The Road to Romance

The next two days passed uneventfully. Fluttershy spent most of her time caring for the animals and relaxing; in other words, her routine wasn't too different than usual. On Saturday, her self-imposed exile was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Fluttershy, dear, are you in there?" the knocker asked. "Please let me in, the cold is giving me split ends!"

The pegasus got up from her couch—she'd been doing some light reading on the proper care of flower gardens—and slowly opened her door. She was greeted by a slightly shivering Rarity.

"Oh, hello Rarity. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Please come in."

"That's quite alright, darling." Rarity made her way inside and settled down on the couch, with Fluttershy following.  "Fluttershy, I can't recall seeing you the past couple days. Where have you been?"

Fluttershy blinked. "Pinkie didn't tell you?"

"I'm afraid I haven't been over to Sugarcube Corner the past few days. Trying to watch my figure and all that." Rarity frowned a bit. "If she had something to tell me, she didn't bother tracking me down either."

"Oh, horsefeathers. I told her to tell you girls, but she must have forgotten."

"It's quite okay, Fluttershy. No harm done." Rarity put a reassuring hoof on her friend's shoulder. "So I take it she was supposed to tell me why you've been gone?"

"Oh yes, I told her to tell you I've been sick."

Rarity quickly pulled her hoof off Fluttershy and sat back. "Oh my, are you alright?"

"I think I'm alright, or at least I am as long as I'm inside."

"Hm? What do you mean, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy recalled how she'd been feeling off around Rainbow Dash as of recent, explaining that she believed she was allergic to the athlete. Once she was done, Rarity tried and failed to hold back a grin.

"What was funny about my story? I mean, if you don't mind me asking." Fluttershy frowned a little.

"Fluttershy, dear, that hardly sounds like an allergy at all!" Rarity's grin slowly grew wider.

"Huh? What do you mean, Rarity?"

"Why, it sounds like you're in love with Rainbow Dash!"

Fluttershy blinked once, then twice. She had never even considered that love was the root of her problems. Faced with the pure unexpectedness of Rarity's response, Fluttershy did the most sensible thing she could think of—fainted out of shock.

* * * * * * * * * *

"...shy? Are you alright?"

Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. Beside her, Rarity was gently shaking her, trying to rouse her into consciousness. She'd been friends with Fluttershy for long enough to know exactly how to deal with situations like this.

"Wh-what happened, Rarity?" Fluttershy slurred.

"Oh, we were talking about your recent troubles with Rainbow Dash. I told you that you were most likely in love with her"—Rarity gently shook Fluttershy's shoulders again, keeping her from fainting again—"and you fainted dead away. I expected you to not take a comment like that lightly, but I didn't expect you to react like that!"

Since she couldn't faint again, Fluttershy sat upright in a panic instead. "In love? No, that's impossible! That had to have been an allergy! There's no other explanation! I don't even know anything about love!" Her voice had practically become a manic shriek, or at least as close to one as she could pull off.

"Darling, I'm fairly certain I'm right. After all, I am a master on the subject."

Fluttershy sat back, slowly calming down. "You-you're certain it's love?"

"I believe that's just what I said. Besides, I've never heard of one pony being allergic to another before." Rarity had to stifle a giggle at the thought.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and went over the situation in her head. She'd never had a crush before, much less been in love. Her shyness kept her from getting that close to a pony, or at least it had until now.

But, at the same time, she didn't really view it as a bad thing. After all, being in love sounded like a new and exciting experience. She'd always envied the couples walking around Ponyville, wishing she could be as lucky as them. Besides, there were worse people to fall for than her oldest friend.

She opened her eyes and looked at Rarity. "So you're certain it's love?"

"Not to be rude, Fluttershy, but we're going in circles now. Yes, you appear to be in love with Rainbow Dash, at least judging from what you've told me. Don't worry, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just to be sure, let me ask you a few questions."

"Okay, go ahead."

"What do you think of Rainbow Dash? Can you describe how you feel about her for me?"

Fluttershy went over it in her head for a bit. "Well, she was the first real friend I made in flight school. She protected me from bullies and just generally watched my back. I guess she's just always been there for me."

"I see, go on."

"She's such a great flyer. Even though I'm not too interested in flying, I really enjoy watching her practice because I know it makes her happy. I just feel so good inside whenever she's happy."

"Would you say she's your closest friend?"

Fluttershy paused. She'd never thought about who her closest friend might be, as she'd never had a reason to. "I guess so. I mean, we have so much fun together and she's just so talented and funny and—"

Rarity cut her off by raising her hoof. "Fluttershy, it sounds like you really are in love with her! Oh, this is perfect! Two best friends turned into destined lovers!"

