After she had composed herself slightly, Rarity kissed her wonderful friend. “Pinkie, I am so sorry! I never should have...”

Pinkie shushed her. “I know, silly. It’s okay. Do you feel better?”

Rarity nodded, smiling weakly. “I-I do. You were right. I do feel rather wonderful right now.”

Pinkie nodded along happily. “And the best part is, now you can do it again whenever you want to! Like I said, it won’t fix everything, but it sure does make you super-happy for a while!”

Rarity blanched at the very idea. “D-do it again? I don’t know... You mean me, touching myself?”

“Sure! Just do what I did!”

Rarity looked down at the floor, tapping her hooves together in worry. “But, I don’t know what you did! It felt wonderful, but I wouldn’t have a clue about how to recreate it.” She looked up into Pinkie’s eyes, trying to not waver in her conviction. “Can you- could you perhaps- show me? I could watch you do what you did to me, while you do it on y-yourself?”

Pinkie’s hair deflated in a second. This worried the fashionista, as she had previously only seen that particular event happen in reverse. It had never been explained to her, but she found the look quite striking, and truth be told, attractive.

Pinkie drew back, her face twisted in horror. “You- want to watch me?” She whispered the question, as if unwilling to believe the words.

Rarity nodded. “If it’s not too much trouble?”

“B-but somepony could come in and see us!” Pinkie was visibly trembling now; Rarity had never seen her genuinely frightened of anything, but this particular situation really seemed to scare her.

“Somepony?” Rarity said, confused by Pinkie’s sudden change of heart. Her concerns about interlopers so closely mirrored Rarity’s own, initial protests that the unicorn experienced a sense of deja vu, only with a particularly bewildering role reversal. ”Darling, we went over this: there is nopony else here, and the door is locked, you said so yourself. In fact, you were the one who locked it.” She would almost think that the pink pony was joking, if it weren’t for the look on her face. ”Whatever is wrong?”

“N-nothing, it’s fine.” She leaned back in her seat, trying not to look at Rarity. “Just... watch what I do.” Hesitantly she reached down to touch herself, but her eyes were continuously darting around the room. At the very limit of her hearing, Rarity caught a small whimper coming from her friend.

“Darling?” Rarity cocked her head and frowned, already regretting her rather indecent request. It must have been too much.

Pinkie groaned, her hooves dropping to her sides. “Oh, I can’t do this!”

Rarity bowed her head. She still wasn’t certain what was troubling her friend, but nothing could ever really be worth the apparent discomfort Pinkie was experiencing and so she decided the best thing she could do was let it rest. Rarity stood up to leave. ”I’m sorry, Pinkie, I shouldn’t have asked. Thank you for your kind assistance. I am sorry for upsetting you.”

Pinkie looked up in alarm. “No, don’t go!”

Rarity paused in her ascent, struggling to comprehend Pinkie’s change of heart as she slowly sat back down. “Pinkie... I-I don’t understand.”

“It’s—" Pinkie squirmed under Rarity’s gaze, falling silent and staring at the floor sullenly, as if she were seated under hot lights and being asked to confess to a crime.

The fashionista leaned closer, torn with indecision. She badly wanted to embrace her friend but was uncertain if that would help or hinder the situation. If only she would tell me what’s troubling her. "Pinkie," she said softly “It's just us in here, you don't have to tell me a thing if you don't want to. I never meant to alarm or upset you. Just know that, if you wish to talk about it, I’ll make time." It wasn't much, but it was the least likely to upset Pinkie further.

Pinkie remained silent for a long while, and Rarity feared that, not only had she made a faux pas, she may very well have irrevocably damaged her relationship with her friend. She was just about to offer more apologies before Pinkie spoke up.

"I'm scared..."

Rarity paused, taken aback at the unexpected statement. “Why?” she nuzzled her friend gently. “Did you not just teach me that there’s nothing to be afraid of, or disgusted by?”

Pinkie kept her gaze on the floor and sniffed a few times, clearly on the verge of crying.

“Alright, dear. If you do not want to talk about it we’ll just leave it at this.”

The earth pony looked up in alarm at the mention of leaving again. “B-but I want to help you!”

“This is clearly causing you far too much distress. I’ll figure it out on my own.”

“I-I don’t care! You need help!”

“Pinkie, I can see what you meant now, I obviously have issues I need to work past. But, frankly I’m baffled. You seem to be acting as if I’ve asked something horrible of you. It was a bit lewd to be sure, but surely not anything to upset you? A-after what we just did... I mean, is what I asked so much worse than—"

Pinkie looked at Rarity, the tears seeping out from the edges of her eyes despite her attempts to hold them back. “Don’t think like that! Please...”

Rarity looked away from her friend, ashamed with herself for having made her friend cry. “I-I’ve upset you again. I’m sorry.”

“No! It’s not your fault!” The tears were flowing freely now.

The fashionista locked eyes with her friend, trying to understand the sudden change in her demeanor. “Then whose is it? Tell me, Pinkie.”

At first, there was silence. Then two words, then more poured forth, until they began to rush from Pinkie in a torrent. “My muh-mother... she... found me doing—" Pinkie scrubbed tears from her face. "Mother called me a horrible filly!" She stifled a sob. "And grou—" She sniffed, sucking a bit of snot that was hanging from her nose back before it reached the floor. "D-daddy grounded me... a-and h-he, he... told my sisters what I had done, and made me tell them how bad it was, so they wouldn’t try it too! I-I had to lie to them!”

Reliving the moment was obviously getting to be too much for Pinkie. Rarity froze for a moment, then quickly embraced her friend. “Shhhh, you don’t have to go on. I understand. It’s okay.”

Pinkie rested her head on Rarity’s shoulder for a long time, as she attempted to calm down. While she waited, Rarity stroked her mane and murmured soothing inanities into her ear.

Pinkie finally pulled back from the embrace to look Rarity in the eyes. “It’s okay... I think you should know. A-After I left the farm I figured stuff out a little, and now I’m pretty much okay. Sometimes I still feel guilty, but when that happens I tell myself: ‘Self, this feels good, and it’s not hurting anypony. Mom was wrong, this is fun.’ And then I’m okay again. When you were watching me though... It was like she’s still in the back of my head. But she was wrong! It’s not bad, and I hate that I still feel her judging me sometimes.” Pinkie fell silent then, stifling a sniffle.

