“Darling? Are you in here?” Your head perks up from the pillow it’d been laying upon as the door to the bedroom swings open with a gentle rush of air, the dark ebony handle twisted downwards and surrounded by a shimmering blue cloud.
You smile weakly as the mare steps into the bedroom, soft blue eyes sparkling as she looks upon you, concerned. You’re happy to see her, as you always are, but you wouldn’t have minded had she kept to herself downstairs for a few more moments.
“There you are.” She takes a few tentative steps towards the bed. “I was wondering where you’d disappeared off to. Are you feeling alright?” The mare inquires with a thin layer of concern coloring her tired voice. She’d calmed down quite a bit since you’d been released from the local hospital, though she still has a tendency to fret whenever you wander out of her sight for too long without giving her precise details as to what your intentions are or where you’re going. It’s touching that she cares enough to seek you out and check on you, if a tad annoying.
You nod your head and give her a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’m fine, for now anyway. With my luck your old boyfriend Tom might come crashing through the ceiling at any moment, furious that I stole his lovely little pony away.” You chuckle as the unicorn reaches out and swats you playfully across the top of your head, the attack doesn’t do any damage, outside of mussying up your already messy mop of a hairdo.
“You promised me you’d stop joking about that!” She playfully reprimands, pouting her lips out and turning her sparkling blue eyes into wide saucers of mock dismay.
“Sorry.” You apologize, sighing as you lay your head down upon the soft cushiony bed below, sighing in relief as you sink into the plush fabric, muscles loosening and aches receding as you relax yourself entirely. “For the Tom thing, and for running off on you…”
“Oh, no need to apologize dear.” She reassures you, you feel a displacement in the weight of the bed as she hops up to join you. You nearly groan in joy as she presses up against you, her head resting atop your neck as she cuddles you, silky smooth fur rubs against your side, back, and neck as her sweet and tantalizing perfume fills your head. “Everypony needs a little alone time now and then.” You feel her shift a little atop you, her lithe and slim body twitching nervously with each passing moment. “I’m not imposing now, am I?”
You chuckle and shake your head, it was true you’d snuck away from your parents and your beloved after dinner in the hopes of stewing over your thoughts alone. But spilling your guts to Rarity was almost as viable a course of action, if not better.
“No, of course not.” You sigh and move to roll over, Rarity removes herself from you as you now find yourself lying on your back. The mare ever so gently climbs atop you, pushing you further down into the mattress below as her forelegs wrap around your shoulders and her hind legs wander downwards to intertwine with your own. Her shimmering blue eyes meet with yours for a moment, before you lean in and give her a sweet and heartfelt kiss. Not deep, sexy, or messy, but it’s a true display of affection.
The pair of you separate, a content smile adorning both of your features. Then Rarity blinks, and you can see the tip of her tongue snake outwards as she runs the pink appendage across her lips.
“Hmm…” She hums to herself, attention refocusing as she looks downwards, eyes playfully accusing. “Your mouth tastes like peppermint… have you been dipping into my secret cache of candies again?”
You blush a little, ears laying flat against the top of your head as your eyes wander to the top-right corner of the bedroom ceiling.
“Maybe…” You mumble, as cutely and innocently as possible. “Will you be mad at me if I say yes?”
“Well…” Rarity sits up a little, laying atop you with her head held high as she looks downwards, sharpness in her vision. The playful tone of voice and the faint curling of her cherry red lips proof enough that you had no real cause for concern. “I suppose that depends on just how many you ate.”
You stick out your lower lip in a pouty and foalish fashion. “I didn’t have that many… Just one… or two… or six.”
The fashionista’s expression morphs into one of mock rage, face tightening up as she bares her teeth in a playful growl of aggression. “Oh! You little rapscallion! Six of my candies!? How dare you!?”
You pull your hoof up to your face and lay it upon your forehead, closing your eyes and rolling your head backwards in a dramatic fashion. “Oh woe is poor Rarity! Whatever shall she do without her precious peppermint candies!?”
