Stock Imagery

You were supposed to go with a friend. Or friends. You didn’t have to, but it was just… less awkward, that way.

Fluttershy really wanted to go with her friends, which was the problem, which was why she went to the exhibit alone.

She smiled as she passed through the curtains into the wide, circular gallery space, and immediately felt warm and fuzzy to be in it. Her friends had put so much of themselves into it.

Twilight had put so much care into making sure everybody would be safe and protected - thinking about every possible way somebody might need to be looked after. Even something like this.

And Rarity was obviously the biggest reason the space was so… comfortable to slip in. There were maybe a dozen others, and none of them were paying that much attention to Fluttershy as she made her way in. They were having too much fun - even the ones who were just talking.

And Pinkie, standing by the snack table, was obviously the only reason the exhibit could exist at all. Who else would even think of this? Or, having thought of it, make it a public announcement that this was the kind of thing they thought about?

That was the problem, Fluttershy thought to herself, walking to the stockade. She couldn’t think about her friends the way she wanted to if they were actually here. She ran a hoof down the stock’s frame, the wood varnished smooth and splinterless. Pinkie or Twilight’s doing?, she wondered.

Fluttershy was the only one of her friends whose fantasy was not being the one in the stocks.

She wanted Twilight here. She’d had a crush on her ever since she’d become a Princess. When she’d first met Twilight, the librarian had been cold, standoffish, patronizing. But with a little love and self-esteem, she’d become so warm, and generous, and thoughtful. Where before Twilight always wanted to be left alone, now she was always excited to share everything with everybody.

Of course Fluttershy couldn’t tell her that. She couldn’t stand to make Twilight try to turn her down delicately, try to spare her feelings.

But if Twilight were to lock herself into the stocks, Fluttershy wouldn’t have to tell her. She wouldn’t have to ask. What she wanted to do was show Twilight how she felt, whether or not those feelings were returned.

She walked to the front of the stocks and imagined Twilight’s head poking through. Wide eyed and embarrassed that Fluttershy was here to see her like this.

In her mind, Fluttershy cupped Twilight’s chin, and pulled her into a gentle kiss. A soft one, at first. Closed lips. Just the smallest tilt of the head.

She imagined Twilight’s confused expression as she broke away. A look of shock as, on the other side, a stallion lined himself up to fuck her. Twilight tried to ignore it, tried to focus on Fluttershy in front of her, wondering what the kiss had meant.

That was part of Fluttershy’s fantasy too, the others. She wanted to be special, not just lost in the crowd. But if others were there, being so bold and aggressive, then wouldn’t that be so reassuring? What harm was there in a friendly kiss, next to being fucked by a stranger?

Fluttershy swallowed back the lump in her dry throat. She took a step back from the stocks, imagining Twilight’s shy embarrassment watching Fluttershy watch her. Fluttershy imagined every look on Twilight’s face as the stallion took her from behind, and smiled.

Because it would mean she knew for sure that Twilight wanted this. Because it meant she would know for sure she wouldn’t be refused.

In her mind, she trails the tip of her wing down Twilight’s neck. Feels her quickening pulse. Twilight would be face-up, she thinks. Her stomach showing. Twilight would want that intimacy.

The stallion finishes on Twilight’s stomach, and her Princess shivers happily, but squirmed, unsatisfied. The stallion was there for himself, and sated. Fluttershy takes his position. She is there for Twilight, instead.

She would clean her first, of course, gently, carefully.

There were toys, toys Twilight had picked out for herself especially, but Fluttershy pays them no mind. If she would only be allowed this one time, she wants to remember Twilight’s taste, her touch. She wants it to be intimate, and personal, so she wouldn’t be left wishing she had done more. So she could be satisfied with this once.

She didn’t think about what she’d do as much as she thinks about what she’d say. How much she admired her. How inspiring Twilight’s struggles with her own anxieties had been. How beautiful she was. How long she’d thought about this. How it was okay if it was only just this once.

Fluttershy shook her head, and made her way over to the snack table, where Pinkie was.

“Hey Fluttershy!” Pinkie wrapped her up in a big tight hug the second Fluttershy was in pouncing distance. “I’m so glad you made it.”

“Well, you know.” Fluttershy could smile, or she could look at Pinkie, but only one or the other. She picked smiling. “It sounded like it was going better than you could have hoped.”

“Yeah! Twilight and Rarity were such a big help!” Pinkie immediately gave all the credit to her friends, because she was wonderful like that. “So what do you think?”

“What do I think?” Fluttershy blinked. “What do I think about what?”

“The stocks!” Pinkie wiggled her eyebrows. “The idea! Don’cha think it’d be fun?”

Fluttershy chose looking at Pinkie this time. “Not for me, I don’t think. What about you?”

Pinkie laughed. “I’m too busy playing lifeguard to think about it.”

