The Difference Between Trust and Vulnerability

by Michael Hudson

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Drama, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Sex, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2289

After a year of happy marriage, Rainbow Dash tries to surprise her wife with a special treat, but in the process bringing up bad memories.

After a year of happy marriage, Rainbow Dash tries to surprise her wife with a special treat, but in the process bringing up bad memories.

Commissioned for by Cynewolf!

Published 2016-08-11 00:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-08-11 00:00:01 UTC

Trust and Vulnerability

Rarity took in a deep breath as the last plate from dinner sank into the warm water of the sink. It was normal for her, though she had toyed with the idea of making Rainbow do them tonight. However, even their anniversary wouldn’t make the lazy mare even offer to do such a boring chore. Not that Rarity minded. It gave her time.

She slowly brought a sponge out of the water and gave it a firm squeeze to let some of the water out. The action made her chuckle, as she could still remember the freshly, and manually, squeezed oranges that Rainbow had destroyed this morning so they could have some juice with breakfast. Of course, it was mostly for show, but it still was fun.

And that had to be the best part of this year. While Rarity’s life was almost always full of control, a state she absolutely adored, there was a part of life that she hadn’t realized that she suffocated with that control. A side of her that craved the unexpected, and the exciting. A side that craved an absolutely psychotic mare.

She reached back, running one of her hooves through her mane as she remembered the rollercoasters they had gone on that day. She had made plans for a relaxing, inside day, but she should have expected Rainbow to plan something. Luckily, her plans hadn’t gone entirely to waste, as most of her dinner had been prepped the night before while Rainbow was performing with the Wonderbolts.

And now, she put to the side the last plate from it, her eyes lowering as she could see those violet eyes looking back at her. Only at her. In public, nothing could keep her attention, nothing could stop her eyes, but when they came home, and the two sat down for dinner…

She swiped a hoof over her eyes as her body tremored from the emotions of the memories. Of soft kisses, gentle touches, and walking down an aisle in a white dress. All while those violet eyes could never leave her, could never abandon her.

And now, despite all the odds, they’d made it a whole year.

Rarity set the sponge down onto the counter as she closed her eyes, and let a single tear fall down her cheek as she made her way out of the kitchen. Her hooves, permanently enchanted, trotted along the soft clouds as she crossed the living room. If Rainbow saw her like this, almost in tears because of just simple memories, she knew she would be mercilessly teased by the blue mare. Not that she ever hated it, but it might ruin the quiet mood, and the romance she hoped for from that night.

She steeled herself as she got to the top of the stairs in the house, shutting her eyes tight so as to be rid of the stinging tears, and setting her jaw in a scowl, before she began to wear some sort of goofy grin. Such things were not what one wore when they went to see their lover, and especially so when you went to them for their services. Their wonderful, wonderful services.

She let herself one more, thin lipped smile, and walked to the door of their bedroom. Before she opened it though, she heard noise from within. From the sounds of it, Rainbow was having some level of difficulty with something, and her muffled curses only gave the theory more proof. For a moment, she wondered if Rainbow was trying on some new strap on, and was having difficulty with it, before she made out one specific word.

“Rope.”

Rarity’s heart almost stopped as she heard the word, and she simply stood there. The one word brought on a hundred and one ideas and possibilities, all more exciting than the other. It was only made worse by the fact that Rainbow had to be using it on herself, or she wouldn’t be having trouble with it.

And then Rarity’s heart sank. While the softer, kinder stuff was nice, Rainbow was prone to this sort of behavior too. Going too far just to be nice, breaking her own boundaries for Rarity’s desires, and the stupid pegasus had even tried this one before. The night when this part of their relationship ended was still one that utterly disgusted Rarity, if not for any other reason than how much of a monster she’d been by not noticing it before.

She opened the door, her head staying down as her magic worked fast. First, it targeted the rope, grabbed it, and ripped it away from Rainbow’s forehooves. Not really difficult, as the mare couldn’t ever tie anything onto herself, but that wasn’t it. She could just sense the toys that had been taken out of her personal trunk, and quickly began to sweep them away with her magic.

Rainbow, at first confused, especially as the ropes had thrown her away from the bed when Rarity had removed them, now scowled as she watched a fly swatter begin to glow in front of her, and she stomped on it with her hooves. Once certain that it was down, she looked at Rarity, and yelled, “Hey, what gives?”

Rarity, looking into her closet so Rainbow couldn’t see her face took in a deep breath to steady her voice. This could be the issue with being in love with a mare like Rainbow. “Look, it’s a sweet gesture, but we tried all of this stuff once, and… and I would rather we not try it again.”

Rainbow took a step off of the flyswatter now that Rarity had stopped using her magic, and began to trot over, her scowl growing. “Hey, all I was trying to do was get the rope to work with me. We were going to do all this freaky BDSM stuff tonight.”

Rarity looked over her shoulder, her own eyes narrowing as a twinge of pain ran through her chest. When she spoke, it was with an edge that she did not mean to add, but couldn’t get rid of. “You still call it freaky. That’s all I need to say no.”

“Oh,” Rainbow said as she raised a hoof up, and then looked to the side as she grit her teeth. She then slammed her hoof into the carpet, and stared right back at Rarity. “You know that’s not what I mea-”

“And I heard that how many times before you cried?” Now Rarity was standing too, her voice having turned into a high pitched scream as she had to face her beloved.

