Up in the Clouds, Down to Earth

"Well, if it isn't Rainbow CRASH, and her little girlfriend, FlutterCRY."

Fluttershy cringes and looks down, completely on instinct.

"Heh heh, yeah, girlfriend!" a second voice joins in. "'Cause they're GAY."

"Shut up, asswipes!" Rainbow Dash's voice is still a little screechy, like it was when they were younger. Still caught in the last throes of puberty. "Fluttershy isn't gay."

The bullies erupt into laughter, like this is too good to be true.

"So you admit it? Rainbow Dash is a big ol' dyke pony?" the ringleader says.

"What?!" Rainbow Dash darts up into the air, furiously hovering. "Who said that? Are you sayin' that? Come over here and say it again!"

"Naw, I don't wanna get too close, metalface."

Rainbow Dash closes her mouth, her angry scowl morphing into embarrassment for just a second. It comes right back.

"I'll kick your asses!" Rainbow Dash yells. "All three of you!"

But they're already flying away, cruel laughter drifting back over the clouds.

"What? Hey! Get back here!" Rainbow Dash growls, perching on the cloud, ready to scream into the sky after them. She tenses up her wings to take off.

"Don't."

Dash stops short.

Fluttershy looks up at her, barely peeking from under her bangs. "Please?" she says quietly.

Rainbow Dash looks back and forth, from her targets to her friend. She sighs loudly. "Alright, fine." She huffily fluffs her wings a few times, glaring at the pegasus ponies flying away. "They aren't worth my time, anyway."

Fluttershy lets a relieved breath out, standing up again. Rainbow Dash is clumsily picking at her teeth with a hoof, clicking it against her braces.

"Are you supposed to do that?" Fluttershy asks.

"I dunno." Dash shrugs. "Man, 'Shy, you don't know how lucky you are. I hate these things."

"They said I didn't need them," Fluttershy says, suddenly very aware of the feeling of her perfect teeth in her mouth. "Oh! I mean... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to brag, and you're right, I don't know how lucky I am..." She fidgets quietly, desperately searching for better apologies. "I'm sorry Rainbow, I know you don't like them and I won't talk about it ever again I'm sorry..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Jeez." Rainbow Dash waves her off, hardly listening any more. "You hungry?"

Fluttershy stares at her for a full second, caught in disbelief. "Yes," she says.

"Well come on. My treat."

Rainbow Dash takes off, and Fluttershy guiltily follows. It's always Dash's treat. But she can't say no. That ended up being a fiasco in its own right.

They fly together, leaving the cloud of their high school far behind in a matter of seconds. Cloudsdale is a strange kind of city, a floating set of islands, everything connected only by the fact that they happen to be floating nearby. Fluttershy drifts along, staring down at the ground below, at distant greens and dark blues, wondering exactly what...

Her eyes are caught by a light blue blur. Rainbow Dash twist and loops and dives, full of excess energy, literally flying circles around her friend.

Dash has flight team practice. Right now. She shouldn't be here, taking Fluttershy out for junk food. She should be at practice. Fluttershy knows this, as sure as her own remarkably empty schedule. She tries not to think about it.

But it bothers her. She likes when Rainbow Dash takes time after school to hang out with her - it's better than the alternative. But she hates how her friend gets when she skips practice - antsy and jittery and full of the need to fly, fly fast and far and anywhere at all.

They don't say anything. As usual. Rainbow Dash is far too mobile for conversation, anyway. Fluttershy watches her, her rainbow hair flashing in the wind. She dives down, and Fluttershy's eyes follow and then go further, lingering on the lush green far below them.

They can't stay long. The two of them glide past a noisy and crowded fast food place, overflowing with fellow students. Fluttershy has to concentrate on averting her eyes while trying to look like she's not averting her eyes. She doesn't want to seem rude. Just oblivious.

Rainbow Dash doesn't bother with appearances. She casts a few obvious glares at the restaurant, at nopony in particular.

They keep flying, sliding right past the other young ponies. They land instead at an empty little pizza place one cloud further.

It's not quite empty. A family is there, quietly huddled around a table. And there's a burly, stubble-chinned stallion sweeping the floor. He's a little scary, still, even though he's always been nice to the two of them. His only regulars.

"Hey there, kiddos!" He drops his broom, jumping behind the counter. "What can I get ya?"

Fluttershy perks up, opening her mouth to speak.

"Two slices of Ultimate-Supreme-Deluxe-Everything. And two drinks," Rainbow Dash says.

