"It just isn't fair," I said, picking at my lunch after I put down the phone. I had tried to call Rarity to see how her day had been going and my call had been shunted to voice mail after a few rings. "It feels wrong to have lunch without her."
"Ah know the feeling, sugar cube," Applejack said as she tore a large bite out of an apple. "Us getting together without Rarity, RD, Sunset, or Twilight just seems plum strange."
Aria slid into the booth with a plate of shrimp and a fish fillet. "Well, I'm sure Sunset and Twilight would be here if they weren't off on their honeymoon at the moment."
I smiled at the thought. They were so cute together and deserved some happiness.
"And, not to hurt your feelings or anything, AJ," she continued. "Rainbow isn't exactly exempt from our lunches."
"She's three hours away!" the farmer protested.
Aria rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone and shot off a text, glancing at me. "Time it," she muttered.
I glanced at my watch, noting the time.
"Mah point is," AJ said without pausing. "This is going to be a different time fer us. We may not get to see each other as much for the immediate futures and we should try to tough it out."
"It's hard," I whispered. None of them knew why it was as hard as it was for me except Rainbow. Not that I didn't trust them, of course.
I just didn't like thinking on those days.
Aria reached over and patted my hand. Ever since she and Pinkie had gotten together she had really opened up.
"I think I know what you mean," she started to say when she was cut off by a rush of wind. Rainbow leaned back in the booth'a bench with her arm over Applejack's shoulders and the girl's Stetson on her head.
"Sup, guys?" She asked before stealing a fry from her girlfriends tray.
Aria looked at me while AJ blushed.
"Four minutes," I said, giggling a little at Rainbiw's confused look. I pulled my phone out as it rang wih Rarity's ringtone.
"Hi Rarity!" I answered excitedly.
"Hello, Fluttershy," she responded in a similar fashion. "I'm terribly sorry I missed your call earlier, I was in the other room and didn't get to it in time."
"It's ok," I said. "I just wanted to see how your day was going."
"Oh, just splendidly," she replied. "Especially now that I've heard your voice, Care Bear."
I blushed at the nickname. I don't know why she called me that but if I were to be honest, I didn't care, either.
"I do," her voice said, dropping a little. "Have one unfortuneate bit of news."
"Oh?" I asked, a small trace of worry building up inside.
"I'm afraid I may not be able to make our lunch date Sunday," she said sadly. "I never expected there to be so much to do in the early days of the school. They want sketches of ten different designs and at least two mock ups by Tuesday morning. Can you believe that? As though inspiration could just be summoned like that!"
"I could come up to your apartment," I offered. "We don't have to go out."
"But I'm afraid I would be a terrible host, darling," she said as a bell rang in the background. "If I concentrated on you I'd be fretting about the dresses and if I worked on the dresses I'd be neglecting you. I have to go, next class is starting soon. I'll call you tonight, alright?"
"Ok," I said quietly, hanging up the phone.
"Everything alright?" Aria asked.
I put a smile on my face as I looked at her. "Of course," I said with a cheery manner. "Rarity just needed to ask about changing the time of our lunch date." I picked up my tray and stood.
"Ya ain't hardly touched your food, Shy," AJ said.
"My eyes were bigger than my stomach, I'm afraid," I said. "See you all after class!"
And I went to go bus my tray so I could find a private space to cry.
"Argh!" I shouted as I wadded up yet another piece of paper and tossed it into my wastebasket. Nothing was coming into my head. I had been working furiously for hours now to come up wih the sketches and I kept coming up with horrible ideas. I had already decided to cheat a little and use the sketches of the bridesmaid dresses for Sunset and Twilights wedding as well as Cadences wedding to give me a tiny buffer but it was though my mind was a thousand miles away tonight.
"More like a hundred and thirty," I whispered to myself, removing my glasses and leaned back against my couch. After a few moments I rose to go fix myself something to drink when there was a knock at my door.
"Rainbow?" I asked as I opened it to admit my friend. "Whatever do I owe the pleasure?"
"I'm worried about Fluttershy," she said, tossing her coat over the back of my armchair and turning a hard look at me. "She's not taking the separation well."
"I do hate the distance," I admitted. "I wish I could see her everyday like we used to, but this is a big chance for me, I can't just throw it out!"
"I'm not saying you have to, Rares," she said pulling out her phone. "But look what the call from earlier did to her."
I took the proffered device, a picture of Fluttershy from behind. She was slumped, shoulders hunched in as she tried to make herself seem smaller like she had in the early days of high school.
"Oh, Fluttershy," I whispered. "I did this?" A tear welled up in my eye.
"In a way," Rainbow said, taking her phone back. "Do you know how many times you've cancelled or rescheduled on her since school started up? Four times in as many weeks, Rarity. That's not fair to her or you."
"That's easy for you to say!" I snapped. "You can see Applejack whenever you please. It's not as easy for the rest of us."
"I know," she said softly. "And I hate that I can't share this with my friends. I want to spend as much time with her as I can, but we both have responsibilities and as much as I wish I could zip back and forth between practices and lessons just to steal a kiss I know I shouldn't. I have to buckle down and focus on what's in front of me at the moment so I can enjoy my free time with my conscience clear."
I sniffled. "She was so confident when I left," I whispered. "That we could handle the distance."
"She's good at putting up a strong front," the svelt athlete said. "But she can't fool me. We've been friends for longer than I've know the rest of you. You know how she used to be bullied?"
"I know about the boy and the dance, yes."
"It's worse than that, Rarity," she said as we sat down. "Almost every day she'd be pushed around or picked on, and that damned stupid chant would pop up out of nowhere." She sighed. "First time I saw her, she was being pushed around by two older boys outside the school, taunting her, and she was already crying."
I felt my heart crack a little for her, even though I knew she was beyond those times now.
"I put my fist into the eye of the bigger of the two and stood between them," she said, locking eyes with me. "Told them I they wanted to pick on her, they'd have to deal with me first. It took a while - and more than a few detentions for me - but they stopped picking on her, but the damage was done.
"She is a great girl, Rarity," she continued before standing up and slipping on her jacket. "But there's this huge crack in her mind that the only way to protect is to draw away. She's put herself out there, it's up to you to help fill in that gap."
I sat there staring into the night a long time after she left before grabbing my purse and keys.
I knew I should call her, but something told me it wouldn't be enough.