On The Importance Of Hydration
Fluttershy eased back into the mud, letting out a little sigh of relief. Rarity would be along soon, but as far as Fluttershy was concerned, she could take her time. Being at the spa was one of the few times she felt like she could relax without worrying about anything for just a little while.
Well, when she could relax, in any case.
Rarity had been especially chatty of late and... well, it was anything but restful for poor Fluttershy.
It wasn’t so much that she minded hearing Rarity talk about her problems... she enjoyed being there for her friend, after all. But Fluttershy and Rarity were very close, and they were both adults, and so the gossip had gotten just a little bit racier than Fluttershy was comfortable with.
Or maybe it wasn’t so much that as the mental images Rarity kept painting in Fluttershy’s head.
It wasn’t like Fluttershy was some silly schoolfilly who would let every little thing affect her, but she had been attracted to Rarity since they’d first met. It was hardly surprising, as Rarity was very attractive, but they were also close friends, and she cared about Rarity a great deal. It was only natural that a teeny little crush would develop for Rarity over time.
She’d had a few of them throughout her life, Rainbow being her first... in many ways. Usually it posed no problems. She’d had a bit of a thing for Applejack for most of a year, after all, and she hadn’t let that get in the way of being a good friend. She’d just eaten a lot of apples and apple dishes. And thought an awful lot about Applejack’s pie. But beyond nearly causing a revolt in her household over her food choices, it hadn’t been a problem for her, or for Applejack.
And then there was Pinkie Pie, who Fluttershy had considered adorable from the moment they’d met, despite finding her just a little emotionally exhausting, but somehow in a way that she sought out more of. It was, again, not something she ever spoke to Pinkie about, but during one of Pinkie’s parties Rainbow had apparently spiked the punch... And they’d both woken up in bed together without much idea as to what had happened. So maybe Pinkie was a bad example of a crush not affecting her. It had gotten easier to think about afterwards, at least. Pinkie was enigmatic about the whole thing, only saying she was glad to think about herself having fun, and only wished she could remember it.
So maybe Fluttershy wasn’t very good with crushes, but she tried not to bother the objects of her affection about them, with varying degrees of success. So far, she hadn’t had any real issues with Rarity at all.
But then, she usually didn’t spend an inordinate amount of time with her crushes in places where ‘doing nothing’ was the intended goal. And, up till recently at least, her crushes hadn’t talked about the voracity with which they dated, and their exploits during and after said dates.
Or sometimes, exploits that hadn’t happened, but which Rarity had really wanted to happen.
When Rarity finally arrived, she was a bit beyond ‘fashionably late’ and well into ‘rude’ by her own estimations. She smiled apologetically as she came in, first peeking around the door, seeing Fluttershy, then entering in a rush. "Oh, I’m so glad they already set you up." Rarity said, disrobing from her fluffy monogrammed robe quickly. "Sorry I’m late. I let the day get away from me again."
Fluttershy tried very very hard not to blush. She saw Rarity naked all the time, but there was just something about seeing that robe come off that drew her eyes to places a friend really really shouldn’t be looking. "It’s okay, really. I’m just glad you could make it."
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it!” Rarity said fervently as she eased herself into the mud, sparing poor Fluttershy from further need to avert her eyes. "Not after the week I’ve had."
Fluttershy shook her head just a little, letting out a quiet little sigh. She knew what was coming, and had braced herself for it. "So... I take it that things with Lucky—”
“Lucky!” Rarity said with a disdainful sniff. "He got lucky, alright. Let us just say he proved to be less than his namesake for me."
“I thought you liked him..." Fluttershy replied dutifully.
“Oh he was a nice enough pony—”
What followed was practically formulaic. Rarity dated quite a bit, and almost uniformly, if they even lasted past the first date, none of them were granted a fourth.
This was because Rarity tended to wait for the third date before doing anything naughty, ‘as a proper lady should’ she always insisted. But Rarity was a generous lover, and tended to lavish her new beau in ‘a way that they very much appreciated’, but wouldn’t leave her ‘feeling awkward wearing white for the wedding’ (Which Fluttershy had always found a little funny, since Rarity didn’t have much of a choice being that she was born in it).
In short, Rarity gave them what she described as a ‘prim and proper magic job’, ending it with a ‘coup de grace’ which apparently consisted of engulfing their member in her throat from flare to medial ring when she judged the moment just right and swallowing every last drop of what came out of it, because ‘While it has a wonderful effect for my coat and mane, anything it hits stains badly, even my pelt. You wouldn’t think white on white would be a problem but it discolors... ’.