The fashionista’s snow white hoof prods you in the chest, just hard enough to sting a little bit. “Fine, make fun of my candy cravings if you must, but you just keep in mind that you’re the one who’ll have to get some more tomorrow morning.” In an uncharacteristic display of foalishness Rarity sticks out her tongue like a little school filly.
Feeling a bit impish, you decide to retort in an equally immature, if a wholesomely more explicit manner. “And just you remember that I’m the only one who pays special attention to the lady’s lower labyrinth!” You, as well, decide to stick out your tongue. But, rather than imitating her childish behavior opt to seductively run it around your lips.
This display earns you a rosy cheeked unicorn and a light, if still somewhat painful, swat across the cheek.
“You… p-pervert!” She hushedly exclaims, eyes darting around the room in a frenzied manner, as if she expected some member of the papparazi to burst out of the closet with your naughty little statement on tape, before taking off to run it as some big news story that might slander her name for all eternity.
Hear ye! Hear ye! Aspiring fashion designer enjoys lover’s oral ministrations! Read all about it!
Unfortunately, picturing the headline brings forth another chuckle, and, as a result, another swat across the face. Neither of the hits really hurt, but they’re enough to get the flustered unicorn’s point across.
“Right, right, sorry!” You speedily apologize. “My bad!”
“Yes indeed your, ‘bad’!” She haughtily replies, sliding off of you in the process. You immediately feel your heart sink as she repositions herself at the edge of the bed, head held high with indignation as she loudly ‘hmpfs’ and crosses her legs. “Such belligerent disregard for my desires for you to keep your… oral expertise to private moments between you and I is insulting! And frankly, I will not stand for it.”
Your heart sinks in response to her biting tone of voice. Had you actually upset her? That hadn’t been your intention, honest, you were just making a joke, albeit a dirty one… you had no idea your little perverse jibe would cause her such distress. Yes, Rarity is a mare with many a pompous value… but she’d loosened up a considerable amount since your relationship had started.
To put it simply, this kind of overly emotional reaction just didn’t seem like her… unless
You saddle up next to her, smirking like a mad dog as you purse your lips and plant a wet kiss on her cheek.
“Nice try Rare, you actually had me going for a second.” You quip, the soft curling of her cherry red lips and the mischievous glint in her sparkling blue eye proof enough that you’d been had.
The mare spins around to face you, smirk growing wider with each passing moment. “Not quite as convincing as I could be, hmm?” The fashionista inquired, you reach out with your scarred leg and wrap your hoof in her own, siting next to her, shoulder to shoulder as your lower legs dangled off the side of the bed.
“Well, you’re not quite as bad as say… Applejack.” Rarity giggled at the blunt mention of her friend. “Element of honesty and all, but you aren’t exactly the best at fibs, if you don’t mind me saying.”
The unicorn let loose a dramatic sigh as she leaned against you, head resting against your shoulder as she snuggled into your larger frame, making herself comfortable. “I suppose there are worse things one could be…”
You solemnly nod in agreement. “Yeah, I guess ‘bad liar’ isn’t as bad as something like… thief… or murderer.”
Rarity, despite the bitter bluntness of your response, finds it in herself to giggle. “No, indeed it isn’t.” You feel the unicorn shift a little where she sits, twisting and fidgeting against you, as if she was trying to subtly reach an itch she can’t quite scratch.
‘Again with the damn fidgeting...’ You remark inwardly, Rarity is a many wonderful things, but subtle, is hardly one of them. something must be bothering her. You decide it best to address her concerns, whatever they may be.
“So… Rare, wanna tell me what’s on your mind?” You inquire, voice as gentle as possible. After all, you didn’t want to come across as annoyed or anything like that. Doing so would only justify her concerns over asking things of you, and with your previous actions… well, you’d be hard pressed to declare those concerns unfounded.
