Forever and Always

Rarity

Rainbow is back at my side in an instant. Her eyes are bright with mischief. “What did you do?”

“I dropped her in the shower.”

“Literally?”

“Yeah.”

“Rainbow!”

“What?!? She started it!” It’s a joy to hear her laugh like that. She sounds light and carefree.

“I’m very glad to see that the two of you had such a lovely afternoon together.”

“Yeah, it was awesome,” She says giving me a nuzzle. “We’ve got a long way to go, but I think it’s gonna be ok.”

“Of course it is.”

“I’m gonna go,” she says kissing my cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Rainbow Dash.” Suddenly I feel very nervous. I can feel her bracing for take off, but I want her to stay. I can’t be sure how she knows, but she relaxes into my side.

“Rares, what’s up?”

“I- I-” Tears are welling up. She wraps me in a strong embrace.

“Do you want to do this?”

“Yes. Is that alright?”

She pulls away to look into my eyes. “Yes.” She sounds so earnest. Her hooves are on my shoulders. “Rarity. Belle. Dash. Listen to me.” I don’t even get a moment to process how she just articulated my name. “I want you to go on this date. It doesn’t make me nervous or jealous. I know you love me, and I love you more than any stupid words can say. Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Just come home at the end of the night, ok?”

My breath catches, and she understands. “Bring Fluttershy if you want. Have whatever two-pony time you want, and then come home. Ok?”

I nod. Then she kisses me gently. It is such a Rainbow Dash kiss. Strong, but sweet. It restores me more than anything else could have. The kiss breaks and she leans her forehead against my horn. Everything that is Rainbow Dash opens for my mind to see and feel. Her love for me is overwhelming. Her excitement about Fluttershy is adorable and palpable. All is well.

She pulls back, and I can only think of one thing to say, “Dash?”

“We can talk about it later.” Another quick kiss on my cheek and she’s gone.

Rainbow and I haven’t ever talked about marriage. It hasn’t felt like we needed to. The idea of taking her name is intriguing. I certainly can’t imagine her taking any part of mine. It would be mostly ceremonial anyway, since very few ponies ever called me by my full name. Rarity Belle Dash, doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Not to mention that I hope Fluttershy will be a fully integrated part of our relationship. Am I to take her name as well? Certainly not. It’s a lovely name, but the idea just doesn’t suit.

Eventually, for tax purposes, we must register our relationship even if we choose not to get married, but that doesn’t require anypony to change their name. ‘Herds’ is such a vulgar word, but the fact is that they have existed in Equestria for millennia. So, registering one isn’t difficult. The marriage aspect is a bit more complex. Once everypony knows about our little triad, I’ll have to ask Twilight to look into that for me.

A rustling catches my attention, and there she is: elegant with her long butter yellow legs, her tail catching the gentle breeze. She’s wearing a green dress I made her for an afternoon tea during her modeling days. It’s just dressy enough for a casual date. Her mane- Oh my. Her mane is up. She’s pulled it up into an elegant twist (I’ll never understand how non-unicorn ponies manage their manes) revealing her long and lovely neck. The bangs in the front falling just enough to give someplace to hide when she needs it.

I feel under-dressed, until I realize that we nearly match. I chose a lovely periwinkle number from the recesses of my closet that I’d forgotten about. The similarities in our attire are hardly accidental. I made them at the same time. I was lost in a fit of jealousy, but even so I hoped that we might spend some time together. Thankfully, the design was simple enough to transcend the seasons, so neither of us looked dated. Not a bad bit of work, if I do say so myself.

“You’re breathtaking,” I finally manage to say, and she blushes. “Are you ready to go, darling?”

She nods. I get to my hooves and we fall in step together. “How have you been, darling?”

Suddenly, she stops walking and I have to retrace a few steps. “What’s wrong?” I ask.

She’s blushing, but there’s a look in her eyes I’m not familiar with. “Um- I just realized that I forgot something.”

“”Oh, is that all? We may need to -” Soft lips brush mine, stopping me mid sentence.