“Darling, she had no right to do that, any more than my own mother had the right to make me uncomfortable.” Rarity leaned forward and kissed Pinkie lightly on the nose. “Stop thinking about her. Think about me instead.” Pinkie looked at her curiously, and she quickly grasped that her statement might be taken the wrong way. “I mean, about s-sexy things?” she offered with a weak grin. ”Or about s-somepony who makes you smile?” Idiot. Have you lost all capacity for forethought?

Pinkie smiled very slightly at Rarity’s badly-botched attempt to comfort her. “Okay, um... here, just look while I...” Pinkie’s body shook slightly while placed her hoof down between her hindlegs. Try as she might however, she could not seem to relax.

Rarity pursed her lips for a moment. She hated to see Pinkie so uncomfortable, after she had just gone to such lengths to make her feel so wonderful. Embracing Pinkie, she kissed her lightly on the nape of her neck. “I really don’t see what you have to be nervous about. You are a very lovely pony, you know!”

She hesitantly placed a hoof between Pinkie’s legs. “I understand that being watched is uncomfortable for you, but what if I were to take the, ah, hooves-on approach?”

Hearing no protests from the surprised mare, she pressed her hoof to Pinkie's inner thigh, at approximately the location she remembered being touched herself, but pulled it away quickly as Pinkie let out a pained little squeak.

"I- I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have—"

Pinkie wordlessly shook her head and, drawing resolve from Celestia-knows-where, she took Rarity's hoof in her own and guided it back to her smooth entrance. “It’s okay, you just hit the wrong spot. Try lower.”

Rarity resumed hesitantly, her gaze searching Pinkie's eyes for the reactions to her fumbling. True to form, Pinkie did not complain about her unskilled motions, she simply murmured encouragingly and cooed when Rarity did something right. The feel of Pinkie's folds was fascinating to Rarity: she was warm and quickly becoming slick with moisture. Rarity shuddered for just a moment when she realized what a mess she must be herself, after her friend’s skilled ministrations. Really now, darling, a quick bath will take care of that.

Her assertion about wishing to learn by doing was the truth, albeit only part of it. Just smile, darling. Be happy again, please? Seeing her friend so saddened hurt her in a way she’d never thought possible. They had never been the closest of friends, yet Pinkie had been there to comfort her during some of the darkest moments in her life. During her brief but horrible time spent with that monster Iron Will, Fluttershy had called them both petty and frivolous out of anger and spite. And it had been Pinkie who had consoled her, quietly whispering the same song she had sung just now. On the way home from Dodge Junction, while she had been annoyed by the energetic mare’s antics, that same energy had made Rarity continue to push onward. And had it not been for her joyous spirit, every single one of them could have fallen prey to fear, in the Everfree Forest, before ever even having a chance to obtain the Elements of Harmony.

Now she found her exuberant friend shared more with her than just a talent for ‘petty and frivolous’ things. They’d had similar experiences in their foalhood; they both sought ways to bring out the best in ponies, in their own fashion. And they both appreciated beauty in a very ephemeral form; Rarity in dresses often worn once and forgotten, and Pinkie in pastries that were meant to be consumed and forgotten just as quickly.

Pinkie had clearly suffered no small amount of trauma herself, but had somehow gotten over it, at least to an extent. The idea that her normally eternally joyful (and quite shameless) friend would be feeling self-disgust in any way felt... wrong. She loved Pinkie dearly, silliness and all.

Love? Getting ahead of ourselves, aren’t we Rarity? And yet, no part of her objected to the word when she weighed it against her heart. Curiouser and curiouser... What are you doing to me, Pinkie? Prior to this experience, she didn’t even know that she was capable of feeling this way about a mare. We can examine that later. I certainly love her as a friend. That is enough. And it was; she felt a deep upwelling of affection for this kind-hearted mare, who somehow seemed to know exactly what she needed. I only hope I can help her in return...

Rarity moved her hoof gently, but no matter how she caressed, or where, nothing seemed to provoke the reaction that she herself had experienced. I must be doing something wrong; when she did this I melted!

She finally stopped, frustrated by her lack of success. “I-I’m sorry, Pinkie. It seemed to work so well on me, and I had hoped it might help you, too.” She flung her forelegs around Pinkie. “I’m clearly no good at this.”

Pinkie gave her a weak grin, stroking her hair gently. “It’s hard to feel sexy when you think your mom is breathing down your neck.” She leaned down and kissed Rarity’s nose, but in the moment that Pinkie’s lips hovered there Rarity raised her muzzle and turned it into a full kiss. They stayed like that for some time, going no further than letting their lips gently move against the other’s, until they both broke apart, feeling slightly breathless. “W-Wow...”

Rarity held Pinkie for a little while longer, trying to come to terms with the impulse that had momentarily seized her. I kissed her, without hesitation, without any confusion. It felt so natural. She realized that there was still a chance; Pinkie did not find being with her shameful, she just needed to calm down and get past her earlier episode. And what better place to relax than in a bath? “Pinkie, would it be too much trouble if I were to use your bathtub? I feel... icky.”

Pinkie did not respond right away. She seemed lost and confused, simply staring, unmoving, at the floor before finally looking up at Rarity’s words. “Um, sure.”

The poor dear. What were you thinking, Rarity? She just confessed something horrid to you and you try to fix things with the very act that traumatized her! This situation calls for pampering, and lots of it.

I wish it weren’t raining; I could have taken her to the spa... Argh, idiot! The spa is the last place you want to be in this situation!

We’ll just have to make do then. Rarity stopped arguing with herself, stood up, and looked at Pinkie questioningly, since she seemed quite content to remain where she was. “Darling, perhaps you could join me? If you don’t mind?”

Pinkie looked up again in surprise. “S-sure!”

Rarity waited until Pinkie had gathered herself and walked her upstairs to the bathroom. Pinkie turned on the water and they both waited while the tub slowly filled. Rarity watched quietly as the water swirled, but eventually broke the silence with a question that had been weighing heavily on her mind ever since Pinkie’s revelation: “How do you do it, Pinkie?”

Pinkie looked up; she was smiling brightly again, albeit not quite as widely as when she had first greeted Rarity. It was as if she’d merely stubbed her hoof and now the pain had subsided, leaving no trace of her earlier distress. “Do what?”

“H-how do you turn it on and off like that? How do you live your life trying to bring others joy when you’ve been treated so poorly yourself?” How can you possibly care so much for me when my problems are so miniscule compared to yours? What makes me special?

