Unexpected Confessions
Chapter Fifteen
A Comforting Touch
Rarity and Rainbow Dash lay together on the latter’s bed, neither feeling the need to speak. Outside, the sun crawled ever closer to the horizon, bathing the room in a warm orange glow. Rarity glanced around the bedroom from her position laying on her wife’s chest. The walls were adorned with numerous Wonderbolts posters and weather charts, although the charts were all dated from several months ago. The mare below her noticed her restless movement and gave her a quick squeeze.
“Looking for something, Rares?” Dash asked, leaning down to give her lover a quick peck on the forehead.
“Hmm? Mmm.” Rarity’s response lost it’s questioning tone as she shivered after the light kiss. It took her a moment to remember that the other mare had asked her a question. “Oh, no. I was merely... exploring.” She rolled over, snuggling up to the pegasus and sighing as a comforting cyan hoof wrapped itself around her middle. “I’ve never actually been up to your house, yet it’s exactly what I expected it to be.” She found more posters on the far wall and a pile of dirty flight suits and goggles in the corner.
“Well, duh.” Rainbow leaned forward, resting her chin her the unicorn’s shoulder.
“I beg your pardon?” Rarity turned her head just in time to see the other mare roll her eyes.
“You just said you’ve never been here, and all of this is happening in that adorable little noggin of yours.” Dash paused to plant a kiss on her wife’s cheek. “So, it’s only natural that somewhere you’ve never been looks the way you imagine it would in your head.”
“Oh.” Rarity paused as the reality of the situation came back to her. “Oh, of course...” She mumbled, her gaze falling to stare at her hooves. I had almost forgotten. This is just... so nice. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a nuzzle from the pegasus behind her.
“Hey. Sorry about that.” Rainbow muttered, her voice muffled by her lover’s hair.
“About what, darling?” The unicorn rolled back over to face her wife, wrapping a foreleg around her and pulling her closer. “You did nothing wrong.”
“Yeah, I did.” Dash extended a wing, wrapping it around the other mare. Her normal confident smile was replaced by a downcast one. “I made you sad.”
“How did-” Rarity’s words were silenced by a kiss.
“I’m from up there too, Rares.” Rainbow punctuated her statement by tapping her wife on the nose. “I know everything you know.”
“Oh, right.” Rarity absently stroked the wing draped over her, marveling at the feel of each individual feather. An errant thought tugged at the corner of her psyche, but Dash moved before she could even voice the question forming in her mind. A gentle kiss against her neck turned whatever words had been forming into a contented sigh. “Mmm... I think I could get used to this.”
“Used to what, exactly?” Dash asked before planting another kiss on the swath of silken fur before her.
“You being so... attentive.” Rarity shivered as the kisses started moving along her neck, leaving small wet patches that chilled in the open air. She ran a hoof along the leading edge of the wing laying across her, smiling as its owner let out her own sigh of pleasure.
“Believe me, I think I-” Rainbow paused to lay down another kiss, slowly working her way up toward the unicorn’s muzzle. “-could get used to it too.” She made her way up the unicorn’s jawline, inching ever closer to her lips. She stopped just before reaching them, drawing a disappointed whine from her lover, but she trailed a hoof along the alabaster mare’s side and turned the whine into a moan. The pegasus began moving back along her lover’s muzzle, angling up toward her horn.
Rarity bit her lip, not wanting to say anything and risk spoiling the moment. Not the horn, love. I’m not quite... ready for that, yet. On cue, her wife changed course, headed for her ears instead. I’ve never understood the fascination with ears. She stifled a giggle as the edge of Rainbow’s mane tickled her ears, causing them to flick back and forth. Though, I shan’t knock it until I’ve tried it, as it were. She tried to keep from squirming as the trail of kisses rose ever higher, leading to more of her lover’s mane brushing her ear. After several excruciating seconds, the other mare reached her ear, but then stopped.
