“I have a few dresses I would like to properly fit,” Rarity explained as they headed towards the fitting room, getting a nod from Cheerilee, “ I would like to change a few features on them, and it’s much easier when I have someone to wear it while I do so. Would you mind? I will make sure you’re aptly compensated as well.”
Cheerilee blushed a little bit at the offer to help, and about getting to wear some more of Rarity’s fine clothes. She had quite enjoyed having the opportunity to try all the different clothes on the previous day, feeling like a new pony every time the fancy fabric touched her coat. Trying to hide how excited she was for it, Cheerilee stepped closer to Rarity. “Sure, I can do that.” Cheerilee said, the excitement in her voice barely contained
“Delightful!” Rarity said, quite happy at this turn of events.
Rarity led Cheerilee back into the workshop, and on a ponyquin there was the very first piece Rarity wanted to work on. It wasn’t the green dress; she didn’t want to work on that one, at least not yet. She wanted to wait a while before she moved onto that, so she would have an excuse to give it to Cheerilee for her extended help. Instead, it was a beautiful pink dress with white lace fringe and pink gems studding it.
“So, how have Sweetie and her two friends been in school? Behaving?” Rarity asked as Cheerilee sat down, taking her measurements before levitating the dress off the ponyquin and fitting it onto her living model instead.
“Well, so far, so good. They’ve been listening well, have turned in all their assignments on time, and haven’t pulled any more ‘pranks’. I think this may have taught them the lesson intended after all, but only time will tell for sure.” Cheerilee answered, Rarity meanwhile measuring how this dress fit on her, and making sure everything was the right length.
“Oh, that’s delightful to hear!” Rarity exclaimed softly, meanwhile carefully taking the perfectly-tailored dress off Cheerilee, and summoning another one.
They went over a couple more dresses while chatting, Rarity changing a few things here or there, until they finally moved up to the final dress. As Rarity placed the green dress that she had made more for Cheerilee than anypony else, Cheerilee recognized the dress. How could she have forgotten it, after all, when it was the most perfect one in the world for her. She felt so beautiful in it, like the richest and most famous pony around.
As she put it on Cheerilee, Rarity couldn’t help but just stare at her own creation. ’You look beautiful’ she thought, but even though she wanted to say it aloud, she just couldn’t let it pass her lips. Instead, she shook her head for seemingly no reason to Cheerilee, who cocked her head slightly as she did. “Is there something wrong?” Cheerilee asked and, getting another soft shake of the head from Rarity, looked into the mirror at the dress that she thought was the best.
Rarity moved towards one of the drawers in the room. “Yes, I think it needs something...” Rarity said, trying to make an excuse rather than telling the truth: that the dress was absolutely perfect on the mare it was designed for, and made her look rather striking too. She then rather clumsily looked through the different sections containing ribbons, accents, and various other accouterments for her creations, trying to search for something, anything, to improve the perfection she’d already crafted. She searched for a while, until she pulled out a specific golden ribbon, “...this!” Rarity held the ribbon up high with her magic, slowly making her way back to Cheerilee, marking out the areas where it was supposed to go, along the neckline, with some needles attached to it. “Careful please, I don’t want to poke you by accident.” Rarity was a little bit worried that Cherilee could hurt herself considering how many needles there were put through this one dress, unlike the other dresses, to make it look even better than it already was.
Rarity took the dress off Cheerilee, then went to the sewing machine to attach this final bit to the dress. While waiting, Cheerilee’s eyes widened a bit as she looked at the time. “I think I should go now...It’s getting quite late, and my sister probably has dinner ready by now.”
Rarity quickly intervened: “Please, just stay for a minute more, this won’t take long!”
Cheerilee watched Rarity’s work over her shoulder, not sure what to talk about now, though trying to make some conversation nonetheless. She decided to talk about what she was best at: school. “Rarity, having been around here helping you with the dresses I had a thought. Maybe we could add a home workshop class to the curriculum, including students working with textiles in groups, it could be fun and it would help the foals get along better with each other!”
