Where's the Beef?

by Mare Macabre

Dinner with Dashie

Fluttershy let a long, slow breath seep from her parted lips. Hot, humid, metallic air vented from her throat and diffused into the wind, spreading the morbid smell with the light breeze that swept over her. The tip of her tongue poked out, pushing her lips further apart, and traced a careful circle along the edges of her mouth, dampening the dark red that stained her bright yellow coat. Her eyelids drifted together, another complacent sigh slipping out as she let mixtures of endorphins and the cooling sensation of evaporating sweat wash over her tired body.

She would have been content to lay that way for a while longer – back to the soft grass, her wings outspread, her forehooves slowly massaging her belly – but a reluctant glance at the sky urged her to her hooves. She was slow to comply, her legs shaky as she continued to recover from the vigorous bout of exercise the outing had afforded her, but, despite her wants, she eventually found her way onto her steadying hooves. She lingered a moment more, glancing longingly at a mess of red behind herself, before finally starting through the woods back to her cottage.

Rather than slip into distracted contemplation or depressed anger, however, the predacious pegasus smiled as she trekked through the woods toward her home. She licked her lips again, savoring the sharp, salty taste of blood that spattered her muzzle with a quiet moan of satisfaction. A bird caught her eye, and she waved to it as she passed underneath. The tit seemed confused for a moment, but was quickly disarmed by her warm smile and tweeted a greeting in return, and Fluttershy felt a subtle warmth in her cold limbs.

She returned to her yard to find it populated with few members of her feeding time tradition, but she felt no bitterness toward those who were not present. With the weather changing so quickly, many had already made their dens for the winter and settled in for their season-long nap. What few had made an appearance were cautious when they saw the pony’s bloodied maw, but relaxed slightly as she greeted them cheerfully and warmly.

Fluttershy trotted through the small crowd to the door, then turned and beckoned with a orange-toothed smile.

“Come on in everyone,” she invited, “It’s too cold to be eating outside.”

The gathered critters hesitated momentarily before filing into the kitchen of the cottage. Fluttershy took a bowl from her favored rabbit and began scooping out rations of food to her guests, still smiling warmly at them all as they got their fill. The forest creatures wandered into her den once they’d collected their food, chatting and whispering to each other in confused and thoughtful tones while Fluttershy took a rag from the sink and scrubbed around her mouth.

She looked up at the doorway to the den, watching it for a few seconds, then lowered her snout to the bloodied rag and took a deep whiff of its scent. She sighed as she released the breath, then tossed the rag into the sink and made her way into the main room of her cottage to converse with her guests.
-------------------------------

Fluttershy turned and tilted her head, scrutinizing her reflection carefully in the mirror of her bathroom. She hadn’t done anything extraordinary to her mane, but she could not for the life of her find a place for her barrette that she liked. The sound of flapping wings around her house made her freeze up and peer out the bathroom, just catching a glimpse of a prismatic tail swooping down past her bedroom window, and she eeped and snapped the barrette in place where it was. She started for the door, but hung back another second to think if it was really the best placement of the accessory. A knock jolted her from her thoughts, and she rushed to the stairs.

“Coming!”

The pink maned pegasus flitted down the stairs and landed softly at her entryway, taking a moment to look back and smooth out her dress, then opened the door to greet her date.

“Hi, Rainb—“

Fluttershy was interrupted by a pair of cyan lips catching hers mid-thought. She blinked and twitched, her wings unfolding at her sides, but quickly relaxed and met the kiss with a gentle pressure of her own. She pulled back her head and grinned at the pegasus outside her door, Rainbow Dash smirking as she opened her eyes, and the other pony’s expression shifted from smug to surprised.

“W...whoa, Fluttershy,” Dash breathed, drinking in her image. “You...uh...”

Fluttershy shrunk slightly, suddenly self-conscious. “Did I overdo it?”

