“Why?”

It was a question Rarity had dreaded the answer to. They had been dating for two months now, and Rarity had yet to have the courage to ask her beloved this one simple question. What if she didn’t like the answer? What if it turned out to be so shallow and superficial that any relationship built upon it would never last?

She had tried to bring herself to ask every time they met for a date, or for tea, or when Pinkie showed up out of the blue for no better reason than simply wanting to see her. But finally, Rarity had blurted it out, and now the naked question hung suspended over their happy little snuggle-session like the proverbial Sword of Ippocles.

“What I mean is... Why did you... You’ve told me how you feel, but when did you begin to...” She looked worriedly into her lover’s eyes, despite seeing only amusement reflected in them. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot, but I’ve been wondering.”

Pinkie put a hoof up to Rarity’s chest and traced a line back and forth, causing Rarity to shudder slightly. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. But... I dunno. I just know. It makes me happy to be around you. It’s like... you don’t mind that I’m me. And I really like that.” Pinkie quickly snuck a kiss in and snuggled closer.

Rarity sighed happily, but still she was uncertain; it wasn’t like this in any of the books she’d read. There was endless poetry from the stallions involved in those: odes, ballads, limericks—the works. And lots of swooning. Was it really enough merely to be happy?

“More?” a muffled voice inquired from the muzzle buried in her luxurious pelt.

“Perhaps a bit, if you don’t mind...” Rarity blushed furiously. Was she so selfish that she was actually asking her lover to sing her praises?

Pinkie giggled. “You’re getting all tensed-uppity again. I’m gonna have to pounce on you if you don’t stop it.” She lifted her head and stole another kiss; it was a good thing they were in plentiful supply. “Okay, more: the trip back from Dodge Junction. At the oasis. I think that was when I was sure you were my favorite party guest.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “You don’t play favorites. And that was a horrid time for us both.”

Pinkie buried her face into Rarity’s pelt again. “Nah, it was fun! It was a long way back, but we did it together. Only then you got really quiet all of a sudden. And then you yelled.” There was a frown, then, and an almost imperceptible wanness creeping into her smile. ”I thought you hated me...”

The fashionista stroked Pinkie’s hair soothingly, restoring that lovely, infectious smile with a fond little freely-given kiss. “Never. I was a bit cross, maybe... but I could never hate you, love.”

“Chimicherry? Cherrychanga?”

On and on she went. Rarity had long since given up on worrying about it. Let her have her fun. They had to keep going, had to get back home. She could have a nice cup of iced everything when she got back to the Boutique at last.

“Chimicherry? Cherrychanga?”

Something inside Rarity broke free from her normally carefully-controlled demeanor, and she snapped out in irritation, “If I pick one, will you please, for the love of Celestia, shut up?!”

The happy banter was cut short and Pinkie’s ears folded back. “S-sorry.” The earth pony eyed her hesitantly. “Rarity, are you alright?”

Rarity cursed herself, seeing the reaction to her outburst.

Wonderful, now neither of you are happy. You selfish, cantankerous mare.

“I am very hot and quite miserable, but otherwise fine. Although, now that you ask, I do feel this odd sensation—” She seemed to be having the oddest trouble remaining on her hooves. She wondered at that as her forehooves lost contact with the hoofcar’s lever. There was the briefest moment of freefall. Her brain idly thrilled at the long-missed sensation of flight.

“Rarity!”

Gentle hooves caught her, and she murmured something she hoped was relevant.

“Hold on, water... Need water. Stay with me... I know, it’s hot. No, your mane looks nice. Water... There! Okay, just hold on...”

She was hefted onto a strong back, and clutched at it as the world went blurry around her.

Rarity remembered only very little between the moment she collapsed and the moment she coughed at that first mouthful of blessed water. But her first memory thereafter was a brilliant smile attached to a much-pinker-than-usual Pinkie.

“Pinkie... What happened?”

“Don’t scare me like that! If you needed to stop you should have said so!”

“S-sorry, darling.”

Rarity tried to rise, only to feel a wave of nausea and dizziness assailing her.

“Don’t move! You have heat exhaustion. You lost too much fluid and the sun heated you right up, like a pie that was left in the oven too long! Just lie down and let Auntie Pinkie Pie fix you up.”

Rarity lay still, watching the world spin around her merrily. When it had finished its little dance she lifted her head enough to see her very concerned friend. “Thank you.”

The pink pony shook her head angrily. “No! Don’t thank me. I mean, it’s my fault we’re out here. Stupid Pinkie Pie; stupid Pinkie Promise...”

Rarity weakly attempted to sit up. She had robbed her friend of her fun and worried her unduly; the least she could do now was to offer some support. “It was the principle of the thing. Your friend betrayed your trust.”

This seemed to mollify her somewhat, Pinkie put her hoof up to her chin in thought. “Sort of. She actually kinda, uh, bent her promise? Still not right, since you shouldn’t make a Pinkie Promise you don’t intend to keep!”

The fashionista coughed up some sand that had blown into her mouth. “You needed to know that she still valued her friendship with you.”

“Yeah! That’s pretty close. Anyway, are you ready for some more water? It’s all wet and full of moisty goodness!”

“I could kiss you for the very idea.”

It was hard to tell if it was merely sunburn, but Rarity thought she caught a hint of a blush on her friend’s face. “T-that’s okay. It’s just water.” Pinkie got up and walked back to the pond. She turned back apologetically. “Um... Rarity? I don’t have a cup or anything, so don’t freak out.” Having said that, she dipped her muzzle into the water and came trotting back with her mouth closed.

Rarity looked at her curiously, wondering what she had meant by that.

Oh. Oh Celestia, she didn’t mean... Did she?

Her worst fears were realized when Pinkie came to stand over her, skittishly waiting for her to open her mouth.

Oh sweet Celestia she did! Okay Rarity: be very calm, open your mouth, and do not question your friend’s actions in trying to save your life.

And so she opened her mouth, and Pinkie carefully opened hers, allowing a stream of water to pour between them.

Pinkie smiled again once the water had been delivered, then quickly stepped back and repeated the process. During the third exchange, Rarity had to cough violently when some of the water went down her windpipe, which immediately brought Pinkie to her side, patting her on the back frantically (but with surprising gentleness).

“Sorry! I looked for a leaf, or a rock with an indentation, or something. I-I couldn’t find anything, so I had to improvise. I know we had that long talk a while ago about Gummy drinking from the bowl of punch and I was worried this was kinda like that time, but I didn’t want to just dunk your head in the water because then you might have drowned!”

Rarity shuddered very slightly. “Well, that’s true enough. I should think your dental hygiene is better than Gummy’s, at least.”

The pink pony giggled happily. “Silly! Gummy doesn’t have teeth. But Colgate does always say I’m some kinda freak of nature; not one cavity since I got to Ponyville.”

“Good to know...” Rarity said weakly. She looked around at their little spot of sanity amongst the wasteland. “Pinkie, where are we exactly?”

“Well, you needed water, so I went and found it.”

“Yes, and I appreciate that, but it doesn’t really answer the question. I don’t see the railroad tracks anywhere. I don’t see your hooftracks either.”

