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Chapter 19: The Release

Twilight didn’t waste her opportunity this time. Rarity was sleeping like an angel, but hopefully the way she woke up would make up for the interruption in sleep. Twilight leaned in and pressed her lips against Rarity’s. To her surprise, Rarity wrapped her hooves around her and pulled her close, returning the kiss deeply. Twilight blushed as she felt her body temperature rise, and for a moment she was afraid of where this was going, but Rarity stopped the kiss and opened her eyes to gaze into Twilight’s.

“I was expecting that to happen,” she crooned, making Twilight blush an even deeper crimson.

“Hold on,” Twilight said. “You weren’t pretending to sleep just so you could surprise me like that, were you?”

Rarity giggled. “Maybe. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do to you since we started dating. But I wasn’t sure if you would be okay with it. Now I no longer need to hesitate.”

“That’s if you ever get up before I do,” Twilight scoffed.

“Well, I did this morning,” Rarity reminded her. “How else do you think I was ready to react?”

“Touché,” Twilight said, lightly pushing Rarity back and rising out of bed. She went towards the bathroom, ready to take a shower. Rarity followed closely behind her.

“What are you doing?” Twilight asked with a nervous giggle.

“Well, you know what today is,” Rarity said. “I want to be able to buy myself that keepsake.”

“Right, the movie. Well...oh, so you wanted to...oh.”

“I figured we’d save a little time if we joined each other in the shower…”

Twilight frowned and turned her gaze away, and Rarity’s expression softened. “Is something the matter?” she asked.

“Not really,” Twilight said. “Well…that’s not entirely true. I’m just...I don’t know.”

Rarity brushed Twilight’s mane back with her hoof and looked into her eyes.

“I don’t want it to feel like I’m rushing you into anything,” she said, “so we can take separate showers if you like. There’s no hurry to make things too...intimate, if you’re not ready.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Twilight stammered, hoping her meaning wasn’t misconstrued. “It’s just...I’m a little scared.”

Rarity gave her a soft smile. “Being frightened is nothing to be ashamed of. I’ll admit, when you confessed your feelings to me, I was scared, too. But as long as we go at our own pace, there’s nothing to fear.

“You can use the shower first. Celestia knows I’ll take longer than you will.”

Twilight gave Rarity a small smile. “Thanks,” she said simply before walking into the bathroom. Rarity returned the smile and made her way downstairs to eat some breakfast. She expected to bump into Spike and Pinkie, who most likely had an interesting night. But when she got downstairs, they were nowhere to be found.

“Odd,” she said to herself. Without the gifted chef there to make breakfast for her, she would have to make due with something simple. She walked over to the counter and found a loaf of bread. She pulled a few slices out of the bag and put them in the toaster. Crude, perhaps, but enough to satisfy her hunger for the moment.

Shortly after the toaster popped and she had sat down, Twilight came downstairs, her mane still wet from the shower. Rarity smiled in spite of herself; the wet mane look suited Twilight quite well. Twilight smiled back and put some bread in the toaster herself before sitting down. Rarity was about to take a bite of toast when she set it back down on her plate.

“Oh, don’t wait for me,” Twilight said. “I don’t want your toast to get cold.”

“All right, then,” Rarity said, lifting the toast back up and taking a bite. “Mmm, your toaster cooks the bread far more thoroughly than mine does. I really need a new one.”

“Well, with the money you get from this movie, I’m sure you’ll have more than enough to afford a new toaster and then some,” Twilight remarked.

“Indeed. Oh my, how will Ponyville react to this film? I didn’t warn anypony about it.”

“That’s fine,” Twilight said. “Besides, it doesn’t matter what anypony else thinks, not really. As long as you had fun.”

Rarity grinned guiltily. “Well, I won’t say I had a bad time doing it. I just hope the town doesn’t think too poorly of me.”

Suddenly somepony flew through the front door. Twilight already knew who it was before they came into view.

“Twilight, Rarity!” Dash said, taking a seat at the table. “The whole town’s buzzing about the porno!”

“What are they saying?” Rarity asked.

“Well...some ponies think it’s funny. Some are shaking their heads and complaining. A few of them are actually really happy about it. So I guess it’s kinda mixed.”

“Oh, dear,” Rarity said, beginning to blush. Twilight rose from her seat and patted her on the shoulder.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she said. “Let’s go out and see what ponies say to you. It’s how they treat you face-to-face that’s really gonna matter, not what they say behind your back.”

“I suppose you’re right, darling,” Rarity said with a smile. “I really should go out and face the public. If they can’t remain civil around me, I suppose that’s their problem.”

“Don’t worry about it, Rares,” Dash said, waving a hoof. “You’re an important part of Ponyville. They can’t judge you ’cause of one little thing. Just look at what you’ve done for the town! For Equestria! You’re gonna be fine…”

“I hope you’re right, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied. “Well, I suppose I’d better clean myself up and go to the store. I’d like to see this for myself. Twilight, you’ll accompany me, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Twilight said.

“How about you, Dash?”

“I already got my copy,” Dash said. “I have the day off, so I was gonna go home and watch it.”

“Oh my,” Rarity said, blushing fiercer now. “To think my friends want to watch it.”

“Don’t worry,” Dash said. “I ran into Applejack and Fluttershy earlier. They both told me they weren’t gonna watch it. Who knows what Pinkie’s gonna do, but she’s always random. Besides, she won’t judge you. Look, I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“I don’t know, Dash,” Rarity said. “You weren’t there filming it.”

“Good point,” Dash replied. “Well, I gotta go. See ya later!” With that, Dash rocketed out of the library as fast as she had come in. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other with concern.

“Well, I’ll be back down soon,” Rarity said, rising from the table, “and then we’ll head out.”