The unicorn lets loose a heavy sigh, you reach over and wrap a comforting hoof around her shoulders, pulling her into a sweet embrace. “Go ahead, I won’t freak out.” You peck her on the cheek. “Promise.”
“Have you given any thought to your parent’s offer?” She inquires, big blue eyes wide, hopeful, and curious.
Despite your desires to keep it hidden, you can’t stop a somewhat aggravated scowl from creeping across your face in response to her question. Given it any thought? Of course you had. It was pretty much the whole reason you’d snuck off for some peace and quiet.
You eventually regain your composure, and quickly nod your head. “Yeah, I have…”
“And?” She presses on, voice gentle and caring.
“I…” You fumble for the words, struggling to find an answer. Eventually your sentence dies off into a sigh, head falling into your hoof as you feel that suffocating cloud of depression fall over you once again. “I don’t know… part of me thinks it’s a great idea, part of me thinks it isn’t.”
“Well..” You hear her start, reaching up with a sweet white hoof, rubbing it affectionately up and down your back in a soothing manner. “I think it’d be a good idea darling. You can’t keep living like this, darling, bottling up all these issues isn’t healthy.”
“I know it’s not Rare… I’m just…” Your voice fades off as your eyes wander towards the ceiling, you struggle to find the words, a label you can slap onto your reasoning to make it easier to comprehend.
“You’re just… what!?” Rarity insists, voice straining under her pent up frustration. She lets out a heavy sigh and swipes a stray strand of her purple mane out of her face, expression morphing into a stern stare. Apparently she’s done trying to beat around the bush. “Why all the secrecy!? I’ve done nothing but help, love, and support you. But I don’t know if I can keep that up if you try to shut me out at every turn!” Her voice has raised by now, less of an annoyed whisper and more of a high pitched shout. You look down, her usually calm visier of ladylike poise now cracked and shattered, marred by the unmistakable stain of rage and disdain.
You watch her in silence, unsure of what to say. She’s right, despite how much you wish her not to be. It’s true that she’s been nothing but loving, caring, and supportive. Hell, telling her what’s bothering you is pretty much the one thing you can actually do to pay her back for all her generosity.
So, you do the only thing you really can do at that point. You make a decision.
“Rare…” You let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, but I want you to try and understand it from my point of view. This… thing that happened to me, it’s not something trivial, it…” You fumble for the words, Rarity’s obviously distraught over this, and you don’t want her to get flustered and march out of the bedroom before you can make your point. “It changed my entire life, ruined it. And, I don’t want to tell you because, to be honest, I’m scared.”
You reach out, grabbing her hoof in your own and giving it a tight squeeze. “Rarity, you’re the best thing to happen to me since I left Manhattan, my life’s been one never ending series of fuck ups.” Her eyes widen slightly in response to your crass language, since it’s something you rarely ever use. “If something wasn’t going wrong, I was doing everything I could to make sure it would.” You pull her hoof closer to your chest, holding it close as you look deeply into her eyes. Hoping that your face will convey what your words may not. “You mean more to me than my family’s money, than my reputation, I love you. The reason why I left, it destroyed everything I cared about. I… don’t think I could live with myself if it took you away too.”
Rarity’s lips quiver for a moment, as if she’s attempting to say something. Any previous feelings of frustration she might have been feeling has apparently faded away, melted by your words, your touch, your sincerity.
You manage a small smile. “But you’re right, keeping it hidden from you isn’t right. You deserve to know. But, I don’t want to just tell you, I need to show you, so you understand.” You pull her in a little closer, stealing a small kiss from her lips, in the case that it may very well be one of the last few times you’ll ever get the chance. “Tomorrow, I promise, we’ll go to Manehattan. I’ll show you what happened and I’ll tell you everything you deserve to know.”
“No more secrets?” She asks, lips curled upwards into a hopeful smile. “You promise me?”
You nod. “Pack your bags, Rare. We’re going to Manehattan.”