“Oh.” Pinkie’s ears flattened. “Well, I could be all mopey-dopey about it, but that wouldn’t make it better, now would it? Back when Pinkie was a itty bitty little widdle twinkie Pinkie, she had a hard life sometimes. But she had her sisters, and she loved her mom and dad, even though they did have some weird ideas. Then she left the rock farm and found out there was more to the world than just rocks and grey clouds, but she still misses her family sometimes, and still loves them.”

Rarity just stared for a while, rendered temporarily speechless as she processed what Pinkie had said. Was that all this was then? Just some attempt to help me because she knows a little of what I went through?

Pinkie quickly got bored watching the bathtub-equivalent of drying paint, however, and started nosing around the bathroom. When she finally returned it was in triumph, carrying a pair of rubber duckies in her mouth: one pink, one white, but both with strange, miniscule markings near their tail-ends.

Cutie marks? Ducks don’t have...

Pinkie grinned around the fake waterfowl, biting down to make them quack.

Rarity realized something in that moment, and it startled her so much that she uttered the thought aloud without really intending to do so. “You actually forgave them, didn’t you?”

The party pony looked at her in surprise and dropped the duckies into the bath, smiling at her companion’s accurate guess. “Yeppers! It wasn’t really their fault. After I left the farm, my Granny Pie took me in and taught me a thing or two. She never believed in all of that immorality junk, and told me it was okay to have a little ‘me time’.”

Rarity’s eyes teared up at that. I should talk to my own mother about this some day; perhaps I too need a sense of closure. She nodded solemnly. “She sounds like a wise mare. Thank you for passing on her wisdom.”

Pinkie scuffed a hoof nervously on the tiled floor. “Um... sure. Always glad to help a friend!”

When the water finally neared the top, Rarity eased herself into the tub. “Oh, this is lovely! You really must join me, Pinkie.” She looked around, but her friend seemed to have disappeared. “Pinkie?”

“CANNONBALL!”

Rarity looked up in alarm at the rapidly-approaching pink projectile. “Oh.”

A moment later a good half of the water in the tub had been splashed all over Rarity and the shower curtain around the bath, while Pinkie was trying and utterly failing to contain a fit of laughter. Rarity coughed and blew a soaking wet forelock from her face. “Oh, did that amuse you?”

Pinkie was blushing furiously, still giggling. “It looks good on you, honest!”

Rarity grinned herself, a little miffed but encouraged by her friend’s laughter. “Oh. It. Is. On.”

She swept both hooves through the water, drenching Pinkie in a wave of soapy carnage. Pinkie squealed and batted at the water surface with her hooves, sending erratic sprays back in Rarity’s direction. This epic battle raged on for several minutes, with neither side giving quarter.

The Dread Pirate Pinkbeard soon surprised Rear Admiral Rarity with a sudden wave created by thrusting both powerful forelegs forwards. “Face my watery doom!” came her war-cry.

Rarity countered with a magical shield of water, only to find that when water hits water it merely creates a bigger splash. Water-casualties amassed and their navies were soon depleted, leaving both of them thoroughly soaked and more water on the floor around them than in the bath with them.

Despite herself, Rarity found that she was having fun. That smile is back; that gorgeous, precious smile. Glancing in the mirror above the sink, she discovered its twin on her own face. Rarity finally waved a hoof, coughing loudly. “Enough, please!” She looked around the room and tutted. “Goodness, you are worse than Sweetie Belle!” She exclaimed as she fired up her horn and proceeded to collect all of the water from the floor into a single globule of undulating liquid.

“Ooooo.” Pinkie watched in fascination as it floated around the room. “What are you gonna do with—"

The bubble floated over Pinkie’s head, hovering ominously, then the shimmering magical field that held it together disappeared and the ball became a sudden torrent of water.

Pinkie said nothing for a moment; she merely dripped. Then she cracked an even wider grin. “Good one, Rare!”

Rarity snickered into a hoof. “I am sorry, but you did start this little conflict, so it’s only fair that I get to end it.”

Exhausted, they lay back in the refilled tub. Pinkie hummed happily along with some little tune only she could hear. After a while, she picked up a bottle of shampoo in her mouth.

Rarity raised her eyebrows. “Pinkie, would you like me to wash your mane?”

Her friend smiled around the bottle. “Sfure, ef yoo waunt!” She spat out the bottle and allowed Rarity to pick it up in her magic.

Rarity squirted a generous dollop of shampoo onto her hooves. “Turn around, darling.”

Pinkie did so, and soon Rarity was working her hooves through her mane. “Goodness, such luxurious curls, darling! I’m quite jealous you know; it’s not easy for me to get this kind of body, but for you it just comes naturally!” Just imagine what she could achieve with a bit of help from somepony with an eye for style and fashion!

Rarity patiently worked the mass of curls, massaging her friend’s scalp. “Pinkie, some of the things you said earlier... did you mean them?”

Pinkie tensed up slightly. “I’m sorry! Did I say something wrong? I-I just wanted to make you happy, honest!”

Is she nervous? “I didn’t mean to imply it was a bad thing,” Rarity said, continuing to wash her mane. ”You complimented my singing, and called me beautiful. I was very flattered, even if I was a bit distracted at the time.”

Her friend turned her head slightly to look back at her. “Well sure I did! You’re very pretty! Like, model pretty. And I do love it when you sing... you sing when you’re happy. I like it when you’re happy.”

Rarity smiled gently. There is that feeling again! Why do you confuse me so, you little pink ball of joy? “You have a lovely voice as well, Pinkie. It’s one of the many things I love about you.”

She stiffened. Rarity dear, you mustn’t throw such words about so casually, or she will get the wrong idea.

Pinkie giggled happily, though, and lay back against Rarity’s chest. Or perhaps you will get the wrong idea instead... but is it really so very wrong, I wonder?

She examined that thought very carefully, as she would a new bolt of cloth. I have never even really considered this possibility. The novels were clear on this point: it’s always a stallion seducing a mare. (Well, unless some sort of inheritance is involved, then it’s a young mare seducing an older stallion who suffers a mysterious ailment shortly afterward.) But then... Pinkie is rather tomcoltish; perhaps that’s why the idea of her in that role does not feel all that strange to me.

The refrain from Pinkie’s song kept repeating in her head, and Rarity found herself humming the tune. Pinkie grew increasingly relaxed as she lay against Rarity’s chest. The fashionista listened to her slow and rhythmic breathing, marveling at seeing Pinkie in a state of such quiet repose. She dresses up well, but Pinkie is not exactly a prim and proper lady. This, of course, led to visions of dressing her friend up in frills and lacey undergarments. Perhaps some ribbons. If I can only talk her out of streamers.