“I forgot to tell you that you’re beautiful, and I’m really excited for our date.” The words are barely audible, and there is a most delightful little giggle in her voice.

Isn't she just wonderful?!?

“So am I, darling, more than I can say. Now we had better go or we'll be late.”

Fluttershy

This is so nice. It was a beautiful day, which is turning into a lovely evening. The birds are singing- I asked them to practice a little something special for tonight; they're just warming up now, but they sound wonderful. I’m going on a first date with a pony I’m actually comfortable spending time with. She really is the most beautiful pony, and my best friend. I just spent the afternoon playing in the clouds with Rainbow Dash.

Yaaaaayyyy.

“What are you thinking about, my dear?”

That makes me smile. “That I like it when you call me that,”It makes her blush. I close the distance between us, so we are touching as we walk, and reach a wing around to touch her cheek. “And I like it when you do that,” I add and she blushes brighter.

“My my, Fluttershy, you are the flatterer.”

I am? Is that bad? Does she think I don't mean it? Oh, nopony believes anything I say when I'm feeling confident, unless I'm talking about critters or sewing. I just like that she said dear instead of darling. Everypony is her darling. This is awful, just aw-

Rarity leans over and kisses my cheek. “It's wonderful, my dear. It will just take some getting used to.”

Oh.

I nuzzle her cheek and try to bring the confidence back into my voice, but it doesn't work. “Ok,” I say looking around and realizing that we are much closer to Ponyville than I thought. We even took the long way, but pretty soon we're going to start seeing other ponies from town. Darn. I really like walking like this, but I don't want anypony thinking that Rarity is cheating on Dashie.

I try to pull away and put some distance between us. She doesn't let me. I try again. She stays against my side like a beautiful, warm blanket. It makes me panic.

“I think we'll be alright walking closely, Fluttershy, just lean in conspiratorially, won't you? Then all the ponies will just see two fabulous friends sharing some gossip, nothing more.”

That idea makes me nervous, almost as nervous as the idea that somepony might guess we're on a date. I'm no actor. What if I mess up and give us away? It wouldn't be hard. I'm so excited about being on a date with Rarity that I already feel like I've lost my senses. What if I mess up? What if-

She kisses my cheek again, and I feel a small gap open between us. It's a relief and a disappointment at the same time. I look at her apologetically and pin the wing that was on her back to my side. “I'm sorry, Rarity. I haven't ever done this before, and I just worry. I really don't want anypony saying something bad about you to Dashie or one of our friends.”

“It's completely understandable, my dear,” she says, and I think she means it. “Thank you for being concerned about my reputation. However, you must remember that Rainbow already knows about us, and expects some feedback from ponies about tonight.”

“She does?”

“Of course, darling. Ponyville is populated by many of the best ponies in Equestria, but it has its gossipmongers and busybodies, just like any other place; and because we have a bit of celebrity status those ponies watch our relationship that much more. You wouldn't believe the number of times somepony has tried to convince Rainbow that some dress fitting I did turned into something inappropriate, or the number of times she's been warned that I'm having an affair with the stallion next door.”

“Lucky? But aren't he and Blue Note together?”

“They are, and a very handsome couple they make too,” Rarity talks about the two stallions as if they are dear friends of hers. I like that. I like that every pony is her friend, every pony is worth her time and consideration, even the ponies that gossip about her don't bother her because she and Dashie truly trust each other. It surprises me that all the gossip seems so one sided, for the longest time Dashie had a reputation for being a cheater. I never knew where it came from, as far as I know she's never cheated on anypony.

After another second of silence Rarity smiles and laughs a little. “Do you want know what our favorite rumors are?”

I don't really like that there are rumors about the two of them, but I like that they can laugh at them. So, I nod. She leans in and winks at me, nuzzling me quickly, then whispering in my ear. “The ones about you,” her voice is breathy and sexy, and I blush and feel tingles all over. I feel guilty that they've had to to deal with those kinds of rumors, but I'm also really glad they did if it means she's going whisper in my ear like that.

