Picnics and Pink Diamonds

by Zanem-Ji

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Rarity, Pinkie Pie
Length: 11859

Pinkie Pie and Rarity go on a picnic date. Conversations and fluffiness ensue.

Love has always been a tricky thing.

Some believe that it comes at first sight. Some believe in arranged marriages and love coming after. Sadly, some believe that it doesn't even exist at all.

For Pinkie Pie and Rarity, that was not the case.

Love came from a flirtatious friendship, and talking. Lots and lots of talking.

(Slight OOC Pinkie and Slight OOC Rarity. Rated Teen for Language and Innuendos.)

Published 2016-04-22 15:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-04-22 15:40:01 UTC

A Forever Formed From A Flirty Friendship

Ponyville was a peaceful town.

Well, it was more like a bustling metropolis, but still peaceful nonetheless.

On top of it being a peaceful day, the weather was perfect too. The sun bathed the world in its warmth, the sky was painted a solid, cloudless blue, and summer breezes danced on the air. It was a day that Rarity would not spend inside, nor would she spend alone. Luckily for her, the mare she was meeting up with thought the same thing. To be honest, she was getting a bit antsy waiting for her. What was taking her so long? She could normally sprint across the city in the timespan that it would take to blink, so it was a tad disheartening for her to get here before her comical companion. The thought dissipated immediately though, as she saw her bubblegum pink friend trotting up to her with a picnic basket upon her back.

“Sorry it took me so long to get here.” Pinkie chirped. “Pound thought it'd be a great idea to shoot his sister out of my party cannon. I had to go to the other side of town and find her.”

Rarity let out of soft laugh and lightly shook her head, “Well, you know how teenagers can be. Just as rambunctious as fillies and colts.”

Pinkie set the picnic basket down, “Yeah, but still, the party cannon? I’m up for just as much chaos and fun as Discord, but that was pretty risky.” She reached into the basket and pulled out a pink and white checkered blanket, “Luckily, Pumpkin landed in somepony’s pool, so she was fine.” She looked up at Rarity and her eyebrows did a subtle waggle. Rarity rolled her eyes at the impending pun.

“I guess you can say…her cannonball was a huge splash.”

The Unicorn let out something between an annoyed groan and a light chuckle. Despite the atrocious wordplay, she had enjoyed it. The Earth Pony had been a pun master for as long as she’d known her. Goofy, hyper, and chaotic, she was something between a delight and a health hazard to the general public.

It was a good thing Rarity wasn’t part of the general public. She would even dare to say she was not in the same class as the other Mane Six, when it came to her and Pinkie Pie.

Through all the years they had spent around one another, whether it be through their wild adventures, or even the small day-to-day events, for Rarity and Pinkie, something had sparked. They were more than friends, but not lovers. They weren’t even friends with benefits. But, there was enough playful banter and exchanges of flirtatious remarks and lingering gazes to make their relationship dance between that of comrades, and that of romantic companions.

“You keep your head in the clouds any longer, and it’s gonna get stuck up there.” Pinkie stated as she leaned onto the massive tree that they were currently residing under. She patted the patch of blanket to her right, looking at Rarity expectantly. Rarity gave her a small smile and worked her way over to Pinkie’s side.

“I got some stuff for you.” Pinkie announced, reaching into the basket. Confetti defied physics, and shot out of the basket as if there was a cannon within it. She let out a tiny snort to get the confetti out of her nostrils, and dusted off what had blanketed her face, before pulling out something that made Rarity’s eyes light up.

“Is that the eighth installment of the 'Diamond Dust and Sapphire Skies' series?!” Rarity clacked her hooves together before snatching the item from her, “This isn’t supposed to come out for another two months! How did you get this?!”

Pinkie smirked, buffing her hoof on her chest fur and looking at it, “Now you know I talk to everypony everywhere I go. I’ve got friends in high places, low places, my place, your place-”

She was cut off when Rarity squeezed her tightly,

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you!” she nuzzled into the pink pony’s neck, “This is the best surprise ever!”

Pinkie smiled, “Well…anything for a friend.”

Ah. So it seemed that today’s session had finally begun. Rarity felt herself be enveloped into Pinkie’s forelegs. The strength behind her hugs could outperform a dragon -hell, it probably could’ve killed one- but Rarity was much more durable than her exterior let on. Not to mention she was enjoying the sensation. She wasn’t sure how long they were hugging, but when Pinkie pulled away, she could feel the lingering tingle of her hooves lightly brushing against her coat. She reached back into the basket and pulled out a large thermos.

“Oh, I also made you some hibiscus mint tea. It’ll go good with…” she reached in once more and quickly pulled something else out. “Some toasted cucumber and squash sandwiches! They’ll both go great with your book, and this pretty day!”

Rarity looked up, “Oh, I couldn’t possibly read this now. I’d get sucked right into it, and I’m sure you don’t just plan to sit there in silence.”

Pinkie shrugged and grabbed a bottle from the basket, “Eh, I’ll be fine. I’m just glad you’re here with me.”

Rarity felt her face flush a bit, so she opened the book to hide it. She felt Pinkie scoot a little bit closer to her, and glanced up to see she was looking out at the hillside. Rarity smiled, taking in the brilliant shades of Pinkie’s coat, and the content smile that was on her face. This was the side of Pinkie that the others didn’t get to see. Calm, gentle, and a sweet demeanor that enveloped those around her with a soothing happiness, instead of sugar coated excitement. The mare was absent mindedly humming ‘You Are My Sunshine’.

“Hm hm hm hm hmmmm, hm hm hm hm hmmm…”

Rarity was quite familiar with irony. She considered it to be an old friend of hers. And, it had just welcomed itself back into her mind, as she found it quite ironic for her to be humming that song. She considered Pinkie to be her personal sunshine. She returned back to her book, enjoying the heat on her coat and the air flowing through her mane. It was moments like these that she enjoyed more than making dresses, more than social gatherings, more than the juiciest gossip.

“Hm hm hm hm hmmm, hm hm hm hmmm…”

Rarity felt the mare beside her shifting around, and more weight being applied to her barrel. She buried herself further into her book, listening to the occasional grunt coming from Pinkie. She then felt a foreleg on her. A hoof reached up, running like calligraphy strokes through the curled tresses of Rarity’s mane. Time seemed to slow after that.

“Pinkie darling…” Rarity’s tone was gentle, but insistent, a perfectly practiced pitch that could throw anypony and anything off balance. “You know that humming is really distracting, right?”

And Pinkie Pie, blissful joy in equine form, seemed to be immune to it. In fact, judging from that (beautiful, gorgeous) smile plastered on her face, she seemed to be enjoying it as if it was a piece of candy.

“Sorry, Rare-Bear.” Her apology sounded faker than some of the upper-crust ponies Rarity dealt with. “I just couldn’t help myself! You’re my little pocket of sunshine!” she tapped her chin thoughtfully, “If…if I wore clothes a lot, and they had pockets on them…”

“Well, first off…” Rarity spoke in a huff, but with a smile on her face. “I’m not sunny. If nothing, I’m a like fresh fallen snow. Alluring and beautiful, but cold to the touch. Secondly, you almost never use that nickname, and you’re being extremely affectionate.” Pinkie’s foreleg loosened up a bit, and Rarity used all of her training as a freelance thespian, to cover her pure golden disappointment with a gold plated sigh. “What is it that you want?”

Please oh please oh please say me! The mantra being chanted in a passionate tone in the back of the Unicorn’s mind. Yes, passionate. Or more bluntly, driven.

Oh, let’s not continue with sugar coating it. Horny. The voice was dripping with lust.

