Practice of One, Love of two
The last riff resonating through the band practice room as the current owner of the guitar let her feeling vibrate through the notes, it was incredibly liberating for the red and golden haired young woman after everything that had happened the last few weeks.
Sunset grabbed the plastic water bottle from one of the desk while looking around the currently empty room thinking back on all the changes since the battle of the bands. The room had been changed slightly and the walls had been modified so the sound would stay in and won’t bother the rest of the alumni which was great considering Pinkie’s… exuberance while playing the drums. Principal Celestia was all smiles after the whole town was freed from the siren’s enchantment so she used a bit of the school’s budget to help the now renowned Rainbooms have better accommodations, new instruments, better equipment, a better place to play and other things.
Rainbow was all for it but Sunset thought they were a little over the top; at the end she was capable of talking with the Principal and finally settled on the modifications on the room since Vinyl already contributed on the new equipment, apparently because she was now the seventh member of the Rainbooms and only worked with the best, the Wubmobile was proof of that… and of course, the other thing that the Rainbooms received was the price from winning the battle of the bands.
The last one had come as a surprise for the whole band considering they weren’t even thinking about it after saving Canterlot (and probably the world), but Celestia explained why, after all they had defeated the Sirens in a REAL battle of the bands directly from a Hollywood blockbuster, and apparently Trixie have been disqualified later on when the members of her group (or disbanded group since all the others left the band) snitched on Trixie and what she did. The expletives and words coming from Trixie’s mouth were enough for Vice-Principal Luna to give her a whole month detention… once her legs’ cast was removed from the time she felt from the stands.
With enough remembrance Sunset disconnected her new guitar, apparently a gift from the rest of the girls as another ‘We’re sorry from the Anon-a-miss thing’, term coined by Pinkie of course, Sunset had already forgiven them and they had spent enough time talking about the way they should approach their friendships and future problems. Twilight had been more than proud of Sunset and her work healing the rift that still remained on the six friends.
Sunset sighed once feeling a little lonely seeing the room empty while she carefully stored her guitar, practice by herself was well and good when she needed to relax or simply work on her part of a song, but she still missed the way the rest of the girls would banter and talk around her, even Vinyl’s text messages and hand signs were a welcome thing now. The blue neon haired girl could be mute, but she knew how to argue and use sarcasm like the best of them.
All of her friends had other things to do today; between work, clubs and obligations the other members of the Rainbooms little time to interact this week, leaving Sunset with too much time to burn now that she wasn’t actively trying to clean her image, a giant alicorn buck made of magic did a lot in that department.
Sunset was ready to call it a day and maybe spend the rest of the day like any other high school student, surf the net and maybe watch some movies but the sound of the doorknob being turned took her from the mental list of movies she wanted to watch and instead smiled at the beautiful image in pink and yellow that walked into the room.
“Oh, Sunset, you’re still here? I mean, not that it is a bad thing, I just… you know… didn’t want to say it that way… I’m sorry” the timid lyricist of the band said fidgeting at the threshold while playing with her long flowing hair.
“Is alright Fluttershy, I know what you mean and yeah, I am the only one here, Rainbow was the last one to leave saying she wanted to catch a quick nap before going with her dad to watch a Canterlot Knights match” Sunset said remembering how excited Rainbow was a about the basketball game.
“Yes, Rainbow loves spending time with her dad, but… that means you have been alone in here? Oh Sunset, you should have at least called me, I would have keep you company” the pony turned human simply shook her head at Fluttershy’s words, how could she have ever bullied someone as caring as her?
“Is alright Shy, I used the time to practice a little, it also helps clear up the mind”
“Even so, next time you are practicing call me, I hate imagining you being completely alone in here, I just… after last time I…” Fluttershy started saying before looking at the ground, her hair covering her eyes. Sunset knew what she was referring, that winter day when the other five left her behind thinking that she was Anon-a-miss, after all that Fluttershy still beat herself up at what she did, Sunset didn’t need to be a genius to know that tears were already gathering in the eyes of the quiet girl.
“Shy, you know I already forgave you all… come here” Sunset said while lifting her arms at her sides, the universal sign of a hug according to Pinkie Pie and seemed that Fluttershy already knew it because she practically launched herself at the slightly taller girl.
They stood like that, one girl holding the other, their bodies warming the other against the slight chill of the A/C in the room, their breathing slowing down as they found peace and calm with each other. Sunset took a deep breath finding the smell of wild flowers as soothing as a cup of tea.
