As a filly, Cinnamon Swift was used to a close-knit sort of herd. Everypony in the herd, regardless of what they did during the day, would fly home and they’d at least have one meal a day together—not to mention that her father tended to stay at home, and there was always a couple of mares around the house too, even if they weren’t her mom. The same, apparently, was not true of unicorn herds.

Obviously she knew the different pony tribes had different customs when it came to herd structure, yet she still found it rather odd that a chunk of Lucent’s herd had just up and left seemingly overnight. Scintilla had, according to what she gathered from Star Sparkle, some sort of ‘thing’ in Manehatten, and Crystal Glimmer had gone with her. The two mares were apparently very close. Crincile was technically home, but working on some sort of paper and simply didn’t want to divert her attention elsewhere. And, of course, none of the children were home.

In many ways, it was something of a blessing in disguise; while Crystal Glimmer was sort of cold to her, and Scrintilla wasn’t her favourite pony, it was going to be hard enough coming clean as it was. If someponies only got the news through the grapevine, well, that was fine by her.

Of course, that still left Glint, who as far as Cinny could tell, didn’t work at all—which was fine, because he was very easy on the eyes—along with Twilight Velvet and, of course, Lucent. Thankfully the foals were scarcer than snow in summer—what a thing to have to tell Dawn Chorus or, Celestia forbid, Shining Armour!

Star had arranged the ‘sit down’ as she so cheerfully called it for the late evening of the next day. This gave Twilight time to put Guiding Light to bed and be free enough to attend, and it meant that Cinny got to eat what would hopefully not be her last meal. It did strike her as particularly odd that Star had gone to such lengths—sort of—to make sure Twilight could be there. Cinny didn’t doubt Star was going to use this against her for a very long time, and it just seemed odd that she wouldn’t want to get a jump on humiliating her in front of the herd.

Plus, she considered Twilight a friend—it was going to be bad enough confessing to Lucent, but Twilight Sparkle shared part of the mare’s name! The two of them must have been close.

Cinny tried not to think of what it’d do to their friendship, as she sat in the chair opposite every other pony. It was the same chair Shining and Cadance had used during their visit, and she did her best to look a big as possible so Lucent—or any of the other herdmates—wouldn’t think to sit beside her. Normally she’d love to cuddle, and Celestia knew she could use comforting right about now, given how her wingtips were twitching, but she also didn’t want to put herself into striking range of any pony’s hooves.

Although, given they were all unicorns, she probably should be more worried about their horns…

“Alright, Star,” Twilight said wearily from her slumped position on the couch. Cinny had no idea how much work it was to look after a foal, but given how tired Twilight looked, it seemed like a fair amount. Cinny made a mental note to herself never to have children. “I’m here, what’s this meeting about?”

“Meeting?” Star said in a teasing tone of voice. “Can’t we, as a herd, spend time together?”

“Star…” Lucent cut in before Twilight could retort. The last thing Cinny needed was one of the infamous verbal tussles between the two mares breaking out. Star glanced at Lucent momentarily, and there was a flash of something across her face—something Cinny couldn’t identify. Before she could think about it, though, Star shrugged and turned toward her, with a sly grin on her muzzle.

“Well, it’s really not my meeting. Cinnamon, our lovely new addition to the herd,” Star’s smirk sent shivers down Cinny’s spine. “Has something she needs to get off her back. Cinnamon?”

“Um,” Cinny swallowed. Then blinked slowly. Then licked her lips. Then ran her hoof through her mane. Then—

“I can tell them, if you’d like,” Star suggested, which, if anything, scared Cinnamon moreso than simply confessing.

She needed Star, but she couldn’t trust her not to twist the truth to make Cinnamon look as bad as possible—which Cinny couldn’t really figure out how should could look worse, but if there was a way, Star would have found it. It had to be her. It had to come from her, and be in her own words, as painful and frightful they might be. Cinny took a deep breath.

And she told them. She told them everything. Naturally, this meant it was something of a rambling monologue where she jumped back and forth and sideways and once took a shortcut through a forbidden forest of off topic nonsense.

“…I’m so, so sorry.” Cinny slumped in the seat. The confession was so draining, she felt more numb than afraid. Maybe coming clean was a good idea, after all.

Well, it seemed that way for about five seconds, before it became clear that the rest of the herd was staring at her in… shock? Rage? Utter disbelief? The silence was stifling, and Cinny’s heart started to beat violently in her chest. The only pony who wasn’t entranced was Star, who for the most part had alternated between looking bored and distracted the whole time Cinny was speaking.

For a moment, it looked like Glint was going to say something, but then he just sneezed. Even so, the sudden sound seemed to jostle everypony awake, and Cinny’s stomach twisted.

Suddenly eating before confessing didn’t seem like the best idea she had ever had.

Lucent cleared his throat, and Cinny’s own throat clenched. But Twilight beat him to it;

“Why?” Twilight’s voice was tinged with anger, naturally, not to mention disbelief—she looked sad too, in a sort of utterly defeated sort of way. “Why would you do this?”

Cinny frowned—slightly, she didn’t want to look like she was trying to defend herself or anything. But hadn’t she already answered that question? Surely she had been listening, during her Speech Of Shame? Oh well.

“I didn’t know Twilight Sparkle was part of this herd—I didn’t even write any of it here,” Cinny began again, but Lucent shook his head.

“No, Cinnamon—” She flinched, her stallion hadn’t really called her anything but ‘Cinny’, and that was ignoring the frosty tone in his voice. “Why? Why write about somepony like our daughter at all? You don’t see ponies writing about the Princess—Princesses that way, do you?”

The answer was yes, but Cinny had serious doubts if bringing up Fifty Shades of the Sun or Story of L would help her case any. Plus, she didn’t want to be a smart-ass, she wanted to be forgiven.

“It… it was just fanfiction…” Cinnamon tried to figure out how to explain it. “And an accident. I only sent it to the publisher as…” as what? A joke? On a dare? Because it was the only thing she had written in six months? Because it, to her, seemed good? “I’m almost a complete unknown, and when they said they were interested in publishing…” Cinny glanced down at her cutie mark. “I just wanted to do what I was born to do.”

Twilight opened her mouth again, but Lucent cut her off again—if he kept that up, he might find himself in the mule house too. “Your stuff is good, Cinny. I don’t understand why you had to hurt somepony, when your work stands on it’s own…” Lucent’s voice had taken on a softer tone, but Cinnamon suspected that was something of a warning sign, not a favourable one.

“It can be hard to break into, Lucent,” Twilight frowned, and Cinny saw Star do the same. Neither of them had expected Twilight to try and defend her. “If you’re not a big name, most publishers just throw your stuff in the trash without looking.” Cinnamon resisted the temptation to nod in agreement. Small and meek, that seemed like the best course of action. “Back when Star and I lived together, I used to get mountains of rejection letters.” Cinny blinked—Star and Twilight had lived together? “It wasn’t until just before we started going out that I got in with a publishing house, after all.”

Lucent frowned, and Glint reached over and patted the stallion on the back.