Pinkie interrupted her train of thought, “Hee hee, wow!” Pinkie appeared to be invincible. Not even her rarely seen embarrassment was going to keeping her from speaking her mind. “You’re pretty good at seeing right through me, huh?”

“Well, the sunshine within your metaphorical pockets tends to illuminate things.” Rarity’s eyes skimmed the lines of her book. She felt her face heat back up when she felt herself be pulled towards Pinkie, her head now resting underneath the pink mare’s chin.

“Alright, alright...” Pinkie chuckled, before nuzzling the top of Rarity’s head. “Are you enjoying your book so far?”

Rarity, the master of avoiding suspicion that she was, shifted away from the protective headlock that she was secretly loving and looked at her. “And you thought that distracting me was better than just asking me?”

“Hey, I mean, I’ve been glancing at it!” Pinkie’s smile turned before Rarity’s eyes. It wasn’t her smile. Not her normal one at least. Her eyebrows moved subtly, and the entire character of the smile changed from friendly to seductive. It would seem that she could perform magic tricks like a Unicorn too. “And it doesn’t look like you’re reading it all that closely anyway…”

There was a feeling. One that was quite familiar. Rarity knew where this was going.

“Pardon me?”

Pinkie and whispering, to other ponies, were complete opposites. They were things that just simply did not coincide on the same plane of existence. But to Rarity, they were like milk and honey.

“You like being petted, don’t you? Do you realize it’s been about ten minutes since you’ve turned the page?”

Rarity shrugged. “Your hooves are surprisingly soft. One cannot help but enjoy the touch of them.”

“Well, I can’t do the mud baths like you, so I use cake batter instead to soften ‘em up.” Pinkie returned the shrug. Then, her grin multiplied in its magnitude, her eyelids lowered, and her eyebrows lifted high enough to where it looked like they were going to shoot up into the sky. “Which...so you know, means that it’s not just my hooves are soft, but the rest of me too.”

“All of you? I’m not quite sure of that...”

Rarity had come to learn through their lingering touches, that while she did not have the appearance of chiseled marble like Applejack, there was enough muscle lying underneath that coat to where she could easily go hoof-to-hoof against Bulk Biceps (and she had, thanks to a night of partying and far too much hard cider). A few of those said muscles sat just beneath the skin of her shoulder and chest, and were begging to be touched by her. Rarity, at the moment, decided to show a little mercy, though she used the tip of her hoof to remind Pinkie of who was in charge. “You feel quite firm…right here…”

A lesson was beginning, between Rarity and Pinkie, and this one was not one that could be filed into one of Twilight’s report to Princess Celestia. This was dangerous. This was in a way, somewhat taboo. But, if nothing else, it was sexy. What would be the title for this lesson? She could hear herself in her head, using the same tone as Twilight.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I learned to finally explore my inner inhibitions, and play a game of sexual chicken. The results were quite…spectacular…”

Sexual Chicken. That would have been a great name for the report, if her inner voice weren’t dripping with sarcasm. In all honesty, it was simply too crass, but there wasn’t a better terminology for what they were doing. The outcome of this was speeding towards them in a coal-powered train, as inevitable as a glass of wine in an alcoholic’s hoof.

Rarity wasn’t oblivious. She wasn’t allowed to be, with her continuous need to be observant of the socialites of Canterlot and Manehattan, with their tendencies to dance around topics and hide their pride and hate beneath plastic smiles. They weren’t all bad, but there were simply too many of them that walked around with verbal knives at the ready. On top of that, she just had common sense. She reveled in the small intake of air that she was positive Pinkie didn’t want her noticing. She delighted in the baby blue lakes that were Pinkies eyes. She made sure to memorize the shape of Pinkie’s worried lips, and imagined that she could do a much better job at biting it for her. It was blatant common sense, and if Pinkie could make it any more obvious about what she wanted, she would be wearing a sign that read: ‘Party in my pants, and sophisticated seamstresses with dramatic flair are allowed in for free!’. And knowing Pinkie, it would have flashing lights, streamers, balloons, the works, all on it.

So Sexual Chicken would be the name of their game and their lesson.

Rarity turned her gaze back to her book, and began reading where she had left (dazed) off,

“"It's like I'm continuing to hit myself with a hammer, but...it feels so much better when it doesn't stop..." he stated in a gruff, throaty voice.’” Rarity could feel her inner masochist sympathizing with this character.

“'He then paused when she heard her breath catch in her throat.'” Pinkie’s voice was suddenly a breathy whisper, and oh my gods… “'Choosing instead to stare deeply into Diamond’s eyes. She trembled beneath him, but made no move to carry on. This was what was going to make or break the evening. They always said, that it wasn’t the act, but the…'” the smile that was now on Pinkie’s face could seduce a bride on their wedding night, and still leave the groom a very thankful stallion. “'Anticipation…'”

Anticipation. That was what Rarity was feeling. Years of metaphorically tasting Pinkie on her tongue, but never swallowing. Pinkie smirked down at her,

“That’s some pretty steamy stuff, Rare-bear.” Pinkie was uncomfortably (yet comfortably) close to her now. “I didn’t know you were into reading that kind of thing. Is it only when you’re reading or…is it an actual preference of things?”

“Besides that,” Rarity started as she ignored the question. She felt like she was standing with her back turned to an explosion and pretending that her coat wasn’t on fire. “The plot to this series isn’t half bad either.”

Pinkie’s smile dropped off of her face, and her gaze seemed to suddenly go somewhere so far away, that it circled the planet and snuck up behind Rarity to steal her pouch full of bits. Either that, or her heart.

“So…is that why your hoof is still rubbing on my chest?”

Rarity blinked. She pretended she was like a falling cat, and landed on her feet (hooves respectfully). “You had been running a hoof through my precious mane for a while. It only seemed fair to return your kindness.”

“Huh, that makes sense.” Pinkie tilted her head, but that smile she gave was knocking Rarity off balance too. “Not to mention, all’s fair in love and war.”

Love and war. Pinkie’s eyes were magical mortar rounds, her charming smile was a dangerous minefield, and her soul was the rising heat and all-consuming blast of a Dragonian airstrike. And the muscles and curves that Rarity was allowed to see on a more personal level, were nothing short of world breaking nuclear annihilation. The Unicorn wasn’t sure, by any means, what the difference was between the two things at the moment. Between all that has happened, and this damned petting (because nopony said this war had to be Tartarus on Equis), Rarity was about ready to raise the white flag.

She would never admit it though. If she was lucky, Pinkie might surrender instead.

Besides, even if Rarity wanted to, there was a sudden feeling that she was on an untouched island, and there was no way she was going to be contacting the outside world from where she was.

It wasn’t an untouched island in their world, in the real world. The ones that were full of mosquitoes and sludge and moss and other disgusting things. No...is was an island that was warm and sunny. The ocean would be lapping up against the sand as seagulls made lazy circles in the salted sky above. She would have a cut coconut in her hoof, decorated with a purple straw and little matching umbrella. This place was away from the rest of the world, with a gentle sea breeze that sunk deep into her coat and skin. A place where nopony would bother her.

Well, nopony but Pinkie Pie.

The Earth Pony would be humming some tropical tune. A song that deserved the accompaniment of steel drums .,.. She would have her hooves pressed between Rarity’s ears, rubbing her scalp, making her stress melt away.

Gods, her hooves were dexterous…

A little too dexterous, and as suddenly as the pressure ended, she felt the book slip from her hooves.

“Yoink!”

Rarity brought herself back to reality one focused blink at a time.