“Heh...”

Rarity stared at Pinkie as the latter rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Darling, what did you do?”

“Well, I was running really fast, and it’s all dusty around here...”

Rarity nodded, seeing the way of it. “You covered your own trail. Well, this is bothersome. Do you remember how long I was out?”

The earth pony eyed the afternoon sun through squinted eyes. “About... two hours, twenty three minutes, and forty seconds.” She looked again, and shook her head sheepishly. “Sorry, forty one seconds.”

Rarity took in the environs, noting the relative position of the sun. “So then, mid-afternoon, and no doubt several hours walk back. No help for it, then.” She began to drag her hooves in the sand that edged the oasis pool.

When she was satisfied with the amount gathered, she aimed her horn at the pile and melted it down, shaping it carefully with her magic. In a few moments’ time, a gasping Rarity was looking over four crudely-made glass bottles.

“Hardly my best work. But they should serve.” She lifted each from the dirt and laid them down to cool. “We need to fill those, then we can go back to the cart come nightfall.”

Pinkie clapped her hooves together enthusiastically. “That was neato! Can you do more?”

“First things first: we need to get home. I’ll be happy to make you whatever you like when we get there. But in the meantime, we need to get out of the sun.”

“Oh, oh! Maybe you could make a huge glass hat and then we can hide under that!”

Rarity stared for a moment, wondering if she really was the only one here suffering from heat exhaustion. “I think something a bit more opaque for this occasion, Pinkie. A stand of trees or a nice empty cave?”

Pinkie looked around doubtfully. All around them was low vegetation and the occasional rock. “I don’t think we’ll find anything like that.”

The fashionista nodded sadly. “It can’t be helped then. Let’s just fill these and wait until the sun has set.”

“Okey-dokey.”

The work of a few moments saw the makeshift bottles filled with water. Rarity lay down near the cool sand of their little oasis, letting it leach the heat from her body.

Rarity perked her ears up and swiveled her head to see Pinkie lying down some space away. “Darling, come over here. At least the sand provides some relief.”

Pinkie came closer and lay down beside her, sighing happily.

“I’m sorry...”

“Now, no more of that. We have a long way home, and we must keep our spirits high.” Rarity lay her head down on her forelegs and watched the wind ripple the small pond.

“Thank you.”

Rarity scoffed at the idea. “Darling, you rushed me off to the middle of the desert to what must be the only source of water for miles. I think I should be thanking you.”

“No, for catching me.”

“Oh, well, of course.”

They sat together in silence, resting and cooling off.

“Darling, when you jumped...”

“Hmmm?”

“Well, you called for me. I’m hardly the best equipped to save somepony.”

“Oh! Well, Shy and Dashie were pulling the cart, and Twilight was driving.”

“Oh, so I was really the only choice then?” She couldn’t say why, but this revelation saddened her.

“Yeppers!”

“Well, in any case, it was nice of you to have faith in me to do that for you.”

Pinkie snuggled closer, saying nothing more.

Her tale done, Pinkie snuggled against her in the present as she had in the past, and Rarity wondered at what she had heard. How had she missed something now so obvious in hindsight? She supposed having one’s brain nearly baked in one’s skull must have helped. But she could think of many occasions now where the pink mare had seemed to favor her, how her pranks on Rarity always seemed to involve flowers or candies. It was as if Pinkie had been courting her, but too afraid to say that was what she was doing. “I-I am sorry I was so blind as to miss your feelings, love. How can I begin to make it up to you?”

Pinkie looked up in surprise. “Well... I was thinking we could invite all our friends over to watch me kiss you!”

Rarity laughed at that, certain Pinkie was kidding. “Whatever you’d like, love.”

It had been a few months now, and Rarity still marveled at the pink mare. She was such a joy in the fashionista’s life. Their friends all seemed happy for them, though Rarity suspected them to be of the opinion that she had gone mad. In a way, she supposed she had. They don’t call it going crazy over somepony for nothing now, do they?

Tonight was their... ‘quarterversary’? She was fairly certain Pinkie had just made that up, but it was better than the ‘Come watch me kiss Rarity’ party of some weeks ago. That one had been a bit awkward. Their friends, and Rarity as well, had all assumed the banners were joking, until Pinkie had jumped her and absolutely smothered her in kisses.

She had tried to protest, but that would have required breathing, and she had had scant breath for more than a single gasp in between Pinkie’s enthusiastic advances. The party had quietly ended and dispersed when it became abundantly clear that the couple had gotten rather caught up in the moment. And furthermore, if they were not given some privacy, their friends would in fact be getting a show. Applejack had later confided she’d had to drag Rainbow out by her tail. Given that Rainbow’s wings were at full extension, however, it had proven rather difficult to get her past the door.

But it was not all wildness; there were quieter moments as well. Pinkie would just know to come over whenever Rarity was particularly stressed over some silly little thing and then nuzzle her silently, or jump on her and kiss her. Regardless, it always seemed to be just what was needed at that moment.

Rarity, true to her word, had been learning to bake. Together, the two of them had created some amazing confectionaries, so amazing that it practically broke her heart when they were inevitably consumed.

Turning her mind back to matters of the present, Rarity eyed the party preparations. Pinkie was setting up the last of the decorations, unleashing a few more shots from the party cannon for good measure. She smiled at Rarity, who smiled back warmly. “Perhaps one more shot into that upper corner on the right, love. The streamers seem a bit sparse there.”

“Okey-dokey!” The cannon was fired once more, and all was in readiness. She looked around her showroom in satisfaction. For this occasion, she had elected to hold the party in her own home rather than Pinkie’s. This was because she needed a space to work in for a very specific creation. Rarity turned and went back into her kitchen, eyeing the cake that she herself had baked, checking for flaws in the icing. Everything needed to be just right.

She'd started planning this day the moment she and Pinkie became marefriends, and now the party decorations were in place, the cake looked to be splendid, and the secret it held inside was safe. All that was left was to wait for their friends to arrive, cut the cake into bite-sized pieces, and watch Pinkie's face light up when she found the surprise.

Unfortunately she had failed to account for the structural integrity of a hollow cake. This is what Pinkie would have called an 'Oopsie,' had she been consulted. She probably would have gone on to call it 'Lunch' and made another. The problem was, Pinkie could not be consulted. Furthermore, much as she would have adored their help, asking the Cakes would have taken some of the personal element out of it. She found occasion to regret these seemingly reasonable decisions as the various top layers of the massive confectionary collapsed inward upon the base layer.

Her throat tightened, almost as if she were swallowing a cake whole the way Pinkie was known to do. She had to fix this somehow, it had to be perfect! She tried holding the cake up with her magic; this failed when the cake simply started sagging in other places. She tried reinforcing it with hard candy; that did little more than break up the cake. Finally she tried covering it with more hardened frosting, which simply cracked under the pressure. Seeing her last hope dashed, she decided to follow its example and burst out in tears.

“Rarity?!”

Rarity looked quickly to the door of the kitchen, making certain Pinkie had not come in. “I-I’m fine, love. Just having a bit of... a complete disaster over here...”

“Do you need help?”