Fluttershy deflates. She slinks her way over to a table and sits. Before long, Rainbow Dash joins her, dropping their food between them.

Dash digs into her pizza like a starving pig, noisily smacking it down. Fluttershy stares at hers. It's a messy pile of ingredients, hiding a pizza somewhere underneath.

There are bean sprouts tangled in there.

She doesn't like bean sprouts. Well, maybe not always, but she doesn't like them on her pizza. She starts daintily picking them off with her mouth, making a little pile on her plate.

"Man," Rainbow Dash says, displaying her mouthful of chewed food, "those guys really cheese me off."

"Mmm." Fluttershy nods. She would never say it, but they cheese her off, too. They're not very nice.

"Buncha dickheads," Rainbow Dash adds.

Fluttershy doesn't nod. They eat together, silent but for the noise of Rainbow Dash massacring her pizza. Fluttershy slowly chews on hers, one tiny bite at a time. By the time she's really getting started, Rainbow Dash is finished. The blue pegasus sucks half her drink down in one gulp, staring around the place with a look of forced boredom.

"So..." Rainbow Dash says, pointedly not looking at Fluttershy. "Prom's coming up."

Fluttershy freezes mid-bite. Why would Rainbow Dash bring that up?

"You going?" Dash asks.

"Me?" Fluttershy blinks a few times. "Oh, I don't know..."

"I'm going," Dash interrupts.

"You are?" Fluttershy sits up. "With who? If you don't mind..."

"...Me asking," Dash finishes her sentence. "I never mind you asking, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes.

"Sorry," Fluttershy says.

"I'm gonna go stag," Rainbow Dash rolls on, ignoring their interlude. "I figure once all the studs get a load of me at the dance, they'll be lined up. No problem."

"Oh my." Fluttershy can picture it easily. Despite what Dash always says, Fluttershy knows that her friend is the lucky one.

"You wanna go stag with me?" Rainbow Dash blurts out.

Fluttershy pauses. Rainbow Dash is staring at her, actually waiting for her answer. Listening. It's very strange.

"Um... that sounds nice..." Fluttershy looks away.

"...but?" Rainbow Dash asks.

"But?" Fluttershy almost panics, not sure how Dash read her mind.

Rainbow Dash sighs loudly. "You don't exactly look excited."

Fluttershy suddenly feels a great need to examine her pizza. It's important. Much more important than talking, or hiding her ridiculous blush.

"You wanted some guy to ask you, huh?" Rainbow Dash says.

Caught. Fluttershy blushes harder, feeling the familiar heat rising into her cheeks. She gives a tiny, squeaking nod.

"Which one is it this time?" Rainbow Dash asks with a weary sigh.

Fluttershy glances around. "Heartthrob," she answers. There's no point in dancing around it. They've done this a few times before, and Rainbow Dash always pulls a name out of her eventually.

"Whoa, Heartthrob?" Dash's eyebrows shut up, and she takes a long pull at her drink. "Good choice this time. Dude has an ASS."

Fluttershy almost ducks under the table, terrified that the family a few seats away might have heard that.

"You should probably, like, ask him out or at least talk to him. Before prom. He's not just gonna ask you to be his prom date outta the blue."

Fluttershy's eyes narrow an imperceptible amount.

That's not funny, she wants to say.

"You know, he's on the flight team with me," Dash says casually.

"Oh, I know!" Fluttershy says, her ears perking up. Rainbow Dash gives her a look that knows - knows everything. Fluttershy immediately recoils back down. Dash might as well have just found Fluttershy's schedule of Heartthrob's day, pieced together from overheard conversations and distant observation. Surrounded by doodles of flowers and butterflies and hearts, of course.

"I could talk to him," Rainbow Dash says. "Y'know, talk you up a bit. Introduce you guys."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy says.

Oh yes! she hears ring out in her head.

"Come on, don't you wanna at least give it a shot? I mean, you're cute. He'll probably fall all over you once he meets you."

"You really think so?" Fluttershy says breathlessly.

"Sure. I would."

Fluttershy braces her hooves on the table, daring to let herself dream impossible dreams. Happy dreams. Prom date dreams.

"Don't even worry about it," Rainbow Dash says, as if this was the simplest thing in the world. "I'll set it up. No problem. I've got your back."

"Really?" Fluttershy says, her eyes huge. "You would do that for me?"

"Of course I would! Rainbow Dash never leaves her friends hanging."