That was curious. It was unlike Pinkie not to give a straight answer to anything. She just gave answers that raised more questions, usually. “If you weren’t busy, though. Would you?”

Pinkie blushed (blushed!) and looked away. “Nah, I don’t think so. It was always about making everyone else think about it. You know?”

Fluttershy nodded, yes. She did understand that. “I prefer thinking of other people, too.”

“Reeeally?” Pinkie’s eyes bulged, and Fluttershy realized her mistake too late. She’d just not wanted Pinkie to think she was a wet blanket.

Fluttershy nodded again, because her mouth wouldn’t move, and she couldn’t think of any words she’d say anyway. That part of her brain was static hiss, loud electric distortion.

“Normally I wouldn’t ask, but Rarity made it look too much fun.” Pinkie laughed playfully. “Anyone specific?”

“Ah. Just now, I was uh, thinking of Twilight. I guess.” Fluttershy screwed her eyes shut so hard she was scared she was going to cry. But the panic just made it that much harder to lie.

Pinkie’s giggling stopped, and Fluttershy felt the hug before she could open her eyes to see it. Pinkie held her close. “Hey, it’s okay. Everybody’s been thinking about everybody today! You’re fine. I don’t have to tell.”

And Fluttershy let out a short breath. But the problem was it wasn’t just Twilight. Fluttershy loved all her friends so much. She’d even thought about Pinkie too, before coming here, alone. And when she heard how long Rarity had been here, it had made her head swim for an hour.

Would Pinkie still be hugging her if she knew- of course she would. That was why Fluttershy loved her so much. That was the whole reason Pinkie had set this up in the first place.

Then, Pinkie just asked. “You thought about me?” Like she was worried she’d hurt Fluttershy by doing it.

And Fluttershy froze. She didn’t nod this time, just, didn’t realize to shake her head fast enough. Pinkie kept hugging her tight.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

Yes.

Fluttershy gulped. “Okay.”

“Just in general, or in the stocks?”

Fluttershy made a noise that sounded like a laugh, but it was just the sound of the nervousness in her body pushing out of her. “In the stocks. Actually.”

“Was it just us?”

“Oh, no.” Fluttershy shook her head. “That’s what I like about the idea so much. I don’t feel selfish about it. I don’t feel as possessive if… if I’m sharing.”

Pinkie stroked Fluttershy’s hair, long and smooth motions from the top of her skull all the way to the nape of her neck. It was nice. “You worry about that, even in your, you know? Thoughts, I guess?”

Fluttershy nodded. “What I like about this one, is that if you… lock yourself in… you’re saying, I want this. I want you to do whatever you want to do to me, whoever you are. Even if it’s me, and it’s what I want to do, I know it’s okay. Even when I’m… alone… I feel bad.”

“Why do you feel bad?”

“It’s silly.”

“I’m sillier.” Pinkie countered. “It’s okay.”

“I feel bad because I can’t ask if it’s okay to think of… my friends like that. It feels…” Fluttershy let out that laugh sound again. “Like I might be doing something they don’t want me to do.”

Pinkie leaned out of the hug to look around the room, and apparently saw what she needed to see. She held Fluttershy close again. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s just in your head. Everybody gets crushes.”

Fluttershy sniffled. Her nose was running, just a little. She hated that. “That’s why I like this one so much. Because I know if you’re thinking about it, it’s like I have permission without needing to ask. I know it’s okay.”

Pinkie just kept hugging her. “You can think of me like that if you want, okay? I promise I won’t get mad. We’re still best friends, okay?”

Fluttershy squeezed Pinkie so tight, and she felt bad about it, but she couldn’t stand to hug her any less. “Okay.”

“Hey, I-” Pinkie hesitated. “I think everything’s okay here, actually. I can take a little break. Come here.” So Pinkie took Fluttershy by the hoof and guided her out of the main exhibit, towards one of the guest bathrooms.

The floor hadn’t been planned as a gallery, so it was like a fancy hotel bathroom. A shower, a big bathtub, a sink, just the one toilet. Pinkie locked the door behind her. Then, to Fluttershy’s surprise, Pinkie slipped off her turtleneck and threw her hat at the sink, then started to run the shower. “Pinkie?”

Pinkie laughed self-consciously, pulling the shower door shut behind her. “You’ll get it in a second. Just, talk to me.”

“About what?”

“About what you think about, when you think of me in the stocks.” Pinkie made a sound that was like a laugh. “Tell me about it.”

Pinkie’s wet mane clung to her neck and her fur was damp and she stood up and leaned against the back wall, letting the water run down her back, and Fluttershy’s breath quickened. “W-well. You’re really bouncy, and, and perky. And you’re so excited, you just can’t hold still. You’re set in tight from the neck up, but you’re just, you want it so bad, you keep… squirming.”