“You stay in the showroom for now, please. I can handle this!”

She looked dubiously at her leaning tower of cake. It had settled into a dreadful shape, but was at least no longer collapsing. She moved the table experimentally, finding that caused no further damage. Perhaps I should call it a stylistic choice then? Our friends would be unlikely to question it... She groaned. The cake was ruined.

"Were you trying to make a silly cake for a silly party?" A sugary voice came from somewhere off to her left.

Rarity started at the sudden intrusion; she might have known—should have known that Pinkie would disregard anything she said and bounce into the room anyway. Given her brief but explosive outburst, it wasn't surprising. Pinkie had seemingly developed an uncanny instinct when it came to Rarity's emotional state and today was no different. I do wish she could just turn it off at times, briefly, in my most selfish of moments.

“Pinkie, it’s going to be fine, just wait for our friends to arrive please, I will fix this.”

“But I have spa—”

“I have it under control! Off with you!”

She shooed Pinkie from the room, kissing her fondly on the cheek as she did so. Rarity had little doubt Pinkie could fix this, but that was hardly the point, was it? She had wanted this to be a surprise, and it was so very hard to keep a surprise from her.

She eyed her leaning creation again. Perhaps she had been on the right track with the frosting. If she could lift the top layers up and fill the caved-in section with frosting, that could solve the problem. Granted, that would mean the surprises inside would be covered with a gooey mess, but, well, that was a foregone conclusion now. She got the confectioner’s dispenser ready, carefully lifted the top layers in her magic, and squirted out enough frosting to level out the depression. Within a few moments she had a cake which no longer seemed lopsided in the slightest. Rarity, you’ve done it again!

And just in time, too! She heard their friends milling about in the other room. Poking her head out of the door, she saw them taking places around the chairs set up in the middle of the room. Applejack was of course sitting next to Rainbow Dash, the former surreptitiously giving a peck on the cheek to the latter. Twilight was all smiles, waiting patiently for the fun to begin. Oh, this will be fun, just wait.

Fluttershy was slightly apart from the rest, chatting quietly with Pinkie. Rarity frowned slightly at seeing Fluttershy by herself. In the months that had followed her seeing that salacious display of brazenness in centerfold form she had spent more than a little time talking with her shy friend during spa visits about how exactly that had come to pass. Try as she might she could not get the poor dear to divulge more than that it had been a mistake.

The poor thing. I suppose your first romance just seems all-consuming at the time. She tittered to herself; here she was making judgements about something she was deep in the throes of herself. It was unfortunate that, in Fluttershy and Rainbow’s case, when the fire had died they hadn’t had enough left to keep going.

Fluttershy had confessed that she still loved Dash very much, but it wasn’t the same love as before. When Dash had come to her, long after they had decided to end their physical relationship, Fluttershy had readily assured her it was okay that she’d found a new relationship with Applejack. Still, at times when she believed nopony was looking, Rarity had caught her friend looking at the pair wistfully. I really must do something for her. Being alone is not the end of the world, but to have loved and lost... She entertained a world in which Pinkie had fallen out of love with her, and her heart felt like it wanted to burst. No, Fluttershy deserves to be loved.

Setting that worry aside for the moment, she turned her attention to Pinkie. Her heart beat a tattoo in her chest. This was the moment. She had done it, the cake was perfect, the surprise inside safe, her proposal speech carefully rehearsed. All she had to do was wheel the cake in and—

Wait, what is that dreadful sound?

She turned to find her cake leaning dangerously in the other direction. “No! No, you don’t, you wicked thing!” She braced the tottering confection with her magic, holding it aloft by sheer force of will. Okay, just have to keep it from falling. No problem. She wheeled the cart into the room, smiling her best smile. “Thank you all for coming, darlings. Pinkie, would you be so kind as to cut into this? Quickly, if you don’t mind?”

“Rarity? Is it supposed to be leaning like that?” Pinkie inquired curiously as she got a knife ready.

“Quickly, love. Just cut, don’t worry about—” The lean became more pronounced as she cast about for any means to stabilize it, but alas, the bottom layer collapsed on one side and the whole lovely creation became a nice mess all over the cart.

“—it...” Rarity finished, tears in her eyes.

Pinkie bounded up next to her and nuzzled her cheek. “I’ll get it!” With a deft swipe of her tongue she swallowed the whole mass of broken cake.

“No! Don’t...” Rarity watched in silent horror as two months’ profit was swallowed whole along with the collapsed confection.

“Wha’s thif?” Pinkie said a moment later, sticking her tongue out. Upon unrolling the folded edges, two golden bands were displayed: a matched pair, with their cutie marks displayed side by side on each.

There was a collective gasp amongst their friends.

Rarity stammered, unable to cope with this series of events. Everything had gone wrong! The speech was gone from her memory, and this was the moment. “I... I had thought, that is... I’m sorry, everypony!”

She ran from the room in tears.

Pinkie was hot on her hooves, the rings clutched in her teeth. “Rarishee! Wais!”

Rarity turned and flung her hooves around her marefriend. “I should have asked for your help! Now it’s all ruined and it was supposed to be perfect!”

Pinkie set the bands on a nearby table. “Okay, calm down. I told the girls we needed to bake a new cake. Are those—”

“Engagement bands. I wanted to surprise you.” Rarity sniffled into Pinkie’s mane. “Surprise?”

“Oh, wow! Um... you had this all planned out, huh?”

Rarity nodded. “Hollow cake, you were supposed to find the rings when you cut it. I didn’t think about the weight of the top layers...”

“Okay, so we have a minor cake emergency. No problemo!” Pinkie pulled a fully-decorated layer cake from behind one of the ponnequins currently occupying the kitchen to make room in the showroom. “I never have a party without at least two spares in case of unexpected guests! Or if I just need a snack.” She snatched up the rings in her mouth, trotted to the cake, and tucked them into the middle so deftly there was scarcely a break in the frosting.

Rarity stared at Pinkie, uncertain how to process the emergency cake, or the fact that she seemed to sincerely think they could just redo the disaster this proposal had become. “You... you can’t just...” She looked into the other mare’s eyes, those eyes that wanted her to be happy more than anything. It was against all reason, but strangely, she did feel better. The fashionista had discovered a defense mechanism for these times: much as she had had to get Pinkie to slow down for her, in order to cope with Pinkie she occasionally just had to stop thinking so hard and feel instead.

Her feelings told her quite clearly what course of action to take right now. “You really are the most wonderful thing, do you know that?” She dropped down in a move she had been practicing for days now, one hind leg forward, balanced with the knee of the other on the ground, taking Pinkie’s forehooves in her own. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, will you do me the honor of joining me in my home and spending your life with me?”

“But we’re already here?”

Rarity’s eye twitched. They were going off-script again and she was getting flustered. “I mean I want you to live here, with me.”

“Silly! I already have a room with the Cakes!”

“Pinkie! Will you marry me or not?”

“Oh! Well, why didn’t you say so? Of course!”

The fashionista sagged in relief. “Good, good. Now be a dear and fetch me a glass of water and a towel, would you?”

“Sure! What’s the towel for?”

