"Sorry… but I don't understand what you're trying to say. Promiscuous? Me?!"
Confusion flooded my mind as I tried to trace what I could've possibly done wrong to cause this situation.
My chest tightened. My ears pinned back almost without me noticing.
Did I say something weird? Did I stare at someone too long? Did I do something I didn't notice?
"What do you mean?"
Rarity raised an eyebrow, clearly annoyed. She stared at me, then looked me over from different angles, as if searching for something hidden. We stayed in silence. She kept holding my gaze, prolonging the stare as if waiting for me to confess something myself. Her eyes scanned my face, looking for a different reaction… something. But after a few seconds, when she didn't find whatever she had expected, she straightened up and stepped back.
"I hope you're not acting," she finally said, her tone firm—she didn't need to shout for it to sound harsh. "Because half the town is starting to think you're a Playcolt. They've been gossiping all morning."
Playcolt? Playboy? Huh?
"You didn't catch that?" she insisted, tapping the floor. "Some mares don't even have foals in the Schoolhouse and still went."
I blinked and quickly replayed the different faces in my mind. It was true: there had been more mares present… although I also remembered some foals who hadn't shown up yesterday.
But how did that relate to me being some kind of womanizer? When had I ever given such an impression? What behavior of mine could've suggested anything like that?
"You're smart, Wizbell," she added—though this time it didn't sound like a compliment. "Do you truly not get it, or are you pretending to be innocent?"
She stomped one hoof on the ground. The sound was sharp, short, but loaded with contained anger, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Uh… well!" I looked around awkwardly. It was hard to meet her eyes; every time I tried, something inside me forced me to look away. I swallowed as I tried to find an answer that didn't sound stupid.
"For me… it was just a normal day."
One of my ears twitched slightly, still pinned back.
"I wasn't being suggestive," I continued, speaking a bit faster than usual. "I didn't give gifts. I didn't accept approaches that could be interpreted as me being open to a relationship… or to intimate interactions."
That last part came out as a mutter. I wasn't being defensive. Just confused.
Rarity snorted.
"A normal day? Not being suggestive? Not accepting approaches?" She shook her head, incredulous.
"Wizbell… you did something much bigger."
Her voice took on a different edge.
"You told every mare in Ponyville that you're open to a nice nighttime dance in your chambers."
She let out a short laugh filled with anger and a touch of contempt. It wasn't elegant. It was tense. She kept a bit of distance, though the way her body leaned forward made it clear she wanted to confront me directly. Even so, she didn't cross that line.
Her laugh slowly faded. And then her expression changed.
Meanwhile, I just kept feeling more and more lost.
"W–what…?" I murmured. "When? How?"
My breathing began to pick up.
"I just went for breakfast with Pinkie… and then I came here."
I began muttering under my breath, almost without realizing it, reviewing the day out loud as my words tripped over each other.
"I left home early… ran into Applejack working with Pinkie… talked to both… saw them fight because Pinkie kept trying to eat the pastries… stopped Pinkie from taking a huge bite out of my cupcake…"
I swallowed, trying to organize the memories.
"I ran into a pony on my way to the school… used camouflage magic like always… taught my class… helped around the school… used magic to entertain the foals… and then helped with dismissal…"
I looked up, still bewildered.
"And that's it."
Rarity placed a hoof on her forehead, closing her eyes with clear frustration.
"Are you seriously telling me that a stallion—an adult stallion—can't understand something so basic?"
She opened her eyes and stared at me with a mix of disbelief and annoyance.
"A scholar… Celestina's pupil… and you don't understand this."
Rarity pointed at me up and down, running her gaze over me as if the answer were written on my own body.
"You're signaling everything."
"Exactly what?!"
"No… really, I don't know what I could've done wrong."
She narrowed her eyes.
"I never thought I'd have to give this talk…" she muttered, utterly incredulous. Then she looked at me seriously as she lowered her hoof from her forehead. "Do you know how a foal is born?"
I blinked, thrown off by the change of subject.