“Of course, that doesn’t really excuse what you’ve done, Cinnamon.” Twilight continued, and Cinny flinched, again. “And why do I get the feeling Star knew about this before any of us did?” Twilight spared a withering stare for the pony in question for a brief moment—not that Star seemed to notice.

“I know.” Cinny let out a long, heavy sigh. “I…I went to Star because—” there was no point in lying “—I was afraid… when you knew…” Cinny choked back a sob and shook her head. “I hoped she’d… help.”

“Cinnamon,” Lucent said, his voice hard—she couldn’t bare to look at him, so she stared as her hooves. “Cinny…” his voice softened and the couch squeaked as he got off. Then he was there. In front of her. With his hoof holding hers. “Cinny, we wouldn’t have kicked you out of this herd. Not for this, and not when you’re so obviously upset about it.”

“Indeed, Star here has done far worse than this, m’dear,” Glint said, speaking up for the first time—only for him to earn a disapproving glare from Star Sparkle.

“Yes, well,” Lucent shifted uncomfortably before Cinny, clearly not interested in exploring those… things again. She wondered what Star had done to earn the herd’s disapproval, but that was a question for another time and place.

“You wouldn’t have?” Cinny said softly, her own hoof gripping Lucent’s more tightly. “But…”

“We’re a forgiving sort—” Twilight snorted in the background “—not to say we’re not… unhappy with you.”

“I didn’t mean it…” Her voice sounded weak, even to her ears. Of course she didn’t mean it, people who do bad things rarely mean for anypony to get hurt.

“I know. And I’m glad you finally decided to come forward with this… instead of keeping it secret all these months.” Lucent’s voice grew cold, and Cinny could swear she saw embers in his eyes. “But—”

“But I didn’t keep it secret, Lucent.” In retrospect, it didn’t seem like a good idea to cut him off when he was reprimanding her. But she didn’t want him thinking things about her that simply weren’t true, either. “I… I kept the story’s content’s secret, it’s true, but not because I thought I was hurting you or the herd… I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“A surprise.” Lucent said flatly.

“Well, yeah,” Cinny shrugged. “Didn’t want to spoil the plot, right? I mean, it wasn’t until you were talking about the Gala that I realized you had a daughter named Twilight.”

“What?” Cinny’s reply seemed to confuse Lucent so much that he forgot to be angry. “It’s not like that’s the first time I brought her up.”

“You always call her Twilight, though,” Cinnamon shifted uncomfortable. Looking back, it probably should have been clear to her that her stallion was talking about two very different ponies. “And… well, Twilight Velvet… It’s not like I’ve ever met Twilight Sparkle.”

Over Lucent’s shoulder, the only Twilight in the room rubbed her face with her hooves, while Glint just snorted. Lucent, for his part, just looked mystified—and maybe a bit horrified that he had brought such an idiot into his herd.

“Be that as it may,” Lucent’s voice didn’t sound angry anymore—if he had intended to become enraged at her after reassuring her of her part in the herd wasn’t in jeopardy, he seemed to have lost that now. “You can’t just confess to us, Cinny, we might be upset, it’s true, but it’s going to be our daughter who’s going to be affected.”

“Yes,” Cinny heard herself say. In a lot of ways, she was feeling too tired to be fearful anymore. Surely the worst of it was over. “I… I can be on a train to Ponytown—”

“Ponyville,” Star corrected absentmindedly. “And the trains aren’t running currently.”

“Well, whatever!” Cinny snapped, glaring at Star. To think, she had… done those things to her for no reason what-so-ever. “I’ll take a coach, or a wagon, or I’ll walk. I’ll go tomorrow, if that’s what you want. Lucent.” She added, so it was clear she didn’t care what Star thought.

“I… well…” Lucent frowned and rubbed his chin.

“As quant as such a gesture might be, m’dear,” Glint said, “I’m not sure showing up on the dear foal’s doorstep and telling her you’ve written erotica about her would send the correct impression, yes?”

“Well…” Cinny tried to imagine what that would be like; but the thought of a mare or stallion showing up on her doorstep and telling her they had written erotica about her seemed to have a certain appeal…

“Stick with the original plan,” Glint nodded to Lucent before explaining, “go to the Gala with Lucent, meet her, introduce yourself… and apologize.”

“At… the Gala?” surely she wasn’t going to be going now.

The thought, however, hadn’t, apparently crossed Lucent’s mind, considering he seemed to be nodding admirably at Glint’s suggestion.

“And it’d give Twilight some time to digest the situation herself… you know how explosive her temper can be.” Lucent said thoughtfully.

As a matter of fact, Cinny didn’t but that didn’t sound exactly promising. “But… at the Gala?”

She didn’t really want to go to the Gala to begin with, she was already outclassed—in ever sense of the word ‘class’—by the sort of society that Lucent lived in, and it just struck her as being somewhere between impossible and insane to jump into an event like the Gala. It wasn’t that common ponies didn’t go to it—of course they did—but if you weren’t special or talented or somehow important, you wouldn’t be invited at all. The Elements, after all, had saved Equestria, not to mention Twilight Sparkle was Celestia’s personal student. Cinnamon didn’t have any doubt in her mind that she’d be nervous enough just trying not to speak out of turn, or insult some minor Prince or spill wine on a dress that cost more than a year’s worth of rent at her old place. Top that with meeting Lucent’s daughter, who was not only famous, minor nobility, and a national hero herself, but somepony who might be justifiably mad as the sun is hot—and have it aimed at her…

Cinny suspected it’d be a small miracle if she made it through the night without her heart giving out. Not to mention the small fact that the rest of the Elements were supposed to be there too. She had heard that Rainbow Dash and Applejack were both hotheads—which was why she wrote them as stallions in her story to begin with, since firebrands tended to be exciting to write and read. Good in a book, less good in real life, in front of her, where they could hit her.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Twilight Velvet said, rubbing her chin. “Plus, then we won’t have to listen to Crystal bound around like an over-excited colt. One foal in the house is enough, thank you.”

Cinnamon sighed, it looked like her fate was sealed, however unpleasant it might be. “Right, I’ll… apologize at the Gala.”

“Good,” Lucent nodded and pulled back, leaving Cinny alone in the chair, by herself. Her hoof felt cold where his hoof had pulled off it, and her heart skipped a beat. “Let’s talk about how you can make it up to us…”

Somehow, she doubted she was going to enjoy this…

**

The next week was torture.

Cinnamon had never openly discussed her ‘condition’ with the rest of the herd, not even Lucent, for a number of reasons—and in many ways she probably never would. Strictly speaking, there wasn’t anything wrong with having an active sex drive, and really if her wings were betraying her it was her own fault. Even so, it seemed rather cruel that she wasn’t going to have any sex for a month or more leading up to the Gala. At least, that was the theory anyway. It had only taken about eight hours before Star had offered to help her ‘unpack’, and it wasn’t particularly surprising that very little unpacking got done.

But it wasn’t particularly easy to enjoy being with Star. Cinny couldn’t say Star’s ‘support’ and taking advantage of her had made her like the mare any more, and the fact of the matter was before and after sex, Star wasn’t particularly pleasant company.