Wait! I was supposed to be thinking about.... something... Her heart didn’t seem to notice, or care about the turmoil the mind was going through. Pinkie was leaning up against her chest, happily snuggling against her, and all was right with the world. Sweet sisters! I think I may be in love. H-how? She’s a - well…. a she! This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen!

Okay, just think about this rationally. You have become infatuated with a friend. What do you do about it? Having posed the question, she discovered quite quickly she had no answer for it. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this; it was off any conceivable path she had envisioned for herself.

Her whole life she had been waiting for a prince to sweep her off her hooves. Now the day had come and she had been swept quite thoroughly, but it was all wrong! Her prince was a mare! And the worst part was, she wasn’t bothered by it. She was a little surprised, to be sure, but couldn’t truly bring herself to care. Having never considered it prior to now, she found that the concept of being in love with Pinkie not only did not seem wrong, it seemed very right. What does that say about me exactly?

Wait, wait, perhaps this is inconsequential? Does she even like mares in that way? The thought filled her with dread - how ironic would it be to find that she was inclined in that way and Pinkie was not? Surely life could not be so cruel!

Like getting a chance to meet the prince of your dreams and finding out that he is in fact nothing more than a boorish ruffian?

Will you please shut up, voice in my head? You’re not helping. I am trying to have a crisis here.

Oh, you think this is a crisis? How about when the tabloids find out you’re one of those... fillyfoolers? Oh the gossip that will fly!

I don’t care! They can think what they want, I need to know how she feels.

Pinkie wriggled her shoulders against Rarity’s chest and gave a happy little sigh of contentment. It brought her back to the here and now rather effectively, for which she was silently thankful to the pink mare. Hmmm, well, she is certainly happy to be around me.

Pinkie is happy around any of her friends. You know that.

Fine. You’re right, but it does at least argue that she is comfortable around me. And earlier, she showed no hesitation at the idea of having sexual relations with me, another mare.

Bisexual perhaps?

Possibly; she did call me pretty earlier, which suggests that she has given the matter some consideration, at least with respect to me.

So then, she is inclined. The real question then becomes: does she have feelings for me? How can I be sure? I hardly wish to pester her if this was just ‘helping’, as she put it. It would be awkward for us both. A very troubling thought occurred to her: bringing up something like this out of the blue was almost assuredly going to upset Pinkie again, and she didn’t want to be the cause of Pinkie's distress a second time. The first had been painful enough.

She quietly began to fret. Stupid heart, why did you pick her? Pinkie... especially after what she’s done for me... I can’t risk her feelings like that. Its not fair to her.

However, if she does care for me, I would be throwing away both of our chances at happiness! What to do... Rarity looked down at the pony lying against her in utter contentment. I could do with more moments like this. She made up her mind at last. I have to know if she feels the same! Oh please, let her feel the same! I want this. I know it’s selfish of me, but I want this.

She pondered her next course of action. Pinkie has calmed down now. Perhaps, if I start slow. She was banking on something she’d only ever read about. In the heat of passion, the participants in her romance novels had frequently uttered the name of the pony they truly loved, sometimes with disastrous consequences. She recognized the irony in trying to seduce her friend in order to determine her feelings, but she had few tools to work with. When all you have is a needle and thread, every problem looks like fabric. “Pinkie, I need you to sit up for a moment, we need to rinse you off.”

“Oh, okey dokey!” Pinkie looked back and shot her a guilty little grin. “Sorry, I got comfortable. Was I too heavy?”

“Never, love. You may get comfortable around me whenever you wish.” Oh Celestia, did I just say what I think I said?

Pinkie’s smile faltered, her face blanching for a moment. “L-love?”

Internally, Rarity cringed. Idiot! She quickly covered her slip-up. “Um, it’s merely an endearment; surely we are closer than friends now?” She smiled weakly, hoping Pinkie would accept that explanation. So she doesn’t... No, I can’t give up until I know for certain!

“Oh! That’s okay then. I-I like it!” Her smile returned to its accustomed place.

Rarity turned the water on with her magic. “Close your eyes, love,” she instructed, and Pinkie shivered in response.

That's a positive reaction, isn't it?

She could just be cold.

No. Well, perhaps, but still!

Hush.

“O-okey dokey,” Pinkie said, complying almost instantly. She tilted her head back a little, lifting her chin, probably to prevent the foam from running into her eyes.

It wasn’t until a few moments later that Rarity realized she had been staring, letting the water further fill the tub instead of gathering it up in her aura as she had planned. Having her eyes closed meant Pinkie couldn’t tell what the unicorn was doing, of course, giving her a chance to silently study the other mare’s face without it getting awkward; a chance she had seized without a moment’s hesitation.

She had seen plenty of the pink mare over time, of course, but this was the first time she had really looked at her. Pinkie looked so happy and angelic like this, sitting still for once, with a look of clear anticipation gracing her ever-expressive face. Rarity’s eyes took in so many details she had never paid attention to before: the dramatic curve in the adorable arches of her closed eyes; those cute, curly lashes; the infectious, genuine smile gracing those delicate and supremely kissable lips... I wonder what she looks like when she’s asleep. She blushed then, realizing that in order to find that out she would need to be sharing a bed with the other mare.

The stuttering had intrigued Rarity, too, although a part of her wanted to simply attribute this to chills as well. But then, why were those rosy cheeks glowing? It was hard to spot, what with Pinkie’s vibrant coat color—quite unlike her own—functioning as a natural blush-camouflage, but Rarity was convinced she wasn’t just imagining things.

She is such a lovely shade of pink...

“Um, Rarity?” Pinkie said, tilting her head and sounding slightly amused. “You aren’t secretly hiding right now, are you? Should I be counting to ten?”

“Don’t be silly, darling,” a flustered Rarity replied, before hastily directing the stream down onto Pinkie’s head, thoroughly rinsing the shampoo from her friend’s mane. She ran her hooves through the silken mass, making sure all of the suds were removed. Gorgeous, utterly gorgeous. Then she reached for the soap, lathering up her hooves. “Do you want me to wash your back?”

“S-sure!”

Rarity scrubbed her friend’s coat, although it was less scrubbing and more massage. She ran her hooves all over Pinkie’s back, eliciting soft coos of enjoyment. Here goes everything. Rarity wrapped her hooves around Pinkie, hugging her to her own chest even as she caressed Pinkie’s.

