Rarity of Heaven, Applejack of Earth

When the sun hit the skyline, the rooster crooned his good morning call. Awoken first by the rooster was Applejack, cracking tired but ready eyelids to greet the new day with her own eyes. She ran a hand through bedhead and padded over to the window over the wood floor, smiling. Five o’clock a.m. She’d gotten up at this time for years. Today was no different, and she was perfectly fine with that. Familiarity is one of the many themes in Applejack’s life that she could never trade.

“Mornin’ Ma, Pa,” She offered to no one in particular, “Looks like it’s applebuckin’ season.”

She laced her fingers together and stretched, muscles stretched taut over long legs and strong arms. Applejack groans with the movement. These limbs had been stuck lazing around for six hours or more. Time to loosen ‘em up.

The farmgirl headed down the hall, brightening at the sight of her brother and sharing a grin with him. “Morn’n, Mac.”

The large man looking like he was going to burst through his white muscle shirt offered a friendly grunt in return. Big Mac never did talk much during the morning. Or other times really. But the morning especially.

Passing one another, Applejack figured he was going to check on Granny, the lively spring chicken she is. An old woman well into needing a third number on her birthday cake and living as if she was only half that age. She wasn’t impervious to the all-consuming need to sleep at the end of the day though. Or in the middle of the day for that matter.

Applejack trekked down the creaky stairs, noting that the rail on the way down needed to be fixed. Applebloom claimed it wasn’t her fault, and everyone believed her. The girl is just plain clumsy sometimes.

And speaking of Applebloom, there went the preteen sitting at the table, munching happily on a piece of toast covered in jam.

Spotting her sister, she raised a hand in greeting but still very much about to talk with her mouth full.

“Hey there, AB.” The blonde said warmly, ruffling her the redhead’s bedhead on the way to the fridge.

“Mmmph mmmnmphn, Applejack!”

“C’mon now, you know Granny taught ya’ better’n that.” Applejack turned her head and gave Applebloom a firm look.

Applebloom swallowed her food and decided to speak this time, using her words and not letting the toast do the talking. “Morn’n Applejack! Guess what day it is?”

Grabbing a small bottle, she exited the fridge, giving AB a smile. “Applebuck Season, ah’ reckon. Whatcha think, sis?”

“Whoo!” Applebloom crunched up the last of her toast and took a hasty final swig of her milk. She lowered the glass and was completely oblivious to the mustache left behind by the bovine beverage. “Y’all ’re lettin’ me in the buckin’ this time, ain’tcha?”

“Eeyup.”

Applejack’s confirmation preceded taking a swig of her own morning refreshment. For a year, she had kept a remnant of the cider from the season hidden in the fridge in a number of different containers. Glasses, cups and mugs alike held it until this today, which made the drink that much sweeter.

Such a rich, but light flavor. She could have smacked her lips and went, “damn that was good”, if she wasn’t so focused on making sure her little ritual stayed hers. Applejack never lied to others, but she definitely wasn’t above keeping personal matters personal.

“Awesome! I’mma go get ready now!” And grabbing her red ribbon from beside her plate, the energetic little redhead was taking the steps one at a time while a barrel-chest and a strawberry blonde head came into view descending the stairs.

“Woops, sorry Mac!”

“Careful.” He rumbled with a smile, and wincing when he heard the thud near the top. “Ah’m okay!”

Big Mac came down to the kitchen and exchanged looks with Applejack, one of the two chuckling lightly.

“It may not look it sometimes, but our lil’ sis is growin’ fast, Mac.”

“Eeyup.” He grunted in affirmation.

Applejack finished her bottle and brought the glass, along with Applebloom’s plate to the sink and turned on the warm water. “Jus’ hope she’s ready to help us with this fer sure. Family trade ain’t no joke.”
It was Mac’s turn to chuckle. “Don’ go too easy on ‘er, sis.” He absently rubbed his jaw, the action of which AJ had looked up to catch and let out a louder laugh at seeing.

“Ain’t her fault you were distracted, Mac.”

Mac grimaced, “Ain’t a lie that she’ll be hittin’ as hard as you someday.”

“Heh, we’ll find out today, won’t we?”

Applejack placed the dishes in the rack to dry and then went back upstairs to shower up and change.

Half of the shed had been rebuilt in the past year. It was more the size of a second barn than a place for keeping tools was needed for, but it wasn’t just tools being held in there. A long, soft athletic mat had been laid out over the floor over a bed of hay for a little training. Applejack, Applebloom and Big Mac had all made use of it for as long as they could remember, occasionally fixing the space up some when it fell into disrepair.

There were heavy bags, dummies and weights all around. Some were still kept in boxes, and many more were dented, broken, empty or still in good shape.

Applejack sat at the end of one of the dumbbell benches, wrapping her hands up neatly and slipping on her toeless footguards on. Refreshed, ready and waiting, she had changed into a two piece tangelo-orange athletic top and shorts. Applebloom was getting better at the family’s style of boxing, and it was time to bring her further into the spotlight as the next one to master the art.

AJ stood up and made her way to a heavy bag, planting her feet and closing her eyes. Her vision was limited, but felt infinite. She knew nothing but the grey heavy bag hanging in front of her. The concentrated farmgirl’s mind fell into a state of contentment, and her body acted.

A powerful right leg lashed out in a snap kick, extending the limb and impacting the bag heavily, rattling the chain it was hanging from. Then a left, equally devastating, crashed into the bag from the side. AJ repeated this motion a few times, knowing only the solitude of the bag, and the heavy thuds her legs brought.

When Applejack opened her eyes, she was seeing a tree trunk, bark peeling and flying at the sides, and surrendering its fruit to the baskets sitting below.

She knew she wasn’t standing in the sunlight, hot against her dark skin and baking the earth under her boots. And that the soil wasn’t recovering from a glorious rain, the rich smell feeding her nostrils and creating the euphoria that came from being attuned to the dirt, the planet’s essence of beauty.

It was almost time for all of that though, all she needed was--

“Sis!”

Applebloom’s gleeful call did not go unheard. Calmly, she did away with the illusions her mind had set up to better help her loosen up. “There y’are ya little rugrat. Didja make sure n’ stretch a bit?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Then let’s get started,” A grinning AJ replied, turning around to give Applebloom her full attention.

The smaller apple was dressed in a one piece margarine-tinted athletic bodysuit, short in the limbs and big on function. The sleeves stopped at the elbows and knees respectively. She tied her red hair back in a low ponytail, bound at the nape of her neck, and wore more protective gloves and footguards.

The two sisters took ten steps away from one another, backs turned as if ready for a pistol duel.

“One.” Applejack started.

“Two.” Applebloom added.

“Three.”

AJ and AB turned, hands raised and feet planted squarely opposite of one another. Applejack’s stance was more compact, body angled to the side, her left foot dominating the pose in a southpaw styled look. Applebloom on the other hand bounced on the tips of her toes, rocking back and forth in a rhythm unheard to everyone but her.

Seconds passed. They inched toward one another.

Applebloom was the first to attack, leaping at Applejack with an explosive flying knee with a warrior’s cry behind it. Or at least, what Applebloom thought passed for one. The strike missed entirely, all from AJ’s simple sidestep, but was quickly followed up. The younger apple spun, throwing a heel kick that was halted by her sister’s ironclad guard. Applejack smirked and Applebloom kept coming.

Each move was timed right after the next, giving very little room for AJ to try and mount a counterattack. Applebloom planted her feet and tried to come from the right, which was the worst decision she could have possibly made.

A taped fist shot out, nearly knocking her head back if it weren’t for the hasty guard thrown up at the last second. Applebloom yelped as she was pushed back, yet Applejack did not press her advantage.

Things had barely started but Applebloom had come to the realization that she was going to be firing on all cylinders if for nothing she didn’t open up a hole in AJ’s defense.

The younger apple danced toward Applejack, looking intently at her and hoping to find a spot for her to move in on.

“Patience, sis,” Applejack offered kindly, “Buckin’ ain’t just trynna hurt the tree.”

Breathing heavily through her nose, Applebloom closed her eyes and took a deep inhalation for a few seconds. “Right. Gotcha.”

“Good. Lets try that again.”

This time however, it was Applejack that moved, closing the distance between her and Applebloom with just a few steps of her long limbs. Applebloom gasped in surprise and moved back, juking to the side to narrowly avoid another fist tearing its way through the air like a knife through a red gala. “C’mon Bloom, focus!”

“I’m--” Blocked right hook. “--tryin!” Barely dodged left cross.

Dodging more of her sister’s ferocious attacks was getting to be a bit much. She hadn’t seen much in the way of of a window for her to fire back without getting tagged. Applejack made it a point to give her as little room to evade as possible.

Finally, a halt in the sisterly square dance had been reached. Unfortunately, it was by the way of the younger buying a discount feint and getting an ironclad left in her gut for her trouble. Applebloom gasped and hunched, Applejack took advantage and moved in. A harder kick slammed into her chest, flinging her backward and tumbling head over heels until she was sprawled out on her back.

Applebloom panted and took a moment or so to study the ceiling, and the outlines of the additional floors above. “Sis...patience is mighty difficult when you’re comin’ at me like a dang tornado.”

“Gotta focus, AB.” A head of blonde hair and a taped-up hand appear above her. Applebloom takes the hand and Applejack helps her to her feet.

“Ah am!” The little Apple-Boxer in training protests, “But ah ain’t got half your speed or power, Applejack.”

The elder sister puts her hands on her hips for a moment after helping Applebloom up. “It ain’t just about speed and power. Ya think I can overpower Mac, girl?” She tapped her temple sharply with a finger. “It’s ‘bout using yer noggin’ ‘longside yer hands, understand?”

“I...think I get it?” She scratches her head, looking up at AJ with eyes full of frustration, trying to guide her young mind to where she wants it. Applebloom wants to understand what she means, wants her body to be able to act as such…but it’s frustrating her that it isn’t coming just yet. “You sayin’ I gotta headbutt more?”

AJ let a small laugh out, tustling the younger girls hair. “That can be part of it, but…” She snapped her fingers. “Ah. Alright. Ya know ‘bout joints, right sweet pea? Like yer arms an’ legs?”

She nodded, flexing said arms and said legs. “Yep. Wake up with ‘em every day.”

“Well, what happens when ya hit ‘em? When ya crack yer elbow hard on somethin’?”

“Hurts like hell n’ high water.”

“Swear,” Applejack said.

“Sorry!” Applebloom covered her mouth.

She grinned. “It’s alright, sug. I won’t tell granny.” AJ glanced up to the ceiling in thought. “But gettin’ back ta it. Think ‘bout someone bigger comin’ at ya. How ya gonna stop ‘em?”

“That’s easy!” She raises a finger like it’s as plain as day. ‘’Just trip ‘em! Works all the time on the big ‘uns!”

“Can,” AJ mused. “But if yer goin’ after someone that knows a lil’ bit ‘bout fightin’?” She gave a small slap to her elbow. “Ya can’t get joints much stronger than they already are. Knees, elbows, neck, groin. Though groin an’ neck is only if it’s somethin’ serious, most sparrin’ matches ain’t gonna be rough enough ta hit ‘em in the boys.” She nodded. “But hittin’ joints’ll give ya a chance even ‘ginst someone big like me.”

Applebloom sat attentively, sponging all of the information into her head

She flashed back to the few mornings she had either bumped an elbow, or hit a kneecap against that darn dresser in her room. The pain was unexpected, no matter what. And if all joints were only so strong…

“I think I see it.” Applebloom finally said after a few moments of silent contemplation.

The redhead rose to her feet, looking at her sister with almost new eyes. ‘’Lets go again.” She raised her fists, angled her body and spread her legs a bit.

“Alright girl,” AJ adjusted herself as well, angling her own body to mirror Applebloom’s. “Show me what ya got.”

Sliding one foot forward by an inch or so, she followed it up with the other. Her bouncing from earlier wasn’t entirely absent either, but she was less concerned with rushing Applejack down than she was actually landing a hit. A few deliberate seconds passed before she made a feint as if she were coming from the right, and then got low, making her frame smaller and aiming a hard right for AJ’s middle.

AJ snapped her hand forward, grabbing Applebloom’s wrist and pulling the girl towards her. She brought her other hand down, aiming for Applebloom’s head.

She could only watch as AJ’s superior strength took her off balance. The window to strike, she felt wasn’t big enough. Either that or she was much more in favor of not taking a chance on the moment. Applebloom managed to move her head out of the way, but the hammerlike hand still met her flesh, striking a collarbone.

‘Hurts like hell n’ high water.’ She gritted out in her head as she winced, trying to stagger backwards and away.

Applejack took to the offensive, giving Applebloom no quarter. She took a few steps towards her and threw a quick kick her way, testing the girl.

The follow up kick didn’t find its purchase against her this time. Quickly thinking, Applebloom ducked, observing the arc of the kick for the infinitesimal second AJ’s leg was there.

Her fist came up, looking to catch the kneecap, but missed. The smaller fighter bit back a swear, scrambling back to her feet to mount a counterattack. Applebloom came at the blonde with a flying knee once more, not fully cognizant of what her mind was telling her in this moment, but that it was a good idea.

AJ saw the knee coming. Normally she would have used her strength to bat the girl away, but instead decided to absorb the impact of the blow. She lowered her body, predicting where Bloom would hit, then crossing the back of her arms over her breasts in an x pattern and dug her feet hard into the ground.

She wasn’t fast enough to catch her with it before hitting the ground. But what Applebloom hadn’t counted on was AJ simply tanking it on the spot. She saw her moment right after landing, and threw her leg out, aiming for the inside of her stance, the right side of Applejack’s left knee.

It was right on the money, striking the back of AJ’s leg and stumbling the woman. She sank to a knee.

“Good one, sug.” AJ said, rising. After a moment she bent her knee, working the joint. “See what I mean ‘bout usin’ yer noggin’?”

“I get it!” Bloom chirps again, this time full of confidence.

She pantomimes her own move from just moments ago, “At first you were all--” Fwoosh. “And then I was all--” Whoosh. At some point she realizes she’s looking a bit ridiculous and stops, grinning unashamedly.

“I see she tells stories as well as you, Applejack,” a high-cultured voice jokingly lectured. The farmers glanced over to see a woman standing at the barn’s entrance.

Rarity, clad in a white, slitted qipao and comfortable (and definitely) expensive mauve slippers was standing at the barn’s entrance. She raised one dainty long-fingered hand in greeting. “Good morning dear Applejack, Applebloom.”

“Rarity!” Applebloom trod over the mat to give her a big hug.

“Oh my!” Rarity was taken off-guard by the little Apple’s strong arms, returning the hug and running a hand through her red hair. “Goodness, you’re getting stronger by the day, aren’t you?”

“Yup!”

Rarity looked up to Applejack with fond eyes, separating from Applebloom. “I’m sure it has something to do with your trainer.”

Applejack smiled, taking a few steps towards Rarity. “Reckon it’s more ta do with her bein’ a good learner. Ya know I ain’t much fer instructions.” She paused, giving a considering tilt of her head, then decided to go for it, embracing the woman in a hard hug. “Been a while, Rare.”

One Apple’s hug still hadn’t prepared her for the next. But for AJ, she didn’t mind at all. “Indeed it...has, Jaqueline.” She grinned inwardly, aware of the oncoming reaction to the name.

“Watch it, girl,” ‘Jacqueline’ warned, pointing a finger down at the woman. “Jus’ cause I ain’t seen ya in a while don’t mean I’mma let ya push my buttons.”

“Oh Applejack, dear,” Rarity smirked, “We can worry about that later. I came to spend time with best friend and her family.”

“Ooh! It’s time for me to meet up the others!” Applebloom piped up, tugging on her track jacket and rushing to the door. “Later sis!”

“Be careful an’ have fun!” AJ called out to her, waving goodbye. She returned her attention to the woman. “Well shoot, sug. Let’s head ta the house. ’I’ll grab a shower an’ we can have some tea or somethin’.”

“After you.” Came the warm reply. “By the way….”

She examined Applejack briefly. ‘’Very convincing move with the leg back there.”

AJ gave a small smile in return. “Sometimes they need a lil’ more encouragement than instructin’ ‘em can give ‘em, ya know?”

“I keep my hands full with Sweetie Belle. I know exactly what you mean. And for what it’s worth, they all work so hard, trying to be just like us. Truly inspiring.” She chuckles, “And a little frightening.”

“But yes, lead the way. tea sounds fantastic. The trip was rather lengthy.”

After getting changed, Applejack led Rarity upstairs, stopping to greet Granny, who had apparently gotten up between the spar with Applebloom and Rarity arriving. The seamstress made her way into the shower first, wanting very much to rid herself of the scent and sweat of one of the hotter days of the year,

Meanwhile, downstairs, Applejack busied herself heating up some tea, timing the kettle on the stove for for he friend’s eventual emergence from the bathroom. The heat was always set to low because only Rarity could take as much time for tea to warm up at the lowest temp as it did to shower and clean herself up. She also made sure to bring out the remains of the apple pie made earlier in the week. The massive tin took up a whole shelf of space in the fridge, and for good reason--Mac loved himself some pie.

She was slicing lemons for the tea when the gentle scuff of Rarity’s slippers announced her arrival from upstairs. The shorter woman looked highly content, her hair arranged with enough rollers to resemble a creative art project. “Well done on suggesting a change to the decor in the hallway up there! I was beginning to think you were going to keep it that drab shade of brown forever!”

AJ smirked. “Only reason it changed is ‘cause Mac fell one mornin’ and busted a hole in it. We didn’t have that paint color on hand, so…” She gave a small gesture with her hands. “A ‘refurbishment,’ as ya’d say.”

Rarity tittered. “A makeover is a makeover regardless of the name, dear…” At that moment, the kettle begins whistling. “Speaking of which, I’m sure you know that before this month is over that I will have my attempt made on that voluminous hair of yours as well as your wardrobe.’’

“An’ like ya know, ya ain’t touchin’ the hair or the closet, sug,” AJ easily replied, taking the kettle off the burner and pouring each of them a drink into a white porcelain glass. She brought them over to the table Rarity sat it and handed her one. “Had a bit from the last time ya came by. That town north-a here that makes yer brand, uh…”

“Dahlwhinny,” she said, satisfiedly taking the glass and blowing at its contents gently. “Thank you very much.”

Rarity took the smallest of sips and decided against going back for more for a few moments. There was a specific period of time that when tea was fresh, was also perfect all the way. It wasn’t there just yet, but she had the clock ticking in her head from the moment she watched the liquid enter the glass. “So! You and I have much catching up to do. I hadn’t anticipated on getting paired up for the month before Horizon, but it will be a treat indeed.”

“For as much as everything has changed, it’s still been the same, but I wager you know better than I.”

AJ nodded, taking a long drink from her glass. She didn’t have much of a taste for more bitter teas, but knew Rarity loved the stuff, so she went along with it anyway. “Yeah, time… ya jus’ kinda loose track-a it ‘round here, ya know? Get up, take care of yer chores, next thing ya know, yer helpin’ Bloom with homework an’ gettin’ ready fer bed. Not much time fer new things.” She shook her head. “Dunno how Ma and Pa managed it longside raisin’ us. Jus’ ‘bout wears me an’ Mac ragged tryin’ ta take care-a Bloom.” AJ grinned. “An’ ya know I was twice the lil’ hellion she is.”

“Don’t I?” Rarity replied with a small smile. “The caterpillar in my hair still haunts me to this day.” She narrows her eyes, “I’m not quite sure if i’ve forgiven you for that just yet.”

“But I digress. I’ve had my hands full with Carousel, trying to spread my time between Heaven and Earth while helping Sweetie Belle with her studies… So much work, a girl can’t even stretch her legs as often.” Her smile turns into a grin. ‘’A problem I intend to fix while I’m here.”

AJ smiled herself as she took another drink. “That a fact? I reckon I can humor ya there a lil’ later on. Jus’ don’t blame me if ya break a nail or somethin’.”

“Come now, dancing around you is an exercise now. I’ve had a great many years to practice, if you remember well enough.” Rarity’s tone is teasing, hiding behind it a challenge.

“An’ ya can dance well enough. Eventually ya run outta places ta dance to, though. An’ that’s when ya get put down like a fly,” Applejack replied, brushing her nose with a thumb as she met Rarity’s challenge.

And now was the time. Rarity lifted her glass, drinking deeply and relishing in the taste of the dahlwhinny. ‘’We’ll find out soon. But for now...I assume you’ve some work to attend to? I know my arrival wasn’t exactly telegraphed.”

“Might have a thing or two ta take care of,” Jacqueline agreed, then looked at her flatly. “‘Less ya wanna slop the pigs fer me. Ya did bring some galoshes, didn’t ya?” She smiled inwardly already knowing the answer.

“Bring some what now?” Rarity looked positively clueless.

“Hell, yer the tailor, yer the one that should know ‘bout clothes more than me,” AJ replied. “Ya know, boots. Them rubber kind.”

She thinks for a moment. ‘’Nnnnot exactly…” Rarity raised one of her hands, letting the light of her magical energy coalescing over it. “But I’m sure if you’ve a spare pair of boots that I can make dodue.”

AJ paused, blinking. That was an answer she wasn’t expecting. “Well, yeah. Bloom has a pair that’s jus’ yer size. But… ya sure? Last I knew, ya weren’t too keen on, uh, dirt.”

Rarity snuffed haughtily, “Please don’t forget who I am dear, I wouldn’t do this activity in any other circumstance for any other person.” The prideful nose-in-the air came to a halt when she looked over to the blonde. “But for my friend, I can brave the horrors of soil in clothes that belong to others in the fire of tartarus.”

She gave a wistful gaze to one of her feet briefly., “At the very least, I had filed these before now. Oh well.” Her sapphire eyes turned ever so slowly to AJ, an insidious grin spreading on her face. “That’ll make two of us who can use a run to the nail salon after we take care of things.’’

AJ blanched. “Ya ain’t takin’ ‘no’ fer an answer on the nails, are ya, sug?”

“You could include that as my stipulations for me winning our spar later if you like.” Came the cheeky response.

“An’ if I win?” AJ questioned, wordlessly taking Rarity’s cup and refilling at at the kettle, before bringing it back.

Rarity thought very hard about this. Applejack would do her best to match her in the level of discomfort. It was the nature of their relationship in things like these. Sadly, she could not imagine what exactly her friend could have in mind. “...then you may choose the stipulation.” The seamstress conceded reluctantly.

AJ looked over the woman, stirring her drink with a spoon and wolfishly smiling as she thought of the best way to torture her friend. It came to her. “Ya have ta spend a day at yer shop wearin’ a pair of my overalls.”

Rarity’s jaw dropped.

“You...can’t...be… No. No you can’t be serious. You must be joking. You’re having a bit of fun,” She spluttered in horror at the very notion.

“Yer right. This is fun,” she agreed, biting hard at her lip to stop from cackling. “Who knows, hon, maybe you’ll be a trendsetter with that fancy-pants clientele of yers. Some of them high-brows love a lil’ rustic charm.”

“Oh shut up, you know ‘rustic charm’ is a pejorative when anyone else says it but me.” She snapped indignantly. “You have your deal anyway. Unlike your barbaric idea, mine will have you feeling a sense of accomplishment and beauty once you’ve had your toes and fingers brought up to the standard of a lady. You can look forward to it…”

Rarity leaned forward, “...after I’m done teaching you a thing or two.”

AJ shook her head, still holding a lopsided grin. “Shootfire,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “An’ here I was thinkin’ ya’d be pushin’ my buttons while ya were over. Don’t worry, sug. I’m sure you’ll still look right pretty wearin’ my things. It’s jus’ ‘bout impossible fer ya ta look ugly.”

Rarity chuckled. And then her chuckling grew, and grew, until it climaxed into full blown laughter.

“I’ve been away too long,” She sighs, wiping an errant tear of mirth from the corner of her eye, “I missed you, Applejack.”

“I’ve missed ya too, Rare.” AJ exhaled, then met the tailor’s eyes, smiling fondly at the woman. “I missed ya enough that I even missed ya talkin’ shop ta me, an’ ya know I don’t give a crap ‘bout that kinda junk.”

“As if you could ever imagine going longer without it.” The city slicker unfurled her mauve locks from the rollers binding them and cascading her coiffure over her shoulders while remaining in the elegant swiss roll she was accustomed to setting it in. “Shall we set to the tasks of the day before nightfall?”

“Eyup. I reckon I’ve been jawin’ too long. Let’s get to it.”

The rest of the day that followed was eventful enough, to say the least. Rarity had enchanted Applebloom’s boots with an invisible shield, and still managed to end up covered in dirt. The most unfortunate turn of events came to be when she muttered something about disgusting swine, prompting one of the pigs to bowl her over, running all over and causing a ruckus while Rarity screamed bloody murder for her clothes. While she had a specific outfit for this kind of work, she never wanted it getting...dirty.

All she could do was glare AJ looked at her, passing her a mouthful of words with no lip service. And while the herding of the cows wasn’t nearly as costly to her health and her sanity, Rarity lamented the fate of one of her nails, which had caught a near-imperceptible chip in it.

As the day died down, the pair finally made their way back into the barn’s training area. Rarity had donned her silken white kung-fu uniform, mumbling about evil swine and wasted galoshes.

Now, though, now was the time to stretch her legs. Literally first, actually, as humbling her dear friend couldn’t be done without limber muscles.

“If there’s any pain you’re still feeling after this,” Rarity smiled at AJ, “Let me know where. In my time away, I also became a rather accomplished masseuse.”

AJ tossed her hat to the side and undid her button-up shirt, revealing her one-piece training garb. “Well shoot. Coulda used ya last harvest. Pulled my lower back somethin’ fierce.” She leaned back until a hard pop came singing to hear ears, then rolled her shoulder, looking over the tailor. “I know it’s been a bit since we tangoed; ya still wanna do the rules we had before?”

“I’m afraid so darling,” The smaller woman spread her arms, moving from one direction to the next, coiling one arm to strike one way, and then the other, with two arrow-straight fingers. As if she were wielding a sword, her wrist rolled in a parrying motion. Sliding with petite feet forward, she aimed her fingers at AJ. “It would be bad for business.”

And she gave a very coordinated grin to her, “And I wouldn’t want to mar that wonderful visage of yours too badly, now would I?”

Applejack returned the grin with a wry smile of her own, turning her body to the side and raising her fists eye-level. “Yer lookin’ at the face that launched a thousand applecarts right here. Ya know it’s my money maker.”

“I could think of another, but I’ll be too busy applying my foot to it for now.” Rarity rose from her crouch, but not all the way. She raised her hands as well, in a snake stance.

Her brow furrowed slightly as she locked onto emerald eyes, and a strong, powerful frame. Each sinuous muscle, tensed and ready for action. Rarity contemplated where to move first. If only for the fact that Applejack was good at making her figure that out on the spot.

Naturally however, she also enjoyed the other game the two shared. The one they played on the side, always daring the other, pushing them. It was how they’d learned to exceed their limits, and go farther whether it was training, farming, sewing and so many more things in between. For her first move, Rarity simply turned her right hand upside-down, and gestured with her fingers toward herself.

AJ smirked, breaking stance for a moment to pop her knuckles. She knew not to rush Rarity:, that was a good way to get her ass handed to her. It was like she told Bloom. Sometimes you had to fight with your head. Now, that was usually for fighting against bigger and stronger people, and, well… bigger and stronger? That didn’t happen often for AJ. Especially against her, AJ had almost half a foot on the tailor, and outweighed her by at least fifty pounds. Thing is, that girl knew that, and knew how to work AJ’s own weight against her. Regardless, she took a few cautious steps forward and tested the waters with a quick front kick, gauging Rarity’s reaction.

When Rarity was younger, attacks that had the reach that AJ’s did made fights a nightmare for her. Compensating for her height, her speed brought Rarity a new way to deal with it. Until Applejack started seeing what was going on.

As it was, the kick was a simple move, and though it was strong, Rarity knew exactly what to do, taking a step back.

“Even Opal wouldn’t have taken that bait, dear.” Rarity intoned, nearly chuckling.

“Jus’ makin’ sure yer time away ain’t made ya soft,” Jacquelin replied, returning to stance and slowly circling the tailor, observing her stance, her positioning, waiting for a brief moment to try and spot a chink in her armor.

Opting to remain silent, her friend merely winked at her, adjusting her stance as needed. She looked carefully at AJ, glancing down at the straightforward movements of her legs. More technical. No bounce in them like Applebloom. Planted like the trees she bucked. Or, well, kicked, but semantics meant little to her in the ring.

Rarity, on the other hand...loved semantics. Such as the uneven range AJ’s strafing was giving her. While she was by no means particularly tall, Rarity had legs long enough for her height to draw a customer to Carousel from a mile off.

Her lead foot edged forward, held sideways before her rear launched her at the bigger woman at an angle. She threw herself into a feint, attempting to force a move from AJ with a fake strike before crouching lower and spinning, aiming for the actual back of her left leg. Destroying the balance of the southpaw fighter would come in handy for the final stroke.

The sweep connected with one of her feet. AJ swore, falling backwards from the strike. She twisted her torso as she fell, snapping a leg out blindly towards Rarity and landing on her forearms, rolling away a few feet and rising, instantly in form again.

AJ’s desperation kick met air; the other woman was mobile.

“Having trouble keeping upright, dear?” Rarity tittered, now on the attack. She aimed a low kick at the other leg, and then twisting to throw a rapid-fire barrage of fists against her ribs.

AJ knew Rarity would go for another kick and took a chance, hopping over the sweep, then saw her opening. An important thing she had hounded in her mind from her brother was that when it came to fights, they were different than duels. It wasn’t always about being the first to land a hit. It was about making sure you could take the hits and strike when it mattered. Knowing that, she almost grinned like a wild dog when Rarity got greedy and brought out her fists. She stood like a mountain, flinching at the first jab Rarity threw as it connected hard against her breast, then AJ shot her hand out, parrying the woman’s second strike. Applejack then brought her other fist forward, blasting it like a shotgun aimed for Rarity’s gut.

Taking punches from Applejack always felt like a more...she wouldn’t...openly state it, but the word intimate came to mind. Mostly when because of the infinitesimal moment where she could feel her insides acting up when AJ was smiling at her and touching her. The wording left much to be desired, but the feeling was still there.

And she had gotten good at it; increasing her speed meant the Apple farmer had to increase her patience for it.

The counter forced a wheeze from Rarity, widening her eyes and nearly folding her into the punch. But the difference between this and a full-impact shot was miles apart when Rarity was making use of the proximity. Upon impact, she had one hand left, and made use of it drilling the fingers into the joint on AJ’s arm before staggering away, clutching her middle and trying to collect herself as expediently as possible.

Planting her feet, she forced herself into stance through the pain, huffing calmly. “It would seem...that you haven’t gotten soft in this time either.’’

One last exhalation to pacify the ache in her belly. “Excellent.”

“An’ it looks like yer still up ta yer tricks.” The arm Rarity had struck hung, loosely trembling at AJ’s side. The farmer didn’t know how Rarity did it, but that girl had unnerving grace under fire. The blow Rarity hit on AJ’s joint struck true, so true it had deadened the arm. Applejack knew she’d get feeling to it and it’d be back to normal eventually, but eventually might be too late for the match. Taking a defensive pose with her good arm, AJ narrowed her brow at the tailor. “Hope yer ready fer another jus’ like it.”

“Mmmmm...I’d like that..” Looking at AJ now wasn’t nearly the issue of planning it had been. Now it seemed more like one of opportunity. Idly, she pondered her friend’s reaction time with the few cherry-picked hits she had landed.

Rarity opted to come in head-on this time. The insanity defense was often one of the greater techniques that she had actually learned from Applejack herself. Come from an impossibly suicidal angle a few times before switching it up. She stopped short of attacking range and came low again from the right, where she anticipated a fist flying in her direction. “Can you give me one more of those?” She quipped on the approach.

Applejack reared back and launched a haymaker. Or, at least it appeared to be one. Instead, she feinted, using the inertia of her false strike to turn and drop nearly prone onto her good hand. She launched a mule kick behind her. It was reckless and a gamble, but she knew she had to keep the tailor on her toes, and AJ knew that’d be harder and harder to do as the sparring dragged on.

Though for now, the statement was highly apt, as the only thing that saved Rarity from getting swept away like dust in a storm was the quick guard she raised her arms for. The kick carried her backward, rolling her head over heels once, and through the daze, she found her bearings, planting her feet before the second roll. The battle of attrition was a two-way street for her, and so she opted to jet forward, raising her leg and whipping it forward at Applejack in staccato bursts, aiming to strike any and all of the bigger woman she could reach.

As often as she drilled and lectured Bloom for breaking stance, sometimes in a fight you couldn’t hold it. Rigid thinking is what got your ass beat. Adapting was a necessity. Especially when someone could read you like an open book. AJ rolled with Rarity’s kicks, bracing herself and letting blows hammer her in the abs, the shoulders, the breasts, one blow accidently hit her groin and sent a wave of nausea and pain radiating through her body, but she weathered that storm and leapt forward, pouncing on her and wrapping her thighs around Rarity’s own. Applejack leaned onto the woman, toppling her and pinning Rarity under her weight. She brought the tailor to the floor and lay on top of her, her forearm resting gently at Rarity’s neck.

“Well,” AJ breathed out, sweating, panting desperately for air, but looking smug as she stared down at Rarity, inches away from the woman’s face. “Looks like I won the dance.”

Worse for wear was Rarity, dizzy, dehydrated and done. She could breath at least, what with her friend being so considerate to merely pin her with that oxen strength of hers.

Their proximity and positioning was a point of interest too.

“Dance?” Rarity huffed back, “This pose seems something like one I suppose. I remember overhearing Applebloom mentioning a ‘horizontal monster mash’ once.”

She smirked at the bigger woman, “But for the life of me, I’m having trouble relating the phrase.”

Applejack mouthed ‘horizontal monster mash,’ under her breath, pondering what that could be. As she felt Rarity shift and flex under her body, she realized what it was and pushed herself off the tailor, heat pulsating through her dark skin.

“S-shut up,” AJ stammered out, looking anywhere but at the tailor as she offered her hand down to Rarity.

“Forever the prude.” Rarity laughed breathlessly as she was helped up. “Things truly do stay the same, don’t they, Jacqueline?”

It was nighttime when they finally left the barn, and the sky overhead shone with a sea of glittering stars. AJ took a moment to simply be still, shutting her eyes and holding her breath as a breeze blew through her blonde hair. She exhaled, looking over at Rarity as they walked the dirt path towards the house.

“Pretty,” the farmer said, smiling fondly at the land around her. “Jus’ real nice tonight.”

She walked, or rather, limped, to the wooden fence line by the path, resting a foot on the rail and staring at the land in front of her, taking the lines of trees and fields with a sort of passing acknowledgment of their existence, absorbing the sight like a sponge, willing it into her memories.

“Jus’ real nice,” she repeated.

“A better description would need poets--” Rarity leaned against the fence beside AJ, looking up as well, “--but were you going in the order of me and then the land? Or the land and then me?” She put on an exaggerated pout, “Dear Applejack, you silver tongued devil. You wound me.”

AJ offered a small smile, reaching over to clasp Rarity’s shoulder. “If I say ‘both,’ will that get me outta hot water, sug?”

“Possibly,” The dressmaker replied playfully, setting her own hand upon the one on her shoulder. “But you’d be right either way. By the way, have you been putting lead in your fists while I was gone?” She rubbed her stomach self-consciously. Rarity hadn’t quite subscribed to the idea of her organs seeking different residences in her body.

“When ya ain’t got anythin’ but punches in yer skill lists, ya learn ta make ‘em count.” Applejack looked over, briefly concerned. “Ya gonna live?”

Rarity raised a hand, “I’ll be fine dear, but it’s you and that limp I’m worried about. I can’t help but think I may have hit something when I was, ahem, hitting you.”

“I’m jus’ sayin’, I expect a dinner an’ movie ‘fore ya go that far south again,” AJ quipped, embarrassed at her own joke. She cleared her throat. “But, nah, Rare. Ain’t no worse fer wear.”

They stared for a long moment, neither speaking as the scene washed over them, soothing their bruised bodies more than any sort of mineral bath could. AJ spoke up finally, breaking the silence.

“It’s jus’ like old times,” she said. After another pause, the farmer swallowed, looking at her hands, willing them to do something. “Can I be honest with ya?”

“You are nothing if not that dear...besides bursting with rustic charm, good looks and muscles. Go on.” Rarity looked intently over to AJ, curious to the rather sudden bout of introspection.

Jacqueline laughed quietly. “Dunno ‘bout good looks, but…” She stared at Rarity, collecting her thoughts. “Guess I jus’ mainly wanted ta say ‘thanks.’ Yer a better friend than I deserve.”

For a moment, Rarity couldn’t respond properly. The familiar intimacy of spending time with AJ was back in full force, and she was struck with an entirely less painful feeling in her gut.

She lifted a hand, placing it against Applejack’s face. ‘’I should be thanking you. You’ve been one of the most honorable, dependable, honest, and strongest people to be a part of my life.”

A moist sensation at the corner of one of her eyes made her withdraw the hand, bringing it to brush away the oncoming tear.

AJ noticed the tear. “Aw, come on, Rare,” she said, moving an arm to the tailor’s shoulder and holding the woman. “Don’t cry. I’m jus’ stupid an’ thinkin’ out loud. Tonight jus’ kinda reminded me of a time when we were kids, ya know?”

“Of course I know, don’t be silly,” Her smile was beatific. “It isn’t becoming of a lady to cry so openly. However…”

Rarity leaned against her, for old times sake. “Your best friend might have something in her eye. That time from which we came is so far away...and yet here you are again. And here I am.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “You used to hold me just like this back then.”

“An’ ya did the same fer me when I lost my folks. Ya were always there fer me, Rare,” AJ gave a serious nod in agreement. She gently squeezed the tailor’s shoulder and gave a lopsided smile her way. “It’s stupid, I know, but ya remember what ya promised me then?”

“There were so many promises.” Rarity didn’t mean to cry, she really didn’t, but she had an unhealthy case of eye water it seemed. “But I do indeed. Maybe I’m still holding onto it to this day. Even if we’re miles and miles apart.”

“There were a few,” she agreed. “But the one I remember most is this: If I ever got hurt. If I ever jus’ couldn’t do it, ya’d show up an’ take care-a me.” She looked at how weepy Rarity was and sniffed herself, blinking away a few tears of her own that threatened to spill. “Hell,” she spat out, her smile twitching, nearly fading from her face. “A-an’ I know it’s dumb, but… I always thought that was right. Ya’d come ridin’ up on a horse like some knight, I guess, I dunno.” Wiping at her nose, she weakly forced a laugh out as her voice cracked. “Guess yer willin’ ta get dirty fer me, an’ I’m willin’ ta get sappy with ya.” AJ took a breath in and exhaled after a beat, calming herself down. “Sorry, sug,” she finally said. “Don’t know where that came from.”

Rarity’s arm found her way over to Applejack’s shoulder. ‘’It came from an honest place.” She said, losing herself in the moment as well. ‘’You had been my knight more times than I can count. And better yet, had shown me…”

She gulped, wiping away another wave of tears with her free hand. “...shown me who I would eventually become in life. Stuck with me through everything…for me, for my sister. For my family.” Rarity actually did laugh, her voice reaching its breaking point as well.

“Look what y-you’ve started,” The sound was between joy, sorrow and hysterics, “Now the both of us are crying.”

And she turned from the moon, wrapping her arms over the taller woman’s neck and pulling her close, holding her as tightly as she would a last lifeline.

AJ wasn’t sure if she should laugh or not. A part of her said yes, the other part felt like it was going to cry again. “We’re alright, sug. Jus’...” she reached a hand to Rarity’s cheek, wiping a tear away with her thumb and rubbing the tailor’s back with her other hand. Jacqueline stared at Rarity’s intelligent, piercing blue eyes. They were red at the rims, but still pure. Still the same ones she remembered looking at for all those years.

“We’re jus’ a coupla idjits gettin’ sappy. That’s all.” She leaned down, getting a closer look at Rarity. At her running mascara and trembling lips. A small part of her that had never really crossed her mind recognized just how beautiful, how painfully beautiful the woman was even when she looked so ragged. AJ realized her hand was still on Rarity’s cheek.

“That’s all,” she repeated quietly to the tailor and to herself.

“Yes...mmm...hah...oh goodness!” Rarity squawked, voice scratching somewhat humorously.

This period of time. This bit of her twenty-four hours of the day, on the earth, is going to be the same she wants to see before leaving this world. Before she takes her last breath, Rarity wants to indulge in the fantasy of time with one of her most precious people in the world. To gaze back at the brilliant emerald eyes full of warmth and strength.

“We’ve...we’ve been through a lot together.” The shorter woman reaches over, dabbing more tears away from Applejack’s face, smiling brightly now. “Do you remember when you prevented those diamond dog gang fools from making off with my things?”

“Heard their leader had ta eat from a straw for months,” AJ replied, grinning. “Not ta mention what I did ta their lil’ hideout.”

“Did it involve arson, returning the things they stole to people, or a combination of both?” Rarity says with a giggle.

“Lil’ of both. Ya know me too well.”

“My hero.”

It was nothing for Rarity to lean forward, and plant a kiss on her cheek.

...until she did it.

“Ah...um...sorry…” Rarity’s face reddened intensely in the cheeks. She attempted to laugh it off, “A brave knight like that deserved a reward of some kind though.”

AJ felt heat radiate through her face at the action. She looked at Rarity, then at how close they still were.

“N-nah,” she stammered out, far from used to anything resembling the action Rarity just performed on her. “That’s alright. I…” Bracing herself, AJ squinted her eyes shut and leaned down, planting a kiss on Rarity’s forehead. Letting out a breath she didn’t know she held, the farmer nodded nervously at her handiwork. “Now we’re even.”

Rarity’s jaw nearly dropped the second time that day. As a lady however, she managed to rein herself in, smiling once more at the farmer. “For a given value of even. I owe you one foot to one posterior. And we’ll both need to work hard to make sure we’re ready for the tournament.”

AJ smirked. “Actually, if we’re talkin’ even, I think ya still owe me a lil’ show in my overalls.”

Though it was uncharacteristic, crass and only fitting of someone of Applejack’s rustic charm, a single word flitted through Rarity’s mind and out of her mouth.

“...shit.”

Applejack followed her morning routine once more, rising at the crack of dawn, stretching, and saying hello to Mac and Bloom after she downed a mouthful of cider. A change for her happened after that, though. Instead of immediately getting to work, she donned halfway decent clothes and made her way to town. It was Mac’s idea, really. He said that there wasn’t much that needed done today, and that she deserved a day off to see Rarity again. AJ took him up on the offer in a heartbeat, not that she wanted to skimp out on work, mind, but she felt she needed to talk to Rarity again, especially after last night. They hadn’t said much after pulling away from one-another’s embrace, which left Applejack wondering what exactly it meant to the tailor. Rarity had always been the more adventurous of the two when it came to stuff like that. Seemed like she knew what she liked, and would routinely cycle boyfriends and girlfriends during their younger years.

Now that ain’t fair, AJ reasoned with herself as she walked down the road leading to town. It wasn’t too far of a drive, so she rarely used the truck. Plus it was a pleasant enough day, slightly overcast and a breeze that stopped the summer heat from penetrating the earth too deeply. She turned back to her thoughts. Rarity wasn’t a floozy by any means. She just had a knack for knowing when a relationship wouldn’t work.

An is that what ya want with her? Applejack thought, biting at her lip and nodding to a man passing by her on the road. She wasn’t used to these hard questions so early in the morning, so she mulled over the answer as she came to the outskirts of the quaint town. AJ didn’t really have much experience with a love life. Boys found her intimidating, most girls she found shallow, add on to the work she had to do around the farm and it wasn’t like she had time for many social calls. But there was something about Rarity that was different. Maybe it was the time they spent together all these years, maybe it was the way Rarity was the most dependable woman she knew outside of her family. Maybe it was the tailors eyes. All Jacqueline knew was that she had an almost desperate feeling about Rarity since last night.

As she passed by familiar stalls selling their wares and the schoolyard, kids already starting to glumly enter the building, AJ realized what could happen if Rarity wasn’t interested. Was AJ willing to possibly make things awkward between them if Rarity didn’t feel the same way? Did Applejack misunderstand last night? Was it just a friendly joke? The thought gave her a sick feeling in her stomach that refused to leave as she stood, looking over the shop and its oval, multi floored design, reminding Applejack of a gazeebo. She hesitantly put her hand on the store’s doorknob, and pushed it open, a bell ringing over the door announcing her arrival.

Carousel was bustling with activity as usual. Summer sales put Rarity on the front line with reinforcements in the way of an overeager little sister who was just as good at making grand cups of tea to take the edge off as she was at tripping over and spilling them everywhere. The busy atmosphere was immensely helpful in taking the edge off of the thoughts clawing desperately at her brain.

Another thing that helped was deflecting remarks over her “dirt chic” look, and how it must’ve been a fortune, despite being more literally, dirt cheap. The little one-eyed boy who came in with his parents from Buckingham was much sharper, noting how no outfit could be that authentic down to the smell. Rarity had the right to be mad but the common sense to dismiss his remarks of pejoratively charming precociousness.

Like a beacon in the night, the tinkling of her door’s bell revealed a knight in plaid armor.

Or maybe it was just Applejack and Rarity went having flights of fancy that could not possibly exist.

“Good morning darling, you’re looking well today,” The tailor greeted as a satisfied (and snickering) customer walked past AJ and the door, “And that’s fantastic, truly! Because you will need to be awake for every special moment for our next ring encounter.” The customer that had left was the last one preceding the lunch hour, giving her some time to recuperate--and to let Applejack know she was gonna get it.

Of course that didn’t mean she wasn’t glad to see her friend in good health, or that she wasn’t glad to see her putting a glorious spin on the way the day would play out from here.

“Good mornin’ ta you too, Rare.” AJ grinned. She held her hand out, palm downward and rolled her finger in a circle. “Come on, girl, give me a lil’ twirl.”

Rarity just gave her a look before it morphed into a nice, delicate, pitiable expression.

“After ya close up shop ya can change. How’s that?” she offered. “An’ that pout ain’t gonna work no-more. Ain’t half as good as Bloom does it nowadays.”

That got the seamstress to laugh. “She’d have to compete with Sweetie Belle. That girl has it refined to a form of art I never had a hold on at that age. It truly can be a little frightening when they learn to take on certain qualities and actions of ours.” Rarity moved out from behind the counter.

Last night had been fresh in her mind for the better part of the day, yet Rarity hadn’t properly allowed herself to accept the experience as anything other than a tearful reunion. Seeing Applejack come in during the middle of the day was more than enough to throw her conscience at the wall of apprehension, desire and guilt mixed up in her heart in the interim of then to now.

At most, she could hold the emotions at bay, more intent on spending time with her friend than ruminating on strong chocolate thighs wrapped over her waist and tear-streaked faces kissing under the moonlight. She beckoned AJ to the small table and two chairs she set up near one of the large window, a hot pot of coffee sitting in the machine, full of hot black java. “I took the liberty of preparing a beverage of your choice as well. While I know you’re more fond of the cider, I do remember you enjoying the coffee I made when we had went to Sweetie Belle’s performance up in Heaven a few years ago.”

How the little girl with a singing voice sweeter than honeyed sugar continued to see her talent in following Rarity through martial arts was well beyond the older sister was beyond reason.

“Oh yeah,” AJ replied, nodding at the memory. “That kind with the almond in it. That was a pretty good blend.” She watched as Rarity poured each of them a cup and brought it to the table. They sat in silence over the hot beverages for a moment, AJ resting her large, calloused hands at the sides of the cup, rolling her eyes a bit at the stylized, intricate floral design around the rim.

“Did ya really need a cup this fancy fer coffee, Rare?” she asked, then continued on in a lecturing tone, “Cheap don’t matter if yer jus’ drinkin’ outta ‘em.”

“Presentation is everything, darling. Besides, how could you not adore such craftsmanship? The design is simply to die for!” She extends a pinky finger as she raises her own steaming cup with its gilded handle and exorbitantly priced material.

“An’ I’m sure the price would kill me,” AJ replied flatly.

Rarity tsked, “An enterprising woman like yourself can’t afford to remain hampered by frugality forever. Sometimes you’ve got to enjoy…” The once-over was unintentional, but hopefully played off as she hummed. “...mmm, the finer things in life.”

The farmer shook her head. “I got good friends, good family, an’ solid earth under my feet. I got all I need ta enjoy myself.” She took a sip of her drink and shrugged. “‘Sides. I can’t spend too much, gotta get Bloom through school.”

“That’s the problem, dear Applejack, it wouldn’t kill you to indulge once in a while.” Her mauve-haired friend took another sip. “Can’t you think of one thing you could throw caution to the wind for?”

You, Applejack thought. She quickly locked that idea deep in the pits of her stomach and away from her mouth, surprised at its appearance. She gave a small rise of her thumbs in uncertainty. “Well, I dunno. What would be somethin’ you’d do like that?”

“Wearing your overalls in my place of work for one,” Rarity pointed one long finger at AJ, “Under any circumstance, I would have defaulted on the agreement and attempted to wear something over them, or simply not worn them at all.” She then smiles. “But I didn’t. There isn’t much in our friendship I’ve never felt the call to do my absolute best for.”

“If it helps any, I think ya look right cute in ‘em,” Applejack offered, smiling kindly at the tailor. “lil’ baggy on ya, but no too bad.”

A devious grin appeared on her face. “From what I gather of last night, I think you’d much rather me out of them.’’

AJ paused, surprised, yet not at Rarity’s bluntness. Deciding to bite the bullet, Applejack took another drink of her coffee, its heat almost too much to handle.

“‘Bout last night…” Applejack started off clumsily, glancing to the side and tapping her finger against the cup. She cleared her throat and took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Guess I wanted ta know what ya thought of it.”

Her composure had held up neatly up until this moment. Rarity choked on her coffee, burning her throat with the hot beverage. Sputtering and grabbing napkins to dab at the places she had inadvertently spilled it on, she coughed, “Thought of...last night?”

Rarity coughed a few more times, unable to quite clear her throat just yet.

AJ half-rose from her chair, debating between slapping the girl on the back or waiting for her to regain her composure. On seeing Rarity finally recover, she sat down again.

“Yeah,” AJ said, looking into Rarity’s eyes. “Don’t be coy with me now, Rare. Ya know what I mean.”

“Well…” She cleared her throat before seeing the glittering emerald irises locked with her own. “Of course I do. It was our reunion. We hadn’t seen each other for so long. It was only natural we spent it sobbing against one another and thinking about the good times.”

There was a really persistent itch in her throat now. The tailor cleared it again. “You certainly were auspicious in how you asked though. What did you think of last night, while we’re on the subject?”

Applejack sighed in annoyance, drumming her fingers alongside the table. “Ya know I was glad ta see ya again. That’s always a fact.” She gave a nervous shake of her head. “An’ ya also know that ain’t what I was talkin’ ‘bout.”

“Then what are you talking about?” Rarity snapped, setting her cup down. “We’ve always had an unorthodox relationship. Last night wasn’t the first time you’ve straddled me in a victory and it was far from the first time we held each other together. What exactly am I to say?”

“How ‘bout the fact ya kissed me?” Applejack shot back, flustered and more than a little angry at Rarity’s evasiveness. “Gotta say that’s a new one. ‘Less that’s how ya treat everyone these days.”

“Not nearly as new as you kissing me back. This is moot either way. Platonic kisses are held in a different esteem for women. You of all people should understand this.” Rarity countered, turning her head away.

“I only did it ‘cause ya did it ta me first,” the farmer said. Letting the rest of Rarity’s words sink in Jack seemed to deflate, cooling down a bit. “An’ that’s what it was? A lil’ ‘jus’ friends’ kiss?”

The smaller woman bit her lip. “O-obviously I wanted to repay your kindness. A kiss from a lady is considered a reward to most.”

“An’ are ya tellin’ me the truth?” Jacqueline asked, throwing her arm over the headrest of the chair and staring evenly at her. “Ya know I got a decent bullshit detector, sug. ‘Specally on a gal I’ve known my whole life.”

Today had become more eventful than Rarity was expecting. And as an extension, the first two days of her month of bonding. Suddenly her entire relationship with her best friend was under question. “Your detector needs tuning, dear. There’s very little in the way of ulterior motive in my actions around you.”

Except that it’s not off. She admitted to herself.

A knock on the glass door put a merciful end to this conversation. ‘’It looks like we’ll have to talk another time, unless you’d like to walk around town a bit until closing, or stay here. I don’t mind either way.”

Applejack swallowed, her mouth cotton. “I got the day off, so, uh, yeah. I’ll find something to do fer a while outside.” She offered a weak, unconvincing smile as she rose from the table. “Gotta make that dollar, huh? No rest fer the weary.”

Or the wicked. “Indeed. Would you please come back later? Things got a bit heated back there…” And I don’t really want to send you away.

“Yeah,” AJ nodded, taking in a breath and exhaling, putting her hands on her hips and looking anywhere but at the tailor. “Yeah, I’ll come back, sug.” AJ moved to the door, opening it for a pretentious-looking man wearing what AJ could only call a silky gown. She nodded at him and left.

The farmer wasn’t sure what hurt worse as she walked through the town, Rarity’s words, or the fact AJ had felt something when there was nothing there.

The sun was coming down when Rarity began turning down the lights, switching the sign from across the shop with a gesture from a hand coated in magic. Carousel was now closed.

And sadly, so was Applejack, it seemed.

Rarity cursed her selfish nature. Telling Applejack about the way her heart would flutter by just being around her sometimes felt like a great way to ruin the relationship. Or how she could imagine alternate versions of the end of every spar they ever had. Or how they felt less like friends in each other’s embrace and more like lovers.

As the hopeless romantic, it was almost Rarity’s duty to be the one to act on these impulses. But her desire not to possible overwhelm and lose Applejack with such information was paramount to keeping her. She felt anyway. Chancing it was something she felt the farmer too precious a person to let her know outright.

Thankfully, she was able to rid herself of those accursed overalls. Not that she was in any hurry to run all the way back to the Acre just to deliver them.

That’s the problem dear Rarity, her reflection tsked at her in the mirror, it would kill you to indulge.

The fashionista decided to at least smooth things over for now. She was to be here for a month, which meant the other twenty-nine days from now didn’t have to be so bloody difficult. And hopefully, AJ would pull through this little discomfort she had caused her.

She entered her walk-in closet. It was a far cry from her masterpiece in Heaven’s Carousel, but it was full of potential. And Rarity was good at making potential shine.

Casting her eyes about, she came to rest them on a particular variation of the white qipao she had arrived with during the day before, and smiled at the forming idea.

