The Ponyville Day Spa was practically Rarity’s second home, considering all the time she spent there. Stepping through its heavenly doors gave her an instant sense of peace. It was the Elysian Fields. It was her mother's warm embrace. In a word: safe. Sacred, even. Woes and worries sloughed off like last season’s fashion. Rarity was greeted with a smile by Aloe who ushered her forth into the soothing establishment smelling sweet of honey, lavender, and chamomile. Doors were portals that glimpsed the relaxed states of typically anxious ponies.

Always nice to see the other regulars… though, my goodness, Mr. Cake is still suffering from his charley horse? Well, I suppose Bulk Biceps must be doing something right if the poor stallion still insists on seeing him every week!

After slipping on a soft spa robe, they glided down the long corridor and turned at the first right. At the sauna, Aloe swung open the door to reveal a restful looking Princess of Friendship recumbent on a bench.

Rarity swept into the warm room with a grateful nod to Aloe for the clean towels offered to her. She gave an apologetic word to Twilight Sparkle: “Oh my dearest Twilight, I must profusely apologize for my tardiness! I’m afraid I was handling a situation and it, ah… carried on a tad.”

Twilight opened her eyes with a sleepy grin, her long body (and still yet lengthening to full alicorn heights) relaxed even as she raised her sleek head and waved a hoof through the air in dismissal. “Hello, Rarity. Don’t even worry about it. I was early. Quite a long lecture I gave in Canterlot this morning. I had all kinds of knots to work out!”

Rarity sighed with relief as she settled onto the bench next to her regal friend, her magic wrapping one towel around her head and hair with the practiced ease of routine. “You’re too kind, darling. What was the lecture of, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Changelings. Namely, all the things we’ve learned about them since my brother’s wedding. After Spike befriended Thorax, I had to update security leaders of what we learned. The majority of the Changelings have been reformed, but unfortunately, Chrysalis is still at large. We may still need to fend off hostile rogues.”

Rarity quirked a wry smile. “The discarding of the ‘attack on site’ policy must have gone over well.”

Twilight mirrored the expression. “Oooh, yeah. I especially liked it when one of the guards in the front row muttered that I might be a changeling."

"He did not!" Rarity gasped, her brows cutting a scandalized frown. "Please tell me Shining Armor put that silly colt in his place!"

Twilight only sighed. "For anypony who wasn’t present to see the transformation of Thorax and his new subjects-- which is to say, almost everypony-- the new policy is a bit tough to swallow. Cadence and Shining Armor are doing their best to change minds.”

Rarity hummed in contemplation as she raised her other towel and let it settle over her forehead. The ordeal with Discord had been trying, despite its successful completion. The stress of it alone had brought on a nasty tension headache. Still, re-educating hard-nosed soldiers sounded far worse.

“So can I ask what had you running late?” Twilight inquired with a grin. “You’re usually so punctual for your spa dates! It’s practically religious!”

Rarity knew she couldn’t argue this, though she was tired of the phrasing. Must spirituality always equate religion? Not to poo-poo the divine, but she had always found the rigidity of faith systems to be so drab. Even if she did believe in the Elysian Fields.

“I was… sorting out a misunderstanding regarding my recent ventures,” Rarity said carefully, silently pleading with the sauna’s heat to seep deeper into her tension headache. “In my zealousness, I managed to overstep my bounds a teensy bit.” She couldn’t help it. Minimization was the way of nobles, was it not?

Twilight, who was surprisingly ill-footed in the ways of social fencing, looked confused. “Oh. Was the other party…not interested?” this last portion she leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, but her volume was less than stealthy.

Rarity tittered, both from real amusement and also for the frantic butterflies in her stomach. She removed the towel from her forehead and looked at her companion. “Oh heavens, no! Acquiring the consent of my partner proved almost too simple a task! I was quite taken aback! No… It was an associate of theirs. You see, my partner’s friend was quite protective of them, and in my haste to make victory mine, I… eavesdropped on a private conversation between them.” She wasn’t giving specifics, so she reasoned this much information was allowable...