Dash ran her eyes over her date, taking in the slim, short-hemmed black dress that hugged her body. It was clearly a piece of Rarity’s creation, one of a more intimate and formal tone than the rainbow maned pegasus was used to seeing but also one that she quickly decided she wouldn’t mind seeing more often.

“Not. At. All,” Rainbow nodded, focusing on her friend. “It looks stunning. Er, y-you look stunning. Uh...Kind of feel like I underdid it now...”

Fluttershy giggled as Dash awkwardly shifted on her stoop and looked over the black flight jacket she had decided to wear.

“Well I think you look quite dashing,” she offered, making the other pegasus smile and roll her eyes.

“You’re never gonna get tired of that, are you?” she moaned.

“Mm-mm,” Fluttershy hummed, leaning out and kissing the bemused pegasus again.

Dash blushed and fidgeted, her face suddenly hot despite the chill in the air, and cleared her throat as she produced an object from inside her coat.

“Eh, well...ahem, I uh...got you something.” She smirked. “And hey, if we stand out here all night, we won’t even have to ice it.”

Fluttershy gasped and stepped backward out of the doorway. “Oh, you’re right! I’m sorry! Come in!”

Rainbow Dash trotted into the warm cottage and shook some of the cold out of her body, then looked around as an appetizing aroma wafted to her nose.

“Did you cook something?” she asked, looking back at her date. “I thought we were going to Baker’s Street?”

Fluttershy paused as the door clicked shut, her face flushing, and slowly turned to face her companion.

“Well...I actually wanted to make things a little more...private,” she explained, twiddling her hooves. “I...cancelled the reservation.”

Dash’s ears dropped. “You canc...but we made that reservation a week ago,” she frowned. “Why did...is something wrong?”

“Uh...well, not...anymore,” Fluttershy said carefully. She took a breath to continue, her eyes focused on the wall, but let it out after a brief pause. “I have something I wanted to talk to you about over dinner. Something I really don’t want anyone else to hear about just yet.” She chanced a look at Dash to find her leaning closer, her face full of concern, and quickly straightened up. “I-I’m not breaking up with you! I mean, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Dash seemed to relax a bit at that. “Well...that’s nice to know, but I’m more worried about you,” she laughed nervously. “Are you okay?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. In fact I’m better now than I was yesterday.” She stepped forward and nuzzled her head into Rainbow Dash’s neck, making the other mare blush and run her chin along her head. “I just want to tell you privately,” she murmured.

Rainbow Dash took a slow breath, letting her disappointment at their lost reservation seep out as she exhaled, then smiled and kissed her marefriend’s ear. “Yeah, alright. I’m Dash with that.”

Fluttershy snorted, then leaned back and giggled at the other pegasus’ continued attempts to make her name a popular turn of phrase. Dash laughed with her, glad to have broken the tension, and followed as the other mare wandered into her kitchen. Fluttershy retrieved a boiling pot from her stove and strained it in her sink, steaming hot pasta flopping into the readied colander, and the pot was set aside to cool. She sifted it dry with a pair of wooden forks, making Dash’s mouth water as its scent, and that of the bubbling tomato sauce on another burner of the stove, made her aware of her hunger. The butter colored pony served out two plates of pasta, drizzled them with the steaming red sauce, and fluttered out to her den to den to set them at either side of a small table set up by her fireplace. Rainbow Dash looked over the romantic setup, a giddy smile slipping over her face as she trotted over and sat down.

“Do you want ice in your water?” Fluttershy asked, leaning in from the kitchen.

Dash chuckled as she lifted the small package from her jacket and set it on the table. “Ah-ah, no water tonight,” she grinned. “I brought something special.”

Fluttershy looked from the long, cylindrical parcel to her dinner guest and back, her smile fading.

“But...?”

Dash sighed and raised a disarming hoof. “Just a little, okay? This stuff wasn’t cheap, it’s not the kind of thing you wanna down all at once.”

Fluttershy looked pensive, staring at what she knew was a bottle of wine, then bobbed her head and slipped back into the kitchen to retrieve some more appropriate glasses.

