It's in the Way That You Use It
Unplanned
by Winston
As she yawned deep, then sighed with the contentment that only an aftermath can bring, Rarity cuddled in closer to her companion, wriggling her way across silky high thread-count sheets and through a sea of mingling scents. There was perfume, floral and tasteful, overlaid against a backdrop of faint sweat, but of a delicate kind, evoking a sense of the feminine and gracile rather than the rank and brute. It all merged with a wave of ozone rain-cloud fresh as she nestled her muzzle into Rainbow Dash’s neck and delivered a tiny but tingling kiss.
“Whoa,” Rainbow breathed.
Rarity smiled faintly to herself, eyes closed. “Quite,” she agreed.
“I, uh…” A long moment rolled by slowly. Rainbow remained uncharacteristically silent.
“Hmmmm?” Rarity prompted her, opening one eye slightly.
“Heh. Don’t really know what to say, I guess,” Rainbow finally mumbled. Rarity’s smile grew. She loved the way she could feel the faint vocal vibration in Rainbow’s throat on the tip of her muzzle when the pegasus spoke with her delightful characteristic slight rasp.
“Don’t I get a ‘that was awesome,’ at least?” Rarity fished quietly for a complement.
“Oh! Yeah!” Rainbow blurted out quickly. “Totally was. Heh.”
Silence again.
“Mmm.” Rarity sighed happily into Rainbow’s neck, while slowly circling a front leg in a gentle feather-stroke across Dash’s chest fluff. “Talk to me, Rainbow. I just love your voice right now.”
“Heh. Okay. About what?”
“I don’t care,” Rarity whispered. “Anything. Whatever you’re thinking of.”
“Huh. What am I thinking of?” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud. “Oh! Well, for one thing, I didn’t know you were a lesbian.”
“Hehee.” Rarity let out a soft, amused laugh, a little too brief to be a giggle. “That’s probably because I’m not one.”
“Sure coulda fooled me,” Rainbow replied.
“Fooling anypony wasn’t my intention,” Rarity said.
“No, right. I didn’t think so.” Rainbow nodded slightly. “Didn’t mean it that way. I just, uh… you know. I just…” She trailed off.
“You what?”
“I didn’t really know I was one, either,” Rainbow finally admitted.
“Oh. Are you?” Rarity asked, with a noncommittal shrug.
“Y– Maybe?” Rainbow fumbled with her words while she shifted slightly in the bed. “I guess? After what we just did? I mean, what else am I supposed to call it?”
“I’m happy just calling it a wonderful time, my dear Dash.” Rarity paused to breathe in, catching Rainbow’s scent again and delighting in it. “And this is still the best part, you know.”
“Whaddya mean?” Rainbow asked quizzically.
“I mean afterward, of course,” Rarity continued. “Like basking in the golden rays of a sunset, only it’s not the sun. It’s the warmth of another pony.”
“Oh yeah,” Rainbow agreed. She stretched out a leg to wrap around Rarity’s withers, pulling her closer into their embrace. “I guess this is kinda awesome too.”
“Glad to hear it,” Rarity murmured, kissing Rainbow’s throat again. “Now, keep talking.”
“Whuddya wanna hear?” Rainbow asked obligingly.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Rarity said, feeling the loop repeat and enjoying it too much to care. “Describe your favorite breakfast. How about that?”
“Well, that all depends on what kinda day it is, y’know?” Rainbow indulged her. “Sometimes I like eggs and hay-bacon. Maybe a slice of that tofu sausage, the kind that comes in those big round patties. Protein’s good for off-days when I’m trying to recover. Gotta give the muscles what they need to repair themselves. But on race days, it’s all about those carbs. Cereal, or pancakes, toast. Muffins. Stuff like that. And the trick before a race is to eat enough, but not too much. Gotta hit that balance. Fueled up, but not weighed down.”
“Of course.” Rarity nodded, brushing her muzzle on Rainbow’s neck.
“But then, some days… well, there’s those lazy days, like, you know the ones, when the weather service has rain scheduled or whatever, so you can’t really do anything, and there’s nothing but gloom outside anyway so you wouldn’t really feel like doing anything even if you could… sometimes on those days I just stay in bed until noon and then breakfast’s shot so I guess I don’t have anything.”
“Not even coffee?”