Now Twilight looked at Rarity with real alarm. “You did!?”

Rarity felt the blush course under her white hide, but she tried to mask it with a self-deprecating smirk. “I’m afraid so! But I knew I was in error. After securing my new, ah… partenaire d'amour, I made haste to make amends with the other party. Not that they made it easy,” Rarity couldn’t help but add with a sour frown.

Twilight pursed her regal lips, no doubt swallowing back a friendship lecture. Honestly, the things flowed out of her like bits from a gambler’s pocket! Rarity was quite appreciative that this no doubt shiny bit stayed put. More than that, she was grateful her friend was courteous enough to not go buying ‘learning opportunities’ past their expiration date. The matter was settled. Mostly.

“Well…” Twilight said carefully, “I’m glad things were resolved. That couldn’t have been easy!” Her mouth relaxed as her eyes cast down and to the side, her wings shifting and resettling on her sleek back. Rarity’s heart went out to the dear as a rueful glow came to her friend’s cheeks. “I’ve been in that position before, so I know.”

Rarity did know. Which was why she knew Twilight’s true wish was not to demonstrate her hard-earned knowledge but to spare the fashionista any undue pain.

With an outstretched hoof, Rarity patted Twilight’s foreleg, drawing out a gentle smile from her friend.

“Darling,” Rarity began. “Your concern is appreciated. Actually--” She cut herself off with puckered her lips and retracted her hoof, her azure eyes lighting up with clarity. Ah, ah! Mind your words, Rarity. We have not solidified Fluttershy’s consent for whom you may disclose things to! She sighed inwardly. Such a pity, really! If there was anypony who could address my friendship concerns in this dizzying new journey of mine, it would be Twilight Sparkle!

“Rarity?” Twilight sat up, the open concern now tensing her royal features.

“All apologies, Twilight,” Rarity said, one hoof massaging her forehead. In her distraction, she had used her magic to wring the towel she’d been using on her forehead till it was practically twisted into a long slim rope. She unwrung it, shook it out and laid it on the bench. The silly thing hadn’t helped much in easing her headache anyway. “I have quite happily inserted myself into this position, but the challenges are hardly conquered. I have my questions about whether matters are truly settled between myself, my partner, and this third party. And… occasionally, when I’m left to my own devices long enough, I wonder about the long term,” Rarity said these last two words with effort. “This pony is a dear friend, and yet… nothing of this arrangement aligns with what I’ve sought out romantically. Every time I think I've come to terms with this avantgarde adventure, some new consideration has me second guessing again!”

Loathe was she to admit there was a metaphoric shark lurking in the shadow of her romantic airship cruise, but in the wee hours when she was struggling with a challenging design hurdle, her mind would peer over the ship’s side to see that predator still waiting for its chance…

“Communicate,” Twilight said.

Rarity, who had ventured further and further into her mind’s elaborate imagery, snapped her eyes back onto her companion, her head towel slipping back enough to allow a forelock to tease her forehead. “Pardon?”

Twilight was sitting now. The look of concern was still evident on her face, but it had been tapered back to a more restrained, almost courtly expression. “Communicate. You have to keep talking with your partner. It doesn’t matter your role, Rares. Dom? Sub? Friendship? Romance? Keeping healthy relationships seldom has a neat ‘beginning, middle, and end’ like in fiction novels. It will always be a work in progress. You just have to keep trying. Mistakes will probably happen, but…” Twilight shrugged her meaning in thwart of her princessly bearing (Rarity honestly lost count of how many times she had scolded her friend for such self-sabotage, but-- avoir du pain sur la planche-- there was still much work ahead before Twilight held Celestia’s level of regal grace!)

The simplicity of Twilight’s advice frustrated Rarity enough that she could feel her ears straining under her towel wrap like they wanted to flick themselves hard.

Communicate… Communicate! Good heavens, if Fillyam Shakespeare’s characters had been encouraged to talk everything out each time, why, Equestria would be robbed of the world’s best tragedies and comedies!

Except Rarity didn’t want her delectable adventures with Fluttershy to end up as some farce… and even less, a tragedy.