“Only a little,” she emphasized as she set the glasses on the table, flashing her date a firm look.

“Promise,” Dash nodded.

Fluttershy smiled warmly as Dash set a hoof on her arm and winked at her, then flitted around and sat across from the other mare. She poked a small twig into the fire, letting the tip light, then brought the little flame to a candle that rested between their plates on the small table. She blew out the flame, glancing at her date as she did, and felt heat rush to her face as Dash wiggled her eyebrows as she watched. She giggled, drawing a soft chuckle from the weather pony, then cleared her throat and motioned toward the parcel with her head.

“So what are we drinking tonight?”

“Something I probably can’t say right,” Dash laughed, tearing the top of the wrapping off and showing Fluttershy the bottle. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at the bottle of blue liquid, looking between it and the rainbow maned pegasus, and Dash smirked at her reaction. “I know, not like me, but I figured it was cool enough. I mean, it it's blue freakin' wine.”

“Vin Lunaire?” Fluttershy frowned, carefully taking the bottle of blue wine. “I've never heard of it before.”

"That's 'cuase it's special," Dash grinned. "I got it from Twilight. She said it's Princess Luna's secret brew."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah. Apparently she used to make this stuff once a year at the harvest moon and store it for decades, sometimes centuries, and then she'd break out a bottle at meetings with foreign royalty or dignitaries or whatever."

"Wow," Fluttershy mused, "How much did you pay for this?"

“Nothin’,” Dash shrugged. “Twilight owed me a favor. Not hard to get Luna’s special brew when your friends with her...niece? What are they to each other now? I still don’t know,” she mused.

Fluttershy held the bottle away from herself, as though worried it might strike her. “You...got this for free?”

Dash cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, why?”

Fluttershy looked down at the bottle again, reading its label, and suddenly became pale.

“R...Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

“This says...bottled in 309EE.”

She slowly looked up when Dash didn’t respond, finding the other pegasus watching her with an amused expression.

“Dashie, we can’t drink this,” the yellow pegasus practically whispered. “This is...this is a thousand and fourteen years old.”

“Twilight made sure it was safe,” Rainbow assured her, then frowned and added, “somehow.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, I mean...we...this is what...queens and empresses would drink, royalty. This...we shouldn’t have this.”

Dash leaned across the table and placed a hoof on her date’s foreleg. “We can totally have this,” she grinned. “’Cause you are royalty.” Fluttershy looked up at her with a worried face, wondering if Dash meant to tell her she was a lost noble from some diminished family tree, but the cyan pegasus reached her other hoof over and took Fluttershy’s in both of hers.

“’Cause you’re the queen of my heart,” she finished with a wink.

The fear vanished from Fluttershy’s face, a completely dumbstruck expression replacing it. She stared at Rainbow Dash, her mouth hanging open, and began to shake slightly as the weather mare’s statement sunk in. She closed her mouth, straightening and withdrawing her hoof, and Dash’s grin broadened as she covered her mouth. The yellow pegasus lurched suddenly, suppressing a noise, and her dinner date’s smile shrunk as she realized what was happening.

Fluttershy’s hoof flew away from her mouth as her laughter finally struck her full-force. She set the bottle of wine on the floor next to her, trying to be careful not to drop it, and fell backwards as she cackled at her date’s horrible attempt at a romantic sentiment. Rainbow Dash’s face flushed scarlet and she turned a scowl at the fire as her marefriend howled and guffawed.

“Fluttersh-st-mmn,” she groaned, flattening her ears against her head.

“I, I sssorry, I ca—“ Fluttershy choked before doubling over again. “Ohhh, oh no...oh my gosh...”

She dragged herself up from the floor and supported herself with the table, still at the dying end of her laughter, and Rainbow shot a glare at her as she sat up. The rainbow maned pegasus’ eyes shot open as she watched Fluttershy laugh, her head slowly turning forward. Fluttershy wiped her eyes and looked up at Rainbow, trying to apologize for laughing so much, but her startled expression kept the words out of her reach. She frowned, still trying to shut up her laughter, then went rigid as she realized where Dash’s eyes were focused. She quickly closed and covered her mouth, her laughter stopping instantly, and the two wide eyed ponies finally met each other’s gazes.