“Nah.” Rainbow shook her head. “Too late for coffee by then.”
“Heresy! It’s never too late for coffee,” Rarity disagreed, softly. “Well, unless it’s tea-time, of course. I think one ought to switch to tea after tea-time.”
“And when exactly is tea-time?” Rainbow asked.
“Four PM,” Rarity answered. “Didn’t you know that?”
“Didn’t you know I’m not real big into tea?” Rainbow Dash laughed softly.
“Then I suppose I won’t have to serve any with breakfast,” Rarity noted. “What kind of day is tomorrow for you, by the way? Will it be one of your egg mornings, or will toast suffice? I’m sure there’s also a box of cereal around here somewhere, if you like. Sweetie Belle’s, of course. Though I might advise against it, she’s fond of the types with those disgusting dried marshmallow bits mixed in, and–”
“Wait, breakfast?” Rainbow asked, sounding confused.
“Of course breakfast,” Rarity said. “Most important meal of the day, they say.”
“I hadn’t thought about it.” Rainbow seemed suddenly unsure.
“Oh.” Rarity said quietly. “I, um. I see.”
“Uh. We can, uh.” Rainbow paused. “Decide in the morning, I guess?”
“Yes, well.” Rarity nodded into Rainbow’s neck. “If you like. But you also know you don’t have to, if, you… if you would rather not. You know. Decide. Here.”
“Do you—” Rainbow turned. “Do you want me to decide here?”
“Only if that’s really what you want,” Rarity replied. “I certainly won’t demand anything from you. Especially not anything you’re not comfortable with. That’s the last thing I want.”
“Oh. Alright,” Rainbow said awkwardly. “Then, I, ummmm. I’ll figure it out, I guess?”
“Look. Rainbow.” Rarity lifted her head out of the hollow of Rainbow Dash’s neck and scooted up to nuzzle her cheek instead. “If you’re here in the morning, then you’re here. And if you’re not, you’re not. I won’t be sorry about tonight either way, so whichever you choose, please, don’t worry about it. Really.”
“Okay,” Rainbow said, sounding as if she was breathing easier now. “Thanks for bein’ cool. You’re so seriously awesome, Rarity. I mean it.”
“Now that’s high praise, from Rainbow Dash.” Rarity smiled and nestled back in. “If I could ask for one thing, though?”
“Yeah?”
“At least ‘til I fall asleep,” Rarity said. “Be a shame to ruin the best part, after all.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed, turning to kiss Rarity’s forehead. “It’s a deal.”
Rarity closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off into the warm, pleasant heaven of her friend’s embrace.
☙ ♢ ❧
The morning sun greeted Rarity, shining through the parted drapes of her bedroom window. She yawned and stretched, feeling her legs encounter only what felt like endless expanses of cool sheets. Feeling a pang of fleeting disappointment, she forced her eyes open against the light, and looked around, confirming what she already knew.
Breakfast for one, then.
Perhaps just some toast. Strawberry jam.
Sighing, she pushed off the covers and rolled into position to get out of bed and get started on what would be, no doubt, a lonely day.
☙ ♢ ❧
Rarity looked up over her sewing machine at the sound of the boutique door opening and the little bell above it ringing.
Through her red work glasses, she watched a pegasus walk in, cerulean coat below bedecked with rainbow mane above. The form was familiar but the mannerisms couldn’t have been more like those of a stranger. The pony who walked in was hesitant to the point of seeming like she was lost, timid and awkward as she gingerly looked around with an apparent complete lack of certainty.
Rarity frowned. This was not the Rainbow Dash she knew.
“Hello, Rainbow,” she called out, waving as she stood up from her machine.
“Oh, uh.” Rainbow looked around again. “H– Hey, Rare,” she started.
“Good to see you again,” Rarity said. “It’s been a few days.”
“Ah. I guess it has.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck. “You weren’t, like… looking for me or anything, were you? Sorry.”
“No, no.” Rarity waved a hoof. “I suppose I thought it would be best to let you come around in your own time.”
“Oh. Yeah. Cool. Thanks.”
“We can talk, if you’d like. If you’re ready,” Rarity said, walking closer. “There’s nopony else in the shop right now. The coast is clear, as it were.”
“Yeah. Good. I just wanted to say.” Rainbow fidgeted. “The other night, it was… pretty great.”