Fluttershy wasn’t even attracted to stallions, but just the ideas put in her head were enough to make her shut herself away in her bathroom and spend a very long time in the bathtub thinking about how nice it must be to be the recipient of Rarity’s attention.
Rarity’s skill was such that it invariably left each stallion utterly spent afterwards, leaving her hot and bothered with them unable to reciprocate.
And that was the other part of what had been making these visits difficult for Fluttershy of late; Rarity tended to describe (in lurid detail) what she had to do to take care of herself afterwards.
Which left Fluttershy thinking very, very hard about how much she’d enjoy helping Rarity with that problem.
“—Couldn’t even stand up afterwards, poor dear." Rarity said with a shake of her head. "Quite pent up, apparently. I sloshed a bit afterwards."
“Rarity, I just don’t understand, maybe you could have them go first?” Fluttershy said, blinking in surprise even as she said it. She hadn’t really intended to say that out loud but after hearing the same sad tale over and over it had just sort of slipped out.
Rarity looked at Fluttershy curiously, but didn’t seem bothered by the question. "To be frank, I would consider that rude. I’d invited them to my home, after all."
“Well... I just mean that if they’re tired afterwards if they maybe take care of you and then you—”
“If they lack the stamina to take care of matters they weren’t going to be able to keep up with me to begin with, darling," Rarity replied with a sad little smile. "I’m a busy mare with aspirations for great things. If they can’t keep pace, I’d rather find out before I’ve invested a lot of time and effort into them."
“It just doesn’t seem fair to you, is all," Fluttershy said, frowning.
“Oh, I’m fine, darling," Rarity said, tossing her mane back with a little flick of her hoof. "If nothing else, I’m having a good time. I’m sure I’ll find somepony eventually."
Rarity then started talking about her work for a time, going on about her latest line and her more troublesome clients. Fluttershy listened with half an ear, occasionally nodding where she deemed appropriate.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Rarity’s problem, which according to Rarity wasn’t even a problem. It was clear that Rarity would very much like to have a satisfying encounter, but her choice of partners seemed to doom her to having those dreams dashed repeatedly.
In the meantime those stallions had a wonderful time for a short while and then probably went home feeling horrible that they couldn’t pass Rarity’s test. That just didn’t seem fair to them either.
“You know, pegasi are known for their stamina." Fluttershy blurted out as quickly as the thought crossed her mind.
Rarity blinked, opening and closing her mouth a few times before responding. "I... I see? I’m not sure how that relates to my trip to Manehatten—”
“No, I mean... you always talk about dating earth ponies. And... they’re hard workers, very strong, but pegasi have to travel long distances in the air. We’re... I mean they’re built differently."
Rarity’s expression cleared. "Ah... yes, I suppose that’s true. I suppose I could look about town with that in mind. Or I could try Canterlot... That Soarin’ has quite a nice flank, for instance. Not sure if he has time for dating, though. I actually read an article in The Equestrian Enquirer that supposedly had pictures of an orgy that took place between the Wonderbolts and some of those burlesque dancers in Las Pegasus, but everything was very blurry—”
This, of course, eventually led to reminiscing about the mysterious unicorn Rarity had met in Las Pegasus while on business. He was the one exception Rarity had made with regards to her three date rule, as she had been there for a fashion show and needed to return to Ponyville the following day.
“There was just something about him! I almost broke the cardinal rule with him."
Rarity’s ‘cardinal rule’ was, of course, not doing anything with even a chance of pregnancy before she was certain her prospective beau was ‘the one’. It left her with a lot of leeway for other fun activities, but most of them were very solitary, since they involved toys, because ‘none of them ever failed to rise to the occasion’.
Fluttershy knew all about them, and while Rarity had a nice collection, it didn’t even come close to Fluttershy’s own.
Fluttershy had a lot of free time on her hooves, late at night when most of her animals were sleeping.
“In the end—” Rarity blinked, blushing with a little smile. "Oh, double entendre not meant there, I’ve yet to meet somepony I trust enough to explore that frontier. Though I suppose that might have been an option too, he might have even been worth it— But that is to say, I... I couldn’t, even if he was dashingly handsome. Some things come home with you, even when done in Las Pegasus. But I did lay him down and, well, the poor dear didn’t last any longer than the others had. Fell asleep within moments after, had a huge grin on his face. I considered staying but... I had my own suite, a trashy romance novel, my hoof, and a nice big tub. I wonder if he ever thinks of me..."
