Fluttershy needed to be more assertive.
This was not exactly breaking news. "Yellow Pegasus Doesn't Say Anything Despite Glaring Social Cues" was not a headline that would sell many newspapers. If it somehow did make it to the front page of the Ponyville Press, Fluttershy would likely not end up with a copy of it because she would be too busy letting others ahead of her in line to buy it.
If there was ever a moment where she needed to step up and be assertive, though, then this was it.
And yet she said nothing. How could she say anything, with how much Rarity was talking? She just wouldn't stop. Not that she wanted her to stop; Rarity had every right to talk, and it wasn't Fluttershy's place to tell her she couldn't. Besides, how mean would it be if she asked her to stop? "Terribly" was the proper answer for that. And she couldn't interrupt her, of course. Even the mere idea of being so rude was alien to her. She would rather never speak again than be so rude and hurtful to her dear friend. Surely Rarity would eventually let up long enough for Fluttershy to get more than a simple one-word reply in. Even if she did, though, Fluttershy frankly doubted she'd have the courage to say what she was really thinking.
"And you'll never believe what she did today!" Rarity exclaimed. Fluttershy figured she was probably right, though then again there was an equally good chance that she was wrong. Some of the things that Rarity called unbelievable truly were, but she also had a tendency to exaggerate. And knowing what topic Rarity was talking about, whatever happened probably held an unfortunate amount of believability.
"What?" Fluttershy asked. She knew Rarity well. She was liable to stare at her like that all day until Fluttershy asked that question. Rarity liked to know that she was being listened to, a trait which she seemed to pick up shortly after beginning to date Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash, coincidentally enough, was the "she" that Rarity had been referring to. The two had been seeing each other for some time now, and it seemed like Rarity had a new complaint about her every day. Fluttershy was always happy to lend an ear when Rarity wanted to vent, but even she had a limit. That limit, though, was still a ways off.
"She was supposed to come for a walk with me this morning before our spa trip," Rarity said with a huff. "I only reminded her a thousand times yesterday that she would have to be up at 7:00 today to meet me, and every time I told her she said..."
Fluttershy took a breath. As worrying as it was to listen to Rarity get so upset over her relationship with her oldest friend, she had to admit that Rarity's imitation of Rainbow was funny. Not that she would ever verbally admit it, especially in front of Rainbow.
"Totally, Rare!" Rarity said, her lovely voice warping into a gravely mockery of Rainbow's. "I'll be 20% more awake! Awesome, radical, bogus!"
Fluttershy suddenly caught sight of a very interesting bug in the ground. Or she was trying to hide her blossoming smile. One of those was probably true.
"I told her a countless number of times how much it would mean to me if she joined me on my morning walk," Rarity continued, back to a slightly louder version of her normal speaking voice. "In the four hours we spent together last night, I had to have said it ten times an hour! That's four tens!"
"That's terrible," Fluttershy said softly.
"Terrible doesn't even begin to describe it!" Rarity insisted. "Terrible would be...oh, I don't know...wearing a lemon chiffon dress out of season, or trying to pass a mint green hat as a match for a lime green frock!"
"Oh my..." Fluttershy offered. She wasn't aware that different shades of green didn't go together. She would have to change the clothes she set aside for Harry's date tonight.
"Oh my indeed!" Rarity responded. "That would be terrible, but this is simply awful! The sheer number of times I reminded her and told her how important it was to me and what does she do? She sleeps straight through it! Oh, but nopony had to remind her about the wrestling match she wanted to go to last week. And might I add that nopony had to remind me that I was to go with her in an effort to share her interests because that's what significant others do for each other! Did you know I nearly got hit by a chair at that...place?" She spat the last word out as if it had no right to find itself emitted from her larynx.
"But Rainbow Dash caught it before it hit you," Fluttershy offered. She'd heard this story plenty of times already from both sides.
"Well...yes," Rarity conceded. "And that was very chivalrous of her. But that doesn't change the fact that I give of myself and go outside of my comfort zones for her and remember to do the things she wants of me, but when I want her to simply wake up early and walk with me, she can't be bothered to remember to wake up on time!"
Fluttershy sighed to herself. When Rarity and Rainbow had started dating, they'd gotten along so well. Despite having such differing interests, they seemed to match perfectly. As time went on, however, more and more issues began to spring up. The honeymoon period had ended, and as far as Fluttershy had seen, there was a new argument between them every day. Yesterday, Rarity had been complaining about Rainbow never wanting to try dresses on for her. The day before, Sweetie Belle insisted that Scootaloo had taught her a bad word she'd used, and as her de facto big sister, Rainbow received the brunt of Rarity's anger. Each argument usually ended with an apology, but that didn't change the fact that the arguments were just far too frequent. Fluttershy had been dating Applejack for over a year now, and the number of times they'd argued wasn't even comparable to how much Rarity and Rainbow had butted heads in their six months together. Although maybe they weren't the best scale to judge by. Applejack tended to be fairly level-headed unless her morals were being threatened, and Fluttershy was Fluttershy.
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy," Rarity said, having picked up on the sigh. "I know you've been friends with her longer than you've even known the rest of us. I've tried to mince my words about her when I'm around you, but, well, you can call a goose a gander and it will still be a goose."
"...Have you been spending time around Applejack?" Fluttershy asked, tilting her head.
"I swear, the way her countryisms rub off on others," Rarity mused. "I'm surprised you haven't developed a drawl with how much time you spend with her."
"I-it comes and goes..." Fluttershy admitted, remembering quite vividly the first time she'd accidentally slipped a "y'all" into a conversation with some of her animal friends. Angel still wouldn't let her live it down.