Ooh and then I’ll need to work on a mani-pedi then too. She’ll forget all about this afternoon the second she sees this… Rarity tittered to herself, imagining the gawking already. A few alterations here...a few diamond shaped holes there… Fix the heels up to reveal a bit more…

A knocking came from the door.

The dimmed lights rose back to their full brightness when the door swung open, Rarity posing in a cheongsam designed similarly to her qipao from the day before. A trio of diamond shaped holes were stenciled to the mark on her waist, somewhere below the navel. Her nails had been filed down reasonably instead of adding length with acrylics and the paint coating them was sky blue, the same could be said of her toes, a simplistic but attractive shade of blue decorating them. Her cream wedge heels laced small lengths of leather over her ankle, trailing just two over the foot themselves.

Rarity had did little more with her hair than a shampoo and another curling, but semantics demanded she remain “classic Rarity” for tonight. She also decided to forgo too much lipstick, opting for a subtle balm.

Rarity was right on the money. AJ didn’t know what hit her. As soon as the farmer caught glance of her, Applejack’s jaw nearly hit the floor. She pushed her stetson back on her head and took Rarity in like she was a cool drink.

“Wow,” she finally stammered out.

“You can put your eyes back into your head, and a more appropriate outfit on. We’re going to dinner.” The words were spoken with all the confidence and quiet bombast Rarity was known for.

“I ain’t really got any clothes that match that, sug,” AJ said. It took all her willpower, but she forced her eyes upward, past Rarity’s sensual hips, above her beautiful, palm-sized breasts, and was drawn to her eyes. She stared deeply into them, briefly lost for words before she spoke again. “You’re... beautiful. ‘Specally in that dress. Ya know that, right?”

She sauntered back toward her closet, beckoning her with an index finger.

AJ raised a curious brow, but followed her inside.

“Just a moment!”

“Ow! Damn!”

“I know I’m beautiful darling, but you’re about to find out that statement goes as much for you.” Rarity tittered, taking a step back as the fluorescent lights rose back to their original brightness. “Just have a seat while I find you a dress.”

“A dress?” AJ repeated, blinking. She tried to move an arm in protest, but realized quickly they were dead as doornails, Rarity’s magic hands doing every trick in the book on her to paralyze them. “Now, uh, hold on, Rare,” Applejack quickly said, trying to keep her tone from sounding panicked. “I ain’t exactly dress material.”

Rarity leaned down gently taking AJ’s chin between her curled index finger and thumb. She said nothing, but smiled at her briefly before releasing her and walking away, rifling through her collection.

Eventually she came upon a particularly hot number. It was a dull golden piece that Rarity knew would complement AJ’s dark, earthen-toned skin, it was a fairly conservative dress, it would easily reach the tall woman’s lower thigh, which seemed about perfect, considering AJ’s more reserved sensuality regarding her own body. Rarity smiled a bit, however, when she noticed the dresses deep, plunging neckline. It would display the farmer’s oversized bust quite nicely. Applejack wasn’t going to get away with keeping all her assets under wraps, after all. It was important to have a design that called attention to you. In fact, it was Rarity’s duty as her friend, and more importantly at this moment, her tailor, to let Applejack have a piece that screamed to the world, “here I am!” The final realization that this would be the perfect article of clothing was the billowy silken arms, their loose design would hide AJ’s ropey, rock-hard muscles.

She opted for a pair of autumn colored boots, finding they’d highlight her height, reaching up to the knee and no further. After a quick shampoo and a brushing, AJ’s ponytail looked majestic, still tied at the end, still retaining all of the simple charm of the woman herself, but majestic all the same.

“I do apologize for putting you through that,” Rarity apologized gently, pressing the the same spots again with her fingers one by one, “Though if you think me any worse for it, a trip to the mirror might prove you otherwise.”

The farmer offered a wary glare Rarity’s way before stepping forward and looking herself over. She turned her body a few different directions before crossing her arms over her breasts and turning.

“Ya know I ain’t a fan-a this stuff… but ya do know how ta gussy someone up,” she admitted, glancing down at her crossed arms. “Though I ain’t a fan of the gals bein’ out in the open this much.”

“Forever the prude, Jacqueline.” Rarity giggled, picking up her purse. “Our ride should be here any minute now. Do hurry along, darling.”

“Alright, alright,” AJ grumbled. “Don’t blow a gasket.” She looked over at her hat, which had gotten brushed off during Rarity’s… renovation and debated on putting it on. With a defeated sigh, she picked it up and placed it on a nearby chair before meeting Rarity and heading out the door.

AJ rubbed at the white linen table as she looked nervously at Rarity, the candles in glass orbs resting at the center of the table flickering and dancing, showing the tailor in a different light every moment, making her beautiful from hundreds of lights and angles Applejack didn’t think possible. She swallowed, looking away for a brief moment at the other tables around them, at the dozens of men in precise three-piece suits, and women in flowing gowns all enjoying dinner and speaking in low, dreamy tones to one-another. Farther into the open and high-ceilinged room was a live band, playing a soothing violin piece. It’d put Applejack to sleep, if she didn’t have these butterflies in her stomach from being like this in front of the tailor. She glanced once more to the other side, where a large bay window let a scenic view wash over the place, one full of the lowlands of the kingdom and the beautiful, far-away mountains of the countries border.

Applejack looked down at the wine on the table and downed it in one swallow. She grabbed another piece of bread from the basket before them and stuffed it in her mouth, self-conscious when she noticed Rarity’s disapproving glance at her full mouth.

“Soweef,” she said after swallowing the offending object.

“Geshundheit, dear.” Her expression softened. “Don’t worry, the bread isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Yeah,” AJ agreed, leaning on the table. “Yeah, yer right. Sorry.”

Rarity reached a concerned hand forward, “You seem a bit antsy.” She grinned. “Don’t worry, you only need to worry about your ‘girls’, they’re perfectly fine.” And with any luck? Mine.

“That ain’t why I’m antsy, Rare,” AJ said. Rarity could tell she was embarrassed. “This restaurant seems pretty high-end. How’d ya get a reservation fer it? I didn’t think a place like this did walk-ins.”

“While some aren’t you, I do have friends, darling. And some of those friends may ask for a dress for their daughter receiving a black belt from Heavenbolts Academy.” Rarity said blithely, pouring a glass of wine for AJ and then herself.

“Ya always were good on havin’ connections,” Applejack chuckled, taking another drink and this time leaving at least a bit of the beverage in the glass. She crossed one of her strong, muscled thighs over the other and looked at the tailor, her smile dropping off her face as she took to measuring her. “Though it seems kinda odd invitin’ me here.”

Rarity didn’t bother taking her wine in stride. At least, not nearly as much as she was with the coffee earlier today. Watching Applejack shift across the table like that made her doubt her chances slightly. What if it turned out that the were both fools in love and but couldn’t make it work? Would it ruin their chances of staying friends? Would AJ still want to come by, and spend time? Feel uncomfortable sparring around her?

The wine steadily curbed her inhibitions, By how much, Rarity ventured the rest of this ‘date’ would tell.

She wiped her lips with the thinnest of napkins on the table, waste not want not, after all, “Applejack, if you won’t indulge for your sake, then I will. Honestly, you are an odd one indeed. To think you were the first one I saw drinking from a gilded cup when we met.” Her lips curled upward at the memory of the farmgirl, doing her best to emulate...well...the city girl.

“Yeah, well, ain’t like Manhatten was the best place fer a country girl ta act like she should.” She shut her eyes and seemed to stiffen her body, reliving a brief moment in history before opening them again and smiling. “And I suppose we can assume where a lot of your interest in clothing design came from, my lady,” Applejack said, her accent gone for a brief moment and instead replaced with the high, cultured tongue of the Manhatten elite. “As it were, before my time there, were you not more inclined to jewelry making?” She coughed, the action seeming to dispel the impression. “How that? I still do alright actin’ like them brown-nosers?”

Rarity giggled, unable to stop herself. The wine aided in her giddiness, but she’d be lying if she were to say none of what AJ had just done wasn’t humorous to her. “Close enough, darling! You can’t stop yourself from being so genuine when you do it though. That’s a few points off for authenticity.” The tailor giggled again at the irony. Authenticity in a persona that used a voice to imply intelligence or social grace more than one actually had.

Early on in their friendship, Rarity could recall this being one of the many things she had been called out on. And yet she simply evolved into the actual thing she had always been trying to be because of it.

“Hey Rare?” Applejack quietly asked, once more seeming to draw into her shell. She took another drink.

“Mm?”

“Ya know I’d never say anythin’ ta hurt ya on purpose, right?”

Rarity blinked. “Of course I do…” The tone of voice really clued her in. “...is this about earlier today? I told you, things just got a little heated darling, that’s hardly anything new to us. We’ve been bumping heads since we were five, and we haven’t stopped since. That doesn’t mean we don’t care any less though.”

She gave a small nod in agreement. “An’ that’s the thing. Carin’ ‘bout one-another. I-I mean. I guess what I’m talkin’ ‘bout is earlier today, yeah,” she stammered out, a hand at the end of the table and scrunching up the cloth covering as she tried to speak her mind, her words lost in her nerves. “But there’s another bit ‘bout it I wanted ta talk ta ya ‘bout too. ‘Bout last night.”

“Oh but there were so many bits,” Rarity titters again, her laughter carefree and girlish as one of her legs extended itself under the table, flirting with Applejack’s own. “Those damn pigs leaving tracks all over me, the delicious cup of dahlwhinny, the hot, brown skin pinning my own to the floor…” She purred as she dragged an innocent toe up the calf.

“Take your pick.”

Applejack blushed, tensing up at Rarity’s actions, at her words, but she didn’t retreat. If anything, she let out a weak gasp of surprise at the action and pressed on.

“The kiss?” AJ offered, the drink in her system doing nothing to calm her racing heart and boiling hot face. She took another drink in her shaking hands, refusing to look away from Rarity.

The seamstress “hmhmed” at Applejack, gazing at her friend silently, contemplating her. “And what in the Earth it could possibly mean?”

.”I know ya said it was jus’ this thing… ‘tween friends. But…” AJ swore under her breath. “But ta me? Felt, I dunno. Better than that, I guess. A-an’ I didn’t wanna say that, but it’s how I feel.” Giving it another long pause, she continued. “ An’ that’s why I wanted ta say I’d never hurt ya on purpose, ya know? It’s jus’ that… I know ya, ya can be so damn nonchalant ‘bout that sorta stuff. Well? I can’t.”

She gave a pleading look Rarity’s way. “I ain’t really ever had someone ta teach me the ropes, so what I’m feelin’ fer ya, how I’m feelin’ fer ya? I don’t know if its really the right call or not. Hell,” she spat out. “Sorry, Rare,” she apologized. “I didn’t want ya ta be creeped out or nothin’, ‘specally after ya said earlier today it was a jus’ friends deal. But… I ain’t the best at lyin’, an’ it was killin’ me.”

“Now who said,” The other woman whispered, “That I merely regarded that kiss as purely platonic?” Rarity grinned.

“But I thought—” AJ started.

A slender, pale finger placed itself against her lips. “If you want to understand, you’ll have to humor me again. Another match. And if you win? I’ll tell you. And if I win? ...mmm...well...I still have my previous stipulations to fall back on.” Removing her finger, Rarity polished off the last of her wine.

“Do we have an agreement?”

Applejack nodded, only vaguely realizing she did. “I ain’t gonna lose.”

More tipsy chortling. “We’ll see about that… And if my eyes don’t deceive me, the dear garcon has arrived with our food.”

“Hope ya got somethin’ bigger than a salad. You’ll need a good meal fer later tonight,” the farmer warned, popping her knuckles.

“Aw,” Rarity cooed, “Is someone still sore over being turned into a marionette for a few minutes?”

“‘Bout as sore as you were in my overalls, I’d reckon.”

And Rarity turned red as a beet, sober enough to mutter indignantly as she dug into her meal while Applejack got her laugh out of the moment.

Their dinner was a pleasant one. Rarity had never had roast pheasant before, and after the first bite, she never would again. But she was easily able to settle for the salad on the side and a bite of her dear friend’s alfredo pasta. With a piece of that delicious bread the servers had brought out, Rarity had a decidedly balanced and satisfying meal.

The trip back to Carousel was much longer than the time it took to get to the restaurant. While the two appeared to be merely tired from the wonderful trip out, the silence was more to mask the beating heart of the other. Powerful emotions grappled with Applejack and Rarity, tumbling and twisting as the carriage pulled up to the shop.

The tailor had earned a few kind words from AJ on the way in for the development of a spell that would help with the considerable alcohol consumption. She had rummaged around in her bag for a few aspirin, her hand glowing blue with the light of her magic for a moment before sharing a glass of water with Applejack. They’d be able to operate a bit more soberly, and a lot less likely to wake up with a migraine.

“Did you happen to bring any of your things, darling?” Rarity asked as she walked back into her closet, directing AJ into the backroom, which had been converted into a lounge and a half gym, complete with a four-sided ring the same as her barn. For the most part.

“Honestly? Nah. Wasn’t really expectin’ ta throw down with ya today,” she replied. “Ya wouldn’t happen ta have anythin’ that could fit me, would ya?”

Fishing around in her closet, she was able to find a pair white pants that belonged to a full kung-fu uniform. That, and one of her old sleeveless shirts, which may as well have been a bra for Applejack now. “So long as we’re not being specific with our definition of ‘fit’, I have exactly what you need.”

Rarity herself re-clothed herself in something similar, though much less...highlighted than AJ would be.

Applejack rolled her shoulders, getting used to the clothing she wore now. The plus about her normal wear was it was far more flexible. As it was now, there were a few spots that were tight and stiff. When she was almost positive the tailor was distracted, she stole a glance over at Rarity, who was busy doing her own set of warm-ups. AJ stood, looking at her for a few dumb, blissful moments, before returning to her own ritual, streching her legs and popping her back, then stepping inside the ring.

“I think,” Rarity could feel a good sort of pressure rising within her, “I will take my time.” She raised one palm stretching it outward, and bending the other arm slightly, keeping it more loose. Her feet assumed two different positions. One turned to the left and one forward, slightly turned to the left.

“Jus’ fine with me,” Applejack said, her fists held close to her eyes as she turned at an angle towards Rarity. “I might teach ya a thing or two this way.”

The tailor did nothing but smirk, once again, turning her lead hand, and beckoning her dear friend forward.

AJ did just that, her arms still held defensively in front of her. She feinted just outside of Rarity’s range, feinted again, then dashed towards her, a leg snapping out for a side kick.

She spun in place, redirecting the attack, not so easily carried by the kick as she was when it wasn’t swinging at her in an arc. Rarity chose not to mount a counterattack, backing into place, still smirking, still waiting.

Applejack quickly recovered, closing the distance and striking out with a fist. Being unpredictable was the name of the game when fighting the tailor, so she took to aiming the blow low, towards Rarity’s hip.

Rarity backed up, relying on her speed to carry away from Applejack’s fist, timing a strike at the same time. Two glowing fingers intercepted the blonde’s punch at the wrist before she moved back into stance.

A wet tongue moved over her lips in a predator’s smile.

AJ didn’t even bother to try and flex the hand she struck. Rather, she improvised, continuing the pressure swinging the dead hand down like an improvised club, slashing at the woman’s shoulder as if she was swinging a blade.

The hand caught wind, barely touching Rarity as she spun around the bigger woman, now in her personal space. Her hands flashed in rapid movements, striking her ribs in a quick barrage before spinning once more to kick her away, slamming a foot into that shapely rear before gracefully retaking her stance.

Applejack stumbled forward, glaring hard at Rarity, who replied with a blown kiss as she rubbed her backside.

She took a risk, sprinting at Rarity, only to drop to the floor in a somersault, intending to sweep Rarity with a kick she shot out, up and at an angle, towards the tailor’s gut.

This time, the bait had taken her, Rarity had crouched, sure she was about to deliver some much-needed love to AJ’s bared middle, when instead, a foot nearly smashed into her face, the blow throwing her whole body back into the ropes with a yelp. Rarity managed to recover from the impact enough to grab them and halt herself from bouncing forward into a counter left. This had the unfortunate side effect of making her appear wide open, arms spread to grab either side of the ropes in front of Applejack.

The farmer offered no quarter for Rarity, she righted herself in an instant and shot forward, twisting to the side of Rarity’s legs just on the off chance the entrapped tailor would snap a foot into AJ’s body. She ducked in close, swinging a haymaker with her good hand.

Rarity barely made it away from the attack, twisting her body to the side, yet still catching a glancing blow from the haymaker. She gasped, backpedaling away from Applejack before she could follow that up. The engagement didn’t stop there though, she moved to circle with Applejack, steadying her breathing and keeping her hands raised and ready for action.

AJ rotated with Rarity, neither advancing or retreating.

“Ain’t it borin’ makin’ me lead all the time?” AJ goaded with a tooth-bearing grin, shifting her foot slightly behind her as she spoke. “Seems like ya should take the first step every now an’ again.”

“I couldn’t agree more, darling. It takes two to tango, as they say.”

She followed the reply up, taking one step forward and rolling a hand to the side, advancing with an opposite spinning step in that direction, and then turning around fully. The momentum carried her spin into a leaping kick aimed for AJ’s middle. A blow AJ wasn’t ready for in the slightest.

It knocked her flat on her ass; she landed with a heavy oof, as the wind rushed out of her. She scrambled back, pinwheeling her arms and crabwalking for a moment to desperately get a bit of room between her and the tailor so she could rise fully. Rarity seemed more than willing to accommodate her friend’s need as she didn’t make a move until AJ had gotten up.

“Still don’t mind me taking the lead? I can be a bit rough you know.” She said in that purring voice again.

Rising, Applejack wordlessly got into position and charged forward, leading with a slow, open slap of her foot, trying to feign an opening on her core where there was none.

The problem was that this time, Rarity moved as well, the quick pitter-patter of her own feet heralding her approach. Her hands flashed outward again, stinging Applejack’s arms with her glowing fingers, treating the nerve endings like eighty-eight keys for the second time that night.

As soon as Rarity’s damnable touch sent a spark of pain across both her arms, AJ knew she was done. It was less a desperate gamble and more venting frustration when she snapped a headbutt towards Rarity with every ounce of strength she could conjure from her core and leg muscles.

For as much strength as she had, Rarity matched it in agility, saved by a knee snapping up to meet Applejack’s middle that folded the blonde fighter up close with a gasp.

From there it was a simple matter of moving behind her and putting her on her knees with a kick to the back of the leg. As she did so, one arm wrapped over Applejack’s neck, the other gliding it’s slender fingers down her back while she dug her knee into the muscle of one of her legs from behind.

Leaning forward, she blew in the other woman’s ear with a giggle. And then declared the winner.

“You’ll have to do better next time dear. I however, am forfeiting the victory to you.”

Applejack shivered at the woman’s proximity and the hot breath tickling her ear. Rarity’s words, however, made her curious.

“Forfeit?” AJ panted out.

“Indeed. The victory goes to you, darling. Congratulations.” Rarity planted a kiss on one of her cheeks from behind. and grinned.

“I assume you’re ready to hear the truth now?” She found a pressure point on AJ’s back and twisted her index finger, causing an initial bout of discomfort, but actually removing the tension from Applejack’s body. AJ grunted, clenching her teeth at the sensation, then let a wave of pleasure wash over her as her nerves uncoiled and regained some normalcy in their movement. She weakly clenched and unclenched her hands, willing the feeling to come back faster.

The farmer slowly turned her head to look at Rarity from her peripheral vision, the tailor’s knees dug into the back of her own, but AJ paid it no mind, she barely felt it. “Sug, I’ve been ready ta hear the truth since I walked inta yer damn store this mornin’.”

“Well,” Rarity began, voice light with amusement, “As I said earlier. At no point did I confirm that my actions that night were without meaning.” A finger twisted another point, before the hand gave her back a gentle, deliberate rub down, her thin flingers sliding over the chocolate waist that she had kept eyes on for so long.

AJ groaned, shifting under Rarity’s weight as her hands worked their magic on Applejack’s skin.

“I wish ya hadn’t gave me the runaround,” the farmer said quietly. “I told ya: I ain’t ever done anythin’ like this… so I woulda liked a straight answer.”

“It wasn’t easy for me,” Rarity replied evenly, the hold over the bigger woman’s middle slackening, “If that’s what you’re implying.”

Reaching up, Applejack hesitantly rested her own hand on Rarity’s, entwining their fingers. “I dunno,” she admitted. “The way things happened earlier, I thought maybe ya were jus’... toyin’ with me or somethin’.”

The flat of the palm against the blonde’s middle moved, feeling her way up the taut muscles of exquisite chocolate skin. “That would imply that I knew what in hell I was doing, Applejack.” She bit her lip, but ventured on, “That I wasn’t doing everything I could to get the attention of a very special someone. Or that any of those things progressed beyond arm candy and ravishing glances.”

Her other hand twisted one last time, another pressure point on Applejack’s back. “That for years I did not think and think hard about how I could have my cake, and eat it. And then berating myself for how selfish it all was.”

Jacqueline let out a small, surprisingly girlish moan as Rarity rapped her back, the point making her hand tighten almost painfully around Rarity’s hand as a warmth flooded her lower stomach.

“Years?” AJ managed to say, sweat dotting her forehead. “Why didn’t ya say somethin’ ta me, sug? Ya didn’t have ta keep somethin’ like that ta yerself.”

That noise…

The grip the other woman had over her hand felt good. Desperate.

Wanting.

Needing.

Rarity decided she wanted more of it, her magic fingers touching and torquing once more. “And what’s more, I could ask you the same question. You always had the courage for the things I didn’t.”

Applejack bit her lip, flinching as Rarity’s hand continued exploring her back, making her feel a pleasure she had never even come close to experiencing by herself. “Ya never made the first move. It jus’ never seemed like an option ‘til last night that ya might be interested in an idjit like me.”

“I imagine you’ve been experiencing the same dilemma in regards to me.” Rarity guessed. She trailed her fingers down to the tailbone, and her other hand up, just a bit, a finger reaching into the fabric of her own shirt, which covered Applejack’s succulent breasts.”Either way...there was a line. And if we crossed it…”

The tailor hugged Applejack close. “Nothing would be the same.”

Jacqueline could be impulsive, act before she had all the facts on a situation. But this… she knew was right. This had to be what she was waiting for. There was no other answer Applejack could give. She reached her hand behind her, holding the back of Rarity’s head and pulling the tailor closer.

“It wouldn’t be the same. It’d be better.” She strained her head back, managing to give a gentle peck on top of the shorter woman’s head. “An’ if there’s anyone I wanna cross that line with, it’d be ya.”

A pleased little hum came from the porcelain skinned young woman, now unwrapping from Applejack. “Let me ask you then, Jacqueline, darling… Are you ready to throw caution to the wind?”

AJ wryly smiled, turning to face her. “My hands are shakin’,” she observed. “Hands are shakin’ an’ I can’t catch my breath.” Shrugging her shoulders, she met Rarity’s gaze. “I-is that stupid? Feelin’ like that when I think ‘bout ya?”

“Not at all…” She stands and holds her hand out. “I...I must confess by the way… Though I did have an issue coming to a head on what to say and when… I didn’t have to ask you to this. But our combat comes close to providing a release that…” Rarity falls silent, red-faced and embarrassed too much to finish her statement.

Jacqueline took Rarity’s hand, rising. She stared at the woman for a moment, heat coming to her own face as Rarity trailed off. “So all that time I thought I was hurtin’ ya… ya were jus’...” She rested a hand on her own stomach in thought. “I mean, ya ain’t gotta be embarrassed, I jus’ never thought of ‘em like that.”

“I...I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be,” she said. She moved to Rarity, embracing the woman. “Ya ain’t got nothin’ ta be sorry ‘bout.”

“But I can’t even keep one silly promise… I told myself I’d be your knight over and over and now…” Rarity didn’t bother raising a hand to wipe the tears. Applejack held Rarity tighter, pushing the back of her head towards her collar.

“It’s alright, sug. An’ ya know why?”

“...why?”

“It’s ‘cause yer my knight.” She smiled. “There was nobody ‘round here that gave me half-a look. An’ that was fine with me, I wasn’t wantin’ ta rush inta anythin’. ‘Least that’s how it was ‘till ya came back. Ya ain’t get much more knightly than that.”

The only response her mind, body and even soul could come up with, was to lean forward, pressing her lips against that of the blonde. It wasn’t a practiced motion, like so many of her physical actions. This was raw and unfiltered passion, to where she wasn’t sure if she would come away from this with bruised lips, but she would do her damndest and try. Her arms wrapped tightly over AJ’s neck again, a leg raising on one side of her.

Applejack returned the hard kiss, her mind going a million different directions at once over the sudden action. She leaned in, turning her head and crashing her lips against Rarity’s. She took the tailor’s leg and ran her trembling hand up its soft, giving features, the two briefly resembling a tango of sorts.

“Rare,” Jacqueline growled out, her tone housing both lustful, impulsive want and loving, gentle, innocence. She kissed her once again, repeating the same loving-lust pant.

“Rare.”

“Mmmf….yes, Jack.” Her thigh hooked itself over AJ’s hip.

Running on blind instinct, Applejack’s inexperienced hands found a perch at Rarity’s soft, yielding butt. She cupped a cheek in each hand and easily lifted the tailor into the air, kissing her neck and face all the while.

Her legs locked tightly over AJ’s sides, needing the grounding her strong body provided while she was being ravished. Rarity’s voice became Sweetie Belle’s in the heat of the moment, a squeak being her response to having her own rear grabbed, and the furnace of a mouth working at her body. Her hand came to Applejack’s back, reaching for the shirt covering and holding those delectable melons of breasts, and sliced through the fabric easily, causing them to spill out against Rarity’s chest.

AJ seemed surprised, seeing her own naked flesh pressing against Rarity, and felt her earlier embarrassment briefly rise up, stopping her for a moment. But only a moment. She kissed Rarity again and lowered the tailor’s head just a hair towards a breast, her ebony nipples already standing at full erect attention.

“Honey,” she breathed out, the word drawing an inner strength to her. She dug her hands deeper into Rarity’s ass, squeezing so hard the cheeks briefly spread, not meaning to be forceful with the tailor, but forceful all the same in her passion and in her drive to get Rarity to squeak out just like she did a moment ago. That noise was enough to send a chill of ecstasy through her entire body.

She was barely able to answer the call though, her mouth was occupied with a pair of magnificent orbs of flesh. Circling the nipple of one with an agile tongue, Rarity tended to the other with glowing fingertips, adding to the stimulation.

Applejack groaned, her lips pressing against the top of Rarity’s head in an encouraging kiss. She felt weak, knobby-kneed at the tailor’s touch. Normally she wasn’t so sensitive at her breasts, or, well, anywhere, but the woman’s sensual caress and dancing lips pierced through her callouses and hardened muscles, bringing the womanly side of Applejack front and center.

Finally, unable to take any more, she swallowed her fear and decided to cross to new territory.

“Yer bed?” she asked, still holding tight to Rarity, the words taking every ounce of focus to articulate over Rarity’s experienced, skilled—impossibly skilled—tongue.

“Not soon enough.” The moan came behind swirling her tongue over a nipple and dotting it like the end of a well-endowed sentence, “The lounge couch.” She tilted her head in the direction of the other part of the room.

Unwrapping her legs from Applejack, she took the farmer’s hand, leading her under the ropes and over to the couch before pulling her back into her arms with a single yank, as if they were dancing the flamenco.

“Mmmph...Jacqueline… Tiebreaker…” Her hands flashed, blazing blue blurs, moving expeditiously and slicing the fabrics of their leftover clothing away for easier access. “Right here.”

Applejack started, both embarrassed at her own nakedness and marveling at Rarity’s pure exposed form. She stepped over the tatters of the clothing Rarity had cut away and brought a gentle hand to the side of Rarity’s neck, gazing down at the tailor’s cream skin. She took her other hand and cupped Rarity’s form-fitting breast and let out a pleased hum as it fit her palm perfectly. She gave a small, more gentle squeeze of the breast and leaned down as she rolled Rarity’s pink nipple with a thumb, kissing her on the lips. While Rarity might tease her and see this as a game in a sense, Applejack instead spoke seriously, saying words she had told the tailor before over the countless years, only now they shone in a new, different light.

“I love ya, Rare.”

“And I’ve always loved you, Jacqueline--”

Her declaration was sealed with a high-pitched noise, a mewling completely a result of the blonde’s strong hands. She reached down, trailing a finger over a small patch of curly hair before slipping into Applejack.

Rarity gave her a devious grin, twisting the finger within against her walls.

Applejack winced at the action; a brief, barely noticeable twinge of pain came to her at the new experience someone else’s hand gave her. After a moment, though, a feeling of pleasure overran AJ at the thought of Rarity being inside her. She brought a hand to the back of Rarity’s own, silently urging, encouraging her to explore further. Applejack leaned into Rarity, the farmer’s other hand once more finding perch at the tailor’s shapely asscheek.

“Sug,” Applejack quietly begged, kissing Rarity at her collarbone then traveling up her neck, lovingly peppering the tailor with the gentleness of butterflies as her other hand ground Rarity’s cheek, her fingers flexing and unflexing like a wave across her supple, sensitive flesh. “I want ya. Bad.”

Rarity squeaked again, raising her leg once more, “Then indulge yourself...and take me.”

AJ needed no other words of encouragement. She brought her hand to Rarity’s sex, trailing down her clean shaven mound, then rolling her thumb over the tailor’s sensitive lips, briefly finding purchase at Rarity’s button. She gave a small tap at it, grinning at Rarity.

“This what ya had in mind?” she drawled out, her nervousness still present, but comforted by the fact it was Rarity of all people she held in her arms.

It was the tailors turn to shiver, an excited tremor running through her body as Applejack’s primal strength asserted itself over her. The look in those emerald eyes was all she needed to melt into the other woman. “You’re headed in that direction darling,” She pulled the blonde down on top of her, “but despite my clothing choices, I am not made of china.” Leaning her head close to one chocolate ear, she licked the shell and whispered into a hungry message.

“Now fuck me.”

Applejack felt heat rising through her face at Rarity’s crass words, them coming from the tailor strange, new, and all the more arousing. She felt like electricity, every touch of her hands against Rarity’s creamy skin sending thunderbolts down to her wanting groin. This time, with less tenderness and more beastal lust, she dove a pair of fingers into Rarity, burying them all the way to the knuckles as she took her mouth to Rarity’s nipple, gnawing on it lightly with her sharp canines. Her free hand swarmed with an indecisiveness on where to go; she settled for running her rough hand over the contours of Rarity’s side, a million abstract words and concepts coming to mind to describe the warm euphoria over being like this with the tailor, but none doing the action justice.

Time seemed to halt itself for Rarity in the second AJ had gotten started. Her eyes widened exponentially, and her breathing became immensely difficult. Yet in the moment, all she could feel was an inequitable pleasure, from the digits stuffed into her, from the ravenous mouth attending to her tit.

Her back arched and she let out a whimpering scream, and then another, followed by the cry of her lover’s name. “Oh...aaah...sun and moon--A-ah-applejack!” Rarity’s walls clenched tightly over the strong fingers digging around inside, sending little shocks up the sensitive sides of flesh. Lily-white thighs wrapped over Applejack’s waist once more, and Rarity threw her head back, pupils dilating wildly as she started to convulse. The motions of the other woman drove her into hyperdrive, and her eyes rolled back, threatening to disappear into her skull.

Applejack broke away from Rarity’s breast with her mouth, instead showering her face with hot, urgent, desperate kisses. She increased her tempo into Rarity, adding a third finger to the mix, then reached behind the tailor with her other hand, this time ignoring Rarity’s cheek and instead going for gold, plunging a thumb into Rarity’s backdoor. She thrust it in without hesitation, clashing her lips to Rarity’s and speaking in sputtering, heated pants.

“I love ya,” she said, frantically in between her traveling kisses, her arousal overwhelming her inhibitions. “God, Rare. I love ya. Lemme feel ya.”

All her prose and flowery language failed her. Rarity could barely contain herself, crying out again, writhing against the body over her and curling at the toes. The myriad sensations setting her body aflame with heat redirected all thought from her mind straight to the hand between her legs, front and back. She leaned down, biting, not thinking, marking Applejack’s collarbone fiercely, her well-kept teeth digging fiercely into delicious dark skin.

“Jack,” The shorthand she would use when they were kids was suddenly fresh in her mind. “Jack, I’m about to-.... Aaaaaah…”

Down the hand diving into her ran a viscous secretion, increasing in volume. The seamstress uttered a silent scream, every muscle in her body at the limit, and she was panting and half-speaking sweet nothings and everythings to her dear, dear, dearest Applejack…

Applejack, her own climax sputtering to life a few moments later, looked proudly over her handiwork, giving one last tease of Rarity’s clitoris with her hand as she pulled out and held the tailor tightly against her sweat-soaked skin. Where Rarity bit bled, leaving a few small crimson trails down the contours of her body.

“Well?” she asked with a smirk, licking Rarity’s cheek. “That alright, fer a first-timer?”

It took the other woman a moment to respond. “F-....first-timer?” She stared at Applejack. “...you mean...you….virgin?”

Applejack nodded, the hunger of her lust disappearing from her eyes for a moment as she took in Rarity. “I… Yeah. I was.” She pressed on, flustered. “W-why do ya think I said I didn’t really know ‘bout any-a this relationship stuff? Jus’ knew ‘bout a few things girls were supposed ta like from...” She gave a small bounce of her head. “Ya know. Movies an’ those books ya read.”

“Oh you are just precious…” She shared a chaste kiss with the farmer. “My goodness… How did you, erm, get by?” Rarity realized she was reaching into rather uncouth territory for a lady, but something about lying naked under her childhood friend and crush had a way of forcing her to reevaluate her standards for the moment.

“Ya mean bein’ alone this long with jus’... myself?” She cupped Rarity’s cheek, taking a moment to lovingly kiss her lips..

“Mmm,” she purred out.

“Well… I dunno. I guess I jus’ made due. I wanted my first ta… ya know.” She shrugged, weakly smiling.

What little strength Rarity had left was spent cuddling Applejack, humming gently and running a hand into those glorious golden curls atop her head. “And just when I think otherwise...you prove you’re still every bit the proper lady I always wanted to be.”

She sighed happily, and they sat like that a few moments. “I guess we should sort things out.” Then groaned, stretching her muscles a bit. “Lets do that later, shall we?”

AJ nodded, her own energy wavering after her exploration of the tailor. “Later does sound mighty fine ta me right now.”

And the two lovers fell asleep in each other’s embrace, spent, sore and happier than they had been in a long time.

Ten years ago…

The trip from Heaven to Earth was not a pleasant one. Rarity had never gone down there on her own in fact, but the phone call had left her stomach churning with fear and discomfort. All it took was ten minutes for everything to go from wonderful to awful.

“Rare,” a voice choked out on the line, her tone hesitant, heavy.

“Yes Jack? What’s the matter?”

“Y-ya gotta get down here.” She sucked in a breath. “Now.”

Rarity’s grip on her cellphone tightened, “What’s the matter dear? What’s happening?”

“Rare, I need ya here. It’s, it’s my folks. They’re…” Another shuddering breath. “Gone.”

Silence throttles the call for a few moments. “A-Applejack? Did something happen to them? Surely you don’t mean-”

“What else is there ta mean?” she snapped out. “Rare…”

“I-...I’m on my way.”

Barely an hour and some time had passed, she had already taken what little money she had left in her change jar out after smashing it to get some inter-station transport to the Stairway. The Stairway was an achievement of magical technology consisting of a aether bridge capable of teleportation and able to deliver anyone and anything between Zones 1 through 12 between Heaven and Earth. If asked to compare, many would say it was like riding an elevator. Albeit one traveling at a fraction of faster than light travel. Many eyes turned in the direction of the young girl with the messy mauve hair wandering around in slippers and her pajamas. As she was beamed down the rainbow road from above, she caught sight of many bright lights all converging on one of the largest pieces of land in Zone 1 on Earth.

“Stop it. Mustn’t think like that. No.” Rarity shook her head.

Having touched down, she used the last of her money to secure the fastest magical transport available, which was a direct teleport right outside of Sweet Apple Acres. The providers for much of the crop in Zone 1.

Rarity had walked up this dirt path many times in her life, often with a sense of anticipation. The darker turn the night had taken since the phone call and seeing so many emergency lights over the bright orange spot she desperately hoped wasn’t the place she was heading to had instilled a different kind of anticipation tonight though. As soon as she rounded the corner and came to the hill, a smoldering building came into view.

She screamed, running toward it, and praying for the safety of her friend’s family.

Applejack stood, looking at the ruins of her home. There wasn’t anything else she could do. Mac and her granny somehow had the strength to thank the firemen for putting out the flames before they spread to their livelihood, but she just couldn’t do anything else but stare at the dying embers of the fire that had ravaged the house.

“Applejack!” A voice had called out from the hill. “Hello? Anyone?”

“Rarity?” Applejack heard her brother Mac call out. “She’s down here.”

AJ turned, looking dumbly to Rarity as she made her way down the dirt path that lead to Applejack’s home.

“Rare…” she said, quietly, her shoulders shaking.

Casting a worried glance to the side to Mac, who looked mostly unharmed at a glance, she heard the broken voice as clear as day.

She went over to the crying blonde seated on a tree stump. “Jack…” Rarity was briefly muted more the moment she saw those emerald irises so devoid of light. All she could do was wrap her arms around her friend and squeeze her tightly, mumbling small words of comfort.

“Rare,” she choked out her name again. “...he got ‘Bloom out, a-an’ he went back fer Ma.” She sniffed, clutching Rarity tightly against her. “A-an’ that’s…”

“Oh no…” Rarity whispered, gently rubbing AJ’s back. “No…” Words...proper words, and not platitudes failed her. This was loss on a scale Rarity could never even imagine happening to her own family. The very idea, compounded with the normally headstrong best friend of hers truly despairing spurred Rarity to hold on tighter. She had a cellphone. Her parents had connections. The plan was forming in the back of her head already Something had to be done, but not just yet. Not when she wanted to be here for Applejack and her family.

“Thank you for comin’,” AJ whispered, squinting her eyes shut as she embraced Rarity. “I feel like, like,” She sniffed, squeezing the woman tighter. “I’m goin’ nuts.”

Rarity remained silent, unable to presently offer much more than her warmth. She issued a pleading look to Mac, hoping the giant of a man would pull some idea out of the air. That maybe AJ wasn’t entirely sure. A foolish notion, but one that Rarity clung to for the sake of her best friend, so that she wouldn’t go through this alone.
“I… I’ll give my parents a call. We can find a place for you all for a while.” She held AJ close. “We’ll try and…” Her mouth went dry.

“We’ll try and put this right.”

Mac mercifully came over to join them, their granny and their little sister trailing right behind.

“Ya don’t have ta do that,” Mac said quietly, moving to put a hand on their shoulders. His voice was even, but there were obvious streaks down his soot-coated face, where he had obviously been crying. “I’m… we can get by. Somehow.”

Another small silence pre-empted her outburst. She couldn’t bear to just sit by and let this happen. Watch her friend and her family suffer so unnecessarily. Rarity’s family wasn’t rich, but surely something could be provided.

“Please.” Rarity’s tone was even. “Please let me. It’s not fair. Not when you all have done so much, and given so much of yourselves to me, to everyone.” A hand came up, stroking Applejack’s hair while the blonde wept quietly over her shoulder.

Mac glanced over to his granny. The woman slowly nodded in agreement. Mac followed suit.

“Thank you,” Applejack managed to sputter out. She squeezed Rarity tightly. “I love ya. We all love ya, Rare. Yer always gonna be family ta us.”

“It’s nothing, darling, please,” Tears began to run down her own face.

“It’s everythin’,” AJ replied. “I… we’ll never forget this.”

A pair of small arms did its best to latch around Rarity and Applejack, another tearstreaked face pressing itself into the hug. Little Applebloom in her overalls sniffled and tried to hold back more sobs, trying to be strong like her big sister. Rarity reached out and stroked the redhead’s hair, pulling back just a bit. Mac and Granny joined in short order, saying everything and nothing at the same time.

The sun rose on the skyline, bypassing the horizon. The rooster didn’t crow on that morning.

Applejack shuffled awake with a groan, taking a moment to register she wasn’t in her own bed. The realization, however, didn’t matter much to her; she gave a squeeze to the woman she woke up next to, leaning in to give an appreciative sniff of the scent of her shampoo.

“Mornin’,” AJ said quietly, not sure if the woman was awake yet. A part of her wanted to shake Rarity, but decided against it. She rolled over the woman on the couch and stood, stretching, as naked as the day she was born.

The slender beauty looked to be in slumber even as Applejack spoke to her and disrupted their position. She lay there, snoozing gently, unbeknownst to the blonde, fighting off her stirring consciousness. But much like all good things, the moment had reached it’s end, and it was a new day. Rarity’s toes curled as she mewled awake, stretching her body along the couch in a decidedly feline manner.

“Yes...good.morning…” She yawned and excused herself, “Though last night is rather difficult to compete with.”

“Ain’t ya jus’ lively?” the farmer replied. She sauntered over to the woman and offered her hand down.

Ebony hips drew her eye, and Rarity did indeed find herself more interested in the waking world. “Hmph. I’ll have you know I was getting perfectly good beauty sleep during my stay here…” Then she grinned despite herself, “And then you came along and redefined the term.”

Rarity took the hand, noting the strength in the rough farmhand and on a whole, appreciating it as she pulled her body up and against AJ’s. Standing didn’t seem nearly the issue it would have been after a night of dinner, sparring and sex when it came to the tall woman she was currently leaning against.

Securing one arm over Applejack’s waist, and the other hand currently playing in the immensely lengthy blonde tresses, Rarity breathed deeply, a curious sensation in her gut. “And to think I’m in the presence of an angel when I’m the one from Heaven.”

AJ smiled at that, wrapping her own arms around the tailor. They crept down to her ass and Applejack gave it a small squeeze. “I’m a lil’ more devil, than angel, I reckon.”

“I’m inclined to disagree.” Rarity purrs back at the sensation and leans forward to plant a kiss on the angel. “I can’t think of anyone who’s made me feel as wonderful as I do now.”

She trailed her hands up, wrapping them around the tailor’s waist. Applejack lightly ran her hands over it, a small part of her realizing how delicate Rarity was, briefly forgetting that the woman was an accomplished fighter herself.

“I wasn’t kiddin’ last night. I love ya, sug,” the farmer said, smiling down at her. She kissed the tailor on the lips. “I never thought we’d end up like this. But I’m glad we did.”

Applejack gave a small lift of her hands, easily picking up Rarity and giving her a small twirl in the air, moving the woman like a figure at a formal dance, before setting her down again. She squeaked at the sudden movement before giggling blissfully, girlishly as she was whirled around.

“So what now, hon?” she drawled out, her green eyes sparkling with a new life to them. “It’s like… I feel like I’m a damn kid again. Like the world’s jus’, I dunno, open, an’ everythin’ is excitin’ in it.”

“Now now,” Rarity began, though her tone was far from reprimanding, “We’re grown adults with responsibilities and we cannot simply shirk off our duties for the sake of frivolous merrymaking like two fools in love.”

Rarity’s fingers crawled arachnid-like down a strong ebony back. “...but we’re going to for as much of this month as we can. And we’ll live as we always have. Maybe perhaps a little closer to one another. Maybe with more visits. Massages…stargazing...dinners…”

The hand wrapped over AJ’s waist circled back around and spanked the naked ass she loved so much. “Maybe with more of me handing you your scrumptious behind on a silver platter.”

“That a fact?” Applejack questioned, wincing not from the pain from the slap, but from brief spark of pleasure she got from it being Rarity who was doing it. “‘Cause if I remember right, I think I won the after fight.” She reached down like a moth to a light, cupping Rarity’s ass once more with a hand and squeezing a cheek as her other trailed up to the woman’s neck. “An’ I think that was the more important of the two.”

“Perhaps.” Rarity grinned. “But there’s so much time. So many things to do. And we do need to be using this month to better one another.” She reddened in the cheeks after another once over. “And all the semantics of what we are can be worked out in due time. A great time would be after finding some clothing, as loath as I am to deny myself the sight of your striking figure.”

“Same,” Applejack replied. “I reckon yer birthday suit is the best thing you’ve made here.” She brushed a thumb playfully across Rarity’s collarbone. “An’, yeah. I reckon we do need ta have a sitdown an’ talk ‘bout what… all-a this means, huh?” AJ reluctantly pulled herself away from the tailor. “Since I know you’ll take a coupla years ta find some damn clothes, I’ll get some coffee on fer us.’”

Rarity huffed exasperatedly, “In comparison to waiting for you to give me a pair of worn overalls in five seconds? I’m the saint of these two options.”

“At least mine get me out of the house before noon,” Applejack replied, turning. She gave slow saunter off, sashaying her hips with obvious sensuality in the motions, then when she reached the doorframe, she turned her head to Rarity, a playful smile on her face.

“I got a butt like one of yer runway models, huh?”

The blush did not go away. “Perhaps my subconscious mind had you at the forefront more than I knew.”

Something then occurred to Rarity, “I doubt anyone I know will have much of an issue with...well...us. But… Will your family mind, Applejack?”

The farmer paused. “I… I wouldn’t reckon so. They see ya like family, so it might be a lil’ weird fer a bit. Though Mac’ll wanna talk with ya. He said whenever I first got a boyfriend, he wanted a word with ‘em.”

AJ gave a considering tilt of her head. “Now, ya ain’t exactly boyfriend material, an’ it ain’t like yer a stranger, but the spirit’s the same.”

Rarity blinked. “Shall I expect a shotgun wedding?”

“Well, ya did do yer womanly duty with me last night,” AJ easily replied with a grin.

“...indeed I did.”

Rarity makes her way to her wardrobe. “Just as well. I’m closing up for the day. We’ll head back to the farm after breakfast if you’ve no errands in the foreseeable future.”

“Nah. They’re probably wondering where I ran of too anyway.” Applejack moved to her discarded clothes from last night and donned her jeans, then took to buttoning up her shirt. “Might as well get back home.”

Feeling a bit adventurous, Rarity picked out an outfit that showed a bit more skin than usual. It was sure to be a hot day anyway. The thermostat panel on the wall had told her as much, and to expect it in the nineties today.

Maybe pumps weren’t the best wear for the day. The trip up the dirt road was long and on Rarity’s feet, unforgiving. The lack of a sun hat wasn’t doing her any favors either, and had in fact been the cause of many muttered complaints on the way. The red barn and shed and silo and stables all came into view though, and she felt a little better almost immediately. It was as if the place had never gone up in flames thanks to what had been mostly resolve as a misplaced kerosene light.

They didn’t have to go far. Shirtless and sweating, Mac came into view over the hill, arms full of fertilizer sacks.

“Mac, hello!” Rarity called to him from afar.

He glanced towards the two and offered a small smile.

“Girls,” he addressed with a nod.

“Hot one,” AJ said, glancing around the farm as if to confirm it.

“Eyup,” Mac agreed. He turned, heading to the barn.

Rarity followed, “Mac, do you have a moment? There’s something important we’d like t-... Something I’d like to discuss with you.”

He glanced at her, curious, before nodding, setting the bags down off his powerful shoulders. “We can talk inside the kitchen,” he agreed, lumbering off towards the house. Applejack looked to Rarity.

“Ya want me ta come in with ya?”

From outside, a familiar young voice called out, “Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!”

“It sounds like Applebloom wants to see you.” She smiled. “Go on, I’ll be around.”

“Alright, sug.” AJ nodded, giving a small touch to Rarity’s shoulder, before turning, heading towards where the call came from.

Rarity smiled over her shoulder before taking a seat in the kitchen. “My apologies I had to have her so long. I know this is an important time of the year for you all.”

He shook his head as he reached into the fridge, pulling out a pitcher of tea. He poured each of them a glass and sat down on the opposite end of the table.

“It’s good for her,” he said, taking a drink and letting out a sigh of contentment, running the cool glass across his brow. “She doesn’t know when ta have a breather. An’ I’m sure ya two had a lot of catchin’ up.”

“About that…” As easygoing as he was, Rarity found the idea of telling Mac that she had whisked his sister away into a lesbian relationship a bit daunting. The chances of their family continuing its strong lineage--the immediate family anyway--had just dwindled by a third with this development, and though Rarity didn’t often put stock into such things, it was a thought born of mild nervousness toward the situation. The Apple Family were as close to her as her own. Rarity couldn’t imagine the idea of inconveniencing or disrespecting them in even the most minimum of ways.

“It would seem that over just the two days that I’ve been around again, that Applejack and I have discovered...a fondness for one another.”

“Well, I’d imagine so. Ya two were like peas in a pod growin’ up,” Mac concluded, taking another drink. “Some time away ain’t gonna break friends that close.”

Rarity’s laugh wavered briefly, but she picked it right back up. “Yes, of course, and that bond remains unbreakable. But recently…”

Deep breath Rarity, deep breath. Inhale, exhale.

“Recently?” Mac repeated, staring at her.

The bass rumble of his voice very nearly made her jump in her seat. “Recently...we…” She stretched the word briefly, desperately fighting her trepidation and laughing at herself at the same time for coming with so much tact to someone as to-the-point as Mac.

“We discovered how strong that bond is.” Rarity concluded lamely.

Mac glanced down at his palms. “Are ya talkin’ like I think ya are, here?” he asked, turning his eyes to once more stare evenly across the table at Rarity, his face still completely indifferent. “If ya are, don’t beat ‘round the bush.”

“I took Applejack’s virginity last night.”

The phrase was uttered with all the subtlety of a brick wall. Rarity had the grace to at least look embarrassed after though.

Mac’s hands tightened around his glass and he flinched, as if struck. His normally passive eyes seemed genuinely hurt.

He stumbled on his words, opening and shutting his mouth for several long, awkward moments, before taking a deep, calming breath. “Rarity,” he addressed, his tone warning. “I… none of us have forgot what ya done ta help over the years. So what I’m ‘bout ta say doesn’t change any of that, alright?”

This wasn’t going well, but Rarity would weather the worst of it. Not much else to do since she was already here. Fold and run away? Perhaps. But… That would be overly dramatic and cowardly. Cowardice was always unbecoming of a lady to her. “Understood, go on.”

Her legs crossed under the table.

Mac took another breath, rising. “You of all people should know what Applejack means to me. Ever since we lost our folks, I’ve had ta take care-a her an’ Bloom. Sometimes it feels more like they’re my kids than my sisters. So fer ya ta jus’ waltz in here—” he stopped himself once he realized his normally docile tone had increased to an almost painful volume. Swallowing, he gestured a thick, calloused finger Rarity’s way. “An’ say ya took her fer yerself? Jus’ like that? An’ fer what, exactly? An’ don’t ya dare say fer a booty call.”

The silence threatened to consume the both of them after Mac finished speaking. Rarity only barely was aware of how much she was trembling. She couldn’t tell which was the bigger mistake, coming in here without Applejack to back her up, or being foolish as to state the one fact he didn’t need to know. The tailor hung her head, hard pressed for a response, unable to articulate for the moment.

“Look at me,” Mac instructed, rapping the table. “Eyes up here. You looked at me when you said ya took my sister, look at me now.”

The order was gruff and none too kind. Rarity did so, steeling herself as much as possible in the face of Mac’s supreme disapproval.

“Do ya love her? An’ don’t ya dare lie ta me.” Mac ordered, his eyes, though angry, seemed to be on the edge of tears. “God help ya if yer jus’ usin’ her.”

If there was a point in this conversation where Rarity could look the upset man in his eyes directly without her vision skirting off to the side, it was now. Sapphire irises burned with determination into Mac’s.

“Yes.” The answer was short, sweet and to the point. There was no prose or pretext to
the immense truth in her words. “I always have.”

And yet, she felt that wasn’t enough. “She’s been one of the most important people in my whole life. I hold no one more precious, more closer to my heart, more dear to me. I would do anything for her. Since a child, Applejack’s served as an infinite inspiration and source of strength for me.”

And then her voice rose in volume, not too much, because high volume was unladylike, but-- “And I made a promise to her, to be there for her whenever she needed me. Knowing now what I do, I want to be beside her for better or worse. She is my knight, and I am hers, and I will not see her hurt,” Her legs uncrossed and she leaned forward slightly, “That includes attempting to separate us.”

Mac sighed, taking a slow step towards the window. He gave a tap to the glass. “It ain’t about seperatin’ ya’ll.” Turning, he gave a small frown to her. “It’s ‘bout makin’ sure ya ain’t gonna hurt her.” He narrowed his brow. “I can’t be ok with ya an’ her doin’ that so fast, but…” He settled down finally, slowly sitting back to his chair and taking a drink. “But ya love her. An’ I don’t think Jack’d do somethin’ like that with ya unless she did too.” Rubbing his temple, Mac bit at his lip in thought. “I don’t think I’d say it if I didn’t know ya already, but ya have my blessin’.” He gave one more measured look her way. “Though if ya ever make her cry…” he let the implication speak for itself.

The silence came back but with a much shorter delay, given that Rarity understood the severity of possible consequences all too easily.

‘I wouldn’t dream of it. And…” Rarity’s expression softened, “I shouldn’t have told you such explicit details first. I apologize for disrespecting you and her like that. It was a moronic decision and I regret it immensely.”

“It’s alright. Jus’... keep it in’ mind our family ain’t exactly built fer news like that.”

The young woman nodded. “Yes, yes of course.” Her body language seemed to say she was still recovering from the rather intense minutes she and Mac had just shared.

“Sorry,” Mac apologized, noticing her discomfort. “Ya know why I said what I did, tho’.”

“Of course. I promise you she’ll see no hurt from me. Not just for her sake.” A smile came to her face suddenly. “I haven’t forgotten who bandaged my knee, or provided me a place when I didn’t want to head off with my parents to their dreadfully boring business trips, or made a little clubhouse for me and their little sister.”

“An’ I know what you’ve done fer her, an’ for the family,” Mac agreed. He finally offered a weak, joking smile, trying to lighten the mood. “Now, when’s the weddin’? Since ya two are such a perfect match.”

Thankful she wasn’t drinking anything, Rarity broke into a coughing fit. “W-w-wedding?”

“I mean, ya already had the milk. What ‘bout the cow? An’ it ain’t like yer a stranger. Ya jus’ ‘bout live here sometimes,” Mac continued to goad, turning the tailor into a sputtering mess and taking another drink of tea.

“Well yes--I mean--but--now see--”

Mac continued, ignoring her distress. “An’ it has ta be pretty good in the bedroom, considerin’ ya came ta tell me ‘bout it so curt-like.” He clapped his hands together. “See? Easy.”