“Probably not,” Fluttershy muttered.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Rarity said, though whether it was in response to Fluttershy was unclear. "It was a romantic evening, and a lady can always fantasize about it all having gone perfectly, even if the reality wasn’t quite that. Plus, from his end of things, it did go rather well, so there’s that."
Fluttershy wanted to be happy for her friend, wanted to believe that Rarity was getting what she wanted from all of these failed encounters, but Rarity always sounded so very... wistful about them.
“Dear me, I’ve done it again, haven’t I? You really must tell me when I’m going on too long." Rarity said with a frown.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind," Fluttershy said. She meant it of course, she was glad to listen. She just wished she could do something for Rarity. Her friend deserved more than just fantasies and self-gratification. She should have somepony to think about her first and foremost for once. But that didn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon.
A week went by with nothing remarkable happening. Which wasn’t to say nothing interesting had happened, just that by Fluttershy’s estimations, none of it was of particular note.
There was, of course, the rabbit stampede. But that wasn’t so much of an emergency as a minor inconvenience. The ponies in town had long since gotten used to them happening from time to time and Applejack had set up a special alarm at town hall just to alert her.
The giant cake monster produced by Pumpkin Cake and Pinkie Pie was new, but it fell under the category of similarly sized abominations that routinely rampaged through the town. It had only taken Applejack and Rainbow to tie it down, Twilight to negate the magic that made it move, and Pinkie to organize an impromptu cake party in the middle of the town to deal with it. Again, interesting, but not very remarkable.
Minor emergencies aside, Fluttershy had a lot of time to herself. She spent some time knitting, grooming her animals, and trying not to think at all about Rarity.
In all but that last thing, she was remarkably successful, she ended up thinking about Rarity a lot.
Fluttershy was really, really bad with crushes, as it turned out. Apparently if Applejack had talked even a little about her unsatisfactory sex life it would have sent poor Fluttershy’s mind racing with not-entirely-unwanted fantasies.
She’d never had this problem with Rainbow, but then, Rainbow had more or less just opened up with offers to make out right after saying she liked-liked Fluttershy, and things had progressed exactly like anypony would expect them to progress for two hormonal teenagers (not quite as busy as rabbits, but Angel would have been mildly impressed), so sexual tension just hadn’t existed.
She tried to think for a moment about what the opposite of sexual tension was, and could only come up with sexual exhaustion. She hadn’t been kidding about the stamina thing. Rainbow had spent entire weekend sleepovers with her when they were both in school, during which neither of them got a wink of sleep. That had eventually stopped, or at least slowly tapered off during school months, because Rainbow kept falling asleep during class, and then not waking up until the bell rang at the end of the day. Strangely enough, her test scores had gotten better, but it had still lead to parent teacher conferences and uncomfortable conversations during which they’d made promises to spend less time together, at least until summer.
Summer vacation had led to both of them being hospitalized for dehydration. After that their parents had suggested that maybe they should just be friends. Actually, Fluttershy’s parents had suggested that, Rainbow’s parents had suggested a hydration station in the bedroom and that they keep records. Rainbow and Fluttershy had reluctantly agreed to end their brief but intense romance, if only to avoid further suggestions.
And of course Pinkie was a whole other realm of unexplained that she still wasn’t sure about. It scared her to think too much about it, in a way she still wasn’t sure if she liked or not. There had been so many toys around them when she’d woken up, some of them of proportions that would make even Big Mac raise an eyebrow. Some had multiple ends and a few had not even looked equine.
She really needed to ask Pinkie who she shopped with.
With Rarity, there was a huge question of whether she would even be okay with the idea of a female approaching her, much less a friend. She really, really didn’t want Rarity to feel uncomfortable around her in any way.
It wasn’t like Fluttershy ever took advantage of their friendship to ogle Rarity. She just... dreamed about her a lot, and fantasized. Looking at her lewdly would not only be a betrayal, it would be very rude. And whatever fantasies it might have fulfilled, it would have been a great big cheat.
But even if she knew that, she didn’t want Rarity to worry about it. It just made her a little sad to think that Rarity was having a problem that Fluttershy could help her with, but she couldn’t even offer because it would make things weird between them.
Because of all of her worries, she almost skipped their weekly spa session. She kept reasoning that a week away from Rarity and her stories would help her get her head straight. But in the end she was more worried about Rarity’s possible reaction to her not going. Not only that, but Rarity needed that time to chat and get over her own stress from work, and that was a way she could help her friend.
So, she went, with no small amount of trepidation, and more than a little illicit anticipation for whatever Rarity was going to tell her that week.
