Rarity hovered one dress in front of Fluttershy. Then she hovered the other dress in front of Fluttershy. Squinting, she put the first dress in front of Fluttershy again.
They were both blue. But the first one was more form-fitting, with stiff feathery tails on the rear to contrast with the flank, while the second one was more poofy, with ruffles along the shoulders to de-emphasize the barrel line.
"Hmm."
"I think-"
"Nope!" Rarity tossed the second dress onto the reject pile, and hung the first onto a rack already stuffed full of earlier picks.
Fluttershy looked longingly at the pile and mumbled, "But I liked that one…"
"Trust the vision, dear." Rarity didn't need to reconsider her pick. But she decided to reassure the mare. "And besides, they'll be on the floor half the time anyway. So don't get too attached."
The air behind the curtains was still humid from breath and sweat and hot from distant stage lights, and there was a muffled commotion beneath the trembling music - the heartbeat of a hungry audience.
She knew this feeling. She'd swimmed in it, for a time. But it never got easier.
One hoof in front of the other, she reminded herself, and this got her moving, step by step, around and past the curtains, into the searching, scouring, suffocating light. But there was nothing else to illuminate. A polished black peninsula jutted into teeming shores and, though it thinned against the tide, she kept her gait, strutting down the runway just as instructed with her head held high and her breath held deep.
By the time she was fully downstage, it seemed to be quieter. The music was distant, yes, but not the audience. It surrounded her now, and kept its silence. She'd stopped in an unusual place. No hooves planted for a turn. Anticipation hung in the air as vapour.
Slowly, she reached up to her neckline, and began undoing the buttons.
"You want me to get naked?"
Rarity turned from her selection and glanced at Fluttershy, hoping it wouldn't need to be said.
"In front of a crowd!?"
Alas.
"Darling, how is that different from your flashbulb career as a - dare I say it - nude model?"
"That's-!" Fluttershy's face turned red. "I wore clothes!"
"Occasionally."
"Yes, but I wasn't- I didn't-"
"Undress?"
"... Exactly."
The blue dress lost its hold on her body and slipped away, forming a pile at her hooves.
She stood there. Lightened. Freed.
Exposed.
This was the part where she was supposed to turn around and walk back the other way, but the runway gave her no assistance, and her breath boiled to fumes within her, and the air stuck to her skin.
She couldn't move. She couldn't imagine moving. To move would be to acknowledge the situation as it existed. To acknowledge herself as she was. To undress in front of a crowd.
Her breath didn't wait, though. She had to inhale. One instinct defeated by another.
And so it became real.
There were so many ponies here.
And they were all looking at her.
"Of course they'd all be looking at you," Rarity told her, lifting her face by a hoof under her chin. "You're beautiful."
One hoof in front of the other. It took nearly all she had to not pass out then and there, and all the rest to keep her hooves beneath her and move upstage.
This, at least, was easier. Up was down. Towards safety. The natural path. She just had to walk it in the nude with a bunch of strangers staring at her.
She wished she could believe it wasn't all that different from a normal day in Ponyville. But even aside from the dress she'd left behind, in Ponyville she could follow the crowd, keep her voice down, fade into the background. That was impossible here. There was no background - only foreground, with her as its blaring emblem.
A noise came through the relative silence and broke Fluttershy's introspection - a sharp whistle, bending low before hooking high. She looked and saw the dark form of a pony biting their hoof, going for it a second time, until another pony slapped them in the back of the head and made a shushing gesture.
Something about that made her freeze again. She'd avoided looking into the crowd until now, and only now did it become clear this was not a crowd, a homogeneous stuff, but a crowd of ponies, of individuals.
It was obvious in retrospect, really.
And one of these ponies had just catcalled her.
The realization made her smile, and then giggle, and then threatened to make her laugh. She stifled it with a hoof and tried to continue walking without drawing too much attention.
Too much attention. That just made her laugh harder. She had to canter back behind the curtains before she burst. When she rounded the divider into the dressing hall, still catching her breath, Rarity could only raise an eyebrow.
"Okay, maybe it wouldn't be so bad," Fluttershy admitted. "I know I've done... similar things before. But what if they take it the wrong way?"
Rarity hovered a red dress between them this time, and hummed, "What way would that be, dear?"
"Oh, you read the papers! What if they say I'm a-!" Horrified by what she was about to say, Fluttershy covered her ears with her hooves. "-A tramp?!"
Rarity looked at her.
Fluttershy remained frozen in horror.
"A... tramp?"
"A tramp!"
