Sunny Swimming and Self-worth

"Come on Fluttershy, we’ve been over this like a hundred times! Now come out now, or I’ll pull you out." Zephyr called through the door, knocking on it again. The knocking stopped for a moment. I perked my ears up a bit to listen but all that was heard was an aggravated groan come from him and a shuffling which could only be thought as him placing his hands on his hips. Something he does way too often for my liking. "Oh c’mon, Fluttershy. You told me that you wanted to go, and we have been waiting for about half an hour! How hard can it be to change into a swimsuit?"

"I-I'm sorry. I'll b-be out in a minute," She muttered softly to us, almost inaudible, from inside.

"If I had known you were gonna take this long to change, I would’ve went in first. I mean, I know your door’s busted and all but I’m tired of waiting…” he said as he plucked at his swim trunks. He counted to ten and the door was still closed. He grumbled lightly and sighed before banging the door a bit harder this time. "Come on, Fluttershy! What'cha doing in there? I would enjoy getting to the beach before night comes, if that's ok with you."

"What's the problem, Zippy?"

He turned to me standing on the stairs a few steps below him. I was wearing a gray shirt over my light blue bathing suit, holding the bag that was carrying all our supplies for our trip to the beach. He turned towards me, pointing his thumb right over his shoulder over towards the door. "My big sister has apparently chosen to take her time with changing and personally, I would like to leave now. I mean, this is really the only time of the year I get to see the hot girls, and I would like to hang out with some of them when they aren’t on their phones for once!"

I rolled my eyes, my attention set onto the door he was standing in front of. I heard Zephyr groan yet again as he looked at down at his watch. “Why don’t I talk to her?” I asked.

Immediately, he threw his hands into the air as he proceeded to go downstairs, taking the bag that I held for him.

"By all means, go ahead. I'm gonna prep myself and have a snack." He continued walking down the steps, not looking back as he went into the living room. I watched him for a minute as he passed by me before walking up to where all the commotion was. I knocked on the door a few times, trying to speak at a volume that is a tad louder than how I would usually speak to make sure that it was loud and clear.

"Fluttershy? You okay? Zeph’s downstairs now. Is something the matter?" I stood there, waiting for her to give me some sort of response. When she kept quiet and I couldn’t wait for her to speak any longer, I grabbed the knob and opened it, walking straight into the room. I closed the door behind me and turned around to see Fluttershy facing a full body mirror. Surprisingly, she was already dressed, wearing the yellow swimsuit that I had picked out for her and a jacket that seemed to cover it all up. She was glaring at herself, eyes pointed right at the mirror, shifting up and down at her body, having not seemed to notice me being right behind her. I tentatively stepped towards her, curious as to what she was doing. "Fluttershy?"

My question made her jump like a cat, spinning around to look at me, with her hands spreading out all over her chest. "AH- Rainbow Dash, you scared me." she said with a small laugh coming through her tight smile.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya." Her mouth relaxed. The tight smile turning more genuine and mellowed out as I talked. “I knocked on the door, but you didn’t respond, so I just went in. Sorry about that."

"Oh no, i-it's alright." she said as she proceeded to wrap her arms around herself with her jacket, her eyes shifting around between eye contact and facing the floor. "I'm fine; I'll be out in a minute. Could you please tell Zephyr that I'm sorry for making him wait? I could do it if you don't want to. I wouldn't mind."

"I will…" I said happily before looking closer at her and seeing that she was shuddering slightly and that tell tale sign of personal seclusion behind her hair that let me know that she was nervous about something. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I am. Just trying to brighten myself up…” I raised an eyebrow directly towards her and made that small smile of hers break into a frown, which raised several alarms in my mind. "P-Please, Rainbow Dash. You worry too much. I’m alright. Really."

The way that she said it; that ‘You worry too much, I’m alright,’ made me wonder who she was even trying to convince in this scenario- me, or herself? I took a deep breath and looked at her dead in the eye. "You can’t trick me, Fluttershy. We’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong, even if it takes all day. Though knowing Zephyr, he’ll probably storm up here soon, and I know you probably don’t want that."

She looked up at me, surprised at my sudden determination. She gave me a cold chuckle and crossed her arm really tight in front of her chest.

"You really know how to joke, Rainbow," she replied with a slight laugh. We stared at each other for a moment. I was waiting for the explanation and she just kept stalling, hoping I wouldn’t press on. After some time had passed, she finally sighed and looked back towards the mirror. She just stared at her reflection, not once darting an eye back at me. "Have you ever… looked at yourself in the mirror, and hated what was staring back at you?” she asked in a quiet manner, with this miserable look on her face.

I stared blankly at her for a moment and then turned to the reflection of Fluttershy which looked perfectly normal. "What do you mean?"