Rarity was waiting in the receiving room when she arrived, looking up from an issue of Cosmare with a bright smile. "Darling, I was afraid you might not make it!”
“Sorry,” Fluttershy muttered. "I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately. "
Rarity blinked, then nodded. "It was the cake, wasn’t it? I’m still not sure what can be done about Pumpkin and her magic surges. Pinkie tried to tell me about her troubles before but I admit I downplayed what she told me in my mind, it can be hard to tell if Pinkie is being literal or hyperbolic. Twilight said she’d look into solutions, but in the meantime we’ll just have to watch out when Pinkie foalsits."
“No, it wasn’t the cake,” Fluttershy replied.
“The bunnies, then?” Rarity prompted.
“It’s not important. Let’s just go inside,” Fluttershy replied, nodding to Lotus as her monogrammed bathrobe was held out for her to step into.
Rarity was uncharacteristically quiet for several minutes after they entered the steam bath together. So much so that eventually even Fluttershy noted the silence was getting uncomfortable, when normally silence was her most comfortable state.
“Darling, I don’t mean to pry, but I’m a little worried about you," Rarity said, breaking the silence so suddenly that Fluttershy’s wings flew out in alarm.
This lead to several moments of panicky breathing from Fluttershy, not helped at all by the fact that they were in a room full of steam, which made the air a little hard to breathe in anyway.
Rarity did what she could to help, first fanning Fluttershy with a towel, then thinking better of it and simply casting a spell to keep the worst of the steam away from them until Fluttershy recovered.
“Better, now?” Rarity asked gently.
Fluttershy nodded, laying back on the wooden seat and sighing. "Sorry,” she said quietly.
“Don’t be sorry, darling. I didn’t mean to startle you." Rarity let the silence return for a long moment, then said: “So... I’m guessing something is on your mind?”
Fluttershy hesitated, then reluctantly nodded. "I’ve been worried about you, too."
“Worried about me?” Rarity repeated, looking confused. "Whatever for?”
“About... you don’t seem like you’re ever going to be happy, you know... doing what you’re doing."
Rarity blinked, then laughed lightly in apparent relief. "Darling, I’m fine! I mean, I haven’t found the One yet, but it’s certainly not taxing trying!”
“But how are you ever supposed to find somepony when you just keep doing the same thing over and over?” Fluttershy demanded. "They fail your little test and then that’s it!”
“Well, yes," Rarity replied. "I don’t think I’m asking too much. Physical compatibility isn’t really something I want to compromise on."
“Do any of them offer to take you out again after that?”
“Some do. I politely decline," Rarity said. "I thank them for the lovely time, of course, and wish them well. But it isn’t like repeated attempts are going to help."
Fluttershy mulled that over for a long while. She supposed if Rarity was happy just dating all the time then it was her own business, and Fluttershy had no right to say otherwise. She again wished that she’d been born differently, not because she wanted to be a stallion (she really liked being a mare, and being with other mares), but because she would have liked to have been one for Rarity’s sake.
She’d even thought idly of whether she knew any nice stallions that she could set Rarity up with. Unfortunately her social circle was very limited in that regard. She pretty much just knew the bullies she’d grown up hating and her brother, and she’d sooner set Rarity up with one of the bullies if it came to it. Zephyr was nice enough, for a brother, but there was no way he was going to pass Rarity’s test.
Fluttershy also had to admit that the idea of him being with Rarity when she couldn't be raised feelings that felt dark and dangerous that she didn’t want to think about for too long. They weren’t nice feelings at all.
“Sorry,” she said eventually. "I just... you’re a nice pony, Rarity, and I want you to be happy."
“I am, darling!” Rarity said with a smile. "If I gave you the impression that I wasn’t, I should be the one apologizing. I’ve never had a bad time with any of my prospects. Most of them are perfect gentlecolts. And I’m certainly enjoying my search."
Fluttershy forced a smile she did not feel, trying once more to tamp down her feelings of admiration for her overly-generous friend, and hoping that Rarity was right.
“Oh, speaking of, I gave your pegasus suggestion some thought. The trouble is that the pool for pegasus stallions really is a bit smaller than I had supposed," Rarity said, leaning back and gesturing with her hooves. "There’s Thunderlane, of course, but he’s taken up with both Flitter and Cloudchaser! Can you imagine?”
Fluttershy nodded in earnest. "Yes, actually."
Of course, what she’d been imagining was herself with both Flitter and Cloudchaser. She blamed those comics from Neighpon for that particular fantasy. She’d also imagined just watching the two of them kissing while pleasuring herself with one of her toys. Suffice to say, she was feeling more jealous of Thunderlane than she had been of her brother just having a theoretical date with Rarity.