Still, it was better than having nothing, especially since the other mares in the herd weren’t particularly amused by her book either. Crincile, somehow, had managed to grow up into an adult without ever hearing or reading any sort of erotica at all, and when somepony had slipped her a copy—Cinny suspected it was Star, but she couldn’t prove anything—she had been more or less appalled. Partly because the idea of, essentially, written porn, seemed to horrify her, but mostly because she had been quite close to Twilight Sparkle too. Which was just fantastic.

It didn’t explain why, two nights later, Cinny could hear rather suspicious noises coming from Crincile’s room when she passed, though.

The reaction from the other mares had been relatively muted—mostly because it seemed Star had informed them by mail, and therefore their anger had cooled somewhat by the time they had come home from their trips. It didn’t stop their disapproving glares, or Crystal’s repeated attempts to suggest to Star that she ought to go to the Gala, not Cinny. It wasn’t that Cinny was really looking forward to it, of course, but at least Star slapped Crystal down every time.

As for Lucent… that was the hardest part. It wasn’t that he stopped speaking to her, or gave her a cold shoulder or what not, but there was something fundamentally awkward between them now. It had taken her several days to realize that he wasn’t pausing to nuzzle her neck, or kiss her—even on the cheek. In fact, he hadn’t been alone with her since her confession. She didn’t expect him to jump in bed with her, but the loss of intimacy… the loss of trust… that hurt. Nights seemed to stretch out as she tossed and turned over it. Simply because she wasn’t kicked out of the herd didn’t mean things were going to go back to the way they were.

The Princesses knew Star and Twilight were example enough of that.

Thankfully, by the end of the first week, Cinny had something to distract herself with—getting ready for the Gala. The Gala itself was still sometime away, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t work to be done. There were a number of things, ranging from mane styling to—Glint insisted on this—learning how to dance as a ‘proper, upper class mare’ should. If she was being honest with herself, Cinny didn’t think any amount of dance lessons was going to disguise the fact that she was about as high borne as a turtle. She tried not to think of all the ways she could embarrass herself—or worse, her herd and by extension, Lucent.

The ‘most’ important part, however, was getting a dress. Cinny’s wardrobe had been limited in the extreme. She had a number of hats that she liked to wear, but besides from some stylized saddle bags, she didn’t have much in the way of real clothing. Growing up in Cloudsdale, few ponies wore much unless they absolutely had to, and rarely was it something loose like a dress. Too easy to get tangled in your wings by accident.

However, the Gala was all about presentation, and there was little reason to think she’d be doing much flying at the Gala, even if she felt up to it. Plus, she didn’t want to argue with any pony. It really wasn’t her dress, since she wasn’t doing it for herself.

Of course, Cinny knew about as much about dress shopping as she did about dancing, so she was relying on her herdmates to tell her what to do and what to get… and she also wanted Lucent there. It seemed like a good idea, and a good chance to spend some time with him. It wouldn’t be alone, of course, but at least he would be there. Plus, since he was going with her, they probably needed to coordinate the colours. Or something.

Still, she had been nervous about asking Lucent, so she had decided to do it the morning of the big shopping day. Cinny had woken early, a bit before dawn—which was no surprise, given how badly she had been sleeping of late, and had spent the next few hours fiddling around her room. Mostly she unpacked, but she had also sat down and tried to write. It was supposed to be her talent, but try as she might she couldn’t get anything down. A lot of that time was spent lying on her bed, trying to convince herself everything would be all right.

Eventually, she decided she had waited long enough. She took a few moments to dry her face, and then she set off for Lucent’s bedroom.

It wasn’t that early, but for the most part, Lucent—and the rest of the herd—tended to sleep late unless they had something to do. Cinny hoped that waking Lucent a bit earlier than normal—not that it was that early, all things considered—wouldn’t bother him too much.

The halls weren’t empty, of course, they were filled with the House’s servants, tidying up before the day started and hurrying to and fro to do whatever it was they did. Most of them were polite to her, but Cinny was certain one or two of them had given her a dirty look as she passed. Star had probably informed the servants what she had done too. It seemed the only ponies who didn’t know was the herd’s children, and Cinny hoped that Star would have the decency not to tell them.

Lucent’s bedroom door was just as she remembered it, big and imposing. Of course, so was every other suite door in the House, but she had no trouble picking it out from all the others. Of course she was going to know where her stallion’s rooms were, even in this maze.

She knocked twice, but there wasn’t any response—not that it surprised her—and after a moment’s hesitation, Cinny pulled the door open and slipped inside.

Like her own suite, the rooms Lucent shared with his lead mare were large and ornately decorated. But unlike her’s, Lucent’s was even larger and more complex, mostly so he could comfortably fit the whole herd into the place, if he—or, in olden days, his lead mare—desired it. Plus he was a Duke. Unlike her rooms, though, Cinny could see Lucent’s personal touch everywhere, in the paintings on the walls, the way the seats were arranged in the sitting room… it made her heart ache, so she tried not to pay too much attention to it.

However, just before she reached the doors leading to Lucent’s actual bedroom, she realized she could hear noised coming out of it. Her wings stiffened ever so slightly as Cinny frowned. Star and Lucent shared the room, but Star, as far as she knew, didn’t use the room as consistently as Lucent did. She didn’t really know if she wanted to walk in on Lucent making love to—

Oh who was she fooling, of course she did.

Cautiously, Cinny eased the door open and slipped inside. Cautiously because she couldn’t help but feel that, at the back of her mind, this might get her in even hotter water. But she couldn’t help herself.

Besides, it wasn’t as if she was forbidden from watching…

The lighting was low in the room, and it took her a moment to adjust to the dimness. To her surprise, it wasn’t Star that Lucent was having sex with, it was Glint.

Cinny grinned.

Back when she was a filly, the first time she had encountered two colts kissing one another, she had found the whole idea rather silly and frustrating—after all, they weren’t kissing her—but over the years she had grown to appreciate it for what it was. Although ‘appreciate’ was putting it rather mildly. It wasn’t the first time she had seen the herd’s two stallions go at it, but she always enjoyed the show, especially when she got to jump in between those rolling, sweaty, jizz covered— Cinny let out a low sigh. That probably wasn’t going to happen this time.

So all she could do was watch. All things considered, it wasn’t the worse thing to happen to her. Provided she didn’t get caught, of course.

Carefully, Cinny backed up into what she hoped were deeper shadows, before settling down on her behind (her hoof somehow and mysteriously getting caught between her rump and the floor in a most delicate position) and licking her lips.

As far as she could remember, Cinny had never seen Lucent on the ‘bottom’ when the two stallions made love with her in the room, and she had always assumed it was simply because that’s how the two of them liked it. Yet here, Lucent was not exactly dominating Glint, considering the latter had him pinned to the bedsheets. It wasn’t violent or overbearing, mind you; it was clear Glint was playing the role of the gentle lover if anything, given how slowly and warmly the unicorn was kissing and rubbing Lucent in all manner of areas. But all the same, it didn’t surprise Cinny when Lucent started to apply the lube to Glint’s cock, while Glint helped loosen up Lucent’s hole.