Rarity nodded, though not really paying much attention to what Cheerilee had said. “Yes, yes,” she said as a courtesy, though rather excited and more focused on her work than her guest at the moment. A mere minute later, Rarity was done. She got up and pushed the dress into Cheerilee’s chest, giving a small, excited squeal. “C’est parfait! Try it on darling, please! I wish to see my finished work upon the mare who inspired it!”
Cheerilee once again put the green, magnificent dress on, feeling like an excited little filly again as she did. Seeing herself in the mirror, her eyes widened, as the small added detail had turned the flawless dress into the absolutely best piece. Every single detail was the right amount; not too much, nor too little. Anything else added now would just ruin this piece of perfection.
“Please, have this dress as a gift for your help with modeling for me!” Rarity all but blurted out, as she finally saw an opportunity to give Cheerilee this piece of art.
Cheerilee felt like her heart stopped as she heard what Rarity had said. “B-but…it’s so expensive! I didn’t think you valued me modeling for you that much.” Cheerilee stammered, hardly trusting her ears. This beautiful dress was actually hers now. She couldn’t believe it.
Rarity simply chuffed, waving her hoof dismissively. “Oh please, I insist!”
After the initial joy, Cheerilee started to feel bad about the offer. After all, five hundred bits was no small amount. “I can’t possibly accept something so valuable for doing so little...and after all you did for my sister already…”
“But you look so beautiful in it, you were actually the one inspiring me to make it!” Rarity presited, half shouting, before she blushed at her own words. She didn't quite want to be so direct about it.
After a moment of silence, looking at each other as if they were cowponies in a showdown at high noon, just waiting for the other to draw, Cheerilee chuckled. “I’m flattered that I’m apparently a muse to you. Is that why you have kept me around for so long?” she asked, seeing Rarity’s cheeks tint with a shade of pink.
Rarity finally gathered her courage, and decided to just let it out since the cat was already out of the bag. “Well, it is that, but also I wanted to spend time with you. The very first time we met, there was something…” Rarity paused, trying to think of the right word, “...intriguing about you. Your soothing purple coat, the beautiful green in your eyes that so perfectly matches it, your mane styled so well…”
Cheerilee wasn’t really sure how to react to these compliments, leaving her feeling rather caught off-guard. “I guess?” she said, and, with a smile crossing her face and a light chuckle at a realization, she started teasing Rarity. “Admit it”, with a mischievous tone in her voice.
“Admit what?” Rarity asked with pseudo-innocence, though she knew exactly what Cheerilee had meant. She still didn’t have quite the courage to tell the deepest of feelings that she had developed towards Cheerilee, and was not really sure about them even herself. Instead, she kept biding her time to emotionally sort her feelings by talking. “That you look absolutely gorgeous in that dress? Oh, yes you do!” Rarity’s eyes shined as she gazed at it again, with it undoubtedly being her magnum opus.
“No, silly”, Cheerilee teased further, “you know what!”
Rarity, still in slight denial at her own feelings, slowly thought of all the things she had done just to hold off on a final admission. “Admit that I like you? Well yes I do, of course I do. I wouldn’t become so inspired as to design something so amazing if I didn’t, would I? But who doesn’t like their muse?”
Seeing she had Rarity on the back hoof, Cheerilee tried to push Rarity further out of her comfort zone, though kept a playful tone. “Is it just a coincidence that we met again at the spa that you pushed me into going to. That you invited me to your place to talk about Sweetie Belle when it wasn’t entirely necessary. That you offered help with my sister’s wedding dress, which I assume was just another excuse to have me over again. Wasn’t it?”
Rarity was completely taken off-guard by the sudden revelation of her interest in the teacher mare, and Cheerilee being so blunt about it too! “I…no, I just, I wanted to…” Rarity stuttered, at a loss for words. She’d been caught out.
Rarity’s stammering was interrupted by Cheerilee smiling mischievously, then pressing her chest into hers. To the fashion mare’s surprise, she gave Rarity a gentle, loving kiss on the lips. Rarity was very shocked at first, panicking internally. She had never truly thought of being with a mare before, and now she was kissing her! This felt weird, yet…
After the shortest amount of internal debate with herself, Rarity let go of her harsh feelings and they melted away quickly, with as heated and passionate as this kiss was. She took in the other mare’s scent and flavor, with it having a hint of the chocolate Rarity had offered her earlier still lingering on her lips. After their lips had parted again after some seconds of kissing, Cheerilee looked at Rarity with a smile and lidded eyes, happy to have finally, truly, broken the ice. She’d learned something about directness from her sister, it would seem.