“Beyond that there’s really only the occasional weather pony sent down for special projects. Oh, and that Bulk fellow... But he covers here at the spa at times, I think that might be a bit awkward," Rarity said worriedly. "He seems nice enough, mind you..."
Fluttershy sighed. "Most of the pegasus ponies that live in Ponyville are mares."
Rarity’s shoulders sagged in defeat. "I know, believe me, I’ve checked. I even tracked down that nice mailpony that I’ve seen about, turns out he lives in Vanhoover and just delivers everywhere. Must be nice to have that sort of mobility. I wouldn’t mind dating somepony from Canterlot but Vanhoover is so far away!”
Rarity then went on to talk about how there was nothing wrong with Vanhoover itself, of course, just the distance, then began musing to herself what it must be like to live there.
Fluttershy listened as best she could but even she had trouble caring about the weather in a city neither of them had been to. She nodded, occasionally saying ‘uh-huh’ where it seemed appropriate, but the whole time she had a single nagging question in her mind, and no easy way to say it. The question of whether Rarity might perhaps want to try the other two thirds of the dating pool in Ponyville. Of course, her interest was less in the mare population at large, and more in herself in particular, but it was difficult to ask the one without first asking the other.
Really, even if she didn’t want to date, if Rarity wanted to fool around that would have been fine too. But dating was nice because it led to lots and lots of making out and often waking up in each other’s beds and was altogether a wonderful experience. Or, so she supposed.
She’d grown up thinking you were supposed to be in love for those sorts of things, but her experience with Rainbow had taught her that it was just as nice to have lots and lots of sex with a close friend, and it didn’t necessarily have to mean that you were perfect for one another and wanted to spend the rest of your lives together. Except for the whole hospitalization thing she still treasured her memories with Rainbow, and really it was only knowing that the two of them together tended to go overboard that kept her from flying to Rainbow’s home at nights when she felt lonely.
She was better at dealing with crushes when they were over.
But dating Rarity would be nice on so many levels. It would make Rarity happy, it would make Fluttershy happy, and really only save a whole bunch of stallions from broken hearts after they failed Rarity’s test.
Really, the more she thought about it the more it made sense to her frazzled brain.
Too bad for all those stallions that Fluttershy was too much of a scaredy-pony to even ask the first and most important question.
“—in any case, thank you for the suggestion, sweetness. I shall simply have to do a little... ahem, shopping of a different type when I next go to Canterlot," Rarity said, reaching out to embrace Fluttershy. "Thank you, you’re too good to me sometimes."
“Not nearly good enough,” Fluttershy whispered as she returned the embrace.
How she ended up talking with Pinkie about her problem was anypony’s guess.
She hadn’t really meant to. Generally she tended to just let things like this go, or more accurately she buried them deep inside her brain with hope that they wouldn’t bother anypony. It usually worked, except when it didn’t and she ended up yelling at two of her best friends about how she felt their careers were essentially wastes of time that nopony really cared about.
It had taken weeks to work up the courage to apologize to Pinkie for that, and a fraction of a second to find herself in a hug that would have impressed Harry with its strength and ferocity.
She’d tried with Rarity, too, but Rarity, like Fluttershy, tended to bury hurts as deep as she could, and prefered not to dredge them back up to look at them. While her apology had been accepted, Fluttershy could tell that Rarity had already done her best to forget what it was for to begin with, and so didn’t press very hard to get Rarity to talk about it.
Instead, she’d volunteered to be a living equiniquin whenever she had time to do so. She also made time to help Pinkie at Sugarcube Corner.
She learned a lot about how hard her friends worked over that summer.
She also developed a habit of ordering a slice of carrot cake for Angel and a vanilla cupcake for herself as a treat at least once a week, usually after she and Rarity had ended their spa session. So it wasn’t so much a surprise that she was around Pinkie, or talking to her up in her room during Pinkie’s breaktime, as it was that she was pouring her heart out about weeks of frustration and worry.
“Huh," Pinkie said as Fluttershy’s stream of words finally petered out. "So... Rarity, huh? I kinda thought you had a thing for Applejack."
“Had," Fluttershy said firmly, a huge blush on her face. "I mean, she’s very sexy in that ‘I wonder how it feels to be snuggled in her strong arms’ sort of way, but I eventually got over it. I’m actually not sure that Applejack ever thinks about other ponies in any sort of a sexual way, to be honest. She’s very busy."