Cinny bit her lip as she watched the two stallions kiss. It wasn’t that she particularly missed anal sex—it was, all things considered, one of the few types of sex she wasn’t personally very keen on—but as she watched, she couldn’t help but realize how much she missed being the object of Lucent’s affections. It wasn’t that she had spent the past week ignorant of the fact, but watching Lucent’s lips gently suck on Glint’s outstretched tongue, or the way his hooves stroked his lover’s flanks… it really drove it home. For the first time in her life, she suddenly found herself not really enjoying playing the voyeur.

With some difficulty, Cinnamon pulled her eyes off the two just as Lucent was rolling onto his belly, and with greater difficulty pulled her hoof’s soft-but-firm mass out from between her legs. It was quite damp, but a quick rub on the side of one of Lucent’s chairs quickly solved that. She took a moment to check herself over, just to make sure it wasn’t completely obvious that she had been watching the two, before taking a deep breath and stepping back into the bedroom.

At first, it seemed that neither stallion noticed her stepping into the room, which wasn’t totally surprising since both of them had their eyes shut while Glint was setting a slow, deliberate pace. It wasn’t really surprising, of course, when Cinny found herself staring at the supermodel stallion’s rump while he did so, either. Regrets or not, Glint still was a beautiful stallion, not to mention blessed with a set of balls that Cinny couldn’t keep her eyes off of. Especially not when they kept swaying and slapping against Lucent’s rump ever couple of seconds, making a most pleasing and—

“Enjoying the show?” Lucent’s voice snapped her out of her hypnotic trance. To her horror, both stallions were looking at her, and neither of them looked particularly surprised to find her there. If either of them were unhappy about being walked in on, though, they weren’t showing it. The smile Lucent was giving her made her heart skip a beat. Or twelve.

“Um…” Cinny felt her lips curl into a crooked smile. “I… Glint was going to take me dress shopping, and, uh. I was hoping you’d come with us…”

“My dear, if you plan on sneaking in on somepony, you might want to be a bit more stealthy about it.” Glint commented, as he came to a rest halfway in, presumably to make carrying on the conversation easier. “We heard you come in.”

“Oh.” Cinny pawed the carpet sheepishly.

“It’s been a rough week for you, hasn’t it?” Lucent asked gently. “I can’t say I’m not sure you don’t deserve it, mind, but…”

Cinny looked away from the two lovers and stared at one of the walls. Of course it was hard and she deserved it, and she wasn’t totally sure why Lucent was suddenly being so warm to her. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was half filled with stallion meat—she’d have to remember that for future reference. “I really did come to ask.”

“I don’t mind coming along,” Lucent said breathily. “Assuming you don’t mind, Glint?”

“Of course not,” Out of the corner of her eye, Cinny could see Glint’s eyes twinkle. “Perhaps we’ll get you something nice to wear too, eh my little mare?” Cinny rolled her eyes at the same time Lucent did. She could never understand why some stallions liked to refer to the bottom as a mare—the whole idea seemed rather absurd to her, and Lucent apparently agreed.

“Oh can it,” Lucent retorted as Cinny looked back. She felt kind of silly staring at the wall—it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen it all before. Lucent kicked one of his legs out, but of course, given his position relative to Glint, it was hardly effective—if anything, it seemed to make Glint grin all the more. The two stallions glared at one another in what Cinny assumed was mock anger, before Lucent returned to looking at her, still smiling. Whether or not she was forgiven, the smile made her feel so much better, and hopefully it was a good sign. “The real question, I think, is what to do with you, o mare ‘o mine.”

Before Cinny had time to puzzle out what Lucent meant—or why his voice had suddenly slipped into a strange mix of silky smooth seduction and country bumpkin (really, that cock must have magical powers)—Cinny suddenly felt the most unusual sensation in her coat and feathers, followed by a headtiltingly nauseating experience of being rolled over. It took her a moment to realize Lucent and Glint were lifting her up telekinetically, and pulling her over to the bed. It was a lot different than flying, and while she didn’t fly often, she did fly enough that she could pick out the differences between that and being carried. Before she could protest, however, she found herself falling into the soft sheets and mattress of Lucent’s bed.

She found herself lying on her back, with Lucent and Glint both to the south of her; she was completely exposed, far more than normal, and neither stallion were exactly discrete about the fact that they were looking. Then Lucent shuffled forward, draping his body over hers and bringing his lips to meet hers. It wasn’t the most passionate kiss, mostly because of the relative angles and positions of herself and her stallion, but it still felt like the best kiss Cinny had ever experienced. It was also short lived, for obvious reasons, but then she felt something firm and flexible press up against her behind, rubbing against her already wet-from-before lips.

“Did you know,” Lucent muttered in an almost conversational tone of voice, “that in the olden days, this wasn’t considered to be sex?”

**

Clothing, Cinny decided halfway through her umpteen measuring, is idiotic. It wasn’t a particularly new or creative thought on her part, if she was going to be honest with herself, and she had always found the idea of wearing clothing a bit silly on the face of it. But after throwing herself head first into the strange and mysterious realm of fashion, she was even more convinced that the whole thing was borderline insane. Never mind the general discomfort she had discovered upon being measured and prodded—literally, as the case maybe—but after she had gone through all the trouble, and the seamstress finally stopped hemming and hawing over how to match her coat, she had brought out a number of dresses.

Each dress was more absurd then the last. The seamstress seemed to have what Cinny could only assume was a fetish for lace and frills, in all manner of shades that made her eyes water. The only dress she thought looked reasonably good was a tight looking thing with slits that, when a mare wore it, would empathise her flanks and cutie mark. Granted, it wasn’t as if she was looking for a herd anymore, but Cinny knew sexy when she saw it. Not that she got to try any of them on, of course.

Every time the seamstress came out, Glint would pounce on her the way mares and stallions usually pounced on him. If it weren’t for the fact that the seamstress was—in Cinny’s humble and not-at-all-biased-because-she-just-wasted-two-hours opinion—a bit of an ugly hag, she might have been jealous. Once he pulled the dress out of the mare’s telekinesis, he’d spend the next few minutes examining every inch of it before tossing it back to the seamstress on the grounds that it didn’t work for her. How the stallion knew what did or didn’t work for her seemed a bit unusual, but after the first five dresses were rejected, she stopped following why Glint was rejecting them.

Lucent, to Cinny’s pleasure, had come along as well, but to her displeasure, there wasn’t a whole lot she could do. She could certainly talk to him, of course—and she did, about all manner of small things—but she wasn’t supposed to move off the pedestal where the seamstress had taken all her measurements. Even when she wasn’t being measured. For some reason. Still, it was nice having him there.

Originally, Cinny had hoped that she’d be able to get a dress quickly—one that Lucent liked, since she didn’t really have an opinion about it—and then convince Lucent and Glint to just spend time with her, either window shopping or such. Mostly it was because she had hoped to reconnect with her stallion, but their improvised session from earlier had left her wholly convinced that he still loved her. This would pass, in time, and then they could be happy together. Provided Star wasn’t in the room. Regardless of her plays though, it all came off the rails when Glint finally declared the seamstress to be ‘insulting’ them and that they’d take their ‘fine business and fine flanks’ elsewhere.

Taking up the rear of their group, Cinny had very nearly lost her tail to the seamstress’s vicious door-closing abilities.

