Hey guys! After reading the comments on the last chapter, I decided to burn the midnight oil and generate the next part of the story, seeing as how you guys were getting anxious to see the return of Rainbow Dash. I promise, this one was waaaaay more competently written then the last one. Enjoy!

Fluttershy was not getting up, plain and simple.

The yellow pegasus lied in her recently acquired queen sized bed (Dash was getting tired of sharing the single) trying to put the events of last night out of her mind.

She could deal with her own flesh and blood inadvertently insulting her for her sexuality, but what was unbearable was everything else her brother Saltine blurted in his drunken state.

“No damned filly-fooler is capable of loving your friend, Rainbow Dash the way a stallion would!”

Fluttershy shivered when that line resonated in her mind. She pulled her head under the covers and tried to make the voices from last night go away. It was to no avail. The pegasus pulled out of the protection of the sheets and plopped her head against her pillow, burying her face into her hooves. Doubt and self-loathing began to rear their ugly heads on Fluttershy’s conscience.

“He’s right….he’s completely right.” The animal lover told herself, now rocking back and forth in anguish. “No stallion would be keeping up this charade…keeping Rainbow in the dark about their own family. I don’t deserve her…I never deserved her.”

A hurricane of self-hatred swirled in the pegasus’s brain. She was ready to break into tears…until she heard the window opening. Immediately, Fluttershy jumped up in terror at the possible intruder, only for her eyes to widen at who it was standing in front of her.

“Honey, I’m home!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in a tone that suggested she was aware of the use of such a clichéd phrase.

Fluttershy was speechless. Her thoughts went a little something like this…

“Oh dear sweet Celestia, what’s Rainbow doing here? W-what’s she doing back so soon? She’s not supposed to be here! Not until….”

Suddenly, Fluttershy’s train of thought was completely derailed by a tender kiss from Rainbow Dash. Earlier on, when their
relationship started, Rainbow was a pretty terrible kisser. Her aggressive nature and general lack of experience in the romantic arena made her the kind of kisser that restrained the neck of her partner and just forced her mouth directly on top of Fluttershy’s mouth. This was made worse by the fact that the daredevil used her tongue to essentially stab the back of her fillyfriend’s mouth. As time went on, Rainbow was able to learn to refrain from such forceful tongue-play, and use tenderness and subtlety when kissing her beloved. Now, Rainbow was a natural; and instead of using her hooves to constrict the back of her lover’s neck, she was running them up and down her silky pink mane.

The cyan pegasus pulled away from the embrace to get a good look at Fluttershy, who although still frozen from the shock, had a “lovey-dovey” look in her eyes, which were pointing to the bed in an eager manner.

Rainbow chuckled. “Shall we?”

Fluttershy made a slight nod as she led Rainbow to their love-sack (I can’t believe I just wrote that) for a good old fashioned…um…communion.

Rainbow was the first to get on the bed as she lied flat on her back. She helped Fluttershy up as the creamy yellow pegasus positioned herself right on top of Rainbow. Their…um...marehoods….were touching. Fluttershy bent down to enamor herself in another passionate kiss with her beloved.

The question was still in the back of Fluttershy’s mind as to what Rainbow was doing here, but frankly, it didn’t matter. She was here, and down for some good-old, stress relieving clop….

….that you will not be reading.

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Sleep had not remedied Rarity’s bad case of guilt. The night before, after returning from the disastrous dinner party with Fluttershy’s family, the fashionista attempted to drown her frustrations in some Marshmallow Cider from Flim&Flam Bros.

Needless to say, it didn’t help. So in addition to her crushing guilt and self-loathing, Rarity had her usual Sunday morning hangover. The marshmallow unicorn came into her kitchen and rested her head on the breakfast table, not wanting to move from her spot. All she wanted to do was wallow. In what, she hadn’t the foggiest, but the point was, she wanted to wallow.

Suddenly, the door to the boutique was knocking. A groggy Rarity sluggishly got up and staggered her way into the shop.

“Who in Equestria could be knocking at this ….high noon.” the fashionista thought to herself. She eventually reached the door and flung it open to find a maroon mare with a snow-white mane.

“Rarity?” Fox Trottingham queried to the hung-over mare. “Dear sweet Celestia, you look awful!”
The unicorn shook her head and widened her eyes at her guest. It was this point that she realized she invited Foxy over to examine her wardrobe. In her drunken state, she had forgotten.

“Oh…Foxy. I’m so sorry, I must look a mess. You see, I…uh…had a little too much last night…and uh….”

“Say no more.” Foxy interjected as she shoved some sort of pill into Rarity’s mouth. In a mere matter of seconds, Rarity felt a jolt of energy that cured her heavy migraine. The unicorn stood in stunned silence before finally asking, “What in the name of Celestia was that?”

Foxy chuckled. “Back in the old days, Sapphire and I partied our flanks off after doing shows. Our hangovers eventually started to affect our performances, so we made contact this guy that Sapphire knew from Canterlot. He runs a club, but deals on the side, and one of his products was the item you just took. It’s a stimulant that really works at curing drowsiness, hangovers, and general sickness. They’re great to have around if you’re a party kind of pony.”

Rarity giggled: thinking that these uppers were right up her alley (or at least the younger, wilder her).

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The unicorn proceeded to give the former pop singer turned housewife the grand tour of Carousel Boutique. Foxy was stunned by the actual look of Rarity’s creations in person. These were items that Clothes Horse couldn’t do justice through pictures. Rarity, in turn, was completely giddy that she was not only capturing the interest of one of her favorite pop-stars, but actively engaging in conversation with her as two friends would. Her encounter with Sapphire Shores simply didn’t compare. There was something about Foxy that entranced Rarity not in a way that an important celebrity or royalty would, but it was….something else; something that the unicorn couldn’t put her hoof on at the moment.