Fluttershy tuned her friend's talk about romance out and thought some more. She really was in love with Rainbow Dash. Just knowing this took a huge load off her back. However, she had no idea what to do next. The pegasus looked up at her friend, who was busy talking about wedding rings or something to that effect. Suddenly, she had a great idea. What better way to learn about romance than to ask the leading expert in Ponyville?

"Um, Rarity?" Fluttershy mumbled, not loud enough to be heard over Rarity's ranting.

"...just imagine how lavish the wedding would be! I'm sure we could scrounge up enough bits to go toward the perfect reception hall..."

"Rarity? May I interrupt?" Fluttershy leaned forward and gently tapped Rarity's leg, breaking her out of her speech.

"Hm? Do you have a question, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy took a few seconds to carefully consider her words. "Um, I don't really know that much about love, so I don't have any idea how to tell Rainbow Dash how I feel. Is there any way you could help me?"

Rarity let out a squeal of delight. "Why, of course I will! I'm sure with my help, she'll be yours in no time!"

"Thank you, it means a lot to me. So, where should I start?" Fluttershy grabbed a notepad and pencil from the table beside her.

The unicorn put a hoof to her chin. "Well, you should be sure to confess your feelings in the most romantic way possible. You should tell her how you feel under the moonlight! Take her out to an open field under the stars!"

"Like at a picnic?"

"Why a picnic? I mean, it's not a bad choice, but I'm trying to follow your thought process here."

"Um, it was just the first thing that came to mind, I guess."

"Very well. I suppose a picnic would work well, provided you hold it at night."

Fluttershy nodded and copied down more notes. "How should I ask her?"

"Hm, that's a good question..." Rarity stopped to think. "Ooh, try reciting a poem confessing your love! There's nothing more romantic than a heartfelt poem."

"I guess I could find a poem to use. And if she says yes?"

"Take her out to a fancy candlelit restaurant! I hear there's a new place down by Hoofington Street that serves the best daffodil salad!"

"Fancy restaurant, Hoofington. Got it." Fluttershy finished writing and put the notepad off to the side. "Thank you so much, Rarity. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Oh, it was nothing, darling. Anything to promote true love. I wish you two the best of luck!"  Rarity got up and made her way to the door. "I'm sorry to leave so soon, but Opalescence needs her tri-daily brushing."

"Don't worry about it, I can take it from here. Bye, Rarity." Fluttershy waved at her friend as she left.

Once Rarity was gone, the pegasus turned to her notes and went over them again. Her bunny, Angel, hopped over to her side and peered at the notepad.

"Oh, isn't this exciting, Angel? I'm sure with Rarity's help, I'll be able to get Rainbow Dash to love me!" Fluttershy smiled wide, practically squeeing with delight.

The rabbit read the notes and facepawed. There was no way this could end well.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was Sunday morning, and the sky was clear and noticeably Rainbow Dash-less. This posed a problem for Fluttershy, as she was trying to track down the athlete to invite her to the picnic the following Tuesday. After a full hour of walking around Ponyville and scanning the sky for a distinctive streak of rainbow, Fluttershy decided she would try again the next day and started to make her way home. Upon turning around to head home, however, she was greeted by a familiar scratchy voice.

"Hey, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash landed in front of her friend, seemingly out of nowhere. "I haven't seen you in a while, are you alright?"

Fluttershy jumped at least a foot into the air out of surprise. After regaining her composure, she stuttered out a weak "yes".

"You sure? You seem kind of nervous."

"I-I'm fine, Rainbow Dash. Just had a lot of chores to take care of at home."

"Ah, alright. I'm gonna go practice some tricks, so see you later!" Rainbow started to take off.

"Wait!" Fluttershy practically flinched at her own sudden volume. "I was wondering if you wanted to meet up with me for a picnic Tuesday night."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Um, sure. Can I ask why? Usually when we hang out, it's me asking you."

"I, um..." Fluttershy stumbled, not having expected to have to come up with a reason. "I have something important to tell you."

"Works for me. I'm gonna get going now. Nice seeing you, Fluttershy!"

"Y-you too, Rainbow Dash!" Once Rainbow was out of sight, Fluttershy cursed herself a bit for acting so nervous around her crush. If I can't even ask her out for a friendly outing, how am I going to ask her out on a date? Fluttershy thought for a bit. I guess I'll just have to wing it.