“Pinkie Pie.” The ‘authoritarian voice’ was, under normal circumstances, just as effective as the ‘gentle insistent’ voice, but she had to try something. “Give it back.”

Pinkie snickered, a noise sneaky sounding like a weasel. “Turnabout’s totally fair play, Rarity. It’s one of the most basic rules of friendship with Pinkamina Diane Pie!”

If that was how the rules went, Rarity could get herself involved in a philosophy like it. Especially if it involved touching Pinkie in turn. “Well, could you at least tell me which one this is?”

“Huh?” Pinkie quipped. She flipped through a couple pages, “Oooh, this book gets better!”

“Love or war, Pinkamina. Which one is it?”

She reached up for the book, and Pinkie began turning the pages with speed that matched Rainbow Dash. Now it was her that wasn’t reading.

“Ow!!”

“Papercut?” Rarity raised an eyebrow, more of a statement than an actual question. ‘Beware the Unicorn’ was now posted across her forehead. “It would seem that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword.”

Pinkie resisted the urge to suck on the little nick above her hoof, much to Rarity’s disappointment. “Ooh, such a catty response. Me likey!”

“Me? Catty?” Rarity questioned. She wasn’t one to make puns, but for Pinkie, she couldn’t resist the opportunity. “Now Pinkie, I’m going to need you to stop…” wait for it. “Kitten around.”

The effect was so immediate, that the process of teleportation seemed snailish in comparison. The pitch of Pinkie’s laughter bounced like it was on a trampoline.

“Oh, wow, I give!” she gasped out, and Rarity’s sex drive made it sound inappropriate. Pinkie rolled over, landing on her back, and pile driving more thoughts into Rarity’s mind. “You’re the punniest pony in Ponyville. Congratulations Rarity, you’ve beaten the master!”

“Thank you.” Rarity accepted her award with grace and poise of a truly sophisticated mare. “It was incredibly easy.”

Pinkie sat up, “Somepony is super sassy today.”

“You take my book, the one you gave to me, and you shall reap the consequences.” Rarity tapped her hooves on her thigh, a miniature drum roll to build up to the bad idea that was forming in her head. Pinkie still had the book, but that didn’t mean it was out of reach just yet. “I see that papercut is still bleeding a bit.”

“I can survive pretty much anything, but to me, papercuts are the worse! It’s the one kind of injury that I can’t get rid of with fun!” Rarity realized that Pinkie was using her comic book narrator voice. “Wanna kiss my boo boo and make it better?”

Dammit. At this rate, Pinkie was going to beat her at this game. She had to step it up.

“I’ve got a better idea.” Rarity stated, carefully leveraging her words to move herself closer. “It’s not completely that. But…close.”

“Uh…” Pinkie swallowed a thick lump, her body attempting to acclimate to the sudden pressure change in the air as Rarity leaned in towards her. Her hoof moved on its own ambition, taking Pinkie’s hoof into it. She could feel Pinkie’s pulse quickening. “Whatcha…whatcha doing?”

What was she doing? Scratching a hormonal itch, she supposed. Scratching it just once, and she would be done. That wouldn’t hurt anypony, right? The look on Pinkie’s face as she leaned in told her she was far too gone to do anything as sensible as stopping. So she didn’t. She thought of a thousand things she’d like to say, but said none of them. She smiled and gave a different reply.

“I’m giving you a…consolation prize.”

Her taste buds made contact with the cut, a bit of a coppery tang covering her tongue. She quickly lapped up the offending liquid, then placed a soft, sensual kiss on it. She refused to break eye contact with the other mare, for it might mentally destroy them both. Her lips glided up just a bit more, slowly making their way up for the foreleg. She felt powerful muscles twitch underneath the coat on Pinkie’s shoulder.

“Oh…sweet mighty gods above…” Pinkie whispered out. She wasn’t really known to be a holy, righteous mare. Her party lifestyle and some of the ponies she chose to group herself with, would leave many religious groups looking at her with disdain. But, the thought that she considered the seamstress a religious experience was about to bring Rarity to her knees.

“What’s the matter, Pinkamina?” she teased. She had milk and honied words to deliver as well. “Can’t handle a little friendly affection?”

“…Fuck…” Pinkie hissed. It was unlike her. A pony as sweet as her almost never cursed, much less say the harshest one of them all.

Rarity almost did it to her anyway.

She reached up a bit higher. They were now past their playful banter of friendship. They danced on the line of sexuality and desire once more. She dragged her tongue along the shorter hairs of her coat, and left a light peck. “I’m sorry darling, I seem to be hard of hearing. What was that?”

Pinkie was never really ‘controlled’. But then again, she didn’t need to be. Along with her goofiness, she was confident, the ultimate embodiment of freedom. Her willpower and free spirit was an immovable object, yet somehow in motion. Rarity eventually learned that said motion was an unstoppable force. However, this time, in this moment, Pinkie was a stammering fool, tripping over herself, completely uncertain of what she should say. “R-R-Rarity, I…oh wow…”

Rarity finally gathered enough courage to break the gaze, and caught sight of her book in Pinkie’s other hoof. “Oh dear, you are clutching on to that book pretty hard.” Her observation had made things worse. “Isn’t there something else…you would rather be doing with that hoof?”

The question was steamy enough to make all of her romance/erotica novels seem like children’s books, judging by the way the book was pushed away in the process of her letting it go. Twitchy hoof, a bit lip, and being a bumbling mess of hesitation and anxious energy would have given her pulse away, if Rarity wasn’t already able to feel Pinkie's heartbeat thundering through her whole body.

“You, have absolutely no idea…”

Rarity pulled back, “Oh my, how kind of you.”

“Uhh…sure? What’s the…” Pinkie’s mind was failing her. Rarity was a master artist when it came to the painting that was Pinkie Pie. She could blatantly see her thought process deteriorating. “W-what?”

Rarity bent over. Her movement was slow, rich, thick and dark like syrup. She made sure to present herself in the best lighting that the sky and tree they were under would allow.

Three.

“However, you were not as kind as I would have liked you to be…” she sighed, picked her book up, and navigating herself through it until she found the paragraph she had left off at. But please, like Rarity really intended on continuing to read it.

Two.

“You treated my brand new book quite roughly. You could’ve bent the spine of it. It would’ve been the…Worst. Possible. Thing.”

One.

Speaking of bending spines and being handled roughly, she found herself being grabbed in such a manner, and being thrown against the tree trunk. Once gentle hooves now pinned her forelegs above her head with a grip that would’ve made gravity green with envy. The book dropped back down to the ground. It didn’t matter. It never had.

Pinkie let out a growl.

It was hard to describe. Many already believed that Pinkie wasn’t a pony, due to her strange abilities. But the sound that she had let out only confirmed those speculations. It was that of a primal, hungry predator. On top that, Pinkie was gone. Her mane and tail had gone flat, both of them now twin bubblegum waterfalls. It was not from depression or insanity, but the sheer want, that evaporated all traces of the happy demeanor that was normally Pinkie Pie. The muscles rippled beneath the surface now. The ancient, legendary strength of the Earth Pony Tribe was bubbling and flowing through her veins. Every taut, string of sinew could be seen, and it filled Rarity with a mixture of slight fear and unbridled lust, that Pinkie could very well break her in two.

She kind of wanted her to.

Pinkie’s face leaned in, mere inches away from her own like Rarity had pictured a thousand times over in her head, except it was a million times hotter than she had expected. Pinkie’s eyes drained of their lighter hues, fading into a deep, soul swallowing blue. If looks could kill, Pinkie could have very well been a hitmare for hire. This might be the last thing Rarity ever saw.

But damn…what a way to go.

