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                          Soufflé                          
                     -by Akumokagetsu-                     
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                   Quiet In The Kitchen                    
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Quiet In The Kitchen
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In order to properly bake a soufflé, one must remain very quiet; or else, the ambient noise will cause the pastry to fall and ruin it completely. Fluttershy felt that she knew just what that delectable felt like every time somepony spoke, and she resisted the urge to shy away from them. Pinkie Pie was one of the few ponies that could draw her from her proverbial shell, no matter how loud she got.
That’s not to say the mare didn’t still make her want to retreat to the safety of solitude now and again, though.
“I don’t know about this, Pinkie Pie…” Fluttershy whispered uncertainly. “Are you s-sure?”
“Of course I am,” the overexcited pink mare ensured her, her bouncing mane springing over her head haphazardly. “Hot peppers make every blueberry soufflé better.”
Fluttershy frowned in disbelief as she helped her friend lift the pastry from the oven to place with the others, carefully carrying it between the potholders. They slid it meticulously slowly over the countertop, alongside its brethren as their duties were finally completed.
“There,” Pinkie huffed with a grin, staring down the row of perfectly baked tarts and treats. “Sweet as sugar, twice as tasty!”
“All done, Pinkie Pie?” Mrs. Cake poked her nose over the countertop of Sugarcube Corner’s front room, making Fluttershy jump from surprise.
“Yuppie duppie guppie!” Pinkie said springily, dusting her hooves and passing Fluttershy a towel to help clean away the flour. The pegasus was beginning to regret ever agreeing to Pinkie’s requests in the first place – her idea of ‘fun’ seemed to be splitting her job for the day. Although, Pinkie Pie honestly did seem to enjoy baking for the Cakes, and Fluttershy really didn’t mind helping so that she could finish early.
“Fantastic, Pinkie!” the older mare beamed, looking down the row of perfectly tanned treats. “Thank you kindly, dearies. Oh, and Carrot almost has lunch ready in the dining room,” she added, looking up. “Who’s in the mood for apples and salad?”
Fluttershy started to politely decline, intrinsically uncomfortable at the idea of imposing upon them any longer and the ensuing awkward lunch break that was sure to follow. Much to her surprise, Pinkie shook her head.
“Oh, no thanks, Mrs. Cake,” Pinkie said cheerfully. “We were actually planning on… eating out today.”
“Ah.” She nodded understandingly. “Well, I don’t want to go throwing a monkey wrench into your batter!” Mrs. Cake chuckled. “You gals have fun. Pound, Pumpkin! Lunch is ready!” she called up the stairs, trotting off.
Fluttershy was already halfway out the door by the time Pinkie turned away from the store’s owner, and she jumped again when Pinkie tapped her on the shoulder.
Embarrassed, Fluttershy tried to hide behind her pink curtain of mane.
“What’s up?” Pinkie tilted her head at the humiliated look that Fluttershy was giving her.
“Pinkie Pie,” she sighed, her cheeks glowing. “You can’t keep dropping hints like that,” Fluttershy whispered, throwing a glance behind her.
“Aww, shucks,” Pinkie mimicked Applejack while throwing a hoof casually over the pegasus’s shoulder, making her turn a deeper shade of red. “You really don’t want anypony to know at all?”
“No, Pinkie,” she stuttered uneasily, slipping from the mare’s grasp. “I don’t – not yet, anyway,” Fluttershy added, desperate to escape the awkward situation before her face caught on fire.
It tore at Fluttershy’s heart to see the pained look Pinkie gave her.
“I-I understand,” Pinkie rubbed her foreleg with another, her mane drooping a little. “Is-is it my fault…?”
“Oh, no, Pinkie,” Fluttershy brushed a lock of mane from her friend’s face as they stood on the steps to Sugarcube Corner, the door closing quietly behind them. “No, no. Not at all. It’s just – well, it’s just so embarrassing for somepony to know that you’re in a relationship… don’t-don’t you think so?”
“… Not really,” Pinkie shrugged in confusion. “I didn’t even think of it that way.”
“Oh, my,” the pegasus shivered in a nonexistent breeze, tormented by her thoughts. “I don’t think that I could bear it if anypony even thought that I was-was, um…” she turned a vibrant shade of red again, the tinge creeping up her neck. “Active.”
“Oh – oh!” Pinkie’s eyes widened and she nodded with a large grin, suddenly much more enthusiastic. She threw a hoof back over Fluttershy’s back as they walked down the street, snickering.
“It isn’t funny, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said nervously, pulling at a strand of her mane. “It really scares me, what other ponies might think about, um… think about me doing… things.”
“So?” Pinkie snorted, chipper. “Everypony is overactive in the undergarments occasionally!” she giggled, making Fluttershy blush again.
She moaned pitifully, hiding in mortification behind her flowing mane.
Pinkie sighed quietly, and shook her head. They came to a complete halt on the sidewalk, a cart trundling loudly along not too far away.
“Really, Flutters,” she whispered as a couple of elder ponies passed them. “You have got to relax a little.”
The pegasus peeped, her wings clamped so tightly to her sides that she began to lose feeling in them.
