Why is Romance So Hard?

Rarity and Fluttershy walked silently side by side after having left Sugarcube Corner, they had been silent since they departed. Rarity's eyes were focused on a ribbon which she was knotting several times over, attempting to control the awkward silence that surrounded them. Fluttershy just stared down at the ground, but her vision was blurred by tears. She'd been a fairly common friend and resident of Sweet Apple Acres now and had befriended Granny Smith since first arriving in Ponyville. Granny Smith represented the grandmother figure she'd never quite had in her life.

At last, Rarity cleared her throat and glanced at Fluttershy, and was unsurprised to see the yellow Pegasi grieving for the common friend they both shared, but Rarity could not cry here, not in public. Not when her best friend in the world needed her now more than ever, and she was walking next to her, saying nothing and allowing her to cry. How did that look to other ponies about their friendship? A few ponies such as Berry Shine and Cherry Berry paused and leaned over to begin whispering to one another. Berry Shine's face turned into one of sympathy as she watched Fluttershy, but hardened into a cold scowl when she stared at Rarity.

Rarity offered an innocent smile, and at last, moved closer to Fluttershy, their sides brushing next to one another,"I am quite sorry for this epidemic, Fluttershy. I understand that Granny Smith was very important to both you and Apple Jack, but I am certain that the medical professionals in Manehattan can solve for this cancer. She will be in wise and gentle hooves." Fluttershy only sniffled in response, her shoulders were slumped and her flanks were hanging limply while she walked, her hooves scuffed into the earth of the street as they were beginning to approach Rarity's shop.

When Rarity saw the doors of the shop in the distance, and then directly in front of her, and then behind her, she never even paused to stop and take her polite leave from Fluttershy. This was her best friend in Equestria, and without Fluttershy, Rarity wouldn't be half of the pony she was today. Out of all of the times that she had seen Fluttershy, today was the day that she realized how much that the pony had meant to her after all these years. She dazed for several moments, and her mind flashed back to the special and tender moments she'd stared with her friend. The one that was the other half of her, the half she would never want to lose.

A soft spring breeze drifted softly through the park, rustling the freshly blossoming flowers and ripe green leaves that sprouted from the native trees of Ponyville. The grass beneath the picnic blanket was sweet and damp with the dew of the morning. A small lady bug crawled from admit a forest of baby grasses, before spread its dotted wings and flying into the distance,landing right onto the nose of a certain somepony.

Rarity stared at Fluttershy while the lady bug landed upon her muzzle, and caused the yellow Pegasus's to draw in a deep breath, attempting not to trouble or frighten the small insect. She smiled and her cheeks puffed out, while she breathed softly in through her nose. Rarity sat silently and leaned forward to inspect the small creature, she'd always been fascinated with how they could be so beautiful but so simple. A stylish orange with black dots coated the back of this one particular.

Fluttershy's face was beginning to turn a shade of red as she held in her breath for the longest extent of time that she could. At last, she exhaled and her ears flattened down to her skull, half-expecting the small insect to fly away out of fear of the larger counterpart it was perched on. Instead, the butterfly just stayed there, and appeared not to notice the shift of altitude when Fluttershy lifted her head, and was beginning to gasp for air. Rarity's horn ignited with sparks of unicorn magic and she levitated the pitcher of water with a fresh lemon on the side towards Fluttershy, beginning to poor her a glass.

After she'd recovered from her lack of oxygen, Fluttershy huffed in several times and then smiled, her eyes crossing every few moments in an attempt just to see the lady bug,"Rarity, look at it, isn't he the most darling little thing? Oh wait, he could also be a she.." Rarity simply giggled, and sprawled out further upon the picnic blanket, clearly at ease from the rest of the world. She enjoyed those scarce moments when her and the yellow Pegasus mare could escape away from the rest of their friends and spend some time together, conversing about fashion, what was going on in the celebrity world, future plans with family and friends. Anything and everything under Celestia's beaming sun.

Fluttershy's wings were relaxed and outstretched while she watched Rarity silently. Little did the unicorn know just how much she made Fluttershy's heart pound and how the slightest hint of her voice, or her smell, or even just the sound of her hooves could drive her insane. She would look for her in the simplest of places, expecting to see her with a beaming halo of her head and angel wings sprouting from her sides. That's what Rarity was, an angel that walked in a garden full of treasures and shining jewels of all sorts, while maintain her cool of caring for others and looking insanely gorgeous yet proper at the same time. The way that she talked was so proper that sometimes Fluttershy forgot that she was just as average to Ponyville as Apple Jack was.

The breeze had picked up at the sun shone through the leaves of the trees around them, and a few flowers swayed with the breeze in a small dance. The lady bug had left, leaving Rarity and Fluttershy alone once more. The day had been perfect, almost too perfect. That was just a month before Fluttershy's love confession.

As Rarity had awoke from her day dream, she noticed that they were approaching the front door of Fluttershy's cottage, where her beloved animals could be heard making varied sounds from in the back yard. Fluttershy stopped midway over the bridge, and turned to look at Rarity with glassy eyes. Her ears were flat now, and her head were lowered almost to the ground. Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but instead she simply approached Fluttershy and wrapped her legs around her, nuzzling her muzzle into her pink mane. The smell of flowers and nature entered her nostrils, and Fluttershy sunk into her embrace.