"Of course. A stallion impregnates a mare, months go by, and then there's a pregnancy—"
Rarity cut me off with a firm gesture.
"Good. You know the basics. Then how do you not know about estrus?"
I frowned.
"Estrus? What's that?"
Rarity's eyes flew open as if she'd just heard the greatest absurdity in the world.
"By Celestia! What kind of education did you have!?"
"Eh? No! No one ever did! Is that a thing?! Some cultural rule?! Am I supposed to hide and move like a shadow these days? Stay out of sight like the other stallions for some… misandric reason?!"
"In all my life, nopony ever explained this invisible rule that everyone but me seems to know. It clearly has nothing to do with magic, because I'd remember it. Believe me—I can recall, with ridiculous detail, things that happened ten years ago, and not once in any memory have I heard that word, nor read it, neither from my parents nor from Celestia."
I stomped the ground to make my point clear.
How in the world would I even announce to everypony that I want a night of passion?! Absurd situation, absurd culture.
"I studied magic under Celestia for ten years, surrounded by maids and guards; I attended university where there were plenty of mares, and nothing even remotely similar to this ever happened. Everything was normal: we went to class, me and the other stallions. Nopony was hiding or playing some kind of magical hide-and-seek because of some strange rule that, apparently, I'm the only one who doesn't know."
The irrationality of the whole situation irritated me deeply now. My ears were tense, my tail stiff, and still Rarity looked at me as if I were the absurd one.
Rarity inhaled deeply, clearly losing patience.
"Wizbell… darling… this isn't a game."
Her tone was still annoyed, but something else lingered beneath it: resignation, perhaps a bit of second-hand embarrassment.
I frowned even more.
Rarity let out a long, flowing sigh that sounded like… defeat. Finally, she sat down where she was, stretching out her legs.
"By Celestia…" she murmured, as if trying to gather patience from the very ends of the universe.
Then she looked down at me—though without the spark of anger from moments before. Now it was… exhaustion. Resignation.
"Wizbell…" she began, tilting her head slightly, as if she needed confirmation of something too absurd to ask directly.
"At home, and during your time in the castle… did you buy your own bathroom supplies?"
I blinked, confused by the sudden shift in topic.
She sighed again, louder this time, as if the mere possibility of my answer was enough to explain the entire disaster of today.
She stared at me in silence.
"N–" I tried to reply, but she cut me off immediately.
"I can already see where this is going," she said, visibly drained. "Sweetheart, sit down… this is going to take a while."
Rarity settled more comfortably, conjuring a small blanket so she wouldn't keep sitting directly on the grass. Her gaze, previously overflowing with too many thoughts, was now clearer.
I stayed quiet and sat right where I was, though not without checking the ground for ants first… I didn't want to repeat the feeling of being bitten there.
"Well… darling, do you know what a Quiet soap is? Or how much one costs?"
I stayed silent. The only thing I remembered was grabbing a foamy orange-scented bar simply because I liked the smell. I had never thought anything beyond that.
My silence was enough. Rarity nodded and continued with another question.
"Do you know the five months when you're supposed to use Quiet soaps or perfumes?"
My silence continued.
"Do you… not feel anything when you're near a mare? You don't smell anything that makes you turn to look at them, that makes your eyes wander to their flanks…?"
I raised an eyebrow at how ridiculous that sounded to me. Yes, I'm a pony, but I'm not an animal. I remember Twilight smelling like lavender, parchment ink… and chocolate. But no, why in Tartarus would I be staring at her flanks? Unless out of curiosity about cutie marks.
Rarity watched me for another second and let out a small snort.
"I see this is serious… what kind of destiny must you have to be this atypical, and have your entire environment contribute to your ignorance…"
She shook her head.
"Well, better now than after this escalates further. At least this proves you're also a normal pony and not like them…"
I blinked at that them, but didn't get the chance to ask.
"Ah—sorry, Wizbell." Rarity waved a hoof quickly. "A moment ago I was comparing you to the trash stallions I met in Canterlot when I traveled there for the first time for a personal design commission… but let's not stray."