Rarity turned her attention back to the dresses. "Fluttershy, nopony's going to say that. Everypony who's coming to the event knows exactly what they're coming there to see."
"And... th-that is?"
A show.
Fluttershy rounded the curtains again. She was going to give them a show.
For a start, she tried putting a bit more sway into the runway walk Rarity had taught her. It felt silly, almost like a crawling gait at full height, and the long train of her red dress made it a bit difficult. But the ponies in the audience seemed to like it, as she heard a few more whistles - including one from a familiar direction. She couldn't make out any details, but she did spot a stallion that seemed to be enjoying himself, and that was confirmation enough for her.
But it was only when she arrived downstage at the crumpled heap of her last dress that the 'show' would really begin. Well, the show had really begun a few minutes ago when she took off the first dress, but that had all been a terrifying blur. She wanted to do it right this time.
Rarity had told her that she needed to emphasize her assets. Not her physical assets - or at least, not just her physical assets - but everything about her that was valued. Her appearance, her personality, her reputation. Things a mare should know about herself. Apparently.
Fluttershy knew well what ponies thought of her appearance, although she didn't quite believe all of it, but she hadn't the slightest idea what they thought of her personality.
So she thought about what her friends would have done in this situation. It was hard to imagine any of them doing something like this, really, but if they did... Twilight might do it quickly, just to get it over with. Rainbow Dash might turn it into some kind of athletic performance, and Applejack might join in and make it a competition. Pinkie's take on it was... hard to imagine, as was Rarity's, though for a different reason.
Yes, she had organized this whole thing, and yes, she did have a bit of a naughty streak, but to imagine Rarity just strutting onto the stage and tossing one of her prized dresses on the ground, revealing herself to the audience? To the world?
It was hard to even imagine.
Anyway. Fluttershy didn't like any of these approaches, so she just did what felt natural - take off the dress as carefully as she could, to avoid ripping it, and lay it on the floor. Nothing too special.
She started with the zipper, running it down her barrel and splitting the dress in half so she could climb out of it. Then a shimmy to free one foreleg, then a pull to free the other, then fold the wings down and out.
Emphasize...
She could have just stepped free of what remained, but instead she exaggerated how difficult it was and how gentle she had to be with it. In effect, she bent lower to the ground, and kept the dress tighter around her flank as she pulled it away. Nothing else came to mind, so she finished with the motion, and set the red dress down on top of the blue one.
As she turned around to make her way back, she wondered if this was an improvement. The audience seemed exactly as rapt and approximately as silent as it had been before except for some movement and commotion near the middle of the runway. She couldn't see down there very well, as there was minimal seat lighting, but in the dark a figure became clear - the stallion that had whistled earlier. He'd evidently left his seat to get a closer look, and was just now climbing over a set of front seats, much to the annoyance of their occupants.
Just when he had his hooves back on the ground, he ran up to the stage skirt and thrusted a hoof forward, up above the stage floor, and into the light. There shined a paper bill.
Fluttershy looked around. "Um."
There was silence. Awed expressions. Even from the stallion with the bill, who seemed shocked Fluttershy was even looking at him.
She took a step towards him, which was all she needed, considering the width of the runway.
"What do you want me to do with this?" she asked.
The stallion stammered, "You- just take it! Keep it!"
"Oh." Fluttershy took the cash. "Okay."
Then, without thinking much about it, she ran all the way upstage, behind the curtains, and around the divider so she could show the bill to Rarity, who was choosing between a light green sundress and a dark sequined nightgown with matching socks.
"This is fifty bits," Rarity said. "Somepony gave this to you?"
"Yeah!" Fluttershy gasped. "What does it mean?"
Rarity extended a hoof to take the bill, then levitated it and rolled it into a thin tube, which she tucked behind one of Fluttershy's ears. "It's not quite appropriate, but it means they like you. So keep doing what you're doing!" After a beat she made sure to add, "Just don't accept any more, got it?"
Fluttershy nodded, and repeated to herself, "Keep doing what you're doing," as Rarity dressed her in the green sundress. She noticed the sequin gown again and wondered how she was supposed to fit into that one later - it seemed too small, and lacked any obvious openings for the wings. But she trusted the vision.
Keep doing what you're doing.
She was giddy when she went out on stage again. She had another chance to really impress them - especially the stallion who'd given her money, even though that was inappropriate.
When she rounded the curtains there came a wave of catcalls as several hooves went up around the skirt of the runway, each with a hoof-ful of bills or coins.
"Ah," she said to herself.