“That would be for after you throw the water at me,” Rarity replied. And with that, she fainted dead away.

She awoke with the water being splashed in her face. Pinkie smiled and offered up the towel. “Okay, so now what?”

“Well, this was as far as I’d planned, to be honest.” Rarity took the towel and proceeded to pat down her face. Her mane seemed to have been spared the worst of the water. She was fairly comfortable on her chaise longue for the moment, and decided to stay there while she thought things over. “Most of the stories I’ve read seem to end with a kiss or a proposal. I suppose we ought to plan our wedding now... Oh... Oh dear.” Rarity frowned, realizing a flaw in her plans. “I don’t think I’m technically allowed to wear white anymore... Or maybe I can?”

She looked up thoughtfully as Pinkie lay down behind her. The earth pony’s forehoof reached around her, stroking her pelt up and down. “I suppose some research is in order; Twilight should be able to help me with that. I’m not entirely clear on how tribal traditions apply when your mate is another mare. I mean, we’ve definitely had sex, but not in the way that my mother always seemed so concerned about... Maybe a slightly off-white gown would be an acceptable compromise? There was that one thing I always meant to do on the honeymoon itself. Since we haven’t done that yet... Hmmmf?” Her train of thought took a sudden stop as Pinkie nipped her ear.

When the sensation had passed Rarity’s eyes snapped open from their dreamy state. “Pinkie, your family!”

“What about them?”

“What do you think your family will say? Are there rituals for marrying a unicorn? Oh, they’d never consent...”

Pinkie giggled at her marefriend’s melodramatics. She continued to slowly trace a hoof across the unicorn’s chest. “They don’t tell me what to do anymore. Not since I left the farm to live with my Granny Pie. Oh! I could take you to see her! She’d like you.” She kissed Rarity, and the fashionista could feel her panic ebb away to nothingness.

Pinkie always seemed to be doing this to her; Rarity would get all worked up into a nice fret over something, getting some hysterical momentum going, and then Pinkie was there with a kiss or a hug again. For some reason, it was rather hard to keep a good panic attack going after that...

“Oh, I’d like that. She’s always sounded like such a nice, level-headed mare. Still, we should send invitations to your family at least, and your sisters in particular. And for that matter, I wonder what the unicorn tribe has to say about marrying an earth pony... My mother might know. No, not her...” She felt a sudden sense of distaste at the thought. She still loved her mother, but recent revelations had caused her to feel mild disappointment in the mare. “I suppose I’ll have to check that with Twilight as well.”

“Okey-dokey! So when do we cut the cake and surprise our friends?” Pinkie snuggled closer, not in any rush to move from that spot.

“Let’s give it a while. They think we are baking, so that should buy us some time to compose ourselves.” Rarity sighed wistfully. “It was supposed to be different. Not that I mind how it turned out, but I had this whole scene planned to the letter. Ah well.”

Pinkie squirmed, and Rarity shifted with her without thought. Soon enough Pinkie was embracing her side while Rarity lay staring at the ceiling. Pinkie kissed the tip of her nose. “Okay, so what was it supposed to be like?”

“Well," Rarity swallowed with some difficulty and cleared her throat, "I was to wheel out the cake. All of our friends would be duly impressed with its scale and grandeur, of course.”

Pinkie listened intently, nuzzling her to provide comfort. It helped a lot.

“Then I wanted you to cut the cake, and when you got to the bottom layer you would find my little surprise.”

Sometimes she was a bit of a drama queen, to be sure, but why did all her romantic endeavours turn out to be such complete and utter failures? It wasn’t fair!

“When you turned back around, I would be on bended knee behind you, ready to... 'pop the question', as they say. Our friends would all gasp in excitement, naturally, and cheer for us. It would be the most perfectly romantic and happiest moment of my life. And then you'd smile at me and say something that would completely ruin the mood,” Rarity admitted with a sound that halfway between a giggle and a sob.

She looked down, which proved to be a fatal mistake, as Pinkie's teeth now easily found that extra-sensitive spot on one of her ears. “L-love? What are you...”

Pinkie let go of the ear and moved down to her mouth, stealing her breath with a single, prolonged kiss. “Shhhh. Tell me what would happen next.”

"W-well..." Rarity gasped as she felt a hoof drawing stick-figures on her tummy, the very cusp just in the process of trailing a little circle around one of her nipples. “You would have likely said ‘yes’ after a few aborted attempts to make you understand. I never doubted that you would.”

Pinkie nodded into Rarity’s chest, which she was busy licking at the moment. “Uh-huh.”

“Then I would have presented you with your engagement band. You might recall I asked you to have your ears pierced last month; earrings seemed more practical than horn rings in this instance.”

“Aha! So you started planning this over a month ago?” Pinkie smiled up at Rarity, leaning forward for a kiss while her hoof slipped stealthily over to Rarity’s thigh.

“Love, I started planning this the day after our first date.” Rarity chuckled, then gasped and muffled herself by stuffing her hoof in her mouth as Pinkie casually rubbed her inner thigh. Her caresses were surprisingly slow and sensuous, but still undeniably made their way inwards.

“Go on, tell me how the wedding will go! What will the dresses look like?”

“Well, actually, I thought you’d look quite dashing in a suit. Something a bit like the one you wore to invite me to Gummy’s birthday party, only with a more flattering design, colors that compliment you more.” She gasped anew as Pinkie’s hoof began brushing feather-light touches across her vulva, exactly in that ticklish sort of way she knew drove Rarity mad. “I-I thought perhaps various shades of pink and blue...”

“Oh! That sounds neat! And what about yours?”

“Well, there I’m not quite sure. I wanted a white dress but I worry I can’t wear that anymore...”

“Do you want to wear white?” Pinkie asked curiously, teasing Rarity’s slit with the worn edge of a hoof and then gently applying pressure, so that the unicorn’s eagerly-parting lower lips nestled snugly against and around the smooth, hard keratin, which was swiftly rendered nice and slick with sheer arousal.

“Well... it’s traditional,” Rarity replied with admirable restraint, trying to maintain composure despite the fact that she was breathing hard and couldn’t quite seem to stop her hips from making grinding movements, rubbing herself up against that insufferably wonderful pink hoof. ”But h-honestly, I don’t think it would be best for my coat color. Too much of a single shade tends to get tiresome on the eyes.” Rarity leaned forward and kissed Pinkie, using that eager-to-reciprocate mouth to mute another of her own moans. “I think I may stick with shades of purple and red...”

“You’re going to look so pretty!” Pinkie grinned as she increased the pace of her movements to exceed Rarity’s own. “I’m marrying the prettiest unicorn in Ponyville!” Her enthusiasm very nearly managed to drown out the wet, repetitive slishing noises coming from below—ever a source of embarrassment for poor Rarity.