"Your situation is like this," Rarity began. "You left your house today in a 'normal' manner, heading to work. While you walked around, you were releasing your natural scent, and in that scent there are hormones. Hormones you did not suppress by using any Quiet product." She gestured in the air as if checking items off a list.
"Add to that the fact that you weren't accompanied by a mare who was your partner or who was courting you—somepony who would ward off the others. No, instead you walked around alone, showing your single status as your availability, by presenting yourself…" Rarity clicked her tongue.
"Not using Quiet products is fine, they're expensive. But if you can't afford them, the stallion shouldn't be out in public… which you did. And I'm sure you smiled when they greeted you, out of politeness… a clear signal that you accepted that mare for a later approach."
She frowned.
"It's obvious you wouldn't do that intentionally in public."
----------------------------
[Rarity's POV]
The more I talked, the more I watched Wizbell lose color. If he was already white, now he looked pale, even his mane seemed dimmer. Then came the blush… and then the stuttering.
"Eh… I–I had no idea. Now everything makes sense."
Wizbell's tail curled and stuck to his body, completely hidden, just like his ears.
"Uh… I guess then… it'd be ideal for me to leave. So… goodbye." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, as if he had finally understood everything.
There he was—that was the pony I knew. With that, I could finally let go of the unpleasant feeling I had when I thought Wizbell might be a two-faced playcolt. I blinked, and the moment I opened my eyes again, all I saw was a flash and magical particles falling where he had been standing.
By Celestia… he left.
It was difficult to keep my composure, but I succeeded. Rarity, you truly are a Lady Belle, dignified to the very end!
------------------------------------
[POV of a socially panicked pony]
Casting spells in a chain without stopping and almost tripping several times, I landed on a rooftop and looked over the marketplace for a few seconds… not many mares. Without hesitation I changed direction toward my house.
It's safe there. I just need to get home, activate the anti-disturbance system.
When I landed I face-planted into the ground, but got up quickly.
"Hey, Wizbell~!"
"NONONONONO!"
Someone called me from the street. With another flash I launched myself inside my house and began adjusting the modules.
"Move this… connect these and activate them. Let's add the pony-repelling function too!"
From a corner, with a slice of cake, Stella watched me in silence. She ate slowly as we locked eyes for a second, before I returned to adjusting my security system.
I could feel the mare walking toward my house!
Sniff sniff "I smell… I smell something juicy!"
Stella put her cake aside. "Tell me! What happened? I'm here! Vent to me!"
She puffed out her chest as she settled onto the sofa, but I didn't pay attention. I watched the mare outside, still searching for something in confusion, making small sniffing motions… until she stomped the ground and left, annoyed.
I released the breath I'd been holding.
But now… what do I do?
"TELL ME!!! WHAT IS IT?!" Stella, exasperated, leapt straight into my face and grabbed onto my mane.
"You smell like gossip! TELL ME!!!"
"Not now, Stella!"
I pulled her off me—this wasn't the time for her theatrics.
"I need to write a letter. I won't leave until further notice, no visitors!"
I ran toward my office with Stella still hanging from my neck.
Author's Note:
Hey there. As always, I'm staying up way too late just to finish a chapter haha.
It's been a while since I showed up, huh? I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Honestly, I'm surprised. I thought the story would be gathering dust again with nine or three views a day… and then I come back to a pile of comments and an average of 120 daily views. Thank you. It really makes me happy to see that.
About the delay in uploading new chapters… well, life has kept me busy with my new job. And even on my days off, I got a bit too entertained playing all the new Nintendo stuff haha.
I'm not sure if I'll get back to posting at least one chapter a week. I had forgotten names, plots, and ideas from this fic, so I had to dig through my notes and basically re-research my own story to remember where everything was going.
Three years writing this fanfic already… kind of amazing, and I still haven't even finished the first season of MLP haha.
See you next time, either when I upload a new chapter or when I reply to some interesting comments.