She extends a hoof out to Fluttershy. Fluttershy bumps it with her own hoof, a gentle little tap. She starts to smile, but...

"Friends?" she says.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash looks up from slurping at her drink.

"You have other friends?" Fluttershy asks.

"What?! Of course I do!" Rainbow Dash glares at her. "Not everyone's as... uh... like you."

A long pause steps out after those words. Rainbow Dash pretends to drink more, sucking at an empty straw.

"Who?" Fluttershy asks.

"Tons of ponies!" Rainbow Dash says instantly. "I got plenty of friends. Like that girl from my math class, you know, uh... that one."

"You hang out with her?"

"Sure. See her all the time."

Rainbow Dash keeps drinking nothing, staring out the door. She thinks she's a good liar. But Fluttershy knows she isn't.

But that's okay. Because she always has Fluttershy's back. She wouldn't lie about that.

• • •

There are two ponies.

Together.

Fluttershy openly stares at them, but they don't even come close to noticing. They're on the other side of Ponyville's town square. Just small, moving shapes, far away. Talking.

One of them is a very light purple unicorn. And the other is a very dark pink earth pony. Even as far away as they are, Fluttershy can tell one thing for certain.

How awfully, awfully happy they are.

"And then I told her that if she wanted a dress with a turned-out bodice, she very well should have told me that in the first place!" Rarity says with a satisfied giggle. "Isn't that just perfect, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy turns to her friend with wide eyes, not even bothering to try to hide her confusion. She wants to start apologizing, even now, with Rarity, but her breath catches instead. Rarity is turning her eyes to see what could possibly distract Fluttershy from such a riveting story.

"Ah." Rarity's face goes grim the moment she sees them. "They really are quite darling, aren't they? I think they've just about replaced Lyra and Bon Bon for the title of town sweethearts."

"What, Twilight and Cheerilee?" Pinkie shoves her way into the conversation, where before she had been floating around the edge of Rarity's stories. "I think they're a shoe-in this year! I hope I don't miss the voting again."

"Voting?" Fluttershy blinks a few times.

"Oh, they would most certainly win," Rarity says. "If voting on that kind of thing actually happened. Which it most certainly does not. Thankfully."

Fluttershy cocks a very curious eyebrow at her friend.

"Thankfully?!" Pinkie bounces on every syllable, flabbergasted and thrilled to be so. "I wish it did happen! I would vote on them like so many times and -" She gasps loudly, jumping in place. Then she trots in fast-motion, still nailed to one spot. "OHMYGOSH you guys we should have a voting party!"

"Voting...?" Rarity begins.

"...party?" Fluttershy finishes.

"YES! We can line up couples and have games and speeches and then we get to vote on who's the cutest couple! Except Twilight and Cheerilee would totally win 'cause they're the absolute most cutest cuuuuuuuuuuuute couple!"

Rarity's eyes narrow, just the tiniest bit. Fluttershy is too busy trying to picture a couples voting party to notice.

"Hmm... I wonder what other couples I could invite?" Pinkie puts a hoof to her chin, listing it out in her felt-lined head. "It's not like any of us have a special somepony to compete with them! Nope, none of my other bestest friends are in a couple!"

Fluttershy purses her lips as if to speak. She knows she's heard... things about Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. Rarity beats her to it.

"Aren't you and Rainbow Dash...?" Rarity asks.

Pinkie gives her a completely blank stare for a moment, then bursts into laughter. "Rarity, you're so silly! Me and Dashie aren't like THAT. We're just kissy-face sexytime makeout buddies!"

Rarity screws her face up in a bit of confusion. Fluttershy is too busy unwillingly picturing a different kind of couples party to notice.

"So I'm not in a couple!" Pinkie continues. "And Rainbow Dash isn't! And I'm pretty sure Applejack isn't, and you definitely aren't, right Rarity?"

"Really?" Rarity says, just this side of indignant.

"Really what?" Pinkie says, obliviously enough to give one pause.

Rarity huffily turns away, going back to staring at the couple across the square. Spike has arrived, and it looks like the lovebirds are giving each other farewells for now. Cheerilee gives Twilight a quick nuzzle, and Fluttershy's eyes glaze over a bit, imagining a much bigger and stronger and redder muzzle treating her to the same.

But not enough that she misses Rarity icily watching the same thing.

"Rarity, are you..." Fluttershy says carefully, "...upset?"

"What?" Rarity blinks in shock, far more genuinely than usual. "About what?"