She tried to ignore them, despite their insistence. Some ponies even jeered at her when she walked past them. It interrupted her rhythm, and she knew she wasn't performing that silly strut as well as she had last time. She just hoped she wasn't disappointing them too much...
At the middle of the runway she passed that stallion. He looked ready to climb onto the stage, the way he was staring up at her, but she didn't get a bad vibe from it. He just wanted her attention. But there must have been a hundred ponies in the audience. Maybe that wasn't fair to the rest of them.
Just then, he looked back towards the curtains, as with all the ponies behind him, and there rose a murmur from the crowd. She followed where they were looking...
"So, will you do it?"
"Maybe..."
"Maybe?"
"I'm just not sure if I'm the right mare for this."
"What would it take to convince you?"
Fluttershy looked up at Rarity. She knew what she wanted to say. She just wasn't sure she wanted to say it.
I'll do it if you do it with me.
She never did say that. It ended up being enough that Rarity was backstage to support her. But it seemed they'd had the same idea.
There she was in the light.
She shined. The glare from her white coat against dark surroundings formed a halo around her, and a million stars danced on her sequin outfit whenever she moved.
And, oh, did she move. The silly strut Fluttershy was doing was nothing compared to Rarity's prowl. Her hooves hardly left the floor with each step - instead they traced along the floor in straight lines; this gait moved her shoulders and hips side to side more than they would have moved naturally, but it didn't appear unnatural or forced; and she kept her head still, almost perfectly still, to glance out from half-lidded eyes under purple curls.
Fluttershy felt... not funny. There was nothing funny about this. Was this how she was making the others feel? If so, she'd have to apologize.
Before she was fully over her first impression, she realized Rarity was prowling towards her. There wasn't much space on the runway, so she sidestepped to let her pass.
Rarity then sidestepped.
Fluttershy stepped to the other side.
Rarity then stepped to the other side.
They were now almost snout-to-snout, and Fluttershy froze, hoping she wouldn't be crashed into - or pounced upon, for that matter - but instead, all she felt was a swipe of air and a sudden absence of something above her ear.
Rarity levitated the rolled-up bill, flattened it out, and hooved it over to the stallion below them, saying, "I think you dropped this, sir."
The stallion held out his hooves to take the money, and seemed a little disappointed, but otherwise amazed that Rarity - the Rarity - had deigned to acknowledge him in such a setting. A few other ponies had still been waving their own cash around in hopes somepony might take it, but they put it away now. The display had had the intended effect.
Satisfied, Rarity stood up straight, adjusted her gown, and resumed her path down to the end of the runway.
Towards the pile of dresses.
Wait.
Fluttershy turned and almost yelped when she saw Rarity sliding a stocking down one of her forehooves.
She hadn't imagined... Well, it was obvious, wasn't it? Why else would Rarity be down there? But she just couldn't have imagined it!
The stocking slipped off and was added to the pile. Then the other. Rarity wasn't just peeling them off as an athlete might after a game. No, she was luxuriating in it, making it seem intense, intimate, provocative... or some other word Fluttershy had never used before.
It felt like she was doing something naughty by even watching this happen. Like she was peeking in on somepony taking a shower. Not that she'd ever done that! But Rarity undressed like she knew somepony was peeking, like she knew something forbidden was happening here, and wanted it to keep happening - or even invite something still naughtier. Not that Fluttershy had ever done that either.
She felt an urge to look away. To give Rarity her privacy. But she didn't. She didn't want this to be private. She wanted to peek, to spy, to know all the hidden and forbidden details. And she was fine with an audience looking on, too, as long as she happened to be among them. Or maybe that was even better...
Rarity's gown hit the floor, leaving her totally nude, and so she turned around for the return trip.
Fluttershy didn't move. She didn't want to cause another side-step traffic jam, and, well, maybe she couldn't really control her legs at the moment anyway.
It wouldn't have mattered. Rarity headed straight for her. They were practically nose to nose again, and then actually nose to nose, and then...
Rarity packed away her shortlist of dresses - which would have been quite long if expressed as a list - while Fluttershy hopped off the dressing dais.
"So, I never quite heard a yes, love."
Fluttershy examined her hooves. "Um... I might still be thinking about it."
Rarity took a step closer. "Might?"
"Do I have to decide right now?"
Another step. She started innocently, "No... But you know never to keep a lady waiting, don't you?"
Fluttershy stood her ground. "You know I'm a lady too, don't you?"
They were nose to nose now. "Oh, I know," she practically purred.
