Heat Season

Rarity sat by the window of Golden Oaks Library. She used her magic to delicately turn the page of the book before her. Her eyes were glazed over even as they scanned the colorful illustrations, barely taking them in.

Past the door and into the main room she could hear the telltale chime of Twilight’s own magic, pacing hoofsteps, muffled muttering and fluttering of pages. That mare... she never did anything halfway. She knew better than to try to dissuade Twilight when she got into one of her mindsets and merely contented herself to pass the time. At least, that was her intention.

She sighed, turning to another page of the book.

It’s not like she didn’t have anything else to do. There was plenty in her boutique that demanded her attention. She didn’t mind it, of course. She liked her work and could reliably lose herself in it, pushing all else from her mind, and yet... she found her thoughts drifting.

Poor Pinkie. She’d been so eager to try and make up for their admittedly big faux pas, throwing around ideas for a ‘We’re-Sorry-Anon-Will-You-Forgive-Us' party or some such. Twilight shot the idea down, insisting it’d be better to give him a little space for now. Rarity agreed. Maybe not the best idea to have their whole group come forward all at once, not so soon. In any case, he was due to arrive in the library. Rarity couldn’t help to admit feeling the slightest bit queasy.

Anon had been something of a fixture in her life for some time now. Not to the extent of her close circle of friends, but he’d certainly been the most prominent male in her life. Her lip curled into a thin, mirthless half-smile. A sobering reminder of her tepid love life... or lack thereof.

She never considered herself especially adventurous in her choice of partners, so it came as a surprise even to her when she eventually found her thoughts playing with the idea of taking her friendship with Anonymous to a more physical level.

Or maybe it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. He had been the most constant male presence in her life, considering he was a male. Most unattached stallions usually kept to their own little groups. Still, it was company and a fairly pleasant one at that and seeing the clothing designs he’d sketched for her—pulled up from memory and a practiced hand—was the highlight of her day. It reliably made her own ideas and inspiration brim with untapped potential.

He did take her a bit off-guard when he began showing the first signs of attraction. Subtle cues. Maybe a bit flustered when she batted her eyes, or a line of sight that lingered a bit too long on her hindquarters. She’d seen this before on stallions but did not expect it from him, having shown no intentions for her beyond the strictly platonic since their introduction.

A faint tinge of red colored her cheeks as thoughts moved now to their little encounter at the boutique. Twilight’s epiphany left her wondering. If humans really did hold sex as a meaningful act, did that mean that for a time, however briefly, he saw her as a potential special somepony? A day in bed was one thing, but a relationship? Part of her couldn’t deny being the slightest bit curious and considering her currently stale love life... it wasn’t an entirely unappealing prospect. Perhaps it even merited closer scrutiny?

But what of Pinkie and Applejack? They’d gone much further with him. Would they take priority over her?

She frowned and forced her mind from this line of thinking. It was a moot point anyway. Whatever interest he may have held in them had likely soured by now, and it’s not like Rarity herself even knew how human pairings worked. It made her realize how little she (or the girls, for that matter) knew of his people. She’d asked some things here and there, back in those early days, mainly for Twilight’s benefit. The poor mare eagerly drank up whatever tidbits Rarity and her friends shared with her regarding all things human, but many of the things he said were too... big, too broad for Rarity to wrap her head around. She had no frame of reference to understand many aspects of his world and eventually gave up asking, keeping her questions mostly to clothes and fashion. These she understood to her core.

Part of her wondered how things might have been had Twilight and Anon been on better terms. That whole spa fiasco drove a wedge between them for the longest time. Had it never happened, had Twilight and Anon struck a good rapport and become friends soon after... Rarity knew without a doubt Twilight would take every opportunity to sate her curiosity regarding Anon and his people, soaking the knowledge in like a sponge.

And who knows. She might very well have connected the dots regarding humans and sex much, much sooner and spared everypony this whole debacle. Had they all understood each other better, Twilight and the others could have approached the idea for heat relief from a different angle... perhaps even Anonymous would help them on his own volition. How perfect would that be?

