"Have I told you lately that I love you?"

   Rarity returned Fluttershy's smile and leaned in for another kiss. Fluttershy was already flushed a light red, and as her pulse began to quicken, her face quickly took on a deep maroon color. She returned the kiss with equal passion, and broke off giggling. "Could you move just a little? My wings hurt."

   "Oh, sorry, darling," Rarity said, falling back onto the mess of colorful pillows and pulling Fluttershy along with her. She gasped, and clumsily fell to her hooves; she was now standing over Rarity, her wings slowly rising from her sides.

   Rarity smiled, and reached up to Fluttershy, rubbing her hooves slowly along the underside of her wings. Fluttershy gasped and her legs suddenly failed to support her; she fell to her left against the pillows with a pomf. She looked to Rarity, who had already turned to her side to face Fluttershy, and laughed shortly, her blush not fading from her face.

   A bluish glow momentarily surrounded the yellow pegasus, and Rarity rolled her closer until their bodies touched. Fluttershy looked down, and bit her lip coyly.

   Rarity grinned mischievously and placed her left hoof over Fluttershy's wing, letting her shiver before continuing. She moved her hoof round her back, making sure her front leg was gently stroking the base of the pegasus' wing as she did so. Fluttershy couldn't help but smile: this was the kind of thing she always looked forward to. Whenever they could, they got together and... well, this, whatever this was.

   Rarity continued her massage, leaning her head against Fluttershy's. As she drew herself closer to the pegasus, she could feel her breathing and eventually her heartbeat. She felt her chest rise and fall slowly, often shuddering as her hoof touched a nerve.

   A few minutes after Rarity began, Fluttershy's back arced slightly as her muscles contracted and her wings vibrated. She released an involuntary moan that made Rarity smile and stop massaging.

   Fluttershy's breathing became shallow as she settled back down. She stared deeply into Rarity's shining blue eyes; they almost matched her own, but she always thought that they were so much more beautiful than hers; so much more complex, so much more of a deep azure color that began pale near the edges of the irises and pooled to a darker color, forming an almost navy blue halo around the pupil.

   She sighed contently as she laid mesmerized by the unicorn's eyes, metaphorically held captive by the combination of the warmth against her body and the velvety pillows surrounding them. She felt like she couldn't move a muscle; even if she could, she wouldn't have wanted to.

   Rarity laid another kiss on Fluttershy's lips, and she felt a tingling sensation run through her chest. Her eyes closed slowly, and she gave herself fully to the feeling, never wanting to break it off.

   They were interrupted suddenly by the slow ringing of Rarity's grandfather clock. Rarity haltingly released Fluttershy from their embrace, her eyes still closed. No words needed to be spoken; both knew what the ringing meant.

   "...You should get going,": Rarity said softly.

   "B-but I -"

   "We've already agreed on this," she insisted, sitting up. "We've had an hour."

   "Just a little longer, please, Rarity," Fluttershy pleaded, unwilling to stop so abruptly.

   "I can't, darling; I would, believe me, but I can't. We can't."

   Fluttershy followed her off the bed. "I didn't - I still..." she trailed off.

   Rarity hugged her gently. "I know, Fluttershy, I know, but there's just not any other way. I only wish we could spend more time together, but we agreed on something the first day this started, and I'm not planning on breaking a pact." Seeing the look on Fluttershy's face, she felt a pang in her heart. "I promise, I'll try to make next time as long as I can."

   Fluttershy looked at her hooves, and felt the back of her eyes stinging. "How long?" She blinked, trying to keep her emotions under control. "How long do we have to keep meeting in secret?"

   "I don't know. I really don't. But, please, Fluttershy, look at me." She reached a hoof up and touched her chin. "If it's worked this long, it won't stop working. I promise - no matter what, even if we have to do this for the rest of our lives - I promise that I'll never stop loving you."

   Fluttershy smiled as a few tears rolled down her cheek, and placed her hooves around Rarity, holding her tight. "I'll never stop, either."

   The two mares helped each other clean up their manes and smooth down their coats, and Fluttershy left the boutique at 9:00 that morning, trying to look as casual as possible. A quick change of emotions had become a second nature to her; she'd developed a bit of a skill over the past three years.