Pinkie made that laugh again. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy closed her eyes, focused on the sound of the running water. “So, a nice stallion comes up, to take his turn with you. And he’s very nice. So I hold you still for him. I hold your hips down while he lines himself up to you. B-but it’s too soon. You’re not ready yet.”

“Mm?” It was more than a go-on sound, it came from too low in Pinkie’s throat.

“So, I make him stand to one side, so you can see him clearly in the mirror, and I, I brush his… thing, with my wings. And I tease him a little, where you can see. Because he’s for you, and I’m just… keeping him warm for you. And you have to watch. Knowing it’s for you.”

There was a short, sharp gasp from the shower, and Fluttershy didn’t dare open her eyes.

“And then I start to kiss you. On your knees. And you squeeze them against my neck, because that’s the only way to hold still, because I’m making you… squirmier,” Fluttershy smiled, “when I move up to your thighs. And then I keep going. And the whole time, I’m making this stallion so hard for you. He wants you worse than ever.”

“Flutters, can you get the thing from the cabinet for me?”

Fluttershy opened her eyes. The inside door of the shower was fogged up with steam, as much to her relief as it was to her disappointment. She obediently went to the bathroom cabinet and found… a suction cup dildo. Appropriately pink.

The door of the shower opened a little, and a pink hoof reached out. Fluttershy passed it to Pinkie, who hissed a grateful noise, before the shower door closed again, and there was a wet slap as the toy was pressed into the shower wall.

“Keep going,” Pinkie urged.

Fluttershy closed her eyes even tighter. “I don’t know you, like that. I don’t know what you… like. So I try to find out. And I try to remember. So that when I think of you later, I’m, I’m doing a good job. When I imagine it. I want to know how to remember. To show you how much I-” love, “appreciate you, when I think of you again.”

“Please keep talking,” Pinkie’s voice was almost unrecognizable, and the sounds of her hitting against the back wall of the shower was starting to drown out the sound of the water pouring on bathroom tiles. Fluttershy thought about walking around to that side of the shower and watching, but then she didn’t think she’d be able to keep talking if she did.

“And then I walk around to your head,” Fluttershy continued, “And I take a chair so I can rest it in my lap. And I stroke your hair. And I tell you that you’re wonderful. And it’s so nice you want to share yourself like this. And look at how happy you’ve made us. What a wonderful friend you are, letting us all share you like this.”

Fluttershy paused, listened for a moment. Pinkie was some place beyond words, where she could only manage breathless squeaks. Fluttershy took that as the encouragement she needed.

“And I have to talk louder now, because that stallion - just the first one, you’re going to make so many ponies very happy - well he’s being loud with you, and he’s telling you just how w-wet you are, and hot, and I tell you you’re beautiful, too, and even though he’s the one…” she gulped, the words she needed to say were hard for her, “fucking you, I tell you I want you to cum for me, not him. I want you to cum for me, okay?”

In the shower the real Pinkie did, a burst of high pitched laughter that caught in her throat, was swallowed back, and started again. The water cut off abruptly, and when Pinkie stepped out to grab a towel her back legs were still shaking.

She looked very pleased with herself. She looked pleased with Fluttershy too.

“That was fun,” Pinkie laughed. “See? I thought of you too. And you’re not mad, are you?”

Fluttershy couldn’t raise her eyes off the bathroom floor, but she couldn’t keep from smiling either. “No, not at all! That was nice.”

“Still best friends?”

Fluttershy’s heart leapt into her throat, and she nodded as hard as her head could stand. “Yes, please. If you still want to be.”

“Of course I do! I’d give you a big hug, but I’m still a bit… wet.” Pinkie tapped the glass twice. “Shower’s free, if you want. You probably need one too, huh?”

“I… yes.” Fluttershy admitted, delicately.

Pinkie rubbed herself down as fast as she could, making her already poofy hair explode in frizz. “I was going to go back out there, but I can stay here for a bit if you want.”

That was a hard question. Fluttershy thought about it, but her answer was a nice surprise to her. “I think I’m okay now, actually. I feel a lot better now.”

Then there was the promised big hug. Apparently Pinkie didn’t mind so much about being soggy anymore. “It’s okay to think about stuff, okay? But if you got such big crushes that they’re eating you up so much, maybe you should talk about it!”

“I don’t know if I could…”

Pinkie snorted. “I think Twilight needs more hugs than you do right now. Have you seen how much thought she put into this? That girl is pent up. Do me a favour and talk to her, at least?”

“If it’s a favour…” Fluttershy trailed off, squared her shoulders. “I can do that.”

Pinkie hugged her quick, one last time. “I think it would help her a lot. Now, I gotta go make sure everyone’s still having fun out there, and nobody put anything they weren’t supposed to anyplace they weren’t supposed to.”

“You think they would?”