“Is something the matter, Pinkamina?” She was keeping her tone level, but it was like trying to steer a rowboat in the middle of damn hurricane. Maybe she had pushed the mare just a bit too far. Oh well. She decided it would be fun to push her just a little further.

Forelegs and hooves pressed a bit harder, steel pistons letting her know that Pinkie was not to be toyed with. Mess with the cannon, you get the blast.

“You’re going to pay for that.”

She wanted to pay for it. In so many ways. “Oh, is that right?” Rarity made it blatantly obvious as her eyes trailed a path over Pinkie’s body. “And…what is it that you plan to do?”

The way Pinkie was looking at her would’ve made Tirek quake in his hooves. “What do you think I’m going to do to you, Rarity?” her voice was low, deep, and dripping with a predatory lust that made Rarity struggle to suppress a shudder.

'Take me. Do awful, terrible things to my body. Make me your dirty little slut, I’ll never tell another soul. What in the fuck is wrong with me? What am I thinking?'

What was she thinking? She teased Pinkie with an inch, and now the mare was taking a mile. It was getting harder to think straight. Hell, it was incredibly easy to think gay. “I’m sorry, but I haven’t the slightest idea.”

In reality, she had about a baker’s dozen of crystal clear ideas, as her eyes matched the gaze of her friend. Pinkie stepped in some more. She used a knee to part Rarity’s thighs, triggering her filthy mind to make a slew of exciting memories. The rest of her body went upwards, pressing heavily against the slender mare beneath her, placing her mouth and the warm, damp air from it, next to Rarity’s ear. She paused to make sure she was paying attention. The stillness hung over them. If either of them moved, even a centimeter, everything that they had right now, was going to change between them. This poor tree wouldn’t survive the transition, Rarity was sure of that. Hell, nothing within a one mile radius would.

“I’m gonna leave you alone.”

And just like that, her presence evaporated, leaving Rarity confused, awkward, and wet. Pinkie’s mane and tail poofed back to life as she headed back to the blanket, an audible bounce now in her step (and in her flanks. Dammit, she flaunted what she knew she had!), humming the song of irony once more. From that day forward, Rarity would not be able to think of ‘You Are My Sunshine’, without having a waterfall stir up between her legs. Rarity took a small step forward, testing the waters,

“So…did you still want my book or…”

Pinkie laughed, a genuine one. “Oh no, you’re not gonna play that off!” she stuck her hind leg out, the one that had just been nestled between Rarity’s thighs. “I could’ve been in the middle of a frickin' Everfree hurricane, and I still wouldn’t be as wet as my knee is right now!”

…Okay. Pinkie had been bluffing, from the way things looked. Sexual Chicken was now a game of Poker. But it was alright. Rarity could still salvage this,

“Well, I hear water on the knees is a bad thing. You might want to have a doctor look at that.”

“Are you going to be my nurse?” Pinkie waggled her eyebrows, and her tail flicked side to side.

“Hey, down girl.” Rarity matched Pinkie’s enthusiastic eyebrows with a subtle movement of her own. “I’ll end up having to be your anesthesiologist if you keep this up…”

Pinkie giggled, “You’re going to have to try harder than that to top me!” Eyebrows switched to playful sensual once more. “Or get on top of me, for that matter…”

“Really? Because it seemed so remarkably easy before. I just had to start reading and you practically offered me your body.” She tapped her chin, “And some musical accompaniment. Which reminds me, you never went into depth on why you were humming that song.”

“Well, doy!” Bluntness was as associated with Pinkie Pie as her coat color went with her name. “You’re my sunshine!”

Rarity raised a brow, “Okay…I’ll nibble at this. That still doesn’t really explain it, so what do you mean?”

“It means, you’re the light of my life!” Pinkie replied, because it was so obvious.

“Puns are your thing. Well…my thing now. Metaphors are more along Twilight or Applejack’s shtick, Pinkie.” Rarity pointed out. “Would you like to try that again?”

Pinkie tapped her chin, “…You’re hot?”

“Pinkamina.”

Pinkie groaned like a young teenager, but then it morphed halfway through into the laugh that Rarity realized she missed for all the time it had been gone. “You’re a smart cookie, Rarity. It’s not that hard to figure out.”

Rarity noticed that darker shade of pink that tinted her cheeks, and casually shrugged. “Perhaps I would just like to hear you say it.”

Pinkie scoffed, a light, cheery one. “You’re an absolute sadist.”

“That’s true.” Words only stated in admittance when they were away from the rest of the group. “Either way…”

Pinkie let out a sigh, equally cheery as the rest of the sounds she tended to make. “Alright, I can no longer hide it. Fair Rarity, you make me the happiest mare in Equestria, and all I want is to spend the rest of my life with you. Marry me.”

“Oh my, this is so sudden.” Rarity stated in sarcastic surprise. She leaned back and placed a hoof on her chest, “What will your family say?”

“Get it, Pinkie!” Pinkie’s grin could stop Discord’s chaos in its tracks. Well, the strange powers that came with the mare would’ve done the trick, but Rarity was willing to bet the grin could hold its own as well.

Rarity’s scoff was like a thrust from a rapier, precise and deadly. “You’re allergic to seriousness aren’t you?”

“Ohhh, you know how I’m going to answer that.” Pinkie’s muscles flexed once more as she folded her forelegs over one another, making Rarity silently wish they were wrapped around her again.

“With a gigantic smile on your face.” And jagged hooks in her heart. “Unless you have other plans for that mouth of yours…”

“Hmmm…” Pinkie was far too heartfelt to really have trouble with the thinking process. “Nope. Nuh-uh.” There was a trick behind the Earth Pony’s eyes, Rarity was positive of it. How else could they look so alluring, so appetizing, when they were half lidded like that? “Does your book have any ideas that it could give me?”

“After the way you threw the two of us around?” Rarity questioned. “I’d be less surprised if it gave you another paper cut.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Pinkie shrugged. It implied that she didn’t care. “What about you?”

“I’ll give you a paper cut too.”

Pinkie Cheshire grin returned. “Uh-huh, looking for an excuse to suck on me again? Geez Rare-bear, I didn’t pin you having a blood fetish.”

“Mm-hmm. Meanwhile, you have a habit of yanking ponies around. You still haven’t answered my question, and I want to know.”

Pinkie waited for several long moments. Finally, she sighed. “I kind of told you.” She shuffled around a bit, rolling her shoulder muscles. “You…you make me happy, Rarity.”

Oh.

Oh my.

Both hearts skipped beats, and skin beneath the coat tingled with heat and electricity. The world had shifted it’s axis, and Rarity stood there, now nervous and unprepared at what she had heard. The only mystery left now, was why. Why precisely, and a wondering of where they were supposed to go from there. So, when Rarity said “Pardon me?”, it was less of a question and more of a stalling tactic. She hoped Pinkie was ignoring the growing tremor in her body.

Pinkie laughed, rich and dirty, something Applejack could’ve grown crops in. “You’re really gonna drag this out of me, aren’t you? I really don’t feel like I have a choice in this.”

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. Ever.” Secrets were like exquisite jewels. Rare, beautiful, and valuable. Sometimes, secrets were also like a poisonous gas; a slow death sentence. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Pinkie actually considered it, her face an indication. But then it was gone. “Nah, nevermind. This one has been coming down for a long time…” she plopped down comfortably in a spot, and leaned herself back against the tree once more. She looked up at Rarity with a smile, and motioned her to sit beside her.

“You really don’t have to do this-”

Pinkie silenced her with a look, “Do you honestly not want me to?”

Rarity bit her lip. The purest of jewels was before her now, and she was not able to resist it’s alluring glow.