Rarity smiled slyly. “Did it really only rank a ‘pretty great?’”
“No!” Rainbow said, more forcefully. “Better than just that, but I don’t know, I’m not good with the word-things, y’know?”
“I’m only teasing.” Rarity smiled more kindly. “Yes, I know what you mean. I also enjoyed our time together very, very much.”
“Glad to hear that.” Rainbow finally smiled, to Rarity’s relief.
“So, what else is on your mind?” Rarity asked.
“Uh. A few different things…” Rainbow anxiously tapped a hoof.
“Such as?”
“Well, alright, to just get to the point and say it before I lose my cool, I was wondering if there was any chance of doing it again sometime,” Rainbow Dash blurted out.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “A little forward.”
Dash immediately blushed. “I– I– I don’t– Oh jeeze, phrasing! Sorry! I didn’t mean ‘doing it’ as in just doing it. I mean, like, the whole… thing. That whole night. You know – a date. Or, whatever.”
“Yes, I understand.” Rarity nodded. “Again, I’m just teasing. No worries.”
“I kinda wish you wouldn’t,” Rainbow said resentfully. “I feel like I’m walking on pins and needles here.”
“I’m sorry, I’ll stop,” Rarity apologized. “Honestly, I’m feeling a little nervous and awkward myself. I appreciate that this isn’t easy.”
“’Kay, good. Thank you.” Rainbow nodded gratefully. “Sooooo point is, I guess I’m asking you out on another date?”
“In truth, we weren’t exactly on a date, were we?” Rarity pointed out.
“No, I guess not,” Rainbow conceded. “It just sort of… happened. But that’s also what I’m tryin’ to wrap my brain around. Why did it happen?”
“Oh, who can say with these things?” Rarity shrugged dramatically. “A beautiful pony let me take her to bed. There’s some kind of a special magic in the mystique of that, no? Do you really need to kill it by asking why?”
“Maybe I’m just bein’ dumb, but I guess I kinda do,” Rainbow Dash pondered. She paused for a beat, and suddenly, her eyes opened wide, looking moonstruck. “Hey, wait. You think I’m beautiful?”
“You have your moments.” Rarity nodded. “And I suppose that also gets to the crux of your question as to why things happened the way they did. I was having such a wretched time – a flaked date sent me there alone, then that awful what’s-her-name mare stepped on my dress and tore off the hem after I’d spent a week working on the dratted thing. Spilled punch for insult on top of injury. Ugh, and those hors d’oeuvres…”
“Yeah, the ball sucked.” Rainbow shrugged.
“Quite.” Rarity nodded.
“But what’reya gonna do? They’re all kinda bad. I only went ‘cause it was Twilight’s first one ever hosting as a Princess and we gotta be supportive.”
“Still, it was so sweet, the way you swooped in to try to make sure I had a special time in spite of it all. I know you could have made your appearance, done the necessary rounds, and then left early. But you didn’t. You stayed to keep me company, joined me in snarking about the questionable fashion choices of the evening. Even danced with me when I was feeling left out, despite not liking or even really knowing those kinds of dances. Yes, I know you don’t actually know how, and I don’t care,” Rarity said, pre-empting Dash opening her mouth to protest. “It was the caring enough to try anyway that counts.”
“And don’t forget I found that kick-flank hayfry place that was still open somehow when we were starving afterward ‘cause all the party snacks tasted like cardboard and toothpaste,” Rainbow reminded her.
“Ahhh, truly, the bravest part of all! My hero!” Rarity pretended to fawn.
“Soooo you want me to be your hero again, or what?” Rainbow asked.
“Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it?” Rarity fretted. “One doesn’t set out to need a hero, exactly. It just sort of happens, rather despite the best plans of the day.”
“Oh.” Rainbow deflated a bit. “Yeah, I… I guess.”
“You just can’t force these things, you know?” Rarity said helplessly.
“No, right, I get what you mean. I think.” Rainbow nodded.
They stood there in the shop, awkwardly, while a silence descended between them.
“I was kinda wondering something else, though, too,” Rainbow finally broke through.
“Oh?” Rarity perked her ears up. “What is it?”
“You said the other night that you weren’t a lesbian,” Rainbow noted. “But, uh, if that’s not being a lesbian, then… well… what are you, exactly? Is that too personal of a question?”