“You know, I don’t even really need to read your mind.” Dash whispered, grinning as her wife shuddered. “You do that cute little lip bite whenever you don’t like something, but you don’t want to say anything about it.” She leaned forward and kissed the ear in front of her, giggling as it flicked around and tickled her nose. “But... you could speak up and tell me what you do want. Unless you want me to occupy you with some kisses, of course. That would be fun, too.” She nipped her wife’s ear playfully, then moved back down to look her in the eye. “So? What’s it gonna be?”
Rarity opened her mouth to respond, but immediately lost herself in the other mare’s magenta eyes and the words dried up in her throat. In those eyes, she saw boundless depths of unconditional love, but there was something else. Just beneath the surface was a smoldering desire that she found contagious. She decided to forgo words and leaned forward, closing the final distance between them and pressing their lips together.
Rainbow pushed forward into the kiss hungrily, forcing the unicorn to roll onto her back and allowing Dash to climb on top of her. Rarity tried to keep pace with her wife, but quickly found herself being enveloped in a flurry of rapid-fire kisses that peppered her mouth and the surrounding area. Her lover once again started to trail pecks down her muzzle toward her neck, so she contented herself with laying back and enjoying the attention. She reached up and ran a hoof through the other mare’s mane, squirming on the bed as an occasional nip was mixed in with the kisses moving down her neck.
Dash paused for a moment, nuzzling into the expanse of white fur below her. She felt her wife’s tail twitching underneath her and entwined it with her own. She resumed kissing a path down the alabaster neck before her, but she glanced up and noticed her lover’s eyes were closed. Grinning playfully, she slowly unfurled her wings, taking care not to make any noise by ruffling her feathers. She gave a slow, languid lick down the unicorn’s collarbone, drawing a low moan from her. Rainbow moved back up slightly as her wingtips settled just above the other mare’s sides. She brought both wings down, dragging the primaries across her wife’s ribs, and paired them with a slightly more forceful nibble.
Rarity inhaled sharply. The twin sensations battled for supremacy, sending bolts of pleasure racing through her body before settling in her haunches, where a warm knot of tension was slowly forming in response to her paramour’s ministrations. Her tail tried to fidget back and forth, but it was tied up in her partner’s chromatic one, so the attempts only tugged at her hindquarters. She opened her mouth to speak, but the feather strokes returned and danced along her sides, tracing delightfully erratic patterns across her ribs. Any thought that had been forming in her mind dissolved amidst a surge of ecstasy, leaving only a satisfied moan to escape her lips.
She reached down and gently pulled her wife back up to eye level, wrapping a foreleg around her and bringing her in for a kiss. Dash was more than happy to oblige, darting her tongue between her lover’s lips. The unicorn fought back, running a hoof through Rainbow’s wing in an effort to distract her. The cyan mare moved the other wing lower, brushing it across her partner’s stomach. Their make-out session was interrupted as Rarity pulled away, trying in vain to stifle a round of giggles.
“What are you-” She stopped to let out one last chuckle. “-doing, love? She covered her stomach with a foreleg as the tittering laughter faded. “I’m a little ticklish there.”
“Oh, really?” Rainbow gave a predatory grin. “I think I’ll have to investigate this further.” She slid downward, nuzzling along her partner’s chest and forcing the protective hoof out of the way. She brushed her snout across the swath of fur and began planting kisses.
“No no no-oooo.” Rarity’s protests turned into a contented sigh as she let her wife continue to lavish her with attention. “Mmm... that feels wonderful, darling.”
Dash paused in her task to look up, smiling impishly. “You think this is good? We haven’t even gotten started yet.”
The world slowly came back into focus, though whether it took seconds or hours Rarity didn’t know. A sheen of sweat matted her coat and stung her eyes, forcing her to close them and wipe a forehoof across her face. The cloud-mattress shifted as her wife climbed back up the bed, laying down and snuggling up to her. She looked down to see the other mare smiling back up at her smugly.
“Enjoy yourself?” Rainbow asked, licking her lips.
“I... You... My...” Rarity sputtered incoherently for a few moments before deciding to forgo words and leaning down to give her lover a passionate kiss. She only pulled away when her lungs started to burn and remind her she needed to breathe. She lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling while her mind treated her to a replay of recent events. “That was... was... Goodness, I don’t even know what to say.”
