“Fluttershy, dear,” Rarity said, raising her eyebrow as she watched a fine line of black specks move across the cabin floor. “Far be it from me to question how you keep your home—as I know as well as anypony that you’re quite fond of the natural world—but don’t you think ants be restricted to the outside?”
Fluttershy gagged on her tea. Wiping her muzzle and cheeks down hurridly with a napkin, she looked for all the world as if she’d just been caught red-hoofed in the middle of a murder.
“What? N-No! I can’t give special treatment to any animals! They’re all free to come and go as they wish.”
“Directly into your pantry?”
Fluttershy pursed her lips, sweat beading on her forehead. “Well, if you must know the truth, those are, uh... those are my emotional support ants!”
Rarity tilted her head. “Emotional support ants.”
Fluttershy bit her lip and nodded just a bit too fast, attempting to smile and instead producing something between a grimace and a cringe. “Y-Yes! They’re free to take any food they like!” Rarity’s raised eyebrow traveled further up her face.
“Fluttershy, it’s not just for your guests that you should keep your home neat and tidy. While it’s one thing to have the place au naturel, it’s quite another to have pests in your pantry! Everypony deserves sanitary conditions. You mustn’t let the ants push you around.” Rarity moved towards the cupboard to which the line of ants vanished into.
Fluttershy’s pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. “No! You can’t go in there!”
“And whyever not?”
“Because...” Fluttershy looked back and forth from Rarity and the cabinet with frantic twists of her head. “Well, d-do I even need a reason? I’d simply like you to respect my privacy, if that’s all well and good with you!”
Rarity tittered softly. “Fluttershy, my dear, I’ll do you the honors of tidying it up for you. You wouldn’t want one of your ant friends to be accidentally consumed if they got into food you’re preparing, would you?
Clearly cornered, Fluttershy dropped her teacup and flung herself in front of the cabinet, blocking Rarity from entry. “No! You absolutely can’t go in there! What you see in there will change your opinion of me as a pony forever!”
“Fluttershy, what kind of ridiculous thing could a line of ants possibly be leading to that would change my opinion of you forever?” Rarity scoffed, flinging open the pantry door.
Fluttershy covered her hooves with her eyes and retracted into the fetal position.
The door slowly creaked open, and Fluttershy’s dark secret was revealed. Rarity was face to face with none other than a pile of sugar, complete with swarm of tiny black ants skittering about the precious powder, collecting it to take back to their fecund queen and horrible little larvae.
Rarity stared blankly down at the scene before her. “You spilled your sugar.”
“AND I HAVEN’T CLEANED IT UP YET!” Fluttershy wailed. Immediately, she broke down into hysterical sobs, blubbering near-unintelligible apologies and explanations.
Fluttershy poured tears into her hooves, and Rarity’s brow furrowed.. “And this was supposed to change my entire opinion of you as a pony forever... how?” she asked as Fluttershy began to rock back and forth.
“I’m such a mess!” Fluttershy gasped through a sob. “I can’t even clean up sugar! It’s no wonder nopony loves me and has to force themselves to hang out with me like you did today!”
To say this response took Rarity aback was an understatement. “Fluttershy, dear—”
“Of course I can’t bring myself to do anything right, of course I’m just gonna mess up and fail! This is just a microcosm of the disaster that is my life, mess after mess I make that I can’t clean up!”
“Fluttershy.”
“I’m going to die alone just like that old gypsy pony who looked suspiciously like Pinkie Pie said!”
“FLUTTERSHY!” Rarity roared.
The two sat in silence for a moment. Fluttershy’s chest heaved up and down as she sucked in ragged breaths, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Don’t you think you might be overreacting slightly?” Rarity asked as gently as possible.
“Anxiety isn’t exactly rational,” Fluttershy mumbled, sniffling softly. A small glistening tear formed at the corner of her eye.
Rarity’s expression softened, and she pulled her friend into a close, tight hug. “There there, dear; I shouldn’t have pried. If I’m being completely honest with you, I was a tad pushier than I needed to be.”
Fluttershy hiccuped. “I’m sorry...”
“Please, it’s I who should be sorry. It was quite rude of me to give you a full on interrogation there and keep pushing more than I needed to.” A small smirk formed on her muzzle. “Besides, far be it from me of all ponies to accuse one of overreacting.”
Fluttershy half-giggled through one of her little whimpers. “I-I suppose so...”
Rarity smiled kindly. “There you go, darling. Why don’t I clean it up for you, and we can finish our tea in peace? I’ll be extra certain not to harm any of your ant friends.”
“Can I have a hug for just a bit longer?” Fluttershy asked quietly, half hidden behind her mane.
“Of course you may,” Rarity assured her, giving her friend a small squeeze.
Right at that exact moment, Discord kicked in the door, a bulging linen sack in each fist.
“We’ve got a big problem! I can’t find anywhere to hide the bodies! Every time I tried throwing them into the void, they came—oh, hello Rarity!” Discord’s pupils contracted as his eyes darted from bag to bloodstained bag. “I mean—bodies? What bodies? Trixie and Spike are right where Fluttershy and I left them, going about their business as normal! There was no horrific incident involving several escaped manticores and thirteen pounds of lard! Why would you even suggest such a thing? You’ve got quite the horrid imagination on you, missy!”
Rarity groaned and rolled her eyes as she gave Fluttershy a reassuring pat on the back. “Discord, please! Can’t you see that we're dealing with something incredibly important right now?” Her eyes narrowed. “And if you ever call me ‘missy’ again, I’ll have your misshapen horns.”
Discord popped Rarity a thumbs up with both paw and talon. “Absolutely! You two... you two deal with that! And you’ll never hear the ‘M’ word slip from my lips again!” He snapped his fingers, and he was gone, leaving nothing in his wake but several dappled crimson droplets on the cottage floor.
“I swear, that draconequus has no idea how to read a room,” Rarity grumbled.