“R-Rarity?”

“I hope you don’t mind, love, but I have to get to your front now. We have to make sure you’re clean, after all.” She ran her hooves up and down Pinkie’s slightly pudgy form, the edge of her hoof brushing past a nipple as she grew a little more daring.

Pinkie squeaked in surprise and caught Rarity’s hooves in her own, gently pulling her into a tighter embrace. Both of them stopped moving for a time. Rarity panicked, worrying that she had overstepped her bounds... then Pinkie pulled one of Rarity’s hooves up to her mouth and kissed it. She relaxed her hold, lying back against Rarity again.

Rarity held her for several more moments. All thoughts of doing anything but relishing the feeling of Pinkie lying wrapped in her forelegs were gone for now. Not only is she happy to be with me, she’s very affectionate... She clucked her tongue in irritation. You’re supposed to be seducing her, not getting distracted by how adorable she is!

She resumed her caresses, but quickly hit another snag: she still had no idea what to do to make Pinkie feel how she herself had felt. She groaned softly. Seduction had never been this difficult in the novels she kept tucked away under her bed!

“Rarity? Are you sure I’m not too heavy?” Pinkie squirmed in her forelegs, trying to sit up.

“No darling, you’re fine. I’m the problem, I feel like an absolute fool.” Rarity gave up her efforts and simply held her mare for now.

She’s not your mare!

Oh, just let me pretend for a moment won’t you? I know very well you want this too.

You're only deceiving yourself.

“You're not foolish, you're just silly, silly. Why would you think that?”

Rarity sighed heavily. May as well come clean, better that than a poor attempt ending in disappointment for us both... again. “I suppose I am just regretting a lifetime spent regarding sex as something dirty. I was feeling very relaxed with you here, and felt... a little heated. So I had hoped that maybe we could try again?”

Pinkie snuggled up to her again. “You know, I’m beginning to feel like one of those stallions you rope into helping you all the time. You don’t have to convince me, Rarity, I want to help. Unless you were just trying to seduce me?” she whispered, giggling softly.

The fashionista tensed. “No! Definitely not. The merest thought had not even begun to cross my—" She broke off, feeling Pinkie laughing soundlessly against her. “You are teasing me! That’s not fair, I was simply hoping to learn a bit more from you.”

"Of course I'll teach you more! Then you... won't... need me... anymore..." Pinkie fell silent and watched her hooves.

Just as Rarity was about to ask if something was wrong Pinkie looked up again and smiled. "But you know, I really don't mind helping you! Whenever you need it! I would love to help you! But its okay if you don't want to, I'm going to teach you everything I know! Because you’re my friend, and I help my friends. I love... I love to help my friends—"

Rarity let her ramble for a time; once Pinkie got going it would take awhile for her to wind down again.

“- sing for me sometime, maybe we could have a duet at the karaoke bar? They have great nachos—"

After a few minutes of wild tangents and broken sentences Rarity decided it might be more efficient to derail the party mare’s train of thought.

“- love how springy your mane is, I can’t do anything with mine, its either all curls or straight down—"

With that in mind she took one of Pinkie’s ears between her teeth and gently nibbled on it.

“- make muffins with me and we could make a c - oh.” Rarity licked inside Pinkie’s ear along the velvety, sensitive hairs that lined the inside curve. The cascade of words dried up in an instant.

Rarity again marveled at the effect her actions were having on her new lover, feeling very pleased with herself. Well Rarity, you might not have gotten the actual lovemaking down, but at least you know how to stupefy a pony, and Pinkie Pie no less! She idly wondered if this was what Fluttershy felt while staring down a dragon. "Do I have your attention now?"

Pinkie whined softly as the nibbling ceased. “Oh! I’m sorry. I’m just really really really happy right now and I got all distracted—"

“Shhhhh,” Rarity whispered in a voice that could have made an Ursa Minor calm down for a nap. “Just tell me how to make you feel the way you made me feel, love.”

Pinkie shivered at the sound of the endearment. "That thing you did with my ears felt super nice!"

“I see, and then?”

“Welllll, you could do what I did, which is like eating ice cream... except when you eat ice cream too fast it makes your head hurt. Or you could do is more slowly-er. Kinda like mixing the batter then making all the decorations before yo—" A gentle nip to her ear brought Pinkie back yet again. "It takes longer, but it feels nice, or nicer, nicer-er?" Pinkie shrugged her shoulders helplessly, defeated by semantics.

Rarity considered her options carefully, but swiftly concluded that a thing worth doing was worth doing well. “I rather think that second one.”

“I’m kind of a fan of that one myself. It’s like making a cake out of giggles and squirms and happy noises!”

Rarity tried to picture such a cake, but instead got an image of Pinkie sitting on a table, covered in whipped cream; pleasant, but incredibly distracting and unproductive. “Um, yes, well... H-how do I do this?”

Pinkie shook her head, causing a few strands of her mane to tickle Rarity’s nose. “Don’t worry! Just do what you think will feel good and I’ll tell you if you’re doing it right. It’ll be like hot or cold, only with sexytimes!”

Rarity hesitantly moved her hooves, stroking Pinkie’s coat as she had previously before reaching lower and brushing her hoof against Pinkie’s nipple once again.

“Oh, cold!” Pinkie said with a start.

“Cold?” Rarity was baffled.

“Brrrr!” the quivering pink pony replied, miming being all huddled up in a frigid tundra, with icicles hanging from her chin.

“I see...” Rarity hastily retracted the offending hoof. Well then, that’s out. She reached lower still, slipping her hoof down to Pinkie’s thigh.

“Brrrr!” Pinkie even feigned chattering teeth this time, if she was indeed still pretending.

“I-I don’t understand,” Rarity said, her voice filled with doubt, ”this was where you touched me...”

Pinkie was genuinely shivering, now. “No! Y-you’re doing fine.”

“Then why are you shivering?”

“T-the water is g-getting cold!”

Oh... right. We have been in here awhile. She turned on the hot water again. “Better?”

Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief. “Better.”

“Good.” Rarity took a deep breath and continued where she had left off, caressing Pinkie’s inner thighs with her hoof.

“Hot!”

Glad to hear I am on the right track then. Let’s move a little closer -

“Really hot!”

“But I haven’t done anything else—" Rarity kept her hoof steady, trying to determine what the problem was before she did anything else.

“Lava hot!” Steam began to vent from the earth pony’s ears.