“If I’m being honest...I want you to continue. Please.”

Pinkie slowly nodded, beginning the clockwork process of whatever this conversation could become. “Alright.” She started, shifting gears, positions, and possibly, the universe. Sometimes, it felt like Pinkie was the center of her universe. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to say this for a really long time. Let me tell you, it’s not easy trying to figure out the right words to say to a pony who hears so much baloney from those ponies up in Canterlot and Manehattan. How is this supposed to be fair?”

“Darling, I don’t make the rules. I simply break them.” Rarity wasn’t sure where these quips were coming from.

It’s already easy to make Pinkie laugh, but Rarity felt accomplished nonetheless as the mare let out a soft chuckle. “See, its things like that, that make me adore you.”

“It’s a gift of mine.” Rarity started to scoot a bit closer, then paused. “Do you mind if I?...”

“You could plop that pretty little head of yours in my lap if you wanted to.” Pinkie’s cheer could signal ships that were a thousand miles out in the water. Rarity docked properly, but didn't take Pinkie’s offer. Not yet. “Oh, and no talking while I’m saying this stuff, okay?”

“Is it going to be so strange, that you know under normal circumstances, I would interrupt?”

Pinkie’s face twisted up, like she had popped two lemon halves into her mouth. “Basically…oh, I don’t know. It’s this huge thing, you know?” Uncertainty came with hanging out with Pinkie, but when it crossed the pink mare’s features, it just didn’t suit her. “Wowie…where do I begin?”

“Like most stories, beginnings are usually the best place.” Rarity stated. She was on a roll.

Pinkie snorted, and Rarity resisted the urge to giggle at it. “Nah, if you want my biography, you’ll have to wait in line like everypony else.” She rested her chin on her hoof, and Rarity had never seen her look this tired before. “It’s sort of a…lifelong kind of thing.”

“Lifelong?” Rarity considered this, but she had an appearance to uphold. “I think I could stick with you for that long.”

“Fair Rarity, mistress of the smoothest moves, do you have to make this harder for me?”

“I guess I just can’t help myself when I get around you.” Rarity now felt she had shoved her hoof pretty far into her mouth. “Terribly sorry, I’m interrupting. I’ll be quiet.”

Pinkie hummed, cognitive pieces shifting and placing themselves in order. “Do you remember when we all sat down and talked about how we each got our cutie marks?”

“Absolutely. I would never forget something so important.”

“Well…part of me wonders what it would’ve been like…if we hadn’t gotten them. I feel like we’re all so…deeply connected, that what if even our births are intertwined with one another? What if one of us hadn’t existed? I mean…we already know that Rainbow Dash not being born means none of us would’ve gotten our cutie marks together, but what about the rest of us?” her gaze went beyond the view of the hillside, beyond their plane of existence. “What if I was the one that hadn’t been born? We're the first non-alicorns to bear the Elements, so what would've happened if Laughter never chosen me? What if it didn't, or couldn't, choose somepony else? Then…everything that we’ve prevented from happening, would’ve happened, and it would’ve been all my fault.” She laughed, coughed, something between the two. “I know it’s a silly and random thought. It sounds silly as I’m saying it. But in a weird way…it makes me feel…helpless.”

Pinkie was clutching her own forelegs like they’d keep her anchored to the ground, and Rarity couldn’t help but wonder when she came under the impression that Pinkie was invincible. “Helpless…” she repeated, her voice light and airy, yet it carried the stone weight of inner turmoil. “It’s scary, that something like that, something I wouldn’t haven even know about because of the fact I didn’t exist, bothers me. It’s scary that my life is so…intertwined with yours.” Pinkie’s voice should never be shaking like this. “And I get that we’re like…super heroines and stuff, saving countries or the world more times than we can count…but I guess what I'm trying to say is, don’t feel like somepony like me should be held in the same light...on the same pedestal, as you.”

“Pinki-”

She gave her head a light shake, silencing Rarity. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m here now. I exist now. Now that I’m with my friends, I’ll do any and everything I can to protect you girls. Now that I’m with you…” her eyes, she looked at Rarity with wondrous adoration and love that sailed to the heavens. “I’ll do everything in my power, to protect you…”

Rarity felt the air being snatched from her very lungs. It was such a simple statement, yet it spoke volumes, symphonies, a cacophony of pent up hormones and emotions.

“I know you, Rarity. I know you better than our friends. I know you better than your family. There is no doubt, that you are a mare of the…” her eyes flashed with lust for a moment as she made a quick trail over Rarity’s slender form. “Utmost sophistication. You are deserving of the finest things in life. The most beautiful jewels to make the prettiest dresses, and the tastiest, sweetest treats that the best baker on the planet could make!” She sat a bit straighter. “But beside all of that, you deserve affection. Pure, unadulterated love and affection. You deserve somepony who would pull the stars out of the sky, and use them to light up the world around you, no matter where you went. You deserve somepony who notices how your smile puts Princess Celestia’s Sun to shame.”

Rarity could feel her face fluster with raging heat.

“I’m…I’m nothing but a simple, candy and cake loving Earth Pony.” She continued in a tone that was too soft to match a star as bright and beautiful as her. “But I’m also a big dreamer. I dream of being the best baker in Equestria. I dream of spreading laughter wherever I go. But…you know what I dream about the most?”

Her eyes sparkled brighter with more clarity than Rarity had ever found in any jewel she discovered. It wasn’t really a question, just a verbal drumroll building up for something great.

“I dream of your happiness.”

Rarity knew she shouldn’t be thinking like this at the moment, but if she had been wearing panties, they most certainly would’ve came off now.

“I dream of seeing your smile, every single day. I dream of looking into those gorgeous…damn beautiful blue eyes right when I wake up, and right before I go to sleep. I dream of our hearts becoming one, and spending my life with you.” The sudden, soft pressure on Rarity’s shoulder signaled that Pinkie had chosen to rest her head there. “T-this isn’t crossing a line, is it?”

It took Rarity a moment to register the question. But when she did, there weren’t enough hooves on Equis to hide the glow on her face. “After me kissing on your body, and your knee between my thighs?” she paused for dramatic effect. “Perhaps…but I think it’s a bit too late for any protests on my part.”

Pinkie snorted, “You’re such a silly filly…” she let out a ghost of a sigh. “You know…I don’t know how I’d keep on going without you sometimes.”

The statement was a bucket of ice water on their warm feelings. “I’m sorry?”

“Well, not literally. Maybe? Sometimes, it feels like it.” Rarity felt Pinkie’s head turning, and the sensation of long eyelashes fluttering on her neck. The world may have just stopped spinning after all. “Everypony knows me to always be hyper. Crazy. Annoying. It’s like, ‘Here like’s Pinkie Pie’s sense of self; we barely knew her’. I’m a stranger to everypony around me. Shoot, I'm a stranger even in my own head sometimes.” Another shrug, shoulders brushing against Rarity’s alabaster coat. “I don’t know. I just wished…I knew exactly who I was.”

“Darling…” there wasn’t much more that could be used to respond to that.

“I’ve never really taken the time to figure it out though. Never figured out who I am, or find anypony who could understand me. Never looked for a place, a reason to be something, another pony that was worth fighting for.” Rarity felt a hoof trace a path up and down her foreleg, and she mentally followed it as if it could lead her back home. “But it’s funny…all this time of trying to figure stuff out, and I just recently realized that it wasn’t something I could do. I needed somepony else to do it. I needed you.”

Pinkie’s head lifted, and she looked straight into her eyes. Rarity could not find the words in her extensive vocabulary that could do justice to the beauty that was Pinkie’s eyes.