“I still think I should be the one giving the hugs, not the other way around… not that I am complaining” the pink haired girl said shyly smiling while she slightly nuzzled Sunset’s neck getting comfortable in the warm embrace of the other girl.
“You silly Little Butterfly, I like giving you hugs, deal with it” Sunset said knowing full well that her devious smirk was back on her face, it had come back after transforming and using… some kind of energy, not even Twilight was sure if she was channeling the magic of friendship or using a new undiscovered Element of Harmony, but it sure felt great to have some parts of her former self now that the confidence had returned.
“Sunset!” the poor girl being hugged said almost screaming, that is, it was barely higher than a whisper “don’t say those things in public!”
“We are in a closed room in an almost empty building, I am pretty sure the band practice room doesn't counts as a public place, besides, I didn’t think you would get so flustered Little Butterfly; don’t you like it when I call you that?”
“Well… yeah, I do, but do you really have to call me that? Not that I am not happy, I mean, it is the first time someone called me that, it has always been Shy or something like that” she quickly went silent trying to get her cheeks to return to their normal coloration.
“You are too damn cute butterfly, even after everything we have done you still get red after a simple pet name, has your mom said anything about all those new candles we got for your room?” and the color went up again after Fluttershy remembered exactly why she needed aromatic candles in her room after the last time Sunset spend the night with her.
“I think she believes I took up aromatherapy, after all, she DOES know Tree Hugger and her gifts usually fall into that category” Sunset had to laugh at the image of the New Age Club president giving Fluttershy all those candles with that same doped smile on her face while this one told Fluttershy that the candles would be able to hide the smell.
“That’s good, I wouldn’t want to arrive at your house and see your mom with her whole gear ready to grill all details out of me and threaten me against ever hurting you... again” thinking about the SWAT team member made her shiver slightly, that was an experience that she was dreading.
“Well, no, I don’t think they know that, I am still their little girl who still plays with ponies and dolls” Fluttershy said with a sigh thinking about her parents and them still seeing her as a little girl “besides, I think we should talk with the girls first, I don’t like the idea of lying to them”
“I know, is important for all of us to stay together, but don’t worry, I know they will not get mad, they would probably tease us and make a party afterwards more than likely” both girls laughed at that knowing well that those two reactions were the most probable “besides, I think they already know something is going on”
“Are you sure?” the pink haired girl only raised her head to look directly at Sunset after hearing those words “oh my goodness, did they said anything?”
“Mostly how they smile whenever the two of us are talking or doing something… well, that and Rarity came to ask me something that made me think they are unto us”
“Really? What did she asked you?” Hook, line and sinker, now for the punch line.
“Well, she asked me if you were a screamer in bed” Just looking at Fluttershy’s face going as red as her hair almost broke Sunset’s dam, but knew that what was next would be better.
“She… she… she what?”
“I had to say no, but I told her you were more of a squirter” Sunset said full grin on her face seeing the full on embarrassed face of her girlfriend.
“SUNSET!” amid the laughter and the embarrassment, there was a warm feeling in both girls, and for now, that was the most important thing.
The laughter resonating in the sound proofed room would have made Fluttershy smile; it was so rare to see Sunset not only smile but to laugh, without any kind of worry or pressure on her.
After the debacle of Twilight’s crown, Sunset only gave them small shy smiles and before that, well, they were more like smirks or really scary smiles, nothing like the beautiful sound that Sunset made when she was truly happy, it was truly magical to hear it, like clear bells in a warm morning. Fluttershy would have enjoyed it, but she was far too embarrassed to put attention to Sunset’s smile this time.
With Sunset’s arms being too busy holding her stomach Fluttershy turned her back on her girlfriend obviously not only mortified but angry… but mostly just a little bit peeved, really, the word anger was not found in Fluttershy’s dictionary, besides, she looked way too cute whenever she was angrily pouting for people to take her seriously when she was younger according to her mother, and with her growing older it didn’t go away.
The gold and red haired girl finally got her laughter under control before doing some damage control; she had definitely needed that entertainment but alone time with Fluttershy was a rare occasion considering their group of friends and how close they all were.
Sunset couldn’t quite see the other girl’s face while she hugged her from behind since it was right now buried in the pink silk-like tresses of her girlfriend but she knew very well the pout that was present on those lips.