“Oh, oh my love...” Rarity laid her head back and stifled another moan with her foreleg. Pinkie peppered her neck and chest with kisses, but just at that magical moment when Rarity stood teetering on the brink of bliss, the hoof was pulled away. Rarity looked up in confusion to find her marefriend straddling one of her legs, and bringing one of Rarity’s knees up to rest on Pinkie’s hip. “Love? What are you—”

She felt it then, Pinkie’s knee pressed deep into her sex, while simultaneously feeling Pinkie’s own slick warmth sliding along the—swiftly quite damp—pelt of her hind leg. Pinkie thrust again, and Rarity squealed in excitement and surprise. “Not quite so rough, love!” The thrusts became less forceful, but did not slow down. Pinkie grinned at her from above, her breath labored and heavy with lust.

“T-tell me more about the wedding! What kind of cake do you want?”

Rarity was quite unable to respond, being rather busy just then. She was falling... deliciously, deliriously, uncontrollably.

When Pinkie heard her climax, she thrust once more into Rarity’s sex and squealed as she came herself. They looked into each other's eyes, panting and happy. Rarity was quite unable to do more than lie there for several moments. “Pinkie, we really need to be more careful, our friends are just in the other room.”

“No problemo! Next time we’ll sneak up to your room instead. But this was fun, right?”

Rarity blushed furiously. “Q-quite. Well, let’s get straightened out and put on a show, shall we?”

They cleaned the mess that had been left on the chaise longue, then helped each other clean up. Smiling brightly at one another, they wheeled the cake in.

Dash was sitting stiffly in a chair, her wings considerably ruffled. AJ was looking at her crossly. Twilight and Fluttershy were quietly drinking tea.

Rarity raised her voice. “Ahem, I’m terribly sorry to keep you waiting, darlings. We ran into a bit of difficulty with the cake.”

Dash’s eyebrows rose and she grinned mockingly. “With the cake, huh? And here I thought you were messing with a Pie back there.”

“Rainbow...” Applejack said warningly.

Rainbow snickered. “That was some recipe you were working on. Sounded like it took Pinkie a while to get it stirred up.”

Applejack took off her hat and smacked Rainbow with it. “Hush up now!”

Twilight rapped her hoof on the table. “Let’s just have some cake and stop talking about odd noises and squeals that clearly none of us were paying attention to and oh Celestia someone shut me up please—”

A yellow hoof attached to a heavily-blushing pegasus was helpfully shoved into Twilight’s muzzle.

Rarity’s face flushed furiously. Still, she was a lady. Perhaps she had been caught in a tryst, but she was compelled to ignore it. “Well, in any case, we made a new cake—”

Pinkie chose that moment to burst out happily, “We’re getting married!”

The fashionista’s eye twitched anew, and she sighed. “Quite.”

Their friends cheered, and cake was served, Rarity being careful to remove the earrings from their hiding spot before Pinkie could eat them again.

The party went on well into the night. Finally, it was time to bid their friends goodnight. Pinkie and Rarity took down the decorations, both occasionally smiling at the other as they worked. Somehow, despite everything having gone wrong, it felt as if the proposal could not have gone more perfectly.

Rarity watched the pink rump move in fascination—there was yet more to her plans for tonight. A surprise awaited in her room. It was wrapped in pink, naturally, accented with a bit of red and some white. Candles waited to be lit, and a bed, shared many a night by the two, waited to be officially broken in by the couple... for tonight, Rarity intended to break something else in. She grinned at the wiggling rump as Pinkie danced to some tune which would likely be lovely to hear.

“Love, I-I have another surprise upstairs, if you can—”

Pinkie stopped and turned, a huge grin on her face. “Another one?!”

“Yes, if you’ll follow me—”

She was swept up in strong forelegs and carried upstairs, laughing madly for Pinkie to please not kill them both.

As she was carried over the threshold, Rarity looked the meticulously-prepared environs over with a critical eye and found them to be good. The bed was covered in silken sheets and rose petals. Strategically placed candles were ready to be lit with a spark of magic, which Rarity immediately provided. The room lit up with gentle light, and the pleasant aroma of vanilla wafted through the air.

Rarity gave Pinkie a fond peck on the nose and carefully climbed down from her embrace.

“It’s over here.”

She levitated the box over to the earth pony, who tore into the paper with a happy cry.

When the box was opened, Pinkie eyed the contraption inside curiously. After a few pokes and prods her eyes lit up and she squealed happily. “You bought me a rolling pin? It’s pink and squishy! I love it! But what are the straps for? Are they for my hoofsies, so I don’t drop it?”

Rarity smiled good-naturedly. She supposed Pinkie had never had occasion to see one of these in her magazines. “Actually, those straps are for—”

“Oh, I get it! The pink thing goes in this hole... It’s a pink horn! Oh, I wanna put it on, then we can both be unicorns! Does it work?” She looked the ‘horn’ over eagerly, but finally shook her head. “Silly Pinkie, of course not... Oh, but we could definitely have a sword fight with them!” She grasped the pink cylinder in her teeth and waved it around dramatically. “Haf a ye, laty!”

“Um... no. Please give me that; it has another purpose.” Rarity stood on her hind legs, while her aura animated the straps and the mysterious pink cylinder. Within moments it was secure, the false member jutting out brazenly from her slender haunches. “You see, Pinkie, on our wedding night, I’ll be all yours. But tonight... tonight, my love, you are my mare. I am going to mount that pretty pink body of yours and rut you until one of us loses consciousness.”

Pinkie’s eyes widened and her smile lit up brilliantly. “Oh... That’s even more fun! But um... can we still—”

Rarity sighed in fond exasperation. “Yes love, I’ll sign us up for hoof-fencing classes. Can you please stay focused on the part where I ravish you for now?”

“Okey-dokey!” Pinkie trotted up and kissed Rarity happily. “So um... up on the bed?

Rarity nodded, her expression smoldering. “On your back, please. I want to see your face and kiss your lips while I take you.”

“O-okay.”

Pinkie crawled back onto the bed cautiously, giggling occasionally as the petals shifted and tickled her tummy. Rarity followed, stalking her like a timberwolf would its prey, eyeing every move the earth pony made. This moment was hers; she had fantasized about it roughly as often as she had the proposal, and nothing would be allowed to go wrong.

Which is exactly why it upset her so very much when Opalescence dashed past one of the candleholders and snuffed out the flame in her wake.

“Opal! Bad kitty! You get downstairs this instant!” Rarity’s eye twitched as she looked over the spilled wax.

“Uh... Rarity?”

Rarity looked up and smiled apologetically. “Just a moment, love. I need to clean this up before it hardens.”

“Sure... Uh, I’ll just be here then...”

The unicorn carefully lifted the spilled wax droplets from her carpet, cursing her lack of foresight. Idiot, you could have sent Opal off with Fluttershy for the night! And now look: the petals are already starting to wilt! Her ardor was beginning to cool the longer it took to clean up the mess. She was starting to realize how ridiculous she had to look with this thing bobbing in front of her.

The room was illuminated behind her, and she turned to find that Pinkie had righted the stand and relit the spilled candle. She grinned hopefully at Rarity. “Um... can we get to the sexy part now?”

Rarity stared uncomprehendingly at her marefriend, not quite certain what had possessed her to give cleaning up some stupid wax the highest priority, when she had a ready-and-willing Pinkie waiting for her in bed. “Y-yes. Sorry, love, I didn’t mean to get so wrapped up in trivial matters.”