I hear a giggle a few steps in front of me. “Fluttershy, are you coming?” There's a sparkle in those blue eyes. She did that on purpose. Part of me wants to get her back somehow. I have a little vision of running my tongue up her horn as I walk by. That makes me warm all over and I blush again. I'll never do it. It's one of the reasons I'm so shy: my thoughts and ideas can be...extreme.

I catch up to her. “There are rumors about you and me?” I ask genuinely curious. I don't have many friends outside our group. Rarity is my source of town gossip, and I'm sure she's intentionally filtered most of these rumors from our conversations.

“Some of them are about the two of us. Rainbow was approached by no less than three ponies the week after she and I became a couple, because you and I had our spa day. I was accused of everything from laughing with you in the sauna about how silly she was for thinking we could be a couple, to boldly and passionately kissing you right in front of Aloe and Lotus.”

“Re- really? That sounds awful.”

“It was for the ponies trying to warn her. Of course, she and I had talked about our mutual feelings for you at that point. She knew I wasn't keeping secrets. Rainbow also knows you well enough not to believe such nonsense. She laughed in every pony’s face. It's rather rude, but it's her reaction any time somepony tries to warn her of impropriety on my part. Of course, I suppose my reaction isn't so very different when somepony tries to warn me about her.”

I never realized all of this was going on. It makes sense though, when I was modeling there were all sorts of rumors about me. There was an especially nasty one about me and why I like animals so much that was just awful. After we finally told each other the truth, I told Rarity about it. She told me that the only way to deal with a rumor was to ask myself if it was true, which of course it wasn't- not even a little bit. Then she said that the answer I gave myself was the only one that mattered, and I could always know what ponies to trust based on that. The ponies that wanted to believe awful things about me would, but the ones that loved me and that I could trust would never need more from me than the truth. The memory makes me smile, and I nuzzle her quickly.

She stops walking. We're outside a cute little restaurant. It's one of my favorites. It's nice, but not fancy; small, but not crowded; quiet, but not awkward; the food is delicious, but not terribly expensive.

“I hope this alright.” Under her usual confidence, I hear something. She's nervous?

“It's perfect,” I smile at her. If I wasn't watching, I wouldn't see her relax a little. It's such a little thing, but it means so much.

I make Rarity nervous? Not bad nervous, sexy nervous. Like we’re on a date and she wants me to like her nervous. Yay me!

We walk through the door. Rarity gives her name, and we are led to our table. It's a comfortable booth. There are a few other ponies, but not many. She waits for me to sit first, and sits across from me. I try not to show my disappointment

“What's wrong, darling?”

Good job, Fluttershy.

“I- um…. nothing.” She just raises her eyebrow at me. I know that look. She's just going to sit there with her eyebrow raised toward that beautiful horn until I tell her. I have been distracted by thoughts about that horn in the past during some of these moments. I'm trying very hard to stay focused now though. “I- I- I was just thinking that I'd like to sit next to you. I'm not complaining! I just-”

I feel her tail brush my leg. EEEP!

“Me too darling.”

Rainbow Dash

I wonder how it’s going. I wonder if they kissed. I hope they did. That’d be hot. Things with Shy are still freakin’ weird, but that’s kinda cool. Playing today was awesome. I never thought that would happen. She can fly a lot better than anypony realizes, especially her.

They aren’t going to have sex yet, right? I guess if they do that’s ok. Rare and I didn’t talk about that. We should have. I just didn’t want to say that I wasn’t ready. Do I get to say that I’m not ready for them to be together? Rares knows, right? It’s Rares.

I need something to do. I’m gonna go crazy if I spend the whole night swimming in squishy feelings. I wonder what Pinkie’s up to. I wonder if Pinks has already figured out what’s going on with us. That mare just knows stuff. If she’s figured it out, then I could talk to her. If she hasn’t then we can just go do something.

Plan = awesome.