Fortunately—or, as Cinny’s thoughts grew more cynical, unfortunately—Canterlot had a great number of tailors, all of whom she was beginning to suspect she’d end up meeting before the day was out. She’d be happy just going and wearing nothing, but she was also wholly aware that it would be something of a major breach of etiquette and probably wouldn’t be the best idea, all things considered. Still, when they had left their fourth shop with nothing on hoof to show for it, it was getting a bit difficult to keep a cheerful smile on her face and not drag her hooves like a scolded colt.

At least she got to walk behind her two herdmates, and neither of them were wearing that much clothing.

Still, as she admired the sight, it struck her as kind of strange really. As far as she knew, wearing clothing for non-protective purposes really seemed to be something only unicorns did—none of the other tribes did, nor did any of the other species like minotaurs. Which was odd, since the latter walked around in a fairly lewd fashion, exposing their belly and… things. Sure she walked around just a naked, but she wasn’t exposed like that.

Regardless, it took every ounce of her energy and willpower to follow Lucent and Glint into yet another shop.

It took her a couple of moments to realize that, in fact, they hadn’t walked into yet another slice of tartarus, but rather a café of some sort. Once her stomach clued into the fact, it woke up with a fierce rumble that made her blush hard, not that anyone—not even her herd—noticed. This was, in Cinny’s opinion, mostly because the café was only sparsely populated, probably due to them coming in on an off hour, but partly because Glint let out a shockingly girlish squeal. If she wasn’t so… familiar, with Glint, she would have thought he was a gelding or something. Whether he realized that or not, didn’t seem to deter him from half galloping across the room to the table of one of the other patrons, a grey and haughty looking stallion. Glint apparently didn’t mind or care that the earth pony was eating lunch (or was it dinner? Breakfast for the next day?) with his fillyfriend, a white unicorn. Her purple mane and tail were styled meticulously, and even Cinny, as stressed as she was, had to admit they looked good. Although they did painfully remind her that she was due to get her mane ‘worked up’ too.

Ugh.

Perhaps it was some sort of obscure unicorn ritual, but apparently squealing and charging a stranger’s table wasn’t considered to be rude. Although five seconds later, when herself and Lucent got close enough to listen, she realized Glint was probably getting away with it because he knew the stallion, although the unicorn apparently was just as mystified.

“It has been too long!” Glint was saying. It seemed like the sort of thing one would hug the other pony you were saying it to, but stallions didn’t seem to be the hugging sort. Stallions were weird.

“Indeed!” The earth pony’s accent was certainly distinctive, although vaguely Cinny thought she could recognize shades of it in Crincile’s voice, if she thought about it. “Goodness, what has it been, fifteen years?”

“Oh,” Glint waved his hoof in front of his face dismissively and demurred. “Don’t remind me, please. I’m afraid I fell off the wagon—so to speak—when I met my leadmare.” He shook his head, and Cinny wondered who exactly he was referring to—not Star, certainly. “Not to mention I daresay I’ve gained a few pounds—in all the wrong places!”

“Nonsense, nonsense!” For the first time, Cinny noticed the stallion was, in fact, dressed, although Cinny had seen dresses that day that were easier on the eyes than what the earth pony had on. Given that, and how Glint was talking to him, he must have worked in the modeling industry at some point.

“A-hem,” the white unicorn coughed into her hoof politely, “I don’t wish to be rude, Hoity, but might you introduce…?” Like her companion, her voice was heavily accented, although Cinny was reminded more of Scintilla than Crincile’s.

“Of course!” Hoity cried. Literally cried—it would have been very dramatic, if they hadn’t been standing in the café. “This is my dear friend and colleague, Glint Garnet,” Hoity gestured to Glint, before his gaze turned onto Lucent and herself. Perhaps she was imagining it, but she thought he saw him sniff as he did—at least when he was looking at her. “I’m afraid I’m not as acquainted with your… herd?”

Thankfully, Lucent apparently was waiting for such an opening, “I am Lucent Noctis,” he paused and reached over to take the unicorn’s hoof, which he kissed in a gentlecoltly manner. Some small part of her grumbled, and she hoped he wasn’t thinking of taking the mare as a mistress or something. “And this is my herdmate, Cinnamon Swift.” Lucent added, a bit hastily, as he straightened up. Perhaps he had seen the look on her face.

“Charmed,” The mare said with a pleasant smile. “I’m Rarity, and if you don’t mind me asking, are you not Duke de Smaragdvea?”

“Well, I…” Cinny didn’t think she had ever seen her stallion look so confusingly surprised before. Perhaps no pony called him by his title in a long time. “Yes, yes, you’re correct. But please, call me Lucent—the only mare who calls me that is my mother-in-law.” Words punctuated with a shiver. It felt uncharitable, but Cinny hoped the mare was dead, since she had the impression she was rather dreadful and she had enough of those sorts of mares in her life right now.

“I don’t know if that would be proper, your grace,” Rarity simpered, although the way her eyes sparked, Cinny got the impression she was secretly pleased to be on such a familiar basis with a duke. “Won’t you join us?”

Lucent said, “I’m afraid we’re in a bit of a hurry” at the exact same time as Glint said, “of course!” which naturally led to a fair amount of confusion. Ultimately, it was Cinny who stepped in and got the two stallions to sit down. Her hooves were killing her, and she couldn’t remember the last time she ate. Still, she couldn’t help but feel like she was overstepping her bounds ever so slightly when she gently knocked Lucent onto his rump and ordered him to stay put while she got some food for the three of them. She was already on thin ice, and she suspected she hadn’t done herself any favours. Not that Rarity’s shocked and horrified gasp made the situation more comfortable.

Perhaps she was a bit grumpy, since she was feeling a great deal calmer when she finally returned to the table with a tray of goodies and hot drinks for the three of them. It was a bit difficult to manage, considering the tray was designed more for unicorns than pegasi—even though she used her wing tips to try and stabilize the tray. So naturally she was grateful when one of the three unicorns took the tray from her and laid it on the table—although it turned out to be Rarity’s doing, not Lucent or Glint.

For Glint’s part, the stallion was practically kissing Hoity, the way the two of them had their noses pressed up together as they chatted in what she could only assume was fashion-world-talk. He barely looked up when he took his meal and drink, leaving herself alone with Rarity and Lucent. Lucent, on the other hoof, smiled appreciatively at her, which was worth everything she had gone through thus far today. Sort of.

“I hope Hoity and I don’t delay you too long,” Rarity said—apparently resuming a conversation already in progress. “After all, I’m sure you and your herd are very busy… what was it you said you were up to—if you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

“Dress shopping.” Cinny said between bites of her sandwich. Hungry or not, she didn’t want to just sit there. At least Rarity didn’t seem to judge her like her coltfriend did. “For the Gala.”

“Really?” Rarity said, her voice growing a few notes higher with excitement, “Oh, how wonderful! Everypony who’s anypony is going to be there—which goes without saying, seeing as you’re going, your Grace.”

“Please, just Lucent.”

“Of course… Lucent.” Rarity’s eyes twinkled, and Cinny wondered if she had just been testing to see if the offer was genuine. “Are you hoping to see Twilight there, per chance?”