Pinkie bounded across the room and kissed her on the nose. “It’s okay. Really. You’re here, I’m here; that’s what counts.” She fluttered her eyes, giving Rarity a ‘come hither’ stare. “Now, you gonna come over and rut me, ‘big boy?’”

Rarity blinked, then smiled mischievously. “Oh my, yes!” She took a moment to get into character. ”’Ahem... ‘I have a special delivery for a Ms. Pie?’”

Pinkie’s grin only got wider as she answered. “‘I’m sorry, I don’t have enough bits on me, mister! Is there any other way I can pay you?’”

Rarity advanced on the ‘poor and lonely housemare,’ following the formulaic script to a tee: “Oh, I’m sure we can work something out, lil’ missy...”

The earth pony giggled, humming “Bow-chika-bow-wow!” as she threw herself back on the bed, displacing many a rose petal in the process. She lay back and propped her head against a pillow, looking down her body with great interest, patiently awaiting whatever Rarity had planned next.

Rarity swiftly followed her up onto the bed, stopping only when her hind legs stood between Pinkie’s legs and her forelegs gently pinned the other mare down. She rained down affection on her lover’s body: a nuzzle at her sensitive ear, a nip on her neck, a kiss on her chest, and then a jolt of unexpected magic flicking a pink nipple below. Pinkie squirmed, making little gasping noises that only served to excite Rarity further.

Rarity continued to work her way down until at last she arrived at the earth pony’s flower, the petals spread wide, glistening-wet with dew. Much as she would have loved to bring Pinkie to a shuddering climax with her tongue, today was special, so her intent was merely to ensure that things went smoothly. A few licks later, and things were very smooth indeed; Pinkie’s sex had been lavished with warm and slick saliva, and lovingly stimulated into producing plenty of nectar of its own, leaving her trembling and about as ready for mating as a mare could possibly be.

“R-Rarity...? Puh—please...”

Rarity understood, and finished up with a final teasing flick of the tongue on Pinkie’s clitoris, prompting a shudder and another small whine from the quietly-pleading pink mare. Climbing back up, she then knelt down and poised her hips above Pinkie, lining up the tip of the faux member with Pinkie’s twitching little hole. She tried a few shallow strokes just inside those silky-smooth and slippery lips at first, lubricating her makeshift member. Using her magic to spread Pinkie’s wetness all along the head and shaft, she got ready to commit the act, but hesitated and drew back slightly.

“Pinkie...?”

“I know, Granny told me it stings the first time you do it. I’ll be okay.” Pinkie reached her hooves around Rarity’s neck and hugged her, kissing her passionately. “C’mon in, the water’s fine,” she whispered afterwards, although her disarming smile was tense and her eyes remained wide.

Rarity reached down with her magic and lined up the tip, easing it back into place between Pinkie’s lower lips, never breaking eye-contact with the quivering but eager mare beneath her. She was feeling strangely powerful but, simultaneously, as if a great responsibility had fallen upon her.

Pinkie broke the kiss and looked up at her worriedly. “Rarity, wait a second...”

“Shhhh, it’s going to be all right, love,” Rarity cooed, nuzzling just below the understandably-nervous mare’s chin. ”Let your ‘stallion’ handle this.”

The words made her giggle slightly; she’d never pictured herself on this end of this particular familiar scene. Still, she knew she would be seeing things from Pinkie’s current perspective come their wedding night.

Best to do this quickly.

She prodded the member forward gently, trying to find the entrance.

Pinkie yelped and scooted backwards.“Ouch! I don’t think that goes there!”

Rarity backed off hurriedly. “Love?”

The earth pony smiled back, albeit a bit pained. “It’s okay now. But aim a bit higher next time, or give a girl a little warning first!”

Warn...? Oh dear, did I end up...? She blushed a brilliant red, realizing that was probably exactly what she had done. “Sorry... Unsurprisingly, I’m new at this, too. Can we try again?”

“Yeah, just be careful,” Pinkie said as she scooted back into place under Rarity. “Take two!”

Rarity nodded, watching where she was aiming this time. She felt the tip ease inward, felt soft silky folds give way and suck her in, and smoothly followed through with the weight of her hips.

The kiss was broken as Pinkie hissed sharply. “Time out!”

The two lay together, locked in an embrace, each feeling the gentle rise and fall of the other’s chest.

Pinkie drew her hoof around to Rarity’s nose and tapped it. “Time in.”

Rarity withdrew gently, thrusting forward again. With a flick of her magic, she activated a crystal inside her new member, which provided a pleasant vibration for both parties. Every time the unicorn thrust forward the base of her strap-on pressed deliciously against her clitoris. However, far more stimulating was the look of joy on Pinkie’s face as her lover rode her for all she was worth.

Rarity felt Pinkie’s hind legs wrap around her waist, and with every thrust she was being pulled in further, forcing her member deeper and deeper into her eager little mare. Grinning madly, Rarity locked lips with Pinkie once again, feeling the growing heat and excitement as their movements became one. She laid her head on Pinkie’s shoulder and urgently increased the pace. As Pinkie’s whines became more pronounced, the unicorn gave a last deep thrust and held the toy in place.

Pinkie buried her face in Rarity’s mane and screamed “I love you!” as she came, her whole body bucking and convulsing in pleasure.

Rarity lay gasping for breath on top of Pinkie. The latter, amazingly, was motionless. Rarity tiredly reached up and pulled her mane from Pinkie’s face, kissing her cheek. “Pinkie promise me, on our wedding night, that you’ll keep going until my face matches the look on yours right now.”

Pinkie weakly nodded. “C-cross—” The rest was lost to incoherent mumbles as the earth pony began snoring.

Rarity blinked, smiling gently after seeing no further movement from Pinkie. She climbed off her lover, sweeping the crushed petals from the bed while removing her toy. When everything was ready, she lay down next to the slumbering mare, snuggling up to her. In short order, Rarity joined her marefriend in slumber.

As such, she missed it when the pink pony raised a hoof in her sleep, only to let it drop back down onto the mattress again with a softly mumbled, “Aaaand cut!” quickly followed by her rolling over and murmuring something that sounded like, ”Fade... to... black...”

“Wakey wakey!”

Rarity flailed her forelegs in the general direction of the noise, searching blindly for an alarm clock which had clearly been set incorrectly by several hours. Her hoof was caught in two others instead, and a slew of smooches were subsequently felt along her foreleg.

The fashionista blinked several times, trying to reconcile the fact that her alarm clock had apparently fallen in love with her. She finally opened her eyes to find Pinkie smiling down at her, a tray of pancakes balanced precariously atop her head, with the syrup decanter threatening to spill at any moment.

“Oh, good morning love,” Rarity said sleepily, expertly masking the fact that she had just momentarily mistaken the love of her life for an alarm clock. ”Sleep well?”

“Super well! I guess you were tired too, huh?”

“Just a little,” Rarity admitted. “I’m unused to such vigorous use of those particular muscles. It left me a bit sore in the thighs. How about you?”

The earth pony’s face swiftly took on a very rosy hue. “Sore. But it’s a good kind of sore. It was fun! Next time we should try doing it standing up. Or you could be on the bottom! There’s so many fun things you can do with one those things! I didn’t know they made them for mares. That’s just so neat!”