That put some red on Fluttershy's face. It always did.
"I won't press you, but I think I might know your answer already, so why not just come out with it? Even to save a few minutes? We can do so much in a few minutes, darling."
Fluttershy's legs trembled. Her marefriend was right, and they both knew it.
"Well..."
"Yes?" Rarity breathed, and the hot air tickled her snout.
She opened her mouth to speak before it could be otherwise occupied.
"I'll do it..."
... For you.
Their lips met, and nothing else mattered.
Rarity's kisses always started out so gentle. Just a light peck, or even a mere brush of skin against skin - so casual that it wouldn't even be considered romantic in isolation.
But that wasn't Fluttershy's favourite part.
No, that would be what came after; when Rarity kept going, kept pushing into her, deepening the subsequent kisses until they could not be told apart; and quickly they took on an aspect of hunger, maybe even predation, as she licked the teeth and sucked the tongue and growled at the slightest reluctance like she needed it all to survive. As selfless and obedient as Fluttershy was, it was never exactly enough - for every inch gained a mile was demanded, and as went a kiss, so went anything and everything else.
That was her favourite part.
And that was how, not so long after she tasted Rarity's lip gloss, she felt cold black floor beneath her wings and warm ivory hooves tracing her increasingly naked body.
It seemed unbecoming of a tailor to throw such a nice dress into a heap with such abandon, but then again, she wasn't being a tailor at the moment. She was being a lovedrunk, ravenous fuck machine - something Fluttershy had often thought at times like these, but would certainly not say now, of all times.
She gasped for breath when Rarity broke the long kiss - breath she would need as Rarity's kisses quickened down her chin, neck, barrel, and stomach. Fluttershy had always been ticklish, so she could only moan and squirm under this attention - it was all she could do not to push Rarity away.
She didn't want to push her away. She wanted to let her do whatever she wanted, and do whatever she was asked, and she wished these moments could last forever, even if it was the dull betweens that made them meaningful, so she could laugh and sob and cry and let nothing else matter but for her, her lover, and the love they exercised between them, and, and...
And the hundred or so ponies that were all still watching them?
"Wh-wait," she said, pushing Rarity off of her with her back hooves.
Rarity half-listened, which is why she'd been moved at all. Her hair was a mess, her mouth was covered in slobber, and her eyes were wild with desire and angry for the interruption.
Fluttershy didn't quite know how to ask this in a subtle manner, so she went with the straightforward: "We're ha-having sex? Here?"
Rarity still wasn't fully listening - she merely acknowledged the question before trying to dive back in.
"... Now?"
She finally answered with a firm, "Now."
Fluttershy wasn't entirely convinced. "Is this even legal?"
"Oh!" Rarity perked up, realizing that this was an actual question and not just base reluctance. "Actually yes. I made sure of that before scheduling this."
"You - Before!?"
Rarity nodded.
Fluttershy just sighed, and relaxed her legs, allowing Rarity to continue her vital work. Of course she'd planned this all out, even to the last detail...
...
... Not that she really minded, when it came down to it. This was Rarity. The diva. The showrunner. The trendsetter. The love of her life.
And, as the mood started to return to her, and she let her head fall back to the floor, only to see the audience rapt in attention, she thought to herself...
Being seen like this? It wasn't so bad after all.
In fact, maybe they could do this again, some day.
It was all over.
The lights were on. The seats were empty. The place still smelled like sweat and sex, but that too would dissipate... eventually.
Fluttershy was helping Rarity load her dresses onto a carriage to bring back to the Carousel when she noticed a conspicuous package tucked into a not-so-conspicuous place near the rear access door. It was too big for a standard letter, and too misshapen and lumpy to be a box. She flipped it over to find the addressee:
For Fluttershy
Rarity wasn't around at the moment, so, curiosity getting the better of her, she bit it open and found within it a scrap of paper and a fresh, if a little bent up, rose.
The paper read:
Fluttershy,
That was a nice show you put on with Ms. Rarity!
I might have been a bit too excited, so I hope I didn't scare you too much.
Think of this as an apology. And encouragement, if you need it. You're a one-of-a-kind mare. When you're out performing in Manehattan and Cloudsdale you can forget about me - but don't forget you'll find dumbstruck ponies like me anywhere.
Best of luck,
It was a long time afterwards before Fluttershy could wipe the smile off of her face. On the ride home with Rarity, she presented her marefriend with the rose, as a romantic gesture - but not before slipping the rolled-up fifty-bit bill off the stem and tucking it behind her ear.