“Sounds good,” Twilight replied. Rarity left the room, leaving Twilight with a growing feeling of dread. How would the citizens of Ponyville react upon seeing Rarity? They would just have to find out on their own.

Rarity came back downstairs, having toweled off her mane well. She didn’t want to make herself too attractive. That might give ponies the wrong idea. Twilight greeted her with a soft kiss and smiled.

“Whatever happens,” she said, “I’ll be by your side.”

“Thank you,” Rarity responded. “It means the world to me.” The two of them left the library and made their way towards the store.

Well, Dash had been more or less accurate about the reaction from the town. It really was mixed. Some of the ponies glared at Rarity as she and Twilight walked past. Some of them waved to her, just as friendly as usual. A few snickered when they thought they were out of sight. But what weirded them out most was a few stallions catcalling and whistling at her as they passed. Rarity normally liked the attention, but it disconcerted her this time around.

“Do they know I’m with you?” she asked Twilight.

“We’ll walk closer together,” Twilight said, “so if they didn’t before, they will now.”

“All right.” Twilight and Rarity walked side to side as they made their way to the store.

When they arrived and started perusing the shelves for the movie, they noticed the store was busier than usual. The other ponies in the store tried to avoid Rarity’s gaze, as if they didn’t want her to know they were looking to purchase her film. Rarity saw through this ruse and tried to wave politely to them, but they didn’t respond. Finally, in the Adult section, they found the movie sitting on the shelf, only a few copies left.

When they saw the cover of Pleasuring Royalty, Twilight and Rarity squirmed. The cover had Rarity lying on top of a bed with her hind legs spread open and a lascivious look on her face. Italian Stallion was looming towards her with his back towards the camera. On the bottom right corner of the cover were the words “Featuring the Element of Harmony RARITY” written in boldface, the deep purple color matching her mane.

“They took a few shots for the cover,” Rarity said, “and they didn’t tell me which one they were going to use. I guess they picked the one that had me as prominent as possible.”

“I’m sorry, Rarity,” Twilight said as she saw Rarity wince and blush again.

“No, I should have expected it,” she said. “Let’s just buy the copy and get it over with.”

“You hand me the money,” Twilight said, “and I’ll go up to the counter and buy it. You don’t need any more embarrassment.”

“I won’t look like a coward,” Rarity sternly objected. “I’ll face the stallion at the counter like a grown mare and take whatever snarky comments he can think up. Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Twilight said. Rarity grabbed the movie and marched over to the counter, putting the movie down and eyeing Paper Back.

“Well, if it isn’t the leading lady herself,” he said. Rarity shook her head.

“I don’t want to hear it right now, Paper Back. I’m just here to purchase a movie.”

“Your movie, I see,” he replied. “I guess you get off to yourself, huh? Coulda fooled me.”

“I could say the same thing to you, given the way you like to hear yourself jabber,” Rarity remarked. “I don’t have to offer you my business, you know. And you should pay a little more mind to customer satisfaction in your line of work.”

Paper Back laughed. “Look, I’m sure you’ll be plenty ‘satisfied’ when you go home to watch the thing. And is this your marefriend? She gonna watch with you?”

Twilight blushed and looked away, but Rarity held her resolve.

“Just ring me up and let’s be done with it,” she said menacingly.

“Okay. Fifty bits,” Paper Back said. He didn’t want to cause a scene in his store, and he figured he had gotten enough digs at Rarity for one day. “Want a bag?”

“No thank you,” Rarity said. “Save a plastic tree.”

“Suit yourself. Have a good day.”

As Rarity and Twilight turned and walked out of the store, Paper Back grinned widely. Neither Twilight nor Rarity looked back as they walked out the door.

“Rarity, I should probably tell you something,” Twilight said, “about what Paper Back was saying.”

“Pay him no mind,” Rarity replied. “He’s not worth the trouble.”

“But he was right about something,” Twilight insisted. “And I know, this is probably going to go against my initial misgivings about the shower this morning, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while now.”

“And what is that, darling?”

“I...well, I want to see the movie,” Twilight said.

“Oh...well, I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me. You’re my marefriend, and you’re naturally curious about my work, no?”

“It’s not just that,” Twilight said, leaning closer to Rarity. “I want to watch it with you.”

“Oh,” Rarity said. “Well, I’ll be happy to watch it with you, if that’s what you like. Ah, wait...you want to do more than just watch it, don’t you?”

Twilight nodded, her cheeks growing red.

“Well, I suppose that can be arranged,” Rarity said, winking at her. “We’ll just have to make sure we have the place to ourselves. Better yet, we can watch it at the boutique. Spike won’t be there to interrupt us, and, well...I have an old set of sheets lying around, just in case we get, let me say, a little too excited…”

“Rarity, please,” Twilight said. “I’m blushing hard enough as it is.”

“Okay, I’ll say no more,” she said. “When do you want to arrange this viewing?”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s not such a good idea…” Twilight said, shifting around uncomfortably.

“Nonsense,” Rarity said. “It sounds like a lot of fun, and you were the one who suggested it. Why don’t we do it this Friday night? That’ll give me enough time to ensure Sweetie Belle doesn’t come around and interrupt us at an inopportune time. She’s usually sleeping over at Applejack’s on Fridays.”

“That...sounds okay,” Twilight said with a sheepish grin. Rarity kissed her on the cheek.

“Then it’s a date! Why don’t we drop off the movie at the boutique and we can grab some lunch?”

“That sounds nice,” Twilight answered.

“Splendid!”

And with that, Twilight and Rarity headed towards the boutique, both of them brimming with excitement and nervousness about Friday night, both anticipating what might happen. It would be an experience neither of them would likely forget.