“Um... okay....” Rarity stammered, pulling back her hoof as if it were her getting burned.

But it was to no avail, apparently. “Owie!” Pinkie cried, gesticulating wildly.

Rarity moved away from Pinkie a little, uncertain what she could have done to hurt her so. “Pinkie? Whatever is wrong?”

“The water is getting too hot!” she finally blurted out, frantically pointing at the still-running faucet she was sitting closest to.

Rarity reacted quickly and turned the cold on to compensate. “Darling, I am so sorry!”

“Ahhhhhh...” the overheated mare sighed, recovering with a swiftness that frankly startled Rarity. ”Okay! It’s fine now.”

The fashionista turned off the water and hesitantly wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie. “Now, before I begin again: have we reached an acceptable water temperature?”

“Yeppers!” Pinkie sounded perfectly chipper, despite ostensibly being burned alive mere moments before.

“Good...” Rarity said with a laugh. It was hard not to, so relaxed and contented the other mare sounded, and so goofy was her grin.

Strangely, Rarity found her earlier nervousness somewhat abated thanks to their—in retrospect, rather comical—issues with freezing and/or scalding bath water. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she half-suspected that Pinkie Pie, who had clearly been exaggerating, might have purposely made a jest of things, to ease some of the tension...

And now the mare was again leaning back against her, as though nothing had happened. Rarity held her, cuddling gratefully, and gave in to an irresistible urge to nuzzle those dripping, heavy locks of raspberry pink. “Thank you, Pinkie...” she murmured into the other mare’s mane, the preceding inhale making her sensitive nose tingle with the soapy freshness of the shampoo, and a heady hint of what she believed was lavender—her favorite.

“For what?” Pinkie said, beaming. There wasn’t the slightest hint of confusion in her knowing grin, nor in her playfully twinkling eyes. Her subsequent smile could even be described as... seductive.

“Never mind,” Rarity replied, smiling softly in return.

There were those hidden depths again; the small hints that the supposedly scatterbrained and airheaded party pony was much more shrewd and intelligent than anypony gave her credit for. To her, it almost felt like she was only just getting to know the real Pinkie, with all of her quirks and wiles, secrets and subtleties, hidden beneath the willful obfuscation of her clownesque behavior. There was surprising maturity masked by child-like innocence, and breathtaking beauty - which Rarity could scarcely believe she’d never noticed before - just a shower away from Pinkie’s usual, Discord-may-care attitude towards her appearance.

She was like a rosy diamond-in-the-rough, brilliant and multi-faceted even without polish or fancy cuts, a jewel that outshone any in Rarity’s extensive collection, hiding in plain sight. If only her horn had led her hither sooner...

Amidst the turmoil her heart and mind were going through, another issue was quickly presenting itself for consideration. There was no denying it: Rarity felt a warmth welling up within her that had little to do with ambient temperature or the water they were in. She was grateful she was partially submerged, though, flushing when she became aware of the embarrassing fact that she was adding not a few droplets of essence de licorne to the already-fragrant bathwater. It was desire she was experiencing, Rarity realized with a shock. Unmitigated and undeniable, but also extremely frustrating, since all she had to express it with were these clumsy, inexperienced hooves...

She had trouble putting her hoof on it, but it was like... like getting one of her glorious ideas—simply bursting with inspiration for some new, fabulous creation—only to have her horn fail her, leaving her bereft of the magic she depended upon.

So that’s it! You want to rut her! You get a little heated and suddenly you’re in love? Fool, you’ll forget all about her once the deed is done.

She dismissed the thought irritably. She still wasn’t certain how Pinkie felt - the only thing she could say for certain was that the other mare seemed to be physically attracted to her. Rarity, on the other hoof, was growing very certain of her own feelings on the matter. She wanted to make love to Pinkie. She wanted to make her feel the love she had for her, if such a thing could be done through a mere physical act.

“Warm.” the object of Rarity’s continued fascination cooed, while she continued to absentmindedly nuzzle at that delectable mane despite how cold her poor nose was getting.

“Perhaps we should forego the guessing games for a bit,” Rarity suggested, trying to keep her tremulous voice steady, and surprised by her own boldness as she traced a hoof down Pinkie’s chest and tummy. “Amusing as it is, trial-and-error is a rather impractical way for me to make you feel good, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Oh, but this isn’t about me, silly-filly!” Pinkie protested with a giggle, “I’m just your test subject, remember? To help you figure out how you and your hoof can become the bestest buddies?”

“Ah, naturellement,” Rarity lied, trying to chuckle coquettishly but getting more of a frantic giggle instead. Even the French wasn’t helping; whereas normally it made her feel sophisticated and ladylike, now it just made her feel a bit silly. “I need you to help me help you show me how to feel good, then.”

Pinkie’s eyes glazed over while she tried to parse that sentence. “Help you... help me...?”

Nodding her head and laughing, Rarity put on her poutiest of purse-lipped pouty-faces. “Pretty please?”

“With ribbons and streamers?”

“Ribbons, of course! Tied in a big beautiful bow, but... streamers? Must we?”

“Awww, I like streamers!”

“... Very well, streamers.”

“What about the paper?”

“Pink, naturally, accented with a bit of red, and some white.”

“Cherries on top?”

“Um... well, if you wish, but wouldn’t that get the paper wet?”

“Wait... what were we talking about again?”

“Pinkie!”

“Oh right right! You wanted to be the Twilight to my Princess Celestia!”

Rarity giggled at that. “I rather hope we might be doing something that those two do not. Not that I would judge them, mind...”

“Well then, my faithful student,” Pinkie said benevolently, in a surprisingly convincing imitation of the Princess of the Sun, ”prepare yourself for a lesson!”

“By all means, ‘Professor’ Pie,” Rarity replied with not-entirely-feigned eagerness, adding a set of sarcastic hoof-quotes.

“Gimme your hoof for a second,” Pinkie prompted. She lifted and turned one of the unicorn’s forelegs with her own hoof, pointing out key features on the perfectly pedicured digit while Rarity peered along over her shoulder. “These are the walls, see? Those different layers? They’re pretty dull—even when you have them filed as often as you do!—but pretty hard, of course, so you kinda have to be careful when you use the edges, or you’re going to have some reeeally awkward explaining to do to Nurse Redheart...”