“When I’m with you, I know exactly who I am. I can do and be anything. I’m a powerhouse of strength, bravery, and true joy. Everything that has been hidden in the shadows of my doubt, you, my sunshine, light it all up for me to see.” Pinkie gulped, and Rarity watched as the Earth Pony muscled up every ounce of courage that was within her soul.

“I’m really am in love with you, Rarity…and I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling this way about you.”

A million, billion words, phrases, and emotions crossed through Rarity’s mind. She ran through each one of them, each presenting an obstacle for her to overcome. She thought back, long and hard, of the many stallions and mares she had chosen to turn her romantic gaze upon. How many times had Pinkie looked on, feeling abandoned and unloved? Here Rarity was, continuously seeking the adoration of others, when the mare she flirted with wanted so much more than to make her a bed mate. She wondered when this had happened. Sure, the flirting had started some time ago, but…what she was feeling…what they both were feeling, felt like it had been somewhere deep inside them, just waiting in the woodworks. Pinkie softly clacked her hooves together,

“Welp…it’s out in the open now…”

And in that moment, Rarity found something to do that could save this from eternal awkwardness.

“Darling,” she hesitated for a brief moment as she slightly lifted herself off of the ground, “May I sit in your lap?”

Pinkie’s eyes flashed with joy, but she did her damnedest to keep a calm demeanor, for the sake of this delicate situation. With slow, deliberate movement, she ran a hoof along Rarity’s thigh, and the other on the small of her back. It was if a machine made of hellfire and steel, were handling a delicate statue of white diamond and violet crystals. She dared not damage her.

“Thank you dear…” she dragged a hoof on the short coat of Pinkie’s chest. As if instinctively, the muscles raised up closer to the surface once more. “Well…with the way you talk…I can’t help but wonder if you keep a shrine dedicated to me somewhere in your house.”

“Don’t be silly, Rarity. You are my shrine.” Pinkie’s glass smooth enunciations could damn an angel and save a demon’s soul. “So uh, what time do you open for worship?”

Rarity nearly bit her lips to the point of it bleeding. Oh, how wonderful it would’ve been if Pinkie’s lips would intercept it. “Now that’s enough out of you. It’s my turn to speak.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully, “When I’m around you, I feel like I’m taking continuous shots of dopamine and serotonin. They’re both known to be mind-altering drugs, that are highly addictive.” She dropped the academic act. “You are both a bigger rush than a sugar high, and a sweeter taste than the finest chocolates, I’m willing to bet…”

Pinkie beamed as she countered the compliment with one of her own, “Says you. You’re the world’s most delicious chocolate cake!”

“And you thought I got all of my best lines from my novels…” Rarity moved her hoof to cup Pinkie’s cheek, smiling softly as the pink mare’s eyes slowly shut. “You make me feel like a fool, Pinkie Pie. I think back to all the times when I thought I was amazing, the best at everything I do, and I realize, you’re one of, if not the best part of me. Every poke and joke, every time we fought alongside each other, every friendship lesson we had to teach. You make me a better pony, Pinkie. I’m honored…to have somepony like you care for me as much as you do…”

Pinkie’s eyes opened, a dazzling burst of sky blue being released into the world. “You…you really mean it…”

Sapphire eyes soften, “How in Equestria could I not?” she leaned in, there snouts touching, “But it’s not just that. I came to Ponyville to start fresh, a reprieve from the continuous uppity posh ponies from Canterlot. I may love to dabble in their lifestyle, but I realized I was slowly becoming one of them…and I didn’t want to be. You, of course, were the first pony to welcome me here. You were this…strange, crazy mare, and you went out of your way to make me feel welcomed. You didn’t care where I had come from or what I had done. You just…you cared about me.” She nuzzled her snout, relishing the gentle affection. “I know I have my moments, and you come in and be my Supermare every time. I don’t have to act like those high and mighty upper crust ponies. I can be silly, wild, sad…everything when I’m with you. Despite all that we all go through, you are my one constant. You are…familiar territory.”

“We practically are familiar territory, huh?” for a few moments, Pinkie only stared, as if inspecting Rarity for defects. No…not defects. Clues. Not the holes in her efficiency as a normal being, but the pieces that fit into them, the promise that they would work this out together. “It’s only because we keep exploring.”

“And honestly…I never want to stop.” Rarity softly replied. There was so much uncharted territory, because Pinkie was so much more than a pony. She wasn’t Rarity’s world. She was her galaxy. Her universe. “I want to learn more about you. More than anypony else has ever been allowed to. I want to hear more of your smart little quips, with your smart brain to match.”

“I’m already incredibly strong, and cute. I don’t need to break ponies’ minds with my intelligence too.” The two mares shared a chuckle. “But in all honesty, getting familiar with you is the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” Her gaze shifted for a second, “At this point though, familiar is starting to sound less and less like a word.”

“It still sounds perfect to me.” Rarity traced Pinkie’s jawline. “Then again, almost every word that comes out of your mouth sounds perfect.”

“Oh, stop it you.” Red painted already pink cheeks. “Well, everything about you is perfect.”

“How long have you been saving that line?” Rarity could bank on Pinkie to make cheesy comments. It was yet another constant familiarity in their ever changing world.

Pinkie giggled, “Oh, you don’t even know…”

“You’re probably right about that. But what I do know, is how I feel around you. I feel like I’m safe. I feel like I'm always striving to be greater, so that I make you proud. I feel like…you are my home.”

Pinkie’s expression was that of somepony who had lived underground all of their life, and upon entering the surface world, had been struck by lightning.

“Do you mean that?”

“More than anything I’ve ever said…”

The emotional dam had broken open, and Rarity just stood beneath it as the waves flowed over her. “I’ve never perceived home to be a place, or even a pony. I believe it is an ideal that is worth fighting for. I know this is going to sound strange…but what happens back and forth between us, feels more like home than anything I’ve ever felt, or what I will ever feel. You’re the greatest thing to ever happen to me.”

Pinkie’s eyes went wide for a moment, then relaxed. “So, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Because I’m scared, Pinkamina.” Rarity felt the boulder in her throat. “I’m scared of losing these conversations, these silly little games and competitions, moments like…” she flicked her hoof back and forth between them. “These. But most of all, I’m scared of losing the one thing I’ve ever had that truly feels like home.” It was a possibility that was dark. Dark enough, that even acknowledging it dimmed the world. Only Pinkie remained bright. “I’ve grown up learning, that nothing last forever. As much as I don’t want to believe it…I’m terrified of that possibility.” The boulder in her throat cracked, causing her tone to hitch. “So much happened, before I came here. Everything in my world was a living nightmare with only the smallest changes. It’s because of that, I do everything I can sometimes to make sure things don’t change and end up out of my control. The games that we play are fun, and like I said, I don’t want to lose them. But…I’m scared. Scared of what we’re becoming, I think. Something that I couldn’t really wrap my mind around.” Something in Rarity’s mind clicked, and pieces began falling into place. “Actually, I know that even now, we’re still playing a game…but I didn’t realize the stakes. Here we are, members of the Friendship Court, and I didn’t stop to think about what I was actually doing, and how it was affecting you and I. More importantly, I didn’t know why…why you went along with this at all.”

Pinkie’s grip around the Unicorn’s waist tightened, then slacked. “Well…why would you have known?”