If Rarity had a mirror, she would have fainted from the embarrassment of looking as stupid as she felt. The Apples, all of them, had ways of causing things to bite people in the ass. Young or old, male or female, it was a trait that transcended it all. And was currently busy for Rarity not being able to look at Mac again, let alone his general direction.

Mac polished off his tea and rose. “Jus’ make sure that when ya design AJ’s weddin’ dress ya leave a lil’ wiggle room in the bust. Gal has a hard time finding clothes that ain’t snug there.”

“I, ahem… I won’t have any trouble with that, I assure you.” The image was rather worthy of mentally gawking at for a moment, but certainly not in front of Mac.

“Well good.” He put his glass on the counter. “Guess we got what ya needed ta say out of the way, an’ daylight’s burnin’. If you’ll excuse me, Mrs. Apple.”

She giggled. “Of course, Mac.” Rarity stood up as well. Time to see her...girlfriend? She’d have to speak it. Roll the word around in her mouth and see if she liked it.

She went outside and paused for a moment, catching sight of her deep in conversation with Applebloom, who seemed to be rather excited, if the subject was what Rarity imagined it was.

The month seemed to fly by as they went. Even with duties to their work, Rarity and Applejack had managed to make the the most of their time. It helped when one had an apprentice, and the other, a family to help out in between. Dates to bluegrass jazz clubs, picnics in the east field of the Acre, visits to fancy authentic Japanese grill restaurants and more.

And more moonlit cuddling and nightly physical activity didn’t hurt at all either.

The last week saw the new couple at a cafe in Heaven, the Zone 7 dwelling known as 7th Heaven. Rarity withheld points for creativity regarding the name, but all but begged AJ to come with her. It was a place where her subdued, practical style of dress would allow her to fit right in. The fashonista even toned things down herself, opting for a simple black turtleneck, a pair of white capris and black pumps. And a little red-violet beret, just to retain some sense of style.

7th Heaven didn’t often have live performers, the atmosphere usually simply quiet with chattering of it’s patrons, of people who wanted a little piece. Tonight however, saw the arrival of an azure haired earth-folk carrying a trumpet, a double-note mark on the back of one of his rough-looking hands. Interestingly enough, a few different others arrived with their own instruments, each one joining in the dulcet tones of the trumpeter. The harmony with which they played was such that Rarity couldn’t resist a smile. That, and the woman sitting across from her.

“Ya know…” Applejack drawled out, leaning forward, a hair more dressed up than usual, with small earrings, and a well-tailored dress shirt and pants complementing her figure. She smiled, her crimson lipstick complementing and seeming to plumping her normally thin mouth. “I don’t mind this place too much, hon.”

Rarity’s reply was quiet, but smug. “I told you so, Jack, darling. Do you still plan to round the corner with me over and over when I’ve a place to suggest?”

She shrugged, taking a drink of wine. “Well, yer definition of ‘casual’ sometimes leaves a lil’ ta be desired. Was afraid it’d be like that french restaurant a coupla weeks back.”

“Different cultures have different measurements of what qualifies as casual, you see. If we had done anything less than the spa visit and makeover then, who knows what might have happened!” Rarity stated, as if they’d be committing a heinous crime.

The farmer looked plainly at the woman, then rolled her eyes. “Know somethin’? I think ya still owe me fer puttin’ up with that gunk. How ya gonna pay me back?”

“Oh I could think of a few ways,” Her girlfriend tittered in reply, laying a hand over the earthen-toned skin of AJ’s free hand. “The night is still young.” Rarity squeezed gently.

AJ let out a small laugh. “Ya know how ta appease me, I’ll give ya that.” She took her free hand and laid it on top of Rarity’s, sandwiching it between her meaty palms. “Hey, sug…”

“Mmm, yes?”

“We’ve been puttin’ off a conversation. We both know it.” She rubbed Rarity’s wrist with her thumb and stared deeply into the woman’s blue orbs. “An’... it’s gettin’ close enough that I’m gettin’ anxious.”

“I wouldn’t say putting off, so much as….” The tailor grasped for words. There were none. “...respectfully delaying.”

“‘Respectfully delayin’? That what ya call it?”

Rarity’s tone is shy of being defensive. “A lady uses her words--”

“—uses ‘em ta hide what she’s thinkin’ too damn often,” Applejack interrupted, taking her hand off of Rarity’s to have another drink of wine. “Come on, sug. I… it ain’t always fun, bein’ the one ta start… conversations like this, but it seems like yer always so flippant ‘bout us.”

“And I apologize for not being strong enough to be direct--” The reply came with a slightly raised tone, but Rarity reined herself in and continued. “And to tell you. I’m often afraid to…’stir the hornets nest’ as you say. It took me more than ten years to admit I’ve had eyes for nobody but you. A month, a month before a time where you and I might be facing one another in a squared circle in front of hundreds of thousands of people seems hardly the time to suggest the next step.”

She squeezed again, “That doesn’t mean however, that this isn’t the best month of my life, or that there isn’t a question between us that needs answering.”

AJ seemed to nod at Rarity’s answer. “Hon… I feel the same.” She once more rested her other hand on Rarity’s palm. “But yer makin’ it too damn complicated. Know what those thousands of people mean when it comes ta feelin’ like I do?” She shook her head. “Nothin’. I love ya, hon, an’ I jus’... wanna see where ya see us when it’s said an’ done. I know ya, an’ I’m jus’ afraid you’ll be hittin’ excuse after excuse ta avoid the talk.”

“Jacqueline.” Rarity said abruptly, after looking down at the cold dregs of her beverage, she raised her head, her sapphire irises glittering strangely.

“I never wanted to ask much from you, darling.”

Her hand rose from under the table, a thumb concealed from view and setting itself on top of AJ’s hand.

“Would you do me the infinite pleasure and honor…”

The hand slowly slid away from Jacqueline’s own, revealing a glowing platinum ring with three inlaid diamonds, the same as Rarity’s mark, shining brightly.

“...of becoming my wife?” The tailor finished, her smile hopeful.

The farmer froze, looking down at the ring, then up at Rarity. “Ya…” She wiped at her wet eyes, smiling broadly. “Rare… how long were ya gonna keep in the the dark on this?” Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared warmly towards the tailor. She sniffed hard, letting out a little choked laugh. “Well, what ya think my answer’ll be, honey?”

“With any luck, Jack?” She leaned toward the blonde, smiling in turn, counting her freckles and drinking in the emerald irises to her full lips, “The answer will be yes.”

“Well…” The farmer smiled, finally brushing away her tears. “Then it’s yer lucky day, Rare. Ya can have me, if ya want me.” She brought the tailor’s hand up and kissed the back. “I, I wanna get old with ya. It’s dumb soundin’, but I can’t think of any better way ta put it.”

In spite of herself, Rarity didn’t use her words. She just leaned forward and pressed her lips against Applejack’s own. It was the kind of chaste, romantic kiss that no book she had ever read could do justice through prose.

Around them, couples from table to table, to the bar and even the impromptu band broke into applause. Though it didn’t look as if either woman could be unglued from the other long enough to acknowledge it.

“So…” AJ began, taking a finger up Rarity’s arm and giving a ghost touch to the inside of Rarity’s elbow. “Who’s last name we usin’ once we… ya know...”

“Could we respectfully delay that until--actually… I’ve a better idea…” Her grin was mischievous, “Whoever should be the one to win in the tournament, whether we’ve the pleasure of facing one another or not, will do the honor of picking the last name.”

Applejack smiled, bringing Rarity’s palm to her own quick-beating heart. “I’m gonna make ya an Apple, sug. You’ve always been family ta me. Ta all-a my kin. I’mma make it official. Yer one-a us, when this tournament’s done.”

“While I couldn’t be more thrilled with the idea, I’m rather curious, even...excited, to imagine the name, Jacqueline Belle.” Rarity drew close enough for another quick kiss, “It really does roll off the tongue, you know.”

“I can think-a a few other things that roll offa yer tongue,” Applejack said coyly. “An’ ya know what? I reckon I’m a lil’, uh, excited too. Maybe we can call dinner early, an’ ya can show yer fiance a nice time?” She winked.

Already having slipped out of one of her pumps beneath the table, she gives the farmer’s leg a teasing stroke with her toes. “There’s a reason I had this paid for before we came.”

“Lets go.”

Jacqueline didn’t need to be told twice. She rose and quickly headed to the door, holding it open for the tailor.

When they stepped out into the night air, or what passed for it in Zone 7, being part of a space station, they were accosted by a woman in a salmon colored dress, a mark of three differently colored buttons visible on her cheek. “Belle? Rarity Belle, is that you?”

The tailor blinked as the woman swept her into a hug, she wore the biggest grin on her face, nearly crushing Rarity as she did so. The embrace clued her into the fact that she was dealing with an earth-folk, strong and sturdy with her hourglass figure. As she drew away, Rarity returned the expression, but looking much more confused.

“I’m sorry, have we met, dear?”

“Ahahaha, you don’t remember? We took classes at the design school on Callisto Avenue back in Nadir!” She gestured to herself, “Suri Polomare?”

Rarity just went with it at this point, “O-oh of course! Yes, um, it’s so good to see you again! How’ve you been doing?”

“Well, I had just been here not too long ago, m’kay, and I left my wallet by accident, m’kay? Someone was nice enough to call my cell and let me know it was still here, but then I ran into you!”

Suri turned her head, noticing Applejack, “Oh. My. Gosh. Is this a special somebody, Rarity?”

Applejack held out her hand. “Jacqueline. Tho’ if ya wanna keep on my good side, call me Applejack.” She looked over at Rarity with a gentle smile. “An’ I hope I’m a lil’ more than a special someone at this point.”

“Oh, you…” Rarity cooed back, planting a smooch on her cheek.

“That’s so amazing, Rarity, I’m really happy for the both of you! Omigosh, can you send me the wedding tickets, m’kay? Wait wait, actually, there were some other things I had meant to ask you, um, Jacqueline? Do you mind if I borrow Rarity here for a sec? I just wanna catch up before I get outta here.”

Suri’s motor mouth ran a mile a minute, and in between, Rarity could very much detect the abhorrent sounds of chewing gum in her mouth. Trying her best not to frown, she looks to her girlfriend as if asking for an opinion. She doesn’t want to be rude after all.

“Well…” Applejack trailed off, giving a shrug of indifference towards Rarity. “I ain’t her keeper. She can go with ya if she wants.”

“Great, thanks Jackie,” Suri took one of Rarity’s hands, pulling her to the side like an excited schoolgirl while the befuddled tailor nearly stumbled in trying to keep up.

“I’ll, uh, jus’ be waitin’ here, then,” the farmer muttered under her breath, stuffing her hands in her pockets and glancing around the street.

Seconds stretched into minutes easily enough, before Suri was leading Rarity back to the farmer, the tailor looking a lot less uncomfortable than before.

“--I had taken so long to learn that spell, m’kay? Being an earth-folk mage isn’t particularly easy--”

“Nonsense, Suri my dear I have absolutely every faith in you--”

“--awwwww. That’s so nice of you to say, m’kay, and I can’t wait to watch you compete in the tournament this year!”

Rarity looked rather pleased and not at all like she didn’t know who Suri even was about ten minutes ago. “Why thank you dear, and may you find greater luck in your lineup! I’ll see you at the Runway this friday night!”

Suri smiled and waved away her old classmate and her new ‘more than special somebody’.

AJ looked at the woman then at Rarity, and quietly asked, “So, what was that all about?

“If I had the faintest clue, I’d tell you dear,” Rarity shook her head, “But she remembers me from my time taking a few classes on creative design, and I can’t doubt her knowledge, we really did attend the same place.”

“Well… I ain’t got a clue ‘bout that kinda crap, so better she to drag you away than me.” She reached over, taking Rarity by the waist with an arm.

“Oh but then who would show you a nice time?” Returned the tailor, reaching to grab one of AJ’s hands.

“Ya know, when ya put it that way…” She smirked, then reached down, lifting Rarity easily into her arms and took to carrying her bridal style down the street. The action, spontaneous and impassioned got a small yelp of surprise from the tailor. She gave a small squeeze to Rarity’s thigh. “I reckon it’d be a lil’ lonely without ya.”

“Good thing I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen then.” Another kiss, this one much deeper against AJ’s lips than inside the cafe.

Author's Notes:

First and foremost, if you've clicked, I thank you and your curious eye.

This story is more or less a concept that's been in the making for more than a year now. It's a big collaboration, done between myself, LysanderasD, MercTheJerk, Jake the Ginger with contributions from Xl9. We're going back to the drawing board. Consider this a rough of what will, hopefully, in time, gain better shape as we reconvene and plan things out from here on out.

Fluttershy of Earth, Gilda of Heaven

“There you go…”

Fluttershy stood again, lifting the feed bag to her shoulder with relative ease and watching the critters move, in a decidedly well-behaved fashion, toward their appropriate bowls. “That’s right, Harvey, that one’s yours. Mr. Fieldmouse has to get his fair share, right?”

There was a chorus of affirmative squeaks from around ankle level. The rose-haired girl smiled and threaded her way through the throng on light feet. That was the last of the food to be dispensed; now everyone had their dinner. Well, except her, but she wasn’t hungry yet; she figured she’d catch her breath first and then… hmm… perhaps some oatmeal today.

The closet, when she opened it, contained not clothes or even miscellany, but neatly stacked and organized bags of food, ranging from seeds to meatier stuff for her canid companions. She slid the bag she was hoisting into its proper position with a sigh and a small smile, and moved to the kitchen.

She fumbled for a moment in one of the high cabinets, eventually pulling out a candle. She stared at it for a moment, contemplating, and then nodded, returning to the living room. Fluttershy weaved her way through the still-munching crowd, set the candle on its holder, and lit it, letting the smell of lavender pervade the room. With another sigh, she collapsed--collapsed gracefully, but still collapsed--onto the couch near the front door, a soft, admiring sort of smile on her face as she watched over her animal friends.

There came a hard, heavy knock at her door.

She blinked. Her animal friends started at the same time, looking toward the source of the noise. As she stood, though, they relaxed, returning to their meals. Fluttershy moved toward the door, though as she got closer and closer, she began to look more and more hesitant. By the time her hand settled on the door handle, she was biting her lip.

Another loud knock came, this time followed by a low swear from behind the door.

Fluttershy wilted slightly, but opened the door just a hair, peeking into the crack. “... H-hello?”

The door groaned and was pushed back a hair as weight was leaned on it.

“Yeah,” a gruff woman’s voice addressed, a single pupil meeting Fluttershy’s face. “Hi.”

“... Can I help you at all?” Fluttershy offered, polite despite her nerves. “I, um, I know I’m a fair bit out from town…”

“No shit you’re out of town,” the woman snapped. “You have any idea how long it took me to find this dump?”

Fluttershy blinked. “How long?”

“Long enough to get me in a real pissy mood if you don’t open the damn door,” the woman snapped. “Didn’t you get the letter? Or is the mailman as slow as you?”

She opened the door enough such that her entire face is visible, at least insofar as it wasn’t hidden behind her hair. “Letter?... Oh!” She flushed slightly. “The--the tournament, of, of course…”

This time she opened the door all the way, stepping back to allow the other woman inside. “Yes, I… of course. Hello. I’m Fluttershy…”

“What?” the woman asked, stepping inside. She rolled her shoulder and tossed her suitcase to the side, where it clattered to the floor. Rubbing at the ring on her eyebrow, she stared at Fluttershy, plainly waiting for an answer.

The rose-haired woman let out a nervous breath, bouncing backward and forward on the balls of her feet with her hands clasped in front of herself. “I’m Fluttershy.” She cleared her throat. “I… I mean… My name is… Well, you got the letter, so… I guess you know… probably…”

“Flutterguy, something like that,” she replied. Tapping a thumb to her chest, she grunted out the word “Gilda.”

Without hesitation she moved to the woman’s couch and sat on it, resting her muddy black boots on Fluttershy’s coffee table. The muck and filth slid off her boots, spotting the table with the grime.

As the woman stomped in, the animals shied away, some gently moving their bowls along with them. Dozens of beady little eyes belonging to mammals and birds of all kind watched her warily, and more than a few move toward Fluttershy. She let out another nervous little huff, swallowing gently and attempting to offer a reassuring smile to her animals, who didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“I, I, um.” She tried again. “Make yourself at home? Oh.” But it seems she’s already doing that. “I, I, I can move your luggage, if… if you want, the guest bedroom is upstairs… If you want to stay here, I mean, we could… it’s probably easiest… if you want… I really don’t mind…” She wrung her hands. “And, and, if it’s not too much trouble, I mean, if you’re okay with it, could you, I mean, um, could you maybe please take off your boots?”

She nodded, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Popping one to her mouth, she leaned down to Fluttershy’s candle, lighting it. Inhaling deeply, she blew upwards, letting the smoke waft to the ceiling. She gave a lazy glance over to the timid woman. “Want one?”

“Oh, no, please, I, I’d really rather, I mean, I don’t, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t…” There was a noticeable pause, the noise level of which was not significantly different from when she was speaking. “The animals don’t like it when… I mean, you can outside, if, if you…”

After another awkward pause, she bends to pick up Gilda’s suitcase. “I mean, if it’s not… too much trouble…”

She raised her brow again, blowing smoke towards Fluttershy. “I can’t hear a damn thing you’re saying, speak. Up.”

Fluttershy lifted the case awkwardly, underbalancing and falling gently to the floor again before managing to get a grasp on the handle. She blushed, though her face was at this point quite thoroughly hidden behind her long pink hair. With obvious pauses between phrases in order to build up her nerve, she looked up at the tough-looking woman and replied.

“I mean it’s… I just cleaned that t-table, and, and, if it’s okay… shoes stay by the door, b-because the animals don’t like the noise, and, and… please don’t smoke inside. If it’s not too much to ask. My animals friends… well, they’re, they like to… you know, they like… fresh air. Without smoke. If that’s okay.”

Gilda measured her for a moment, rolling her neck and resting her hands on top of her leather pants. “But I like my boots. Shouldn’t you accommodate your guest? Especially when you won’t even light up with me. It’s like you can’t even honor traditions.”

“I, I…” Fluttershy wilted again, somehow seeming to collapse further around the suitcase in her arms. “... I’m, I’m v-very s-sorry, I… you can keep your boots on, if, if you really want. I mean, it’s… it’s not that much of a problem… really… I’ll, I’ll, just, go and set this upstairs. O… Okay? If that’s okay…”

“Not yet,” Gilda said. She once more held out the smokes. “We’re going to break bread, my clan’s style.”

Fluttershy set the bag down again, standing up and nervously brushing her hair out of her face. “Oh… Okay. And… and how do you…?”

“You mean you’ve never even smoked before?” Gilda asked, impatient, her gold eyes judging the woman.

“I’ve always been told it’s unhealthy and besides it kind of makes my animal friends unhappy.” A pause, and then, slightly louder. “... N-no…”

“Great,” Gilda said with a sneering grin. “Poppin’ a cherry here. It’s just…” she took out the smoke from her mouth and used it to light the tip of another one, then handed it to Fluttershy. “Inhale from it, slowly.”

She took it with obviously trembling hands, staring at it as though it might somehow come alive and bite her. “B-b-but…”

“Will you relax?” Gilda growled out. “Have a seat and just try it, sissy.”

Fluttershy inched toward the couch and lowered herself into it gingerly, seated about as far from the other woman as she could be, and slowly lifted the cigarette to her mouth. Her hands began to tremble again well before she got there and she lowered them again, biting her lip. “I--I d-don’t mean to be rude, but, b-but I really d-don’t…”

“Don’t. What?” Gilda said.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea I mean no disrespect to your clan, I’m sure it’s very, very nice, but, but the smell… I really don’t…”

“Speak up,” Gilda snapped again. “Are you a woman, or a mouse?”

“Well, several of my best friends are mice…”

Gilda clenched her hands tightly to her knees and took a calming breath. “If you can’t talk like a person, don’t talk at all to me, got it?”

This produced a nod, but not much else. Fluttershy was still holding onto the cigarette, though it had been clearly forgotten by now.

The woman brushed her silvery hair back and appraised Fluttershy with a hard, uncompromising eye. Her next words were surprising.

“Do you ever just say no?” Gilda asked, snapping out the question and finishing off her smoke, putting the embers out on her tongue and pocketing the butt.

Fluttershy began to shake her head, and then realized that this would, on the one hand, contradict the answer, and on the other, fail to really explain anything. She simply stared helplessly at the other woman, an apologetic sort of look on her face.

“Goddamn helpless,” Gilda marveled. Narrowing her brow, she swiped the cigarette from Fluttershy and put it in her own mouth. Then, rising, she kicked off her boots and walked to the side of the door, placing them down with a hard clunk. She exhaled, breathing smoke into Fluttershy’s face and still housing that terrible glare.

Fluttershy winced, shutting her eyes and attempting to not cough. She seemed intent on remaining silent, as per Gilda’s request.

One rabbit, white, and perhaps braver than the others, lolloped over toward her, watching the tough-looking woman with oddly intelligent, and not entirely kind, eyes.

Gilda paid it only the briefest of glances, taking another drag on her smoke and staring at Fluttershy still. “When someone’s being an asshole, you be one back. None of this limp-wristed, namby-pamby shit you got. Am I making myself crystal clear?”

Fluttershy opened one eye and nodded, very, very hesitantly.

“Say it. Say, ‘yes, Gilda.’”

“Yes, Gilda…”

“Louder. I’ll do this all night if you don’t,” she warned, pointing a stern finger at her.

“...Yes, Gilda…”

“One more time.”

“... Yes, Gilda…”

She shook her head. “Not even close to good. But better than you were. Shit,” she said. “When I heard I got paired up with a judo user, I was expecting someone hard. Someone that’d be itching for a fight the instant I was an asshole. Instead I get you, a doormat. What the hell?” Blowing out her smoke once more to the ceiling, she gave a defeated slap of her knee in irritation.

“...I’m very sorry…” She lowered her head again.

Gilda shot her hand out, grasping Fluttershy’s chin in a grip that was at least a little gentler than it first appeared to be. She turned the woman’s head towards her.

“Look at me and talk normally. It’s not a hard concept, even for someone slow like you. Men and women speak. Dogs whimper, and you’re too soft to be a bitch.”

Her head moved up, but mainly because it had no choice. Her eyes, or rather, her one visible eye, had a hard time meeting Gilda’s own. “I-I’m s-sorry, I j-just, I’m n-n-not v-very good with, with st-strangers… please don’t t-touch me…”

Gilda held her for a moment longer, staring at the woman’s eye. “Was that so hard to say? Tell me not to do something?” she asked, her tone less angry and a hair more bored. She let go, putting her hand back to her side.

Fluttershy shrank away, looking toward… well, not looking toward anything, but certainly not looking toward Gilda. The white rabbit lolloped toward her again, sitting on her bare foot and staring at the other woman with something that might, if one squinted, have been a fierce sort of protection.

Gilda glanced down, the rabbit finally drawing her attention. “So, what do you do with all these damn animals?” She asked, giving a wiggle of her foot to try and brush the proud animal off. “Stew? Bake ‘em? Clothes?”

Rabbits couldn’t snarl, of course, but if anything, this one came close, remaining resolutely in place despite the offending limb. Fluttershy paled. “E-eat them? N-no, of course, I… I would never… they’re my friends…”

“You keep shitty company then. Bet they never pay for the meals.” She reached down and picked up the rabbit by the scruff of its neck, holding it away from her head and observing it at eye level.

“And I bet they crap on the floor, even if they aren’t drunk.” Gilda sported an open-toothed grin, her cigarette rolling in her mouth as she adjusted its placement with her tongue.

The rabbit glared right into her eyes, unafraid, hind legs kicking weakly in her direction. Fluttershy rested her hands on the rabbit’s side, attempting to calm him. “Shush, now, Angel. Behave.” She blinked. “Um… could you let go, please? He doesn’t like… well, he doesn’t really like strangers…”

“You’re the boss,” she replied, letting the rabbit drop.

Fluttershy caught him and gently rested him on her lap, a hand settling on the rabbit’s back. Based on the way Angel hunkered down, this was as much a warning as a gesture of peace. Even so, the bizarre death glare he was giving Gilda had not ceased.

“And it really isn’t… that big a deal taking care of my animal friends,” Fluttershy said, sounding only a little hurt. “I… I just like doing it. Isn’t there… something you just like to do?”

Gilda opened her mouth to reply, then shut it. Shrugging after a beat, she brushed off the question. “Whatever I like doing is better than wasting all my damn money feeding grubby pets like these. Where are you making the scratch to feed your zoo?”

lot of money and, and most of it goes to take care of these little ones, but it’s enough to get by…”

“And what if you go broke feeding them? Have you thought anything about a backup plan?” Gilda crossly pressed, finishing her smoke and pocketing the butt. “Or are you just a moron living day to day?”

The only reply was an awkward sort of shuffling, Fluttershy’s face turning away. Her hold on Angel tightened slightly, as if for reassurance. The rabbit himself didn’t seem to care.

Gilda let out a tsk of irritation. “Look,” she began, giving a hard roll of her eyes. “The world is a big, nasty place. If you don’t plan for shit to hit the fan? Well… that’s it. There ain’t going to be nobody to pamper you, princess.”

“I know that…”

Gilda gestured with her hands to the side and her head tilted, as if to silently say well?

“I’ll be fine,” Fluttershy said, though it was clearly more an attempt to reassure herself than to convince Gilda.

Gilda opened her mouth to say something, but instead shut it. “Yeah,” she sneered. “I’m sure you’ll be fine when you can’t even talk to me. Maybe your widdle wabbit can sign language.”

No response from Fluttershy seemed to be forthcoming. Angel’s glare shifted slightly from implied disgust to undisguised malice.

Gilda rose, putting a hand to her hip. “What do you have to drink?”

“Tea,” said Fluttershy automatically. “Water… Juice… Milk…”

“I know what I can do with the milk,” Gilda stated. She pointed to a door in front of them. “Kitchen this way?”

Fluttershy nodded.

Gilda left the room. From inside the kitchen, Fluttershy could hear doors and cabinets opening and shutting. After a moment, Gilda returned, a cup in each hand.

“Drink it,” she said, offering the drink towards the reserved woman. “It’s good.”

Fluttershy blinked in confusion and accepted the cup, looking uncertain. “What… is it?”

“A milky pete,” Gilda replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She looked down at the cup and then back up. “...A what?”

Gilda looked plainly over to Fluttershy. “A milky pete,” she repeated. “Do you honestly not know what these are?”

The rose-haired woman inhaled as if to answer, and then deflated. “Um. … No?”

Taking a drink, Gilda crossed her arms, staring at the ceiling, as if to ask someone why me? “And how old are you?”

“Um… Twenty three?”

“You should've known this shit a good seven years ago. A milky pete. Milk and vodka,” Gilda explained, as if the answer couldn’t be any more obvious. “I still had some in my flask; consider it our breaking bread in lieu of the damn cigarette you babied out of.”

“Oh.” She stared down at the cup again, her hands beginning to tremble much like they had with the cigarette in question, but before she could voice another rebuttal she brought the cup to her lips and, with considerable hesitation, took a very small sip.

Gilda watched her, taking a drink of her own. When she saw Fluttershy swallow, Gilda nodded. “See? Didn’t kill you. In fact, tasted pretty good, didn’t it?”

In lieu of answering, Fluttershy merely took another small sip.

Offering a smirk that was almost a smile, Gilda scratched at her cheek. “See what happens when you grow a pair, kid? It can turn out alright.”

Fluttershy lowered the cup to her lap and nodded, not quite making eye contact. Angel extricated himself from her grasp, landing on the floor and scurrying away, bumping into Gilda’s ankle as he ran.

“Little rat…” Gilda muttered under her breath, glaring at the creature as it shot off. She tilted the glass, finishing her drink and rising. “If you think this is good, I’ll need to introduce you to a little sex on the beach sometime.”

Fluttershy sputtered into the cup, face burning a bright red. “Wha… U-um… I… but… oh…”

“It’s alright,” she said with a wave of the hand. “You can’t even taste the damn vodka.”

With that Gilda glanced to the stairwell. “I’m crashing. I expect a match tomorrow, partner. None of this patty-cake shit.” She stepped towards it, giving a small flick of a hand over her shoulder in goodbye.

“I can do that,” Fluttershy murmured into the cup. “... I hope…”

Fluttershy awoke from a rather pleasant dream--something about waffles, perhaps--rather more suddenly than she was used to. Most of the time, her mornings, her early mornings, were lazy, a few more minutes under the comforter, snuggling her teddy bear. If there was any noise, it was birdsong. She left her window open for that purpose. What she was hearing now was not birdsong.

She sat up, rubbing at her eyes Was something wrong with the dogs…?

It was obvious, the more she strained her ears. The dog kennel was rattling, and a few hearty barks pierced the tranquil morning.

Fluttershy knew she couldn’t see the kennel from her bedroom window, so she threw on a coat over her pajamas and cut through the kitchen, opening her backdoor. As she stepped out back, she paused at what she saw.

Gilda sat in front of the kennel, her legs crossed. In her lap was a wrinkled, slobbering bulldog. It licked at Gilda’s brown skin feverishly; the woman held out a hand, blocking her face from getting coated in slobber. She rubbed the top of his head enthusiastically with her other hand, almost giving it a noogie as it stopped licking her palm and took to playfully snapping and nipping at her fingers.

“Oh… Is… is he yours?” Though Gilda probably couldn’t hear her from here… “Or…” She blinks. “Wait, no, silly me…”

She smiles gently. “Making friends already…”

Gilda seemed to notice the presence by her and froze, looking for the moment like a kid with his hand caught in a cookie jar. She turned her head, catching sight of Fluttershy. Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention back down at the dog.

“You have a name for the ugly bastard?” Gilda questioned with a grumble. Though she still let the dog lick with carefree abandon at her palm.

“I call him Alexander,” Fluttershy said finally, giving the dog a gentle smile. “It’s a nice name. And… and you’re a nice person. Too. I think. Even if… it’s not as… well… never mind…”

“Alexander…” Gilda looked down at the dog and took her thumbs to its mouth, lifting the sides and making him smile. “At least you got alright taste in names.” She rose, giving the dog another pat on the head before lifting him and tossing him back in the kennel with the others.

Turning back to the timid woman and crossing her arms, she measured Fluttershy for a moment. “We gonna start any time soon, or were you planning on cooking me breakfast first?”

“Oh… Would you like breakfast?” she asked earnestly.

“As long as it isn’t anything gross,” Gilda agreed with a surly nod.

“I can make an omelette…”

“Sausage omelette?”

She hesitated. “I… can do that, yes. It… may take slightly longer. To thaw the sausage.”

“You’re talking better than you were last night,” Gilda remarked, stepping past Fluttershy, towards the cottage.

“It’s, well…” Fluttershy turned to follow, hands clasped together in front of herself. “It’s just, that, you know, when I saw you… playing with Alexander… it was just… it was nice. It was nice to… see. If, if that makes sense.”

Gilda shook her head, grabbing the door and holding it open, her eyes silently judging Fluttershy as she stepped to the side to let the timid woman enter first. “Don’t get any ideas about me. He just reminded me of my dog back home.”

“You have a dog?” Fluttershy asked, in a voice louder than any other she’d used to address Gilda so far. She looked almost as if she were in awe for a moment before hesitating at the open door, heading in after a short pause.

“Hell yeah I do. Hunting’s a lot easier with one,” she replied, reaching into her pocket for another smoke. “Moriarty’s the only birthday gift dad ever did right.”

“... Oh,” she replied, quiet again, but not quite to meek levels. “... I understand.”

“Raised him from a pup,” Gilda boasted. “Normal dogs fetch and shit, right? Morty knows how to bring the paper in in the morning. Thing is dumb as a bag of hammers and twice as stupid-looking, but he gets me my slippers on cold days even.”

“People think they look fearsome, and, and they kind of do, but they’re really such sweet creatures…” She looked blankly into the distance, clearly off in her own little world. “Dogs are sweet. Sweeter than cats, normally. But I still like cats. I like all of them…”

“Only good cat is a dead cat,” Gilda replied crossly. “Always acting so smug and staring at you. It’s dumb, especally when you’re the one feeding the shitstains.”

“... You just have to know how to treat them,” Fluttershy replied gently. “Although… some cats just don’t get along well with people. I’ve known cats like that…”

“Then what’s the point of having them as a pet?” she countered with a scowl. “If you can’t even sleep with the damn things without them clawing for your eyes.” Gilda paused, adding onto the thought. “Or hunt, or hunt with them.”

“It isn’t always about…” Fluttershy trailed off, tapping her index fingers together in thought. “It’s about the… It’s like… I really don’t know how to describe it,” she admitted finally, looking a little ashamed. “It’s always come so easily to me, and, and I don’t always know how to put the things I feel into words. They just… are. You… you know?”

“No, I don’t,” Gilda snapped. “Why else would I ask you?” She went to Fluttershy’s kitchen table and sat, observing the woman with her golden eyes.

Fluttershy tapped her fingers together again, looking nervously at Gilda for only a few seconds, before murmuring something indecipherable and proceeding to pull the sausage out of her freezer. “I, um, it’ll be… a few minutes, first, but… Oh, I can get the eggs ready,” she added, almost to herself, reaching into the fridge and pulling out a carton of them.

“You gonna spend the whole day in your pyjamas by the way?” Gilda asked as she leaned on the table, glancing at Fluttershy’s bottoms before returning her judgemental gaze to the woman’s face. “Who the hell wears pj’s anyway? Are you six?”

The timid woman tilted her head, clearly taking a moment to process the question. “Am I… Oh. Oh, I, I suppose I, oh…” She looked suddenly embarrassed, pulling her jacket tighter about herself. “I’m, I’m very sorry, I’m just, well, I, I, I’m not sure you noticed, but, but I don’t get a lot of, um, human company…”

She let an almost smile cross her face, but quickly it turned to a sneer as she lazily pointed at Fluttershy. “If that’s the case, then why aren’t you naked? I’d be in the buff all the time if I just had to worry about Morty instead of people. Not like animals give a shit what’s under the clothes.”

This caused the other to burst into an unmistakable and unhideable blush. “I--but...but… oh, but I could never… it’s not…”

What followed might best be described, in retrospect, as a mad but almost astonishingly polite dash out of the room and up the stairs, accompanied by a squeaky, highly embarrassed, “I’llberightback!”

Gilda looked over at the half-started meal, the eggs laid out, a whisk and large bowl laid on the counter.

“That idiot,” she spat under her breath, rising and moving over to them. “Got to do every damn thing myself in this dump.”

With a surprisingly sure hand, Gilda cracked the eggs into the bowl and added some milk in. After a quick rummage through the counters to find spices, she tossed a concoction of herbs into the mix, sniffing it and nodding in satisfaction at its spicy aroma. She then attacked the bowl with the whisk, annihilating the eggs until they were nothing more than the consistency of a thick soup. She then returned to her chair, just as Fluttershy stepped into the room

“Oh, I should have started the…”

She spotted the whisked eggs, mouth open in a small, surprised “oh.” Her turquoise eyes shifted between the eggs and the seated woman several times before she burst into a blush again, though not nearly so intense this time. “I’m, I’m very sorry, I shouldn’t have… Um… Thank you for… preparing the, ah, the eggs…”

“Well, it was either that, or sit on my ass and go hungry,” she curtly retorted, then glanced over at the conservative dress and blouse Fluttershy wore. “And a skirt? That’s stupid.”

This got a genuinely confused look from the other woman. “I, but… I like it,” she insists. “It’s… it’s just what I wear.” She checks on the sausage. “... Ah. Alright. Um. I can… I’ll start the omelettes now.”

“Hides your ass. That’s a shame,” Gilda said, leaning back in her chair and watching the woman work. Fluttershy wasn’t sure if her tone was teasing or not. “You looked better in the pj’s.”

She busied herself with preparing the food as an excuse to avoid replying. “What, what would you like to… to drink?”

“I got a little vodka left, if you want another milky pete,” Gilda offered, reaching into her pocket to shake her flask at the woman.

“Ah, no, I… later? I’d, really… I always have milk along with breakfast. But. Um. Thank you for the, the offer.”

“Suit yourself,” Gilda replied with a shrug, pocketing the drink. She gave another smirk, leaning her head on a hand. “So… milk every day with breakfast, huh?”

“Yes,” she replied, adding the sausage. “... It’s just, just a habit… I guess…”

“Explains your tits,” she said with an overwhelming frankness, waiting with a wolfish grin for Fluttershy’s reaction.

Fluttershy was still blushing from that comment by the time the finished omelette, decorated gently with herbs, found its way onto a plate and in front of Gilda. The rose-haired woman sat at the other end of the table wordlessly, face hidden behind her hair again, apparently attempting to make herself look as small as possible.

“It smell too spicy? Because you’re so damn red.” Gilda continued to beam, as if she had just won a major victory with her words, and dug into her omelette, tearing into it like an unleashed beast. After a few moments of this, she glanced up at Fluttershy, who was eating with a methodical slowness, cutting into the meal with her knife and fork with a surgeon-like precision.

“What?” Gilda asked. “You not like it?”

She mumbled something that didn’t quite make it to the other side of the table, and then cleared her throat. “... It, it’s lovely.”

Gilda stared at her for a moment, weighing Fluttershy’s words before finally letting a derisive snort out, returning to her food. “Thanks,” she said, her own tone low and under her breath.

“It… it really is,” she says, not quite insistently. “I… what else did you add? I’ve never… this is really good…”

“Rosemary helps. Along with some ground pepper,” Gilda said, almost sheepishly. “Was going to add a bit of ginger, but you were out.” She narrowed her brow, going on the offensive. “How the hell do you run out of ginger? Are you so dumb you can’t make a grocery list?”

Her head lowered again. “... actually, I, I, originally, my plan was… I mean… today was going to be my, my shopping day… and ginger was, was already on the list, I, but… I can go later…”

“Hell no,” Gilda snapped. “We’ll get your food first. I’m not sticking around this damn pigsty if there isn’t grub. I’ll help, since the only thing I can trust you to do is fuck up.”

Fluttershy seemed to be doing her best to disappear entirely under the table by this point. “... okay… “

“That’s what I thought,” Gilda proclaimed with a sneer, crossing her arms. “I swear, like a damn kid I have to take care of.” She let out an exasperated sigh as she returned to her meal. “And sit up in your chair, you retard. It’s bad for your posture.”

Gilda walked down the aisles of the grocery store, muttering under her breath as she looked over the goods. Squinting her eyes, she looked over Fluttershy’s list.

“You can’t write for shit,” she complained, glancing to the woman over the cart she pushed. “Why the hell would you do this whole thing in cursive? Like this,” she said, slapping the paper with the back of her hand, the fingertips tapping at an item below dozens of others already crossed off. “What’s this say?”

“Spinach,” Fluttershy supplied helpfully.

“Spinach, spinach...” Gilda muttered under her breath, chanting it like a religious prayer. She looked at the signs above the aisles, before finally grunting in triumph. “Seven. Alright.”
She briskly moved forward, turning to Fluttershy after she went down half the aisle.

“Are you going to move that cart, or am I going to have to carry you?” Gilda tersely said, tossing her arms out in exasperation as she turned, heading towards the next stop.

Fluttershy was already moving the cart, albeit slowly. The snap from Gilda made her flinch. “S-sorry, I was… looking…”

Gilda marched over, taking the cart from Fluttershy’s hands. “Just give me the thing. You read your shitty list,” she instructed, all but throwing the paper to Fluttershy. “Spinach,” Gilda repeated to herself, taking off down the aisle and turning.

She came back moments later, the vegetable sitting with the rest of their groceries. “What next?”

“... Um… Well… ginger.”

“About time we get that.” Gilda moved back to the spice aisle they passed a moment ago and came back, spice in hand.

Smirking, she tapped a thumb to her chest. “As slow and helpless as you are, I bet I’m doing this about three times as fast as you normally do.”

“... But really it… there’s no reason to race,” Fluttershy mumbled. “There’s nothing wrong with, with going slowly…”

Gilda narrowed her brow. “Yeah. Uh-huh,” she dryly replied. “Some of us know any time wasted shopping is time you’re losing for dicking around. Doing this fast is probably the best favor anyone’s ever done for you.”

She looked like she honestly didn’t understand, looking back and forth from the list to Gilda several times.

“What’s next?” Gilda asked, not bothering to clarify.

“I, I was going to pick up, a, well… treats for the dogs, since… Well, they’ve been really well-behaved, and… and then…” She looks at the list. “And then cherries, and that, that will be everything…”

“So we get some T-bone steaks for ourselves and toss them the scraps. Treats are done,” Gilda said, nodding to herself. She glanced to Fluttershy. “What do you like to drink?”

“Tea,” she replied on reflex. “Green tea. Or black tea. Sometimes I indulge with, with peach, but… it’s usually expensive…”

“So now you worry about money, when it isn’t for your widdle fwends,” Gilda said mockingly, crossing her arms. “Unbelievable.”

Reaching into her pocket, Gilda withdrew a worn, old wallet and cracked it open, withdrawing a few crisp bills.

“Get your damn drink,” she ordered, thrusting the bills Fluttershy’s way.

“Oh. No, it’s… it’s fine. Really! Thank you, but, but I really couldn’t…”

“It wasn’t a request. It was an order. Do it. Get your drink, and pick out a wine you think looks good.” She shook her hand at Fluttershy, shoving the money towards the woman’s chest. “Because we’re not having tea with steaks.”

“... Oh.” She accepted the money, looking sheepish again, before hurrying down the aisles, sending a look back over her shoulder as though she were afraid Gilda might be after her. Within the space of two minutes she returned, clutching a box of green tea and a bottle of Merlot. “... H-here, I… I think…”

Gilda took the bottle, looking at the label. “Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought,” Gilda said with a nod. “This isn’t too bad of one for beef.” She said nothing more, clasping Fluttershy on the shoulder and giving the woman a hard shake Fluttershy would almost call affectionate.

“I do… drink a little wine, s-sometimes,” she admitted, sounding more ashamed than proud of the fact. “After, after ba… after busy days…”

“Well shit,” Gilda said, reaching down for another smoke. “And here I was thinking I popped your drinking cherry last night.” Out of habit, she offered the pack to Fluttershy as she reached for her lighter.

“Oh… no, thank you.” She tapped her index fingers together again. “And, and, well… you still, kind of, did, I suppose…? I’d never had, had v-vodka before…”

Gilda grinned, actually grinned. “If you’re not such a pussy and take a few chances, it all ends up alright.”

She could only nod in reply, eyes on the floor. “... Y-yes…”

Her bright expression faded after a moment and her surly demeanor returned. “Now come on, dweeb. Let’s pay and get back.”

Gilda kicked the door to Fluttershy’s home open, tossing her shoes to the corner as she shuffled two bags of groceries in each hand. She made it to the kitchen table before calling over her shoulder.

“You got the rest?”

It could never be said that she was weak, as meek as she was and as thin as she appeared under the modest clothes she wore; she was carrying as much as Gilda and didn’t look the least bit winded. “Oh. Yes, I’m fine… I, I mean, I got the rest of it…”

“Alright.” Gilda rolled her shoulder, beginning the dull task of unloading the groceries into the fridge and cabinets. She watched Fluttershy drop the groceries onto the table and wordlessly help unload hers as well. They finished in short order and Gilda put a hand to her hip, looking at the clock.

“Now what? It’s too early for dinner.”

“Um. Well.” She inhaled as if she were about to add something, but whatever it was remained unvoiced as the timid woman stared at the floor.

“How about we actually do what I came here for?” Gilda offered, crossing her arms and measuring the woman once more.

“What you came here for?” Fluttershy looked blank for a moment. “... Oh! The, the tournament, I… right. But. I thought we already were, you know… wasn’t the, the point of the partnership to, you know…” She fidgeted. “I mean, it’s not always about, about… hurting…”

“It’s about training.” She jabbed a finger at the woman. “And all I’ve seen you do is run around with a thumb up your ass. That’s anything but.”

“But, but we have plenty of time to… We d-don’t have to, to really… I mean, yet, do we? I mean… Oh…”

Gilda crossed her arms, no sympathy in her glare. “You can’t be this much of a pussy and expect to fight in a tournament. Were you planning on crying them to death?”

“No,” she muttered, with the barest, meanest hint of defiance in her voice. “Of, of course not…”

“So…” Gilda encouraged with a slow wave of her hand. “Let’s hash out the details.”

“... Okay.” A significant pause. “What… what would you like to know?”

“If we can go for the eyes and groin. And what’s the reward for who wins?”

“Um… I’d… I’d really rather, if, if it’s okay with you, if we d-didn’t… at least… well, um, hopefully never, but, but especially not yet.” She began tangling her fingers together. “And, and, and… reward? I, I don’t know…”

Gilda gave a surprisingly agreeably grunt. “No cunt kicks, sure.” Leaning forward, she pressed her. “Come on, though. Say what happens if you win.”

“If I win…” She looked to be giving this serious thought, eyes closed. “If, if I win…” Fluttershy seemed to brighten slightly. “If, if I win… I win.”

“You win… what?”

“I w-win the f…” She trailed off, and then tried again. “The f… The fi… I mean… you know what I mean…”

She rolled her eyes. “There’s gotta be more you want.” Reaching into her pocket, Gilda lit a smoke once more and took to counting on her fingers. “I could stop swearing for a day, cook for you, maid costume or something.” She tapped her cigarette on the table. “Stop smoking inside. All kinds of shit.”

“Oh.” The thoughtful look returned to Fluttershy’s face, and her eyes traveled to the floor and the walls, the myriad signs of animal habitation. “... Yes. That. That sounds… let’s do that. The, the smoking I mean. Not the, uh… the m-maid… costume.” Her head tilted, exposing the one eye that had been half-hidden. “Why a maid costume?”

“Hell, I don’t know. You seemed to be the type of woman into that weird roleplay shit.” She took a deep drag of her smoke, lazily meeting Fluttershy’s eye. “Alright. See what some balls can get you? Deal. No smoking inside if you beat me.”

The confusion evaporated into bright cheerfulness, though her voice, when she spoke, was still soft. “Al… alright. But what if… what if you…?”

Gilda measured Fluttershy and replied without a trace of humor. “Dinner tonight? You’re eating with me in your underwear.” She smirked. “Maybe that’ll give you some incentive not to play nice. You’d better play to win.”

The veterinarian immediately burst into a bright crimson blush, clearly attempting to reply but only managing to produce muffled squeaks.

“You sound like a chew toy,” Gilda commented, blowing smoke across the kitchen. “What’s the matter?”

“B-b-b-b-but, I… Oh…” It was all she could do to hide her face in her hands.

“You should take it as a complement. I wouldn’t want to see a fatass while I was eating, would I?” Gilda grinned through her cigarette, taking a step towards the timid woman. Fluttershy took a step back, glancing at her.

“It seems right, a nice piece of meat to go with a nice piece of meat.” Gilda took the smoke out of her mouth and let it drop to the linoleum floor, where she then ground it under her foot. “You gonna rumble in that, or actually change to something not stupid for fighting in?”

Fluttershy looked like she was about to reply, but after a moment of awkward, embarrassed sputtering, she disappeared up the stairs.

Gilda watched her go, doing everything in her power to stop from laughing. She unbuttoned her heavy jacket and balled it up in her hands, rolling her bare shoulder and briefly fanning her neck with a hand, before wiping at her brow with the top of her cotton wife-beater. Taking the jacket to the other room, she threw it towards her shoes. She returned to the kitchen and popped her knuckles. A thought came to her.

“Fluttershy!” she called out, cupping a hand to her mouth.

“...yes?” came the timid woman’s voice, muffled, clearly from behind a closed door.

“You have potatoes?”

“... They’re in the tray on the counter, near the stove…?”

Gilda glanced over, noticing them. She called out to her once more. “Your ass better want them with the steaks. Because I do.”

“We, we can… yes, of course…” The voice seemed clearer now, which was explained a moment later by the reappearance of Fluttershy at the bottom of the stairs, this time in her gi. “If, if you want…”

Gilda moved over to the woman and gave a small, friendly push of her shoulder. “See? Now you’re looking like you mean business.” She gave a shrug of her hands. “And are you wanting a different side? Say something.”

She shrank away from the push a little, though not far enough to really be rude. “N-no, actually, I… I was meaning to use the potatoes anyway…”

“I actually…” Fluttershy’s gaze moved toward the back door. “Out, out in the yard… there’s space for it. I, um, sometimes, when Harry has back troubles, I, I… help him back there. So… there’s room…”

“Harry?” Gilda repeated.

“Oh… Harry is one of my animal friends,” Fluttershy clarified, looking a little more confident now that the conversation was edging toward familiar ground. “He’s a bear.”

“A bear?” Gilda said. “Are you serious? You’re a damn twig and you expect me to believe you’re tangling with a bear?”

“Oh, yes. He’s a very big bear, actually. But he’s a big softie. Very sweet. I think you’d like him.”

“Yeah. Not like he could maul my face off or anything,” Gilda grumbled.

“Harry would never do that,” Fluttershy insisted, about as earnestly as Fluttershy could insist anything.

Gilda measured her, a bit surprised at her conviction. Finally, she nodded in a slow agreement. “I believe it if you say it. Like that, at least.”

Fluttershy smiles gently and indicates the back door. “I, I… shall we?”

“Lead the way.”

Gilda took a long, heavy breath of the fresh air. She measured Fluttershy from across the open yard, the grass soft and yielding on her bare feet. Shuffling a bit, she looked over at Fluttershy, the faintest sense of right in her chest as she admired the woman in stance, looking far less timid as they prepared to spar.

The timid woman still looked… well, timid, uncertain, even in her ready stance. She had at least tied her hair back, leaving her entire face visible for perhaps the first time; the expression she wore made it quite clear she didn’t really want to do this.

“Are, are you sure we can’t… just… settle things over… over tea?”

“You can’t be serious,” Gilda said, exasperated. “Get it through your soft skull. You’re my partner for the tournament. And I won’t let your limp-wristed ass hold me back. So get ready, get in position, and get your ass on top of me!” she barked, clenching her fists at eye level, the backs of them facing outward. She lowered her body a hair, tensing, coiling like a spring.

Fluttershy sighed deeply, swallowed, and opened her eyes again, staring across the yard. Almost all of the timidity in her gaze was gone, replaced with a rigid sort of calm that didn’t look entirely right on her face.

Gilda smirked, taking a few slow, careful steps forward, judging Fluttershy’s stance, the hard look in her eyes, even the position of the knot her belt made.

“Scared to come to me?” Gilda asked, mockingly. She made a few more steps, keeping just out of range from any sort of lunge or pounce.

Fluttershy took a few steps to the side, still watching Gilda intently. She offered no reply.

“Alright.” Gilda tucked her hands up, each step send her body weaving, bobbing like a cobra. “Then I’ll lead, sugartits.”

She dashed forward, her hands still held protectively at her head, and snapped one fist out in a jab at Fluttershy’s shoulder.

The appellation caused another typical Fluttershy squeak and blush, but she managed to throw up an arm to deflect the punch. “Oh, I… Please be careful…”

Gilda turned her torso with the deflected punch, throwing her shoulder towards Fluttershy’s stomach instead with a growl.

Fluttershy bit her lip, hands grasping for Gilda’s upper arms, less to actually grab her and more to actually halt her advance.

Gilda ducked under the grasp, shooting her hand up in an uppercut gunning for Fluttershy’s jaw.

She saw stars, tumbling backwards and losing her balance. She didn’t quite make it all the way down to the ground before rotating and catching herself with a single hand, the other moving to gingerly inspect her face. The ponytail she’d tied her hair back into hid the action slightly, but before too long she was shakily getting to her feet again. On meeting Gilda’s gaze, she hesitated briefly, but attempted a clumsy lunge, grasping again.

“Weak!” Gilda roared, shooting her fist forward, ducking low and slapping towards Fluttershy’s knee.

She managed to catch Gilda’s wrist, wincing as she did, but wasn’t able to prevent the blow to her knee.

Gilda tried to pull her wrist back for one moment, but was unable to escape Fluttershy’s iron grip. Instead, she shot her other fist forward, towards Fluttershy’s stomach.

Her other hand grasped for Gilda’s free wrist. “I, I’m sorry, am I squeezing too hard…?”

Gilda growled, slamming her head forward to headbutt Fluttershy’s chest.

The rose-haired woman staggered backward, letting go of Gilda’s wrists and crossing her torso with both arms. “Ouch…”

She narrowed her brow, throwing her arms at either side of her. “Well, you gonna do something besides hold my hands? I would have tried for second base by now, if that’s what I thought you were going to do.”

“I, I just wanted to make sure, I wasn’t… hurting you…” She swallowed, head lowered to attempt to hide her face. “Before I, before I got… before I started… you know… This isn’t about hurting each other…”

Gilda grit her teeth. After a moment, though, she relaxed her jaw and walked toward Fluttershy. She reached toward the woman hesitantly, finally resting a hand on her shoulder.

“Look. It isn’t about hurting each-other,” she lectured, looking up to the clear sky as she thought of her words. “Bruises come with the territory. Know what it is about, though?”

Fluttershy visibly tensed as Gilda touched her, although the lack of any resulting pain allowed her to relax. “... What is?”

“It’s about pushing one-another. Nobody’s gonna hold either of our hands when we hit the tournament, so we need to do it to ourselves. Going as far as you can, pushing yourself off of the dirt and standing up? That’s how you win. And I didn’t get paired up with a loser. You’re not a loser. Even if you are retarded and helpless. Do you understand me?”

A short silence followed this. Fluttershy looked at the hand Gilda had on her shoulder, and then back along it to Gilda herself. “I, I… yes,” she murmured meekly. “I understand…”

“Alright. Now, you want to give this another shot? Or think about how I’m right for a bit?” Gilda encouraged, giving a small, hard shake of Fluttershy’s shoulder. Well, encouraged as best as her gruff nature could allow.

Fluttershy’s gaze moved back to Gilda’s hand. She seemed lost in thought for a second or two before one of her own hands rose slowly toward it.

Gilda glanced at where Fluttershy was traveling to and smirked. “What? Are you wanting to fight? Because you’re holding my hand again.”

Her hand settled atop Gilda’s for a moment, and her mouth opened in a small “Oh” as if she’d just realized something. With surprising speed, she wrenched her body around and pulled, attempting to flip the other woman over and onto the ground.

Gilda let out a surprised yelp as she was flung and landed hard on her back. Her eyes flared briefly in anger, but that quickly faded, instead being replaced by a genuine grin.