Rarity yawned, casually levitating the tray to safety before it could be upended by Pinkie’s enthusiastic gesturing. “There is an entire catalog. That was just one of their simpler models...”

Pinkie gasped, looking ready to spout off a plethora of words which, while certain to be adorable, were likely to be a bit much for anypony to process this soon after waking up.

The fashionista leaned forward and kissed Pinkie before she began, leaning back only once the look of mania had subsided. “Yes, love, you may absolutely peruse it and pick a few you might wish to try. I just wanted it to be a surprise this time, or I would have asked you to make a selection.”

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you!” Pinkie was grinning like it was Hearth's Warming Eve.

They sat back on the bed to eat breakfast. Rarity nodded appreciatively to Pinkie, grateful to her for having made it. When they finished, Rarity cleared the tray from her bed and lay back in contentment. “Well, that was lovely, thank you.”

“No problem!” Pinkie said as she snuggled into Rarity’s chest. “I need to go open the bakery today. Were you going to stop by for lunch?”

“I should be able to, yes. I only have my spa trip scheduled for this morning. Oh, I wanted to ask you: what do you think about trying to find somepony for Fluttershy to date?”

Pinkie’s ear perked up. “Who did you have in mind?”

“Well, nopony in particular; I just feel badly seeing her so alone. I thought we could set her up on some blind dates, see if we can find her somepony to make her happy.” Rarity considered for a moment. “For that matter, I wonder if Twilight—”

“Uh-uh.”

Rarity looked down at Pinkie in surprise. “Sorry?”

“Twi’s doing okay. She doesn’t need help.”

“Oh? She’s with somepony? Why haven’t we met them?”

Pinkie shook her head, suddenly incredibly sparse with words. “Twi’s business. I Pinkie-promised. But she’s fine.”

That explained it. “Oh, well that’s wonderful then. I hope we get to meet... whoever it is, at some point.”

Pinkie look up and smiled beatifically. “No hints. She’ll tell us when she’s ready.”

“Spoilsport...”

The earth pony reached up and pecked Rarity on the cheek. “No pouting.”

“But—”

“Nope!”

“Fine, fine... So, Twilight is taken care of. But Fluttershy is not!” Rarity paused, looking inquisitively at her lover. ”Unless you know something I don’t?”

“I can conclusively confirm the absence of any contracts—heretofore referred to as ‘Pinkie Promises’—concerning the non-divulgence of salient details surrounding any and all relationships Ms. Fluttershy may or may not be engaged in.”

“Right... Well then, something to work on. I’ll see you for lunch, love.”

“Lotus, I really need a good lower-body massage today. You would not believe how knotted-up I am feeling right now...” Rarity said conversationally as she lay down on the massage table. She had planned the proposal and subsequent activities to be the day before her weekly spa trip. In this way she had ensured that, if everything went well, she could count on the sisters’ aid to help her recover from what must surely have been a very tiring night. And if things went horribly wrong, she would at least still have the trip to look forward to. As it happened a bit of both had occurred, so she was very glad to be here this morning.

Lotus’s hooves tensed noticeably on Rarity’s back. “If mistress wishes... Shall I finish the rest of your body before we move on to that?”

“Oh, yes of course, darling! I never meant to rush you. I have just spent a most fabulous night with Pinkie; I popped the question and she said yes! Oh, I still have trouble believing just how happy she manages to make me...” She squirmed down into the towel as Lotus hit another particularly bad knot. “I ended up performing some... rather risque but nevertheless enjoyable activities with her. That’s why I would like to ask you to focus on there in particular.”

“Oh?” Lotus’s voice became hot and breathy as she bent down to speak into Rarity’s ear directly. “Did these ‘activities’ leave you with... unresolved tension?”

Rarity hissed as another knot was addressed with precision by the skilled earth pony. “A lady doesn’t—ah!—kiss and tell, dear.”

“Miss Rarity... are you certain? I would be more than glad to cater to your every need, but what you ask is normally reserved for clients who have nopony to provide such forms of relief for them. I certainly would not mind, but Pinkie may not approve of my services.”

“Lotus,” Rarity said, turning her head away from the towel to face the masseuse, “I didn’t ask you for anything untoward... at least not intentionally. Am I missing some context here?”

The hooves on her back tensed up again. “I am not certain if I am relieved or disappointed to hear this, Miss Rarity. Normally speaking, when a client requests a ‘lower body massage,’ their intent is... well, it’s usually a euphemistic request for a slightly more intimate act than a mere massage. My sister and I believe that anything that can offer a client the relief and relaxation they require is a worthy endeavour, but these forms of customer service are obviously not advertized, since some ponies may not understand. As such, a key phrase was chosen to be passed along amongst ponies in need.”

“Oh... oh!” Rarity was initially taken aback, but after her experience with Pinkie, it actually relieved her to know that such a service was being provided by the sisters. Plus, it gave her an idea. “Well, much as I appreciate the offer, I am already quite content in that department.”

“That is good to hear, miss.”

The rest of the massage was dispensed in relative silence, though Rarity’s thoughts were very nearly loud enough to hear. Perhaps her shy friend might benefit from one of these caring and discreet ‘lower body massages.’ It was certainly something to keep in mind...

Her massage done, Rarity had been led to the mudbath where Fluttershy was even now enjoying a good soak.

“Good morning, darling! I forgot to mention, I really want to thank you for coming last night.”

Rarity waited patiently as the twins wrapped her up in seaweed. Once she was securely enwrapped, she eased herself into the bath, cooing softly as the mud enveloped her form.

After the sisters had gone, she leaned in conspiratorially towards Fluttershy. “Also, I would like to apologize for any embarrassment my actions may have caused. Pinkie can be... unpredictable when it comes to displays of affection...”

Rarity smiled wearily. She suspected life with Pinkie would consist of an awful lot of apologies for faux pas. Still so very worth it. She shivered, remembering last night anew.

Fluttershy looked down, blushing slightly. “It’s okay. Back when we were still together, Dashie could be very spontaneous too. Which was fine, until my dad caught us... Things got very quiet for a while, after that.”

“Oh, oh dear! Had you ever even told him you were—” Rarity paused, uncertain what the term was, exactly. Marefriends? Fillyfriends? “—dating?”

“Um... no. He was very startled.”

“Yes, well, I would imagine so! Not that there is anything wrong with love in any form, but one would generally not expect to find one’s daughter making love to her female best friend...”

“Well, actually, he’d already figured out we were seeing each other. He just thought that Rainbow was, uh, a colt.” Fluttershy blushed again at this admission. “He was actually pretty relieved; he said he really wasn’t ready for grandfoals quite yet.”

"Grandfoals? Why would that—oh..." Rarity frowned pensively. "Speaking of which, I wonder if there's a way to... Bother! I suppose that's another thing to ask Twilight about." She flashed Fluttershy a bashful smile. "Not to say I want one this very instant, mind you. I just think Pinkie would make for a wonderful mother, given how much the Cake twins adore her."