“Eh, give her a few years, maybe when Apple Bloom can help out more, but yeah, she’s kinda all about her farm right now." Pinkie said, nodding rapidly. "And what about Dashie? Always got a feeling about you two..." she demonstrated by shaking her left leg. "It’s kind of a twinge in my knee, followed by a tail spasm and a hiccup."
“W-when we were younger, but... not anymore," Fluttershy replied, her eyes downcast as she admitted to Pinkie’s suspicion. "We were a little too much for each other."
“So... if I went after her, you wouldn’t be upset?” Pinkie asked, a sparkle in her eyes.
Fluttershy shook her head. "No. That’s fine. Just remember to hydrate."
Pinkie stood up and pumped a single hoof into the air. "Yes! I mean, I didn’t wanna step on anypony’s hoovesies, yanno?”
She sat back down, her expression shifting to a slightly more serious one. "Okay! So, you got a thing for Rarity, but you’re worried she’s not a switch hitter?”
“Well... also that if I ask her if... you know... that maybe she’ll worry about being around me—”
Pinkie held up a hoof, shaking her head. "Nah, that’s just silly. I mean, Rarity knows I’m into mares and she doesn’t treat me any different. And she kinda knows you’re the same. I mean, why do you think I asked about Applejack? Me and Rares had a little bet about whether you would ask her out. I guess I lost that one."
“Oh, sorry," Fluttershy said, feeling a little perturbed, but simultaneously relieved.
Pinkie giggled happily. "Nah! It’s fine. We were hoping it might work out for you. It was really cute how you kept buying out Applejack’s cart at the end of every day."
“Oh," Fluttershy repeated, feeling the heat burning on her cheeks.
“So yeah, she knows, Shy. She’s the one who pointed out the thing you had for Applejack. The Dashie thing I always just felt when you two were together. I figured it was old history, but I had to make sure." Pinkie squirmed a little in her seat. "For... um... ‘me’ reasons."
Fluttershy considered Pinkie’s words for a long moment, hearing only the sounds of Pinkie munching on a cupcake, and elsewhere in the room Gummy’s stomach making a little growl.
“Somegator needs a snack!” Pinkie announced to her bedroom at large as she got up to fetch him some food.
Pinkie’s revelation didn’t tell Fluttershy whether Rarity herself might ever consider jumping fences, but at the very least Fluttershy now knew that if approached, Rarity likely wouldn’t be upset to find that Fluttershy herself happened to like mares over stallions, and Rarity in particular.
Rarity might even be flattered. That would be nice.
“Sorry, Gummy gets grumpy if he misses his mid-morning post-brunch snack," Pinkie said as she sat back down. "So, you gonna go for it? I mean, I dunno if she’d say yes, but she won’t freak out or anything, and that’s a start, right?”
“That... that’s a start," Fluttershy said, nodding her head. "I’m just... worried."
“Worried that she might reject you and hate you forever for even asking and never ever talk to you again?” Pinkie asked, her voice growing louder with every word.
Fluttershy wilted back in her seat, letting out a little whimper.
Pinkie looked at Fluttershy and instantly her ever-present smile dropped. "Uh, I mean..." she laughed nervously, pulling on a nonexistent collar. "Shoot, not helping. Shy-shy, you have to try to remember that Rarity is our friend and she would never, ever just not talk to us. I mean, maybe she’d need her couch for some things, but telling her you like her like her isn’t like saying she got a bad manecut. It’s a happy thing, you know?”
“Is it, though?” Fluttershy demanded. "It feels selfish. I mean, Rarity is happy the way she is. And the stallions she dates are happy for a little while, right? I mean, maybe her silly test will work some day and I’m just sticking my nose in her business—”
“Well, not yet. That’s what you want to do. And hey, maybe Rarity would like that too!” Pinkie said, recovering some of her smile from wherever it had fled to. "You’ll never know unless you ask!”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest, then closed it after a long moment of not knowing exactly how. She still had fears (so many fears, always those) but Pinkie Pie was making a startling amount of sense. So much so that Fluttershy really, really wanted her to be right. She wanted to be able to talk to Rarity about this. She wanted to get it out of the way, one way or another, so she could either enjoy being around her friend without feeling conflicted, or get on with making out with Rarity as much as equinely possible while still remembering to take breaks for water and snacks.
She really didn’t want to see any more awkward looks from her parents.
“I..." she began, trailing off when she didn’t quite know what to add after it. She took a deep breath, and fixed a firm and determined look on her face. "You’re right. I’m going to have a serious talk with her during our next spa date."