“See? Was that so hard to get through your dumb ass? Good form. There’s one thing you should keep in mind on it, though...” Gilda held her hand up, looking at Fluttershy, a small devilish twinkle in her otherwise stern eyes.

On reflex, with a smile tempered somewhat by worry that she’d hurt Gilda, Fluttershy took the offered hand and began to attempt to help Gilda back to her feet.

“I cheat,” Gilda said.

She pulled Fluttershy down to her and turned them, straddling the woman and pinning Fluttershy’s shoulders with her hands. Gilda stared down at Fluttershy’s eyes, her smile almost childish.

Her eyes widen in shock and surprise, and she sputters something that might be “But, but that’s not very nice…”

Gilda still held her smile. She trailed the back of her hand down Fluttershy’s cheek. “When am I nice, though?” she asked, thoughtfully.

Fluttershy squeaked, attempting to hide her face even though there really wasn’t much she could do on that front from this particular position. “... When you’re playing with Alexander,” she mumbled honestly.

Gilda paused, looking down once more at the woman. She moved her hands back to Fluttershy’s shoulders.

“I’m not a nice girl,” she said, almost more to herself than the woman under her. “It just… isn’t in my style, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t tell anyone,” Fluttershy mumbled. “... If you wanted to be. Sometimes. I mean. If being tough like that gets, gets hard. Doesn’t it? I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t know…”

She sighed. “It can be. Didn’t leave me with a lot of people that had my back at home.” Narrowing her brow and glancing away from the woman, she added, “But I didn’t care. The world’s rough shit. If you ain’t tough, then you ain’t making it through.”

Almost inaudibly, Fluttershy whispered something that could have been an apology.

Gilda rose with a grunt, offering her hand down to Fluttershy. “Hey,” she said, her tone more quiet than normal.

“You’re dumb and a sissy. But still kinda cool in my book.”

Fluttershy cautiously took the hand and stood up. “... Thank you,” she said, embarrassed. “You’re, you’re not… a bad person, really. A little scary, but… not bad.”

Smirking, Gilda threw her arm over Fluttershy’s shoulder in an awkward hug. “You still lost the match, by the way.”

Immediately her cheeks burst into a violent blush and she whimpered. “B-b-b-b-but… oh… D-d-do I really have… have to…?”

“You made your bed. Got to lay in it.” Gilda reached into her pocket, withdrawing another smoke. “Next time maybe you’ll have a little more incentive to go all-out on me instead of whimpering like a beat dog.” She gave another shake of Fluttershy’s shoulder. “But at least I’m cooking. That has to count for something.”

Fluttershy stared at the ground. “... yeah… You, you made really good omelettes,” she agrees. “So, so the steaks… the steaks sound good.” Her hands met, fingers tapping together anxiously. “So, so, so when do I have to… t-to…”

“Do I have to plan everything you do?” Gilda snapped. “Just when I finish up cooking, I guess.”

She winced. “I, I just w-wanted to make sure…”

Rolling her eyes, Gilda replied, “You’re stupid, but not that stupid. You can make assumptions. It’s not like I’d beat you if you got something wrong. Now come on, let’s get you back inside.”

Small though it was, it was hard to miss the smile Fluttershy had on her face anyway.

Fluttershy sat on her bed and stared at the mirror on her vanity. It was a small vanity, and a small mirror, the kind of place she didn’t spend a lot of time, because, really, who among her animal friends would really care how pretty she was? But she kept it, because it was one of those things that people did, or that was what she assumed, anyway. She’d undone the hair tie and let her pink locks fall about her face again, leaving only a single visible eye. She was holding onto the sleeves of her gi tightly, dreading the call from below that would mean she’d have to remove it.

What had happened over the past… had it been twenty four hours already? Or, well, it had to be close, if it hadn’t been a full day. This time yesterday she was just feeding her animals, and everything had been fine, and then Gilda…

Well, Gilda. That name brought with it a whole bunch of uncomfortable ideas, chief among them the fact that she was going to have to spend the next several minutes wearing, well, wearing only the stuff that no one else was ever supposed to see. Or at least, no one she didn’t know very well. And she didn’t know Gilda very well. Maybe she could just say no and keep her gi on…

...but no, she’d promised, it’d been a deal, she had to. And, and, really, Gilda wasn’t such a bad person, just a loud one. And Fluttershy didn’t particularly enjoy loud people (or people in general, for that matter), but… Gilda was okay. It would only be a few minutes anyway. Right?

As if on cue, there came a call from downstairs.

“Fluttershy!” Gilda exclaimed. “Food’s ready!”

She whimpered, but… Okay, Fluttershy. You can do this. A deal is a deal, and, and… you can be brave. Right?

“...I hope so,” she muttered to herself.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, true to the deal, she’d removed everything but her plain, boringly practical underwear, and from the looks of things was doing her best to sneak through her own home to avoid being seen.

She rounded the corner to her kitchen and was greeted by an appreciative whistle. Fluttershy turned to Gilda and paused.

Gilda held a tray of steaks in a hand and moved, taking them to the table. What drew Fluttershy’s attention, though, was that the woman was in an equal state of undress. Moving back to the counter to bring a large bowl of mashed potatoes to the table, Fluttershy caught more than her fair share of Gilda’s shapely ass, her underwear far more provocative and revealing.

“Well?” Gilda asked, making one more trip from the table to the counter, grabbing a batch of fresh-made rolls. “Gonna have a seat or what? Shit’ll get cold.”

Fluttershy stared blankly until she realized it would probably seem impolite and send entirely the wrong message. With another embarrassed squeak, she shuffled to her seat, lowering herself a lot lower than she strictly needed to be, still attempting to hide.

“Come on,” Gilda instructed as she sat down, her tone stern, as if she were lecturing a child. “What did I say about your posture? Sit up.”

She sits up, but very slowly and clearly against her better judgment. “...the food smells lovely…”

Gilda grinned. “Thanks. And you’re welcome.” She stood up, dishing out a serving of steak and potatoes for each of them, her breasts eye-level with Fluttershy and turning teasingly in their bra with every motion Gilda performed.

Sitting back down, Gilda took to her steak, cutting into it with a knife.

“Be honest,” she said. “It taste as good as you look?”

Fluttershy, face still tellingly red, took a small bite of her steak. “It, it’s a little rare… but, but that’s okay, and, and…” She squeaks. “I’m, I’m really not… I’m not that…”

“I made a few at the bottom well-done. Have one of those after you're finished with your first.” Gilda took a drink from the wine glass she had nearby. “And what did I say earlier? I wouldn’t say something if I didn’t mean it. You look fine. Hot, even. Especially out of a shitty dress. End of discussion.”

“...thank you…” she replied, keenly interested in her meal and not daring to look up at the woman across the table.

“Don’t thank me for just telling the truth,” she replied, taking another drink of wine. “You’re too…” she searched for a word. After a pause, Gilda sighed in irritation. “I don’t even know what the hell you’re too much of right now.”

“...I’m sorry…” Every move Fluttershy made appeared to be carefully calculated to involve as little exposure as possible, even so.

“And you’re always apologizing for stupid shit too. You don’t have to do that with me. Can you understand that?”

“... It’s hard not to,” Fluttershy admitted meekly, and then occupied herself with her potatoes in an effort to avoid having to expound.

Shame Gilda was never one for social tact.

“Why?” she asked, taking a bite of her potatoes and nodding with satisfaction.

“I, I just, I…” A long pause. “...I’m, I’m, growing up I was kind of a klutz,” she admitted. “And, and I kind of still am. So. I’d always… be breaking things, and, and…”

“So? I break shit all the time. It happens. No need to panic every time something goes wrong. Besides,” Gilda glanced across the table. “You’re not gonna break me. So drop the ‘sorry’ act on everything you do around me, for God’s sake.”

“I’ll, I’ll try…” She didn’t look very confident.

“Come on. Say it like you mean it,” GIlda ordered with a lazy point. “Say it like you told me that bear wouldn’t fucking tear into my face. That’s when I knew you meant it.”

“... I’ll try not to be so apologetic,” she said, with a little more force behind the words.

“That’s more like it,” Gilda said, raising her wineglass up in salute. “I like a woman that’s a little forceful. Keeps you on your toes.”

“I’m not very good at being forceful…” Fluttershy lifted her glass in a trembling hand. “B-but…”

“Which is why you got me,” Gilda replied, reaching over the table to gently tap their glasses together. “When I’m through, nobody but nobody is messing with you but me, sugartits.”

Her blush brightened again, but briefly. “... Thanks,” she mumbled.

Gilda let a snort out. “Don’t mention it.” She watched Fluttershy eat for a moment, before speaking once more.

“How are the potatoes?”

“Delicious… Better than the steak.” She blinked, and then reached for a second piece. “I, I mean, that’s just… because I’m not, a fan, of, of rare steak, so… it’s really good steak…”

She gave a considering nod, satisfied at the answer. “Rare’s about the only way my dad taught me to make ‘em. I didn’t think you might not like rare until about the fourth one I cooked. Sorry. I’ll remember next time.”

Her expression brightened when she took a bite of the second steak. “... Oh my. This is excellent… Um, thank you!”

“Yep. You did alright out there after a little coaxing.” She quirked a brow. “Like when you reward a pet with a treat.”

“... Pet?” She tilted her head. “...So, so I’m like a pet to you?”

Gilda smirked. “Well, didn’t you say you liked how I was with Alexander?” Her expression once more turned a bit thoughtful. “I don’t know what you are to me. You’re docile and stupid like a cow, but every once in a great while… I think I see a woman in you. And I like that.”

“... Some of my friends are cows,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“And you give them a run for their money in the tit department,” Gilda replied, resting her head in a hand and running a fork through her potatoes. “They like it when you eat their relatives, by the way?”

She clearly chose to ignore the first comment, based on the way she briefly looked away. “...They understand,” she muttered, though she still looked uncomfortable.

“Nature isn’t pretty,” Gilda replied, cutting through the last of her meat with the knife and putting it in her mouth. She wiped her lips with a napkin and polished off her wine. “Well, that was pretty good. I mean, I made it, so that’s obvious, but…”

Fluttershy still had about half of her steak left, but nodded. “It… it really is. Thank you, Gilda…” A brief, nervous pause. “... And… and… you’re kind of h… b… pretty, too,” she added, in a much smaller voice.

“That a fact?” she replied, a bit surprised. “And here I was thinking you didn’t even notice me.” Leaning forward on the table once more, she asked with a grin, “so, what are you gonna do to thank me for the meal?”

“I, I, I can do the dishes…?” Fluttershy offered.

“And?” Gilda pressed, nodding at Fluttershy’s words.

“A-and… um… is, is there anything you want…?”

“Is there anything you think that I’d want?” she replied, rising with a smirk, picking up her cleaned dishes and sauntering over to the sink, giving a turn of her head to see if Fluttershy was watching her.

Fluttershy’s head turned, although she curled up a little in her chair again, apparently on reflex.

Gilda made a return trip towards the table, her hips swaying like they had a mind of their own.

“Anything come to mind yet?” she asked, coyly, a hand on the head of Fluttershy’s chair. “Because I can give you an idea if you’re stuck.”

“Um.” Fluttershy stared at Gilda’s hand apprehensively. “... What idea?”

“You really don’t know what I’m getting at, do you?” Gilda stared at her for a moment, unsure what to make of the woman. “As much as you spazz out when I say you have a nice body, I thought you’d go crazy if you knew where I was coming from on that.” Rolling her eyes, she crouched down to where her head was level with Fluttershy’s. Gilda tapped at her own brown cheek. “How about a little sugar? That seem fair?”

“U-u-uum,” Fluttershy managed, shrinking away slightly on reflex. “I, I, b-but, wh… uh… I’ve… I’m not…”

“Not what?” Gilda pressed. “Talk to me like you don’t have a condition.”

“I, I, I mean, we, we really don’t, I mean, is is, is…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Is… I mean… I just… J-just because we’re dressed like this, doesn’t, doesn’t mean…”

“Of course it doesn’t,” Gilda said. “I just get hot sometimes and wanted out of the leather, why I decided to match you.” She wryly smiled, leaning just a hair closer. “But I would have asked for something like this even if you were in a damn parka. I told you I thought you were pretty.”

Fluttershy gave the other woman a long, confused look, hands clasped together so tightly her knuckles were white. “...b-but…”

Lacking a real argument, she squeezed her eyes shut, squeaked, and darted forward to give the briefest possible of brief smooches to Gilda’s cheek. She looked away immediately afterward, hiding her face in her hands and mumbling “...thank you for the steaks…”

“See? What I keep telling you?” Gilda said, resting a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder, her touch gentler than normal. “If you don’t pussy out, things turn out ok. That wasn’t the end of the world, was it?” She ventured out on a branch. “In fact, I’d bet good money you liked it. You might like it even better if you took your time with it.” She smirked. “You’re slow at everything else, ain’t you?”

Fluttershy nodded, face still hidden in her hands.

“Hey,” Gilda addressed, her tone a bit quieter and less boisterous than it had been moments ago. She trailed a hand to Fluttershy’s neck and lightly ran her thumb down the woman’s skin. “Fluttershy... give me an honest answer here.”

Very slowly, the timid woman looked up far enough to expose her eyes. “...Mm?”

“Can I return the favor?” Gilda asked. She hardened up, albeit very little, her next words lacking the woman’s normal gruffness. “To show you how it’s done, obviously. I wouldn’t want you to screw it up again.”

She stared, blinking several times, slowly sitting up the rest of the way and revealing her face. Her expression betrayed her uncertainty, although there was something like hope in her eyes--faint, but present. “I, um…”

She looked away, flustered, staring at the table. “...if you want…”

“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t,” Gilda replied, her hard, hawk-like eyes burrowing into Fluttershy’s own like hot coals. Yet, even in their deep stare, Fluttershy saw a faint, distant spark of gentleness.

She reached her hands forward, cupping Fluttershy’s cheeks. With a slow, deliberate pause, Gilda leaned forward, tilting her head and kissing Fluttershy on her trembling lips with a tenderness that seemed impossible to come from Gilda at first glance. From within the kiss, Gilda’s tongue came slightly out, trailing Fluttershy’s lips, every contact like a spark, sending a wave of emotion into Fluttershy as if she were a lightning rod.

Pulling back, Gilda smiled, moving a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind Fluttershy’s ear. “How was that?”

Fluttershy was trembling, albeit faintly, eyes searching Gilda’s face for… well, she didn’t really know what she was looking for. Something. Her mouth was slightly open, and she almost shivered when Gilda brushed her hair back. “I,” she breathed, and twitched her head as though she wanted to look away but couldn’t. “I, I, I, I’d never, I… that… but…”

She fumbled for words for a moment longer before settling, somewhat lamely, on “It was… nice…”

“A real damn poet,” Gilda remarked, but softened after the jab. “And yeah. That was nice. I expected as much.”

Fluttershy finally managed to look away, though there was a smile tugging insistently at the corners of her mouth. “...I, I, um. I’ll… try to… remember that.”

“Good. Maybe you’ll actually learn how to talk less l-l-l-like this sometime too.” Gilda realized she was still cupping Fluttershy’s cheeks and after a moment added, “at least around me.” She pulled back, standing. “Well, get the damn dishes stacked up on the counter, I’ll go ahead and wash ‘em.”

“B-but,” Fluttershy replied, looking back up and tilting her head, “I thought I said I’d… y-you don’t have to…”

“Maybe I want to now. You have a problem?” Gilda snapped. “Just take the scraps of what we didn’t get out to the dogs. Hope you left some room for more wine, too. I want to get that bottle trashed tonight.”

“I, I don’t usually, um, drink that much at, at once, but… y-you’re probably right,” Fluttershy said, gathering up the dishes and getting them stacked by the sink. “I, I suppose the dogs do deserve a bit of a treat, but…” She looked thoughtfully at the scraps. “... You, you’ll have to give me your recipe,” she said finally. “If, if that’s okay,” she added hastily, picking them up and moving for the door, having forgotten, for the moment, about how little she was wearing.

Gilda turned for a brief moment to watch Fluttershy go out, her natural modesty seemingly gone. It was strange, how someone like that was so naive and timid about her own body. If she hadn’t spent her time living like a hermit, there’s no way someone wouldn’t of picked her up. Even if she was stupid and soft.

Scowling, Gilda took to running a sponge over a plate as she still thought about the woman. Because stupid and soft she may be, Gilda couldn’t help but feel a faint sense of admiration for her. Maybe admiration wasn’t the right word, but it was still a sort of growing respect Gilda felt, even in the short time they had been around one-another. There was no way in hell she would be this much of a pussy around anyone she didn’t at least sort of like, that was for sure.

She brushed the thoughts away as she polished off the plates and went to the kitchen table. Pouring each of them another glass , Gilda then felt the weight of the bottle. Seemed to be more than enough for a few glasses for both of them. With that, she made her way back to the lounge and waited.

Fluttershy returned, humming some cheerful tune the name of which she couldn’t really bring to bear at the moment, smiling shyly at Gilda as she closed the door. “The dogs will love it, I know they will…” She eyed the glasses. “Oh… already?”

“Might as well. Good way to unwind,” Gilda said, gesturing next to her on the couch. “Have a seat.”

Fluttershy sat, leaving a respectable distance between the two of them, before looking down at herself and blushing. “Oh, I’m still… I, I should probably… Um…”

“Does it really matter now?” she asked with a shrug. “Might as well have a glass or two while you’re down here. No point in changing right before bedtime.”

“... I suppose you’re right,” she admitted. “And, and… I don’t usually have more than one glass at a time, so…” She pushes her forefingers together in her usual nervous display. “...Sorry if I get a little… weird.”

“I’m sure you won’t be too hard to handle,” Gilda said. “Compared to some of my family, it’ll be a walk in the park.” She held out a glass to Fluttershy and kept her own suspended in the air. “The hell we toast to?”

Fluttershy took it and stared into the wine thoughtfully. “...Being pretty?” she suggested meekly.

“Well, why the hell not?” Gilda said. They clinked the glasses together, and each took to their drink.

Fluttershy took a sip and her gaze settled on the floor, wriggling her toes.

Gilda looked down at Fluttershy’s feet too. “Ever paint ‘em?”

She nodded. “I go barefoot a lot… in the summer, so… I paint them a lot then…”

“I bet they look nice,” Gilda admitted. “Girly as hell, though.”

“... I guess…” She hesitated. “I don’t see why that’s a bad thing…?”

The woman leaned back, rolling her glass in a palm. “Hell… I dunno. Maybe it isn’t a bad thing, in a sense. It just makes you look weak. And that’s something you should avoid. At least, that’s what my dad taught me.”

“...Just because you look weak, though…” Fluttershy took another sip. “I, I, I guess, it’s not always about how you look…”

Gilda grunted, but remained silent.

They sat in the quiet for a few long moments, each tending their drink, before Gilda spoke up.

“Tell me about yourself,” she said, the words a statement rather than a question.

“Um… Where should I start?” the rose-haired woman asked, tracing the edge of the glass.

“Family?” Gilda asked. “Friends?” She reached over, running a finger down Fluttershy’s arm. “Anything you want…”

Her eyes found Gilda’s finger and watched its path. She took another sip. “Well. My, my parents live in a town not, not too far from here… though it’s on the other side of the woods, so, so it can be a bit of a walk.” She paused, looking thoughtful. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, and, well, living out here…”

Her gaze returned to her wineglass. “I don’t think I really have, um, anyone I would really call a friend… well, I mean, of course, I have all of my animal friends, and, and Angel, and they’re all lovely, but they’re not… people.” There was another pause. “Which is bad. But good? But also bad. I don’t… always get along with people.”

“I don’t know how. You’re a damn doormat. People would flock to you, seems like.” Gilda took another drink. “But I know what you mean. About the…” She pursed her lips. “The friends bit.”

“I know I’m a doormat,” Fluttershy mumbles. “And, and that’s why people generally don’t stay.” Her expression darkened for the briefest of moments, an angry look that seemed bizarrely out of place on her face. “...and they don’t try to take advantage of a woman who could break their arms. Not that I’m proud of it. I’m not. I wish they wouldn’t…”

Gilda snorted. “Sounds like you got a little spine after all. Good.” She let her arms go to her sides and drop. “It’s better to be alone than have someone who treats you like shit. I learned that quick growing up.”

Fluttershy just nodded, taking another sip. She’s gone through about half of the glass already. “... you… you don’t sound very happy when you talk about it…”

Gilda downed her drink and reached for the bottle, refilling hers and topping off Fluttershy’s.

“It wasn’t the best,” she admitted. “Didn’t have much family, growing up. Just me and dad. Mom… I guess she died, having me.” Taking another drink, Gilda bit her lip. “Dad loves me, but I think he blames me for it.” She glanced over at Fluttershy, then back down at her drink. “I’m expected to carry on his legacy. Fighting style’s been passed on through generations, just like his company. We’re… we’re kind of a big deal at my town. Have some money. Got a lot of assholes trying to brownnose me, get on my dad’s good side.” She took another drink, scowling. “Fuck ‘em.”

“... I’m sorry,” Fluttershy mumbled. “And, and I mean that, like… I guess I can understand wanting to be left alone but feeling lonely anyway.”

“Guess so.”

Gilda shook her head and let a weak laugh out. “Hell. I’m the life of the party. Sorry for bringing you down. Let’s talk about something else. How’d you learn judo? Why’d they send you one of the tournament letters?”

“My, my father…” She trailed off. “When I was growing up, he, he told me I should learn… b-but I didn’t want to hurt anyone, so, so he recommended judo… I mean, obviously, I can still h-hurt people, but, that’s not the point… And, and, I guess I was a natural. I don’t, I don’t know how the tournament people learned about me, though… I try to, to keep to myself out here…”

“So I notice,” Gilda easily replied. “Considering it took me half a damn year to find your door yesterday.” She leaned back on the couch, her arms and legs spread out and relaxed. “Good thing I was the one that got drafted with you. Can you imagine if you got paired up with some asshole or somethin’?”

Fluttershy had finished her second glass by the time Gilda had finished. “...I’d, I’d have been fine…”

She reached over, giving a light shove to Fluttershy’s shoulder. “I don’t know. Sometimes retards try to take advantage of simple girls. I wouldn’t want that to happen to you.” She filled Fluttershy’s glass and topped her own off. “‘Cause, you’re a moron, but you’re a good gal.” Gilda scooted closer, letting out a lazy laugh as the drink started to affect her. “A great gal maybe.”

Fluttershy looked up, blushing. “I, I, I’m not that great…”

“You’re not?” she said, rubbing at her eyebrow ring. “Then you need to have a few more drinks until you are.”

She took another sip. “... I, I… maybe you’re right…”

“When am I wrong?” she asked, moving a bit closer still. She smirked, wrapping an arm around the woman’s waist. “Go on, I want to know.”

Her face scrunched up in serious thought, staring into her wine. “...Well,” she mumbles. “Everyone’s wrong sometimes…”

“Know what I am in this town?” Gilda cocked an arrogant thumb and pointed it at her own chest. “A nobody. And you know what? Nobody’s perfect. You’re looking at a ten here.”

This actually got Fluttershy to giggle slightly, blush rising again. “You’re being goofy…”

Gilda let out a considering hum of thought. “Am I? Normally I just say that kinda shit to piss people off.” She squeezed the woman in her arm and offered a wry smile. “Maybe you’re… what you say in the kitchen, earlier?”

Fluttershy looked down as if noticing Gilda’s arm for the first time. One hand left the wine glass to settle, lightly and a little awkwardly, on Gidla’s wrist. “I don’t remember what I said…” she admitted, fingers making small circles on the other woman’s skin.

“You said I wasn’t a bad person.” She thought long and hard on that. “Maybe around you, I can try to be a better woman.”

“You can be,” Fluttershy insisted, downing the rest of her glass. “I, I know you can. You’re just like, you’re just like a, a, you’re hurt, you’re like a hurt cat, or a lion, and you’re not sure you can trust, but you can, you… you can…”

“Trust you?” Gilda finished, guessing what Fluttershy was going to say. She leaned back on the couch, smiling at the warmth the woman’s body was providing to her nearly bare skin. “Well, considering you can’t even finish a normal damn sentence without nearly coming undone, I know you couldn’t spill a secret on me if you life depended on it.” She smiled, still not opening her eyes. “So, you know what? We just met, but yeah. I trust you. I trust you more than just about everyone back home.”

“I’m glad,” Fluttershy smiled. “It’s, it’s nice when you smile. You look nice when you smile. You should smile more often.” She leaned in, resting her cheek on Gilda’s shoulder.

“It feels like forever since I just… smiled. Last time I can really remember doing it was back at the academy before everything turned to shit.” Gilda looked down, realizing she was doing just that, hard enough that her cheeks hurt.

“Guess you’re giving me a reason to. Your damn stupidity is contagious.”

“Oh… I’m sorry,” Fluttershy mumbled, looking down.

“Hey now…” Gilda downed the rest of her drink and turned more towards Fluttershy. Leaning in close, their foreheads touching, Gilda whispered, “Maybe I want to catch your bug.”

She was blushing quite brightly, watching Gilda’s eyes with her own. “I, I, but… I wouldn’t want to make you sick,” she mumbled dully. “Since I, I, I’m kind of, I’m a wuss…”

Gilda brushed Fluttershy’s bangs behind an ear. “Yeah. You’re a stupid wuss. Know what though?” She took the plunge, kissing her on the cheek.

“You’re my stupid wuss,” she breathed out, the drink taking her inhibitions away like dust in the wind. “And I’m not much better in the first place.” Gilda trailed a finger from Fluttershy’s nose and rested it on her dainty lips. “Keep that one a secret, though,” Gilda warned, giving a gentle press of her finger against the woman.

Fluttershy went cross-eyed staring at the finger. “I, I will,” she breathed, moving her head over so she could return the kiss to the cheek. “I, I don’t think you’re nearly as, as wussy or, or anything as I am… I think you’re, you’re brave, and confident, and… and you’re nice, even though you don’t show it a lot…”

Gilda moved, slowly swinging a leg over and straddling Fluttershy at the waist. “And I think you’re tougher than you show.” Gilda sternly encouraged, cupping Fluttershy’s face and staring her hawk-eyes into the woman’s kind, empathetic pools. “Maybe we can take care of one-another’s weaknesses,” she said, not taking her eyes away from the woman as she brought herself down for another kiss on the lips.

Fluttershy let out a soft squeak, tilting her head back to press her lips to the other woman’s. She tensed slightly, though not nearly as much as she might have without the wine, eyes narrowing nervously and clearly afraid she was doing something wrong.

“I’m drunk so I’ll just say it: You’re beautiful,” Gilda grunted out, a hand traveling down to her bicep and rubbing it as she leaned forward, kissing the woman’s mouth again.

“I think you’re beautiful too,” Fluttershy echoed, trying to keep her face near Gilda’s. “And, and I’m pretty sure I’m drunk too,” she added. “Is that bad?”

“Hell no,” Gilda replied. “Being drunk is…” She blinked, lost for a moment, until it came back. “It’s like an equalizer. When the hell am I… nice without it?”

“You’re nice to Alexander,” Fluttershy insisted, a hand finding its way to Gilda’s shoulder and massaging gently. “And you’re nice to me. Or. You were, even before, before the wine. You, you got in your underwear, too… You didn’t have to do that…”

“You looked like such a damn prude. I thought if we both were, you’d ease up.” She snorted. “But then you ended up thinking I was hot.” Gilda took Fluttershy’s hand and moved it down, resting at the side of her stomach. “So it made you more awkward.”

Fluttershy’s thumb brushed back and forth lazily. “But you are hot…”

Gilda smirked, trailing her hand down and giving a ghost-touch to Fluttershy’s collarbone. “How hot am I, dollface?” she asked, leaning forward to give a sloppy, affectionate kiss to Fluttershy’s chin.

She shivered slightly, but the kiss made her giggle again. “You’re, you’re, you’re really hot?” she tried hopefully.

“Come on,” Gilda insisted. “You got to know at least a little of the game. Try again,” she said, turning her kiss farther down, planting one gently to the side of the woman’s neck.

The shivering was more noticeably this time. The hand on Gilda’s stomach moved around to her back, long fingers exploring carefully. “I really don’t,” she mumbled. “I, I’m not very good at, at… all of this. I just think you’re, you’re pretty. Hot, I mean. Pretty hot.”

“You need to brush up on ‘em for next time,” Gilda instructed. She brought her hands to Fluttershy’s sides and took to traveling the contours. “Like…” She thought for a moment, her hands and the woman’s soft skin pulling her thoughts. “Alright. You’re so hot I should bake cookies in you.” Rolling her eyes, she kissed the woman’s shoulder, ever trailing down. “That one was fucking lame, but you get the idea.”

“O-oh,” she said, furrowing her brow in thought, a hand rising to trace along Gilda’s cheek. “Um. Y-you’re so hot, that, that… that I, I’m surprised you, you didn’t set the door on fire when you knocked…”

Gilda paused. After a long moment, she grinned, then burst into laughter, leaning down and pressing her body against Fluttershy’s.

“That one is so fucking lame.” She kissed the woman’s neck once more. “I love it.”

After a moment, Gilda’s hand traveled and a finger ducked under one of Fluttershy’s bra straps. She gave it a few slow, considering pulls, watching with a sort of fascination as it went to Fluttershy’s skin again and again.

“What do you think?” Gilda asked, once more at Fluttershy’s chin. She gave it a docile, gentle nip, waiting for an answer.

Fluttershy looked down at her, gaze a little foggy but filled with a serene sort of happiness. “What do I think about what?” she asked innocently, index finger tracing the outside of Gilda’s ear, moving on reflex. “I mean, that’s, that’s a very broad… question…”

“I want you. Right now. Do you want me? Is that better?” She looked down at Fluttershy, her heart beating against her ribs. “Do you understand?”

“I, I want, I…” She blushed. “I, I, I’ve never… I don’t know why you’d… but… I… what I mean is… If, if you’re okay, with, with me, being… a wuss… But, but that’s not the right word, but… you know…”

Gilda smiled, cupping her hands to Fluttershy’s face and giving her a surprisingly tender kiss.

“That answer you?” she asked, her breaths starting to come hard at the thought of the woman under her.

Fluttershy could only nod. One hand had found its way to Gilda’s shoulder while the other had settled on her side, but both now seemed uncertain, flightly. She looked embarrassed. “I’ve still never… I, I, I’m stupid, you’ll have to teach me…”

“You are stupid. But you picked a good teach.” Gilda reached behind herself and unclasped her bra. Without even a shread of concern, she tossed it to the side.

The breasts that spilled out were respectable. A far cry from Fluttershy’s enormous breasts, Gilda’s were a more traditional size, just beyond a palmful, and were topped with a sort of light caramel nipple only a shade darker than her earthen skin. She smirked at Fluttershy.

“Go ahead,” she instructed. “Feel me.”

Fluttershy’s hand removed itself from Gilda’s shoulder and approached her chest with something like reverence, the fingers trembling. More than once she curled them up, biting her lip, before finally seeming to come to terms with what she was doing and resting her palm gently atop the other woman’s breast. She seemed somewhere between fascinated and terrified, pressing only very slightly. “I… I… oh…”

“You can do it a little harder. I won’t bite,” Gilda reassured, moving a hand on top of Fluttershy’s and squeezing a hair to elaborate.. “I… I’m yours tonight to use, girl. I’ll say something if things go bad.” Gilda rose for a moment, giving Fluttershy’s hand a few fleeting kisses. Once she stood, she easily undid her bottom, showcasing her sex to Fluttershy, before straddling the woman once again.

“You’re so hot,” Gilda said affectionately, taking Fluttershy’s hand to her breast once more.

She squeezed again, a little more confidently. “You’re… B-but… I don’t know if I, I…” She bit her lip. “I don’t… I don’t deserve… You’re too…”

“Perfect?” she replied with a smug grin. “Don’t worry, this ten is happy with a nine and a half.”

Fluttershy stared almost longingly at Gilda’s chest, leaning forward, her nervous, shallow breaths brushing over the bare skin. “These are so, so nice,” she muttered, loosening her hold and trailing a finger along the dark, soft skin. “Because, because they’re just the right size… I wish mine were this size…”

“You kiddin’? Shit. You’ve got a pair people would kill for. You could get lost in ‘em.” She ran a finger along the edge of Fluttershy’s bra to demonstrate, the woman’s large, heavy curves making Gilda light headed even at a slight touch. “There’s never too much of a good thing.”

“They’re all people see when they look at me,” Fluttershy mumbled sadly. “Guys especially. And, and they think, wow, Fluttershy, she’s, she’s got nice t-t...breasts, and, and so, she’s hot, I want to get to know her breasts.” She blushes. “But not me. They never want to know me. I’m boring…”

“If all they talk about is your breasts, then they haven’t seen your ass,” Gilda remarked with a grin. “And fuck ‘em. You’re not boring. What other woman pulls the hermit act out here?” She shook her head. “Boring is those assholes.”

“... but I am boring,” Fluttershy wheedled, hand swapping to Gilda’s other breast and exploring it in turn. “Compared to you… Even your clothes are exciting…”

“I didn’t know you were into leather. I’ll keep that in mind.” Gilda gave a small wince of pleasure as Fluttershy grazed her nipple with a nail. “And didn’t you say you took care of bears? That’s some russian strong-man shit.” She took her hand and undid a strap on Fluttershy’s bra, then reached to the other strap, pulling it aside. Grasping the top of the bra, burying her hand into Fluttershy’s cleavage, Gilda smirked, pulling the bra down and letting her partner’s full, oversized breasts spill out.

She looked ashamed for a moment, as though she wanted to cover them again, but chose not to, leaning forward to nuzzle at the soft flesh in her hands. “...I just don’t want my, my breasts to be, to be all of me that people see,” she says, sounding sad. “...They’re n-nice, and, I, I kind of like them, but, but I don’t like it when, when that’s all…” She trails off absently, inhaling. “I’m strong because, because I have to be, to take care of my friends…”

Gilda looked at Fluttershy, taking everything in her willpower to not look down and stare and grope at Fluttershy’s breasts. Instead, Gilda met her eyes and smirked, trailing a finger around the woman’s belly button. “Well. There’s more to you than them, stupid. There’s a lot I want to do with them. But there’s more I want to do with you. Hell to anyone who just sees you as just a nice rack.”

Fluttershy tilted her head back to kiss, still nervous, at Gilda’s chin. “You’re really sweet… I, I, I want to do, whatever you want to do…”

“Say what you want to do with me.” Gilda hefted one of Fluttershy’s breasts with a hand and let it drop, watching as her palm disappeared under the woman’s supple flesh, swallowed completely from view. “Goddamn that’s hot,” she marveled.

“I want to ha… I want… I’d like… I want…” She couldn’t seem to muster the words, hands falling away from Gilda. “... Y-y-you really… think… so?”

“Hell yeah,” she agreed, first grabbing one of Fluttershy’s hands and bringing it to her ass, then taking the other and resting it at her wide hip. After a moment, Gilda took her other palm and planted it under Fluttershy’s other mass, rubbing her thumbs across the woman’s peaked nipples, then leaned down, moving a hand away to take to suckling the nipple like a starving infant.

“And say what you want.” Gilda again ordered. Her voice held a seductive, yet slightly ominous purr as she looked up, stopping for one brief moment to pull away from the soft, yielding flesh. She knew exactly what Fluttershy wanted to do, but the quiet woman’s duress and her bare, motherly breasts was doing more to turn her on than anything she had ever seen or done in her entire life.

“You can say it. It’s just us. Tell me.” she spoke out, reaching away reluctantly from the woman’s breast and instead traveling around and south, cupping a handful of Fluttershy’s full ass, her hand expertly bypassing the woman’s underwear to embrace the soft, giving skin. She moved a finger deeper still to give a playful-serious rub to Fluttershy’s back entrance.

“Because if you don’t tell me what you want to do, and where you want me to go, I can think of something on my own,” she warned, giving a loving nip to Fluttershy’s nipple, before returning her attention to her face, kissing the woman hard on the lips, sticking her tongue out and exploring the timid woman as deeply as she could. Gilda groaned hard into Fluttershy’s mouth, the stimulus of the woman’s presence, of the woman’s warmth sending shivers throughout her body.

The attention to her breasts--heretofore apparently ignored, but clearly not unnoticed--made her shudder, really shudder, letting out something close to a moan. Like all of Fluttershy's vocalizations, it was quiet, and it trailed off into a squeak, but the way it caused her whole body to tense up and then break into exhilarated shudders, the way it caused her face to scrunch up, made it quite clear Gilda had struck a nerve, and not at all a bad one. One hand rose from where it had been placed to cradle, as if on reflex, the back of Gilda's head.

Her back arched when Gilda snuck her hand into Fluttershy's panties, her legs squirming, the woman's entire body rolling, caught somewhere between pleasure and uncertainty and terror.

"H-h-ha, I--"

The probe in the unfamiliar and, for the moment, unwelcome place made her shake her head, but her words, protests or proclamations or whatever they might have been, were swallowed by the kiss. When Gilda groaned, she groaned in reply, automatically, her tongue as timid as the rest of her but still, shyly, attempting to tangle itself with Gilda's.

“Say it,” Gilda panted out with an arousal so heavy and thick it made her feverish as she continued to play, tease the woman’s large gifts, tugging at a nipple between two fingers, and her own tongue lolling around the areola on her other breast. She adjusted herself, grinding her wet sex on top of Fluttershy’s thigh. She ran a finger along the crack of the woman’s ass, stopping once more to push at her rear entrance with a warning, taunting finger.

“Say ‘Gilda, I want you to fuck me,’” she whispered in her predatory, rough tone, stopping to lick from Fluttershy’s breast, to the collarbone, up her chin, then plunge once more into her full lips, leaving a clear trail of saliva across the woman’s body.

"G-Gilda, I--Nnnh." She couldn't complete an entire thought; the warmth and the closeness and the--the--the wetness?--of the woman atop her was distracting, filling her mind with a needy haze, her body attempting to grind back against her, a tellingly wet spot widening on the cloth between her legs.

"Pl, please, I--Mph," she tried again, and again she was interrupted by Gilda's kiss. She returned this one with more hunger, and on some level it scared her how much she was getting into, into doing, this... with another woman. Wasn't that, weird? Wasn't it supposed to be a--

Oh Princess, oh Moon, Fluttershy could feel every brush of the woman's hand across her nipples, and it felt so /good/--

"I want you to fuck me," she gasped as soon as her mouth was free, opening bleary eyes to stare into Gilda's golden irises. "I, I w-want you to fuck me..."

Gilda smiled, moving a hand up to carasses Fluttershy’s cheek, before she reached down with her other, going under Fluttershy’s panties and circling the woman’s sex, running a finger along her sensitive lips.

“See what happens when you ain’t a sissy? Fine. I’ll fuck you,” Gilda breathed out, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and nipping at the woman’s ear as she squeezed them together so tight they were nearly one. With that, she did one last circle around Fluttershy’s flower, before plunging in with two fingers, as gentle as her lusting mind would allow, her thumb hunting and instantly finding Fluttershy’s clitoris, running along it as easily as turning a light switch on.

Fluttershy wailed. Even with Gilda pressed as tightly to her as she could possibly be, she seemed intent on pulling her tighter, or at least preventing her from getting away.

Her head thrashed back and forth. Her hair had lost its graceful curl and, much like herself, was becoming wild, strung loose over the couch and moving in time with her head. Her walls clamped down on Gilda, though the lubrication she was providing did little to slow the other woman down. There is resistance further on, however; clearly Fluttershy was being literal when she said she'd never done this before, or attempted to.

She attempted to make words, but all that came out were more moans and gasps in response to these overwhelming sensations.

Gilda gasped at Fluttershy’s strength, the woman pulled her close and embraced her even tighter. She felt a shiver of arousal at the thought of being pinned down and helpless under the normally timid woman’s iron grasp, the sudden thought nearly bringing her to climax at its eroticism, but she managed to push it away, albeit barely. Instead, she focused on her handiwork, as it were, and grinned fiercely at her actions as she watched Fluttershy nearly lose her mind, the wet thrusts of her fingers into Fluttershy music. Her wails and pants a melody, the way her eyes had lost focus from bliss like a choir song.

She glanced down at the woman’s sex and paused, noticing a small splotch of red intermixed with her love. Gilda felt a strange surge of affection and, if she was honest with herself, guilt at the sight, and dove her lips into Fluttershy’s as a sort of wordless apology, kissing the woman even harder as she worked her hand into the other’s sex, letting her experienced fingers do the talking for her.

She'd tensed up and squeaked in obvious pain when that particular barrier had been pierced, but began to loosen again as soon as Gilda's lips met hers. This time it was her tongue attempting to press into the other woman's.

Her nails traced up Gilda's back, gently, though her hands were rigid and she stopped with a gasp as Gilda's fingers found a spot that made lights snap behind her eyes. Her head fell back against the couch and she mewled, back arching again.

"S-s-s-so goooood," she managed, finally, voice wavering and yet still never quite managing to make it above speaking volume at best. "I've ne-, I've n-n-never, ffffffah," she moaned, nearly swearing and not questioning why that word might come to mind before anything else. Her grasping was more desperate now, more often, her body coated in a thin sheen of sweat that did nothing to impugn her beauty.

"I, I, I... M-my br... you c-can," she attempted to offer, gritting her teeth and feeling like she was wound tight, liable to explode at any moment.

Gilda didn’t understand, but she attempted to respond to the woman’s wish anyway, tilting her head down to gently gnaw once more on her nipple, her other hand squeezing the woman’s asscheek so hard Gilda could see a vein at her wrist start to appear. She plunged even deeper into her, attempting to sate her with everything she had.

“F-fuck,” was all Gilda could stammer out through everything, struck dumb by the nymph writhing under her and the want in her own sex throbbing like an urgent wardrum.

She wasn't loud when she climaxed--did Fluttershy ever get loud?--but it was obvious when she did all the same, her entire body locking up and all of her, from her arms to her legs to her inner walls, holding tight to Gilda; the flow of her love drenched the darker woman's hand and stained her panties and the couch beneath her. She let out a protracted but muffled wail, closing her eyes and letting her mind go blank from the rush of pleasure. She'd never felt this before, this, this electric rush of euphoria, and it was Gilda, Gilda, it was Gilda...

"Gildaaaaaaa," she moaned when she could speak again, her heart racing, her breaths deep and gasping. "Oh, oh Princess, oh, Gilda..."

Gilda frantically shook her head, “Don’t yet. Me,” she said, turning off the woman and adjusting herself, her shapely ass pointed up like a bitch in heat as she leaned her cheek onto the armrest, her breasts flush against the cushions. “Fuck me. Finish me off. Hurry.”

Fluttershy didn't so much as whimper, bringing a hand to the other woman's sex.

She was clumsy, but earnest, attempting even in the bliss of her afterglow to bring Gilda to the same sort of pleasure she'd been feeling so recently. She almost /giggled/ at the situation, realizing only now how much she'd drunk.

She pushes in easily, one finger and then two, thumb aiming for the darker woman's clitoris. The entire time, she's humming tunelessly, more a sound of her own satisfaction than any attempt to carry a melody.

"You're so soft," she mumbled appreciatively, a dumb grin on her face as she pumped with surprising speed.

Gilda let out a gasp at the woman’s quick tempo, the roughness sending electric tingles all the way down to her curling toes. Her ass quivered in appreciation at the action and Gilda groaned once more, biting down on her finger as Fluttershy performed her duty.

“You… oh fuck, give it to me harder,” she managed to instruct, albeit barely. “Just j-just like this, but harder, honey,” the word out before she even could think, her mind throbbing and whitening out more and more with every plunge into her, another image worming its way into her and making her nearly convulse with pleasure at the potential of it becoming a reality. “Pin me down.”

Fluttershy hesitated slightly at that, but did as she was asked, leaning forward and slightly off of the couch, resting some of her weight on Gilda's back. The hand not busy between her legs wrapped around the other woman's stomach as a brace. She slipped slightly and let out a squeak, a foot shooting to the floor to hastily restore her balance, but she was more lying atop Gilda than not by this point. "S-sorry..."

She had apparently latched onto the concept of "harder" and was gradually shoving her fingers deeper with more force, the thumb brushing the darker woman's clit pressing with just the slightest bit more force.

“That’s right, that’s right,” Gilda all but cooed at the woman’s harder thrusts. “Just hard like that. Do me like you know what’s up.” She shifted a bit in Fluttershy’s grasp, the woman’s sweaty bicep wrapped securely around her making her bite her lip in pleasure. “Fuck, this is good.”

"It, it is?" Fluttershy asked, smiling despite herself. "I, I've never done... I'm glad you're enjoying it..."

She leaned forward and experimentally wrapped her lips around the tip of Gilda's ear, pulling back after only a moment so she could focus on Gilda's need. "I, I'll take c-care of you," she said, sounding almost confident for once. "I, I want to make you feel good..."

The loving suckle at her ear made her bite down on her lip in enthrallment, the pleasure from Fluttershy leading shaking her. She knew she was close; Gilda clasped her hand on top of Fluttershy’s, entwining her fingers with the quiet woman’s as Fluttershy dove deeply into her. She found the strength to offer a weak, shaky grin. “Y-you’re good at being a little rough.” Her walls tightened, briefly entrapping Fluttershy’s fingers within her. Unlike Fluttershy, Gilda’s climax was a hard, low-voiced grunt, the same sort of tone someone lifting weights might make when they finally lift the bar over their heads.

She lay, slumped over and staring with barely comprehending eyes, her ass still sticking up prominently in the air as she rested on the couch. She flopped a dead arm over to the woman, giving a weak rub of Fluttershy’s bicep.

Gilda swallowed, speechless for a long, drawn-out moment. When she finally could talk again, only one thing came to her mind: “Holy shit, babe…”

Fluttershy kissed Gilda near her shoulderblade, and then rotated her to allow her to lie on her side and providing just enough room for Fluttershy to lie on her side as well, kissing Gilda weakly on the cheek and finally allowing herself to slump a little. "Did... did I do okay...?"

“You did great. Hell. Better than great. The end there? Might of been the best I’ve ever had.” Gilda hesitated, then decided to let her better nature out, wrapping an arm protectively around Fluttershy’s chest. Swallowing, Gilda went to bite the bullet. “So, I was your…?” she let the sentence remain unfinished, the answer obvious for both of them.

Fluttershy nodded slowly, and then smiled. “I, I… It was better than I ever imagined,” she said softly. “Thank you…”

“Hell…” Gilda breathed out. “I’m… you deserved someone better for your first time. I rushed you.”

“Shh,” said Fluttershy softly. “I, I, I don’t care if you rushed me,” she said with a soft sort of certainty. “I, I enjoyed it. I, I enjoyed… y-you.”

Gilda held her tighter. “I did the same. It let me see you in a better light. No bullshitting.” She looked over to the wall in thought and her bluntness came to life. “How’s this change things? Don’t pussyfoot around this one.”

“... I think I’m drunk,” Fluttershy said frankly, “and, and so, I might, I might still be a little, in the morning I’ll probably be… you know.” She blushed and looked away. “But, but… I think, I think this was okay. And I’ll still think that, even if, if I’m being a, a wuss again…”

Reaching forward, Gilda reached around, tucking a strand of hair behind Fluttershy’s ear. “I’m a lot of things. Most of ‘em crappy,” Gilda admitted. “But… you’re the type of wuss I’d feel bad leaving out to fend for herself.” She leaned forward, smirking. “So as long as you want someone like me around… I think I can stand you being a sissy on occasion.” She kissed Fluttershy’s neck. “I mean, you’re damn helpless. I’d hate to think of you having to get shit taken care of without me.”

Fluttershy let out a soft hum, lifting her head slightly to press her cheek almost longingly into Gilda’s hand. She sighed at the kiss and attempted to return it, cuddling a little closer and closing her eyes. “I, I’m still pretty hot, but, but… I like being close to you… You’re a little rough, but, but it kind of makes me feel safe…”

“Told you already,” Gilda replied, shutting her own eyes and shifting her leg over Fluttershy’s to avoid the wet spot their lovemaking had made. “When I’m through with you? Only person that’ll fuck with you is me.”

Gilda groaned as the light peeked through the window of the living room, leaving golden strips of brightness that beamed through the slits in the blinds. She let out a swear under her breath and adjusted herself on the couch, flexing her muscles a bit and lightly squeezing Fluttershy. She came a bit more awake at that, the memory of last night solidified by the nude body of the woman. Gilda briefly held onto her, her taller body eclipsing Fluttershy’s smaller frame, and hugged her shoulders and stomach. She briefly thought about letting her hand travel towards Fluttershy’s breasts, but pushed that thought away.

There’d be more time for that later. They had a whole month before the tournament, after all. Plenty of time for training and… new experiences. For both of them.

Leaning forward, Gilda gave the back of Fluttershy’s head a small peck with her lips and carefully rose, turning as she stood to avoid shaking the other woman too much.

She gazed down at Fluttershy’s frame and how she slept and briefly scowled. It was like a damn kid passed out after watching a movie marathon on TV.

Considering you made her a woman last night, that’s probably close to the truth, she thought, a brief wave of self-deprecation washing over her.

It wasn’t her fault. Sure, she started fooling around with Fluttershy, that was obvious as soon as the underwear came into play in the kitchen. But it didn’t have to go as far as it did last night. All Fluttershy had to do was say one word, and Gilda wouldn’t have gone any farther, that was the truth. Her dad had caught on quick that she’d be the pants-wearer in a relationship, and so taught her about limits.

Gilda looked over the room. Her eyes spotted a quilt resting on a rocking chair and she moved over to it, grabbing it and placing it over the timid woman, hiding her nakedness. Gilda stood there for a moment, watching her breath. Not sure why she did it, but she squatted down and reached forward, gently stroking Fluttershy’s cheek with her thumb for a few long moments.

It was fast. Too fast for anything concrete, but…

Her dad would probably say she was falling in lust. That might be it.

After a moment of staring at her, Gilda shook her head in disagreement.

It wasn’t love. Way too soon to even start to think like that. But not lust either. There was something about Fluttershy, a something she wanted to learn more about. The woman under the sniveling child.

It might end up being shit, but Gilda wanted, needed to reach out to the woman. There was a sort of kindred spirit in her under the fluffy bullshit. Like a sister on the opposite side of a war.

A growling rumbled through her stomach. She frowned, just now realizing how starving she was.

“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath, rising. Feeling around her body for a pocket, Gilda remembered she was nude. She swore, looking around the room. Just when she was almost ready to start throwing shit, she spied her prize on a nearby coffee counter. She grabbed her package of cigarettes and lit up, then went to the kitchen to start breakfast for her and Fluttershy.

The smell of sausage cooking was what woke her. Golden light was pouring in, it must have been from the windows, but it seemed to be stabbing her even through her closed eyes. Fluttershy whimpered, attempting to snuggle further under the blanket, or pull it up to cover her head, or something...

There. Blessed darkness, at last...

Which only brought her other problems into a harsher light. Like the way her mouth felt (and... tasted...) like it was stuffed full of mothballs, or the fact that the sounds emanating from the kitchen were pounding against her eardrums with terrible sharpness. Oh god, how much had she had to drink last night?

Fluttershy stopped, opening her eyes slightly and brushing a hand down to her...

Oh, no. Oh no, no no no no no. She, she was... oh no.

It's not love, was the first thing she told herself, and that was true. I shouldn't have done that, which was... less solidly true. She struggled with that thought, buried under her blanket. Should have, shouldn't have. The drink is what made me do it, I know, I'd never have done that otherwise.

I mean, I mean, I barely know her, we just met a few days ago, people don't just do /that/ within the first--

Well, there were people that did that. But Fluttershy wasn't that sort of person!

And she'd, she'd even taken...

That stung, really, but not as much as she felt it probably ought've. She'd always hoped for a valiant knight and a strong steed... which was foolish, of course; that kind of thing only happened in stories.

And besides, Gilda was kind of a knight, less the shining armor kind of knight, but still, there had been a sort of... fierce protectiveness about her, and...

... this was a lot to think about. And Fluttershy was still ninety percent naked. And hungover. And beginning to hyperventilate. "Oh god..."

Gilda hummed tunelessly as she poured milk into the sausage, watching the white of the milk take away the brown of the meat, leaving a few simple pieces visible, like little islands in a sea.

She peaked into the oven, nodding at how the biscuits were browning and rising. She normally was pretty shitty at dough, so it turning out alright was a welcome surprise. Gilda felt the urge for another smoke, so she threw off the apron she wore while frying the sausage, and entered the living room.

Fluttershy sat on the couch, clutching the blanket tightly around her shaking from, her breaths coming to her far too quickly.

“Hey,” Gilda said, calling attention to herself, a smoke halfway to her mouth. “You alright, girl?” She put the unlit smoke back on the table and stepped towards the woman, sitting on the far end of the couch.

All this produced from Fluttershy was a muffled whimper, the woman drawing herself into a smaller shape under the blanket. “Noooo,” she breathed, though it didn’t seem like she was responding to the question.

She watched her for a moment, then scooted closer. “Come on. This isn’t funny. Snap out of it.”

“It, it wasn’t supp-supp-posed to…” The blanket slipped, exposing some of her face; immediately she pulled it back up, with enough force to expose her knees, which proved to be equally distressing. “No, no no, noo…” she mumbled, attempting to hide all of herself under the quilt again. “Bad… bad… Bad, Fluttershy…”

Gilda crossed her legs, staring up at the ceiling in thought. She then looked at the woman and sighed. “I’m sorry it was me. For your first. You should’ve had someone better,” she admitted. “But don’t think it’s your fucking fault. I got you into this mess.” Gilda glared, pointing a stern finger her way. “I’m the bad guy here, not you. So if you wanna get pissed at someone. Get pissed at me.”

Very slowly, Fluttershy removed the quilt from one side of her face, exposing a single bleary, tear-filled eye. “Y-you…”

“What?” Gilda lowered herself, putting her ear near the quilt’s opening.

“B-b-but, you,” she said hoarsely. “You were, you were, you were nice, to me, why were you nice to me? You’re, you’re not s-s-supposed to b-be…”

She swallowed, a small part of her already knowing the answer the woman would give. “What? What am I not supposed to be?”

“You’re n-n-not s-s-supposed to be nice to me,” Fluttershy wailed, hiding her face again. “I’m, I’m, I’m a d-d-d-doormat…”

“I don’t care what I’m supposed to be,” Gilda snapped, louder than she intended to in the bright morning. “I’m nice because maybe I think you deserve to be nice to. Who gives a shit if people think you’re a doormat? That doesn’t matter to me.” She crossed her arms, doing her best to calm down.