Rainbow stared at the mare across from her, her mouth moving as though she were looking for a question, but no words left her. Fluttershy guessed what she meant to ask, and broke eye-contact. She winced as she looked back, awkwardly lowering her hoof from her mouth, then offered Dash an apologetic, toothy smile. Dash stared at her teeth, taking in the long fangs that filled the corners of her mouth, then blinked and raised a hoof over the table and pointed at them.

“That’s cool.”

Fluttershy blinked and closed her mouth, straightening as she processed her friend’s comment.

“It...is?”

Dash nodded quickly and leaned closer. “Yeah, let me see them!”

The yellow pegasus fidgeted nervously before pulling back her lips and displaying her striking new dental anatomy. Dash’s ears perked up and eyes opened wide as she studied them, her look of shock quickly becoming one of excitement and envy.

“That’s badass, Fluttershy!” she nodded approvingly. “Where did you get those? I want some!”

Fluttershy’s ears splayed and she shook her head.

“N-no, no you don’t,” she said quickly, reaching out to her date. “You don’t want this, believe me.”

“Why not,” Dash frowned.

Fluttershy made to answer, but paused. She started several words, letting each escape as a breath, then looked down at her plate. She ran her tongue over her teeth as she thought, taking a slow breath, then sighed and looked back at her friend.

“Can we eat before get into this?” she asked meekly.

Rainbow frowned, considering pressing for answers, but nodded.

“Yeah, okay.”
--------------------

Embers of the all but forgotten fire littered the bottom of the stone alcove beside the table, glowing dimly as they lost heat. The table was cleared save for the unopened wine and the candle that remained at its center, the thick pool of wax having finally extinguished the tiny flame and left a smell of burnt wick hovering in the room. Two pegasus ponies sat side by side on a the room’s small sofa, one nervously twiddling her hooves while the other sat cross-armed and distant as she thought. Fluttershy glanced sideways at her couch-mate at intervals, wanting to ask what she was thinking, but could never bring herself to break the silence. Rainbow Dash, all the while, was silent.

After the burning smell had finally left the room, what felt like an hour since Fluttershy had begun her story, Rainbow Dash finally moved, reclining against the back of the couch and letting out a long sigh.

“So...it’s permanent?” she asked, still looking at the wall across from her.

“Mm hm,” Fluttershy nodded quietly.

Dash let that sink in, tilting her head slightly as she thought, then let out another breath. She scratched her face, glancing at the fireplace. “Huh.”

Fluttershy shot her another glance. “Do you...” Dash turned her head to look at her and she looked away. “Um...do you still...”

She silently moved her mouth, trying to push out the question, but with little success. Her throat stung and eyes were watering, fear of the other mare’s answer making her nauseous, and she let the gathered air for her question seep out of her lungs. She tried again, lifting her head, but a hoof on her chin cut her thought short. The hoof steered her face leftward, making her face the blue pegasus, and she flinched as Rainbow Dash answered her question with a kiss. Fluttershy stared at Dash’s closed eyes until her vision was too blurry to make out her shape, and she let the shut and returned the gentle pressure on her lips. Rainbow Dash leaned in a little more as she finished the kiss, then pulled back and smiled softly at her teary-eyed marefriend.

“Yes,” she whispered, forcing a relieved laugh out of the other pegasus.

“You’re...not mad?” Fluttershy sniffed as she wiped her eyes.

“Nnnn, w...Well I’m a little miffed you didn’t tell me before,” Dash admitted with a shrug, “But mad? No. Celestia knows I’m not the best pony to help with an addiction.”