Flushing at this horrific possibility, Rarity nodded firmly, making a note in her brain and dutifully underlining it with a whole bunch of mental lines. “Surely you are not speaking from experience, are you, Pinkie de—"

“AND THIS!” Pinkie enthused loudly. “This squishy bit in the center over here...” She prodded at it a few times with the tip of her own hoof, making Rarity squirm with extreme efficiency, “is very, very ticklish.”

“I n-n-noticed,” Rarity, struggling to compose herself, gasped out between stifled giggles. “How does that help?”

“It totally doesn’t!” her tormentor replied happily, without a hint of irony, “But it is really nice and soft. You can use that to apply super-yummy pressure on the whole kit-and-kaboodle—"

Rarity frowned. “That is a horrible euphemism...”

Blinking at this interruption, Pinkie continued undeterred, “And it feels really nice on your honey pot, too!”

“H-honey pot?” It took a few moments for realization to slowly set in. ”So that’s what you meant?!”

“Shhhh, lesson’s not over yet,” Pinkie reprimanded gently but sternly, wagging a hoof-tip.

“B-But you...” Rarity said, her mind reeling; she feared she might never look at honey the same way again. ”Tch. Fine.”

Pinkie continued on, now delivering her lecture in a crisp, schoolmarm voice, making Rarity think passingly of Miss Cheerilee.

Let’s hope her lesson plan isn’t the same as Pinkie’s...

“Now then. It’s better to build yourself up slowly, like stoking a fire,” she said sagely. ”I mean sure, you can turn up the gas real quick and that works too but that can be dangerous and make your oven explode, and then you get batter literally everywhere and—" Pinkie stopped herself, blinked, and tapped a hoof to her lip. “Okay, maybe scratch that last part—but you get what I mean: you gotta tease yourself a little! Kinda keep touching, then back it off, making your body go all shivery and needy, and then you do just a little more, a l-little, uh...”

She stopped talking then, as Rarity happened to be diligently following her advice; the very tip of a white hoof was gingerly tracing meandering lines along Pinkie’s flinching tummy, sporadically dipping down to ‘accidentally’ graze a nipple—or even more sensitive areas—just below the surface of the water.

“Mmmmmm! J-just like t-that, yes... And then, um, you can change up your game a little. Shouldn’t tease yourself too much, after all!” Pinkie let out a very artificial, nervous laugh. ”N-no, that would be pretty mean... Maybe move a little lower? Y’know, between my—oh!"

“Here?” Rarity said softly. She pressed her body tightly against Pinkie’s back as she strained to reach low enough, the end of her foreleg dipping below the waterline. Despite resting her chin on the other mare’s shoulder, she could still barely see what she was doing, but the warmth and yielding softness she felt pressing against her hoof was unmistakable, and noticeable even in the steaming bathwater.

She knew exactly where she was touching, of course. She had been building up to this, before, without ever really mustering up the necessary courage. But now there were no distractions, no silly games... She was touching another mare in the most intimate way imaginable, and, contrary to her own expectations, now actually regretted being in a foam-filled, heavily scented bath a little, given how it distorted the feeling of Pinkie’s smooth slit against her hoof and masked all scents and sounds.

“Yes...” Pinkie confirmed in a husky sigh, her eyes fluttering closed and her already-faltering schoolteacher act now completely eroded. ”Right there, Rarity...”

Several blissful moments passed wherein nothing much happened save for some slight, erratic lower-body movements from Pinkie, whose breathing had begun to grow noticeably heavier.

“Pinkie?” Rarity said eventually.

“Hmm?” came the dreamy response.

“Erm, what should I do now?”

“Oh! R-Right, right. Remember that squishy’n’soft bit I mentioned? Just—just smoosh down a little with that! Gently, of course, because I’m—I mean, you might be pretty sensitive, so you have to be careful at first!”

“Like so?” Rarity said, hesitantly applying pressure with the flat of her hoof, which, dainty though it was, easily covered all of Pinkie’s vulva.

“Exactamundo,” Pinkie replied, after repeatedly stumbling over the many, many syllables of that ill-chosen word. “Now you can stroke up and down a little, n-nice and slow, or even try some ciiiir—ohyeslikethat.”

But Rarity was way ahead of her, growing more confident, spurred on by the strangely rewarding little noises Pinkie was producing, and aided by her eager shifting and light thrusting, guiding Rarity’s hoof subconsciously and letting her know she was doing something very, very right. She rubbed the entirety of the ecstatic, quietly panting mare’s soft, submerged mound, becoming harder and rougher in careful increments, stopping only when Pinkie’s trapped tail began twitching.

Pinkie offered little else in terms of instructions for a while, desperately attempting to catch her breath. The things the unicorn was doing to her were clearly proving to be more than a little distracting.

“Uh, yeah,” she rasped, ”that should feel double-plus-good, when you t-try it on yourself.” Her valiant attempt at sounding casual was adorable in its utter transparency. She swallowed hard before continuing. “And if you ever find yourself doing this with another pony someday, instead of flying solo, then this would be a really awesome time to do that ear-thing you did before... and maybe some more kisses? Because I think the pony you'd be with would probably like that, like, a whole bunch...”

Trembling, snowy lips pressed gently against Pinkie’s cheek, tenderly kissing the radiant blush, and then a soft, warm nose tentatively inched its way up to her ear over the course of several breathless seconds, promptly licking and nibbling the sensitive lobe. Rarity took the hints silently, too caught up in the moment to humor Pinkie’s indirect suggestions with some coyness of her own.

Pinkie giggled and flicked her ear helplessly. “Ah, no fair! That spot under my ear is ticklish!” The giggling swiftly acquired more moan-like qualities when the nipping turned to eager licks. “That one... that one...” Whatever was meant to come after that was lost, the words unraveling into more soft coos of delight.

Before long, the blissful mare’s lips just moved silently. Her hind legs parted a little further, twitching happily, which Rarity interpreted as a sign that she should keep going. So she lavished more affectionate licks on those pink ears, however much they tried to swivel away at times, and the gentle splish-splash of her forehoof and Pinkie moving together were the only sounds that filled the bakery’s bathroom for a while.

“—or trace each other’s lips with the tips of our tongues!” Pinkie blurted out suddenly, startling Rarity, whose tongue had grown tired, and who had therefore opted to start kissing down her neck instead. It was as if, in her head, Pinkie had been offering suggestions the entire time, without ever noticing that the only thing escaping her smiling lips had been a string of incoherent murmurs.

“Um...” Rarity said, clearing her throat and slowly coming to her senses a little, ”I think that last one might be a bit impractical, since you’re facing away from me.”

