“How nice of you to invite me over for tea once again.”
A simple salutation, a quaint little cottage.
“Oh, it’s uhh… no problem, really…”
Two ponies, the best of friends. They drink tea sitting at the table, as time stands still.
“No, darling, I have to thank you. You always seem to be up for a nice chat.”
Fluttershy flitters her wings, drinking tea softly.
“Why wouldn’t I want to talk to my friend?” she asks.
Rarity waves her off with all her typical melodrama.
“Well, Fluttershy, I know you’re busy with the sanctuary and all. Despite that, you always seem to have time for me.”
Fluttershy nodded meekly. She sips the tea slowly and softly. Her mind screams.
You love her don’t you? Don’t—
Fluttershy clears her throat. “It’s no problem, uh, really.”
“If you say so.”
The two sit in relative silence. A short burst of it, neither really having much to say. Fluttershy gazes into the eyes of Rarity, who is looking elsewhere.
“So… uhhh… the weather?” Fluttershy squeaks.
You want her attention don’t—
Fluttershy looks at Rarity, the split second before she begins speaking.
“Oh, the weather is such an unsociable topic, darling. What have you been doing?”
“Oh. Alright. Sorry…” Fluttershy mumbles, being caught slightly off-guard. “I’ve been doing the same thing… taking care of the animals and, stuff.”
“Naturally,” Rarity replies, “I’ve been planning for a new Carousel Boutique! This one’s in Baltimare!”
Fluttershy smiles. Rarity’s off again in her own little world. Endearing… and Fluttershy vaguely knows what Rarity’s talking about.
“…I’d like you to examine the new designs! Nopony else really knows as much as you do, darling.”
Fluttershy smiles again.
You love her—
Fluttershy blinks, shaking her thoughts away. The way her eyes sparkle. The way her smile beams. The way she is outgoing—
The one thing Fluttershy couldn’t be.
When did it start? Sometime after Rarity lied to protect her feelings certainly. A well-intentioned lie was at least better than an ill-intentioned one. But, it was surely gradual, a slow fall into those blue eyes.
Fluttershy shies away from Rarity. Rarity, despite talking about her boutique still, notices.
“What’s wrong, dear?”
Dear. She calls everypony that, but it feels… good somehow.
“I, I have something I’ve been… wanting to tell you,” Fluttershy mumbles.
“Please do speak up.”
“I, have something I… want to tell you,” Fluttershy says, a little louder.
“Oh? Do tell, do tell.”
You love her.
“I…”
She couldn’t say it. Rarity would reject her, then never talk to her again, then Fluttershy would be sad never seeing her again, and she probably wouldn’t ever be able to feel good about herself.
She would say it, and it’d come out choked, met with an okay, a rejection. Then Rarity would—
Fluttershy shakes her head. “I… got new animals in the sanctuary. Lions, specifically, they’re such cuties…”
“Only you would say that, darling. How do you ever keep them tamed?” Rarity asks, a smile skittering across her face as she drinks her tea.
“They’re on… a special diet. It’s meat based, but doesn’t include, any, of the animals in the sanctuary…” Fluttershy trails off.
You couldn’t say that. What are you?
Fluttershy tries to push the unwanted thought out of her mind. She would confess… eventually. It just isn’t the right time yet. But still, every word out of her mouth is a little quieter than the last, her brain pounding with self-criticisms growing greater in number.
You’re just scared, you’ll never tell her. Useless.
Like I said—
Will you?
Fluttershy sinks in her sitting position. She may have been bigger than Rarity, but she’d never felt so small.
“Darling, are you quite alright?” Rarity asks, Fluttershy looking down at her table. Weeping Willow.
“I’m… fine.”
“You don’t sound fine,” Rarity retorts.
“I’m fine,” Fluttershy says. It’s loud enough to actually hear, attempting to drown out any stray thoughts.
“If you insist…” Rarity trails off. She sips her tea with a simple frown.
Look at her, you’ve disappointed her again.
Fluttershy holds back the tears that are itching to flow out. She didn’t have anything to say or even distract Rarity with. This was it.
Fluttershy looks up, opens her mouth, then looks back down again. She can’t say anything to her friend. Nothing at all. Everything would go wrong, she just knows it. She plays back thousands of scenarios in her head, all of them ending as quickly as they start. Most of them ending in disaster.
She looks at the mare sitting across from her.
She sees Rarity’s face, her frown, her discomfort. She knows she’s already messed it up. At this point, salvaging it was beyond impossible.
Rarity looks up, her smile slowly returning to her face.
“That can wait…” she says, standing up.
She’s going to leave…
And you blew it again, didn’t you?
I did! I did… leave me alone…
Fluttershy buries her head in her wings. Her body starts wracking with silent sobs, a murmuring brook becoming a waterfall.
I can’t do any—
—Thing right. You never will. Trainwreck.
I can’t even—
Say you love her. That’d be so easy for any—
—Pony to do…
Fluttershy doesn’t even notice Rarity coming to her side. She looks up, and Rarity is gone from her side of the table. She messed it up again. She slouches ever further, joining the floor. She blew it by being bad at conversing, saying, saying anything that meant any—
“Darling.”
Fluttershy looks up, shocked. She looks in the direction of the voice, and sees Rarity. She’s sitting sincerely beside Fluttershy, face sporting a small smile.
“As your best friend, Fluttershy, I might not have business knowing… whatever you’re going through. But, it is my duty to be there.”
Rarity scoots closer to Fluttershy, bringing her tea to her new side of the table. Before she can think about the action, Fluttershy attempts to rest her head on Rarity’s shoulder.
She looks into Rarity’s eyes one more time, and realizes she is a little nervous to do such a thing. But this…
I can get used to this.
Author's Note
Maneeffect doesn’t actually have an account here! That being said, I enjoyed this story so here it is.