They soaked in companionable silence for a time, neither of them feeling the need to say any more, until Rarity finally blurted out the question had been on her mind since she had seen the wistful look on Fluttershy’s face the previous evening. “Darling? Do you think Pinkie and I can make it, in the long run?”

Fluttershy looked up in alarm. “Of course! You love each other! I mean, you two always look so happy together...”

“Well, not to embarrass you, darling, but you looked incredibly happy in that centerfold. So much so that you barely even looked uncomfortable about being photographed.”

“That was different... When we were together, I just felt so brave and daring.”

“So... what changed?”

A long silence fell, stretching between them as a deep chasm would. All it would take was a short flight on Fluttershy’s part, but she seemed unwilling to cross the gap.

“I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t mean to pry... again.”

“I’ll tell you someday, I promise. Just... not now.” Fluttershy sighed. “I'm okay. Really, I am. Dashie and I, we laugh, we hug... I love having her as a friend. But when I see her nuzzle Applejack and think of how that could have been me—no, how that was me, once—it just... hurts. A little.”

The silence loomed again, and Rarity wished more than anything that she could embrace her friend and tell her all would be well. “Have you considered... finding another? It might help lessen the hurt.”

Fluttershy shook her head, pain etched on her face. “I’m just no good with romance. My animal friends love me, my friends love me, and that ought to be enough.”

Rarity looked at her friend sadly, but did not press the issue further. “Well, that’s good then; so long as you are happy.” Rarity waded forward and pulled Fluttershy into a silent hug, for which her friend seemed genuinely grateful. “Say, would you care to join me for lunch?”

The two friends chatted as they made their way to Sugarcube Corner. The subject of romance was pointedly omitted from their conversation, but between reports on the health and general status of her various animal friends and Rarity’s own tales of Pinkie’s antics, they had plenty to discuss regardless.

“—rose clenched in her teeth, dressed like some sort of Spanish bullfighter, and just whisks me off my hooves and dances me around the showroom! She’s just so incredibly...”

“Romantic?” Fluttershy supplied with a dreamy look on her face.

“Well, yes, very much so. But the way she goes about it is just...”

“Wonderful?”

Rarity paused, laughing after a moment. “Yes, I suppose it is. Surprising, romantic, and wonderful. That’s my Pinkie for you.”

“Rarity!”

Rarity looked up in alarm and, upon spotting the pink missile that was headed straight for her, frantically pushed Fluttershy away from her, bracing for impact. She was toppled head over plot, landing flat on her back whilst a breathless Pinkie smiled down at her.

“Now love, remember what we—oof—said about tackling Rarity?”

“‘Only in the bedroom, where she has a bed to land on—’” Pinkie recited dutifully, before looking around the patch of grass they happened to find themselves in, comprehension dawning. “Oopsie.”

“No harm done.” Rarity smiled and leaned up to place a fond peck on Pinkie’s cheek. “Now, could you perhaps help me up, please?”

In due order the two ponies were back on their hooves. Or rather, Pinkie was standing on her hind legs, with her forelegs wrapped around Rarity’s neck.

“Well then, let’s examine the damage. Pinkie! Mirror!”

Rummaging around in her mane, Pinkie promptly produced a pearl-inlaid silver vanity mirror. Rarity inspected her coiffure carefully, sighing to see grass blades tucked in her precious curls here and there. “Fashion emergency kit!”

“Aww, can’t it wait a little? It doesn’t look too bad.”

“What did we say?”

“‘If Pinkie is going to roughhouse with Rarity, she may do so only on the condition that she helps to return Rarity to the fabulous state she was in beforehoof.’ Okay, fine! But I need to do a rush job; I have cupcakes about to come out.”

“That’s fine, love. Just get the grass out, please.”

Rarity smiled apologetically at Fluttershy, who had been watching the proceedings in what seemed like a mild state of shock. “Sorry, dear. This won’t take much longer.” Pinkie had already produced two hoofbrushes and a bottle of hairgel from the aether, and was busily restyling Rarity’s mane while balanced on a single hoof. The work of a few frenzied moments found Rarity back in roughly the condition she had been in before she had been toppled with extreme prejudice.

“Oh my, I didn’t know Pinkie could style hair...”

“Aloe and Lotus say she is an amazing pupil. Isn’t that right, my love?”

“Mmmmhmmm! I want my Rarity to be happy, and she likes it when her mane looks nice. I really do need to remember that bedroom thing, though...” Pinkie nuzzled Rarity as she put the brushes and combs away. “Okay, gotta run, cupcakes are done. See you two inside!”

Rarity smiled as she watched Pinkie run off. “So much energy...”

“You must be very happy.”

“You would not believe how much! Why, the things that mare can do with a hoof—” Rarity stopped, blushing furiously. “You were referring to the hairstyling, weren’t you? Yes, she’s... very good at that, too.”

Fluttershy squeaked an unintelligible reply.

“Well, let’s go eat, shall we?”

Lunch was a fairly silent affair; Rarity was feeling a bit too embarassed by prior events to be her normal gregarious self, and Fluttershy just seemed lost in thought.

Pinkie came out from the kitchen and joined them when she had finished tending to her batch of cupcakes. “So, did you have a nice visit?”

Rarity smiled. “I did. I feel so much better now.”

“That’s good! So they took care of all those tight muscles in your legs? ‘Cause I was thinking we could have a little party again tonight.” Pinkie waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Rarity coughed violently as a crumb of cupcake went down her windpipe, prompting Pinkie to leap to her aid. But Fluttershy was already wrapping her forelegs around Rarity’s middle to deliver the Holsteiner maneuver. Two quick thrusts and the crumb was dislodged, allowing Rarity to breathe easily once more.

“T-thank you, Fluttershy.”

“You have to be more careful when you startle her, Pinkie,” Fluttershy scolded.

Pinkie’s ears folded back on themselves, “Um... sorry.”

When they had finished eating—without further incident—Fluttershy bid Rarity farewell. Just before she left, however, she approached Rarity and leaned in close to speak to her with some modicum of privacy. “Um... you don’t have anything to worry about. That’s my opinion. Just let her make you happy and you’ll be fine. Don’t overthink things... That’s part of what went wrong, in my case.” She embraced Rarity lightly, and then left for home.

Rarity watched her go, wondering at this news. “‘Don’t overthink things’... I suppose that’s exactly what I have been doing, isn’t it? It is enough that I am happy.” A slow smile spread across her face.

“There’s that smile!” A pair of pink legs were wrapping themselves around her, and a matching face soon followed, coming into her field of vision and peppering her face with kisses. “Don’t overthink what?”

“Hmmm? Oh, nothing important, love. Fluttershy was just reminding me that I need to stop worrying about whether I am going to be happy and just let it happen.”

“Well duh! If you’re still worried about that, I really need to teach you to be happy some more.” She squeezed a little harder with her hug and kissed Rarity on the cheek. “What am I going to do with you, Rarity?”

Rarity kissed Pinkie’s lips, her smile growing more heated. “Why, I don’t know, love. What are you going to do with me?”

Pinkie’s face flushed, and her smile grew ever larger. “Bedroom?”

“Bedroom.”