom. “Oh and-” “Rarity…” You cut her off gently. “I’m a big colt; I can take care of myself.” Rarity looks away, blushing, finally realizing how fussy she was being. “Oh, yes, so you are. I’m just worried you know, you’re still hurt and if something happens…” You gently place a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “I’ll be fine Rarity, now go and have fun with your friends.” You encourage her. Rarity looks behind her, frowning slightly in disgust as she sees Rainbow Dash absentmindedly spinning circles in the air in order to keep herself entertained. “I’m honestly not really looking forward to it…” “Well, I don’t think you have to worry about Miss Dash, if she acts up you can just give her another karate kick.” Rarity chuckles lightly. “Yes, I suppose I can.” She reaches up and plants an affectionate kiss on your cheek, refreshing the mark of her lipstick. You blush as tingles course through your face. “Remember, I owe you for that wonderful massage, and I never leave my debts unpaid.” You swallow hard at the thought that you may very well be getting your own massage by the time the day ends. “Goodbye, see you soon.” You watch for a moment as Rarity leaves, brushing a hoof against the cheek she’d kissed and sighing happily. Not soon enough Rarity…not soon enough. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… “I cannot believe you Rainbow!” Rarity huffed, stomping towards Twilight’s library in a clear show of anger, keeping her blue eyes fixated on the path ahead, refusing to give the fluttering Pegasus so much as a passing glance. “What? You never set up a little meeting for me and him like you did with Shy, Applejack, and Twi, heck even Pinkie got to see your little colt toy. So, I decided I’d swing by and see what all the fuss was about.” The Pegasus explained casually, ignoring the edge to her unicorn friend’s voice. “Looks like I missed all the fun though.” Rarity feels a twinge of bashfulness as she walks on, the massage had…not been expected, not that she was complaining, your masterful work on her body had been leagues above what she had come to enjoy at the spa. It had even motivated her to do some…rather unladylike things while you weren’t looking. But that hadn’t changed the fact that it nearly caused her to ruin the plan she had spent weeks crafting. “But seriously Rarity, ya gotta tell me, how good is he?” Rainbow unleashes another snicker, and Rarity found the urge to give the Pegasus a kick growing ever stronger. “I mean, from the look on your face I’d say he’s at least above average.” Rarity growls. “It’s not like that, we didn’t do anything.” Rainbow scoffs. “Oh come on! I might not be an egghead but I aint stupid, that dopey smile on your face…well…let’s just say it looked orgasmic.” Rarity feels a blush sting at her face and her pace increases, eager to get to Twilight’s so somepony else could deal with the loud mouthed Pegasus. Dash however easily catches up, continuing to goad the white unicorn into, ‘spilling the beans’ as she called it. Rarity however decides that the beans would remain secured in whatever container they happened to be put in. A moment of silence follows before Rainbow lets out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll just tell everypony that I caught you two bumping uglies in the bathtub.” This stops the unicorn dead in her tracks. “You wouldn’t dare.” Dash gives the flustered unicorn a look that says, ‘I’d dare.’ “Well, I could be persuaded to keep it to myself…so long as you tell me what I want to know.” If looks could kill, Rainbow would have lit on fire, gotten hit by a carriage, and struck by lightning all at once when Rarity turned her gaze onto the cyan Pegasus. “What kind of a friend are you?” Rainbow gives a sly grin. “A very curious one, so ya gonna tell me or what?” Rarity chews on her lip for a brief moment, exhaling gruffly and contemplating what to do. “Fine…I’ll…tell you what I did. But you have to promise to keep it between us. Deal?” The Pegasus lands on the dirt ground next to Rarity, kicking up a light puff of dust with a flap of her wings, a puff of dust Rarity quickly moves to avoid. “Yeah, deal.” Rarity shakes her head. “No, you have to promise.” Rainbow groans in frustration. “Fine I promise.” “No, you have to pinkie promise.” The pegasi’s wings go flat and her head droops. “Are you serious?” The look on Rarity’s face said that she was indeed. “Fine.” The Pegasus huffs. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Rainbow was sure to do the motions as well, poking her eye with a hoof and eliciting a faint ‘ow’ in response to the slip. “So, are you satisfied?” Rarity rubs a hoof underneath her chin, contemplating her current level of satisfaction. “Well…I suppose. But let’s keep moving yes? We mustn’t be late.” Rarity continues down the path, Dash quickly taking to the air yet again and following. “Well we wouldn’t have to worry about running late if you hadn’t spent twenty minutes in the bathroom doing your hair.” “Well, we can’t all look like we just rolled out of bed Rainbow.” The unicorn shoots a condemning glare at the cyan pony. “Unlike you I actually enjoy looking spruced up.” Dash purses her lips and bites back a retort. “I’m still waiting for you to tell me what happened between you two.” Rarity holds her head up, a crinkle of distaste etching its way into her features. “If you must know, he had just finished giving me quite the lavish massage.” “What? So neither of you had any fun?” “Well…I didn’t say that, I’m sure the experience was quite enjoyable for the both of us.” Rarity stops for a moment, thinking of the proper words to use to make this confession sound less…dirty. “It was just…I got a different kind of pleasure out of it than I think he intended.” Rainbow raises an eyebrow, scratching her head as she tries to put it together, when suddenly the realization hits her like a freight train. She stops beating her wings and lands in the dirt right in front of the unicorn. A look of utter amused shock on her face. If the Pegasus was paying any real kind of attention to anything other than the unicorn’s confession she would have noticed how her blue eyes were fixed on a spot near her hooves, and how a red tint was slowly spreading over her face. “No way Rarity! You clopped!? Like, while he was there!?” The look of utter mortification on the fashionista’s face was enough to answer Rainbow’s question. Suddenly the speedster is unable to hold back another wave of laughter. “Holy hay! I can barely believe it! Rarity I thought you were supposed to be all clean and proper.” The personal jab hits home for the unicorn, and she finds an ever growing sense of shame forming a pit deep in her stomach. “I-I didn’t mean to do it! It just felt so nice, wh-when I looked down I was…” Rarity felt the need to explain, to try and excuse her actions, though she should have known full well that it wouldn’t do much to fix the guilt gnawing away at her. Rainbow isn’t listening, she’s still marveling over the implications. “You won’t tell anypony right!? You Pinkie Promised!” The Pegasus takes a deep breath to try and calm herself, biting back another cheap snicker or two before she responds. “Totally Rarity, it’ll be our dirty little secret.” For some reason Rarity wasn’t put to ease by that statement. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The heavy wooden door to Twilight’s library swings open with a creek. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack all look up from their little circle of gossip, each smiling and greeting their two friends in turn. “Rarity, Rainbow, it’s about time you two showed up.” Twilight said, standing up and walking over to say hello, Rainbow nods and makes a dash towards the snack bowl with a hungry look in her eyes, Rarity creeps in with her eyes glued to the floor. “Is something wrong Rarity? You look a little down.” The purple unicorn asks with concern. “Yeah Rarity, something wrong?” Rainbow adds through a mouth full of cupcake, courtesy of a certain pink party pony. Rarity scuffs her hoof against the wooden floorboards of the library, casting a nervous glance over towards Dash and Twilight in turn. “Oh, no, I’m quite fine dear. Would you mind if I slipped into your bathroom for just a moment? I…need to…clean…” Twilight gives her snow white friend a curious look. “Uh sure, go right ahead. It’s upstairs.” Rarity mumbles a thank you and starts towards the spiraling staircase at the opposite end of the library, casting one last look at Rainbow. The Pegasus grins and keeps chewing on her cupcake. Rarity’s pace quickens. Dash waits until the sound of a shutting door is heard. Quickly swallowing what remained of her chocolate cupcake and turning to the rest of her friends with a devilish smile. “You guys will never guess what Rarity did.” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Twilight’s bathroom was rather plain for the fashionista’s taste. There was only a single brush, no perfumes, and a distinct lack of makeup kits, it was no wonder the bookworm never looked as beautiful as she could; she just didn’t have the supplies necessary. Rarity made a mental note to take the poor dear shopping for some real heavy duty equipment as soon as the opportunity arose. But for now it would do. She desperately felt like cleaning something, anything, preferably herself. She quickly trotted over to the sink, flipping the handle with a quick spurt of magic and letting the hot water build up as she scrounged around for something to wash with. Cleaning was a sort of relaxing task for the unicorn, however strange that might sound to some. For now she would just scrub her hooves for a while, clearing her mind of worry and letting her think, she was half tempted to check and see if Rainbow was ‘spilling her beans’ as she so ineloquently put it, but contented herself in the fact that the Pegasus would never break a Pinkie Promise. As soon as the sink filled to a satisfactory level she picks up a smooth sponge and quickly begins to dab the top half in, soaping up the sponge and beginning to wash her hooves. The warm water was relaxing and soothing. Though unfortunately the liquid and soap brought back thoughts of her bath with you, and she felt a heat spreading throughout her body as she started to recall your loving care and tender embrace. