The bell rang, prompting Rarity to turn. A practiced smile stretched across her muzzle as she greeted her new parton. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique,” she sang. “Looking for anything specific?”
Diamond Tiara returned the smile, then looked to a rack of dresses beside her. “A dress. Something cute.”
With a gentle nudge Rarity guided Diamond towards the racks that held her size. “Special occasion?” Rarity asked. Diamond was one to buy new outfits on a whim, but it never hurt to ask.
“I have a date with a prince.”
Rarity coughed. While Diamond was “of age” by the strictest definition of the law, her and Blueblood would make for a May December romance, to put it politely.
“He’s a bit old for you, isn’t he?”
Diamond looked at a cute summer dress. With a nod of approval, she sat it aside to be tried on. “He’s only two years older than me,” she said, taking down a short skirt as well.
Confusion washed over Rarity. She knew Blueblood to be several years older than herself, and she would have surely known about any young princes galavanting about.
“Do you have any stockings in my size?” Diamond asked.
“Yes.” Rarity nodded automatically and motioned to a selection of long socks. She didn’t completely get the trend, but they were popular among the younger mares. “I hate to be overly nosy, but may I ask his name?”
Diamond compared a few stockings to her coat, then set aside a couple that seemed to compliment her color. “Spike. I asked him to a lunch date this weekend, then we’re going to Silver's pool to swim.”
“Spike?” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Twilight’s Spike?”
“Yep,” Diamond said with a proud smile as she turned to examine a narrow, black choker.
“Dear...” Rarity sat down. “I don’t know what he told you, but while Spike is many good things, he isn’t a prince.”
“He never claimed to be.” Diamond added the choker to her collection. “I’m sure he’d deny it, but he is a prince, by everything that counts.” She flipped the pile onto her back, then trotted towards the dressing room.
“I don’t think I understand what you mean, Dear.”
“Well...” Diamond paused just short of the dressing room to examine a delicate saddle. “Princess Celestia personally takes his messages.” Adding the saddle to her pile, she disappeared into the dressing room. “He’s on a first name basis with both Princess Luna and Princess Cadance. Princess Twilight raised him from birth. There’s not a guard in Equestria that wouldn’t take his word as a command.”
Diamond paused, grunting as she presumably wrestled with some bit of attire. Rarity was about to ask if she needed help when the dressing room door opened.
“Think he’ll like it? Is the bow too much?” Diamond asked, flagging her tail that had been bound in ribbon. “Spike is the one that gave Lord Ember her throne, and his best friend, King Thorax, owes his crown to Spike as well.”
Rarity’s eyes drifted from the bow to the saddle that drew attention to Diamond’s toned stifles, then to the choker that gave her neck a long and delicate look. “I, umm... never really thought of it like that.”
“Yep. He’s a prince! All the power and connections, just not the stuffy title.” Diamond turned in place. The gray pleated skirt bounced as she stepped, intermittently allowing full sight of what was normally hidden by her tail, but was now framed by the lace trim of a pair of virgin white socks. “Think this sends the right message?” Diamond asked.
Rarity coughed and gathered her thought. “It’s certainly sending a message, but I’m not sure it’s the one you were going for,” she said with a wince.
Diamond met Rarity’s eyes with a deadpan expression. “‘I want to have sex with you’,” she said as if explaining the obvious.
“Oh my...” Rarity looked around for anypony that may have overheard the declaration. She knew they were alone in the shop, but she still felt compelled to check. “Well, yes. That is the look, then.”
“Great!” Diamond pranced back into the dressing room. “Tomorrow is going to be perfect. I’ll be the first mare to give him physical attention, and be firmly locked into the center of his world.”
A cold chill washed over Rarity. “Tomorrow? A bit sudden, isn’t it.”
“Nah.” Diamond tossed the skirt over the door. “I asked him out a week ago. I’ve been planning this for a while. Tomorrow, Silver’s parents are out of town. We’ll be able to use the pool house as our own private little castle. Besides, I need to hurry up before I go into heat and have to wait another week. I’m not going to be like my mother and get pregnant just to land a wealthy stallion.”
“How ethical of you...” Rarity took the skirt and began to fold it. “Putting your friend in an uncomfortable position, aren’t you?”
A laugh echoed from the dressing room. “I’ve seen Silver and Featherweight going at it more times than I can count. She owes me one. Besides, Feather will be there too anyway. It’s not like I’m ditching her.”
Rarity took the rest of the apparel as it came over the top of the door, then floated it over to the register. Quietly, thoughtfully, she rang up Diamond’s little seductress costume. With a smile she took her bits and hoofed over the bag. “I do wish you the best of luck.” That was a lie, but she said it as honestly as she could. “Spike is a wonderful young drake. He only deserves the best.” That was not a lie.
“Thank you!” Diamond bounced on her hoof tips, then waved before prancing out the door.