Hadn’t Dark Mask urged Rarity to always return to communication as well?

If you two are as close as you have suggested, then I’m certain that Fluttershy will be capable of letting you know how she feels on the matter. She’s already expressed a kind of trust in you, Rarity. Give her the same courtesy.

She hadn’t even given Fluttershy a chance to truly ease this particular worry (though they’d certainly danced around it in favor of more carnal delights) and yet there she was already anticipating the worst.

And with wordless intuition that Rarity so rarely allowed to occupy her mind (for how often did she fail to articulate her desires and ideas? What use did she, a cultured pioneer of modern expression, have with vulgar animal instinct?) she recognized that she had no idea what ‘the worst’ even truly amounted to. Her best approximation was for her and Fluttershy’s games to end, except this would be more a symptom than the actual problem.

Rarity, my dear, I fear your self-delusion may get the better of you! She thought acerbically to herself.

Rarity felt a hangdog smile slink across her muzzle as she gazed down at the floor, the steam curling in pretty undulations just beneath her bench. For a moment, she let herself see the shark, hunter of her dreams splashing in her shadow. It seemed no matter what she did, she always landed back on that damnable spit of land, didn’t she…?

We are not alone.

The moment this thought crossed her mind, the curtain went up. Her show face was on. Rarity broke away from her guilt-ridden disappointment in herself to cast a gracious and radiant smile on Twilight, who in turn, seemed to perk up at this sudden rally of mood. Everypony appreciated a performance, and it seemed especially true of royalty.

“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. I will try my best to communicate more clearly then.”

Twilight dropped from her bench and went to Rarity for a brief but affectionate hug. Over her shoulder, the princess murmured, “Hey… Don’t mention it, Rares! We all need a reminder sometimes.” Before she pulled away, she snuck in a quick nuzzle and added, “And you never know! Your prince charming might still show up someday! The entire matter might just resolve itself naturally. Just keep talking, and no doubt your friend will understand.”

It was perhaps a good thing that Twilight Sparkle had pulled away as she said this, for she might have noticed the way Rarity’s body had hardened and turned still.

My prince charming? She thought with a fixed smile as her companion returned to her bench. Unlikely, given my disastrous luck. But… but what of Fluttershy?

And the words that her pretty sub had imparted to her so guilelessly just days ago started to echo louder and louder in her head, making Rarity’s tension headache feel more like a total migraine:

I quite like it when there’s somepony to wake up next to...

The day for their next playdate was drawing ever nearer. Rarity, during a brief and oh so vanilla visit to Fluttershy’s (the terms were almost becoming second nature to her now), brought up the matter of being allowed to discuss their activities in some detail to Twilight and D. This question made the pegasus fuss with her forelock, her tail swishing idly in thought. Rarity waited patiently next to her on the couch. Whatever the answer, she would make do, extra input on her role as a dominant or not!

“That’s okay,” Fluttershy finally said. She peered at Rarity sidelong. “Twilight is our friend, and I don’t think she’d judge us… And if Dark Mask participates in BDSM activities too, then… th-then,” she blushed. “I think it’s fine. He’s your friend. You trust him, right?”

Rarity nodded her head emphatically, one hoof touching her friend’s shoulder. “Yes! Oh my, yes. Absolutely. He’s the reason we’re together now, I’d even say!”

Fluttershy straightened, her eyes widening. “Really?”

“Yes!”

The pegasus smiled. “Then I think I am very okay with you talking to him, Rarity!”

The unicorn gave a sigh of relief. All of a sudden this journey of theirs felt a great deal less treacherous.

That mattered settled, Rarity set about explaining a desire to explore something from her fantasies. It had been something she'd been fostering for days now, and she felt confident enough now to present it for consideration. It felt not unlike a design pitch for a prospective client. Funny, how she continued to find parallels in her hidden and public life.

With the details laid out, Fluttershy seemed more than game. Indeed, judging by the scrumptious tremors of her wings, she was quite eager!