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind…that massage was possibly the best thing she had ever felt, not to mention she really needed it. There was a reason she went to the spa so often, working on new designs continuously meant that she would often get stressed out more than was probably healthy; a weekly massage would quell that stress and help mellow her out. “Well, I suppose I won’t have to go all the way to the spa for that anymore…” She mumbles to herself. If you were willing to provide more of those wonderful treatments she would be more than willing to accept. Rarity sighs and smiles, realizing that she had just spent what must have been a good hour or so sharing a very intimate moment with you, something she had wanted since you’d first come to town months ago. She was happy with the thought that, so long as everything went according to her plan, you and she would be able to spend many more moments like that together. Free of a certain Pegasus’ interruptions. “I suppose I should probably dial back the flirting a little though.” She mumbles yet again, staring at her reflection in the mirror, a slight touch of disappointment to her voice and expression. “If I can help it...” There was an undeniable truth to the fact that she may have been pushing you a little too far. Originally she was just going to work on keeping you interested, but with the massage and the bath…she wonders if you were going to take the initiative. Naturally if you asked for an actual relationship she would say yes, but she didn’t want one of those typical ‘hey I like you, let’s go out,’ kind of situations. With who you were, and how much she cared about you…she wanted to make your official getting together a moment to cherish and remember forever. Out of the corner of her eye Rarity notices a light blue gem resting atop the marble counter of the sink. Ah yes, Spike; now here was something she had hoped to avoid thinking about. She can’t suppress a slight twinge of sadness as she thinks of how heartbroken the little dragon will be when he learns about this whole thing. After all, the poor dear absolutely adored her, something she found flattering, but wasn’t able to acknowledge. Though there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Spike would have made an excellent romantic partner, he was after all a gentlecolt in his own right, and she had nothing against cross species relationships. After all, though the practice of a pony loving another intelligent race, be it griffon, dragon, or even diamond dog in a few rare instances, wasn’t exactly uncommon per say, that didn’t change the fact that Spike was entirely too young. Rarity had encouraged Twilight to try and keep the young dragon in the dark about her current romantic pursuits, and so far she seemed to be doing just that. Spike had yet to make an appearance at one of these gatherings, typically since the main topic of discussion was more often than not centered around you. It was still only a matter of time until he found out. And the fashionista figured it would be a lot easier for him to bear if she were to sit him down at one point and lay it all out for him to digest. She’d promised herself to quit putting it off, but found it difficult to do anything else. The unicorn sighs, forcing thoughts of the young dragon away. Levitating over a small towel and wiping off the excess water from her hooves. Deciding it was time to head back downstairs. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… There is a noticeable change in the mood of the lower level of the library as Rarity reaches the bottom of the steps; it’s something she can feel as soon as her foot connects with the floor. Everything around her is deathly quiet, and she can sense five different pairs of eyes all glued to her as she approaches. “What are you all looking at?” She asks curiously, everypony in the room is quick to move their eyes into different directions. The repressed giggling near the snack bowl is enough for Rarity to piece together the reason for the sudden change in atmosphere. “RAINBOW YOU FILTHY LITTLE LIAR!” Everypony gives a start at the unicorn’s raised voice, save for a certain Rainbow maned Pegasus who bursts into uncontrollable fits of laughter. “Oh come on Rarity, how on Equestria did you expect me to keep something like that to