Rarity meanwhile just stood there in disbelief for a little bit, staring without words at the mare who’d just kissed her. Cheerilee, ready to leave now after letting her feelings for the fashionista be known, carefully finally took off the dress and Rarity absentmindedly boxed it for her. “Well I should go now. It’s getting late and I have to teach tomorrow again.”
Rarity finally snapped out of her shock, realizing that the mare she finally realized she had such affections for was preparing to leave. “No, no no no, the least I can do is offer you to stay here for the night. Especially after you have been so…” Rarity couldn’t find a way to finish her sentence and stopped even trying, still in disbelief at what had just transpired. She was happy, but having very mixed feelings that she’d never had before, feeling butterflies in her belly as she looked at Cheerilee.
Cheerilee turned back around to Rarity, before nodding and bowing graciously as she accepted the offer. “Oh, that would be very kind of you, if you wouldn’t mind.” Cheerilee said, only to get a dazed nod from Rarity. She herself couldn’t believe her own boldness, but hey, she thought, somepony had to stop the wagon wheel from spinning in the mud…by giving it a good, firm kick to get it out of the rut. Or kiss, as was this case.
Rarity nodded, looking like she was mentally in another world at the moment. “Yes, of course. The, um, the guest room is downstairs, next to Sweetie Belle’s room. The first one on the right.”
Cheerilee shook her head. “Are you sure I need my own room?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
Rarity felt slightly uncomfortable, but more intrigued by Cheerilee’s suggestive tone. This was all…very sudden, even if her feelings had been building for the mulberry mare for the past few days, and possibly even before. She could remember a few times her eyes had lingered on Cheerilee before, though she had never made a connection. “Well, I suppose I could agree to that suggestion. My bed does feel quite cold and empty most nights, as it is far too big for just one pony,” Rarity admitted, without really knowing why. Though she had previously had hugged her friends quite often, she had never actually gone as far as cuddling with another adult pony, so this would certainly be a first.
It felt a bit awkward as she cuddled up to Cheerilee face-to-face after a few minutes of fumbling to get comfortable together, sharing her princess-sized bed with somepony else for the first time. As Rarity felt the warmth of this mare’s hide on her own, felt the soft breaths washing through her fur, she realized it felt…nice. Really nice.
She could get used to this.
Wrapping her hooves around Cheerilee’s withers, and getting the same in return as they embraced, Rarity felt a warm tingling in her chest as she gazed into the other mare’s eyes, and an urge to kiss Cheerilee again. So she did just that, and Cheerilee only too eagerly reciprocated.
Their lips were only together for a couple moments this time, as a yawn from Cheerilee had interrupted it, though it was no less wonderful than the first time. “Goodnight, Cheerilee.” Rarity whispered, only to feel soft lips pressing to her nose in a little kiss.
“Goodnight, Rarity.” Cheerilee whispered right back, before shifting a bit to get comfortable, ending up with her nose buried into the crook of Rarity’s neck. It wasn’t long, tired after a long day of teaching, excitement, and while cuddling up to a warm mare, before sleep took Cheerilee.
Rarity, however, couldn’t sleep. She just kept replaying how Cheerilee had basically jumped her just minutes ago, how they’d kissed, and that the teacher was now sharing her bed, with Cheerilee’s forelegs wrapped around her withers, and hers around Cheerilee’s. How she felt her heart throbbing, an odd fluttering in her chest, and a certain giddiness she’d never felt around another pony before. How she’d, quite possibly, just gained a marefriend. A special pony.
Rarity struggled to fall asleep, her thoughts a restless maelstrom for a while, but soon they settled and adjusted, and she experienced the best sleep she ever had being hugged up to her potential mate so close, giving her a kind of warmth that somepony would never be able to get from anycreature but their loved one. At first her heart was pounding out of her chest in excitement, leaving her thrilled and filled with adrenaline, but it soon calmed down, and just like that, she was cast to Luna’s realm in restful slumber.