Pinkie gasps loudly again. "Are you jealous?"

"Absolutely not," Rarity says, only sounding sure for the first word. "Not like... not like that, anyway, believe me."

"Are you sure?" Fluttershy asks.

"Oh, I'm happy for them. I really am," Rarity pleads, caught between her friends. "It's just... well, like Pinkie was just saying, none of us has a special somepony. And seeing Twilight with hers reminds me of that sometimes."

Fluttershy has to bite her lip to keep from saying how much she has no idea what that feels like. Nope. Not in any way whatsoever.

"And Twilight, of all ponies!" Rarity goes on. "Of all the six of us, Twilight finds her true love first. Meanwhile, Rarity languishes, alone and forgotten!"

"Forgotten? But you're one of the prettiest ponies in Ponyville! I bet ponies are crushing on you all the time!" Pinkie says.

"Oh yes." Rarity rolls her eyes. "Stallions line up at the Boutique every day, bearing flowers and amorous poetry."

The sharp edge in Rarity's tone even shuts Pinkie up for a second. The three of them go back to staring at Twilight. Cheerilee sneaks in a quick kiss on her cheek as they part ways. Twilight grins bashfully, obviously fighting a naughty case of the giggles.

"Ugh," Rarity groans quietly, perfectly matching the look on Spike's face.

"Ooh, she's coming over here!" Pinkie says. "Maybe you can tell her how seeing her with Cheerilee makes you feel bad that you don't have a special somepony! Hey, Twilight!"

Rarity jolts and almost tackles Pinkie, pulling the pink earth pony down from jumping and waving her hooves around.

"Hi!" Twilight trots up to them, carefree and floating even with a grumpy-looking baby dragon on her back. Her grin weakens a little as Rarity and Pinkie Pie quietly tussle, Pinkie fighting a blue glow of magic sealing her lips shut.

"What's... going on?" Twilight says carefully.

"Oh, nothing. We were just talking a walk through town when we saw you and Cheerilee," Fluttershy says.

"You saw us?" Twilight blushes a little. "Wow, uh, heh... sorry?"

"Mmmmfff sorry for what?" Pinkie grunts through grit teeth, still fighting Rarity's magic while absent-mindedly pushing a hoof into her face.

"Oh, you know..." Twilight struggles with words, still smiling despite any embarrassment. "The two of us being all..."

"I wuv you! I wuv you too!" Spike says in high-pitched mockery.

"Yes. That." Twilight tries, unsuccessfully, to hide her blush under her ears.

"Spike!" Rarity takes a break from restraining Pinkie. Spike instantly grabs his own tail, looking just as scolded as he should. Pinkie takes her chance to break free.

"Rarity's jealous of how happy you are!" she yells out.

"What?" Twilight balks.

"Pinkie!" Rarity growls. "That was supposed to be a secret!"

"OH!" Pinkie sits on her rump, like nothing's wrong at all. "Why didn't you SAY so?"

"Rarity?" Twilight says, echoing the sudden interest Spike has taken in what's going on.

""Twilight please!" Rarity hurriedly talks, rushing to cover her flanks. "Not like that just... I wouldn't really call it jealous, per se..."

"You wouldn't?" Fluttershy says.

"Of course not! A lady is never jealous, especially not of her friends."

Fluttershy cocks an eyebrow, the one hidden under her mane. This was all sounding very familiar for some reason.

"Rarity's just jealous of how happy you look because she's lonely and she wants a special somepony of her own!" Pinkie yells, beaming most inappropriately.

"Pinkie, I am not-!" Rarity starts to say. She halts, her eyes darting sideways, to cast a guilty glance at Fluttershy. She sighs, loudly. "Alright, fine, maybe a little."

"Oh." Twilight winces. "Well... sorry? Again?"

"No, it's not your fault, Twilight!" Rarity says urgently. "Nopony deserves to be happy more than you, honestly. And I'm happy to see you with her, I really am."

Rarity bows her head a little, despite her forced smile. Twilight gives Pinkie and then Fluttershy a look, silently brainstorming, not sure what to say.

Fluttershy doesn't know what to say, honestly. But she does know what to do.

"It's okay, Rarity," she says, almost whispering. She sidles up to the white unicorn's side and nuzzles her. "I'm sure you'll find somepony. Someone as pretty and nice as you just has to."

"Yeah!" Pinkie chimes in. "I bet there's like, a million jillion perfect somepony's that are just dying to go out with you!"