myself!?” Rainbow forces out in between a few more raucous laughs. The unicorn loses what little composure she has left, levitating over the nearest blunt object, in this case a table lamp, with full intent on smashing it over Dash’s head. Applejack is quick to intervene. “Whoa there sugarcube!” The farm pony quickly snatches away the lamp, the blue aura of magic quickly fizzing away. “T’aint no reason to go resortin’ ta violence!” Rarity glares daggers at her intervening friend, and then sends that same stare towards Rainbow, who is currently wiping stray tears from her eyes and picking herself up off the floor, grinning wildly. “How could you Rainbow?! You Pinkie Promised” The Pegasus rolls her eyes, opening her mouth for another sharp remark, before Pinkie tackles her to the ground. “You broke a Pinkie Promise?” The question is devoid of the usual giggly tone typically found within Pinkie’s cheery voice, and the sudden serious shift throws the cyan Pegasus for a slight loop, causing her excuses to falter and be replaced by a single unsteady shaking of her head. “Oooh Dashie, you know what that means…” There’s the faintest trace of a threat in the party pony’s words, and it causes Dash to grow steadily more uncomfortable as she stares into Pinkie’s unforgiving eyes. “Uh, Pinkie, you’re kind of creeping me out.” Dash says, squirming around in an attempt to free herself from her friend’s iron like grip. The earth pony seems to ignore her however, leaning forward and meeting the terrified gaze of the Pegasus with an emotionless one of her own. “Cross my heart and hope to fly…” The sing song voice is usually one that brings smiles, but for Dash it only brought chills. “…Or stick a cupcake…in…my...EYE!” There’s a wet smacking sound as chocolate cupcake comes into contact with Rainbow’s left eye, Pinkie giggles as she jumps off of her friend. “All better!” Rainbow slowly gets to her hooves, groaning in discomfort as she feels the icing sinking into her fur. “Oh yuck! Pinkie!” The Pegasus quickly lifts up a hoof to start wiping away the mess. Pinkie Pie laughs again. “Sorry Dashie! Its part of the promise, you broke it, so now you get a cupcake to the eye!” There’s a noticeable blush to Rainbow’s chocolate splattered face as her friends begin to chuckle. Rarity even finds herself repressing a giggle or two, her previous thoughts of embarrassment pushed to the side at the sight of the chocolate covered Pegasus. “You…um, shouldn’t feel ashamed you know.” Rarity is almost startled at the sound of the tiny voice beside her, looking over to see Fluttershy’s cyan colored eyes staring back at her, half of her face hidden behind a long lock of pink hair. “I um…do it sometimes to…” Rarity cocks her head to the side, the shy Pegasus’ point sailing right over her head. “…recently actually, my coltfriend wasn’t around the other night and I was kind of in the mood so I…took care of it…myself.” The fashionista’s eyes go wide as saucers when the truth finally clicks in her head. Swallowing hard and chuckling nervously as she casts an edgy look around at her fellow friends. All of which were thankfully too busy poking fun at Rainbow to have caught wind of Fluttershy’s confession. “Oh, dearie, I know you’re trying to make me feel better.” The unicorn attempts to make her voice as soft and uninsulting as possible, fully aware of how fragile Fluttershy was. “But, I would suggest that you try and keep that to yourself.” Fluttershy’s eyes shift to the hardwood floor of the library, sinking more of her face into the safety of her flowing mane. Rarity is quick to ensure her words didn’t hurt her feelings. “But thank you very much for trying sweetheart.” The Pegasus finally unglues her eyes from the floor, scuffing a hoof along the ground and giving a tiny shake of her head. “All right all right!” Twilight’s authoritative voice snaps everypony back into attention, all eyes turning to the purple mare. “We’ve all had our fun, here Rainbow.” Twilight’s horn glows purple as she levitates a stack of napkins over towards her chocolate speckled friend. Dash mumbles a thank you and gets to work wiping off the cupcake. “So, we all know why we’re here, Rarity has found herself a coltfriend.” Rainbow deadpans, pulling away her fifth used napkin and turning an unamused glare towards her purple friend. “Yeah egghead, we know, this is like the fourth dumb meeting we’ve had about it.” Twilight grins and chuckles. “Oh right, so Applejack, you were a little worried about it right? Well, Rarity sent him to meet you today, what did you think about him?” Before the farm pony can respond Rarity interjects. “Which I still can’t fathom! Why on Equestria can she have a coltfriend of her own and nopony says a word, but I say that I’m interested in one and both of you throw a fit?” “Because yer pick ain’t exactly got the best o’ reputations sugarcube.” She states plainly. Rarity