Rarity waved back. Her smile melted to a scowl when the door clicked shut behind the filly. “Little succubus imp...” The mental image of Spike tangled in the fillies hooves churned a fire in her chest. “Imps shouldn’t walk where devils stride.” With a flash of her magic, she locked the door and flipped the store’s sign to closed.
There was only one thing the filly had gotten right. Rarity paced into her design room. Cutting a length of black velvet ribbon, she fashioned a choker out of it and a sapphire brooch. Unlike Diamond Tiara, however, she had earned the right to wear one. A tight black choker implied certain things, certain skills. It was what Rainbow Dash had once called, “A black belt in cock sucking.”
Tiara wouldn’t know which end to put in her mouth. Rarity could make a stallion forsake Celestia’s name.
She scanned her bolts of fabric. A sheer, white cloth with a lovely eyelet pattern caught her fancy, but she rejected it. It would certainly make a pretty dress, but one for a filly still innocent of summer lust. Rarity was not innocent, nor inexperienced. Her magic pulled a bolt of crushed crimson silk from the shelf.
Rarity unfurled the fabric and took up her seamstress tape and cloth. She searched the room for inspiration. Tiara planned to serve herself to Spike like a thing to be used. Rarity had more respect for Spike than that. She would offer him a gift, and a gift should be properly wrapped. The mystery of what lay hidden was half the fun. Though, hinting at what hid under the wrapping was important too; the imagination must be allowed room to exercise.
A pile of golden buttons caught Rarity’s attention. A wicked grin bloomed on her muzzle as the dress took form in her mind. “The act of unwrapping is important, too,” she said aloud, her chalk marking where she’d cut. “It can’t be troublesome, but it shouldn’t be too fast either.”
Rarity stepped back to examine the pattern she’d drawn. “And there’s something to be said about a dress that looks good on the floor.” With a nod of approval, her magic sent scissors, needle and thread to work upon the crimson silk.
Soon a cocktail dress emerged. Form-fitting across the barrel, split just above her cutie mark, it showed a thin line of her white coat from collar to ankle. A dozen gold buttons held the dress together. Each and every one would have to be undone before it would fall to the floor, but large catches allowed the buttons to pass through with the brush of a hoof... or claw. Each button undone would allow the dress to fall away just a bit more.
Rarity looked at herself in the mirror. She adjusted the dress’ hem, then touched up her eyeshadow. The fire in her chest rolled. “Imp,” she said as a curse before picking up a small purse and stuffing it with gems. Nothing too rare, but a few of Spike’s favorites. “I know more than a few things you don’t,” she said, walking towards the door.
On the streets of Ponyville, stallions gawked. Some stopped to better watch Rarity walk past, the aura of sex and confidence too much for them to ignore. She could feel their eyes, but she didn’t care. Let them look, they’d never get the chance to touch.
A wicked smile returned to Rarity as she approached the castle’s door. “Yes my dear Tiara, I know just a few things you don’t. You can pretend a pool house is a castle, but I have a real one at my disposal.”
Rarity knocked at the massive door. Adopting her best posture, she angled her body ever so slightly, making sure the slit of her dress would be in view of the open door.
“Be right there!” Spike’s voice called from inside. It had dropped an octave after his last molting, but it still held the same sweetness.
The tenor voice reminded her that he stood a horn’s width taller than her now, too. As the dragon prince’s footsteps grew closer, Rarity softened her expression and looked up to his new eye level. Yes, that was how a filly nearly usurped her; she’d been blind to Spike’s maturing. She had to strike the shape a of pudgy child from her mental image of Spike, and replace it with the lean, muscled young drake he’d become.
When the door opened, Spike’s expression flashed to one of happiness. “Hey Rarity! Twilight is...” His eyes went wide, tracing the black choker, then the line of buttons down her side.
Rarity giggled as Spike’s words failed him. “Twilight is in Canterlot till tomorrow?” she said, finishing the sentence for him.
Spike nodded.
“I know. But I sold that dress you helped me with, and I thought I’d use the money to have a nice dinner delivered. We could spend the evening with the castle to ourselves. We hardly just talk without some kind of emergency going on,” she said, tracing a hoof across his shoulder.
Spike watched the hoof recede from him. “Dinner? Just the two of us. Like a date?”
He’d said the “date” word first, Rarity inwardly cheered, but only allowed herself to smile. “I’d certainly say yes if you invited me in for a date night.” She let her smile fade to a playful pout. “Though I’m afraid I’m not really in the mood to leave the castle. I’ve spent too much time around crowds lately.”
Spike grinned. “Sounds like a great evening to me.” Standing aside, he held the door for Rarity. “Would you like to come in for a quiet date night?” Spike asked with ritual formality.
“I would. Thank you, Spike. You’re a real prince.” Rarity strode into the castle, a smirk on her lips.
Author's Note
I had written most of a second chapter for this, but it was just a very on-rails clop. I think the story works better as a one-shot.