“Sorry, sorry, I was just joking around butterfly”
“It wasn’t funny” Fluttershy responded more like a petulant child than the quiet and calm nature lover that the other girls knew; this was another thing that Sunset loved, that she was allowed to see other sides of Fluttershy, it made her more… real, genuine, it showed her that Fluttershy was more than just animals or cute things, she showed a little of her spoiled side, the romantic side and even her ‘succubus’ side. By Celestia, Sunset knew very well what kind of lust demon was hidden inside that pure and shy looking girl if you knew what buttons to press.
“I beg to differ; your face was so cute when I said it”
“Still, that is not a topic one should be talking about, it is so…”
“Crash?”
“I was about to say uncouth, but that sounds like something Rarity would say”
“… yes, yes it is, still… sorry for that joke Fluttershy” Sunset apologized once again, the last thing she wanted to do was to make Fluttershy start ignoring her, last time it had hurt too much, enough to make her consider for a moment to go back to Equestria. Thank goodness that Twilight had helped her get her head back in order because she would have lost something extremely precious if she had gone ahead with her original plan.
“Is alright… is just that… what we both do as… well… lovers… is alright, but I don’t want you talking around about what we do to others”
“Have some trust in me Little Butterfly; I am not the kind of gal who will start bragging to her friends in the locker room about the girls she had sex with, besides, who am I going to brag to? You five are my only friends”
“Sunset, there are others that want to be your friends… some even want to go a little beyond that” Fluttershy said with an uncharacteristic dark tone.
“Wow butterfly, no need to get jealous, I am your girlfriend… wait… people want to what?” Sunset said now that what the pink haired girl told her was processed in her brain.
“Well, even before your… magical reformation” Yeah; let’s go with that “you were very… pretty, so a lot of guys and girls had their eyes on you, is just that you were so abrasive and you scared them all away; but these days, after what happened at the battle of the bands, I guess they all remembered why exactly they liked you in the first place”
“Because I am hot like the sun?” Pun completely intended by her part, it did its job seeing Fluttershy giggle, but she also said with some on her old gone self-confidence.
“Yeah, well, it is one of the reasons, but mainly due to how you are now”
“One of the good girls?” Sunset tried to get the answer.
“No, you are showing yourself, your confidence, your intelligence, your wit, everything that is you… and it is beautiful” Fluttershy finally told her making Sunset’s heart almost melt at the angelic sight of her girlfriend looking at her with a smile on her face and eyes full of love. If there was a way to get a picture of that she was sure it would keep her warm even at the peak of the Everest.
“Damn it butterfly… why do you have to be so damn cute?” was the only thing she said before she gave Fluttershy a deep kiss. The soft spoken half of the duo only had time to release a small meep before she forgot about her surroundings, their only witness a light blue guitar on a stand… and a hand that silently closed the door of the sound proofed music room.
Inside of that same room, neither lover heard the click of the door nor the soft steps getting away from their location, not that either of them would have had enough neurons intact after the earth shattering kiss that both teenagers were engaged in. Neither of them later on could remember who started the tongue part of it but neither found it weird.
Even though her mouths and tongues were incredibly busy at this moment, both of them had enough experience at this point that they began to mitigate the lack of air in the lungs by breathing through their noses.
One of Sunset’s hands slowly traveled all the way from the curve of Fluttershy’s back leaving behind goosebumps on the shorter girl, her moans of contentment being muted by their liplock. Sunset knew the contour of her girlfriend’s body by this point; secret rendezvous between them, short periods when they could hide from the others at Canterlot high, stolen moments when their friends were somewhere else on their usual sleepovers, and of course, Sunset’s favorite, their very own sleepovers on either Fluttershy or Sunset’s house, when there was only a bed and no sleeping bags, when their nights were filled by the closeness of the other, the sound of their beating hearts, of truly being at home.
Sunset’s hand finally reached its destiny after making a small detour on Fluttershy’s more than cushioned behind; Fluttershy’s main attribute in terms of attractive points was a hourglass figure that seemed to be made for pin up pictures and Sunset knew very well that it was only due to her little butterfly’s demure and shy personality that she hadn’t become a hit alongside Rarity on the fashion scene.
Soft and tantalizing skin was al that Sunset felt once her hand started to sneak under Fluttershy’s admittedly short skirt; this proved enough stimuli for the girl and Fluttershy ended their kiss.