“Yay!” Pinkie said, scrambling around the table to envelop Fluttershy in a rib-crushing hug. "It’ll be fine. You’ll see."
After what seemed just a little too long, Pinkie released her, and sat back down in the chair closest to Fluttershy. "So... uh... about Dashie... I should have drinks ready?”
Fluttershy nodded in earnest. "Especially if she’s over for a weekend."
Pinkie’s eyes opened wide, and a blush grew on her cheeks. "This is going to be so much fun!”
While she still felt a little nervous, Fluttershy was in a much better mood when she met with Rarity for their next session. Then again, comparatively, she’d have to be, considering she had been a nervous wreck.
It didn’t matter. What did matter was that she was going to get her worries off of her chest, lay her feelings and desires bare, and if she had even a smidgen of courage left by the time she got done doing that, she would offer to have Rarity over for tea and dinner and maybe lots of making out followed by more things than Fluttershy could stand to think about without passing out from the blood rushing to her cheeks.
She really, really hoped her courage held up to get to that. Past experience told her it was pretty unlikely, and she told past experience exactly where to go.
“Darling!” Rarity said in surprise as she entered the steam bath where Fluttershy had been waiting. "I’m so sorry to keep you waiting!”
“It’s fine,” Fluttershy said with a smile.
“Well, somepony’s in a better mood. No more worries about my romantic troubles?” Rarity asked, sporting a wry grin and tossing in a wink for good measure.
“Maybe a little, but... you know best what you want," Fluttershy admitted, wincing.
“Oh, if only that were true." Rarity sat down and let her back slump against the smooth sandalwood. "I only know what I don’t want, and I find far too much of it. I’m honestly beginning to think being a lonely old cat lady might not be so bad. Opal loves me, in her way..."
The conversation was almost going in a direction that didn’t make Fluttershy totally self-conscious, which was nearly unheard of. "Well, I mean, you must know a little, right?” she said, actually daring to trust a little in luck in the hopes that it would continue to favor her.
By her accounts, luck owed her a large back debt, and she was only asking for very little now.
“Darling, at this stage of my life I am not really that picky. I don’t need somepony to advance me financially or professionally, so that really widens my prospects."
“Okay... that still sounds like things you don’t want," Fluttershy prompted gently.
Rarity looked at her for a moment or two with a single eyebrow raised. "I want somepony to adore me, of course, but that goes without saying. And, well, the rest you know."
Having said that, Rarity’s mouth quirked back into a frown. "I’m not asking for so much, am I? Just one pony who fits my very exacting standard?”
“Well... not so much. I’ve been doing some reading, and... Stallions have this thing... where after they... finish, they get sleepy," Fluttershy offered. "Maybe if you let them nap for a while— Or, you know, you could give mares a chance... Just to try it out—”
She felt very pleased with herself for having slipped that last bit in without stuttering, but she was less so as she realized that Rarity wasn’t actually listening.
Instead, Rarity was expressing her displeasure about just how unfit most unicorns were.
“Well, when you do everything with magic you don’t have to exercise very much, unless you’re in the Royal Guard,” Fluttershy said. "Walking around in all of that armor must help."
“—I imagine Fancy Pants keeps in shape, at least. He’d have to with Fleur around—”
Fluttershy nodded despite herself. Fleur was one of the few ponies that had been nice to her while she’d spent those brief few months modeling. She’d also been the only reason Fluttershy had ever considered being with a stallion, as Fleur had offered to have Fluttershy over for a threesome.
It had taken a long time to come to a decision. Fleur was not a mare you turned down lightly, even if the offer came with strings attached. Fancy was a very nice pony, after all. She still regretted chickening out, just a little. It might have been nice.
While Fluttershy was busy thinking about her apparent preference for elegant white-coated unicorns, Rarity had gotten around to mentioning her brief but intense crush on Trenderhoof, after spending several minutes lamenting about how disappointing Prince Blueblood had turned out to be.
“—Don’t misunderstand me, Applejack is very attractive—”
Fluttershy wholeheartedly agreed with that, although she felt a twinge of sympathy for Trenderhoof for barking up the wrong apple tree (she knew from experience that tree was fruitless) while simultaneously feeling upset on Rarity’s behalf that he hadn’t even given Rarity a second glance.
She knew from past experience that it was going to take a while for Rarity to wind down after getting herself worked up, so she settled back on the bench herself, just letting the heat soak into her.
A few moments later, Fluttershy was gritting her teeth just a little while Rarity talked about all of the poor earth ponies (who, while faring no better than the unicorns, had at least been apologetic about it afterwards) and how they compared to the unicorns in terms of staying power during the third date.