“I still feel awful for hiding it,” Fluttershy sighed. “You put so much trust in me to help you; I should know that I can trust you just as much.” Rainbow Dash nodded, her expression betraying a little more annoyance than she alluded to, and Fluttershy winced as she noticed the suppressed ire. “I’m sorry, Dashie. I was so scared...”

“That I’d leave?” Dash scoffed, throwing a wing around her date. “That I’d be upset? I do think it’s a little weird that I keep finding myself getting close to gryphons,” she mused, making Fluttershy frown, “but I don’t have a problem with it. I hung out with Gilda for a couple of years, you know. None of this predator stuff is new to me.”

“I know, but...” Fluttershy shook her head and leaned into her companion’s side. “I just...I didn’t know what was going on, and I thought...I thought I was crazy,” she admitted, her eyes welling with tears again. “I thought I was going insane or addicted or that I was stuck in a dream. I felt like a monster...”

“You’re not a monster,” Rainbow murmured, nuzzling her face against Fluttershy’s. “You’re a butterflutter. Or a Flutterbutt,” she cooed, making the mare nestled against her snort and grin.

She pecked the top of her couch-mate’s head, and the yellow pegasus turned into her and pulled her into a tight hug. Rainbow returned the embrace, taking a deep breath of the other mare’s scent as they nuzzled against each other. They held each other close, content to let the seconds tick by in silence, until Dash cleared her throat and motioned with her head toward the table.

“Speaking of addictions, you wanna get into that wine tonight?” she whispered with a smirk.

Fluttershy hugged her tighter. “You don’t need it.”

Dash was quiet for a moment before letting out a sigh. “I know. I still want to try it though. You made out like it was some kind of fancy super-booze.”

Fluttershy sat up and fixed her with a bemused grin. “Really, you have no appreciation for good alcohol.” She looked pensive for a moment, then focused on Dash again with a glint in her eye. “Plus, I have haven’t made out at all tonight,” she added in a lower pitch.

Rainbow Dash’s smile shrunk as she processed the words, then flared with excitement. Fluttershy grinned as she saw her distraction tactic had worked and felt heat rushing to her cheeks as she lowered her head beside her date’s again and planted a firm kiss at the base of her neck. Dash twitched as her lips pressed into her and let out a quiet, nervous laugh. Fluttershy kissed again, further up her neck, and the blue pegasus fidgeted, her wings slowly unfurling and making her shift to give them room to extend.

Fluttershy moved to the base of her jaw, pausing in her kiss, then spread her lips and pressed her teeth into the blue pegasus’ skin. Dash gasped and gave her a gentle push, and Fluttershy jumped back from her.

“Oh! I-I’m sorry! Did that hur—“

Dash’s lips struck like lightning, making Fluttershy nearly choke on her question. The startled pegasus flinched as the other pushed her tongue into her mouth, but quickly lost her trepidation. Their arms slid around each other as their kiss deepened, each twisting and turning their heads as her tongue attacked the other’s and slid in and out of the other’s mouth. The mares rocked and leaned as their mouths locked and broke free of each other, deep, frantic breaths and moans filling the quiet left by the now-dead fire. Fluttershy suddenly tensed, emitting a gasping moan, and broke free of the kiss. Rainbow Dash withdrew her hoof, flashing her an apologetic smile, but the Fluttershy returned to the embrace with new fervor, moaning deeply as the other returned to groping her. Dash gasped as the ferocious yellow pony reached down and returned the touch, pressing harder and kissing more frantically than she could keep up with, and eeped as she was forced onto her back.

Fluttershy broke the kiss again, giving them both a chance to catch their breath, and made to start again before something struck the side of her head.

“Oh! Wha—A-Angel!” she squeaked, jumping off the blue pegasus.

The little white rabbit sat tapping his foot on the rug by the couch, his arms crossed and expression tired. Evidently he’d been woken up by the commotion, and was very clearly displeased by this fact. Rainbow Dash struggled into a sitting position and glared at the bunny.

“H-hey,” she panted, “can’t we get a little privacy?”