Rarity sighs loudly, leaning against Fluttershy. It's not right - usually when Fluttershy tries to cheer her up, Rarity puts on a brave smile and then they trot off to the spa together. Fluttershy just stands there, holding her up, wondering where she went wrong this time.

"What about the Summer Sun Celebration?" Twilight asks. "Nopony asked you to go with them?"

Fluttershy winces this time - she knows the answer.

"Ugh." Rarity rolls her eyes theatrically. "Not a single pony."

"None?" Twilight says.

"And unless they're waiting until the last possible second, I think it's going to stay that way," Rarity says.

"That's okay!" Pinkie jolts on her hooves, overflowing with excitement. "There's gonna be music and dancing and games and fun all night long! It's the perfect place to meet somepony special!"

"Hey, that's right!" Twilight nods. "I met my special somepony at a party. Well, not that we met for the first time there, but..."

Rarity interrupts her with a loud, begrudging sigh. "I suppose that would be the way to go about it," she says. "I just thought it would be nice to have somepony seek me out beforehand - some handsome, honest stallion coming up and requesting the honor of escorting moi to such a visible social gathering."

Spike nervously raises his hand, willing his mouth to open. Fluttershy recognizes it instantly - the painful, slow walk towards actually saying something.

Pinkie loudly jumps in before he can get there.

"What, like a parade?" Pinkie asks.

"Excuse me?" Rarity blinks at her.

Spike slumps on Twilight's back, all momentum lost.

"That's the most visible social gathering I can even think of!" Pinkie stares off into space. "But I don't think that's the kind of party you'd wanna bring a first date to. Definitely more of a big group of friends party."

"You know, that sounds more like it," Rarity says, standing up straighter. "Who needs stallions? Who needs love? I have the best friends in Equestria, and they will always, always be there for me!" She throws out her hoof towards Twilight.

"Uh... I mean, I'll be there, of course," Twilight says. "I'm kind of going with Cheerilee."

"Oh." Rarity soldiers on, turning to Pinkie and barely beginning to speak.

"I'll be there!" Pinkie cuts in. "I'll be working the DJ table with Scratch, and running all the games, and..."

Fluttershy thinks over the rest of Pinkie's rambling, tuning her out.

And sneaking off with Rainbow Dash, don't forget that one.

"...And Applejack will be selling concessions, no doubt." Rarity sighs. "Oh, but Fluttershy!"

"Huh?" Fluttershy jolts.

"I'll always have Fluttershy!" Rarity throws one arm around her, holding her tight. "Might I be so lucky that you would do me the honor of escorting me to the Summer Sun Celebration?"

Fluttershy glances every direction but at her friend, forcing a smile out eventually. "Oh... um... of course!"

"Of course!" Rarity releases her, wandering off into her own plans. "Oh, it will be just marvelous, I can make us up two complementary ensemble, and we can dazzle the whole host with our grace and we can gossip together about the stallions on display and..."

Fluttershy tunes Rarity out this time - she's more than familiar with this spiel. What she's not familiar with is Twilight Sparkle suspiciously eyeing her up.

"Don't you want to go with Big Mac?" Pinkie says.

"What?!" Fluttershy skips in place, sending a few stray feathers floating to the ground. She turns and glares, but not at Pinkie - at Rarity.

Rarity's monologue dies mid-word. "Oh, Fluttershy, please," she says. "You know I didn't tell anypony. It's Pinkie, for Celestia's sake."

"I knew something was up! Why else wouldn't you want to go with Rar-" Twilight trips over her own tongue, her accusing hoof wilting a bit. "Wait, you really have a crush on Big Macintosh?"

Fluttershy ducks low to the ground, hiding behind her mane and closing her eyes just to be safe.

"...That explains quite a bit, actually," Twilight says.

"You absolutely mustn't tell anypony," Rarity says. Fluttershy feels the white unicorn resting a gentle hoof on her back, right above her wings. "This has been our secret for ages."

"Well, it's not a very good secret," Twilight deadpans. "I mean, even I knew something was up."

"Does Big Mac know? Because if he already knows then Fluttershy can just go to the dance with him! Easy peasy!" Pinkie says.

Fluttershy quakes in fear, shaking her head. No, no he doesn't know, and he's never going to know.

"Ooooh, but that would leave Rarity all alone again," Pinkie adds.

Fluttershy peeks up just long enough to see Rarity raise a razor-sharp eyebrow at Pinkie.