“We could take turns on things we’d like to try every week,” Fluttershy suggested further with a coy smile, half-hidden by a teacup steaming from chamomile. “After all, it’s not just about what I want, Rarity. I want to make you happy too!”

Rarity, who had been sipping from her own cup, set this down deftly and placed a light hoof under her friend’s chin. “Nonsense, darling! You have made me happy, and continue to do so! I only have this particular… need… that I think you are more than suited to appease!” She nuzzled her sub, smiling. “Though I appreciate and wholly support the idea of switching up our scenes every week! Do not be surprised, if, at least in the beginning, I may continue to languish in your devilish delights with relish! I quite enjoy them. There is also the unfortunate reality that I’m still relatively new to all this, and so I am much the poorer for actionable fantasies.”

"Whatever we do, I'm sure it will be wonderful," Fluttershy murmured with what Rarity was almost certain was a come hither look (for she was growing keener and keener on the subtle but complex lexicon that was her partner's body language). Just a small tilt of the head. The touch of breathiness to her words. The steadfastness of her rich blue eyes piercing deep through her long eyelashes...

Sweet Celestia, Rarity thought with growing heat. If she keeps this up, I may just-- oh sod it!

Rarity leaned in and kissed her.

It wasn’t a peck. Or even a flirty nibble.

It was a warm, deep, intoxicating kiss-- one that searched and lingered on those petal-soft lips. Fluttershy responded quickly, her head angling sideways, giving Rarity leave to press in closer-- which of course she did, for how could she not when her sub’s hot breath was caressing the side of her muzzle, and that maddening sweet scent was filling her senses? In no time, Rarity’s lower abdominal muscles tightened, the fire of her fancy pooling south and leaving her increasingly wet--

This last effect was what allowed Rarity to wrestle herself back to some semblance of self-control… and a much unpleasant sobriety.

We’re not in a scene, she thought with anxiety as she pulled abruptly away from Fluttershy’s sweet embrace. Which… Which, in itself, is not a problem. Of course not! We’ve been intimate out of a planned scene. And we’ve kissed more times than I can even remember now!

Except there was one additional sensation that, since her talk with Twilight, she’d become uncomfortably aware of.

Namely, the wondrous and intricate growth of affection for her friend. It sat in her chest, a happy flame of inspiration that made her hum in her workshop. She’d find herself cooking, thinking of that first morning they’d spent together, and she’d smile so hard it was as though she’d been hired as the sole designer for a joint Coloratura and Songbird Serenade world tour. When the evening turned its darkest, and Rarity felt a little chill from how a ponnequin looked in the dim-lighting, she remembered the safe embrace of Fluttershy’s wing as they gazed up at the chaotic dimension that was Discord’s home.

For Celestia’s sake, the fashionista couldn’t seem to stop drawing little butterflies all around her design sketches!

It had been present here. The kiss they had just shared had not been only carnal. It was instead-- more. Just more.

Buck my fanciful heart! Rarity raged inwardly at herself, even as she gazed at a bemused Fluttershy with a mixture of affectionate adoration and a disconnected frustration meant in no way for the pegasus. Can it not allow for simple pleasures without needlessly complicating everything with its jealous asides! I do not want to ruin everything!

Not again!

But here, cutting in smoothly like a rogue stealing off with somepony else's dance partner was Twilight Sparkle's clear and firm voice:

Communicate.

Rarity squeezed her eyes shut, a little whine clawing from deep within her throat.

“Rarity?” Fluttershy murmured, her head cocking to the side, one ear flicking in confusion.

“Do you recall that day we exchanged our lists,” Rarity began, her eyes easing open to something akin to a grimace, and her voice quivering ever so slightly from her inner battle at maintaining decorum. “That I would inform you if my feelings on the matter of-- of us ever changed?”

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, her sunny hide warming in rosy shades. “Yes?” she prodded gently.

Rarity’s eyes squeezed shut and she took a deep, centering breath. With all the dignity she could manage, she said (more to the ceiling than her companion-- blast her pet’s magical blue eyes! They were too much to behold just right then!) “I’m afraid things have changed. At least, enough to warrant a return to the subject.”