Rainbow, for her part, lost all of her edge as she saw tears coming down Rarity’s cheek, and she tried to reach out to her. Rarity simply nudged the hoof away, and Rainbow looked at the ground. She’d always known that the night that Rarity made her cry in bed had hurt her, but to see it cause this much of a reaction…

She couldn’t leave it like this though.

“Rarity, do you remember why I said I couldn’t do all that stuff, even if I was a..” she swallowed hard as a blush came to her face. She hated the term, even if Rarity was completely right about what she was. “A natural sub?”

Rarity scowled deeper as her body shook with fury. It wasn’t aimed at Rainb… Okay, it was somewhat directed at Rainbow for ruining what had been a perfect day so far, but she was mostly angry at herself for not having killed this. This should have never been brought up again, let alone tried again. It’s her fault for having even kept the equipment.

But she wasn’t about to ignore Rainbow, especially since just burying this would bring it back up someday. “You said it was like your hooves. You won’t let anyone touch them because they’re sensitive, and makes you vulnerable, and you can’t give up that control. I don’t see how tha-”

Rainbow stepped in, cutting Rarity off as she was suddenly far too close. “And tell me, when I married you, what did I promise?”

Rarity’s anger now turned entirely to Rainbow, as they’re vows should never be brought up to excuse such horrid behavior. She stomped forward now, her chest bumping into Rainbow Dash’s as they kept their eyes glued to one another. “You said you would protect me, always be here for me-”

“Not that shit. I’d say that about any of my friends. There was one part I said because of you.”

Rarity paused, before stepping back. It had been quite some time, sure, and there was so much to that day that she adored. From the toasts from their friends, to the feel of Rainbow’s burning cheeks as they kissed each other in front of everyone, and that beautiful speech that Rainbow had said. But what of it was special.

Rainbow nodded, certain that she wouldn’t figure out in the first place. It was small, almost inconsequential, especially amongst the whole, rambled thing since she had refused to prepare an actual speech. But it was important nonetheless. “I said I would trust you to make my life more awesome than I could ever make it, and that you were the only one who could.”

“But Rainbo-”

“No!” Rainbow’s wings flared up as she huffed out a cloud of steam, and silence Rarity. Once certain she wasn’t going to be interrupted again, she lowered her wings, and let out a deep breath. “I meant that when I said that, but it meant more than just silly parties. It meant that with you, I could do things that I never would have. I would never have known how to bake, or sew if not for you insisting, nor would I be able to actually act like a Wonderbolt should if not for you hitting me in the ribs everytime I slouched. Anypony else, and I would have socked them, and told them I knew what I was doing.”

“But,” she said as she pointed a hoof at the mare across from her, “with you, I don’t mind, because for once in my life, I can admit I’m wrong. Admit that someone knows what they’re talking about, and I should care. And I do that… I do that because…” She swallowed hard as she felt the stinging of tears at the edges of her eyes. “Because I trust you, and to cow to you isn’t me being some vulnerable, whimpering idiot, but to simply show that trust, and tonight…”

Rarity trotted forward, brushing away one of Rainbow’s tears, before turning the mare to face her. She then whispered, “Tonight was a chance for you to show that trust, and…” She hesitated to say it. She wanted it, because she had adored that month while Rainbow seemed to enjoy it, but the danger behind it stopped her.

Rainbow had no such compunctions, as she leaned in, her lips barely brushing against Rarity’s in a gentle peck, before she whispered, “To let my mistress show me my place again.”

Rarity took in a deep breath as she heard that, and shut her eyes. She could hear Rainbow crawling onto the bed, and her ears twitched as she could hear Rainbow swallow hard. She knew what sort of view she would probably be greeted with, and, when she really thought about it…

Rainbow let out a muffled yelp as the comforter on the bed rolled over, and smothered her. Next, she found Rarity beside her, laying down and smoothing out the sheet, as if to go to bed. “Hey, what about-”

Rarity put a hoof to Rainbow’s lips, and smiled. “I know, but… just like you had to come to terms with being a sub, I need my own time to come to terms with the fact that you’re no longer off limits from me. So… can we just lay together, snuggled close?”

Rainbow opened her mouth, before looking into those bright, blue eyes. They look tired, in pain, and were still red from the earlier conversation. If Rainbow was forced to admit it, she wouldn’t have been able to say the mood was still right for a night of kink filled sex. With the silent admission, she sighed, before wrestling out off the comforter, and spreading her forehooves for Rarity.

Rarity smiled, before squirming into them, and resting her head against Rainbow’s chest. She could hear her beloved’s heart gently thumping along, and felt another tear come to her eye as felt herself relax. One more thought came before she went to sleep though, and she whispered, “Rainbow, as your mistress, may I order one thing from you tonight?”

Rainbow blinked, a touch confused by the question, before shrugging it away and whispering, “Yeah?”

“Hold onto me close, and don’t ever let go.”

Now Rainbow smiled as a tear came to her eyes, and she snuggled into Rarity’s purple curls. “You don’t need to order that from me. It comes with the packaging.”

Both smiled at the small joke, before their eyes closed, and the two found stillness and comfort in the other’s hooves.

Author's Note

For all of you probably thinking, 'this read like a clop setup', you would not be wrong to think so. What happened was that all of this was to a clop commission, but when I was supposed to switch to the sexy times, it felt... wrong. So I talked to the commissioner, and he allowed me to put on a sweet ending instead. Hope you all don't mind.

If you liked this though, please consider supporting me on patreon, getting a commission, or perhaps even buying my original novella. Everything helps.