Rarity pushed back a bit, “Because you’re important to me, and you deserve more than compliments and teasing.” She deserved the finest things in life. She deserved a kingdom filled with personnel ready to serve her and subjects to adore her. Unfortunately, Pinkie’s potential relation to any of the Alicorns was not of importance at the moment. “But I didn’t think. I didn’t think about your feelings at all. I thought I was just…playing with your libido, and not your emotions. Nopony should have their feelings treated like a game piece…”

Pinkie giggled, though it was hollow like a wooden wind chime. “So you’re not only an amazing seamstress, but you’re such an awesome thief, that you didn’t even realize you had stolen my heart...”

Pinkie could steal things as well; like the words right out of Rarity’s mouth, for one thing.

“You could look at it that way…but, I’m trying to move past my old ways. Some things are simply too precious to just go ‘Oops’ and ‘No harm done’.” Rarity’s stared deep into the Earth Pony’s eyes, into her soul. “The matters of your heart are not of the laughing sort, and now that I know what I’ve done…I cannot continue to play these games with you anymore…”

There it was. They stood upon the edge of the cliff. No turning back. Once more, Rarity steeled herself against what she knew was coming. She looked into Pinkie’s eyes, and found herself completely unknowledgeable and unprepared. In the space of a few inches long and a billion light years too wide, Rarity looked into baby blue orbs, as deep and infinite as the known and unknown universe. There was something there. A revelation perhaps, that she felt Pinkie was sharing with her. Between them, Rarity caught a glimpse of eternity, and she believed that she too, might be a part of it.

“Like you said, you know me better than anypony else. You know that growing up, I lived in a world of hate. I grew up in a family that hated everything, and where we were, everypony hated them. It was something I didn’t want myself or my sister to be a part of. She was young, so she was saved from it, but for me…hate had already filled up most of my soul.” The memories of her dark past were like typhoon waves, and Pinkie was the lifeboat. She would kick and scream wildly to stay afloat. She’d do anything to keep from drowning. “And then I came here, and here you were. You gave me back then, and give me now, nothing but love.” A tear streamed down her cheek. She’d tried so hard to mask the despair behind make-up and false smiles. “What kind of pony would I be, if I didn’t give you the same thing in return?”

“You…you really…?” A shaking sob split Pinkie’s expression like an atom, and it exploded from her like the following fallout. “You...you actually-I di-didn’t think, I-I-I couldn’t…I mean, I knew that’s where you were heading with this, but I just…I can’t believe that you-”

“Please, please believe.” Rarity choked out, searching for a shred of wisdom in their shared sea of tears. “Believe this. Believe me. You’re special, Pinkamina. So…special. You're so…beautiful, that you even transcend yourself. You are like a galaxy, birthed from the burst of a single star.”

Pinkie made a noise. It wasn’t a sob, or a laugh, but something in between the two attempting to combine into a single sound. “So…what happens now? Where do we go from here?”

The answer seemed so obvious. Rarity grabbed Pinkie’s hooves into her own. “I should’ve asked for this all along. It’s like you said, it’s been coming for a long time. I need to know this, and yet I don’t, because I’m quite certain of the answer…” This might be the moment that would break their world wide open. It could also be the moment another universe is born. One hoof cupped Pinkie’s cheek, while the other tightened its grip around the pink hoof. It was as if she was trying to keep their planet held together. “Pinkamina Diane Pie…is it okay if I kiss you?”

Pinkie’s gaze passed through Rarity like a bolt of lightning. She broke into a beaming smile, and it was as if every dark cloud in their world disappeared in a single moment. “Yes. Please…”

Game Over. It was a draw. Lesson finished. They had passed the test with flying colors. Lips finally met each other after an eternity of flirting and dancing this dangerous tango. Rarity and Pinkie, finally, mercifully yet mercilessly, kissed.

Her romance novels said it felt like fireworks. They were all completely inadequate in their descriptions. This feeling was beyond words, beyond reason, beyond Rarity’s wildest hopes and dreams. This was more than a burst of beauty and color, or a series of them. It was a constant, ever expanding heat. This feeling was a star exploding, a supernova. Rarity was amazed that she was able to taste this without burning from it. How long had Pinkie been bottling this up? The answer was now unbelievably, incredibly obvious.

Too long. She had been far too slow when it came to kissing Pinkie. She would make sure to remedy this now.

'By the high heavens above…she kisses even better than I dreamed she would.'

The eternity they spent in that kiss ended all too quickly for Rarity’s liking. They separated hesitantly, their movements slower than the creation of stalagmites and stalactites in a cave. Their lips separated, but their bodies stayed within close, tight contact. They were whispering assurances to each other with each inhale and exhale. Amongst the sea of silence, words were found.

“Wowie zowie…” Pinkie mumbled. “That was um…something.”

“Something incredible.” Rarity replied without a moment of hesitation. “Something beautiful. Something amazing.”

Pinkie’s smile broke through, and it was something that could help an unfortunate soul find eternal peace. “Where uh…hmm.” She cleared her throat. “Where in Equestria did you learn to kiss like that?”

“I’ve read enough romance novels and eroticas to last several lifetimes. They were…somewhat good teachers.”

Pinkie laughed, a tinkle of bells that could fill a pony up with joy. “I’ll have to get a hold of some more of your books!”

“I can’t really imagine you learning anything from them.” She licked her lips, whatever word used to properly describe that absolutely delicious taste of Pinkie Pie was just on the tip of her tongue. “So…was that your first kiss too?”

Pinkie’s eyebrows, after not waggling at any innuendo in a while, decided that now was the perfect time to practice their magic trick. They rose up, nearly disappearing into her cotton candy mane. “Uh...that was your first kiss?”

“Well…everytime I came across somepony I deemed attractive, we’d usually have a good amount of things in common. Conversation would be great, until I would find out that they were only trying to get in between my legs to further enrage my already hated family. After that…things would usually fall apart.”

“I guess I’ll have to reschedule the plans I had for us going to the club Saturday night.” Pinkie’s sentences were like carefully constructed mansions. They were safe, warm, welcome. They were a place where ponies could be happy and laugh.

And so Rarity laughed, the weight of thousands of dark thoughts and possibilities finally off of her shoulders. She felt a tug at her hips. Pinkie had managed to somehow bring them closer together.

“It seems that yet another heart has been whisked off and stolen by the ever infamous Pie family.”

“Stealing hearts was my line! Stop stealing, you fiend.”

“But it’s so hard to be original when there are eyes like aquamarine universes staring at you.”

“Alright now…” Pinkie’s voice pitched like rhythm and blues in a smoky lounge. “It’s really hot when you say stuff like that. It’s like poetry.”

“When you say things like that, it makes me want to say more poetic things.”

Pinkie beamed, “You’re poetry in pony form.”

“You’re going to get yourself into some serious trouble if you keep that up.” Rarity replied, though it was more of an invitation than a warning.

“I am a thrill seeker, and will be until the day I die. It’s what I live for.” Pinkie’s voice morphed to a whisper, and the sudden drop left Rarity breathless. “So with that being said, why don’t you tell me what kind of trouble you’ve got in mind?”

Rarity knew that she and Pinkie were one small misstep, one cleverly placed sentence from either of their sneaky mouths, from doing something that was incredibly hasty and long overdue. She would have to choose her words with more care and love than Pinkie was doing at stroking her thigh.

“You never did answer my question about that being your first kiss.”

What the hell was she doing? That was a train wreck. Utter disaster.

“Huh?” Pinkie’s eyes flew open. “Oh! Well, kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“Also as in kind of not.”

It was an infuriatingly vague answer. As abstract as Pinkie's mindset on a near daily basis.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that kisses were like quantum physics. Or like bio-engineering. Perhaps I should ask for Twilight’s assistance in understanding this.”