"You know, I would happily go alone if it meant seeing Fluttershy find her special somepony," Rarity says. Then her eyes go wide, her mouth curling up into a triumphant smile that all but trumpets the word Ideeeeeeeea! "In fact, I think this is it! Fluttershy, this is the perfect chance! He'll be there, won't he?"

"Yuppers! Pinkie knows it for a fact!" Pinkie nods a few times.

Fluttershy stands up a bit, her shock outweighing her terror, her mouth hanging open.

"It's the PERFECT chance!" Rarity gushes. "Oh, we'll need to begin makeover preparations immediately!"

"Oh...nnnnnnnno no I don't think -" Fluttershy stammers.

"How long has this been going on?" Twilight asks. "Have you really never talked to him?"

"I'm - I'm sure he wouldn't be interested..." Fluttershy whispers.

"And our ensemble will have to be perfect, no question..." Rarity rambles.

"I don't think I want an ensemble," Fluttershy says, not heard by anyone.

"I know HE doesn't have a special somepony! It really is perfect!" Pinkie says.

"I... I can't, I really shouldn't..." Fluttershy bites her lip.

"You should just talk to him." Twilight nods approvingly. "He seems really nice."

"I... I..."

Fluttershy runs out of breath. What's the use, anyway? Her three friends are talking just fine without her, planning her many, many dates with Mac, probably detailing exactly how brave, confident Fluttershy will win her stallion and live happily ever after.

Except they're not.

She's still crouched low to the ground. She looks up, and nopony is talking, six eyes just staring down at her.

...Oh.

"Fluttershy?" Rarity says, all quiet concern. "Please forgive me, I just thought..."

"We just want you to be happy," Twilight picks up for her. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"Yeah!" Pinkie chimes in. "Lovey datey romantic antics are only fun if you want them!"

Oh, but I DO want...

No. No, no, no, Fluttershy wants nothing to do with something so... so... scary. The thought of her friends, her friends, actually forcing her to try to... to...

Her friends. These are her friends.

She slowly catches her breath, a weak smile crawling out from behind panicked breaths. She doesn't know how she forgets, sometimes, how great her friends are. How different.

"...Hey? Guys?"

They all look up. Rainbow Dash is perched on a rooftop above them, glaring down at the street.

"Dashie!" Pinkie lights up, waving her hooves frantically. "Hi! Hi hi hi!"

"Wha - you..." Rarity splutters, hovering over Fluttershy as if to shield her. "Were you listening to us?"

"I wasn't trying to." Dash rolls her eyes. "If you guys are gonna talk about secret crushes, maybe don't do it on Mane street? In the middle of the day? Loudly?"

Fluttershy watches as her friends on the ground sheepishly look around, realizing that yes, in fact, other residents of Ponyville do exist. Fortunately, none of them are particularly close by.

Twilight gives Fluttershy a sympathetic look, then looks up at Dash. "You won't tell anypony. Right?"

"Tell anypony about what?" Rainbow Dash poses for take off, flaring her wings out at her sides. "It's not like Fluttershy would ever actually talk to a guy she likes."

And then she takes off, just like that, shaking her head as she zips back into the sky.

"Honestly," Rarity says, curling her foreleg tighter around Fluttershy's shoulders. "That pony sometimes."

"Well, she's kind of right," Twilight says. "Do you girls want to go-"

"She's supposed to be poor Fluttershy's friend!" Rarity interrupts, ignoring her. "It's like she goes out of her way to be insensitive!"

Fluttershy ignores both of them. She's staring at the spot Rainbow Dash was perched on, staring with her mouth hanging just a little bit open.

"...Would it really kill her to be nice on occasion?" Rarity rants on, oblivious to Twilight and Pinkie's grimacing. "All of us here being so understanding, so supportive of Fluttershy's needs, and Rainbow Dash just... just..."

Fluttershy's eyes narrow. She scrunches her nose up, still glaring at that empty rooftop. "...I'll do it," she whispers.

"...And if I ever said something like that, Celestia forbid it, I would at the very least-" Rarity turns mid-word, blinking at Fluttershy. "Pardon?"

"I'll... I'll do it."

Her friends stare at her, wide-eyed.

"You'll... do it?" Rarity keeps blinking, barely suppressing the trembling grin and surely excited squeal creeping onto her lips. "You would like to try to talk to him? Really?"

Fluttershy takes a deep breath. She knows Rarity is all starry-eyed, hanging on her every word, but she doesn't see it. Her eyes are glued to the sky.

"...I'll try."