“Oh yeah...” Pinkie admitted with a goofy grin. “But, you know, if you and your awesome, future special pony ever—ah!”

Rarity kissed the side of Pinkie’s neck as, with her hoof, she felt a little nub just inside the hot folds of pink flesh. When Rarity touched it Pinkie tensed, then squeaked in an adorable fashion. Immediately the inexperienced unicorn halted, mistaking the intense reaction for one of pain.

“I’m dreadfully sorry, love,” she hastened to say, feeling clumsy and awkward again, just when things had been going so well. “Too much of the edges?” When Pinkie frantically shook her head and laughed, however, Rarity’s anxiety faded a little. She appropriated Pinkie’s own patented technique of inserting a little joke to lighten the mood. ”Shall I send for Nurse Redheart?” she suggested melodramatically. Upon hearing no response from her friend she giggled seductively. “Perhaps you just need a bit of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?”

Pinkie let out a noncommittal little nicker, shivering from her hind-hooves all the way up to the topmost tuft of her poofy mane. “O-okay, new subject, that thing you just brushed. It’s awesome; it’s like the bestest thing ever. When I first discovered that there’s a spot like that down there, well... that was actually the reason I had to sneak over to the nurse for some ice-packs, back in the day.” The usually unabashed and brazen party pony flashed one of her rare, embarrassed grins. ”Touching everywhere else is nice, but a single rub there can bring you really close really quickly. You don’t want to focus on just that though, because it gets more sensitive the longer you work on the rest of that area. Sometimes it gets too sensitive, and it can actually hurt. So you gotta be careful.”

Rarity smiled and gently rubbed along the cleft she felt underwater, pressing inside to spread Pinkie’s lower lips.

“Y-you’ve really gotten the hang of this. I think you’re about ready to be released into the wild again. You can s-stop now.”

“Au contraire, silly-filly. I could not bear to leave you like this...” Rarity stopped; it felt cruel somehow, to use Pinkie’s own terms against her. She dropped the pretense of teasing and simply said what was on her mind, though the words were proving difficult to actually say. “I wish to make you... make you...”

“C-cum?”

It was such a vulgar term, which, paradoxically, made her shiver in delight. “Yes. That. Please allow me to... a-as a way of saying ‘thank you’...”

Pinkie was silent, inscrutable, but not protesting. “Very, very warm,” she said eventually, inexplicably returning to the hot-and-cold game of before.

“How is this?”

Adorable moans and the occasional squeak were her only answer, so she altered her movements based on which ones made Pinkie squeak more often. A slow, circular motion with occasional flicks to the nub she’d touched seemed to be the one that made Pinkie squeak loudest, so she continued with that.

“Am I doing all right?”

“H-hot hot hot hot hot!”

“Are you going to—"

“Oh, oh Rarity, I... you—" she clapped her hooves to her muzzle. Eventually, “Oh, fffffffff—" she hissed through clenched teeth, “—iddlesticks...”

Pinkie was shuddering and shaking under Rarity's ministrations. Rarity would've been worried were it not for the little squeals and gasps the earth pony graced her with. She reached up with her hooves and pulled Rarity’s head down to her own upturned face, giving her an upside down kiss. In that moment Rarity froze, her hoof spasming and pushing deeper into Pinkie. The earth pony squealed happily and bucked her hips, causing waves of water to gush out of the tub onto the floor.

Rarity finally felt Pinkie break the kiss, the pink pony mewling joyfully as she shivered in Rarity’s hooves. She... she didn’t scream. Did I do it wrong?

Looking down on Pinkie, it was apparent very quickly that despite Rarity’s earlier plans of getting her to cry out during the moment of passion, that moment had come and gone. Blast. Despite the setback, she took a moment to admire what she had done. Pinkie was busy recovering, her eyes closed. Droplets of water and perspiration beaded her coat and mane, and steam was wafting from her reclining form, which seemed fitting given the body heat the freshly-pleased pony was radiating.

Rarity wrapped her forelegs back around her newfound lover, and rested her chin on that surprisingly comfortable pink shoulder again. She could smell a delicate mixture of steam, lavender, clean sweat, and something intangible, something tingly... She gave Pinkie’s neck a fond little lick, lapping up several droplets that had been trickling down the pink mare’s neck without even knowing whether they were condensing water or sweat. It had been a spontaneous display of affection, without Rarity really having given it much thought.

She felt strangely pensive, sensing that an important milestone in her life had suddenly been reached. She found herself gazing at her hoof, which she so often neglected to use in favor of the fine-grained control afforded by her magic. It had never occurred to her how seldom she actually physically interacted with the world—‘got her hooves dirty’, as Applejack would no doubt put it—the way earth ponies would. To think that, all this time, her neglected hoof had held such power; that it could grant her, or better yet, another pony, such pleasure, such rapture...

Another curious realization hit her: she had actually touched another mare intimately before she had ever even touched herself... A dubious distinction, to be sure, but perhaps fitting for the Element of Generosity?

“Rarity?” Pinkie piped up. ”You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden... You still okey-dokey?”

“Very okey, and reasonably dokey.” Though I am still a bit lost on what to do about you. “And what about you, love?”

“Oh, oh, I’m just—It was just the—the—" Pinkie spread her forelegs wide, her mouth hanging open, but then froze up completely. Rarity swore she could hear actual gears turning while the mare in her arms scanned her vast vocabulary of (mostly made-up) words for a fitting superlative. Finally, she seemed to give up, and let her limbs drop back to her sides. Glancing up at Rarity with an unexpectedly demure expression, she said softly, “I really, really loved it.”

Rarity smiled; she was very happy to have pleased the earth pony. Now that she had felt how wonderful it was first-hoof, the notion of giving Pinkie that same pleasure was deeply fulfilling - nearly more so than it had been to receive that same pleasure from her. Much like giving an exquisite, expensive gift to somepony, but more profound, and less materialistic.

She wanted more.

But she was still desperate to find a solution to the problem of discovering how Pinkie truly felt about her. This entire time, the other mare had carefully maintained a certain emotional distance between them, hiding behind abstractions. She had naively hoped, perhaps, that Rarity wouldn’t notice, but she had, and it felt a lot like hitting a wall. An obstacle she couldn’t hope to surmount without understanding it first...

Figuring out a mare’s body was one thing, but her heart?

Is this all just fun and games to her? An act of kindness, or perhaps one of pity?

Oh, Pinkie... Where do we go from here?