“I-I don’t think that I-I can…” Fluttershy replied miserably.
Pinkie Pie thought long and hard for a few minutes, standing diligently beside her. After a while, she clapped her hooves together uncomfortably loudly, making Fluttershy jump again.
“Okay…” Pinkie nodded slowly. “Come on, Flutters. I think I know just how to build some confidence…”
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Fluttershy waited outside the door to Pinkie Pie’s room, chewing her lip as sweat began to bead along her brow.
It was difficult enough creeping up the stairs behind her in the middle of the night. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she was almost positive that it would wake everypony in the building. However, nopony burst out of their rooms and shouted ‘ah-ha!’ as she expected, and even though she tried to still her shaking hooves, Fluttershy still had difficulty calming herself.
She even had to clamp her jaw to keep her clattering teeth from making noise.
Fluttershy grew more and more anxious as she waited for the signal from Pinkie Pie that would allow her to enter, although she could hear the sounds of struggling on the other side. Pinkie hadn’t actually told her precisely what the signal was going to be. For all she knew, the sound of fighting with pillows was the signal, and Pinkie Pie was impatiently waiting for her on the other side.
Of course, the thought of accidentally making Pinkie Pie unhappy only served to make her more anxious.
Unable to contain her fretfulness any longer, Fluttershy apprehensively pushed open her bedroom door to apologize to Pinkie before rushing home to hide beneath the blankets again.
Pinkie Pie’s startled bright blue eyes met her own, and Fluttershy nearly fell over when she saw Pinkie Pie straining to keep from doing just that. The mare was wearing a thin pair of silky holed thigh highs, along with intricately tied ropes keeping her forehooves slimly behind her back. The black ropes spun around her midsection elegantly, crossing over each other neatly and meeting in perfect knots.
No wonder Pinkie had been having such difficulty keeping from making noise.
It took Fluttershy a minute to realize that she was staring, her jaw hanging wide open.
“… Well?” Pinkie nodded to her quietly, a tinge crawling up into her own face. Not nearly as bad as the blush on Fluttershy, though. “Make sure the door’s locked.”
Fluttershy dimly obeyed, ensuring that the wooden door was firmly in place and latched before disbelievingly turning back to the sight before her. She strained to find the proper words, but only incoherent babbling kept coming out.
“Oh, my goodness – I didn’t even – Pinkie Pie, I haven’t – how did you tie yourself up like that?” she blurted finally, her own voice painfully loud.
“Oh, these?” Pinkie looked down proudly as she sat on the edge of the bed. “Just a little Neighponese bondage exercise. Shibari takes some practice. Do you have any idea how hard it is to tie rope with hooves?” she asked excitedly, shuffling on the bed to face her embarrassed friend better. “I mean, seriously, I have never had this much trouble with any kind of string. I mean, except for that one time with a harmonica –”
“Pinkie,” Fluttershy whispered, her eyes wide. “You’re – you’ll wake up the others…!” she breathed nervously, the jittering in her hooves returning with force.
Pinkie opened her mouth to speak again, before smiling a little sadly and shaking her head. She nodded toward a small red ball gag beside her, which was what she had been having difficulty with before.
“… Um…” Fluttershy started, picking it up carefully.
“Yeah, I know,” Pinkie rolled her eyes with a giggle. “Should have gotten that one first, I know. Help me get it in?” she asked, batting her eyelashes seductively.
Fluttershy’s cheeks burned so brightly that one could have scorched themselves from the touch, and she nodded furiously. With a hard gulp, Fluttershy gently placed the heavy red ball inside Pinkie Pie’s mouth. The mare’s eyes locked onto hers as she wound the strap slowly around her head, oh-so-slowly tying it off behind her.
Pinkie’s breath came a little faster through her nostrils from exhilaration, and she nodded gratefully.
Fluttershy simply stared at her for a few seconds, taking in the sight.
Her mind seemed to have been actively resisting her, and it wasn’t until that precise moment that it struck her just how far out of her way Pinkie Pie was going for her.
For crying out loud, even Pinkie Pie’s hooves were trembling. To be shaking so violently seemed a little selfish, and she hadn’t even considered how Pinkie felt at all. For her friend to go to the point that she wasn’t even half as rambunctious as she always was during their ‘special times’ – as a matter of fact, Pinkie was sitting before her humbly and silently, hanging her head and waiting in trepidation, just as…
Just as Fluttershy always was.
Fluttershy breathed a little harder, never having been the one in control of the situation before.
Painstakingly slowly, Fluttershy tilted Pinkie’s head up to meet her brilliant robin’s egg blue eyes again; this time, however, instead of the fearful and quivering stare, Fluttershy’s gaze was much softer, and even a little relaxed.
“… Pinkie Pie…” she started softly, and the party pony crossed her eyes to look down at the gag. Fluttershy actually giggled, Pinkie’s upturned lips meeting hers gently.
“Thank you for this,” Fluttershy sighed, placing her forehead up against Pinkie’s. She nuzzled against the pegasus’s chest, listening to the heavy beat of her excited organ as they at last drew upon their much anticipated hour.
“I love you, Pinkie Pie.”
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