First Love

After her talk with Twilight, Fluttershy took off into the forest. She was already a bit irritated before talking with her, now she was enraged. She felt like Rarity had shunned her not only because she kicked her out of bed, but also because she would not come and talk to her herself. She felt like Twilight was on Rarity's side since she came to talk to her in Rarity's stead. At this point, she truly felt like nopony cared. Eventually she arrived at the castle and went to the room where the Journal of the Two Sisters was found.

She quickly realized that once it got dark, it would be pitch dark but with the mood she was in, that didn't seem to bother her. She mumbled to herself, "Alright Unloved Fluttershy, if we can stay in here in absolute darkness, we can persevere through anything."

It was mid-day in Ponyville and Rarity was getting ready to head into the forest. Twilight caught her before she headed in and asked, "Rarity, are you sure you want to go there alone? I could accompany you if you want me to."

Rarity replied, "Thanks for the offer Twilight but this is something I have to do alone. If you go with me you will likely just make her madder." She began to walk into the forest and continued, "I'll see you later Twilight."

Twilight sighed and headed home. Despite it being a perfectly clear day, the air seemed heavier and the forest seemed darker than normal. Rarity looked around herself and said, "Come on Rarity, there is nothing in those woods to hurt you."

She continued to look around wearily as she continued her journey. Every single noise she heard made her more nervous as she remembered how vicious timberwolves can be and that without Fluttershy around, running into a manticore would not turn out well. Finally about an hour later she saw the bridge to cross over to the old castle. Despite it being tied quite well, she was worried about it falling the whole way across.

Finally she got to the other side and proceeded to enter the castle. She shouted, "Fluttershy, are you here?"

From where she was at first Fluttershy could not hear her so she received no response. She continued to walk around the old ruins worrying that the roof would cave in on her. She then remembered how Twilight said that sometimes she would go to the room where they found the journal for solitude and headed towards it. She headed into the passageway that led to it and shouted, "Fluttershy, are you ok?"

Fluttershy was half-asleep but Rarity's voice quickly woke her up. She growled, "So Rarity has come to tell Unloved Fluttershy that she never wants to see her again? Well she'll be sorry when she does!"

Rarity finally came into the small chamber to find Fluttershy standing there with a glare on her face. Rarity rushed up to her and said, "Fluttershy, I was so worried about you."

Before Rarity could hug Fluttershy she pushed her back with her wing. She asked, "So Rarity, have you come to tell Unloved Fluttershy that you never want to see her again? Have you come to tell her that you would rather be with some nasty, fancy stallion than Unloved Fluttershy?"

Rarity replied, "Fluttershy sweetness, I came to apologize to you for how I reacted."

Fluttershy snapped, "So, how did you know where Unloved Fluttershy would be?" She stomped her hoof into the floor and continued, "Let us guess, Twilight told you where we would be, didn't she?"

Rarity replied, "Well yeah, Twilight told me you might be here because she comes here sometimes when she needs solitude."

Fluttershy turned her back towards Rarity and asked, "Oh, and why do you want to apologize? Is it because Twilight is making you? Is it because you are afraid it will make Celestia mad that there is disharmony between us or something else? Unloved Fluttershy wants to know."

Rarity replied, "Fluttershy, I want to tell you something. Last night after I kicked you off of me and you ran home, I felt really bad. I didn't mean to kick you off of me, it was just a reaction of surprise being woke up like that."

Fluttershy grunted, "If you felt so bad, why did you yell at Unloved Fluttershy? You could have asked us calmly."

Rarity replied, "Fluttershy, I was just so shocked that you were on top of me that I was stunned. I didn't even mean for it to come out in the tone of voice that it did."

Fluttershy sighed, "Don't go giving Unloved Fluttershy any excuses, you know how much she hates excuses."

Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder and asked, "Fluttershy, don't you think we should get going home? It will be getting dark soon and I know you don't like being in the forest after dark."

While Rarity thought that by her mentioning being in the forest after dark would make Fluttershy want to go home, it did the opposite actually. Fluttershy sighed, "Oh, what is so bad about being here after dark? We certainly had no problems being out here after dark when we discovered this room."

Rarity replied, "Well, you know, with it just being us two what if there were to be some timberwolves come in here or something. What if they were to try to kill us."

Fluttershy sneered, "Don't be such a worry wart Rarity. The timberwolves won't come into the castle and even if they would, Unloved Fluttershy wouldn't have any problems getting away."

This did not sit well with Rarity. She was beginning to see the same nastiness in Fluttershy that she saw after she took Iron Will's assertiveness course. She snapped, "Oh, so now it is all about you huh? All Unloved Fluttershy cares about is Unloved Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy growled, "Why not? After all it seems like you have always been like that. You're too afraid of getting dirty to help Applejack out when she needs it and remember when you just had to enter the young flyers competition when Twilight gave you those wings when Rainbow was already nervous?" She began to snort and continued, "It's always been about you and nopony else Rarity!"

Rarity replied, "Well I....."

Fluttershy continued, "Oh, and what about that time when you lied about Opal being sick so Pinkie would relocate Twilight's birthday party? Remember that? Remember how you just had to spend time with the Canterlot elite instead of being a good friend to Twilight? Remember how at first you acted ashamed to admit to the elite that we were your friends?"

Rarity sighed, "Yes Fluttershy, I remember that and looking back I feel really bad about it."

Fluttershy again turned her back on Rarity and growled, "Just forget it. It's getting dark, hadn't you better get home?" She raised her voice and continued, "After all, Unloved Fluttershy is sure that you wouldn't want to make one of your beloved stallions worry about you!"

While Rarity was getting frustrated with Fluttershy becoming increasingly nasty and mean, she realized that a lot of the things Fluttershy was saying were true so she decided she would just hope that her friend would eventually calm down. She replied, "Fluttershy, I am worried about you. I'm not leaving until you leave."

Fluttershy growled, "Well you might have a long wait. Unloved Fluttershy may just stay out here for a long time to see if you truly care about her or see if you are 'all hat and no cattle' as Applejack would put it."

Rarity replied, "Well Fluttershy, I will wait with you as long as you remain here. I want you to know that I do truly love you."

Fluttershy just sighed and thought that there was no way that Rarity would wait out there with her. After all, Rarity would not want to just stay out in the middle of nowhere, far far away from anything to keep her appearance perfect and Fluttershy knew that it would have to be a life or death situation for Rarity to go as far as to eat wild plants in the forest to survive. She thought to herself, "If she does actually love Unloved Fluttershy, she will do what it takes to survive staying out here for a long time."