“Yeah, I tend to have that effect on ponies.” Dash examined a hoof disinterestedly for a few seconds before snickering and burying her face in the unicorn’s chest. They laid there for a time, content to bask in the slowly fading sunlight as Celestia’s orb made its final descent below the horizon outside. The stars had just begun to twinkle into existence when Rainbow stirred, rolling onto her stomach and reaching up to stroke her wife’s cheek.
Rarity smiled and gazed into her lover’s eyes, seeing a pure and unconditional love in them that was every bit as warm as their coats pressed against one another. Her mind wandered, contemplating whether it might have been preferable for this existence to be the real world rather than the reality she wanted so desperately to escape. Fluttershy wouldn’t choose either of us for fear of hurting the other, and Rainbow won’t give me a chance. Do I even have a place there anymore?
“Don’t do that!” Dash snapped, rising up on an elbow and frowning.
The unicorn winced, knowing she had been caught, but resolved to play innocent. “Don’t what, darling?” She tried to pull the other mare back down to the bed.
“You know darn well what.” Rainbow shot back, pushing herself up. “Sweetie Belle would miss you, and so would your parents. You can’t just run and dream your life away. It’s not fair to everyone who depends on you.” She slumped down, and her voice softened. “I know it hurts, and I wish there was something I could do to make it better. You still have your friends, your family, and your life to go back to.”
Rarity pouted. “You know, it’s very difficult to have a good sulk around you.” She couldn’t help but smile as Dash stuck her tongue out playfully, but her mood quickly soured again as she thought about returning to the real world. “I suppose you’re right. It would hardly behoove a lady such as myself to run from her problems. Besides, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash need to see that I am happy for them, not that their being together is hurting me.” Despite her words, a stab of regret, tinged with a hint of jealousy, pierced her chest at the thought of her friends.
No. Don’t think that. She immediately rebuked herself. Your happiness isn’t worth more than theirs. They have every right to be happy, and now they can. Now that you’re... out of the way. Tears welled unbidden in her eyes, and she tried futilely to wipe them away. Wings enveloped her in a tight hug.
“Shh... It’s okay.” Dash stroked her wife’s mane as she tried to calm her. “You can be sad. Hay, I’d be surprised if you weren’t. The trick is that you can’t let it win. You have to be better than it. Stronger than it.” She pulled back and lifted the unicorn’s chin. “You’re too awesome to let something like this get you down.”
Rarity sniffed and wiped the residual tears from her eyes. “You... you really think I’m awesome?”
“Well, yeah.” Dash flashed one of her characteristic smiles. “You’d have to be to score a mare like me, don’tcha think?”
The alabaster mare rolled her eyes. “You’re incorrigible, love.” She wiggled out of the embrace and hopped down to the floor, stretching the stiffness from her legs. “Though, you are right, I suppose. I should be heading home.” She looked around the room for a moment. “Um... How do I get home, exactly?”
Rainbow jumped down from the bed and walked over to stand next to her wife. “You could always try falling. That usually works... for non-pegasi anyway. You fall, and then you wake up right before you hit the ground.”
“And how would you suggest I do that, hmm?” Rarity arched an eyebrow and gestured toward the window. “Do you propose I simply leap from the balcony?”
“You could.” Dash shrugged. “But if you’re chicken, we could just do this.” Without warning, she spun around and stomped the floor with her hind legs, knocking a large hole in it directly underneath the other mare.
Rarity’s eyes bulged for an instant before gravity overtook her and pulled her through the hole in the floor. She screamed on her way down, flailing her legs wildly as the wind whipped at her mane and tail. She dared to look down and saw the hard, unforgiving ground rushing up to meet her. She squeezed her eyes shut and let loose one final terrified scream.
*
Rarity was falling.
Dash could see it in her terrified expression. Despite the fact that she was now speeding after her with every bit of thrust her wings could manage, she wasn’t getting any closer. She could feel the strain all around her, the air before her was trying to hold her back. A familiar white cone formed before her, elongating and closing in on her ever tighter. The pressure built until it felt like it would crush her, but her hooves inched ever closer to it. All she had to do was reach it and the barrier would break. She knew she could do it, she had done it before, after all.