The volume of Gilda’s retort caused the little bundle beneath the quilt to yelp and draw still tighter. “B-b-b-but…”

“But nothing,” Gilda said, exhaling, keeping her temper intact, albeit barely. She reached over and set a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “I know it was… it was fast.. I’m sorry. But I think if we both talk things through, maybe we could try the… together thing.” Gilda gave a small squeeze to Fluttershy’s shoulder. “I didn’t lie last night. I think you are something interesting.”

The quilt lowered again to reveal a single tearful, terrified eye. “...T-talk,” she mumbled, as if hearing the word for the first time in her life.

“Yeah,” Gilda agreed. “Talk. Taking the damn quilt off and eating breakfast with me while we’re at it.” Pausing, Gilda looked down at the state of her own undress. “I guess this isn’t helping either, is it?” she asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. “...I, I, I mean, you’re v… but… I think…” She trails off. “I think, clothes,” she mumbles. “Clothes. Would be… would be good.”

“I’ll go get dressed,” Gilda agreed. Rising, she glanced once more at the woman. “My first wasn’t so hot either,” she admitted.

“... It wasn’t?” Fluttershy asked before she could help herself, and then blushed. “U-um…”

“Nah.” She shrugged. “There was this teacher when I was at the academy. Woulda been maybe sixteen. I got to talking with her, one thing led to another over some drinks… next thing I know, she has me tied up in my bed.” Gilda wryly smiled. “I wake up, nobody’s around. I find her and she pretends we’ve never even met.” Wiping with disdain at her nose, she continued. “Who’d you believe: the 2.5 GPA student that’s as good as expelled, or the woman who graduated summa cum laude from fuckin’ Cloudsdale?” She cocked a thumb to the kitchen. “At least you’re getting a meal out of the deal.”

“Tied up?” Fluttershy asked, horrified. “I, I, I’m, I’m sorry,” she mumbled, a hand automatically reaching out in sympathy before she noticed the bare arm it was attached to and retracted it beneath the quilt. “...I’m sorry,” she said again, looking down.

“Not your fault,” Gilda said. After a moment, she added, “And I didn’t… I liked the tied up bit, honestly. I didn’t have a lay as good as that until last ni—” She caught herself, rolling her eyes in irritation at her big mouth. She quickly pressed on. “What got me was when she just used me like that, you know?” Biting a lip, Gilda briskly shook her head. “I know you won’t believe me, but I’m not a one-night stand kind of woman. I just rush things too fucking much.”

Fluttershy stared at her for a moment, turqoise eyes suddenly piercing. When she looked away, whatever had changed was gone, replaced by the same bleary timidity. “... I believe you,” she said, barely loud enough to be heard.

Gilda looked at the woman, unsure. “Seriously? Just like that?”

“...Y-y-you’ll think it’s s-silly, but it’s k-kind of an animal th-thing. It’s like, it’s kind of like… if, if you were lying, it would have been like, um, an animal feigning that, that it was wounded. But you weren’t feigning. It’s, it’s about the eyes. Watching the eyes is important. Eyes tell you about animals. And people.”

She looked sternly at Fluttershy before nodding in a thoughtful agreement. “I can believe that. You got some tricks up your sleeve after all.” Glancing down, she commented, “And speaking of sleeves, I guess I’d better go and preserve my modesty. I’m sure you wouldn’t be interested in a slut, after all.”

“...Modesty is good,” Fluttershy mumbled into the blanket, staring at the floor. “And… and coffee. Do I smell coffee?”

“Goddamn right you do,” she agreed, already heading upstairs. “Dunno about you, but I needed a pick me up. It’s been a while since I slept that hard. Still tired even now.”

Fluttershy smiled weakly, though it was hidden beneath the quilt. “... I’m, I’m glad you… enjoyed it, even if it was, even if it was a bit…” But Gilda had already disappeared. “... Oh…”

Gilda tromped downstairs a few moments later, wearing a pair of heavy leather pants and an off-white tanktop. Rolling her shoulder, she stepped into the kitchen and poured her a cup of coffee, leaning back on the counter and crossing her legs. From the living room came the shuffling sound of Fluttershy awkwardly making her way up the stairs without removing the quilt. Shortly afterward, it was followed by the sound of running water; the timid woman was taking a shower.

Taking a sip, Gilda realized the food was still untouched and went to action, pouring the gravy into a large bowl and taking the biscuits onto a platter.

“You getting your ass down here sometime soon?”

No response; just the continued sound of the shower above. When Gilda turned back to the kitchen, Angel had taken up residence on her chair, sprawled out lazily but watching her with a careful, mistrusting eye. He was sitting on something.

“The fuck you lookin’ at?” Gilda snapped. “I’m not feeding you.” She paused after a moment, curiosity overtaking her. She bent to the side of the table, looking at what he perched on.

It was one of her shoes. Untouched, it seemed, though probably covered in the smell of rabbit by this point. He looked up at her, unconcerned, then back down at her shoe, and then back up again, nibbling at the air in what might possibly have been a threat.

“Do it and I make you into stew,” Gilda instantly replied, glaring.

The rabbit performed a brief but oddly convincing pantomime, bringing his forepaws together and looking momentarily bashful, indicating Fluttershy, before pointing quite deliberately at Gilda, then tapping his forepaws briefly but repeatedly. You’re with her, he seemed to be saying. Stay with her. Or I’ll fill your shoes full of holes.

She blinked at the beast, resting a hand on her hip. “I can’t believe I’m saying this to a damn rabbit, but I think I get it. Yeah. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the fucking idiot.”

He stared at her for another long moment, not entirely convinced, before standing and hopping off of the chair, leaving her shoe in place and ambling out of the room. As he disappeared around the corner, Fluttershy reappeared, clothed once again in long, quite concealing garments. She had already dried her hair, apparently, though it had not settled about her face in the same easy curl as it had before. She watched Angel go, and then looked back at Gilda bashfully, hands tangling together near her navel. “... Um. … Hi.”

“Your rat has some issues,” Gilda said dryly. She looked over the woman. “Your… hair looks good. I guess,” she added after a moment.

“Angel is very… he’s very protective,” Fluttershy offered, looking at the floor. “And, and thank you. It’s…” But whatever she thought of her hair she did not voice it, trailing off into silence before offering another sheepish look. “...Can I help at all?”

“Too slow. Got breakfast done. Pop a squat, already,” Gilda instructed as she moved to the table, sitting down.

Fluttershy shuffled to a chair, seating herself politely without a word.

Serving herself up a plate, Gilda started to instantly wolf down the meal, shoveling the biscuits into her mouth like a man shoveling coal into a high-powered train. After a beat, she looked up, appraising Fluttershy.

“So…” Gilda started, weakly. “Shower good?”

Fluttershy nodded, taking her meal much more slowly. For her part, she seemed calm, at least; the panic that had been affecting her before now seemed to have abated. “...Yes…”

“Good. That’s…” Grimacing, Gilda took another bite of her meal, then set her fork down, getting to the meat of the matter. “Look, do you wanna talk more about…?” She gave a half-shake of her head, “Because until you say something concrete, I don’t know what the fuck I should be saying. Are we cool? You pissed? Are you scared of me? Come on, throw me a damn bone.”

“I think,” said Fluttershy haltingly, “that, what we did… was… fast. Too fast.” There was a long pause, but she didn’t seem to be finished. Finally, looking up, she added, “But I’m not… I’m not… mad. At you. I’m not. I’m just… I’m confused.”

Gilda took solace at that at least. She gave a nod as she took another bite of food. “Maybe it was quick. I’ll give you that. But what are you confused about?” She reached up to her eyebrow and briefly ran a finger over her ring. “Weren’t expecting to lose your V-card to a dyke?”

“I don’t… understand… why,” Fluttershy breathed, looking at her plate again. “We, we don’t… even really know each other. And, and… I know I’m… You can’t like me that much. We’re nothing alike. I just don’t understand why you’d… why you’d… want to… do that with me.”

“If I wanted to piss you off, I’d say because you had a rack you could store canned goods on and an ass you could get lost in.” Gilda smirked, but it quickly died back to a more neutral frown. “… I dunno why, completely. That’s part of the joys of booze. And we don’t know one-another, sure. But don’t fucking put words in my mouth.” She stared at the woman. “I might like you more than you’d think. Don’t be so sure about me.” She held out her hands, as if clasping an invisible ball. “You might not even know its there, but I see a woman inside you that’s as hard as me.”

She tilted her chair back, throwing an arm over the headrest. “I wanna get to know her. Her and you.”

“... I’ve never had very many friends,” Fluttershy mumbled. “I’m, I’m not very good at… getting to know people. It’s… That’s why I don’t understand.” She seemed to wilt, head hanging closer to the table and har falling about her face almost like a shield. “I’m… We’re not alike. I don’t… get people. I don’t know… how. And… it just seems like… Am I really so interesting that, that you’d go to all that work…?”

“It’s less work, more play,” Gilda replied. “Every time you forget to be this modest little angel around me, I know I’m winning. And I like to win.” Gilda reached for another biscuit and slathered it in gravy. “And do you not remember anything I said last night? Or just what we did? I think I mentioned I’m not exactly a beacon of getting people.” She offered a wolfish grin. “See? We got that in common, honey.”

“H-honey…?” Fluttershy blushed, though Gilda couldn’t see it. “...I, I guess I just… I’m… I’m a bit of a romantic. This, this isn’t really how I imagined… but… I mean… I’m… I’d be okay if we… tried… it. We’re, we’re stuck together for a m-month anyway, right…?”

“Damn right,” Gilda agreed, lighting an after-meal smoke. “And I’m trying to be romantic. It’s why I didn’t call you sugartits this time. I’m a damn casanova.” Putting her feet on the table and crossing her legs, Gilda added. “And speaking of being stuck together… we still need to have another go at one-another.”

“...Is… there going to be another… wager?” Fluttershy asked faintly.

“Damn right there is,” Gilda agreed. “We both need to have a stake in this, otherwise one of us,” she gave a flat look at Fluttershy, “might wuss out and throw the match. So what you gonna bring to the table?”

Fluttershy looked helplessly lost. “I… I… I don’t know?”

“Come on,” Gilda urged. “There’s gotta be something. I’ll only make things harder for you on my bet if you can’t use your damn brain for once in your life.”

“I, I really don’t… If, if you win, I, I won’t get on your case about, about… smoking, anymore… probably,” she amended after a pause.

“See? There we go,” Gilda said with a grin. She thought for a moment, putting a hand to her chin. “Now… what for if you win…”

She let a hum of thought out, before looking at Fluttershy. “Suggestions? I’m down for anything you want.” Gilda shrugged her shoulders, doing her best to keep a poker face. “Well, maybe not anal. I’d need a few drinks in me for that. Unless you insist.”

She squeaked. “I, uh, no… I’d… I think, I’d need to know you better before I…” She trailed off and looked away. “If I w-win…” Her face scrunched up momentarily in thought. “You… stop smoking inside? Like… last time?”

Nodding, Gilda stretched in the chair and rose, offering her hand to the woman. “Deal. Loser has to treat the winner to dinner too. You gotta have some sort of restaurant in this shit town, yeah? Figure we can do the whole… couple… date thing. If you wanna.”

“... I think… it would be a good place to start,” Fluttershy said, taking the hand after only a moment’s pause and standing. When her hand was freed, it immediately found and tangled with its counterpart again. “...I, sometimes I visit… There’s a very nice pasta place near the edge of town. Do you like…?”

“Not my favorite. But I’ll trust your judgement. Consider it a date.” She looked down at the woman. “Try to wear something nice. Flashy. Less like a damn burka or some shit.” She gave a roll of her hand. “Show off the goods a lil’ for me and I might clean up a bit too.”

She actually looked a little offended. “...But I thought… last night… I thought I told you that, that I didn’t like it when people… focused on my… you know…”

“It doesn’t have to be that,” Gilda replied. “Maybe you got a skirt that doesn’t reach down to your damn ankles.” She smirked, reaching down to give a weak rub of her thumb to Fluttershy’s chin. “I just wanna show you off a bit when we get there, let those assholes that fucked with you around town know I got what they couldn’t get.”

Very slowly, Fluttershy looked up at Gilda and let out a small but heartfelt smile. “...I do remember that from last night. You’re, you’re… You’re protective. It’s… nice.”

“Damn right.” She crouched down, moving her hand to Fluttershy’s cheek. “I’m selfish. I don’t like other kids playing with my things.” Slowly leaning forward, Gilda went in for a kiss.

It happened, but it was brief, little more than a momentary brushing of one set of lips to the other before Fluttershy pulled away, blushing madly. “...N-n-n-not quite yet, please.”

Gilda looked taken aback for a moment. Finally, she nodded, instead kissing the woman affectionately on her forehead. “You’re lucky I like you.” Rising, she gave Fluttershy a shove on the shoulder. “Because you’re helpless on your own. Go and get changed, I wanna finish this spar and get a smoke in.”

It took Fluttershy a lot less time to get into her gi this time around; within five minutes she was back downstairs and waiting by the backdoor, bouncing back and forth very slightly on the balls of her feet with her hands clasped behind her, waiting patiently for Gilda. “So…”

“So what?” Gilda asked, taking a drink of water from the sink. “You ready to get cracking?”

“Oh. Yes, of course, I… Sorry.” She looked politely embarrassed. “... I guess now’s not the, the time for questions…”

“Looks like you’re a bit more ready for it today than yesterday.” Gilda wiped at her lips with her arm and walked towards the woman. “That’s good. I like that.” Cracking her knuckles, she opened the door and gestured for Fluttershy to step ahead.

Fluttershy moved out toward the back of the yard again, stopping momentarily to check on the sleeping form of a bear--likely Harry--resting on the far side of the fence. She knelt and brushed his fur briefly, earning a snuffle from the sleeping giant, before turning to face Gilda and standing. “I don’t think he’ll mind too much if we’re noisy… He can move if, if it bothers him.”

“You’re like a damn bear whisperer,” Gilda said, doing her best to hide her marvel as she looked between the woman and the beast. “What happened to not being interesting?”

“Bears really aren’t so bad,” Fluttershy mumbled. “It’s just… knowing how to treat them. I don’t know, it’s… I guess I just know how to handle animals. They’re easier than people.”

“In some ways,” Gilda agreed. “Less… nuances. You can tell what happens when put meat in front of them. They eat it, no questions asked.” She looked at Fluttershy, from her feet to her face. “Guess I’m pretty close to ‘em.”

“You’re very… You don’t hide what you’re feeling very much. That makes you easier to read. For me, anyway. Animals don’t hide their feelings either.” She looked back at Harry for a moment, then to Gilda again. “I mean… not, not that you’re an animal, or anything…”

“I might be closer to one than you’d think,” Gilda said after a beat, resting a hand on her hip. She reached into her pocket, producing another smoke. “Not like I’m part of the same tribe as everyone here. Lot of folks look down on me when they find out what they’re dealing with.” Tapping the ash to the ground, Gilda cocked her head back. “We gonna do this or what?”

“... I kind of don’t fit in with the rest of my tribe, either,” Fluttershy offered with a weak sort of smile. “So I guess… I get a lot of weird looks, too.”

She quirked a brow. “Really? The animal shit seems right up the alley for an earth-folk.”

Fluttershy looked at her for a moment, and then stared at the ground, hands tangling together in that nervous way she had. She inhaled, tensing slightly, before two large, yellow wings unfolded behind her, fluttering briefly, the image blurry; they lasted only a moment before she let out the breath she’d been holding and they faded away. “I’m not…”

“Well I’ll be damned,” Gilda said, this time unable to hide her surprise. “You’re a little bird.”

Taking off her jacket, Gilda threw it to the ground and rolled her tanktop up to her neck. She turned her back to Fluttershy. Two large slits appeared in her upper back, and bulges expanded and grew, pushing at the slits and widening. A violent twitch, and two large and expansive brown wings burst from the slits, unveiling in all their glory. She turned back to Fluttershy, a boisterous grin on her face as a hard flap came from her massive wingspan.

“Think I got you beat in the size department. At least in this,” she bragged, inhaling on her smoke once more.

“Oh… my…” Fluttershy stared in awe. “... They’re beautiful…”

“Thanks.” Gilda smirked. “Been a bit since they were out. Glad they still can steal the show.” She sauntered forward to Fluttershy, then extended a wing in front of her, moving it with surprising dexterity until it was inches away from Fluttershy’s hand. “Wanna touch it?”

Very slowly, she reached out the closest and hand, with a knowing sort of gentleness, rested it on the wing before carefully sliding her hand along it. “...They’re real… I, I’ve never been close to wings this size…”

Gilda used her wing to wrap around Fluttershy’s back, pulling the woman closer.

“You’ve probably never heard this, but… you got a good hand on how to deal with wings.” Gilda once more reached out, tucking the woman’s hair behind an ear. “Last time i showed someone the goods outside of my tribe, the little bastard pulled a feather out.”

“That was mean,” Fluttershy admonished. “He or she should have known better. Especially with such beautiful wings… They’re like an eagle’s. They must be very strong, too…”

“Hell yeah,” Gilda agreed with a smile, resting her arms on Fluttershy’s shoulders. “A lot of gryphon-folk use theirs exclusively for combat. Not me, though.” She leaned forward, resting her forehead on the woman’s. “It’s a little secret I like to keep to myself. You should feel flattered.”

Fluttershy blushed and smiled. “I’ll keep it just between you and me,” she said, about as close to earnest as the timid woman ever got. “I, I kind of like the sound of having a secret. To share, anyway. Secrets you hold by yourself are heavy,” she concluded, sounding a bit more dejected. “...A-anyway…”

“Yeah,” Gilda said, hesitantly pulling away. She furled her wings back until they were tightly pressed together, then with a small wince, they collapsed further, retreating into her body. With a roll of her shoulder, she lowered her top and bent down to pick up her jacket, donning it.

“Guess we should get started. If I don’t distract myself, I might not be able to stop from holding you. And we both know what a beast does to things they hold.” Gilda took a few steps back, smirking. She held up her fists once more. “Ready for round two, honey?”

“... How do they fit?” Fluttershy asked, and then covered her mouth. “S-sorry, that was… rude…”

“My wings?” Gilda asked. After a pause, she lowered her fists, blinking at the question. “We’re built a little different than you guys. There’s a sort of…” she rolled her wrist in thought. “Like a pocket, I guess, where one of our sets of ribs should be. They coil up and fit in there in a membrane. Hear it’s kinda gross to you guys, considering yours just kinda…” she snapped her fingers. “Pop in and out with no real fuss.”

Fluttershy’s eyes had gone wide during the explanation. “... That sounds… amazing,” she admitted. “Nature is so fascinating…”

“I’m a person, not an animal,” Gilda warned. “Don’t act like it’s a fucking documentary or some shit.” After a moment, she shrugged. “Odd how cool with it you are, though. I went into a little more detail on the process of my wings going in with this one bitch, right?” She shook her head, running a hand through her unkempt white hair. “Literally lost her lunch. Right there in the park while I was talking with her. It was hilarious,” Gilda let out a guffaw, tilting her head back and cackling at the memory.

The other woman looked a little put off by this, but hid it almost immediately, settling into the same ready stance she’d used the day before. “I feel bad for her…”

“Why?” Gilda asked, bringing her fists up level with her hard eyes. “She was just like the rest of ‘em. Liked what she saw, until she saw too much of me.”

“... She just didn’t understand.” She pondered that for a moment. “... I’m kind of surprised I do, actually.”

“You’re a lot of things. Stupid, cowardly, prude. But I’ll at least say you’re understanding.” She paused, letting a brief, honest smile grace her face. “And pretty cool too.” Her more innocent expression soured, turning to a smirk. “It’s how you got into my pants last night.” She lowered herself, coiling like a spring. “Not just anyone that can do that, you know.”

This got her to blush. “I… th-thank you, b-but I’d rather not… Let’s move on… for now…”

“Glad you gave up on stalling. That game can end quick when I know how to push your buttons. All of your buttons.” She took a few cautious steps to the side, slowly circling the woman. “Well? You gonna lead this dance, or am I gonna have to do it again?”

Fluttershy was gritting her teeth before Gilda had finished speaking; by the time the words had left her mouth, the smaller woman was already moving forward, grasping for one of Gilda’s arms.

Gilda let out a surprised swear, not expecting Fluttershy to clear the ground that fast; she hopped back clumsily, narrowly avoiding the woman’s deadly grasp, and launched a panicked jab to Fluttershy’s stomach.

She’d made a lunging grab for open air and tripped, leaving her where neither of them expected her to be; the jab sailed over her head and passed through her hair. She, on the other hand, was flat on the ground, red faced and mumbling apologies. “I’m, I’m sorry, I’m clumsy today…”

Gilda said nothing. After a beat, she sighed in irritation and offered her hand down to the woman.

“Get up.”

Fluttershy took the hand… and kept pulling.

As soon as Gilda felt Fluttershy’s grip tighten on her, she knew she had made a mistake. It was easy for the woman to overpower her, and she landed hard on the ground with an oomf! She turned, flipping onto her back from her stomach and staring at the woman in surprise.

Fluttershy rested her elbow on Gilda's stomach before swinging a leg up and over, straddling the other woman. The blush on her face showed well she understood the particular recent significance of a position quite similar to this, but she didn't let it slow her down, resting all of her weight on Gilda and pressing her arm down under Gilda's chin--not actually applying pressure, but clearly in a position to do so if she chose.

"I don't like long fights," she explained, still a little breathless from her trip. "Does, does this count?"

Gilda’s smile was wolfish. “That’s the woman I wanted to see earlier. I’m not even mad. Good work.”

“... But does it count?” Fluttershy asked. “I, I want you to s-say it. Last time, you cheated…”

“And you just did the same,” Gilda replied, her near feral smile still plastered on her face. “Yeah, ok. You got me. Good job.”

Fluttershy rolled off of Gilda and moved well away before standing up straight. “S, so… no more smoking inside. Okay?”

“Deal’s a fucking deal,” Gilda agreed, rising with a grunt. She quirked an eyebrow at Fluttershy. “You got some moves when you want to.” Moving over to the woman, she gave her a shove on the shoulder. “And it’s hot as hell when you lead like that. Keep that in mind, yeah?”

Fluttershy rubbed at her shoulder and smiled a gentle sort of smile. “I… thank you. I’ll, I’ll try to remember…”

“Good.” After a moment, Gilda sighed. “Guess dinner’s on me. Your ass better squeeze into something nice. I want everyone jealous as hell of us when we hit the restaurant.”

“Oh… I’ll find something nice,” she promises, hands clasped in front of her again. “I, I actually make… Well… never mind…”

“Make?” Gilda repeated, reaching into her pocket for another smoke.

“... Well, I know… a little about… sewing, and, and stuff. So I make… my own… clothes. Not all of them. But. Most of them. It, it’s a hobby…”

“That’s cute,” Gilda said, then paused. “Cool,” she corrected. “Cool.” Cocking a thumb to the door, she reached out, giving a gentle slap to Fluttershy’s ass. “Get to moving, sweetcheeks. The night’s burning.”

Fluttershy squeaked and rushed inside, vanishing up the stairs before Gilda could follow.

“Swear,” Gilda muttered under her breath. “That woman’s gonna make me lose my edge.”

"I know a little about sewing," she'd said. Yes, well, that might have been the understatement of the century.

Like her wings, the dress was yellow, highlighted with green accents that formed elaborate, almost druidic patterns along the cloth. Like the rest of her clothes, it leaned more toward modest than not, though it was certainly more revealing than the clothes she'd been wearing before the very brief sparring match. She hesitated when she saw Gilda again, head lowering and hands meeting near her stomach. "Oh... Um. Here I am..."

“See?” Gilda said with a smirk. “That’s what I was talking about. You look damn fine.”

Gilda herself had cleaned up, as much as someone like Gilda could clean up, at least. Her white hair had been slicked back, revealing a widows peak, and the back was layered, reaching down to the nape of her neck. Her eyebrow ring was gone, in its place were two matching hoop earrings bordering on gaudy. As she ran a finger over the neckline of the plain white shirt she wore, she gave another appreciative nod to the woman.

“Seriously.” Gilda took a step forward, running a finger over the dress. “You look fine as hell. If you were my meal instead, I wouldn’t have a problem.”

She blushed. “B-but… Oh… Um. Thank you,” she muttered finally. “I, I, I’ve never… I don’t get many opportunities to, to show these to other people…”

“Well you could fool me. You got that shit down to an art.” Gilda’s toothy grin widened. “Gonna have some fun tonight, I can already tell.” She glanced outside. “Now, you got a car, or we hiking down to town like when we got groceries?”

“I, I do, but… It’s not very fancy,” she mumbled. “I don’t use it much… It’s, it’s out on the side.” She pointed. “And… I keep it a short ways from the house so, so the noise doesn’t bother my friends…”

“Actually…” Gilda smirked. “I got a better idea.” She stepped outside and gestured for Fluttershy to follow her onto the grass. “Get your ass over here.”

Fluttershy followed. She had foregone heels for the night--well, truth be told, she didn’t own any--so little risk of any accident in that regard, even if it meant her shoes didn’t quite match up with the rest of the image. “Are… you planning what I think you’re planning?”

“Maybe you’re not as dumb as you act,” Gilda agreed, her shirt already stripped off of her. She stared at Fluttershy, another cigarette in her lips. With only a slight twitch of her eyebrow, her massive wings erupted from her back. She offered her hand to Fluttershy.

“What you say? How about a ride on the Gilda express?”

“U-um… I’m, I’m not very good in the air. S-so.” She took the hand, but slowly, biting her lip as she did. “...Go slowly, please?”

Gilda nodded, handing Fluttershy her shirt, then pulling the woman closer, wrapping her arms around her waist. “We’re built for power and endurance anyway. Speed is more your guy’s thing. At least that’s what this one bitch said back at the academy.”

She gave an experimental flap of her wings, then leapt upwards, holding the woman tightly. She wrapped her legs around Fluttershy’s own to brace her, and they launched even higher in the sky, clearing the treeline around the house, then rising until the trees lost their individual appearance, becoming a sea of green underneath them. Gilda leveled them out and took to flying them slowly across the sky.

Fluttershy let out a whimper as they shot up, closing her eyes and clearly restraining herself from holding onto Gilda too tightly, but she relaxed slightly as they leveled out. Her eyes remained shut, even so. “W-w-w-whoa…”

“Open your damn eyes, you pussy,” Gilda chastised, then softly added, “It’s pretty up here. I think you’ll like it.”

She did as she was ordered, looking everywhere but at the ground. “Oh… Y-yes, it is pretty. Up here. I, I don’t fly a lot, so…”

Gilda, like clockwork, asked the obvious question, smiling nostalgically to herself as she stared at the moonlit countryside. “Why? You got the wings.”

“I’m, I’m just not very good at it. I can’t stay airborne for very long…”

“Weak wings or something? Didn’t expect that’d be a problem for your kind, what with them being magic.”

“It’s hard to explain, I guess. It’s about… it’s about being able to hold their shape. And I’m… not very good about that.”

“Mmm,” Gilda grunted. After a moment, she turned her head, spitting the cigarette butt out of her mouth. “That sucks. It’s pretty damn fine being up here. Gets you away from the assholes, the stress, the smells. Just...” She gave a lazy roll, turning them upside down for a moment, before righting them. “Free.”

“It… yes. I know. I, I did spend time in the sky growing up. Just… not very much of it. And, and now I have the animals to take care of… I guess I just stopped thinking about it…”

“Well…” Gilda gave an affectionate squeeze of Fluttershy’s legs with her own. “If you ever need reminded, you know who to ask. You’re light, so unless you get fat, it’s not too much of a hassle to take you with me.”

Fluttershy nestled a little closer, at least as well as she could given their mutual positions. “... I think I’d like that… Flying with you…”

“And… it’s kinda cool having someone along for the ride,” Gilda admitted. She let another smirk out, doing her best to stop the flight from being too sappy. “Ever hear of the mile-high club?”

“No… What’s that?” Fluttershy asked innocently.

Gilda shook her head, moving one of her legs up Fluttershy’s thigh with surprising dexterity and stroking the supple flesh with the ball of her foot. “I’ll show you sometime. Hopefully sooner than later.”

Fluttershy shivered, blushing and letting out a squeak. “U-um, oh… N-not where you could drop me, please…”

“That’s what makes it more exciting,” Gilda remarked, but complied despite her words, retreating her foot back down to Fluttershy’s ankles.

The town came into sight moments later; Gilda set them down on the outskirts and put up her wings, taking back the shirt Fluttershy had held onto.

“Thanks, dollface,” she said, donning the shirt and holding out the crook of her arm. “Well? Shall we?”

Fluttershy smiled bashfully and hooked her arm around Gilda’s. She didn’t seem entirely comfortable with it, even so, but she didn’t pull away. Her eyes found the ground and she kicked at it a little. “... No one’s watching… right? Oh, n-not that I, I mind being here, with you, it’s just…”

“Even if they were, who cares?” Gilda asked flippantly, already taking a few bold steps towards town. “Only thing they’ll see is a sauve-ass gal like me with hot stuff on her arm. Bet it’d make ‘em damn jealous.” She squeezed tighter and winked at Fluttershy coyly. It seemed odd that a face that intense could even be coy. “Know I would be.” She sniffed at the air and gave a dismissive frown, reaching for a smoke with her free hand.

“Oh, I… They don’t like smoking inside. If, if you’re going to, then… now would be the best time.” She blushed. “Um, sorry, I know I just set up that rule at, at home, too…”

“It’s fine,” she muttered out. “We’re keeping our deal. Only fair. If you had backed out last night, we wouldn’t of ended up fu—” She caught herself and gave a roll of her eyes. “Together.” Giving her smoke a brief gnaw as she took another drag, she added on, “Hell, I don’t even like the taste of ‘em that much.”

“Just… a habit?” Fluttershy asked. “Maybe… maybe you could…” She trailed off. “Never mind. I, … never mind. I’ll talk about it… later…”

Gilda let a small snort of a laugh pass. “You’re being a little pushy.” Giving one more encouraging squeeze, she remarked: “Good.” The griffon-folk took another drag and nodded a little. “It’s a tribe thing. Why I offered you one when I first came, even. Helps with the smells.”

“Smells? … Oh. The animals. I, I guess I just don’t notice. I live with them all the time, so… I guess I just got used to them.” She looked suddenly self-conscious--or moreso than she already was, at any rate. “I, I probably don’t smell that nice myself…”

Gilda smirked, pitching the cigarette butt to the side of the ground. She turned to Fluttershy and leaned over, inhaling deeply at her hair.

“Underneath your shitty shampoo and deodorant, you smell a little sweaty. Your actual smell, though? When you’re ass is bare naked? Like the wind on a wet day.” Gilda put her hand at Fluttershy’s hip. “I like it. It’s a musk I can get behind.”

This got her to blush again, and quite brightly. “Oh… oh… w-well… thank you. I, I… You smell like cigarettes,” she mumbled. “Mostly. But under that it’s kind of like, it’s kind of like.. I don’t know how to describe it. Kind of… earthy? In a good way, I mean. Oh, never mind me…”

“Earthy, huh? Guess it’s better than smelling like shit,” she concluded with a nod. The woman let out a slow breath, cupping Fluttershy’s chin. Reluctantly, she pulled away, offering her arm to the woman once more. “Let’s get a meal in us. If we’re out here any longer, I might have to do more than sniff you.”

Fluttershy bowed her head and took the offered arm, pointing out the door but following Gilda inside. “You… you keep doing that. Is, is there something on my face…?”

It took Gilda a moment to register her words. Finally, they clicked as they approached a podium, where the maitre d stood, his nose tilted up and his arm at a precise ninety-degree angle.

“Two for us, gramps.”

He raised a brow. “And do you have a reservation?”

Gilda leaned forward onto the podium and offered a snake-like smile. “I don’t think you need one for us.”

“Madam, we are currently overbooke—”

Gilda snapped forward, reaching to the top of the podium to grab a pen, which she slammed into a paper with dozens of names inside.

“I think something opened up,” Gilda said, tersely.

The man swallowed. “I… I believe it did. Right this way, ladies.” He gestured to his left with a bow.

He guided them to their table; Fluttershy attempted to stutter apologies as they went, though none of them were loud enough to be heard. He bowed once more and shuffled off.

Gilda looked over at Fluttershy as they sat down. “The reason I hold your chin so much is because it’s the quickest way you’ll meet me in the eyes.” Gilda reached forward once more, giving Fluttershy’s chin a slow stroke. “That, and I like how it feels. My palm fits like a damn glove.”

Fluttershy looked down again as quickly as she could. “I, I… y-you scared him,” she mumbled. “You, you d-didn’t have to… w-we could have gone somewhere else…”

“He looked like an asshole anyway,” Gilda said. “Stared at us like we didn’t belong some place this nice. Fuck ‘em. Sometimes you need to make an impression like that if you want something.”

Their waiter approached them, sparing a glance down the way towards the host, before plastering on a smile he tried to make genuine.

“Good evening, ladies, my name is Pierre, and I will be waiting on you tonight. Have you a thought on drinks?”

Gilda looked up at him, then nodded at Fluttershy. “Get hers first,” she instructed.

“... Just water, please,” Fluttershy mumbled, not meeting his gaze.

“Same,” she decided, giving the waiter only the briefest of waves, dismissing him. He nodded, quickly turning and leaving before she changed her mind.

“A little scared of the drink now?” Gilda asked, her tone serious.

“...Yes,” she admitted, looking up. “... Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Gilda replied. “We’ll get you back in the saddle one day, but… that can come at your pace, follow me?” She smirked after another pause. “When you throw yourself on me without booze involved, it’ll be a reward in itself for going dry for a bit.”

“... Thank you,” Fluttershy said, smiling very slightly and looking through the menu.

“Mmm,” she grunted out in reply, her own attention spent as she went through her own menu. “Don’t mention it. Seriously. It’ll make me seem like a pussy.”

After a few moments of silence, Gilda shut her menu. “Got an idea what’ll do you, dollface?”

“Oh, I just… They, they have a wonderful vegetable soup.” She taps her pointer fingers together. “I, I… your steak was wonderful, but, I try to, to not have meat every day. Out of respect. I guess. Even if having it at all is hypocritical, a little…”

Gilda rolled her neck. “It’s more respectful having it,” she said. “We’re part of the circle too, no matter how much we bullshit and shy away from it. Eating them, using what was put here for us to hunt, is as true as we can get. Vegetarians are the hypocrites.”

Fluttershy didn’t look like she’s entirely convinced. “But, I… Okay. If, if you say so…”

Gilda gave a lazy shrug. “I’m just saying, we have canines for a reason. I’m not sure about you guys, but griffon-folk are built for stamina, built for marching or flying until our prey wears down. We have hunting in our blood. We’re predators.”

“... I can’t really say for anyone else, but… I’m not. I, I mean, I’m sure that’s obvious…”

She smirked, tapping at the table as she observed the woman. “You’re like a mama fox. They don’t seem all that dangerous, but you push for their kids, they can fuck your arm up.” She nodded, agreeing with herself. “Yeah… yeah, that’s what I see.”

“...I know a couple of foxes,” Fluttershy supplied. “I, I, they have to stay outside… I used to let them inside the house, but Angel… Well, he’s, he’s very protective, so, I figured it would be safer for everyone involved…”

“That damn rat…” Gilda mumbled under her breath.

The waiter came by once more, two glasses of ice water in his hands. He sat one on either end of them and nervously pulled out a notepad.

“Are you ladies ready?” he asked.

Pointing a finger at Fluttershy, Gilda said, “Lady’ll have your vegetable soup. I’ll…” She gave a shrug. “Damn. I didn’t think about myself here. I’ll have an order of scaloppine, I guess.”

Right away, madams,” he said, curtly bowing and briskly walking off.

“So…” Gilda started after a moment, crossing her leg and letting her ankle bounce. “This is going pretty good, yeah? I mean, even shitholes like your place get better when I’m around, but I think this is going good, even if you don’t put me in the picture.”

“Oh… Is, is it messy?” Fluttershy began to fret. “It probably is. I, I try to keep it clean, really I do, it’s just, it’s hard, with so many critters, and sometimes I miss a spot, and I know it smells… I’ll, I’ll try harder.” She looked up, expression panicked. “I, I mean, not to say you don’t make it better, because, because you do! But, but… never mind…”

“Fluttershy,” Gilda started with an irritated sigh, taking a drink of water. “For God’s sake, I’m being an asshole. Just tell me to fuck off. Your place is alright. I’m sure most couldn’t even smell anything.”

“... Oh.” She looked nonplussed. “But, I… What, why?” She paused. “I, I mean, what’s the point in repaying something mean with, with something else mean? Even if it’s a joke. It just perpetuates the meanness.”

“Because I get pissed pretty easy. Someone I actually respect calling me out when I’m being an asshole helps keep my tongue in check. I’ve been having to backpedal a lot on what I’ve been saying with you, and that sort of pisses me off too,” Gilda admitted curtly, taking another drink of water and letting out a breath.

Fluttershy watched Gilda for a moment, turquoise eyes scrutinizing the woman for… something?... and apparently finding it, if her nod was any indication. “... I, I’ll try.”

“Thanks, babe,” she said. “And I’m not mad at you on what I’m talking about there, alright? I’m mad at just…” She left the sentence unfinished, lifting and letting an arm drop.

“I think I understand,” Fluttershy said softly, leaning forward and brushing her fingers against the back of Gilda’s hand for a moment. “... I think.”

“Hell,” she replied, running a thumb over Fluttershy’s digits. “Like I said, you’re stupid... but understanding. And I guess you might understand this more than me even.” Gilda sat there for a moment, enjoying stroking Fluttershy’s fingers and for a brief, fleeting moment, felt more content than she had in most of her life. Finally, though, Gilda broke the moment.

“So… what after this?” Gilda asked.

“...Well,” Fluttershy mumbled, and then stopped. “... You’ve seen most of what I do,” she admitted, drawing her hand back. “I, really it’s… kind of a boring lifestyle. Especially if, well, for someone from Heaven, it can’t be much fun. It’s just, I… I like… routine, because routine is, is safe. But I really don’t… know what else to tell you. I don’t even know the town that well…”

“I dunno, so far your routines been pretty adventurous,” Gilda remarked. “But I’m sure if I ask around, we’ll find something cool. You’ve seen I got a hell of a way with words.”

This actually got her to smile, if briefly and somewhat shallowly. “... That’s one way to put it…”

Gilda left the restaurant with a nod of contentment. She wrapped one arm around Fluttershy, and used the other to fish into her pocket for another smoke.

“You’re right. Place was good,” the griffon-folk said. “Been a while since I had veal that tender.”

Fluttershy squeaked at the sudden touch, but managed to prevent herself from reflexively pulling away. “...I, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I don’t… know about very many other places, so…”

“So let’s walk around,” Gilda offered. “Or we could fly somewhere and fucking explore. Tonight’s the night to do it, babe. What you wanna try?”

“Explore…” she murmured, as if the thought had never before occurred to her. It very well may never have. “... At, at night? Wouldn’t it be easier to see things in the daylight?”

Gilda pointed up. “Look at that moon. We got all the light we need. You know you want to do this, don’t pussy out here.”

“... It… might be fun,” Fluttershy admitted, not quite grudgingly. “With… with someone else… I, I mean, not just me..”

“Well,” Gilda said, turning and moving close to Fluttershy, putting herself face-to-face with the woman. She reached down to Fluttershy’s thigh, and teasingly ran her hand up and under the woman’s dress a few inches. “I just might be the woman for that job.” She grinned, her cigarette dangling, briefly forgotten at the corner of a lip as she stared down at Fluttershy.

This time Fluttershy did pull away, looking quite self-conscious. “...notyetplease,” she mumbled, the words melding together in a flustered rush.

Gilda reached out slightly with her hand, before letting it drop and slap weakly against her side. “I didn’t mean…” Gilda started to say, then swallowed, scowling slightly. “Then when?” she asked tersely. Another beat and she shook her head. “No. That’s not fucking fair to you.” She exhaled, rubbing at her neck. “Alright, alright, babe. Not yet. You’ll set the tempo.”

“... thank you,” Fluttershy said meekly. “I, I, I appreciate the thought, I just… it’s too soon. I, I want… Oh…” She shuffled her feet awkwardly. “No, no, I mean, no offense, but I just, I want it to mean something. Really… mean something. And. I like you. Kind of. But I just… not yet. Maybe that doesn’t make sense. Maybe I’m weird. But… not yet.”

“And it means something to me. It’s—no. No. I’m the weird one,” Gilda said automatically. “I’m the cunt wanting to fuck on the first date. So you just… I guess keep me straight, even if I do bitch about it some, alright?”

“...I’ll try,” she said, fingers tangling together again.

Gilda took off her shirt and offered her hand to Fluttershy. Within moment’s her brown, massive wings burst forth. “Now come on. We’ll see what we can find, alright?”

Fluttershy nodded, folding the shirt up and holding it tightly. “... I, I’m sure we’ll find something…”

“Sure will,” Gilda agreed, rising off the ground with one hard flap of her wings. She gave another one, and they launched taller than the trees. One more finally put them at a decent height and Gilda nodded, starting her slow glide across the skies.

They flew first around town, taking in the town and its aesthetics, with its well-crafted buildings and nicely paved roads, at this height, it looked in a sense like a storybook village.

“Let’s see…” Gilda started, looking down below them. “Liquor store, that’s out. A church down the way, a movie theater…” Her eyes widened and she grinned after a moment. “Landing for a sec,” she announced, putting them in front of a convenience store. “Just stand here,” Gilda ordered, jogging inside. She was back out before Fluttershy missed her, a brown sack in her hands.

“Hold this too,” she said, stuffing her shirt into the bag, then passing it to Fluttershy. “No peeking in there.”

Fluttershy took the bag and held it closed, head tilting to one side. “... Okay? Um… Thank you…”

Gilda wrapped her arms around Fluttershy and took off once more, launching them into the air.

They cruised the skyline for a long, quiet moment, Gilda scanning the ground absentmindedly.

“Hey,” she started. “About earlier…”

Fluttershy opened one eye and looked at Gilda. “... Hmm? What’s on your mind…?”

“The hell you think?” she snapped, then continued, a little calmer. “When I got a little handy at your skirt. I don’t like being told no.” Gilda paused. “No. That’s not what I meant. I mean… I don’t like making you legitimately uncomfortable around me. I get tired of being the bad, forceful girl here, you know?”

“... You don’t have to be,” Fluttershy said gently. “I, I won’t… tell anyone, if, if you get tired of being that way. I, I understand if… you have an image to maintain, or, I guess that’s the expression… If, if it bothers you, though…”

“There’s that, and like I said the other day, I’m glad you’re willing to keep the sappy shit I do on the down-low, but I’m talking more… It’s hard as hell guessing where you want me to cut the shit I do out, until you’re already pushing me away. Would it be so hard for you to sometimes…” She scowled.

“...Sometimes…?”

“It sucks always being the one having to test the fucking waters in this, getting a feel on what’s safe,” Gilda replied. “I wish I wasn’t always the one pawing over you. You understand?”

“... I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whispered, looking away. When she spoke next, her words were lost to the wind until she remembered to speak up. “... I, I’m not good at… being… assertive, I guess. Which… I think is what you’re asking? I, I don’t really know… how. I don’t know what the limits are. I’m… I don’t want to push boundaries. That makes people uncomfortable…”

“The only way you’ll grow is by being uncomfortable. It’s alright around me. Even if I got a little weirded out by some shit, that wouldn’t change what I think I’m starting to feel about you.” Gilda scowled again, hating this weak, girly part of herself. “I want you to… you know, feel what I feel about you. Like my hands can barely stop themselves because of how fucking beautiful you are.”

Fluttershy tensed, unable to look back at Gilda. “I, I… I don’t… I don’t think like you do. I don’t… I don’t understand. This part. I don’t understand. I’m sorry…”

“You have to understand. That sort of sick, desperate feeling you get when you want something bad enough that it makes you feverish. You’ve had to of felt it at least some time in your life. I mean, shit, do you remember anything you felt when we fucked?” Gilda asked, giving a small, calming rub of Fluttershy’s stomach. “Or, not even during. Just right before or after it.”

“... I remember…” Fluttershy whimpered, sounding ashamed.

“It’s just us up here. You don’t have to be embarrassed. How did it feel? What did you think about it before waking up?” Gilda coaxed. “Because when I’m touching you? I feel like I can do anything. Like I can be anything.” She spat out her finished cigarette, still scanning the ground and in no hurry to land, at least for the moment. “I’m not a poet for sure, but… it’s the best way I can describe.”

“I, I felt like… I felt… I felt safe. I felt like, I felt like, I found someone who, who might… get me, and, and it felt… okay. I mean, not just okay. But okay in the sense that it was right. But I, that was… I don’t know, I don’t know how I feel now, and, and, I don’t know you that well, and, I want to, but what happened wasn’t fair, and yet, and I… I don’t… I don’t know what I’m trying to say,” she finished lamely.

“And I felt like that too at one point. Safe, I mean. Maybe you don’t wanna remember it, but there was a point toward the end where you had me pinned down with one arm, and working me with the other and…” Gilda let a shuddering breath out, exasperated. “I felt kinda… wanted, I guess. Like you liked how I felt in your hands, how I looked, who I was. It was like you wanted everything I brought to the table, and then some. And now, when you’re off fidgeting until I make a damn move on you, when you can’t even look at me when I’m feeling you it’s… I’m missing something from it, you know? Like I’m in this a lot deeper than you are.” She bit at her lip. “Maybe I’m not making sense after all, fuck it. Just… nevermind, babe.”

“I do,” Fluttershy said, very, very quietly. “... I… I do.”

Gilda let their bodies turn back and forth gently in the air, emulating the slow, lazy roll of a rocking chair. “And… do you understand?”

“I do,” she breathed, inclining her neck in an attempt to hide her face against the other woman.

Gilda moved a hand up, resting it against Fluttershy’s cheek. “What do you think? About what I—how I feel on it? Is it greedy?”

“I…” She rubbed her cheek against the hand, slowly, clearly buying herself time to think. “... I don’t think greedy is the right word… I think it’s just… We don’t… think the same way. We don’t have the same… We want the same things, but we don’t express them the same way…”

“Maybe. I just…” Gilda let out a terse laugh, buying a moment to get her act together. “This is so damn stupid. You’ve done shit to me in a couple of days that people I’ve known for years couldn’t do. You’re making me this pussy around you and… and I kind of like it. I like how under your namby-pamby, goody-good, girly shit, you’re strong. Maybe even stronger than me.” She rolled them over, to where Gilda flew with her back to the ground, and stared at the sky. “And it’s like… someone this strong makes me feel, uh, safe. It’s pretty cool having something like that as a backup in case I get in too deep on my own.”

Fluttershy pulled back somewhat, at least far enough to allow her to look Gilda in the eyes. The wind up here was making her hair billow behind her; no way to hide her face in the sky like this. “...I… make you feel… safe?”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it,” Gilda remarked. “I don’t know how you do it, as small as you are, but yeah. You really do make me feel like that.” She offered a smirk bordering on an affectionate, teasing smile. “Knowing you can literally throw me around like a ragdoll helps, I guess.”

“I would never do that,” Fluttershy denied. “... Outside of, of practice, I mean…”

“And I know you wouldn’t, unless I treated you to dinner and asked nicely first,” Gilda said with a smirk. She gave a squeeze to Fluttershy’s back. “At least I got dinner out of the way…”

This got a blush out of the smaller woman, but the first truly sincere smile of the evening emerged at the same time, and she rested her head on Gilda. “... You’re sweet. You hide it, but you’re still sweet. I like that…”

“Nah, I’m a bona-fide bitch from hell. But… maybe I can play sweet around you more than I do other assholes.” She smiled brightly down at the woman, rubbing Fluttershy’s neck. “And maybe if I’m sweet, you can be at least a little spicy. When it’s just the two of us, at least.” Gilda gave a playful tap of Fluttershy’s ankle with her own. “Our little secret, just like my wings.”

“... I’m not very good at spicy…”

“Well, I’m not very good at sweet. We’ll be alright though, if I can count on you teach me the ropes, you can count on me to do the same.” She pointed to her neck. “You can start by giving me a kiss. Ones that just pop out of nowhere are hot as hell, especially if it’s a part that doesn’t tend to see as much action as others.” Gilda grinned wolfishly. “Then maybe I’ll set you down and you can see what’s in the bag.”

“Ah, but…” Fluttershy’s gaze traveled around the sky for a moment. “... if you’re expecting it now, it, it can’t come from nowhere, can it? It’s got to come from me…”

“Now you’re getting it,” Gilda answered. “A lot of this shit’s gotta come from you. You’ll just have to get me when I least expect it, while we’re up here.”

“Mm,” Fluttershy acknowledged, resting her head atop Gilda again. “I, I’ll try…” There was a sound that might, if Gilda strained her ears, have been a giggle. “... this is all so surreal…”

“Like a dream,” Gilda agreed, running a hand gently up and down Fluttershy’s stomach. “One that you think, ‘what the hell do I gotta wake up for?’”

One of the smaller woman’s hands found hers, squeezing very gently. “Isn’t it… nice that we don’t have to wake up from this one?”

She smirked, her tone almost sweet. “I’m not a poet, none of that shit, but… you know, if I had more dreams involving you, I’d be alright sleeping my life away.”

All this got was a soft coo. Fluttershy seemed to have quite forgotten her relatively precarious situation in the air, content, for the moment, with this level of proximity and, if her expression was any indication, lost somewhere in a rose-tinted fantasy. Like it or not, Fluttershy was a romantic; perhaps too romantic.

“It’s official,” Gilda realized. “I’m turning into a Goddamn sap because of you.” She sighed, though she held a foolish smile. “You hear in books and shit all the time about people just clicking. Romance, the whole nine yards.” She continued to hold the woman flush against her. “There are things you do that piss me off, same, thing I do to you, I bet, but… there’s something here, babe. I know it. Just gotta hunt it down.”

“It’s funny…” Fluttershy murmured, looking up at Gilda and moving the hand she held up to her cheek, leaning her head against the back of it. “... I guess, I just… You’re not quite the, the knight in… shining armor, you know, like the stories go, but… but I think I’m okay with that. I mean. It might still take… a while, but…” She trailed off, sneaking a brief kiss to the back of Gilda’s hand. “...Like you said. I think there’s something here…”

“Well, I don’t expect you to pin me down and fuck me right away again, even if I talk a big game. Yeah. It might take a while… but the wait’ll be worth it, for this whole damn thing.” She then smirked. “And I felt that kiss on my hand. You’re getting some balls.” Gilda let out a hum. “I like that. I think you need to be rewarded, girl.”

She finally turned them over, lowering their flight pattern until they landed gently in a small meadow surrounded by forests. A small pond was in the distance, reflecting the moonlit scene with a calming tranquility.

Fluttershy had tensed after finding herself looking down at the world again, but the moon, and the faint sound of the water, soothed her after she had her feet back on the ground again. She took a few steps away, wobbly on her feet, before sitting down somewhat suddenly and letting out a long sigh. “Back on the ground…”

“You don’t say?” Gilda dryly remarked, raising her brow. She put her shirt on the ground. “For God’s sake, sit there. You’ll get grass stains all over your ass, and that thing’s nice enough I don’t want it marked up.”

Fluttershy looked confused for a moment, then stood up and sheepishly moved over to sit on the offered shirt. “... Sorry…”

“Mmm,” Gilda grunted out, sitting down on the grass next to the woman. She looked into the bag, first bringing out a new pack of smokes, which she promptly pocketed, then winked over at Fluttershy.

“Left some room for dessert?”

“Dessert?” Fluttershy’s hands tangled together, briefly, before settling back on the grass. “... Um. Yes?”

Reaching into the bag, Gilda produced two plastic-wrapped crescents, giving a tap to the foreign, swirling letters on the label. “You’re looking at a snack they manufacture back home. I used to eat these things like crazy as a kid. I saw an ad on the stores wall while we were going around. I can’t believe they had ‘em.”

Fluttershy reached out a hand to take one. “What… what are they?”

Gilda unwrapped hers, revealing a large, flakey crescent, which she tore a corner off of, revealing its center, stuffed with what looked like crumbled chocolate and frosting. She held out the corner to the woman, putting her fingers right in front of Fluttershy’s mouth. “Try it.”

Fluttershy dallied for a moment as usual, but leaned forward and took a very small, polite nibble. Her face carried a thoughtful expression for a brief second before it broke into a smile. “That’s very nice… It’s sweet, but, but not too sweet…”

“Great, isn’t it?” Gilda agreed, her shut eyes and wide, cheek-to-cheek smile disarmingly beautiful in its childishness. “Dad used to get ‘em all the time. We’d have them every Sunday. Kebda or Shawarma for dinner, then dessert we’d split one of ‘em.”

Fluttershy’s giggle was fully audible this time. “That sounds like a wonderful memory…”

Her expression fell a bit, becoming a little sheepish. “I… well, yeah. It is. It’s stupid the things that you can just see perfectly, when you think back on ‘em. Especially the good ones. I mean, it was lonely once I left the academy, but… even the shittiest times have at least one memory or two you can like. I’m sure it’s the same for you.” Gilda leaned toward the woman, once more offering her another bite in between her fingers.

Fluttershy gladly accepted it, and then scooted around so she could lean her head against Gilda’s shoulder. “... I hope I don’t make many bad memories for you. I, I mean… more than I have…”

She smiled. “You’ve done good for yourself, babe. No bad memories so far.” Looking at the woman, her smile turned a bit devious. “You’ve got frosting on your face.”

Fluttershy blushed. “Oh, I, I, I’m sorry, I… We don’t have any napkins, do we?” she asked, in the hopeful sort of tone that betrayed the fact that she already knew the answer was ‘no.’

“Let me get it,” Gilda said. She leaned over, resting her forehead against Fluttershy’s, then taking her tongue and slowly running it across the corner of the woman’s mouth. She brought her lips forward, giving Fluttershy a gentle kiss.

“Hmm…” she hummed. “I’m not sure if I got it all...”

“Um, uh, well, um…” Fluttershy’s attempts to throw together a thought continually failed her, although the sudden proximity made her tense; the thought crossed her mind to pull away, but she chose to ignore it, watching Gilda’s eyes carefully. “Ah…”

Gilda stared back at the woman; she reached over to another small piece of crescent and brought it to Fluttershy’s mouth, ghost-touching the others lips with the food, rolling it in a gentle circle, before coaxing it between her lips, lightly pushing it forward. “You’ll just have to be careful. I’d hate for you to make a mess…”

Fluttershy squeaked in surprise, attempting, for a moment, to mumble more incomplete thoughts around the morsel occupying her mouth before realizing quite what it was that had just happened. She flushed, at least as much as she already had, pulling away very slightly and swallowing. “... Ah… um… yes… I’ll… I’ll b-be careful…”

“Did you like that?” Gilda asked, not breaking her almost predatory gaze as she put her fingers in her mouth and licked them.