“Nah. Mostly I just gotta guard the snack table.” Pinkie slipped on her turtleneck and beret. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”

Fluttershy smiled weakly at that. There were a lot of things Pinkie would do, but ‘mope’ wasn’t one of them. She looked at the shower, considered it.

Pinkie was right that Twilight had put way too much thought into the exhibit, too. And Twilight did like to be asked about things she thought about this hard…

Maybe she could ask Twilight to keep her company instead?

Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at the stocks. Applejack shook her head.

“I don’t get it.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t get it either. I’m already on public display and, lemme tell you, not hot.”

“Thought you had fun being with the Wonderbolts?”

“I mean, yeah. But not in a like, sexy way. Total opposite of that.”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. Remember back when you curled up and cried backstage for the Young Flyers competition?”

Rainbow pouted. “That was years ago. I don’t do stuff like that anymore.”

“Know you don’t, sugar. Just rememberin’s all.”

“Figured maybe you’d get it a little, what with the rope stuff and all.”

Applejack puffed air out her nose and knocked her hat back. “This is this, and that’s that. It’s different.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “How?”

“‘Cause that is just you and me, featherbrain.”

Rainbow blinked, looked away. “Ah, yeah, right.”

Pinkie bounced over to them. “Hey! Didn’t think you’d make it. What do you think?”

Applejack and Rainbow squinted, then looked to each other.Tried to work something out, failed, shrugged. Applejack spoke first. “It’s, uh, different.”

“It’s… interesting.” Rainbow managed.

“Yeah, it’s not really for everyone.” Pinkie agreed, “But if you don’t like it, knowing someone else does should give you something to think about, right?”

Applejack shrugged. “I guess. I try not to think about what’s going on in someone else’s head about this stuff, though. None of my business.”

Pinkie nodded. “I like that! How about you, Dashy?”

Rainbow Dash walked up to the ‘Fuck Me’ placard and squinted at it. “This really does it for someone, huh?”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh, yeah, like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Weird.” Rainbow paused. “Wait. Or am I weird for not getting it?”

“I don’t think anybody’s weird!” Pinkie reassured her.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a look that, between them, meant that of course Pinkie would think that. But Applejack couldn’t tell whether they were the weird ones or not either, so they’d have to go with it for now.

They’d been dating long enough they could manage entire conversations like that.

Rainbow shrugged again. “How’d it go, anyway? You get what you wanted out of it?”

Pinkie hid a giggle behind a hoof. “More than I could have hoped!”

Applejack and Rainbow shared another look at that. Applejack drew the short straw between them. “Yeah?”

“Yeah! I mean, it’d have been way more fun if someone actually took this baby for a spin,” she patted the stockade affectionately, “but I think I got the right ideas across! And I think it helped some friends a lot! Which I didn’t expect at all!”

Another look. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Twilight huh?”

Applejack snorted. “My money’s on Fluttershy.”

Pinkie deflated. “Well, it seems obvious when you put it like that.”

“Guess that answers who this was for, though.” Applejack looked around the room again, squinting at two stallions sitting in each other’s laps, looking real happy about it. “You gonna close up soon?”

“Guess so.” Pinkie sighed. “Honestly, maybe I’ll do a different theme next year. That could be fun. You two got any ideas?”

“Nope.” “Nuh-uh.”

“Boring.” Pinkie sighed. “I’ll just have to ask somepony else.”

Shimmerlily sipped her coffee with a barely hidden smile. “I love the new dress.”

Rarity pulled at the hem of it, where it ended a short way down her thighs. “Thank you, darling. A nightmare to work out the right length. Just long enough that nobody can see what I’m wearing under it, but short enough I still feel like they might.”

“And what are you wearing underneath it?” Shimmerlily kept her eyes above the table, but her claws held her teaspoon at its edge.

“Mm,” Rarity purred, “won’t you just love finding out?”

There was a clatter of silverware hitting the cafe floor and bouncing underneath the table, and Shimmerlily took her time finding it again.

Twilight’s bed had been much too big just for her. Plenty of space to share it, even though Fluttershy insisted on pressing tight, legs entwined and finding inventive ways to bring more skin into contact with each second. Legs locked around each other’s waists, forelegs around each other’s necks.

A shower had been promised, at some point. But each slow, yawning kiss put it off another five, fifteen, fifty minutes. More intimate touches were nervous, curious, exploratory. There was no rush.

The fantasies they had both confessed to each other were wild, frenetic. A race to a wonderful finish.

This was different. The slow teasing for hours, filled with whispered compliments and reassurances. More in common with stoking embers than fanning flames.

Another difference they’d found, from the ideas they’d compared notes on. When it was with someone, really with someone, it was about spending as much time as possible in that perfect moment. It was about trying not to let it end.

But that wasn’t nearly as fun to think about, was it?