   Rarity watched her depart from the upstairs window before walking over to her bed and lying down. She wouldn't open for another few minutes.

~~~~~(A Very, Very Short Time Later)~~~~~

   "Hey! Fluttershy!"

   Fluttershy was torn away from her thoughts as she heard one of her friends call her name. She stopped on the tiled street and turned her head. "G-Good morning, Twilight," she said, desperately trying to sound nonchalant.

   Twilight slowed to a canter, then to a trot, before finally coming to rest next to Fluttershy, "I've been looking for you all morning!" Seeing no recogniton, she continued. "Pinkie Pie dropped by the library this morning with invitations for everypony, and asked me to deliver them because she was, quote, 'super-duper busy'."

   "Oh, um, that's nice," Fluttershy replied, and accepted the hot pink sealed envelope. "I'll try to be there."

   "Speaking of... I went by your cottage, like, half an hour ago, and you weren't there. Usually you don't leave the house so early. Well, not on a weekday." She paused, as though expecting a response.

   Fluttershy smiled nervously, unsure of how to answer. If she was really bad at anything, it was lying.

   "Alright, see you there," Twilight said lightly, and turned away. Fluttershy was left standing awkwardly in the mob of early-morning commuters.

   Once she pulled herself together, she turned again and began to make her way back to the cottage. Was that suspicion? Oh, Celestia, I hope not. It hasn't happened before.. I don't want it to! I don't want to lose her! Please, Celestia, please don't let them figure it out!

   Calm down, Fluttershy, Does this seem familiar? The last time you were paranoid, you almost gave yourself away. She shook her head, as though to forget any assumptions. She'd begun walking down the bare-earth path to her cottage and cleared her mind, focusing on the nature around her. That always calmed her down.

   It was a quarter after nine when she got back to the cottage, but for the lfe of her, she had no idea what to do with herself for the rest of the day. She thought about what she could be doing... but stopped herself before she went too far. She could already feel herself blushing.

   Instead, she took the pink envelope from under her wing and opened it. Party starts at six, ends at nine. Alright, I can do that. She looked around the room, as though expecting something to materialize. It didn't, obviously, so she turned and walked into another room, trying to find something to occupy herself.

   She reached under the sink, grabbed a bag of grains, and walked around the backyard, feeding the chickens and other various animals. She smiled as she watched them eat. It was always funny to her; seeing their heads bob as they picked the seeds out of the dirt and grass.

   She lost herself in this way for maybe an hour. She only noticed so much time had passed when her pet bunny came over and tugged on her tail.

   "Oh, good morning, Angel," she said, turning to face him. She leaned down so her face met his. "How's everything?" she asked, smiling.

   He remained scowling for a few seconds, reached into the bag of seed near Fluttershy's hooves, ate a mouthful, smiled, patted her cheek, and hopped away.

   Fluttershy blinked twice. ...What? She confusedly watched him hop away, before he disappeared behind the corner of the house. Fluttershy smiled. He was having a good day... finally.

   She looked up at the sun, and back around the yard. Only seven and a half hours to waste until the party.

~~~~~(A While Later, Elsewhere in Ponyville)~~~~~

   Rarity had learned perviously not to arrive at Pinkie's parties dressed in anything expensve: tonight, she decided to wear nothing but a necklace. In fact, as she went through her wardrobe, she recognized it as the one Spike had given her a few years ago. It was as shiny as ever: that was where the true rarity of the Fire Ruby originated from - it was ageless.

   As she draped the gemstone around her neck, she remembered another reason for their secrecy: Spike, if not any other ponies, can't know. It would kill him. She sighed as she thought of the poor baby dragon distraught at their revelation. She could never bear that kind of guilt.

   Anyway, she always arrived at parties early; in case anypony needed help to set up. But, as per usual, Pinkie had everything covered, and Rarity was alone in Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie.

   "Hello, Pinkie!" Rarity greeted her, walking into the living room.

   "Hi, Rarity!" Pinkie called out, popping up from behind a towering three-tiered cake. "You're the first one here!"

   "Well," the unicorn said, scanning the impressive decorations. "What's all this for?"

   "For?" Pinkie giggled. "It's not for anything, silly! It's just because!"

   "Oh, yes, of course," Rarity said offhandedly. She was too busy staring with hungry eyes at the stuffed snack table.

   Before long, the others began to arrive one by one, all staring in awe at the decor like Rarity had. Twilight was next to arrive, then Fluttershy, By this point, there's still about ten minutes to six; and almost exactly on six, Rainbow Dash and Applejack tried to simultaneously force themselves into the door.

   "I got it!" Dash cried, her wings beating furiously.

   "No you don't!" Applejack shouted, pushing with her strong back legs against the ground.

   As could be expected, the two burst through the doorframe and crashed into the steps in front of them; once the dust settled, Dash was lying on top of Applejack, her wings extended.

   She hopped to her hooves, forcing her wngs to her sides while a touch of red appeared on her cheeks. Applejack stood equally quickly, the same rosy color showing up on her cheeks, if only for a moment.

   Rarity was the only one to notice this, She assumed for less than a second before the logical part of her brain shut her up. She still remembered vividly the last time she assumed... it didn't turn out well.

   Throughout the night, there was plenty of dancing and plenty of games, not to mention plenty of snacks. It was indubitably a great time, but it just didn't match up to Pinkie's birthday bash last year. That was fantastic.

   Nearing the end of the night, Rarity found herself apple bobbing with Fluttershy. She may not get a better time to speak with her tonight; now or never. Once they pulled out of the water (both without apples), Rarity leaned over, and, as quickly as she could, whispered, "Noon, tomorrow, your place," and walked away.

   It was all she could do to keep herself from bursting into song. She couldn't wait; even after such a long relationship, nothing had ever gotten old, There seemed to be something new every time. And tomorrow was ne of those times. She couldn't help herself, and let out a small squee; as she looked around, though, she realized nopony heard it. It was one of those times when being quiet was helpful.

   She left the party early; she didn;t want to let anything slip. All kinds of dayfreams floated through her head; she imagined looking into those shining blue eyes, and kissing those beautiful white lips, and running her hoof down that lucious, curly purple mane.

   She hoped Rarity planned out a long one this time. It'd been months since they had one over two hours. But any way Rarity had it, she would be happy. As long as she could spend more time with her, she would be happy.

   As she walked home, she noticed the birdsong was especially pretty.