“Um… Yes,” Fluttershy admitted. “... It, it was… very sweet…”

She smirked, obviously pleased at the timid woman’s admittance. “Want me to do it again?” Gilda asked, tucking a strand of Fluttershy’s hair behind an ear.

“If… If you want to,” she replied, one hand wrapping gently around Gilda’s wrist, the thumb brushing against the back of Gilda’s hand. “... I, well… Thank you…”

“Damn, it’s hot when you say what you want,” she remarked, tearing off another piece and once more leading it to Fluttershy’s lips. Gilda rubbed the woman’s neck in a gentle encouragement. The urge to do more, far more, all but screaming in the back of her head, like the primal urge to hunt a wolf might get among sheep. She ignored it, though, holding it back for the rose-haired woman beside her. “What else you want?” Gilda asked, kissing Fluttershy’s forehead.

Fluttershy let out a hmmm and leaned forward, resting her head on Gilda’s shoulder and loosely wrapping her arms around the taller woman. “...Hold me?”

“Sure.”

Gilda snaked her arms around her, adjusting themselves until they were in a pose almost like they were flying: Fluttershy’s back flush against Gilda’s breasts, Gilda’s longer legs gently resting in a tangle with Fluttershy’s own. She shifted a bit, ignoring yet again the primal voices screaming at how close, how warm and soft Fluttershy felt against her body and instead wrapped a hand around the more timid woman’s waist.

“You’re gorgeous,” Gilda said, leaning and resting her chin against Fluttershy’s shoulder. She stuck her tongue out and gave a playful lap at the ridge of her ear.

“That tickles,” Fluttershy admonished gently, the smile on her face evident in her voice, too, soft as it was. Her hands once again found Gilda’s, fingers tracing meaningless lines across the other woman’s skin. “Hmm, I like this, though,” she added, snuggling back just a little bit. “You’re cozy…”

“That a fact?” Gilda said, raising a brow. “Maybe you just need to sit in my lap more often, then. You make for a nice blanket.” Gilda reached a bit forward, taking to rubbing Fluttershy’s knee. “Among other things.”

“I like being snuggly,” she murmured, eyes closing. “I guess, I guess it’s because of the animals… I got used to it with them. So… so sorry if I’m a little touchy-feely. More than you like, I mean. This… this is okay, right?”

Gilda was about to mention that she couldn’t mind touchy-feely too much, considering they spent the other night naked together in one-anothers arms, but went with her slightly better nature.

“I don’t mind,” she answered. “The other women I’ve fucked… weren’t exactly that keen on it. But know what? It’s pretty nice.” She breathed in Fluttershy’s musk, the smell of the woman under the deodorant and shampoo so wonderful it gave her a small shiver. “I could get used to it.”

She noticed the shiver, opening her eyes and turning her head so she could look at Gilda, frowning slightly with worry. “Are… are you okay? Are you cold? It’s a little breezy…”

“It’s fine, babe. I can just smell you really well. It’s been a bit since I smoked.” She reached forward, cupping Fluttershy’s jaw gently, measuring her. After a long, silent moment, Gilda sighed.

“I’m trying not to rush you, but it’s hard for me, I guess,” Gilda admitted. “I have all these wants in me, and it’s tough not acting on ‘em.” She kissed Fluttershy’s chin. “I’ll try to be sweet, I really will. It’s…” She let out a weak laugh. “It’s… I wish there was a way I could shut myself up sometimes. I’d love for a way to keep more of what I think in-check. Maybe then I wouldn’t have to be such an asshole. Maybe then I could stop going back to you naked on the couch, feeling you, whenever we’re close like this.”

Immediately she gasped, eyes widening in realization. Fluttershy began to pull herself away. "I'm sorry, I--I'm so sorry, I--" She hunched herself, looking guilty. "I... I didn't mean to... I shouldn't have..."

“No,” Gilda said sternly, holding onto the woman. “Don’t… please. I said I like this. Fuck.” She scowled. “Why’d I fucking say anything?”

Slowly she relaxes, turning herself around and looking at Gilda with… well, truth be told she didn’t know how she was feeling, and that ambiguity was reflected in her eyes. Nevertheless, she carefully, cautiously rested a hand on Gilda’s up arm, working up the courage to speak. “I… You really… like it? Even, even though I… even if I make you feel things like that? And then, and then… you can’t… do anything with them?”

“Like I said,” Gilda replied. “I like being this close to you. It’s…” She looked down at the ground, feeling a twinge of self-revulsion go through her, not for the first time in her life. “I-I mean, it’s obvious what I want to do and what I keep coming back to in my head, even when I want it to shut up. I want to fuck. I want to fuck so hard neither of us can walk after. I want you to take me every way you can think of until I’m screaming your name. That part of me doesn’t care how new we are, it doesn’t care what we did not real long ago.” Swallowing, feeling sick enough she thought she was dying, Gilda continued. “But there’s more than that in me. I want to do the girly… girlfriend shit too. Picnics, movies, dinners, fucking mailing Hearth Warming cards to my dad like those dweeby couples do. It’s just every time I think about that shit, that other side of me won’t shut the fuck up.”

The hand on her shoulder moved up to the side of her head, Fluttershy brushing Gilda’s hair in a way that would probably come across as demeaning had it come from anyone else. “You’re strong,” she murmurs, resting her forehead against the taller woman’s. “And, and I admire that… And… I don’t know, really, what, what it’s like, being you, and I can’t say I understand, but… I really appreciate that you’re willing to try. For me. That. That means a lot.” Her voice lost some of its volume. “...I know it’s… it’s got to be hard. I’ll help you. And, and… when I think you’ve done particularly well, I’ll…” She swallowed. “I’ll… reward you…”

Gilda exhaled, her face pained as she nodded at Fluttershy’s words. Something felt off. Reaching up, she felt a wetness fall from her eyes.

“Oh, fucking great,” Gilda spat out, sniffing hard as her lips trembled. “I can’t believe this.” As tears rolled down her face, she swore once more under her breath. “I haven’t… I haven’t in years, and just like that you’re making me…” She leaned forward, resting her forehead on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “I’m pathetic.”

“You’re not pathetic,” Fluttershy said, rubbing the back of Gilda’s head and rocking back and forth very slowly as they sat on the grass. “I… I… Someone told me once that… that it’s actually, it’s the mark of a brave person who’s, who’s not afraid to cry. That crying gets all the bad stuff out, rather than locking it all up inside and, and making it all rotten… N-not that you’re rotten! I didn’t mean that…”

“That’s stupid,” Gilda said, still crying nonetheless, squeezing Fluttershy tightly. It was several long, grueling minutes, but she finally composed herself enough that she pulled back, her normally sharp eyes red and puffy. Taking one more hard sniff, Gilda finally exhaled, staring at the sky.

“Sorry…”

Fluttershy didn’t let her get away without a brief smooch to the forehead and an encouraging smile. “It’s alright… It, it’s not like I haven’t apologized to you a lot for things I didn’t really need to apologize for…”

Gilda let the slightest smile on her face at that. “Yeah…” she agreed, weakly. “You do that shit a lot.” Gilda hugged Fluttershy once more. “And I meant what I said. I’ll wait for you to make the first move. It’s just… I wanted you to know why I keep pushing the boundaries, I guess.”

“Push them, maybe, but… but you’re doing a good job of respecting them, too. That’s worth something…”

She smiled affectionately, her breathing finally close to normal. “I don’t know how you put up with all my shit. You’re something else, babe.” Salvaging what little scraps of her pride remained, Gilda gave a gentle rub of Fluttershy’s wrist. “So, earlier, you mentioned a reward. Can I get a hint?”

“Well…” Fluttershy blushed. “... I, I don’t have much, and… like I said, I don’t know the area that well, but… Oh…” She looked away for a split second, face flushing again. “... S-sorry, I just… W-w-what I mean to say is… I, I think that… if you… if you do well with the, the girlfriend stuff, well… you’re playing by my rules. S-s-so, I’d reward you by… you know…” A pause, filled mostly by awkward shuffling, though she made no real attempt to pull away. “...let you push the boundaries a little more…”

“I see,” Gilda remarked. She smiled. “I know it’s… not your thing, but what if I wanted you to push the boundaries a little more instead?” Gilda kissed Fluttershy’s cheek and entwined her hand with the woman’s. “I’d, I’d like that, and if you’re the one moving us along it might be… easier for me.”

Fluttershy’s hand squeezed Gilda’s, only a subtle hint of the underlying strength slipping through. “...I, I’ll do my best. I want to see you happy, after all…”

“And I want you happy too. That’s why.. why I tried to talk to you there… I want you to know what I, I feel on this shit, you know?”

“Talking is good,” Fluttershy said, the small smile back on her face. “We should talk… about what we want. And how we feel. There’s nothing wrong, or, or weak about that…”

“Hell,” Gilda said. “You’re just full of surprises. I was thinking something along those lines myself.” Leaning forward, she kissed Fluttershy on the neck. “So let’s get you back. It’s getting late. Maybe we can talk more about this shit on the ride home.”

The world was bathed in rose and orange.

Outside Fluttershy's cottage, birds flitted to and fro, stopping at the feeders placed haphazardly but lovingly around the property. Some landed in the grass, still covered in dew, keeping sharp eyes out for their breakfasts. The whole affair was muffled, somewhat; there was certainly birdsong, and what birdsong their was was certainly cheerful, but at the same time the whole scene was treated with something like reverence, the birds steering clear of the backyard, in which two figures were kneeling.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the rising sun on her face. This was looking to be another great mor--

“Shit!” Gilda cried out. She promptly rolled over and started to rub the back of her leg. “Fuckin’ Charlie horse!”

Fluttershy just smiled patiently, opening her eyes and reaching over to rub carefully at the same spot. “It’s a little uncomfortable at first, I know… I’m sorry it hurts, but… when it’s better, we’ll, we’ll try again, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Gilda trailed off, taking another deep breath. She let Fluttershy tend to it, knowing damn well her hands were magic at taking care of cuts, scrapes and cramps. “So… you think this whole, mediation thing. This ‘one with nature’ stuff,” she said with a sarcastic wave of her hands. “You think it might kinda… you know…” Her tone became slightly less flippant. “Help me out?”

It had been a little over a week since Gilda’s meltdown, and she had started to search for a way to calm herself down. The last few days had been Fluttershy coaxing Gilda into trying a traditional method to suppress her desires. Finally, she had bit the bullet and followed the woman’s example, going outside—way too damn early—and sitting next to Fluttershy.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t,” Fluttershy offered, still kneading Gilda’s leg. “But, but I know it’s hard, so… We’ll just take it one step at a time. And before you know it, everything will be just fine!”

Gilda wanted to snap at Fluttershy, but knew the woman was just trying to help, so instead she exhaled and gave a small nod, shutting her eyes and appreciating the woman’s touch on her bare leg.

“I believe you.” She wiped at her mouth. “Alright. It’s starting to feel better. Let’s take it from the top.”

Fluttershy returned to her original position, hands resting upturned on her knees. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, and then instructed Gilda to do the same.

Gilda gave a small nod, taking in a breath once more, waiting patiently for Fluttershy’s command.

“Now you just listen… and you feel… The sun, and the breeze, and the birds. Let all that stuff inside just melt away; no more thoughts, no more worries, no more pains, just you, all of you, feeling the world around you…”

She did as instructed, trying to let her mind step back, trying to let her body relax. She took a deep breath once more and swore internally as she picked up dozens of scents and sounds. A slight rattle in the dog cage, the gentle coo of a bird, the relaxed breathing of Fluttershy. Even worse, Fluttershy’s scent. Gilda inhaled it once more, mentally picturing the woman. Her tender, kind smile, her long, straight hair. Her massive breasts. The way she squealed and gasped on the couch as Gilda—

Gilda opened her eyes, scowling. “This is harder than it looks. Wish I had brought a smoke out here.”

Fluttershy nodded. “It is hard. And the cigarette wouldn’t help; it’s hard to focus on what’s out there if you’re still focusing on what’s right here. You know?” She opens her eyes. “... Do you want to try again, or should we take a break?”

Shaking her head, Gilda cocked a thumb inside. “Break. I… I keep catching things that distract the hell out of me.”

She didn’t need to elaborate on what they both knew was the problem, at least in regards to Gilda having a clear mind.

“Outside. Not inside. Nothing inside, remember?” Fluttershy carefully reaches out a hand and rubs Gilda’s shoulder before standing and offering that hand to help her up. “But… yes, it might be good to have some breakfast…”

“Yeah, nothing inside, babe,” she agreed, taking the woman’s hand and smiling inwardly at how easily Fluttershy hoisted her up. “So, what we got for breakfast? ”

“Well… I guess I’ve never asked this before, but… do you prefer waffles or pancakes? I can, can do both. Or French toast!... although I don’t make that very often, so it might not be that good…”

“What do you want?” Gilda offered. “Since you’re the one cooking this time.”

“I like pancakes… with blueberries… But if, if you like fruit, I’ve also got strawberries, and… well, you know.” She blushed. “You helped find most of it in the store…”

“We’re having pancakes with blueberries if that’s what you want,” Gilda said. She gave Fluttershy a playful slap on the butt. “Put your foot down. You don’t have to please me with everything you say.”

“... But I want to please you with everything I say,” she said, far too innocently to have meant anything other than the face value of the sentence.

Gilda smirked. “Babe, there are times when you are just… you.”

“... Aren’t I me all the time?” Fluttershy asked blankly.

She gave a shrug of her palms. “It’s hard to explain. But… I guess that’s part of what makes you so damn hot.”

Fluttershy blushed, but gave a small smile and a kiss on the cheek in return. “I’ll go get started on the pancakes…”

“Sweet. Looking forward to ‘em. I’m gonna have a smoke out here.” Gilda smirked. “So that’ll give you plenty of time to change into just an apron.”

Fluttershy squeaked and gave Gilda something like a disapproving glare, if a gentle one, before disappearing inside. She would most certainly not be cooking breakfast in just an apron. Yet. … Why in the world did that thought occur to her?

The woman smiled at Fluttershy’s harsh glare. It was so damn hard not to tease her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a smoke, briefly alone with her thoughts.

It felt odd, sometimes. Her mouth worked faster than her brain, and while a part of her did acknowledge that she was just messing with the timid woman, another part of her hoped one day she’d find Fluttershy exactly like that, and Gilda would creep up behind her, nibble at an earlobe, and then—

“Alright. That’s enough,” she said to herself, taking a heavy drag from her cigarette. The thoughts were like a maddening itch. Gilda could think about something else for a while, but she’d still creep back to that night. Despite that, she still knew it was more than lust. Rather, over the week, she came to a conclusion. It wasn’t about lust. It was about kinship. It was about a sort of equality, both of them throwing caution to the wind together and taking a brave step together. Seeing Fluttershy as a bare, wanting animal, all forms of bullshit stripped away from both of them, was incredible, and far more satisfying than any lay she ever had. Add on the fact they had fallen asleep with one-another, and…

Gilda finished off her smoke. She was going to take a plunge over breakfast, she was feeling too crazy not to ask Fluttershy for a favor.

Fluttershy had, in the very least, put an apron on over her pajamas, firmly of the belief that getting dressed was an activity for after breakfast. Now, though, it was folded and put aside.

She set up two spots at the table, one next to the other, a tall stack of pancakes and a healthy serving of blueberries in between the two empty plates. Humming a sweet little tune to herself and almost dancing around the table, Fluttershy made sure everything was just pristine before turning and sticking her head out into the living room; through the open window, Gilda might just have been able to hear her.

"What would you like to drink?"

“OJ?” she asked, turning and going through the door. She gave an approving nod at how everything looked.

Fluttershy obediently poured two glasses of orange juice and pulled out a chair for Gilda.

“Thanks. Looks great.” she said, already pouring syrup over her stack. She dug into the meal. “Tastes great too.”

Fluttershy settled for just blueberries, but was clearly enjoying hers with equal enthusiasm, if somewhat reduced intensity. “I’m glad you like it…”

“Hell yeah.” She smirked. “So, what’s the plan for today?”

“Oh… You know me,” Fluttershy mumbled, taking a sip of her orange juice. “Aside from the animals, I don’t really have much of a pattern… We should take the day off from sparring, though… Do we really need it every single day? I mean… I guess that makes me sound kind of wimpy…”

“Don’t worry about it. We can miss a day,” she said, surprisingly agreeable. Taking another mouthful of pancakes, she pointed a fork at Fluttershy. “It’s just as well, I wanted to talk to you, about us.”

Fluttershy’s head settled at an inquisitive angle. “... Us?”

“Yeah.” Gilda tightened her grip on her glass. “I was thinking that maybe we could do something tonight. If you’re up for it.”

“... What did you have in mind?”

“Well… tonight I was wondering. If maybe… we could sleep together. Sleep, nothing else.”

The timid woman blinked, and then busied herself with her pancakes for several minutes. She wasn’t ignoring Gilda, really she wasn’t, it was just… oh, my, that was kind of sudden, wasn’t it? … But was it, really? “... um…”

Gilda looked into her drink, running her thumb over the rim. “If you don’t, I-I mean, I won’t hold it against you, babe. I just thought maybe… we liked snuggling.”

“...I’d like that…” Fluttershy said finally, in a smallish voice.

“Really?” Gilda said, surprised. She smiled. “Alright, good. I mean, I knew you’d want to, so I expected as much.”

“...I really would like that. If, if… yeah.” She gave a bashful sort of smile. “You’d be better than any teddy bear…”

“And I think I’ll like you more than a blanket.”

Fluttershy giggled softly and wiped her face with a napkin before giving Gilda a brief kiss on the cheek. She’d been doing that a lot more often over the past few days. It really wasn’t that bad, after the first time… “I’ll do my best to keep you warm.”

Winking at the woman, Gilda gave a quick squeeze of Fluttershy’s hand. “I’m looking forward to it.” She dug into her pancakes yet again. “And if there’s anything you wanna do today or tonight with me… well, just say it. I want you to.” Gilda smiled, wiping at the syrup that had got onto her chin. “You’re doing a good job being a little more assertive with me. Though it still looked like you were about to piss yourself when the shopkeep asked you a question.”

Night came finally to the household and after a hearty dinner Gilda cooked of steak and kidney pie, it was close to bedtime. Gilda brushed her teeth and gave her mouth a quick swish of water.

Fluttershy had already cleared out of the bathroom. Muffled sounds issued from her bedroom as she rearranged and cleaned--though to be fair, it had been mostly clean to begin with--along with the occasional thump as her clumsiness got the better of her. Nothing had broken yet, fortunately, and she was looking forward to getting into bed where there was no potential to break anything at all. Ever.

Gilda finally strolled out of the bathroom, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. She ran a finger under the strap of her bra and glanced around the bedroom.

“Room’s nice,” she said, giving a casual tap against a chest of drawers as she made her way to the bed.

“Oh… Thank you.” Fluttershy patted the bed. “I… I hope you enjoy the bed, too. I… I suppose.”

“Next to you, I’d be happy with the floor, even,” she answered, sitting down next to Fluttershy and giving her a casual once-over. “Looking good, babe.”

She was in her pajamas, as modest as always, and she recognized it, giving Gilda a slightly suspicious glance. “Really…?”

“Well, yeah.” She gave an acknowledging shrug. “You’d look good in anything. I mean… you know I like seeing more skin on you, but maybe you’re still a little, you know.” Gilda gave a small tilt of her hand. “I’m just trying to ease you into this.”

“... I just don’t really have any other kinds of pajamas… I guess, I mean, I kind of like the baggy stuff. It’s… relaxing.”

“It’s why I like sleeping naked usually,” Gilda answered instantly. “It’s the most comfortable way you’ll ever sleep. But, uh… I knew that’d be a little more than you could handle right now. I mean, who could sleep next to someone as good looking as me in the buff?”

This got a blush out of Fluttershy, but she scooted a little closer to Gilda regardless. “...You do look nice,” she mumbled, staring at the floor.

“What’s nice about me?” Gilda asked coyly, coaxing Fluttershy to continue. She reached out, resting her hand on the other girl’s knee.

“... The way you can be gentle when you want to be,” Fluttershy replied, smiling. “The way you’re being so patient with me…”

Gilda laughed. “Only you, girl. Anyone else would of said ‘my hair,’ or ‘my face.’ Shit like that. That’s so you to say that.”

“Well, you do have a nice face,” she said, leaning over against the taller woman. “But… that’s less important to me… There are a lot of people with pretty faces, but, but not very many of them are anything at all like you…”

“And there are a lot of timid sissies, idiots, and girly bitches.” Gilda said. She wrapped an arm around Fluttershy. “You’re not any of those. Even if you act like ‘em on occasion.”

She sighed gently, giving a smooch to Gilda’s shoulder before sitting back up. “You’re sweet… in your own way. And I like that. I think, I think it’s better than just normal sweetness… you know? That probably doesn’t make any sense…”

“I dunno,” she admitted. “Maybe you like the fact I don’t dick around? Some people might walk on eggshells around you, I guess, being as quiet as you are. Or, well, were. Now you’re at least acting halfway like a person when you talk.” Gilda took to rubbing Fluttershy’s knee affectionately. “It’s an improvement.”

“Well, I just… took a while to realize that you’re not as scary as you seemed at first. I know it’s… probably hard to believe, but… I’m not very brave…”

“You’re brave as hell, what are you talking about?” She pointed up to her stern face. “I just… can get under people’s skin sometimes. Creep ‘em out. My eyes used to make kids cry.”

“But they’re beautiful eyes,” Fluttershy said, almost pouting. “I’ve never seen eyes that color…”

“Mom’s color,” Gilda said. She stared at Fluttershy with her golden orbs. “You like ‘em, huh?”

She nodded, almost hypnotized. “...They really… They look nice,” she mumbled, falling back on her catch-all qualifier when other words failed her.

Gilda smiled once more, appreciating her attempt. “Thanks, babe.”

“So,” said Fluttershy after a pause, suddenly shifty and awkward again. “I, I mean… sleepy?”

“You’re tired already?” she asked, then added, “I mean, yeah, we can sleep. Sure.”

“W, well… I just… I didn’t know if, if there was a procedure to this, or, or… I mean, if you’re not ready to sleep, then…” She put her head in her hands to hide the blush.

Gilda smirked, giving Fluttershy a small shove to knock her onto her back on the bed. “Let’s go to sleep, you sissy.” She rose, moving to a side and sliding in under the covers.

Fluttershy rolled to the other side of the bed and slipped under as well, looking uncertain for a second before moving a little closer to Gilda. “... you know, I… had this big bed for a while and I just, it’s always been me. Or sometimes Angel, or, or another animal--but I’ve washed the sheets since then, I, I promise… What I’m trying to say is, it’s… it’s different actually having… someone else here in it…”

“Different in a good way?” she asked, pausing to reach to her eyebrow and pull off her ring. She placed it on the nightstand next to the bed and stared once more at Fluttershy.

“... It’s good because it’s you,” Fluttershy said, avoiding Gilda’s eyes this time. “...I trust you.”

Gilda moved a bit closer. “That’s a good answer,” she said. She rested a hand on Fluttershy’s, then after a long, silent moment between them, quietly added, “...hey babe?”

“Hmm?” She looked up again.

“I trust you too.”

Fluttershy beamed, and, quite before she realized what she was doing, kissed Gilda on the nose, resting her forehead against the other’s afterward. “Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it.”

The smaller woman let out a happy hum and closed her eyes, content with this position. Whatever misgivings she’d had about it before were gone; she wasn’t about to say no to snuggling with her… well, whatever Gilda was, really.

“Good night, Fluttershy,” Gilda said, taking a deep, content breath as she held the woman gently.

A heavy base reverberated across the room as Gilda sat, bouncing a leg on her knee. She glanced across the room, at its jackets, pants and accessories, from traditional biker gear to spiked chokers and heavy chains. Letting out an irritated hum, Gilda took a breath, remembering Fluttershy’s mantra, then exhaled, letting the small burning coals of anger get extinguished as she tried to white-wash her feelings away.

Looking at one of the doors marked with faux-graffiti, she called out as politely as her annoyance would allow, “Fluttershy? Babydoll? You get lost in there?”

"Oh, I... um... I--I'll be just a minute!"

From the sounds of things, she was more than a little uncomfortable.

"...does... does it have to be this tight?"

She nodded, then vocalized her confirmation. “It’s part of the leather look, babe. Where it tight at? Neck?”

"...Well," said Fluttershy, and then didn't finish the thought, hoping the implication would carry and she didn't actually have to complete it.

“Oh.” Gilda blinked. She had been around the woman for weeks now, and had forgotten somewhat about her… situation. “Well, come out and let me see it. If it looks nice we’ll get you a bigger size around the goods. How’s that?”

The door opened. Fluttershy's hair appeared before anything else, still long and pink and soft and hiding her eyes. The rest of her followed, and put the typical soft look at odds; dressed from head to foot in black, and all of it quite tight. She hadn't even bothered to put on the jacket; the insignia on the front, meaningless to her, was nevertheless quite... generously displayed.

Gilda stared at her and the tight clothing, momentarily speechless, all thoughts of the wait for the woman gone. She had seen Fluttershy naked before, but this…

This in a way was almost better. Gilda finally got her wits about her. Mostly.

“Holy… wow. You look fucking unbelievable.” She rose, taking a slow, appreciative circle around Fluttershy. “You sure that’s too tight?” Pausing behind the woman, Gilda ran a hand down Fluttershy’s side, then hooked a finger into her belt loop, pulling the woman towards her. “Because, if we weren’t in public, well…”

Fluttershy squeaked. “I, I… I’d… like to be able to breathe without worrying about the shirt, is all…” she mumbled. “I, I mean… do you really think it’s… I just don’t feel comfortable with…”

“Alright, alright,” Gilda conceded. “We’ll get you a size bigger. But I want to see you in the jacket too. Oh!” She moved back to the bench and handed Fluttershy a bandana. “You gotta wear this too! We’re gonna get you fuckin’ outfitted for tonight, babe.”

Fluttershy looked down at the bandana, then up at Gilda, then back at the bandana again, clearly confused, but obediently turned and ducked back into the changing room to grab the jacket. “...Where are we going tonight?”

“Would you believe me when I say there’s a concert we’re hitting? Got us both VIP tickets.” She cocked her thumbs and pointed smugly at herself. “I’m treating my girl right. Private seats with some of the big wigs and everything.”

“Concert…?” Fluttershy’s mouth formed a small O, which melted into a smile. “I’ve never been to a concert… But…” She indicated her clothes. “Is… is dressing like this… part of it?”

“It’s a grunge concert. Everyone’s gonna be like that, wife-beater shirts, or topless. Thought you’d want the one with the most class.” She grinned, looking around the room. “Man, this store’s got a tight selection. You like your threads? Wanna try something else? How’s the underwear?” Gilda put her hands on her hips and nodded. “Man, this is exciting.”

Despite herself, Fluttershy seemed to be picking up on Gilda’s enthusiasm. “I, I… Yeah,” she managed. “Tight…”

Gilda nodded. “Right. Bigger shirt. I’ll grab you one.” She turned, heading to the rack, only to pause and about-face. “And need a wider pair of pants too? I mean, you’ve got a pretty big ass,” she said plainly.

“They fit… I, I mean, they’re all going to be tight… aren’t they? I don’t… I don’t really mind.”

“Well, they’ll be kinda tight until you work ‘em in, yeah. But are they squeezing you like the shirt is for your tits? I don’t want you to be hurting wearing that shit, even if it is hot as hell,” Gilda said, sweet, albeit in a roundabout way.

“No, I… The pants are fine. But, but thank you for your concern.” She took a breath, or tried to. “...But the shirt, the shirt, that would be nice…”

“On it.” She walked off and came back a moment later, tossing Fluttershy a larger size. “And anything else look good? It’s my treat.”

“Oh… No, but, but thank you very much.” She ducked back into the changing room and emerged a moment later with the new shirt on. The difference was hardly noticeable, but she could breathe, and that was what really mattered to her. She had no idea what all this was about, and, really, she wasn’t sure dark colors like this suited her, but… Gilda liked it. So that counted for something. “This is better… right?”

“You’re Goddamn right,” she agreed. Taking a step forward, the griffon-folk smiled, taking the bandana Fluttershy still held and brushing her hair back, then tying it around her forehead with the gentleness of a mother. “There. You look tough now.”

“I do?” Fluttershy asked, with enough wide-eyed childlike enthusiasm to fulfill several Hearth’s Warming quotas.

“Hell yeah. I’m counting on you to take care of me.” She threw an arm over Fluttershy’s shoulders and leaned in, pecking a kiss to the woman’s ear lobe. “And maybe after the show,” she continued in a whisper, “I can see how that underwear I bought looks on you.”

The smaller woman blushed yet again, but remained where she was, even giving Gilda a brief hug. “...Maybe…” she mumbled. “... I should go change back so, so you can pay for these… But I’ll put them back on, I, I promise.” She paused. “... I… You don’t think the shirt emphasizes… too much, do you? I just… I don’t… want people to stare too much…”

“Nah. You have the jacket. It’ll hide ‘em. And if anyone stares at my old woman and she doesn’t like it…” She shook her head, smirking. “Well, you know how I deal with rude people.”

“Thank you, Gilda,” Fluttershy said earnestly, giving another hug before slipping back into the changing room to get her regular clothes back on. “... It’s going to feel weird going back to a dress after this…”

Gilda followed behind her, leaning by the door. “I bet,” she agreed. A devious smile crossed her face. “What would happen if I came in there right now?” the woman asked quietly, leaning towards the door. “Would I get a nice little show?”

“... I locked the door,” Fluttershy explained, hoping that Gilda actually didn’t know that there were, in fact, no door locks.

“I know there isn’t a lock,” she said with perfect timing. Gilda gave a small pull at the door, then pushed it back shut. “I mean, a peek wouldn’t hurt anyone, yeah? I could just come in and sit on the bench, if you were adventurous,” Gilda continued to tease.

“... I’m already almost done, though… I mean, unless you’d rather watch me put the dress back on… Isn’t… isn’t that the opposite of…?”

“You swapped your underwear already?” Gilda said, disappointed. “Shame. I wanted to see that.”

“But I thought you wanted to see it after the concert…”

“Well, you gonna show me for sure?” she replied, giving another taunting touch of the door. “Otherwise, I’ll have to take what I can get.”

The door opened, revealing Fluttershy, fully clothed. “I think you missed your chance…”

“Shit.” Gilda sighed. “I should of just barged in. How often do I get the chance for that kinda stuff in a public scene?” She took the bag and carried it over to the cashier, still moping all the way. “Even the freaky girls would of spazzed out more when I tried to open the door, and—”

Gilda glanced down in the bag and noticed a small, thin strip of cloth standing above the rest of the clothes. She followed its black, silky design all the way around and frowned, opening the bag a little to confirm it was, indeed, the thong she was buying Fluttershy, the underwears matching bra positioned obviously above the other clothes.

“Did you intentionally put this on top?” Gilda asked her.

The blushing face was probably enough of an answer. If it wasn’t, the way Fluttershy’s head slowly lowered so her hair could hide her face was definitely one. “... maybe…”

Gilda smirked. “Fuckin’ teasing me. I’ll remember that.” She passed by the woman, giving a small tug at the neckline of her dress. “And I’ll expect more than teasing sometime soon, too.”

She stopped briefly. “Oh, there is one thing I think would look bitchin’ on you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver chain. In the center was a bead that hooked down to a massive, brown feather. She held it out to Fluttershy, looking as humble as her ego would allow.

“You said you liked how they looked, yeah?”

Fluttershy practically lit up, accepting the charm with reverent hands. "Oh my... It's beautiful." She admired it for a moment, and then looked up, suddenly concerned. "... You didn't... actually... I mean, didn't it hurt?"

“Nah. I had a loose feather anyway.” Gilda smirked. “It’ll look better on you anyway.” She pecked Fluttershy on the forehead. “Now you can’t ever bitch about me not being at least a little romantic, deal?”

“Deal!” Fluttershy giggled.

The hard guitar tore through the hall amid hundreds of people moshing, heavy, strained vocals from the stage empowering the drum tempo and the baseline, giving it a dirty, uneven feel, which somehow gave the words more passion than if it had been a clean, professional tone. Gilda grinned, nodding in a sort of understanding at the music. She craned her head over the table they sat at, watching the band from the high upper floor.

“Normally I’d be right down there moshing instead,” Gilda said loudly over the music. “But this is pretty awesome too. How you like it?”

Fluttershy's expression was hard to read; not quite pained, but it was clear the music wasn't exactly to her taste. Still, she was trying to enjoy it, slowly inching her chair closer to Gilda and away from the guy on the far side who kept giving her looks.

"It's a little weird," she said, practically right into Gilda's ear. "But it's not bad. Just... different."

“I’ve been following these guys since they were indy! You should hear their early shit.”

“...Should I?”

“Hell yeah. One day I’ll get you the CD’s. I have their discography back home. Maybe I can introduce you to my dad after the tourny.”

A man in a tight shirt and suspenders approached them, interrupting their conversation.

“Hey girls, anything to drink?” he asked, cocking a thumb back to a nearby bar.

Gilda looked wordlessly over to Fluttershy, waiting for her answer.

She had turned away as he approached, intentionally avoiding his gaze. She mouthed “Water” to Gilda.

“Water and a whiskey,” Gilda said, looking a little guilty.

“Coming up.”

He left; Gilda glanced over to Fluttershy. “Still a no-go on...?”

“...I just… I don’t drink much. Sorry…”
“I’m just making sure you’re still not nervous about drinks, thanks to, you know.” She gave a small shrug of her hands.

“Oh… No, it’s… not so much about that any more. Although… I think I’d like to… you know.” She paused. “If we’re going to do it again, I’d rather not… I want it to be me. So until then…”

“I understand. And I want to fuck you sober too,” she agreed, not mincing words. Then, she ran a hand down Fluttershy’s arm. “I’ve been trying to be good here, babe, on rushing you. But you’ve given any thought about it again?”

“... Well,” Fluttershy began slowly, bringing her other hand up to meet Gilda’s and squeezing gently. “... I… Well, I… Mmh,” she mumbled, and then shook her head and started again. “I was thinking… honestly… well, since… well, you wanted that, mm, that show… tonight… I mean… as long, as long as I’m… you know what I’m trying to say, right?”

Gilda nodded. “I think so. If you’re game tonight, I’m game too. But… as much as I want you again, don’t fucking rush it for my sake, alright?”

“I, I know. If… if it gets to be too much, I’ll tell you. I just… I promised I’d r-reward you, and you’ve been on your best behavior…”

“I have been pretty much the model girlfriend,” Gilda smugly agreed. “Any fucking nicer and I’d be up for sainthood.”

Their drinks came, and with a nod, the man left to tend to the other VIP tables. Gilda held out her glass.

“How ‘bout a toast?” She hummed for a moment in thought. “To… fuck, let’s think here. Uh… to…”

“To unusual partnerships?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Works for me.” Gilda brought her glass forward, clinking it against Fluttershy’s, then took a sip of her drink. “Though partnership makes it sound like we’re in a business together.”

This got a laugh out of the smaller woman. “Well… What would you call it?”

“Relationship.” Gilda shrugged. “Sounds better to me, at least.”

“Unusual relationships then,” Fluttershy affirmed, and took a sip, setting the glass down before resting her cheek momentarily on Gilda’s shoulder.

“Well, this turned out alright, considering how quick we rushed it,” Gilda said, wrapping an arm around Fluttershy’s shoulder. “But when you get something this great, you grab it and run.”

“Or fly, in your case…”

“Damn straight.” She took another sip of her drink, listening to the band.

They announced an intermission after several minutes, and Gilda polished off her whiskey in one hearty pull, wincing slightly as the drink ran its course in her.

“Man. This ain’t bottom-shelf shit,” she remarked, pleased. “They know how to treat VIP’s right.” Giving Fluttershy another squeeze, she rose. “I’ll be right back, babe.”

She looked momentarily horrified. “...You’re… going somewhere? B-but… Oh…”

“Relax. I was just gonna take a piss while the band was on break. I’ll be back in just a second.”

“Okay,” she mumbled, seeming to shrink in her chair. “... Hurry back…”

“Come on. Don’t be such a—” she caught herself and paused for a moment, taking a breath, then exhaling, calming herself. “Look at what you got around your neck.”

Fluttershy looked down at the charm, a finger rising to brush the feather delicately. “I… yes… You’re right…”

“I always am,” Gilda concluded. She brushed a hand down the woman’s hair and gave a rub to the bandana she wore. “Think about it. You’re strong and brave enough that you’ve taken a griffon-folk down. What’s there to be scared of?”

“... Lots of things,” Fluttershy said bluntly.

After Gilda left, the timid woman focused her eyes on the stage again. She knew she shouldn’t worry, because really, what was the worst that could happen?

Immediately her mind began to spell out a scenario, and she shifted mental gears. Gilda would be right back, there was nothing to be worried about…

Except, oh dear, that fellow at the other table was standing up and walking her way…

A man with a scarred and worn face grinned, showing multiple missing teeth.

“Hey there, baby girl,” he said, sliding a hand along her shoulder and sitting next to her. “Hell of a scene, huh?”

“...please don’t touch me,” Fluttershy mumbled, shying away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his breath almost dripping tequila. “It’s just a little party. We’re all here for a good time, huh? Maybe you should come back to my table with me and my buddies.”

“...please go away…”

“Aw, come on, honey. Don’t do me like that. It’d be a shame to hide that face away,” he said with a laugh. He grabbed her arm and ran a thumb along the leather. “Let’s just go.”

Her expression tightened as she eyed the long, brown feather at the end of the charm. “... Please let go…”

It was instantaneous. His face went from a drunken bliss to limp as a hard crack shot across the upper level of the hallway like a gunshot. Fluttershy immediately flinched. As he lobbed forward onto the table, Gilda came to view, the shattered remains of her glass in a hand. Tossing it easily over her shoulder, she grabbed him by the hair, lifting his bleeding head up off the table.

“I know she doesn’t talk loud, but she’d appreciate it if you’d take a fucking hike,” Gilda said, letting his head drop with a slap onto the table, then shoving him to the floor.

Across the room, they heard a loud ‘Hey!’. Gilda turned, watching calmly as two men and a woman approached.

“What the fuck you do to him?” the biggest one asked, a burly man with fists the size of canned hams.

“Glassed him,” Gilda replied evenly, her hawk eyes looking up to measure him. “Keep better track of your friends. I came back from the can to see him pawing at my girl.”

“You don’t just fucking do that to someone,” the woman in the trio said, a hand slowly shifting to her purse.

“Damn straight. Nobody does that to Johnny,” the last man said, a lean fellow clutching a pool cue.

“Fluttershy,” Gilda said, not breaking sight with the three. “Get behind me. I’m gonna tear off their fucking faces,” she calmly stated, her words seething.

Whimpering something about violence never being the answer, Fluttershy nevertheless scooted well out of the way.

The big man struck first, dashing a few steps and launching a clumsy haymaker. Gilda reacted on instinct, ducking the blow and blasting a punch at his armpit. She shoved the man away and he stumbled backwards, crashing hard into a chair. A pool cue launched out like a whip-crack, coming down on her head. She blocked it with her forearms and dashed forward, bringing her fists out and launching a barrage of heavy quicksilver punches at his stomach, then striking him in the cheek so hard a tooth flew out and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

The big man rose off the ground and he launched himself at her again. Gilda ducked and—

The woman snuck to Gilda’s side and a crackle filled the room as she thrust a stun gun to Gilda’s kidneys. Gilda howled in pain, twitching as the electricity surged through her for a moment, before she managed to pull away.

“Fucking bitch!” Gilda roared, preparing to attack the woman, only for the man to get to her first. This time, he grabbed her and wrapped a meaty hand around her neck, choking her. He threw his weight around, pushing past the chairs and tables to take Gilda to the ledge overlooking the mosh pit. He pressed her into the safety railing, throwing his weight at her and trying to toss her over the edge.

Gilda held him back as well as she could, but her strength was weakening, every second brought her farther over the railing. Even then, she stared defiantly up at the man, daring him to do it.

The man's hands--really, his whole body, suddenly jerked back. His expression jerked from anger to confusion as he was pulled away. Fluttershy's thin but impossibly strong arms had wrapped themselves around his chest, and she was slowly pulling him--and by extension, Gilda--away from the rail.

"Let go," said Fluttershy, in an eerily calm voice, tightening her hold very slightly but making it quite clear that if she wanted, she could apply a good deal more pressure. “... Please don’t make me make you let go.”

“F...fuck you, bitch,” he spat out. He reached towards Gilda, throwing his weight once more forward as hard as he could to escape her grasp.

There was a flash of yellow and the hum of energy igniting in the air. Behind the man's broad shoulders, Gilda saw the tips of Fluttershy's wings. When he jerked forward, she pulled back with still greater force, dragging the two further from the edge.

Her small hand wrapped around his bicep and she pulled and--impossibly--Gilda felt his grip begin to slip away.

"Please let go," Fluttershy said again. "I really don't want to hurt you. I really don't."

Gilda sucked in a breath, her strength briefly sapped. She stumbled forward, clutching her neck and sliding hard into the table. She looked over. The woman from earlier once more clutched her stun gun and took a step towards Fluttershy.

Gilda pointed to the woman, weakly whispering Fluttershy’s name to warn her and swearing as she tried to rise off the table, willing her strength back to her.

The man looked down at his bicep, and the small hands holding it back. “Get off me, slut!” he roared, snapping his arm to try and shake Fluttershy’s grip free.

It was the first, and perhaps only, time most of the people in that room had seen a woman grab a man easily three times her size and fling him bodily away, using his own mass against him as she swung him by his arm a full one hundred and eighty degrees, letting him go just in time to send him sailing toward the woman with the stun gun.

The woman let out a surprised shrek as the man landed and collapsed on top of her.

“Up, you fat fuck!” she shouted, struggling under his weight. A group of people tromped up the stairs, all of them dressed in expensive suits.

“What’s going on here?” one exclaimed, judging the mess with narrowed eyes.

“These pieces of shit jumped us,” Gilda snarled. “We had fight ‘em off.”

“You busted my buddy’s skull just because he got a little fresh with your girl.”

“She told him to fuck off and he got touchy—”

“I don’t give a rats ass who did what!” the well-dressed man roared. “You’re all out of here. Stick around any longer and I’m calling the Goddamn cops.”

“I paid good money for the tickets. You’re not just pitching us out like this,” Gilda snapped, clenching her fists so tightly her arms violently shook.

“Get the fuck out of here or you and your friend are spending the night in the pen.”

She stared hard at him, before swearing loudly, sweeping everything off of their table, then pulling it, tipping the table over and turning to go down the flight of stairs on the other side of the landing, picking up a chair and slamming it to the ground in frustration on the way.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Gilda instructed, not bothering to look at the woman, her breaths ragged and rough. “This place is a fucking joke.”

She followed, silent and hunched and terrified, and looked at no one on the way out.

Their flight back home was stoney silence, Gilda still furious at getting kicked out, and Fluttershy… well…

As they touched down and Gilda returned her wings back into her body, taking a few steps towards the front door, she finally spoke again.

“Guess I lost it for a second there, huh?”

“... I’m sorry…” Fluttershy said from behind her.

“It’s not your fault,” she answered. “It was that asshole’s fault. Fucker shouldn’t of messed with us.” Gilda reached into her pocket for a smoke, but decided against it. She sighed, then spared a glance towards the woman. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“... I should have stopped him first…”

“I don’t know,” Gilda admitted. “Maybe.” She opened the door and held it for Fluttershy. “It was enough that you saved my ass when that guy tried to throw me over the railing.”

Fluttershy stepped inside without looking at her, head down and shoulders hunched. Inside, she took her shoes off out of reflex and then stood, staring blankly at the room as though she had never seen it before.

“They’re not usually that bad,” Gilda said quietly, shutting the door behind them. She watched Fluttershy for a moment, before scowling. “Goddamnit, say something. Say you’re pissed at me.”

“... But I’m not mad at you,” Fluttershy mumbled frankly.

“Why the hell wouldn’t you be?” she snapped, crossing her arms. “I drug you to some place like that, lost my temper and got us kicked out. Worse, I could of got you hurt. You should be fucking frothing at the mouth over my stupid shit.”

“... But you protected me. I, I don’t care about being kicked out… I mean, I wish we could have heard the rest of the concert, but… you came back, and, and you kept me safe. You were brave when I wasn’t…”

“Of course I came back. I told you before: the only person fucking with you is me.” Gilda reached forward, giving a small tug at Fluttershy’s necklace. “And you’re brave as hell. Don’t sell yourself short. I wouldn’t hang around with a coward.”

Fluttershy’s eyes found Gilda’s hand, and slowly followed her arm up to her shoulder and then to her face. “...Y-yes, but… You’re right. I just… I’ve never been in a fight like that before…”

“You did good, girl. Real good,” Gilda encouraged, bring her hand up and resting it on top of Fluttershy’s. She lowered the woman’s hand to her own neck, then leaned forward, kissing Fluttershy.

“Next time, you pick what we’re doing. Only fair.”

Fluttershy just nodded, pressing her face against Gilda’s shoulder and shaking in delayed terror.

“It’s alright,” Gilda coaxed, wrapping her arms around her and resting her head on top of Fluttershy’s. “It’s alright,” she repeated. “I’m here with you.”

Even so, it was several minutes before Fluttershy, sniffling and wiping at her eyes, could pull her head away. “... thank you for saving me…”

Gilda cupped Fluttershy’s cheeks. “I only did what I knew you would, if it came down to it.” She kissed her forehead. “I trust you.”

“I trust you too…”

She leaned down, kissing Fluttershy hard on the lips and tightening her grip around the woman.

“I want to tell you something, and you have to promise me you won’t answer yet,” Gilda said. She moved one of her hands up to cradle the back of Fluttershy’s head and stared into her innocent eyes.

“I’ve been around the block more than I like to admit when it comes to shit like this,” she admitted, giving a small rub to the bandana Fluttershy wore. “And I know how I’m supposed to feel, where we’re at. That’s why I don’t want you to answer. You don’t have a fucking clue about this.”

Gilda inhaled Fluttershy’s scent, once more rubbing her back, trying to be even closer than they were already.

“But, even though I’ve had my share of people, nobody’s given me quite as much motivation as you have. I want…” She shrugged. “I want to be a better person around you. Nobody else has ever done that for me. I was happy being…” She furrowed her brow. “Well, I don’t know if I was happy being this, bitch, but I was stuck in a rut. Until now.” Gilda smile trembled a bit. “So, you know. I—do I have to fucking say it?”

“I understand,” Fluttershy mumbled, and then kissed her chin. “... I’m really glad the tournament paired us up…”

“Me too.” She weakly laughed. “Would've fucking thought it, huh? Me hanging out with a gal like you.”

Fluttershy sighed, looking much more cheerful suddenly. “... It’s really something…” she said, eyes sparkling, romanticizing the moment further in her mind.

Gilda’s smile turned sly; she took Fluttershy’s hand and brought it up to her own breast. “Now, I think you said something about rewarding me...”

She was brought back down to reality with a bit of a jolt, hand squeezing lightly of its own accord. She blushed and then pulled back a little. "Ah... well, I... here? In the living room? ... I, I mean, all the animals are probably asleep..."

The woman paused, moving a hand to Fluttershy’s hip. “I want you to lead this. Where do you want to go?”

“Well, I… I would have thought… you know… the bedroom…?”

“Alright. However you want to do this. This is your night.” Gilda took Fluttershy’s hand. “Lead the way.”

Fluttershy stared at the hand almost in awe. Her gaze traveled up to Gilda's face and then back down to the hand.

She swallowed. "My night..." she breathed, and gently began pulling Gilda across the room and up the stairs.

When they finally made it to her bedroom, Fluttershy trembling but looking resolute, she sat herself and Gilda down on the bed. She removed her jacket and set it aside, then wrapped her arms around the larger woman and, with the barest moment of hesitation, kissed her on the cheek... though she didn't pull away. She lingered, a hand rubbing up and down Gilda's back experimentally.

“See? That’s good. Nice and easy to start with,” the griffon-folk coached, kissing Fluttershy on the forehead. “I won’t bite. Much.”

Fluttershy lowered her lips to Gilda's shoulder, planting another lingering kiss before pulling back just slightly to look her in the eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words; lips trembling, she brought her head forward and up, aiming for the direct approach this time.

Gilda liked the direct approach. She liked it a lot. She clashed her lips against Fluttershy’s, running a tongue into her mouth, exploring Fluttershy, rubbing the woman’s tongue with her own. She trailed a hand down to rest at Fluttershy’s thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze as she leaned forward, deepening the kiss.

Fluttershy let out a long sigh, tension escaping with the breath as her eyes closed and she sagged a little, welcoming Gilda's tongue. As always, her hand found Gilda's and squeezed, and then gently pulled it away.

As Fluttershy pulled back from the kiss, she let out a low giggle. "Hey... Don't get impatient... I'll get there..."

“Right, right,” Gilda agreed, smirking. “You got me anticipating it, is all. You’re a great fucking tease.” She rubbed Fluttershy’s arm. “I love it.”

Fluttershy brought Gilda's hand up to her cheek and nuzzled it tenderly before taking a deep breath (the logo on her shirt momentarily expanding) and standing, taking a step away from the bed, though her eyes never left the other woman's.

There was a brief pause, and then Fluttershy muttered, "... Um, before I forget..."

“Forget what, babe?” Gilda asked, leaning forward on the bed in anticipation.

“Well, it’s just… I hope you like it, and I’m sure you will because you bought it, and this is probably going to kind of kill the mood and I’m sorry, but…” She rubbed at her back. “...As much as you like this bra it… kind of lacks support.”

You could of told me at the store, girl. I would of traded it in,” she said. “But it’s fine. Whatever you got on is fine. Hell.” Gilda smiled. “I’d be alright with you in a fucking parka, you know?”

Fluttershy blushed. "... I don't actually own a parka," she admitted. "So you won't have to worry about that."

Taking another deep breath and desperately telling herself not to question this newfound confidence lest she lose it, she pulled the shirt up and off of herself.

The hem's journey seemed to take quite a while, at least in Fluttershy's mind; she hoped it was slow enough that Gilda could enjoy it, too. It had to stop at the bottom of her breasts so Fluttershy could get another grip on it, and bit by bit it crossed up to her neck. She stretched her arms up, pulling the shirt up and off of her head. The act emphasized her breasts, which already seemed to be straining at the black strapless bra.

The shirt took the bandana with it, and they landed in a heap as Fluttershy tossed them aside, crossing her arms under her breasts a little self-consciously and giving Gilda a hopeful smile.

“Holy shit,” Gilda said, grinning. “That’s… wow. They look great in that.” She looked up at Fluttershy’s face for a brief, fleeting moment, then returned to her large, straining orbs, drawn to them like a moth to flame. “I mean, things that nice shouldn’t exist.” Gilda smirked. “It’s a good thing you’re leading tonight, babe. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to resist pouncing you.”

"But they do exist," Fluttershy said, voice shaking only a little. She bounced on the balls of her feet, just once, nerves getting the better of her, the bra slipping just a little to expose the barest hint of the areola underneath. Her hands tangled for a moment, then she turned sideways, eyes still on Gilda as she fumbled for the button on her jeans.

"They're r-real," she added, sliding the clothing down over her rear and bending over a little as part of the show. Gilda couldn't see anything from here aside from one of the thong's thin straps wrapped around Fluttershy's hip, and Fluttershy knew it, working one foot and then the other out of the jeans and kicking them aside. "And..."

“And they’re the best pair I’ve ever seen. I love your tits almost as much as I love y—” She caught herself, but after a second shrugged, deciding just this once to go ahead and be a sappy putz for her girl.

“You,” Gilda finished. She felt a stirring, strong, nearly painful hunger in her lower stomach watching Fluttershy’s sensual undress. Taking in a shallow, aroused breath, Gilda relished every scent and scene that came to her, and waited with a desperate anticipation for the show to go on.

Fluttershy took another deep breath as she stood back up and faced Gilda. "I love you too," she said softly, smiling through the raging blush on her cheeks, and walked back toward Gilda, slowly, carefully measuring each step and coming to a stop just outside of her reach. "... Do you want to touch them?"

“Goddamn right I do,” Gilda agreed, rising and reaching a hand out to cup as much of the woman’s breast as she could, the other finding purchase at Fluttershy’s hip. “I want to touch everything you got.”

Fluttershy let out a happy little shiver as Gilda's hands found her body. "Mm... I, I want you to touch me, t-too..."

But her hand again found Gilda's wrist and moved it gently away from her breast. "But it's... not fair that you get to see so much of me and you're still all... covered up..."

“Oh,” Gilda said, looking down at her full clothing. “Shit.” She looked back up at Fluttershy with a sort of aroused drunkenness. “I forgot.” Quickly tossing off her jacket and shirt, Gilda then frantically undid her belt. Reaching down to the button on her pants, Gilda swore, her hands slipped and missed freeing it dozens of times.

Fluttershy shushed her gently, pressing a finger to Gilda's lips before kneeling, chin resting on Gilda's knee while her hands pulled Gilda's away, undoing the button in a single try. She looked up from her position in Gilda's lap, still wearing that hopeful smile. "Is that better?"

“Yeah,” Gilda stammered out, her brash nature seeming to shrink as Fluttershy’s own nature grew more forceful. “Perfect.” She adjusted their bodies a hair and slid her pants down, revealing her black panties, already soaked with want. “So perfect,” Gilda repeated, a small shiver of lust crossing her body at the scene. “You’re so…”

Fluttershy hmmed in appreciation, kissing Gilda's abdomen before sliding back up, wrapping her arms around Gilda's shoulders and straddling her, foreheads meeting, close enough that Fluttershy's soft, full flesh pressed teasingly against Gilda's bare skin. "You're beautiful," she said softly, lips inches from the other woman's. "Mm, you're beautiful, and strong, and y-you've earned me..." Her lips pressed oh-so-softly against Gilda's. "...all of me..."

Gilda returned the kiss, shivering once more in arousal at Fluttershy’s tone and pushing her kiss more forcefully than Fluttershy’s delicate action. She wrapped her arms around the woman, wanting nothing more than to never let go.

“You’re the strong one,” Gilda said. “And that’s… no matter what anyone says, that’s the fucking truth. You like this…” She added, begrudgingly, at least a small sliver of the tough-girl still residing within her, “holding me. It makes me feel like everything’s gonna be alright.” She moved a hand down, giving her full asscheek a squeeze. “Because you’re in control, not a dumb bitch like me.”