feels a slight twinge of anger, she’d heard all the gossip already and the last thing she wanted was more of it from her closest friends. “She’s right you know.” Rainbow chirps up. “Talk on the weather team is that your guy has been all over town, you might want to get yourself checked.” Rarity shoots the cyan pegasus an icy stair, reaching a hoof towards the discarded table lamp threateningly, Rainbow is quick to shut up. Applejack rolls her eyes. “But, ah met him today an’ well…he seems like a real good feller.” Rarity looks at the apple farmer, surprised at this change in tune, she was confident that Applejack’s opinion of you would never change. “Ah honestly don’t think ya coulda picked a better stallion.” Rarity gives a shake of her head, as if double checking what she just heard. “Well, thank you Applejack, I’m glad you can see him like I do.” The unicorn’s blue eyes turn towards Twilight. “And what about you dear, you had some issues as well if I recall.” Twilight sighs. “Yeah I did, but come on you have to understand why.” Everypony in the room nods their heads, having your closest sibling come this close to marrying a changeling seemed a cause enough to check up on who your friends are dating. “But well…like Applejack said I met him, he seems pretty nice, and I even…did a little research of my own and well, I think he’s a great pick.” Rarity once again finds herself pleasantly surprised. “Uh…yeah, I met him too.” Fluttershy’s meek voice speaks up once again; she shrinks away slightly when all her friends look at her at once. “He seems…nice.” The faintest curve of Fluttershy’s lips is enough to show that she meant it. “He even stood up for me while I was at Sugarcube Corner.” “Well, then everypony thinks he’s okay?” Rarity asks, looking around for dissenting opinions. She’s startled to find that there is one. “I don’t think he’s okay.” Pinkie says, holding her head up and stamping her hoof on the ground for emphasis, a deep frown on her face. “But Pinkie-” “I think he’s FANTASTIC!” The smile returns to Pinkie’s jubilant face. “Not only is he super nice! I know for a fact that he’s a lean mean dancing machine!” The party pony starts, ‘busting a move’ for emphasis. Rainbow starts to snicker. “Really, he break dances? Wow Rarity, you really know how to pick ‘em.” Before Rarity can retort Pinkie shoots back up. “Well he doesn’t really dance like that, he called it the tango. But really all dancing is the same when you get down to it!” Rarity’s face lights up like Hearth Warming lights. “Oh, the tango! You’re right Dash; I do know how to pick them.” “Anyway Rare, ya like tha guy an all. When are ya gonna make it official?” Applejack speaks up again. “Soon Applejack, very soon, speaking of, Twilight dear have you secured those nighttime passes into Canterlot gardens?” Rarity asks the purple unicorn. “Huh? Oh right, the passes.” Twilight shakes her head. “Yeah, Princess Luna said she’d be willing to provide them, though they’ll take a couple days to get here.” “Splendid, that will leave me plenty of time to get everything squared away, thank you very much Twilight, I owe you a great debt.” Twilight shrugs. “Well it wasn’t a big deal.” “Nonsense!” Rarity exclaims, stepping closer and pulling the unreceptive Twilight into a hug, the purple unicorn squirms a little in her friend’s hooves. “This means a lot to me and I promise to repay you.” Rarity lets go, much to Twilight’s relief. “How about you and I go shopping next week hmm? My treat,” Twilight opens her mouth to politely decline, before snapping it shut, she knew better than to even try turning down the fashionista when shopping was concerned. “Sure Rarity.” Rainbow groans. “Okay enough with all this boring stuff. Let’s have some fun already!” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… You absently reach up and pull the blanket covering your body a little closer, feeling a slight chill creep through the empty boutique, you were sitting on the red satin couch Rarity had been occupying this morning, curled up in the matching blanket as you rested your aching neck on a small crochet pillow, skimming through a Daring Do book you’d found on Rarity’s bookshelf. The idle tick tock of the clock near your head slowly luring you into a sort of trance, similar to when you played with your pendant, the sound is relaxing and familiar. You flick your eyes up to the clock, quickly spying the time. The hands read somewhere between eleven fifteen and eleven twenty, it was somewhat difficult to judge the exact positioning of the big hand. You roll your neck and it gives a couple painful pops in response, you’d probably be asleep right now if not for this damn ache. This had more or less been how you’d spent the majority of your night. You’d tidied up the boutique a tad, not that there was much that needed cleaning, Rarity was indeed a very hygienic mare, and you