Whitetail Wood was always such a lovely place in the fall. The wind was cool under the multi-colored leaves, and the sun warmed the air where it broke through the canopy. A soft breeze picked up every few minutes, rustling the leaves in the trees and on the ground. Behind the calm, serene silence of the wood was the scuttling of small creatures.
Squirrels and rabbits rummaged about the foliage off the path. Larger animals were further off the trail, such as badgers, deer, birds and bears. Soft pitter patters of paws and claws interspersed the rustling leaves and the soft clip-clop of hooves on the dirt path.
Rarity and Fluttershy were enjoying their stroll through the wood. They were both fresh from their weekly spa time together and Rarity had opted to join Fluttershy on her walk. Since it was getting so late in the season, the kind yellow pegasus wanted to check that all of her critter friends were adequately preparing for their winter hibernation. Rarity, always seeking new ideas and inspiration, felt that a walk with her closest friend through one of the most popular forest near Ponyville during its most colorful time of year would be a great way to get some new ideas.
Ever prepared for a scene, Rarity was trotting with a light pink scarf she had knitted in her free time. It was not one of the fashion accessories that she had for sale, either, no, it was something she had made just for herself. Well, not just for herself. The pink scarf had a sister by design, though the pale blue counterpart was not hers. She had gifted it to Fluttershy since she had been the pony on her mind while crafting the scarves late in summer.
The pair had been spending more time together lately. After the slight fiasco involving the ever eccentric Photo Finish, both Fluttershy and Rarity had gone to great lengths to ensure that their friendship had not been impaired. More time bonding, more open communication, more sharing; it was actually rarer to see one without the other than it was to see them together. Rarity often visited Fluttershy’s cottage, more than once bringing miniscule bits of clothing for her small animal friends, and Fluttershy occasionally visited the Carousel Boutique to assist Rarity with her designs.
“They are all ready.” Fluttershy said in her soft tone after pulling her head out of a bush. Rarity’s eyes had begun to wander up into the leaves as the colors danced across her mind and patterns formed, so she was not completely on board with her friend.
“Beg pardon?” she asked.
“The mole family,” Fluttershy elaborated, “They are prepared for winter. The hats you made them last week cover their ears and everything. I think this will be their most relaxing hibernation yet.”
"Oh yes, I remember them. Such a charming group of little darlings."
"They really appreciate your gifts." Fluttershy said.
"Tell them that it was my pleasure." Rarity said. While sewing hats for rodents had not been something she ever thought she would do in her life, there was a sort of charm to it. It was not unlike preparing an ensemble for Opalescence.
“Fluttershy,” Rarity said as she watched her friend look into a hole in a tree and talk to a bird. She seemed to be encouraging it to start flying south or it would miss all of its friends. “This may be rather rude of me, but what do you do in winter when all of the animals are hibernating?” Rarity had never given that idea any thought in the past; but watching her help prepare the animals for winter stoked the thought in her head.
“Um, not a lot.” Fluttershy said as she retracted her face from the tree. The small robin hopped out and fluttered its wings before taking off into the sky. Rarity was pleased to notice that it was flying south. “Actually, the winter months can be rather...um...boring.” Fluttershy admitted, as she had almost no animals to care for. Occasionally a pony family would go on a vacation and leave their pets with her, but that was few and far between. Besides, Fluttershy was adapted to taking care of large numbers of critters. Watching two or three housepets was essentially like doing nothing.
“I imagine.” Rarity said, “Almost all of the animals you take care of must be hibernating or migrating.”
“Yeah.” Fluttershy said. “Most winters I don’t even have Angel to care for because he hibernates in my attic.”
“Oh,” Rarity said, “Do you have any animals over winter?”
“Not usually.” Fluttershy said.
“My word!” Rarity said, lifting a hoof in shock, “That must be terribly lonely!”
“Well, it is.” Fluttershy said, looking down and blushing slightly, embarrassed, “But-”
“But nothing.” Rarity said, “I insist that you come and visit at any time you are feeling lonely. Day or night.”
“That’s really kind of you,” Fluttershy said, smiling at Rarity’s offer.
“In fact,” Rarity said, “You really should come and visit more often regardless. You are a most wondrous help around the boutique and far better conversation than dear Opal. Besides, what sort of friend would I be leaving you all alone?”