It wasn’t fair to them, it wasn’t fair to Rarity, and it was never going to stop unless somepony had the courage to tell Rarity that what she was doing wasn’t helping anypony. Fluttershy waited a few more moments, just in case there was somepony with that sort of courage nearby.
“—I’ll be going to Canterlot next week, I thought I might check out a Wonderbolts show. Perhaps I’ll have more luck finding some nice pegasus stallion like you suggested there—”
Nopony was coming, and Rarity was going to Canterlot. She was going to meet some nice stallion, maybe a Wonderbolt, and the week after Fluttershy would have to hear about it. It would all begin again. The hope, the first flush of attraction and affection, the night Rarity invited him to her bedroom, or her hotel room maybe, and the crushing disappointment when her test was failed again.
“It’s like you don’t understand how males even work,” she muttered. "Even Angel Bunny needs to rest a little while between matings."
Her eyes opened wide as she realized she’d just spoken her thoughts out loud, but Rarity didn’t seem to have noticed, instead she continued to speculate the rumored orgies that supposedly took place in the Wonderbolts locker room.
Fluttershy slumped back into the bench, frowning. "It’s different for mares,” she said, not even caring that Rarity was still talking. There was something oddly therapeutic about saying these things out loud, and the fact that Rarity was right there but not paying attention only served to further embolden her. "Rainbow could make me cum so hard I could barely see straight afterwards, but it didn’t stop me from doing everything I could to make her feel good too. We made love for hours and hours. I could do that for you, if you’d just let me try."
“—if I have no luck in Canterlot there’s always Manehatten, I suppose—”
Fluttershy nodded in response, and blurted out: “Rainbow really loved this twirly thing I could do with my tongue. I could show you. Or I have a huge room in the basement full of toys we could try out."
She smiled as she said it, relishing the feeling once more. It was like having said it, she could let go of the stress and worry she’d felt by holding it in.
Rarity then started talking about a Bridleway show she wanted to catch in a few weeks. Apparently Hinny of the Hills was having another run, and Rarity wanted to catch it when they had a full audience for the experience of it.
Fluttershy listened on with a little smile, feeling sated in a way that was oddly reminiscent of a good time spent in her bathtub with a new toy.
As much as she’d have loved the idea of doing things for and to Rarity, it was all right. Rarity was happy, and those stallions could take care of themselves. She’d said what she’d wanted to say, at least, even if Rarity hadn’t listened. Fluttershy was used to being ignored. Maybe it would be easier to let go, now.
Letting go was always the worst.
Eventually, Rarity wound herself down, and they spent the rest of the session relaxing and talking about other things. Rarity actually had something besides her own exploits to gossip about, since she’d apparently caught Rainbow and Pinkie together in Pinkie’s room.
Fluttershy was relieved to hear Pinkie had bottles of water on literally every available surface, which was something that greatly confused Rarity far beyond finding two of their friends making out on Pinkie’s bed. Fluttershy was happy to hear at least Pinkie had been successful of the two of them.
Eventually, it was time for their session to end.
“Well, I need to get back," Rarity said, giving Fluttershy a little hug.
“I know,” Fluttershy replied, returning the hug.
“Say... how would it be if I came over for tea in the evening some time?” Rarity said as she pulled back from the hug.
The question was unexpected, but not unwelcome. "Oh! Um, sure!” Fluttershy said.
“Good, good. Let’s say... Friday, then," Rarity said as she got up. "See you then!”
Rarity closed the door to the steam room, and Fluttershy sat on the bench, getting ready to go home herself. She felt at ease with herself for the first time in many weeks. She’d told Pinkie she would try, and she had.
“Oh,” Rarity said as she suddenly poked her head back into the room. "And while I’m over, maybe you could demonstrate that ‘twirly thing’ for me."
“Okay!” Fluttershy replied quickly, feeling just a little confused but needing to say something. Though Rarity was already closing the door once more, so maybe it hadn’t been necessary after all.
It was nice that she was going to be having tea with a friend, at least.
" ‘Twirly thing’," she said, musingly, wondering what Rarity had meant.
A moment later her wings flew out in alarm and it felt like her head was going to explode from the blood rushing to her cheeks.
“Miss Fluttershy, are you all right?” Aloe called into the room.
Fluttershy was not all right. Fluttershy was in fact, panicking.
But Fluttershy was going to have a friend over for tea, and she was going to have lots of water at the ready.
Hydration was very important.