Lucent’s smile grew into a grin, “A-ha, I knew it; you’re Miss Rarity, aren’t you? From Ponyville?”

Oh for the love of— Cinny resisted the urge to plant her head in a nearby pot of soil and pretend she was a sunflower. It was insane enough that she had managed to sleep with Twilight Sparkle’s herd, and now she was having lunch with one of her friends and one of the Elements of Harmony. As if her life couldn’t get any worse. Hopefully she wouldn’t know anything about her exploits thus far—the last thing she needed was for Rarity to spill the beans to Twilight that her dad was sleeping with the author who had written such nasty (if loving) things about her.

“Oh my!” Rarity exclaimed, “I didn’t realize I was so famous.”

“You did help save Equestria,” Lucent said with a shake of his head, “I’m shocked, really, that you’re not being mobbed wherever you go.”

“And thank Celestia for that,” Rarity laughed, “All those hooves pawing at me—with a coat like mine I’d be more earth pony than unicorn in a week!”

Lucent joined her in her laugh, but Cinny couldn’t muster better than a weak feeling smile. She wasn’t exactly happy with dress-shopping, but minute by minute, it was looking to be the preferable option.

“Well, I can assure you, darling, that your little filly will be there,” Rarity said once the two of them had calmed down. “I made her dress myself, and—at risk of being immodest—it is simply splendid! She looks like a Princess in it.”

“You’ve gotten my daughter to wear clothes?” Lucent said with a chuckle, “better luck than Twilight ever had, I guess—Twilight Velvet, that is. One of my herdmates.”

“Oh yes, Twilight speaks about Velvet quite fondly,” Rarity said with a smile, that ever so slightly turned into a frown after a moment. Cinnamon wondered if that meant Twilight talked about Star as well… she doubted Twilight would have kind words about her mother. “Now,” Rarity, for the first time since Cinny had sat down, pulled her gaze off of Lucent and fixed her in her sights. She had a scary sort of intensity in her eyes. “Might I offer my services as a seamstress? I couldn’t help but notice you looked a bit harried when you came in, darling, and I can’t say I blame you. The so-called seamstresses are giving us couturiers a bad name, if you ask me. Honestly, I saw three dresses today, all of which were a nasty shade of green—” Cinny hastily tried to stuff as much of her mane into her hat as she could. It didn’t work. “—it’s amazing they haven’t been laughed right out of business!”

“Oh, uh,” Cinny wasn’t sure what to say. Her first instinct was to simply say no—it just seemed like a bad idea on the face of it. It was going to be awkward enough talking to Twilight about what she wrote—and while she wasn’t under any obligation to tell Rarity the same, she’d know she what she had done and written about her, and there was no doubt in Cinny’s mind that Twilight would be spilling the beans as soon as she had a chance. She could only imagine the outrage Twilight would feel when she found out that not only had she written erotica about her and her friends, but also taken advantage of Rarity’s generosity. Even if they paid, and they would, it’d still be incredibly awkward. Cinny didn’t like hurting ponies, whatever her herdmates might think.

“Well, we’ve tried every other pony in this dreadful strip,” Glint said, breaking into the conversation for the first time since they sat down. “Perhaps a breath of fresh air is what we need… You wouldn’t happen to have a portfolio on hoof, would you…?”

“Of course, Darling.” Rarity lit her horn and pulled out a large but not particularly thick book from her saddlebags. “These are a bit old but—oh, excuse me!” The book opened and a couple of pages and photographs whizzed out and returned to the saddlebag. “I’d rather like to keep those dresses a surprise for the big night. Spoilers, as Twilight might say, mmm?”

Rarity passed the book to her, which was somewhere between ironic and completely pointless, considering what Cinny knew about dresses and fashion was next to nothing what-so-ever. The ‘crash course’ she had received over the past few hours hadn’t exactly made her any better at it, mostly because it wasn’t like she had been doing much more than being Glint’s dress-up doll. Yet she had the feeling that it would be rather rude to pass it over to Glint, now that Rarity had given it to her—and besides, Glint had gotten up and was looking over her shoulder anyway.

There was no escape.

So, putting on a brave face, Cinny started to slowly flip through the book, doing her best to make it seem like she was both interested, and knew what she was doing. Which boiled down to nodding every now and again and making safe-and-vague comments like ‘I like the colors on this one’ or ‘that’s nice.’ She just had to make sure not to use the same comment too many times in a row, les Rarity grow suspicious.

“It’s… uh… quite the portfolio,” Glint said at last in the sort of tone that made Cinny’s heart twinge. She really didn’t want to wear one of Rarity’s dresses, for obvious reasons, but it made her feel rather horrible to hope that Glint was about to put her down and dismiss her too. It wasn’t Rarity’s fault, after all.

Besides, she was getting tired of hoofing it all over the place. It was just a dress, after all; why unicorns got all up in knots about it, she’d never know. It wasn’t like the Princesses wore dresses or something.

“It is quite impressive, isn’t it?” Hoity said, either missing the tone in Glint’s voice or else trying to defend his fillyfriend by ignoring it. The thought almost made Cinny giggle; a stallion standing up for a mare? How silly. “You should see the work she did for your daughter and her friends, Your Grace. Some of the finest dresses I’ve ever seen.”

Cinny gently closed the book as she heard Glint take a deep breath—probably to tell Hoity off—but the unicorn never got a chance to dismiss Rarity.

“Well, I’ve never been a great one for fashion,” Lucent interrupted with a shake of his head. “Not like Glint here, of course—or the two of you. Me, I think my mares look lovely whatever they dress in.” Lucent shrugged and gently pulled the book out of Cinny’s hooves and briefly flipped through it, as if buying himself to think. “And I think Cinnamon Swift will be no less beautiful if she went to the Gala wearing rags.”

“My dresses—well, except those abominations that we shall never speak of again—are hardly rags, Your Grace!” Rarity said with just a hint of melodramatic outrage. Cinny couldn’t decide if Rarity would get along well with Crystal Glimmer or not. They both seemed to tend towards the dramatic…

“No, no!” Lucent waved his hoof in front of his face dismissively, “Of course not, I didn’t mean to offer any insult, my lady—” Rarity’s outrage disappeared into a bright blush, which only made Cinny smirk; her stallion certainly knew how to handle a mare. “—rather, what I was trying to say is that I’d rather the money go to somepony I know, and like, then some stranger!” Lucent’s lips twitched. “Besides, if you can stuff Twilight into a dress, who knows what you’ll be able to do with Cinny here?”

**

Writing had always been, to pardon the pun, Cinny’s passion, and she certainly found herself writing whenever she could. But after meeting Rarity, she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps she wasn’t nearly as into it as she thought. She certainly didn’t carry around several suitcases of writing supplies, for example. Rarity apparently felt the need to bring with her several bolts of fabric and measuring tapes and thread and all manner of things that Cinny had no names for. It was as if she expected that she might need all of it at a moment’s notice, although as far as Cinny could tell, the mare was in Canterlot for a mixture of pleasure and work—but the latter wasn’t the sort of work directly related to dressmaking.