The smaller woman let out another hmmmh sound, leaning in against Gilda in response. "Everything's going to be alright," she affirmed in a low voice. "This time... this time it's really me, and it's really you, and, and we're going to make each other feel loved..." She drew Gilda's lower lip into her mouth for a moment before pulling back. "I love you," she added, as if to make sure.

“I love you too, babe,” she answered back, without hesitation. “And yeah. Now? No bullshit. Just you and me.” Gilda rolled Fluttershy’s ass with a palm and licked at Fluttershy’s neck, enthralled with the woman’s taste. “You’re so hot everywhere, I don’t even know where to grab first. Like a damn buffet.”

Fluttershy shivered, brushing her lips against the edge of Gilda's ear. "Mm... You, you know, I notice you staring... Especially today... You wanted me to keep the smaller shirt, didn't you?"

“Maybe,” Gilda said. “Wear it around the house. Not outside though.” Gilda squeezed Fluttershy’s breast tightly, rubbing a thumb over the fabric barely keeping her goods in place, every action on the woman bringing butterflies to Gilda’s stomach and wanting womanhood. “Because they’re mine. You’re mine. And I’m not gonna share with anyone.”

She whimpered softly in pleasure, leaning her head back and exposing her neck to Gilda again. "All yours..." she breathed, subconsciously grinding against Gilda's thigh. "Mm, it's so nice when you touch me..."

“Same. Goddamn I love it when you’re like this for me,” Gilda panted, running a hand along Fluttershy’s full thigh, then dropping her other hand to do the same, feeling her body with the zeal of a teenager. Gilda once more found perch at the woman’s shapely backside and squeezed it, licking like a lusting animal at her neck. “I want you to take me and fuck me so bad.”

One of Fluttershy's hands tangled itself in Gilda's hair, the woman murmuring and mewling in pleasure every time she felt Gilda's warm tongue against the sensitive flesh on her neck. "Mmh," she vocalized, the other hand trailing lightly down Gilda's side, fingers brushing her thigh and settling near the hem of her panties. "I want you..." she murmured, drawing Gilda's head up and pulling her into another breathless, messy kiss. "... I w-want to t-taste... you..." she managed, hesitation hiding at the edge of her voice.

“Only if I return the favor,” Gilda said instantly. She scooted back on the bed, still staring at Fluttershy with her hawk-eyes. “Put your knees by my head,” she instructed. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Fluttershy looked almost heartbroken at having to let go of Gilda, of not being in contact with her for even a moment, but she pulled back, taking the opportunity to pull off the bra and let her full breasts tumble out into the open air. She took another deep breath, her smile tinged with a restrained but desperate want, as she turned herself around and carefully set her knees where Gilda had indicated. She found herself staring at the other woman's thighs, and what lay between them, and somehow almost found her mouth watering. "Mmh..."

Reaching up, Gilda gave a little run of a finger through Fluttershy’s rose pubic hair, then tilted her head up. “Think like a cat licking milk,” she said, bringing her mouth closer to Fluttershy’s wet sex. “Though… it’s more like honey, coming from you.” Gilda drove the point home by giving a slow, deliberate lick from the woman’s taint, all the way to the start of her passage, before giving a taunting, teasing lick across, circling Fluttershy’s lips and basking in the salty taste of her vagina. “Some like it faster, others like it a little slower, so just tell me how you want it once you get a feel of both, baby girl.”

She yelped at the unfamiliar sensation, tensing for a second before the surprise yielded to pleasure and her yelp into a moan.

She closed her eyes and lowered her head, getting used to the smell, before planting a kiss on Gilda's thigh and working the other woman's panties down far enough to expose her sex.

"Oh," she crooned, eyeing Gilda's crotch. "Mmh, that must be torture... Mama Fluttershy can make it feel better..."

She slowly brought the tip of her tongue to the edge of Gilda's folds, drawing it down one side and then around and up the other. "... Mmh, you taste lovely..."

“M-mama Fluttershy?” Gilda stammered out, wincing in pleasure as her sex was toyed with. “Fuck that’s hot.” She stuck out her tongue, plunging it deeply into Fluttershy, then giving it a slow, prodding poke within her while pawing with a hand, reaching down to Fluttershy’s backdoor and sticking a finger in it, thrusting it in and out gently as she worked the woman’s front.

Her walls clamped down on the unfamiliar intruder immediately, bathing Gilda's tongue in Fluttershy's taste. She shivered again, letting out a long, low moan. "Mmh, it's... that's so... mm, better than your fingers..."

Her arms wrapped carefully around Gilda's thighs, lifting and spreading them to make sure she had unimpeded access to her prize. She brought her head down again, opening her mouth and carefully sealing it around Gilda's opening, her tongue plunging inside with the same unusual boldness she herself was expressing. The taste, salty and acidic, nevertheless seemed to soothe her, and she sighed languidly, letting her tongue probe Gilda's depths. The finger made her wince, but she didn't pull away to voice her thoughts, whatever they were; her whole self was occupied, right now, with the wonderful feeling between her own legs, and making sure Gilda was feeling the same way...

Gilda groaned once more with pleasure, her tongue still deep within Fluttershy as the woman worked her. She knew her climax was approaching in short order, so she tried to delay the inevitable, tried to continue pleasing her partner for as long as she could.

“If you think that’s better,” Gilda panted out, shivering and giving a small kiss to Fluttershy’s clitorous as she gave a wiggle of the finger within Fluttershy’s ass. “You might like what I got in the bag by the bed, mama Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy's inquisitive hum vibrated through Gilda's lower body; the sudden pressure against her button made her jump and lift her head with an "Ah!" Slowly she pulled away, index finger trailing along Gilda's labia as she looked back at the woman. "Mm?" She looked around and saw the bag, reaching for it and pulling it over. She didn't open it yet, lowering her mouth to Gilda's inner thigh and nibbling on it gently. "What's in here...?"

“Something I want you to wear,” Gilda coyly answered, finally pulling her finger out and giving her own bite to Fluttershy’s ass. “I was going to wait until you were a bit more confident with me, but you’re passing with flying fucking colors. Ever hear of a strap-on?”

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "... You... you want me to wear...?" She gave Gilda a sly look. "Hmm..."

“That’s right. I want you to wear it,” she agreed. “I want you to lead in here.” Gilda rubbed the back of Fluttershy’s knee. “Can you do that for me?”

Fluttershy gave one brief kiss to the inside of Gilda's thigh. She opened the bag, reaching in and pulling... it... out.

She stared at it for a moment, swallowed nervously, and then looked back at Gilda. "I... I... Can you help me?" she asked, looking ashamed at her sudden return to helplessness.

“Of course, babe.” Gilda guided Fluttershy up off the bed and quickly worked the attachment. “It’s like putting on a pair of pants. Just put this buckle at your waist, and the small part in… you know. That way when you thrust…” Gilda briefly let her own, more natural personality shine through too, smirking and giving a small stroke up and down the rubber shaft. “Easy as pie. Just kind of shut your eyes and…” She winked, taking the dildo into her mouth and giving it a brief swallow, bobbing her head back and forth along it, only wincing slightly and gagging a bit when she took it too deep. Pulling it out, a clear trail of saliva attached to the head, she rubbed Fluttershy’s hip. “It feels like you're in me, doesn’t it? Like you’re in control.”

Fluttershy stared down at the device between her legs, and then back up at Gilda, a strange look in her eyes. "... I... This is weird," she mumbled, and then drew Gilda in for another kiss. "... But I like it..."

“I know it might feel weird at first. But…” Gilda rubbed at Fluttershy’s breast, tweaking the nipple. “But I want you in me. I want you to fuck me like a bitch in heat. Something like that,” she looked down at the strap-on and gave it another push, thrusting gently it into Fluttershy. “Lets us get even closer. I want my woman to take care of me.” She briefly hugged her, forgoing her lust for a brief, blinking moment to express herself. “And I know you take care of me.”

She shivered when Gilda's finger toyed with her nipple. "A-ah..." she gasped, swallowing and trying to focus through the sensation of the toy inside her. "Mm, I... I'll take care of you," she murmured. "Always..."

She brushed Gilda's hair and kissed her forehead. "I, I want to be in you..."

“I love you,” Gilda said again, not caring one bit how sappy, or needy she seemed to be at the moment. She sat on the bed obediently, looking up at Fluttershy. “I can’t take it any more. Fluttershy...” she pleaded. “Anywhere.” Seeming to illustrate the point, Gilda arched her hips up sensually and ran a hand down her sex, then around, cupping her ass and spreading her cheeks, then finally taking her hands upward and rubbing at her breasts, biting at her lip.

"Shhhh," Fluttershy said soothingly, planting a kiss on Gilda's forehead and gently coaxing her down onto her back. "I'll make you feel better," she said softly, letting her lips brush against Gilda's as she spoke, cradling the woman in her arms. Her breasts met Gilda's, covering the other woman's torso in soft, fleshy warmth. She shifted her hips, trying to line the toy up, keeping her turquoise eyes fixed on her partner's golden ones.

Gilda stared back, melting into the woman’s eyes. She pushed a bit of Fluttershy’s bangs behind her ear and whispered, “That’s right. Make me feel good, hot mama.” She growled, reaching down to position the toy’s head against her passage then smiling up at her, wordlessly encouraging Fluttershy to take the plunge herself.

Fluttershy closed her eyes for only a moment, took a deep breath, and pushed inside. She stopped almost immediately, shivering, overcome by the alien sensation sent back through her own body. "A-ah..."

Gilda also let out a moan of satisfaction, her experience with toys more extensive than Fluttershy’s, but that didn’t make the stimulation any less electric. She bit at her lip, smirking as Fluttershy’s heavy breasts slapped into her own. “T-that’s right. Just like that. Relax and think of it as a part of you. A part of you inside me.” She held onto Gilda’s arms with a surprisingly delicate, womanly grasp and arched her netherlips forward, grazing her pelvis against the padding around Fluttershy’s groin. “Just fucking focus. You can feel me around it, can’t you?” she cooed out, kissing the woman's’ arm with a loving, lusting urgency.

"... Mmn, I, I can feel you..." Fluttershy said, nodding, and pushed the toy further inside, hissing as she did. "Oh... oh my, this is so... Mm, you feel good..." she murmured, pulling back and pushing forward again. "D-does it feel good?..."

“You feel fantastic in me,” Gilda said eagerly. She hooked her ankles around Fluttershy’s waist and looked up at her, adjusting them for a moment to put one of Fluttershy’s massive breasts into her mouth. She gave a small suckle to it, tonguing her areola and lightly gnawing at it like a hungry child. “You’re fuckin’ so hot,” she gasped in staccato pants between her attention to Fluttershy’s tit. “You’re so good at this, babe.”

Fluttershy squeaked, thrusting in quite a bit farther in surprise. "T-those are sensitive," she mock-complained, and then smiled softly. "... B-but please, k-keep doing that," she added, pulling out and pushing in again, attempting to start up a rhythm.

“Since you said please,” she answered, returning to her work, pulling as much of the woman’s breast as she could within her mouth after a moment, lapping at the flesh and having a hand search automatically to the other breast, kneading it like a baker preparing dough. Gilda’s ankles tightened more around Fluttershy, a heel briefly teased her ass once more, and she stared up at the woman, letting a small, slobbery smirk out from the corner of her mouth despite its fullness, the smile speaking volumes, both arousing and a little goofy looking.

Fluttershy took shallow breaths, staring down at Gilda with a loving sort of admiration. She looked quite flushed.

"H-ha... th-that's good," she managed, having established a rhythm, trying to get as deep as she could and feeling her insides start to boil. "I... Mm... This feels really good... You feel really good..."

Gilda knew once more she was coming close; a sort of electric tingle warned her it was on the way. She forced it back as much as she could and briefly withdrew Fluttershy’s breast from her mouth. “Hard, babe,” she encouraged, moving Fluttershy’s hand to her dark brown breast as they bounced in rhythmic timing with her thrusts into Gilda. “S-squeeze me hard and go in hard, I’m—” Gilda gasped again, unable to finish her sentence.

Fluttershy took the opportunity to draw Gilda into another sloppy, open-mouthed kiss, letting her tongue into the other woman's mouth as she pushed hard, letting herself go as deep as she could, moaning at the sensations rebounding through her own body. She held her Gilda close, as close as she could without hurting her, not letting the kiss end, desperate...

Gilda’s legs moved of their own accord, tightening and pulling Fluttershy even closer, until she was able to nearly lock her knees around Fluttershy’s back, until the rubber shaft disappeared from view, swallowed by Gilda’s womanhood. She cried out into Fluttershy’s mouth, the loud, deep cry of her climax muffled within Fluttershy as she shivered, the tightness she held the two in giving her very near a second end, something that never happened to her, as a rule. She returned the tight embrace as well, grinding her spent orgasam into the rubber shaft, and consequently, into Fluttershy as well, urging the woman to her own finish with hard, heavy thrusts to Fluttershy’s pelvis.

The orgasm rushed back through the toy shaft and straight into Fluttershy, and her own, softer, higher, but no less passionate cry forcing its way into the kiss as her eyes screwed shut. She kept thrusting, or, given the relentless hold Gilda's legs had on her, kept grinding, wanting, even in the midst of the lightning bolts traveling up and down her spine and making her whole body tingle with indescribable pleasure, to take Gilda to even greater heights. Each motion ground the toy inside her more deeply, pressing against her clitoris, making the world go white and bringing all of existence, all that was, to the point of their joining, to the feel of Gilda's breath and her own mingling, to the feel of their racing hearts, oh gods, oh gods, oh gods--

Everything went white.

Gilda came down from her climax after several long moments, opening her eyes and taking a breath of contentment, only to find Fluttershy still collapsed on top of her. Gilda thought about putting her to the side, but instead shifted a little to get comfortable, realizing with a sense of oddity that the toy’s shaft was still in her, and bent her head down, kissing the woman’s forehead affectionately and giving a small, loving squeeze to Fluttershy’s ass.

“That was…” she said with a tired, weakened laugh, not even able to find the right words to describe it.

Fluttershy tilted her head to look up at Gilda, blinking dazedly and not seeming at all sure what to say. Her heart still felt like it was beating its way out of her chest and her whole body tingled like it was waking up after going numb... which might not have been entirely inaccurate.

“You were…” Gilda tried to start once more, reaching a fatigued hand to gently swipe across Fluttershy’s cheek. “Wow.”

Fluttershy tilted her head, resting her cheek in Gilda's palm. "Mmm..."

A moment of silence came between the two, neither speaking. Finally, after Gilda recovered some of her strength, she smirked, looking at the lady on top of her.

“So, mama Fluttershy?” she questioned, giving a lazy run over the other’s bare side. “Where’d that come from?”

Fluttershy blushed bright crimson. "...um..."

“Well…” she crept her fingers along her back, spiderwebs crawling over threads. “You’re my hot mama, babe.”

Fluttershy shivered at the touch. "...I... I love you..." she managed, sounding on the verge of passing out, even with the toy still connecting them.

Gilda nodded, kissing the woman. “Same. Love you too.” Giving her an affectionate squeeze, she let one last lazy smirk cross by as she looked down at Fluttershy’s innocent face. “Night, baby.”

Fluttershy smiled weakly, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

This time Fluttershy woke first.

She'd pulled out of Gilda some time during the night and rolled onto her side, leaving an arm draped comfortably across the woman's stomach. The strapon wasn't entirely comfortable like this, but she disregarded it for the moment, studying with bleary eyes the griffon-folk's sleeping, peaceful form.

She really was pretty, though she suspected Gilda would never really believe her for saying so. And like this, after... after something like last night... she looked like she was sleeping so soundly, so calmly... it only added to her beauty.

And last night... Fluttershy would probably be returning to last night, in her memory, in private moments. She had never dreamt of being so close to anyone, had never experienced anything like that... well, truth be told, even thinking about it was sparking a warmth between her legs, but... no, no time for that. Besides, it would ruin this moment... this peaceful moment, with her Gilda. ... Yes, she decided, she liked the sound of that. 'Her Gilda.'

The griffon-folk finally awoke with a wince several minutes later and flexed her body a moment, stretching cat-like onto the bed. She lazily tilted her head over and smiled.

“Well if it isn’t my baby girl,” she said, leaning over to give a small kiss to Fluttershy’s forehead. “How’s she feeling?”

Fluttershy hummed softly and, in lieu of a verbal response, kissed Gilda on the lips, pulling back and smiling sweetly.

Gilda shifted, leaning her head on a hand and giving a small ghost-touch to the woman’s stomach. “You could of fooled me last night on it just being your second fuck, babe. That was the best I’ve ever got. You’re a natural at it.” She winked, letting a small smile brighten her aggressive face.

She blushed, bringing a hand to Gilda's shoulder and letting her thumb run across the bare skin. "I just... I wanted you to feel good. I was so, so worried I'd do something wrong, especially with the clothes..."

“Well, you made me feel better than I have in a long, long time.” She stared at Fluttershy’s body, the woman offering no attempt to mask it from her both filling her with a flare of lust and a tenderness that seemed to fill every crevice of her body. Eventually, Gilda turned her gaze to Fluttershy’s eyes.. “And you’re making me feel better even now. Shit’s a lot better when you’re involved, no matter what we’re doing.”

The smaller woman cooed and snuggled close again, kissing Gilda's collarbone. "I'm glad... You know, if... if you want... you can go back and get the smaller shirt. I'll wear it around the house, or, or sleep in it..."

“Aw, you mean you have to sleep in clothes again?” Gilda replied. “I can keep you warm, babe.” She glanced down at the accessory Fluttershy still wore at her sex. “Though there’s not much I can do regarding that sort of equipment. You’re on your own there.” She gave it a weak, teasing stroke, running a finger around the tip.

"... Well, I... I just... last night, I was just really tired... It's kind of awkward to lay on it..."

She blinked and bit her lip lightly as Gilda touched it. "Ah... I-I mean... It was fun... last night. A little strange. But... nice."

Gilda let her hand back away from it. “Well… as long as it wasn’t too odd for you. I like seeing you, no, I love seeing you wear that. It reminds me who’s in charge in the bedroom.” Smirking, Gilda wrapped her arm around Fluttershy. “Or anywhere you want to be in charge at,” she hinted.

"Oh, no, it wasn't too odd," Fluttershy said certainly, giving another kiss to Gilda's collarbone, and then her neck. She let out a slow breath, leaving her head in place. "I, I don't know about being in charge... but I'll try, if, if you want me to..."

“You did a great job doing just that last night, babe. You know what I like.” Once more she devilishly smiled, Fluttershy already guessing what was coming.

“Mama knows best, after all.”

She blushed. "... I... I don't know where that came from. It just... you were almost like you were in pain, and, and I wanted to make you feel better, so I... And then you, you know, with my b... you know... never mind..."

Now Gilda threw her head back and let a cackle out. “I won’t let you live that down.” Reaching over, she kissed her cheek. “Mainly because that talk was hot as hell.” Grasping a hand once more at Fluttershy’s fake shaft, she gave it another taunting press down, the sunlight from the window slits catching behind Gilda and making her nude body appear almost celestial in its beauty. “And you talking like that just reminds me that what mama Fluttershy wants in here, mama Fluttershy gets. Ain’t that right, babe?”

Fluttershy's blush deepened, but she stared reverently at Gilda, a sort of stupid, stunned smile on her face. "Yes..." she breathed, sliding a hand along Gilda's side. "Yes..."

“Know what’s better?” Gilda asked, answering before the other woman asked. “This can be our little secret too. You don’t have to draw attention to yourself unless you want out there, alright?” Gilda let a sincere smile out. “Out there? I can lead. You don’t have to be afraid. In here?” Gilda took Fluttershy’s hand and rested it against her own heart, Fluttershy’s hand pressing tight against Gilda’s brown, earthen skin, its tone almost painfully ravishing in the golden light. “I don’t have to be afraid.”

Fluttershy's smile broadened. "You have a good heart... I, I promise, I'll do my very best to keep it safe..." Her gaze traveled down and back up Gilda's torso before meeting Gilda's eyes. "You're so beautiful... with the light, and, and your wings... you remind me of an angel. My angel..." She paused. "... not like Angel Bunny, but... well, you know."

“I’m a long fucking call from an angel, babe.” Gilda seemed briefly guilty before shrugging. “It… it’s hard. It’s hard being this angry all the time. Not so much with you anymore, but the shit that sets me off sometimes…” Gilda put her hand at one of her favorite perches, Fluttershy’s jaw. “I’m trying to be better. Because I don’t want anything I do falling back to bite you in the ass. You know how I feel about you, so I don’t want anything I do hurting you.”

Fluttershy kissed the hand on reflex, pulling Gilda closer. "I know you'll never hurt me on purpose... I trust you. And, and I'm going to do my best to make you feel happy, and not angry... Like you were last night. I was watching your face..."

“You made me happy,” Gilda said without a moment’s hesitation. “You’re still making me happy. No shit, I haven’t been this happy since before I got kicked out of the academy.” Looking askance to Fluttershy, Gilda then frankly added. “Was there anything you didn’t like last night? I want you feeling as good as you made me. Now’s not the time to be bashful about it. I mean… we’re both naked and you’re still wearing that.” She laughed, rubbing the girl’s head affectionately. “Keep it on long enough and I’ll think you want an actual dick there.”

"Last night was amazing," Fluttershy responded immediately, shaking her head. "I... I was nervous, but everything turned out just perfectly, and, and it all felt amazing..." She blushed again. "... Just having your hands on me is an amazing feeling... never mind any of... what we did..." There was a pause. "And... and I kind of... I mean... if I could stay here, with you, all day... I think I'd do it..."

“I feel the same way. Everything was perfect.” Gilda smirked, giving a small, lazy circle with her finger around Fluttershy’s nipple. “And what’s stopping us? The world won’t end if we waste one more day. I’d be game staying here with you.” Gilda said. A rumble in her stomach answered as if on cue and she seemed to deflate a hair.

Fluttershy sucked in a breath at the touch, goosebumps popping up all over her body. The rumble made her giggle softly, though. "...maybe I should fill your stomach before I fill... elsewhere," she mumbled. "...and... and... it's a lazy day... After I feed the animals, we can just settle on the couch and see what happens... if you want..."

Smirking, Gilda kissed the woman on the lips, resting a hand on Fluttershy’s bellybutton and rubbing the woman’s stomach. “Lead the way, honey, you’re in charge.”

Fluttershy hummed merrily as she danced back into the house, skirt twirling as she did. Her face reflected her cheerful mood, a giggle occasionally slipping through as she made her way into the kitchen again. "Almost ready!" she sang in Gilda's direction, over the clatter of something or other being pulled out of a cabinet.

“Alright, alright,” Gilda called back from the living room, Fluttershy’s happy tone infecting her to where her normally gruff words came out a mellow purr. “Just tell me when I need to get my ass outside.”

There was another giggle, quite unlike her, really, but adorable all the same; she almost bounced back out into the living room and then out the front door, shutting it quickly so Gilda couldn't see beyond it.

Angel's rook took Gilda's knight at that point, which also made for a good distraction. It was hard to say exactly how, but the expression on the rabbit's face was approaching smug.

“You little shit,” Gilda growled out, narrowing her brow as she looked over the board. With a thoughtful hum, she pushed her bishop into place and leaned forward on the couch. “Your move, stew.”

He nosed his own bishop two spaces, took the opposing rook, and chittered the rabbit equivalent of "check."

“Fuck.” She crossed her arms and leaned back on the couch. “This is stupid.”

It was impossible to say Angel's expression was anything but smug, now. He waited, but when it became apparent Gilda wasn't going to make another move, he glared at her and then jumped down to the floor, bounding away into the kitchen.

Fluttershy poked her head in the front door. "It's ready! I mean... mostly. It won't be ready until you're there!"

“Sure. I’m tired of winning against that little shitbird anyway,” she said, rising. “Walking towards Fluttershy, she asked. “So, what, exactly, is ready, anyway? You’ve been pretty secretive so far.”

Fluttershy giggled and winked knowingly."You'll see," she said, stepping back and opening the door for Gilda.

“You seem pretty sure about me liking this.” Gilda smiled back, giving a small rub to Fluttershy’s side and stepping outside into the pleasant day.

What greeted her was, bizarrely, a huge block of cloud, low to the ground and big enough for the not-insubstantial amount of food that had been set atop the picnic blanket that dominated it.

"So," said Fluttershy, sounding a little hesitant. "If, if you get on, I can push it up, and... we can watch the sunset while we eat. If, if you want. I'm sorry I made you stay inside all day..."

“Wow,” she marveled taking a few unsure steps forward before giving a small press into the cloud. “How in the hell is it holding like this?” She pushed harder into it still, and it simply absorbed her weight, acting like a cushion. Letting her weight escape it, Gilda watched it spring back to its original form. “You sky-folk got some tricks, huh?” Taking a set on top of the cloud, she looked back at Fluttershy, grinning. “Hell yeah, let’s do it, babe.”

Fluttershy blushed. "Well, I'm not... I mean, there are much more dramatic things we can do, but I'm not very good at any of them. But I know how to pack clouds..."

She looked pleased at Gilda's willingness and carefully grabbed the cloud and pulled it above her head. "Okay... hold on..."

Gilda shifted, briefly startled by Fluttershy’s strength as she easily lifted both her and the cloud, then smiled as the woman’s wings came to life. She watched, ready to catch the woman if her ethereal wings weakened and they rose up, five feet, ten, until they broke through a few clouds of their own and sat above the rest. Once Fluttershy moved to sit on a cloud of her own, Gilda whistled.

“Good view,” she said, eying the woman with a smirk. “And the scenery’s nice too, I guess.”

Fluttershy giggled and moved over closer to Gilda. "If, if you're hungry," she offered, indicating the food. "You can go first..."

“Sure, babe,” Gilda readily agreed, reaching into the basket and pulling out a thick block of cheese, along with a batch of chicken salad. Reaching in further, Gilda produced a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Wow. You went all out here, didn’t ya?”

"... Well, I just... yes," she admitted, sounding sheepish. "... I figured... well, it might... it might be a little boring for you, so I wanted to make it up somehow, and this..."

“It’s not boring when I get to spend time with you, babe,” Gilda instantly replied, smugly smiling. “I mean, you’re pretty cool for the quiet kind.” She reached over, putting a hand on Fluttershy’s knee. “Maybe even the coolest person I know.”

Fluttershy leaned in against Gilda with a hum. "...You're the sweetest person I know..."

“Only because it’s you,” she said, putting an arm around the woman. “Anyone else can fuck off.”

Fluttershy hummed softly and began to dish some of the chicken salad for herself. "...Do you... I mean, it might get cold up here..."

“I can think of a few ways to keep warm,” she said coyly, taking a knife to the cheese and tossing a slice into her mouth, grinning as she chewed. “I can’t imagine mama Fluttershy letting her babe get cold, can you?”

Fluttershy summoned a wing again and wrapped it around Gilda's far shoulder anyway.

Gilda moved a hair closer, the strange magic flowing from Fluttershy’s conjured wing producing heat, reminding her of her own wings. “See? I can call this stuff, can’t I?” She put a hand at Fluttershy’s side and gazed across the sky, sighing contently.

Fluttershy wrapped both arms around Gilda, pulling her as close as she could. "...I'm really glad I met you."

“Me too. If I hadn’t, I don’t know where I’d be right now,” she admitted. Weakly smiling, she squeezed her. “Though I got to know… what’s going on? After the tournament?”

"... After?" Fluttershy asked blankly. It was obvious she hadn't put any thought into this issue at all.

“Yeah.” Gilda swallowed, frowning. “I mean, it’s like I said when we first met: this animal thing, it can’t be making money for you, can it?”

"It makes me enough to get by..."

“But what if something happens to you? You need a way to make sure you’re taken care of if you’re hurt or sick.” Gilda looked sheepishly at her. “...So maybe you need an assistant? Someone willing to, uh, help around here.”

Fluttershy looked at Gilda in surprise. "I... I never thought about it. But... I couldn't ask anyone..."

“Are you really going to make me say it?” the griffon-folk sighed in irritation, rolling her eyes.

"...But... you... You really want..."

Fluttershy beamed. "...I, I'd love it, if you... wanted to stay..."

“I want to,” Gilda agreed. “My dad might not be too keen on me leaving the family business, but fuck it. I love you and want to take care of you.” She gave a small trail of her finger across Fluttershy’s cheek. “I want to do the whole girlfriend thing with you, even the sissy stuff. Dates, dinner, meeting your parents. Is that a problem?”

"... Well," Fluttershy said quietly, "... the... the parents thing might. But other than that..."

“Why?” Gilda smirked. “You scared they might like me more than you? I get that sometimes.”

Fluttershy offered no counter, swallowing. Gilda’s taunting expression died down a bit, guessing the real reason.

“Or you don’t want to introduce them to the girl that turned you into a dyke that dabbles in dom?” She let a little snort of laughter out. “Maybe they saw you marrying a doc or vet, wanted you knocked up and having grandkids in a nice house some day,” Shrugging, she popped another slice of cheese into her mouth. “The dream,” she said through her mouthful, as if that explained everything.

Fluttershy didn't offer a reply, looking somewhat ashamed.

“Hit the nail with the hammer, huh?” Gilda said quietly. She gave a small shake to Fluttershy after the sky filled with a stony silence.

“Hey,” she addressed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to kill the mood, promise. Talking about the future just kinda got me antsy, that’s all, babe. We’ll figure a way through when it comes to them. I’ll try to be a good girl when we make introductions.”

Fluttershy just nodded, squeezing Gilda again, not seeming very hungry yet.

"... You know, there are spells that..."

She trailed off.

"... never mind. That's... much later. I, I do... I would enjoy... a future with you..."

“Spells that what?” she asked, raising a brow. “I’m clueless about magic. We—my tribe, I mean—don’t really have that luxury. No cloud pushing, no talking to plants and animals, just a blind drive not to fall behind all the other assholes.” Gilda kissed Fluttershy on the chin. “And I’m glad to hear it, babe.”

Fluttershy closed her eyes and sighed happily. "...Perfect..."

She gave a small kiss to the side of Fluttershy’s neck. “You are,” Gilda agreed. “Don’t let anything I bitch about tell you otherwise. You’re perfect no matter how you look or act. Don’t forget that, babe, even if I might when I’m pissed.”

"... And you are, even, even when you get mad. And... And I promise, I'll continue to help you... always..."

Gilda smiled, watching as the sun slowly started to be swallowed on the horizon. She gave Fluttershy’s side a teasing poke. “But it’s killing me, what kind of spell were you talking about earlier? Something to make your folks think I’m not an asshole?” She nodded to herself. “Yeah. I like the sound of that.”

"... well... no. It's... we'll talk about it later," she mumbled.

“Spoilsport,” Gilda mumbled. “Bunch of dweebs and their magic bullshit…” She poured herself a glass of the wine, then one for Fluttershy, handing it off to her with a smile.

Fluttershy accepted it and held it gingerly. “...so… to the future? … That’s so cheesy…”

“And a picnic at sunset isn’t?” she asked, then brought her glass forward into hers, letting a small ring echo across the sky. “To our future, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled and snuck in a kiss to Gilda's cheek before taking her sip. "To our future..."

Giving a small run of her finger under the hem of Fluttershy’s skirt, Gilda asked; “So… how about the mile-high club after dinner? You make the best dessert.”

She blushed, but her smile didn't fade. "... Only if we stop after one glass of wine. I want to remember this..."

“Mama gets what mama wants,” Gilda answered in a cat-like purr, leaning in for one more kiss.

Twilight of Earth, Pinkie of Heaven

Pinkie stepped out of the club, feeling the cold night air almost slap her in the face. She looked behind her, at the dark yet extremely colorful (and loud) action behind her. The party was far from over, but she had things to do. “Later Vinyl! Thanks for taking over!” she called out, but the DJ probably couldn’t hear her anyway.

She closed the door behind her, going around the building before finally stepping onto the street. Shivering, her hands placed themselves in the front pouch of her blue hoodie, and she began making the lonely trek home.

Things had changed since she received that letter a few days ago. A week ago it was party party party, but now it was party, train, party, then some more training. Her limbs ached from the excess of it all… although that could have been the dancing in the club too. But technically that was training too.

The gold chain hanging from her neck swung about to the beat of her footsteps, and she was humming the tunes from the club, the music still buzzing in her ears. Under her black hat, she frowned. The ol’ tummy was rumbling again.

Nevertheless, the city was still very much alive, carriages and people walking to and fro down the street. Whenever she met eye contact with somebody, she gave them a friendly smile. More often than not, they returned it.

Down the street, a double decker powder-blue carriage came into view. It was similar to your average unnecessarily sized vehicle. Along each side was a graphic depicting a woman with hair to match that of the color of the cart, tempered by an arrogant white streak, casting various magics from her hands. The hood ornament of the same woman set in a majestic pose, as though she were a phoenix, or a graceful swan, or some other fantastic bird of fairytale origin suggested humility. Of the absent variety.

“Fools! Do you plebian pedestrians not see The Great and Powerful Trixie attempting to make her way through this hovel of a neighborhood without incident? The vanquisher of villains? The destroyer of dastardly deeds? The apex magician? Abandon this street posthaste if you wish not to be run over!”

And surely enough, the loud, ridiculous voice that had spoken with an illeism revealed itself through the sunroof. She was of average height, skinny limbs, and a rather showy garb. Her suit vest was short enough to reveal her midriff, black, the same as the color of her capris and showy, strappy heels. A pointy star-spangled hat sat on her head, and a periwinkle cape affixed to her shoulders. The Great and Powerful Trixie stood atop her carriage, waving her star-tipped wand about in a fingerless black gloved hand, creating lasers of lights, and firework explosions of sparks bearing her name. She had become a one-woman parade down Callisto Street and 9th.

At one-thirty in the morning.

Pinkie rolled her eyes, but forced on a smile anyways, stepping up to the vehicle. “Hiya Trixie. Come back for your ego boost?” she asked innocently.

The entire carriage came to a halt. “Did one of you fools attempt to speak to Trixie without having scheduled an interview? Which one of you is so glib and base as to attempt a foolish thing like that?” She mockingly raised a hand to her brow as if searching for the offender, despite her being bright and and pink and right next to her ride.

“Ooh! Me! Pick me!” Pinkie cried, jumping up and down and waving her hand in the air enthusiastically.

“...Trixie dares not continue speaking to you until you have removed every single inch of bubblegum from your hair, pedestrian.”

Trixie raised her platinum star-tipped wand, channeling her magic into it. “And the rest of you? Move your pathetic asses!” She cast the wand back, and the tip extended, linked by a line of pure aether. Trixie brought the whip down and cracked it at the innocent bystanders who weren’t exactly in front of her cart, but close enough to get caught in the crossfire of her superiority and sending them scattering

Pinkie’s smile vanished instantly. “Hey! You stop that right now! We’re done with dealing with your…” She mumbled a swear, kicking one of the carriage’s wheels. The whole thing seemed to tremble from the impact.

Gasping, Trixie’s face went from sufferingly indignant, to suffering, indignant and then angry. “What in the name of the nine circles of hell are you doing? This carriage is worth ten of this neighborhood you little...bubblegum...gaudy chain wearing…” She began making vicious slicing movements in the air with her fingers. Those things usually were good at drawing guilt out of small children. And she had maybe an inch or so on this pink-headed fool.

“Apologize and buff that scuff posthaste!”

Pinkie simply stood there and scowled at Trixie, her arms folded across her chest, her lips puckered into a pout. “Apologize first, you meanie!”

“The Great and Magnanimous Trixie is doing you the kindness of her mercy!” The egotist raged on, funneling more magic into her wand and narrowing her eyes. “I’ve changed my mind. Leave this spot or Trixie will become cross.” The illeism broke temporarily as her azure eyes flashed madly.

“But this is ma town,” Pinkie drawled out, like that accent people down south used, near Appleloosa. She liked that one.

The calm fury vanished, and was replaced with a demeaning and provoking grin, like one hearing a joke full of hubristic insanity would. And then she broke into laughter on the spot, like a mad woman who needed sedatives.

“Your town?” She managed to say, gasping, “Your town? Muahahahahaha!”

The aether whip cracked itself free, and then with a flick of her wrist came snaking over one of Pinkie’s legs. “You fool.”

“I’ll show you…” Pinkie growled, tugging at the ethereal whip. It was wrapped around there tight, not budging even an inch. Already she could begin to feel the blood flow slowing down. Gritting her teeth, she glared at Trixie, then grabbed the chain hung around her neck. With a shout of effort, she threw the big golden necklace at the magician, it spinning in the air as it flew towards her.

She barely had time for a swear, sidestepping and seeing the heavy piece fly through her illusion and straight into her carriage, leaving a rather noticeable dent.

“You--my--” Trixie sputtered in disbelief before growling. She yanked the whip, pulling Pinkie’s leg from out under her before retracting the star. The party girl landed on her back, the wind getting knocked out of her.

Before her very eyes, Trixie began to multiply, one by one, phasing out of her own body with an azure burst of light like some sort of ghost. They walked in Pinkie’s direction, smirks on their faces.

“That doesn’t seem like fair odds,” a voice proclaimed as the copies of Trixie fast approached Pinkie. A woman appeared, her hands tucked casually into her tweed jacket. Pushing a pair of rounded glasses up the bridge of her nose, she then ran a finger through a strand of stringy violet hair, tucking it behind her ear. “Unless you’re looking for trouble, leave the girl alone,” she warned.

The seven Trixie’s looked between one another, identical expressions of arrogance on their faces. One spoke up.

“Oh yes, Trixie.”

“The time has come, it seems. Trixie must be the bigger woman, and extend the olive branch.”

“Indeed,” A fourth copy said.

And that exact one walked in the direction of the interloper, pocketing her wand and all.

Then she swung her fist at her face. Trixie watched, surprise evident on her face as the blow seemed to simply bounce off with a strange, almost elastic noise, as if there was a sheet of rubber inches from the woman’s skin.

“I think you dropped your olive branch,” the woman said, once more easily putting her hands into her pockets.

She made due to hide her incredulity at exactly what in Heaven just happened. Faces didn’t usually do that after they got punched unless they were conditioned with years of horrible and painful training that could also be the catalyst for brain damage. The Trixie in front of the indigo-haired woman looked back as if to say “Trixie has no clue what happened”.

The woman gave a tilt of her head, shrugging. “Well, you might not be the only one that has a few tricks. Er, Trixie, was it?”

A scowl returned in place of her surprise. Her attention had been entirely redirected from the the little pink tart to this newcomer. “Yes, peasant. Remember it. Though before I destroy you, do you have a name?” Not that she intended to do more than beat her up. If she could. If such a thing was possible against rubber-skin and simple nonchalance.

The woman’s voice came from behind her, a hand resting on Trixie’s shoulder. A carbon copy of the woman appeared in the corner of Trixie’s eye.

“Twilight Sparkle of Nadir,” the copy said. The copy shoved Trixie forward a few steps, right towards a fist fast approaching her face from the original Twilight.

If there was a point where Trixie’s mind had came up with the demented idea of “turning the other cheek”, the option was dismissed thoroughly as it was done for her.

Or so had it appeared.

The other Trixies got on the defensive, raising their wands, but the Trixie who was punched simply smirked as she was struck. A violet light rippled through her body before she exploded, leaving behind nothing but vapor and concussive force for her foe.

Trixie rose to the roof of her carriage, smiling triumphantly with her hands on her hips. “Well played, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve earned a footnote in Trixie’s eventual biography--”

In no time at all, Pinkie had gotten up on her feet and advanced towards Trixie. Only two backflips were needed to get onto the carriage and next to the wayward witch. Landing on her hands, her back to Trixie, her legs lashed out together for Trixie’s chin.

Once again denied words, Trixie was beset with another heavy impact, this time, one that made contact with her instead of a shatter clone, or her gorgeous carriage. The kick snapped her neck back and left her stumbling, staggering and falling backward into the collective of her other selves. They caught her, breaking her fall and glancing between her, Twilight, who seemed unharmed by the explosion and Pinkie, dumbfounded.

“What are you waiting--ptui--for--,” Judging by what Trixie had just spat out of her mouth, the clones silently agreed that she’d at least get a quarter for her trouble. “Attack!”

Dropping their progenitor to the ground, the six shatter clones rushed at Pinkie and Twilight, swarming each of them at once. Pinkie shrugged, flipping off the carriage and landing right in front of three of the Trixies. She never stopped moving, her body seemingly controlled by some sort of mystical rhythm. Flips, turns and twirls all seamlessly blending into one another. Then, when the confused clones were close enough, Pinkie balanced on her hands, her leg jutting out into a large sweep designed to clip all of the Trixies and send them crashing down.

Each one of them gave the same smirk as they fell, bursting into violet light and exploding violently. Pinkie blinked, cartwheeling onto her feet and bracing herself against the explosions. They knocked her off the ground, but luckily she had the finesse to land on her hands and stylistically spin back to a combat ready position.

Twilight gazed as the clones approached, then threw her hands out when they were mere feet away. She gestured her hands from her core out to either side of her. A barely noticeable ripple of air escaped from her forearms and came into contact with the clones. They seemed to pause, looking dumbfounded with each other, before collapsing slowly onto the ground and fading to shadows, the magic that had channeled the things to live in the first place expertly dispelled.

Pinkie dusted her hands, humming cheerfully as she approached Trixie and placed her foot down on the woman’s stomach. “Sooo… you’re done now, right?”

Trixie gritted her teeth, and regretted the action instantly, now conscious of the molar lying on the ground nearby. “When Trixie gets up...she is going to…” She struggled under the strength of the leg pinning her down. “Release Trixie!”

“You gonna apologise?” Pinkie asked, lightly pressing up and down on Trixie’s stomach as if she was inflating a paddling pool.

“I have nothing to apologi--gack--”

She decided in the best interest of her guts to apply a tactical retreat here. “Fine! I’m sorry! Now stop...crushing me!”

“Goodie!” Pinkie chirped, stepping off the woman and allowing her to get up of her own accord. “Next time, maaaybe think twice before you put on a ‘show’, ‘kay?”

Trixie curled up on the ground, nursing her bruised belly and ego. Indistinct pained muttering issued from her as the crowd that had gathered began to disperse.

Pinkie left Trixie to make her own exit, picking up her gold chain as she made her way to the newcomer. “Thanks for the help back there! What’s your name? ‘Cause you can call me Pinkie, if ya want.”

“Twilight Sparkle of Zenith,” she repeated. “And it’s no problem. It seemed like you needed the hand.”

“Waiiiiiiiit a sec…” Pinkie narrowed her eyes, taking a few steps back from the girl, eyeing her up and down. After a few moments of internal debating, she suddenly gasped, snapping her fingers. “You’re the Twilight Sparkle!” she cheered, zooming up towards her. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be my partner for the world fighting tournament!”

Twilight offered an apologetic laugh. “Yeah, guess so, huh?”

“Wow, it’s like this was some sorta destiny or something,” Pinkie said. “Ya got a place to stay tonight? My apartment’s on a stone’s throw away. If the stone bounced a couple times, anyway.”

She nodded. “Well, I was going to stay at a motel across the way, to be honest.”

“Oh, that works out even better then,” Pinkie said, beginning to lead the way. “My apartment’s kinda small, and I dunno if Gummy would like having visitor at this hour.”

“Gummy?” Twilight repeated, tilting her head.

“He’s my baby alligator!” Pinkie explained, as if it were common fact. “And he’s the sweetest, most cuddly li’l guy in the world!”

“T-that can’t be hygienic. Or safe, for that matter.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I clean his paddling pool regularly. And he never bites. Only gums.” Pinkie nodded, crossing the road toward the motel.

Twilight gave a confused glance towards Pinkie then took to following her.

“So… interesting style you had back there,” Twilight commented.

“Aw, ya think?” Pinkie shrugged, tipping her hat back. “It’s just some real crazy dance moves, that’s all. It’s not, like, some ancient martial passed down from some mythical ancestors or something.”

“I-I see,” Twilight stammered out, unsure where exactly the woman was coming from there.

Pinkie cartwheeled forward, stretching out her legs into an arc when she stood on her hands. “It’s something I mostly taught myself, ‘cause since it’s like dancing, you can still have some good fun while fighting. And sometimes fighting is fun too, so,” she went back onto her feet, “double the fun!”

She stopped, looking at the confusion spread across Twilight’s features. “Ya need a better explanation?”

“If you’d be so kind. Dancing as a form of battle... it’s interesting in theory, to say the least.”

“Well basically, since you’re always dancing, you’re totally unpredictable. You can either strike out from seemingly nowhere, oooor you can do a cool flip or something to dodge an attack. Attacking high or low, it doesn’t matter where I go!” She giggled at her rhyme. “And practicing it has given me loads of balance. If someone manages to sweep me off my feet, it’s more than likely that’ll I’ll just flip right side up. You get it?”

Twilight pulled out a small, road-weary notebook and took to scribbling on the pages within.

“Fascinating. However, wouldn’t you be fatigued in short order with a style that exerting?”

“Not really. You get used to it. Buuuuut…” Pinkie rubbed her arms, feeling a small number of bruises along them. “You can’t really afford to get hit. Not even by blocking. It ruins the rhythm.”

“I just don’t see how effective it could be in a battle.” She gave a small nod of her head. “However, I guess that’s why Celestia paired me up with you.”

“I guess you’re just gonna have to wait and see!” Pinkie teased, jumping up and flipping two times in the air.

“Are you always this… exuberant?”

Pinkie stopped, looking at Twilight with a puzzled frown. “Er, yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, it is fairly late. Usually most would be winding down by now.”

“Are you kidding me? I just got back from a super cool party that’s still going!” She pouted slightly, huffing. “If it weren’t for all this training I had to do, I’d still be there.” Blinking, she seemed to take particular interest in Twilight. “You’ve partied before, right?”

Twilight gave a small shake of her head. “I can’t say I’ve really been, no. Aside from like birthday parties for my assistant or my family.”

Pinkie let a huge gasp, apparently enough to make the hat float off her head for a few seconds. “Then we gotta sort that out right now! Forget the fighting, you and me are gonna do some serious party TLC. C’mon!” And without warning, she grabbed the woman’s hand and started pulling her down the street, arriving at her motel in next to no time.

“What? But—I—” Twilight sputtered, unable to process the change of events.

“Which room you staying in?” Pinkie asked, stopping her sprint and choosing to skip through the motel’s lobby.

“215,” she answered. “But, Pinkie, are you sure a party is the best idea? Didn’t you say you had training to do?”

“I didn’t mean a party straight away, silly,” Pinkie said. The pair of the stopped outside a door, with a gold ‘215’ on it. “But like you said, it’s late, so if we get some sleep time now that means more party time for later! Don’t worry, there’s always something going on in this town. We’ll find something you’ll like, that’s my guarantee!”

“If you say so, Pinkie,” Twilight agreed, nodding. She reached into her pocket for a key and unlocked the door. “Well, what time should I expect you?”

“Hm… how does ten in the morning sound?”

“Works for me.” She blinked awkwardly before finally offering her hand. “Uh, goodnight.”

“Nighty night!” Pinkie replied, eagerly shaking Twilight’s hand. “Get a good sleep. Tomorrow’s gonna be busay!” She tipped her hat down with her index finger, pouting her lips. Then she broke out into a giggle and went on her way.

Twilight shook her head, watching the woman leave with a spring in her step.

“This one’s going to be interesting.”

A light but fast tapping came at Twilight’s door, stopping for a few seconds and then resuming, as if it couldn’t contain itself.

Twilight yawned, throwing a pillow over her head and turning on her bed, willing whatever it was disturbing her to leave.

“Twilight!” came a voice from the other side of the door. Despite the door and walls blocking the sound, it still rung in her ears.

“Mmm,” she grunted, the faintest stirrings of her mind starting to brush away her sleep. She glanced blearly over at the clock on a nearby table. Ten o’ five.

Ten, she thought, trying to recall what—

Her eyes shot open at the realization

“Oh crap!” she called out, throwing her pillow to the side and rising off the bed. She ran a hand over her face and picked up her glasses sitting on the bedside table.

She quickly ran to the door, unlocking it with a hearty click and opening it.

“Sorry, Pinkie I—” she stopped mid sentence and glanced down at the silk nightie she wore and blushed crimson. “—I need another minute!” she shouted, slamming the door in front of the woman’s face.

“Okay!” Pinkie said from the other side.

“Unbelievably dumb, Twilight,” she cursed under her breath, throwing her nightie off of her and donning a turtleneck shirt and a conservative shirt. She rushed to the bathroom and brushed her teeth with one hand and did a simply comb through her tangled hair with the other.

Calling it good, she moved back to the front door and threw it open, offering what she hoped was at least a semi-sincere smile.

“Good morning, Pinkie,” she addressed, leaning awkwardly on the doorframe.

“Nice nightie, but I prefer pajamas myself. Or onesies, they’re fun!” Pinkie said innocently. She dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt, the sleeves themselves becoming yellow and blue stripes just above her elbows. Running down her front to her blue short shorts were pink suspenders, and white tights ran all the way down to her pink converse shoes.

“So, are you ready for some fun?” she asked eagerly.

“W-well, what’s your idea of fun?” Twilight replied, cautiously.

Pinkie started to count on her fingers. “Dancing in clubs, drinking with buddies, going to the ice rink, playing music, singing, paintballing, swimming, fighting, trampolines, eating candy, bungee jumping, playing pranks on friends, cuddling, baking cakes, birthdays—” Eventually she just gave up counting. “What don’t I find fun, right?”

“I-I see,” the woman stammered out. “To phrase my question better: what were you planning on doing today?”

“Dunno!” she replied happily. “I make it up as I go along. I was actually gonna ask what you wanted to do, and what sorta things you liked.”

“Well… does the town have a library or book shop? I love to read.”

A moment of confusion passed across Pinkie’s face. “Er… yeah. It’s got one. But reading isn’t exactly social, Twilight.”

“Oh. That’s true.” Twilight crossed her arms, humming in thought. “I like chess.”

Pinkie blinked, her fingers twitching by her side. “Um… okay. How about I show you the town proper?”

“Well, alright. I suppose I could use stand to learn the area.”

“Great! All ready to go?”

“Sure.”

“Excellent!” Pinkie cheered, holding Twi’s hand and dragging her off once more. Fun waits for no one, after all.

The sound of skittles being bowled over echoed through the building. Pinkie entered with Twilight, smiling at the sights and sounds of the bowling alley. “This place is great. Not too rowdy, but still real good fun. I think you’ll like it!”

“Bowling,” Twilight said. “You know, we had an alley at our town. My assistant said it was a lot of fun, though.”

“You have an assistant?” Pinkie asked, heading up to the counter. She was familiar with the owners and the exchange went by quickly, Pinkie swapping her shoes for bowling sneakers.

“Yes,” she answered, taking a pair of shoes herself and donning them, running a finger along her ankle to fix the shoe’s tongue. “He helps me with day to day matters. I have a few more issues than most to deal with, considering I’m under tutelage of the Princess.”

“Wowza,” Pinkie said, her eyes widening with the word. “So why isn’t he along with you now?” Heading over to an alley, her fingers made short work of the computer, bringing up their names on the scoreboard above.

“Because Celestia didn’t feel a bonding exercise between two fighters needed a third wheel, as it were. Not that he is just a wheel, of course.”

“I getcha. Is he gonna be at the tournament?” Pinkie took up a pink bowling ball, just as the pins were put into place. She gazed down the lane, narrowing her eyes. Taking a few steps forward, her arm went behind her. Then she swung it forward, releasing the ball. It crashed into the pins with a loud clatter, but a few still stood standing. “Darn, just a seven.” She narrowed her eyes at the sizeable gap between the remaining pins. “A gate too. Phooey.”

“Gate?” Twilight asked. “And as for your earlier question, I don’t believe he’ll be contending, he does have a few years before he’s a man, after all.”

“Yeah but is he gonna cheer you on at least?” Pinkie picked up her ball as it rolled back out of the machine. “And that’s a gate,” she pointed at the gap between the last pins. “Means it’s real hard to get them all now.” She shrugged and made her move, catching at least two pins down.

A machine at the end of the alley swept up the remaining pin, then new ones were neatly placed down. “Okay! Your turn, Twilight!”

Twilight stood, shifting her weight from foot to foot for a moment to get used to the unusual shoes. "Right," she said, a little uncertainly, and grabbed a ball.

She weighed it in her hand, tongue between her teeth as she eyed the pins. She remained this way for nearly a minute, then took a deep breath and swung her arm back and then forward. She let go too late; the ball hit the track with a tellingly clumsy ‘thud!’, brushing off three pins. She let out an embarrassed huff, crossing her arms.

“Don’t worry!” Pinkie told her, smiling brightly. “Ya still get another go!”

"I just..." she started, sounding flustered, but didn't finish the thought. She picked up the ball again when it returned, staring at it like she wanted to set it on fire.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, seeming to center herself. This time when she swung back and forward, the ball left her hands and sailed down the alley smooth as anything, smashing down all of the pins in its path. This time Twilight smiled. "I knew it."

“Wowee! That’s a spare if I ever saw one,” Pinkie glanced up at the scoreboard, then at Twilight. “How did you do that?”

"Well, it's just a matter of momentum and applied physics. I just..." She trailed off, tapping a finger to her lips in momentary thought. "I just knew where to push to get the pins to fall the way I needed them to." She looked sheepish. "I... I guess it'd be cheating if I did that every time, though..."

“Waiiiiiiiiiiiit!” Pinkie rushed up to Twilight, so close that their noses touched. “Did you use magic? That is cheating!” She back off a couple of steps, pouting a crossing her arms over her chest. “No fair.”

"No!" Twilight shook her head. "No magic! I promise." She looked hurt. "Pinkie, I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it look like... I would never use magic in a contest like this where magic isn't allowed, or where not all participants use it. I just... I used my head, I guess you could say."

“Ooooooooooooooh,” the party girl drawled out. “You’re just super smart. Okay then!” Pinkie said, happily bowling and scoring a solid 9 to boot. “So, you looking forward to the tourney?”

"Oh, well... Yes, of course. It's a chance to see some of the best from both Heaven and Earth. And, well... I'm not much for martial arts myself--I'm actually kind of a klutz a lot of the time... What I'm trying to say," Twilight said, trying to steady herself after coming so close to upsetting her new friend, "is yes, I am. I never thought I'd be participating in one, mind you, but..."

She left the statement unfinished, but her focus was still off. One of her attempts ended up in the gutter, and the other only resulted in seven felled pins.

Pinkie picked up her bowling ball, somehow spinning it on her finger as easily as one would a basketball. “Did the Princess tell you to join? ‘Cause, and no offense, you don’t seem like the daredevil type.” She did a spin and then threw her ball, knocking most of the pins down and getting a spare the next bowl.