“Are... are you sure?” Fluttershy asked, “I mean, I don’t want to impose or anything. And…” She bit her lip and tried to let the rest of her sentence slide, hoping that Rarity would not pick up on it. Her wishes did not come true, of course. Rarity was not as bright as Twilight Sparkle, but she had a keen eye and spotted small details.
“And what?” She asked, trying not to sound too pressing on the issue though she was genuinely curious as to why Fluttershy would not want to spend time with her.
“Um...its nothing.” Fluttershy said quietly, her head drooping slightly.
“Fluttershy,” Rarity said, putting her hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “We promised we would stop keeping secrets from each other, remember?”
Fluttershy looked down and nodded, remembering. Unfortunately it was the events that led to that promise that caused her to pause from the invitation. “Well I...I just don’t want to, um, upstage you…” she trailed off for a moment. That did not sound right. She did not think that she was better than Rarity by a long shot, but the way she had said it sounded like that was exactly what she thought. “I mean! I’m sorry!” she looked up to Rarity with a visible expression of panic, “I don’t mean I would upstage you I just, oh…”
“Fluttershy, dear, calm down, calm down.” Rarity said softly. She never had liked how Fluttershy could work herself up over small things. It was almost as bad as Twilight at times...though considerably less manic. “Is this about your modeling career?”
“Um...yes.” Fluttershy admitted.
“Well fret not my dear.” Rarity said. She harbored no ill feelings from Fluttershy's fifteen minutes of fame. They had both learned a valuable lesson from their mutual desire to keep the other happy despite their own feelings, and it had brought them closer as friends. "If you are spotted and offered another modeling career, and you wish to pursue it, I will support you fully. And genuinely this time."
Fluttershy doubted that she would accept another modeling gig as it had been less than enjoyable before long, but she appreciated the sentiment that Rarity was conveying. Fluttershy was really touched by Rarity's genuine concern for her well-being and her worry over Fluttershy's loneliness in the winter months.
She is so sweet. Fluttershy thought.
"Thank you Rarity." Fluttershy said. "I promise I will come and visit more. It will be wonderful um...helping and everything."
"In fact," Rarity said, "You should come visit this evening for dinner. It will be just the two of us, no interruptions or distractions," and even as Rarity said it she liked the sound of it. Just her and her best friend, a lovely dinner, a bottle of Merlot, and a silly movie.
"Okay." Fluttershy said, now quite looking forward to an evening with Rarity. They shared a smile before Rarity began to turn away.
Rarity was elated when Fluttershy accepted her open invitation. She also felt somewhat impatient and had the suspicion that Fluttershy would hesitate even so. A suspicion founded from years of association.
"I'll go home and begin preparing then." She said. Fluttershy opened her mouth to ask when she should come over but Rarity answered before she could ask. "Come by around six or seven?"
Fluttershy nodded. “Should I bring anything?”
“Just yourself.” Rarity said with a smile.
“Okay.” Fluttershy said, watching Rarity begin to walk away. Fluttershy had a thought. It was something like a suspicion or a curiosity, but it was more of a hope. It took her a few seconds to work up the courage to ask, and another second to get her voice to an appropriate level.
“R-rarity…” she squeaked, trying to recall her assertiveness lessons from Iron Will - or at least the ones she had wanted to retain - to speak up. “Um...is...is this a date?” She asked, her voice cracking slightly. She was incredibly nervous asking this. It was...awkward. It was uncomfortable. But she wanted to know. She needed to know in advance. If she went into this thinking that it was a date and it was not, she would not be able to enjoy the evening and would likely do or say something stupid on that assumption. If it was a date and she did not know, she might not notice any of those subtle ‘clues’ that she needed to be aware of. Unfortunately, just out and asking like this made all of the possible awkwardness concentrate to this exact moment.
Fluttershy’s question gave Rarity pause. A literal, physical pause. Mid-step she froze as the thought worked its way into her head. A date? She had not thought about that. All of the elements were there for a date; two of them, dinner alone, wine, a show…and now that she was thinking about it, Rarity could not explicitly deny that there was not something more than friendship between them.
“Why, I suppose it is.” Rarity said, smiling at Fluttershy. Fluttershy smiled back and nodded her head.
“Okay.”