Cinny was well versed in the fact that if she wanted to make any money at her passion, she’d have to deal with things like publishers. Not something she particularly enjoyed or thought was particularly glamorous, but what could she do? Perhaps Rarity enjoyed the fashion industry more than Cinny enjoyed the publishing industry, but that didn’t really explain the suitcases, considering she didn’t really need to carry that stuff with her.

Of course, when she had asked—in the vain hope that small talk would make the fact that a complete stranger was poking her in all sorts of intimate areas with a measuring tape—Rarity has expressed the idea that she had to be prepared in case inspiration ever struck her while she was away. Which only made Cinny feel rotten, more so than she already was. As far as she could remember, she had never really felt such an urge to ‘create’ like Rarity did, and she had never really felt a sudden inspiration that she had to get down on paper either. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was really meant to write—her only claim to fame wasn’t even something she had originally dreamt up.

It didn’t help that several of Elements of Love’ chapters had been dedicated to the white mare prancing around the room, and it was difficult for Cinnamon to keep what she had written out of her head and her eyes off Rarity’s behind. Especially since it kept wiggling back and forth in front of her face while Rarity rooted around in her suitcases.

Thankfully, they hadn’t stayed at the café. Obviously the place wasn’t exactly suited for… getting suited, so they had all moved back to Rarity’s hotel room. For some reason Cinny had imagined she would have been staying with Hoity, but apparently not. Naturally, the room was fairly small and cramped, especially with a small herd of ponies in it, so after a bit, the three stallions decided to take off and ‘leave them to it’. A bad idea by Cinny’s estimation, considering she had no real understanding of fashion. Not to mention she didn’t want to see Lucent go.

Still, repairing their relationship wasn’t going to happen over night or one day spent together, and some part of Cinny wasn’t particularly happy with the way Lucent kept eyeing Rarity. She’d say the mare was too young for him, but that would be a bit hypocritical…

Nevertheless, that’s how she found herself half-dressed, alone, and in a hotel room with Rarity.

Only half-dressed, since, even though it had been, by Cinny’s estimation, over two hours, Rarity still hadn’t settled on anything. At this rate, she was beginning to suspect going to the Gala nude might really just be the better choice after all.

“A-ha!” Rarity exclaimed with a fervour and energy that made Cinny jump a bit. “I have it! I simply don’t know what’s wrong with me today, it should have been so obvious!”

Cinny was pretty sure Rarity wasn’t actually talking to her, but she was getting a bit tired of being an object, rather than a pony. “Err, what is?”

“You’re a pegasus, darling.” Yes, that probably qualified as an obvious observation. “I’ve been going about this all wrong! All wrong! Strip! Strip! We have to start over!”

Normally, if a pretty mare asked her to strip—not that she normally wore clothing to begin with—she’d be pretty excited, but given the situation and the fact that they were starting over yet again, Cinny only managed a half-assed grimace of a smile and slowly wiggled her way out of the never-to-be-a-dress dress she had been wearing. Rarity, for her part, didn’t seem to notice at all, although it could have been more because she had yanked open another suitcase and was currently unrolling a bunch of pale blue fabric.

“It’s always a bit different, isn’t it, darling?” Rarity asked rhetorically and she pulled the fabric off the bolt and started to wrap it around Cinny. “You have to understand that I very rarely get to design for pegasi, mostly my clientele are unicorns—or earth ponies, given Ponyville is an earth pony town.”

Perhaps Pegasi were the only tribe to keep their heads about them and not bother with dresses.

“But with you, I think we should emphasize that! Starting with some sky blues—“ Cinnamon did her best not to flinch as a series of pins flew out of a nearby pincushion and tried to jab her in a number of misses that came very close to turning herself into a dress. Perhaps this was the ‘zone’ Rarity kept going on about—she certainly hadn’t been this energetic before.

“Whites, of course, are out of the question; it’s a dress, not a painting of the sky, of course, but we can get around that with some silver trim, I should think—” Now Rarity’s aura was pulling out more fabric—this time some silver-glinting lace. “Maybe some gossamer? Yes, I think that would do lovely. Oh!” Rarity clapped her hooves. “And some feathers!”

Considering Rarity had only just observed the fact that she was a Pegasus, Cinny found herself wondering if the mare had forgotten she had feathers. It was only natural that she blurted out—she had been doing her best to keep her tongue to herself all day, but this was boardline silly in the extreme; “I have feathers!”

“What?” Rarity looked momentarily confused, as if she had completely forgotten she was there. She shook her head, although whether it was in disagreement or to clear her brain, Cinny couldn’t tell. “Of course you do, darling, and it’s really a very lovely plumage too! But we can put some feathers here—” a bunch of what looked like oversized pinions appeared from one of the bags, all of which were varied from stormy grey, spun around her neck like some sort of weird necklace. “and perhaps a few by your tail as well.”

Feathers? On her tail? She was a pony, not a bird—and she could tell right now she’d probably never be able to fly with this dress on, flight magic or no.

“Of course, it simply won’t be complete unless you accessorize—I’d suggest some silver false feathers myself, they’d simply complete this wonderfully.”

“False… feathers?” Cinny felt like she should know what that was, because it sounded familiar.

“You know, jewellery you wear in your wings? They go over a normal feather, to add some visual interest to your wings, especially when you move them.” Rarity adjusted her glasses and peered in closely at the fabric before whipping it off Cinny and beginning to cut. “Obviously, I can’t do much for you in that department, darling, but I do know the name of a good silversmith, who is, in my opinion, a small miracle worker! Of course, they’re a bit on the pricy side, but I’m sure you can convince your dear Lucent to make a gift of it.” Rarity smirked shyly at her and went back to her sewing.

Cinny bit her lip and frowned, it hardly seemed like the time or place to be asking Lucent for expensive gifts, and Celestia knew the dress would be expensive enough as is. Perhaps she’d be able to scrape together enough bits to buy one or two herself, if she really needed them for the dress.

“Might I ask how you met the Duke?” Rarity asked with a tone of someone who desperately wanted to pry, but would be mortified if you called her out on it.

Briefly, Cinny considered letting the question slide, but it might be the start of a conversation, and given how listless and bored she was feeling, conversation would undoubtedly make the time pass quicker.

Or at least, that’s how she’d like to justify the fact that she blurted out: “I accidentally passed some of my work in with an essay, and I guess it caught his eye.”

“Work?” Rarity asked in an absentminded tone. “I take it you’re some sort of author, judging from your cutie mark. No, no, don’t tell me… Romance?”

“Uh…”

“Oh, it must have been terribly romantic!” Rarity said with a dramatic sigh as her needles sewed a few edges together. “Clearly his lead mare recognized you had a beautiful heart, perfect for dear Lucent, I can only just imagine it!”

“Actually,” Cinny almost stopped herself. It was one thing to make social mistakes in the first place, she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to detail them for someone outside of the herd. On the other hoof, lying, even by omission, didn’t strike her as a particularly wise course of action either—Rarity would probably find out about the actual circumstances eventually. Sooner if Star spread it around, which Cinny couldn’t see her not doing. “Actually… no, I asked him. Lucent that is.”