“No, it’s fine.” Rarity waved aside the concern. “To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t really know, and I don’t really care.”
“Whaaaat?” Rainbow looked incredulous. “You gotta figure out what you are!”
“Why? Is that a rule, or something?” Rarity asked.
“But…” Rainbow half-squinted suspiciously. “How do you not even care, either, though?”
Rarity rolled her eyes in thought for a moment. “Well, because the way I see things, I just don’t need the label. It simply wouldn’t help me to put one on right now. I feel as if they’re really for other ponies, you see. A label puts me in a box, and I’m not trying to be in a box for the benefit of somepony else’s clarification.”
“Oh,” Rainbow said, in a measured, neutral voice with no expression. “Okay.”
“Neat little labeled boxes are for planning, so that you know what you’re going to be getting,” Rarity continued. “Which is great, sometimes. But not when you want the process of messy, organic discovery. Exploration. Right now, in this part of my life, I want that. I don’t want to be constrained by an idea of ‘what I am,’ I just want to be open to enjoying things when they happen – things like our night together. It was magic, a kind that couldn’t have happened any other way. But the flip side to it means I’m not out to try to arrange them, instead of discovering them as they come. It’s just such a difference, and that difference is what makes all the difference. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash nodded, finally smiling a little bit. “I think I get why dating wouldn’t be able to catch it again. Can’t plan to surprise yourself, right?”
“Right.” Rarity smiled back. “Thanks for understanding, Rainbow.”
“We’re good to stay friends, then?”
“Of course we are.” Rarity stepped close and reached out in an embrace. They hugged for a long time. “I couldn’t have it any other way.”
☙ ♢ ❧
“Finally had the courage to ask Applejack to go out with you, I hear,” Rarity said to Rainbow Dash from across a small café table where they were eating lunch outdoors on a sunny day.
“Oh yeah!” Rainbow grinned happily and pounded her hoof gently on the table in a gesture of triumph. “She said yes! It was freakin’ AWESOME!”
“Good.” Rarity took a bite of her flower sandwich and nodded a satisfied little nod.
“I do still have one more question about, our, uh… you know.” Rainbow rolled a hoof delicately as she lowered her voice.
“Honestly, Rainbow, that was months ago. You’ve been sitting on a question all this time?”
“No, it just sort of occurred to me lately.”
“Well, alright,” Rarity said, setting down her sandwich. “What is it?”
“I was wondering, what if I’d gotten, y’know. Weird about things? Angry about it, or sad, or jealous. Stuff like that.”
“Well, you didn’t, did you?” Rarity pointed out.
“Okay, no,” Rainbow admitted. “I’m just sayin’, this coulda ended real bad, you know. How did you know it wouldn’t? Like, how did you know I wouldn’t just refuse to take a hint and try to force things even when you didn’t want to?”
Rarity thought for a moment.
“It was when you weren’t there in the morning,” she finally said, after a sip of her drink. “If you were sure you wanted so badly for there to be an ‘us’—really, truly sure—I think you would have been there when I woke up. We would have had breakfast together. Then I would have known.”
“Really?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow in an expression that could have just as easily been either impressed or incredulous.
“Well, alright, no.” Rarity shrugged. “Not really. I mean, it would have been a clue to me to… well, to at least explore the possibilities of an ‘us.’ To maybe take you up on that date. But no, I couldn’t have really known. All I know is that life, and especially love, can’t be lived without taking risks some of the time.”
She leaned back in her chair and sighed. “So I took one. I do hope that doesn’t seem unfair to you. I’m sorry, if so.”
“Nah.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “No harm, no foul. And if not, well, we wouldn’t have, y’know. Had our thing. So I’m not sorry about it.”
“Neither am I.” Rarity half-smiled.
“And as far as being a lesbian,” Rainbow continued, “it may not be who you are, and that’s totally cool. But you sure as hay showed me who I am. So that’s something I gotta be grateful for. It’s almost like… I dunno, kinda weirdly like you had a plan this whole time, or something, somehow. But that’s impossible. Right?”
“No, I’m afraid just playing it by ear and some luck is all there ever was to it, Rainbow.” Rarity said. “But you know something? I have a feeling you’re going to make Applejack very, very happy. The magic of love blossoming for two of my dearest friends is better than anything I could have possibly planned. And for that, I’m glad.”