"Look at me!" she cried, removing her arms from her chest and unzipping her jacket, revealing her body to me. "Look at me and see what I hate so much! I don't know what's wrong with me. I don’t eat much. I exercise, but no matter what I do with myself, everyone keeps looking at me like I’m some kind of freak!" My eyes widened at the sudden outburst, forcing me to take a step back. She seemed to notice and backed up a little, lowering her voice in the process. "It’s not just that I’m a coward. I could live with myself knowing that fact alone for the rest of my life. I’m just… hideous…” She shuddered and gasped for a breath, the tears that have been welling up within her had left trails of dampened streaks rolling down her cheeks. She placed her hands near her chest and continued. "I’ve always been timid and fragile... It was something I learned to live with. I’m not like you or the others who have strong personalities and the charisma to back it up... And for the most part, I could handle that. That was... until recently. Everywhere I go, everybody stares at me, looking at me and gossiping behind my back like I can’t hear them. One of the girls- Upper Crust, I believe her name was- literally came up to me one day and said that I was a nobody, and that the only friends I had were little stupid animals. She told me I was ugly and a waste of space! That I was better off dead! And I somehow got roped into going outside around a lot of people to parade my hideous and disgusting body." Her voice shaking as she sniffed loudly and wiped the forming tears from her face with the back of her hand.

I just watched, looking at her for a moment before going behind her and hugging her, trying to pull her towards me. She was shaking, filled with sadness and anger but I knew she needed someone to talk to. "Fluttershy, you shouldn't think like that. It’s all just pathetic lies from her."

She shivered, laying herself towards me and pressing her entire face into my neck. "I know that. I try to keep telling myself that, but it’s so hard. I can't help it. I don't have as thick of skin as you do about that."

"Yes, you can." I positioned her to where I could see her as I held her in my arms to comfort her. "Or rather, you don’t let yourself think of how great you are.” She looked away, like I just insulted her or something. I grabbed her chin, continuing, “Fluttershy, look at me. There isn't a single thing wrong with you. If you keep letting these people's negative opinions of you get in the way of seeing how beautiful you truly are, you will be hateful of yourself for the rest of your life."

She looked up at me, unsure of what to believe right now. "B-but their opinions have value too. They are saying what they see. If the most of them are saying I look ugly, then I probably am." she said, every word softer than the last until she trailed off.

"So a stranger's opinion holds more value than mine?" I asked in return, a mock expression of hurt on my face.

Her eyes widen in shock as I asked that. "N-No. I-I didn’t mean it like that," she said quickly, sighing as she did.

She’s just too adorable when she’s flustered. It’s almost like she’s come back to her usual, shy self. I wiped the tears off her cheek and smiled.

"Good." I replied, gliding my hands down the length of her sides in an attempt to comfort her further. "Because no one is more beautiful than my best friend."

Next thing that she did was scoff at me and shift away from me, hiding her blush once again. "You're just saying that."

I shook my head at her self-degrading statement that she claimed.

"I mean it. You’re smart, beautiful, selfless, caring, strong, and most of all, you are the bravest person that I’ve ever met." I said, moving one of my hands through her hair. She remained silent so I continued, "And, well, I love you. I love you more than any stiff on the street will. That’s because I can see the real you," I said before I heard a scoff and cynical giggle come from her lips.

"Liar. You’re just flattering me," she mumbled, giving me a suspicious look.

"I do. If I had to choose between you and my dream guy, you would be my choice hands down."

"Yeah, they can be hard to find." I had to chuckle at that and I could feel her shaking from the laughter that she was trying to hold back.

"You can deny it all you want, but that won’t change the fact that they’re wrong about you."

"Yeah… I think I can see that a bit better now," She said, hanging onto my waist in an attempt to keep me down with her for a bit longer.

"Now, are you coming?" I asked, giving her a nudge, rewarded with a sigh as a reply.

"You won’t let me stay here even if I said no so… I guess we’re going then." she said, letting my arms fall from her. I pulled myself away, holding one of her hands and taking her towards the door. "Um, Rainbow Dash?"

"What’s up?"

"Is it okay… if I… keep the jacket… with me?" she asked, tugging at her jacket.

I replied with a small smile and gave her a nod. "Hey, if it makes you feel better, knock yourself out." She replied with a smile and we kept walking to the door, feeling those small fingers of hers tighten around me. But before we went down the stairs, I added, “But just know, no matter what happens; if anyone is picking on you for who you are, just come to me. I’ll teach them a thing or two about manners. Okay?” She nodded. With that, we walked down the stairs together and Zephie jumped up from where he was sitting, snatching up the bag as he did.

“Well, it’s about time! Let’s go, you two!" he yelled while running towards the front door, the bright strings of his swim trunks fluttering behind him as he ran.

She gave out a quiet chuckle as we left the house, holding out her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. I looked past my shoulder and held onto her hand before walking out the door of the building. I gave out a slight grunt while holding my hand out to keep the sun from killing my eyes. “Geez… Wanna wait until later when it's not so hot?” I asked her.

She shook her head at my suggestion. "No, I don't really want him running around by himself. It could be dangerous… and I do need to build up my confidence anyways." I simply laughed at her comment, and we started walking towards the beach, ready to have some fun.