“Sunset… I… oh my… what are you… d-d-d-doing?” Only a smirk was her answer, a smirk she haven’t seen in such a long time, now instead of being afraid of that look she felt like an animal knowing that the predator was close… and it felt way too exciting, knowing that she was Sunset’s prey but not afraid, never again, she was secure, it was quite the oxymoron and if she had enough oxygen going into her brain she would have decided to study that particular biological stimuli on her books, but Sunset’s fingers slightly traveling over cotton underwear derailed her thoughts.
“I think it is pretty obvious by now”
“The… the door…. Is not locked!”
“And? The room is soundproofed, not even Vinyl’s mega bass could be enough for someone outside the door to listen what is going on, what do you say little butterfly? Want to help me celebrate the end of the Friendship Games? I could probably do some cheesy pun about it, but I don’t want to ruin the mood” Sunset said tracing her fingers in patterns, spelling Fluttershy’s name and spreading the semi clear liquid already dampening the material.
For all answer Fluttershy put her arms around Sunset’s neck practically burying her face on the taller girl’s shoulder while nodding silently; Sunset’s smirk turned into a full grin while her fingers pushed aside the last barrier before plunging into the warm loving core of the girl in her arms.
All the students in Canterlot High School knew full well the 6 heroes of the city; they had also opened their arms to the newest member of the school. Sunset had been right, practically the whole alumni at this point were used to magically powered teenagers bent on destroying the world after being overpowered by their sources of power.
What they probably weren’t used to was to see two of them walking with linked arms and one of them practically snuggling into the other girl’s arm with a huge smile on her face. It seemed that whatever had happened had completely relaxed the girl. On the other part, Sunset was still really embarrassed after what she and Fluttershy had done.
“I… sorry about what happened butterfly” Sunset finally was capable of saying while she rubbed the back of her head in a very familiar way by now; for her part, Fluttershy simply giggled cutely at the reaction of her girlfriend.
“Is okay, I mean, sure, it was more than a little risky, but I don’t mind it, I mean… it was pretty exciting” she said trying to contain the mother of all blushes right now.
“Still, I kind of feel as if I forced you back there”
“Oh Sunset, don’t you worry, if I didn’t want to do… it… well, I would have told you and I know you well enough to know that you would have stopped” she said making Sunset smile at the trust that Fluttershy had on her. It would have been pure torture if she had told her to stop but she would have done for her.
With everything in order they finally went out of the school just to get separated almost immediately after seeing Rainbow Dash bouncing a basketball on her hands while lazily watching the remains of the Canterlot statue.
“Rainbow Dash?” Sunset said slightly surprised at the other girl’s presence at the school “what are you doing here?”
“Hey girls, I as just going to use the court at school”
“No, I mean, weren’t you going to watch a game with your dad?”
“Oh, yeah, the game finished a little while ago, but then mom and dad decided to go out and have dinner together, I didn’t want to go with them, I mean, with both of them working they usually don’t have much time to spend together” Rainbow said seemingly averting her sight from them.
“Well… that was nice, I’m sure both of them are grateful of that” the pink haired girl said with a gentle smile, even though she was a little bit worried, had Rainbow heard or saw them?
“Meh, whatever, it would have been boring watching them do goo-goo eyes at each other” rainbow said sticking out her tongue in distaste making the other girls laugh; as much as she wanted to underscore what she had done they both understood how much her parents being happy made her also feel happy “besides, I think I would have had more fun with you guys, so what do you say? Want to shoot a few hoops?”
“Why don’t we go and have something to eat? I feel a little famished right now” Not to mention that Sunset was also feeling a little bit tired, her hands felt sore after practicing her guitar and… the other exercise that she did after that.
“Cool, at least you have a plan, both Pinkie and Twilight already said no to playing, I guess they don’t feel they are good enough to go one on one with the Dash!” Rainbow said posing as if she was being photographed by paparazzi… or Photo Finish.
“Why? Did you call them?” Sunset said walking in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
“Nah, they came out of the school too not too long ago” she answered back making both Fluttershy and Sunset slow down a bit.
“Really? What did they tell you? What where they doing in the school at this hour?”
“Well… Twilight was checking the library for more information of a new project of hers, no idea what was on with her but she seemed a little… you know… out of it, well, more than usual , maybe she crashed into Flash again? And Pinkie seemed to be doing a cake or something, I don’t know, I really don’t want to know what kind of things Pinkie does in the school after classes” Rainbow said not noticing her friends exchanging looks.
It couldn’t be… nah, they were probably being paranoid about it.