Angel spared her little more than a glance before chattering at Fluttershy, making her turn her focus everywhere else in the room, her face flushing beet red.

“S-sorry,” she offered meekly. “We’ll keep it down.”

“Oh come on,” Dash groaned, “We weren’t that loud.” Angel turned a cocked eyebrow at her, making her shrink slightly. “...Were we that loud?”

The rabbit pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded, then said something to Fluttershy and hopped back to the stairs and up to his basket. Fluttershy smiled at him as he left, then turned an apologetic expression back to her date.

“Sorry about that.”

Dash shrugged and wrapped a foreleg around her. “Ah ‘s fine. We can keep it down, right?”

Fluttershy giggled mischievously, but frowned. “Do you know what time it is?”

The blue pegasus winced. “Why?”

“I um...I have hunting lessons in the morning,” Fluttershy explained. “I-I really shouldn’t stay up too late.”

Rainbow Dash shot a glance at a small clock behind the other pony, then looked back at her with a worried frown. “How late is too late?”

“Ten? Ish?” Fluttershy offered.

Dash’s eyes flicked back to the clock, then to Fluttershy’s. She bit her lip, wanting to lie about the time, but sighed and flashed her date a defeated grin.

“I guess I should go then,” she conceded, pushing herself off the couch. “I have a thing with Scootaloo tomorrow anyway.”

Fluttershy followed her to the door, stopping her before she opened it with a soft kiss and warm smile.

“Thank you for understanding,” she murmured, nuzzling her cheek against Dash’s. “About...me.”

“What’s not to understand?” Dash chuckled. “You’re a Flutter, and I love those things. Not hard to get.”

Fluttershy sighed and shook her head with a bemused grin, but returned the final kiss that Dash went for before opening the door and taking to the air. She watched for a moment as the rainbow maned pegasus flew off toward her cloud-home before the chill of the night air forced her back inside. She threw a log over the smoldering embers, splashing it with a bit of oil, and tiredly trotted up to her room as the reinvigorated fire began to push back the cold that had seeped into her tiny cottage.

Fluttershy tiptoed through her nightly routine, brushing and flossing her teeth as quietly as possible, before letting her black slip slide off of her body and diving under the heavy blankets of her bed. She snuggled into the deep, warm mass of quilts, moaning softly as the feeling of cool fabric mixed the heat of her body, and, within minutes, was lulled into the first peaceful sleep in months.

Comments

[Seether00]

Okay, the first part was a rather disturbing image.

“’Cause you’re the queen of my heart,” she finished with a wink.

Dash definitely brought the cheese to go with the wine.

[Mare Macabre]

3430078
Ahhhh shit, I should've used that.

[Mare Macabre]

3430449
I have an idea where she could meet this unusually docile male gryphon, or at least talk with him on the phone, but I can't really decide if she should.

[Seether00]

3430129

I do wonder what would happen if Dash and Fluttershy play the hunting game with Flutters as the predator and Dash as the prey. Would Fluttershy be able to catch Dash? Would Dash submit? Or would it just lead to a really hot makeout session?

[shy sad jaded shard]

dam that rabbit for killing the mood I think fluttershy should have a late night snack

[Mare Macabre]

3432193
Well in the air it's no contest, and it will always be no contest, but if Fluttershy keeps up with her lessons she'll definitely be able to catch Rainbow on the ground.

So yes. And yes. And also very much yes.

3432269
Angel is most decidedly off the menu, but I imagine she'll let him think otherwise the next time he decides to interrupt.

[Mare Macabre]

3434218
I'm not entirely sure your definition of connotations is quite right. Regardless, I'd like something that isn't just changing a syllable of someone's name. Like "Predator" or "The Pony Who Ate Me". Or...probably not something stupid like that, but you get the idea.

[GrouchoMarxDisciple]

Pet peeve of mine: shipping the main six. I suppose it is simply a personal preference.

Other than that, fantastic story.

[Primalhunter]

gayyyy... but I guess f/f is super hot, so no complaints here!