“Okay, smarty pants.” Pinkie huffed. “If we’re going to be literal about this, then no. I’ve kissed a few stallions and mares before. It’s just…” Pinkie paused for a second, then let a gentle smile dance upon her face. She leaned in close again, and tilted Rarity’s chin up. Rarity took note that Pinkie was actually a bit taller than her. She also needed to figure out how to breathe when looking into those eyes. Luckily, Pinkie spoke again, and breathed life back into her failing lungs.

“It’s just…after the way you did it, there’s no way anything I’ve done before can even remotely count as kissing.”

Welp, it was official. If Rarity was ever in a disaster, Pinkie would be in command of the relief team.

“Was I really that good?” Rarity was on Cloud Nine. On Cloud Ten. She was too high to do something like ground her thoughts.

Pinkies eye’s softened. “I mean, it wasn’t really your technique that did it. It was just…you being you. So…yes…you really wer-" she shook her head, "No...are that good.”

Rarity’s pulse pounded, a reminder that she had not died and gone up to the heavens. “Luckily, I’ll improve with experience…”

“Here…” Pinkie cradled Rarity’s face with both hooves, the action suddenly giving them privacy from the world. “Let me give you a few pointers…”

It was like all of the parties Pinkie had ever held, or will hold, all rolled into one. It was like the rolling storms of the Everfree Forest. Like a roller coaster. Like Pinkie’s party cannon. It was everything Pinkie Pie was, focused into a singular point, a kinetic bombardment to Rarity’s defenses. Rarity groaned in response, intertwining her hooves with Pinkie to keep her from leaving. She let her eyes fall shut, and her ears fold against her head to block out any and everything that wasn’t the mare she was kissing. This was a complete and utter loss of control.

There were no more words that could describe this feeling.

There were no words that could describe Rarity’s disappointment, when it ended.

Pinkie pulled away, and Rarity groaned at the injustice of it all. How dare she do this to her. How dare she give Rarity this…this…feeling of true worth, that it was not Pinkie who deserved Rarity, but the opposite? How dare she tease her like this, with her sensual curves and carved muscles, her honeyed words and silken ideas? How dare she be the only oasis on this desert planet. How dare she make promises of a future with her, as if she wasn’t already about to explode from the feelings of emotional euphoria.

How dare she make Rarity fall in love with her this hard, forever.

But on top of all of that, how dare she stop kissing Rarity!!

Pinkie exhaled, “Do you…get the gist of it?”

Rarity grinned and tapped her chin, “I think I get it. But…you don’t mind if I practice, do you?”

Pinkie smiled as their lips met again, and everything was right in the world.

Well, almost everything was right. There was still something wrong. Something nibbling at the back of Rarity’s mind. It was in the part where she kept her darkest thoughts and fantasies. Stray secrets that she would never share with the world. There was something telling her that she could be doing better. Now, it was time to start pressing back.

Pfft, like Rarity hadn’t already been doing that for the past few years.

And just like the past few years, she'd been met with nothing but dirty encouragement. Hooves rested on her hips and pulled her forward, Because Pinkie was a smart cookie, and knew what Rarity wanted. They kissed with the intensity of a giant star exploding into the universe. Rarity felt so…alive.

There were probably better things that felt better than Pinkie’s lips, but Rarity couldn’t even begin to fathom what they were. Something about the way the Earth Pony kept smiling against her breath seemed to say she would be finding out later on tonight.

Rarity was perfectly okay with that.

They kept kissing, and the sensation was strong enough to knock Rarity into next week. And into the next month. No, next year. Five years from now. Decades, centuries, millenias, all the way into eternity. The seamstress felt the kiss, but she felt somewhere between the two of them, the gentle touch of kisses to come. She felt the peak of a roller coaster, the wind through her mane, the heat from the fire. Chaste, sensual, slow, passionate, gentle, rough. Every type of kiss that was possible flashed in Rarity’s mind.

And then Pinkie licked her lips.

Rarity let out a groan, the creak before something broke. She returned the action with passion. Not return, but retaliate. It was one of them. Maybe both? Yes, it was probably both. She felt Pinkie’s hooves pressing harder into her coat, into her skin.

She had never hoped for bruises in her lifetime. But, she damn sure did now.

Like wild vines intertwining around each other, their tongues dance between cooperation and domination. Or they were more like misshapen cogs, each drawing out metallic moans, shaping each other through sheer force. Rarity reached out for more, MORE, MORE-

“Ha! I told you they were a thing!!”

They broke apart, oceans of surprise drowning their fiery passion. They looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering over to them. There was a deep guttural roar, a drawling laughter that could come from none other than Applejack. Beside the farmer, stood a stoic, grey mare.

“Congratulations, Pinkie Pie.” Maud’s monotone voice called out. “Get it, girl.”

The Wonderbolt landed beside a very flustered Pinkie Pie and Rarity,

“Yeah, I had a feeling that you two were hanging out way too much.” She looked over her shoulder. “Yo Applejack, you owe me 20 barrels of the hardest cider you got!”

-MLP-

The cool night air contrasted against the warm of Rarity’s body, and Pinkie wished things would stay this balanced forever. Rarity looked beautiful. No, not just looked, but felt beautiful. Rarity’s body was like a roller coaster, and Pinkie was enjoying every dip and curve. It was like her adrenaline was spiking and the taste of the best rock candy was lingering on her tongue. It was a thrill. A meaning. A rush of fresh air, and the breath of life.

And damn, she was gorgeous. So gorgeous. Alabaster silk and snow white whispers and honied words. She was more kindness, and beauty, and strength than Pinkie knew what to do with. But she felt lucky. Lucky that somepony like her, managed to get somepony like Rarity.

“Hey Rarity?”

“Yes, love?”

“I just want you to know you’re really hot when you’re mad.”

Rarity giggled, a cute and fluffy noise that warmed Pinkie’s heart. “I’m sure Rainbow Dash doesn’t think that.”

“Yeah…you did knock three of her teeth out when you hit her with that book."

Rarity shrugged. "She'll be fine, the Element will replace them soon enough. I simply proved that words are just as strong as actions.”

Pinkie paused. Even she knew the irony that lay beneath the surface of that sentence.

“But…the book-”

Rarity put a hoof to her lips, “Hush you. Besides…you were quite beautiful in your ferocity as well. I mean, I knew that you were strong, but when you had Applejack in that headlock, and I saw those foreleg muscles…”

Pinkie flexed, pink and powerful pistons ready to show off, “You mean these muscles?”

Rarity placed a butterfly soft kiss on it, “Mmm…yes, these muscles.”

They fell into a comfortable silence. Today had been an unforgivingly exhausting day. Years of playing, flirting, hurting, and loving, had come to a boil, before going supernova and exploding. Now, their worries, their troubles, and their sorrows had dwarfed, practically fading into the abyss.

Rarity snuggled a little further into Pinkie’s forelegs, enjoying the feel of warm fur and powerful muscles and satin sheets that surrounded her. To be honest, she could’ve been laying in the mud and filth, and still would’ve been fine, so long as Pinkie was there to hold her close. Pinkie moved too, carefully and gently, putting the last of her energy into being as sure and graceful as her marefriend was.

Marefriend. Damn…what a word.

She placed the softest, sweetest kiss she could muster, right at the base of Rarity’s horn. Rarity smiled, feeling as if an angel had placed a crown upon her head.

“Goodnight, Fair Rarity.” Pinkie stated. Sweet and soft, powerful and bold. A thousand thoughts and moments of love carefully wrapped and delivered in tender words. “I love you.”

She smiled, when the angel she was holding, replied in a tired, ghost of a whisper.

“Goodnight Pinkamina. I love you too...”