had to struggle to find so much as a speck of dirt in the entire building. You’d put together a simple daisy sandwich moments after, not exactly gourmet but certainly enough to get the job done. But after that you had pretty much run out of things to do, so in order to cope with your boredom you snooped around what Rarity kept in her bookcase upstairs, you’d seen some generic romance novels and a few books about fashion but the only thing that caught your attention was the most recent Daring Do novel. You’d never read one before, despite the critical acclaim surrounding the series, and you figured that you might as well give it a look. So far you were about twenty chapters in and totally engrossed. You’d just finished a rather intense passage in which Daring had managed to outsmart the villain with nothing more than a banana and a small Celestia figurine when you pick up on the sound of a key entering a lock. You put down your book and peer through the darkness of the main room of the boutique, the sun having set a few hours ago, the only source of illumination in the entirety of the room currently being the table lamp near the couch. The main door swings open with a creek followed by the sharp chime of the bell above. You can make out Rarity’s sleek figure through the gloomy darkness of the boutique and you smile at the sight. You hear a petite yawn escape her lips as she slips inside, gently closing the door behind her. “Welcome home Rarity.” You greet her, you can spy the mare’s shining blue eyes through the gloom as they lock onto you, and you can make out the faintest of smiles spreading across her face. “Shouldn’t you be in bed my dear assistant?” The playful tone is clear, if a little muffled due to the unicorn’s obvious fatigue. You feign offense. “Me? Go to bed? Well how could I knowing you were out wandering the dark dangerous streets of Ponyville, all by your lonesome. I was worried sick about you.” You hear her giggle, followed by the sound of her hooves sliding over the soft carpet. She slowly moves into the dim light cast by your table lamp. The sight of her smile and the happy glint in her eye is enough to shake away all feelings of exhaustion. “You waited up all night for little old me?” The cutesy tone of voice and pouty expression she gives is nearly enough to make your heart explode. “Well of course I did Rarity; I’m nothing if not loyal to my employer.” You grin at the mare. Rarity rolls her eyes before yawning again, placing a dainty white hoof to her lips as her mouth widens. Afterwards she stops and gently shakes her head, trying to knock the exhaustion away. “Oh, I’m too exhausted for banter. Let us go to bed hmm?” The word ‘us’ makes your ear twitch, there was nothing inherently odd about it, but the implications that she would rather sleep with you rather than alone was enough for butterflies to start stirring in your stomach. You follow the mare with your eyes as she fades back into the shadows, you can make out her soft silhouette in the darkness as she moves up the stairs, stopping halfway and beckoning for you to follow with her eyes. You flick of the lamp and hop off the couch, quick to comply. Neither of you say anything as she leads you down the hallway of her boutique, stopping just in front of her bedroom door. She opens it up with her magic, slinking inside with nary a word spoken. You wonder what she’s playing at. Didn’t she have a guest bed for you or something? Your still on the opposite end of the door when a flash of light appears, cutting a faint swath through the darkness of the hallway via the crack still left in the door. “Well don’t be shy dear, do come in.” Rarity’s words are enough to get you moving again, and you push open the door with the brunt of your forehead. The room was pretty much the same as it was this morning; save for the faint smell of expensive perfume that wafted throughout the room, Rarity must have just recently applied some. But why? “I hope you don’t mind the smell dear.” Rarity says, as if reading your mind. You spy her near the dresser, putting down an expensive looking purple glass container. “Pinkie brought over so many sweets that I was sure I’d brought the scent home with me.” You shake your head. “No, I don’t mind. It smells pretty, er I mean good!” You’re quick to correct yourself. Rarity only acknowledges your slip with a small smile and a faint laugh, her horn lighting up as a drawer near her hooves comes open. She reaches in and retrieves a dark blue sleeping mask, strapping it to her head and leaving it just above her eyes. You watch, thoroughly confused, as Rarity walks towards her bed and slips underneath the covers, her blue eyes looking at you expectantly. “Well…” She says after a moment of silence. “W-what?” There’s a twinge of apprehension to your voice. Rarity couldn’t be insinuating what you think she is…right? Rarity rolls her