Rarity huffed in frustration, shaking her head. It wouldn’t do to dwell on what-ifs and could-have-beens. She sensed there was still something to this whole divide between pony and human that they didn’t account for, if by nothing more than her feminine intuition. But how to go about it?

Twilight was out of her element here. Rarity had seen firsthoof the strides she’d made in becoming a great friend and pony alike, shedding a considerable part of her more... prickly tendencies from those earlier days, yet she also sensed her to be floundering in this particular moment.

A movement from the corner of her vision caught her eye. Anon’s telltale figure closed in, nearing the treehouse. She ruthlessly suppressed the momentary spike of panic and urge to flee somewhere else and instead closed the book.

Gingerly stepping out into the main room, she could see Twilight still fussing over something or other, her nose buried in a book. Two more hovered on either side of it. Casting a simple spell to muffle her hoofsteps, Rarity carefully made her way across the room and out the door, delicately closing it behind her. She turned around and came face to face with him.

“Hey,” he said simply.

“Hello.” Only through years of practice dedicated to the manner in which she carried herself allowed Rarity to not fidget and squirm under his gaze.

“We know, the girls and I. Twilight told us. About last night.”

“...Okay.”

Rarity took a breath and steeled herself. “I hope you won’t think too poorly of us, darling. If we made you feel... lesser by our intentions, then please believe me when I say that is not what we wanted.”

He nodded. “I believe you.”

Rarity nearly choked. “R-really?”

He shrugged. “I’ve had some time to think. Talked to Lyra. Talked to Bon Bon. That helped. Helped give me perspective.”

Rarity blinked rapidly, her thoughts a whirlwind. She hadn’t anticipated this. “You’re not angry with us?”

He shrugged again and looked away. “Maybe a little, I dunno.”

“I... don’t understand.”

Anon laughed; a brief, abrupt sound. “You took the words right out of my mouth.” When she still looked confused, he elaborated. “What the six of you did was underhanded.”

Rarity winced. Her ears splayed back. “Yes.”

“You didn’t take me into account when you made your little plan.”

Another wince. “True.”

His expression softened. “At least you’re honest. Guess I should be too.” He took a deep breath and said, “I kinda jumped into things without knowing what I was getting into. This whole...” He gestured back and forth between them. “Getting with ponies business? Sex? It’s a heavy topic where I come from. In the community where I was raised. We don’t trade it back and forth like favors. It’s more... meaningful.”

Rarity nodded. “Twilight said something along those lines.”

“I don’t think she understood it, even when I told her. I’m guessing you girls didn’t either?”

Rarity shook her head.

“I should have seen it. It was right in front of me all this time and I should have seen it,” he said. “Or maybe I would have if I actually bothered to look into it. You could have excused it, back when I was new to all this, but I’ve been living here for some time. I’ve known for a good long while Equestria’s gonna be my home. What excuse did I have then, for the past year? Sex is a big part of life for you ponies. It is for us too.

“If things had gone backward—if one of you guys found their way into my world instead, then they would never understand my people. Not if they followed what I did here, burying my head in the sand every time the subject came up. That’s me. That’s what I did. Even if I didn’t intend to romance a mare, it wouldn’t matter. By looking the other way I blinded myself to a big part of who you are. How could I blame Twilight? How could I get angry with her, with you girls for not understanding my point of view when I never bothered to learn yours in the first place?”

He shuffled in place, rubbing the back of his head. “I still think it’s wrong what you did, how you went about it. I don’t believe you intended to hurt me, but still...”

Rarity swallowed. Her mouth felt dry. “So what happens now? Where do we go from here?”

He almost smiled. “Forward, maybe? I’m... fond of you girls. I don’t think you’re bad ponies. I don’t think I’ll forget what you tried to do either, but you’ve been good friends to me. I’d like to think it means something.” He got down on one knee and held his fist forward. “There’s probably a ways to go before we ‘get’ each other. Really properly. But I’d like to try again, if you’re up to it.”

Rarity’s breath hitched. She bit her lip. Tears stung her eyes. She barreled forward past his outstretched fist and threw her legs around him, nearly knocking him flat. She didn’t trust herself to speak and so squeezed him tight, hoping to convey through sheer contact what words could not. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close.