“Really?” Rarity’s tone was somewhere between shocked and interested. “I hadn’t realized your herd was so progressive! Usually, the nobility does tend towards the conservative side of things, after all.”

For a moment, Cinny struggled with trying to explain to Rarity the minefield that was the politics within the herd, before sighing heavily. She wasn’t even sure she understood it herself, let alone enough to explain it to a third party. After a few moments of indecision, she finally settled on a noncommittal; “I guess so.”

“Still…” Rarity’s voice trailed off as she focused more on her work. As far as she could tell, the seamstress was done with her for a moment, so Cinny flopped onto the hotel’s bed and watched as Rarity put her Gala dress together. It wasn’t terribly interesting to watch, truthfully, but despite the long day and the surprisingly comfortable bed, Cinny didn’t find herself in danger of falling asleep. Rather, she found herself feeling increasingly guilty as she watched Rarity pour herself into the dress.

Rarity was, out of the goodness of her heart, taking the time to make her a dress, but Cinnamon Swift seriously doubted she would be so generous or willing if she had read what Cinny had written about her in Elements. It wasn’t particularly nasty stuff, of course, but it was still erotica, and she doubted the mare would have appreciated it. Part of her wondered if Rarity and her could be friends—she was certainly friendly enough—but it would never work out. And that realization only made Cinny realize she had probably sunk her relationship with Twilight before the two of them had ever met…

“Perhaps you’ll lend me a copy?” Rarity asked suddenly, as she held the dress up, apparently to look at it in the light.

“Huh?” Cinny shook her head to clear it of the melancholy thoughts that seemed to plague her of late.

“Of your work, darling. I’m something of a connoisseur of the genre myself, and I’m always on the lookout for new talent to read.” Rarity smiled at her warmly. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t hoping for some prince to come sweep me off my hooves, but until then…”

“I… I…” She seemed to surround herself with lies lately, and Cinny wasn’t sure she really wanted to continue. “Rarity, I think you might be under the wrong impression… I write erotica, not romance.”

“Oho?” Rarity’s eyes sparked, but not—apparently—in anger. “And?”

Cinny stared at her. “What?”

“Darling, erotica isn’t really much different from romance, as I’m sure you’re well aware… and it’s a terrible sin to be ashamed of one’s talents, wherever they might lie.” Rarity shook her head.

“I’m not… ashamed of it.” Cinny said, feeling her face start to turn red. Ashamed? Of her talent? Of course not. She loved what she did… it’s just that years of experience had taught her that… well, not everypony she met was going to be as pleased with it. “But someponies take offense and…” Cinny shrugged helplessly.

“I see.” Rarity said in a tone that seemed far too understanding, especially since Cinny wasn’t certain there was anything to be understanding about. She wasn’t ashamed.

Right?

“Is that why, in the several hours we’ve been together, you’ve not mentioned your novel, darling?” Rarity asked innocently as Cinny’s heart skipped a beat. Or nine.

Oh dear.

“Uh…um…” Cinny’s wings twitched, but somehow she doubted she’d be able to fly fast enough to get away from the mare. Plus the windows looked pretty thick. “You…” Cinny’s voice dropped to a whisper, as if saying it quietly would diminish the impact of it. She couldn’t even bring herself to finish her sentence.

“…know?” Rarity finished for her. “Didn’t I just say I enjoy reading those sorts of stories? Obviously I’m discreet about the more… erotic novels, like yours, but I do have quite an extensive collection.”

“You… you do?” Cinny said faintly. Rarity, on the other hoof, continued to work on the dress as if nothing in particular had happened or was happening.

“Mhmm. Under lock and key, mind you—the last thing I need to Sweetie Belle getting into them, goodness knows she’s tried.” Rarity shook her head while Cinny found herself wondering who exactly Sweetie Belle was. “You can imagine my surprise when I opened my latest package this month and discovered… well…”

“Uh…” First Cadance, now Rarity. Cinny was beginning to think she’d show up to tell Twilight about her mistakes and find her and Celestia reading it out loud or something.

“I have to say, I’m a bit surprised that you’re one of Twilight’s herdmothers,” Rarity continued, as she folded the fabric in a few spots and added stitches for some Luna-forsaken reason. “After, well… on the other hoof, given what Twilight’s told me about her mother…” Rarity glanced up at Cinny over the top of her glasses. “But you don’t strike me as that sort of mare.”

“It… was a mistake,” Cinnamon choked out. Incidentally, this seemed like a very good reason to figure out what she was going to say to Twilight before meeting her at the Gala. “I wasn’t thinking… it’s hard to get recognized as an author, and when they said they’d publish it…”

“I understand completely, darling. Truly, I do. I know mares who have done absolutely despicable things to get noticed in the fashion world—thankfully, I’ve never been one of them.” Rarity patted the top of Cinny’s hoof with her own as Cinnamon’s heart sank a bit more.

“You think I’m despicable?” But how could she not?

“No. A poor choice of words, Cinnamon, forgive me.” Rarity frowned and shook her head.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you for forgiveness?” Cinny couldn’t help but blurt out.

For the first time since she had brought up the awkward topic, Rarity stopped her work on the dress completely, and turned her whole attention to Cinny, with a thoughtful look on her face. “Because, I take it, you’re worried that you’ve angered me with what you’ve written?”

Cinny nodded.

“I can’t say I was too pleased, truthfully, no,” Rarity said. “And if you want to apologize, I’d readily accept it; but, Cinnamon, darling, I can’t hold it against you for trying to follow your talent, whatever that talent is. You should follow it and be proud—never you mind what other ponies might think.” Rarity gave her a soft smile. “I remember when I was first starting out as a dress maker, oh you should have heard the comments—and even today I’m not sure all my friends really understand my passion. But that’s no reason to be less proud of it, or want to stick with it.”

“I suppose so,” Cinnamon said, although if she was going to be honest with herself, she didn’t think the problems Elements of Love were causing her were nearly on the same level as ponies disliking the design of a dress. “And I will… but with original stuff, I think.”

“Glad to hear it!” Rarity exclaimed, before lighting her horn and pulling the dress up off the table. “Let’s try it on, shall we?”

Getting into the dress proved easier than Cinny thought, given it’s appearance, and it fit surprisingly well given Rarity had essentially made it from scratch and sewn it together in so short a span of time. Moreover, Cinny found, as she looked at herself in the mirror, that she actually rather liked it. It was… not what she’d usually wear, or even wear it everyday, but for the first time since she had met Lucent, she looked like the sort of upperclass mare one would expect him to have in his herd. It was very beautiful.

“Thank you, Rarity.” Cinny said, and for a brief moment she wondered if she could confess her other fears to the mare—but in the end decided against it. Rarity wasn’t really her friend, at least not yet. But maybe one day…

“Think nothing of it, m’dear.” Rarity said as she hurried to make a few more adjustments that Cinny felt weren’t totally necessary, but Rarity insisted on making. “I was wondering if you might answer a question of mine?”

“Oh, of course.”

“In your book, why are Rainbow Dash and dear Applejack… colts?” Rarity blushed ever so slightly.

“Oh, err, well…” Cinny flushed as well. “No pony really wants to read about an all mare herd…”