“Okay…?” Fluttershy’s confused voice was growing increasingly anxious.

“I’m not in love with you,” Rarity blurted in an attempt to cut her friend off from an incorrect assumption, her eyes turning down from their upward angle just in time to catch how her sub’s wings pinched tight to her sides as she winced and wilted. The unicorn placed a hoof on her face and clarified with mortified suffering, “N-not that I dislike you, nay far from it! I only meant that--” She broke off with a rough sigh, feeling another tension headache threatening to overtake her head.

Fluttershy did not respond, her eyes cast down. With what she hoped was a reassuring touch, Rarity softly touched noses with her friend. “I am sorry, dearest,” she breathed. “It hadn’t been my intention to bring this up now, and so my mind is in shambles with it! Has been, really… Y-you see, I have to confess to you that my affection for you is… growing. To the point that I dare say, the idea of you sharing carnal knowledge with anypony else absent my presence--” (because Rarity was still painfully cognizant of the fact that they had yet to try out ‘pet play dates’-- and Tartarus yes, in her heated sessions of self-satisfaction absent the presence of her pet, the possibilities seemed much too delicious to pass up! But it would be together.) “--makes me feel as if somepony has stuffed a model into a popcorn shirt with green and orange patterned tights, paraded them about town, and had the gall to call it my work!” A bit heavy-hoofed, maybe, but it got her point across. She hoped.

Okay, no. Dash it all, she was not as good at analogies as Twilight Sparkle, and she really needed to remember that during important discussions.

With a gentle hoof, Rarity brushed back Fluttershy’s forelock and they locked eyes. The insecurity swimming in her lover's gaze... it was such a bitter, bitter thing to witness. The unicorn willed with all her might for her true meaning to cross the distance between them, in the possibility that she butchered her words any further. “What I am saying, Fluttershy is that I’m afraid my nature has made it quite impossible for the level of casual amour that we had initially pursued! Perhaps it is not the fairy tale romance I had always dreamed of, but it makes me happy… You make me happy. Rather than fight that, I’d very much like to honor it! Nurture it, even! So… S-so if the idea of being my fillyfriend is not to your liking… If, if the idea of us going beyond just ‘friends with benefits’ repulses you, then--”

The unicorn broke off when she saw the tears welling up in Fluttershy’s eyes. “Darling! Oh please do not cry!” she begged with dismay. Her eyes started to mist and she hastily wiped at these, nevermind the sodding mascara. “If you cry, then I’ll cry!” she managed to choke out.

Fluttershy giggled, making Rarity flutter her eyelashes in bafflement. After the pegasus had dabbed her face with the backs of her hooves, she said with joy fraying her words like the wind carrying cherry blossoms off of a branch: “Rarity, there is nopony else I’d rather be with! I simply cannot think of anything that would make me happier than to be your fillyfriend!”

Rarity could feel her white hide turn cherry in an instant (a lovely shade, though if she recalled color theory correctly-- and the details got drab, even in her line of work-- it just didn’t quite work for her indigo mane) and she breathed, “Do you… you truly mean it!?”

Fluttershy only nodded. "You don't have to feel bad about not loving me. N-not in a forever way, soulpony way at least. I don't know that I ever dared to think this would last forever. But I think being faithful to you, j-just you, would be wonderful, and... and I'm not scared of being hurt. Not by you!" At this, she drew herself up, her wings fluffing as she lifted her chin. Rarity's heart melted at Fluttershy's show of courage-- for she knew it was for her benefit.

The unicorn’s hooves flew to her mouth, stifling a barely contained scream of happiness before she snatched her new fillyfriend into a tight hug. Fluttershy’s wings flapped once in surprise before they fell still at her sides. Grinning abashedly, Rarity pecked the pegasus’ lips as a way of wordless apology for her exuberance… which turned into two pecks. Then three pecks…

Then many, many, many more.

Author's Note

avoir du pain sur la planche = French idiom. "Literally translated as, “having bread on the board,” it means having a lot of work to do, or having a lot on one's plate, with the added notion that the tasks in question are somewhat tedious."