eyes. “Oh come now, don’t play coy. I won’t have my assistant sleeping on the couch all on his own tonight.” You swallow hard, so she had been insinuating what you thought she was. Now normally you would have jumped at the chance, but for some reason your foolish mind decides this is a prime time to argue. “B-but surely you’d rather have the bed all to yourself tonight. I mean, I’ve stolen it from you for two days, I don’t want to get in the way of your rest.” Rarity laughs. “Oh come now, you’re working for me without pay darling. Scooting over a tad so you have a nice soft bed to sleep on isn’t going to keep me awake.” She gives you a guilty puppy dog stare. “Besides, I would feel just awful knowing you have to sleep all night on that terribly uncomfortable couch downstairs with that ache in your neck.” Her puppy dog eyes grow just a tad wider. “So won’t you share my bed with me? Pretty please?” Well, with a look like that was there even a chance you could say no? Your whole body is practically shaking with trepidation as you approach the bed. You nod in thanks as Rarity lifts the covers with magic, after another deep breath or two to try and calm your pounding chest you slip underneath. The silky smooth covers gently falling over your body as you ease into the plush bed, the light above you flicking off as soon as they do. The bed was as comfortable as it was this morning, and you would have been able to truly enjoy it if not for your nervousness. You do your best to try and relax, going so far as to pretend Rarity isn’t there at all, gently resting your head on the plush pillow below as you close your eyes. Your attempts at ignoring the fashionista’s presence seem to be getting the job done, as you slowly feel your body relaxing and your consciousness fading. That is, until she makes her presence wholly known once again. You don’t pick up on it at first, there’s a gentle shift in the weight of the bed that would suggest Rarity had started moving, you’re too busy trying to sleep yourself to look over and figure out what she’s up to, before she lets out an aggravated sigh and you see her sit up. “Something wrong Rarity?” You ask, unable to ignore the distraught movement. Rarity sighs again and groans. “Sorry, I know your trying to sleep it’s just…” You can see her darkened silhouette fidget with the pillow she was using, before groaning again. “This pillow is awfully uncomfortable.” You frown slightly; you knew that you would interfere with her sleep in some way. “If you’d like you can have mine as well, two pillows should be more comfortable.” “No, no, that wouldn’t do.” The unicorn quickly shoots down your offer. “It’s not that I don’t have enough pillows. It’s that the one I do have just isn’t providing enough support.” She sighs again, and you can see her horn light up in the darkness as the sleeping mask she wore is pulled up, her light blue eyes piercing through the darkness as she looks down at you. You fidget somewhat in the shadows, an odd feeling worming its way into your chest as memories of when Rarity had stroked your chest filter their way into your mind. “Hang on a moment…” She mumbles, and you can see her move to put a hoof underneath her chin as she thinks. “I have a splendid idea.” You’re curious as to what this splendid idea was, but as it so happens you wouldn’t have to wait long to find out. You nearly cry out in surprise when Rarity lays her head upon your chest, gently snuggling into your upper body as she magically lifts your hoof and wraps it around her shoulder, forcing you to embrace her. Your breath shortens and your throat goes dry as the full realization of Rarity’s actions hits you. You were spooning. Rarity sighs contentedly and snuggles a little closer, you can very nearly make out the outline of her lips as they slide upwards, and the smell of her expensive perfume becomes much stronger, filling your nose and overpowering your other senses, giving you this strange feeling of euphoria. You can feel Rarity’s warm breath caresses your chest and neck. Your body seems to be moving on autopilot, and you don’t even remember giving your leg the command to start stroking her shoulders. Either way, you fail to fight back the smile as this helps ease her into your embrace, her grin growing wider with each passive stroke. Every fiber of your being yearns for you to tell her how much you care about her, to tell her how much you love her, but the words die in your throat every time you wish to utter them. I love you Rarity, I just wish I could tell you ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… A/N Well, I'm sorry if this seems a little rougher than usual, I ran into a few problems with this little interlude. So if you guys really hate it let me know and I'll see if I can fix it. Also, I can't seem to get italics working properly, let me know if it's still messed up after I try fixing it.