Actually, yeah. I have done this before... huh. She brushed the feeling off. She had a unicorn and some Wonderbolts to save. Her hooves touched the cone of compressed air and it parted, falling away with a resounding boom as she breached the sound barrier. A cocky grin crossed her face as she closed in on a familiar orange mane. Easy peasy. First Spitfire. She pulled the Wonderbolts’ leader onto her back. Then Soarin’. She grabbed the stallion as she sped past him. Finally, Misty Fly. The last stunt flier settled onto Rainbow’s back and she looked ahead. Just one more to go. Her smile faded. Something was horribly wrong.
She was still too far away. I should be closer by now. She quickly glanced between the ground and the falling unicorn. I’m still at least thirty feet away... should be less than five. A wave of fear washed over her as she tried to will herself to go faster, inching slowly closer. Her lungs ached, her muscles burned, and she let loose a feral scream. The world ceased to exist outside of her friend and the ground that was seconds away from obliterating her. No. I’ll save her. I have to.
Rarity looked up at her, smiling sadly as tears were pulled away from her eyes. She spoke, and somehow Dash heard her whisper over the roar of the wind. “J-Just promise me you will love her enough for both of us, won’t you?”
Dash yelled back, but the wind tore her voice away. No! I can’t let her down! I won’t!
“Rarity!” Rainbow screamed, bolting upright. She was covered in a cold sweat and her heart hammered in her chest. She looked around frantically, confusion replacing her panic as she realized she was sitting on a cloud. She remembered laying down to take a quick nap after leaving Carousel Boutique. That memory started a train of thought that she had tried to escape by napping. She flopped back down on the cloud, letting out an exasperated sigh and replaying her conversation with Rarity in her head yet again.
Were is not for Fluttershy, could you have loved me? Did we ever have a chance?
Dash pulled a bit of cloud off in her hooves and toyed with it absently. What did she mean? She grunted in frustration and squashed the bit of cloud she was playing with, a more pressing concern rising in her mind. Why the hay did she kiss me? The scene replayed in her head. Rarity leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, whispering softly before she pulled away.
I am so sorry, my love.
Rainbow slammed a hoof on the cloud below her, knocking a portion of it off to float away. Why did she call me that? Question after question flew through her mind, but she didn’t have any answers. When did this get so... complicated? She shut her eyes and draped a foreleg over them. A vision of Rarity falling at the end of her dream swam behind her eyes, but something tugged at the back of Dash’s mind. She had seen that same sad, resigned look before. She spent a few minutes pondering the situation before the answer leapt to the front of her mind.
It was the same look Rarity had given her right before she left the Boutique.
She looked like she wants to say something... important. Why didn’t she? What was it? She looks like I let her down somehow. But, I’m Rainbow Dash. I don’t know how to let ponies down. All of the deep, thought-provoking questions were giving Dash a headache. She kicked the cloud she was laying on with a hind leg, hitting it hard enough to destroy it. She fell through the air, savoring the wind whipping through her mane for a few seconds before rolling over and flaring her wings. She banked into a glide, angling for Fluttershy’s cottage.
She shook her head in irritation, dropping lower as she neared the cottage. That can't be right. I'm just feeling guilty. I mean... if Shy hadn't picked me I might try what Rares did myself. She alighted on Fluttershy's doorstep. That's all it was, stupid conscience. Rare's gonna be fine, she said so herself! Right now though... She looked nervously at the door. Right now, I need to get some things straight with Shy. After that, maybe we can both sit down and lay out some ground rules with Rares. I may not want to date her, but I still want us to be close friends. She smiled happily. Yeah, that's what we should do! She nodded, satisfied. Hey, I'm pretty good at this intro... interspec... um... self-talking-to thing! Yeah!
*
Rarity jerked awake in her bed, gasping for breath and feeling her heart race in her chest. Looking around frantically, it took a few seconds for her to realize she was safe in her bedroom and not, in fact, plummeting to her death. She stared at the ceiling and waited for her heart rate to return to normal.