Twilight watched the ball spin on Pinkie's finger with hard eyes, clearly biting her tongue to prevent herself from asking the obvious question.

"Yes," she answered simply, reaching for her ball. "She did ask me. Well, as much as a Princess can ask anything, you know... She said it would be a good educational experience."

Her first bowl resulted in a gate, and she chewed on her lip for a long moment, eyeing the remaining three pins very carefully. When she finally made her move, however, only two went down, brushing against the remaining one enough to make it totter, but not quite enough to make it fall.

“In what? Fighting? You don’t look like a fighter either,” Pinkie said, taking her turn. Her results were mostly consistent with her others. “More like a reader. Or maybe a lover.”

"A reader I can see," Twilight said, managing a spare, "...but a lover? What do you mean by that?"

“I dunno! You just seem like the type to argue for peace instead of going: rawr! Me smash!” Pinkie rolled her ball down the aisle, earning her a strike. She immediately cheered and jumped in the air for joy. “Yay! Go me!”

"Well done!" Twilight said brightly. "And... I suppose that's one way of looking at it? I mean, something like the Horizon tournament is one thing, but... I guess I've always been one to believe the quill being mightier than the sword, as it were." She managed another spare, looking deep in thought again.

“But… you can fight. I mean, you helped me kick Trixie’s butt! You had some serious mojo back there,” Pinkie said, pointing a finger at Twilight.

"I can," Twilight acknowledged, a little uncomfortably. "I don't necessarily like to."

“Weeeeell, you ever thought that people might fight for fun?” Pinkie asked.

"Well, yes, of course. Isn't that what the whole tournament is about? And clearly you have fun with it. I don't think Trixie was doing it for fun, though..."

“Nope! So it’s the best of both worlds! You get to learn and do something that’s fun, but then you can use that to defend yourself too. Pretty neat, huh?” Pinkie stood with her back to the alley and bowled through her legs, getting a solid score in the process.

Twilight nodded and gave Pinkie an easy smile. "... You're really good at this," she said, grabbing her ball again. "A lot better than I am, that's for sure..."

“You just gotta focus,” Pinkie said, narrowing her eyes and standing behind Twilight, resting her hands on her shoulders. “Become one with the ball, and guide it on a careful journey. Too slow and you won’t hit a thing. Too fast and it’ll go out of control. It needs to be just right.”

Twilight furrowed her brow and gave Pinkie a glance over her shoulder, but said nothing. She closed her eyes, took another deep breath... and managed a strike.

She didn't open her eyes until she heard the clatter of the falling pins. "Uh, whoa. ... I didn't even... I hadn't even considered the angle or force... it just happened."

“Exactly! Well done!” Pinkie gave her friend a hug from behind. “Some things you can’t just calculate. Ya gotta feel ‘em out for yourself, no equations added.”

Twilight giggled, a little weakly. "Um... Thanks. I'll try to remember that. You might have to remind me a few times, though."

“That’s fine. It’s not often we get something completely right the first time!” Pinkie stepped up to bowl, gaining herself another spare. “Practice makes perfect!” she sang.

Twilight grabbed her ball and eyed the pins . "...Yeah, you can say that again."

“Practice makes perfect,” Pinkie eagerly repeated. Twilight groaned good naturedly, and the game continued. Twilight’s score gradually increased as the game went on, and she managed to get some good bowls in, but Pinkie’s experience won the day. No one would have thought that though, given from how much Pinkie was congratulating Twilight for her efforts. They celebrated by grabbing some ice cream and sitting outside in the green, lush park.

Twilight seemed uncertain what to say now, though she was certainly enjoying her ice cream. "I... Thanks," she managed, glancing briefly in Pinkie's direction before eyeing the sky.

“For what?” Pinkie asked, licking her chocolate ice cream.

"... For taking me bowling. For treating me like..." She paused. "... Well. Treating me like a real person. I mean, sometimes I can be kind of snappy and a know-it-all. And being as close as I am to the Princess, well, a lot of people don't..." She trailed off again. "This whole thing has been kind of surreal. In a good way. I wasn't sure what I'd find when I went looking for someone named 'Pinkie Pie,' but this... I don't know. I'm being weird, I guess," she mumbled.

“Good thing I’m weird too, huh?” Pinkie replied, slinging an arm around Twilight’s shoulders.

“Well, yes, but you’re weird in a different way. A better way.” She paused. “... Okay, maybe kind of an inexplicable way. But it’s not the same thing.”

Pinkie smiled, hugging Twilight with one arm. “You’re just a cute li’l goldfish out of her bowl, aren’t ya?”

“... Was it that obvious?” Twilight mumbled.

“Yeah. I just never said anything until now ‘cause I didn’t wanna embarrass ya,” Pinkie stated.

“Well… thank you, I suppose,” the mage replied, and then huffed. “I just… I’ve spent so much of my life surrounded by books. I’m still getting used to being surrounded by people. I mean, of course Spike counts, but… he’s Spike. It’s different. Even though I guess it shouldn’t be? Argh…”

“Spike’s Spike. I’m Pinkie.” She rolled onto her back, pointing her foot out towards a woman behind her with short red hair. “That’s Roseluck and you’re you.” Pinkie put down her leg, but remained staring up the sky. “We’re all different, Twilight. That’s what makes life exciting. And that’s why you should meet lots of new people!”

The thought seemed to make her uncomfortable nevertheless, the mage’s gaze turning distant. “... I guess.”

Pinkie seemed to notice it without ever so much as looking at the woman. She lightly tapped the back of Twilight’s head with her foot. “What’s wrong?”

“Before I came here, the Princess…” Twilight paused. “... It’s a really long story. The short version is… I’m not good with people. The Princess asked me to try, and she said she knew I could do it, and it’s not like I doubt her, because she’s the Princess, but… I…” Another, deeper pause. Twilight’s expression darkened. “I hate not being able to put things into words.”

Pinkie wrapped her limbs around Twilight’s waist—her legs, not her arms. Oddly enough it still felt comfortable. “You can’t really say you’re bad with people either. I think you’re great! But that should be clear by now.”

“Yes, but… Why?” Twilight asked, regarding Pinkie’s bizarre but not unwelcome hug, intrigued if still somewhat discouraged.

“For a smart person, you sure ask dumb questions,” Pinkie snarked. She elaborated anyways. “I don’t meet a lot of people as smart as you are, and that’s pretty interesting. And I get the sense you’re trying. You’re definitely not cold, but you’re not totally warm either. You’re getting there though and I really respect that.”

“Well… You have a lot to do with that. I mean, if the first thing you’d done had been… I don’t know, running off to prepare me a party, that might have been weird, since I didn’t know you. But you… Well, what I’m saying is, thanks for… kind of being willing to approach me at my pace, I guess?”

“No problem!” Pinkie laughed, although it was a little awkward. “I actually kinda did consider throwing a party but then I remembered everyone’s different, so slowed myself right down before I could get carried away.”

“There’s nothing wrong with parties,” Twilight said, a little hastily. “I just… think it might have been weird first thing, you know?” She gave Pinkie a look. “... How often do you throw parties for people you’ve just met?”

“Errrrrr… used to do that a lot, back in the day. Then I calmed down some, soooo it depends on the person.” Pinkie stuck her tongue out to lick her ice cream, only to have it topple and fall on her nose. “Oops.”

Twilight giggled slightly and gestured, the ice cream returning to the cone in a brief wisp of magic. “You’re nothing if not enthusiastic. I think… I think we may have been paired up for a reason, after all. Who knows, I guess…”

Pinkie stared off into space, her gaze becoming unfocused. “It’s like it was meant to be. Destiny…” Then in a sudden burst, she swallowed the rest of her ice cream in one inhalation. She rolled backwards and landed back on her feet. “But I really don’t care much for that! I live in the here and now!”

Twilight stood. Her ice cream had mostly melted by now in her distraction, but she attempted to enjoy what was left. “I think a little perspective is helpful, personally, but… I can’t deny that your philosophy works well for you.”

“Whatever makes my friends smile!” Pinkie said, her voice full of cheer. “Ya wanna head back to your place now?”

“Oh… Well, there’s not a lot to do there, but… yes, of course, if you want.”

“Up to you!” Pinkie suddenly sported a mischievous grin. “Unless you wanted to spar?”

“Well…” Twilight seemed uncertain how to answer. “I suppose, that… is part of the reason we’re paired up…”

“Sure!” Already Pinkie was prepping up, stretching her limbs. “We’ll go to the gym. Lots of space for us there.”

“Do they have… magic-proof rooms, though? I’d rather not… break anything.”

“Like me, huh?” Pinkie wiggled her eyebrows. “I think we got some, anyways.”

“Then… It’s worth a shot, I think. Don’t you?” Twilight still looked a little nervous. “I mean… Really, when you get down to it, that’s why we’re here…”

“I think we’re here to have fun. But that’s just me!” Pinkie grabbed the collar of Twilight’s jumping, urging her to come with. “Let’s go!”

After a quick run to grab their training gear, the girls found themselves in a spacious room in the gym. Most of the floor was covered by a soft training mat, although there were no barriers like a boxing ring. It was just the mat and the whole room to play around with.

Pinkie was doing some stretches to warm up, dressed in pink leather fighting gloves and a pink vest that generously showed off her slim stomach. From the waist down she wore pink trousers with blue tassels going off from the waist. She wiggled her toes, her shoes near the wall; she wouldn’t need them for this.

Twilight had swapped out her outfit for something a little less easy to grab in the middle of a fight, a lavender T-shirt emblazoned with a six-pointed star, along with sweatpants. She had removed her shoes and settled for socks, and was standing by the wall near her stuff, doing some last-minute research from one of the books she'd brought with. She spared a glance up at Pinkie and smiled, a little nervously, before returning her attention to the text and making a few brief, sparkly gestures with her free hand.

"...and then I... okay, I think if I... yes..."

“That’s the most lackluster warm up I’ve ever seen!” Pinkie cried, flailing her arms around.

Twilight looked up at her meekly. "I... yes. Of course. I'm sorry."

She put the book down, hesitated for a moment, self-consciousness written broad-stroke across every inch of her face, and awkwardly began to stretch.

“What’s wrong?” Pinkie asked, suddenly lying down before Twilight.

"..." Twilight stared at Pinkie, a blush on her cheeks, before standing, leaning against the wall, and sliding down it into a sitting position. "... I'm just... nervous."

Pinkie couldn’t help it. She giggled. Just a little. “Why are ya nervous? It’s all fun and games here!”

"I don't know," Twilight admitted after a noticeable pause. "I shouldn't be. I guess I just... this is different. All of this is different. And I'm still trying to wrap my head around different. Not bad!" she added hastily. "Never bad! I just... This isn't how I normally practice."

Pinkie rolled onto her stomach, resting her head on her hands. “How do you normally practice? Lots and lots of reading?”

"Research, some... practice. And I do stretch, it's just... I usually don't do it when others are watching. Which is stupid, isn't it?" she added immediately, well on her way to full-on babbling. "I mean, you had no problems with it. I shouldn't either. But I'm not as flexible as you are, and I'm not..." She trailed off, blush brightening at her unfinished thought. "... never mind."

“Are you…” Pinkie raised an eyebrow, gazing down to her bare stomach. She began to pat it rhythmically, like a drum. “I can change, if you want.”

"No! I mean... You don't have to. That's not..." She hid her face in her hands and groaned. "Now I'm giving completely the wrong impression. Stupid, stupid Twilight..."

“Use your words.” Pinkie twirled a finger lazily in the air. “You’ve got loads!”

"Well... Okay. You are... pretty," Twilight managed, finally, "but that's not... what's bothering me, so much. Or... it is, but indirectly?" She seethed at herself for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I just feel like... all this time, I've prided myself on knowing things. But now I'm face to face with you, and I realize I don't know things. Simple things. Like... how to warm up before a fight."

“Pride comes before a fall, right?” Pinkie sat up, putting her hands in her lap. “Nobody knows everything. Imagine how big of a brain you’d need for that. It’d be so big it might explode out of their ears!”

"Brain size doesn't actually correlate to knowledge capacity," Twilight responded automatically. "At least not in any meaningful sense."

Pinkie scratched her chin, apparently lost in her world of thought. “Maybe that’s what ear wax is… leaking brain juice… eeeeew.”

Twilight winced. "... Um. ... Pinkie?"

Pinkie fluttered her eyelids a few times. “Yes, Twilight?”

"...Never mind," Twilight said finally.

Pinkie edged closer to her. “No, c’mon! Tell me!”

"... I think we're getting sidetracked."

“Does that mean you wanna fight now?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight tensed again. "... I mean... that is why we're here."

“I can go easy on ya, if you want,” Pinkie stood up, giving Twilight a mischievous, competitive little grin.

"...Well, let's just... warm up, first." Twilight stood. "Just in case. We don't want to hurt each other."

“But I’ve done my warming up!” Pinkie flipped, rolled and cartwheeled all away around the room. Not once did she show any signs of slowing down or tiring out.

"I meant... let's both agree to go easy on each other until we know what we're capable of," Twilight said, and wilted slightly at Pinkie's show of endurance.

“Okey dokey!” Pinkie said, jumping up into the air and performing a rapid triple flip, before landing on her feet at one side of the mat.

Twilight took a deep breath and settled on the opposite side, standing with her legs slightly apart and her hands spread at her sides. She swallowed nervously before giving Pinkie a hopeful grin. "... Shall we?"

“Let’s go!” Pinkie cartwheeled forward, meeting the distance to Twilight. Back on her feet, she started to move around rhythmically, never sticking to an exact pattern. After a while of this ‘dancing’, she bent her knees and swung a leg at Twilight’s feet, hoping to sweep her.

She hadn't tried to strike yet, trying and failing to spot the pattern she realized didn't actually exist in Pinkie's movement; she had just enough sense to move out of the way of the sweep, though Pinkie's leg caught one of her ankles anyway, sending her tumbling face-first down toward the mat.

She was already gesturing as she fell, though, and with a bright flash she reappeared, staggering but on her feet, behind Pinkie, hands already raised to start another arcane gesture.

Pinkie twisted around and threw out a hand, attempting to slap Twilight’s hands away from her position.

She spun away, trailing magic behind her hands. Her wrist moved as if she were throwing something at the ground, and she vanished into thin air. Not a second later, however, two identical Twilights leapt in from the sides, open palms drawn back and glowing, ready to strike.

Pinkie blinked. “Whoa, freaky.” She kept up her movement, keeping her eyes on the two Twilight’s. Her body was practically twitching, waiting for them to strike.

Both moved at the same time, striking from two opposite sides, movements too symmetrical and perfect to be entirely natural. Pinkie grinned, then went onto her hands and spun around rapidly. Her legs were stretched out, making her a revolving spinning fighter of… doom or something.

The clones shattered into violet dust, sparkling and humming with the weird tinny sound magic had. Out of the dust came the real Twilight, hands wreathed in energy and moving to strike.

Pinkie raised one hand, tipping over onto one leg and then finding her ground on the other. She them jumped up and brought her leg down in a great big arc, hurtling for Twilight. The mage crossed her arms. A violet barrier blocked Pinkie's blow and sent a weird, warbling clang echoing around the room; it shattered, sending out a wave of force that pushed back against the capoerista.

Pinkie was knocked back with a yelp, tumbling over the floor. She sprung up fairly quickly, brushing down her arms, a pout evident on her face. “Magic’s so cheap.”

Twilight hesitated, and then relaxed, collapsing onto the mat and looking apologetic. "...I... I'm sorry..."

Pinkie growled, the blood pumping through her system, her eyes fully alert. “Where’s your competitive edge, girl?!” She started sprinting at Twilight at a dangerous speed, reaching her in next to no time. But before she collided into the woman, she jumped over her, did a flip, then lashed out with her legs when she was behind Twilight.

Twilight squeaked and teleported in a panic, ending up on the far side of the mat from Pinkie, the tips of her hair smoking and singed. "Hey!"

Pinkie landed on her hand and managed to balance herself and get back onto her legs. “That’s the spirit!”

"I thought you were actually upset!" Twilight pouted. "No fair..."

“That’s what a fight is about, Twilight!” Pinkie threw a few quickfire jabs into the air. “Passion. A rush of emotions you can barely contain! Happiness, anger, the sweet sweet taste of victory like honey with sugar! There’s nothing else like it! Gets the ol’ blood pumping, if nothing else.”

Twilight actually smiled at that. Pinkie's enthusiasm was infectious, certainly. "... I don't think I've ever looked at it that way before."

“Because you read books all the time! There’s more to life than whatcha read. Books can only ever tell you a couple of straight things.” Pinkie started walking on her hands for a few paces. “Life’s full of so many surprises, nothing you could ever keep to one book.”

"... I think I've got a lot to learn," Twilight mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. She watched Pinkie with a combination of apprehension and fascination. "... Your balance is superb."

“Thanks!” Pinkie leant forward, placing her feet back on the ground, then flipping herself right side up like normal. “Buuuuut we’re not quite done yet.” She took a deep breath then proclaimed in a booming voice: “This isn’t even my final form! Muwahahaha!”

Twilight gave her an odd but amused look. “Is that so?” she asked, fighting a laugh.

“Nope!” Pinkie reached into her pocket and put something on her upper lip. It was a small, black fake moustache. “There we go.” She twirled it menacingly.

“I guess I’ll really have to give it my all now, huh?” Twilight asked, quirking a brow. “...Why do you even have a fake moustache?”

“Why don’t you have a fake moustache, Twilight?” She tutted, still twirling the artificial facial hair.

“I…” She paused, bringing a hand to her chin and appearing to give the matter some serious thought. “... I really don’t know.”

“Think fast!” Pinkie cried, sprinting forward and then sliding onto her leg, her foot hurtling right towards Twilight’s ankle.

Pulled somewhat violently from her thoughts, the mage didn’t really have time to plan or react, ending up facedown on the mat for her troubles, muttering something to herself. Pinkie followed up by rolling over onto Twi’s back, whispering into her ear. “Hi.”

Twilight mumbled something that was probably “Hi to you too.”

Then Pinkie slapped Twilight’s face. And again, from the other side. Again and again, she slapped Twilight in the face, not letting up until Twilight either dozed off or called uncle.

… Or vanished in a flash of violet light, leaving Pinkie the only one lying on the mat. Twilight reappeared a short distance away, rubbing at her cheeks and looking irritated. “Alright. No more distractions. This time we’re actually going to spar.”

Pinkie sat up, looking very much like an eager puppy. “Oo! Scary!”

She deflated somewhat. “It’s hard to stay mad at you when you look like that.”

“Exactly!” At that moment Pinkie leapt forward on all fours, then jumped up, arching her back and flinging a leg up at Twilight’s chin. This one Twilight managed to avoid, bending back just out of the way, sending a glowing palm strike toward Pinkie in return. She connected, sending Pinkie stumbling back, although it wasn’t long before she had gotten into a rhythm again, anticipating Twilight’s next move.

The other palm came in low, aiming for Pinkie’s jaw. It wasn’t a disciplined move; there wasn’t a lot of discipline in the way Twilight fought. Whether it was because of her irritation or otherwise was hard to tell.

Pinkie met the palm with her own, meeting it firmly halfway. “High-five!” She giggled, then grabbed Twilight’s arm with her free hand and yanked her forward. Lifting herself off the ground, she prepared to kick Twilight away the moment she got within range.

The blow struck Twilight in the chest, her eyes widened in surprise as her arms went limp. She squinted her eyes shut and hopped back, sucking in a breath. She observed Pinkie for a moment, subconsciously putting her hands in her pockets as she did so.

Pinkie took the moment to unleash chaos, jumping off the ground with one foot and spinning around with her other leg extended, becoming a whirlwind of deadly force.

Twilight hopped back again, backpedaling away, trying to come up with a plan, trying to think. There had to be something here. Something she could use, if she could just pause for a moment.

The girl had shown incredible balance and recovery, there was no doubt there. Someone with a less keen eye would have never noticed, but, as Twilight thought back to the dozens of swings and kicks headed her way, there was something there.

Pinkie skipped forward, graceful like a gazelle, and landed right in front of Twilight, her fists clenched. Then her arms shot forward, becoming a complete blur of multiple fast punches and strikes.

Twilight put her arms in front of her face and rolled with the punches. Her instincts said a repulsion spell, but the rules of engagement stopped her from going through. Instead, a thought came to her.

She always, even during her acrobatics, lead with her right foot. Meaning her left was where she favored balance. That was something she could work with. The instant Twilight saw the woman throwing a right-handed punch, she sprung to action, hooking her leg around Pinkie’s right, and pushing her on the shoulder just as a blow struck Twilight’s cheek. She used her weight, and toppled Pinkie over, landing on top of her. Twilight sat on the girl’s chest, pinning Pinkie’s arms down with her thighs.

“Kneel?” she asked, raising a fist up and using her hand to pin Pinkie’s forehead back to the ground.

Pinkie blinked a couple of times, her upper body completely trapped. “Uh, wowza, Twilight. Good move.” She giggled to herself quietly. “You just forgot oooone part of the equation.”

She grunted with effort, putting all her weight onto her back. Then she lifted her legs and wrapped them around Twilight’s neck, her ankles pressing against the woman’s skin.

Twilight swore, reaching up to her neck and trying to pry the woman’s ankles free before she started choking. Having no luck, she did the next best thing: she squeezed her thighs tightly against Pinkie’s neck, wrapping her knees together and intending to choke her out.

Pinkie gritted her teeth, her nostrils flared as she desperately tried to get more air in. “Won’t… beat… me!” she managed to splutter out, somehow, and tightened her choke on Twilight.

Twilight said nothing, holding her breath as best as she could. She flailed, delivering weak blows to everywhere in arms reach, Pinkie’s ankles, her shins, her thighs, one of her only real strong blows hit the woman square on the asscheek, but nothing seemed to work.

Pinkie’s face turned as pink as her hair as she tried to stay conscious. The ass smack did make her smirk, although the expression was very fleeting. Eventually all the intense concentration on her face disappeared, her eyes slowly closing as her brain was temporarily starved of oxygen.

Twilight’s own eyes rolled back as she struggled to breath, but to no avail. She finally went limp, collapsing back on top of Pinkie, completely subdued.

Twilight woke up with a groan, her head swearing indignantly at her, aching worse than the days after she attended a new years celebration at Canterlot. She took in a weak breath and shifted, vaguely aware of the heat below her. Another moment, and she came to fully, realizing she was laying on top of Pinkie. Twilight felt heat come to her face and quickly rolled off, rising to a stand to look over the woman.

Pinkie was lying there, her mouth open and her tongue peeking out to the side. A bit of drool was trickling down the side of her mouth. That probably meant she was fine, just out of it. Out of curiosity, Twilight squatted down next to her and gave a small poke at Pinkie’s shoulder. She mumbled something incoherent, stirring.

“Pinkie,” Twilight called out quietly, giving another poke to her shoulder. “Come on.”

“Five more minutes…” Pinkie groaned, turning onto her side. “Gotta save the Cupcake Princess…”

Twilight smiled down at her, then her smile turned devious. She employed a trick Spike did to her too many times to count. Reaching over, Twilight pinched Pinkie’s nose and covered the girl’s mouth with a hand.

What Spike had never done, however, was nearly eating her fingers. Twilight stared down at Pinkie, tilting her head as the girl wrapped her mouth around most of Twilight’s digits and took to licking them like a child licking frosting. Twilight giggled on reflex at the strange, tickling feeling, then pulled her hand free before shaking her head.

“Pinkie,” she repeated, this time a little more urgently.

Pinkie rubbed at an eye, letting out a long, tired moan. She squinted up at Twilight, the lights on the ceiling almost blinding her. “Oh, hi Twilight… guess ya won, right?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “We were both out of it. I just woke up first.” Pausing, she wiped her slobber-covered fingers onto her shirt. “You ok?”

“Groggy,” Pinkie said, sitting upright. “You?”

“A headache, but I’m good other than that.”

“Well, I think we’re done here.” Pinkie ruffled Twilight’s hair a little, standing upright. “You wanna get some grub?”

“Oh? Food?” She ran a palm over her hair, calming down the wild frizzles Pinkie had graced her with. “Sure.”

“Great!” Pinkie hopped up onto her feet and went over to pick up her gear, not bothering to change clothes. “Ready?”

“Are you sure you should go out like that?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie blinked, looking down at herself, then back at Twi. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“Well, it’s just… you’re,” Twilight cleared her throat, looking at Pinkie’s bare stomach. “you know…”

The fighter hummed in thought, running a hand over her stomach. It felt a little sticky, sweat from the previous fight caking her skin. “You’re right. I should totally shower first!” She headed towards the door, smiling at Twilight. “Thanks for the reminder!”

Twilight paused, looking down at her own clothes. She was due for a shower too. And the gyms, they had multiple showers. Didn’t they? She put a hand to her chin in thought before giving a determined nod, grabbing her own gear. “Wait up, Pinkie, I’m coming too.”

Pinkie put a hand on the door handle, twisting and opening it. “Okey dokey!” she chirped. “Just don’t drop the soap. I forgot to bring my own,” she said, slipping out of the room.

“Sure.” She took a step towards the door, swallowing. She had never really been in a gym shower before, and the thought of being so close to one now was kinda nerve-wracking. But her curiosity got the better of her and she tossed open the door, stepping inside to answer her questions.

It was hot. As in the temperature. The room had already filled up with steam and she could hear the sound of running water. There were also bubbles coming out of one cubicle. Lots of bubbles.

“Never forget my Double Bubble Trouble Liquid!” Pinkie sang.

“Oh boy did I make a mistake,” Twilight said to herself. It was a situation. Pinkie had chosen the stall closest to the door, so Twilight would have to walk by the woman in order to get to her own cubicle. And that meant…

She swallowed, looking past the stall and frowning. There wasn’t a bench to put her stuff down on. The only bench was right by the door. Which meant…

You got this, she thought, nodding. Just like pulling off a bandaid. A social bandaid. That makes sense? Twilight mulled it over before nodding. Totally makes sense. One hundred percent. Just go wild and it won’t feel awkward at all. Quick.

With that in mind she exhaled, throwing her shirt off and dropping her pants, then doing the same for her underwear and top. She grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around her petite figure, then took a step forward, repeating the mantra Don’t look left, don’t look left with every step towards the steamy cubicle. Twilight stepped by, smiling in satisfaction as the mantra worked. And then she looked left. She froze, realizing in a blind panic that the plan wasn’t going as… planned, and starred in alarm at the sight as she desperately tried to reboot her senses.

Pinkie was simply standing there, staring at her. Her curly hair was completely flattened down, now utterly straight and, Twilight noted, extremely long. Thankfully a good amount of foam and bubbles were covering her… questionable parts, although she was still far more revealed than Twilight might have liked. She also had a bubble beard going for her.

Twilight looked at Pinkie. Pinkie looked at her. Twilight looked at Pinkie. Pinkie looked at her. Twilight swallowed, trying to think of anything to help counter the heat flooding her face, willing herself once more to action. And she sprang to the opportunity, valiantly choosing to look at Pinkie. Pinkie looked at her.

“Lot of bubbles,” she finally said, her voice nearly cracking.

“It’s like you’ve never seen them before or something,” Pinkie said, flicking a strand of hair from her face. “There’s a free cubicle next to mine, silly. Just ask if you need anything!”

“Next to yours?” she stammered out. “I was going to go to the one on the end. Which I should do. Uh. Now.” Finally breaking free from the spell, she turned her head forward and took a step, landing on her foot wrong and falling head first into the ground, her towel coming undone and her butt sticking ungainly up in the air.

“Twilight!” Pinkie gasped, going to her side and kneeling down. She cradled her head, looking over it anxiously for any bleeding. “You okay?!”

Twilight looked up at Pinkie for an uncomprehending moment, before realizing her compromising position. She shifted, sitting her ass down on her legs and staring up at Pinkie.

Twilight looked at Pinkie. Pinkie looked at her. Twilight looked at Pinkie. Pinkie looked at her.

“You’re losing your bubbles,” Twilight finally said, pointing to the woman’s chest and faux beard.

Pinkie peered down at herself and shrugged, wiping away the beard. “Guess you’re right.” Then she went forward and wrapped up Twilight in a warm hug. “I’m just glad you’re okay. That looked nasty.”

Twilight’s face turned crimson and she held her hands out to either side as Pinkie’s… pies, pressed into her face. She shut her eyes and turned her head away. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” she quickly uttered out.

“You’re sure?” Pinkie released her hold over Twilight, putting a hand on her forehead. “I know it’s a steamy shower ‘n’ all, but you’re boiling!”

“Gee, I wonder why?” she questioned, still refusing to meet Pinkie’s body with her gaze. “Maybe it’s because this is the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happend to me, and that’s counting the time I got caught spying on my brother’s friend when he was changing.”

Pinkie’s brow furrowed. “But why? Why’s this so embarrassing? We’re just taking a shower.”

“We’re naked. On the ground. And as nice looking as you are, if someone walks in here, they’re gonna get the wrong idea!”

“You say that like you’re ashamed of your body, or something,” Pinkie said, absently poking Twilight’s breast, like a child just discovering a brand new thing. “And if someone does walk in, we can just tell them the truth, or we can joke about it and it’ll be funny!”

Twilight let out a small groan at the touch, her face the consistency of a tomato as she shivered. “T-that’s not the point! And how can you joke about this?”

“Why can’t I joke about this?” Pinkie rubbed off the rest of the bubbles on her chest, completely exposing her breasts. “See? I’m fine with my bazungas. I think they’re kinda silly! And they have lots of names, boobs, knockers, titties, hooters, muchachas…” She kept going, listing many exotic and downright strange names for the lumps of flesh on her chest.

“Am I dead yet?” Twilight wondered, staring up at Pinkie as she cupped one of her large orbs. “Look… they’re nice, Pinkie, but don’t you think you’re taking this too lightly? I mean… most people tend to… they get nervous about e-exposing themselves. Especially to people they just met. And, I mean, I’m a… you know.”

“I never really got why people get nervous about it, though. Don’t get me wrong, I only stripped once during a football match, but it’s not the thing I tend to do. But if it happens, it just happens, y’know?” She smiled. “And you’re someone I trust, so you can stare as muuuuch as you want, free of charge!” Blinking, she hastily added, “Wait, that makes me sound like a hooker.”

“A hooker would involve paying in exchange for coitus, though. I think you mean a stripper. And I…” she put a hand to her flustered face, trying to regain her thoughts. “You’re really pretty. But we’re both, you know…” She raised her brows and rolled her wrist. “Women.”

“Yeah. So?”

“It’s unusual. At least in this culture. Less so in other regions.” She swallowed. “If something were to happ—not that I expect anything to happen, but, if. It’s, uh, you don’t see it often,” Twilight stammered out, blinking. Despite her words, she continued to stare at Pinkie, unbelieving at how inept she was sounding despite her normally cool and collected tone.

“Let people think what they wanna think. If something happens, well, it’s not healthy to fight what’s natural, right?” Pinkie smacked her lips together a few times. “For the record, I’ve kissed both men and women. Even a midget once! He was a man though, but I just wanted to point out that I have indeed kissed a midget.”

“I’ve never really kissed…” Twilight let the sentence finish and she looked away, now more embarrassed more about that fact than about their nude bodies. “I don’t really get out often. Or didn’t. U-until now.”

“Then maybe you should be a bit daring. There’s a first time for everything, y’know!” She reached over, rubbing Twilight’s head. “Maybe you should stop thinking there all the time and think…” Running her index finger down the woman’s chest, she stopped right at her heart. “There!”

“S-so just go in blind? That seems kind of, rash, doesn’t it? And who likes rashes, right? So itchy,” Twilight stammered out with a nervous grin, a mixture of terror and elation on her face.

“It’s not blind if you’re following your feelings, you goof,” Pinkie replied. “My feelings are telling me I should help you open up a little more. ‘Cause you really are pretty, inside and out, and I’d like to see more of that.”

“I’m not really pretty,” Twilight said. “But thank you.” She swallowed, looking up at the woman. “Know what I’m feeling right now?”

“Yeeeeeeeah?” Pinkie asked expectantly.

Twilight’s hand reached up towards Pinkie’s face, hesitated, then gave a small brush through her hair. She leaned up, paused, then launched forward, giving Pinkie a hard kiss on the lips.

A strand of Pinkie’s hair shot straight up like a spring as she was totally taken off guard. Once the initial shock of the moment had worn off, she gave Twilight a sultry look before closing her eyes and replying in kind.

Twilight took Pinkie’s hand and guided it, resting it against Twilight’s modest breast, her nipple as hard as a small stone, pressing against Pinkie’s palm. As pleasure washed over her from where the woman’s hand rested, Twilight came to her senses, pushing the woman back and scooting away in one motion.

“I, uh…” Twilight trailed off, the sudden spark of arousal she held gone in an instant. “That was… I didn’t mean…”

Pinkie just licked her lips. “That was fun! But… yeah, I hear you.” She stood up, lathering some bubbles over her breasts. “That kinda fun does have to be responsible.”

“Why’d I do that?” Twilight asked herself, putting a hand to her head. She didn’t ask why it felt right, though. That was another series of questions she’d have to think about.

“Maybe because you wanted it?” Pinkie said, turning her back to Twilight and resuming her washing. She turned her head to look at her. “I can’t answer that for you, really.”

Twilight rose, still looking at the floor, completely absorbed in thought. “I mean, you’re pretty, especially in the classical sense. Well-proportioned with full breasts slightly above the norm—yet not large enough to be overwhelming—hips wide enough to cradle, beautiful hair and eyes. And a fantastic head of hair,” she said, putting a finger to her chin as she stepped into the shower, washing herself and still hypothesizing. “But even though you fit traditional beauty standards, it makes no sense for me to find you attractive, considering I never wanted to engage in sexual congress with a woman before—” her eyes widened at the words and she shook her head, perturbed. “Not that I’d want that now. I don’t. But, that’s all lust boils down to, and, I mean, that’s part of what I feel at the moment. I think.” She took the soap next to her and lathered up. “But, it’s confusing. All the women I’ve been surrounded by and I’ve never felt anything like that. And, I mean, I’ve looked at pictures of boys before and mas—”

Catching herself again, Twilight sighed. “It just doesn’t make sense. Maybe in griffon society, as their species can gravitate to homosexual behaviors in order to fight against a population growth that can’t allow their colony to be self-sufficient.”

“Twilight?” Pinkie said. “You’re in my shower.” She waggled a finger at the small amount of space between them both.

“O-oh!” Twilight exclaimed, recoiling and hopping out of the cubicle, stepping a hair to the side to the unoccupied one. “I’m—I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s ‘kay!” Pinkie chirped, running her hands through her hair. “But I think you’re overthinking this a bit much, yeah?”

“How do you figure?” Twilight replied. “I mean, I’m more than a remote with an on/off switch, surely there’s a reason why I suddenly find you intriguing, a base cause.”

“Why do you have to find out the answer to everything?” Pinkie asked. “Why can’t you just live and let live? There’s fun in mysteries too.”

“There’s fun in mysteries because you can solve them in the end. A murder mystery novel with no conclusion would be horrible, Pinkie.”

“Yeah there is! ‘Cause what if they only think they’ve got the murder and then, just before the happy ending, they find…” She let out a huge gasp and bellowed, “A bloody knife on the kitchen counter! Oooooo!”

“How did the murder weapon go unnoticed for so long if that’s the case? Surely the world’s greatest detective would have noticed it on the kitchen counter.”

“Because it wasn’t there before! Duh,” Pinkie muttered, rolling her eyes. “And anyway, don’t you like spooky ghost stories and stuff?”

“There are no such things as ghosts,” Twilight countered, actually looking across the divider to shake her head at Pinkie. “They’re illogical.”

Pinkie rested her head on the divider, it pushing up her cheeks a bit. “Don’t be such a killjoy, Twilight. C’mon.”

“Am I being a killjoy?” she asked, biting a lip. “Sorry. But come on, they’re silly. What’s really scary isn’t ghosts at all.”

“Sometimes it’s fun being scared! Like when you’re about to go into a haunted house with your friends for the night, ‘cause you all dared each other to and none of you wanna chicken out,” Pinkie said.

“Sure, being scared can be fun. But then you realize that you were this close,” she held up a finger and thumb a hair’s width away from one-another. “To turning in a term paper late.”

Pinkie just stared at Twilight, utterly baffled.

“But then you get it in, five minutes before its due-date, and everything’s alright.” She laughed, clutching her fists to her chin. “It gives you a rush.”

“I think we might have different ideas about what a rush is,” Pinkie replied, tilting her head to one side.

“D-do we?” she stammered out. “I thought they were similar.”

“Well I’m not really into doing papers… they’re kinda boring work for me. That’s why I dropped out of school stuff ‘cause it never really worked for me,” Pinkie said, absently running a finger across the divider.

Twilight froze, her jaw dropped in shock. “You… you dropped out of school?!” she asked.

“Mhm,” Pinkie said, sighing through her nose. “I wasn’t very good at it. The social part, yeah, but when it came to buckling down and staring at papers…”

“Oh no. That’s only because your teachers didn’t make it fun.” She reached forward, grasping Pinkie’s hand. “Everyone needs an education, Pinkie.”

Pinkie frowned, pouting. “I’m not dumb, if that’s what you’re saying.”

“Of course not. I’m sure you’re smart in your own way. But…” She squeezed the girl’s hand. “You got to let me help you. I’ll teach you what you need to know.”

“But why do I need to know everything?” Pinkie put a hand on her own heart, even if Twilight couldn’t see it. “All I need is in my heart. I’m happy, so that’s all that matters, right?”

“But there’s so many neat things in history! So many exciting things in science!” She stared at Pinkie, smiling. “The beauty you see in classical art. Knowing about those things can make you happy. I know they do me.”

Pinkie looked down, humming thoughtfully to herself, while her thumb traced Twilight’s palm. “Um… I guess you can show me things. I mean, I’ve been taking you to places, after all.”

“Great!” Twilight exclaimed, her smile turning into a full grin. “Then it’s a date!” She paused, nervously laughing. “Well, not a date, but more like a certain time is the definition I mean. I know you wouldn’t be interested in a date date, but I just meant, you know, we can meet up and I can show you things I think you’d like.”

“Twilight,” Pinkie said, her tone serious. “You just snogged me minutes ago. What makes you think I wouldn’t be interested in a date date?”

She felt heat come to her cheeks. “Wow. Um, ok. Point taken. In that case, how about a date after this instead of a meal?” She shrugged. “I mean, I guess both of them would involve food, but this one maybe I’d get to know you better.” She scratched her head with her free hand. “I guess I’d do the same if it was a more romantic setting or not.”

“It’s a deal!” Pinkie exclaimed, poking Twilight on the nose. “Well, a date. But you know what I mean. You want us to get ready for it or would you rather I keep showing off my tummy?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“It’s a nice stomach,” she admitted. “But I like your butt best.” Twilight blinked. “Did I really just say that? Uh, anyway, w-we should get ready.”

“Okey dokey lokey! I got some dresses lying around somewhere. When do you want me to pick you up?” Pinkie asked.

“Any time’s fine. Seven?”

“Lucky seven works for me!” she answered cheerfully.

“Great!” Twilight exclaimed. Her mind frantically went to a book in one of her bags, the recluses’ guide to social interaction. It had a chapter on dates, one she intended to read until she had it memorized. “Anything I should wear or… something?”

“Depends how formal you want to be! If it’s gonna just be a casual thing, wear whatever you want,” Pinkie said, nodding. “As long as you look nice. But that shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

“You look nice with your hair like that,” Twilight blurted out. “It’s nice poofy too, I like both, both are really nice, but maybe, sometime…”

“Yeeeeeees?” Pinkie drawled out.

“You could wear it down,” she said. “Sometime. And if you think of something for me to do. I can, you know.” She kicked the concrete floor. “That’s how this works, right? Kind of like a business deal, really.”

“Oh, you’re fine as you are, silly. But you can surprise me, if you want!” Pinkie took a strand of her hair, running it in between her fingers. “I’ll try to keep this down, but sometimes it just doesn’t agree with me.”

“Alright. I’ll look forward to it.” Twilight exhaled, turning to face the showerhead and lowering her voice. “I can’t believe that went so easy.”

“Uh, let’s see,” Twilight stammered out, speed reading through a book. “Uh, black’s a slimming color, so that’s recommended for a date.” She rose, nodding as she headed to her bag of clothes, pausing for a moment. “But then I’ll look too flat. Maybe something else.” She ran her hand through her hair, wondering why in the heck she even agreed to this. She had been a bundle of nerves ever since they had got dressed and left their separate ways, and had even considered calling Spike for advice, but had remembered at the last minute that it wasn’t like he went on dates either.

“Ok, ok, we can still do this. Uh…” She dug desperately through her bag before finally pulling out a plum-colored miniskirt. “Yeah, that should match my hair. Complement it.” Twilight shimmied it up her bare body, then zipped its back, before going to a mirror and nodding at herself.

“Alright. I look good. I guess?” She struck a pose, tilting her body forward and resting a hand on her hip. “I’d kiss me. Well, I wouldn’t kiss me because that’d be a narcissistic complex, and I don’t have a complex, unless you count a sudden attraction to the same sex one.” She exhaled, realizing she was working herself up again. “A drink of water! That’s what I need!” Turning, she tried to keep her panic in check as she power walked to the bathroom and took several cups of water to her mouth. “See? Better. Before you know it, you’ll stop talking to yourself.” Twilight nervously laughed. “Hopefully before Pinkie gets here. You don’t want to weird her out. M-more than you have already, at least.” She marched back to the bedroom and donned two fairly large-cut diamond studs and put them in her earlobes, then donned a necklace. Looking herself in the mirror once more, Twilight adjusted the pendant on her necklace until it rested comfortably by her cleavage.

“That should make it look like I have a bit more there,” she reasoned out loud, then marched back to the bathroom, putting eyeliner on. Her hands were shaking, and on her second eye, she accidentally jabbed herself. Swearing indignantly, she rubbed at it furiously with her hand. “Please don’t make my eye bloodshot,” she begged, then reached over and gave herself a line of lipstick, grateful now for Candace's brief tutelage on how to apply it.

Exhaling, she moved back to the bed, grateful for finally being ready, and collapsed onto its comfortable sheets, glancing at the clock.

Five-thirty.

“What is wrong with me?!” she asked, groaning and putting her palms to her eyes.

She spent the next hour on her bed, reading and rereading the dating chapter of her self-help book, trying to get everything memorized, when a knock finally came to her door.

“It’s open!” Twilight announced, snapping up to a sit on the bed, giving a small pat to her hair, which she had styled into a lazy—attractively lazy, she reminded herself—bun, and rested her hands in her lap.

The door opened slowly, revealing a woman that looked nothing like the one Twilight had seen the morning past. Pinkie stood there, her hair completely straight. It parted, yet not exactly in the middle, so one side of her hair almost obscured her right eye. Her clothes were more conservative than colorful; a buttoned up white shirt with a collar, coupled with a black skirt and tights, going down to grey shoes.

“Hey Twilight,” she said, twirling a strand of her hair. “Maybe this isn’t what you expected, but my mom gave it to me years ago and said it always went well with my hair like this sooo… yeah.”

“It’s not what I expected, no,” Twilight admitted, taking a few steps towards her. “But I really like it. It’s clothes more my pace. They make you look, I mean, you already looked pretty, but you’re really beautiful in them.”

“Oh, really?” Pinkie giggled sheepishly. “I was kinda worried for a bit there. I thought they made me look old.”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Twilight put a hand on her shoulder. “They make you look mature. There’s a big difference.”

Pinkie bit her lip, opening her mouth to speak but just nodded instead. “Mhm.” She then looked over Twilight, smiling. “You look amazing though.”

“I don’t know about that, but, uh, thank you,” she said, blushing. Once more acting brashly, she gave a quick peck to Pinkie’s cheek. “You put your hair down for me.”

“Ooo.” Pinkie put a hand to the spot where Twilight had kissed her. Her cheeks felt warm. “Maybe it’ll stay it that way if it means I’ll keep getting treats like that.” She grinned teasingly. “Maaaaybe.”

“I like how you look the other way too,” Twilight said, looking away bashfully. “Both ways are nice for different reasons.”

“Thanks Twilight,” Pinkie said, beaming. “It’s good to know that however I look, you’ll like it anyway. Unless I was, like, covering in mud, wrestling pigs or something.”
“Well. I’m sure you’d at least find some way to make it enjoyable,” Twilight admitted. “I mean, you seem to be good at that.”

“Oh you betcha!” Pinkie replied, then she suddenly let out a small gasp. “I need to show you my costumes! I got a chicken one and a burlesque kinda thing and loads of others!

“Are burlesques even legal around here?” Twilight asked, putting a finger to her lips in surprise.

“I don’t even know!” Pinkie exclaimed cheerfully.

“Well. I’m sure you’d look nice in all of them,” Twilight offered. “But, uh, should I ask why you have so many costumes?”

“Why not?” Pinkie asked. “Besides, you never know when you’ll need them. It’s better to have and not need than not have at all. Or something.”

“I-I see…” She really didn’t, but decided to play along. “Maybe I need to get a costume some time. See what all the fuss is about.”

“We can totally have matching costumes!” Pinkie cheered, taking Twilight’s hands and jumping up and down enthusiastically. “Be a totally awesome duo or something! Like fish and chips! Cookies and cream!”

“Right triangles and the pythagorean theorem!” Twilight exclaimed, Pinkie’s enthusiasm spreading like a virus.

“Yes! Whatever a piethagogoron is!” Pinkie shouted, throwing her arms up into the air.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll explain later when I teach you about math!” Twilight grinned. “I haven’t been this excited to teach since Spike was a little guy.”

“The only math I need is counting up how many cupcakes I’ll need, or dividing pizza slices,” Pinkie said, crossing her arms.

“What’s wrong with learning math?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.

“It’s boriiiiiiiing…” Pinkie stuck out her tongue, looking sullen.

“But what if I make it fun?” Twilight asked. “Like I said I would with art and history.”

“That’s what every teacher says about math. That it’ll be ‘fun’ and ‘cool to learn’,” Pinkie waved her hands in the air, “but it never is. It’s always the same: cold hard and boring equations.”

“Princess Celestia taught me math. It was pretty fun. And I thought it was cool to learn,” Twilight said, almost pouting. “I’m sure I could do just as good as her.”

“Maybe for you. But you’re smart so you soak up that kinda thing easily.” Pinkie stepped forward, lightly squeezing Twilight’s head. “Like some big ol’ sponge…”

She smiled at Pinkie, reaching to give a small stroke to the woman’s hair. “You’re smart too. I think that might be why I’m attracted to you, perhaps. You’re just smart in a way that’s hard to explain.”

“‘Cause I think outside the box, silly,” Pinkie said, poking Twilight on the nose. After a beat, she kissed the same spot.

Twilight’s smile turned a bit more tender. She stepped closer, wrapping the girl in a hug. “Outside the box. Exactly.”

“Aaaaaw…” Pinkie eagerly returned the embrace, resting her head on Twilight’s shoulder. She sniffed. “You smell nice.”

“I read that women tend to appreciate lavender scents in a book I read, so I used some perfume to try it out. I don’t really mind it, I guess, but I’m glad you like it.” She went with the flow, smelling Pinkie. “You smell like oranges.”

“Apparently, I normally smell like candy, so I went with something different today!” Pinkie replied. “Buuuut maybe we should get going instead of sniffing each other all evening.”

“Oh. Yes. Of course. Sorry. Let’s go,” Twilight agreed, her words a jumbled mess, but she broke away from Pinkie and took a few steps towards the door.

“I don’t have much but I found this cute little place where we can have dinner, if you want,” Pinkie said, beginning to skip along.

“Sure. Cute works. It suits you.”

“Suits you more!”

Twilight grinned. “You won’t let me get the last word here, will you?”

“Nopey dopey!” Pinkie called out, skipping down the hall, quickly gaining distance away from Twilight until she had left the building.

“Pinkie!” she exclaimed. “Wait up!”

The pair had to take a bus through town, taking them to the other side, just on the outskirts. They went past a lot of reasonable looking locales, which only Twilight more curious as to where Pinkie was taking her. Eventually the bus stopped and Pinkie got up, taking Twilight with her.

As the bus drove off, it revealed their setting. A diner. A classic looking one at that. The surrounding area was quiet, with only a few buildings here and there, all surrounded by fields of wheat and grass. Down the road led into the city, tall buildings and lights in the distance.

“Isn’t it adorable?!” Pinkie asked, staring at the diner with her bright blue eyes.

“It’s different than I’d expect for what we’re wearing.” She looked at Pinkie. “But that’s just how it goes with you, I guess.”

“Waiiiit just one second!” Pinkie held up an index finger, staring at Twilight as she crossed the road and vanished inside the diner.

“O...k?” Twilight answered the air, putting her hands in front of her and staring towards the diner.

After a minute or so, Pinkie popped her head outside the door, frantically gesturing for Twilight to come over.

Twilight looked at Pinkie then gave a slow, unsure nod her way, before walking to the door. Pinkie took her head and led her inside.

It was a simple place, mostly empty save for one or two people. The floor was covered in black and white tiles and all the booths were next to the wide windows, overlooking the fields. Despite how comfortable those red leather seats looked, Pinkie took Twilight past them, right to a stepladder leading to the roof.

Pinkie smiled encouragingly, nodding for Twilight to go first.

Twilight decided to not ask any questions for once in her life and instead just roll with it, climbing up the stepladder and hoisting herself onto the roof. She frowned down at the smudge on her clothing and gave it a small brush with her hand, blindly walking forward a step as she removed the mark.

Right before her, she saw the evening sun making its slow descent on the horizon, bathing the wheat fields in gold. The sun was streaked in colors of red, a few clouds hanging harmlessly in the sky. There was a light wind but it was warm enough that it felt pleasurable, rather than a distraction.

Pinkie followed her up, glancing at the view. “Neat, huh?”

“I love it,” Twilight agreed. She rose her hand hesitantly to Pinkie’s side and wrapped her hand around the girl. “Was this just spur of the moment?”

“Nah, I head to let the diner owners know beforehand,” Pinkie answered, sitting down with Twilight. “We’ll eat up here, y’know.”

“Sure,” Twilight agreed. She thought back to her book and coughed into her hand. “You know the sunset is as pretty as you are,” the woman said, doing her best to sound coquettish. “Except you’re around all day.”

Pinkie giggled, tracing her finger around Twilight’s jawline. “Been reading a lot of romance books, huh? ‘Cause you’re one book I couldn’t ever keep down,” she said, smirking.

She froze, blushing. Getting countered wasn’t part of the book’s steps. She shot back, blindly. “I hope you, uh, like novels. Because this book will last you all night?” Twilight finished with an unsure shrug.

Pinkie shook her head, snickering. “You’re getting there. Anywaaaay….” Perfectly timed, she took a menu from a waitress who was just coming up. She passed it to her date. “Whatcha want?”

“What do they have here?” Twilight questioned as she skimmed over the menu. “Just normal fare, or…?”

“Y’know, diner stuff!”

Twilight stopped looking over the menu and instead handed it to the waitress. “A double cheeseburger, extra onions, no tomatoes and a vanilla shake.”

“And I’ll have a double beef burger and fries and lemonade aaaaaand maybe some pancakes but we’re gonna have to see how full I am for that one,” Pinkie said, winking at the waitress as she climbed back down.

“Have you always had such a big appetite?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know how your figure stays so nice when you eat like that.”

Pinkie rolled her shoulders and patted her stomach. “I dunno! I just love the taste of good food. Once you start, it’s hard to stop! That said…” She stretched her arms, flexing them. “The fighting might help.”

“Well, whatever you do, it works. Wish I had the same sort of metabolism you do, though. Even the milkshake was a bad idea in hindsight.”

“Pfft, you’re slim enough as it is, girl,” Pinkie said, poking Twilight’s side.

“Only because I diet, usually. Today is just an exception, because I wanted to show that it was alright if you wanted to eat big in front of me.” She nodded, glad she read that book a few times to make sure it sank in.

“Well that’s cool! But…” Pinkie hopped to the side, landing behind Twilight. “Why do you even need to diet? You got a fiiiine figure,” she purred, resting her arms on Twilight’s shoulders.

She blushed, looking down at her hands. “W-well, I don’t want to get fat. And I know if I try to gain weight where I want weight to be, that won’t happen. I’d end up pear-shaped.”

“Pears aren’t so bad. In fact, they’re kinda tasty. Ever had a pear pie? Out of this world, let me tell you!” Pinkie blinked, getting back on track. “Going on a diet restricts you from so many tasty things!”

“I’ve never had a pear pie, no. And, maybe you’re right. Salad does get old fast. I suppose I can simply exercise more to even out the increased calorie intake.”

“And that’s why we’re training, right?” Pinkie asked, putting her weight on Twilight’s shoulders and cartwheeling over her, spinning around to face the woman when she sat down.

“We’re training in order to fight in the tournament.” She smiled, watching the girl move. “Having a more extravagant meal is just an added bonus. And, well, being able to try something else new too,” Twilight added, looking at Pinkie and resting a hand on the energetic woman’s knee. “That’s my favorite bonus.”

“Mine too!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Man, could you imagine if we had been paired up with anyone different? ‘Cause I don’t think they’d be as cute or smart as you. Or nearly as,” she wiggled her fingertips, “magical. Seriously, with that mojo, you’re definitely gonna win the tourney!”

“I don’t know. Celestia made the pairings, I wonder if she…” Twilight smiled at Pinkie. “She made a good call for my partner. As for winning the tournament, I have my doubts.” She narrowed her brow. “I won’t go down without a fight, but still.”

“But you’re really good! Kept me on my toes,” Pinkie said, stretching her leg and waving a foot in the air. “Not everyone can do that.”

“And you kept me guessing too,” Twilight agreed. “Still keeping me guessing even now, which is a nice change of pace.”

Pinkie adopted a smug grin, blowing onto her knuckles. “I don’t think anyone at the tourney is gonna be as unpredictable as I am.”

“A wildcard,” she said. “We work on one-another’s weaknesses, and I bet you’ll hit top five, easily.” Twilight looked towards the horizon, letting out a small noise of contentment as the colors of the sunset soothed her. “So, you’ve got a bit more experience here: what should we talk about on a date?”

Pinkie laid down on her front, resting her head on her heads and sticking her legs up in the air. “You were gonna teach me stuff, right? Or maybe you wanna talk about your life before you came here?”

“My textbooks are at the hotel, otherwise I’d love to give you a lesson.” Twilight patted Pinkie’s shin. “Maybe you could tell me about your life first?” she offered. “Mine’s dull.”