"Ugh...she just frustrates me so..." Rarity groaned.
"Applejack?" Fluttershy asked.
"Rainbow Dash, darling," Rarity answered. "Although sometimes Applejack too...but nowhere near as much, and that's besides the point anyway.
Fluttershy held her breath. She wanted so badly to freely speak her mind, but bringing herself to do so was far too hard. Plus, it would likely hurt not only Rarity, but Rainbow as well. The last thing she wanted to do was say something that would hurt her friends so badly. Well, actually, that wasn't entirely true. The last thing she wanted to do was say something that would hurt her friends so badly while her wings were tied up and she was falling headlong into a dragon's mouth while a crowd of ponies she didn't know laughed at her and sold her animals into slavery. Barring those extenuating circumstances, though, this was the last situation she wanted to find herself in.
"I know you, Fluttershy," Rarity said, interrupting Fluttershy's train of thought. "There's something you want to say. Please, say it. We're friends here. No need to be sheepish."
Fluttershy decided against telling Rarity that "sheepish" meant something completely different to somepony who normally conversed with animals. Now wasn't exactly the time for that. Following Rarity's request, though, she couldn't bring herself to stay silent any longer. She didn't want to hurt Rarity, but she didn't want to deny her request either. She took a deep breath, steeling herself as best she could.
"Well..." Fluttershy said. "Um...no offense, but...if you get upset at Rainbow so much, and you're always complaining about the things she does...why do you stay with her?" She regretted the words the instant they came out of her mouth and took to her usual practice of hiding behind her mane. "Sorry...that was out of line..."
Rarity, for her part, felt like she'd been absolutely blindsided. That was honestly one of the last things she'd expected Fluttershy to say. Not the very last thing; that designation likely went to a sudden declaration of intent to become a carnivorous daredevil. In this specific situation, though, what had been said was amongst the last things she'd expected to hear. She cleared her throat and gathered herself.
"It's fine, Fluttershy, really," Rarity said quietly, their walk having come to a stop in front of the spa. "Don't fret over it, please. I appreciate that you felt comfortable enough to ask me that. Thank you." In truth, "comfortable" was far, far, far from how Fluttershy was feeling about it. Right now, she was feeling about ready to crawl into a hole and never come out.
"N-no problem," Fluttershy said. It was a lie so tremendous that Applejack would have been ashamed.
The two ponies fell silent, letting the question linger in the air like a particularly awkward fart—although neither pony was particularly interested in thinking of it as such.
"Um...so..." Fluttershy said, looking up from behind her mane. "...Why?"
The repeated question hit Rarity like a soft-spoken brick. It worked its way into her brain, coloring all of her thoughts in a new, unpleasant light. Why couldn't she answer this simple question? What did it mean for their relationship? Why did she stay with her?
Continuing the trend of thought interrupting was the sudden arrival of a set of blue hooves on the ground next to Rarity. The startled fashionista turned to the source of the noise and found herself staring right into the eyes of Rainbow Dash.
"Hey..." Rainbow said softly. Her ears were drooped and she seemed to be having trouble keeping eye contact.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said curtly. Before she could say another word, a bouquet of flowers was shoved towards her face.
"I'm really sorry I was a butt and overslept," Rainbow said, looking sheepish—referring to the state of nervousness and not the language of her fellow ungulates that Fluttershy was accustomed to. "I know how important it was to you that I joined you on your walk and I feel horrible about missing it."
Rarity blinked as she looked over the flowers. Begonias were her favorite, and Rainbow had clearly remembered that. An amateur would have probably gone with roses, but apparently Rainbow listened a bit more than she let on. Rarity could feel her frustrations begin to melt away at the gesture as Fluttershy looked on silently, but Rainbow wasn't quite out of the water yet.
"The flowers are lovely, Dash," Rarity said, taking them in her magical grasp. "But darling, I reminded you so many times..."
"I know," Rainbow said. "Like I said, I'm a butt. I'll try to be better for you. But right now, I want to make it up to you."
"Well, it will have to wait, Dash," Rarity said. "I have a spa appointment with Fluttershy, like we do every week at this time."
"I know," Rainbow said. "And I know how important going to the spa is to you. Which is why I..." She struggled to get the words out; this particular arrangement of words was absolutely alien to her. "...I wanna go to the spa with you."
Rarity promptly exploded.
Not literally, of course. Spontaneous combustion was terrible for one's complexion. Metaphorically, though, she might as well have been considered illegal to cross country borders.
"You...you want to..." Rarity stammered. Her eyes sparkled as much as...something that sparkled a lot. Applejack was really the simile master of the bunch. "But you hate the spa...you hate the mere idea of luxurious primping..."
"I do," Rainbow said. "But I love you."
Rarity's heart threatened to liquefy right there on the spot. She had never seen Rainbow do or say anything even remotely sappy in front of their other friends, and she had just used the dreaded L-word right in front of her oldest friend, who was currently letting out a tiny "aww" that caused Rainbow's cheeks to color. Rarity hugged her prismatic jerk tightly, planting a kiss on one colored cheek before turning to Fluttershy with a little grin.
"That's why," Rarity said with a wink.
"What's why?" Rainbow asked. "Why what?"
"Nothing," Rarity said as she let go. "Come now, let's hop to it! Oh, the things the twins will be able to do with your mane...and you'll just love the mud bath..."
"What have I gotten myself into?" Rainbow mused as she was practically dragged alongside Rarity and behind a grinning Fluttershy.
"Shut up, darling," Rarity said, before kissing her again. "And I love you too."