“Very funny, Rainbow Dash.” She grumbled, though she couldn’t keep a slight smile from her face. Rolling over, she glanced out the window and saw the sun moving inexorably toward the horizon. Oh, dear. What time is it? She grabbed her alarm clock from the nightstand. Seven thirty? I slept for almost seven hours? She dropped the clock onto the bed and pressed a hoof to her forehead. Looks like I’ll be burning the midnight oil tonight, as it were.
She got out of bed and began compiling a list of projects that could occupy her time. Her gaze fell on the door to the bathroom and she remembered the nearly empty bottle of sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet. Hmm... I should probably get those refilled before the pharmacy closes. She trotted out of the bedroom and down the stairs. As she entered the show room, an errant thought ran through her head. Oh Celestia, I forgot to close the store! She looked around the empty room and broke into a canter over to the door. She stopped in the entryway as she saw the sign in the door had been flipped to ‘Closed’, though the bolt was still unlocked.
Odd... She grabbed a pair of saddlebags with her magic and pulled the door open, walking through it and flicking the lock shut before trotting toward the road. She passed Sugarcube Corner, but for once the bakery was dark and quiet. A few delectable aromas lingered in the air, but they were easily carried away by a slight breeze in the air. Her stomach growled as the wind died down and she caught a whiff of one baked good or another. She picked up her pace, turning a corner and crossing the street to a small store with various plants in the window and a sign above the door reading simply ‘Pill Pusher’s Pharmacy’.
Rarity pushed the door open, causing a bell above the door to jingle, and she stepped into the store. Numerous small lanterns hanging from the ceiling lit the room, revealing shelves packed with flowering plants, bottles of various colored liquids, and even a few small stones and crystals. The alabaster mare weaved around a display with a vial of bright green liquid that claimed to cure the Cutie Pox and stepped up to the counter at the back of the store.
“Good evening, miss. What can I do for you?” The stallion behind the counter asked. He was a slender unicorn with a muted green coat and a white mane streaked with several stripes of amber. The cutie mark on his flank was a white mortar and pestle.
“Oh, good evening.” Rarity looked him up and down. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of making your acquaintance, mister...?”
“Red Filler, but please, call me Refill.” Refill gave a short bow. “Mr. Pusher is on vacation this week, so he hired me to watch over things while he’s gone. Now, what can I do for you, miss...?”
“Rarity.” Rarity replied, dipping into a light curtsey. She glanced down at the pharmacist’s coat and bit her lip, trying to silence the question bubbling up in her mind by sheer force of will. After several seconds of deliberation, her curiosity finally got the better of her.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s dreadfully rude of me to ask, but I simply must.” She gestured in his direction with a hoof. “Red?”
“Yes.” Refill chuckled, turning and looking down at his leaf-green coat. “Don’t worry, I get that all the time. You see, my father was out of town on business when I was born, and my mother is colorblind. She can’t distinguish red from green, and she thought I was red when I was born, so that’s what she named me. If nothing else, it makes for an interesting story.” He finished with a shrug.
“Indeed it does.” She agreed, taking a moment to giggle at the notion before remembering her reason for visiting the pharmacy. “Anyway, I have a prescription for some sleeping pills, and I’m running out. Could you be a dear and refill it for me?” She pulled open her saddlebag with a pulse of magic and levitated a small scroll out of it, dropping it on the counter in front of the stallion.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Refill picked up the scroll in an aura of light green telekinesis and unrolled it. He scanned down the parchment for a few seconds, nodding to himself. “Nighty-night Sleeping Pills, simple enough.” He leaned down, rummaging around under the counter for a bit before coming back up with a small orange bottle floating next to him. “Here we are. That’ll be five bits.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Filler.” Rarity floated the appropriate amount of coins from her saddlebags and dropped them onto the counter. “I appreciate you helping me at such a late hour.”
“It was my pleasure, Miss Rarity.” Refill pulled the bits across the wood, dropping them into a bag below the table. “Again, call me Refill, please.” He added, waving as the alabaster mare trotted out the door and into the night.