After taking thorough inventory of her wardrobe, Rarity offered to treat Foxy to lunch at the Café, to which the earth pony accepted. All the time, the two continued uninterrupted conversation ranging various topics.

“So you’re sister’s still a blank flank, huh?” Foxy asked as she took a bite of her hay bacon sandwich.

Rarity chuckled, “Oh my, yes. I will never understand that filly. Pretty much everypony in town but her realizes her spectacular talent in singing. But unfortunately, she just never takes the time to sit down and take inventory of what she’s good at. Instead her and her “crusader” friends spend their time running around ragged trying to force discovery of their talents. It’s comical, honestly.”

Foxy raised an eyebrow. “Crusader? I don’t follow.”

Rarity gulped her water, realizing the esotericism of certain things in her life. She cleared her throat and explained, “Well, you see, my sister’s best friends also don’t have their cutie marks. So they decided to form an alliance of sorts and they call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and they spend their time doing different sorts of activities trying to find their special talents.”

Foxy let out an enormous laugh and slapped the table. Gaining some composure, she uttered, “That sounds exactly like what my sons used to do before they got their cutie marks.”

Rarity was still fascinated by the simple fact that Foxy Trot, the former half of one of the most influential duos in the history of Equestrian music, was now a wife and mother.

“You know, Foxy; I still can’t believe that you have kids. When I saw you live in Canterlot at Club Grey-out ten years ago, you were a wild, crazy, unpredictable burlesque performer. Now here you are, a decade later, a mother having lunch with an ordinary pony like me. It’s a bit surreal, if you ask me.”

“Three things, Rarity. One: yeah, you’re right. It does seem strange that I’ve gone from club singer to housewife in such a short decade. It’s bizarre, but I gotta say, it’s been a good life so far. Two: You are not just some ordinary pony, I don’t want to have to say that again. Three: You saw me at club Grey-out ten years ago? There’s no way you could’ve gotten in at that age!”

Rarity blushed a little and turned away. “Well at the time, I did have some…fraudulent, identification….so to speak.”

The maroon mare gave a devilish grin. “Why you naughty filly.”

On a side note, Rarity got REALLY aroused from being called a naughty filly by a mare who was REALLY attractive.

As their lunch continued, the conversation turned to the unfortunate dinner party from last night.

“Rarity, listen, I’m really sorry for how Saltine acted. I accept full responsibility for his behavior.”

The marshmallow unicorn gulped the remainder of her salad and responded, “Darling, please! What happened last night wasn’t your fault in the slightest. If there’s anypony who should apologize, it’s that husband of yours. Um…no offense.”

Foxy shook her head. “None taken. I can’t believe he gets that way when he drinks. I honestly should have told him to stop at a certain point.”

“There you go again, darling. Stop blaming yourself for what happened at once!”

Miss Trottingham lowered her head and sighed. “I know, but I just feel so awful. All the things he said…” Foxy raised her head and looked directly at Rarity “I want you to know that I don’t think that way at all about Lesbimares, and I don’t raise my children to think that way, either.”

Rarity gave a warm smile. “I never thought otherwise darling. That doesn’t explain your husband, though. What’s his quarrel?”

Foxy sighed. “It’s my fault, really…oops, sorry.”

Rarity dismissively flicked her hoof. “No no, darling, continue.”

“Before Saltine and I dated, I um….played the field for both teams….sometimes simultaneously. He knew this, and once we finally got together, he began to get paranoid about the whole gay thing. I guess he thinks that I’m ready to go back to being a wild, bisexual party animal at the drop of a hat. He can’t even comprehend that I gave all of that up when I married him. For Celestia’s sake, I’ve had TWO of his children! What makes him think that I’m going to be smitten by some random mare and want to run off with her?”

Rarity placed her head on her hooves and listened intently. She had just listened to her stunning revelation of the day: Fox Trottingham liked it both ways. For one thing: it meant they had something in common (although Rarity still wasn’t entirely open about her bi-curiosity), but also…for some reason, Rarity was very, very pleased by the fact that Foxy had been with mares before.

In response to Foxy’s diatribe ending rhetorical question, Rarity replied, “I haven’t the slightest of an idea, darling.”

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The pair walked toward Fluttershy’s house near the outskirts of the forest to collect a hung-over Saltine. The stallion in question spent the night in Fluttershy’s guest room while everypony else went back to the hotel. As they approached the front of the house, Rarity and Foxy continued their never-ending colloquy.

“Well, I certainly had a marvelous time! It’s not every day that you get to dine with such a piece of work.”

Foxy blushed. “Rarity, honestly, you think too highly of me.”

Rarity scoffed at this notion. “Darling, listen to me. I’ve spent a good amount of time with the elites of Canterlot, and let me tell you something. I may have had formal conversation with them at a gallery opening or a cocktail party, but I never actually got to pick their brains, so to speak. You on the other hand, are quite the specimen. I honestly feel like I’ve truly connected with you.”

Foxy smiled. “I feel the same way, Rarity. We really need to do this again sometime.”

The unicorn gave an excited nod and a joyful grin. “I couldn’t agree more darling!”

The two approached the door, but before one of them could knock, unsettling sounds could be heard from the inside of the house. Rarity and Foxy gave each other a concerned look and leaned their ears to the door. The sounds started out as grumblings before resonating as all-out shouting. It sounded like an argument between two ponies, and suddenly the two listeners’ eyes widened in horror as each of them recognized one of the voices.

For Foxy, she could tell that the fratty, good-old boy accent had to be her husband. Whereas Rarity recognized the growly, tomboyish mare’s voice as.....Rainbow Dash.

This wasn’t going to be fun.

Next Chapter: 10. It Hits the Fan Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 16 Minutes